jacketspuds Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Like others have mentioned Houllier has to back Carew whilst he is still here as he has few options. Carew might get his chance against Birmingham and he could do a great job but GH knows he needs Carew on-side. If he says "we are looking for another striker as I'm not confident in Heskey or Carew" this would have a massive negative affect on the player. Secretly however I would not be surprised if Carew goes to WBA and Houllier has someone else lined up to replace him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 It's a boost to Carew to say I need you in this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razor Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 The Independent"]Seven Football League titles. Seven FA Cups. Five League Cups. Oh, and one European Cup. Aston Villa are steeped in silverware, but they go into today's Second City derby at Birmingham City with Gérard Houllier claiming that Premier League survival will be like adding to their haul. "At the moment our trophy is to get out of the relegation zone," said the Villa manager. "You need to have long-term targets but in the short and medium term that's our aim." He added: "I believe in the team and the squad I have. The determination of the senior players is there and so is the hunger of the young players. I don't think it helps to be panicky." The "R" word, banned by some managers, is sprinkled throughout Houllier's remarks. "We're in a battle to avoid relegation," he said bluntly. "It's better to be honest with the media and the fans. It's a fact. We're in the bottom three and the target is to get out." Houllier has been in such a parlous position only once before. "I was bottom with Paris St-Germain. It was the same scenario: we had injuries and lost confidence. We had a top-class player who lost his mother. He had eight goals when she died and in the rest of the season he got one. But we finished mid-table." Villa, to an even greater extent than a Birmingham side just one point ahead of them, have underachieved. Houllier called them "unlucky", and in terms of injuries to senior players such as captain Stiliyan Petrov and vice-captain Nigel Reo-Coker, he had a point. Yet when he said they were also "unlucky in the way games have turned against us", he was rather stretching it. "We've lost 14 points from leading positions. If we'd lost just half of that we'd have 28 points." Martin O'Neill left with six successive wins over Birmingham. Houllier's first derby, in October, was a 0-0 home draw and last month Villa lost 2-1 away with a Carling Cup semi-final at stake despite looking likely winners for long spells. "This is the biggest game of the season," he said. "It's massive for us. At the same time I've said to the players, focus on the game and the result will take care of itself. We're in charge of producing something on the field but it's very important not to be obsessed by the stakes. The players are up for it. They'll be ready. They started talking about it early, which is a good sign. "The local boys are obviously relishing it," Houllier added. "Marc Albrighton felt miserable not to play in the first game because he was suspended and for the second one he had appendicitis." Albrighton will start today, but Jean II Makoun, the 27-year-old Cameroon midfielder who Villa signed yesterday, will not play. Houllier is also keeping his opposite number Alex McLeish guessing as to whether John Carew will return alongside serial derby scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_avfc Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Why did Houllier not celebrate our equalising goal against SHA ? He just stood there like a motionless tortoise.More life in a madam tussauds wax dummy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heskeygoalmachine Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Im pretty sure he was happy when we equalised no need to jump around just to show it, most managers dont. Im sure he would have celebrated if we won and got 3 points though. . . always seems like everyone are trying to find small things to pick at about GH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyone See him telling all the players to go an applaud the fans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyPanther Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I think the non-celebration was a signal of 'ok, but let's win this'. Before Makoun/Walker arrived I wanted him gone, but he's earnt a stay of execution in my eyes. If not also for making the entirety of a transfer window an interesting period, not just the last 2 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razor Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyone See him telling all the players to go an applaud the fans? I noticed this at Stamford Bridge too, none of them were going to until he told them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyPanther Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyone See him telling all the players to go an applaud the fans? I noticed this at Stamford Bridge too, none of them were going to until he told them I've noticed it a couple of times..... ever since the Liverpool debacle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moorski Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I think that it is fair to say that GH will be in charge until the end of the season, depending on circumstances it is likely to be reviewed then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Given the date....I think we should just back him if he's got plans to bring in a couple of players. If he signs a couple decent players, even if then we don't improve over the next 4/5 games, a new manager would have some good players to work with for the last 10/11 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyone See him telling all the players to go an applaud the fans? I noticed this at Stamford Bridge too, none of them were going to until he told them I've noticed it a couple of times..... ever since the Liverpool debacle. It was done before that match aswell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I'm going to give GH the benefit of the doubt on this one. We got a good draw and performed ok. GH is signing players where we need to strengthen (apart from up front) and we are out of the bottom 3 for now. Glad we didn't lose for GH's sake because it would be horrendous sacking him and then waiting for a new manager and missing out on transfer targets. Now GH needs to be backed and hopefully everything will start to turn around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beasley14 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Anyone See him telling all the players to go an applaud the fans? Yes. Also a lot of managers don't jump around and celebrate, depends on their management style. The same ones probably don't go over the top when a teams loses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Well if the players attitude today was anything to go by then he may well be winning them round as they put in a very good shift, apart from Downing who I thought bottled every 70/30 in his favour never mind 50/50. He as some way to go to win me over but credit where its due Walker is an inspired signing by the looks of things especially going forward and I have high hopes for Makoun. Most importantly the vast majority of the players now seem to be going out and putting the effort in and you can't ask much more than that as we have some decent lads at this football club and if you can get them all pulling in the right direction we won't go far wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Its better but a draw today was never going to change my mind, i still want him gone and the sooner the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Well if the players attitude today was anything to go by then he may well be winning them round as they put in a very good shift, apart from Downing who I thought bottled every 70/30 in his favour never mind 50/50. He as some way to go to win me over but credit where its due Walker is an inspired signing by the looks of things especially going forward and I have high hopes for Makoun. Most importantly the vast majority of the players now seem to be going out and putting the effort in and you can't ask much more than that as we have some decent lads at this football club and if you can get them all pulling in the right direction we won't go far wrong. Yep. It does seem slowly and finally surely the players have sort of accepted Houllier and everyone seems to be together. If Aston Villa play as a team, we'll have no problems in staying up. Let's just hope so anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I'm with MarkAVFC, all is not forgiven but we are pulling in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Here's how I think/hope this year is gonna go We finish strongly in mid-table. Houllier overhauls the squad and brings in some quality players over the summer and gets the players playing his way. From there we can push on next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beasley14 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Well if the players attitude today was anything to go by then he may well be winning them round as they put in a very good shift, apart from Downing who I thought bottled every 70/30 in his favour never mind 50/50. He as some way to go to win me over but credit where its due Walker is an inspired signing by the looks of things especially going forward and I have high hopes for Makoun. Most importantly the vast majority of the players now seem to be going out and putting the effort in and you can't ask much more than that as we have some decent lads at this football club and if you can get them all pulling in the right direction we won't go far wrong. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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