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Author Topic: Houllier - Villa united  (Read 14232 times)

Offline rutski

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2011, 05:41:55 PM »
dont mention the f word on here, some are too f to realise that they are f!
UTV

Online Chris Smith

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #16 on: March 31, 2011, 05:53:08 PM »
I take it this is your first season watching football.

That really sounds snidey Chris.

It was meant to, such daft claims deserve having the piss taken out of them.

We had one of the best defences in the whole league last season and yet he reckons that neither are good enough to play in the premier league. If he'd said not top 4 quality then it would have been difficult to argue but that just makes no sense.

Offline adrenachrome

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #17 on: March 31, 2011, 06:05:39 PM »
I take it this is your first season watching football.

That really sounds snidey Chris.

It was meant to, such daft claims deserve having the piss taken out of them.

We had one of the best defences in the whole league last season and yet he reckons that neither are good enough to play in the premier league. If he'd said not top 4 quality then it would have been difficult to argue but that just makes no sense.

And let us not forget Dunne was selected for the PFA Team Of the Year based on his performances last season.

Offline darren woolley

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2011, 06:29:41 PM »
Let them show they are together on the pitch and fight for each other and don't give in let's all of us the staff,players, and fans stick together unite and i reckon we can get out of this but we must all pull in the same direction.

Offline Shrek

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #19 on: March 31, 2011, 06:38:29 PM »
Odds on us to finish 8th?

Offline Bad English

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2011, 07:03:36 PM »
Let them show they are together on the pitch and fight for each other and don't give in let's all of us the staff,players, and fans stick together unite and i reckon we can get out of this but we must all pull in the same direction.
^^ This!

Offline KevinGage

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2011, 07:11:16 PM »
In my mind he's been far too comfortable, thinking he has the backing of the board, money to spend and no real set target other than to get through the season. I hate the phrase 'transitional season', we should have been looking to win games whilst fixing the problems as we went along, not the other way around.

Exactly how I see it Mark.

He came in, probably assessed that the squad was set fair for mid table at absolute worst and thought he could coast this season regardless. Start thinking about medium>longterm, paying little heed to short term concerns.

Think it was MON himself who -when rubbishing talk of 5 year plans- said most top flight managers are only ever 5 defeats on the bounce away from the sack. Thinking about it, it's pretty accurate. Fergie and Holloway aside, I'm not sure there would be too many others insulated from it.  At the very least, they would face plenty of speculation about their future should the above occur.

Even someone like Wenger probably wouldn't be insulated from that kind of talk. In some circles, it would be offered as conclusive proof that he was losing his touch.

Houllier hasn't actually lost 5 on the bounce, it's true. But in a cut throat business where results are paramount, you really can't afford to drift.

Would we be having these type of threads if we'd got at least the point we deserved away to Tottenham and all three that we deserved against Fulham and Man U in quick succession? 'It's OK, the wins will eventually come, ' was the accepted wisdom at the time. But keep on thinking that way and fail to kill of sides when you've had the opportunity and you eventually run out of games, as we are now seeing.

Offline VillaAlways

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #22 on: March 31, 2011, 07:11:41 PM »
Can anyone who has AVTV throw any light onto what he was saying about AY's role ?

Offline oodman

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #23 on: March 31, 2011, 07:52:53 PM »
I'll back Lerner I'll always back a player in a villa shirt but I will never back houllier I will cheer and get behind the team !!!  but the sooner the Frenchman goes the better

Offline TheSandman

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #24 on: March 31, 2011, 07:53:54 PM »
So we stay up this season winning our last eight and go onto win the treble next.

You won't back him then?

Offline Rudy Can't Fail

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #25 on: March 31, 2011, 07:54:34 PM »
In my mind he's been far too comfortable, thinking he has the backing of the board, money to spend and no real set target other than to get through the season. I hate the phrase 'transitional season', we should have been looking to win games whilst fixing the problems as we went along, not the other way around.

Exactly how I see it Mark.

He came in, probably assessed that the squad was set fair for mid table at absolute worst and thought he could coast this season regardless. Start thinking about medium>longterm, paying little heed to short term concerns.

Think it was MON himself who -when rubbishing talk of 5 year plans- said most top flight managers are only ever 5 defeats on the bounce away from the sack. Thinking about it, it's pretty accurate. Fergie and Holloway aside, I'm not sure there would be too many others insulated from it.  At the very least, they would face plenty of speculation about their future should the above occur.

Even someone like Wenger probably wouldn't be insulated from that kind of talk. In some circles, it would be offered as conclusive proof that he was losing his touch.

Houllier hasn't actually lost 5 on the bounce, it's true. But in a cut throat business where results are paramount, you really can't afford to drift.

Would we be having these type of threads if we'd got at least the point we deserved away to Tottenham and all three that we deserved against Fulham and Man U in quick succession? 'It's OK, the wins will eventually come, ' was the accepted wisdom at the time. But keep on thinking that way and fail to kill of sides when you've had the opportunity and you eventually run out of games, as we are now seeing.

I know you've never really liked him but for me he really has to prove himself (all over again). As I've countlessly mentioned on here, I think we only got half the deal when he joined us without Patrice Bergues. My hope is that we finish the season with style and Houllier brings in Bergues for next season. Houllier is not a man-manager as such, I think he ideally likes to distance himself from the players, in fact he's probably more of a co-ordinator than a day in, day out, manager mixing it up with the players. By all accounts, Bergues was well liked and respected by the players at Anfield, something GH has not managed to achieve here at Villa Park for whatever reasons.

We have the talent, we'll have the support, we just need some leadership from GH and responsibility from the players. I don't think it's too much to ask. Even at this late stage I'm still optimistic we can turn it around but the clock is ticking both for GH and the club.

Offline TimTheVillain

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #26 on: March 31, 2011, 08:04:01 PM »
So we stay up this season winning our last eight and go onto win the treble next.

You won't back him then?

Very funny !!

Winning 4 of the last 8 is a VERY big ask, and Le Gaffuer will be sacked at the end of the season come what may.


Offline peter w

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #27 on: March 31, 2011, 08:12:12 PM »
we are doomed and deservedly so.

fans moaned about MON, complained about 6th, moscow , style of play, favourites etc etc

we'd never had it so good at least not since BFR and Saunders.

Look at us now?

Fickle- not half

A lot  of our "fans" are dispassionate arrogant and deluded.

UTV

We've never had it so good? League winners, European Cup winners, League cup Winners, Super Cup winners, even in the Prem years our average finishing position was 6th. MONs average finishing position in his last 3 years/ 6th. So, we've never had it so good you say? Hmmmm. You watched Villa for more than a few years?

Offline KevinGage

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #28 on: March 31, 2011, 08:15:38 PM »
I wasn't crazy about him, it's true.

But you park that when they take over your club, you try to reason that the things that made them so unpopular are possibly the things you need to succeed. That arrogance, one-eyedness and so forth.

I could also see the merit in short term pain for long term gain, changes taken this season to stand us in good stead. The start of good habits and a more progressive style of play. These things do take time, and during the interim results might be up and down.  I envisaged a season closer to BFR's debut one in 1991.

But there has been far more down than up, so many (needless) PR gaffes and some absolutely rotten form.  Examples in both cases of previous lessons not being heeded. That, more than anything else, leads me to conclude that this one won't just get better with time and we'll be better off making a change in the summer. Just write it off as a bad job, it happens. Move on.

The point you make about Bergues is a good one though, and he -or an addition of similar calibre to the backroom staff- would be one of the few scenarios that might make another season+ of GH more palatable.

Offline Eigentor

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Re: Houllier - Villa united
« Reply #29 on: March 31, 2011, 08:40:36 PM »
Houllier is not a man-manager as such, I think he ideally likes to distance himself from the players, in fact he's probably more of a co-ordinator than a day in, day out, manager mixing it up with the players.

For once, I think you're pretty much spot on, Mr. Kelly. Houllier is an administrator and planner, if you like, and not necessarily, one to keep things ticking from day-to-day. That's largely why I think the idea of a small coaching team (and no defensive coach) is a mistake (and hopefully one made due to time constraints and not because GH thought it was ideal).

Anyway, GH's cup treble at his previous PL club shows that he has (had) the ability to get his team winning when it matters. And that is at least one encouraging thought these days. I don't buy the "that was 10 years ago and football has moved on since then stuff". MON lived in the 70-ies and still managed to do pretty well result-wise.

 


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