If you were a Villa fan

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

What would your view be on the future and direction of the club?
Would you look at O'Neill's sacking as a clear indicator that there was a problem with cash and that the future wasn't quite as rosy as you'd believed having established yourselves as a top 4 contender?
Or would you believe the word out of the club that there was still ambition, but it was taking a different route to how O'Neill wanted to go about it?

[Wooders]

green and gold until its sold !

[DoomMerchant]

I'd believe that MON had done a twitchy on me and that my American owner is skint. I'd also believe that Wolves were going to do the double over us this season. A couple seasons in the shit but then hope to bounce back strong with a different feel. And maybe better financial platform for success.

They won't get any better than they were with MON in a long time i don't think. Could be decades before they have the same success.

Cheers

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

[edgeley blue]

Been on heroes and villians forum and most Villa fans dont seem to be too bothered about mon going, they are more pissed off with the fact they think the reason for his departure is that they have to sell Milner and Young and not be able to spend the money on replacements. For what its worth I've always liked Villa and hope they do well next season, not as well as us obviously but maybe win a cup for Dunnie.

[salford city]

Id be thinking that the owner was pulling in wallet strings and that for the forseeable, we'd be losing assets should anyone come in with a bid. Added to that, the money recouped would not all be re-invested into the squad. There will be troubled times ahead with prospective managers aware that money is tight and that limits the managers who will want the job

[avoidconfusion]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

I bet Everton will be there as well.

[walmai]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

Everton are in with a shout at that, given their incredible form from about Christmas onwards.

I reckon in fact they are more of a danger to you than Spurs (unless Young Boys don't, ahem, lay down for them).

[Esky]

Talking to a Villa fan at work today and he wasn't too fussed by it. Said for all the conjecture about Lerner pocketing money, O'Neill's pissed away so much of what he's been given on players who just sit on the bench or aren't up to scratch.

Could say that for most managers though.

[Im_Spartacus]

If I were a Villa fan, I would probably be thinking that MON was given a lot of resources to get into the top 4 over the past 3 seasons, and has been supported with pretty much everything he wanted (maybe aside from Barry leaving).

In 3 years, whilst hoovering up some of the best home grown talent like Milner, Young, Dunne to add to what he already had there, he has qualified for Europe 3 times, but in reality he has not moved forward since his first season.

The stark reality is that City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton represent a significant barrier to them ever getting to that next level, or for that matter even finishing top 6 next year. Given all the money has been spent in the previous 3 years in pursuit of the CL, if the coffers are now empty, to some extent that means MON failed with the money he spent. If they can't realistically expect to get to that next level with the personnel they now have, there is little point keeping the highly paid and expensive players on the books.

MON took the wage spend upto 83%, which is clearly unsustainable - had he been given more money, he would simply have been running them down a blind alley in terms of the financial fair play situation, and particularly given that the odds would have still be stacked against them for CL qualification, even with 3/4 top quality additions.

They might as well cash in to the tune of upto £50m for Young and Milner and try to build it up again over the next few years. MON obviously didnt want to be a part of that process.

[DoomMerchant]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

Everton are in with a shout at that, given their incredible form from about Christmas onwards.

I reckon in fact they are more of a danger to you than Spurs (unless Young Boys don't, ahem, lay down for them).

i agree with that. Everton have lost little, have no CL distraction and i rate Moyes higher than i rate Twitchy to get a great response from that team. Everton could really surprise folks this season. Stable, focused and capable of dealing out some death blows to good teams.

cheers

[Ted Hughes]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

Everton are in with a shout at that, given their incredible form from about Christmas onwards.

I reckon in fact they are more of a danger to you than Spurs (unless Young Boys don't, ahem, lay down for them).

i agree with that. Everton have lost little, have no CL distraction and i rate Moyes higher than i rate Twitchy to get a great response from that team. Everton could really surprise folks this season. Stable, focused and capable of dealing out some death blows to good teams.

cheers

They could also lose their 1st 5 games & be in the bottom 4. They seem to do that every so often & won't have us to use a an excuse if it happens this time.

[john@staustell]

So we can discount them from the running for the Chumps League? It's the Sky 4, us and Spuds to fight it out?

Everton are in with a shout at that, given their incredible form from about Christmas onwards.

I reckon in fact they are more of a danger to you than Spurs (unless Young Boys don't, ahem, lay down for them).

i agree with that. Everton have lost little, have no CL distraction and i rate Moyes higher than i rate Twitchy to get a great response from that team. Everton could really surprise folks this season. Stable, focused and capable of dealing out some death blows to good teams.

cheers

They could also lose their 1st 5 games & be in the bottom 4. They seem to do that every so often & won't have us to use a an excuse if it happens this time.

Absolutely right. Could go either way. Life is never dull for toffees fans.

[Florida Blue]

If they had just put Elvis Costello on the sideline would anyone have noticed the difference?

[cdncityfan]

I would be disappointed, but not suprised. Outside of us, everyone has been controlling expenses and selling when a good bid comes in. Martin O'Neill is a good manager, but the long term health of the club has to come before any particular manager's project.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

I know Everton are no pushovers and are a half decent outfit, but as we always hear, if you aren't investing in the team you are going backwards. They haven't bought anybody of significance and will be susceptible to injury/suspension over the course of the season. I'm not sure they can cope with them.

[The Man In Blue]

i'd be worried. pretty fucking worried. remember all that shite about how fucked we were immediately prior to the abu dhabi takeover? i remember feeling absolutely sick to my stomach at some of the financial doom forecasts that were being made about us. obviously villa are not at that stage but something is not right at that club at all.

[irblinx]

I think it's hilarious how all of a sudden MON is a mug and Villa are skint. The media have been holding Villa up as a example on how a club should be run and MON as the best thing since sliced bread for a couple of years now, they are certainly quick to change their tune :-). They will have to stick with Everton as their flag bearers now

[walmai]

If they had just put Elvis Costello on the sideline would anyone have noticed the difference?

Watching the defectives?

[Green & Blue]

On one hand i would be thinking we are about to cash in on our major assets and MON hit the road in disgust as he does not want to manage a team on the decline with no ambition.On the other hand i would think the club has no ambition and was about to cash in on our major assets and MON did not want to stick around for the struggle.

More seriously i would be pretty upset to loose a quality manager who seemed to be getting the best from a thread bare squad.The biggest problem for Villa has been the lack of strength in depth.It must be worrying, if i supported them i would be in hope that they can consolidate what they have achieved under O'Neill and get europe again next seasonThats the best they can hope for but if they lose Milner and Young they will effectively lose the creative spark in the side.Would take some miracle signings to replace them.
A quality manager has to be the main concern.However who will want to take the reigns at a club the previous manager walked from due to the direction the club was going not fulfilling his ambitions.
I've heard Steve Staunton is out of work.