Christian Benteke

What? Having a General look into the temperature of pies and spin a lot of stuff that turned out to be shit? Not having a go but that whole exercise was cringeworthy.

Trotters wrote:What? Having a General look into the temperature of pies and spin a lot of stuff that turned out to be shit? Not having a go but that whole exercise was cringeworthy.

It was but the whole 'Proud History Bright Future' thing along with MoN coming in and Douggie going and getting top 6 had us all swept up and believing this was the dawn of a new era.
Well it did me anyway.

Me too. And, for a little while at least, it seemed to be. Then it was almost as if fate decided to say, 'Hang on a tic...this is the Villa we are talking about here'.

And the rest, as they say, is history (but without the bright future bit).

For "Proud History, Bright Future" read "Over-promise, Under-deliver"

I wouldn't disagree with that, Troy.

There's no denying the sense of excitement when Lerner took over. He just seemed to get everything right and there was a sheen off the club that hadn't been there in a long while.

For two or three years I'd say he nailed being a villa owner.

I think the whole project wobbled a bit after Moscow and a lot of fans began to doubt if we'd ever get to where we wanted to be. Then the emergence of Man City further dented everybody's expectations. When Barry demanded a move the realisation kicked in that we'd still ultimately be a club to be harvested by the so-called big clubs.

Summer 2010/11 was the crossroads and we chose the wrong road. We could have kicked on and finally racked where we wanted to be but a certain inertia set in and everything just fell apart.

I remember Kevin Mac taking charge of that Villa Park loss to Rapid and I said to my housemate that night, Villa are actually going into a major decline. There was something about the performance, the atmosphere, the empty seats, the lack of energy in finding MON's successor. Ultimately, a lack of leadership from the top.

The thing about that period where he seemed to be getting things right was that he had MoN. MoN could control the footballing side whilst Lerner could focus on the business side of things, the getting of things right away from the pitch. Everybody is going to love you when you throw money at the club and your manager delivers a steady and gradual improvement. Since O'Neill left the footballing side has become more exposed, Lerner has decided that the finances should be reigned in (who could blame him for that?) and we've made a series of, at best, mediocre appointments.

Had a stinker today according to the radio.

Aye - Missed two sitters. The other two strikers were pretty anonymous.

I'd say his value is more like £18m now.

At times he plays like Heskey ,today was one of them

pooligan wrote:At times he plays like Heskey ,today was one of them

Sure has a fair bit this season sadly.

Second seasons syndrome. Teams know now how to counter his threat, and as such he is struggling to adapt/improve.

Don't get me started on Wiemann though.

Rotterdam82 wrote:Second seasons syndrome. Teams know now how to counter his threat, and as such he is struggling to adapt/improve.

Don't get me started on Wiemann though.

I don't know, there have been many games where Benteke has looked as though he is sulking because he is still here.

I counted two sitters and a 50/50 chance that a striker on his game would have put away.

Seems to me that he was a spectator for so long that his brain just switched off. I back that up by saying in the games that he's been "unplayable", Villa have had good possession and have passed it around...Christian is just ON.

Maybe it's an age thing? An experience thing? But if he seriously wants to be a starter for Belgium in Brazil he needs to wake the fuck up.

I think it's a bit of everything with him - Second Season Syndrome is a very good point from R82

I love the big guy but his performances are trying my patience. I don't think he'll be a Villa player much longer.