VamosMiAstonVilla

Now lets not sit back in our own half please.

Ireland for Zog please

Feel for Bannan having to play with these numtpies in the midfield.

Probably be a bit higher now with the 5 pounds offer

32k.

Can't see us not winning this to be honest, lots of players coming back, lots of options to change things if things aren't going well. They are pretty rubbish and have a few players out.

Despite the shit served up this season so far I think we'll win this comfortably.

With all these players coming back it's going to be interesting what formation he chooses.

Ireland won't be playing I'm pretty sure of that. I also think he'll drop Bannan for Heskey with a front 3 of Bent, Gabby, Heskey then Jenas, Petrov and Delph.

I'm referring specifically to the matches vs Man Utd (away) and Man City (carling cup) (yes I know we lost them both) where we were playing like we should be playing passing/possession/tippy tappy we should persist with it and try and perfect it. It won't make us Barca, but it would be good enough to see off the likes of QPR.

I get the impression that a lot of the players don't like playing under him, not necessary him as a person but the way he plays. I wonder if there is the same stigma within playing circles towards Mcleish as there is from the fans?

99% of teams would have done that, we had no intention of putting the ball in the box what's the point. As for the 20 good mins due to Houllier, Jesus that's the most ridiculous quote you've said yet, and there is a list of many.

There's having players back, then there's having players sitting back practically on your own goal line. There was only ever going to be one outcome of that corner and it wasn't going to be us keeping possession. 30 secs left maybe, but 3 minutes left?

No-ones saying he taught them how to pass, but how to play, there is a difference. The first 10-20 mins of the 2nd half was like going back to the good old days under Houllier.

There was a great example of this negativity we all here about from Mcleish today. We had a corner with about 3 mins of IT left. Sky pics clearly show Mcleish wanting 7 players back he counts and holds up 7 with his fingers. This leaves 3 players up-front including the player taking the corner. No-one is saying we should send everyone up in these situations but it is basically just an invitation for them to come at us (and eventually score in this case). We might as well just give them the ball back and not bother with the corner.

Another match, another MOTM performance. Have the doubters who said we shouldn't be starting him finally been silenced?

Still plenty of work to do, especially in the composure department but definitely should be in the starting 11. Along with Bent and Given his name should be first on the team-sheet.

Still don't like him on the wing though. Most of his good play comes from in the hole (love those little lofted balls to Gabby).

Im going to end my point on this but if GH was still in charge we would have lost today as the commitment from our players was 100% and got an unlucky break for the QPR goal(though prob even up the luck on the penalty decision)

Its good to see players wanting to play for Aston Villa and putting their bodies on the line which is mainly down to McLeish

Taken straight from the book of Alex Mcleish's Myths and Clichés.

The only part of the game we played well was the Houllier influenced tippy tappy in the 2nd half. Houllier taught that stuff to Bannan and Delph last season.

But, *i think* Mcleish now recognizers this is how we need to play and hope he puts 100% effort into perfecting it. I still remain unconvinced he has the know-how, however.

Ray Wilkins sure did recognize it.

First half was the embarrassing relegation football that we've seen for most of the season.

Second half we came out playing a lot better. Pass the ball and we play better shocker! Not feeling the Delph hate he played a big part in a lot of our stuff going forward in the 2nd half.

N'Zogbia looks very timid and low on confidence he should be told to just keep it simple until he improves. I did try and warn people who were celebrating his arrival like the rebirth of Christ that he is no Ashley Young.

I do actually think Mcleish is trying to get us to play it on the floor as well. You often hear him shouting stuff to that effect. BUT we need to sacrifice more players forward instead of sitting back a lot of the time or sit further up the pitch. We get boxed in far to often by teams that are really shit.

Ireland was mildly creative but still looks a little non-arsed.

James Collins - words fail me -confirmation you can make it in this country as a footballer by just being big and brave and not having any footballing skill at all. Should be dropped, and I should have taken football more seriously as a youngster.

Not sure why Albrighton was bought on, no balance, no footballing brain. Downing and Young made him look good last season.

We should never try and defend a lead, a proven pointless exercise.(well, for us anyway) If we score a goal we should go for number 2. Simples.

The only good stuff I seen today was the reschedule of Houllier's tippy tappy revolution.

Lets hope the players are working on it next week listening to Mcleish I'm sure they will be. Any ball hit in the air is a waste all our players are midgets! Tippy Tappy the way to go.

Oh and if Heskey is back next week lets hope Mcleish isn't daft enough to drop Bannan, and Bannan should be in the middle not on the wing.

With regards to whether we have had a good start or not the answer is no. 8 pts from the games we've had is definitely below par unless you're expecting us to finish 14 or below. Sod this unbeaten bull shit. But at least today there were signs of improvement.

Not sure I'm as confident as Ray Wilkins in thinking we'll be the surprise package this season. :confused: Can't see what he is basing that on.

good play bannan

We are trying tbf but once again we are getting bossed in midfield this match is a copy and paste of most of our other matches this season.

The bookies really don't fancy us here QPR are almost odds-on

Just watched that press conference on AVTV. So uninspiring and depressing. Can't believe he's using the 'it's not 1982' card already. Valencia got rid of Villa, Mata and Silva yet I watched them boss Barca the other night. Plenty of examples of teams who have sold but are still strong through shrewd transfer dealings and non-defeatist managers.

The fact he is still searching for an attacking system that works says it all. Did he not have an idea on how he wanted to play before the season stated?

Luke Young.

"I'd rather have a manager who says 'Let's get at them today, boys,' rather than saying 'We must do this or that and stay cool and composed'.

LOL? I think Luke has found his level playing under Neil Warnock. How dare a manager suggest he keeps cool and composed on the ball! Off with his head!

I'm still waiting for one of our star performers to come out and have a go at Houllier instead of all the average ones.

The pattern here is obvious and for all to see..

I really enjoy reading this thread and the rewriting of history in regards to Houllier by a couple of posters.

This.

But I'm on the other side of the argument.

You'd think Houllier killed a villa fan, the way most people talk about him.

I think the Liverpool incident which caused this unfair venom towards him is blinkering peoples view of his obvious footballing prowess.

To be honest the Liverpool thing didn't bother me, it's all superficial to the bigger picture. So he waved to fans who had made a massive great big banner for him. Boo-hoo. He didn't acknowledge the Villa fans they probably booing him anyway!

He spent many a great year at Liverpool he has every right to be proud off his achievements there.

This doesn't mean he wasn't 100% committed to Villa (which is all I care about) he would have wanted to win that match more than any, trust me on that!

Would you not expect Ashley Young upon his return to acknowledge the Holte End if they are signing his name or a big banner is made for him?!!

As for the "disaster" which was last season. Here are a few facts:

Houllier came in during the season and had no time to put his stamp on the team. He had no pre-season.

He had to deal with the worse injury crisis in living memory.

He had to deal with average players throwing their toys out of their pram because he wanted them to improve.

It was never Houllier's plan to get us top 4 last season, it was a transition/rebuilding season.

It's very simplistic to say we were 6th under MON and under Houllier we were 9th so Houllier is rubbish. Talk about not looking at the bigger picture. MON's football was good to an extent. We'd have SOME success with it but ultimately ball possession would be our achilles heel. Change was needed, change takes time. Houllier's plan wasn't to get us into 6th, it was to take us to the top.

Anyone who thinks that a manager can come in and get instant results with a team he didn't even put together is being very niave and doesn't understand the game.

Houllier has a proven track record of building successful teams so why would anyone doubt him, or the integrity of posters who support him :confused: :confused: :confused:

We can't look to the future but we can look to the past and everything suggests he would have been a success.

What about Gabby's recent ramblings at goings on? Most were saying he was right and Houllier is a word removed etc If Gabby had taken the teachings on board he may have improved like Ash and Downing did.

Instead he will always be mediocre.

Gabby, Dunne and Collins are obviously not the types to go that little bit extra or stay after training. Houllier found them out straight away.

Houllier wanted people 100% dedicated and committed to the cause , to be obsessed and passionate like he was.

He wanted to carry on, he had a contract. If I was off work ill..then came back wanting to carry on and the company said no I'd expect a pay-out too, otherwise I would sue their arse.

steaknchips, you're wasting your time with this lot mate. It's embedded within British culture to accept mediocrity so it's no surprise this extends to our fan-base.

The fact they'd stick up for Dunne, Collins and Gabby over Houllier says it all.

------------Given-----------

Herd Dunne Clark Warnock

------------Delph--------

N'Zogbia--Petrov---Gabby

-----------Bannan---------

-------------Bent----------

I've taken Collins out of the team due to his distribution it's causing lots of problems. N'Zogbia and Gabby can sit back when we don't have the ball alongside Delph. When the defenders have the ball they can pass it to Delph/Gabby/N'Zogbia/Petrov. We work the ball to Bannan he can either play Bent in, pass to the wingers or if nothing is on pass back to Mr Safe, Petrov.

I don't want Ireland or Albrighton involved in the first 11. The emphases with this formation is short passing and triangles. There should always be a (short) pass on with this formation, and it's solid defensively.

4-1-3-1-1

http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=32718.0

Plenty of praise for Houllier there from the Liverpool fans. Including this post...

Really like the man and he's very much in my good books for all his efforts at Liverpool and he built a great team of coaches at the club. Fantastic manager Aston Villa will get. It'll be good to welcome him back to Anfield when he returns with Villa.

Most Liverpool fans have a high opinion of him and what he did there. There are those who said he went downhill after the heart problems but then there are many who give him the credit for the Champions League win.

There is nothing substantial to suggest Houllier is a myth or a failure. And certainly nothing substantial to suggest Mcleish is a better manager.

But in a nutshell, Houllier is a fraud, he's done nothing in the premier league ever, in fact he's done little of note when you analyse it for over 15 years and he was an absolute disaster at Villa. He was far from a success at Liverpool and he was worse here.

Liverpool

UEFA Cup: 2001

UEFA Super Cup: 2001

FA Cup: 2001

Football League Cup: 2001, 2003

FA Community Shield: 2001

Yes 6 trophies in less than 3 years, a massive failure. Next...