a better article from their website-
Aston Villa fans are fuming at Gerard Houllier and appear to be holding him solely to blame for the club's woes this season after the shocking defeat to Wolves.
The Frenchman will admit to errors during his controversial reign, but it is certainly not entirely his fault that Villa may now be relegated.
The club's underperforming players also deserve considerable criticism for their short-comings on the pitch and their attitude off it.
Houllier has bitten his lip and refused to let rip at anyone, bar a few mild criticisms of a couple, like Stephen Ireland and John Carew, who have been shipped out.
Houllier cannot speak his mind right now because he needs to try to keep the likes of Richard Dunne and James Collins onside as he will need them in the run-in.
But make no mistake, Houllier has a blockbuster story to tell this summer as several players clearly have been undermining him almost from the moment he arrived in September.
The former Liverpool manager is no fool and knows his revolution at Villa has not gone down well with many of his squad, who have been forced to leave their comfort zone and start doing more in return for their astronomical wages.
So, undoubtedly, there are a lot of players at the club who would probably like him sacked tomorrow.
It is an unusual and worrying scenario and I can't help thinking the fact so many of Villa's players are overpaid has given them an inflated opinion of their own importance.
But the reality is players and manager are stuck with each other until the summer when all hell will break loose - whether Villa are relegated or not.
Just last week, Houllier spoke to the press before the Wolves game and I would urge Villa fans with a spare 18 minutes to listen to the audio below.
I think anyone who listens will be actually impressed by the honest way he handles the fall-out from Dunne and Collins' boozegate.
Houllier said a number interesting things - including highlighting the detailed information I got on the Champneys Spa bust-up with club staff .
But of more significance were his answers to several probing questions about whether the dressing room are still behind him.
And it was what Houllier didn't say which was most revealing.
Asked if there were 'dark forces' at work within the club, he replied: "I am not going to go into details."
The Villa manager was then asked whether there was a lack of respect by some players towards him, and why some had clearly questioned his authority.
He responded: "I have got my own opinion about that - maybe we can talk about that at the end of the season. It will be interesting and we can have maybe a half pint of beer!"
Once the dust has settled on Villa's campaign (and I genuinely hope they stay up) it will indeed be very interesting to hear exactly what, according to Houllier, has been going on at Bodymoor Heath.
The players' general perspective is known.
They don't like Houllier's rules, such as banning mobile phones and ordering certain people to move to homes closer to the club.
The players don't like having fewer days off than they had under Martin O'Neill.
The players don't like the club's no-nonsense fitness coach Robert Duverne, who clashed with Patrice Evra at last summer's World Cup while working for France.
The players don't particularly seem to enjoy assistant Gary McAllister's approach either.
Probably most crucially, the players don't seem to respect Houllier, despite his impressive CV and experience.
But, despite the squad's moaning, I think Houllier has been extremely badly treated by Villa's pampered squad, who are raking in £80million a year in salaries.
And when the time is right, he will come clean fully about Carew, Ireland, Dunne, Collins, Stephen Warnock, Habib Beye and all the other players he has clashed with.
It promises to be a fascinating insight and will provide the Frenchman with a ready-made excuse if his reign ends in relegation and the sack.
The way this car-crash of a season is going, as Villa lurch from one crisis to another, that is a distinct possibility.
But, assuming they do not soon sink like a stone to the foot of the Premier League, which will cause fans to go potty and make his position untenable, I think Houllier will be given time after being brought in, with owner Randy Lerner's firm backing, to change the club from top to bottom.
Houllier has a clear brief from Lerner to cut costs, promote youth, play football that's more entertaining and less one-dimensional and train the club's squad better.
So, I don't believe the club's hierarchy are about to fire him now after appointing him on a bumper contract just last September to try to win silverware while taking a completely different approach to predecessor O'Neill.
The signings of Darren Bent and Jean Makoun both look extremely promising and Houllier has some huge changes planned this summer, when the likes of Stiliyan Petrov, Dunne, Collins, Luke Young, Beye, Ashley Young and Warnock will surely go.
But if Villa do go down, then he will almost certainly be sacked.
Many people, myself included, are now beginning to fear the worst.
It promises to be a tough assignment to retain the club's top-flight status, because clearly many of the squad do not want Houllier in charge.
Perhaps, some of the squad don't even care about whether the club is relegated, as they are already making plans to move elsewhere.
Read more:
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/james-nursey/Aston-Villa-players-not-Gerard-Houllier-deserve-blame-for-club-s-plight-James-Nursey-column-article716585.html#ixzz1HVlPOIjl 
