We Shall Not Be Moved!

[Billy Walker]

This is our one hundredth season in top flight league football - league football being the game we gave to the world- and I am not prepared to accept, with eight games left and twenty four points to play for,that the most important, historic club in the world is going to meekly surrender its place at the high table.  It's surely time to put aside feelings about the manager, to be practical and to focus on our season and what it boils down to in these eight remaining games.
The motto under the badge says "Prepared".  When our founders came up with that legend  I am pretty sure they did not mean it in such a context that Aston Villa Football Club is a club prepared to fail or a club prepared to throw in the towel when things don't go our way.  It is time to prepare to scrap and battle and fight for our lives and for our club.  Negativity is food and drink for our rivals and will not help us keep our place in our league.  It will destroy us.

It's time to give our whole club 110% support.  We need to get behind the senior lads and we have to show a little patience and understanding with the young lads in order to lift our club up.  With encouragement and backing these lads will run through brick walls for us and the club.  Get behind them and lift them! 

[Irish villain]

Well said.

[Chipsticks]

I whole-heartedly agree.

But first the club needs to accept we are not "Too good to go down". We need to fight.

[WikiVilla]

BUT Houllier HAS to go

[Pete3206]

With encouragement and backing these lads will run through brick walls for us and the club.  Get behind them and lift them! 

No, they'll gladly pick up the fat salaries they don't deserve, then their agents will engineer moves away from Villa Park as soon as the final whistle goes against Liverpool. They simply don't give a shit as was so clearly evident yesterday. How many of those wasters will stick around for a season in The Championship? Tradition, history and success may mean everything to us, but these tossers couldn't give a flying fuck. Houllier may be tactically inept, but that doesn't excuse the attitude of some of our players. They are simply a disgrace.

[Billy Walker]

Chipsticks you are totally correct.  No club is too good to go down.  I've seen us get relegated before and it was pretty desperate stuff.  We all have to dig deep and not allow it to happen again.  In order to do that we draw on the strength of our club and that is not merely the owner, players and staff - it's us, too.  We are the strength of the club, we have to draw a line in the sand, roll our sleeves up and scrap our way out of this situation.  It's being in this kind of position that shows the world what we are made of - We shall not be moved!

[mozza]

I'd like to see some more of the players showing some pride, spirit and whatever else is required
to get us out of this predicament the supporters will follow I'm sure - we are in this together but
no pulling in the same direction. 

[Billy Walker]

With encouragement and backing these lads will run through brick walls for us and the club.  Get behind them and lift them! 

No, they'll gladly pick up the fat salaries they don't deserve, then their agents will engineer moves away from Villa Park as soon as the final whistle goes against Liverpool. They simply don't give a shit as was so clearly evident yesterday. How many of those wasters will stick around for a season in The Championship? Tradition, history and success may mean everything to us, but these tossers couldn't give a flying fuck. Houllier may be tactically inept, but that doesn't excuse the attitude of some of our players. They are simply a disgrace.

Like it or not our future's in their hands.  We have to get behind them, fire up their pride and remind them they are playing for the greatest club around.  Shouting abuse and moaning at them will not make them want to play for the shirt.

[Chipsticks]

BUT Houllier HAS to go

I don't think sacking him will help, and I also think that he is not to blame solely.

Those players weren't performing/'trying'  under McDonald and at times MON, and with the apparent disciplinary issues, I believe the  problem lies partly in the players. They need to wake up and believe that fight is needed, and that they simply cant "pass to Ash" (An overpaid, overrated wanker) and expect goals.

But, back to the point; Newcastle and many others have shown us time and time again that a quick sack-and-replace is not the cure for overnight success and revival, which is what we sorely need. I think Houllier needs to re-think his tactics, and some of the players need to re-think their attitudes.

Any performances similar to yesterdays simply won't be enough to keep this historic club in the top flight.

[Pete3206]

With encouragement and backing these lads will run through brick walls for us and the club.  Get behind them and lift them! 

No, they'll gladly pick up the fat salaries they don't deserve, then their agents will engineer moves away from Villa Park as soon as the final whistle goes against Liverpool. They simply don't give a shit as was so clearly evident yesterday. How many of those wasters will stick around for a season in The Championship? Tradition, history and success may mean everything to us, but these tossers couldn't give a flying fuck. Houllier may be tactically inept, but that doesn't excuse the attitude of some of our players. They are simply a disgrace.

Like it or not our future's in their hands.  We have to get behind them, fire up their pride and remind them they are playing for the greatest club around.  Shouting abuse and moaning at them will not make them want to play for the shirt.

There were around 35,000 Villa fans at Villa Park. I doubt if any one of them wanted the tripe that was served up to them after paying upwards of forty sheets for the privilege. Fans were extremely angry at the final whistle and with good reason. They are grown men, professional footballers and paid an absolute fortune. 100% commitment should be the minimum requirement from these men, regardless of the stick they get from the crowd. It goes with the territory.

[curiousorange]

My own personal opinion is that our ire should not be directed solely at Houllier. Watching yesterday, my own anger was born of frustration at the way our players seemed not to know what the hell it was to play as a team. The plodding pace, the waiting on the ball, the misplaced passes and the wrong decisions - you can't blame that solely on the manager because at the end of it all, it's the players' job to put those tactics and training into practice. I can't believe that Houllier and his staff train those players to play so poorly. But then what are they being trained to do? Because if the problems are obvious to us, then surely they're obvious to all of the management team? So logically, there's a fundamental lack of respect between the management and the squad. It's therefore everyone's responsibility for the predicament.

The x factor is what the hell they're going to do about it. After a season of tripe, bad PR, terrible results and a record of six wins in 25 games for the manager, I feel as if they've tried everything. The fans have been as patient as the team deserve, so whoever wants to have a go has a right to. But to my mind, wait and see what you're being asked to sit through before you start moaning. You never know, now we're out of our traditionally terrible month we might be bitching prematurely. Doubt it though.

[WikiVilla]

Wish people would stop referring to newcastle and shearer

Take Liverpool / hodgson as an example, an old manager out of his depth very similar to houllier

The Liverpool board took swift action and it's paid off

[Phil from the upper holte]

If I'd seen any kind of effort yesterday I wouldn't have been so angry, all I saw was a bunch of overpaid wankers barely going through the motions.

I don't believe It's all down to houllier but he's not doing himself any favors either

[john e]

Wish people would stop referring to newcastle and shearer

Take Liverpool / hodgson as an example, an old manager out of his depth very similar to houllier

The Liverpool board took swift action and it's paid off

not really, its just media hype,
 yes they have had one or two good results, but they have been dumped out of all competitions and look unlikely to be playing any sort of european football next season, when dalgliesh first took over they were talking about champs league.

dont think they would have been in much differenet shape if hodgson had stayed,
 i dont think Dagliesh is the man to take Liverpool forward, they need someone progresive and younger rather than someone who continualy reminds them  how good they used to be,
the papers love him at the moment though

[bertlambshank]

A pity the coaching staff and players don't feel the same as you Billy.