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There must be more to his appointment than we know. The main criteria was "proven premier league experience", even though he had been relegated 2 out of his 3 seasons in the premier league. Everyone knew this was going to happen - lots of draws, few goals, negative football (this is his proven premier league record) and he has still not been sacked - so there must be some further reasoning behind the board's logic.

I am still a critic (still don't think he is the way forward) but I was happy with tonights performance. He gained some respect from me for signing Keane, who I thought was definitely past it. We are actually attacking teams and I have noticed that Given in particular is no longer just booting the ball forward (he loves that). I believe these are positive signs. He has to drop warnock and collins and not offer dunne a new contract . Houllier knew these players had to go and if Mcleish clears them out then I will be with him too.

Really good performance tonight, particularly the interceptions and distribution. The only thing I can think to counter that with is that we weren't under much pressure for most of the game. Still the only defender I wish to be offered an extension on their contract though.

I want to say yes but he needs to get someone in to choose the managers. It is one of the most important decisions to have and he seems terrible at it. McLeish?!

You are right but I am dreading Collins, Warnock or Dunne (he is good but is already 32) getting new contracts. I was sure they were on their way out last season but then McLeish bought Hutton and now I'm not sure which kind of defender he prefers...

Trent, He catches the eye at times due to his work rate, but he is just a stopper and on a bad day a very clumsy one as illustrated at WHL.... on a good day an assertive one. ....problem is, progressive teams play out from the back, he has no guile. He is a poor defender. He doesn't read the game well, he dives in without thought, he switches off and has poor concentration and he lumps the ball about the pitch. Add to that his off field antics last season and to be honest I've seen more than enough of him. Exactly, what will it take before he gets dropped? I am starting to view Dunne in a better light though, or is it just me? He did get caught out a few times in terrible positions against Spurs but no where near as many times per game as last season.

Really terrible performance. At least he appears to know where we have gone wrong though, no ball retention and "circus" defending. Do we trust him to finish off the job of getting rid of the MON players (Collins, Dunne, Beye, Warnock, Heskey) and replace them with players that can play the ball? Or will he just make it worse e.g possibly like sending out Makoun to bring in Hutton.

I like him, he has started maybe five (?) PL games and has impressed in most of them. Adds something that Petrov, Delph, Ireland and Bannan lack in central midfield. A bit like Reo-Coker but doesn't think he is a box-to-box midfielder.

That might have been down to the quality of the opposition as well

He plays the ball out along the floor a lot more than Collins, which helps quite a bit. He also seems comfortable carrying the ball forwards. The only thing I am not sure about is how good he is in the air.

I disagree with this statement because even at the end of O'Neill's reign he was playing poorly, getting too many yellow cards and conceding too many fouls. He continued that form into the next season. It made sense to drop him at the time. He was part of a poor defense as a whole but Houllier didn't drop Dunne or Collins. Personally, I think the reason why Warnock and the rest of our defence have conceded so few goals is due to us using a more O'Neill style of playing (definitely a positive in many respects, especially with our ambitions now). We defend deeper again and the back four have a lot more support. We won't be exposed as much as last season. There isn't as much space behind the defence now and this a good move as our back four isn't generally great at dealing with pace.

Herd isn't that big but he manages to connect with a large proportion of crosses that come his way

I don't dispute the way we can be critical. I have negative opinions of a few of our players and was not impressed with our choice of manager. Why Makoun though? Of all our players, why put him down? He has been here since January, probably only made about eight appearances for us and has had injuries, suspension and maybe family issues. On the word that cannot be mentioned, I found myself agreeing with lots of those posters about the appointment of McLeish - I was very negative and felt justified in that. However, I soon started started questioning the validity of my own opinion because those same posters were negative about everything else. I guess they are consistent in their pessimism as least!

This was odd, my posts were being edited by someone. I hope there isn't an error now. I was replying to the disrespect that the poster was showing in saying he couldn't hack it against Hereford - you know that, you are distorting what I was saying. I don't come on this forum often (mostly during transfer windows) but whenever I have been here there has been consistent attacks on Makoun. Even before he had played his first game. You may have been one of those people, I do not know. For me, a supporter of this club gets behind their players (especially new players, within 7-8 months of thme joining the club). I did not really like Houllier but the vitriol against him was absurb and I think you would be quite blind to not recognise that people had an agenda against him/his style of play/his training methods/the players he used.

You do remember he played for Lyon and has probably played in dozens of Champions League games? I really dont understand the dislike that people have had for this guy ever since he came to this club. It is like some people want him to fail simply because Houllier brought him here and they hate Houllier. Give him a chance!

I didn't really care if we lost as it was a friendly but I started enjoying the match when he came on. Makoun and Bannan both looked to receive the ball, get close to each other and pass it round their midfield. Even if it doesn't work out, I still prefer it to hoofing it long and surrendering possession.

Chelsea are far better than us and this is only pre-season but the constant hoofing is really depressing. It is not even like it is working and I think we have some decent ball players too.

I really don't understand this. We don't need to sell him, reject his transfer request. He needs to play well next season to get in the Euro squad. Why didn't we just do what we did with Barry the first summer? He has two years on his contract! I have been behind the board all the way until McLeish, I completely understood Young going...but this?

We don't need to sell for less though. He needs to maintain his form to make the England squad for the Euros, so he won't start to play poorly for us. He is barely in the national team now. It is much easier to force a club to sell when the player has one year left on their contract.

Apart from Cahill (for completely different reasons - he was young and the manager didn't rate him, even if we did), the board has been firm and struck a good deal for all the players we have sold. Barry, Milner (I was really pleased with Ireland at the time) and Young. I think we are in a strong position to hold out for a good price, Downing will be 27 this month and 29 the summer after his contract runs out. For a winger, that will be pretty old. We could easily hold out for 25m.

If he gets rid of those two and carries on the squad overhaul that Gerard started then he will have my respect - that would definitely make me feel better about this. I am just concerned that he will see them as his type of defenders, they are suited to defending deep and making last ditch challenges.

It is not about BCFC. I supported Houllier the whole time (only had doubts after Sunderland at home) and didn't even dislike O'Leary that much (he wasn't great but we had Ellis). Now we have a great chairman but this is so obviously an error....

I was in denial but I am starting to accept it. Just really disappointed. I have a bad feeling next season is going to be a mess, especially if we lose a manager half way through. What if he keeps Dunne and Warnock?! They would look good in a Birmingham defence.

I was in denial. I still am. Just because he is being interviewed doesn't mean he will get it?

The fans are trying to avoid the incorrect appointment altogether before its too late. I understand Lerner isn't stupid, however not coming out and saying anything after the uproar it has caused is not being clever. Time and time again we are told this club is the fans, yet if feels we are being ignored on this particular occasion. I understand the new appointment will not satisfy all fans but this talk of AM being appointed as manager has created unwanted attention beyond belief. What we are experiencing is a Dougesque way of handling things. I hope to god that the board unveil a decent manager that a majority would back. But at the moment they are not handling this silence very well, in fact they have created a rod for their own backs. I really appreciate what our board has done so far but i am baffled as to what they are playing at. Maybe I just have blind faith then! I just don't see how anyone could think McLeish could be a positive or logical choice, least of all our owner. I supported their choice of Houllier as well, I am not picky with managers. I am just hoping that we get someone decent and then this whole silence thing won't have mattered at all.