KEITH WYNESS AND STEVE ROUND!!!

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Steve Round has officially left the club. I see some are already trying to spin as part of the Villa in crisis narrative, but I can't say it bothers me to see him go, he Bruce and Wyness have played a big part in our failure to get promoted, with their dated outlook on the game.

Good news in my opinion, get someone in who knows what they are doing, it can't be hard, can it?

achilles wrote:

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Steve Round has officially left the club. I see some are already trying to spin as part of the Villa in crisis narrative, but I can't say it bothers me to see him go, he Bruce and Wyness have played a big part in our failure to get promoted, with their dated outlook on the game.

Good news in my opinion, get someone in who knows what they are doing, it can't be hard, can it?

The problem is the owner. He is a total joker. Some call him a charlatan and a fraud for reasons known to themselves.

achilles wrote:

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Steve Round has officially left the club. I see some are already trying to spin as part of the Villa in crisis narrative, but I can't say it bothers me to see him go, he Bruce and Wyness have played a big part in our failure to get promoted, with their dated outlook on the game.

Good news in my opinion, get someone in who knows what they are doing, it can't be hard, can it?

All the reports from yesterday saying that he won't be replaced as his job isn't seen as essential in our current financial state, basically he was fired to save on wages. Bruce is now completely responsible for the football side of things.

deadbuzzardalive wrote:

achilles wrote:

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Steve Round has officially left the club. I see some are already trying to spin as part of the Villa in crisis narrative, but I can't say it bothers me to see him go, he Bruce and Wyness have played a big part in our failure to get promoted, with their dated outlook on the game.

Good news in my opinion, get someone in who knows what they are doing, it can't be hard, can it?

All the reports from yesterday saying that he won't be replaced as his job isn't seen as essential in our current financial state, basically he was fired to save on wages. Bruce is now completely responsible for the football side of things.

To leave Bruce in charge of footballing matters is frightening, things are a total mess without a doubt!

Of course we could be clearing the decks for new investors. If I was buying a company run by a couple of people I didn't want I'd make that the seller's problem and condition of sale.

But yes, Bruce in charge is not going to get us anywhere. Bruce in charge of selecting the best team to not gain promotion is fairly simple, play experienced players in whatever position is empty and let the reserves sit on the bench. Ensure the striker is completely isolated while everyone else defends and hope when the opposition makes a mistake our striker can get past three of four defenders to score a goal on his own.

Actually, Xia can pay me £50k per year, give me somewhere to live and sack Bruce. I promise Whelan will only ever come on for the last 20 minutes of a match if strictly necessary, I'll have the U23s playing the same formation as the first team so if we have an injury anywhere on the pitch we have someone ready to slot in, I'll only ever play Hogan with O'Hare, Thor will start every match in front of the defence, the wingers have to either cross into the box or cut in to try to score depending on some special signalling device I'll set up in the stands which will be controlled by spotters high up in the stands (or maybe a buzzer in each boot), I'll have Ozzy write a new Villa song and I'll set up a competition to find the best Villa-supporting curry chef with all of us as judges. If you want to back me I'll try to think of some more stuff for my manifesto.

I take the piss but we're all currently helpless in the face of an owner who seems to have forgotten his business is something we've invested in deeply. I've wanted Bruce gone since January/February last year and I know a lot of other people have too so on the plus side the two people essentially in charge of keeping Bruce in a job have gone. Xia was too far out of touch to see for himself what was going on. I'm just waiting for the news that Bruce is gone.

This is very good, BTW:

https://www.myoldmansaid.com/the-media-silence-of-steve-bruces-under-achievement-at-villa/

I don't know if his departure is about clearing the decks, according to James Nursey and a few others, one of the US consortiums interested in buying us might walk away now, because Round was their first point of contact, and they were relying on his football knowledge... But of course the media are doing everything they can at the moment to put Bruce, Round and Wyness in a positive light, so they'll spin things to suit their agenda.

deadbuzzardalive wrote:I don't know if his departure is about clearing the decks, according to James Nursey and a few others, one of the US consortiums interested in buying us might walk away now, because Round was their first point of contact, and they were relying on his football knowledge... But of course the media are doing everything they can at the moment to put Bruce, Round and Wyness in a positive light, so they'll spin things to suit their agenda.

Frankly we don't know much, it's like the good old days of Randy's silence!

What I'm starting to think is that Xia isn't an idiot (I never thought he was but stories of him looking shellshocked when the full extent of the crisis was spelt out to him etc etc etc), he's just completely and utterly ruthless. He invested his own money into the club this last year to cover the operating deficit and now we haven't succeeded in promotion it appears to have dried up. He's bought himself some time but for what? I can't see a businessman like him wanting to lose (much) money, so he's not going to sell at a reduced price or be forced into a corner. If he doesn't want to sell he needs to finance the club and sort out FFP, but to have any hope of attaining promotion he's going to need to keep as many players as possible. If the issue is getting money out of China then where else outside China does he already have money? If the money isn't there he's playing a very dangerous game with our club. If we have one more year to try for promotion then Round and Wyness are essentially useless if we can't afford to buy any more players and whoever is in charge of managing the club will have to make do with what they have (which, frankly, is more than enough).

I still think Grealish will have to balance the books, and if Bruce is in charge the likes of Hogan, McCormack, Lansbury and who knows who else will go. Essentially the players he doesn't know how to play.

I don't think Xia is stupid enough to want Bruce at the club for another season but I don't think he can currently afford to pay him off.

Then it's down to whether Xia is going for a sale or if he's going to try to see it out for another season. If the latter then it seems odd he's propped up the club's running costs but stopped when we lost the playoffs, when another season of ownership is going to rely on him spending more of his own money.

But if like you say, DBA, Round is the contact point for one lot (possibly more than one) of potential buyers, it seems an odd thing to do.

Have I missed anything? Keep and finance, sell part of or sell all. If selling is involved I can't see anyone like Levy coming in for Grealish until the very last minute and at the very lowest price, likewise anyone coming in to buy all or part of the club.

All very confusing.

deadbuzzardalive wrote:

achilles wrote:

deadbuzzardalive wrote:Steve Round has officially left the club. I see some are already trying to spin as part of the Villa in crisis narrative, but I can't say it bothers me to see him go, he Bruce and Wyness have played a big part in our failure to get promoted, with their dated outlook on the game.

Good news in my opinion, get someone in who knows what they are doing, it can't be hard, can it?

All the reports from yesterday saying that he won't be replaced as his job isn't seen as essential in our current financial state, basically he was fired to save on wages. Bruce is now completely responsible for the football side of things.

Bruce in charge of footballing side of things is a bit like have Hitler in charge of a bar mitzvah?

Managers SHOULD be responsible for the football side of things. Steve Round did a course and suddenly ends up being the so called brains behind the villa engine? Waste of space appointment. I don't like Bruce's style of play but I do value his input far more than I would Steve Round.

STO67 wrote:Managers SHOULD be responsible for the football side of things. Steve Round did a course and suddenly ends up being the so called brains behind the villa engine?  Waste of space appointment.  I don't like Bruce's style of play but I do value his input far more than I would Steve Round.

Whilst I agree as it is the lesser of two evils but it hardly inspires me with confidence based on what has gone before with Bruce's input!

Wyness has finally tweeted and it's a link to a Wikipedia article about the Chinese gang of four.

Really doesn't make sense as to any kind of point he's trying to make.

Well apparently 'the gang of four' were all arrested when Chairman Mao lost power... So it seems like he's trying to imply some wrongdoing on Xia's part, maybe he's tweeting now because he knows something is on the horizon regarding Xia's departure. Seems a bit rich though, he's also partly responsible for the sorry situation we currently find ourselves in.

Quite honestly Wyness knew exactly what was going on so he is obviously complicit in all the mess we find ourselves in, so it is just sour grapes!