Gabby: I did think about leaving.

[Chris Smith]

Man United have been the richest club in the country for about 50 years so, yes, they have had advantages that others can't match. They squandered it for years but got their act together off the pitch  just as the PL started and were blessed with the best manager of all time to put their plans into action.

Exactly.

What I meant was they exploited the advantage that their wealth gave them. They were already by far the best supported club in the country but hadn't made the most of it. The advent of the PL enabled them to exploit it to the full, combine it with the genius of Ferguson and they were almost untouchable for years.

[Iago]

Man United have been the richest club in the country for about 50 years so, yes, they have had advantages that others can't match. They squandered it for years but got their act together off the pitch  just as the PL started and were blessed with the best manager of all time to put their plans into action.

Exactly.

What I meant was they exploited the advantage that their wealth gave them. They were already by far the best supported club in the country but hadn't made the most of it. The advent of the PL enabled them to exploit it to the full, combine it with the genius of Ferguson and they were almost untouchable for years.

They found solutions and took advantage of situations they had in their power to do so, therefore evolved from point A to B.

Exactly my point, we should try emulate a similar formula for ourselves in the future  .

[barrysleftfoot]

  I have always been a big fan of Gabby.For me though after last season, i probably would have sold him in the summer.

 However his performances have made me change my mind.What i have always liked about Gabby was the fact that he improved season on season, and always seemed to work on his deficiencies.Last season, and with some of his utterances , suggested to me that he hat reached his zenith and was now in decline.His biggest fault for me was his lack of movement off the ball, and his touch, but his goal against Bburn, and his goal against Everton , suggest to me that this has improved, and that he will become the player he always threatened to become.And i'm glad he has made me eat my words.

[KevinGage]

In defence of Houllier -and I know that's not a popular approach around here-  what had Gabby done last season to command a guaranteed starting place in his favoured position?

He was injured when GH first arrived and his form was poor up until the new year -hence the arrival of Bent.  Had we been relying on him and Ivanhoe to shoot us out of trouble (I won't even include JC -as he was playing like he'd practically retired)  we'd have been up shit creek, make no mistake.  Maybe at least one of them would have come good, but GH felt he couldn't chance it -and it was his head on the chopping block.

Talk was that Houllier had enquired about Bent pretty much from the outset -and was a longterm admirer dating back to his time at Liverpool.  Perhaps the initial enquiry only went as far as 'what would it take to do the deal.'  Then, with the numbers involved, GH was happy to go with what he had initially - and give Gabby, JC and Ivanhoe a chance.

When he felt that he could no longer ignore our shortcomings up front -he did the Bent deal.  Perhaps even with the understanding that it would largely need to be financed by Ash leaving.  That was always likely to happen anyway -and with the chance to get Bent, it became an attractive option.

There would have been a lot of outgoings under GH this summer, I'm sure of it (there was anyway -even without him).  Gabby could well have been one of them. He (and Ash even though that was inevitable) would have been just about the only ones I would have been upset about.  But managers always have their own ideas -and maybe the new influx under GH would have made up for the loss of some of our more popular lot.  We'll never know, but there were signs that we were getting it together towards the tail end of last season -initially by going 'back to basics'  but Arsenal away and Liverpool at home in particular, we actually played some outstanding football and got the result.

[Rigadon]

I'm not particularly pro or anti Houllier.  I liked him, seemed genuine and in very brief flashes we seemed to be getting somewhere.  All too infrequently unfortunately.  I just think been preceded by MON didn't suit him and neither did he naturally 'fit' with our crowd.  Who knows, health permitting he might've turned it around but I doubt it personally.  Just wasn't 'right' - this aint scientific I realise.

AM is a natural fit from where I'm sitting and I hope he gambles a bit now he has his solid start under the belt. 

As for Gabby, one of my favourite players and would absolutely love him to continue all season in this vein.  He can be devastating when he's on form and it'a all the sweeter because he's one of us! 

[KevinGage]

The other issue I have with Gabby's comments is it's not as if GH was asking him to play centre midfield or left back.

He was asked to cut in from the left on his right foot - to use his pace to the benefit of the team.  If his goalscoring record had been exceptional - I agree such a move might have been a snub.  But even in his decent seasons -and in his favoured central role-  you were talking about a return of 12-15 goals.   Not bad, by any means.  But given a straight choice of him or Bent up top (in the modern 4-5-1) , I think most would opt for the latter.

Bottom line for me is good players adapt. What Gabby was asked to do was not beyond his skill set.  He was still operating in the final third, still expected to attack and score goals.  And he possessed the tools to be more effective than he actually was.

Downing, Ash and Bent could still bring their A-game.  To my mind, it's weak for any player to hide behind the cop out of not getting on with the manager -unless the manager isn't playing them, of course.  Gabby, Dunne and Collins didn't have that get out of jail card -for the most part.

[Villanation]

Houllier was probably the biggest waste of time and space the club have ever been involved with, ( O'Leary aside) we trawled around the lower echelons of the Premiership for most of the season and only by the fact that we pulled of 2 very strange results v Arsenal and Liverpool at the end of ( wouldn't bet on doing that again if we found ourselves down there a 2nd time) and by the fact that the way the points tallied up in that 9th and relegation was only an 11pt difference so those victories v the said clubs accounted for a much needed 6pts, personally i think the way the squad was falling apart, any other season I think we where in a real chance of going down.

He outed publicly just about every player we had in the squad, he attempted tactics that we never had the type of player to do well enough and we took some of the worst beatings I've ever seen at Villa.

As for Gabby, nice to see a Villa player in the headlines, but I would be just as concerned about this article as I would be excited for the player and club, the reason I'm saying that is Gabby comments on the fact that had he been played out of position any longer and not more central then he would have to have looked elsewhere, isn't he still being played out of position, second point is he shows real ambition for the England squad and that he wants to make the European Championships, where have we heard that kind of thing before and what does it usually act as a catalyst for, also the fact that he actually considered leaving, for me that's a huge shock.

No doubt in my mind that if Gabby put himself in the shop window there would be real interest for him as has already been the case previously from Arsenal, Wenger being a big fan, the only reason why many clubs haven't come in for Gabby time and again is because Gabby goes public often on being totally devoted to the club.

My favourite player by a country mile ever since he scored on his debut v Everton, only hope this is not the prelude to something else.

As for Houllier and McCallister if he couldn't ever see the difference in an Aston Villa side with Gabby in and the influence he carries and the same team without him he should never been allowed near a football team IMO.

[Toronto Villa]

Gabby's comments have followed on from Dunne and Collins. I expect another knife in Houllier next week from someone else.

I'm glad that the players feel that the new management is to their liking because ultimately that is what matters and will help us going forward. But this shouldn't be a one way street in terms of what happened at the club last season. The players who are most aggrieved are those that became very comfortable under MON. When the shock of his departure had subsided, they were left with a new way of going to work. Did GH do things right, or better, might he do things a little differently given another go? Maybe. The man has been successful in a number of places so must have an idea of what works. The bottom line is the players doing the"talking" now were just as responsible for what happened last year as the events off the pitch and the new management and coaching style. They all need to hold up their hands and take some ownership.

Still, like I said at the beginning, I'm glad it's better.

[Villanation]

toronto,


It is the case if manager has a well rounded pool of players, all competing, wanting to play, can't get in the side then start to moan and complain is bang out of order.

That simply can't be the case at Villa, we don't have that kind of depth, if Houllier wasn't going to get any kind of mind set with Dunne and Collins who else was he going to put in defence, Cuellor vanished of the face of the earth as did Warnock, Gabby, after coming back from injury was played totally out of position, he publicly outed players in the press, unforgivable even for the best managers in the world to do, Frankly I think the man was a nightmare, he did the same at Liverpool, and this stuff about how well he did at Liverpool, Houllier inherited a team That Roy Evens put together, he inherited a team that had players coming to the top of there game like  Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, the young star Micheal Owen Jamie Redknapp, John Barnes, Mark Wright, Ian Rush and many others, Donald Duck could have managed Liverpool and still have won everything out there, superb team and what did Houllier do when he got there, he outed Fowler in the press ( The Premier leagues best goal scorer at that time , called him a drunk, Mcmanaman, rated the best midfielder in the world at that time he gave away to Real Madrid.......

I see your point, but that can't apply to Villa players, he tried to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear, you can't do it, any manager has to work with what he has....and not imagine he has something else....

[hawkeye]

I cant criticise any thing Gabby said, I dont think many players were happy with GH and Gmac, the place was a shambles. I also think there would be plenty takers for Gabby , newcastle are desperate for some one to lead the line and Gabby can do that, he is not top 4 material but he is good enough to play top 6, he has allready proved that.

[Clampy]

I said at the time that with Houiller it always seemed like we were taking one step forward then two steps back. Just as we thought he was getting somewhere and starting to turn things round, he do something to leave us scratching our heads and wonder what the fuck he was playing at. The team selecton in the Man City cup game on the back of a good win at home being the main example. His appointment just did'nt feel right from day one.

As for Gabby, i was beginning to think he was going backwards, and we'd seen the best of him. I'd written him off if i'm honest, but so far this season, he's been great. It looks like his got his confidence back, let's hope it continues.

[OzVilla]

For me, this finally puts to bed any doubts that Houllier was a poor appointment who did a poor job.  We looked uncoordinated, the players looked clueless to what the plan was and the results were poor.  PR skills as bad as DOL's (never thought i'd say that) and a general feeling that instead of having an experienced Manager at the helm we all expected, we infact had a rookie who couldn't organise basic defensive responsibilities.

Now the players are slowly confirming the blindingly obvious.

For all the stick Eck gets i'm relieved it's him and not Houllier on the training ground this week. 
 

[JUAN PABLO]

I was enjoying the read until he said Houlier was crazy not to play Stephen Ireland ...

[Eigentor]

By looking merely at results and how he got on with players, you can say that Houllier was a failure. But the truth is that Houllier's plan was to leave us after three seasons in a better and healthier state than what he inherited. Judging by the improvements at the end of last season and his previous record it isn't uninmaginable that he could have done that. As he had to leave after less than a simple season, we will probably continue to disagree on the merits of his spell as manager.

[eamonn]

Gabby Football Focus (?) interview can be viewed on the bbc football homepage:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/default.stm