AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

In a mere 371 pages McLeish has gone from a Antichrist/Hitler esque bloke to David Brent.  Im almost feeling sorry for him now! 

'Does a struggling salesman start turning up on a bicycle? No, he turns up in a newer car - perception, yeah? They've got to trust me - I'm taking these guys into battle, yeah? And I'm doing my own stapling.'
 

[Concrete John]

Mid table finish if he sorts the defence out?

Our goals conceded are already more or less the same as the current mid table sides.  The main problem is our total inability to score more than goal a game - particularly at home (19 in 18 games) - resulting in a paltry 4 wins.

I don't think anyone can see him ever turning that lifelong trait around.

As you say, that's why its best for all concerned if he goes.

I'm sure I read the other day that, when Blues finished 9th, they still only scored 38 goals in 38 league games. So that's really the model of McLeish's teams; you need to be excellent at one end to finish mid-table.

It's all comparative as the less you let in, the less you need to score.  How many clean sheets have we had this season?  How many stupid goals let in due to individual errors?

Forget about scoring a load as that won't happen under him, but what might is having one of the best defensive records in the league and a load of 0-0s and 1-0 wins, as he had when finishing 9th with the Scum.  And that's what I'm getting at - we could finish midtable under him doing that, but that's no longer good enough if it ever was.

I see what you're getting at, but in my opinion the philosophy is totally flawed.   I don't think it's any coincidence that the better teams score more and concede less - i.e. excel at both aspects on the game.  I haven't done the analysis but you the current table looks more highly correlated to goals scored than goals conceded - i.e. the more goals you score the higher you finish.

Putting all your eggs in one footballing basket is such a dangerous strategy; going out for a 1-0 makes you very vulnerable.  Unless you have a defence that is vastly superior to the opposition's attacking threat (e.g. Arsenal under George Graham) there is always a chance you'll concede and then you're fucked.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying we SHOULD be looking to play this way, just offering a possible blueprint as to how an AM side might fair better and possibly his actual plan for us.  Funny you should mention George Graham's Arsenal as that's the example I've used in the past for expressing what I was expecting from him at Villa, just without the trophies, of course!

 

[mr underhill]

Look i want rid of AM as much as most, but like everyone else I can't just repeat that mantra constantly to myself in the hope he'll go away. All i'm doing, as a fellow fan, is passing on the information that was given to be by the same guy that I mentioned a few posts ago. He has been in PF's company again very recently (in a business environment) and was told unequivocally that AM's staying. Its got nothing to do with how much i post or don't post. That's what i  was told; obviously it could be corporate PR spin, it  wasn't a one to one conversation, others were present, and everone is going to say, 'well , he's hardly going to say otherwise is he?' but the line from VP is, and has always been,  according to my guy, that AM will be given a fair chance. It pisses me off no end, but I reealy can see him being here for the foreseeable.

[Merv]

Mid table finish if he sorts the defence out?

Our goals conceded are already more or less the same as the current mid table sides.  The main problem is our total inability to score more than goal a game - particularly at home (19 in 18 games) - resulting in a paltry 4 wins.

I don't think anyone can see him ever turning that lifelong trait around.

As you say, that's why its best for all concerned if he goes.

I'm sure I read the other day that, when Blues finished 9th, they still only scored 38 goals in 38 league games. So that's really the model of McLeish's teams; you need to be excellent at one end to finish mid-table.

It's all comparative as the less you let in, the less you need to score.  How many clean sheets have we had this season?  How many stupid goals let in due to individual errors?

Forget about scoring a load as that won't happen under him, but what might is having one of the best defensive records in the league and a load of 0-0s and 1-0 wins, as he had when finishing 9th with the Scum.  And that's what I'm getting at - we could finish midtable under him doing that, but that's no longer good enough if it ever was.

I think you'll find we're saying the same thing here, John. McLeish's best PL performance came when his team were very good defensively, and that's the way he builds his teams. But I agree with Pestria - it's a risky strategy to almost overlook your own offensive options, and it's hard to keep clean sheets. Clinging on for 1-0 wins is difficult. It's what we've tried to do for much of the season, and failed.

[David_Nab]

Well if PF thinks him staying is good Business sense then good luck with that ..as for fair chance.Seriously Villa are exactly where Blues were last season completely different squads but same manager same performances.The fans ,non-villa fans and the media can all see it you'd think PF and Randy would wake the hell up and see it too.

[James]

I'll believe nothing unless general internet chatter confirms it.

I wouldn't believe what the general says! 

[ozzjim]

If PF recommends his chum stays in a job to Lerner this summer, he is even more clueless on the football side than we knew he was. If Lerner must employ this completely inept excuse of a CEO, then keep him commercial. The football side needs someone with half a brain, something PF has clearly got issues with. Keeping McLeish would be the 2nd most stupid thing done in the premier league this season. The first was appointing him in the first place.

[Risso]

The only good thing about keeping McLeish is that it will confirm once and for all that Lerner is clinically insane, and we can have him sectioned. 

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The only good thing about keeping McLeish is that it will confirm once and for all that Lerner is clinically insane, and we can have him sectioned. 

I was wondering if they'd keep him on, as in their wibbly wobbly world they wouldn't want to be seen to be losing face, especially after all the guff about him being the right man for the job and that pitiful drivel about Ferguson's letter.

[ozzjim]

Lol... I think he takes a lot more advice from Faulkner than we credit at the moment. Lerner showed with O'Neill he puts his faith in people and I think he sees Faulkner in a similar way to a general manager at his NFL club. The only trouble is, Faulkner appears to be a berk.

[Concrete John]

Keeping McLeish would be the 2nd most stupid thing done in the premier league this season. The first was appointing him in the first place.

Sorry, but they still rank 2nd and 3rd behind paying £20m for Stewart Downing.

[Rick_avfc]

James Nursey twitted some villa fans earlier saying that all the noises and signals he is hearing from avfc still suggest AM will go in the summer.

I'll believe it when i see it as I have a feeling once the dust has settled IF we are safe, then the board will decide to keep him for next season

[berneboy]

"Alex Trinity asked “Hi Matt, do you feel with your inside knowledge that there will be big changes come the summer.”


Mat Kendrick: Aex Trinity. I think there will be a change of manager and I think there could be several players coming and going. Hopefully it will lead to a change of fortunes on the pitch with fans able to look up rather than down the table. I don't think all of a sudden multi-millions will be made available for signings, however, because Villa are still battling to get back on a financial even keel"


Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2012/05/03/aston-villa-mat-kendrick-on-how-the-clubs-fortunes-can-change-97319-30895057/?#ixzz1tp4YA0ZV

[Toronto Villa]

Look i want rid of AM as much as most, but like everyone else I can't just repeat that mantra constantly to myself in the hope he'll go away. All i'm doing, as a fellow fan, is passing on the information that was given to be by the same guy that I mentioned a few posts ago. He has been in PF's company again very recently (in a business environment) and was told unequivocally that AM's staying. Its got nothing to do with how much i post or don't post. That's what i  was told; obviously it could be corporate PR spin, it  wasn't a one to one conversation, others were present, and everone is going to say, 'well , he's hardly going to say otherwise is he?' but the line from VP is, and has always been,  according to my guy, that AM will be given a fair chance. It pisses me off no end, but I reealy can see him being here for the foreseeable.

With all due respect, you always get these kinds of stories. Faulkner hosts a business lunch etc, and then discloses essentially confidential information about the direction of the club to clients. If the club wanted to make that kind of statement it would have been done on the OS. Instead, what we got was as close to an indictment on the current campaign as you are going to get. That they are looking no further than the next three games. If they were going to back him unequivocally then they would have done so in the most public of forums. They could have easily said, that while it has been a difficult and disappointing season, that they signed the manager on a three year contract and will give him every opportunity to succeed. They didn't and went further to say how they shared in the pain of fellow Villa fans by stating that everyone at the club is "hurting badly".

I believe that they will look at the entire situation after the Norwich game. While there will no doubt be a part of them that will feel they want to give him a chance, they will look at the season, see what a disaster it was and that while they insitituted austerity measures, they never saw the worst PL performance in Villa history happening. Nor did they see the worst home record in over a century. They will also consider the fact that next season will likely be the worst season ticket renewal ever, and that the cost to the business of a lack of revenue (caused primarily by supporter disenchantment) versus the cost of change will sway their decision.

I'm not saying things aren't said in private settings but given the sensitivity of the current state of affairs I hardly think Faulkner's giving away the biggest story that concerns Villa fans today to a bunch of clients.

[Stu]

We'll just have to wait and see. To me, it feels like he's lost too many of the fans - I want him gone, never wanted him here in the first place either, and this season has shown that everything we knew about him was true.

Whatever happens, at the end of the season the board have got some difficult questions to answer. If they want to continue hiding behind Alex McLeish then I'm convinced that we'll be relegated. We need to all be pulling in the same direction, the board can only ignore the fans for so long.

The one doubt I have is that it will cost a lot of money to lay him off, this was the boards fault for paying McLeish a ridiculous amount of money that does not reflect his abilities, but do they really want to take another hit on paying up a contract? I think they'll have to weigh it against diminishing crowds and poor team performance. The team feels very neglected at the moment.