Super-Villan

Bannan has gone down in my estimation a hell of a lot since the drink drive business...but I really can't see much of a problem with the Twitter exchange above. It's just some mates having a bit of a laugh, surely?

Not having the experience of doing something yourself shouldn't prevent you from criticising others who don't have that experience either. And while I think I know best, if I was genuinely appointed to Paul Faulker's position, I reckon I would quite rightly get huge amounts of stick from fans for not having any experience of running a football club either.

There aren't just two options here, makouns_grin. Just because somebody isn't happy wit the current situation doesn't mean the only way they could be won over is for us to spend huge amounts of money and compete with the big boys. There's a wide gap between there and where we appear to be now, and I'd happily be midway between the two. I think it is realistic, and achievable for us to be doing better than we are, with a better manager and a better team. I don't expect miracles, and I don't expect the tripe that is being served up at the moment either.

I think Randy has made a fair few mistakes over the last couple of years, but I don't think I want him out. For all the things I criticise him for, I think we could end with owners who were much worse. But I think he needs to appoint somebody ASAP - either instead of Faulkner, or over him or whatever - who has a bloody clue about running a football club. Somebody who might have a shot at hiring a decent manager.

I think cost of current playing squad would be the most interesting measure, because as mentioned above net spend can look a bit odd. For example, the sale of Ronaldo for Man U really skews the figure for them, but the price of the team on the pitch is still incredibly big.

I think if you realise that communication with the fans has been an issue (which from his words he does) making your first public communication for some time in a publication with such restricted access isn't the smartest move in the world. It's not something I'd dwell on for too long though.

The article I read on Doncaster the other week said that they typically paid around 10% of the wages of their loan signings, I think.

I would be surprised. Pennant's wasn't a first offence, for a start. He was caught drunk driving while he was already banned for 16 months. It was no wonder they threw the book at him.

A couple of crackers.

I'll judge McLeish results-wise in Jan. If we are still 8th-10th and have got more points than I expect from a tough set of matches, maybe I'll start to warm to him a touch. Especially if the football becomes a bit more inspiring. I'm not entirely confident that this will happen though.

Absolutely this. The trouble is, I really can't see Ireland winning over the doubters at Villa now unless he starts scoring a hattrick every other game while getting back for a few goal-line clearances/Bobby Moore style saving tackles at the other end. Just putting in good solid 7/10 performances with some nice passing and movement isn't going to cut it, sadly.

Pires and Wiltord weren't cheap. I'm also not sure how it works in a manager's favour that most of his really expensive signings were flops. He still spent that money. I like Wenger, and he's achieved a lot on smaller budgets than many of the other clubs, but don't be kidded that he hasn't spent an awful lot of money himself.

I don't believe we can send Jenas back, it is a season long loan and that's that. Prem-Prem rules.

he was last season don't get what you mean, how anyone can compare bannan to 1 of the best midfielders of his generation is beyond me I think you are confusing the word 'compare' with the word 'equate'.

Comparing him to Scholes in terms of style of play is OK. Saying he's as good as him is daft. Though I'm not sure anyone actually has.

I'm not a fan of drink driving, and that's an understatement. Bannan has gone down considerably in my view over this, if this story proves to be correct. It's an incredibly dangerous and needless thing to do. But firstly, innocent until proven guilty, let's wait for the full facts. And secondly, I don't believe in casting a player aside just because they've made a bad mistake. (Not even if it had been Hutton.) If he's convicted of it, maybe fine him, maybe even ban him for a game or two, but kicking him out of the club isn't going to help us and it isn't going to help him. Don't worry though, the BBC gossip column says Arsenal are planning a £12m raid for him in January anyway.

But when did I say that? Why is it when someone makes a point the most extreme view has to be taken on that point? Sometime players have to to take responsibility for mistakes especially when its the simplest of things such as jumping. It seemed to be impied from your earlier post. I would also say that's a pretty reductive argument. If you think that defending a corner is only to do with the simplest of things such as jumping then I disagree entirely. Defending a corner, as a team was where we failed, and that can and should be coached. Individual mistakes happen, of course, but if these mistakes keep being repeated, which they have been, it is quite reasonable to point fingers at the manager. Its not what I implied its how you read it but thats just semantics. And again you have read my post and taken the extreme view that I think defending a corner is just about jumping, which obviously it isnt. However in this instance neither Collins nor Dunne attempted to jump or compete to defend against Olsson so whilst I agree defending a set piece is something that has to be continually coached and trained I dont think in this particular instance that the coach is to blame. If defenders choose not to do the most simplest of things for whatever reason known to them sometimes its out of the coaches hand. Yes, hence my use of the word 'seemed'. You're right that sometimes the players need to take responsibility as well. If it was an isolated incident conceding like this I might even agree. But it isn't, so I don't.

But when did I say that? Why is it when someone makes a point the most extreme view has to be taken on that point? Sometime players have to to take responsibility for mistakes especially when its the simplest of things such as jumping. It seemed to be impied from your earlier post. I would also say that's a pretty reductive argument. If you think that defending a corner is only to do with the simplest of things such as jumping then I disagree entirely. Defending a corner, as a team was where we failed, and that can and should be coached. Individual mistakes happen, of course, but if these mistakes keep being repeated, which they have been, it is quite reasonable to point fingers at the manager.

How very grown up of you Barry to start with the whole "mate" thing. He's not my mate, I didnt want him but he is here now and i'm trying to be objective rather than get on his back about everything and anything that happens to make his job even harder than it already is. Theres no point in pointing the finger at me with Houllier either as I did the same with him as like McLeish I was prepared to give him a chance rather try and push him out before he has done anything. Ive already written this but just to help you along, if two central defenders in Dunne and Collins fail to even jump to head a ball away how the **** can you blame McLeish, should he be on the sidelines shouting jump? These are experienced players regardless of how much coaching is done these guys do know how to jump and head a ball away. Also you seemed to care about possesion before but suddenly now you dont as it doesnt sit with your argument very well. Equally, if a manager isn't at all responsible for the actions of his players on the pitch, there isn't much point having a manager at all.

Heh, it feels like last season all over again, only with less passing.

These thread is making me realise that we've had a lot of average to poor right backs since the early 90s.

I didn't say that 6 points was a gaping chasm, just that I believe 6th was roughly the correct level for that team and the amount of money spent. 4th would have been overachieving a little bit. To talk of merely a couple of home wins is crazy. Titles and things are usually decided on much much less. In fact to win the league by 6 points would be considered as running away with it. Pinpointing certain areas where we didn't do as well that season is also silly. Things even themselves out over the course of a season. That we had a bad March doesn't make him a worse manager than if we'd had a bad October instead.

I disagree very much with this. If that is what Randy thought, then my opinion is that he severely underestimated how much it would take in cash to break a very strong top 4, or to break it in any worthwhile or prolonged way. Yes, we spent a lot of money. But we were starting from a very low base when he arrived, and from there it needed a lot of money just to be competetive again, let alone challenge the big guns. Coming 6th was about where I would expect for the money we spent. Even if we had broken the top 4, I think it would have taken a hell of a lot more money to have stayed there the next season. Regarding where we are now, I've no problem with having to cut our cloth accordingly if the cash isn't there for whatever reason. I think it has been handled badly though, and there have been mixed signals and bad communication from the club - i.e. the General talking as if expectations hadn't changed, the signing of Bent in Jan and the ambition we might have thought that showed.

Errrmm...we really really didn't you know. All out attack under Houllier? Not a chance. He tried to play tippy-tappy football, absolutely, but that comes in many different forms. Houllier's version of it has always tended towards the defensive. See a lot of Italian football for further examples of the defensive minded passing game. As regards the here and now, it's not either/or for me. Yes, I'd like to win more, but I won't suffer any style of football to achieve that. MON was just about my limit when it comes to hoofball because he won a fair amount and we did have some exciting, pacy attacks to set against the more mundane performances.

I'm happy with a win today, especially as I was far from convinced we'd get one. Plenty of positives on display. But I'm not going to get carried away with this results, just as I'm not going to get incredibly upset when Man City turn us over. Broadly speaking I still have a negative attitude to the way McLeish's reign has gone so far. If we carry on getting a few decent results over our next few matches, my opinion on that might start to change. And I hope it does, I really do. But we'll see.