Are we safe now?

[Villa'Zawg]

Will be interesting to hear what those who were guaranteeing relegation under GH are thinking now. A dramatic shifting of the goalposts is going to take place on that point I would imagine..

Well as someone who started to believe that relegation was a distinct possibility, I'll tell you what I think: we'll have survived despite Houllier, not because of him.   It is perhaps a debate for the moment that the final whistle sounds at Arsenal in a few weeks time, but regardless of where we finish in the table, I don't want him in the manager's office come the beginning of next season.

One thing that is 100% guaranteed assuming we stay up is that Houllier will be our manager. Lerner has said as much through Faulkner so I'm not sure why people think there is a chance of this happening.

I disagree. The latest vote of confidence from Faulkner was a great deal less emphatic than a 100% guarantee he will be manager next season, "Our best chance of staying up is with Gerard".

[TopDeck113]

Will be interesting to hear what those who were guaranteeing relegation under GH are thinking now. A dramatic shifting of the goalposts is going to take place on that point I would imagine..

Well as someone who started to believe that relegation was a distinct possibility, I'll tell you what I think: we'll have survived despite Houllier, not because of him.   It is perhaps a debate for the moment that the final whistle sounds at Arsenal in a few weeks time, but regardless of where we finish in the table, I don't want him in the manager's office come the beginning of next season.

Did we sign the best centre forward possible "in spite of him" ?

Yes.

This is now going over old ground, but I reckon that when Houllier was appointed the last thing that Randy envisaged doing in January was forking out £18million on one player.  However, when you're staring into the financial abyss that relegation would bring, it was a punt that needed to be made.  So in effect it was Houllier's poor record since his appointment that made the signing necessary.

[nick harper]

Will be interesting to hear what those who were guaranteeing relegation under GH are thinking now. A dramatic shifting of the goalposts is going to take place on that point I would imagine..

Well as someone who started to believe that relegation was a distinct possibility, I'll tell you what I think: we'll have survived despite Houllier, not because of him.   It is perhaps a debate for the moment that the final whistle sounds at Arsenal in a few weeks time, but regardless of where we finish in the table, I don't want him in the manager's office come the beginning of next season.

One thing that is 100% guaranteed assuming we stay up is that Houllier will be our manager. Lerner has said as much through Faulkner so I'm not sure why people think there is a chance of this happening.

I disagree. The latest vote of confidence from Faulkner was a great deal less emphatic than a 100% guarantee he will be manager next season, "Our best chance of staying up is with Gerard".

We'll have to agree to disagree. Accepting that we're not quite out of the woods yet, the board have held their nerve while we have all been panicking and wringing our hands about the manager. There is no way they will make a change in the Summer unless Houllier decides he doesn't want it.

[Concrete John]

Will be interesting to hear what those who were guaranteeing relegation under GH are thinking now. A dramatic shifting of the goalposts is going to take place on that point I would imagine..

Well as someone who started to believe that relegation was a distinct possibility, I'll tell you what I think: we'll have survived despite Houllier, not because of him.   It is perhaps a debate for the moment that the final whistle sounds at Arsenal in a few weeks time, but regardless of where we finish in the table, I don't want him in the manager's office come the beginning of next season.

This would largely be mny opinion also.  I thought at the time and I still think that Randy bought him, and of course us, out of trouble with Bent in January.  If West Ham or Wolves had singed him would they be where they are now??

However, my position on him is softening as each win/good result roles in.  I guess we need to look at it after 38 games and see where we are.  Our squad is capable of top 6, of that I have no doubt, but given the injuries being top 8 is an acceptable result, so should he manage that I guess it's a case of getting there the hard way, but getitg there all the same! 

[Merv]

I just hope that the players either think we're not safe yet, and continue pushing hard for every point; or can see that, after what's been a pretty shitty season overall, a top 8 finish is within grasp with a good run-in.

I think we need another win before we can consider ourselves safe but with the games we've got coming up we should be more than capable of winning at least two; Stoke are always tough but they'll hopefully have an eye on Wembley and we can take advantage of that.

Just keep going, lads.

[Mazrim]

Will be interesting to hear what those who were guaranteeing relegation under GH are thinking now. A dramatic shifting of the goalposts is going to take place on that point I would imagine..

Well as someone who started to believe that relegation was a distinct possibility, I'll tell you what I think: we'll have survived despite Houllier, not because of him.   It is perhaps a debate for the moment that the final whistle sounds at Arsenal in a few weeks time, but regardless of where we finish in the table, I don't want him in the manager's office come the beginning of next season.

Did we sign the best centre forward possible "in spite of him" ?

Yes.

This is now going over old ground, but I reckon that when Houllier was appointed the last thing that Randy envisaged doing in January was forking out £18million on one player.  However, when you're staring into the financial abyss that relegation would bring, it was a punt that needed to be made.  So in effect it was Houllier's poor record since his appointment that made the signing necessary.

No, I disagree completely.
I think one of, if not THE first things Houllier said when he assessed the squad and reported to Randy was "look, this team will struggle without a finisher." and Randy provided the funds for one. MON could have bought Bent at any time I reckon (at the expense of another player or two perhaps), but didn't. And we needed Bent during all of MONs tenure. It would have made a massive difference.

Houllier DID sign him. That's the difference. Yes, it was more or less a no brainer but it still evaded MON's brain with supernatural dexterity.
MONs inabilty to buy a top striker made the signing a necessity.

[Merv]

Absolutely. Obvious or not, if we start downgrading Houllier's decision to sign Bent, we're being ridiculously harsh. He selected him, got the backing of the board to make the signing, convinced the player to come. And all those pundits questioning Villa's decision to sign him have gone very very quiet now: 6 goals in 11 games (which could have been 8 in 11 were it not for two borderline decisions).

[andyh]

Someone made a great posting at time saying that the signing of Bent was Randy investing in Villa, not Randy investing in Houllier.
I tend to agree with that statement.   
I too have softened towards Houllier with each good result.
I still not sure though whether he is best man for us in the long run, but do we really want to go through another summer of upheaveal with another new manager having to come in, assess the squad etc etc.
Maybe continuity is what we need. 

[Concrete John]

Although I agree you can't try and take credit for the Bent signing away from Gezza, the simple fact is it wasn't a hard decision to make.  One of the top strikers in the league - who's say no?  What many of us were expecting was little known overseas players who'd come in and do well, which is a bracket you could maybe put Makoun in.  Where I think the credit does need to be given for Bent is to the club overall, and that includes the manager, for the ambition and ability to put a deal like that together in the slow January window, especially when you consider where we were in the league.

[dave.woodhall]

Although I agree you can't try and take credit for the Bent signing away from Gezza, the simple fact is it wasn't a hard decision to make.  One of the top strikers in the league - who's say no?  What many of us were expecting was little known overseas players who'd come in and do well, which is a bracket you could maybe put Makoun in.  Where I think the credit does need to be given for Bent is to the club overall, and that includes the manager, for the ambition and ability to put a deal like that together in the slow January window, especially when you consider where we were in the league.

And also to do it without any fuss, and with hardly anyone knowing until the deal was virtually done.

Incidentally, we're 125/1 to go down if anyone's still worried.

[London Villan]

I still think the Bent signing was from a budget allocated to be spent in the upcoming summer. It was brought forward because of the position we were in. I'd be surprised if we spend anywhere near that amount in the summer.

Was is worrying is what would have happened if Bent had said no to us!

[peter w]

Yes, 40 points with 5 games left and three of them at home. What's more we're playing some decent stuff with our best players all in form and a fully fit squad to pick from.

Agree with this but I'd just like to have 1 more win to be perfectly comfortable meaning I can fully relax.

[gervilla]

1 more win should do it and I can put this whole sorry season to bed.
I still do not want GH in charge next season, he can move upstairs if he wants but I dont think I could handle another season of misery and not even beating THE SHIT once.

[OzVilla]

We are in the results business so i've softened towards Houllier over the last few weeks (fickle me) but I also think we need to see how the remainder of the season pans out re Houllier for next year.

If we were to pick up, say 10-12 points from or remaining fixtures then he deserves another crack at it next year and we can truley label this as that 'transitional' season.

Pick up 3-6 points from our remaining games, end with a whimper and I think it's up in the air about whether we should stick with him.

Although we may now be safe, results and how we play for the rest of the season is very important for GH and his standing with the Villa support imo.  All to play for for GH still.

[dave.woodhall]

1 more win should do it and I can put this whole sorry season to bed.
I still do not want GH in charge next season, he can move upstairs if he wants but I dont think I could handle another season of misery and not even beating THE SHIT once.

The best team many of us have seen lost twice to them in a season. Our worst-ever run against them was under our greatest manager.