AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[D.boy]

I think we should be looking to do better than Martinez to be honest.  He hasn't set the world alight at Wigan (granted he got some unexpected results at the end of the season) but if Villa are planning on a relegation fight each season then Ok. We should be aiming for higher though.

[garyshawsknee]

To be fair,they did have some sort of plan early on,but over played too much and their defending was awful. They always suffer from too many changes to the squad during the summer and it takes them a while to adjust.

I like him as a man and how he at least tries to get his teams to attack,no matter who the opposition is. Plus he's got good links to the overseas transfer market where all the value is nowadays.

[mortimer1982]

I think Martinez would probably fall into the trap of changing things too quickly, we don't have the players to pass the ball about.
As posted earlier, Wigan have been appalling for most of the season, and it was the same story last year. By appalling I mean atrocious, a team without a plan, strategy and a manager unable to tactically win games
Granted they've been brilliant for the last 4 weeks though

Plenty of time to moan about the new manager when he's appointed.  Let's just have one day when we celebrate the passing of the previous one.  Today's news is good - enjoy it

[curiousorange]

No words...should've sent a poet...

[andyh]

I can't be bothered to think about who should come in next.
I am just so elated that we have got rid of McLeish that it is brilliant to just enjoy the moment.
There is plenty of time to start worrying (again) over the next appointment.

Ding dong, the witch is dead.

[Risso]

I'm not sure about Martinez.  I admire his approach to football, and he's clearly improving as time goes on, but I think he'd struggle to impose his style on our current side, so we'd need to bring in a few quality replacements.

I really would go with Lambert to be honest.

[paul_e]

I'd actually like to hear the board's reasoning on the McLeish appointment now that the dust has settled. It was such a poor appointment on so many levels, unambitious, unimaginative, negative, and most of all for a club that are trying to cut costs, expensive.

I want to know: what were they thinking? What positives did they think he could bring to Aston Villa?

I've said this before:

With Mon you had a manager who got less technical players playing to their strengths using their physique.  He built a squad designed to be quick on the counter attack, solid at the back  and tidy in the middle.

Replacing him with Houllier was a mistake given the timing of the appointment.  This meant a manager who gets good players playing nice attractive football was trying to get that football from a bunch of cloggers.  That appointment failed because of the timing as much as anything (the liverpool thing and the man city cup game sealed the deal for a lot of fans).  He did however get in a couple of players to start changing things, and started bringing through the kids who could adapt to his style.  This meant there were signs that we were going the right direction, but it was going to need an overhaul of the squad.

When Houllier left I believe they initially looked for a manager who could get poorer players playing better football.  Seeing Martinez at Wigan as the best example available they gave it a go but were rebuffed.  They then had a rethink and decided that, seeing as replacing half the squad in a summer wasn't reasonable, if they couldn't get a martinez maybe the best idea was to find someone who could do a similar job to MoN, making us tight at the back and utilise the power and pace in the squad effectively.  They looked at the team of cloggers down the road, saw a cup win and thought there's a manager who can get silverware with a squad full of technically poor players.  Our squad are better setup for that type of game so he might well come in and do a similar, but more effective job for us, saving having to spend big money this summer after a big splurge in january.

I don't agree with it but I can see the logic they used, naive as it may have proven to be.

The addition to this idea is the fact that a lot of the big money contracts (for reserves) were due to expire this summer (heskey, cuellar, beye) which meant that this coming summer was a perfect time for a squad 'reset' whereas last season would've been a lot more difficult/expensive.

[phantom limb]

The feelings of triumph and relief are akin to being constipated for a few days and then finally unleashing a gigantic, glorious shit. Goodbye Alex.

[citizenDJ]

I'm not sure about Martinez.  I admire his approach to football, and he's clearly improving as time goes on, but I think he'd struggle to impose his style on our current side, so we'd need to bring in a few quality replacements.

I really would go with Lambert to be honest.

I reckon it's just the defensive side of things that is the biggest question mark over Martinez (who I do think is a very good manager). In terms of going forward, passing it around, I reckon he could do that with Ireland, Bannan, N'Zogbia, Makoun, Bent.

I don't know if he could sort the defending, though. Still, I reckon he'd be worth a go.

[silhillvilla]

Such a shame it's a school night and a Monday or i'd have been out getting bladdered to celebrate

[citizenDJ]

God, can't believe how relieved I am about this! Ridiculous, really, but WOO HOO!

And that statement from Randy was much stronger that I expected it to be, too. Good for him. More than just a little late, but leadership at a time when it was sorely needed.

[richardhubbard]

Thank fuck for that news! Now villa do not fuck up a 3rd time

[mr woo]

The feelings of triumph and relief are akin to being constipated for a few days and then finally unleashing a gigantic, glorious shit. Goodbye Alex.

And on that bombshell....

[paul_e]

I'm not sure about Martinez.  I admire his approach to football, and he's clearly improving as time goes on, but I think he'd struggle to impose his style on our current side, so we'd need to bring in a few quality replacements.

I really would go with Lambert to be honest.

I reckon it's just the defensive side of things that is the biggest question mark over Martinez (who I do think is a very good manager). In terms of going forward, passing it around, I reckon he could do that with Ireland, Bannan, N'Zogbia, Makoun, Bent.

I don't know if he could sort the defending, though. Still, I reckon he'd be worth a go.

I agree, we've got the makings of a decent side going forward (add Johnson, Gardner, Carruthers, Clark and probably Albrighton to the list of good pass and move players) we've got to get the defense sorted though, the key to a strong, structured passing game in the current climate is good full backs - look at the difference Walker made to us, they're the only players on the pitch who regularly have time and space, failing to use that is a crime at the level we're playing and we have the 2 weakest fullbacks in the league currently.

[TopDeck113]

Just got back from work... thank f*ck for that!!