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

[villa4europe]

I agree you can't blame him for everything

But doesn't mean he's a desperately poor manager who has absolutely no future here, he has no redeemable features at all IMO

[Didiersix]

Season ticket sales alone will be the bullet that finishes Mcleish.

No manager can survive the staggering acheivement of single handedly driving away 10,000 season ticket holders. Thats his Comp. package right there.

UTV.

Has the club given any indication on what season ticket uptake is like.

Nope. But umours abound that theyve taken a "haircut" of 10k or more. Reports of only 4k sold.

[ciggiesnbeer]

That alone should force their hand. How much money is that lost? An easy short term fix as well. Not a long term one obviously that will require other things but getting rid of the manager is blindingly obvious right now.

I guess Lerner could do a venkys but I think he is a smart man who genuinely wants the club to do well.

[CI]

Jeez if they've only sold 4k ST (doubtful)

They will need to do something big to win back those fans

[foreveryoung]

Jeez if they've only sold 4k ST (doubtful)

They will need to do something big to win back those fans

No not that big? Just get rid of ya mate McLeish:)

[ciggiesnbeer]

I really dont think it will take much to get the attendance numbers back up again if they act now.

We are a big club people have voted with their feet, they can also vote again but the sooner the better. Not attending may become a habit after two seasons.

[VillaGoMarching]

Wow, although Blackburn have still had 6k renew, so I still think ours is higher. In spite of the ginger Scottish nerk.

[CI]

Another report on another thread said ST sales were on a par with last year

Suggesting we're down to the hardcore STs now who will always renew

See most of trinity lower as a good example

[foreveryoung]

Its all McLeish's fault the falling attendances, the tactics, the boring football, Bents injury, the toilets running out of hand towels, the weather, the rising cost of fuel. Just get him out before we reach independance day or somink.

[smetrov]

A poster with a high post count on vital villa - has quoted Niki Keyes as saying PF is currently in the US with Randy - they are both distruaught about the last 2 seasons - and changes will be made to ensure there is no repeat.

Could be total BS - or could mean cosmetic changes. However if the press pick up on this - I believe it could force the club to act BEFORE Sunday. Would AM travel to knowledge, with every newspaper reporting him axed at 4.45, taking a load of grief off the fans as well ?

It happened to Billy Mcneil in 87, ( we were already relegated of course) he was supposed to take charge of the last game - but word got out - and to save any more embarrassment - they just brought the sacking forward.

There is a head of steam building now that hes going.............PF/RL/AM have looked stupid this season - are they going to add to this disastrous season keeping a 'virtually sacked' manager in post for a meaningless match ?

[CI]

Smetrov, go to bed

[smetrov]

Smetrov, go to bed

will do - just gotta do my sarnies !

[Brumstopdogs]

I'm not defending him, the 7 defenders in the starting XI is not on

I'm just saying the players should not get off Scot free for this abortion of a season

If only we were Scot free :winkold:

[Mantis]

The last game Tottenham for example.

I was there, this is the game Heskey missed a sitter and Dunne wrecklessy handed them their equaliser

Take those individual errors out, we've won

How is that the manager fault

If we hadn't had a lucky deflection and if Spurs had finished just a handful of their many chances we would've been on the end of a pounding.

I can't believe you're trying to defend McLeish by saying "if so and so hadn't happened, we won".

A poster with a high post count on vital villa - has quoted Niki Keyes as saying PF is currently in the US with Randy - they are both distruaught about the last 2 seasons - and changes will be made to ensure there is no repeat.

Could be total BS - or could mean cosmetic changes. However if the press pick up on this - I believe it could force the club to act BEFORE Sunday. Would AM travel to knowledge, with every newspaper reporting him axed at 4.45, taking a load of grief off the fans as well ?

It happened to Billy Mcneil in 87, ( we were already relegated of course) he was supposed to take charge of the last game - but word got out - and to save any more embarrassment - they just brought the sacking forward.

There is a head of steam building now that hes going.............PF/RL/AM have looked stupid this season - are they going to add to this disastrous season keeping a 'virtually sacked' manager in post for a meaningless match ?

I would love this to be true, but it's now Thursday night. I really can't see him leaving BEFORE the Norwich game. I think there's a good chance of him going AFTER the game though, preferably straight away for maximum humiliation and to spare us fear and dread that will inevitably build up if he isn't sacked straight away.

I dunno, I just know what the board are like. If they do sack him (and that's a big if at the moment) I think it'll take at least a couple of weeks, and then a good month to get his replacement in. I can't see a new manager being in place until July if I'm honest.

[Dodgyknees]

Very excited for next season and McLeish to be gone, first home game on the cards for me. My gf slagged McLeish off today (she wasnt a football fan when we met) but we saw a very ugly ginger man today and her comment? 'he's still better looking than McLeish' great moment.

She'll be at her first game that day, cannot wait!

[Mantis]

First home game of the season will be like a party atmosphere if McLeish has gone. Just imagine that, us having a go at a team at Villa Park and maybe actually scoring more than one goal for a change. If we're really lucky we might even win!

[Ooh-Ah]

First home game of the season will be like a party atmosphere if McLeish has gone. Just imagine that, us having a go at a team at Villa Park and maybe actually scoring more than one goal for a change. If we're really lucky we might even win!

Heresy! Arrest that man!

[ozvillafan]

Another article using us as an example of how NOT to play football:

I sat down a few weeks ago to watch Stoke City v Wolverhampton Wanderers. Actually, let me re-phrase that: a few weeks ago, I sat down and endured Stoke City v Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After forty minutes of play, the Guardian's minute-by-minute report summed it up best: 41 min: Possession stats thus far: Stoke 10%, Wolves 22%, Uninhabited Areas of Grass 28%, The Sky 40%

Han Berger's immortal words were again ringing in my ear: "This is not football!"

Now, the reason that this wasn't football isn't because it bored the Britannia Stadium (aka Lionel Messi's kryptonite) into silence.

It is because the hit-and-hope football that both teams had settled for does not bring success over the course of a season.

Some like to say that there are many ways to skin a cat. I'm certainly not condoning cruelty to animals but the gist of this saying, that there are many different ways to approach football is true, history suggests that some methods bring more success than others.

"The table doesn’t lie" is another well-worn football cliche, but for me the current Premier League table tells nothing but the truth, particularly down the bottom.

Few could argue that Wolves, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa have played some of the worst football in England this season.

The long-held wisdom was that the only way to ensure Premier League survival was to employ the kick and chase.

But with Wolves and Blackburn already preparing for the Championship next season, while Wigan and Swansea are looking forward to another year in the top flight, perhaps that way of thinking is changing.

Despite inferior resources compared to the top end of the Premier League, Sporting Intelligence's list of the world’s highest paying sporting teams reveals that even the lower end of the English top flight pay their players more than many clubs in Spain, Italy and even Germany.

For the bosses of the lower tier Premier League clubs, there can be no excuse for such an archaic approach to football when teams like Athletic Bilbao produce far more with similar resources.

But a closer look at this list reveals an even more frightening tale.

Last season, Aston Villa was number 41 in the world's highest payers, more than Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia and AS Roma.

While some big name departures last year may have dragged down that wage bill, it would still be in the top half of the Premier League at least.

Yet this team that should by all rights be challenging for European places struggled for top flight survival.

An insight into why Aston Villa is arguably the most under-achieving club in football was revealed by Alexander Hleb, who had the misfortune of playing under Alex Mcleish at Birmingham City last season.

"The day before a game he would come onto the pitch and show us what to do: 'You stand here, the goalkeeper will give you the ball here, kick it as far as you can and don't pass to anyone nearby. And we all run'."

Sitting deep with a well-organised defence and playing the ball into space can be effective in a one-off game, particularly against extremely offensive opponents, as Birmingham demonstrated in the League Cup final last season.

But what its relegation also demonstrated was that this type of football will not bring success over a sustained period, even at the bottom of the ladder.

It is incredible that McLeish, one of the highest paid coaches in world football, according to football finance, saw it fit to continue this hit-and-hope philosophy (I think anyone who's watched Villa would agree his tactics haven't changed) at a club with vastly superior resources and larger ambitions.

This is not about aesthetics. It is about what works and what doesn't.

In football today, sitting deep, knocking it long and hoping for the best doesn't work in any top league, let alone the Premier League.

Even Stoke City, which is regarded as the success story of such a philosophy, has been unable to break into the top half, despite spending over $30 million last off-season.

From what newly promoted Southampton and Reading have shown in Championship they too will adopt a more considered approach, than the kick and run.

The days of 40% possession for the sky in a Premier League match may soon be over.

Original article: http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/vitor-sobral/blog/1104883/The-hit-and-hope-approach-is-dead

[smudge1874]

Great article by what seems to be the one journalist who gets it!!!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/1067003/hubbard:-alex-mcleish-sets-standard-of-mediocrity-at-aston-villa?cc=5739

[Genie]

I think its pretty likely any compensation would drop down a tier as we move from 1 season to the next (i.e. after the next game). As we're not going to be relegated there is no reason at all to fire AM this side of the Norwich game.