Are We Alex McLeish's Claret & Blue Army Now?

[darren woolley]

If we continue to adopt the approach we have in the last couple of games involving passing and attacking built on a solid foundation then why not. I want him to succeed he's the Villa manager, so I hope he does.

I have to agree with you.

[philthebar]

And I wonder why we are classed as the most negative supporters in the Premier.

For goodness sake you cannot objectively judge the man until this time NEXT year, when he has had a season and a half to mould what he has inherited, to move a few on and to bring in some fresh blood.

Until that time please get behind the team and the manager.

[Dave Clark Five]

There's a few very grudging acceptances of our manager on here. Who was the last manager who nobody would support until the he had completed a full season? I think there's been a bloody good bust up between them all at Villa Park; a clear the air session. They are now a team more than 11 individuals who don't trust each other. That takes man management, which I believe McLeish is excellent at.

[dave.woodhall]

Fucksake today's result means the c***'s going to be in charge for ever and ever and ever and ever and aaaarrrrrgggghhh!

Proof that there is, indeed, always one.

Great contribution to the discussion that was Dave. Your first post on this thread and all you had to say was... absolutely nothing.

And here we have someone else who thinks I have a duty to never disagree with them. My post said what I wanted to say; yours said it all.

[Eigentor]

There's a few very grudging acceptances of our manager on here. Who was the last manager who nobody would support until the he had completed a full season? I think there's been a bloody good bust up between them all at Villa Park; a clear the air session. They are now a team more than 11 individuals who don't trust each other. That takes man management, which I believe McLeish is excellent at.

I don't see that doubting the abilty of the manager equates to not supporting him. For example, I sincerely doubt that Heskey is good enough to play for Aston Villa, but if he is picked, I will support him and hope that he does well.

Same goes for McLeish: parts of his CV (as well as some of Villa's performances this season) curbs my enthusiasm for the man, though I realize that he has also done better than what could be expected at times. All in all, I think that Villa should have a better manager than McLeish. But that doesn't mean that I don't support him; and I certainly don't think that sacking him without giving him a full season makes any sense. And if he eventually proves me wrong and turns out to be exactly the manager Aston Villa needed at this point in time, I'll be delighted, because if the manager is successful, then it means that the team is also successful.

[KevinGage]

It's naive to expect widespread support for the guy, based on the circumstances of his arrival, his recent record and his association with That Lot.

The best he could realistically hope for is that Villa fans would be neutral in their emotions initially, and give him a chance.

He's largely got that.  Despite some horrific displays at times, I haven't heard the matchday support turn on him en masse. Hopefully that patience has been rewarded and we  (or more specifically HE)  has turned a corner, and realised that killing games or wanting to keep the score down might be ok for top flight minnows -clubs happy just to be there and enjoy their days out at OT, Anfield et.c- but not Aston Villa.

More performances like yesterday can only help his cause too.

[Shrek]

I wanted Mcleish out, but after the last 3 games he has changed my view of him.

I say YES to the threads question, even if we lose a couple I games, it's the performance that matters.

We lost to Arsenal but clapped the team off because they tried their best.
So it's time we all got behind the team AND manager.

Hopefully the Chelsea win will bring a few more thousand through the gate tomorrow.
UTV

[Dave Clark Five]

It's naive to expect widespread support for the guy, based on the circumstances of his arrival, his recent record and his association with That Lot.

The best he could realistically hope for is that Villa fans would be neutral in their emotions initially, and give him a chance.

He's largely got that.  Despite some horrific displays at times, I haven't heard the matchday support turn on him en masse. Hopefully that patience has been rewarded and we  (or more specifically HE)  has turned a corner, and realised that killing games or wanting to keep the score down might be ok for top flight minnows -clubs happy just to be there and enjoy their days out at OT, Anfield et.c- but not Aston Villa.

More performances like yesterday can only help his cause too.

You are right in that the crowd have never turned against him. It is just as well that the supposedly planned protests at the Arsenal game didn't materialise as it would have created a bad atmosphere. As it was, the crowd were brilliant in their response to the teams performance with an atmosphere rarely experienced at Villa Park. 

[Mister E]

Today's result was most welcome but says more about Chelsea than us.

Wrong - yes, Chelsea were poor but we harried, harrassed and unhinged them; which led to the second and third goals. McMinge has finally crafted this squad of players into a team. for which credit is due.

[PeterWithesShin]

In the same way that it took more than a few crap performances for me to criticise AM, it will take more than a few good ones before I start noshing him off.
Having said that, i've been delighted with our team selection and attitude since the Manure game (dippers excepted) and long may it last!

[Mister E]

If he can either offload Hutton this month or, if not, then at least leave him on the bench

Hutton is a bit thick and a bit thuggish but he ain't a bad player; he just needs a decent CB next to him to cover the space. Which is why against the Arse he and Cuellar looked very comfortable on the right of defence.

[pauliewalnuts]

If he can either offload Hutton this month or, if not, then at least leave him on the bench

Hutton is a bit thick and a bit thuggish but he ain't a bad player; he just needs a decent CB next to him to cover the space. Which is why against the Arse he and Cuellar looked very comfortable on the right of defence.

Can't agree with that. He looks very much a bad player to me. On top of his thuggishness (which isn't something to shrug off), he also has a near total lack of positional awareness.

[Chris Smith]

If he can either offload Hutton this month or, if not, then at least leave him on the bench

Hutton is a bit thick and a bit thuggish but he ain't a bad player; he just needs a decent CB next to him to cover the space. Which is why against the Arse he and Cuellar looked very comfortable on the right of defence.

Can't agree with that. He looks very much a bad player to me. On top of his thuggishness (which isn't something to shrug off), he also has a near total lack of positional awareness.

So you think it is possible to make it as a professional footballer in the top division in England with a "near total lack of positional awareness"?

He's a decent enough player, easily the equal of Luke Young. He also links well with Albrighton, he gets the ball to him much quicker that Cuellar dies and also makes the runs to to take defenders away and create space. It's telling that Marc has been less effective since he's been out of the side. That said, Carlos has played well and deserves to keep his place.

[pauliewalnuts]

So you think it is possible to make it as a professional footballer in the top division in England with a "near total lack of positional awareness"?

Yes, there are plenty of players in the top flight with very limited talents. He played 30 league games in 3 years at Spurs and has hardly looked the part here.

He's a decent enough player, easily the equal of Luke Young.

Can't agree there. For a start, Luke Young never looked like a red card waiting to happen, and didn't give away stupid needless fouls as often as Hutton.

[puppyfeat]

Fucksake today's result means the c***'s going to be in charge for ever and ever and ever and ever and aaaarrrrrgggghhh!

Proof that there is, indeed, always one.

Great contribution to the discussion that was Dave. Your first post on this thread and all you had to say was... absolutely nothing.

And here we have someone else who thinks I have a duty to never disagree with them. My post said what I wanted to say; yours said it all.

Just the opposite - to be honest I can't remember any occasion when you've ever agreed with anything that I've said on here (and FWIW - I was one of the first contributors over 10 yrs ago). And if you have ever agreed with me, you just don't say anything. Dead easy that, innit? You seem to think that because you created H&V - for which we're all humungously grateful obvs (and I'm not being sarky there - after all, I've put far more money in your pocket than you've ever put into mine) - that you're allowed to jump on any comment any of us might make and try to belittle us because, well, after all, you're Dave Woodhall and whatever you think de facto carries more weight than my opinion or anyone else's. This isn't the first time that you've picked on one of my posts for no reason - and offered no point of view whatsover. However, I can assure you it will definitely be the last time because this is the last you'll ever see of me on here. Congratulations - YOU WIN!