I was actually having quite a pleasant start of the week, until this:
"The Club understands that Alex McLeish is a free agent. We therefore intend to interview him imminently in order to make a decision regarding his candidacy to become Villa manager.
We would, however, like to emphasise that in deciding to interview Alex McLeish, the Board has taken his tenure at our local rivals and the strong emotions associated with this very seriously.
We are determined, still, not to allow that three-and-a-half year post to disqualify him should he be the best candidate for the role of Aston Villa manager."
I just don't understand the motive.
Why on earth would a club of Aston Villa's stature look at appointing Alex McLeish? It's not even the fact he used to manage Birmingham City. It's not the fact we supposedly 'tapped them up'. It's the fact that he's not what we need. He's a negative manager who has a tendancy to implement negative tactics including a 4-5-1 at home. Aston Villa are renowned for exciting counter-attacking football, not defensive tactics. We'd be the complete opposite under McLeish, infact. We'd be going backwards and quite frankly we're currently a laughing stock.
I cannot think of any positive points to raise from this, but believe me I can raise a lot of negatives:
- Alienation of 99% of fans - once you've done that there is no way back
- There would be riots
- We would have to pay £5.2 MILLION compensation to Birmingham City FC
- Further protests
- Massive decrease in season ticket renewals
- <25,000 attendances
- No time to string results together - will be hounded out after one loss
- Poor transfer track record
- Flirting with relegation
Last season us as fans had to put up with poor results for the whole season and we were even in the bottom three at one point. Fans still came to games, albeit not as many, but fans still did. For a club the size of Villa, we should not have to put up with that.
At the start of Gerard Houllier's tenure, quite a large number of fans were not happy with the appointment. But there was still a small number of support. Even with that small number of support, against Sunderland at home chants of "You don't know what you're doing" and "Sacked in the morning" echoed around Villa Park as we lost 1-0. Alex McLeish has NO support. I'm yet to speak to a fan who is im support of the former Blues boss taking the move across the city.
If Houllier can warrant abuse on all levels from a home crowd with support, albeit dwindling, just imagine what the atmosphere will be like if we lose under McLeish at home.
And then of course there is always the threat that he might try and bring some Birmingham players with him - Ferguson, Bowyer, Carr et al. Simply not good enough. Old, past it and typical McLeish signings. Of course he may bring the likes of Foster, Dann and Johnson but is it really worth it for the sake of less than a handful of decent players? You could also argue the fact that he may be something different with a board actually backing him but judging by the way the fans have reacted it is simply not worth the risk.
I can't help but think that this is a way of Lerner and Faulkner saying "Listen, we pick the manager, not you, we will interview who we like whether you like it or not." Which is true. It is frankly embarrassing that so called "fans" vandalise our own training ground with the message "Bluenose scum not welcome" and plan protests for every manager we are linked with as they are "Not good enough for Aston Villa". At the end of the day Villa fans, we are not what we used to be. The days of challenging for the league and European Cups are long gone - we are merely, on average, a top-eight side who will sometimes challenge for the top four/six. Still a big club based on fanbase, stadium, history, squad etc. yes, but what gives us the right to demand Ancelotti? Why would he be interested in a vacant position at a club like Aston Villa when the fans behave the way they do?
And then there's the squad. Will players like Stewart Downing and Darren Bent really stay at the club if McLeish is appointed? It doesn't exactly show them that we mean business does it? Brad Friedel has already gone. Ashley Young is going. We've already released ten players including Nigel Reo Coker and John Carew.
The only reason I can think of for Lerner being interested is that McLeish is similar to O'Neill. He knows how to work to a budget, he knows how to sort a defence out, he knows how to grind out results - and he is stern so will probably be able to sort out the wage bill with the likes of Warnock and Beye sitting on at least £40k a week each.
All I will say to Randy is think about it. Is it worth losing millions of matchday revenue and having thousands of fans taking a back seat on the club whilst you appoint a manager with a poor Premier League record, overseeing two relegations? Yes he led Birmingham City to a Carling Cup win last season. But if you are appointing him based on that, you have a lot to learn about football. There are plenty more managers I would rather see at the helm. I think I would even rather see Alan Curbishley.
And a message to those fans demanding world class managers - we're not Barcelona, we are Aston Villa. We will not be able to attract a manager to the calibre of those mentioned (Ancelotti, Rijkard, etc.) so grow up and support the team whatever happens.
I will continue to support the club and give McLeish a chance if he is the manager but it does not make sense from both a financial sense and a footballing sense. But just a thought. Mark Hughes is a free agent at the end of the month, why not wait for him and approach him in a professional manner?
There are over 15,000 fans in the Facebook group stating that Villa fans do not want McLeish.
We have either lowered our ambitions or the board simply do not care anymore. Neither is any better than the other.
Want to commit football suicide? Hire Alex McLeish.
