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

[Richard]

We as a collective group of fans need to be careful about how we treat McLeish at Games

10,000 villa fans singing F*ck Off to him at home games does not come across well and we are in danger of alienating the club

Sorry but I think that is rubbish. The first time any real fan response was given (last Tuesday) and suddenly Mcduff doesn't look quite as secure as he did. iMO the fan response should have started ages ago maybe we wouldn't be in this mess if it had

[islingtonclaret]

Just seen McLeish on BBC saying "it's a hair's breadth between being applauded and being booed". He still doesn't get it.

It's comments like this that make me think he's staying no matter what.

What the **** is WRONG WITH HIM?

Perhaps he's about to crack, or the realisation that he's a **** awful football manager has just lost him his marbles.

[dudevillaisnice]

I actually agree I think the same could be said about the media aswell, only recently have they started to criticise McLeish and question him.

[CI]

We as a collective group of fans need to be careful about how we treat McLeish at Games

10,000 villa fans singing F*ck Off to him at home games does not come across well and we are in danger of alienating the club

Sorry but I think that is rubbish. The first time any real fan response was given (last Tuesday) and suddenly Mcduff doesn't look quite as secure as he did. iMO the fan response should have started ages ago maybe we wouldn't be in this mess if it had

That's rubbish he dogs abuse at Wigan away in feb after about the 60th minute onwards

He also got lesser abuse in the Swansea home game, limited to you don't know what you're doing I think

That's a bit more palatable than vulgar obscene chants which frankly do not portray the fans well at all. The media already think we are fickle - DOL GED MON at the end now ECK

[The_Steve]

McLeish is truly Dave Brent.

[Mantis]

Who cares what the media think? McLeish is the worst Villa manager in decades. It's no surprise the fans want him out.

[Harry]

The thing that will piss me off when he does go is the statement he will make. It will be along the lines of " they never gave me a chance because of where i came from, they never took into account all the injuries"

He's already spinning the second reason and as he will use the first when goes. But his record speaks for itself, it was shite before the injuries and shite afterwards.

[islingtonclaret]

Why do we get singled out for this kind of shit? He's a bad match for us, going to relegate us after taking the other half of Brum down... the fans are getting on his back. What do you EXPECT?! Some Liverpool fan on twitter moaning about our treatment of him got my blood boiling...how did your lot treat Hodgson then? Doughnut.

[foreveryoung]

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/aston-villa-fc/2012/04/28/alex-mcleish-casts-doubt-over-his-aston-villa-future/

Sorry not sure how to short link it.

He knows these are his last games!

[Designer1]

Lose today and gone tomorrow.

(Hopefully)

[Guest av1]

Lose today and gone tomorrow.

(Hopefully)

i would rather win today gone tomorrow

[supernova26]

Surprised nobody has posted about Matt Kendricks article this morning which basically says he's gone at the end of the season and could even go today depending on the result.

[CI]

Kendrick knows jack

Anyway only 25 pages to go

[Denis_B]

I can tell you there is no intention to get rid of him despite the apathy around the club falling attendances and dire football ! Lerner likes him thinks he has a great work ethic and above all trusts him ! Its not what you want to hear but thats the facts . If we are struggling next season then yes I think he will think again .

He came in to do a job with the finances around us and staying up will probably be seen us as stabilising things . But for me you can't hide behind the football the results and what has happened simply not good enough .

Do you see him getting much money to re-shape the squad?

YES

Anything changed in the last 2 weeks then MM???

[jacketspuds]

Kendrick knows jack

Anyway only 25 pages to go

At least Kendrick is starting to talk about the pressure on AMC now as opposed to just rubbing him off and mentioning how unlucky he is.

[Moorski]

I dont think that the Board seriously expected us to be in this situation and after the fans reaction on tuesday night hopefully they have realised that the only solution is to end his contract.

[Big_John_10]

I hope we win but i hope winning doesn't take the pressure off mcleish.

My worry is we win, we're safe and the fans just put up with him for next season.

[AVFCforever1991]

My worry is we win, we're safe and the fans just put up with him for next season.

[Keyblade]

I actually agree I think the same could be said about the media aswell, only recently have they started to criticise McLeish and question him.

Yes, and then you see a completely bullshit article like this one on Sky:

An Eck of a job

'McLeish's men face desperate scramble to escape the drop'

Jeff Stelling Posted 26th April 2012 view comments

It's a terrible shame to see Aston Villa where they are.

As the manager, Alex McLeish is getting a lot of stick and it has now got to the point where owner Randy Lerner has had to publicly back his man.

Since he arrived in 2006, Lerner has invested a huge amount of money into the club but, speaking as an outsider, I think he still has some questions to answer in regards to Villa's transfer policy and their subsequent slump in the table.

When you look at the out-going transfers and compare them to the incoming deals, the club surely must have made a handsome profit.

In July 2011 Stewart Downing moved to Liverpool for around £20m; the summer before that, Ashley Young headed off to Manchester United for £17m and James Milner was bought by Manchester City for £26m - a tidy sum.

If the kids are the future, I'm afraid there are going to be some horribly hard times before the good times return.

Rewind another year and City signed Gareth Barry for £12m, while the sales of Craig Gardner and Zat Knight realised £3m and £4m respectively.

On top of that there have been potentially big-earners going off their books - the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker, Brad Friedel and John Carew.

To summarise, there have been some transfer fees coming in and some big names off the wage bill while last summer they spent a combined £13m on Shay Given and Charles N'Zogbia after splashing out £18m on Darren Bent in January 2011.

So where has the rest of the money gone? Why has Alex McLeish not had more financial backing?

I remember him saying a few weeks ago 'you never know, there may be a big transfer signing coming in during the summer transfer window'. Well, I'm afraid that Villa need more than one big signing to improve their recent track record.

As things stand their sellable assets are Bent and, to a lesser degree, Gabriel Agbonlahor; with the best will in the world they are not going to stay at Villa if the club is relegated.

So if things look grim now, what are they going to look like in a few months' time?

Future

Villa's team isn't an eye-catching one at present.

On Tuesday their line-up included plenty of youth - Eric Lichaj, Nathan Baker, Chris Herd, Andreas Weimann, Marc Albrighton - and Barry Bannan came off the bench, as did Nathan Delfouneso.

If you haven't heard of Daniel Johnson, Derrick Williams, Jack Grealish or Samir Carruthers - all of whom were on the bench against Chelsea last month - you are not alone because none of them have started a Premier League game.

If these kids are the future, I'm afraid there are going to be some horribly hard times before the good times return.

So perhaps Alex McLeish isn't doing too bad a job with both hands tied behind his back. People are quick to accuse him of being desperately defensive but I'm not sure what alternative he actually has.

Villa have endured some misfortune along the way.

Stiliyan Petrov's battle against leukaemia has deprived them of an assured, experienced and inspirational leader, while without Darren Bent's goals they are desperately light up front.

As I said on Soccer Saturday a couple of weeks back, Robbie Keane did a good job for them in the early part of the year but it was like putting a sticking plaster over an open wound in the sense that it disguised their problems and the need to buy someone on a permanent basis who could score the goals that would maybe keep them up.

Mire

Looking at Villa's remaining games, I fear for them. They've got West Brom away, Spurs at home and Norwich away. Quite frankly, they might not get another point this season.

The Baggies would take great delight in helping to send Villa down and confirming themselves as the No 1 team in Birmingham, Spurs still have Europe to play for while Norwich are, on the face of it, strong at home and will want to finish what has been a fantastic season for them with a flourish in front of their own fans.

It's a horrific prospect for Villa, particularly with all of the teams around them picking up points; they are right in the mire and it's hard to see how the can turn it around without investing heavily in the team in the summer. I guess then we'll see how interested Lerner still is in the club.

My message right now for Villa fans is be careful what you wish for. Alex McLeish is a good man and a good manager; even if he suffered the ignominy of a second successive relegation, I don't think it would be a total indictment of his managerial abilities.

If he did go, there would be no shortage of candidates to replace him because Villa remains a big club. However a lot of water has flown under the bridge since those glory days in Europe.

They seemed even further away on Tuesday when I watched Chelsea clinch a place in the Champions League final at the same time as Villa were losing at home to Bolton and dropping ever nearer to the relegation places...

[PieFacE]

My worry is we win, we're safe and the fans just put up with him for next season.

I think it's too late for that now. It just has to be.