De-Pressing news (cont)

[villajk]

Can't argue with anything you've written in that article, Dave.

[darren woolley]

I was also wondering where the McLeish that was combative had gone good article Dave some valid points.

[Concrete John]

I agree to an extent but not about the defence. We've had a few dodgy moments but we're not nearly as bad as in the first half of last season. I thought they deserved credit for keeping it down to 1 on Saturday and it was a clean sheet the week before. The problem is we create so little, we lostyoing and Disning and their replacements have provided next to nothing.

It's noticable that the players we've lost were creative (Young, Milner & Downing) and two of of top three signings since MON left have been creative players that have failed to deliver - Ireland and N'Zogbia.

[N'ZMAV]

I wasn't one going berzerk in the summer when McLeish was appointed. But, I'm struggling now to find any positives. Really struggling. My faith and patience has almost gone. I'm scared shitless of what could happen.

[paulcomben]

Spot on, Dave.  The main question is: Why on earth can't the players, especially in midfield, keep and pass the ball anymore? AM said that they do it in training, but the build-up play and those awful stats about Darren Bent (e.g. no touches in MU's penalty area until the umpteenth minute) mean that Villa never even look like scoring.

[Fuse]

Good article Dave and I do wonder if McLeish is regretting taking the job on? It would not surprise me if the goalposts have been moved by Lerner since he took the job in terms of money he would have to play with, not selling Downing and then selling him (he stated that when he met fans before the season start). Add in the negative feeling towards him from the fanbase and the big one - not realising what a bunch of uncaring tosspots he had in his squad before arriving.

I think the squad needs a complete overhaul and could count on less than one had the players I would keep. I don't think he will get the support he needs or the time required to do this so can only see it ending in us going down.

[taylorsworkrate]

Good article Dave and I do wonder if McLeish is regretting taking the job on? It would not surprise me if the goalposts have been moved by Lerner since he took the job in terms of money he would have to play with, not selling Downing and then selling him (he stated that when he met fans before the season start). Add in the negative feeling towards him from the fanbase and the big one - not realising what a bunch of uncaring tosspots he had in his squad before arriving.

I think the squad needs a complete overhaul and could count on less than one had the players I would keep. I don't think he will get the support he needs or the time required to do this so can only see it ending in us going down.

Mcleish will not be regretting taking the job on. 

Firstly, he will consider himself very fortunate that an established top half premier league club would employ him after taking a team down.  Secondly, he doubled his wages.  Even if fired his pay off will be a great comfort to him.

I'm not sure Mcleish can feel surprised about the supporters reaction either.  It was obvious when he was in the frame that he wasn't going to be a popular choice. 

[Irish villain]

Spot on the money Dave.

Is McLeish just out of his depth at villa? Do the players respect him?

The worst thing for me is the way Bent has to run around aimlessly in the final third with no support. Bent must be really pissed off.

[Compass]

I'm really concerned about Bent. Our wingers looked like they were set up to defend against Man Utd's wide men. He looked marginally pissed off and bored that he wasn't getting any service. He had to try and win balls in the air against Vidic. There's no chance of that happening. When he did get the ball it was never in the box. He had to drop deep to keep possession of the ball.

I reckon Bent will hand in his transfer this January. I'm pretty confident that will happen, especially if Liverpool tap him up, which they could do seeing as the one aspect they're lacking is clinical finishing and Bent will provide that. The board won't hesitate to sell him as long as they'll get a reasonable fee and Liverpool would be able to afford him. Then our board will turn round and say he wanted to leave, they wanted to keep him and nothing they could do. The same jail free card they used about Downing.

And this will suit Alex McLeish just fine because I don't even think he wants Bent in the team, but knows he'll get a backlash from the fans so just keeps him on the pitch for the sake of it. I think it's becoming evident each passing day he wants every player to drop deep and work their magic up the pitch. Gabby is able to do it well but everyone else is struggling. It's time to try something else.

[PeterWithe]

Blimey, and I thought I was depressed about the Villa.

[Chris Smith]

Bent will have dozens of gsme like that in his career, it's always been the lot of that type of striker that if they aren't getting the service they can look ineffective and cheesed off.

It should be remembered that other than a wrongly awarded penalty against Newcastle, Manu have not conceded in the last 5 but have only scored one in each of them. Saturday was a typical performance for them since they got hammered by Man City.

[eamonn]

Very good article but I've seen that phrase ''worst United side at VP in years'' bandied about a lot since Saturday and I can't agree. We seem to say it every year they come here, recently. Last year's was shite and no wonder we were 2-0 up with a team of kids etc.

United had quality on display last Saturday and they showed it in patches, not needing to expand much more as they were comfortable at one-nil.
We were awful no doubt, but we were beaten by one of the best sides in Europe in an indifferent period of form just now.

[Zhong Yi]

interesting points made there. one i would like to make is this:

Billy McNeil, possibly the worst manager in the club's history was waiting for the Celtic job.

Alex McLeish, who could on the face of it this season could turn out to be nearly as bad as McNeill. So what is he waiting for? At present he is the 'managing' Aston Villa FC as dictionary definition only.

[Greg N'Ash]

Very good article but I've seen that phrase ''worst United side at VP in years'' bandied about a lot since Saturday and I can't agree. We seem to say it every year they come here, recently. Last year's was shite and no wonder we were 2-0 up with a team of kids etc.

United had quality on display last Saturday and they showed it in patches, not needing to expand much more as they were comfortable at one-nil.
We were awful no doubt, but we were beaten by one of the best sides in Europe in an indifferent period of form just now.

They may well be one of the best sides in europe but they certainly didn't have to play like it. They seemed genuinely bemused we were so poor for most of the game - Its very hard to raise your game if you've got nothing to raise it against.  Even shit struggling teams at home usually manage to mount a bit of meaningful pressure against them even if it's ineffective - first half we couldn't even manage that and the main concern their defence had was keeping awake.

[ktvillan]

I'm not sure what's wrong with setting a precedent if it's the precedent for getting rid of managers who are simply not up to the job and deliver dire football.  If something is clearly wrong, it's best to fix it asap. Most of us knew it was wrong before he was even appointed (and no I didn't have any respect for McLeish as a manager while he was at Blues, because he played dire anti-football there as well), now he's in the process of ramming the point home to the detriment of the club.  As most of us suspected he would, based on his track record.  I can't think why some people think this particular leaopard will ever change his spots.  I'd be quite happy if RL got shot of him today, assuming he didn't appoint someone equally inept in his place.