Want to commit football suicide? Hire Alex McLeish...

After last night's statement released on avfc.co.uk I felt I had to dig the blog out for another post.

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

You could say this is a result of Villa fans being fickle and I could see where you were coming from. But this is a far bigger matter than not turning up because the manager is not liked.

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.

What a difference four days make

Jesus, after that performance at Chelsea I think almost everyone went into the Sunderland game with renewed hope that we were about to turn things around, well that was proved wrong.

We didn't play good at all tonight. Heskey was the only one who looked bothered - but then he got sent off for a push in the face to a Sunderland player.

I've had a bit of time to reflect after the game and sit down with a cup of tea so these are my perspective views.

It's too easy to sit back and say "Houllier Out!" looking at the league table, the results and the performances, but it is evident there are underlying problems at the club. We are in a BIG mess at the minute, and Houllier is clearing up the mess left by Martin O'Neill and doing what should have been a long time ago - i.e. making some of the players who travel to and from places such as London and Manchester every day, move local. The players aren't happy, but surely it needs to be done.

Martin O'Neill bought a team of players who could play to the strengths he wanted to use them for. Houllier has not yet had this chance. Houllier has tried to play O'Neill's team of players to the way he wants the team to play. It has obviously not worked. How many managers come in and stick to the ways of a previous manager? Almost every manager, if not all, try to get the team to play the way they want to. Every team goes through a bad run, some longer than others, but teams usually tend to come out of them. I know I shouldn't be comparing us to them but look at West Brom. They were on a great run at the start of the season and have now lost five games in a row and just about outside of the relegation zone. If that's a bad example look at Chelsea, and if that's a bad one look at Everton.

I guess what I'm trying to say is trying to do your job with someone elses tools isn't easy until you can buy your own, which Houllier WILL be given the chance to do. He won't be sacked tonight, tomorrow morning, or at the weekend. The only way he will be sacked is if we get relegated or he no longer wants the job and agrees to leave.

Until then, Gerard Houllier is our manager, and I think we will turn this around. Probably later rather than sooner but we will just about dodge relegation in my opinion. Our fixture list once we get past Man City at home is a lot easier than the games we've had to play under him.

Oh and some more on O'Neill - of course he has to take some of the blame, not all, but some, considering he left his group of players in the lurch and walked out on us so close to the season starting. He knew this would happen this season due to player revolt and high wage bill (when he found it difficult to make it any lower) so left at the first opportunity. He has a decent CV and doesn't want to tarnish it by a relegation battling season at Aston Villa when he could much rather take a year out and look at options.

Have faith, I know it's difficult at the minute and 99.9% of Villa fans want Houllier out and I know no one will agree with me but the board see something in him, and this is why we don't own a football club and they do.

Oh and the chanting during the game tonight of "Sacked in the morning" by the same fans who were chanting "Houllier's claret and blue army" five minutes before was completely uncalled for and probably something the media will have a field day on, so well done.

Up the Villa

Gerard Houllier - The right manager at the wrong time

There's been a lot of internet campaigns over the past few weeks trying to get Gerard Houllier out of Aston Villa. For what it's worth Villa fans have been very patient after three months of disappointing performances, reserving vocal thoughts on the manager until the last defeat against Manchester City.

If Houllier came in when everything was fine, i.e. we had just finished 6th and Milner had stayed but O'Neill simply felt like he needed a new challenge, then fine, he would be a great manager for us and we would have every success we can potentially achieve under him, I have no doubt of that.

However, due to the already existing trouble between a cliqué of players and the board, I feel Houllier is not the right man for the job - at the moment. That's not me saying I want him out, or me saying I think the club have made a mistake, I just believe Houllier has came into our club at the wrong time - and Gerard knows this himself after his comments yesterday saying he had only just realised what big a task he has on his hands.

If we had kept Kevin MacDonald as caretaker manager for the rest of the season and he eradicated our main problems and THEN Houllier came in when we were in a sturdy position, it would be a decent appointment. But Houllier isn't known to raise team spirits. When things are bad under Houllier, things are bad. In my opinion, he is only successful at a team that has good team spirit and a decent dressing room backing him, not at a team that has fallen apart from two Wembley defeats, our best player leaving for two successive seasons  as well as our best defender retiring - and on top of all that, our most successful manager for years walking out on us.

However going back to me not saying the club have made a mistake, they should have known Houllier would not be the right person to drag us up from the metaphorical dead... I just don't know how we can recover from this as to put it blunt I cannot see where our next win is going to come from. Whether we sack him or not we will still be in this mess until the main core of troublemakers who are no longer interested are out of this club.

I am very worried we will get relegated and if we do I would not be surprised.

Gerard Houllier and rumours of his departure

Overnight a big stir has been caused on Twitter and Facebook with a strong rumour that Randy Lerner has given Gerard Houllier the ultimatum of stepping down now or being sacked after the Chelsea game. All of this stemmed from Houllier not going home on the team coach and also from him having an argument with Lichaj about his performance against Manchester City.

I don't know what to make of this situation.

Part of me wants us to just get rid of him and get Martin Jol in and start all over again. But that's just not realistic at the minute. We've identified all of our transfer targets and have started to make moves on them and tie up some bids and medicals.

I would be happy with Houllier staying, if he showed some personality and enthusiasm. I watch all of his interviews (and I'm going to the Chelsea press conference on Friday at Bodymoor Heath) and he just doesn't seem to show much personality anymore. At the beginning he was funny, lively, smiling, now he's just depressed. It's obvious this is rubbing off on the players as whenever we go 1-0 down it's a case of how low can we keep this scoreline, not how can we get back into the game. Don't get me wrong, I've always been confident of Houllier and I would love nothing more than for us to win our next five games and go on an amazing run in both the cup and league and for Houllier to be branded as a hero but I just can't see that happening.

Under Houllier we won't go on winning runs, we'll get the odd win here and there 2-1 or 3-2, we won't keep many clean sheets and we will barely score. That is, of course, if we don't make signings in January.

If Houllier is trusted with money for this January, he will be here for this season, the Summer transfer window, and probably up until January - if we don't get relegated. It's probably too short notice now to get someone like Jol in and to identify his targets and approach them and get them all in in time.

There was a point in yesterday's game where Houllier said to Mcallister "What do we do?" and Mcallister just shrugged his shoulders as if to say "Fuck knows".

I'll just say one more thing - when things are going well with Houllier it's great and everything is rosy, but when things go to pot he is not the man to get us out of it. He cannot raise spirits or encourage a fight back mentality. That's what worries me about him. He has the potential to be a great manager and for us to win things under him and that is great as that's what we all want - but when things are bad under him, boy they can become bad.

It's not looking great but I don't think sacking him now is the right decision, in my opinion. Just look at Newcastle. He is trying to make us play an attractive game of football for the long term but in the short term it's not working with the players we have. Maybe Houllier does just need some time. Or maybe he should just go. We'll see what Lerner does over the next few weeks because if we lose any more games in succession this surely cannot go on any longer?

Manchester City reaction - Just not good enough.

I went into today's game fairly optimistic for some reason, particularly considering the team news with no Tevez, Barry or Milner and Reo Coker starting in midfield. Oh how I was wrong.

There was no fight, passion, spirit, togetherness - it was just woeful. One of the worst performances I have ever seen as a Villa fan and it feels worse than the 6-0 at Newcastle. Why is it we only ever start performing when we are a few goals down? It's no use playing well at 3 or 4-0 down as it's too late.

I won't even bother talking about whether I think Houllier should stay or go because it's all over the internet and yesterday I said it would be foolish to get rid of him now. I still stand by that, one extra result doesn't make me change my opinion. I don't think Lerner will get rid of him just yet as he's only been here three months and there is still the January transfer window to prove himself. Most of Houllier's transfer targets have been identified and some players are all but signed.

At the end of the day, we are in high danger of getting relegated but we need the fans more than ever. Watching the game today I heard chants such as "The Villa is ours, fuck off Houllier, the Villa is ours" - OK so you might not like the manager but all of the blame does not go down to him. He picks the team and sorts the tactics but he does not tell the players to make the mistakes they are making or to barely play anywhere near their potential.

The only players to come out with any positives from this afternoon's game are Petrov and Albrighton for trying to create something out of nothing.

Although, a special mention goes to Delph for coming on with about 30 minutes to go, for playing with a bit of heart and bringing a classy touch into a seriously shocking performance. Hope his injury is not too serious.

Chelsea away next, not looking to great is it? Chelsea are on a very poor run of form but then again so are we. Says 0-0 all over it doesn't it? We can only hope they don't come back into form on Sunday but it is foreseeable that they will given our luck.

Martin O'Neill, Gerard Houllier and Tottenham Hotspur

As I write this it's the afternoon after Boxing Day and a very disappointing result against Tottenham. Over the past few weeks I have seen a lot of backlash against Randy Lerner, Gerard Houllier and the players, which is fair enough considering the results we have had. But if you are deciding to read this post I ask that you push a little bit of perspective to the forefront for a short while.

Martin O'Neill 

Whilst we got results under him, the football was not pretty. But then again I think everyone would rather have his style of football at the moment as we got results. What a lot of people don't know is the goings on behind the scenes and his poor man management. Martin was a very stubborn man, he would not let other people get their own way and ruined a lot of players (Harewood, Shorey, Davies) - and whilst they were not great players they gave their all and would have done better at their respective teams they have all moved on to, a lot sooner. This brings me on to his transfer dealings. He purchased poor players and paid them ridiculously high wages (Dunne - 52k, Beye - 40k, Sidwell - 45k, Heskey - 65k) and ran our wage bill up to over 70% of our turnover. I could go on all day about him and how he should have rotated players, should have been more shrewd with transfer dealings and should have not been so stubborn but at the end of the day, he left us in the lurch leaving so soon before the season started and the way he left did not surprise me. We had no manager and therefore could not sign any players in time. Obviously the departures of Barry and Milner assisted this but when a player wants to go there's not much you can do to make them stay - particularly when Manchester City come calling.

Gerard Houllier

There are a hell of a lot of fans on his back at the moment and I'll admit I was one for a while after the Liverpool debacle, but he is our manager. He was not my first choice but I was relatively pleased when he was appointed after some of the names floating around (Curbishley!) and felt he would do a decent enough job for us. Anyone following on from Martin O'Neill was always going to be a near-impossible task due to his timing. Although I was quietly confident, Gerard has got us playing a passing game instead of a long ball/counter attacking game and it's just not working. There are certain players who have made it clear they are not interested anymore, and for those who don't know; Dunne, Warnock, Beye, Sidwell, Carew - to name a few - won't be with us for much longer. It's refreshing that we are playing an attractive game but with no end product it becomes fairly frustrating.Whilst I agree that three wins in fourteen is not good enough, he has only been here three months, we've been plagued with injuries due to Martin O'Neill not giving the players a proper training session for four years and yes, this has been evident on results. Perspective is the key word as we come into January with the opportunity to clear out some of the players who aren't interested and it's a real chance for Gerard to make his mark on the team for the first time. Whether we will make any quality additions is to be seen but I can see a few decent signings to make the team a little more how Gerard would like it to be.

I'm not pleased with the performances and if I'm honest it's a little depressing the way we are going but unless it was Mourinho, anyone replacing O'Neill was always going to have a difficult task on their hands.

Tottenham Hotspur

My views on the game are pretty much the same as everyone's all over the internet. We played well but had no end product and this often leaves the modern-day fan more frustrated due to the lack of finishing in the team. We had 22 shots and 63% possession, yet lost to a side with a lot more skill (Van Der Vaart) and ten men which suited them more than us in a way. One positive from this game and the others over the past three months is that we do have some young players who will be very valuable to us in the future as long as we don't sell them. Albrighton, Clark, Bannan, Hogg, Lichaj, Delfouneso - all players who will have an integral role to play and who could all even be first teamers after the next couple of years.

We should not be too disheartened by this result as Tottenham are a class side and this has been proven by their ability to come down from 2-0 down at the Emirates to win 3-2 and to stay in the Champions League after coming from 4-0 down at Inter Milan to lose marginally 4-3.

They have spent a lot of money on their side, some would say just as much as we have but it's pertinent their money has been spent a lot more wisely than us. If we are to compete at any level near to Tottenham we must appoint someone who can market and attract players to this club, as we have never been able to for years. Tottenham's wage bill is also lower than ours so we must do something about this too.

With our next six games including Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd and Birmingham all away, aswell as Man City at home, we will do well to not be in a relegation battle through January. But I do believe we will pull through and that Houllier will eventually be the man to help us out of this mess as we are currently in a (very) rough patch. Every team has them - Everton, Newcastle, even Chelsea, but we must have the spirit, endeavour and passion to pull ourselves out of this. The players are there, the fans are there, the manager is there, the board is there - they all realise the trouble we are in, but do the players have the guts to pull us out of this? Only time will tell. I for one think if we were to get relegated it would be the biggest disaster the club has ever seen given the current state of football but I think we will pull through. This is a tough time but we need the fans more than ever.


Keep the faith, keep supporting the players and most importantly keep following the club you love.


Up the Villa.