[Archived] Other Pl Happenings 2009/10

[Tom 1]

ffan, was reading the little rumour about Villa going in for Hughes, bit of speculation about it on some of our forums.

Would it actually be a bad deal for Al Fayed or Fulham? Hughes was never your first choice, he was linked strongly with us when MON nearly left earlier in summer.

Ajax had some pretty outrageous compensation demands I think? (could be wrong), it could be the quickest buck Al Fayed has made for a while, Villa pay off Fulham to talk to Mark Hughes, Al Fayed puts that money towards the compensation of his original choice of Jol, who already has made it clear he wants the return to England and London with Fulham.

It's v.disruptive but it's not as completely ridiculous as some people make out.

[Earlydoors]

ffan, was reading the little rumour about Villa going in for Hughes

I think its highly likely - its fits Sparky's ambition and geography. Just a question of whether his bitterness over the City sacking as created some misguided loyalty.

If so, how about Steve McLaren to return to these shores ?

[ffan]

ffan, was reading the little rumour about Villa going in for Hughes, bit of speculation about it on some of our forums.

Would it actually be a bad deal for Al Fayed or Fulham? Hughes was never your first choice, he was linked strongly with us when MON nearly left earlier in summer.

Ajax had some pretty outrageous compensation demands I think? (could be wrong), it could be the quickest buck Al Fayed has made for a while, Villa pay off Fulham to talk to Mark Hughes, Al Fayed puts that money towards the compensation of his original choice of Jol, who already has made it clear he wants the return to England and London with Fulham.

It's v.disruptive but it's not as completely ridiculous as some people make out.

I wouldn't be surprised. Ajax wanted 8 million compensation and I hazard a guess that Fulham would demand 5-6 million for Hughes.

I wouldn't appreciate it one bit and I hope that it doesn't happen but if Hughes did go to Villa I would fully expect O'Neill to get the Fulham job as he has a good relationship with Fayed.

Just on a sidenote I sincerely doubt that Hughes would even consider resigning to take over at Villa, one because Fayed would sue the testicles off him and two because he is always harping on about dignity etc

[AndyR]

oops!

[Tom 1]

I wouldn't be surprised. Ajax wanted 8 million compensation and I hazard a guess that Fulham would demand 5-6 million for Hughes.

I wouldn't appreciate it one bit and I hope that it doesn't happen but if Hughes did go to Villa I would fully expect O'Neill to get the Fulham job as he has a good relationship with Fayed.

I don't see Martin O'Neill coming back so soon. His issue at Villa was being unable to compete with certain clubs this summer, his ambition is obviously very huge in what he wants to do.

Despite whats happened his reputation seems entirely intact and as good as ever, I am sure he'll wait it out for a big job, and I am sure he'd still be on a lot of chairmens good lists.

If you did get him though, I actually don't think he'd do badly, take away the level of money and the frustrations competing for those champions league spots and you get what he is best at, motivating a team and making them competitive.

[ffan]

I don't see Martin O'Neill coming back so soon. His issue at Villa was being unable to compete with certain clubs this summer, his ambition is obviously very huge in what he wants to do.

Despite whats happened his reputation seems entirely intact and as good as ever, I am sure he'll wait it out for a big job, and I am sure he'd still be on a lot of chairmens good lists.

If you did get him though, I actually don't think he'd do badly, take away the level of money and the frustrations competing for those champions league spots and you get what he is best at, motivating a team and making them competitive.

The only reason I think we would get him is because he was very close to taking over a few years back and is on good terms with Fayed.

Although you make a good point regarding the finance, if we could keep him on the straight and narrow and not spending excessive amounts on average English players then I think he'd do a good job.

[Tom]

Rip Adam Stansfield.

He was meant to be on the mend but my bro told me at weekend that he had weeks to live, 31 is no age

RIP stanno

[Hughesy]

FOOTBALL IN GENERAL: EXETER CITY STRIKER ADAM STANSFIELD HAS DIED AGED 31 AFTER A 5 MONTH BATTLE WITH BOWEL CANCER. (Sorry for caps, just cut & paste it here)

RIP

[Tom 1]

The only reason I think we would get him is because he was very close to taking over a few years back and is on good terms with Fayed.

Although you make a good point regarding the finance, if we could keep him on the straight and narrow and not spending excessive amounts on average English players then I think he'd do a good job.

It's all about what he has, we gave him that money and he spent it, not always wisely, he's not always had massive money in his career.

Think of it as Leicester-esque. It's not a question, he gets players playing well and despite his many flaws MON and Fulham might not be a bad fit, he started off v.well with Villa it just all got a bit too much in the last couple of seasons.

Obviously I am annoyed with him atm, but I didn't hate him or anything, and I don't think he's a ###### manager, I think he's overrated with a big ego, but he isn't ######.

[ffan]

Rip.

[sewershooter]

Our director posted what happened and why he left, if anyone is interested I can post that here..?

The issue was the wages vs revenue argument, he was told to address it and didn't do so, Lerner simply came out with logical thought, something our own fans had said many times ourselves, you can't have people getting 30-50k sitting on the bench with no chances of playing, it's not financially viable, esp when our squad was tiring at the end of every season and still none of the fringe players were ever given a chance, they aren't all awful players, all could play at least some part.

Apparently MON was part of the Milner going transfer from the very beginning, I guess he thought that meant he'd done his bit, but he hadn't, it was he who bought these expensive unused players so it was he who needed to sort it out. I like MON but I am not sad to see him go, we spent more money than we had to give him his chance to challenge and at some stage we were always going to have to cut back.....you'd think we'd have had a good and big squad by now based on the spending, but we don't.

Ireland is just part of the Milner transfer, it suits every party, I doubt any manager will have any qualms with getting some Milner money and a good player in his squad.

No suprise that Lerner got fed up with O'Neill spending big on wages for players who never got on the park. They couldnt sustain a 40mil loss every season forever. checkout this table of his purchases. he sure did like to spend on average players.

http://thelonestriker.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/why-did-oneill-quit-wages-and-poor-signings/

[philipl]

MoN spent big on some very average players. His reputation in the press might not be damaged but I'd say his employability must be badly damaged.

I know we are in sack cloth and ashes victim mode at Rovers but the reality is what Villa are facing up to is the reality for 15 clubs in the Prem and probably all of them sooner or later.

The reality is that MoN had the most benign Chairman and financial regime possible at Villa, blew the wage structure, bought several players he wasted every bit as badly as City are doing and ran away as soon as he was asked to get the situation sorted. His limited tactics and suspect man management skills are no secret either.

Would you go to MoN if you wanted to put a CL challenge together?

Would MoN accept a job at any "lesser" club?

I fear we are going to be "treated" to MoN on the analysts couch of football punditry.

As for fancy swaps involving Jol and Hughes, if Villa are skint, they are hardly going to be paying £5m+ in compo for a manager are they?

[Majiball]

Rip Adam Stansfield.

He was meant to be on the mend but my bro told me at weekend that he had weeks to live, 31 is no age

RIP stanno

Good bloke who lived for the game.

RIP, you'll always be a special part of the clubs history taking the grecians back to the league.

Stansfield

[Guest Kamy100]

Blackpool sign Craig Cathcart, Malaury Martin, Ludovic Sylvestre, Elliot Grandin and Mlada Boleslav.

[G Somerset Rover]

RIP Adam. As Yeovil are my second team I used to see a fair bit of him. Tragic for his family, friends and football.

[Tom 1]

MoN spent big on some very average players. His reputation in the press might not be damaged but I'd say his employability must be badly damaged.

I know we are in sack cloth and ashes victim mode at Rovers but the reality is what Villa are facing up to is the reality for 15 clubs in the Prem and probably all of them sooner or later.

The reality is that MoN had the most benign Chairman and financial regime possible at Villa, blew the wage structure, bought several players he wasted every bit as badly as City are doing and ran away as soon as he was asked to get the situation sorted. His limited tactics and suspect man management skills are no secret either.

Would you go to MoN if you wanted to put a CL challenge together?

Would MoN accept a job at any "lesser" club?

I fear we are going to be "treated" to MoN on the analysts couch of football punditry.

As for fancy swaps involving Jol and Hughes, if Villa are skint, they are hardly going to be paying £5m+ in compo for a manager are they?

Billionaires don't become poor overnight, he didn't want to fire more millions at MON to sign players like Sidwell which is fair enough, I am sure compensation for a new manager won't be an issue, we're gonna have to pay it for someone aren't we as their is no good managers spare atm.

[philipl]

You forget, Lerner made his money in financial services and no doubt but his gains into such "products".

If he is only 30% down since 2008, he has done very well indeed.

[ABBEY]

RIP Adam. As Yeovil are my second team I used to see a fair bit of him. Tragic for his family, friends and football.

such a waste of life.

[Ricky]

I live in Hereford where Adam Stansfield played for a few seasons. A lot of friends are Hereford fans who spoke very fondly of him.

[Tom]

I've never heard of any of the Blackpool signings. Highly rated?

[alexanders]

One of them Ludovic something played for Barca one season. Mostly the B and C team, but he actually has 2 games for the La Liga outfit.

[thenodrog]

I enjoy watching football.

Really? So how come you cannot understand it then?

The worst football we have seen for well over two decades and even counting the relegation season was undoubtedly Mark Hughes's first year here. He came after the window had closed, soon sussed Stead and Amo were useless (despite a veritable army of Stead fans on here ) and was forced to play the tiny man with a huge heart Paul Dickov up front on his own. The rest of the team were employed in a desperate backs to the wall formation. It worked and Hughes was able to move the team forward with sunsequent additions to the squad.

Allardyce came mid season too, saved us from relegation and strengthened us also but unfortunately has not had the financial backing that Mark Hughes enjoyed. So what has he done wrong in the eyes of some? The only mistake that Allardyce made was doing a very good job on similarly limited resources for our local rivals and thats that.

[thenodrog]

If the latest Indian bid had been another month down the line, we might have found the answer to that Gord.

So what? Any silly sod can get a team in the top half with a lot of money to spend given that nobody else has any. O'Neill plays a long ball game too. He's just fortunate that he has a speed merchany in Agbonlahore at his disposal.

[rebelmswar]

For what its worth I believe that the Bradley to Villa story to have some legs. It seems that the US National team big wigs have approached Klinsman about taking over as US national coach. Bradley and his bosses seem to avoid answering questions about whether he is staying.

[LeChuck]

I've never heard of any of the Blackpool signings. Highly rated?

Cathcart aside, I'd never heard of them either.

The foreign lads all come with pretty good pedigree, I'm a bit disappointed we weren't looking at them ourselves.