Houllier: "Our strongest team could not beat Manchester City"

[pablopicasso_10]

while i know that the fa cup farce has been covered a lot recently, these comments i think deserve a thread of their own and shows the pathetic defeatist surrendering cowardly attitude from our current manager...

Gerard Houllier admitted yesterday that Aston Villa are not good enough to beat Manchester City – a confession the club’s spin doctors immediately tried to have struck from the record.

With the club under fire for fielding a weakened team in the FA Cup against Manchester City in midweek, Villa manager Houllier tried to defend his selection.

But while he displayed admirable honesty, his comments were bound to enrage fans further and call into question the integrity of football in this country.

Houllier said: “First of all, you play against a bigger team than ours. Sorry, Manchester City at the moment, and this is our challenge for the future, are above us.”

Houllier then admitted that they could have nicked a draw at Eastlands before confessing that he did not much fancy a replay, presumably with Premier League survival still at stake.

He said: “I thought we could have a draw there and if you draw you have to replay. That means you play Saturday, Wednesday, Monday and maybe Saturday. You have to take that into consideration.”

Houllier was then asked if he thought his strongest team could have beaten Manchester City. His answer will shock Villa fans and should set alarm bells ringing at both Premier League and FA headquarters.

Houllier’s response: “No. Honestly, no. It would have been difficult. I knew they would put their best side out and their squad is better than ours, but look at the figures. Look at the players they have.”

If this is the attitude of the manager of a club that aspires to a place in the top six of the league, then the “better” teams need only turn up to collect the points and trophies. Warned by press men that his comments were sending out a very dubious message, Houllier added: “I know but I’m not doing PR.”

Shortly after the press conference ended, Villa’s PR machine swung into full damage limitation mode – in the bluntest of fashion.

Journalists were told that Houllier had not meant what he had said not once, not twice but three times. The press were invited to disregard most of his quotes for a sanitised club-sanctioned version of events.

Some 30 minutes after his press conference had ended, Houllier was re-presented to those writers who had not already left the building to offer a quote in place of all he had previously said in defence of his team selection. His words included an apology that had most definitely not been on offer at any stage previously since the defeat to City.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Perhaps I should have warned the fans before, but it is not as if I was playing the youth team. There was risk; yes, I took a risk, but these are good players.”

Villa’s press department know that when Martin O’Neill, above, decided to field a weakened team in a Europa League tie in Moscow in 2009, it saw a huge section of the support vent their anger on the Irishman. Perhaps they feared a repeat from Houllier’s admissions yesterday.

Villa’s press department found out something else yesterday: the Daily Express will not stand being edited by them.

source...

strange that, as im sure my memory tells me that we DID beat them recently...

this defeatist surrendering cowardly attitude is an absolute disgrace... and while i feel that houllier has done some good things recently, the very fact that he has this mentality is nothing short of scandelous and is pretty much the manager of aston villa, throwing games, and this can only be passed onto the team when they think the opposition is too difficult to beat...

so while i have been supportive of some of the things he has done recently, albeit tinged with not being overly enamoured about the man due to previous actions, i now want him out of my club...

his attitude is an absolute disgrace, and for the good of aston villa football club, he should be sacked...

[TimTheVillain]

Did the man not watch the Csrling Cup Final on Sunday?

Amazing , the towel thrown in before the game kicked off.

[greenwichvilla]

Didn't we beat them already this season? Or did I imagine this?

The man is a PR disaster. Actually, he's probably more just a disaster.

[Chris Smith]

You've put quotation marks around something in the thread title that isn't a direct quoute. Are you angling for a job at the News of the World?

[Holtenderinthesky]

As much as I get the point you are making, do we really need another Houllier, Man City, Best 11 etc....thread?

[pablopicasso_10]

i think this is different to just wednesdays events holtenderinthesky, as this shows the managers overall mentality, and that for me, is not good for aston villa football club... its not the first time he has said something like this, as after we went 2-0 down to liverpool, he also admitted throwing in the towel and that the "game was over", and that showed during the game...

You've put quotation marks around something in the thread title that isn't a direct quoute. Are you angling for a job at the News of the World?

it is however, pretty much what he said when he was asked that direct question and he answered "no"...

unfortunately, i cannot put 'gerrard houllier answers "no, honestly no', when asked if he thought his strongest team could have beaten Manchester City' in the thread title, as it is too long to fit as a thread title...

[dave.woodhall]

As much as I get the point you are making, do we really need another Houllier, Man City, Best 11 etc....thread?

No.