Houllier's training methods

[Fernando Partridge]

Well it takes time for these things...Speaking back in december on training and players adapting....

"I know it is different to what it was before but it is not true (player dissent) and the players will adapt gradually.

"We do a lot of work with the ball, we play a lot of games, we do some tactics as well.

"Do people have to adapt to a new manager and methods? In a way, yes. You adapt or you die. We are changing a lot of things and that upsets the comfort of some players.

"I am not going to talk about the players who are dissenting and not happy. Any manager who runs a team knows the players who are playing are happy, and the players who are not playing are not happy.

"They think the methods are not good and they think the manager is not the right person but we have to live with that.

"We know that we are changing things, we know that sometimes people are whingeing and moaning but they have a fantastic job.

"They are paid high wages to play and enjoy football. This is a fantastic job and sometimes you forget that."

[not3bad]

Petrov, change your attitude when subbed then even more people will be happy.

Yes didnt see all of the match but Petrov was shaking his head when subbed, the coaching staff could see he was knackered as we do every week around the 70 minute mark.

Can't see the big deal about this myself.  Maybe the bench could see Petrov was knackered but Petrov himself (rightly or wrongly) wanted to play on.  I'd prefer to see players shaking their head and reluctant to leave as opposed to doing a Carew and showing more interest when leaving the pitch than they had all game up to that point.

[The Left Side]

Great stuff and like someone said what a difference a month and Darren Bent makes, looking forward to the second half of the season now!

[sid cowans10]

this is what he said of warnock and beye and i doubt alot of the squad and fair play to him
They're here, they're Aston Villa players, they are training with the reserves. If needed, they will fill in. If not, they won't.

"It's not only a matter of being good enough, it's also a matter of being committed enough

[Toronto Villa]

Darren Bent gives the entire team confidence that they can actually create opportunties and there's someone up front that we likely stick it away. Add to that the team is fitter, hungrier, and the players that have been purchased are actually ones the players think, "yeh, I'd like to play alongside him".

GH is slowly but surely changing the mindset of the club. I get the impression he's a pretty ruthless bastard, and he wants those types of people at the club. You don't win anything being soft, and for a long time, I've thought that was one of the biggest mental obstacles that was stopping us getting to the next level.

[Dave P]

Darren Bent gives the entire team confidence that they can actually create opportunties and there's someone up front that we likely stick it away. Add to that the team is fitter, hungrier, and the players that have been purchased are actually ones the players think, "yeh, I'd like to play alongside him".

GH is slowly but surely changing the mindset of the club. I get the impression he's a pretty ruthless bastard, and he wants those types of people at the club. You don't win anything being soft, and for a long time, I've thought that was one of the biggest mental obstacles that was stopping us getting to the next level.

I agree.  Darren Bent's signing is far more then just goals (although this helps!)  He gave the whole team and the whole club a lift when he joined.  I'm like a kid again on a Friday waiting for the game on a Saturday just to see how many he will score.

[Toronto Villa]

The thing is with Bent is that now I expect us to score every game. It doesn't neccessarily need to be him scoring, but you know given the chance he will. Either that or his movement will open it up for someone else. I still worry about us defensively, but that's a summer project for GH. Right now, the forward line, and midfield especially as been greatly enhanced.

[cheltenhamlion]

The recent quotes from Gabby were what did teh trick in my mind. They talked about the fact some players were pulling a face for a while about not being played or played out of position, whereas now they were all pulling in the same direction.

I have been thinking for a while now that things are just coming together in respect of Houllier showing to the players who is the boss of this club. I get the impression that we had a few MONettes in the squad who got a wee bit big for their boots when Houllier was first brought in.

[Toronto Villa]

The puzzling thing for me though is that you'd expect some of the fringe players to get stuck in seeing that rotation would see them getting more playing time. Instead it had the opposite effect on some of them. Those players simply got used to getting paid for doing fuck all, and when the new bloke called them out they got pissed off. I'll take hungry, ambitious kids any day over overpaid, lazy older players that have simply given up because they've got it so good.

[cheltenhamlion]

Indeed.

[Monty]

Well it's just us finally arriving in the modern world. I find it hard to believe that, given the brilliant facilities we all know we have at BH, MON (or rather Walford and Robertson) by all accounts did little more than 5-a-sides and jogging. Reading a really interesting article in the Guardian recently by the unnamed player, the game at the top these days is all in the preparation - prepared moves, defensive positions, knowing who you're up against and what to do when he does a specific movement or something and all that rather over-wraught sounding stuff is all crucial these days. GH has just brought us kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

[Fasth56]

Houllier obviously thinks football is a simple game,
A)Get fit so you can get the ball
B)Play it to someone in the same colour shirt
C)Get the Defenders to pass it short, again to one of our players
D)If you look like you're going to lose it going forward, go backwards, retain posession
E)This means you don't get tired chasing after it all game and you can last 90 mins

[Rudy Can't Fail]

E)This means you don't get tired chasing after it all game and you can last 90 mins

Absolutely. Something I was calling for last season. I still want us to be the hardest working team in the league but that energy needed to be used effectively.

[ozzjim]

For all the screams from our players and management, John Terry said what we had been saying on here for months last season. You wait for Villa to tire and hit them after 60 minutes.

[gervilla]

Petrov, change your attitude when subbed then even more people will be happy.

Yes didnt see all of the match but Petrov was shaking his head when subbed, the coaching staff could see he was knackered as we do every week around the 70 minute mark.

I thought he looked nackered in the first half v Manure. His legs are shot.
I think he is only capable of coming on for the last 20 minutes .