Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: PaulTheVillan on November 09, 2010, 08:34:21 AM
-
Sky Sports (http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,16708_6495022,00.html)
Martin O'Neill's decision to step down as Aston Villa boss over the summer came as something of a surprise, even taking into account the murmurings of discontent which had started to filter out of the camp towards the end of the 2009/10 campaign.
To some the exit of the Ulsterman came at the perfect time, with there a feeling that Villa had gone as far as they could under the guidance of a manager adept at bringing out the best in unfashionable sides.
It was felt that a change in management could be just the shot in the arm the club needed to take the next step and really start pushing for a place inside the Premier League's top four.
Many names were touted as possible candidates for the role, but ultimately former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier was handed the reins - with his prior experience of life in England and profile within the global game edging him ahead of his rivals.
The arrival of the Frenchman was greeted by optimism from the Villa faithful, with Houllier's record during his time at Anfield proving that he knows what is required to land major silverware and challenge towards the top of the table.
However, a few short months into his tenure and the wheels are in danger of falling off the Villa bandwagon.
Houllier announced his arrival at Villa Park by promising to make his side 'entertaining', although he acknowledged that it was important to get points on the board before he started to tinker too much.
He said: "Will we be playing in a different way? Obviously it won't be done overnight. You can't change habits in the middle of a competition. It has got to be gradual. The first mission is to get results, the second is to be entertaining."
You would expect nothing less from an incoming manager, with no-one having faced up to the media and admitted that the team they have inherited is rubbish, they intend to play six men across midfield every week and hope relegation can be safely wrapped up by Christmas.
Houllier, though, is yet to deliver on either aspect of his initial mission statement and grumbles of discontent have begun to emerge.
Right now Villa are failing to entertain their loyal supporters and are far from adept at picking up points - at least to the level Houllier would have expected when he arrived.
Since he officially signed up, Villa have won one of eight Premier League fixtures, and even that success, a 2-1 derby day victory over local rivals Wolves, required a dramatic late strike from Emile Heskey to wrap up the points.
Since seeing off Mick McCarthy's men, Villa have gone five games without a win, during which time they have scored a miserly two goals.
Only Wigan and West Ham, who sit inside the relegation zone, have found the target on fewer occasions than Villa this season, meaning an impressive defensive record, which stands alongside those currently occupying a much loftier standing, counts for little.
Houllier is the man charged with the task of turning this situation around, but at the moment he is being forced to fight fires left, right and centre.
Admittedly he could not have foreseen the injury problems which have afflicted Villa, with a number of key men currently spending more time on the treatment table than out on the field.
There is, however, a sense that Houllier is doing little to help his own cause at present, with in-house fighting having become an alarmingly regular theme at Villa Park.
The Frenchman is understandably keen to make it clear who is boss, and will want to show owner Randy Lerner that he is no puppet on a string, but public outcries are not the way to go about stamping your authority.
Quite what Houllier expected when he openly questioned Stephen Ireland is anyone's guess, with a comforting arm around the shoulder and a quiet word in the ear surely more productive than the approach taken.
"He needs to work harder," said Houllier.
"He played against Chelsea and did well. He played against Sunderland and was not good enough to me. Simple as that. He needs to work harder. The skill is one thing but you need to compete. It's a difficult period for him but we back him, we support him.
"We know he's a good player. I don't want to say 'he's a good player, but'. But he doesn't defend. But he doesn't run back. But he loses too many balls in crucial areas. It's that but. He needs to get rid of these buts. Then he will be a good player."
Ireland, who arrived as part of the deal which took James Milner to Manchester City, must have wondered what he had let himself in for and probably contemplated throwing his toys out of the pram in an effort to force through another move.
He is not the only one to have incurred the wrath of Houllier, though, with John Carewslipping further and further down his manager's Christmas card list by the day.
An innocuous comment from Houllier regarding Carew's chances of earning a new contract drew a stinging rebuke from the Norwegian striker, who said: "If he wants me to fight for a contract, he should speak to me directly and not through the media. This is disrespectful to me and to the fans who sing my name week in week out."
Not prepared to sit back and let such comments lie, Houllier responded after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Fulham by branding Carew 'stupid' - always a good way to raise morale and heal rifts!
"I think he is stupid," he said.
"How can he say that? I didn't lack respect to him or anybody. Somebody asked me if it was a good chance for him and I said yes. What do you want me to say? No?
"I think John is living in the past at the moment. He should look at the figures, how long has he played and how many goals have we scored when he has been playing."
This is now getting a bit childish, with Carew expected to come out in the next few days and claim that Houllier smells and runs like a girl.
While this may be amusing to the neutrals, there must be real concern within the Villa ranks that a season which promised plenty is in danger of self-destructing.
It appears as though the success enjoyed under O'Neill may have been taken for granted somewhat, with Villa able to secure European qualification on a regular basis and make positive inroads in domestic cup competitions.
The rewards they were able to take from such achievements allowed them to remain competitive and ensured that the coffers were kept ticking over.
A bottom half finish would undo much of that good work in an instant, with fears already raised as to how long the club can retain the services of their star turns.
The likes of Ashley Young will not want to hang around for much longer if the tide starts to turn, while youngsters such as Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan and Ciaran Clark will inevitably draw interest from afar should Villa hit the skids.
It is, of course, far too early to write Villa off yet, with only two points separating them from Bolton in sixth, but they need to get their house in order before the chill of winter sets in and Houllier needs to start delivering on his promises if the 2010/11 campaign is to avoid becoming a French farce.
-
How fucking negative.
Our defensive record counts for little? Surely we'd be in the bottom three if it wasn't as good?
-
SKY wrote
'To some the exit of the Ulsterman came at the perfect time, with there a feeling that Villa had gone as far as they could under the guidance of a manager adept at bringing out the best in unfashionable sides.'
Only 1 unfashionable side - Leicester.
SKY also wrote
'However, a few short months into his tenure and the wheels are in danger of falling off the Villa bandwagon.'
BULLSHIT Is that based on Carew's comments? Our form to date hasn't been helped by a slew of injuries.
SKY wrote again
'It appears as though the success enjoyed under O'Neill.'
Success as in potless after 4 seasons?
-
It's fair pissed me off, that article.
'We need to get our house in order' ???
-
What a load of drivel. He's got about as much Insider knowledge as I have i.e. fuck all
-
Sky Sports (http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,16708_6495022,00.html)
It is, of course, far too early to write Villa off yet, with only two points separating them from Bolton in sixth,
There. That's much better.
What a dreadful, dreadful, article. So poorly written.
-
Is Lawro the author ? >:(
-
It's ridiculous to start jumping to any sort of conclusions but one thing is sure, we do need to start winning some games. If we don't take 3 points tomorrow then given the run of games we have things could look very dicey in a few weeks and we'll see a lot more of this sort of stuff.
-
I can't think of anybody on H&V who has been complaining about negative tactics. This is a rumour being perpetuated by the press to stir up a bit of a headline and far from the truth. The truth is that we have a limited squad, ravaged with injury trying to move from hoof ball to football. We acknowledge that it will take some time but this season is far from being a write off.
So far Houllier had done everything right including his comments about Ireland which seem to have worked. He is also correct to take the position with Carew who is throwing a tantrum at a time when our other main strikers are injured.
Never let the facts get in the way of a decent headline!
-
What a pile of shite that article is so negative yes we need to start winning games but to write about us like that is wrong.
-
I can't think of anybody on H&V who has been complaining about negative tactics.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one unimpressed by the line up and game plan for the SHA game.
-
I can't think of anybody on H&V who has been complaining about negative tactics.
Are you kidding? Did you see the Blues game? What's more were you on H&V after the Blues game?
-
Typical media drivel.
Last week "Liverpool about to implode, relegation looms, Torres finished, don't panic Mr Mainwaring"
This week "Liverpool are back, they're great, the glory days are returning, Torres, the world's best striker"
-
The thing is, far from being overly negative, the article sums things up quite well.
The results have not been good and it's not unlike Houllier to look like an oddball in the press. We have been dreadfully unlucky with injuries.
Too early to write anyone off, definitely. Things are far from hunky dory though, alright.
-
We are not doing well at all under GH, and didn't under KMac either, we have failed to beat Stoke, Fulham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Bolton, Blues, Rapid Vienna twice, Burnley in normal time and absolutely scraped home agains Wolves and Everton. We're a couple of points off the bottom and now play City, Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blues away etc. We're in a mess frankly as that article outlines.
-
We are not doing well at all under GH, and didn't under KMac either, we have failed to beat Stoke, Fulham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Bolton, Blues, Rapid Vienna twice, Burnley in normal time and absolutely scraped home agains Wolves and Everton. We're a couple of points off the bottom and now play City, Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blues away etc. We're in a mess frankly as that article outlines.
Who is to blame?
-
Have to laugh at the "with Villa able to secure European qualification on a regular basis" line, considering how he treated it when we did qualify.
-
What a load of shit
I know scoring goals has been a problem but it would have been a problem for Mon if he were here, when you have 3 strikers out its hardly great and interestingly they only focus on the negatives. What about the emergencce of the youth?
-
It's all very odd.
There were virtually no dissenting voices when we had our Premier League record of games without a win under O'Neill in his first season.
It was accepted that it was a transitional season.
As is this one.
-
You can pick holes in it but the overall thrust of the article is on the mark.
-
Its a sensationalist article written with a passing nod to some fo the facts, whilst clearly ignoring some huge factors - the timing of MON's departure, the lack of any real recruitment last summer, the injury problems, the change in football tactics Houllier is trying to pursue, the lack of a decent scounting network, and the state of some of MON's signings now they're over 30, etc etc etc.
Quite frankly if that is written by a journalist, it's a mug's business.
-
It's all very odd.
There were virtually no dissenting voices when we had our Premier League record of games without a win under O'Neill in his first season.
It was accepted that it was a transitional season.
As is this one.
I think the context is a lot different though, er, 8 Ace. We'd been shit for a couple of years before that, and there was enough goodwill given the new board and manager to see it through.
Gerrard is having to deal with much higher expectations. I think he's doing fine.
-
Gerrard is having to deal with much higher expectations. I think he's doing fine.
True enough, good hat trick last week.
-
Obviously when GH took over I didn't think our results would be like this but to be fair to him he is getting good performances from the young 'uns and he is using MON's squad!
I have heard a few people mention just writing off this season as a transitional season now for me that's hard to stomach but in the grand scheme of things a necessity?
-
Gerrard is having to deal with much higher expectations. I think he's doing fine.
True enough, good hat trick last week.
Bastarrd.
-
We are not doing well at all under GH, and didn't under KMac either, we have failed to beat Stoke, Fulham, Newcastle, Sunderland, Bolton, Blues, Rapid Vienna twice, Burnley in normal time and absolutely scraped home agains Wolves and Everton. We're a couple of points off the bottom and now play City, Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blues away etc. We're in a mess frankly as that article outlines.
What that article outlines is dramatic, exaggerated nonsense, typical of the 'kick em when we say they're down' mentality of the national media. Newcastle and Liverpool are doing well so there's a vacancy for this season's Club in Crisis story.
-
I think the run of difficult games may suit us. I can see us picking up a couple of points along the way and the pressure may be off a little. Its all about results and we need a couple - starting tomorrow.
-
F*** off Sky hacks were not interested.
We never get credit from London hacks when we do well, so we aint listening to your comments when we arent up there.
Go and join in the comments with the Gareth Bale love in, you will enjoy it more.
-
The fact that it's titled 'Insider Blog' makes me think it's been written by a work experience student.
Form and results aren't good but I'd at least like some acknowledgment of what Houllier's got to work with at the moment; he's giving debuts to kids to fill in the gaps and those kids are standing up pretty well. I can only imagine how Harry Redknapp would whine if he was missing three/four central midfielders and three senior strikers. Houllier's just getting on with it.
As for the season being a write-off.... with us being so disadvantaged going into the season I'd take a steady mid-table finish and look to push on next season.
-
I see this season as a transitional one.
-
It is, of course, far too early to write Villa off yet, with only two points separating them from Bolton in sixth, but they need to get their house in order before the chill of winter sets in and Houllier needs to start delivering on his promises if the 2010/11 campaign is to avoid becoming a French farce
Can't disagree with any of that.
-
I think he's doing okay
We all knew taht our starting 11 was okay but we hadn't got a lot of strength in depth if we had injuries but at least GH was giving the kids a go right from the off. if MON was still in charge Petrov would be being wheeled around on his bed, NRC would be playing for the 3rd team and Gabby would be be doing his best on a motorised scooter.
I like the fact that he puts the club first and not egotistical players
-
It is, of course, far too early to write Villa off yet, with only two points separating them from Bolton in sixth, but they need to get their house in order before the chill of winter sets in and Houllier needs to start delivering on his promises if the 2010/11 campaign is to avoid becoming a French farce
Can't disagree with any of that.
It isn't so much about what he says as the way he says it.
By which I mean terms like:
"French farce"
"Start delivering"
"Chill of winter"
"house in order"
.. which, as well as being from only one line, all point to the writer having a certain "CRISIS CLUB!" mindset about this.
-
O'Neill's first season was transitional because we finished 16th the previous yr and he took us to 11th, this time round, other than swapping Milner for Ireland GH has the same squad that finished 6th last yr, and of course we finished 6th the 2 previous seasons to. If we finish 11/12th this yr what is it a transition from, a top 6 side into a mediocre mid table outfit?
-
O'Neill's first season was transitional because we finished 16th the previous yr and he took us to 11th, this time round, other than swapping Milner for Ireland GH has the same squad that finished 6th last yr, and of course we finished 6th the 2 previous seasons to. If we finish 11/12th this yr what is it a transition from, a top 6 side into a mediocre mid table outfit?
You've left a few things out there.
-
It is, of course, far too early to write Villa off yet, with only two points separating them from Bolton in sixth, but they need to get their house in order before the chill of winter sets in and Houllier needs to start delivering on his promises if the 2010/11 campaign is to avoid becoming a French farce
Can't disagree with any of that.
It isn't so much about what he says as the way he says it.
By which I mean terms like:
"French farce"
"Start delivering"
"Chill of winter"
"house in order"
.. which, as well as being from only one line, all point to the writer having a certain "CRISIS CLUB!" mindset about this.
As Dave says, the media needs a "Club in Crisis story" and we're fair game for that at the moment. 2 wins this week and they'll be talking about top 4, 2 defeats and they'll be talking about relegation.
Having dropped 8 points compared to the 11 corresponding games last season is worrying, in that if it continued all season we'd be in the shit. I think we all expect things to improve but until they do, this type of article will only proliferate.
-
O'Neill's first season was transitional because we finished 16th the previous yr and he took us to 11th, this time round, other than swapping Milner for Ireland GH has the same squad that finished 6th last yr, and of course we finished 6th the 2 previous seasons to. If we finish 11/12th this yr what is it a transition from, a top 6 side into a mediocre mid table outfit?
And what about our current injury situation. ??
-
What short memories some people have. It's less than two years since the latter end of the 2008/9 season, when from the beginning of March to the end of May we drew 5, lost 5 and won 2. I shall be very surprised if M.Houllier's team can't beat that record this season.
-
O'Neill's first season was transitional because we finished 16th the previous yr and he took us to 11th, this time round, other than swapping Milner for Ireland GH has the same squad that finished 6th last yr, and of course we finished 6th the 2 previous seasons to. If we finish 11/12th this yr what is it a transition from, a top 6 side into a mediocre mid table outfit?
You make it sound as though it's like for like when it's anything but.
We all knew that Milner with or without MON was virtually impossible to replace. We will only get close to doing that once Delph is back in full action and we hope he's as good as we expect.
One thing that I think is for certain is that once Gabby returns and Delph is is back to full fitness we will have a team that will again be a side that can challenge the top 4 and one that will show some style in doing so. Add two more quality players to that including a goal scorer and it starts to look even better.
-
They are different types of players, but 2 seasons ago Ireland was as impressive for City as Milner was for us last yr and would have commanded a higher transfer fee. We have Delph, Reo Coker, Petrov and maybe Sidwell to do the donkey work in the middle, Ireland was brought in to add some much needed craft and guile. I don't think we needed a like forlike Milner replacement, but a fit Delph, Petrov, Reo Coker and on form Ireland and Sidwell would have adequately made up for what we lost imo.
-
I don't think we needed a like forlike Milner replacement, but a fit Delph, Petrov, Reo Coker and on form Ireland and Sidwell would have adequately made up for what we lost imo.
Probably. But considering we have literally none of those at the moment it's fairly understandable that we're not winning every game at the moment.
-
O'Neill's first season was transitional because we finished 16th the previous yr and he took us to 11th, this time round, other than swapping Milner for Ireland GH has the same squad that finished 6th last yr, and of course we finished 6th the 2 previous seasons to. If we finish 11/12th this yr what is it a transition from, a top 6 side into a mediocre mid table outfit?
And what about our current injury situation. ??
Yup! It's also about preperation. GH will do things differently to MON, and like GH said, you can't change things like that over night.
-
Typical Sky sensationalist journo's. If we beat Man Utd they are just as likely to write that our kids are now world beaters...
The way I see this season is that if MON had stayed we would (imo) have finished top 6 at best, bombed out of Europe early with a weakened side, maybe had a cup run and wouldn't have added to the squad with any real quality or imagination.
Under GH, (I hope) that we will finish 6th at best, maybe have a cup run but hopefully will be playing more possession football, be fitter, have better contacts and scope for signings, more imaginative signings, bring on the kids, give more players a run to see if they can cut it and have more tactical options. Transitional.
Frustrating? Yes. Time to panic? Certainly not.
-
I'm trying to figure out what this "insider" is inside and i've got the distinct impression that one part of his body is firmly inserted into another part of his body, and that's where he is talking from.
A sprinkling of facts with the worst possible interpretation of all of them. A good time for MON to go? No, the end of last summer was, not a few days before the start of the season. Massive unrest in the camp? No, Houllier's called out Ireland who seemed to respond positively to that judging by his few minutes on the pitch on Saturday, and Carew shot his mouth off after no doubt being mislead by another journalist out to create a story. A few injuries? Just brushed aside when we have half a squad of our most important players out. Our play has not been entertaining? I've seen more entertaining football this season than in the last couple of seasons. This article is a load of negative butt drivle.
Last week it was Man City in crisis, despite being 4th in the league and still in Europe, this week it's Villa. It would have been tough for Houllier coming in when he did even without the injuries, but these injuries have meant he has had to make the transition quicker than he otherwise would have. In the long run it will probably turn out to be a blessing in disguise and will allow our young players to really flourish. I expect this season to be the opposite of our last few seasons, and we will struggle a bit until January but finish strong at the end of the season with some of our senior players coming back and a few new faces coming in.
Does anyone else feel like lynching a few journalists, oh and a few agents too? For the most part they are parasitic scumbags.
-
It's ridiculous to start jumping to any sort of conclusions but one thing is sure, we do need to start winning some games. If we don't take 3 points tomorrow then given the run of games we have things could look very dicey in a few weeks and we'll see a lot more of this sort of stuff.
Agree completely
Mon's exit was bad, all the talk of cost cutting, the lack of signings added to the problems, the time taken to sign Houllier too, and now like it or not Houllier has not even started to make inroads into the resultant negativity.
Injuries don't help, public spats with top players, will not help, neither will lame excuses every time needless points are dropped.
-
Two things.
1) I keep hearing that transition word again. See Saturday's H&V for my take on that.
2) I really must take umbrage with the original article which suggests that peopel were happy with the timing of MON's departure.
Had he gone at the end of the previous season I would have been happy but, regardless of whether you thought he was the man for the job or not, having him bugger off when he did was not something that any right minded person wanted.
-
The signs are very encouraging, especially given our injury problems but as Chris Smith said, we really need to start putting a few points on the board. A win tomorrow will go a long way in calming the nerves.
I still think we can finish in the top 6 this season, the squad, when fit, are good enough and a signing/loan deal or two in January should see us finish the season strongly. It's not all about Houllier, it's about him and his backroom staff. That's what makes me confident we can get something from this season; we've finally joined the 21st century and just need our more established players to start performing like we know they can.
-
During the Sir Graham II season, Talksport rang me on the afternoon of a midweek game and asked if I would go on their programme next morning and talk about Villa's start. Like an idiot I agreed. We won that night and next morning I went on air ready to enthuse about the great win we'd had. That Everton twat whose name I can't remember started off with "Villa won last night but that kit they've got is awful. What's that all about?"
When you're a club of our size (or Everton, Newcastle and Spurs unless they're doing well) bad news sells.
-
Its a sensationalist article written with a passing nod to some fo the facts, whilst clearly ignoring some huge factors - the timing of MON's departure, the lack of any real recruitment last summer, the injury problems, the change in football tactics Houllier is trying to pursue, the lack of a decent scounting network, and the state of some of MON's signings now they're over 30, etc etc etc.
Quite frankly if that is written by a journalist, it's a mug's business.
Yep. Agree with all that.
-
Cant see what is that wrong with it to be honest! Our record under monsieur Houllier isnt all that!
-
Next week: Manchester United, and why they're on the brink of total disaster.
And... Spurs: why they'll win the Champions League AND get relegated in the same season.
-
I think the injuries we have had, particularly Gabby, have made things really difficult and go a long way to explaining our poor points return under our new manager. The problem is that it hasn't helped get things off to a good start.
I was really pleased with Houlliers appointment, in my era as a fan we haven't appointed a manager with anything like his cv, but it wasn't a universally well received appointment. There was already a downer on the place after mon left in the way he did and the way the club went about replacing him.
Very little of this is Houlliers fault but I'm sure every club on a bad run can point to a set of extenuating circumstances and feel hard done by.
I'm not critical of the way our new manager has done so far but I am aware that there are already as many dissenting voices as there were when it felt like mon had lost a lot of support.
We're not in crisis but I feel like Houllier has got very little credit in the bank with a good number of our support and we have some tough games coming up so dont be surprised if we see a few more of these articles appearing if we don't get some good results in those.
-
Cant see what is that wrong with it to be honest! Our record under monsieur Houllier isnt all that!
Jesus mate, Houllier has only had about 10 games ! unbeaten at home in the league with only one goal conceded,clean sheets in our last two home games against the champions and our nearest and not so dearest.
and away we (apart from the barcodes game when he was not in charge anyway) we have generally played well and it is only the result that has not been forthcoming.
blimey...start the car !!
UTV
The Doc
-
Cant see what is that wrong with it to be honest! Our record under monsieur Houllier isnt all that!
Jesus mate, Houllier has only had about 10 games ! unbeaten at home in the league with only one goal conceded,clean sheets in our last two home games against the champions and our nearest and not so dearest.
and away we (apart from the barcodes game when he was not in charge anyway) we have generally played well and it is only the result that has not been forthcoming.
blimey...start the car !!
UTV
The Doc
Good post Doc.
-
From the trusting in youth to the new style of football, the tougher training to the emphasis on long-term development, the not taking rubbish from anybody to the not minding about media criticism of himself, I support everything GH has done so far.
-
Can people just imagine what it would be like if Martin was still on charge and we had all these injuries?
I think everyone has forgot how important Gabby is to us, especially as he generally scores the majority of his goals the first half the season.
I'm currently really excited as a Villa fan, the complete opposite to the way I was feeling before Oneil left.
-
Most aspects of GH's management has been promising: the attempt to play in a more attractive style, an improved training regime, generally a more modern approach, more tactical nous, a willingness to play promising youngsters, a team selection based on meritocracy.
The almost only negative aspect has been the results.
-
I'm sure we will be fine next year: we'll have had a full pre-season with the fitness coach.
-
The way GH has preferred our young guns to old " stay & collect wages" brigade has impressed me. We need to support his brave approach.
-
I'm not so sure there's a 'right way', but I reckon Houllier's more imaginative, and despite results to date, is doing a better job than MON would have done in the same circumstances. Some of the comparisons are like comparing apples and oranges, imo.
-
It's clear that GH wants Villa to play a more stylish game which really suits me.
Results do bring the crowds back but then so does attractive football, and it's not that ridiculous to marry the two together - i.e. get the team playing attractive football and getting results.
Early days, it's all a bit subdued, but hopefully we'll get there.
-
The idea of a selection meritocracy is fine, until you remember Carlos Cuellar.
-
When GH was appointed, I was cautiously optimistic. The reasons were mainly that GH is a good tactician and would probably introduce a more modern approach to football management at Villa Park.
But he also had a reputation for negative tactics at Liverpool, as well as a mixed record in the transfer market.
I know that I'm only watching the unfoldings from a distance, but one of the biggest surprises is that things seem to be much more fun with GH in charge. He smiles in interviews, banters with the fourth official during matches and tries to make the team play in a more entertaining fashing.
As someone mentioned on here some time ago, if we are not going to get into top four and instead finish sixth every season, we might as well do so by playing some good football and blooding some youngsters.
-
When GH was appointed, I was cautiously optimistic. The reasons were mainly that GH is a good tactician and would probably introduce a more modern approach to football management at Villa Park.
But he also had a reputation for negative tactics at Liverpool, as well as a mixed record in the transfer market.
I know that I'm only watching the unfoldings from a distance, but one of the biggest surprises is that things seem to be much more fun with GH in charge. He smiles in interviews, banters with the fourth official during matches and tries to make the team play in a more entertaining fashing.
As someone mentioned on here some time ago, if we are not going to get into top four and instead finish sixth every season, we might as well do so by playing some good football and blooding some youngsters.
He also admits to any mistakes he might have made and doesn't moan about having half the squad injured.
-
GHOUL is turning us into a fearless team by introducing youngsters and trusting them. MON would have turned to likes of Harewood, Beye and Routledge.
-
GHOUL is turning us into a fearless team by introducing youngsters and trusting them. MON would have turned to likes of Harewood, Beye and Routledge.
No, MON would have played Gabby all throughout his injury and Petrov on crutches!
-
He also admits to any mistakes he might have made and doesn't moan about having half the squad injured.
I think that is worth repeating, he hasn't used it as an excuse at all. In fact, I don't think he's mentioned it unless the question was posed to him.
-
He also admits to any mistakes he might have made and doesn't moan about having half the squad injured.
I think that is worth repeating, he hasn't used it as an excuse at all. In fact, I don't think he's mentioned it unless the question was posed to him.
He has a very "what's the point of compaining" attitude to it all. He just laughs it and just gets on with things which is what we want to see. It's allowed him to see more players in close action than he probably imagined he would by now and in turn it's given those players a massive boost in confidence to be playing consistently at the highest level.
-
Even though we haven't won as many games as I would have liked I am happy with the progress Houiller is making. Hopefully he will keep all the younsters, sell some more established players and sign a couple of decent players to take them to the next level.
-
Really warming to Houllier. He has brought in youth perhaps not totally by choice. This has brought a touch of fresh air into the team and is certainly bringing out the best in Downing .......
-
GHOUL is turning us into a fearless team by introducing youngsters and trusting them. MON would have turned to likes of Harewood, Beye and Routledge.
I like what GH is doing, but amid the justified euphoria it it may be worth recalling that a certain chap by the name of O'Leary played teams which included Moore, Cahil, Ridgewell, Davis and Gardner to whom he referred as his "babbies".
-
I like what GH is doing, but amid the justified euphoria it it may be worth recalling that a certain chap by the name of O'Leary played teams which included Moore, Cahil, Ridgewell, Davis and Gardner to whom he referred as his "babbies".
In defense of DOL, he did not have a huge amount of choice but to play the babies as there wasn't the Randy money sloshing about. ...and remember that group of players were sold for around £18m so playing them did have some benefits. I hope this generation of rookies will be complemented with some decent signings as well.
With regard to Houllier, I think his strength is that he will build things for the future, not look for the quick fix. Improving the infrastructure of the club will take a lot of time so I am not surprised that he has not made an immediate impact. In many ways I think the next manager will be the one who benefits most from Houllier's work.
-
So that will be Mr McAllister then :)
-
Please Mr H could you make it happen that Petrov and Heskey have played their last games for us. We create more chances, pass the ball better and entertain far better without those pesky kids spoiling the fun.