MR_Black_AVFC

If it all about the squad, how can you explain that Sunderland couldn't buy a win from anywhere under another Mr Negative in Steve Bruce, yet MON takes over and it is now a shock to see them lose a game. A well known football pundit said that the team reflects the managers personality.

McLeish uses 'bad luck' again as the excuse. Google through the internet for match reports/interviews from over the years and you will see he uses the same excuses after every game that his team loses. Apart from that 15 minutes, we were never in the game. It was only because Chelsea lapsed into 1st gear that we managed to turn it around. Once it was 2-2, Chelsea went back up a gear and finished us off. I have been racking my brains over why Lerner decided he was the man to take us forward. I have looked through MON's record and AM and in Scotland there wasn't much between them. Plus MON, like AM at Blues, brought a team up from the Championship, kept them up (although MON did it on more than one occasion) and won a League Cup. Barring the relegations, as I don't believe MON has a relegation on his CV, there is not much between them on success alone. I can only assume that this is the reason why he was chosen as the best man to take us forward. But, as most people know, the Scottish league is a totally different proposition to managing in the Premiership - something McLeish has failed at whilst at SHA, and now at Villa. But we are talking about American's who are running the club. But on the flipside, the Yanks normally love entertaining sports with lots of action and goals, so I really don't get their thinking. Perhaps they didn't do 'due diligence' and actually take the time to look at McLeish, his tactics, videos of his teams in action, more carefully.

None of us are shocked really. As much as were are all proud of the young lads, there can be no defending McLeish and Peter Grant. I would excuse it if I thought that he needed to be cautious given our lack of first team players available. The reality is that he has played the same way all season, regardless of personnel. I have stated over and over that he could have the Barcelona or 1970 Brazil team and he would still set the team up the same way. I wouldn't mind so much if I thought he could grind out results at top clubs playing this way. Weird as it sounds, he had a good home record whilst at SHA yet we have one of the worst home records in living history. Villa Park was always a feared place to visit, even for 'elite' clubs. Now teams fancy their chances. Take the Swansea game for example; a squad, largely made up of Championship players, passed and outplayed us, were defensively solid, whilst attacking in numbers, and creating clear cut chances. I think McLeish was been largely 'found out' by other Premiership managers last season. He finished 9th the season before, although my SHA mate said that he was pressured by fans to play 4-4-2 and when he did they went 15 games unbeaten. Once he went back to 4-5-1 it all went downhill and he made it clear that he wasn't going to change. Can anyone clarify that??? My mate also said that Peter Grant's arrival coincided with the results going downhill. Roy Aitkin (ex Villa) was McLeish's number 2 before that.

Firstly, I must say how sad I am to hear about Stan. I really hope that he makes a full recovery - to think that there were some on here slating him a few weeks back for being too slow. It obviously all came to a head last weekend with him having a raging temperature. On the footballing side, losing Petrov is a bitter blow to the team to top off a season of catalogue disasters. I agree that OTT abuse aimed at McLeish this weekend would not help matters, but on the other hand, he cannot use the situation regarding Petrov as a perfect excuse to deflect the attention away from his hopeless ability to manage Villa.

Nope, I don't agree. It's just a case of the board being stupid. They didn't have to go and poach him from SHA. Just imagine, if we hadn't got McLeish they'd still be suffering with him down in the Championship and we'd also be doing better. If Randy doesn't get rid of McLeish this summer I'm finished with him. I think Lerner would have still gone out to appoint McLeish even if SHA had stayed up. McLeish would have taken the job too. He always came across that he thought he was better than them anyway and often commented how they were a 'small club'. Joining a big club like Villa, plus his wages being tripled, was always going to be too hard to turn down for a huge ego like McLeish. In any other job, he would have been sacked for failure. Yet SHA were in the same position as we are - they had him on a long-term contract and they couldn't afford to get rid. I honestly believe if we had got Hughton we would be in the top half of the Premiership now. He is a far better coach than McLeish. You couldn't make it up.

I think Lerner and the Board thought that bringing McLeish to the club was the next best thing to Martin O'Neill. The reason? Check his record of success in Scotland, plus promotion, 9th placed finish and Carling Cup success with SHA. O'Neill won trophies in Scotland, won League Cup with Leicester, plus high placed finishes in the Premiership. His record is not too dissimilar to O'Neill's on paper. The only difference is that McLeish bored his way to these successes playing drab, turgid football. He will never have any success here for the simple reason that the rest of the Premiership have worked out how a McLeish team plays. Last season even the likes of Martinez and McCarthy outwitted him when it came to the crunch.

How sad that it comes to that. But you are right, Wolves Bolton is a massive game. I cannot see Wolves winning another game.

McLeish seems to think by setting the team up defensively then it will stop these 'elite' teams from playing. He can do this at Wigan/Blackburn etc and come away with deserved points. But by now, Premiership managers know what to expect from a McLeish team and they know that we are going to sit extremely deep and invite pressure. You cannot soak up attack after attack without cracking eventually. It is almost like the players have forgotten how to attack - given the lack of ideas and invention when we do have the ball.

I really can't see Darren Bent being here next season. Strikers feed off confidence and the only way they get that confidence is by good service and creativity. That is why Bent has missed chances that he normally takes. The chances are few and far between so there is added pressure for him to take them when they do come. Bent has been turned into Cameron Jerome.

Exactly right IMO. Particularly the "panic" bit, and the point about an utter lack of aim, or vision or style. If McLeish was playing tedious football, but getting results, not world beating, but steady mid table fight for every point - maybe as Stoke do, or whoever else, then we'd bear it for a while, till the money mess was sorted out. But we're just awful. No entertainment, no results, no clue as to what we're trying to do, other than not get thrashed by teams, or to play for a 0-0 and maybe hope to somehow sneak a goal. It's grim, aimless, visionless, hopeless, gruel. It's horrible. ^^^^This^^^^^ American's normally refer to 'soccer' as a boring game as it doesn't have the excitement that Basketball/Ice Hockey/NFL has due to their frequent high-scoring games. As we know, the Americans are small-minded when it comes to our game, and football CAN be entertaining when it is played properly.

Not forgetting of course that McLeish was outwitted by McCarthy and Martinez last season in the relegation run-in. Doesn't look good, does it?

Whats wrong with Zog then ? & now Stan has "flu" It smells wrong We are sailing on troubled waters and it does appear that certain players do not want to play for McLeish. At the start of the season, Gabby was full of confidence, playing well and scoring goals. Now he is a shadow of his former self. You can see the energy/enthusiasm/effort draining out of the players in each and every game. I pray that we don't end up in a relegation dogfight as I would seriously question whether our team have the fight and desire to make a go of it. You could see that SHA were heading for the drop, even though they were 6 points clear with 5-6 games to go. They completely bottled it. It says a lot about our manager that he was outwitted by both McCarthy and Martinez during last season's relegation run-in.

I agree. You only have to see what happened at Sunderland when MON took over from Steve Bruce. A club in turmoil, heading for relegation, fans in revolt, spent a fortune on players, and just one change to the management and results changed overnight - with the same team. There is quality in this team, but if they are going to be restricted or expected to be tracking back all of the time instead of attacking, then it is only going one way. There is a SHA fan at work who I have a bit of banter with. He told me how relegation was worth it to see the back of Eck as the games were so boring and negative.

I know what you are saying. Our ball retention and creation of chances are almost non-existant. The other major factor are injuries to key players. Bolton at home surely has to be 3 points. If it isn't then yes, I can't see who else we are capable of beating. But I'm sure Bolton are looking at us thinking the same thing. My concern is if we are dragged into it with a couple of games to go, I don't seen many battlers or fighters in this team. Too many times this season we have surrendered games or been hanging on. In most of the games we have won, it has been close. The only games where we have looked fairly comfortable have been Wigan and Blackburn at home. I look at the teams below and can see them rallying at some point. Blackburn have been better of late, so have Bolton - inspired by the loss of Muamba, QPR have got quality players and on paper shouldn't be where they are, and Wigan have been playing well without getting results. Its going to be close.

I just don't think we can afford to rest on our laurels. There is always one team every season in the Prem that are apparently 'safe' who get sucked into a relegation dogfight. Wigan were dead and buried last season on 27 points with 9 games to go. Yet they managed to get 15 points and stay up. Any team that can go to Liverpool and win should not be underestimated. With regard to the rest of the teams that are struggling, there is only Wolves who I would say are dead and buried. It would take a massive ask on their part to turn it around. It wouldn't surprise me to see Bolton turn them over this weekend. Blackburn have already beaten Man Utd this season at Old Trafford, so a potential upset could be on the cards. Its not over yet. We need a couple more wins and I'd say that we are safe.

PS - just had a look at Wigan's last nine games from last season. They were bottom with 9 games to go on 27 points. They accumulated 15 points in those next 9 games. If they do that again this season, they will finish the season on 40 points.

You can't judge the teams in the relegation zone on their previous results for the season. They have all started to rally, barring Wolves, and every game is now a cup final where so much is at stake. We still need another 5 points IMO to be absolutely sure.

Because he's instructed to keep the play narrow............... and here is where the problem lies.... I appreciate what people are saying about Downing/Young - they were wingers by trade. But often you would see Young cut back on his right foot, and the same for Downing as he was left-footed. N'Zogbia has incredible ability when he is allowed to roam. I watched him single-handedly rip West Ham to shreds in Wigans 3-2 win on the penultimate game of the season. It was one of the best performances I have seen from an attacking player in many years, so obviously I was delighted when we made our move for him and I felt at £9m it was a snip. We all know what has happened since regarding N'Zog. He has the reputation of falling out with people and dividing dressing rooms. I can only conclude that like our team as a whole, he is restricted to what he can and can't do - often finding himself having to track back. Ireland is a quality player and when he is on the ball he looks a class act. But again, McLeish has 'reportedly' had a spat with him and his performances have once again took a nose-dive. I'm not sure where the club go from here. I am hoping that over the Summer a lot of the dead wood are cleared and fresh, new faces - with an aim to do well, are brought to the club. Like everybody else, my major concern has to be McLeish and Grant. The tactics are so rigid that any flair we did have has gone straight out of the window and any new players coming to the club are going to be expected to play the same way.

The main issue for me is the style of football and the lack of effort. Once we go behind in games, especially against the bigger clubs, we have no idea how to come back or make a game of it. McLeish seems to have one gameplan and that is it. Plan B is not an option for him as he hasn't got one. It is all about playing to the teams strengths. Currently we are putting square pegs in round holes. Players out of position, sideways/backwards passing and hoofing to an isolated striker who loses possession. Midfield sit too deep, defence and goalkeeper are under immense pressure. Then you have the likes of Heskey on the pitch who offers NOTHING whatsoever. You may as well play with 10 men. Yet I listen to BRMB after the game on Saturday and hear Tom Ross once again defending McLeish and what can he do when he has sold all of his best players? When at it, Ireland and N'Zogbia are more then capable of filling the roles left by Ashley Young/Stuart Downing. The only trouble is we don't have a manager who is capable of bringing the best out in them.

The bottom line is that there are poorer teams than ourselves who are playing better football. Is McLeish saying that Norwich and Swansea, both newly promoted and retained many of their Championship players, are better teams on paper than ourselves? Wigan have been playing well of late without getting the results they deserve. That is why it didn't surprise me when they beat Liverpool at the weekend. Many of our first team would walk into most Premiership teams. Some of our players i.e. Gabby, N'Zogbia (when at it) could play for the top four clubs in the country. Yes, we have some dross. Hutton, Heskey, Warnock would struggle in the Championship. But what clubs don't have poor players? It is all about playing to our strengths - that is the job of the manager. We have pace in forward areas but never look to utilise it. Instead McLeish and Grant seem more interested in stopping the other team playing rather then making the opposition worry about us. We have some quality in there, but unless it is utilised correctly then it will be a case of more of the same. I'm getting tired of saying it to be honest, but this appointment was a huge gamble on the part of RL - one of which is failing. I am still not 100% confident that we will avoid the drop. I know people are stating that the teams below us will struggle to make up the deficit but anything can happen and the way we are playing, if we were to get sucked into it, I am not convinced we have the fight or bottle.

McLeish has made his bed, he has to lie in it. Any abuse or stick he gets now is fully justified. When he joined from SHA, it was claimed by the media that his tactics with them i.e. 4-5-1 with an isolated striker wouldn't be an issue at Villa as we had a far superior squad. Overnight he managed to turn Darren Bent into Cameron Jerome and sit a midfield so deep that the only option available when we do have the ball, is to launch it to our lone striker who finds himself surrounded and give the ball back to the opposition. On Saturday it was obvious that we needed to get in Arsenal's faces and make it difficult for them to play. We also needed to push up as a unit, whilst keeping it compact in the middle. It isn't difficult to hurt Arsenal. Playing the ball behind them, turning them around, and pulling the ball back from the byline is the way it needed to be. We have pace in Gabby who can outrun anyone if the ball is played in front of him. Yet, we seemed to be passing sideways, backwards and hoofing with no plan b. We must be the most boring side in the league to watch. We have quality players who have the ability to pass and create chances, yet it is the same way every week. My Blues mate told me that it was no coincidence that when Peter Grant replaced Roy Aitkin they started playing the type of football we are seeing now.

Losing Jenas to injury is the excuse now. I don't know how much more of this I can take.

Ask any SHA/Rangers/Motherwell/Hibs fan if ithe football improved when he built his own team. For starters, he signed N'Zogbia who has failed to make an impression and Hutton - lets not go there. At SHA he had the likes of Hleb, Bentley, Martins who are all proven Premiership players that he left on the bench for the most part. A few years before that he had Mauro Zarate who also spent most of his loan spell as a substitute. Given is the only worthwhile signing of note. It seems to me that any player who is capable of creating or making things happen he restricts their movement or sticks them on the bench. N'Zog and Ireland are those type of players, yet they are used sparingly. I don't think we will go down this season, but there is always next as I cannot see things improving under this clown. His record speaks for itself and he has carried on where he left off with his other clubs.

I've followed the Eredivisie for some years now. Dost is a very good player. He's a big lad, good in the air and can hold the ball up. He is also a very good finisher. Heerenveen are one of those sides who are looking to break into the top 4-5 of the league. They have a player called Viktor Elm who is a ball-winning midfielder/[;aymaker. If we can bring Makoun back and pair him with Elm we'd have a very strong midfield pairing.

I think this is the point. He has one gameplan - to draw every game. If we concede, instead of going for it, he sits back and tried to keep it at 1-0. If we go 2-0 down he puts everybody behind the ball to keep the score down. This is why the win against Fulham didn't change my opinion. If Schwarzer hadn't dropped the ball on Weimann's head it would have ended 0-0. It was purely a stroke of luck. I honestly believe that McLeish could have the most talented squad at his disposal and he would still get them playing this dross. This is why I don't get excited over a summer rebuild.