[alex_front2]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

Speaking as a Birmingham City fan who hates Aston Villa, I honestly feel that Aston Villa is suffering with a tightfisted owner who isn't willing to spend enough money on bringing players in to replace their best players, which in turn is making the Managers look abysmal when it's not their fault.

Unlike us who are suffering financial issues, Aston Villa could pull themselves out of it if the owner was willing to spend, instead he chose not too so he has to deal with what comes their way now which is more than likely relegation.

And as an interesting fact Aston Villa finished in the top 8 in Martin O'Neil's last season.

Randy Lerner is foolhardy. He had an offer last season but rejected it as it wasn't enough. He'd bite his arm off for that. I also think appointing that ex Arsenal guy, Fox (??) the fellow American as CEO was a mistake.

Glad Fox has stepped down.

[Mystic Mock]

But that really is all in the past though, they need to try and get with the times and try and adapt to their new standards as let's face it no top notch Footballer is gonna be playing for a team in Birmingham.

[King Gizzard]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Rarely see a team with less fight. Strange that Garde escapes criticism, problems with the board have always been there surely but it was never this bad under Lambert, McLeish or Sherwood (sure Nathan will agree)

Nah, Lambert and McLeish played turgid football, Sherwood was just a disaster who had no clue whatsoever. They all had players like Benteke (kept us up the last two seasons probably singlehandedly, if we didn't have him we'd have been gone under any of those managers) and Delph at some point, Garde really has nothing

They also all had pre seasons. Garde's been chucked in at the deep end. Garde tries to play some decent football and you can see his heads screwed on. Hasn't been given anything to work with in January which if I was him I'd think it's a massive disrespect in not having faith in his ability shown from the board..Don't think he's going to stay mind, the right manager at the wrong time. and don't really care if he doesn't. As long as it's not Pearson (here come the but Leicester are top because of him type posts)

[King Gizzard]

Put it this way, the fans have finally stopped blaming managers and it's all guns on the board now

[King Gizzard]

Mock makes a good point, about time our fans stopped clinging onto the past, yeah we were big, ages ago, but we can look back without trying to still make it relevant. It wouldn't take much for us to become big again though, the stadium and fanbase are there. But as Mock says, players would rather choose London than here even if it was a much lesser club like Watford

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Mock makes a good point, about time our fans stopped clinging onto the past, yeah we were big, ages ago, but we can look back without trying to still make it relevant. It wouldn't take much for us to become big again though, the stadium and fanbase are there. But as Mock says, players would rather choose London than here even if it was a much lesser club like Watford

Thanks for understanding my point as I know that I probably put it across in a harsh manner.

Villa will definitely come back up again next season if they spend enough on good players, and maybe if they keep bagging top 10 finishes for awhile again they might start getting higher quality players who are gonna see the team as consistent and reliable in the Premiership.

But yes it is harder for Birmingham teams to get really good players that's why both have to be consistently doing well to just even have a chance.

[alex_front2]

Yes good point about Birmingham, and how desirable location plays a part in attracting players. Foreign players are increasingly expressing preference for London and South East.

Sanchez was offered megabucks to go to Liverpool but snubbed this to go to Arsenal for lower wages.

The Manchester twins will always draw top players due to high wages, trophy opportunities and the size of club. Birmingham is not that far to London but area isn't that desirable location if you are a Uruguayan. Newcastle and Sunderland due to failure and distance to London will flounder, this is why these sort of clubs needs to have best Academies and scout other leagues to get Vardy/ Mahrez/ Kante bargains.

[alex_front2]

They need to bring back Dr Josef Venglos

The thing is a relegation battle is the perfect opportunity for an underrated player to shine against his feckless more decorated peers. Aston Villa players right now won't be rescued next season by a nice gullible rich sugar daddy in China. If noone bought Charlie Austin from QPR - one of EPL's top scorers last season - what hope do the crappy AV players expect. Look at William this season, being Chelsea's best player amidst the lazy arrogant rats Costa, Hazard and Fabregas. Jack Grealish has proved to be a busted flush.

AV fans next season should be booking their tickets to Deepdale and the John Smith's Stadium

PS 12 months ago Leicester still bottom.

[alex_front2]

I hate to be a vulture Villa fans but....

Now that relegation looks inevitable and Remi Garde looks likely to abscond at season end, thoughts now turn to selling players 'too good for championship'. However, given that shockingly a rather brilliant Charlie Austin was not initially bought when QPR went down at the end of last season is anyone in Aston Villa worth buying?

Jac Grealish - busted flush? Overrated? Hippy crack undisciplined liability?
Micah Richards/ Jolean Lescott - past prime?
Adama Traore - talented but doesn't turn upmto big games
Jordan Ayew - the wrong Ayew brother?
Rudy Gestede - more interested in his energy drinks empire than football
Scott Sinclair - ultimate journeyman
Gabby Agbonlahor - too much a local Villa boy?

[alex_front2]

Aston Villa and their fellow relegation buddies will get a bigger cash reward for finishing last in EPL and going down than the CL winners



http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...gue-glory.html

[Denver]

Villa will follow Birmingham, Bolton, QPR, Portsmouth, Wolves, Blackburn, Cardiff and Wigan in getting relegated then be crippled by the ridiculous wages they decided to pay in the premier league.

[GiRTh]

Cant think of one player that is likely to leave in the summer to a Premiership team. Some might go abroad but the majority of the squad are not good enough for the EPL.

[alex_front2]

Clubs should avoid buying AV players. They lack bite, desire, fight and skill. Grealish is overrated, and is unprofessional. It would do him a world of good to be playing against the likes of Fulham, Preston NE , Ipswich and Wolves.

Usually in relegated clubs there are 2 or 3 players worth salvaging to keep in EPL eg QPR Charlie Austin (finally rescued in January by Soton) but AV players are universally crap. Agbanglahor would only work at Villa, Richards past his prime, Lescott utterly pointless, should never have left Everton.

This is the worst season to be relegated as the Sky mega crazy money kicks in next season whilst the relegation parachute payments remain the same. AV would have been better off going down like Burney last season who are very likely to return to PL (can't wait to hear Sean Dyche's dulcet tones again ).

Remi Garde is appealing . His presser was awful : "we are obligated to beleive AV can stay up". How uninspiring is that?! As if he has given upmthe ghost but is going through the motions of having to believe AV will stay up to appease the fans.

[alex_front2]

T

Originally Posted by Nathan

Don't think he's going to stay mind, the right manager at the wrong time. and don't really care if he doesn't. As long as it's not Pearson (here come the but Leicester are top because of him type posts)

Nigel Pearson is a damn good "relegation survival"/ championship level manager. Better than Garde, Sherwood, Lambert , McLeish. He had two decent stints at Leicester that ended under controversial circumstances. Last season's poor start, LCFC were quite unlucky and key man Riyad Mahrez was fecking lazy, amazingly talented (just as good last leason as he is now) but frustratingly lazy, Pearson put a rocket up Mahrez's backside and he began to perform from February onwards. Some of the stuff Mahrez is doing now he was doing last year, but less consistently at the season start. Now everyone is on the Mahrez bandwagon 12 months on. Prearson may not be a long term solution but he is more able to keep AV up than Garde, who is too busy admiring his hair than to bother showing any interest from technical area.

There will be clear out of lazy mercenary players , many will not be locals, so AV will rely on youth academy. So the big problem AV will have is , alongside being in undesirable Birmingham, that they will have to compete with West Midlands sides like Wolves, Birmingham City for young local players. The best kids will head to WBA in sexy EPL. Then there's competing with Midlands as a whole and Leicester have that sewn up and those championship level kids in East Midlands will go to Nottingham Forest and Derby.

[Denver]

Remi Garde will reportedly be sacked within 48 hoursr with Nigel Pearson the preferred replacement

[alex_front2]

So AV finally get rid of Garde, it was the "obligated to stay up" comment that did it.

[LeatherTrumpet]

pearson will do a great job, summer clearout and some good British players brought in all needing to prove a point

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by alex_front2

T

Nigel Pearson is a damn good "relegation survival"/ championship level manager. Better than Garde, Sherwood, Lambert , McLeish. He had two decent stints at Leicester that ended under controversial circumstances. Last season's poor start, LCFC were quite unlucky and key man Riyad Mahrez was fecking lazy, amazingly talented (just as good last leason as he is now) but frustratingly lazy, Pearson put a rocket up Mahrez's backside and he began to perform from February onwards. Some of the stuff Mahrez is doing now he was doing last year, but less consistently at the season start. Now everyone is on the Mahrez bandwagon 12 months on. Prearson may not be a long term solution but he is more able to keep AV up than Garde, who is too busy admiring his hair than to bother showing any interest from technical area.

There will be clear out of lazy mercenary players , many will not be locals, so AV will rely on youth academy. So the big problem AV will have is , alongside being in undesirable Birmingham, that they will have to compete with West Midlands sides like Wolves, Birmingham City for young local players. The best kids will head to WBA in sexy EPL. Then there's competing with Midlands as a whole and Leicester have that sewn up and those championship level kids in East Midlands will go to Nottingham Forest and Derby.

this

[alex_front2]

Whoever replaces Garde (Pearson?) needs to axe the majority of current squad and focus primarily on the youth (minus Grealish) for remainder of season, get them energised and confident and get playing partnerships established. So that the young players can then hit championship ground running. The championship is tough, but having the youth play the likes of Man U , Chelsea, Bournemouth and Liverpool now will build confidence for taking on Fulham, Ipswich and Nottingham Forest next season. Even if AV inevitably lose, it will provide great learnings for U21s.

Ditch Richards, Guzan, Lescott et al. AV should not even bother too much about getting a good fee. It's about cutting wage bill, which is the financial hole QPR fell into last season. Agbanglahor and co actually out earnt Vardy for most of this season. Add a few quality "free players" (under 26), a fancy young loan starlet from a top EPL club, the very best 1 or 2 non league stars and AV might have a chance of a PL return within 2 or 3 years


http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/spor...nigel-11070699

[alex_front2]

Article in DM : How Aston Villa fell to relegation due to absent owner Lerner

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...dy-Lerner.html

[alex_front2]

Aston Villa can be relegated if Norwich better their result on Saturday. Villa host Bournemouth while Norwich travel to Crystal Palace. They are currently 15 points adrift of Norwich in 17th with six games to play.

Jamie Carragher gives his damning verdict on AV:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...sign-them.html

Ian Hyland ‏@HylandIan

Looks like Aston Villa are going down after appearing in an FA Cup final.
Just like Wigan did. And Hull.
Best of luck to Palace and Watford.

Spare a thought for Jordan Veretout. Jordan Veretout had 2 offers last summer : Leicester & Villa, and Leicester offered more money. He chose Villa and Leicester bought Kanté .

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...jack-deal.html

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/spor...villa-11014060

[alex_front2]

Tom Hanks message to fellow AV fans

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36143291

Nigel Pearson closing in on AV job

http://www.thisisbigbrother.com/foru...=295681&page=2

[GiRTh]

Youtube video

I've just cone across this - Wow!!!!

Collymore goes in on Lescott.

[Mystic Mock]

I know that Aston Villa still lost today, but I don't know why they haven't shown the fight all season like they have done in these last two games?

[alex_front2]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

I know that Aston Villa still lost today, but I don't know why they haven't shown the fight all season like they have done in these last two games?

Today was easily one of their best games despite result. Too little too late.

Shackles and pressure are off so they can express themselves. Black really should have played U21/ kids today (not just Toner).Why not? Get the kids to play. Most kids will go down to championship, blood them in.

Next season there will be few remaining first teamers, the greedy lazy "senior " players will move on to get transfers. Adams Traore (admittedly been injured) has gone from hot property to relegated nobody. He will be angling for a big money move to a Monaco, Soton or Borussia M'gladback type team. Villa will need to sell him as his wages increase to £90k next season.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...-contract.html

I don't buy Black's excuse of not playing U21: "Doesn't want to scare kids". I think the board have instructed him to play seniors to get money worth, Villa #7 highest wages. Playing the seniors no matter how crap makes them a bit easier to sell.

Local "fan" Agbanglahor has already began the process of leaving Villa by pretending to do honourable thing by saying he is not worthy to be captain and standing down. Purlease. In reality he's out for a move to escape playing in championship, hope no one buys him.

All season the players have been lazy, uncommitted, passionless, uncreative, lacking urgency or fight, never repaying loyalty shown to them, and 'average will do' mentality, poor at decisions, sloppy etc.

Being over reliant on mediocrity costs teams eg Cameron Jerome (Norwich City), Giroud (Arsenal, Ozil and Sanchez have gone off boil for large swathes of season) etc. All teams no matter how poor at least need a teeny bit of quality eg Defoe (Sunderland would have been relegated even before Villa without him).

Aston Villa should be a cautionary tale to other mid tier EPL sides (Stoke, WBA, Soon etc).