The rise and fall of Aston Villa

After a tough year last year we finished strongly and this is the team that beat Arsenal last but one game. Houllier had been taken ill so a new manager was a top priority. Young was as good as gone but we knew money was coming in and Walker would be returning to Spurs so a good replacement was needed there. The middle of the park was a definite area of concern, since the departure of Milner we looked wanting in the middle and it needed sorting. We had some good youngsters but needed one top, experienced midfielder to fill the void left by Milner.


01 Friedel
36 Walker 05 Dunn 29 Collins 02 L Young

16 Delph 20 Reo-Coker 19 Petrov 06 Downing

07 Young

39 Bent

Like most clubs we needed to cut the wages, but this does not stop you from signing the sort of players you need to improve. Over a dozen salaries are off the books yet the midfield has barely been patched up (Jenas is a token gesture). The severity of the problems became crystal clear with the farce that surrounded getting a manager. We were hopeless from beginning to end, bouncing from one manager to another, getting rejected by managers all over the place. Finally we employ the manager of our recently relegated rivals!!! What a mess, and a complete turnaround in Lerner's support for AVFC. With that appointment everything changed at VP. No money, sell to buy and patch it up best you can is the way now.
This is the team that played on Saturday. Fairplay to AM, with feck all support he has managed to get a decent albeit soon to injured keeper. He's got Warnock back in and Hutton will replace L.Young. If he has Dunne and Collins back on form too then we're not in too bad shape there. I don;t want to get too excited about the clean sheets yet as we've had the easiest start in the Prem. I'm going to give Zog a chance to settle in, we know he can perform but as yet he isn't doing it. What's happened in the middle? We've lost NRC and replaced him with Jenas and kept Petrov as our starting CM. The weakest part of our team last year is even weaker this year. WTF!!!! In just 3 short months we've fallen from outside contenders for Europe to a team that will achieve lower mid table mediocrity and yesterday watched Stoke, Bolton and Fulham show more ambition and respect for their fans than AVFC. LERNER OUT.

01 Given
03 Warnock 05 Dunne 06 Collins 31 Herd

11 Agbonlahor 16 Delph 19 Petrov 10 N'Zogbia

18 Heskey

09 Bent

You can't even get Warnock and Herds positions correct for saturday.

I wouldnt say Lerner out unless there's a rich Arab interested in buying the club. Agree with everything else though, sad to see the likes of Stoke and Sunderland showing more ambition in the transfer market than us.

Why who did Stoke buy who you wanted down the Villa?

Avfc_4eva_Sotc wrote:Why who did Stoke buy who you wanted down the Villa?

I'd have taken Palacios over jenas and i'd take Crouch ahead of Heskey.However, I still think we've got a better squad overall

QBVILLA wrote:

I'd have taken Palacios over jenas and i'd take Crouch ahead of Heskey.However, I still think we've got a better squad overall

Palacios I would have like, Crouch, good player that is, it so expensive for a 30 year old. £10 million fee, £2.5 million a year you would think. So £20 million plus deal over his contract. No chance we would be paying that and I wouldn't want us to.

I would take anyone over Heskey, I don't mind him when he is playing as a proper striker, but in that role that both McLeish and MON play him in, it's just boring and defensive.

I'd have taken Palacios and Upson on a free transfer is a no brainer.

Internazionale_Villa wrote:I'd have taken Palacios and Upson on a free transfer is a no brainer.

I know it's becoming a habit, but i totally disagree with that.He's been on a rapid downward spiral for two years

QBVILLA wrote:

Internazionale_Villa wrote:I'd have taken Palacios and Upson on a free transfer is a no brainer.

I know it's becoming a habit, but i totally disagree with that.He's been on a rapid downward spiral for two years

He may have had a bad patch but on a free transfer you have nothing to lose, he'd be a decent back up defender and if he performed like he can then i'd have him in the team of Dunne or Collins everytime.

Woodgate would surely be the one to take if any, Upson can't even get into thier team.

Other then that I wouldn't have wanted any of the players that they have got in the window, or Sunderland for that matter, our team is still better. It seems like some fans just want the club to be buying players for the sake of buying players.

Internazionale_Villa wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:

Internazionale_Villa wrote:I'd have taken Palacios and Upson on a free transfer is a no brainer.

I know it's becoming a habit, but i totally disagree with that.He's been on a rapid downward spiral for two years

He may have had a bad patch but on a free transfer you have nothing to lose, he'd be a decent back up defender and if he performed like he can then i'd have him in the team of Dunne or Collins everytime.

We would be fucked then, Dunne and Collins are pretty solid, lets not let 1 season under a mad french man who they didn't like take away from the 2/3 seasons where they have been a very tight defence. Upson has been shit for ages.

Woodgate and Placios for me..

I think its not about who they brought.. rather they 'attempted' to get better.. while we are cost cutting after letting a ridiculous situation develop.. no wonder Oneil walked.. he knew what was coming..

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Woodgate and Placios for me..

I think its not about who they brought.. rather they 'attempted' to get better.. while we are cost cutting after letting a ridiculous situation develop.. no wonder Oneil walked.. he knew what was coming..

Thats a fair comment, but Stoke have had a few established years in the prem now without really spending all the extra money that comes with the TV rights so have probably built up a little nest egg and have been able to safely increase thier wage budget by making a few decent premiership signings.

We on the other hand have already spent our money and gone way overboard on the wages, we need to bring it into check before we start to look at slowly building the team again, that process has started and I think we still have a better team then Sunderland and Stoke.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Woodgate and Placios for me..

I think its not about who they brought.. rather they 'attempted' to get better.. while we are cost cutting after letting a ridiculous situation develop.. no wonder Oneil walked.. he knew what was coming..

As you know i'm a fan of what O'Neill did for Villa.However, he's also a big part of the reason we're cost cutting.Too many O'neill signings came in on big wages and weren't played.Beye is the stand out example.He isn't a bad player and would be an asset for a good 7 or 8 Prem sides but his wages mean he'll be sitting out his contract in our reserves whilst trousering a few million.

Internazionale_Villa wrote:

QBVILLA wrote:

Internazionale_Villa wrote:I'd have taken Palacios and Upson on a free transfer is a no brainer.

I know it's becoming a habit, but i totally disagree with that.He's been on a rapid downward spiral for two years

He may have had a bad patch but on a free transfer you have nothing to lose, he'd be a decent back up defender and if he performed like he can then i'd have him in the team of Dunne or Collins everytime.

Well as you know, you think that I think Dunne is the world's greatest player so i can't have that.

We have Cueller and Clark as back up centre back's, getting in Upson would be ridiculous.

Still think O'Shea would of been a good signing, versatile and experienced at the highest level, Larsson on a free transfer to compete with Albrighton would of been a shrewd piece of business also. Either Woodgate or Upson on a free would be a no brainer. As i said earlier 5m for Santon is a bargain. We didnt have to spend much but those players i listed above would of improved our squad alot.

FFS!
Get real and stop thinking about what could have been.
This is your lot until January......... Live with it.

Internazionale_Villa wrote:Still think O'Shea would of been a good signing, versatile and experienced at the highest level, Larsson on a free transfer to compete with Albrighton would of been a shrewd piece of business also. Either Woodgate or Upson on a free would be a no brainer. As i said earlier 5m for Santon is a bargain. We didnt have to spend much but those players i listed above would of improved our squad alot.

I'll go along with Larsson, and I wouldn't ahve minded O'Shea either.Can't see the value in getting in a big money centre half and would rather see Clark and Cuellar given their opportunity if Dunne and Collins get injured.As for Santon, never seen him so no comment.

Woodgate is a massive gamble given his injury woes, dont know what contract he is on though. Class player if/when he is fit, but cant see him lasting too long before he breaks down again. Upson has been poor for some time, not better than any of our four centre backs IMHO. Where we needed was right back and centre midfield, with another wide player if possible. Im prepared top see how Hutton and Jenas perform, dont think they weaken us at all to be honest. Lets be realistic rather than blabbing on about some mystery arab, Lerner has taken the club forward, but the wages paid to some players has been excessive to say the least. We are not the only club to have curbed on spending and still think we can finish 7th-8th.

villanfromluton wrote:Woodgate is a massive gamble given his injury woes, dont know what contract he is on though. Class player if/when he is fit, but cant see him lasting too long before he breaks down again. Upson has been poor for some time, not better than any of our four centre backs IMHO. Where we needed was right back and centre midfield, with another wide player if possible. Im prepared top see how Hutton and Jenas perform, dont think they weaken us at all to be honest. Lets be realistic rather than blabbing on about some mystery arab, Lerner has taken the club forward, but the wages paid to some players has been excessive to say the least. We are not the only club to have curbed on spending and still think we can finish 7th-8th.

Well said

And you also believe there are fairies under the tree at the bottom of the garden?

Ringo wrote:And you also believe there are fairies under the tree at the bottom of the garden?

I believe there's one in Chadwell Heath

Ringo wrote:And you also believe there are fairies under the tree at the bottom of the garden?

You may be right, I also believe that people will pay their debts

QBVILLA wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Woodgate and Placios for me..

I think its not about who they brought.. rather they 'attempted' to get better.. while we are cost cutting after letting a ridiculous situation develop.. no wonder Oneil walked.. he knew what was coming..

As you know i'm a fan of what O'Neill did for Villa.However, he's also a big part of the reason we're cost cutting.Too many O'neill signings came in on big wages and weren't played.Beye is the stand out example.He isn't a bad player and would be an asset for a good 7 or 8 Prem sides but his wages mean he'll be sitting out his contract in our reserves whilst trousering a few million.

Totally agree with that and that's what ive been mainly saying.. Oneil was terrific for us on one hand but couldn't get that final push into Champ lge but he did spend shit loads on wages rather then be more shrewd in market.. i blame Lerner for that.. he is the one that gives the green light..