Still no apology from the club!

[LeeB]

I quite like the thought of having a manager who is willing to make decisions that will make him unpopular, if he feels it is the right decision for the club.

Some have labelled him a coward for Wednesday, on the evidence seen so far I would say he is quite the opposite.

he is completley mad, he is unpopular because he is making stupid decisions like Wednesday and after todays result he now looks a even bigger fool, Coward, Brave, i think he just doesn't know what he's doing, in a world of his own, shocking manager for us

He is quite clearly not completley mad.

[LeeB]

I quite like the thought of having a manager who is willing to make decisions that will make him unpopular, if he feels it is the right decision for the club.

Some have labelled him a coward for Wednesday, on the evidence seen so far I would say he is quite the opposite.

If he feels that Wednesday was right for the club, he's a fucking idiot.  There was no sign today that it was the right decision anyhow.

Well I haven't seen the game today, but from every independant source that I've read or heard has said we should have been out of sight before they equalised.

So the performance may justify it, but the result did not.

Still, you've made your mind up as have many others, so lets just carry on with the self-flagellation, and I'll sit back and enjoy a message board that's read like the comments left on a Daily Mail website regarding and absurd immigration story.

[Eigentor]

For some reason I watched a television interview with Rafa Benitez a few days ago. At Liverpool he was famous for making apparently bizarre tactical decision which more often than not didn't work. After the match, he always refused to admit that the decision was a mistake. The interviewer asked if it wouldn't have been better to have admitted that it was a bad decision. Benitez replied that if a manager admitted the mistakes he made, he would be continually undermined by media, pundits and opponents. Thus, he believed, you have to be defiant in public, but be self-critical in private.

What GH did on Wednesday was not to give up before the match started. He made a gamble that he thought was worth making, and he knew the risks involved. He's no fool even though some posters here believe so. I'm not sure if the apology was a wise move by GH, because -- in the long run -- I don't think it will serve the club well if the manager has to explain every decision he makes.

[Cuz]

I quite like the thought of having a manager who is willing to make decisions that will make him unpopular, if he feels it is the right decision for the club.

Some have labelled him a coward for Wednesday, on the evidence seen so far I would say he is quite the opposite.

If he feels that Wednesday was right for the club, he's a fucking idiot.  There was no sign today that it was the right decision anyhow.

Well I haven't seen the game today, but from every independant source that I've read or heard has said we should have been out of sight before they equalised.

So the performance may justify it, but the result did not.

Still, you've made your mind up as have many others, so lets just carry on with the self-flagellation, and I'll sit back and enjoy a message board that's read like the comments left on a Daily Mail website regarding and absurd immigration story.

I quite like the thought of having a manager who is willing to make decisions that will make him unpopular, if he feels it is the right decision for the club.

Some have labelled him a coward for Wednesday, on the evidence seen so far I would say he is quite the opposite.

he is completley mad, he is unpopular because he is making stupid decisions like Wednesday and after todays result he now looks a even bigger fool, Coward, Brave, i think he just doesn't know what he's doing, in a world of his own, shocking manager for us

He is quite clearly not completley mad.

So Lee do you think he and his coaching team are doing a good job since he took over ? and if so try and enlighten me, I've been wrong before I just don't get him

[DeKuip]

One of the board's mistakes since they took over has been to be too close to supporters, particularly those who are online regularly. This has meant amongst other things that we somehow feel entitled to explanations and apologies every time something goes wrong or a decision is made that we don't agree with. It would be nice if every club was as customer-friendly as ours but they aren't, and this is why.

I agree entirely with that Dave, and very much appreciate the efforts the club make.
But I do think it is important that the top people at the club get the message and understand how fans feel on such a major issue as the other night. I didn't realistically expect a club apology, but I raised this thread two days after the initial outcry to show that it is not a knee-jerk reaction and that there is genuine anger out there at what happened. It's not something to brush under the carpet in a feeble post-match interview.
I said right at the start I'm not anti-Houlllier, and for me this has never been about sacking the manager or people resigning, but the most disappointing thing is nothing seems to have been learned from the Moscow experience.

An injustice was done to Villa fans and the FA Cup the other night – I just want to know that the people who run our club can see that and can understand the anger it has caused.

[dave.woodhall]

One of the board's mistakes since they took over has been to be too close to supporters, particularly those who are online regularly. This has meant amongst other things that we somehow feel entitled to explanations and apologies every time something goes wrong or a decision is made that we don't agree with. It would be nice if every club was as customer-friendly as ours but they aren't, and this is why.

I agree entirely with that Dave, and very much appreciate the efforts the club make.
But I do think it is important that the top people at the club get the message and understand how fans feel on such a major issue as the other night. I didn't realistically expect a club apology, but I raised this thread two days after the initial outcry to show that it is not a knee-jerk reaction and that there is genuine anger out there at what happened. It's not something to brush under the carpet in a feeble post-match interview.
I said right at the start I'm not anti-Houlllier, and for me this has never been about sacking the manager or people resigning, but the most disappointing thing is nothing seems to have been learned from the Moscow experience.

An injustice was done to Villa fans and the FA Cup the other night – I just want to know that the people who run our club can see that and can understand the anger it has caused.

I agree with you, but I also remember something that players and supporters of Liverpool have said, namely the thing that stopepd their run of success was Hillsborough and its aftermath. Not the tragedy itself but the fact that the club opened its doors to the fans and in doing so stripped itself of the mystique that surrounded it. Obviously, the two situations are a million miles apart, but I do wonder if our board have done a similar thing in their own particular open door policy.

[OzVilla]

I hope not Dave, that would be a huge shame.  But I think the point you make is a great one (however, i think Greame Souness had a hand in the 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' demise too).

I think it's very difficult though in such a passionate game to have that policy.  As we know too well, Villa are a Club that pick you up and drop you down just as quickly - and internet boards are prone to overreaction.

The Generals thread in particular got totally out of hand.

[dave.woodhall]

The Generals thread in particular got totally out of hand.

Indeed it did, and when we suggested that he took a back seat for a while he was accused of running away. Maybe they did too much, too soon.

[Risso]

I quite like the thought of having a manager who is willing to make decisions that will make him unpopular, if he feels it is the right decision for the club.

Some have labelled him a coward for Wednesday, on the evidence seen so far I would say he is quite the opposite.

If he feels that Wednesday was right for the club, he's a fucking idiot.  There was no sign today that it was the right decision anyhow.

Well I haven't seen the game today, but from every independant source that I've read or heard has said we should have been out of sight before they equalised.

So the performance may justify it, but the result did not.

Still, you've made your mind up as have many others, so lets just carry on with the self-flagellation, and I'll sit back and enjoy a message board that's read like the comments left on a Daily Mail website regarding and absurd immigration story.

Until he does something worthy of praise, what do you expect?  We caved in in the FA Cup, and are still deep in the relegation battle.  He may not be a shit manager, but if he isn't he needs to stop doing his very good impression of one.

[WikiVilla]

The Generals thread in particular got totally out of hand.

Indeed it did, and when we suggested that he took a back seat for a while he was accused of running away. Maybe they did too much, too soon.

Totally agree, the general was trying his best to connect with the fans but there has to be that healthy distance or as we saw, things can get out of hand

[The Moose]

If our manager feels that the best decision for Aston Villa is not to compete, and admit that we could not beat Man City because he felt they were better than us, then he should NOT be manager of this proud club!
If this had been made clear prior to the game, how many fans would have bothered taking time off work, spending hard-earned cash and trekking up to Manchester to witness a surrender of unprecedented callousness?
No, it was clear when the team was announced what would happen - obviously Moscow and, to a lesser degree Hamburg, were ignored.

Shame on you Houllier, and shame on Villa for appointing you.

[Nev]

The Generals thread in particular got totally out of hand.

Indeed it did, and when we suggested that he took a back seat for a while he was accused of running away. Maybe they did too much, too soon.

I was never comfortable with this close communication between the fans and the club, particularly via the internet. At times the club appeared to be trying to appease everyone on such varying topics as transfer policy, Wembley ticket distribution and the price of a pie and ended up not knowing which way to turn.

You then had the "General, why don't we sign Messi?" type of comments.

Fan/club communication is very important and while it may have been a worthwhile and admirable experiment, in this case I believe lessons need to be learned.

As for "apologies" from the club or the manager, they make us look weak and portray a negative image.
I would prefer the club to approach every game with a positive attitude and ensure that the conduct of all employees is suitably professional and respectful.

There would be no need for apologies then.

[ROBBO]

Yes we should have won, three bad defensive errors from an inexperieced back line and a keeper that will not leave his line, but i tell you what some of the football we played was top notch.

[eastie]

Totally agree robbo, anyone playing us must see that the keeper does not even come out in the 6 yard box- put your crosses in that area and if you get a header to it you will probably score- I've been saying it for a couple of years now, a keeper who stays on his line when the ball is so close is a huge liability and cannot give any confidence to defenders, we are conceding goals for fun and should have brought in a keeper in January.

He has no real competition for his place and we are stuck with him for the season now, not only his lack of commanding the area but the way he pushes shots back out in front of him rather than wide of him is also a huge concern.

[pauliewalnuts]

If Gerard feels we could never have beaten an injury hit Man City (one which drew at home to Fulham and looked pedestrian against Wuhan yesterday) then I am very disappointed to have such a defeatist attitude from those meant to be leading us.

That is his call, though, and he takes the consequences of it, so he clearly must feel that way.

To come out and say it to the media, though, serves no purpose at all, and was terrible judgement on his part - something the media department clearly thought and something we've seen far too much of from him this season.