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

[LeeB]

McCleish should'nt have even been considered for the job never mind offered it and although the jury is still out on him, the thought of Jazzy G and the Fresh Pricks walking round that great ground with a badly scrawled on bedsheet makes me want the guy to succeed even more.

Like it. A lot.

Yeah, that's ace.

[JJ-AV]

I didn't want him, and I still don't rate him. But he's starting to win me over in the last few games.

I was very impressed with the line up and way we went about the Newcastle game. The defence is pathetic (especially Warnock) and the Heskey sub was needed to help him out. On another week he'd have put Gabby wide left for N'Zog to give us the defensive stability to protect Warnock and still allow us an option going forward.

I didn't go to the QPR game, but I saw it all and thought similar to above. Infact, since the loss to Liverpool I've only been really annoyed with McLeish's matchday work twice; Swansea at home and not doing anything sooner at Arsenal.

Be interesting to see how he goes about Sunday.

Haha what? He's starting to win you over in the last few games. So results against Arsenal, QPR and Newcastle made you happy did it? 2 defeats and 1 draw. No wins. Nice SHA ambition there.

And the person who made this thread should be ashamed of themselves.

It's not solely about results though, is it? It's about whether he is the right man for Aston Villa. I didn't think he was, I still don't, but from where I am his positivity over the last month or so is far away from his reputation and what he served up in the first quarter of the season.

I'll be interested to see what he does on Sunday. The Ireland and N'Zogbia issues give him the opportunity to change it, if he continues setting the team up with the same positive attitude how he has in the last few weeks then I'll have few complaints as it's simply down to the players he's got. If we surrender and go for damage limitation and the hope of a clean sheet like we did at Spurs, Citeh and at home to Liverpool then I'll be mightily pissed off.

[villajk]

Indeed well said TV.
Don't forget grown men, who should know better, making complete c***s of themselves by climbing on top of the gates of Villa Park, trying to lead a crowd of thickos into a chorus. Also people desecrating the wall outside Bodymoor Heath. By the time they have finished, McLeish will have more people on his side than ever.

Very true Dave, and with every prejudiced post from the likes Snazzy P and Compass I find my support of him growing ever stronger.
Ŷ
And can I also recommend Compass for a name change, because his posts are absolutely fucking pointless.

I like i like what you did there, Lee.

Worryingly, matt kendrick tweeted a short while ago. 'general consensus is there IS a need for a changing of the guard at villa.   Opinion is split on whether Alex mcLeish is the right man to do it.'

[damon loves JT]

Consensus among whom? The press? Supporters? Because there's only one person at VP whose opinion really counts, and that's Randy.

[villajk]

Consensus among whom? The press? Supporters? Because there's only one person at VP whose opinion really counts, and that's Randy.

.

Quite agree.  I guess he's talking about supporters who have corresponded with him on twitter and elsewhere.

[cheltenhamlion]

Fucking Twitter. So Damon can talk about himself, ish, until Dave realised not everyone who uses it is a twat.

Until he found out I didn't and then changed his mind again...

[Concrete John]

Worryingly, matt kendrick tweeted a short while ago. 'general consensus is there IS a need for a changing of the guard at villa.   Opinion is split on whether Alex mcLeish is the right man to do it.'

I don't see that as worrying myself.  Just by reading this forum you can see a split in opinion about AM and a general agreement that we need to replace the majority of the defence.

[TonyD]

A few periods of decent football during matches we lost and AM is now the right manager for us.   We are a fickle bunch.

[Ger Regan]

A few periods of decent football during matches we lost and AM is now the right manager for us.   We are a fickle bunch.

Yes, that's exactly what's happened. Well done you.

[dave.woodhall]

A few periods of decent football during matches we lost and AM is now the right manager for us.   We are a fickle bunch.

That's certainly told me. How dare I support my club.

[Ger Regan]

A few periods of decent football during matches we lost and AM is now the right manager for us.   We are a fickle bunch.

That's certainly told me. How dare I support my club.

It seems like a large proportion of those in the anti-mcleish camp simply cannot accept that there have been ANY positives so far. Very hard to have a reasonable debate with anyone that is so blinkered.

[Archie]

I want to go against the mainstream.
AML won't be the new Ferguson but I'm convinced the criticisms towards him are exaggerated.
 and I think that Mc Leish is a serious man, committed to the club, and is doing a good job, playing a lot of youngsters from the Academy.

Despite of thew poor results the team played quite well in the last few games, it's not easy when two of your players play for the opponents. We can't blame AML if we have two unwatchable, overpaid, players like Warnock and Dunne that concede one or two goals to the opponents every week.  We must thank MON for them, as for Beyč, and others.

[Concrete John]

Here's a question:-  how much better would this Villa side be if the defence was sorted?

We're certainly capable of scoring ourselves and the recent performances (probably since Arsenal at home in the league) have shown some good, if not consistent, attacking play.  If we cut out the stupid mistakes at the back how far up the table would that propel us?

And in the answer to that I think you find the true direction of where McLeish is taking us.  Due to finances he hasn't been able to put his own stamp on the back 4, so if and when he does, I think we'll see a pretty useful Villa side.

[pauliewalnuts]

A few periods of decent football during matches we lost and AM is now the right manager for us.   We are a fickle bunch.

That's certainly told me. How dare I support my club.

It seems like a large proportion of those in the anti-mcleish camp simply cannot accept that there have been ANY positives so far. Very hard to have a reasonable debate with anyone that is so blinkered.

It works both ways. There are plenty of people in the pro McLeish camp who seem unable to not resort to "you just don't like him because he managed Blues", as if that is behind all (rather than some) criticism of him.

I can think of positive things (as I could under Houllier when he was getting roundly slated) and I can think of negative things. I'm not a fan of the manager, and I suspect it is going to go to tit soon (it certainly will if we don't start winning more matches soon), but I'm not about to start going on protest marches or setting web sites up, and nor am I going to start throwing abuse at him or the players during matches, because that achieves nothing at all.

Nor do I give a flying fuck that he used to manage Blues, and it annoys me to get tarred with that ill thought-out brush.

As Damon said, ultimately our opinion counts for nothing, it is what the chairman thinks that really matters. We can talk about and debate it as much as we like - and that's what this place is for - but if anyone thinks they're going to get the chairman to sack the manager by waving a few placards and trudging down the Trinity Road looking annoyed, they're living in dream world.

[Ger Regan]

It works both ways. There are plenty of people in the pro McLeish camp who seem unable to not resort to "you just don't like him because he managed Blues", as if that is behind all (rather than some) criticism of him.

I can think of positive things (as I could under Houllier when he was getting roundly slated) and I can think of negative things. I'm not a fan of the manager, and I suspect it is going to go to tit soon (it certainly will if we don't start winning more matches soon), but I'm not about to start going on protest marches or setting web sites up, and nor am I going to start throwing abuse at him or the players during matches, because that achieves nothing at all.

Nor do I give a flying fuck that he used to manage Blues, and it annoys me to get tarred with that ill thought-out brush.

As Damon said, ultimately our opinion counts for nothing, it is what the chairman thinks that really matters. We can talk about and debate it as much as we like - and that's what this place is for - but if anyone thinks they're going to get the chairman to sack the manager by waving a few placards and trudging down the Trinity Road looking annoyed, they're living in dream world.

Agree with a lot of what you said, but it's pretty obvious that there are people out there who can't look beyond his blues connection. Not rating him as a manager is a valid viewpoint, and I'm struggling to think of anyone who supports McLeish (myself included) who hasn't accepted that there have been mistakes made so far (or that he wouldn't have been many people's first choice for the job). I don't think you, or any of the other more reasonable posters on this site, are actually getting tarred with the Jizzy G brush.