McLeish - Yes / No / Unsure

[macandally]

The revisionism regarding Houllier by some posters is ridiculous. He was a disaster from day one who never respected this club. He may have had decent ideas about how to play football but he lacked in almost every other department. How quickly that night at Anfield has been forgotten.

That night at Anfield? what, did he kill someone? I seem to remember him having an emotional (for him) return to his old club, where the he acknowledged the Liverpool fans for singing his name. Just like the 8th-12th molehill, it was blown out of all proportion by the same pitchfork holders who are currently screaming about Petrov saying he supports Liverpool, or when MON said he was excited to see what Man City could do with their money.

Everytime Houllier is mentioned this gets trotted out, if he had us in the top four no one would give a shit about Anfield. To be fair, it is boring as it is and certainly the furore that followed it was blown out of all proportion.

What I will say is this, for this club to move forward there needs to be surgery in both the Management and playing staff. That will be painful and will genuinely be a period of transistion. Houllier knew that and tried to do something about it. Whoever comes in will need to pick up that mantle, be strong and not be afraid to upset a few people, including in the short term, the fans.

For me, providing I can see what is being attempted, I am happy to give some latitude.

Houllier was trying to change a fooballing philosophy, McLeish is trying to save his job.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

People can say what they like about Houllier and waving and talking about X,Y, and Z.

All I care about is what happens on the green stuff, considering his short time at the Villa I could see good signs in the basic stuff we were playing and there was a real improvement in passing and movement, especially with some of the kids.

MON and Mcleish are not fit to change Houllier's drip IMO.

[PauloBarnesi]

MON did it in Moscow and then the season went downhill. Houllier did it in Eastlands and it got very ugly when he lost the 2 games after. Now McLeish has done it recently at White Hart Lane and he is following the same fate.

MON fielded a weakened team in Moscow, but did you actually watch what happened? The team he put out worked hard, scored a perfectly good goal, etc, etc. Had Carew not pulled out with a ‘back’ injury, maybe they would have won. The team that Houllier put out didn’t put any effort as did McLeish’s effort at WHL.

[Mantis]

The revisionism regarding Houllier by some posters is ridiculous. He was a disaster from day one who never respected this club. He may have had decent ideas about how to play football but he lacked in almost every other department. How quickly that night at Anfield has been forgotten.

That night at Anfield? what, did he kill someone? I seem to remember him having an emotional (for him) return to his old club, where the he acknowledged the Liverpool fans for singing his name.

Too busy waving at the Kop to acknowledge our fans after that pitiful display and followed it up with, "If I was going to lose 3-0 to anyone, it would be Liverpool as I like Liverpool". Then he couldn't fathom why fans were pissed off.

Maybe people don't care about it as much as you do. I certainly didn't. I was more concerned with the teams shocking display that night than any words or actions.

Indeed. Nine times out of ten when that game is mentioned people go on about Houllier's comments/waving when in actual fact it was the performance which was by far the most worrying.

[deeps]

It's got to the point were I cannot believe that anyone wants AM at this club. Many people didn't want go

From day one, me being one, others wanted to give him time using excuses that he has better players in this squad to that of city's last season but after the last 14 games how can anyone want this guy to have more time? Players confidence is now what people want to blame. I'm sorry but that confidence comes from the top, the manager, if a manager cannot build confidence in his players then be has issues, it also might stress the fact that the players almost don't believe in the manager too. I've watched almost every game this season and not once have I felt confidant before the game. We are set up as a team hard to beat but yet we are set up not to attack?! Our wingers play as wing backs and our 20 goal a season striker plays piggy in the middle with the other teams defence. Fancy football isn't really what we want, we want a team out there giving it a go no matter who we play, a team set up with a purpose to pick up points, not watch the goal diffrance. I'd happiley have 2 goals in against us if we bang in 3.

He is not the man for the job on the green stuff around villa park. The man can work on a budget but we all know where that got SHA last season don't we? Randy messed up. He was ill advised by PF and it's going to bite him harder and harder as the season goes on. Having a 20 goal a season striker in our squad is pointless as the man has no attacking tactics in the current manager. Never have so many Villa fans been so united for a man to get the chop and I think until he's gone the feeling is going to stay the same amongst us all. Randy must be listening regardless of it being his appointment, he must to some percentage understand the fans frustration. He needs to cut of the grapes and grow a pair and do what's needed for the players, the board, the club and the fans best interests.

What would Doug do?

As each day passes with this man in charge the more

I fear for us.

[deeps]

Double post

[Jimzk5]

mcliesh has already lost the fans, there was probably a 80/20 split when he took over of those who didn't want him here at all, and those who were willing to a give him a bit of time, now 99.9% want him out, i don't see a way back for him, unless we win the next 10 games without conceding and scoring 5 in each game and that's not going to happen. i don't doubt were not going to be sucked into a relegation battle at some point this season, in the new year i expect us to be 15th only a few points off the bottom 3. the fact that he lies so much gets on my tits, he harps on about needing to defend better, give better service to bent, and yet doesn't have the bollocks to drop Collins who has had, at best 5 good games in a villa shirt in 3 seasons, and then plays 2 defensive midfielders and heskey on the left, then says we don't have the quality to spot bent`s runs. what did hleb say last season when he left blues "all i saw was balls being hit over my head", and thats exactly all weve seen this season. we have the players to keep the ball on the floor and yet he persists in this 1970s leeds style football of hoofball, his signed arguably the worst right back ive ever seen in a villa shirt, even de la cruz was better than hutton. but lerner wont have the guts to admit he has made a mistake, change things now, and will instead back mcliesh in Jan.

[OnlyOne]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible banana skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

[irreverentad]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Petrov was injured wasn't he?

[Woodytom]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Heskey coming on had a positive impact on the utter turd that was being dished up.

At least we started shooting.

If you cant see that, you either:

havent a clue what your talking about when it comes to football.

or

hate Heskey so much you refuse to acknowledge anything positive about the man - which is a bit childish imo.

[AshVilla]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

McLeish seems to be the master at saying one thing then doing the opposite either he's a complete and utter fool a bullshitter or just stupid

Ive said it before

He raves on about Ireland's form yet never picks him

He raves on about sorting the defence out he never has

He raves on about Darren Bent not getting enough service yet he keeps using him incorrectly as some kind of targetman

He raves on about getting the best out of Nzogbia yet keeps on getting the team to play dull negative anti football all the time ive very rarely seen the ball played into his feet always over his head same goes for Bannan

He raves on about Alan Hutton hitting peak fitness and being a revelation second only to the coming of christ yet we can all see that he's utter gash

All thats missing is him saying they are an honest bunch of lads.

Notice the pattern here? We really do have a tool in charge of the football club

[OnlyOne]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Heskey coming on had a positive impact on the utter turd that was being dished up.

At least we started shooting.

If you cant see that, you either:

havent a clue what your talking about when it comes to football.

or

hate Heskey so much you refuse to acknowledge anything positive about the man - which is a bit childish imo.

Oh yeah, it was so positive that we still managed to lose and not do a great deal alot. It's not like his presence has been great anyway or did you forget the last 2 games before it where we didn't score and hardly created anything?

Anyone with football knowledge would know you need a side to create more chances and Heskey dosen't offer that, especially the position he is playing at.

First you criticise Bent and then you praise Heskey. What is wrong with you?

[Denis_B]

We really do have a tool in charge of the football club

Nail on head!

[OnlyOne]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

McLeish seems to be the master at saying one thing then doing the opposite either he's a complete and utter fool a bullshitter or just stupid

Ive said it before

He raves on about Ireland's form yet never picks him

He raves on about sorting the defence out he never has

He raves on about Darren Bent not getting enough service yet he keeps using him incorrectly as some kind of targetman

He raves on about getting the best out of Nzogbia yet keeps on getting the team to play dull negative anti football all the time ive very rarely seen the ball played into his feet always over his head same goes for Bannan

He raves on about Alan Hutton hitting peak fitness and being a revelation second only to the coming of christ yet we can all see that he's utter gash

All thats missing is him saying they are an honest bunch of lads.

Notice the pattern here? We really do have a tool in charge of the football club

Yeah he lies alot. The biggest one being he'll give us positive football but it's the same football he has been using at Rangers and SHA. Pure anti football

[Woodytom]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Heskey coming on had a positive impact on the utter turd that was being dished up.

At least we started shooting.

If you cant see that, you either:

havent a clue what your talking about when it comes to football.

or

hate Heskey so much you refuse to acknowledge anything positive about the man - which is a bit childish imo.

Oh yeah, it was so positive that we still managed to lose and not do a great deal alot. It's not like his presence has been great anyway or did you forget the last 2 games before it where we didn't score and hardly created anything?

Anyone with football knowledge would know when you need a side to create more chances and Heskey dosen't offer that, especially the position he is playing at.

First you criticise Bent and then you praise Heskey. What is wrong with you?

Fact - we created more on Saturday with Heskey on. I never said he was amazing, just that it had a positive impact.

Its not about criticising Bent & praising Heskey. Its a team game and I want the best for the team, and no one can deny that Heskey playing had a positive effect on the teams performance and Bent didn't.

[NowDoINotLikeThat]

We lumped the ball a bit more forward when Heskey came on and became bit more direct.

Heskey missed a header (only proper chance we had whole game) and then fell over of few times.

McCrap thinks we were great in second half . Woeful manager.

[OnlyOne]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Heskey coming on had a positive impact on the utter turd that was being dished up.

At least we started shooting.

If you cant see that, you either:

havent a clue what your talking about when it comes to football.

or

hate Heskey so much you refuse to acknowledge anything positive about the man - which is a bit childish imo.

Oh yeah, it was so positive that we still managed to lose and not do a great deal alot. It's not like his presence has been great anyway or did you forget the last 2 games before it where we didn't score and hardly created anything?

Anyone with football knowledge would know when you need a side to create more chances and Heskey dosen't offer that, especially the position he is playing at.

First you criticise Bent and then you praise Heskey. What is wrong with you?

Fact - we created more on Saturday with Heskey on. I never said he was amazing, just that it had a positive impact.

Its not about criticising Bent & praising Heskey. Its a team game and I want the best for the team, and no one can deny that Heskey playing had a positive effect on the teams performance and Bent didn't.

What I'm saying is though is that Ireland could have a made a much better positive impact. It could have went the other way sure, but if you need a goal/create chances the sensible thing to do is bring on an attacking midfielder with a good pass rate instead of a poor goalscorer played out of position who falls every few seconds.

Also, Heskey's awareness was rubbish in that match. He could have easily passed the ball to Bent giving us the biggest chance of the game, but just totally messes it up.

What do you expect of Bent anyway? He is a poacher. He'll do what he does best. If he drops deep no one will be in the box. We're not going to get a world class striker so he is the next best thing for scoring goals. Or would you prefer Heskey who 'tries hard' but has a shit goal ratio?

[Harry]

400 people have voted and 87% want McLeish out. That is all you need to know really.

[KHV]

I don't think I've seen this mentioned anywhere so I'm gonna bring it up.

What is the deal with AM and Ireland? I mean he keeps hyping him how he'll find his 'world class' form again, but rarely ever plays him. But let's forget that for a second.

Have you noticed how diabolical he is at picking him? Here's a good example. We're 3-1 up against Norwich right? So all what's required now is composure of the ball and being more defensive. But then around 15 mins left to play he takes off Petrov for Ireland. And guess what? He cost us a goal because he couldn't defend the cross that led up to the goal. We could have easily thrown away 2 points there, but luckily we got away with that terrible judgement.

Now here's where it really gets annoying. We're 2-0 down against Spurs right. So the minimum thing you would expect him to at the beginning of the second half is bring more attacking players on the pitch. But he doesn't. Okay, he brings Bannan on the 63rd minute (still disgraceful though), yet he doesn't bother bringing on Ireland at all, but leaves Petrov AND Heskey for the entire match.

And just recently, just think it couldn't get any worse it does. We're 0-1 down at home where AM has got to make an impression infront of 40k fans in the stadium. Well, he brings on Petrov firstly which is stupid enough. But when Jenas slipped over the invisible skin that knocked him out for the rest of the season, the first thing AM's assistant (Grant or someone like that) did was shout HESKEY, HESKEY. What on earth? Why? He isn't going to provide the killer pass or score goals. And he does make a big massive **** up at the end where his laughable shot goes out for a throwing, where there's no intent of using Ireland at all when we need to pass better and **** attack.

Heskey coming on had a positive impact on the utter turd that was being dished up.

At least we started shooting.

If you cant see that, you either:

havent a clue what your talking about when it comes to football.

or

hate Heskey so much you refuse to acknowledge anything positive about the man - which is a bit childish imo.

Oh yeah, it was so positive that we still managed to lose and not do a great deal alot. It's not like his presence has been great anyway or did you forget the last 2 games before it where we didn't score and hardly created anything?

Anyone with football knowledge would know when you need a side to create more chances and Heskey dosen't offer that, especially the position he is playing at.

First you criticise Bent and then you praise Heskey. What is wrong with you?

Fact - we created more on Saturday with Heskey on. I never said he was amazing, just that it had a positive impact.

Its not about criticising Bent & praising Heskey. Its a team game and I want the best for the team, and no one can deny that Heskey playing had a positive effect on the teams performance and Bent didn't.

What I'm saying is though is that Ireland could have a made a much better positive impact. It could have went the other way sure, but if you need a goal/create chances the sensible thing to do is bring on an attacking midfielder with a good pass rate instead of a poor goalscorer played out of position who falls every few seconds.

Also, Heskey's awareness was rubbish in that match. He could have easily passed the ball to Bent giving us the biggest chance of the game, but just totally messes it up.

What do you expect of Bent anyway? He is a poacher. He'll do what he does best. If he drops deep no one will be in the box. We're not going to get a world class striker so he is the next best thing for scoring goals. Or would you prefer Heskey who 'tries hard' but has a shit goal ratio?

The problem is the way he uses Heskey. We all know and can see villa need to play 2 upfront which should be Gabby and Bent. Heskey should be used if one of them is injured or suspended or if we are chasing a game and need to be more direct.

McLeish has 3 fundamental problems with the way he uses the strikers.

1. Bent is not a target man and cannot play upfront on his own

2.Gabby is not a wide man

3.Emile Heskey is NOT a midfileder or a wide player

However after 16 games in charge the stupid pillock who is in charge of our team has not worked this out yet.

[Shillzz]

It's worth qualifying my vote by saying that the results havent warranted his sacking, nor my vote of no confidence. It is the manner of football which leads me to question whether I can be bothered to show up most weeks that makes me want him out. I'd be contented if we were in our current position having played Houllier Football.