nick76

Well I guess what I meant was, I like many was appauled by the appointment initially and the early signs were shocking - crap football, crap signings such as Jenas, what appeared to be low team morale.

However, in any new job, it can take someone 6-12 months to find their feet, and now you could argue we are seeing the first green shoots appear ? We are planning for next season, the kids are getting great exposure, all little signs that more and more fans can see and take the positives from

I think the green shoots end up being weeds and we then realize shortly afterwards we are no better

I hope he leaves in the summer but I doubt he will. And as I think he'll stay for next season too I wonder what it will take for him to win over a majority of the fans. "Nothing, cause he's just shite and can't do anything good so he can't win us over.", is probably what most thinks now. But if we play decent football next season, finish 7th or 8th and a decent cup run, would some re think?

The problem s that we know that won't happen, yes he has won a cup before he's never played decent football and can you see us ever getting 7th or 8th under his tactics or management style. That is why so many of us want him out as there doesn't seem to be any hope. that glimmer of hope we all try to hang onto that things will get better under other managers, at the start of the season that this could be the season that we upset the odds somehow, that we might win a cup or get a champions league place.....we have none of this under McLeish. It seems, like me, that a lot of fans can't see that glimmer, don't have those claret tinted glasses, we just see what is going to happen......ever game I go into now I'm either really nervous or defeatist before it even starts.

I've always been...if we attack them like this then maybe we can win or we are at home, we are strong, we have a good chance...or our counter attacking play means we have a chance of winning...I have none of those feelings under McLeish, its always fearful and he generally proves it right....so hoping for a better season next then yes but he won't change and thus the chances of us achieving what you say is so slim that to change our minds about him won't happen because that scenario won't most likely happen

If Bolton beat us that only leaves them 7 behind us with 9 other games, that a bit too close given, as you say, Blackburn and QPRs recent victories. I think we will just be ok, but like John says this season could end up a complete failure if only achieve 16th or 17th, which is not acceptable

Never come to terms with McLeish being boss. What can we do when there is such a gap between games. Maybe I'll just copy and paste my same argument every day so you'll be happy.

I might ask the mods if they can add a recurring post option so I can set it daily, also a recurring post to give the same verdict on the performance after every game......sorry there will be an option of two responses, one for 95% of the games and the other for the 5% of games when the pro-McLeish crowd pop their heads out for their once in a blue moon 'I told you so' post

I think comparing Houllier and McLeish is a bit pointless... it's like looking at two steaming big piles of shit and trying to judge which one smells the nicest.

Fantastic analogy !

Sums my thoughts up exactly, still not sure why I keep reading this thread but I do......MrDuck sums it up

At the end of the day McLeish is still shit

I'm not his biggest fan, but he needs time

I like the signings he's making

What gives you that impression? He proved with SHA that given time things don't really get much better. All we'll do is become more effective at being negative.

You really need to give it a rest.

Do you think he could have signed Given at Blues? It's pointless looking back at what he did at Blues now, he can attract a better player to our club, we have an abundance of quality young players coming through. I don't remember any coming through at Blues. He's used these players, sometimes it was forced upon him to do so but he talks very highly of the young players. Im sure they'll play a big part next season. Its time to clear out and bring them through. At least some are willing to give him a chance to do so and accepted that he'll be here to do it whether people like you like it or not.

and I quote

and accepted that he'll be here to do it whether people like you like it or not.

accepting a situation about sums it up, we have no choice, we know he's awful but some here have accepted that because not much is likely to change whereas some of us will continue to push for change.....as reading the blues fan comment of suffering for 4 years of it........could you imagine another 3 years of this I certainly cant.............

We've had 46 attempts on goal in the last 3 games yet only scored 2 goals.

Compare that to arsenal who have had 39 attempts on goal in their last 3 games yet scored 10 goals.

Corrct me if im wrong but boring and negative wouldn't have meant so many attempts on goal?

very true

didnt we have 23 shots vs QPR a month ago. its a lot better than at start of the season and if people took off their anti-mcleish blinkers they could see it

no blinkers, just watching game after game. to be fair it couldnt have been much worse than the start of the season but doesnt mean now is satisfactory by any means.

What about when Fergie went with the kids and the domination they had for years, in fact Giggs and Scholes are still going. You still need a mix of experience and kids, and no our kids aren't good enough. They are really good but you are comparing to a different level of talent above. One or two of ours might get to that level but stats suggest no more

The main objective today was getting 3 points which we did thankfully.

Going forward the Board needs to decide whether keeping Eck as Manager is going to be the right thing to do for the Club.

If the answer is yes then they need to fund the correct signings required to strengthen the team if that is possible.

Alex McLeish still has a mountain to climb if he is to get supporters on his side, It is a near impossible task,if he achieves it we will all be happy!

When there are people like Trent Villa refusing to offer praise to him when we win, what chance does he have. If he keeps winning matches opinions like TV's become irrelevant, let's hope for the sake of the club he can follow this win with another against Bolton.

The difference though is when he makes decisions only very rarely do they pay off so you could argue it was luck whereas if decisions he made consistently paid off then that is ability.

So while people like Trent and me will briefly say well done on a decision, overall until he proves different on a consistent basis then it was luck that it paid off.

Remember we were only 30 seconds from another draw, equalling the worst home run since 1921.......I think you need to take that on board when viewing our reaction.

I just don't see why he's still here after the results and performance this season, even the board has to see it. They just must be keeping him because they can't afford to pay him off......given the long term implications this is crazy.

Stats are against him, we have equalled the worst home run since 1921, the football is abysmal, it's hard to argue against the fact that most Villa fans would rather him not be here, his media comments are poor or at least contrary to what happens on the pitch and while above the relegation zone fans are relying on the teams below us being so bad (which they are) to avoid relegation rather believing we will get ourselves out of this predicament......

While I agree with the overall tenor of your argument, Nick, we have not yet equalled the 1921 record! It will be equalled today if Villa fail to beat Fulham.

Sorry to be a pedant but we can't accuse McLeish for something he's not (yet) guilty of!

Oh sorry, thought we had, still not feeling any better about it though. Hopefully we'll avoid equalling that record today and have a convincing performance for once

It's still very much a shock as to how much the media aren't on his back.

We've never been a media darling though have we plus they have been so focused on AVB for the last few weeks but maybe now that's over we might get a little focus......not holding my breath though

I just don't see why he's still here after the results and performance this season, even the board has to see it. They just must be keeping him because they can't afford to pay him off......given the long term implications this is crazy.

Stats are against him, we have equalled the worst home run since 1921, the football is abysmal, it's hard to argue against the fact that most Villa fans would rather him not be here, his media comments are poor or at least contrary to what happens on the pitch and while above the relegation zone fans are relying on the teams below us being so bad (which they are) to avoid relegation rather believing we will get ourselves out of this predicament......

When it was SHA I laughed. Now that it's Villa I'm angry.

That said, watching Stephen Warnock's errors can be quite amusing, provided they don't result in the opposition getting a goal.

I'm usually laughing at myself by Tuesday......Saturday afternoon disappointment, Saturday night angry, Sunday angry, Monday at work embarrassed, Tuesday laughing at myself for continuing to put myself through this and knowing I'll be back the following week.

RANDY Lerner has given pep talks to the players on his regular visits to meet with Alex McLeish and watch Villa train at Bodymoor Heath this season.

Lerner has only attended a handful of matches at Villa Park this campaign because of his family and business commitments back home in America.

But the billionaire chairman/owner is often at the training ground to talk with McLeish and the players, including three visits in the past month.

Lerner, chief executive Paul Faulkner and McLeish have been plotting Villa’s summer squad rebuilding plan, despite the recent struggle for results.

And captain Stiliyan Petrov revealed Lerner has been passing on upbeat messages to players and Bodymoor staff about the future direction of the club.

“He has been to training quite a few times and he’s been in a good mood,” said Petrov.

“He’s tried to give positives to all the members of the club, we hope that this year we will be comfortable and next year we hope we will kick off with a better start and better season.

“At the end of the day we have a chairman who is trying to run his books, he knows what is right and wrong.

“If you have good players, new players coming in it is always a help but if not we just need to deal with it.

“We don’t complain, we just get on with it and try to do our best for the club to try to get them as far up the table as we can.”

clicky

This is just becoming too bizarre to be real, maybe I just need to switch off from the Villa for a few games, a few weeks....and then come back! Just feels like I'm watching and reading some book from an upside down world and it digs into every core of my thinking. Seriously what is going on? Just waiting for somebody to jump out and say 'you've been Punked'

Yeah when are we allowed to voice our opinion.....we cant protest because it's either childish or wrong time, we cant do it during the game because we need to support the team, if we do it on forums we are just the loud minority and dont represent more of us.........please tell us when we can vocalise our frustration and mis-management of our club?

I've never been one to sit back and accept things, it's not in my nature

That is a hideous hideous, did I mention hideous kit

Another day gone and he's still here......I'm sure I'm living in a nightmare

I note the Generals very first post was a load of old bollocks then

I am on this Site because, like Randy, I truly care about what fans say and feel. We want to do right...we are not interested in screwing it up.

and now he has been outed how do all the posters who asskissed and pandered to him on his thread feel?

I was one of those people and given his history and what he achieved I think he deserved the respect that I take him at his word. He has though betrayed or at least disappeared when the going gets tough.

The same for McLeish, based on his history of managing and what he had achieved I gave him the same level of respect he deserved which was a big fat zero and he should never have been given the job in the first place.

So where the general failed my level of expectation in him, McLeish fulfilled the level of expectation in him.

I'm not ITK or anything and this is only a hunch but I reckon we could wake up tomorrow to find out McLeish gone.

Crickey - really..! In some ways I hope not as I think that could really rock the boat.

Has anyone heard if he has resigned..?!

To be fair you can't really rock the boat when it's sinking!

Rocking the boat anyway could do us some good as what is currently happening is not doing us any good

Number of pages before he's sacked?

I'm going for 666.

I'm just worried there will be a 1 in front of that thus 1666 pages, as I'm deeply worried he will be here next season

Perhaps I'm a bit annoyed at the anti-Americanism on here. I think the US is a great market for Villa, a US owner will help, but we need to sign and play an American player.

But putting my irrational defensiveness aside, maybe any one of you who has spent more on villa than the multimillion RL has spent should have complete right to moan that he should have spent more.

(Insert irrational anti-English rant here.)

as a percentage on net worth or net income I think i can safely say that a lot of us have spent more than Randy. I still want him here just disappointed in some of his decisions

A Letter To Aston Villa

Apologies if it's already been posted, the site is still running a bit slow for me so it would probably take me longer to check properly than it did for us to end Wigan's clean sheet drought.

An interesting, witty and well written read that seems to be doing the rounds on a number of non-Villa sites at the moment.

great letter

Can't argue with the reasons behind it, Im just in two minds as to whether it would destabilise the team.

Once the game is won or lost, after the final whistle and when/if we're mathematically safe then 100% yes but the bigger picture is we have a long of youngsters in the side and they need the encouragement to keep us up.

I would generally agree but I don't think we can destabilize the team any more than McLeish is.....bringing Heskey on yesterday was just plain bizarre and the players on the pitch must have thought WTF!

Away kit based on the Napoli home kit

I like the look of that