steaknchips

then why did Houllier not play him last season when Young and Cuellar was out Because Houllier was building. There was no future in playing a 31 yr old average RB, whereas playing Walker, (and trying to sign him) or Lichaj was something Villa could benefit from in future seasons.. So then where's the future in playing a 32 year old average RB over a 25 year old RB who showed great glimpses of potential earlier in his career under his current gaffer? To quote you from another thread, McLeish can obviously see things in Hutton that Redknapp didn't know about, and surely that's got to be down to McLeish's ability as a coach. There isnt a future in playing Beye over Hutton...But the question must be asked; Why did we spend 4m and 30-40k per week on another RB who isnt much better than what we already have? Especially when we have the club saying that we have to be careful with money? Now we have him, I agree that at 25 years old and on 4 year contract that he should play ahead of Beye 32 yrs old last year of his contract...I just dont understand the logic in signing such player in the 1st place..

That made me chuckle. Andy Gray said something similar the other day (not about Makoun). He was saying how stats can be made into what you want them to be, he was saying how people rave about Barcelona making 2 or 3 hundred passes a game, but how many of them are accross the back 4 being as they never take a long goal kick? Maybe half? 93 successful passes against Man Utd wasnt it for Makoun? How many of them were leading to creating chances? None of them! And after that game people were saying he would be playing for Chelsea or such like by next season! Yeah but football is a game of pass and move. If you're passing it and moving into space but no one else is doing the same for you, you're hardly going to be playing defense splitting passes are you? I mean, players who can do the simple thing and pass it nice a tidy are great when you have other players who can do the same, if there's enough movement there then gaps and chances will open up. Which is the point about Barcelonas 300 passes or whatever, the fact is they're patient and willing to move about and not just give it away. Back on Makoun, one of the things which Villa seriously lack (and i mean seriously!!!) is movement. Even when we get a throw-in, everyone is so static and still. Makoun didnt play the best in some games I;ll happily admit that, but I don't think the players he had around him helped much either. Football is so simple, pass and move, keep the ball, wait for an opening, be patient. Yet, we get Alex Hoofer McLeish as manager constantly giving the opposition the ball back. That almost "traditionally English" brand of football is dead now IMO... It bemuses me why we don't look at the template in how Barcelona play football and try and copy. I'm not saying it's going to work with our current crop but from a youth perspective. Get some Spanish coaches in and teach the kids to play like how Barcelona do, pass and move. If you can get that into their heads when they're young enough it will become second nature. Good post :winkold:

Send back Jenas and bring Makoun back would be in the best interests of our club. He is fit and had a decent pre-season and already has some ideas of how our players play..He could be on bench and/or ready to play now, which is unlike Jenas. Jenas still has to gell with the team when he does reach match fitness and there are no guarantees he will be any good when he does get in. He has been out too long and injury prone..We are training and getting a "Spurs player" up to match fitness using our guys and resources..This deal only benefits Spurs!

I dont know why fans are discussing Makoun "Running the game"...I dont expect a top 4 quality midfielder out of him...He was 4m and on around 40k a week(which is similar to the Hutton transfer),yet what he brings to the team is worth that.. He is a tidy player that offers an out ball in midfield and usually an out ball going forward. He rarely gave the ball away and had good movement off the ball allowing himself to be available for the pass at all times. None of our midfielders offer this, so more often than not we end up hoofing the ball upfield. Delph, Herd and Heskey in the midfield dont offer the same movement off the ball as Makoun, they also dont offer the same speed and eye for the out ball pass. Makoun's strengths was his ability on the ball, passing and movement...= all the things missing atm from our midfield.. Hutton = 4m quid and 30-40k per week/ Makoun = 4m quid and 30-40k per week, I know which one offers better value for our team.

then why did Houllier not play him last season when Young and Cuellar was out Because Houllier was building. There was no future in playing a 31 yr old average RB, whereas playing Walker, (and trying to sign him) or Lichaj was something Villa could benefit from in future seasons..

You must of only been born yesterday if you think some managers dont have favourites. Hutton was signed and plays because McLeish likes him and knows him from his days at Rangers and Scotland. They are friends.

If McLeish goes, we will end up with Sven..Our board are being advised by old hat old timers with no ideas how the game is evolving..This Premiership experienced only tag, proves that the club have no vision into the future of the game. Most Premiership experienced managers are already in good jobs, or have already been tried, tested and failed in the Premiership...So why on earth would the club want to continue the trend? We need change and re-invention, we need to move forward into the modern era of football.

Clark and Cuellar looked better balanced and strong the 2 times ive seen them together. The trouble with Clark/Dunne partnership, is they both play on the left hand side of CB..It dosnt seem to work.

If we are looking to improve considerably, I would consider removing McLeish! I'l 2nd that :winkold:

Our defence should be; Herd(Lichaj)--Cuellar--Clark--Warnock. With a decent DM in front of them. Then in the summer look to replace/strengthen Warnock...Maybe Olsson from Blackburn would be a good choice?

Houllier wasn't healthy enough to finish last season let alone manage us this season... let it go. Then this thread may as well be closed ...As im just commenting on the thread topic. :?

Juan, You miss it mate if you think that..This season alone proves that what Houllier was doing was right. Players like Dunne, Collins etc, I doubt would be at the club now under Houllier. We would be alot further down the road in regards progression than we are at pressent, maybe in contention for European football next season/and still in the League Cup. But you are entitled to your opinion.

Cabaye is awesome.

A midfield of Reo, Makoun and Cabaye had Houllier stayed on, could have worked alot better than Heskey, Petrov and Herd.

If Petrov plays for another 2 years we will go nowhere. A long range effort and a couple of decent corners/set pieces does not make him a class player. We have struggled in just about every game so far this season(mainly lower opposition) to grab a hold of the midfield and control the game..Which Petrov, as our kingpin, stalwart and senior player has to take some responsibility for. He may well score the odd goal from a long range effort but at the same time he failing miserably in his role. The midfield needs to be strong, stable and keep its balance so that the rest of the team can play well, this includes the attack and the defence. We are at present a bunch of allsorts with no direction or purpose. If Petrov did his job the whole play and team would look alot better. I can see where Dennis Mortimer is coming from, as he used to rule his midfield, which made the play around him just fall nicely into place. The whole team needs to think we have a stalwart in the centre controlling the game, this then breeds confidence through the team. Mortimer as captain, wouldnt have stood for players like Heskey and Hutton just constantly passing into no man's land. Its about leadership, team work and the will to want to control and win the game on the field of play...yet we dont seem to have any of that mentality.

So how long before the fans start to make their voices heard? Or do we just keep going along and supporting such dross?

McLeish needs to organise better passing and movement in training..Maybe bring Cowans back into the 1st team fold because the current set up is not working. The back end of last season seen the team have some great passing and movement skills, it complimented Darren Bent's game and we started to look a good outfit. The defence is also starting to look shaky, I dont like the Hutton/Collins combination looking after the right hand side of defence, its weak. I would like to see Cuellar at the right hand side of CB with Lichaj(if fit) or Herd back in at RB..

Could this better football that you speak of be down to the fact that Ged had Downing and Young in his team whereas Big Eck does not? It could be but it wasnt.. Because it was style of football Houllier was drilling through that made the difference not necessarily the name of the player involved..Many say Reo was a different player under him, Albrighton, Clark, Hogg, Delph, Bannan, Heskey etc etc were too.. It was the whole way of setting the team/squad up that mattered. To say Houllier wouldnt have coped without Downing or Young is nonsense...Just maybe Albrighton/Bannan and Makoun would have stepped up a gear this season? Not that it matters though because like a previous poster said, Houllier left for health reasons.. But my main gripe, is that the replacement manager is nowhere near as tactically good for our future. We need a manger that can bring players like Delph on, yet he seems to have hit a wall under McLeish...The development stops here.

Him scoring the odd long range effort dosnt make up for the problems that lie deep within the side which he plays some responsibility for. I look at Petrov as the kingpin and stalwart in our midfield, yet all too often it lacks any kind of structure, which he as the senior player should be part responsible for. We never control the midfield battle anymore, we cannot pass the ball or keep it for very long. There seems to be no reasoning behind the pass that gets made, no clues or ideas. Nobody is the driving force, its all too boring with no real direction. If he has brains and experience, why is the midfield so poorly organised? I would swap his goal today for a far more assured midfield performance by the team.

I dont look at Houllier's reign at the club as comparing results this season to last season...Yet more, could you see signs of improving as a club under his leadership? And the answer is yes we did start to improve and grow, you could see us becoming a better footballing side. Yet under McLeish I see no improvements at all, week after week we just look and play the same. Our football is not improving at all under his management and what we see now, we will still be seeing this time next season.

well we still can't defend set pieces Yes but the difference being, Houllier knew this and was looking to address the situation in the Summer. But im very concerned at just the way we play football in general..We cant string together more than 3 passes as a team..We give the ball away far too cheaply (Heskey, for their goal)... The opposition goalkeeper no matter who we play, never seems to be all that busy. Its so poor and frustrating to watch.

Its a far cry from the type of football Houllier was building at the club.

Every striker in the world will miss the odd sitter...I think what the majority of Villa fans are trying to say, that despite the fairly easy to start to this season's campaign, Darren Bent has had very little service on the whole from the outfield play. The creative ability coming from midfield has been pretty poor and the balls/crossing from wide areas has been pretty slim. Are Delph/Petrov/Heskey the creative spark in midfield? If not who is because Ireland and Bannan dont get enough stability/game time together to strike up a partnership.? And who is the wide man supplying the front men? N'Zogbia maybe? Again, he has been dia so far this season.. Downing and Young have not been replaced and the football on show does no favours for 18m rated Darren Bent. We need Bannan and Ireland to play regular together in midfield so that a bond/partnership can be built, with a good ball winner/defensive style midfielder just behind them..We also need to get Albrighton back into the frame, as he still remains one of the best deliveries of the ball from a wide area at the club. These little tweaks could see an improvement in our creative play, which in turn could see an improvement in Darren Bent.

Another very poor player we have signed, with no finesse in his game whatsoever..He is old hat, that makes rash challenges, poor technical decisions and makes stupid mistakes at the back..We are very lucky as a team this player got away(by poor refereeing decisions) of conceding 2 x pens in 2 different games as well as get a red card against WBA for charging in on Shane Long(would hate it if Gabby/Bent were on the recieving end of such dia challenges).. 4m quid in today's money was a very poor buy from McLeish.

He needs to be replaced in the Summer(or in Jan if we get a chance). The position needs a far more dynamic, stronger personality in a player. Who is tough with good drive on the ball. Petrov is like a puppet and far too soft and lathargic for the role. I think Mortimer looks at it as a position he would relish if he was a younger again and maybe watches Petrov in frustration at just how nimble, slow and ineffective he really is in such a role. Watching past players like Roy Keane and Dennis Mortimer, you can easily see what is missing from Petrov's game. And even looking at more future players like Fellaini and Tiote, you again can easily see where Petrov falls short as the stronghold in our midfield..