sellbydate

How about run the club so the manager doesn't leave 5 days before the start of the season and somehow even though he did this gets a big settlement pay out. How about not hiring a past it manager that alienates the fans and members of his own squad whilst seeing us worry about relegation. Oh and then having to pay that manager a large amount of money when he can't continue. How about not paying blues compensation for their manager. How about not hiring a man who relegated his last team twice in 3 seasons. How about listening to the thousands of fans who knew how this would turn out.

Control finances and hire and fire manager. Two main things for any owner and we're lucky enough to have one who can't do either properly. And even luckier to have one who is also a massive failure in another top world sport.

I assume your defence of him comes from the fact he gave you a scarf once and let you drink in the pub once a season.

I don't think you can blame Lerner for MON leaving when he did. I don't understand how MON was able to get such a big settlement pay out. I can only imagine that, in his strong desire to attract a manager he thought capable of progressing the club, Lerner allowed MON certain clauses in his rolling contract.

I don't think Houllier was passed it and I don't believe that Lerner could have predicted that some of his actions would alienate some section of the fanbase and members of the squad. Nor, could he have predicted we would face a relegation fight. As with MON, in order to attract what he thought was the best available option for the Villa at the time he was perhaps forced to allow certain clauses in Houllier's contract.

I agree that hiring McLeish was a huge decision but I maintain that it is possible there just wasn't anyone else available. I'm including Mark Hughes as not being available and I don't actually think Hughes would have been a much better option.

None of my opinions are based on my free scarf. They are all soley based on the fact that Lerner got a Villa tatoo. I think that your feelings are a result of your desire to find a scapegoat.

I absolutely completely agree with you, apart from maybe that no one else was available, the amount we're allegedly paying mcleish surely we could have persuaded a Brendan Rodgers, or anyone really with that money. Regardless, it was a risk and has been proven a poor move, I just really hope Lerner is thinking it hasn't worked out too. Perhaps he is avoiding following the Wolves route in sacking the manager mid season and completely capitulating. A 'don't rock the boat and get safe' strategy, then get rid and the end of the season.

It would be a fitting tribute to retire his number should he lose his fight against leukaemia but in the meantime I think we should support him as much as we can and urge the press to respect his and his family's privacy.

We are his family.

i have to say, i like the sentiment, but no we are not.

third time this season

i dunno. i think they both have their apologists. both managers should have handled their players better

Thing is, Houllier was blamed for falling out with players last year, where-as it'll be the players fault this year (Ireland/NZ and others who fall out with AM)

McLeish is untouchable. Even when he takes us down it'll be somebody elses fault.

i seem to remember an absolute torrent of abuse towards dunne, collins and warnock.

absolutely pathetic. we weren't beaten by a great team, or battered, or demolished, we were swept away. arsenal just had to turn up to get them 3 points.

if it was me in charge, the team would be mostly the young players now. what's the point in losing with an 'experienced' team when you can lose with a bit of excitement from the younger lads who at least try to play.

What did anyone expect against the form team?

to not lay down and take it. this is so embarrassing

still have cardiff, west ham, brighton and reading to play too. might not even make the play offs

i was going to argue but i'd rather just not read the same things over and over again, good luck sorting it all out chaps

Just can't get my head around the full time staff numbers

because you're not supposed to, you have literally no idea of the ins and outs of it so why speculate?

this is such a pointless thread, far too many wannabe accountants

beacuse if you compare the figures to that of Rangers and Tottenham then we are way above the pair of them. We have more full time staff than anybody else but we are not a big club so it makes no sense

i'm sure people have mentioned many times that we employ cleaners and match day staff that most other clubs outsource, as well have events staff that other clubs outsource.

as for it being pointless, it is. all it is, is guesswork and jumping to conclusions. if you think you're spotting some massive flaw in the finances that hasn't already been noticed by villas ACTUAL accountants (people who have studied how to judge these figures and have access to all the books, not just the large numbers we see) then you should probably change career.

you really think a club who is penny pinching hasn't noticed these 'problems', and if there really are problems, aren't currently resolving it?

VillaTalk posters should set up their own business, you'd make a **** fortune the way you think you know about finances.

Just can't get my head around the full time staff numbers

because you're not supposed to, you have literally no idea of the ins and outs of it so why speculate?

this is such a pointless thread, far too many wannabe accountants

Moyes on that much at Everton? is that why we couldn't agree the deal to get him in? i think it's pretty accepted that randy was a fan.

completely agree The_Steve. apart from Heskey in a free role out wide :shock:

that match proved the potential within the squad to play and the misuse of them in the second half. unforgivable to me to play the second half attempting to contain blackburn who only had pressure because we allowed it. he really needs to be shown the door now

at least the line up is alright.

Loved that Holland strip

we should use their kit manufacturer

12m on manager changed, looks like Mon did get a psyout to leave afterall despite walking out

Looks like Lerner reneged on promises made to O'Neil. Can't think of another reason why Villa could be guilty of constructive dismissal.

THEY WEREN'T.

That 12m includes getting rid of Houllier and his expensive backroom staff so i can't see why you're attributing any of this to add more fuel to the O'Neill mystery.

But didn't O'Neil win his case against Villa?

nah it was settled, so no verdict was needed.

CI, the doctor said Houllier was ok to carry on, and we cancelled his contract. if that's not true, someone correct me.

12m on manager changed, looks like Mon did get a psyout to leave afterall despite walking out

Looks like Lerner reneged on promises made to O'Neil. Can't think of another reason why Villa could be guilty of constructive dismissal.

THEY WEREN'T.

That 12m includes getting rid of Houllier and his expensive backroom staff so i can't see why you're attributing any of this to add more fuel to the O'Neill mystery.

and that the team don't play in a smartly designed template.

in reality the macron logo is a fair bit bigger, and the material is shiny, not that fabric texture in the mock-ups.

Also just as an OT follow up to that post, Heskey has a successful cross percentage of 70% higher than Downing

Yeah but how many crosses did heskey attempt, and how many did downing attempt..? your % will go down on anything if you do it more and more.

no it won't, the statistic is just more accurate the more attempts taken. to suggest the % would go down is completely misunderstanding how a percentage works...

quite a strange discussion about whether nikes distribution is better - people saying they have seen our kits in other cities and countries since we've been with nike, others arguing that the distribution isn't any better since they haven't seen any. perhaps you should take the information from those that have and admit that nike might have a wider distribution?

Yeah I understand you Richard. That's a completely valid thing to be baffled by to be honest. I actually do fall somewhat into the category you describe however (as you probably know). The reason I still support Lerner is because ultimately I think in everything he does, Randy has the best interests of Villa at heart as opposed to him putting himself above the club. And that is the crux of it for me. He will make bad decisions along the way. I'd like to think that no-one is perfect and that no matter who was in charge, they'd make a booboo here and there - and be allowed to make it. I genuinely think he hired McLeish for the right reasons, even if a) some don't think it and b) it hasn't worked out the way we would have liked.

As soon as I start to think that Randy's Villa business decisions are not directly in Villa's best interests then I will change my opinion of him. But at this moment in time, the reduction in the wage bill is nothing other than bringing us into line with what is a fundamentally unfair financial regulation, but one with which the club will nevertheless have to conform to if we are ever to progress. It's hopefully the pain coming before the pleasure, and in a way it is also the pain coming as a direct result of the recent pleasure we enjoyed under O'Neill.

completely agree.

and also, who is going to buy the club, and how can you guarantee they'd be any 'better'?

get rid of the stupid men and i like that, even the collar looks ok. providing it'd be like the current england shirt, and not like our hummel yellow shirts collar from years back, ergh.

lmarshall, have you done a version of our current kits on your template? could we see them next to the likely macron templates? honestly, looking at them now i've got used to the checks they're both among my favourite kits we've had...

I've had a look at Nike's new Barcelona kit for next season and it looks pretty awful, as does this year's, in my opinion

thye complained about this years batch and saying something along the lines of quality wasnt good enough

the shirts they complained about are not the same kits that the fans can buy, and the 'lack of quality' was due to using recycled material so for some reason the sweat wasn't wicking away as fast as usual. im also sure its an issue they resolved.