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Author Topic: McLeish:No Regrets  (Read 28644 times)

Offline CJ

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2012, 11:56:19 AM »
I also liked him as a bloke, but he was just a crap manager and should never have been here in the first place. 

Couple of things in that article that grate a bit - Sky still can't get past the fact that for most people he was not "met with a frosty reception due to his connections with fierce rivals Birmingham City" - he was met with a frosty reception because of his brand of football with a history of relegation. And averaging a point and a goal a game, coupled with the worst home record in our entire history vindicated that perception.  Also McLeish states he played every game with 4 attacking players. I was obviously watching a different team to the one he sent out

Online pauliewalnuts

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2012, 11:57:28 AM »
Having players on the pitch who are "attacking" by nature means sod all if you send them out to be defensive, or, when losing, to keep the score down.

Offline Simba

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2012, 12:09:58 PM »
He has made the claim about playing with four attacking players before. He might have payed four players who were considered forwards - but he played them three miles behind the front man.

The comment smacks of laying blame on the players, once again. Something a lot of people found 'un-managerial'.

No, I hated his football and I for one do not consider him a nice bloke. If he can't accept, with his record, that he is a negative manager there is a big problem. Who will employ him after what he has done to us and them?

Offline Risso

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #18 on: August 22, 2012, 12:12:52 PM »
I also liked him as a bloke, but he was just a crap manager and should never have been here in the first place. 

Couple of things in that article that grate a bit - Sky still can't get past the fact that for most people he was not "met with a frosty reception due to his connections with fierce rivals Birmingham City" - he was met with a frosty reception because of his brand of football with a history of relegation. And averaging a point and a goal a game, coupled with the worst home record in our entire history vindicated that perception.  Also McLeish states he played every game with 4 attacking players. I was obviously watching a different team to the one he sent out


He says it himself:

"I definitely needed a break as there is no getting away from it - things were tough at Villa. It was a draining year as there was no real respite as a faction of fans were against me from day one."

Which there were of course, but the majority just thought he was a shit manager, who played shit football, which turned out to be the case.  He's as deluded now as when he came out with that nonsense about "always played good football and Villa fans not letting the facts get in the way of a good story".  Useless twat.


Offline not3bad

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2012, 12:19:57 PM »
Thing is he is hawking around for a job and this piece is almost written to help him do that.  So it's not going to mention his faults but will dwell on his excuses (some of which are legitimate, such as loss of key players and injuries).  Good luck to him for his next job and I hope he's learned from his experiences.

Offline Hookeysmith

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #20 on: August 22, 2012, 12:26:39 PM »
Nice bloke (if not a little dillusional) but shit awful manager
Nothing else to say

Offline CJ

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #21 on: August 22, 2012, 12:31:02 PM »
Having players on the pitch who are "attacking" by nature means sod all if you send them out to be defensive, or, when losing, to keep the score down.

I don't think he even started with 4 players who were attacking by nature, Paulie.  Remember Spurs away (*shudder*).  And IIRC the last few games of the season I'm sure he started with 7 out and out defenders - Hutton (or Collins), Warnock, Clark, Dunne, Cuellar, Lichaj and Herd.  The fact that he played some of them in midfield doesn't make them attacking players, in the same way, as you say, attacking players ended up being negative anyway.  He seems to come from the same delusional standpopint as DOL.

Offline not3bad

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #22 on: August 22, 2012, 12:41:12 PM »
I don't think he even started with 4 players who were attacking by nature

No, I'm sure he did.  I can't remember which games they were but I'm sure he started with a couple that had Bent, Gabby/Heskey, N'Zog and Albrighton in the starting lineup.  But as has been said if you don't know how to use them it won't make much difference.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2012, 12:43:42 PM by not3bad »

Offline PaulTheVillan

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #23 on: August 22, 2012, 12:46:44 PM »
He didn't take any responsibility for anything IMO.

Look at Spurs away? He got it wrong, but wouldn't admit it.

Online Dave

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #24 on: August 22, 2012, 12:49:08 PM »
Having players on the pitch who are "attacking" by nature means sod all if you send them out to be defensive, or, when losing, to keep the score down.
I don't think he even started with 4 players who were attacking by nature, Paulie.  Remember Spurs away (*shudder*).  And IIRC the last few games of the season I'm sure he started with 7 out and out defenders - Hutton (or Collins), Warnock, Clark, Dunne, Cuellar, Lichaj and Herd.  The fact that he played some of them in midfield doesn't make them attacking players, in the same way, as you say, attacking players ended up being negative anyway.  He seems to come from the same delusional standpopint as DOL.
At the end of the season it was ridiculous, but for the middle part of the season there was certainly no shortage of attacking players on the pitch - we went through a run of games playing all of Bent, Gabby, Heskey and N'Zogbia, some of which had Petrov and Delph as a midfield two (neither of whom are exactly Nigel de Jong).

The attacking players were there, it's just that they were used astonishingly badly as Paulie says.

Online Toronto Villa

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #25 on: August 22, 2012, 12:56:14 PM »
Dear Mr McLeish, we have many regrets, far too numerous to mention.

Signed, Aston Villa supporters

Offline richardhubbard

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #26 on: August 22, 2012, 01:04:27 PM »
Decent guy , shit manager

Bit like Alan Ball

Wish him well far away from AVFC!

Offline Rip Van We Go Again

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #27 on: August 22, 2012, 01:08:11 PM »
He's an utterly incompetent and shit Manager and like all incompetent and shit Managers, he has excuses a-plenty.
An honest appraisal of
'I just wasn't up to the job of managing a club the size of Villa.'
Would give me more respect for him.

Yes there were problems, but the squad he had should not have been battling relegation, the fact that it did was largely due to his dreadfully defensive brand of football that would have sent a glass eye to sleep.

Offline Risso

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #28 on: August 22, 2012, 01:19:00 PM »
The fact that we're still stuck with the appalling Hutton and the useless N'Zogbia and are probably nearly £20m lighter as a result is another reason to give him stick.

Offline ktvillan

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Re: McLeish:No Regrets
« Reply #29 on: August 22, 2012, 01:22:29 PM »
Even with Bent in the team we looked dismal as an attacking unit, so I wouldn't have banked on us winning more games. 

We were comfortably mid table until the last third of the season so I don't think Dave is saying anything controversial.

We only won 6 out of our first 25 games, mostly with Bent in the team.  That's one win every 6 and a bit games.  We managed only 1 win in our last 13.  If Bent had been fit, applying the early season ratio, we'd have had maybe 1 more win.  Two additional wins instead of draws would not have been enough to see us finish any higher than we did in 16th.  Two additional wins instead of defeats would have seen us finish 1 place higher in 15th.  Coupled with the dire football I doubt that would have been enough to save McLeish's job.   The fact is his negative tactics meant wins were as rare as rocking horse shit even with one of the most prolific PL strikers in the side.

 


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