briny_ear

Oh right so they work for free then, Look however way you wanna dress it up pal, £50million has been spunked!..

You can only describe this amount of money as "spunked" (not the most precise of accounting terms, BTW) if you think the money spent on Heskey, Sidwell , Beye, Harewood, Knight and Maloney was wasted.

That is just rubbish. All these players did a job or are still doing it. And for those sold on, we got money back, decent sums. You haven't discounted the sales prices, I think, and you are just wrong to describe the money spent on these players as "spunked".

I don't know how true this is, but has come from a source inside the Villa who gave me details about the Emile Heskey Details. Check my message history.

Apparently MO'N handed his notice in on friday, a friend of mine was told this before the Chelsea game so not some reactionary BS that they have come up with. He will be seeing out the season and then on his way. (My guess to Liverpool or back to celtic)

Unsure whether this was accepted or not from the board or what will happen, suprised that no Hack has got hold of it if true, but i thought i would share what little knowledge i have been told.

If i have any updates i will post on here.

Hmmm. So this appears on Villatalk at 5.20 pm on 29 March.

On 30 March rumours sweep the airwaves/internet that MON has left.

Obviously, no connection. :winkold:

My choices - all realistic if we act quickly

Van Basten

Zico

Rykyead

Really so say you were to offered a management job and you've heard that the fans boo the team when they should be supportive so you decide to do a bit more research into these "supporters" and visit a popular messageboard for this team where you see posts from vocal fans like, you. Would you take the job or wait for something better to come along?

Whos Rykyead???

Haven't looked forward to a match with so much uncertainty for some time.

I hope they can bounce back but who's to say what effect the 1-7 drubbing will have on them?

It may be we will come to regard a hard fought draw as a the start of the recovery.

Personally, I would put Cuellar at Right Back again but Warnock is playing so badly at LB at the moment that maybe I would put Luke Young there, as he has done a decent job in past games.

I'm not expecting that to be a popular view on Villatalk.

I think you can overstate the tiredness/fitness issue. there is nothing likely to make you lose energy and motivation more than seeing goals fizzing into the net every few minutes, so it's no wonder they lost energy.

For me, the main problem was the defence, from the word go. The first goal was a disgrace - who was supposed to be marking Lampard? And the 2nd & 3rd weren't much better displays by our supposedly excellent defence.

The match was over by then, really, and the capitulation that followed just added to the misery.

Both full backs in particular were abysmal im my view.

I think Villa can attract a manager in the general bracket of Mourinho.

Total control of the club, a top wage, and a squad that's not far off from CL qualification.

There aren't many clubs (including clubs in the CL) that can offer that.

Why would Mourinho need to come to a club that's "not far from" CL qualification (even though I think this is an excessively optimistic evaluation of Villa at present) when he could walk into any number of jobs actually offering CL football?

If this poll had an option something like "Whatever John Terry said is irrelevant. MON and the team will sort things out in their own way", I might have voted for it.

Well apart from the West Ham bit - which I think has surprised everyone this year - I got it about as spot on as I could (so far)

Maybe I don't talk the b......x some think I do - I just see the truth

Gloat, Gloat

Um, you're gloating because we are doing worse than last year and you were right about it?

Is that a good thing to do?

This is MON's worst season as a manager for Villa. His first season can be excused, his second season was the best, but this season is below expectations.

Ummm...

I think you've lost a season there, pal.

I know my memory is getting confused as I grow older but I'm sure there's been 3 before this one:

2006/7 - League 11th, League Cup R4, FA Cup R3

2007/8 - League 6th, League Cup R3, FA Cup R3

2008/9 - League 6th, League Cup R3, FA Cup R3, Intertoto Cup Qual, UEFA Cup Round of 32,

2009/10 - League ? League Cup Final, FA Cup ?(SF so far), Europa League Play Off Round

So when you say his second season was his best, maybe you mean his 3rd?

Also struggling just a touch to see how this is ever going to be his worst season as a manager.

Being lucky and barely beating Crystal Palace

That would be the 3-1 victory you are referring to, then?

whats their defence like?? is it true they are gonna have to play zhirkov at RB??? if thats the case get ashley young to tear him apart, even if he starts on his favoured left side, he is still very attacking and suspect defensively!

According to the Guardian this morning their defence is

Ferreira-----Terry-----Alex-----Zhirkov

So I reckon those miserygutses who are predicting 3/4 - 0 to Chelsea are being a bit pessimistic. I can see that defence leaking a goal or two.

Out of interest does any one the injury status of Reo Cocker?

Again according to the Guardian Reo-Coker is out until 25 April with an ankle injury.

MON said last week he had returned to light training.

I think Gabby is big and lumbering.

I note, however, you are an alien, so maybe not best placed to judge.

* He can try something rather than 2 big lumbering centre forwards

Just thought I would pick up on this as an example of what is wrong with your post that some seem to think is a penetrating analysis of our problems.

He's started Agbonlahor in 26 of our league games this season. He has by and large only not started when he has been injured. I can't imagine you are describing Gabby as big and lumbering, so I suggest you are not talking complete sense in your discussion of MON's policy on centre forward selection.

Also, if you think of Carew as "big and lumbering" you really need to watch a bit more carefully how he plays. He is big, I'll give you that bit.

Carew, you may also have noticed, has scored 6 goals in the last 5 games he's started, so I wouldn't be dropping him just now.

I would say that, injury apart, MON reckons his best CF pairing on present form is Carew and Agbonlahor, as started at Wigan.

You can call them big and lumbering if you like - anyone is entitled to an opinion, as we are constantly being reminded - but I don't think you'll find many to agree with you.

EDIT

Oh, and BTW

* Well instead of talking the critiscim like a man - he's pushed the bal;me to the players. it's cowardly and will serve to diminish relations with fans / media/ and t eh players and fans.

Can you point me to where MON "blames" his players for anything. I think I missed where the coward did that!

I always thought it was telling that our former captain (Barry) who craved some success with Villa didn't have the confidence in MON to take the club any further.

I thought it was rather more telling that it was a £100,000 a week contract, for a player whose career was on the brink of beginning to fade out, that helped with the move.

was only £15k a week more than he was offered here, and taking the taxes footie players pay into consideration, it was barely a raise worth speaking about over the contract on the table for us

he didnt leave for money, he left to join a more ambitious club with bags of money to bring in the top names in world football

Well, you can rewrite history if you want to. But I remember (a) Barry explaining it wasn't the money, just that he had to go to a club who could give him CL football this season (i.e. Liverpool - remember that bit of the tale?). Then ( when he left, it was to the club that offered him most money but no CL football.

Of course it wasn't for the money...

I always thought it was telling that our former captain (Barry) who craved some success with Villa didn't have the confidence in MON to take the club any further.

I thought it was rather more telling that it was a £100,000 a week contract, for a player whose career was on the brink of beginning to fade out, that helped with the move.

All I can say, mate, is that you are very lucky to be in a position to pick and choose.

There are a lot of people who would love to have the opportunity to see this semi-final and wouldn't be so picky and lukewarm as you appear to be in their support for their club.

Just because you seem to think you could pick a better team and arrange better tactics than our current manager, I don't see why that should lessen your support for the club, or for the team, who will undoubtedly go out there and do their best to win.

I have bought two season tickets for the last 15 years or so (converting my wife to a Villa fan in the process) and hate to miss a home game. I typically go away two or three games a year but have been to 6 this year - wife would divorce me if I went to more. I spend much of my waking day thinking about the Villa and posting on this site. And I will renew my ST's next year.

So please don't come on here telling me my support for Villa is lukewarm. It is down to my passion for the club that I don't want to go to Wembley for the semi - because I just don't see it as a day out. It upsets me when we lose BUT it really upsets me when we lose and we haven't tried to do anything to stop that loss.

I drove back from the CC Final in a really frustrated state thinking that we had been the better side in the first half but that they had taken control in the second and MON had done jack shit to try and counter this. He left an invisible Heskey and a knackered Petrov on for the whole game and only substituted Cuellar for Carew with 10 minutes left, losing shape as usual with this sub. I don't want to experience that again - at least not yet.

You are hopping about a bit between reasons for not going. However, I think you are still saying you don't want to go because you don't like the style of football we play - and I've sort of picked that up from many of your other posts on Villatalk, which are always a bit depressing and downbeat.

If you really have been a season ticket holder for 15 years I wonder what you thought you were watching during the Graham Taylor/O'Leary years?

The football we play now is far better than the rubbish served up then. And yet apparently you have decided just now you don't like how we play.

That's a bit puzzling.

I didn't say that I wasn't going because I thought we'd lose. I went to the CC Final knowing that it was going to be a very tough game and probably anticipating a loss. I went to the FA Cup Final against Chelski years ago knowing that we were big underdogs.

I said I'm not going because I am frustrated with MON's selection and tactics and I don't think we are giving ourselves a chance to compete as a consequence. I don't fancy a four hour journey back thinking "if only ......." again. I don't mind losing if we give it a go, or else I probably wouldn't have been a ST holder for nearly 20 years!

All I can say, mate, is that you are very lucky to be in a position to pick and choose.

There are a lot of people who would love to have the opportunity to see this semi-final and wouldn't be so picky and lukewarm as you appear to be in their support for their club.

Just because you seem to think you could pick a better team and arrange better tactics than our current manager, I don't see why that should lessen your support for the club, or for the team, who will undoubtedly go out there and do their best to win.

I would expect that season ticket holders (who sometimes unfairly have a grumble at every man and his dog trying to get a ticket to a final) come up with better excuses not to go to a semi final than, it shunt be at wembley or wel probly lose or wembley's difficult to get out of. Id kill for a chance to go

Must say I thought this, from the OP was a very weak excuse.

If we do happen to beat them, which I am sure we can, it will probably be a backs to the wall victory with us hanging on at the end as it was against them at our place or against ManU up at OT and I will probably be just as overjoyed watching this on TV as I will be if I had gone to Wembley.

Of course it will be backs to the wall, it's against Chelsea and it's an FA Cup semi final! I sometimes wonder if we've missed out on proper cup football for so many seasons that people have forgotten what it's like. It's very rarely a stroll.

Looking at some of the reasons people give for not wanting to go, I'm not too unhappy that you won't be there because you all seem very lukewarm about supporting Villa in an FA semi-final. Must say I find that a bit bizarre.

I would kill to go but can't because I'm not a ST holder.

Sidwell.

Without him shooting we'd not have the equaliser.

Of course.... how could I forget that, well done Steve the Sub.

So then, that would be ONE shot from our midfield in 90 minites at home against one of the bottom clubs in the league? Is it any wonder we don't score enough?

Does Downing's header just before half time not count as a "shot", then? :confused:

Another MON master class in tactics - tired players, players out of position and Heskey

Woeful to watch

The team came out playing class. It's individual sloppyness that's cost us, nothing to do with tactics. MON takes no blame here for me.

Agree. MON's tactics looked OK when we were destroying them for the first quarter of an hour. I think it's rather stupid defensive lapses we should be looking at as the reason for the score line, I'm sure they're not any part of MON's tactics.

What a very silly comment to blame MON's tactics for this.

ESPN really want Wolves to win

:confused: I'm watching it on Sky - so so they!

I think the poll results so far show that MON is dead right to be unclear what Villa fans want!!

Will be happy with 3 points however we win them. Scrappy 1-0 will suit me.

I suspect Martin has taken against the "Villa fans" a bit, and I don't see any sign of this wearing off (although he did go over & applaud the travelling fans at Reading). That's a shame, because I think he is the best manager we have had for quite a while who, if he sticks around and is given enough time and respect, can get us into the Champions League.

The reason he is picking up confused messages from the fans is simple in my view. There is a genuine split between those who see League position leading to CL as the top priority, and those who want to win Cups.

My top wish is for CL, but I expect him to make his own decisions on priorities depending on his assessment of the strength of the squad and the opportunities to make progress.

I also think he's overlooking the argument that fielding a weakened side against CSKA was akin to planting an enormous flag on the pitch saying "our squad can't manage all this." and that, in my view, must have had an effect on squad morale.

But that's just an opinion and anyway he's sorted it by building a stronger squad this season which so far has looked capable of competing both for Cups and League position.

In the pre-match thread at 7.19

I fancy Jimmy to score tonight.

Glad I was right.