AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[LeeB]

Houllier would still be here if he hadn't got ill.

I'm assuming the club don't enjoy winding up fans for the sake of it. I think they're going to plough on regardless if what we think

I don't think he would. I think the board were shitting themselves at what Houllier wanted to do, and his illness gave them the get out they were looking for.

[mike]

I think the club genuinely believe 1) that he has done a good job based on injuries etc 2) that although fans threaten not to buy season tickets, they always do in the end. So they will keep him on expecting 1) mid to upper table finish next year 2) no loss of revenue. Wrong x2 in my opinion, but they won't be too worried by that.

[Rigadon]

The MOTD pundits reaffirming that the reason it wont work is because we 'hate' him because of the Blues connection. 

It hasn't got my goat until now.  Fuck right off you patronising wankers and look at the league table, the amount of dross our team has produced and then re-evaluate your opinion. 

Maybe I"ll write an open letter to the BBC. 

Or just go to bed. 

Were we the last ones on again? That must be an unwanted record too. I have always got the video/DVD seasons review since 1988 but what would they put on it.

We were the last on as far as I know, I went to bed in a huff.

I do think the club needs to heed it's most valuable asset (us) a little bit more.  If they persist with Alex Mcleish it will, as Paulie suggests, be suicidal on a coupe of levels.  Firstly, there will be a further schism between Lerner and Villa fans.  It's not just a noisy minority waving placards anymore, it's all but a few from the looks of it who now consider AM a dead man walking.  So a(nother) PR disaster and more perceived dithering. 

More importantly, we may well not survive another season of his stewardship.

[Jimbo]

Perhaps the board feel that McLeish has done what they asked. He's accepted the conditions under which he has to work and he's kept us in the division. A quick call to our chief advisor, Alex Ferguson, will confirm that keeping McLeish is the right thing to do. As a reward he'll get more funds to spend next season. They'll even give him some of the Darren Bent money. We'll give the aristocrats of Tottenham and elite teams like Liverpool and Newcastle a game next season, you wait and see. Who knows, we might even finish in the top half. A great achievement for a club of our size.   

[john e]

he hasnt done what they expected or wanted, no where near.

he'l be on his way sometime in the days after the Norwich match

[LeeB]

he hasnt done what they expected or wanted, no where near.

he'l be on his way sometime in the days after the Norwich match

I hope you're right mate, I really do.

[VillaAlways]

Houllier would still be here if he hadn't got ill.

I'm assuming the club don't enjoy winding up fans for the sake of it. I think they're going to plough on regardless if what we think

I don't think he would. I think the board were shitting themselves at what Houllier wanted to do, and his illness gave them the get out they were looking for.

The only reason they were shitting themselves is because GH was looking to spend big in the summer.It is well documented he had various targets lined up,nothing to do with his performance as a manager.AM is a dream for Randy,a complete yes man
I really hope Randy is actively looking for a buyer

[PeterWithe]

Why wouldn't we be last on MOTD? I don't enjoy watching us and don't expect others to suffer.

[Rigadon]

Why wouldn't we be last on MOTD? I don't enjoy watching us and don't expect others to suffer.

Agreed, a neutral would avoid us like the plague at the moment.  Us and Stoke.

[john e]

he hasnt done what they expected or wanted, no where near.

he'l be on his way sometime in the days after the Norwich match

I hope you're right mate, I really do.

i'm always right mate,

 unless me missis says i'm not obviously

[VILLA MOLE]

he hasnt done what they expected or wanted, no where near.

he'l be on his way sometime in the days after the Norwich match

absolutely, Faulkner was talking in terms of Big Eck  challenging for Europe possibly

what happened Laurel and Hardy ?

[Rigadon]

From the Guardian:

Staying up is not something Aston Villa fans should be celebrating

One of the great joys of the league format is that surviving relegation is so often celebrated like a championship trophy. Despite a creditable 1-1 draw with Spurs, there was no such jubilation at Villa Park. Perhaps the overwhelming emotion was simple, inglorious relief, as the home side secured their Premier League status, barring a mathematical miracle. The sense of a narrow escape is borne out by the statistics: Villa were dominated, scraping 37% possession, and creating four chances to Spurs' 22.

Despite the footballing gods apparently being with their team today, Villa capitulated. With Spurs reduced to 10 men, Richard Dunne's needless challenge gave Spurs an easy route back into the game, following Ciaran Clark's fortunate opener. Villa have now dropped 22 points from winning positions this season. Had they never relinquished a lead, Alex McLeish's side would be one point behind Chelsea. If that were the case, furiously daubed banners would be in short supply in the Holte End.

The reality is that Villa have scored fewer than all but Stoke, and have won fewer games than doomed Blackburn. It is possible they will fail to reach 40 points, surviving only by others' shortcomings. McLeish has been fighting an uphill battle since his move across the second city, yet he has done little to stem the tide of ill feeling. He has introduced several young, promising players, yet they have transferred from a vibrant, successful youth team to a dispirited first XI that is ritualistically set up simply to avoid defeat.

One protest sign unveiled at full time summed the fans' feelings up: "It's not where you came from, it's where you're taking us." For now at least, the destination seems to be nowhere, rather than down. There may be hope for renewal somewhere amidst the frustration and recriminations, but McLeish seems the wrong man to lead the recovery

[supertom]

If I was gonna put money on which team has been last on MOTD more than any other this season, I'd put it on us. We've been hideous to watch, and we've wrecked most games we've played this season by being so unadventurous.

If he's still manager next season, I'll shit a lung. Can't take another season of struggle. We've lost Carlos, a decent 1st team player. We'll probably lose Bent in Jan at the latest, but likely the summer.

The way things have gone, I don't see us having the same run of lucky results we did early season this season. The 7 game unbeaten run has just about kept us up, but we were incredibly fortunate in a lot of those games. Likewise we've snatched a few wins, like Fulham, Wolves which we could easily, and nearly did, drop points.

If McLeish is in charge I think we'd struggle from Sept-May. It could be truly, horrendously, embarrassing come the end. We'd struggle to hit 30 points. Never mind being relegated, we could be propping up the table. I don't think that's an exaggeration in any way shape or form either.

[LeeB]

It's heartening to at least see that the national press are getting the real picture.

[Vanilla]

We've lost Carlos, a decent 1st team player. We'll probably lose Bent in Jan at the latest, but likely the summer.

A sad sight at yesterday's game was Carlos's dejected body language at the end of the game when he handed his shirt into the Holte. Hopefully he will have a good run back in Spain. A decent player that didn't really get a full chance to express himself at the club.