AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[TaxDodger]

I like McLeish as a person and really wanted him to succeed here, but he simply wasn't good enough to manage a club of our stature. Good luck to him, I hope he gets a decent job... Like West Brom

[pauliewalnuts]

I liked him as a person when he started, and sympathised with him on a few things.

After the last few weeks of witless comments (largely blaming everyone but himself), I find myself disliking him.

[Dave Cooper please]

|I think the pressure finally got to him Paulie, he knew he was in big trouble and just didn't have the ability to get out of it. A bit like his football teams, he went all defensive when faced with adversity.

[pauliewalnuts]

|I think the pressure finally got to him Paulie, he knew he was in big trouble and just didn't have the ability to get out of it. A bit like his football teams, he went all defensive when faced with adversity.

i think that's probably right.

The one thing that really made me think he'd lost it was that "did people expect us to win the league" comment in his final week. I imagine Lerner was extremely pissed off to hear stuff like that.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Fair play to him, very gracious. As I said before I'm glad he's gone, but no hard feelings.

Agreed. Whilst you could argue the pressure finally got to him in the last few weeks, he's been nothing but consistant with his comments about the club. Good luck to him, he'll need it.

[Irish villain]

Fair play to him, very gracious. As I said before I'm glad he's gone, but no hard feelings.

This. I always liked him as a person. He has integrity, he just didn't do a good job.

[Merv]

i think that's probably right.

The one thing that really made me think he'd lost it was that "did people expect us to win the league" comment in his final week. I imagine Lerner was extremely pissed off to hear stuff like that.

Yes, that kind of stuff antagonises people, just like the Ray Houghton interview I mentioned on 5Live the other day about Villa fans needing to reign in their expectations, as if we are demanding the league title. I think many of us would accept top half, with the promise of progress, which isn't unrealistic.

Incidentally, I've started reading Graham Hunter's book on the making of the current Barcelona team: he discusses McLeish and his attempts, as Rangers boss, to sign Messi and Iniesta on loan, which were ultimately unsuccessful. But he writes about McLeish when he was Hibs manager, and describes him as a coach who embraced European football, who was always 'imaginative' about signings for his squad, citing Frank Sauzee and Russell Latapy, and Mike Arteta, as examples.

It sounded like a completely different coach, and it struck me that perhaps McLeish has really changed his philosophy since arriving in England. I wonder if the almost constant fear of relegation at Birmingham pushed him towards a cautious, do-anything-but-lose approach. As if he lost his way over the years.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

It sounded like a completely different coach, and it struck me that perhaps McLeish has really changed his philosophy since arriving in England. I wonder if the almost constant fear of relegation at Birmingham pushed him towards a cautious, do-anything-but-lose approach. As if he lost his way over the years.

Like any football manager, they need the right people around him and during the season I often wondered how much of our failure was down to Peter Grant. Whilst we'll never know now, I always thought we could have made a Villa man out of McLeish if Kevin MacDonald and Sid Cowans had his ear and more involvement.

[villa for life]

He is a decent guy. He always has been. Shame on those who called him names. I believe there is a thread about what to call him/how best to insult him.

Say he was out of his depth, criticize his tactics, but there was never any need for the personal abuse.

[Chris Jameson]

Incidentally, I've started reading Graham Hunter's book on the making of the current Barcelona team: he discusses McLeish and his attempts, as Rangers boss, to sign Messi and Iniesta on loan, which were ultimately unsuccessful. But he writes about McLeish when he was Hibs manager, and describes him as a coach who embraced European football, who was always 'imaginative' about signings for his squad, citing Frank Sauzee and Russell Latapy, and Mike Arteta, as examples.

It sounded like a completely different coach, and it struck me that perhaps McLeish has really changed his philosophy since arriving in England. I wonder if the almost constant fear of relegation at Birmingham pushed him towards a cautious, do-anything-but-lose approach. As if he lost his way over the years.

It's a brilliant book, I was gutted when I finished it, easily the best football book i've read. Graham Hunter is a friend of Mcleish so he might have bigged him up a bit!

[Toronto Villa]

Fair play to him, very gracious. As I said before I'm glad he's gone, but no hard feelings.

Agreed. Whilst you could argue the pressure finally got to him in the last few weeks, he's been nothing but consistant with his comments about the club. Good luck to him, he'll need it.

we all got very tense and angry as to how things worked out, but I completely agree. He had an uphill battle from the off, but he simply wasn't good enough in the end. That's what broke him, not the Blues stuff which in the end would have been irrelevant had he been successful. His comments towards the end suggested he was coming apart at the seams so the separation will be great for both sides. He's a good man, and those are nice words from him.

[ez]

Fair play to him, very gracious. As I said before I'm glad he's gone, but no hard feelings.

Agreed. Whilst you could argue the pressure finally got to him in the last few weeks, he's been nothing but consistant with his comments about the club. Good luck to him, he'll need it.

we all got very tense and angry as to how things worked out, but I completely agree. He had an uphill battle from the off, but he simply wasn't good enough in the end. That's what broke him, not the Blues stuff which in the end would have been irrelevant had he been successful. His comments towards the end suggested he was coming apart at the seams so the separation will be great for both sides. He's a good man, and those are nice words from him.

Celebrating the 1-1 home draw with Stoke was very strange. You knew things were not right when he did that.

[villajk]

Fair play to him, very gracious. As I said before I'm glad he's gone, but no hard feelings.

Agreed. Whilst you could argue the pressure finally got to him in the last few weeks, he's been nothing but consistant with his comments about the club. Good luck to him, he'll need it.

we all got very tense and angry as to how things worked out, but I completely agree. He had an uphill battle from the off, but he simply wasn't good enough in the end. That's what broke him, not the Blues stuff which in the end would have been irrelevant had he been successful. His comments towards the end suggested he was coming apart at the seams so the separation will be great for both sides. He's a good man, and those are nice words from him.

Well said.  I agree with you all.

[Risso]

Incidentally, I've started reading Graham Hunter's book on the making of the current Barcelona team: he discusses McLeish and his attempts, as Rangers boss, to sign Messi and Iniesta on loan, which were ultimately unsuccessful. But he writes about McLeish when he was Hibs manager, and describes him as a coach who embraced European football, who was always 'imaginative' about signings for his squad, citing Frank Sauzee and Russell Latapy, and Mike Arteta, as examples.

It sounded like a completely different coach, and it struck me that perhaps McLeish has really changed his philosophy since arriving in England. I wonder if the almost constant fear of relegation at Birmingham pushed him towards a cautious, do-anything-but-lose approach. As if he lost his way over the years.

It's a brilliant book, I was gutted when I finished it, easily the best football book i've read. Graham Hunter is a friend of Mcleish so he might have bigged him up a bit!

Easy to be nice when you've just been given a £4m pay out for being a complete waste of space.  Bollocks to him.

[Rigadon]

Magnanimous.  Well said and good luck.