AVFC-Prideofbrum

 

I think our future looks bright, a year or two ago we were all questioning where the club is headed but it's turning out how I and a fair few others saw it, stripping everything down, starting again but also still investing to hopefully move the club forward. Maybe others like yourself don't agree that either that will happen or that is happening or in fact you disagree with the strategy but what this last 12 months has shown me especially including this window is that it were gambles and mistakes that put us in this position, not a lack of care for the club

It does look bright. Brighter than the last 3 years? Yes 100%

Brighter than anything we saw under Doug? No, can't see that right now.

 

It was getting pretty grim from when 2002 onwards under Ellis with little future progression looking likely, relegation more so. Even though the past few seasons have felt like that, right now I feel there is massive cause for optimism with this squad, the manager and that the chairman is still happy to continue to invest in the squad albeit in a different way to when we first started, already having spent around £25 million since Lambert took charge a year ago, although I imagine that will move down towards the £20 million mark once all business this summer has been concluded. Turbulent couple seasons but really do believe we're on a good path now and will be the foreseeable future.

                                      Guzan

Lowton              Vlaar                 Okore                 Luna

              Sylla           Westwood         Delph

       Weimann            Benteke             Gabby

Bench;

Keeper, Clark, Baker, Gardner, Bacuna, Tonev, Helenius.

Although difficult to say regarding new signings in terms of maybe a couple more outfield players to come in or if N'Zogbia stays etc..

then Bennett, KEA, Albrighton etc as well...

Good squad coming a long really. quite ridiculously young. 

Liverpool are comfortably ahead of us and will remain so for the foreseeable future, whether it's the right move for Benteke right now given the amount of interest in him, I'm not sure and I think he'd rather hold out for someone playing in Europe and if Liverpool sell Suarez, I don't see them hanging round waiting for Benteke to make a decision. I think Liverpool will do pretty well next year though and I wouldn't be surprised if that's a club he would end up in another 12 months.

I think he'll stay anyway, not sure anyone will pay £25+ million just yet.

West Ham will finish mid-table like any other side under Allardyce, Carroll will score between 10-12 league goals and be back in the England reckoning with fans and pundits stating he's something different that foreign defenders don't like, somehow find himself at the World Cup, while Allardyce stays in his job until around January/February 2015 when he's 13th ish with West Ham with no sign of progress and still shit football and they look to 'change direction'

there you go.

 

Got some pretty cool news that I'm representing team GB in Russia in a couple weeks for World Universiade. 13,000 or so athletes, 175 countries, standard is between Olympics and Commonwealth, in fact a lot of medalists from London competing like the mens gold medalist for vault etc...Jess Ennis got a bronze back in 2005 at these type of games so for the 'proper' olympic type sports, it's pretty big. Got Italy, Malaysia and Algeria in our group. The games are being shown on Eurosport on the TV and also online streams as well so if there is football on, then take a look! Opening ceremony is 45,000 stadium which should be an experience! and best of all, a suitcase full of about 25 items of free kit, perfect!

Be careful with all those beautiful fit women around joe

Well done though!

 

Nice one 

Fantastic stuff. Well played sir.

Thank you very much.   Also have a full pre-season with a Pro club in the conference so it's a bright summer ahead anyway and hopefully that'll be the first step to never looking back. Can but dream ay!

The fact it was the ratio of wages to income that was the issue seems to be ignored.

If MoN is asking for money to sign players why would he have a clear picture of all the different lines of income the club has? There was one man who had a clear picture of the money the club was making and he was the man who allowed the spending to reach the point it did. As the owner of the club he should know how we're making money, how much and what the future looks like. He had the knowledge and he had the control.

Also as the owners decisions have effected our income it meant that even though wages were reduced the ratio to income was still very high.

I think Lerner gambled on Champions League football and it didn't happen regarding ratio of wages to income. Yeah, it was a mistake but one I think he knew could afford for a short term period and was willing to take. There are worse crimes in football than showing ambition, especially for targets not far from touching distance.

I don't blame either for not achieving that goal, it's a very difficult task and I also don't think we should castrate the owner for trying to push it because even though wages and fee's for players spiraled, the players O'Neill wanted were very domestic based which worked for him and bought him success but it also meant naturally were paid more excessively than the type of players Lambert has gone after.

I think our future looks bright, a year or two ago we were all questioning where the club is headed but it's turning out how I and a fair few others saw it, stripping everything down, starting again but also still investing to hopefully move the club forward. Maybe others like yourself don't agree that either that will happen or that is happening or in fact you disagree with the strategy but what this last 12 months has shown me especially including this window is that it were gambles and mistakes that put us in this position, not a lack of care for the club. The club has developed off the field plenty under Lerner and the O'Neill gamble was understandable, the Houllier era was again (for me) understandable but I get why many would disagree with that, hardly a massive success. McLeish was just pure idiocy, no doubt about that. 

I actually think the debate is sorta pointless, we aren't in the middle of wondering what's happening. It's not like Houllier, McLeish where this forum was debating whether Lerner cared, would invest, trying to build again, trying to sell assets and then sell the club. Everything seems pretty clear, the mistakes are there, the ambition was there and now the path we're trying to go down to is there to see. In fact, I don't get why we are debating who's fault it is? Lerner, O'Neill, as long as the mistakes are learned from and we make the right decisions now which we seem to have done these past 12 months then excellent.

Don't think we have to view chairmen has some sort of either good or bad guy, they'll make mistakes and they'll get things right and for now, all is well. 

There seems to be common themes among posters. Of course centering around MON/Lerner. With people laying blame mostly with one or the other for the big financial mess the club found itself in. Without people repeating themselves and the discussion could they answer this question.

 

 

Do people think it is the football managers job to run the finances of the club or do you think it is the job of the CEO/board to do that?

It is both in my opinion. Lerner showed great ambition when he came, he appointed a manager we all wanted and allowed him the freedom to spend money in order to take us to the Champions League, twice we came close. Better management of the team, better buys in the January period and we may have done it and financially it'd have all been looking rosy. It didn't happen and by the end of the 4th season and after Man City had finished above us and with all their spending power, Lerner knew it wasn't going to happen by simply spending money. The mistakes since such as McLeish are obvious and there's no denying that but under O'Neill, his biggest downfall was naivety and trust in the manager. Lerner as we know was pretty new to football, he backed a man well liked in the game and by the time of his second season when we had finished 6th and were scoring goals freely and attendances at their peak must have had a tingle of excitement to believe CL was around the corner and given the job he'd done, to stop O'Neill from signing players he believed could lead us there maybe at that point in time would have seemed very unambitious and daft, hindsight. 

The board are in control of finances however they are not in charge of who should be signed and to an extent how much that player should be paid. In the end, a lot of the players signed by O'Neill simply weren't up to the standard. Stephen Warnock, Richard Dunne, Curtis Davies, Nigel Reo-Coker, £30 million between them, we've received £3 million back. Those type of deals along with wages that didn't suit their abilities long term hurt us financially and are part of the mess, that is not Randy Lerner's fault in my opinion. The signings are down to O'Neill. James Collins, Luke Young, Emile Heskey, Carlos Cuellar, Marlon Harewood, Habib Beye, Steve Sidwell. There are so many he signed who simply weren't good enough and we found that out over longer periods. 

The difficulty in putting responsibility on either the board or O'Neill's shoulders for me comes from that O'Neill was doing a relatively good job, each year we moved forward closer to the champions league. The signings i've mentioned actually did well under O'Neill. You look now at Cuellar, Young, Warnock, Dunne, Collins as our main 5 defenders and think how much they have cost us in money and wages since O'Neill left and you wonder why? but at the time, these 5 formed one of the better defences within the league. Unfortunately quality over time has told and bar James Collins (which could change next year) all are playing for weaker sides than ourselves and we're hardly world beaters right now. It's hard to criticise a chairman when he backed a man that a lot of us backed to continue to succeed. 

The mistakes after that I find more shocking, the whole McLeish era, Given on such a long deal etc...that's just stupid and not really learning but we are now where I think he maybe had envisaged us after he gave the job to Houllier and new stripping the club of it's top earners was about to take place. 

We went down an exciting route of spending big for Champions League football, it didn't work.

Now we aim to build a team that has a future and a philosophy of young talent and will hopefully progress that way, buying small, risk free, selling big profits, re-investing etc..

The middle part was a horrible phase.

Randy is still investing money into the club and despite all rumours and these past couple years, it seems pretty clear he still cares deeply about the success and simply got it wrong but the future for now is looking bright, we have a good manager, a good philosophy, a seemingly good future and with money still being put into the club, Randy has for now got it right and I look across the Premier League and I don't think there are too many better owners.

 

 

Am I the only one who sees Southampton as nailed on? Apart from the first few games under Pochettino where they kept the Adkins momentum they've been absolute gash. I think they'lll crash and burn.

I'll say Palace too even though I don't put it past Hollywolly to do a miracle.

 

Little harsh, 19 points from 16 games compared to 22 from 22 under Adkins.

 

Only last two out of his last 10 games.

 

First 8 games - 9 points.

Last 8 games - 10 points.

 

So I think your conclusion is unfair, not to say I don't think they could be in the mix but I think the criticism is harsh and they've been fine under Pochettino and could argue they may have picked up even more points had they not been pretty much safe with 6 or so games to spare.

 

22 from 22 misses the point. Adkins took a while to get going, they were crap at the start, like us, but once he got going they were (relatively) flying, then he was dumped while on the crest of a wave. They got 18 points from 12 games with only 2 losses in that spell. And Pochettino didn't win one of his last 6 league games. That's the momentum loss I was referring to. I accept that I probably am being a little harsh on them, but I think they're worth a bet.

 

More than reasonable justification 

I hope not anyhow, I like Southampton and the way they approach games.

Very exciting signing, probably more so than the link to Hellenius.

 

But it rings the same old bells as last season. We are not signing a player that is going to make us better instantly. People in the other thread were talking about good riddance to Bent since the new striker was coming in. Well, I beg to differ, with Hellnius in and Bent out we would be worse off next season. Sure we have Benteke, but we always have to plan for the worst-case scenario in terms of form and injuries. I very much doubt Hellenius would make a much bigger impression than let's say Bowery in the Prem 2013/14. Likewise, trade Bowery to the poor Danish league and he would score lots of goals.

 

I love it that we sign talented youth, but I also know that we are not going to become much better if we field the same team only with a few new faces like these two. Thinking long-term is very sound in terms of the financial aspect, but football is always about now and the next season, so I would hope that we also got a few more players with ability to make us better right now. Sure people can mention Benteke and hope that every signing is going to be as good as him, but frankly speaking that is naive. He is a one-off and 90% of all players in the same "unknown talent from abroad"-bracket would need much more time to settle in.

 

Not going to be too concerned though, I like that we are acting swiftly in the market

I very much doubt Bowery would have achieved anything near the level Hellenius has given Bowery's distinctly average/poor record in League two. In fact, I'm still bemused as to why we signed him.

Hard to say weaker off, because Hellenius looks a far more like for like replacement for Benteke so fits into the team and way we will play more naturally. 

Anyway onto Okore, looks a real talent and would be an absolutely fantastic signing if we can make it happen. Very comfortable with the ball and very quick and powerful which probably suits us with the way we tend to play fairly high defensively.

Get these two and a couple more like left back and central midfielder and we'll be flying.

Can't believe it. Derby County in my 18th season. Won all my first 37 games of the season and then drew on the last day to Blackburn away who are shit. Gutted. I thought i'd done it.

Don't think i'll bother (Probably will) more look forward to the World Cup game. Qualifying campaigns with absolute minnows on the most difficult setting with your mate is something so fun. Think we attempted Liechinstein about 4 times, San Marino a couple, Andorra, Faroe Islands but found our calling with Luxembourg, think it took us around 10 attempts including a couple losses in the play offs but my God it was worth it, eventually losing in the last 16 of the world cup to the Ivory Coast. It felt like a victory deep down though. Great memories.

They also used to have that mode where you could create multiple individual players and you'd play in B-team matches and stuff and friendlies for England in the hope of getting a place in the team for qualifying and then the actual World Cup squad which was really good, we never made it into the squad after a couple attempts but I like a challenging game so that weren't a bother. 

Anyway, not sure what this has to do with FIFA 14 itself but hey ho, what else is there to add about FIFA?

Can you not delete your own posts anymore?

I think Andi is a perfect fit for a club like ourselves and a manager like Lambert and the way the team had been playing towards the back end of the season. We moved the ball too slowly and patiently I felt in the first half of the season for him to really show what he was all about, in fact I didn't like him as a player but the back end of the season with the way we've counter attacked and set up differently has shown his qualities and as poster above says, most of it is off the ball, willingness to help the team going forward and defensively. His and Gabby's natural desire to help the team defensively has allowed us to play with both of them higher up the pitch instead of dropping deeper and allowing the opposition to keep the ball for prolonged periods and it also means that every attack he's in support. Gabby usually carries with the ball, Benteke usually holds his position while Weimann stays on the fringes of attacks with runs off the ball to create the space for others. In fact, the less he's on the ball the more useful he is. (slightly harsh but meant as a compliment!) 

I don't see why he'd want to leave and I'm glad he's signed a new deal and hopefully his desire and hunger stays exactly the same because that's what his game thrives on. Maybe improvements to his overall game and another good season or two, better teams may look at him but as a breath of fresh air he's been, I still think he has a certain level because his overall technical game isn't good enough but I do think he's perfect for what we've been doing.

Am I the only one who sees Southampton as nailed on? Apart from the first few games under Pochettino where they kept the Adkins momentum they've been absolute gash. I think they'lll crash and burn.

I'll say Palace too even though I don't put it past Hollywolly to do a miracle.

Little harsh, 19 points from 16 games compared to 22 from 22 under Adkins.

Only last two out of his last 10 games.

First 8 games - 9 points.

Last 8 games - 10 points.

So I think your conclusion is unfair, not to say I don't think they could be in the mix but I think the criticism is harsh and they've been fine under Pochettino and could argue they may have picked up even more points had they not been pretty much safe with 6 or so games to spare.

I've signed him on FM before, that's about my limit of knowledge about him. What we needed with the imminent departure of Bent is someone who can step in for Benteke during cup games or injured/suspended/rest or even i imagine on a few occasions to partner him if we changed things up. Helenius I can't imagine will be anywhere close to Benteke but a player of similar ilk allows for easy transition if Benteke is missing and most likely when he departs in a season or two (I hope not this summer). By all accounts, he doesn't sound a bad player and for the small price he will inevitably sign for, it seems a decent enough gamble.

To be fair, I think he means it was his dream to join an 'illustrious' team which those are, rather than actually dreaming about those specific clubs..

Look who I met last night, big Villa fan himself actually isn't he!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ehqlhfF4s

 

Here's the advert for it. My god.

 

Bahahahahaha.... 

Wow!

What the **** have I just watched, it's actually worse than the Blackburn/Venky's chicken advert which I'd deemed unbeatable until now.

Think we'll be fine.

Palace and Hull I think are goners.

Then I think between Stoke, Cardiff and I hope not but possibly Southampton.

Maybe Norwich as well to be dragged in there. 

Nothing compares to Villa of course but since I started watching Barcelona firstly because of Messi about 4 years ago, I've grown a fair attachment to the other players and the way the club is run regarding the youth system and the way they play the game. I don't think it'll last long term but Messi, Neymar combination may just prolong it an extra few years!

I tend to prefer players over clubs.

I don't think they really needed to put in a stat about Clint Hill if i'm honest.

Moving away from speculation about his future, I just wondered how highly he rates as a footballer compared to our best players we've lost over the years such as Barry, Young, Milner and further back from that to our last real top top class striker, Dwight Yorke?

Never used drugs or even touched tobacco. However, I'd say comfortably as many as 75% of male friends or within our circle take coke, pills or whatever at least once/twice a month on their nights out. It seems the normality these days. When I was younger, I used to be completely against it and didn't think i'd see what i'd see now but to be honest from my better mates, none seem addicted or heading down a bad path but just enjoying what they are doing on the occasions they get the chance. That's not to say there aren't a few people you slightly worry about.

Cannibas, don't actually know that many who do it but it's pretty accepted isn't it? hate the smell mind.

Drugs aren't for me but I drink plenty so i'm hardly a saint.

Shit, non helpful answers which my Mom is an expert in;

Me; How long are you going to be?

Mom; I'm not sure..

Me; No, just roughly...

Mom; I don't know, can't imagine i'll be too long.

Me; JUST ESTIMATE AN AMOUNT OF TIME

Mom; Probably about 10 minutes.

Me; Thank you.

It pisses me off because it happens so regularly. That and lying about time; 'Just left, be 15 minutes' ...takes around 40 minutes. I don't get it.