Comments on: The Phoenix Rises

By: ianrobo

ianrobo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:36:26 +0000

so Pete, I just checked the comments made by MON from the OS

‘He said: “It was really disappointing [the reaction] because he has been fantastic since I’ve been here.

“He is currently going through a period where confidence is low but I don’t think that kind of reaction helps anyone.

“He is a local lad who has come through the ranks and he has been really terrific for us.

“He is just lacking confidence at the moment, which is why I took him off.’

at no point does he have a go at the fans but says he is ‘disappointed’ with some of them …

so were some of us (stronger terms for me) and therefore what he was calm and rational after the event, it does however mask I feel his true feelings about some of us.

By: ianrobo

ianrobo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:10:59 +0000

I will answer some of the points you raise in my next blog.

but as for the UEFA look at how many turned up to Citeh’s last game highe swathes of the COMS shut down. Winning the UEFA makes no difference at all to any team it is simply CL or nothing.

no matter how repulsive that is to me personally

why we have suddenly lost form is another debate which we can address

By: Boz

Boz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:00:18 +0000

On the first point, no I dont think its right to boo or cheer a substitution, but its hardly the first time such a thing has happened, and its hardly the last. In either event, it is absolutely not for the manager to turn on the fans and criticise them, however right he may be, that is simply going too far. He should be a man, admit he got it wrong, admit it was a mistake to keep Gabby in the team, take those boos onto his own shoulders instead of letting the kid take the flak. The reason he didn’t? Because he’s going to play Gabby again next week, and the week after. Its a joke. And he’s supposed to be a great manager? Meanwhile, every time Carew comes off the bench and scores (which is pretty much every time lets be honest) he makes ONeill look like a stubborn muppet.

As for the UEFA Cup, I think you are wrong. Milan fielded a full strength team against a full strength Bremen for example. You try and tell those Bremen lads that this cup means nothing. You try and tell the Milan players who were absolutely distraught at the end that it means nothing. It may not have the importance of bygone years but its still a big deal, for everyone outside this country anyway. Finishing fifth or sixth and wining the UEFA Cup would have been just about as big a step forward as finishing fourth imo. As it is, we aren’t going to do either, are we? If Man City win that Cup, they will have stolen alot of, if not all of, our thunder, and will be better placed to attract decent players this summer and will be a real rival for next season.

By: ianrobo

ianrobo — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:47:02 +0000

Boz, yes MON made those descions and he was totally right to, the UEFA is a farce of a competition, hated by every team who enter it and the mistake he made as I said at the time was to enter it through another farce of a competition.

Look at the whole run he hardly played a full strength team that showed and should have shown as I predicted that the game would be forfeited, to think otherwise would be naive to think so.

and I notice you do not answer the point of my post, do you believe that it is right to cheer/boo a sub during the game ? Do you think that any kind of positive impace on the team ?

course it did not, I booed at the end because the team deserved that but during a game is unforgivable.

By: Boz

Boz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:57:44 +0000

Hmm. Was it the fans who raised expectations, or the media? Or was it the person who described finishing in the top four as “The Holy Grail”? The man who picked a team that said “Aston Villa is too good for the UEFA Cup”? You see, the trick with putting all your eggs into one basket is to not drop the basket. Right now we are holding on by a very small pinky finger, and all our eggs are on the brink of smashing. The fans didnt make those decisions, the manager did. He gambled, big time, and staked his reputation on getting into the Champions League. As for snapping their hands off, are you sure? Anything less than about 65 points, considering the vast amount of money spent, would be a failure, less than 60 a total disaster. Time is running out. ONeill needs to turn it around today, and above all, he needs to stop fighting the fans, because thats a battle he cant win, no matter who right he might be. My opinion? he has bottled it, and everything he says and does,every decision he makes, seems to confirm that. Here’s hoping I’m wrong

By: GingerLad

GingerLad — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:12:11 +0000

And still are.

By: ianrobo

ianrobo — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:10:10 +0000

yes whilst some of us enjoyed the ride

By: GingerLad

GingerLad — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:06:47 +0000

People got ideas above the teams abillity. The media hyped it up and people got sucked in.

By: ianrobo

ianrobo — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:05:17 +0000

sometimes I wonder I really do, we have it for the best we have had for years and then this.

Yess it was bleeding disappointing the past 6 games but lets have some realism, we would have snapped their hands off !!

By: GingerLad

GingerLad — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:47:43 +0000

Some Villa fans need a slap if I’m truthful.