brummie

Where I'm sure that other fine, upstanding citizen Marlon King will take him under this wing and lead him along the path of righteousness.

That's the thing, mate. That's exactly what is happening. When it happened with us, we had the same hysteria. I remember when we got MON, I was talking to a Celtic fan at work, and he said "you need to get used to the fact that, although he's a good manager and he'll improve you, maybe significantly - he has these faults,and he will never, ever change. If you can put up with them, you'll be fine. If you can't, you'll hate him. So, so correct. If any of the RTG people are reading this - it's nothing to do with bitterness. We had some good times under MON, he is a good manager. He's also not a long ball manager as he often gets called, that's just not true. At certain aspects of the job, he's one of the best. I'm just saying exactly what he was like, and what happened before he joined us, and looking at how things have gone since, he's not changed at all.

do you think he'll get results under the possibly stricter financial regime ? I know this sounds insane, but I was most impressed with MON in our first season, when we finished 11th. That's because he was forced to make do with what he had, as he came in just before the transfer window shut, and only added Petrov. So, we saw a front three of Agbonlahor and Luke Moore either side of Angel, and it worked. He also had Laursen (injured at that time, mind), Mellberg, Sorensen and Barry available, so it wasn't exactly a squad of duffers, but he was forced to work with what he had. Then, next season, he got a decent amount of money and lifted us to sixth. That is where the problems started. Tactically, he's very limited, he really is. He just doesn't "do" tactics. To lift us beyond sixth, all he knew to do was to throw money at it. Unfortunately, he did so by throwing it at players who weren't good enough to take us beyond sixth. He'd then not play some of them, and just play the same team, week in, week out. That's why we always faded under him towards teh end of the season. That's why we went to Wembley twice and got nothing out of it. That's also why we've had to spend a lot less recently to get the mad wage bill under control. So, in answer to your question, he'll do ok with a limited budget, I think. It's just that as a manager, I think getting us to sixth represents the peak of his abilities (and bear in mind, O'Leary got us to sixth with next to no money to spend). To do the same with Sunderland, given the way the league has changed in the last few years, would be way, way more difficult. It'd take some exceptional transfer business, and some canny tactical nous, and these are the two things he lacks most, and it his deficiency in those areas which meant our glass ceiling was sixth at the time. Sunderland's now, under him, will be 9th or 10th

I can honestly say that, although we did well under MON, summer transfer windows were exactly like this for us - utter torture. The problem is O'Neill himself. Doesn't use scouts, doesn't worry about huge wages and transfer fees, leaves it till very late etc etc. He was exactly the same at Celtic too, apparently. This is why I have been banging on about how predictable he is. He gets results, yes, but if you're not happy to put up with the flipside of having him as your manager, you're not going to enjoy it. RTG posters view this as "bitterness" or "jealousy", but it isn't any of those. It is fact

But we all know that he's really a winger Also a "defensive striker". That RTG panic thread is exactly what our forums were like under MON at this time of year I like it how they think you are relegation candidates and see themselves way above you, that's gonna end well. They're deluded in many ways. When we signed Bent, they were up in arms as we were in the relegation area at that point, and they were 8th or something. I've got a mackem mate who was moaning at me, "how come he's left a team fighting for Europe for one at the arse end of the table". I had to point out that that is the kind of thing Sunderland should be worrying themselves with, how things like that happen. I then had to roll out the killer argument, that at that point, Villa had finished in the top six in half of the seasons since the PL came into being, whereas Sunderland hadn't even *been in it* for half of the seasons. Obv, at that point, I sat back, blew imaginary smoke from the end of the imaginary pistols I was holding, and accepted his surrender.

I thought he was a good player at Villa, but I didn't think we particularly needed another winger other than for back up. He had a fantastic start for us though but his form became erratic after a while. He's some way behind Nani and Valencia for me. He's English though. Pay more for less. £16m was a big figure, especially since he only had a year left on his contract. Young was great for us, other than a few things, which cropped up mostly in the last year of his contract. His diving and rolling around went haywire (it never really bothered me that much, but it pissed a lot of our fans off). Also, he started insisting on taking EVERY free kick, despite his free kicks being largely awful. I loved watching him play, though. The problem is, he's a confidence player, and he'll get the match time he needs to build that at Villa, as he would at lots of other PL sides, but he's not going to get that much time at Man United, obviously, and that's the down side of him going there. Downing is even more of a confidence player. With us, his first season (well, half season, as we signed him with a bad injury), he was utter turd. Last season he was excellent. Much as i have enjoyed laughing at the weasel faced wanker this season, if he stays at Liverpool, I bet he has a good season this year.

But we all know that he's really a winger Also a "defensive striker". That RTG panic thread is exactly what our forums were like under MON at this time of year

Sunderland need a striker. Three observations. 1. MON said last week their transfer deals had all stalled. 2. Emile Heskey has failed to agree personal terms with Blackpool. 3. MON thinks Heskey is a striker. Just saying, like.

Yes, definitely over the course of last season.

When I was 9, in 77, we had a brilliant side, better than the league winning 80-81 side. We won the league cup that year, then four years later, the league, then the year after that, the European Cup, and Super Cup. I mistakenly thought we'd always be that good, and that said success was an indicator of years to come. I also remember thinking in 77, "we've won the league cup again, so it really can't be long till we win the FA cup again, 20 years since last time is ages, must happen soon". 35 years after that, still waiting :-(

Someone on RTG has spotted an italian web site article saying Sunderland want to sign John Guidetti on loan. Cue loads of them telling that Villa poster on there (who, FWIW, has precisely the same opinions as me on MON) that this "signing" is evidence he knows "fuck all" about MON, and "just because he was your manager for 3 years (sic) doesn't mean you know him". One of them has posted, as evidence he doesn't just sign UK based players, the names of Stan Varga (bought from Sunderland), Carlos Cuellar (Rangers), Johan Mjallby (MON didn't sign him), and Didier Agathe (bought from Hibs). On top of all that, also forgetting that, technically, Guidetti is a UK based player as he's owned by Man City. Honestly, I have nothing against Sunderland, genuinely, but that forum is the biggest mongfest on the internet. It attracts some genuinely stupid people, I'd be thoroughly embarassed of it if I were a Sunderland fan.

Milner won't go to Sunderland, he was royally fucked off with MON when he was with us, as it was MON who started making it sound like Milner had been begging to leave, when actually, it was nothing of the sort.

Interesting. Hopefully he's going to spend a bit more now we've started to rein in the wage bill.

Not bad. Though.. what took Vlaar so long? If Villa were waiting for Collins to go before signing Vlaar, that seems a little Very Brownsesque. edit: not really all that Brownsian, they would've got rid of Collins and signed Gavin Hoyte on a free. Dunno, his medical was scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, and we agreed fee and terms ages ago. Ultimately, this is precisely the wheeling and dealing MON refused to engage in. Also, disturbing utterings we were paying Collins 48k a week. That just says it all, really.

Sell Collins to West Ham for £2.5m, bring in Ron Vlaar (just signed) for £3.2m

Such a shit player, shame he didn't go to the mackems. Great in his first season, shite in the subsequent two. Also, a penchant for getting involved in rucks outside pubs in the early hours, and - utterly unforgiveably - twatted Gordon Cowans on a club "bonding" field trip.

Damn straight.

Invest money in the Spanish Property or Stock Market.... *sharp intake of breath*

Lucky or extremely talented, worked since the age of 5 and having absolutely sweet FA life aside from fotball. Career usually done by 30 as well, so they have to figure out some way of securing the next 50 years financially. I envy them obviously but I fully understand how they would try to engineer moves that secures them a better pay. Its a job for them, they are not club fans. I understand that they want better moves, too. What I don't agree with is stamping their feet, refusing to go on tours and refusing to play matches in order to get them. Even a mediocre player on PL wages for most of his career will earn enough by 30 to never have to work again.

Its pointless, and I see no reason why Mike and Dekka even bothered to include it. I firmly believe they were taking the piss, having a bit of fun at Liverpool's expense. I honestly wouldn't be able to maintain a straight face whilst talking to them about the possible existence of a universe in which Carroll was worth *more than* £35m. Top stuff.

Footballers are incredibly privileged members of society, who earn truly vast amounts of money for doing something they love. They're extremely lucky. The absolute very least they could do is keep their side of the bargain and play games.

*slowly nods* how unpredictable.

Interesting.

I'd bet a pretty large amount of money that MON hasn't even heard of Spain, let alone Llorente.

The thing is, I knew he'd go somewhere else, get another job, but I thought I'd be limited to talking about him with other Villa fans. I feel quite lucky I'd been here for a few years and he went to Sunderland. Hey presto, a perfect audience for my rants. That's another thing. Sunderland. Really, I have nothing against them, by and large. One thing I will say, though, is I bet MON thought he'd walk into a much better job than that when he flounced out on us. By all accounts (and this is something Barry Bannan confirmed in the press), he was pissed off whilst still with us that Liverpool didn't talk to him about their job (when they overlooked him for the mighty Roy Hodgson). I can only wonder what kind of a come down Sunderland must be for him. GOOD.