10 Comments on Now we have given 5th away as cheaply as we gave away 4th

Shepster on Sun, 17th May 2009 9:50


Totally frustrating.
We had a golden opportunity in January to replace Laursen, when we were third. O’Neil’s refusal to spend over the odds has cost us I think. You should expect to pay over the odds, but in the long run its money well spent if you make Champs League. I hope we finish 5th, but it doesn’t look likely if we can’t even beat Middlesborough. We must have the worst form in the league.
Having said that – we had a cracking start to the season and you can see how much progress we’ve made. Its only because we were 3rd at one point, that makes it all so annoying.
We need to spend! Value for money, in the end has gone against us. I don’t doubt that O’Neil is a great manager, but his transfer dealings are a little frustrating, given the almost unconditional backing of the Chairman.

Si on Sun, 17th May 2009 14:40


I’ve opted not to renew my season ticket for next year because I don’t honestly see the ambition this year that we’ve had for the last 2 years. We’re lucky we had a good start to the year because had we not we’d be in a releation scrap now.

MON was naieve enough to asume that buying Heskey in January was enough when clearly every pundit and fan in the country knew it wouldn’t be. MON’s cost us top 4 this year and the slide to 6th and nobody else. We’re not even at the transfer window yet and he’s already saying it will be tough to get the sort of players we want – not what the fans or the team need to be hearing Martin. We’re not even the best of the rest.

Simeon on Sun, 17th May 2009 16:22


Most pundits were of the opinion that Heskey was the best piece of business in the window – which only goes to show that most football pundits don’t have a clue, rather like our manager. Although strengthening in January would probably have been wise (I hesitate to say definitely, because inevitably clubs are reluctant to sell their best players – although January is a perfect time to pick up players who are of good quality, but for one reason or another aren’t doing it for their current clubs), we’ve had the players to finish at least fourth this season. Strengthening would have enabled us to compete in the UEFA Cup, and avoid the catastrophic effects that surrendering in that competition brought. Having said that, it’s one thing having a good-sized squad, but quite another to actually use it properly. O’Neill has shown nothing to indicate that he understands the science or art of squad rotation. In fact, judging by the team selection against Middlesboro, one gets the impression that O’Neill’s approach to team selection bears an uncanny resemblance to the electoral lists that occur in proportional reperesentation. You pick your eleven most favoured candidates, then work out how best to fit them into a 4-4-2 formation.

But not content with torpedoing this season, O’Neill is apparently determined to make a farce of next season. I agree with Si’s reservations (to understate the case somewhat) regarding O’Neill’s comments with reference to the Europa League – and actually, I agree with what O’Neill said. But O’Neill should NEVER have come out and been honest about it! Who now in their right mind is going to pay to watch us in the Europa League next season, knowing that we’ll surrender again when a choice has to be made between the league and Europe? And what player is going to be attracted to a club who, though they’re in Europe, aren’t really in it, if you see what I mean? Come to think of it, what player is going to want to sign for a team managed by a guy who has a mania for playing people out of position? Si concludes that we’re not even the best of the rest, and I agree completely. But this time next season, we may well be saying that we’re not even one of the rest, as Everton, Man City and Spurs leave us trailing in their dust.

O’Neill has to go now, before things get any worse – and so that things can get a whole lot better.

Simon Preston on Sun, 17th May 2009 16:44


O’Neill has to go? Did I just read that right? You want to get rid of one the best managers we’ve had since the top division (in its current guise) was formed? Good god man. If you think any manager could do better then please get some names down and we’ll look at it. He’s worked wonders for our team. The ONLY reason people are so down is due to our expectations being made far too high. Funny game is football. If we had started the season like this and then ended the way we started it everyone would be hailing our season a success. But no, we suddenly felt ourselves wanting Champions League football, FA Cup titles, and perhaps even the Premier League itself.
However, I will agree with you that our form in the last 3rd of the season is alarming. I’m pretty sure we’d be bottom of the Premiership right now if it started in February. But sacking MON is not the answer. I believe he’s trying to do what Ferguson did back in the 90’s, what Wenger is trying to do now. Build a squad up of young players, unheard of names that will come good in the future and start mounting regular challenges. Getting rid of MON will just upset all that and put us right back where we started: Being a mediocre mid table team that still lives on it’s past glorys.
I’m applauding our lads. Any team that can have had such a bad run of form for so long and STILL be in Europe next season can’t be bad.

Simeon on Sun, 17th May 2009 19:40


Simon, you did read it right, and the number who are of the same mind is growing, and if O’Neill continues next season (which I’m sure he will), that number could well be a majority. My expectations were high at the start of the season. Under O’Neill, I believed that we could challenge the top four, and given Arsenal’s problems this season, including the kind of injury crisis that would have seen us fighting a relegation battle, I believed – no, in fact I assumed – that we would finish in the top four. Of course no team has a divine right to anything, but given where we were and where Arsenal were, you’d have had to have been mad to expect less.

O’Neill’s strength as a manager, and the basis of his success, has been his man management. He’s never been tactically astute, and certainly at Villa he’s never indicated any kind of ability in the transfer market. So it’s by his man management that he stands or falls. The Moscow scandal was where O’Neill lost the faith of his players, and the faith of many fans. It was an appalling example of man management, and it’s the kind of mistake that can’t be undone. O’Neill has devalued his one and only asset to such an extent that, where once he was, on his own terms, and for our purposes, a good manager, he is now not fit for purpose. The task facing him this summer is beyond him. Who can reasonably have faith that he’ll adequately replace Barry and Laursen? Who can reasonably say that O’Neill will suddenly start playing people in their correct positions? Who honestly believes O’Neill is suddenly going to learn how to rotate a squad? Who can see him getting rid of Heskey and Sidwell and replacing them with people who can actually do a job for us? If you can see any of these things then you need help, because there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that any of this will happen.

Assuming O’Neill stays, what we are looking at next season, if Spurs do even a half-decent job of rebuilding, and Man City don’t suddenly go broke, is 8th place. At the best. And even 8th could well be beyond us. Perhaps then you’ll begin to open your eyes and see that O’Neill is incapable of satisfactorily managing this grand old club of ours.

SANDRO GATT on Mon, 18th May 2009 7:44


I really cannot understand MO tactics. Playing Heskey in midfield and Milner as right back, while leaving Reo and Sidwell on the bench. Then as usual his substitution comes when someone is injured, and every thing remains the same. Reo in midfield and Milner remains at right back.

Cannot see us improving next year, MO does not know how to use a big squad. Leaving Sid on the bench for the n’th time when it is clear that we are always struggling in midfield is unexplainable. How many midfielders he can buy better than Reo and Sid? What has Gaby has to do to be substituted. He is clearly out of form and yet always starts and never replaced.

kieran on Mon, 18th May 2009 9:39


Cheaply?Some villa fans really are delusional as to what we were and what we are,We are in europe it doesn`t matter if we finish 5th or 6th,In three seasons o`neill has delivered european football in two.

if you didn`t look at the league table and just read some of this rubbish you would think we were in newcastles postition.

We are the sixth best team in the country at the moment cheer the fuck up and get real.

Jonard on Mon, 18th May 2009 12:30


I think a smart move would have been to buy Alex from chelsea while he wasn’t getting a game,only for carvalhio to get injured he was a dead cert to leave. Imagine us having him and Gary Cahill (should never have been let go) instead of money wasted on championship quality players. Mon is a very good manager but he needs to get the cheque book out instead of trying to cheap fixes

Heskey
Salifou
Routledge(gone)
Reo Coker
Knight
Harewood
Cuellar

Absolute waste of money

Timmy on Mon, 18th May 2009 12:34


I agree with the comment above. 6th aint bad at all, 5th is still a possibility. Everton never beat Fulham away and we have the support and good will of the entire country this weekend (except a small corner in the north east)

Get rid of O’Neill???? Ridiculous

andy villa on Tue, 19th May 2009 12:15


playing devils advocate, we have improved this season and closed the gap on the top 4…

last season we were 16 points behind 4th, this season the most we can be is 13 points behind, and the best would be 7 points behind…

we are progressing, but the better we become, the smaller the margins of progression will be…

while disappointed by recent events, and baffled by some of the managers decisions, i am happy that we are still sat in 6th spot, after not turning up to over one third of the season, and still progressing…

that was all i asked for when ellis was at the club…

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