macandally

Gutted. We have McDick and ONeill goes to Sunderland. Made my day that!

People can talk about chances and the like as much as they like, but the facts are there, people dont want to watch this dross and the disappearance of the "bright future" has, I would suggest, hit people hard. To answer your question mykeyb, I would sack the manager. The reasons being: His appointment is a disaster waiting to happen, he has to achieve the unthinkable to be accepted here. McLeish is managing to survive game by game, has been since day one, there is no looking to the future. There is a squad here capable of competing in the top 8, but there is no cohesion, desire or gameplan. There is no belief in this squad, the team is set up to not lose, not to win. There is a good nucleas of youth coming through and a manager they can believe in might give us a hint of that bright future. For those reasons, I would see us invest in our footballing future and bring in Lambert, Rogers or someone of that ilk.

January will be interesting. When you are on a psychological slide like this it is hard to arrest it and the likes of free transfers like Yannick or cheap purchases like Danny Guthrie are not going to reinforce the winning mentality. The only solace I have is that McLeish is not being given money to spend, as his buys at Blues and now here suggests he wastes it. The squad, the aspiration and the ambition is systematically being dismantled by the appointment of McLeish. I can only guess that PF has his head so far down in the weeds that he cannot see this. Without a competitive football team, there is no Aston Villa as a business. I get the feeling they will be begining to see the signs of that now after only 5 months with attendances down and merchandising/half season ticket sales down.

That would make my day, as long of course as we hold out for suitable compensation............. ......................around 70 pence should do it!

I imagine it's because wiggy's a Villa fan and AMc is the Villa manager? Well maybe at some point he will actually start managing the team, the players and the tactics, but thanks for the factual interjection. I didnt want the man from the outset, so far, he is delivered exactly what I expected, insepid defensive displays and a worrying lack of tactical nous. Blind devotion is not a good trait andif you choose to support him out of obligation then thats your choice. Personally, if he left tomorrow it wouldnt be soon enough.

Are you not getting bored yet? Yes, as are the other 4-5,000 Villa Park stay aways. Bored, with dull, uninspired, dour football from a dull, uninspiring, dour manager. You might have heard that a few times before and I cannot for the life of me understand why you are still making a case for this guy. There is nothing good in what he does. But its sure as hell not as bad as you make it out to be... I am not sure what to attribute your support of the man too, but each to their own. If you dont think its bad now, just wait a few more weeks. I see little by way of "things to look forward to".

Are you not getting bored yet? Yes, as are the other 4-5,000 Villa Park stay aways. Bored, with dull, uninspired, dour football from a dull, uninspiring, dour manager. You might have heard that a few times before and I cannot for the life of me understand why you are still making a case for this guy. There is nothing good in what he does.

Its bad enough seeing his ginger gish staring at me everytime I go on the OS, but reading this dross makes me despair: Alex McLeish has called on his players to show "controlled aggression" over the festive period (from a manager who didnt realise we needed a DCM!) Aston Villa chief (should be chef I think) Alex McLeish says his teams performance at Swansea has seen them regain respect after their no show at Tottenham. (really?) Jermain Jenas and Barry Bannan have give Alex McLeish food for thought (playing midfielders in midfield possibly, a novel suggestion). The sooner this guy goes the better..

There cant be many instances of a manager getting sacked after 13 games and 3 defeats. Chelsea have lost same amount of league games this season and dont see their fans screaming for AVB head Difference being they actually won some games too. I dont see how you can compare us to Chelsea who actually try to dominate and play games. There squad is aging too, but they are attempting to do something we dont, win.

There is a player in there, absolutely no doubt in my mind. I do think that Villa are getting to the point where we would be better off giving our kids their head and letting them have a go. The reserves have been excellent for the last few years and the players have grown up with each other. People like Delph would benefit from the additional responsiblity and I think the extra enthusiasm, pace and determination we would see would could make a difference. ------------------------Given----------------------------- Lichaj............Clark............Dunne...............Baker. ----------------------Herd------------------------------ Albrighton-----Gardner-------Delph----------NZogbia ----------------------Gabby------------------------------ What the hell, better than watching the current dross.

Your right, a little OTT, but some really appear to be scratching for reasons to justify what is happening at the club. I meant no disrespect to the late Gary Speed or anyone associated with him. RIP.

Surely you do, as you spend the vast majority of your posts valiantly rebutting said people. You're like the opposite side of the coin to makouns_grin. Two posts you mean? Two in two different threads? How very dare I. As you can see, my desire to ridicule those who do not share my opinions holds no bounds. I only wish I had Makouns_Grins desire to selflessly hunt down those who disagree with my veiw.

What a crock of shit. Is that all you have up your sleeve to justify that abysmal performance? Slaying those apparent McLeish-defenders one by one. Someone's gotta do the dirty work. Its one excuse after another. There will always be those that make excuses for others and in some cases, with justification but lets put this in perspective shall we............ McLeish has an average managerial record at best and his teams playing style has always been more aligned with "parking the bus". This was never going to suit the demands of the fans at VP even if they could manage to overcome the initial hatred of him arriving from our local rivals. The board wanted to focus on developing our succesful youth and reserve team prospects and integrating them into our first team squad rather than spend as excessively as they did under previous regimes. McLeish new this when he took the job despite having no previous notable success in this particular area. The board also wanted to slash the current wage bill and bring outgoings more into line with income, a common sense process that will ensure the club is on a stable financial footing moving forward. Again, McLeish knew this when he took the job. Finally, the club wanted a manager who was willing to operate on limited funds and build a team that was capable of premier league stability as a a given, but with aspirations to make the European places. McLeish knew this too and despite limited experience in this area (being kind) thought he could deliver. I guess my point here is McLeish knew what he was stepping into and therefore he made his won bloody bed. He isnt daft and must be laughing at the situation he finds himself in, namely a liferaft to another premier league club from his relegation nightmare. Not only that, the said club was stupid enough to offer him a lengthy contract and a double your money pay deal. This was what swayed his decision, he is in a win win situation and I cannot believe that PF or RL offered him this, it smacks of stupidity. Can he do the job, NO. Is he on a shitload of cash success or not. YES Does it matter what he achieves. NO Do I give a monkeys to those who seem oblivious to these facts and therefore trot out one lame excuse after another..............NO

What a crock of shit. Is that all you have up your sleeve to justify that abysmal performance?

If we sack him before next week, I still might get a chance to buy the kids a Villa strip for Chrimbo. Not doing that with this fool in charge, not putting a penny into a club run by dicks like Faulkner and managed by a non manager like McLeish.

Laughable. We pretty much controlled the last 20 minutes or so. Swansea offered very little in attack today. We pressed very well and played some nice one touch passing. Of course don't let get in the way of fact. WOW, were you watching a different game? We played Swansea, you know Swansea, not Man Yoo or Tottingham, Swansea. Posession, 60% Swansea!! Stats are misleading. Like how Swansea only managed 2 shots on target and it took them 70 minutes to achieve it. We created the better chances and should of had a penalty in the first half. We are far from relegation material. Well Alex's brother, at least he has you convinced. For the rest of us, we shall see in a months time. I cannot see how that level of performance is acceptable from supposed international players. How that formation is in any way justified or how that melee constituted any form of game plan. How Warnock, Hutton, Collins, and Heskey are given any sort of gametime is beyond me.

Laughable. We pretty much controlled the last 20 minutes or so. Swansea offered very little in attack today. We pressed very well and played some nice one touch passing. Of course don't let get in the way of fact. WOW, were you watching a different game? We played Swansea, you know Swansea, not Man Yoo or Tottingham, Swansea. Posession, 60% Swansea!!

I am sorry but McLeish doesnt know how to win. This 7 men behind the ball bollocks is tiresome, dull and pandemic of a manager with no **** idea of how to play a decent brand of football. Just get this ginger git away from AVFCV!!

There is only one team trying to play football, three players with premier league prior to this season in that Swansea team, yet they make us look what we are...................ordinary. 25m striker running the channels, goal scorer in form on left wing, Paceless aged Striker in Midfield, it goes on and on and on and on.........

So we don't have a good enough squad to get into Europe, so what's the alternative? We put players on huge money again, causing an even larger wage bill (again), and thus reversing the club's efforts to dig us out of our losses! ... Being careful with money is of course important, but to make best use of resources it would be a good idea to appoint of a manager who has some idea on how football should be played. Especially to keep the fans reasonably happy and feel that at least there is an attempt at keeping up to an acceptable standard. John, I agree with that. My only gripe with Lerner is the appointment of McLeish. All it does is drive the fans away. Some people said from the start that they have no interest in watching McLeish's anti-football. Some said they wouldn't go any more because he's ex-Blues. Those who said they'll give him a chance will start to drift away, bored by the awful football being served up. We need someone in the hot-seat who can bring the fans back with a decent brand of football. please tell who this magic person is ? That magic comment is just ludicrous. Why dont we just build for the future, with the kids and a progressive brand of football. I cannot fathom how people cannot see that? As for managers: Gus Poyet Paul Lambert Brendon Rogers Mark Hughes Roy Hodgson Thats in England alone and I would bet good money any single one would bring a better philosophy than McLeish. Thinking we better stick to McLeish because there is no one better out there is paranoid android stuff.

Things need to change and quickly, starting with the manager, then the dressing room "massive" who want it their way or the teddy is out the pram. The club needs majory surgery on both the playing and first team coaching staff, the appointment of McLeish was nothing more than a stop gap to pretend that there is not a problem within the dressing room, a bloody yes man for the board and players. This is Aston Villa Football Club and the players are paid employees, either get with the program or get out. Faulkners ridiculous statement about Warnock shows how bloody gutless he is, the tool should never have pulled on the shirt again. I would rather see our kids given the chance to make an impact than a bunch of players who are the wrongside of 30 wanting their cake and eating it. Sick of hearing the same popularity rubbish, can someone point out where the premier league award payments for being nice? McLeish is not here to make friends, he is here to manage a football club.

The whole sorry saga is so predictable that it makes you wonder at the sanity of Randy Lerner and his willingness to listen to Paul Faulkner. How could this not go wrong. Relegated manager from local rival comes in with established pedigree at grinding out draws, setting up teams not to lose rather than to go out to win. Fans revolt, to no avail and manager proceeds to dismantle any aspirations of league success, team starts to slide, fans revolt (again), players become unsettled and move elsewhere, team continues to slide, attendances fall etc etc etc. How did RL and PF miss this, are they living in a bubble. It was never, ever going to work, ever, full stop.

Pretty much this for me!

Dour, unimaginative manager providing dour, unimaginative football. Have said it since the man was appointed and I dont know how anyone has any reason to argue against it. The sooner he goes the better, but I think he is here for the season and I just pray that we do not give him any money to waste in January.

Without mentioning McLeish give a such as Not sure what your angling for, but suggestions might be: Better and wider community outreach programs to identify and impact on 6-10 year olds both from a player perspective and from a support perspective. Better overseas scouting infrastructure to identify promising young players. Coach exchange program to encourage AV development staff to explore coaching methodologies overseas and identify areas where they might improve the AV development processes. Cradle to grave coaching philosophy that encompasses a pass/move game throughout every age range within the AVFC development squads. Those immediately spring to mind and I will be honest and say some might already be already in place. It doesnt appear so though.