McAllister, Cowans & the new Back Room staff

[Hookeysmith]

Most new managers seem to have an immediate effect - i am excited and looking forward to what he will bring

I agree with him - none of us can forget that we have some very good players in our squad  - lets hope he can bring the best formation and get the best out of them.
As been said elsewhere on other threads - the unusual thing about this appointment is usually Managers come in when teams are struggling and that is difficult - he already has a very good squad so the measure of his tactical awareness and man managemnt should be evident very soon

[Concrete John]

Most new managers seem to have an immediate effect - i am excited and looking forward to what he will bring

I agree with him - none of us can forget that we have some very good players in our squad  - lets hope he can bring the best formation and get the best out of them.
As been said elsewhere on other threads - the unusual thing about this appointment is usually Managers come in when teams are struggling and that is difficult - he already has a very good squad so the measure of his tactical awareness and man managemnt should be evident very soon

This is a point I was making yesterday.  Swap Irealnd for Milner and it's the squad that finished 6th last season.  The other players that have left basically didn't feature, so no 'weakening' there.  Then add an improved Albrighton and other youngsters and he has a lot to work with!

[Monty]

Well, if Macca and Sid cant get this lot passing a ball, nobody can.

I like the sound of what Houllier was saying in his latest interview too. New ideas, more sophisticated play and continental philosophy. It will make a refreshing change.

Well exactly. It was either the Guardian or the Telegraph who said that all MON and his assistants did was fitness training and practice matches, sometimes five-a-sides. The more you learn about his and their deficiencies, the more you wonder how good they must have been at some of the other stuff to take us to where they did.

[Toronto Villa]

5? So that means Kev is going back to only reserve work.

I think he'll be off.

You sense that there's lot of bitterness, but looking at it, it's for the best. KM would have been in the Sid role, but Sid jumped at the chance when asked whereas KM went off in a huff. Had he accepted the assistant's job there still would have been that tension, so having him with the reserves will help the working relationship of the 1st team coaching staff. Quite frankly, his results showed us that he wasn't good enough, and if he feels he needs to leave it will be a shame. But there's no room for passengers at this level. Pull your weight or move on.

[sfx412]

Good sentiments there Toronto.
I'm not too convinced about him being in a huff though.
Seems to me he got what he really wanted, possibly because he didn't like the stress of the job, but where he is he is still involved and part of the 'family'

[fredm]

If you take out the West Ham result (which looking at it now virtually any team in the league would have stuffed them) then KMc's CV was not really enhanced very much by his time in charge if he ever applies for the No.1 job somewhere else.

Personally I think it showed what he is good at, developing younger players who probably need the arm round the shoulder treatment far more than the boot up the backside which, to me, seemed like some of our first team squad looked as if they needed.

[jembob]

The strange this is that while O'Neill was the one who was given millions of pounds to spend, and who wasted much of it in achieving very little, and then who quit just before the start of the new season, taking most of the club's coaching staff with him, for some it's the board who are the bad guys.

I don't understand that reasoning at all.

Agree with this. The mistake the Board made was not to Twitter their every move so that some of our less patient friends could be kept up to date. It seems to me that just because we conducted the recruitment process discreetly (as is the Chairman's way), people seemed happy to think the worse and that nothing was going on. Some of the comments about the Board being incapable and lacking leadership were ridiculous.
The resulting appointment of GH and staff has been excellent in my view and they must be really excited about working with some of the players in this squad and getting them playing properly. As said elsewhere on this thread, if Sid and Macca can't get them passing, god help us.

[Bad English]

As said elsewhere on this thread, if Sid and Macca can't get them passing, god help us.

And, as said elsewhere on this forum, see Robertson, John, ball, crossing of.

[PaulTheVillan]

Maybe we should appoint Shearer, Ronaldo and Messi as coaches.

[Mister E]

   What has "bollocksed" the season, is the boards inability to appoint a manager before the end of the transfer window.

  MON left, it would/should have been an ideal opportunity to get a new manager in, with the funds from the Milner sale, to invest in better players than we currently have, and if possible, move some out.We did'nt, and for me the bigger question is why did MON go, and why did'nt we get a manager in until after the transfer window.

  Worrying times for me as a Villa fan, if we had appointed a Jol/Hiddink/Moyes/Hughes, we would have got an extra 5'000 in the last 3 home games.Thats an extra £200k per game.Short sighted thinking in my eyes.

Wonderful hindsight.
I agree it would have been great to have got someone in before 31-08, but the options were pretty limited and although the Board moved slowly they were not flush with candidates. Blimey, the media were having Curbs in at short odds! Imagine that outcome!!
Oh, and lest we forget: MON stitched us up - there was nothing spontaneous about his departure, IMHO; he left spitefully and vindictively at a time most likely to impact on our early-season performance and limiting our ability to find a qualified replacement.

[dave.woodhall]

One thing the whole O'Neill saga has done is reminded me of how many otherwise seemingly rational thinkers believe the Villa should just do what they want, when they want, and everyone else in the world will go along with them.

[Toronto Villa]

Words from Sid Cowans are very encouraging about the early days under Houllier

“Training is different to what we were doing under Kevin. Mr Houllier has brought his own ideas in – a lot of it is about possession – keeping the ball. If you look at the foreign players, you can see why they are so good at keeping possession of the ball. That is critical.

[Diablo]

   What has "bollocksed" the season, is the boards inability to appoint a manager before the end of the transfer window.

  MON left, it would/should have been an ideal opportunity to get a new manager in, with the funds from the Milner sale, to invest in better players than we currently have, and if possible, move some out.We did'nt, and for me the bigger question is why did MON go, and why did'nt we get a manager in until after the transfer window.

  Worrying times for me as a Villa fan, if we had appointed a Jol/Hiddink/Moyes/Hughes, we would have got an extra 5'000 in the last 3 home games.Thats an extra £200k per game.Short sighted thinking in my eyes.

Oh, and lest we forget: MON stitched us up - there was nothing spontaneous about his departure, IMHO; he left spitefully and vindictively at a time most likely to impact on our early-season performance and limiting our ability to find a qualified replacement.

Has this been proven?? K Mac said in an interview that MON had been helping him after he'd left which doesn't support this argument at all.

[pauliewalnuts]

Words from Sid Cowans are very encouraging about the early days under Houllier

“Training is different to what we were doing under Kevin. Mr Houllier has brought his own ideas in – a lot of it is about possession – keeping the ball. If you look at the foreign players, you can see why they are so good at keeping possession of the ball. That is critical.

A-fucking-men to that.

[Toronto Villa]

Words from Sid Cowans are very encouraging about the early days under Houllier

“Training is different to what we were doing under Kevin. Mr Houllier has brought his own ideas in – a lot of it is about possession – keeping the ball. If you look at the foreign players, you can see why they are so good at keeping possession of the ball. That is critical.

A-fucking-men to that.

won't it be nice to see the possession stats in our favour for a change? I enjoy watching counter attack once in a while, especially with the wheels in our side, but give me constant pressure with the ball at our feet over that any day.