AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[PaulWinch again]

I don't think he's the right man for us at all and I hope he gets replaced by someone better. However I will always support and want the team to win.

[Legion]

Give McLeish a chance!

[Dave Clark Five]

Mcleish is a poor manager, end of.
The substitutions made on Saturday were not of tactical brilliance but brought on due to tiredness and/or injury, basically a last throw of the dice to try and avoid another draw (or worse) and luckily for him it worked (and us I suppose).
The fact that he came from SHA only adds fuel to the fire for those who want him
sacked, but his record speaks for its self regardless of where or who he has managed.
As someone back in history once said "Dont bring me good generals, bring me lucky generals" or something like that - the same can be said for managers, and on Saturday, AM got lucky, very lucky.

Not to worry. Bolton might beat us.

[old man villa fan]

As the saying goes, 'one swallow doesn't make a summer'.  I am not judging AM on a match by match basis but on the season to date.  There have been some games where we have played well in parts and many games where we have looked terrible.

28 games should be enough to start seeing a pattern of improvement if it was going to occur but, in my opinion, we look to have gone backwards from the latter part of last season.  It will be interesting to see how we play over the next month after we have completed our easy run of matches.  Sometimes it is not the results that matter but the way you play that can give you confidence for the future.  I am not confident.

Some people are saying that AM should be given the chance to bring in his own players before finally judging him.  I am worried that this would just be delaying the inevitable and will see us spending more money and possibly shipping out some players that should not be sold.  Other than Given, I have not been impressed with the players he has brought in and 28 games in, he has still not sorted out the defence.  McLeish did well to get Blues to 9th but then went out and spent, relatively, quite a lot of money but saw the team get worse.  The fear is that it could well happen to us.

Usually, how well you play one season is based on how well you finish the previous season.  If we do not climb 5 or 6 places, we will be starting next season still looking for stability in the first half of the season.

[Dave Clark Five]

Considering the trouble we had had in scoring, compare our goal difference to those below us.

[Toronto Villa]

Considering the trouble we had had in scoring, compare our goal difference to those below us.

when you consider that most Villa fans would agree it has been a very disappointing season, the fact that our goal difference is what it is and that we are 6 points off 7th is amazing. We almost can identify the areas that need to be purged and fixed. If you were Liverpool, on the back of that expenditure you have to be concerned.

The time to judge McLeish in my opinion is after he's had a full summer, got rid of some of he liabilities at the club, and shed some wages. Where he has brought on new faces loyal to him and has the squad and team that are essentially his. Right now having some of that discontented deadwood is one of his main trump cards in giving him the benefit of the doubt. He'll need to perform a lot better once he has made those changes.

[ozzjim]

It is a sensible stance TV, I just can't see his vision so can't buy in like I could with Houllier.

[itbrvilla]

It is a sensible stance TV, I just can't see his vision so can't buy in like I could with Houllier.

I agree with that.

[Percy McCarthy]

I'm with TV. I think that a few more loyal, motivated players alongside the always well-motivated youngsters could make a fair bit of difference.

[ozzjim]

Fingers crossed. A bit like a toddler not liking their veg but having to grin and bear it, we are going to have to stomach Eck for a while yet.

[Percy McCarthy]

Re: his vision, I'm encouraged by that post about him ranting and raving at the players to 'keep the ball'. But then I would be, as that's what I rant and rave about when I watch them.

[hawkeye]

Yeah maybe Mcliesh will be able to say in the future that this season was just about staying up, his negative tactics were just making sure he kept the score against and goals against column down. The crazy thing is that the last minute strike by Weiman saved his job. There are still 10 games left and he has the chance to show that he can create a style and attitude to playing football befitting this club or he will revert to type and leave us dreading his continuation as our manger.

[Slaphead]

I think the guy should go but I will give him credit for trying out the kids and atleast giving the impression of trying new things.

[caster troy]

Well I can only speak for myself but I'll be devastated if we don't replace him in the summer. This season has been absolute torture. There is no evidence that he has what it takes to turn us around, in fact most evidence suggests we'll just get worse the longer he is here.

I'll just stay away next year and hope he proves me wrong.

[Toronto Villa]

It is a sensible stance TV, I just can't see his vision so can't buy in like I could with Houllier.

Ozz, like you I was very optimistic about the future as GH was starting to paint. I haven't seen enough from McLeish yet to make that same declaration. However, we're pretty much safe now, and if we can carry on with the same style of football, or at the very least the same attitude to the end of the season, we might have reason to believe we are heading in the right direction.

I am looking forward to this summer because we will be linked to players we would not normally have thought of given our recent transfer history. I have a sneaky feeling we'll actually be on the look out for new players at a major championship as opposed to knowing full well that there's not a chance in hell with MON we'll be interested in anyone. I don't know much about Holman, but I kind of like that.