markavfc40

A great player and a real character. Can remember some real genuine needle in the games between him and Bristow. I would have been about 11 when he was in his pomp but watching the likes of him, Bristow, Lowe, Lazarenko etc got me into watching and playing darts and I'm still into watching it now although rarely play. RIP Jockey

He was here for the Bolton game........ He probably decided to come over after he'd found out the game had been postponed.

Mate I am not going to argue with you over what I class as gutless tripe and what you consider gutless tripe. That is all down to individual standards and what each individual will find acceptable and how they will perceive any given performance. Over the last two seasons I'd definitely say we served up gutless tripe in 2010/11 against Man City away twice, Blackburn away, Liverpool away, Sha at home, Arsenal at home, Wolves at home, Sunderland at home. This season we served up similar tripe against Spurs away, and Liverpool and Man Utd at home. Whether you agree with that or not quite frankly I couldn't give two monkeys **** as you like me are entitled to come away from a game and judge the performance as you see fit. If I seem a lot less fiery in my criticism of McLeish maybe I am. Having been served up shit sandwich after shit sandwich over the last two seasons you almost become tired of whinging about it and it is now very apparent that the problems at this great club run deeper than the manager. I genuinely thought Houllier was just a blip for Lerner, that he'd learn from it and put things right. Having then kicked us in the teeth again by appointing McLeish I have now come to realise that screaming and shouting to get rid of him is all well and good but even if that happens we are still left with the same clowns picking our next manager. The same clowns who appointed McLeish and Houllier. :shock:

Oh come on the scoreline against Arsenal totally flattered us. Had they have won 7-2 it wouldn't have been an injustice. We were **** garbage and it was embarrassing watching Pires in an Aston Villa shirt strolling around like an old man who had shit himslef. As for the Sha game at home they came for a draw and Houllier was happy to set us out to oblige. It was a terrible game and we showed Sha of all teams way too much respect and were scared of losing against that shower of shite. As for not admitting McLeish has been just as bad I've said it countless times. It would be foolish to state otherwise as he has matched Houlliers league record as Aston Villa manager and has served up about the same amount of negative tripe. Its why I wouldn't trust Lerner and Faulkner to employ another manager after these two **** ups. Having got rid of Houlllier things could only get better and then dumb and dumber go and get McLeish :shock:

I expect that's MON's fault as well. Every other bad thing in the world is, it seems from this thread... :winkold: Hardly, all I've read is that people stating he spent a shitload of money His net spend was 80 mill in 4 years wasn't it? a week after he got the boot we then sold Milner for 27 mill ( 20 mill + Ireland ). The wages at the time of our three sixth place finishes were the 8th, 6th and 6th highest in the league. So a net spend of 80 mill ( or 53mill if you take the Milner money into account ) to take a club that had just finished 16th to one that then finished top six three times on the spin for the first time since the 1930s and competed for 4th until the final handful of games of the season twice and achieved its highest 38 game prem points total improving our points total season on season for 4 years seems pretty reasonable to me. The fact that we found that finishing sixth with the sixth highest wage bill unsustainable is down to Randy for not getting revenue up to a level that could sustain it.

We had some? off the top my head Liverpool away, Blackburn away, Man City away ( twice, one we surrendered before a ball had even been kicked ), Sunderland at home, Wolves at home, Arsenal at home, Sha at home. I had the misfortune to be at all those games and it was some of the most gutless tripe I have been served up in my 30 years following this great club. Your right Houllier didn't have a pre season. What he inherited though was a group of players ( less Milner, plus Ireland and a number of youngsters on the verge of stepping up ) that had just given this club its best 38 game Premiership season points wise, had just finished top 6 for the third time on the bounce ( for the first time since the early 1930,s ) had just been to its first cup final in a decade and had the 4th best defence in the league the previous season. A side on its day capable of giving anyone a game and had the previous season beaten Liverpool at Anfield, Man Utd at Old Trafford and Chelsea at VP. A side that hadn't lost a local derby in years. What did he proceed to do with the above? have us in and around the relegation mire for 5 months, serving up gutless tripe, losing against all of local rivals in the same season for the first time in donkeys years and he had to spend the best part of 30 mill to dig us out of the crap he had dug us into. No surprise given he was a known cheque book manager. McLeish has been shite but he has matched Houlliers League record of 33 points from 28 games without Downing and Ash and 30 mill to spend in the Jan transfer window. In fact his transfer budget stands at -22 mill. As others have said comparing Houllier and McLeish is like comparing two pieces of stinking poo. They both **** stink and the stench of McLeish isn't making Houlliers time smell any sweeter.

the afct of the matter is it the record books will say houllier finished 9th No the facts are that Houllier was manager for 28 league games. The other 10 league games we were caretaker managed for 5 of them by KMac before Houllier arrived where we took 7 points and for the other 5 the caretaker manager was GMac. Under KMac we took 7 points at 1.4 points a game, GMac 8 points at 1.6 points a game and under Houllier 33 points at 1.17 point a game. The facts will show that in 2010/11 before Houllier arrived we took more points per game and after he was taken ill we took more points per game. You can't give Houllier credit for the 15 points we took in the 10 games he wasn't involved in. For **** sake for half them games and half them points he wasn't even employed by the club. The bottom line in all this though is that Lerner and Faulkner have made two monumental managerial **** ups on the bounce and we are quite remarkably no better off after getting rid of Houllier. Lets not kid ourselves that just because McLeish has been poor it should excuse the fact that we were also just as poor under Houllier. I actually thought we'd struggle to do as badly as we did under the French clown and then dumb and dumber pull McLeish out of the hat. Would I trust them when we come to appoint our next manager. Would I ****.

Thats **** easy. Houllier managed Aston Villa for 28 league games and achieved the not so grand total of 33 points. McLeish has managed Aston Villa for 28 games so far and has so far achieved the not so grand total of 33 points. What is this bollocks that you keep spouting about us finishing 9th under Houllier? he wasn't manager for 10 games of the season when we got 15 points at 1.5 points a game. He was manager for 28 games where we got 33 points at 1.17 points a game. Over a 38 game season that would be 44 points. Will McLeish continue to match Houlliers 1.17 points a game and get us to 44 points. Who knows but even if he does it is still, as it was under Houllier, not good enough.

Your right we did finish 9th. He didn't manage us for the last 5 games though when we had one of our best runs of the season taking 8 points from 5 games. He also didn't manage us for the first 5 games when we took 7 points from 5 games. Facts are that Houllier managed us for 28 games and achieved 33 points. It is also no coincidence I guess that Liverpool achieved their highest league placing during his tenure at a time when he was absent for a long period due to illness. The guy was useless in his time with us. The fact that McLeish hasn't been any improvement doesn't make Houlliers time here look any sweeter. In fact given McLeish of all people has matched what he achieved makes Houlliers time look even worse.

Well there's no contest there. McLeish wins by a mile. Worst Villa manager in the Premier League by a long distance. Not much in it. Houllier was well past his use by date and a known cheque book manager who plays negative tippy tapppy football and had us playing some of the most gutless crap I have had the misfortune to witness. McLeish and Houllier also have identical records - Houllier managed us for 28 games and achieved 33 points and McLeish has matched that. The only major difference is that in 28 games under McLeish we have conceded 10 goals less than we did in Houlliers 28 games. That and the fact that we had a much better squad under Houllier and that Houllier had the best part of 30 mill to spunk on players. In all fairness though it is likely that McLeish will go down alongside Houllier as one of the biggest managerial **** ups we have seen in many a year. It is also the reason why most wouldn't trust Lerner and Faulkner to get the next managerial appointment right.

double post

They have made a right **** up. Did Jez Moxey take advice on appointing a manager from Paul Faulkner.

Which just goes to prove my point that our fortunes didn't really change. We had a decent run last season from the beginning of April onwards. It needs to be remembered our so called up turn in form under Houllier was made up of a fortunate 1-0 win against Newcastle in a dire game and a winner in the last couple of minutes against a West Ham side that would finish bottom of the league way a drift of the 19th place team. Our results under GMac included wins against Arsenal and Liverpool although I would accept that both clubs played as though they were just going through the motions and couldn't wait to go on their hols. Its highly unlikely Houllier could have found it in himself to get a team to go out and win against his beloved Liverpool though. Regardless of the above, which quite frankly is now irrelevant, the biggest tragedy is that having got rid of the **** up that was Houllier Lerner then went and appointed McLeish and surprise surprise he currently has just as bad a record as Houllier did all be it with worse players.

Under Houllier we played 28 games and took 33 points = 1.17 points a game, Under G Mac we played 5 games and took 8 points = 1.6 points a game and under K Mac we took 7 points in 5 games = 1.4 points a games. Pre and post Houllier last season we were better with out him. Also the 5 games before Houllier was taken ill and G Mac took over we won 2 drew 1 and lost 2. The final 5 games under GMac we won 2 drew 2 and lost just once.

To put the achievement in to some kind of perspective the last time we achieved 3 top 6 finishes on the spin pre 2007 - 2010 was in the early 1930's almost 80 years previously. I therefore don't think it is anything to be sniffed at and you are also likely to be correct in stating it will be a very long time before we achieve that level of consistency again.

To put the achievement in to some kind of perspective the last time we achieved 3 top 6 finishes on the spin pre 2007 - 2010 was in the early 1930's almost 80 years previously. I therefore don't think it is anything to be sniffed at and you are also likely to be correct in stating it will be a very long time before we achieve that level of consistency again.

Hospital have said he is stable. Great news

BJ Fair play to you mate. Good post. I don't think there is an Aston Villa supporter who isn't frustrated at the moment and those frustrations can often lead to reacting negatively to the wrong things. I also don't think that any Aston Villa fan is happy at the moment. I think there are just different degrees of unhappiness. As for the signing I'm pretty happy with it. No fee, likely to be on moderate wages and as shone at a club top of its league, all be an inferior league to the one we compete in. He plays in a position we lack any strength in depth in, its a low risk signing and I welcome him and wish the lad luck.

To put McLeish's record in to some kind of perspective his points per game record compared to the other managers we have had in the last 20 years (so Premier League) is as follows: Manager---------League Games-----Points Per Game Martin O’Neill----152-----------------1.553 John Gregory----148-----------------1.547 Brian Little-------130-----------------1.454 Ron Atkinson----140-----------------1.436 David O’Leary---114-----------------1.272 Alex McLeish------28-----------------1.178 Gerrard Houllier--28-----------------1.178 Graham Taylor----51-----------------1.137 I haven't included caretaker managers - Jim Barron, John Deehan, Kev Mac and Gary McAllister.

Your wrong. After 28 games under O'Neill we had 33 points - the same as under McLeish. In our final 10 games of that season we won 4, drew 5 and lost 1 finishing on 50 points. Sadly I have a feeling McLeish's record won't be anywhere near as good as O'Neills come the end of the season.

I agree but if the first happens with out the second then we will end up with another **** up appointment like the last two. I was hoping things would improve when Houllier was rightly given the boot but with today's win it means that McLeish just matched what Houllier achieved in his 28 games in charge, all be it with a poorer squad.

He has done well over the last few games. In fact the whole defence has done well over the last four games conceding two goals.

Credit where its due today the substitutions came off for him. There is no doubt he will be here for next season at least so I hope he starts getting things right on a more regular basis. I can't see it though. One thing I have noticed is that he almost seems to revel in fronting up to the fans many of whom he knows are criticising him. The abuse certainly won't drive him out and he won't quit. Quitting is not in his make up. Well not while he is on a couple of mill a year

Anyone see him on Goals on Sunday this morning. Funny as **** when he swore saying Matthew Etherington was a clever bastard. Spoke very highly of us saying how the club is in his heart and how much he loves it and especially the supporters. He said he felt the club should still be up amongst the top 6 and challenging for the top 4. Also said what a great manager Mon was, how he enjoyed playing for him and how the club probably regret letting him going. Said a few uncomplimentary things about Houllier. Had high praise for Gabby and said that we still had some very good players and should not be struggling. Basically said what most of us know I guess. They showed a fair few of his goals for us and it brought back a few good recent memories although given the tripe served up the last couple of seasons it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Lets not forget Houllier had Downing and Young and the best part of 30 mill to spunk in the January window and managed the club for 28 league games achieving 33 points.McLeish after 27 games as an identical record to what Houllier had at the same stage. In all fairness its comparing two managers who either did or are doing shit jobs. One just had better players and more money to spend whilst doing it.