HanoiVillan

Bit of a silly comment. They've been together since school, I believe, and have more than one (3?) kids together. It's just possible that his relationship with his wife, and her happiness, matters more to him than football. And maybe, just maybe, that's a fair ordering of his priorities for him, no matter how inconvenient it is for us. It is in no way fair as we pay him a hell of alot of money to be a professional and take his job serious. He will only be a professional footballer for a short period of his overall life and if he had any cop on he would make the most of it. It seems to me like he is probably joined at the hip with his missus and that can be a good thing if she is a good woman but can also be a bad thing if she is a selfish control freak or the like. Bottom line, you don't know anything about their home life, relationship, marital situation or whatever.

Bit of a silly comment. They've been together since school, I believe, and have more than one (3?) kids together. It's just possible that his relationship with his wife, and her happiness, matters more to him than football. And maybe, just maybe, that's a fair ordering of his priorities for him, no matter how inconvenient it is for us.

That'd be fine but if you think the owner is shit then what can you expect from that manager given that he's working in shit conditions? I can't reply really as it would be off-topic. I refer you to the Paul Lambert thread, now entering it's eleventy-trillionth page.

It's not possible to think both owner and manager aren't up to the job then?

Gah, I don't much like posts like this. If you have some actual info, why not share it with us?

My thoughts as well. Are any of them playing wide, or are they all standing in the centre circle? Yep, that and the fact that that trio is one man over. Well, the Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy Trilogy managed five books in the end. Do feel foolish for not noticing that one though!

He's nicknamed 'The Rock', has played a ton of times for Colombia, is at a pretty poor Spanish team who'll probably be keen to sell, and has had Everton and QPR rumoured to be interested in him. All sounds nice. As a bonus, the Sky Sports website claims he's weak at passing, and often likes to play long balls, so he'll fit right in instantly*. *yes, I know those 'strengths and weaknesses' things are rubbish.

My thoughts as well. Are any of them playing wide, or are they all standing in the centre circle?

Positives: He's cheap He's only 26 He's played well in the past at some top European teams Negatives: He was mostly pretty dreadful for Liverpool He doesn't speak too much English by the sound of it He's our billionth left-back and we're over the squad-size limit. Overall, I'm in favour if he's not a complete muppet and we get rid of at least two of Bennett, Stevens, Baker and Clark (preferably the first two, but at this point whatever). To complete the ideal summer now, we'd sign a good DM, sell Bent and get a promising and exciting young striker on loan. I know these things won't happen, but a man can dream.

It'll be easier to decide who was worse when Lerner has actually gone. Relegation this season would obviously make a huge difference (as, to be fair, would a surprise top half finish, although naturally that would make less of a difference and is much more unlikely).

Chill out, there's no chance of us selling him for £3.5m.

Don't really understand why this didn't happen last season, but I'm happy for the guy - he needs to show something this season. How long is the loan for, do we know?

Mmm, don't think it's that surprising. He's been doing it for 25 years, at the top level for most of that. He hasn't got much prime left, and if you want to stay in the game as a referee after retirement, then the technical director job is one of the few possibilities, and that was clearly available now.

Good luck to him. He tried hard, he'll have a career in the divisions below.

Absurd to say he's the worst full-back to play for us since 2001, he's not even worse than Warnock or Bennett. Anyway, never mind, better luck at the next gig, and thanks for the Arsenal goal. Fingers crossed Richardson finally answers the left-back dilemma.

19th. Burnley - on paper at least - are the weakest team in the division, and haven't done much to improve. I think we may be the worst of the rest. We smell of decay.

So, bitching aside, do we know what's actually happening with this guy?

Why are they silent on this issue though ? What have the got to lose if they actually state what they think ? Because politicians in Britain are tragically obsessed with the 'special relationship', to the extent that they would rather squander potential votes than do anything to cause Foggy Bottom to look askance at them.

Fair play to him, that is a nice gesture. If only more players gave things back to the communities that made them gazillionaires.

I don't think that's the idea. Heart of England is a tagline like theatre of dreams or mes que un club. Fair enough. I don't think it'll make a huge difference though - results on the pitch matter more than anything else. I've been living in Asia for 6 years, and I can tell you that our name recognition has dropped with our league position, while our branding has remained the same. I understand now that this isn't what you're suggesting, but I don't want to change the name, at any point - remember, nobody in Asia knows where Chelsea, Tottenham or the Royal Woolwich Arsenal are either, but plenty of people support those teams. We just need to do better on the pitch. That said, I don't suppose a bit of branding would do any actual harm.

He's 18 months older than Joe Cole (and less injury prone) and he was only on about £25k/week at Atletico. Fair enough, this doesn't seem like an argument worth having because we both know there's not even the slightest chance we're interested in him anyway.

Which sounds better, Birmingham Villa or Heart of England Villa?* * neither of them.

Exactly. 4-3-3 with full backs who can't defend is absolute defensive suicide, as has been proven time and time again over the last two years. I can see us going (granted, haven't watched any pre-season) 5-3-2 with wing backs and 3 central defenders. I'd be more confident with ANY of Luna/Bennett/Richardson/Lowton/Bacuna in a wing back role rather than a full back role, too. Lambert has experimented with this before, Vlaar has excelled in this formation at the World Cup - could be a goer? I really dislike the formation, but if we're going to play it, it's at least better to have the personnel who fit it. Hence I think Richardson was a good purchase - think he'd do the role better than Bennett. Everyone talks about Bennett being much better going forward, but if I'm being honest, I can't recall seeing that. Maybe I just missed those games.

He'd be an expensive disaster, why on earth sign anyone so over the hill.

People often say this, but it isn't true. There's another team, with a stadium less than 3 miles away, who have been in the PL for most of the last 15 years. There are 2 other teams, within a 15 mile radius, who have been in the top 2 divisions of English football for almost all of their history. There's another PL team between Birmingham and Manchester as well. We aren't all that attractive as a proposition from a point of view of expansion of fan base. Which bit isn't true? I said that we were the biggest team between Manchester and London, not the only team. The bit where you said, or to be fair, heavily implied, that we should be in a similar situation to Barcelona based on geography and potential support. Also the idea that we have "no serious local competition" for supporters. The two situations are not remotely comparable. Barcelona are a massive team, the only team of even slightly comparable size in the whole region, and are symbolically bound up with regional identity. We are a team that is slightly larger than 3 other teams very closely located in our region, and we haven't won anything at all for nearly 20 years. Apart from both being football teams, we have nothing in common.