AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[PaulWinch again]

Yes, but would a thumping 6 nil win change your mind about him?

Not really. My opinion that he should be sacked wasn't formed on the basis of a single result and my opinion won't be reversed by a single result.

I think he should go, simple as that.

He may very well be a nice bloke but they said that about Graham Turner

That's the thing, innit, even if you ignore subjective things like the style of football, the perceived negativity etc etc, and look purely at our record this season, you see this: P25 W6 D10 L9, and we're in 15th place.

That's nothing like good enough.

When he was appointed, those of us who were convinced this was a bad idea were frequently told that it was purely because of him coming from Blues.

Some of us pointed out that we were most worried about his record for piss poor performance in the Premier League, and lo and behold, what have we seen? Piss poor results.

Then you could look at the subjective thing, many of us also pointed out that he had a proven record for playing terrible negative football. Lo and behold, we've also seen plenty of that as well.

Not good enough on either count, I'm afraid.

Oh, and yes, you could look at this time last season and suggest we weren't much better then - the difference is, we've not had the worst run of injuries in living memory like we did last season, and this time around we've had a £24m international striker for the whole season.

We don't have Young or Downing either, but we've replaced at least one of them - or tried to - and that's not looking too convincing, either.

Yeah all in all from every angle it looks like what many expected it to be, a bad appointment with bad results and horrible performances on the whole. I wanted him to succeed as he's the Villa manager, but it's nearly the end of February now and I have seen nothing to suggest he can or will succeed.

[damon loves JT]

At least we haven't been turned down by Curbishley. Twice.

[ktvillan]

At least we haven't been turned down by Curbishley. Twice.

Maybe Randy just kept it quiet before heading to the very bottom of the barrell.  In any case, if he has so much trouble pronouncing "Burminum" what chance would he have with a mouthful like Wolverhampton?

[john e]

i never understood the disregard given to Curbishley,
 his teams always played decent passing football, his record with Charlton was very impressive, even WHU fans dont slag him, and say his football was attractive to watch if not terribly successful.

i think it just boils down to the way he comes across being a  bit boring and not very charasmatic,

[TheSandman]

Maybe. All I know is that I can't stand the miserable c***. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean I always quite liked AM before he became our manager.

[KevinGage]

i never understood the disregard given to Curbishley,
 his teams always played decent passing football, his record with Charlton was very impressive, even WHU fans dont slag him, and say his football was attractive to watch if not terribly successful.

i think it just boils down to the way he comes across being a  bit boring and not very charasmatic,

The West Ham fans I know definitely don't have too much time for him - about as interesting as watching paint dry is how they often used to describe their performances on his watch.

[PeterWithesShin]

Alan Curbishley is a ****** and shall remain one until he learns how to say Birmingham correctly.

[Compass]

i never understood the disregard given to Curbishley,
 his teams always played decent passing football, his record with Charlton was very impressive, even WHU fans dont slag him, and say his football was attractive to watch if not terribly successful.

i think it just boils down to the way he comes across being a  bit boring and not very charasmatic,

The West Ham fans I know definitely don't have too much time for him - about as interesting as watching paint dry is how they often used to describe their performances on his watch.

Good job we have McLeish then who brings us eye candy football.

[Clampy]

At the end of the day, it's not going to work out because there's no unity amongst the fans and you need fans singing from the same hymm sheet. The majority of supporters were behind the appointments of DOL and MON because of their decent track record, although Houillers appointment was one of surprise but mainly a case of 'well let's see how he does'. This time it's different.

You have a section of fans who just won't accept McLeish no matter what and there's nothing you can do about people like that. There's another section of fans who were not happy with his appointment but were prepared to see how things went and are now having their doubts (i'm in that section). Then you have fans who think he should be given time to bring his own players in.

Throw in the badly attended protests and the badly designed websites and all in all it's not a healthy situation, (well ok it's a bit of a mess to be truthful) and it's one i can't see improving. He'll go, but it's just a case of when. Let's hope the fans are united on the next choice, it's what we need right now.

[Jimmy Smash]

Man City seemed to be the tipping point. Unfortunately for McL it's going to be nigh on impossible to win hearts and minds now. He will effectively become a lame duck manager... unable to win over fans... unable to attract decent players. Randy really needs to employ a proper football man into the post of Chief Executive at VP, not just to source a new manager, but to take charge of all aspects of football at VP and turn us around. Until this happens, I fear the worst. Whatever happens, Faulkner is way out of his depths and has to go with McL.

[KevinGage]

Disagree Jimmy.

Win the next two on the bounce and there will be enough fans willing to give him until the end of the season, fickle sugarbags that we are.

But he's created a rod for his own back. By effectively throwing matches against sides above us in the league, he doesn't have much room for error against those sides below us. And there are less and less of them as the season has progressed. 

In Big Ecks world if a side is above you and has spent x amount-they have a different agenda,  so defeat is okay.  Fine (well not fine, not fine at all).    Just make sure you get maximum points against any side below us then.  Normally I'd say football isn't that cut and dried, of course.  But he can't have it both ways.

[hawkeye]

Citeh definately was the Tipping point and he has only himself to blame for that, until then i think the majority were still prepared to give him a chance.
I cant see any way that he can turn it around because he has proved what a lot of people thought but hoped was not true, ie that he is a very negative bloke with little idea of tactics. His "The Game plan was excellent" did it for me.

[PeterWithe]

i never understood the disregard given to Curbishley,

He used to play for Blues.

[Big Dick Edwards]

No. McLeish deserves a summer transfer window where he gets financial backing from the Board to bring in his own players, particularly in defence. I believe he will get that support this close season. He can only then be rightfully judged.

Why take the chance?

Because if McLeish was sacked we'd have to appoint our 4th manager in 4 seasons. History tells you that managerial turnover on that scale does not equate to success on the field.

[pauliewalnuts]

No. McLeish deserves a summer transfer window where he gets financial backing from the Board to bring in his own players, particularly in defence. I believe he will get that support this close season. He can only then be rightfully judged.

Why take the chance?

Because if McLeish was sacked we'd have to appoint our 4th manager in 4 seasons. History tells you that managerial turnover on that scale does not equate to success on the field.

In fairness, though, of those four, one flounced out because the chairman looked at him funny or something, one was invalided out with a heart condition, and it is only this one that deserves the bullet.