AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[paul_e]

It's like this. The likes of DC5 can whinge and whine like an old woman about a bloke who left two years ago or worry about where the next 3 points are going to come from to keep us in the division. It's as simple as that.

It is the anti-McLeish people doing the whingeing and whining. I stopped that once the Poison Dwarf left.

I'm not sure I like the concept of being anti-McLeish.  I'd like to think of myself as pro-villa and knowing that the club deserve better.  My issues with McLeish are nothing personal but rather I just don't think he's the right manager for the situation we're in.  I actually think he could do a decent job at the right club, but we're not that club.

Unfortunately he needs to see this himself and walk away which won't happen as everyone knows that his chances of getting another premier league job are shot.

[paul_e]

My (wild) guess is that McLeish's mandate was to keep Villa in PL with a minimum of backing, for two or three seasons, until the financial mess was sorted out. After that, we could attract a better manager, and better players, as we would be to spend money again.

However, as McLeish may be on the verge of taking us down already in his first season, it would be madness to give him the job of keeping us up in another season of austerity. I think/hope that even Lerner realises this, and that McLeish will be given the boot at the end of the season.

Why pay £2m a year to someone who's job is to keep us ticking over and get us back on course to try again?  That's why I just can't believe his sole brief was to avoid relegation whilst letting the expenses clear themselves up.  It's also why i can't believe he won't be seen as having failed by the board. 

That would be £2m to keep a fairly depleted squad up. Besides, I think the board expected McLeish to keep us up more comfortably than what he now appears to be doing.

Houllier's idea was to clean up the mess he inherited from MON and start anew. Having funded MON's mess, Randy wasn't keen on funding the cleaning up as well, and appointed McLeish whose mandate was simply to do his best with what he had got. And while I don't think the board was so deluded that they thought the General's fourth or fifth, or Faulkner's seventh (?), were possible, they probably (rightly) expected better than fifteenth and a relegation scrap.

Still seems a big contract to just tick along.  I agree that the brief would have been to make do with what you've got for a season but I will never accept that the board ever considered that to include us finishing bottom half.

The reality is that from christmas onwards last year we were a top 6 side, it was our terrible form/injuries (looked this up a while back, we had about 17-18 more injuries than the next side in the list, which is based on players that were given squad numbers, we were up over 60 for the season) in october and november that let us down.  From that squad:

Friedel replaced by Given
L Young replaced by Hutton
A Young replaced by Nzogbia
Reo-Coker replaced by Jenas
Downing not replaced
Makoun not replaced
Walker not replaced

So 3 players down (if the quality isn't as high McLeish has to take some responsibility) but that can be partially offset by the fact that Bannan, Clark, Albrighton, Herd, Baker had all experienced premier league football during last season, it's also worth noting that Makoun going out on loan was totally the choice of McLeish, so the actual difference in terms of available squad is 2.

Given that I'd expect 8-9th was in the boards mind as a rough guide of where we should be.  The wage offered to McLeish fits that spot nicely as well.  a place or 2 down from there would be acceptable but I personally think anything below 11th is a poor return.

Once you look at the actual table and see how weak it is outside the top 5 (top 2 are miles ahead with a group of 3 behind them) 6th was definitely available this season, we'd have needed everything to go to plan but we should've at least been in the picture.

I just won't accept that the board thought at the start of the season that 15th would be a reasonable return on the season.

[Legion]

At the moment, if we finished 15th I'd be overjoyed.

[Eigentor]

I just won't accept that the board thought at the start of the season that 15th would be a reasonable return on the season.

I think that we're basically in agreement. Our dismal results last season was partially down to injuries, and partially down to Houllier pissing off several of the most influential players in the squad. But the latter is what you would expect when someone tries to teach the pupils of MON 21st century football.

McLeish would have less talented players to work with, but as he (among the players) was a less divisive figure, he would, the board expected, lead us to somewhere like ninth again. 15th will be far below expectations, I think.

[Fergal]

McLiesh needs to be removed before we can improve.  He might be a nice bloke and all that but he is a shit manager.  Look at his record for Gods sake is's nothing short of embarrassing for a Premiership manager.  Also nothing short of miles away from what a Villa manager should be aiming for.  His Pts to games  ratio is worse than Dollys ever was.  For the sake of Aston Villa sack him before it's too late.

[villajk]

Eigentor, Just out of curiosity, what is a Muppet Hero?

[claret and blue blood]

anyone else dreading the next 72 hours? I don't give a shit about McLeish anymore but 2 defeats and we are staring straight down the barrel !

[TheSandman]

Or two wins and we'll be looking upwards and feeling relieved and happy...

[claret and blue blood]

I'll take the 2 wins please !

[Irish villain]

At the moment, if we finished 15th I'd be overjoyed.

My United supporting best friend reckons 'villa will probably stumble to 16th as is there habit every five years or so'.

[JUAN PABLO]

It's like this. The likes of DC5 can whinge and whine like an old woman about a bloke who left two years ago or worry about where the next 3 points are going to come from to keep us in the division. It's as simple as that.

It is the anti-McLeish people doing the whingeing and whining. I stopped that once the Poison Dwarf left.

I'm not sure I like the concept of being anti-McLeish.  I'd like to think of myself as pro-villa and knowing that the club deserve better.  My issues with McLeish are nothing personal but rather I just don't think he's the right manager for the situation we're in.  I actually think he could do a decent job at the right club, but we're not that club.

Unfortunately he needs to see this himself and walk away which won't happen as everyone knows that his chances of getting another premier league job are shot.

I think Wolves would be ideal for McLeish , not Villa.

[Dave Clark Five]

But he hasn't been sacked. All we can do is support the club. That includes the manager.

Does this go for every manager over time? Should we all have offered complete support to O'Leary, O'Neill and McNeill?

What line would have to be crossed for you to call for him to be sacked?

Gut feeling is the answer. Nothing is that black and white.

[ozzjim]

His latest ramblings in the press today about the squad and that he would take 15th and is sure we have just enough to survive is a sad indication of how far he has lost his way. We should have got the job done when we had Englands number 9 fit and firing, when we have totally misused a winger who scored 10 goals for a side that finished 17th last season and is used to being in a scrap, when the side was so negative that we have won once in 5 months at home. To now be bigging up how he is bringing through the youngsters with such a depleted squad, when, as Dave in Jan set as a quiz question, there was a point where we could name a full squad of internationals, is a disgrace. The man should not be allowed to ruin the kids too in the run in and then try and milk glory out of survival with this squad, he should be sacked tomorrow am. Woeful.

[brian green]

In a nutshell ozz.   The situation in which we find ourselves now has been caused purely and simply by failure to get wins and points before the current injuries and illness struck.   That we should be in this position at this point in the season is as disgraceful as actually being relegated.   The board and the manager are perfect for each other, they are all incompetents in denial.

[nodge]

It looks like he's got himself a job as umpire in Sri Lanka