markavfc40

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.

Its no surprise is it. They did the same last season with a manger who had just as bad a record as McLeish (exactly the same in fact). The board will stick with McLeish till the end of the season at least. The only way I see him going in the short - medium term is if Randy **** off or we go down.

No chance he'll resign although he should. If we fail to beat Fulham he will have done worse than Houllier did in his 28 games in charge. Absolutely shocking.

I don't think he is ready to be starting League games. Certainly not in a side that is low on confidence and struggling. I'd have liked to have seen him make a few more appearances as a sub and introduced him more slowly. It also certainly didn't help yesterday that Bannan was alongside him in a two man centre midfield. It was just as well we were playing Wigan as a decent side would have ripped us to pieces.

**** hell imagine that had been the case. Alex McLeish turning us down :shock: There is no doubt that had McLeish been doing a decent job we would be sitting comfortably in the top 10. Had he have been doing a very good job we would be sitting top 8. The fact, that with the squad of players he has at his disposal, we are sitting three places above the relegation zone, have won 6 games all season and haven't won at home for 4 months, is a disgrace.

In all fairness nothing as surprised me with what the Tories have been up to as they have been as low as you'd expect them to be although this latest attack on the most vulnerable is perhaps shocking even for them. The fact that the Lib Dems have gone along with it and played the lap dog is though very disappointing and I'd think they are now well on their way to being **** as a credible party in this country.

I can understand this viewpoint. I had my first season ticket in 1988 when I was 14 and have had one ever since. Ellis remained owner for my first 18 years as a S/T holder and during that time we finished runners up twice, won two league cups, reached an FA Cup final, finished 4th and top 6 on a further 5 occasions and had some great European nights at VP. There were therefore a fair few enjoyable seasons. I have to be honest though by the end of his reign I couldn't stand him and felt we were badly underachieving. Sadly I am now getting the same feelings under Lerner.

I think 99.9% of the population would take that as a given. The previous poster being part of the 0.1% that doesn't :winkold:

If we look back at the Premier League years, when big money started coming into the game, then we have had 14 years under Ellis, 1 under Ellis/Lerner and coming up on 5 under Lerner. In the 14 years under Ellis we won two trophies, finished 2nd, finished 4th and had 5 other top 6 finishes. In the 5 years solely under Lerner we will have won **** all and finished in the top 6 three times. Who knows what the future will hold but if Lerner stays hear another 9 years ( matching Ellis's total of 14 years as owner in Prem League ) and in those 9 years we win two trophies, finish 2nd, finish 4th and finish top 6 on another two occasions I'll be very surprised and well pleased.

Not sure what you class as a top team but they were good enough for one that were finishing top 6. Collins Dunne and Cuellar, alongside Warnock, in 2009/2010 made up the defence at the team with the fourth best defensive record in the Premier League.

I agree. No doubt O'Neill wasted a few quid but an 80 mill net spend or 60 mill if you include the 20 mill we brought in a week after he left for Milner ( 27 mill if you include Ireland ) wasn't too bad to take a club that had finished 16th to one that finished 6th with in two seasons and consolidated that position by finishing 6th twice more. During those 6th place finishes we had the 8th, 6th and 6th highest wage bill. Given who we were competing against - established clubs in Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool an emerging Tottenham and then Man City who blew everyone out the water did Randy and co really expect, given where they found us and who we were competing against, more for an 80 mill net spend and the 6th highest wage bill. You either get your income up to a level that it is sustainable or you are not stupid enough to allow it to get to a level that you can't sustain in the first place. Either way Randy has **** up big time.

I think you are spot on. McLeish is going nowhere. Certainly not in the short - medium term. I found that this section of the article certainly was very much PR to give off that impression: Official Site

Are you classing 2010/11 as an average season? I personally don't think being in and around the relegation zone for 5 months is an average season for Aston Villa. The last two games of last season masked over just how poor it was. Something similar may happen this season but it won't change the fact for the most part we'd have been poor. We have had two poor seasons on the spin and you'd be hard pushed to give good reason as to why things will improve next season without a change of manager, CEO and maybe owner.

How did you work that one out? Our wage to turnover ratio was the highest in the league I believe. Yes and by some distance, I believe it was over 80% by the time O'Neill left, which is financial suicide. Well you either get your income up to a level that it is sustainable or you are not stupid enough to allow it to get to a level that you can't sustain in the first place. Either way Randy and Faulkner **** up big time. Surely it couldn't have come as a surprise to them that finishing 6th was likely to be at a cost of having a wage bill that reflected that position.

We spent 18 million trying to replace Ashley Young, Downing, Friedel and Luke Young. Whilst McLeish should not be manager the reasons for our rapid decline rest firmly with Randy for not only **** up the last two managerial appointments but for the reckless cost cutting. Finishing sixth with the sixth highest wage bill should have been sustainable. For whatever reason Randy and Faulkner have not been able to get our income up to that level.

No surprise. He is an excellent reader of the game. Over all he has had a good season and as comfortably been our best player. We'll certainly miss him when he is no longer here but based on this season I'd think he will be around for at least another season.

The nostalgic side of me would fully agree with you mate. The facts are though that he has not managed in the Premier League for almost a decade and not in English football for 5 years so I would have major doubts medium to long term it would be the right move. As a short term boost and to relieve us of McLeish though then yes I'd agree why not go for it. Not a cat in hells chance it will happen though. Having said that if you'd of told me at the end of last season McLeish would be our manager I'd have said you were bonkers. Anyway as this gone off topic or what

I am pretty sure he resigned. And then appeared at Derby County very quickly, where he seemed to be very enthusiastic about the home fans. I honestly can't remember how his departure was worded but I'd be confident in saying he got the push. I am also not surprised he appeared to be enthusiastic to be at Derby, its what players and managers do, but for me he lost something and never seemed to have the same passion he had with us after leaving. It was as if he'd had his dream job and anything else was always going to be second best. I met him on a couple of occasions and the passion he had for Aston Villa was up there with any of our supporters and I'd include myself in that.

I liked JG. Had a real passion for us and a very good coach by all accounts. He had a fair bit to spend, certainly given he worked under Ellis, but he achieved about what you'd expect. In fact from the time he took over in Feb 98 to the end of that year he had an unbelievable record. He **** up big time in the cup final though as we were way too negative and never really had a go against a Chelsea side that given how they performed were there for the taking. I came away from Wembley that day thinking we'd just not turned up and what a wasted opportunity to put right how long it had been since we'd won the FA Cup. Like many before him after leaving us his career went quickly down hill. I honestly think it knocked the bollocks out of him when he got the push and he never got close to having the same enthusiasm/passion for another club. It was never going to happen and never will but I think if he'd have been brought in instead of McLeish he'd be doing a far better job. Although obviously that is not saying much.

Sadly I don't think this comparison is going to stand up for much longer. Unless of course McLeish can take 22 points from the next 13 games which I very much doubt.

Big clamour now to see the back of the manager but then what? If McLeish is the best Randy and Faulkner could come up with over the summer then what could they come up with now if they did sack him. You really have to wonder what the thinking was behind his appointment. His actual record isn't that bad. A trophy win at Sha is an excellent achievement and he had a fair amount of success in Scotland but it doesn't over ride or mask over the fact he finished third in the SPL with Rangers and has two very recent relegations on his CV. Throw in the fact that he is known for playing overly cautious dour football preferring to protect the point you start the game with than going for three points then this was always a verging on the ridiculous appointment. In the summer Benitez was out of work, Hughes was out of work even Curbishley who was out of work would have been a far better appointment. Having this time decided to go for a manager that was in work though then they could have pretty much gone for anyone. Aston Villa should not be a hard club to sell to 99% of managers. It has a fantastic tradition and would even to most neutrals be seen as one of the top 6-8 clubs in the country with the potential to go higher. It makes you wonder therefore just why they couldn't or weren't willing to try to attract better than McLeish. Is it that they did approach much better managers but when told of the cost cutting they turned their noses up? when you have Martinez preferring to stick with Wigan there is clearly something seriously wrong. I'd love to see the back of McLeish but then what? who do dumb and dumber bring in next. We can spout out names we think should easily attract like Lambert and Rodgers, two excellent up and coming managers, who should see us as a step up given who they manage but I am not sure they would come at the moment. That to me is a sad indictment on how this great club is being run.

Sounds like you have a bad case of Krulak finger.