The future of Houllier and McAllister?

[Ad@m]

He seems to be one of the good guys, says what he thinks rather than talking in riddles.

You mean he gives the press easy ammunition to run 'Club in crisis' style stories?

It is refreshing to hear a footballer saying something that isn't in the generic footballer interview handbook but I'd much prefer it if it was other club's footballers.

[KevinGage]

The press will do it anyway and would you rather be patronised by a player telling you everything in the garden is rosy when it clearly isn't?

It's been a shit season, for a variety of reasons. I'd actually be a wee bit more concerned if the players didn't think that and weren't actually bothered about the current managerial situation.

[Ad@m]

It's been a shit season, for a variety of reasons. I'd actually be a wee bit more concerned if the players didn't think that and weren't actually bothered about the current managerial situation.

It has indeed and you'd have to be Stevie Wonder not to see it.

So I'd rather our players weren't playing rent-a-gob and shouting it from the rooftops.  They should be getting their head down and doing something about it.  If they have to talk to a journo they should toe the party line.

What would your boss think if you posted all over Facebook/Twitter what an absolute shambles the place you work at was and that no-one there knew what was going on?

[KevinGage]

Thankfully my career isn't high profile enough to warrant the kind of interest or attention footballers receive.

In most industries the managers word is law and it pays not to agitate him/her in any way shape or form. Footballers know that there is generally as much chance of the manager being moved on/ forced to quit as there is of them being forced to carry the can, so they have more leeway in that regard.

You can interpret it as another example of player power/ everything that is rotten about football, but there it is. 

[Des Little]

A complete and utter clean sweep is needed this Summer.  Anyone - and I mean anyone - who wishes to leave should go.  The Manager and his mate should go regardless of their desires and a proper, fit and most importantly, hungry manager should come in. Dare I say it that Randy also needs to evaluate his board and where necessary make changes there too.

No pissing about, no molly-coddling, we need positive action.

[Cuz]

Spot on Des and i pray this will happen, and i think the players want this as well the way they played on Saturday 

A complete and utter clean sweep is needed this Summer.  Anyone - and I mean anyone - who wishes to leave should go.  The Manager and his mate should go regardless of their desires and a proper, fit and most importantly, hungry manager should come in. Dare I say it that Randy also needs to evaluate his board and where necessary make changes there too.

No pissing about, no molly-coddling, we need positive action.

[Ad@m]

Inspired by a post on another thread, this is who SkyBet think the next Villa manager will be:

David Moyes 1/1
FSW 5/2
Allardyce 5/1
Hughes 7/1
K Mac 8/1
Martin Jol 8/1
Schteve McClaren 8/1

It gets silly after that.  For people who'd prefer to donate their money to Sky, Capello is 25/1, Mourinho and Maradona are 33/1, and a certain Martin O'Neill is 20/1!!!

[pauliewalnuts]

Mourinho is only 33/1? Crikey.

[Ad@m]

Mourinho is only 33/1? Crikey.

I'm sure I saw him in Asda Minworth at the weekend...

[JJ-AV]

Factoring in no Milner replacement, his health issues and the team not being arsed in the last two games as they've nothing to play for, it shows he's not doing too badly.

[Countryside Villain]

Its a Talksport story, but a suggestion that Quique Sanchez Flores might be in the frame.  That could be a interesting step.  Maybe he could bring Aguerro with him.

[Mr Diggles]

I can't get too excited about the more exotic names that are being banded about. I assume that Lerner will not deviate too far from the criteria he had when he recruited Houllier (assuming Houllier won't be manager of course), where experience in the Premier League is required. I would think Hughes and Moyes will be high on the list which, considering this past year, is fine by me, even if I can't get too excited about it.

How did it come to this? I feel so apathetic about everything Villa-related at the moment, I never would have thought that over the past 3 or 4 seasons.

[fbriai]

Following on from yesterday, more quotes from Young in a piece on NRC. I'll put the whole article, as it's full of relevant detail.

Nigel Reo-Coker believes Aston Villa have done well to cope with blows
by Louise Taylor
The Guardian, Tuesday 10 May 2011

Nigel Reo-Coker and Luke Young have reinforced the impression that Aston Villa remains a club very much in limbo. Almost everything at Villa Park has been necessarily placed on hold while directors, staff and players wait to learn whether Gérard Houllier will be fit to resume as manager.

Reo-Coker believes that, rather than being pilloried for underachieving, he and his team-mates should be praised for averting relegation. "It has been very difficult at this club, there has been so much that has happened throughout the whole season," the midfielder said. "Full credit to the boys and the staff because we have done well. If other clubs had been in the same situation as us they would have been relegated. So much has changed, we have done well to stay together as a team and keep performing."

With Reo-Coker and the goalkeeper Brad Friedel approaching the end of their contracts and persistent rumours linking Ashley Young with a transfer to Manchester United, Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur, Luke Young is worried that Villa are treading water at the wrong time. "We've discussed it ourselves as players, wondering who is going to be making the decisions about who to keep and sell," he said. "No one knows. Again."

Villa have had four managers since the end of last season: Martin O'Neill, who left the club on the eve of the new campaign; Kevin MacDonald, who was caretaker manager; Houllier, who was appointed in September; and Gary McAllister, the Frenchman's assistant who is currently filling in. But Reo-Coker hopes Houllier will be passed fit after his heart trouble to return to the dugout.

"I owe Gérard Houllier tremendously," he said. "He has restored belief and confidence. He is a great manager. I think he has got us playing great football and I still believe the best is yet to come."

Even so, Reo-Coker acknowledges that only the doctors can determine whether Houllier is able to finish what he started. "His situation's bigger than football," he said. "I sent him a text a couple of weeks ago to see how he was and I will probably go and see him this week. I owe him a lot and am very grateful for the opportunities he has given me and the belief he has instilled."

The 'No one knows. Again.' is pretty strong.

[fbriai]

And an article specifically related to Young's comments:

'No one really knows what's going on at Aston Villa,' says Luke Young
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 May 2011 10.45 BST

The Aston Villa defender Luke Young has characterised the current uncertain air around the club and says "no one really knows what is going on" at the club.

With the manager, Gérard Houllier, on sick leave to recover from recent heart problems, the former England full-back fears another summer of upheaval at Villa Park will follow an alarmingly unsettled season.

"It is going to be another summer of no one knowing what's really going on for a while," he said. "I would hope the manager, first and foremost, is healthy and he comes through the trouble he has been having with his heart.

"I think also we need to know what we are doing, who is going to be taking the club forward, who is going to be making the decision on what players stay and go and who is going to be in charge for next season. Hopefully Gérard is fine and he can carry on but at the minute, let's be honest, no one really knows what is going on."

With Brad Friedel and Nigel Reo-Coker approaching the end of their contracts and persistent rumours linking Ashley Young with a transfer to Manchester United, Liverpool or Tottenham, Young is worried that the club is in limbo.

"We've discussed it ourselves as players, who is going to be making the decisions to keep and sell," he said. "No one knows again."

Villa have had four managers since the end of last season in Martin O'Neill, the caretaker Kevin MacDonald, Houllier and now his stand-in Gary McAllister. But Young refuses to use that as an excuse for a season of underachievement.

"That's our job, to do a lot better than we have this year. We are not going to make loads of excuses," he said. "It is not ideal but, as a group of players, we know where we are in the league is not good enough and we are honest enough as a group to know we haven't done enough.

"I don't feel we should be struggling with the squad we've got and next year let's hope we fly out the blocks a little bit better than we did this year and we really move on."

[Risso]

The comments from NRC beggar belief, but then I suppose they're from someone who probably isn't awash with the sort of offers he was expecting, and is therefore hoping that saying something nice will lead to a new contract at Villa.  But "we have done well" and " He is a great manager, I think he has got us playing great football"?  Who is he trying to kid?