Randy Lerner exclusive on the OS

[KevinGage]

I think the team selection on Monday was his first major mistake in the job. Houllier took pelters for his selection against Man Citeh in the FA Cup which was tantamount to throwing the game. Ditto O'Neill in Moscow (and to a lesser extent in Hamburg)  -and that was pretty much at the height of his popularity. Why should Big Eck be any different?

Popularity wise, McLeish rates far lower than them. So if he thought he wouldn't get stick for Monday night he's a tad naive.  Also- and for the first time this season- his post match response concerned me.  We were unlucky/ 2 bad defensive errors.  If we'd scored first it would have been different.   He'd do it all again (Hutton and Heskey in midfield)  if he had to.  No, that doesn't strike the right note at all.

I can (if I'm very generous) see his logic for what occurred on Monday night.  He's on a sticky wicket (pretty much was from the get go) and so going out all guns blazing and getting turned over 4 or 5 is the kind of result that would really stick out.  Whereas a low scoring defeat might not cause quite the same fallout.  After all, would a 0-2 reversal been a shock to anyone here pre kick off? Hence the reluctance to change things too much even when that scoreline was reached.  As others have accurately said, it looked like we were holding on to a 0-2 defeat.

If he did think that way, he's misjudged the situation horribly. Other shithouse clubs he's managed might be content to go on the road and merely keep the score down.  We aren't one of them.

[Risso]

When Capello played a negative formation against Spain relying on Hoofs from the back to Bent he was hailed for his tactics.

There's nothing wrong with the idea of trying to stifle a more creative opposition, we've seen it often enough from other teams at Villa Park in recent years.

As I've said before I haven't seen the game and don't intend to waste my time with it but when it was explained to me I could at least see why he tried it.

And if you did watch it, you'd see that it was embarrassingly bad, and that Hutton at right midfield is even worse than Hutton at right back.  If you've got to try and mark somebody out of the game, at least put somebody there who can do a decent job at it, like NRC did against Ronaldo a while back.  A dead blind man could see that the team selection wasn't going to work.  A midfield of Heskey, Hutton, Herd and Petrov - that's as unbalanced and shit a midfield I've seen since we had Mark Kinsella standing round and pointing at things.

And yes, we've seen teams come to Villa Park and set their stall out for a draw.  However, we didn't do it at all well at Spurs with the dog's arse of a team he picked, and Spurs have got the players to unlock us anyway.  Far better to have had a go at them, as picking any of Delph, Bannan or Ireland wouldn't have made us any weaker than we were, and would at least have given us a chance of having a go at them.  There was a lot of overreaction to the result, but it really was a dismal performance.  It should be McLeish apologising, not the players.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Agree with all of that, KG.

I noted his post match comments last night. First time I've heard him bullshit, he normally calls it straight but if he couldn't see what we all saw last night, we really are in trouble.

[rutski]

If he tries that at home (which he will) then he's gonna get so much abuse he won't know what's hit him. I'm going to the Man Utd match and if I see 10 men behind the ball, I'm gonna give him stick.

But please fans don't chant "you're gonna get sacked in the morning" because Randy Lerner won't sack him. We gotta make our feelings clear on what we think of his tactics.

you aint going to a match are you? And the one you are going to go to is Manure at home. Before you start calling for his head when man U are sticking it to us, remember just how well we have done against them for the last 14 years!

[PaulWinch again]

Basically I would just like us to take an attacking, ambitious approach to the game. If you provide entertainment the fans will want to watch. Also I don't want to see Clark, Gardner etc thinking they have to leave the club for first team football while we play the likes of Heskey, Collins, Hutton in their stead. We need to give these quality youngsters a chance and just get the team to try and entertain.

[Toronto Villa]

I hate it when it is obvious to pretty much all and sundry that we send a team out to avoid defeat. It sends a bad message to the fans, and must send a pretty obvious message to the players. We don't currently have the horses to play effective counter attack when playing away. MON was a master at that and it resulted in us having one of the best away records in the league during his tenure. Incidentally, it's also the reason that kept us from being much better at home because he didn't have another strategy at Villa Park.

Spurs are a very good team. It's one thing setting up to play in a manner to nullify their attacking potency as England did against Spain, but entirely another thing when you set up just to survive and get out with a point. That kind of mentality against good teams with 90 minutes to figure things out rarely ever works. I'd sooner we went there with a mission to go at them in a disciplined manner, and if we lost; well then that happens sometimes. For me this doesn't compare in the least with MON's decision in Moscow because there was another goal being pursued. This was a league game in November where we need the points and as importantly the performance ahead of what will be a very tricky month.