The future of Houllier and McAllister?

[Somniloquism]

simple. GH isn't asking petrov to play MON's way

I would argue we have recently. The two wins against West Ham and Newcastle were played with a 4-4-2 and also recently we have started the same way under GMac.

its not so much the formation but the tempo of play. you ask petrov to run around for 90 minutes and he's shagged. can't do it

Yet GM has played him like that the last 3 matches. Now I know he is shite but he has also admitted that GH is telling him what to do.

[TheSandman]

Again

I am going to say it

So someone has just mentioned Richard Dunne as a you know what.

Is this the same Richard Dunne who got 2nd in the player of the year in our best season for 30 yrs and got into the Premier team of the year ?

Is this the same Richard Dunne who is sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad, can still keep Carlos Cueller - the fans favourite - out of the team.

So come on tell me - is Cueller crap and no one will admit it , Dunne playing well - or your beloved Gerard just not spotting what you are saying is clear ?

enlighten me - please - coz all I can see is these "gobshites" were out of the team when we were pathetic , and have come back in and performed not bad since.

I also see a kid in Kyle Walker looked a bloody world beater when he first came , and has progressively got worse with every game he has played.

The same can be said with Albrighton - who I likened to David Becham 6 months ago, and now looks like he couldn't get past a 5yr old kid now, and Barry Bannan - well - is he with Shergar or something ?

Its a bloody coincidence it is 30 odd players who gave us two memorable days out last year have all became "gobshites" over night !

If you re-read my post where I refer to Richard Dunne in a less than flattering manner: I say that Houllier and McAllister have made some infuriating decisions this season and this is largely referring to Cuellar not playing as one of the biggest examples of this.

Now, unless you have been watching our games on teletext I would assume you can recognise that Dunne has been dreadful this season and making lots of errors. I do not accept these binary facile arguments about the players or management being entirely to blame. Both are.

The players in question have become gobshites for their poor form and lack of motivation over the course of thise season. The player you cite has assaulted the assistant manager (a proper Villa hero who has done more in his career than most of the players in question) if you recall.

[holtepaul]

So again, lets go with that.

Petrov can't last 90 mins.

So the other week , I didn't see one of these "gobshite" players leave a knackered Petrov on the pitch to take our defensive workhorse off only to see us lose against 10 men.

Blame the players all you like but the management have acted like imboceles in many games this year.

[cheltenhamlion]

we WERE a top 6 side. we lost that as soon as milner went and wasn't replaced. Also, It was obvious to anyone with eyes last season that the likes of petrov were struggling to continue to play MON's high tempo way for 90 minutes. players get old, fact of life and with or without MON in change, Petrov's performance level was declining. Factor in Dunne's summer spent in Gregg's - nothing to do with GH  - would MON have played him? or maybe the sheer inspiration of playing for MON would have negated the fact he was carrying around 3 spare tyres............

OK , so you say it was plainly obvious to one and all that Petrov can't cope .

So can I ask why Houllier has bought not one but TWO central midfielders AND PETROV IS STILL IN THE SIDE

INCLUDING TODAY WHEN MAKOUN AND BRADLEY ARE ON THE BENCH

Or, has Houllier a) made a mistake and Petrov has still got enough

or

b) He has just bought (or in one case it depends what you believe whether it is bought, loan or loan to buy) two players that are not good enough for the league.

Wierd really isnt it !

Weird.

Makoun is injured so isn't on the bench and how you can appraise him as not good enough is beyond me.

[Villa'Zawg]

I've just been a bit bored, so decided to check our form out post Moscow compared to post Man City.

Moscow (match played 26th February 2009)

P12 W2 D5 L5 F14 A23 Pts11

Man City (match played 2nd March 2011)

P8 W2 D3 L3 F10 L11 Pts 9

So in 4 less matches we've almost equalled that run.

The quality of the opposition faced in those two runs is somewhat different. Two seasons ago the games we lost were against, Chelsea, Man City, Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd and Fulham away. This time we've been beaten by Bolton, Wolves and West Brom.

The more important issue is why did we make the same mistake twice? Gerard was quick to share the blame by stating after Man City that he had spoken to Paul and Randy about the weakened team he was intending to play with an FA Cup quarter final against Reading the prize, why was it allowed to happen a 2nd time when the FA Cup was all we had left to play for?

[holtepaul]

Yeah Dunne has been awful

So any manager worth his salt would have dropped him and replaced him with a more than adequate Cueller.

But they haven't  - so dont blame Richard Dunne !!

[TheSandman]

Yeah Dunne has been awful

So any manager worth his salt would have dropped him and replaced him with a more than adequate Cueller.

But they haven't  - so dont blame Richard Dunne !!

I agree! I have said as much. I blame the management for picking him.

Christ you really are tedious to argue with. I think I might get more sense out of my dog or a brick wall.

[taylorsworkrate]

I agree that its all MON's fault.

We have after all, only had a week to get over his departure.(Sorry about the sarcasm)

The way he left was shite, theres no doubt about that.  However, we were left with a squad that should comfortably finish in the top half of the table.  We had a couple of months of bad injuries - which can hardly be blamed on MON.

GH was then backed considerably in the January transfer window an results haven't improved anywhere near enough.

[Greg N'Ash]

simple. GH isn't asking petrov to play MON's way

I would argue we have recently. The two wins against West Ham and Newcastle were played with a 4-4-2 and also recently we have started the same way under GMac.

its not so much the formation but the tempo of play. you ask petrov to run around for 90 minutes and he's shagged. can't do it

Yet GM has played him like that the last 3 matches. Now I know he is shite but he has also admitted that GH is telling him what to do.

well like most of here, I don't really think GM has a clue what he's doing personally. i'm not sure of the extent of GH's input currently but i'd be surprised if he's phoning GM up during the game with tactical instructions

[eastie]

The blame for this season rests with o neill, houllier and his staff, Lerner, the players and injuries- all are culpable and some more than others but they have all contributed to a very poor season.

[avfcpg]

The blame for this season rests with o neill, houllier and his staff, Lerner, the players and injuries- all are culpable and some more than others but they have all contributed to a very poor season.

This...

[The Situation]

It really is confusing.

One week you think, what is that prick playing at, the next you're surprised at what he's done with the team. We have an enigma going on with the management, it's 3-4 poor performances followed by 3-4 good performances. If Houllier/Mcallister could keep it more consistent who knows where we could be.

I'm not anti-Houllier, certainly not, results like this confuse me. If only we could have done it more often.

[curiousorange]

It really is confusing.

One week you think, what is that prick playing at, the next you're surprised at what he's done with the team. We have an enigma going on with the management, it's 3-4 poor performances followed by 3-4 good performances. If Houllier/Mcallister could keep it more consistent who knows where we could be.

I'm not anti-Houllier, certainly not, results like this confuse me. If only we could have done it more often.

I don't like to be negative following good performances but it gives me pause to think that if we follow up today's win with a good performance and a win against Liverpool that it might grant Houllier and McAllister another year and I personally don't want that.

[CJ]

It really is confusing.

One week you think, what is that prick playing at, the next you're surprised at what he's done with the team. We have an enigma going on with the management, it's 3-4 poor performances followed by 3-4 good performances. If Houllier/Mcallister could keep it more consistent who knows where we could be.

I'm not anti-Houllier, certainly not, results like this confuse me. If only we could have done it more often.

I don't like to be negative following good performances but it gives me pause to think that if we follow up today's win with a good performance and a win against Liverpool that it might grant Houllier and McAllister another year and I personally don't want that.

Don't think results against Arse and Liverpool would have any bearing on whether they are here or not next season tbh. I think that decision will be determined solely on Houllier's health.  I think the only way Randy would replace them otherwise would be if we'd got relegated.

[Somniloquism]

It really is confusing.

One week you think, what is that prick playing at, the next you're surprised at what he's done with the team. We have an enigma going on with the management, it's 3-4 poor performances followed by 3-4 good performances. If Houllier/Mcallister could keep it more consistent who knows where we could be.

I'm not anti-Houllier, certainly not, results like this confuse me. If only we could have done it more often.

I don't want to be too negative but even in the recent wins against Spam, Newcastle and now Arsenal, we could easily have lost on any other day. Dunne got away with last man fouls twice that could have been given and Cole missed a golden opportunity. And today with another ref we would have had a defeat.