Gerard Houllier

[Clampy]

I was'nt that overwhelmed when we appointed him, i thought he was too old and passed it slightly but i got behind him regardless, like you do.

The football is better with it being played on the floor, but other than that it's been a bit of a disaster so far. Injuries have'nt helped of course, but seeing a midfield of Delph and Hogg yesterday when NRC and Bannan are siting on the bench is one of a few weird decisions he's made since he's been here. Dropping Carlos for Dunne after the Wolves game was another. He always seems to come across as wanting to be somewhere else other than shivering on our bench, although i'm sure that's not the case.

I really want to see him succeed, i quite like the bloke but just like i thought at the time of the appointment, something tells me he's not the right man.

[olaftab]

I say burn him as sacking isn't enough, and bring in Allardyce, Hughton, Holloway or Warnock.

TV it's all very well for you to suggest burning him sitting safe  a few thousand miles away.  We will have the might of the French army to deal with as surely war would be declared. Can you please suggest something else?

And also I am not impressed with your indecisiveness in choosing  his replacement and why have you forgotten Sir Graham Taylor?

[Nelly]

Given the squad Houllier inherited, the timing of his appointment and the number of injuries we've had, what did people expect?

If we'd won yesterday we'd have been sitting in 9th place 4 and 6 points behind the teams in 7th and 6th with a game in hand. This thread wouldn't have existed and everyone would have been happy.

Some on here have commented that players aren't happy and there is unrest at the training ground. Richard Dunne being the main culprit and one of the players most people have had a go at for being too fat and shit.

We were never going to achieve much this season given all of the problems but it's not fanciful to expect a half-decent run in the New Year.

Chill.

Amen to this.

[TopDeck113]

On the plus side, at least our season wont be ending in Feb this year.....

Oh, how soon we forget.  Here was me remembering not even 12 months ago an FA Cup semi-final in mid-April and a challenge for a Champions League place that was only ended mathematically on the first day of May. 

[olaftab]

Given the squad Houllier inherited, the timing of his appointment and the number of injuries we've had, what did people expect?

If we'd won yesterday we'd have been sitting in 9th place 4 and 6 points behind the teams in 7th and 6th with a game in hand. This thread wouldn't have existed and everyone would have been happy.

Some on here have commented that players aren't happy and there is unrest at the training ground. Richard Dunne being the main culprit and one of the players most people have had a go at for being too fat and shit.

We were never going to achieve much this season given all of the problems but it's not fanciful to expect a half-decent run in the New Year.

Chill.

Yes this and people have spoken on this thread. 66% voted for no sack combined options of "trading period" and "rest of the season"

[garyshawsknee]

Like most managers he needs a couple of transfer windows so that he can get his own players in before we can really judge him and he's had to contend with the worse injury crisis I can remember as a Villa fan,but like most people on here I didnt see the appointment coming,and now the squad is nearly back to full strength I was suprised by a couple of the selections yesterday. We need a big improvement in the performance tomorrow to give us some hope to cling on to.

[avfc_1874]

I'm just curious as to how people know that McAllister is a bad coach?

A few sources from 'other fans' and some overweight defender moaning don't really give us much of an idea.

[supertom]

Jan will make or break him. If he has a transfer record of his early days at Liverpool, we'll improve. If he starts pulling Diao's and Diouf's out the air, we're up shit creek with out a paddle!

[Phil from the upper holte]

I think we should give him a chance, Ok its not brilliant at the moment but part of the problem is we don't have a striker, we have needed a striker for years. I like gabby but he isn't a 20 goal a year striker and he wont be. We need someone up there and it isn't Heskey!

We also need quality in centre midfield, there isn't a player in there who can create something or put in a killer pass. That was plainly obvious last night. Wide men are ok but a top quality midfielder is needed. He hasn't had the chance to bring someone in so let's give him chance?

[ez]

Having thought about it a bit more rationally, I think the best course is to spend just enough money in January to ensure that we have the wherewithal to accrue 40 points and them in the summer, rather like with Venglos, accept that it was an appointment that didn't work out, cut our loses and move on.

Agreed

[eastie]

Mcallister was player coach when Coventry were relegated and then having took over as manager departed with them in the lower reaches of the championship, he also failed at Leeds and left middlesbrough at the bottom of the table so his credentials as a coach are hardly outstanding!

[supertom]

Having thought about it a bit more rationally, I think the best course is to spend just enough money in January to ensure that we have the wherewithal to accrue 40 points and them in the summer, rather like with Venglos, accept that it was an appointment that didn't work out, cut our loses and move on.

Agreed

I'd go along with that to be honest. I would hope come summer there'd be a few decent coaches, in their prime, available and ready for a shot at turning us around.

It's just so frustrating having gotten to a point under O Neill, only to find ourselves back in the same state as when O Leary fucked off. It's almost like the previous 4 years of gradual progression didn't happen.

Much as Houllier is looking very much like the wrong appointment, at the very least, he's laying some positive foundations with the younger players, which will only benefit the next manager in waiting. The likes of Lichaj, Bannan and more evidently, Albrighton will be important players and will be ready. But we can't for a second think we're too good to go down. We're in trouble.

[Pete Green]

Give him the season I reckon.

I don't like the guy if I'm honest and if he gets the tin-tack before the end of the season I wouldn't miss him - I think he's always going to be the ex-boss of somebody else rather than a Villa man.

However, there's a chance he'll sort it out, and I can only leave him to get on with it.

[JUAN PABLO]

Mcallister was player coach when Coventry were relegated and then having took over as manager departed with them in the lower reaches of the championship, he also failed at Leeds and left middlesbrough at the bottom of the table so his credentials as a coach are hardly outstanding!

He wasnt Houliers first choice neither..

[brontebilly]

I think we should give him a chance, Ok its not brilliant at the moment but part of the problem is we don't have a striker, we have needed a striker for years. I like gabby but he isn't a 20 goal a year striker and he wont be. We need someone up there and it isn't Heskey!

We also need quality in centre midfield, there isn't a player in there who can create something or put in a killer pass. That was plainly obvious last night. Wide men are ok but a top quality midfielder is needed. He hasn't had the chance to bring someone in so let's give him chance?

Gabby might not be a 20 goal a season striker but he did get 16 last season and for a striker that doesn't take penalties but won a good few that is a pretty good return. John Carew got 17 last season. 33 goals between the pair was decent going. It beggars belief how poor they both have been in terms of attitude, fitness not to mention goals in the space of 6 months.

The 20 goals a season thing is a misnomer anyway. We banged in was it 71 league goals a few seasons back with Carew top scoring with only 13.