jacketspuds Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 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... Will be interesting to see what the Soccer Saturday team have to say about us today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I don't see how it's bullshit. Lerner does have a lot to answer for, and we are in a bad way. Thing is that McLeish is liked within football (probably because he keeps giving other teams points and telling them how elite they are) Whatever. Jeff Stelling hasn't watched us enough this season to know that, even at full strength, we've been utterly utterly woeful. There's no way we'd be in this position with a better manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaGoMarching Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 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??? I saw MM come online mid week but he didn't post anything. I think it's probably quite telling that he hasn't commented yet on this matter. Kendrick knows jack Anyway only 25 pages to go I think your wrong again CI, Matt Kendrick clearly knows what's happening, since he's changed his tone massively within the space of a view days. From having to nearly ignore the criticism of Mcleish and the way his villa play, to now openly admitting that he's off. Local Media have been doing their very best to keep the lines of communication with the club open, hence the lack of critical stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Eck quoted in The Daily Mail today: "I looked at every scenario. One thing you certainly cannot do is take this league for granted. You can't come in and say "The Aston Villa badge means we will be in the top 10". I looked closely at the squad when we discussed the financial side of things and thought it was going to be a tough job. Villa were relegation threatened last year with a stronger squad. I know the supporters don't want this. They want Villa to be in the top six or something. That's Villa's history and heritage. At the moment, it's not realistic". Faulkner seemed to think it was realistic when he set that target for us well into this season. So have you told him he was not being realistic as well Big Eck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 On now soccer saturday. Lets watch and debate. The problem is half these guys know him as a good friend, so its hard for them to slag him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 it was going to be a tough job. Villa were relegation threatened last year with a stronger squad. Houllier being shit isn't an excuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I wouldn't expect his friends to slag him off, but it would be nice to hear a balanced view for a change, instead of the usual "he's been unlucky with injuries, he's not been backed, fans don't like him because of where he came from" bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Sky panel are pissing me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummybloke Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 people describe the ginger gibbon as a 'nice man' i would describe him as a Coniving Unexciting Negative Turncoat get that dirty puke of a human away from my club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaGoMarching Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Have they said anything apart from the usual uneducated piffle, i mean Merse is the only one who's probably been to VP in the last 10 years and he's a piss head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Its because we only have the kids, he had been given no money. Reo Coker a big player????? It shows they drink with McLeish, still very careful what they say, though i truely think they know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 he hasnt had a lot to work with????? for the majority of the season he has had Given,Cuellar,Collins,Dunne,Warnock,Petrov,Ireland,Nzogbia,Bent and Agbonlahor. Lichaj is a USA international and Herd is an Aussie international, Wiemann has shown alot of promise. The only top cack players we have are Delph, Bannan and Allbrighton. Are people really telling me with the 10 players in the 1st part of the list you cant get higher than where we are???? MCLEISH IS A USELESS NEGATIVE,LYING,BORING CLUELESS PRICK AND THE ENTIRE SKY PANEL CAN GO **** THEMSELVES. HE ISNT UNLUCKY HE IS A word removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
returnofthemac Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Loved Merse on Gabby....he's getting bigger lol! I think he meant slower and fatter. Fair play to Merse he said at start of season we were dark horses for relegation....think he knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Merse was spot on 10 months ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supernova26 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 They are all Mcleish's mates and part of the Fergie old's man's club, hence they don't criticise him. arse-wipes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy_Evergo Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Watching that was not good for my blood pressure. I really hope we can get 3 points today and put this season to rest for once and for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimzk5 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 While they weren't critical of him at large, they did say he was too negative and hasn't helped himself, and pinochio said stay up or not he should go at the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Listening to WM on the radio. Commentators slagging McLeish saying this could be his last game. Strange how the media have changed there views now. They agreed with me if we lose this game there is no way he can be at the Tottenham game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy_Evergo Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 While they weren't critical of him at large, they did say he was too negative and hasn't helped himself, and pinochio said stay up or not he should go at the end of the season. Yes but the impression was that he should go because we are unfair to him and he deserves better than the abuse he got the other night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 If we lose today and lose at home to Tottenham, where we can find ourselves in the absolute trouble, I really fear for his safety. The crowd will be extremely hostile and he should get the **** out of the pitch before anything happens to him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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