Alex McLeish confirmed as manager

[Jimbo]

McLeish is one of Fergie's proteges from the old days. Of course he'll be asked for a comment.

Really? Would Tottenham be asking him for a comment if they'd somehow bungled so badly that they had to employ him? What this says is: "We pose no threat whatsoever to the established order of English football. Now run along and buy a season ticket."

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

come on-own up, which lucky punter staked Alex when he was @ 500-1?!

Was it Harry Redknapp ?

[maidstonevillain]

Lerner has basically told us with the appointment of eck, i couldnt give a flying fuck about this club or fans

No he hasn't.

I think he's basically setting us up to coast, Sunderland-like.

That's part of it, but I also think he genuinely thinks that is a great appointment, and to be honest, that's the bit that scares me the most.

That's the real fear for me. For years Doug was accused of letting the club do this and was the main reason why people wanted him out, the accusation being that we never punched our potential weight. We all (well I) hoped that this would change under Lerner, but this appointment seems to show that he's comfortable to let us drift up and down mid-table just as before.

Maybe this is our weight.

But then again, even many of the Villa hating press, which seems to be most of the press at the moment, still refer to us as a "sleeping giant", which would suggest that the view is we are punching below our weight.
Either that, or it is being thrown in as the final insult.

Having said that, I am slowly coming round to the view that there is no longeer the footballing passion in the Midlands to support a very top club. I hate to say it, but after living down here for 15 years or more, there does seem to be more enthusuiasm for supporting, even the smaller,  football clubs. I think fans in the Midlands may have got too involved in their own petty local rivalries, and lost sight of the bigger picture. Dons tin hat and flees.

[stubbsyandy]

Is it really so hard for many fans to actually suppport the club instead of knocking it at every opportunity?
Randy Lerner may not be the most knowledgable chairman when it comes to footballing matters, but he employs staff who are in the areas that we need them, ie the team. Would you prefer an owner who buys players (Doug/Abramovic) and undermines his manager?
Alex McLeish is now OUR manager, and I for one will get behind him 100%.
Taking away his connection with Blues (and how boring is the contanct referral to our neighbours!) his football pedigree stands up as both a player and a manager. We need someone of strong character, and if a bloke is prepared to face up to the challenge of coming to Villa, knowing that the job is a huge one, and made worse for him due to the rivalry, then i reckon he could well be that strong character.
He knows the vitriol of some of our 'fans' and still wants the challenge.
As for players, well Foster is the keeper we need, and either centre back would be what we need too.
Stop trying to hold the club back by harping on about Blues, lets get real and think about what's best for the club and supprt the man who bought it and put money  into it, and the man who he has chosen to manage it.
And...what was your reaction when you heard Ron Saunders was our new manger???
C'mon Villa!!

[richard moore]

Maybe this is our weight.

Maybe it is. We cannot compete with the Top 6 anymore, if you assume it to be Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham & Liverpool.

Selling club with ambition of finishing in the top 10 is probably what we are now.

There was a good piece in the Guardian yesterday, which in turn attracted an excellent comment - apart from the top four and Liverpool, the rest of the aspirants are in a cycle of either challenging for Europe or midtable. That's probably the grim reality for a lot of clubs.

Essentially, I agree. The top of the premier league is now nothing more than a 'who has got the most money' league. Everyone else from about 4th downwards is just in one big wadge of mediocrity, not that I think the top 4 finishers this season are actually that much cop either. In one sense it is good news for us, as I think it is probably very easy to get to about 6th or so and even challenge Liverpool and Spurs who are both over-rated by the media. Spurs have the Europa cup as well next season and that dreadful deflating feeling of all your subsequent games being on a Sunday. The bad news is that nothing is really worth it anymore in the league unless you can finish top 4 and that is likely to become an exclusive club that almost no one can touch....

[ClarrieBlue]

I'm sure Big Eck will now concede that the ref was right to give a penalty when Roger Johnson bought Gabby down a couple of years ago in front of the Holte and also if we had had a full team out in the Carling Cup QF against Blues we would definitely have beat 'em.

[Risso]

That's my firmly held view of Lerner, and one that as a poster on here I am free to make.  I have no respect for Lerner as owner of Aston Villa Football Club

Out of interest, which slant are you coming from on that?  To me he's a good owner in that he's well intentioned and prepared to invest, but has shown over this that he and his board might not be the right men to guide us through the cut throat world of modern football.

So do you think he's a) a charlatan who has spent a few bob to get us on side, b) an incompetent idiot or c) both.

I simply do not believe the first and think the 2nd will be proven by what Mcleish does in the job. 

c) both

[BILL DE VALL]

come on-own up, which lucky punter staked Alex when he was @ 500-1?!

Was it Harry Redknapp ?

well if we see Harry with pockets bulging with cash -we (removed on legal advice)

[Bad English]

To be honest, I would have enjoyed it if old burgundy beak had actually said "That oul gingerrr ****** at Villa? Away tae fuck!"

[villaparkb6]

Is it really so hard for many fans to actually suppport the club instead of knocking it at every opportunity?
Randy Lerner may not be the most knowledgable chairman when it comes to footballing matters, but he employs staff who are in the areas that we need them, ie the team. Would you prefer an owner who buys players (Doug/Abramovic) and undermines his manager?
Alex McLeish is now OUR manager, and I for one will get behind him 100%.
Taking away his connection with Blues (and how boring is the contanct referral to our neighbours!) his football pedigree stands up as both a player and a manager. We need someone of strong character, and if a bloke is prepared to face up to the challenge of coming to Villa, knowing that the job is a huge one, and made worse for him due to the rivalry, then i reckon he could well be that strong character.
He knows the vitriol of some of our 'fans' and still wants the challenge.
As for players, well Foster is the keeper we need, and either centre back would be what we need too.
Stop trying to hold the club back by harping on about Blues, lets get real and think about what's best for the club and supprt the man who bought it and put money  into it, and the man who he has chosen to manage it.
And...what was your reaction when you heard Ron Saunders was our new manger???
C'mon Villa!!

calm down mr krulak 

[richard moore]

Is it really so hard for many fans to actually suppport the club instead of knocking it at every opportunity?
Randy Lerner may not be the most knowledgable chairman when it comes to footballing matters, but he employs staff who are in the areas that we need them, ie the team. Would you prefer an owner who buys players (Doug/Abramovic) and undermines his manager?
Alex McLeish is now OUR manager, and I for one will get behind him 100%.
Taking away his connection with Blues (and how boring is the contanct referral to our neighbours!) his football pedigree stands up as both a player and a manager. We need someone of strong character, and if a bloke is prepared to face up to the challenge of coming to Villa, knowing that the job is a huge one, and made worse for him due to the rivalry, then i reckon he could well be that strong character.
He knows the vitriol of some of our 'fans' and still wants the challenge.
As for players, well Foster is the keeper we need, and either centre back would be what we need too.
Stop trying to hold the club back by harping on about Blues, lets get real and think about what's best for the club and supprt the man who bought it and put money  into it, and the man who he has chosen to manage it.
And...what was your reaction when you heard Ron Saunders was our new manger???
C'mon Villa!!

Or your reaction when you heard MON had been appointed? Didn't he win most of his trophies in Scotland too and a league cup down here? Lest I forget his pedigree at Wycombe, Norwich and Leicester. I still can't see how he was much different to our new manager to be honest? And yes, I was ecstatic like everyone else when MON came onboard. I suspect that when a lot of people say 'it's nothing to do with him being at the Blues' that in fact it has an awful lot to do with that. And I can understand that, it's easy for me to dismiss it not living in Brum and so not seeing a bluenose from dawn to dusk 365 days of the year!

[Fergal]

Can I be renamed Bad 'Eck' English in honour of this momentous occasion?

can I be renamed 'Fergal, the man who now supports a football club that is willing to appoint a manager of a rival team that only managed to score 37 goals in a full season then got relegated and feels like the owner has given up all hope of progressing to the next level and is willing to let us bump and bobble along the middle of the table with the odd hope of a Cup Run to make us feel good leaving me wondering who Randy gets his advice off because there must be better managers available who could do better and would at least show the world that we do indeed have a bit of ambition especially as knowing the health problems of our former manager would mean a change thus giving us months to look for a sucess...... forget it I am too sad and feel... Bent

[Villa'Zawg]

I've no problem with Ferguson's endorsement of McLeish. I think it is a genuine and honestly held opinion. Now all you have to do is read and understand what he said and why he thought it a good appointment for us. You won't be able to read it in the dishonestly edited version on the official website but this is what he said...

"...By the time Alex took over at Rangers they weren't spending the kind of money which they previously had, so he did a great job. In all his jobs he's had to deal with that kind of situation of making do with what you have and making the best of it, and that's a quality. Villa represent the same type of challenge."

[SoccerHQ]

Been away for a while but the only possible reason I can see to this dreadful appointment is the board are desperate for us to win a trophy to stop the flak and they've reasoned if Mcleish can do it with that rabble, he can certainly do it with us.

Forget ever challenging again for the top 4 while he's in charge though.

[not3bad]

I've no problem with Ferguson's endorsement of McLeish. I think it is a genuine and honestly held opinion. Now all you have to do is read and understand what he said and why he thought it a good appointment for us. You won't be able to read it in the dishonestly edited version on the official website but this is what he said...

"...By the time Alex took over at Rangers they weren't spending the kind of money which they previously had, so he did a great job. In all his jobs he's had to deal with that kind of situation of making do with what you have and making the best of it, and that's a quality. Villa represent the same type of challenge."

Where can you find the full version of Ferguson's statement?