NIVillan

Well it was nearly going to be his new club as well

Didnt Steer show a few weaknesses at the beginning of the season or in Pre Season behind the suspect defense? Going out on loan this time might have improved him so we are seeing an all improved Steer compared to last August.

Probably one of the biggest reasons we are changing suppliers, the availability of the kit over the season has been shocking. Plus I didn't feel the love for the Luke's design. Reminded me of the time we were throwing away the opportunities offered by becoming Champions of Europe.

Depends also on who will be signing with us end of season. If we are doing okay with Hause and it looks like he will be signing at the end of the season I say play him for long term development. Axel if going back to Man U isnt as much as a priority

Add Alan MCNally to that as well

If Lerner had ran out of money how come he spent big on Bent? I think Lerner just wanted some sort of management of the situation which ONeil was unwilling (unable) to do. ONeil has show through his career he could work to a budget in that he is told you can spend this much. He would get players in within that spend budget and build a team but never one to have a long enough plan to keep that budget ticking over. Leicester, Celtic and us were all screwed after ONeil left as he didnt build any sort of legacy plan. It will be interesting if Dean Smith can be that manager.

Saunders was told by the board they wasnt renewing the contract so in essence it wasnt a rolling contract anymore. Saunders had basically been given notice of termination. The board expected Saunders to resign and had Barton lined up ready to go. Saunders had also delivered promotion to the top league, 2 League Cups and Champions of England. Also left us 3 rounds from being Champions of Europe. Though the team would need rebuilding with aging players the club was in a good place with good youth coming through and had been developed into the first team environment, and also being in a position to attract better players as champions. Often told he had to sell a player to buy one. ONeil, had one of the Top 5 budgets in Europe for 2 years in a row and a board that was on the whole very compliant and tended to every whim. Asked to consider spending less and the loss of one player he walks out on a rolling contract 4 days before the start of the season. Left an ageing team with no real youth to first team plan. ONeil was an effective manager in a short term hit but he leaves teams in a bad way. Next manager is always tasked with a clean up. Never been a huge fan ever since he wasted an opportunity of a good end to a season by bringing in Marlon Harwood.

Stripped?? He lost Milner and that was it. That was after previous couple of seasons being the one of the highest spenders in Europe. He walked out at the first request to cosider the finances. Saunders sold Gidman and Gray and bought 'cheap' alternatives like Withe. This is after always being told to manage the budget etc. Consistent battles with the board. Went on to win League and build a Euro Cup winning team. You can compare ONeil with Jose recently. Kept asking for more money to buy players and it just not working.

With Bruce we have seen how far we could go with him, and the type of football. If we stuck with him he might have got us promotion (Not this season mind) but he has never shown an ability to really progress in the Premier League. Also his football was dire. Smith at the moment has an unknown upper level. This may be it but we don't know. And as people are using to bash him he was at smaller clubs previously. He has to learn how to manage a club like Villa, the expectations and the quality of player we could attract. The quality of football hasnt been great recently but pre christmas we had flashes with the Derby and Boro games of what could be in store. Even with Brucie's greatest win we never saw that. When we beat Wolves 4-1 you spent the first half thinking oh shite they are going to batter us. Time will tell.

When watching that first game to me he looked to eager to please rushing in, snatching at passes etc Hopefully he keeps getting better with a longer run but we have to remember he hasnt played much past couple of seasons due to injury.

Give him time is my point. We cant keep burning through managers.

I keep repeating myself, Little had a dodgy start to his managerial career at Villa when he took over part way through a season, just missing relegation. He gets a summer and transformed the team where we won a cup and finished top 4 the following season. Following that we had 3 or four seasons top 6. Something we hadn't repeated since the 1930s.

Also when it comes to our defense, a recent photo of the team shows he is a big Sod. We need a big sod in the middle of our defense.

Mings appears to be integrating himself to the club more than the other Loan signings. For example out coaching the Kids the other day. Maybe there is a deal in place and he thinks he is coming here permanently. If you were looking to go elsewhere in the summer why waste energy.

I thought that was Green

Zidene was in coaching in the Real Madrid setup years before he took the main role Eddie Howe messed up at Burnley but learnt from the experience and went back to Bournemouth. Both had much more previous experience than Terry would

So did Bruce and he wasnt the answer. Di Matteo had a promotion with West Brom and a European Cup to his Name. Lambert had promotions. Means Nothing Apart from Di Matteo they were given time to implement their own ideas. Bruce kept crying that first season that he needed a pre season. As you said Little had more experience and still failed to get the team going when he came in until the start of the following season.

I remember Brian Little coming in and things looked good including a 3-0 spanking of Chelsea. Then wheels came off and we just survived relegation at the end of the season. Team had good players that had won us the League Cup (prefer original name) the year before and runners up to Man U in the Premier League a couple of seasons before. Little had a clearout at the end of the season and built a new squad. Following season was memorable. That is all

I think Sheff Wednesday are skint so I doubt they will be buying anyone off us at the moment

isnt one of the reason Cowans decided to retire because of the way they treat them when transitioning from Youth to Senior team?

We went something like 6 games/2 Months without scoring in Big Rons first season. But yes Under Big Ron the football was good to watch and under Little the first couple of Seasons

Our Troubles started in May 1981 when with a League Championship winning team we only brought in Andy Blair, followed by the Following year after the European Cup win I cant even remember who we bought that sumer.

America OnLine ???

Bruce does take the blame for Hogan. He bought the player wasting a big chunk of money on a player he had no idea of how to use or wasn't suited to the style of play he liked. Just like Hogan, Brucies Villa had one purple patch at the start of the new year ending when we beat Wolves 4-1.

I have hazy memory of around xmas/new year Hogan was selected and started scoring/playing well and then Bruce just dropped him again.