Andy81

5 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

I just want to clarify that my 'agenda' in this case is the honest running of football as an industry. It has little or nothing to do with the specifics of Wolves or Mendes or Doherty, and I can promise you I would feel the same way about a transfer if Villa were involved in it.

Sorry, I wasn't talking about yourself there.

I share your wishes for an honest industry.

40 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

If you have me down as thinking that football is anything other than an industry full of scumbags, crooks and grifters, you have me wrong. It is very firmly my opinion that agents should never represent both sides to a deal, as they cannot possibly offer impartial advice, and if I note that Jorge Mendes seems to be the absolute worst abuser of that dynamic, it's not to suggest that anyone else has clean hands or wouldn't be doing the same thing if they could. The handful of people who seem to be mostly honest - I've always thought that Simon Jordan came across like that, as someone who insists that contracts actually mean something and that football clubs don't *have to* be run in a corrupt manner - seem to mostly be regarded as clearings in the woods, even or perhaps especially by the fans of their own clubs.

In this particular case, Mendes represents Doherty, Nuno, and Jose, but really, he's just representing Doherty here, but I understand your point, he's aware of much more than other agents might be in this situation.

I don't see what can be practically done here though, do you propose that a player cannot be sold to a club where the agent represents the buying club's manager as well as the player?

The alternative is maybe a fourth party steps in I guess.

We should also consider that it's not too shady a deal.  I was taken back by the fee as were most, but the alternative view is we're selling a player who has played most of his career in the championship and league one, only ever performed particularly well in one system under one coach, and struggles to get in his national team ahead of Seamus Coleman.

On top of this, he wants to leave, he's given the club ten years solid service, it's not like there is a bidding war for him, Wolves don't want an unhappy player around, and he should be someone we can relatively easily replace.

It might not fit some people's agenda, but the club had to ok this deal, they didn't just bow down once King Mendes banged on the door.

9 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

It's so blatantly unethical. Ridiculous that it's allowed.

it really does stand out in the uber ethical world of football.

You're telling me that is what Grealish and Coady have been striving for?!

Like the blue, but I hate centralised crests.

25 minutes ago, dudevillaisnice said:

Valencia is probably the biggest warning sign out there.. 

When Gary Neville rocks up at Compton I’ll start to worry. 

37 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

No obviously you don’t.

If it doesn’t concern you fair enough, it would me. 

Things do seem off at the minute but they’ve all earned a little trust. Can’t do much about it anyway. 

1 hour ago, TrentVilla said:

I don’t doubt it. I don’t believe that this doesn’t concern you/Wolves fans. What if he Jose/Mendes fancy moving a couple more of your players to Spurs?

Well, first off, I don't get much say in these matters these days, so it doesn't really matter, but I'd expect there would still be aligned objectives between Mendes and Wolves' owners which would require the club to be in a relatively good position.

So I'm sure we'll see some move on over the years, but I'd expect some to move inwards too.

If we're battling Huddersfield for the final play off spot in four years, then you'll be right I guess.

3 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

On the Doherty transfer and low fee that has taken everyone by surprise...

Turns out Mendez is Doherty’s agent and Nuno’s agent oh and guess what... he is also Jose’s agent.... oh and has a stake in Wolves.

What goes around comes around it would seem... 

I think I’d have took this if offered four years ago. 

Something definitely feels off to me.

We'll know more at the end of the window I guess, which is what?  October?

36 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

The top four for me next season is very likely to be City, Liverpool, United and Chelsea. That leaves Arsenal, Spurs, Wolves, Leicester and maybe Everton competing for the two Europa League positions - at least two of those teams won't play European football the following season. They're big sides - I think we're about to see a re-evaluation of the value of the Europa league in England, sixth might be the new fourth.

One of them will be going into the new Europa conference, which won't suit the ambitions of any of them - but it's becoming a very competitive part of the table between 5th and 9th - and one that we'll have a desire to get involved in over the next few years.

For Wolves, that might be frustrating - they've been rising for years, but they may have hit a bit of a glass ceiling - it'll be interesting to see how they deal with that in terms of the mentality around the club.

 

 

 

Agree with this.

It'll be a weird season, I was gutted at the time but I think next season is a good one to not be in Europe, it could hurt Spurs and Arsenal.

Well, everyone was saying it was a done deal a couple of days ago and now they're trying to flog us cast offs.

Looks like the media may well have jumped the gun.  We'll see.

I hated our away kit, but it's growing on me.

I love that City kit too though, so maybe don't listen to me  

2 hours ago, MarkLillis said:

 

Baggies were obsessed with Villa a few years ago with all that "we know what what we are stuff" mainly aimed at us (where i live anyway).

Coventry were the same in the 90s as were Stoke when they had some success.

Now Wolves (mostly younger fans admittedly) are very keen to talk about "the gap" 

My experience tells me its not got much to do with Wyness and Xia so I'm just pointing out that this is always what happens when a midlands side has some success.If Wolves keep it up and i suspect they have  a better chance than the others.You may notice the pattern yourselves after 10 or 20 years as the regions top side.

We will just carry on being Villa and hopefully now we are being run in less of a shambolic manner maybe we can make it a two horse race for top dog

 

 

Honestly it's perplexing to me, just as I say, it's not one sided and maybe it is a younger generation thing, that does seem to fit to be honest.

I think you're right, and as has been mentioned the two clubs might spur each other on now.  It seems like that's happened at least a little recently.

50 minutes ago, MarkLillis said:

See my benchmark theory posted above yours.

All the clubs around here have had decent teams over the past 20 years (Stoke,Wolves, WBA,Leicester,Coventry...further back though and even Blues for a little bit under Bruce) They all started directing banter at us when it wasn't there previously.

Its simple if a midlands team is good they laugh at Villa

If a midlands team is not performing well they look to their local rivals for the banter and jokes.

You're making it sound like Villa were just sitting there minding their own business.  Until Villa (the club, not the fans) started throwing mud no Wolves fan I knew had anything bad to say.

Plenty of Villa fans on Twitter Tuesday night seemed pretty obsessed with us too.

He's a lot better than most of you are giving him credit for.  He certainly has things to improve on, he should have scored more this year, but the delta is positive and he's on an upwards trend, plus he has age on his side.

I see a lot of the old remarks about end product and that he's nothing but a speed merchant, these things just aren't true, he has a lot more to his game.  He and Raul has the most goal combinations in the league which tells you he does have end product, and his understanding of the game has come on leaps and bounds.

As a few examples, he's learned how to use his body to shield, his defensive game has come on, he marked Sterling out of the game in Manchester, he releases the ball at better times now, and his dribbling ability is much more than speed.

He's a very good footballer who will continue to improve.

42 minutes ago, Wainy316 said:

Yeah, Twitter is full of morons on both sides but look at the difference with how Villa fans discuss Wolves in this thread and the how Villa are discussed in the various related threads on Molineux Mix.

agreed, we do like to hang on to a grudge regardless.

Don't get me wrong, I do too, but I guess I'm more picky  

29 minutes ago, Only2McInallys said:

I have been very impressed by their rise in the last few years and I think the manager will eventually manage a big club.

What I hadn’t realised is they have actually spent quite a bit of money.They spent 110 million last summer and 100 million the summer before.In 2 years in the championship they spent 50 million so this is no Sheffield United .The Mendes link also allowed them to loan highly rated players before they bought them.

Just wonder if the strained relations between China and Uk is going to affect the amount their owners will be allowed to invest in the future.

 

Those figures look way off to me, especially as a net spend.

42 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

I am glad Wolves are having the success they are. We need strong consistency from Midlands teams in the top tier. The banter is understandable at times, especially when it comes close to match day, but the Mendes stuff was so overblown. 
 

I hope we can replicate your success in the coming years, have some league stability, and compete in a healthy manner for European football and league standings. 

Absolutely agree.  The attention given to the North West and London while we're ignored in the Midlands does my nut in.

You're in the strongest position you've been for years now I think, decent base to push on from.

55 minutes ago, MadridVilla said:

Just curious to know, Villa weren't the only club that had complained about Mendes if my memory serves me correctly, so why do Wolves fans focus on Villa so much? 

I personally think the whole Mendes thing was a storm in a teacup and it seems a bit of a small thing to develop a hatred for one club. I've got a lot of respect for Wolves, particularly on the field, but some of their fans really are puzzling.

I think it's overblown, especially on Twitter, but it wasn't just that, Bruce's comments throughout the season didn't help, and you were chasing us for automatic promotion unlike the other clubs, plus we are local and playing each other pretty often at the moment.

Also, you'd be mistaken for thinking it's a one way thing, there are plenty of Villa fans sniping the other way at any opportunity, but I think attention will turn to Albion now for a while at least.

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

It feels like to me that a lot of the animosity recently was partly driven by the Xia ownership, Wyness, and Bruce moaning about Mendes publicly, days before a crucial match between us and when the EFL were holding a meeting on the issue, if memory serves correctly. It was so embarrassing and small-time, this came just before Wyness was himself suspended. The club was a mess. It felt like an easy distraction from our problems. 
 

Yeah that's how I see it too.  The only good thing about it you could say is that both clubs have been on the rise since the spat broke out.

3 minutes ago, mottaloo said:

In all fairness (and I'm not trying to blow smoke up yer arse) i would love to be where wolves are now, having had the seasons in PL they've gone through. If you're on telly i usually watch the game but it sounds like a bridge too far last night.

At least next season you can "concentrate on the league !"

Cheers chap.

Yeah it was no disgrace, and I expected to lose, but felt very much like the Watford semi final last season.  We've conceded a lot of late goal recently and that always hurts more.

The players look mentally done to me, which is completely understandable.  We really tailed off from a good position after restart and should have done better in normal circumstances.

We're not good to watch at the moment, and I worry that the new season is too close to do much about that.

It's hard to stay for sure, but Villa almost certainly have more fans, however I think we have more lapsed fans than people expect, and more than we should after the last 40 years which will have done a lot of damage to our fan base.

Best team won, but absolutely gutted. 

United get a penalty in a tight game?! Did not see that coming!

9 hours ago, Zatman said:

Sure in the Premier League thats nothing, a slap on the wrist at most

It's not the Premier League, it's UEFA, which I think is a tighter target to hit.

First of all, I can't stand FFP, I think it's a tool used to stop anyone from touching the top clubs and is anti-competitive.  Villa will suffer from this artificial restriction too.

Secondly, for context the time period that was looked at stretched back to when Kenny Jackett was in charge, it's a reflection of how far to club has come in a short period.

FFP is bullshit, especially in Europe where it's harder to argue a club is going to bankrupt itself, although, I accept Leeds and Portsmouth were in Europe before they collapsed.