The, he's finally GONE! Tell us your thoughts Thread

[OnlyOne]

Did he really say there's nothing he could do on the pitch? Erm....hello? Plan B? Some **** way of unlocking Swansea? It's not gonna work if you take away our most creative player off the pitch.

[NowDoINotLikeThat]

He says something about" not much i can do when not on the pitch" or some crap

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/16331446.stm

him taking Ireland off and not taking a defender off or N'Zogbia (who was poor) when 2-0 down with 20 mins left was utterly ridiculous.

Crap manager.

[claret75]

Did anyone think McCleish looked all 'we beat Chelsea away, job done' before the match? A big contrast to how he looked after the game.

[NowDoINotLikeThat]

Not quite sure what you mean claret75?

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

I find it embarassing when fans mention Warnock's mistake killed the game. How the **** can you kill the game with 86 mins plus stoppage time to go at home?

I was thinking, ok 1 down but ages to go, we can still win this 3-1.

I think I was on my own in that radical thinking.

[quizme]

I dont like Mcleish that much, I was always willing to give him a chance, I still do.

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

In this case I blame the players more than the manager.

For the record, I have not seen the game.

[PauloBarnesi]

I dont like Mcleish that much, I was always willing to give him a chance, I still do.

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

In this case I blame the players more than the manager.

For the record, I have not seen the game.

It's not just picking the right players; it's about the right tactics, it's about the right attitude. If en masse the players don't perform then the manager has to take the blame for that. I could accept N'Zgobia not being great yesterday, but en masse they under performed.

McLeish has had the time to get this team into some shape; the problem is the shape is that of SHA

[tomav84]

I dont like Mcleish that much, I was always willing to give him a chance, I still do.

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

In this case I blame the players more than the manager.

For the record, I have not seen the game.

fairly spot on there...apart from taking ireland off and leaving warnock on not much mcleish could have done today. the players were just not up for it

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

the players were just not up for it

Agree 100 %. Just not at the races and the complete polar opposite of Swansea's players attidute.

[BkkVilla]

Does anybody know how many shots on target we have mustered in the last 9 games (basically all league games since the last international break in November) because it has to be scarily low. Spurs, Swansea (a) and Manchester United were all inept. We then beat Bolton, before being **** desperate again against Liverpool. I didnt see the Arsenal game, but we never really looked like scoring against Stoke. Then we beat Chelsea and failed to turn up today.

Of those nine games there are, what, five or six where we hardly had a shot on goal? Alarm bells are ringing.

A shot on target feels like scoring a goal under McLeish.

I dnno the stats for all games above but we had ONE today

It is a joke.

Spurs 1

Swansea (A) 2

Man U 2

Bolton 5

Liverpool 4

Arsenal 3

Stoke 2

Chelsea 7

Swansea (H) 1

A grand total of 27

An average of a MASSIVE 3 a game. Seriously, do I laugh or cry??

[BkkVilla]

I dont like Mcleish that much, I was always willing to give him a chance, I still do.

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

In this case I blame the players more than the manager.

For the record, I have not seen the game.

fairly spot on there...apart from taking ireland off and leaving warnock on not much mcleish could have done today. the players were just not up for it

the players were just not up for it

Agree 100 %. Just not at the races and the complete polar opposite of Swansea's players attidute.

And whose job is it to get the attitude correct?

[Paddywhack]

Does anybody know how many shots on target we have mustered in the last 9 games (basically all league games since the last international break in November) because it has to be scarily low. Spurs, Swansea (a) and Manchester United were all inept. We then beat Bolton, before being **** desperate again against Liverpool. I didnt see the Arsenal game, but we never really looked like scoring against Stoke. Then we beat Chelsea and failed to turn up today.

Of those nine games there are, what, five or six where we hardly had a shot on goal? Alarm bells are ringing.

A shot on target feels like scoring a goal under McLeish.

I dnno the stats for all games above but we had ONE today

It is a joke.

Spurs 1

Swansea (A) 2

Man U 2

Bolton 5

Liverpool 4

Arsenal 3

Stoke 2

Chelsea 7

Swansea (H) 1

A grand total of 27

An average of a MASSIVE 3 a game. Seriously, do I laugh or cry??

I don't see it as a problem. You don't need too many shots on target, it's just the way McLeish pla... Sorry, I couldn't keep that up. Those stats are shocking.

Although what about the shots on target we've had against us? If they're stupidly low aswell it just goes to show how boring we play, rather than us just being over-run in games and incapable of creating chances

[philwhitters]

The issue for me is I don't know what our plan is.

Swansea like to keep the ball. (I live in Swansea and have criticised them all year for keeping the ball and having no 'go forward' but it's a plan!)

Stoke get the ball into the box as often as possible, long balls, crosses, throws etc... it's a plan.

What do we try and do? I just don't know!

[BG_Villa_Fan]

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

There's much more to managing a team than picking some players, every Villa fan can do that on paper. However, he should have known if players were tired, out of shape, their mindset, etc. Look at Brendan Rogers - he's rested some players, he's given his bench some playing time, he's kept his better performers fresh and sharp, all that despite not many Swansea fans willing to put the 11 he actually did at Villa Park. Still, he got 4 points from two very difficult games. McLeish should have known the players, or some of them, were not up for this Swansea game, that's his job - to know his players better than any fan who'd just put 11 names on a team sheet.

On a side note, on McLeish, he's going to do just enough to keep his position, isn't he? He'll win a game here and there that'd keep us in mid table because we've got a vastly superior squad to some of our rivals, but he'll never be able to make a run of wins, he'd be doing just enough to keep his job.

[Didiersix]

What I didn't understand yesterday was why he persisted in keeping Petrov/Clark in midfield. I saw a quote with him saying it was to ensure we were still solid... but in my opinion, what is the point in being solid when you are 2-0 down?

He should have taken Clark and/or Stan off and gone with Ireland/Bannan or even Gardner.. I just didn't see that we had much to lose. This is what is so infuriating for me.

[kammy]

On a side note, on McLeish, he's going to do just enough to keep his position, isn't he? He'll win a game here and there that'd keep us in mid table because we've got a vastly superior squad to some of our rivals, but he'll never be able to make a run of wins, he'd be doing just enough to keep his job.

This is what really worries me. Unless we lose 10 in a row or gets us relegated I don't think he'll get the sack. We could be stuck like this for years.

[chips'ngravy]

I dont like Mcleish that much, I was always willing to give him a chance, I still do.

But, for his defence, he picked the team that 90% of the VT:ers wanted before the game, we all liked that!? The players doesnt perform = the manager gets the shit? I know that is how it works... But surely the players MUST be the ones taking the most shit from the fans?

In this case I blame the players more than the manager.

For the record, I have not seen the game.

fairly spot on there...apart from taking ireland off and leaving warnock on not much mcleish could have done today. the players were just not up for it

Absolute rubbish. So a manager's job is just to pick the team?

True enough, the team was probably the one most people would have gone with, but the tactics, no!

Whenever we get the ball out wide the player in possession is always completely isolated and left with no other option than to lump it hopefully into the box. Why? Because the manager has given orders for the central midfielders to sit deep. Swansea were sitting fairly deep in the second half but rarely looked under any genuine threat from our one dimensional McLeishball. He just let them keep pumping hopeful(less) balls into the box. Not once did we try and run through the middle and play any short passes. It was truly mortifying.

[alf_stewart]

The issue for me is I don't know what our plan is.

Swansea like to keep the ball. (I live in Swansea and have criticised them all year for keeping the ball and having no 'go forward' but it's a plan!)

Stoke get the ball into the box as often as possible, long balls, crosses, throws etc... it's a plan.

What do we try and do? I just don't know!

Our plan is hoof it over the top for Gabby to run on to, then side-foot it into the opposition goalkeeper's arms.

[Paddywhack]

What I didn't understand yesterday was why he persisted in keeping Petrov/Clark in midfield. I saw a quote with him saying it was to ensure we were still solid... but in my opinion, what is the point in being solid when you are 2-0 down?

He should have taken Clark and/or Stan off and gone with Ireland/Bannan or even Gardner.. I just didn't see that we had much to lose. This is what is so infuriating for me.

I think maybe he thinks 2-0 doesn't look too bad and can be swept under the carpet a bit easier than 3-0, 4-0.

That was something I loved about MON (sorry to compare). Even when we were 2 goals behind I always believed we could still win with 10 minutes to go because we always went for it. He would then say he didn't really care about conceding a goal or two because you pick up the same amount of points. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't, it was exciting

McLeish's game plan doesn't seem to change from start to finish

[deeps]

Few lads at work have said to me he has to go (all arsenal and Chelsea fans). Good to see collymore speaking out too. Also the McLeish out # on twitter is busier than usual.

The more I think of yesterday the socket I feel. I hope we lose on sat to Bristol as its on tv and I want it to get worse for the word removed. And I have never wanted us to ever lose a game. Not even under previous managers I disliked.

The heights of 6th seems like years and light years ago.