VillaChris Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 2 hours ago, Jimzk5 said: I've been expecting relegation since we failed to beat an exceptionally bad Sunderland team early in the season. West Brom at home for me. I wanted to see a reaction after the Leicester catastrophe but we had nothing against a very limited West Brom team who could've easily won by a couple more. I said to my Dad as soon as we walked out of the Holte end that day this season we simply didn't have the players to stay up although I never expected us to be this bad. Our fate was sealed in the first three months...Sunderland, West Brom, Stoke, Swansea, Watford. 1 point from those home games, you don't stay up with that return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 1 hour ago, MikeMcKenna said: It really is a case of history repeating itself. Following Ellis's return in 1982 he went down a similar road of breaking up our League and European Cup winning squad. Five years and several shit managers later we were relegated. When Lambert arrived Lerner's 'project' began that led to loads of low quality players coming in. Several shit managers and five years later were about to be relegated. Ellis and Lerner - pair of prize clearings in the woods! AVFC has been very unlucky with owners over the last 3+ decades! One thing I would say on Ellis....after that relegation he at least learnt in the 90s when we did have poor seasons (94/95) and (97/98) when we weren't far off relegation to significantly invest the following season so there wouldn't be a repeat and we were back in the top 6 the following seasons. Lerner just didn't do anything, just continue with cost cutting and crossing fingers seemingly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 9 minutes ago, VillaChris said: One thing I would say on Ellis....after that relegation he at least learnt in the 90s when we did have poor seasons (94/95) and (97/98) when we weren't far off relegation to significantly invest the following season so there wouldn't be a repeat and we were back in the top 6 the following seasons. Lerner just didn't do anything, just continue with cost cutting and crossing fingers seemingly. the summer of 2014, after just narrowly staying up and spending just £9million is one of the dumbest things Lerner did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 1 hour ago, blandy said: Your post - Likewise fair points Dave. Though re the bit I quoted, I don't think that's anything other than a guess, and mine would be different. My guess would be he was fine, to a degree with "putting money in", but not at the same level he had been. And I was fine with that. Others weren't. I said at the time I wanted the club run properly, not to be a "financially doped" thing, where we just had an endless cycle of looking for ever richer owners to take over and spend more. Where RL went badly wrong was in the make up of the board and the decision makers - resulting in lax control, poor decisions, mistakes and losses, so that instead of having reasonable sums to spend on players, it all went on paying off losses and emergency panic buys and pay-offs. Shambolically so. No I agree he doesn't "deserve" his money back, because he's damaged the thing he bought, bluntly. The reality is that he's going to have a price that he will recover a portion of it - perhaps half, who knows. His decision making has been awful, and he's been unlucky too, and people have let him down. But he exposed himself and the club unduly to the risk of that. I hope that with the new people involved the decision making will improve. I'd take a competent, knowledgeable owner over a rich one every day of the week. The problem is, in my opinion, that he had already made a rod for his own back and, in all fairness to Martin O'Neill here, we were finishing in 6th place with the 6th highest wage bill in the country. There was nothing "unusual" about our achievements, Randy consciously bit off more than he could chew. Not literally, he could bank roll the club as this level for another 30 years, but mentally. He simply stopped caring about what happened on the pitch. That wasn't our fault, yet we have suffered for it most of all. 6 years ago he pulled the plug and it was unforgivable. What should have happened is that he sustain that level of investment and make good on his promise to improve the commercial aspects of the club. That would have been the correct business decision, that is what a true custodian would have been inclined to do. I too would take a competent, knowledgeable owner over a rich one looking for a play thing too. You know what too? I would absolutely love Randy Lerner to prove me wrong going forward Pete. Invest the requisite funds*, hand over full control to somebody who knows what the hell they are doing (still debatable) and set a reasonable price at which to sell the club to the kind of owner you and I crave. It's the very least we deserve for putting up with 6 years of this shite. *It will take a mammoth investment to get us back out of the Championship first time of asking given the losses the club is already making, the complete overhaul of a rotten squad needed and the huge loss of income about to hit us. More than he thinks, I'm certain. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 4 hours ago, Jimzk5 said: the summer of 2014, after just narrowly staying up and spending just £9million is one of the dumbest things Lerner did. Spent less than that didn't we? Think Sanchez was the only player bought for money and he wasn't anywhere near £9m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Sanchez and Richardson was only ones that cost a fee that summer and think was at most 3.5 million between them. maybe included that we spent a bit more in January on Gil and Sinclair which would have been better off used to paint the stadium as them 2 are absolute garbage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 4 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: Spent less than that didn't we? Think Sanchez was the only player bought for money and he wasn't anywhere near £9m. we bought Sanchez for £4.5million & cissokho for £2.5. Richardson was £250k, senderos and Cole free transfers so yeah probably £7million to bolster a side that had nearly been relegated (again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 2 hours ago, Jimzk5 said: we bought Sanchez for £4.5million & cissokho for £2.5. Richardson was £250k, senderos and Cole free transfers so yeah probably £7million to bolster a side that had nearly been relegated (again). Shows how thick lerner is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 My "favourite" example of this weird swapping stuff is Bournemouth and Stockport County. In 2009/10 (just 7 seasons ago!) Bournemouth were in League Two and Stockport were in League One. Now, Bournemouth are in the Premier League and Stockport are 11th in the Conference North. Unreal. (As an aside, briny mentioned Solihull Moors doing well in that league - think they win the league if they win their next game. Nice to see! I watched Moor Green as a kid and fairly recently went to Damson Park to watch them play then-2nd in the league, North Ferriby. I think Moors had lost once all season - they promptly lost 1-3 in horrible weather. Stefan Moore is their starting striker! ) Stefan Moore would probably walk into our current side! [emoji15] [/exaggeration for effect - possibly] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 9 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: Spent less than that didn't we? Think Sanchez was the only player bought for money and he wasn't anywhere near £9m. I look at more summer 2013 as a lost opportunity tbh....we'd finished that season in great form and had the boost in the summer of Benteke u turning and signing a new contract. If ever there was a time to spend big and get in 2-3 quality players through the spine it was the but instead it was bargain basement Bacuna, Luna, Helenius etc. Even a reasonably big money signing like Kozak, most agreed on here we needed a number 10 playmaker more. Of course moot point whether Lambert was a good enough manager to significantly get us up the league, we saw precious little evidence of this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 9, 2016 VT Supporter Share Posted April 9, 2016 We get to kick off a week earlier next season. Woo-hoo. The good times roll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 havent lost 8 in a row since 1963 so can see another record today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Must sting for Lambert to not hold all the negative records at Villa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 7 hours ago, Jimzk5 said: we bought Sanchez for £4.5million & cissokho for £2.5. Richardson was £250k, senderos and Cole free transfers so yeah probably £7million to bolster a side that had nearly been relegated (again). Thanks, I'd forgotten Cissokho. As you say, a pitifully small amount to spend on a side that basically only stayed up because Hull couldn't concentrate on both a relegation battle and an FA Cup final at the same time. 2 hours ago, VillaChris said: I look at more summer 2013 as a lost opportunity tbh....we'd finished that season in great form and had the boost in the summer of Benteke u turning and signing a new contract. If ever there was a time to spend big and get in 2-3 quality players through the spine it was the but instead it was bargain basement Bacuna, Luna, Helenius etc. Even a reasonably big money signing like Kozak, most agreed on here we needed a number 10 playmaker more. Of course moot point whether Lambert was a good enough manager to significantly get us up the league, we saw precious little evidence of this. Yep, no argument from me, that was also a ridiculous transfer window. We should have been able to ride that momentum. Together, these posts illustrate why I don't agree with those who say last summer is the main reason we're going down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 29 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Thanks, I'd forgotten Cissokho. As you say, a pitifully small amount to spend on a side that basically only stayed up because Hull couldn't concentrate on both a relegation battle and an FA Cup final at the same time. Hull stayed up that season though, Norwich collapsed in last 2 months that probably kept us up and Fulham having about 11 managers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YLN Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 9 minutes ago, Zatman said: Hull stayed up that season though, Norwich collapsed in last 2 months that probably kept us up and Fulham having about 11 managers They actually only had three. The same number as us once we appoint the new boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 36 minutes ago, Zatman said: Hull stayed up that season though, Norwich collapsed in last 2 months that probably kept us up and Fulham having about 11 managers Yes, I meant our win against Hull in the penultimate week of the season. You remember, the game where Bowery looked like **** Payet out of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 4 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Yes, I meant our win against Hull in the penultimate week of the season. You remember, the game where Bowery looked like **** Payet out of nowhere. Bowery was that good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arj Guy Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 So if Norwich lose aswell will relegation still be confirmed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Field Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 17 minutes ago, Arj Guy said: So if Norwich lose aswell will relegation still be confirmed? Norwich have to better our result. But if we and Norwich lose the best we can do is match their point tally 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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