Roberto Di Matteo

[mwj]

1 hour ago, Grasshopper said:

Unbelievable

did it eventually get better under McCock Lambert Sherwood Garde or Black.?

We need someone with balls as big as Mourinho's ego and he needs to hit the ground running

anything less is time wasting

Mate, you live in a fantasy world where there is immediate gratification (ie. a solution to the club's disorganization over an entire decade, instant results, instant pretty football etc). 

Good things take time in the real world. 

[TheStagMan]

8 hours ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Do you guys think sacking RDM would be a backwards step in regards to continuity, club structure & morale?

 

Yes, massively so. And Xia has said that he wants to have a stable club ethos, which will be what RDM will be trying to build now, sacking him will not help with that.

[Tommo_b]

28 minutes ago, Richard said:

I think some fans have forgotten what appointing them achieved 

Was it the managers or the owner tho? Give Lambert money and I think he would've done well.

[AJ]

What motivates a manager? I don't believe its money, because if they were savvy enough during their playing days, they should not have to do a days work ever again. To become a manager, its another bite at the cherry for glory, to extend their career within football after their body says no more. Considering their dispensability and becoming a pariah if things are not going well, or totally forgotten about if the team is doing well, I believe the primal motivation is reputation.

RDM came to Villa with a reasonably sound reputation. If Villa keep on not living up to expectations, his stock lowers and his reputation takes a hit. However, if he does a Fergie, finds the right switches and turns Villa around, then generally everyone will ignore him and focus back on the players, but at least he knows his reputation is protected.

I hope he does turn it around soon. Maybe he is timing it. Against Forest, it was very much attack. We saw a totally different game against Ipswich. It was very boring, but at least we didn't concede in the last 5 minutes, so you could say it was an exercise in defence. Hopefully for the Newcastle game, they can put the two together.

I hope he is able to turn it around very soon. If he manages to do what it takes and makes everybody happy, I will be happy for him that he can sleep better at night, with a contented smile that a manager with a good reputation has before going ny nyes.

[Tommo_b]

Personally I'd give him the minimum of 20 games and see where we are and how things are going etc, you can't sack someone so soon into such a massive job of turning Villa around, in all honestly I still think we will finish top 6 but even if we don't, as long as we keep the faith and create stability for the players and staff, then come next summer with more spending, we will win the league.

if it takes two years in the championship to as we have heard from numerous managers change the losing and poisonous mentality at Villa Park then I'll take that.

It's not like RDM hasn't gotten teams promoted before, the guy knows what he is doing better then us, he is a champions league winning manager ffs, let's not write off his credentials, still takes some nous to beat Barcelona over two legs and Bayern Munich in the final.

[Duck]

1 minute ago, Tommo_b said:

Personally I'd give him the minimum of 20 games and see where we are and how things are going etc, you can't sack someone so soon into such a massive job of turning Villa around, in all honestly I still think we will finish top 6 but even if we don't, as long as we keep the faith and create stability for the players and staff, then come next summer with more spending, we will win the league.

if it takes two years in the championship to as we have heard from numerous managers change the losing and poisonous mentality at Villa Park then I'll take that.

It's not like RDM hasn't gotten teams promoted before, the guy knows what he is doing better then us, he is a champions league winning manager ffs, let's not write off his credentials, still takes some nous to beat Barcelona over two legs and Bayern Munich in the final.

Not good enough. He should have come in, assembled a new team and got them winning 4-5 nil every game. We should be promoted by now. Bring in Guardiola or Mourinho. Spend the cash Tony. RDM out!

 

 

... Wasn't even a ten games ago we were praising him for his clear out and the players he signed. Granted we need to be a bit more ruthless and turn draws into wins but we aren't getting duffed every week. We just need a bit of luck at this point.

Yeah we're all frustrated at the lack of wins, but too much baying for blood on here atm I think 

 

[DCJonah]

26 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

Was it the managers or the owner tho? Give Lambert money and I think he would've done well.

Based on? 

Us getting worse the longer he spent with us? He signed one good player. The rest were awful. He didn't deserve more money. 

There's a reason the Venky's were the only ones who would touch him and now he's unemployed. 

[TrentVilla]

12 minutes ago, Duck said:

Not good enough. He should have come in, assembled a new team and got them winning 4-5 nil every game. We should be promoted by now. Bring in Guardiola or Mourinho. Spend the cash Tony. RDM out!

... Wasn't even a ten games ago we were praising him for his clear out and the players he signed. Granted we need to be a bit more ruthless and turn draws into wins but we aren't getting duffed every week. We just need a bit of luck at this point.

Yeah we're all frustrated at the lack of wins, but too much baying for blood on here atm I think 

 

Please don't misrepresent peoples views like that irrespective of if you agree with them or not.

As for your point that he was being praised ten games ago for clearing out players and for those he signed, well yes he was and rightly so. Now he is being heavily criticised for his woeful results and seeming inability to put said players into a functioning team. Once again rightly so in my view.

Sure we could do with some luck, we never have any it seems but then bad teams rarely do and right now that is what we are, the manager needs to do something about that and quickly otherwise he will soon find himself our latest ex manager. Because we aren't where we are in the league because of bad luck.

[Dr_Pangloss]

If getting "duffed every week" is the standard for criticism then god help us. He has spent a lot of money and the results against poor sides have been atrocious. Mistakes are getting repeated almost every single game and even our much vaunted 'performances' have dropped off significantly over the last two games. Simply not good enough.

[ender4]

I've only just calmed down after the Brentford game (yes, that game rather than the Ipswich game). 

I've changed my mind, I wanted RDM out, and voted to give him 2 more games. But now I think give him another 2 months or so. 

 

 

[TRO]

I am one of these fans that does believe it takes time, however just a few points to ponder.

• This chesnut has been rolled out as mitigation for the previous managers poor results
• Do the opposition managers know more about OUR weaknesses than we do ourselves( their tactics seem to suggest so)
• When results are not forthcoming, you listen to the managers comments/reactions.....they do not fill me with confidence.
• It seems our search for a solution, centres primarily around Trial & Error.
• Should we not be looking at a few Free transfers ....to alleviate pressure on the manager and gain some muscle.
• When should we realistically see the improvement...... to see a game out from a winning position.
•  

My worry is he does not give me the impression that he has his finger on the pulse and that in time we will have the answers. Having said that I do not want to see a trend where managers are sacked every 5 minutes......its all catch 22 for me.

It was never was going to be easy, But Dr Tone has given it a boost most managers in this division would have been over the moon with.

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by TRO

[meme]

13 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I honestly think we are one of them most fickle fan bases around. RDM in, not out.

To be blatantly honest, in the past seven or so years we've probably gone through the stuff of nightmares for a football fan. All people want is to actually finish high up in a table for once.

[TrentVilla]

15 minutes ago, meme said:

To be blatantly honest, in the past seven or so years we've probably gone through the stuff of nightmares for a football fan. All people want is to actually finish high up in a table for once.

All I want is people to know what the word fickle means.

 

[meme]

13 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

I honestly think we are one of them most fickle fan bases around. RDM in, not out.

Drat, I forgot. Considering I have it included in my username on quite a lot of other forums, you'd think i'd know...

[TRO]

It seems to me we are suffering from an Identity crisis.....let me explain.

The problem for me goes back some time.....We suffered from a condition that has seen us sign too many players for whatever reason that have failed us....in all positions.Not only have they failed us, we have had to fully amortise them in order to remove their over inflated wages off the books.

We have been a big, historical club in a spiral of decline due mainly from this problem for far too long.

It seems we cannot compete/attract the players that can almost guarantee form.....and we haven't got the time to repair the damage dealing in low budget or Free Transfers ( also there would be uproar from all quarters) 

Imo we have some decent technical players.....we need some risky( on form but not on financial commitment) Freebies with a bit of muscle to come in and balance things up a bit........We have done this in the past, remember Shaun Teale & Eamonn Deacy......Thats like what we need ......big money does not seem to be working for us, it has been attracting the wrong mentality.

We are presently caught between a rock and a hard place.

We find ourselves due to all of this paying over the odds for players, I also find that we spend in a cavalier fashion to create a quick fix and do not keep some back for when an ideal player becomes available.....It seems to me no coordinated approach.

How many times have we missed key players when we haven't got the money......and when we have got the money, those key players are not available.

I see no end to this, whoever is owner.

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by TRO

[PaulC]

For me the problem is we have signed so many players it takes for the team to gel properly and for the new players to actually find their feet. Confidence is a major factor and we have none. I don't know if RDM is the right man but i dont know its too soon to change. We have had too many changes since Lambert and now is the time for some continuity, evern if it means another season in the championsip. It was never going to be easy being as we were once the worst ever Premier League sides last season. We have tried to invest heavily in proven championship players. Too heavily in my view. New manager means new ideas, more change in personal and we dont need any more of that. We need to work with what we have and find the right mix. I dont think it was a bad result yesterday. We had injuries and RDM tried to sure up the defence by playing a back 3 and that allowed him to play Amavi. More game time will do him good. We lacked penetration but we missed Gestede and Mcormack. We didn't concede so people cant say he was wrong to change things. You do get crap matches in the championship especially after playing 3 matches in 6 days. The season is a marathon and right now we are some where near the back of the field but hopefully we can progress through the field.

 

I notice the blues game that Rowett has produced an extremely fit team. They look fitter than our boys although not technically as good. 

[GENTLEMAN]

4 minutes ago, PaulC said:

For me the problem is we have signed so many players it takes for the team to gel properly and for the new players to actually find their feet. Confidence is a major factor and we have none. I don't know if RDM is the right man but i dont know its too soon to change. We have had too many changes since Lambert and now is the time for some continuity, evern if it means another season in the championsip. It was never going to be easy being as we were once the worst ever Premier League sides last season. We have tried to invest heavily in proven championship players. Too heavily in my view. New manager means new ideas, more change in personal and we dont need any more of that. We need to work with what we have and find the right mix. I dont think it was a bad result yesterday. We had injuries and RDM tried to sure up the defence by playing a back 3 and that allowed him to play Amavi. More game time will do him good. We lacked penetration but we missed Gestede and Mcormack. We didn't concede so people cant say he was wrong to change things. You do get crap matches in the championship especially after playing 3 matches in 6 days. The season is a marathon and right now we are some where near the back of the field but hopefully we can progress through the field.

 

I notice the blues game that Rowett has produced an extremely fit team. They look fitter than our boys although not technically as good. 

This, for me he has the season (on the proviso we're not in serious risk of relegation). I know it's depressing but we need some stability, I think/hope/pray he'll turn it around. We got back a bit of luck, which we havent had at the start of the season, at the end of Ipswich game, and ground out the draw (urgh ). Clear tactic by McCarthy to press on hard at the end, with the subs, and it nearly paid off for them, but we withstood it, hopefully resisting that goes someway to remedying the weak fragility at the back end of games. We're 7 points off Newcastle (everyone favourites for the title) in 3rd with 114 points to play for.

[TrentVilla]

 

We don't need stability for the sake of stability though, what we actually need is a manager who knows how to organise a side, to set patterns of play, to give a side a structure and way of playing and who can adapt during games and pick up points. Right now it just doesn't look like Di Matteo is that man.

He will get a few more games I'm sure but not many, he certainly isn't going to get a season if he continues the way he is and neither should he.

It doesn't really matter how many games are left if we can't win any, right now Di Matteo isn't very good at winning games.

[HanoiVillan]

1 hour ago, TrentVilla said:

Please don't misrepresent peoples views like that irrespective of if you agree with them or not.

As for your point that he was being praised ten games ago for clearing out players and for those he signed, well yes he was and rightly so. Now he is being heavily criticised for his woeful results and seeming inability to put said players into a functioning team. Once again rightly so in my view.

Sure we could do with some luck, we never have any it seems but then bad teams rarely do and right now that is what we are, the manager needs to do something about that and quickly otherwise he will soon find himself our latest ex manager. Because we aren't where we are in the league because of bad luck.

Our woeful results are:

1 Win

5 Draws

2 Losses

I don't think those are woeful results. No great, obviously, need to be better, starting ASAP, but not woeful. We've scored at least one point in 6 out of our 8 games. 

[GENTLEMAN]

1 minute ago, TrentVilla said:

 

We don't need stability for the sake of stability though, what we actually need is a manager who knows how to organise a side, to set patterns of play, to give a side a structure and way of playing and who can adapt during games and pick up points. Right now it just doesn't look like Di Matteo is that man.

He will get a few more games I'm sure but not many, he certainly isn't going to get a season if he continues the way he is and neither should he.

It doesn't really matter how many games are left if we can't win any, right now Di Matteo isn't very good at winning games.

Right now.... is 8 games in though, I agree I expected more and have been a little perturbed but the unbalanced nature of the starting 11, I personally like to see a more balanced starting 11 even if it means that not all 11 best players are out on the pitch, but surely the combined experience of RDM and Clarke should be able to organise a side and set out patterns of play in order to win games, I think they need time.

I agree, 1 win in 8 league games is not good enough, but 2 loses in 8 signifies that we're not to far away. However of course we need to get those W's if we're serious about promotion, which Xia clearly is, and I am sure that RDM is not happy with results so far.

I think a win against Newcastle could be so important, bring back the belief and the positivity. For me there is still a hangover from last season, where I would at the end of a loss, think right....win the next one and we turn a corner, and it never came, but for me this season feels different, we're nearly there.

I mean, who replaces them? Bruce? How much time do they get? I'd rather stick with RDM & Clarke, this is their squad, they need to find a solution.