What's going on?

[brian green]

Leeg, it is true I genuinely feared we would be relegated with Houllier.   When we lost the Wolves game I was braced for it.   At that point Small Heath looked less likely than us to go down.   I make a point of never being hostile or rude to other posters however much I disagree with them but I would call anybody a liar who said they fancied going into the Arsenal and Liverpool games needing to scrape points for survival.   The last two weeks of the season were kind to us and ninth place flattered us hugely.

I don't fear relegation with Alex McLeish.   I fear something much worse.   We will win ugly lose ugly and draw ugly and going to a Villa game will be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I could not abide Gerard Houllier at any price but at least you eventually could see what he was trying to do albeit in fits and starts and bits and pieces..   For the life of me in the five games so far I cannot see what Alex McLeish is trying to do.   Perhaps the Newcastle game will start to disperse the fog but I shall not be there.   I am taking my wife to the theatre. 

[Louzie0]

re: Brian green

I think if you are going to quote the importance of history regarding villa, i think an apt quote is from Karl Marx (yes I know), when he wrote:

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce".

Recently, tragedy can be seen in the 2009-2010 season; farce would be 2010-2011. I have no idea which this season will be.

Triumph!  At least, one of the cups and /or finishing 4th would do it for me! 

[Greg N'Ash]

Leeg, it is true I genuinely feared we would be relegated with Houllier.   When we lost the Wolves game I was braced for it.   At that point Small Heath looked less likely than us to go down.   I make a point of never being hostile or rude to other posters however much I disagree with them but I would call anybody a liar who said they fancied going into the Arsenal and Liverpool games needing to scrape points for survival.   The last two weeks of the season were kind to us and ninth place flattered us hugely.

I don't fear relegation with Alex McLeish.   I fear something much worse.   We will win ugly lose ugly and draw ugly and going to a Villa game will be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I could not abide Gerard Houllier at any price but at least you eventually could see what he was trying to do albeit in fits and starts and bits and pieces..   For the life of me in the five games so far I cannot see what Alex McLeish is trying to do.   Perhaps the Newcastle game will start to disperse the fog but I shall not be there.   I am taking my wife to the theatre. 

Have to agree with all that. I guess its early days and its not AM's team yet by any means but it does seem we've reverted to hoof, but on a budget. I don't think anyone's surprised by this particulary, but it is depressing thats seems the limit of our ambitions

[Clampy]

Leeg, it is true I genuinely feared we would be relegated with Houllier.   When we lost the Wolves game I was braced for it.   At that point Small Heath looked less likely than us to go down.   I make a point of never being hostile or rude to other posters however much I disagree with them but I would call anybody a liar who said they fancied going into the Arsenal and Liverpool games needing to scrape points for survival.   The last two weeks of the season were kind to us and ninth place flattered us hugely.

I don't fear relegation with Alex McLeish.   I fear something much worse.   We will win ugly lose ugly and draw ugly and going to a Villa game will be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I could not abide Gerard Houllier at any price but at least you eventually could see what he was trying to do albeit in fits and starts and bits and pieces..   For the life of me in the five games so far I cannot see what Alex McLeish is trying to do.   Perhaps the Newcastle game will start to disperse the fog but I shall not be there.   I am taking my wife to the theatre. 

Have to agree with all that. I guess its early days and its not AM's team yet by any means but it does seem we've reverted to hoof, but on a budget.

I have'nt seen any evidence of 'hoofing' with the goals we've scored so far in fairness, but i suppose you get a different perspective on the tellybox.

[nick harper]

I believe the main reason he plays Heskey is because of his physical presence, particularly in our own box ironically. We are not a big side and I think he thinks we're going to get outmuscled against the bigger sides. Certainly, Everton caused us all sorts of problems from set pieces.

Not enough reason to play him, and it's at the expense of more talented players who are easier on the eye, but I think his remit is to keep us in the top half of the table whicheever way he can.

It will be interesting to see if the influence of Cowans and MacDonald helps to soften our style of play over time.

[Fergal]

I believe the main reason he plays Heskey is because of his physical presence, particularly in our own box ironically. We are not a big side and I think he thinks we're going to get outmuscled against the bigger sides. Certainly, Everton caused us all sorts of problems from set pieces.

Not enough reason to play him, and it's at the expense of more talented players who are easier on the eye, but I think his remit is to keep us in the top half of the table whicheever way he can.

It will be interesting to see if the influence of Cowans and MacDonald helps to soften our style of play over time.

If Heskey is there because of his physical presence why does he go to ground so easily?

[Greg N'Ash]

Leeg, it is true I genuinely feared we would be relegated with Houllier.   When we lost the Wolves game I was braced for it.   At that point Small Heath looked less likely than us to go down.   I make a point of never being hostile or rude to other posters however much I disagree with them but I would call anybody a liar who said they fancied going into the Arsenal and Liverpool games needing to scrape points for survival.   The last two weeks of the season were kind to us and ninth place flattered us hugely.

I don't fear relegation with Alex McLeish.   I fear something much worse.   We will win ugly lose ugly and draw ugly and going to a Villa game will be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

I could not abide Gerard Houllier at any price but at least you eventually could see what he was trying to do albeit in fits and starts and bits and pieces..   For the life of me in the five games so far I cannot see what Alex McLeish is trying to do.   Perhaps the Newcastle game will start to disperse the fog but I shall not be there.   I am taking my wife to the theatre. 

Have to agree with all that. I guess its early days and its not AM's team yet by any means but it does seem we've reverted to hoof, but on a budget.

I have'nt seen any evidence of 'hoofing' with the goals we've scored so far in fairness, but i suppose you get a different perspective on the tellybox.

maybe not the goals but that seems our main method of attack especially against everton. We were dead lucky against them and if you give away possession at the first opportunity pumping it blindly up field sooner or later you'll play a team who keep possession and will punish us. God help us when we play the likes of the mancs and chelsea

Maybe you have a a very poor picture on your tv due to the digital switchover because i've yet to see a football game where you can't make out who has the ball most of the time.

[Dante Lavelli]

I do not think we have adopted "hoofball" as a deliberate tactic either.  Yes we have used it but its generally been when we have been under pressure (although it is a bit chicken and egg).  I think we have tried to play pretty decent football but simply are not quite there yet, maybe ultimately not good enough.

Anyway, my point is this.  Under MON hoofball was for the best part accepted, whereas now it is AMc as manager it is seen as a fundamental and unacceptable tactic.  I am not saying that AMc should not be criticised but I do get the impression that AMc is not being judged entirely fairly and is being hit with whatever stick is easiest to grab and people are ignoring some of the good things that he has introduced.

[UsualSuspect]

I am impressed by Alex McLeish's handling of the media,
------------------------------------------------------------------------

me too especially the bit when he lied about one of his players being injured because he had failed a drug test. But it's okay because he was told to do it.

[Greg N'Ash]

I do not think we have adopted "hoofball" as a deliberate tactic either.  Yes we have used it but its generally been when we have been under pressure (although it is a bit chicken and egg).  I think we have tried to play pretty decent football but simply are not quite there yet, maybe ultimately not good enough.

Anyway, my point is this.  Under MON hoofball was for the best part accepted, whereas now it is AMc as manager it is seen as a fundamental and unacceptable tactic.  I am not saying that AMc should not be criticised but I do get the impression that AMc is not being judged entirely fairly and is being hit with whatever stick is easiest to grab and people are ignoring some of the good things that he has introduced.

I think thats fair comment. Personally i feel more animosity to Lerner than AM. AM has a style and sticks to it and fair enough, but even if he wanted to play a more attractive style his hands are tied. You just can't bring those sort of players in on the budget he's got so its no surprise he's playing to his strengths.

[Chris Smith]

So we play hoof ball except for the times when we don't. More top class analysis from the Nash imagination.

There is nothing wrong with using long balls at times to stretch the opposition. If it becomes the only tactic then it becomes an issue but that's clearly not the case with us.

[Greg N'Ash]

So we play hoof ball except for the times when we don't. More top class analysis from the Nash imagination.

There is nothing wrong with using long balls at times to stretch the opposition. If it becomes the only tactic then it becomes an issue but that's clearly not the case with us.

Half the press reported the same so we all seem to be suffering from the same mass delusion then. Check out our stats for the game. Hardly keeping hold of the ball were we? Hardly creating loads of chances were we? No wonder Bent looks demoralised

[Chris Smith]

So we play hoof ball except for the times when we don't. More top class analysis from the Nash imagination.

There is nothing wrong with using long balls at times to stretch the opposition. If it becomes the only tactic then it becomes an issue but that's clearly not the case with us.

Half the press reported the same so we all seem to be suffering from the same mass delusion then. Check out our stats for the game. Hardly keeping hold of the ball were we? Hardly creating loads of chances were we? No wonder Bent looks demoralised

That's because they were on top for a lot of the game and we were spending much if it  just having to clear it. When we did have periods of possession we tried to play football.

It was the circumstances of the game rather than a deliberate tactic, you can't always dictate how it is played.

[N'ZMAV]

We (Aston Villa) do have a large share of moron fans.

[N'ZMAV]

It will be interesting to see if the influence of Cowans and MacDonald helps to soften our style of play over time.

Of course it will. I think this is a great move by AM. Maybe he just wanted to be tight and get a few points on the board early on, knowing what the reaction of the fans would be if we had a very bad start. It was, and still is, going to take AM a while to stamp his style on the team, and his style, will probably be very different to the style he had down the road, simply because we have better players.