Gerard Houllier

[Ian.]

If the above is true, I reckon a lot of us have already second guessed that its the older pro's bought by MON which are the trouble makers and until this group is broken up we can not judge Houllier at all fairly. The more the season goes on you have to wonder if these rumours we keep hearing are true and what hope Houllier had from the moment he took over until the transfer window. It will be interesting who leaves.
I don't understand the logic in playing Pires yesterday if the paper report from him was true?

[Shrek]

It's true, I'm not lieing!

[Ian.]

I do believe you, what I mean is if you read into what Albrington's dad said the training is good and if he is happy then it has to be the older pros who need to change NOT the manager before we can give him a chance.
I think the board are doing the right thing in not just sacking Houllier without giving him more time.

[Shrek]

Yeah I'm starting to agree, I have been pro Houllier since he came, because I honestly thought he has real pedigree of improving a club.

But after Sunderlands rubbish performance and zero input from the manager tactically, I wanted him out.

I am willing to give him time if he can buy and sell a few players.

[KevinGage]

Albrighton -like Bannan- will be one of those players who benefited from MON's departure in the summer, as they'd have probably seen far less game time under MON. Particularly he had got his way and been able to sign McGeady.

It stands to reason they'd be grateful for the chance to figure more, but it should always be on merit, rather than just having a manager saying "Look! I play the kids!" and hoping to head off some of the criticism for not getting results that way.  Though I do accept that his hand was somewhat forced in Nov/Dec.

[olaftab]

if you support a club, not a glory hunting club but one of the other 87 or 88 in the fotball league,

and someone says to you 'in your lifetime you will see good times and bad, ups and downs, promotions and relegations, but i can gurantee that you will see your team win EVERY major honour there is to win, before you die'

That's it John and I am there. Started going to VP when we got relgated to the 3rd division so I have seen us win everything except the  holy grail the FA Cup.  I guess the FA cup means more to the fans of my generation and not so much to under 30's.
To them I guess . as football started in 93, staying in the PL  and finishing 17th  to mid table over say 40 years will be all they want.

[KevinGage]

The problem with that is that years ago it was quite possible to get relegated, come back up and then go for the title all within a relatively short space of time.

SKY are currently on a nostalgia tip and are showing programmes from 1991, including a young Andy Gray -then Aston Villa assistant manager- getting interviewed. He talked about winning the European Cup again as a realistic aim, and it might have been back then. Even though we had just avoided the drop under Venglos. Following year we finished second, but we haven't come anywhere near the title since then.

I don't think anyone seriously wants to finish only 17-mid table over 40 years. It's simply a case that relegation and all the financial implications of that would mean an already remote chance of exceeding 6th at some point in the not too distant becomes close to impossible.

[olaftab]

You see I don't really understand why  PL clubs  field  "weaker" teams in the FA Cup. I don't understand fans  not turning up for a home  tie. The empty seats at Sunderland  were shocking. Therefore I am shocked by what's happenend to football since 93.
For me over  the past many many seasons  the priority home  game was always an FA Cup tie. No other competition has motivated me more ever since I  read about our 57 truimph and the general history of the cup. Also  the fact that for a long time Aston Villa were the record holding winners.

 If I had the choice  I would we rather lose a league  game than a cup game.  You can make up the loss in the League.

I would be happy if we win the FA Cup now and than and keep qualifying for Europe so that I can watch us play in other countries. That is not a lot to ask for?

[dave.woodhall]

Talking to some Wolves fans on the way home yesterday and all they're interested in is the Premier League, and staying in it. To them the FA Cup is an irrelevance.

[KevinGage]

You see I don't really understand why  PL clubs  field  "weaker" teams in the FA Cup. I don't understand fans  not turning up for a home  tie. The empty seats at Sunderland  were shocking. Therefore I am shocked by what's happenend to football since 93.
For me over  the past many many seasons  the priority home  game was always an FA Cup tie. No other competition has motivated me more ever since I  read about our 57 truimph and the general history of the cup. Also  the fact that for a long time Aston Villa were the record holding winners.

 If I had the choice  I would we rather lose a league  game than a cup game.  You can make up the loss in the League.

I would be happy if we win the FA Cup now and than and keep qualifying for Europe so that I can watch us play in other countries. That is not a lot to ask for?

I agree aftab.

Even Sheff United had swathes of empty seats yesterday. We might not be performing that well, but there are still a few stars in our team and years ago a lower division side at home facing a team from the top flight would be an occasion, guaranteed to be pretty close to a sellout.

[ozzjim]

I am 28 aftab, and for me football started in GT 88 season going down regularly. For me the FA Cup is a major trophy, and the club would bounce back from relegation in time, but win the FA Cup once a century or so, so winning the FA Cup is way more prestigious.

Nice to hear GH has some people who think he is doing ok too Shrek, Albrighton is a hell of a footballer. I also think he needed the rest given too him in the last couple of games.

[Clampy]

Talking to some Wolves fans on the way home yesterday and all they're interested in is the Premier League, and staying in it. To them the FA Cup is an irrelevance.

I reckon they might have felt differently if they'd had'nt been held to a 2-2 draw against Doncaster.

[olaftab]

Fair play to you ozzjim. Good to see traditional values preserved in a "youngster".

I saw the emergence of Little, Gidman etc who were than older than me so  I viewed that as normal activity in a club. Since than  only Shaw  came through with our system with  real class.  I am very excited about Albrighton and Bannan. Clark will also make it. Not sure about  Lichaj, Delfouenso and Hogg so far but time to develop.  Kids emerge better in successful teams rather than struggling team so it is very important that we  move away from our current position in the league and aslo agree that they must not be overplayed.

[eastie]

im 45 but i must admit id love to win the fa cup most , mainly because ive seen us win the others.

[Archie]

The good new is that yesterday GH palyed Albrighton and Bannan from the start (unlike  he did against Chelsea and Sunderland).
Ok, maybe at Barça Super Mark would start from the bench, but at Villa?

To be honest, unlike many users here,  I wasn't remained  impressed with the team even after the 3-3 at the Bridge. I have been watching football since 30 years, and one thing  that I have learnt is to judge a game without being conditioned by the final result. So, the last lucky Clarke's equalizer  (lucky because it's not too often that the team that won the League leaves one of your players unmarked in the box, at their home, after completing a dramatic comeback) didn't change my mind. I thought  that we had lost the occasion to win against a team in deep crisis and the following games, their with Wolves and ours with Sunderland, confirmed that I was right.

Unfortunately I'm convinced that, if things don't change,  with his absurd tactics and choices this manager will bring us deep in championship as he doesn't have a clue of what he's doing, but I'll support him until he's in charge.