Will Houllier Ever Win The Fans Over

[olaftab]

Yes easy win the FA Cup this year and I am all his!

[villa1]

He can win over the vast majority. Unfortunately there will always be a small number who will never be happy with him.

[Quiet Lion]

of course.

He would win over 100% of the fans if he was successful. An FA cup win or qualification for the champions league next season and the holte would be singing his name non stop!

[Nev]

All managers need to get some "brownie points" in the bank, early doors. Either via success or by sweet talking the fans and not being too confrontational.

Then, when the thin times come, as they always do, the fans will have a touch more patience.

In the case of Houllier, quite a few things have conspired against him. The awful way in which he was appointed, including being asked twice, the rank bad form of many players, who last year played so well, and the injury crisis. But his behaviour at Anfield was all his own work and alienated a lot of fans.

Thus we have a lynch mob at such an early stage. It didn't happen to MON or Taylor because one never said anything to upset the fans and the other won promotion in his first season.

Hou's is on the back foot now, only one thing will save him. Results.

[junxs]

I don't think I could ever get behind a manager who so openly prefers us to lose to Liverpool while being in charge of us.

[Dave Cooper please]

I don't think I could ever get behind a manager who so openly prefers us to lose to Liverpool while being in charge of us.

A remarkable twisting of his words there!

[junxs]

Dont care what he said exactly, but that's the truth and everybody knows it.

Its not just the way he behaved at Anfield, but its the things he says.
His press conference when we got him, he said something along the lines of Villa are not in the same league as Liverpool, he sees Villa as a 7th - 12th club. We finished above Liverpool last season we finished 6th for the past 3 seasons in a row ffs! He doesn't need to say things like that. Its the last thing a fan wants to hear from their new manager.

The fact that after the Liverpool game he refused to apologise and said he was only joking - does he think we're stupid or something? Then when he did apologise at the pre match conference he said it in a way that he couldnt understand what all the fuss was about, in a shrugging of the shoulders kind of way. Oh I could go on and on but its all been said before.

[hawkeye]

It is difficult to like the bloke after he demeaned us upon his appointment and then went bleary eyed at Anfield, I think if he wasnt such a PR disaster he would be given a lot more patience and understanding considering the injury problems he has had to deal with. The squad he now has at his disposal is better than the league position he now needs to show that.

[Dave Cooper please]

It's the truth only in your strange, delusional and paranoid mind!

Happy New Year anyway.

[peter w]

But surely the point is that as football is an emotional, irrational sport and following a team heightens that that any truth is the absolute truth? Any fan who feels like, junxs, and I don't by the way, has every right to feel that way? Not only that but they are right. just because we don't believe it doesn't make it any less justifiable than those of us who are content in sitting back and hoping things get better. What's to say we're right? No point imposing any logic onto a subject that defies any logic.

[junxs]

It's the truth only in your strange, delusional and paranoid mind!

Happy New Year anyway.

Thanks. You're very gullable, bizarre and naive. Merry Christmas.

[hawkeye]

i have never seen a manager so determined to lower expectations on his appointment, this and his subsequent goings on about liverpool gives the impression that he thinks he is doing us a favour by managing The Villa. Firstly he needs to pull some results out the bag and secondly show that he is actually commited to the cause, the problem he has right now is that a lot of fans dont think he can do the first which means they believe that he dosent care

[dave.woodhall]

I've never seen a new manager's words so critically debated and misconstrued.

[LionVilla]

It's the truth only in your strange, delusional and paranoid mind!

Happy New Year anyway.

Thanks. You're very gullable, bizarre and naive. Merry Christmas.

So it's the strange, delusional and paranoid versus  gulliable, bizarre and naive. Clash of the titans so early in the year  and possibly the earliest Merry Christmas in 2011!!

[Dave Cooper please]

It's the truth only in your strange, delusional and paranoid mind!

Happy New Year anyway.

Thanks. You're very gullable, bizarre and naive. Merry Christmas.

I'd rather be thought of as gullable (sic), bizarre and naive than actually believe that our manager deliberately went out to lose to another club!