MikeMcKenna

Can't believe it - I met him only 18 months ago and he seems to be very fit, healthy and was on great form!! RIP Tony :-((( terribly sad news

Frankly cannot see it being a "big year" in any way shape or form: 1. Lerner will stay 2. Lambert will stay 3. Benteke will go 4. We will continue in same vein - "survival" is the name of the game 5. We will spend the bare minimum - see 4. Until another super rich mug comes along, AVFC will continue to be in the doldrums, making up the numbers in the 2nd half of the PL.

I'm in I'll buy two shares - only need £199,988,000 now ;-)

Actually while at the game, I wondered wtf is going on! I thought some of his subbing and timing was strange and that we were lucky the baggies are so shit going forward. I agree that Lowton was struggling (looked like he had taken a knock as he limped off) - so Bacuna at RB had to be done, but I would have brought Albrighton on instead of Holt who was all over the place. KEA ditto had run out of steam so Sylla was a no brainer but when he bought Baker on ,Bacuna hadn't got a clue for 5 minutes whether he was still at RB or supposed to play RW. I was watching lambert and culverhouse on the bench going nuts as they clearly hadn't got the message out on what the formation was supposed - they were not happy but I think it was of their own making. I think you're talking rubbish. Holt was bought on as a destroyer, which he did an amicable job of. Baker was a switch to 5-3-2 and as for Bacuna not knowing what he was supposed to be doing, that's more an issue with the player I suspect. A player that cost £800k. The idea was to shut up shop because the game was getting stretched as both sides were tiring after such a rollercoaster. Whether you conjour up some hypothetical situation in your mind where the baggies are better going forward is by the by, it worked. We beat the team in front of us, deservedly so. It's no wonder Lambert and Culverhouse were animated, weren't you? You are entitled to your opinion as i am mine. I agree that we were well worth the win and were the better side. My point concerned the last 15/20 minutes and how we "shut up shop" - you have totally lost me on the "conjure" bit! Funnily enough you effectively agree with me on Bacuna point. Whether it was down to him or not, he didn't know he was supposed to be playing in a back 5. I was not criticising how "animated" Lambert and Culverhouse were, I was simply making the point that their new formation hadn't got out. As for bringing Holt on, I disagree, imho he is an out an out donkey - Albrighton could have done as good a job harrying and better, would have been a lot more mobile and given us a better outlet. All that said great win! UTV

they did score 3 goals, maybe shit isnt the word Sorry You are right and I should have said in the last 20 minutes. The way we played in the last 20 allowed their streak of piss Olson to make at least three long runs and tactically I felt we backed off to much.

Actually while at the game, I wondered wtf is going on! I thought some of his subbing and timing was strange and that we were lucky the baggies are so shit going forward. I agree that Lowton was struggling (looked like he had taken a knock as he limped off) - so Bacuna at RB had to be done, but I would have brought Albrighton on instead of Holt who was all over the place. KEA ditto had run out of steam so Sylla was a no brainer but when he bought Baker on ,Bacuna hadn't got a clue for 5 minutes whether he was still at RB or supposed to play RW. I was watching lambert and culverhouse on the bench going nuts as they clearly hadn't got the message out on what the formation was supposed - they were not happy but I think it was of their own making.

He does but he often gets the ball too deep. Therefore has to go on a fair run, ends up over running but is the only one who can breakthrough. I would like to see him picking up the ball forward when possible - if he can do he trickery in their half rather than ours he could be a real winner.

The best bar none ever: In July 1977 the former Villa Manager Tommy Docherty was sacked by Man united for having a relation with a woman 18 years his junior, who also happened to be the wife man u's club Physio: Mary Brown. Docherty who was much loved during his stint at Villa then got a job at Derby and in March 1978 they visited VP. As "The Doc" walked towards the dug out we, in the Holte End sang: "He's up Mrs Brown, He's up Mrs Brown, He's up, he's up, he's up, he's up, he's up Mrs Brown" to the tune of "Knees up Mother Brown" Tommy smiled and waved to the Holte brilliant! I wonder if anyone else remembers this?

Interesting that we bought Stilian Petrov on 30 August 2006 but Lerner did not take effective control until 18th / 19th September Richard that is not correct. He became the majority shareholder on 25th August with almost 60% of the shares. So he had "effective control" before Petrov was signed. He didn't acquire "full control" till around 18/19 September and remaining shareholders had to sell up.

Just in case any VTers visit China and need to explain who we support :-) If you need the pronunciation: Ā sī dùn wéi lā

阿斯顿维拉

Why? I find it strange that anyone would want "hope" such an average player "finishes his career with us". The guy is clearly not premier league standard and would be better off playing in a lower league. I have nothing against the lad but have seen nothing to tell me he will ever make it at this level.

Another absolutely pointless debate going on here. Whether some like it or not, Holt is for now a Villa player and even though I didn't agree with bringing him in, I will now support him till proved otherwise. Introducing Heskey into the debate is stupid IMO and just shows how far some will go to build up an argument. This forum is increasingly only about discussing the negatives. Yesterday the first half was the best football Villa have played for a long, long time and we got a point from a top 4 team when many, maybe most of us were expecting Villa to get stuffed. Yesterday will have had a huge impact on the squads confidence and maybe Holt can help even more to build their confidence simply by being around. I have no idea whether he will contribute significantly on the pitch and have my doubts but yesterday told me very little one way or the other. He obviously isn't part of our long term future plans but if he can help steady the ship or even do as Robbie Keane did and contribute a couple of goals I will be satisfied for now.

By a country mile. Ditto, ditto - no-one else comes close

He doesn't and never did - he only ever "seriously" cared about "Doug Ellis"

How much does he have? Does he. Like what, for example? Sorry to pick on this, but neither you or I know any of that to be the case. It's possible, but equally it may be quite wrong.It's one of the problems for us fans - we don't know who does what, or where the decision making is taken.Some people blame RL, so PF, some PL and some balme all of them.It's be nice to have more information, to try and understand what's going on at the club we've spent our lives following. Pete you are absolutely correct. None of us know how the club is run, who made the key decisions and how influential Faulkner was etc So to take aim at Faulkner based on little more than speculation is a nonsense. I have had some dealings with him, would say that he was incredibly professional and went more than the extra mile to solve the major issue I had. While I cannot say on open forum what the situation was, his solution went above and beyond. On other occassions I have found him very approachable, willing to listen and respond. All that said I have no idea how much involvement he has had in setting the playing side budgets or appointing managers. My guess is that while Faulkner and others may do the donkey work in terms of preparing the numbers, give their opinions, be responsible for revenue generation etc as it is his money they are using, Randy Lerner will have made all the major financial decisions. IMO it is highly unlikely that Faulkner made the decision to employ McLeish and Houllier and I think as fans we may be very surprised at how those appointments came about and where the recommendations came from. I have no idea whether it is true, but a couple of years ago I was told by someone with connections to the club that they believed Alex Ferguson influenced Lerners decision to employ Mcleish. Given that Krulak mentioned that Lerner admired and sought advice from Ferguson (and other leading lights) I seriously believe this is a strong possibility. If nothing else both Lerner and Faulkner would know that they were not qualified to judge so they would have sought "expert" advice! As Ferguson was a long time friend of AM, I can just imagine him saying don't worry about the fans, if AM succeeds they will soon back him. If my theory is right, he couldn't have been more wrong. Obviously Lerner has to take ultimate responsibility but giving him the benefit of the doubt I believe he was badly advised by some who should have known better.

This doesn't even make any sense. Really? What don't you understand? Makes plenty of sense to me. A has been attacker who Norwich let go to a championship side ends up at Villa on loan. If you are happy fine, but I think it is embarrassing that we have sunk so low!

yes me too. Best i have seen him play in a long while! The only reason he didn't look so bad in the 2nd half was because we were on the front foot and he had to defend far less than in the 1st. He is crap and really shit defender!

Norwich>Wigan>Villa Says it all really! **** embarrassing!

Luna really is one of the worst LBs we have ever had. He is a **** clueless clearing in the woods! The bench were sending out messages to him throughout the first half and it made no difference! Get rid of this waste of space!

Unfortunately comparing attendance figures isn't comparing "apples with apples" A case in point is Spurs or even Chelsea. On average we are 5 % above Spurs and 10% below Chelsea in terms of numbers but both generate dramatically more in revenue from attendances than we do. To them and the likes of Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool etc attendance money is important. While it is true that TV money is much more important, if ever the Premier League made the split less egalitarian or the big 6 decided they wanted to negotiate TV fees directly, clubs such as Villa would be in even more trouble.

Could it be to enable new shareholders to buy into the company?

hi Naz Hope you are OK? Leave the deluded fools to it, there were always some who were blind as **** to Ellis's faults!

www.ViilatalkConfused.com

Some people will never understand how those of us who witnessed our winning the League and European Cup absolutely despised & detested ellis. This really isn't a Lerner v Ellis debate. I disliked him from the very first day he walked into the club, as did eventually most, if not all of his fellow directors. They ousted him in 1972 only for the money man; Pat Matthews to engineer his return. He was then ousted again from the chairmanship by his fellow directors in 1975 as he didn't see eye to eye with Saunders who the other directors were backing. People need to understand that had Ellis been in charge 1975-1982, Saunders would have been gone as would our chances of winning such high honours. When he returned it was one of the most depressing days of my life. I had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Aston Villa as he liked to be called, on a number of occasions. I always sensed from his demeanour & comments that he considered the "men on the terraces" of Aston Villa to be nobodies and beneath his contempt. As far he was concerned it was his club and we could go **** ourselves. Nothing he did was ever for the fans or the club - it was only ever about Herbert Douglas Ellis and what he could get out of it. From being the first director to take a salary to engineering a stock market listing of the club which made him a fortune and saw the shares of the ordinary fans plummet by over 75%. Despite what has happened in the last three years, the day he sold his control of MY club was one of the happiest days of my time as an Aston Villa fan.