Thiam didn't cost us 1million quid

But you’re arguing with yourself. No ones said Stendel’s not had injuries. You criticised someone for not knowing their best team by December & I said how could he when he’d not had all his players available. That’s just daft. It’d be like me slating Stendel for not knowing who to pick in Fryers / Pinillos or Hedges / Thiam.

If you read what I’ve put I did defend Stendel. I’m not a hypocrite I stand by what I said & I’ll repeat it here. As soon as I saw Dougall play I thought we’d sorted out the one position in the team that needed strengthening which gave us a team good enough to finish top two. I’ve also said if we get injuries to key players like Moore, Dougall, Davies & either of Lindsay & Pinnock or if we get a high points total like Shrewsbury did last season but don’t get top two because two teams get an even higher points total then he definitely deserves more time in charge.

The things you’re criticising him for are just incredibly petty. After January 2017 we had 2 wingers - Kent & Hammill & 2 strikers - Bradshaw & Armstrong plus one who could play both in Watkins. If you go 4-4-2 that means you have only one attacking option off the bench so it’s common sense to play 4-5-1. None are target men anyway so incredibly difficult to play a front 2 from them 3.

Angus was in hindsight a bad captain but he was only one of 4 outfield players left from the season before, the others been Bradshaw, Hammill (who wasn’t a regular starter) & Yiadom (wanted a move away & knackered shoulder). In his first season he’d been community player of the year & behaved like a role model. I’m not going to go into his relationship in his second season but how on earth could anyone predict that would happen? Making him captain was a decision that most fans agreed with.

Williams was suspended & Gardner couldn’t play against Villa so because we had no other midfielders who could put a tackle in he decided to go with an extra centre back. It didn’t work but if you want to go back & read the comments on here at the time in the build up to the game loads were saying we should go with wing backs.

No doubt Bristol was a strange selection but mainly for Potts playing the day after signing but Mowatt & Moncur on the wings? So what? Both have played there before & both will again, in fact Moncur has plenty this season. It’s hardly crime of the century. I’ve kept reading how **** & injury prone all our wingers are anyway.

Again, if you think we were going down anyway that’s fine. I don’t. We signed Kieffer Moore & I saw him partner Bradshaw against Fulham & we battered them until Cavare got sent off & I was convinced after seeing that game that we’d stay up under Heckingbottom & even more so with McBurnie signing a few days later. No ones got a crystal ball so it’s all guess work anyway.

I don’t think I’m always right. I’ve no problem admitting it if I think I’m wrong. I thought Adam Davies would be a quality keeper & push on from our last league one season, got that wrong. I thought Donny’s passing style would play into our hands the other week & we’d beat them convincingly, got that wrong. Thought Hourihane would be playing regular football for Villa in the prem & starting regularly for Ireland by now, got that wrong. There’ll be plenty more as well but you can’t tell me my opinions wrong unless it’s proven to be.

I don’t think anyone on here thinks Hecky’s the messiah, I don’t even like the bloke but I like liars & hypocrites even less & this place has plenty of them because it went from virtually everyone thinking he was doing a good job with us to within a couple of weeks about half of our fans making out he was doing a **** job with us before he left (I’m not accusing you by the way, I don’t know what your views were at the time). I might be a lot of things but at least I’m honest & stand by my opinions.

 

Hecky got us relegated when he p1ssed about with the 11 after the away point at Norwich. He changed the team against Cardiff at home and dropped Bradshaw and Barnes. We played really well against Cardiff and lost that match and I genuinely think we'd have beat Cardiff with our best team out. He was saving players for the following match at home to Leeds which we played like a bunch of xxxx and lost.

Stendels first and hopefully only comparison with Hecky was the team selection against Doncaster when he dropped Woodrow to the bench and sacrificed 2 pts playing 4-5-1 at home. He was saving Woodrow for Sunderland away. We lost that game and so dropped more points. Play the games one at a time, play the best 11 available and get the points on the board.

 

That wasn't your original point though.

Don't know where you get £6m from but this argument has been done to death anyway. You clearly have an agenda when it comes to Hecky.

 

No he didn't.

 

The 17 match run without a win that he started certainly did contribute to our relegation. Was it all going to **** just after Norwich away a total coincidence? Did I dream the 17 match run without a win? Did Morais go 17 matches without a win?

 

We were 6 points outside the relegation zone when Hecky left. It took Morais 7 games to take us into the bottom 3 - with a side including Moore, McBurnie and Gardner.

Hecky wasn't perfect and he was a lovely person for leaving the way he did - but to rewrite his time here is wrong.

 

I seem to remember the first match after Hecky left being Sheff Wednesday at home under Paul Harsley and us drawing and dropping into the bottom three?

 

Trying to do a Google search now - can't find owt. I'm sure I've seen those numbers that I quoted somewhere before though. I'll update if i find.

As stated by Django though- Hecky had a side on the verge of the play offs that included....

Current Keeper.
Right back at Villa can't get a game.
Birmingham back up centre half.
Hull back up centre half.
Reading right back playing left back.
St Mirren winger.
Aston Villa rotated midfielder.
QPR rotated midfielder.
Bristol City rotated winger
Sheff Wednesday rotated striker
Millwall back up striker.

So not exactly outstanding. As we all know it went to pot over the next 6 months, but we still had our heads above the parapet.

We then signed Moore, McBurnie and Gardner and somehow got worse.

 

I think we'll have to agree to disagree

 

That's correct we did drop into the bottom 3 after one.
For my bit I think there was plenty of blame to go around and it's not limited to 2 coach's that season.

 

I agree mate.

 

Yeah gets better so now we fleeced villa,Birmingham,Swansea and Wednesday with those January sales and the players we had weren't that good anyway it was all because hecky was getting them over performing.... orite then

 

Am I wrong in what I've put? Maybe Scowen and Hourihane are more regular then rotation and of course Winnall is injured.

And we didn't fleece anyone cos most went for next to nowt!

Here's one for you. Out of the eleven mentioned, who has done better at their new club than they did for us?

 

all of them.... loadsamoney!!!! ;-)

 

Probley not but it's irrelevant where they are now most of that squad would walk into a rotherham or millwall team. Fact is they are all championship players.

Winnall was one of the best strikers I've seen while watching us but was he ever going to get in the Wednesday side with Fernando, Hooper and Fletcher I'm not sure winnall will ever be back to where he was after serious injury.

Bree was never bought by villa to walk straight into their starting 11 he was bought for his potential but is even further down the pecking order.

Ipswich probley regret selling watkins as they are rock bottom.

Roberts change of manager since going brum

Conor gets in a villa midfield full of stars

Scowen regular last season not as much this season.

Yiadom regular for reading

Mawson gone on and sold for 15million to Fulham.

Most went for next to nowt? You just slagged them all off and said it was hecky having them overachiving make your mind up

 

When did Ipswich sell Watkins?

Dint we sell Mawson in August 2016? He has no relevance to this discussion.

 

I thought Bristol City bought Watkins from Ipswich for a reported £1 million but I could be wrong

 

Bristol city signed Marley Watkins from Ipswich 1.1million summer just gone. Thought it was later than that but fair enough.

 

It was Norwich weren’t it?

 

Norwich