The Ultimate Choice

[villanic]

Relegation would be a disaster and I don’t think we would necessarily be rid of McLeish if we did go down.

It’s more likely that the club would come out with some bollocks about his record of getting straight back up and stick with him and we would be left watching the same turgid football that we have had to put up with this season but in a lower league.

[Steve kirk]

Over the weekend I have got closer to thinking I would accept relegation to be rid of Mctwat but I just cannot want or wish for my beloved club to take the drop, it just seems wrong. 

[TheSandman]

On the whole relegation argument I'm unconvinced by either the 'It will benefit us...' or the 'It will be a disaster' arguments. Whilst there is no guarantee that we are going to be promoted inside a season and purge ourselves of a lot of our problems I think that the whole disaster argument is somewhat overblown and seems to lack perspective. Chernobyl was a disaster, the deaths of multiple people is a disaster. Villa getting relegated is merely a bit shit. At the end of the day, we will still have our club and that is what is most important about our relationship with Villa. On the financial side of things Lerner may also have made a series of poor decisions that would have culminated in any possible relegation but I don't think he'd withdraw his backing from the club and would be suitably chastened by the experience so financially we would not be as badly off as some seem to make out. So I'm kind of sitting on the fence here.

Of course, I think the best possible outcome doesn't involve relegation and you'd like to think that the club have learned from this season and will be able to make decisions that will ensure that there isn't a repeat of this season, or worse. Lets not hope that our route out of the frying pan leads us into the fire.

[PeterWithesShin]

I think when people talk about how much fun they had when we were in the lower leagues before they use rose tinted glasses a bit. I'm sure the 3rd divisions days were fun, but what about the 3 before it when we were at the bottom of Division 2 in a near empty Villa Park. Were they fun too? Or how about a couple of seasons later when we finished 14th in Division 2?

I was around last time we were down and for the most part it was shit. It was only decent if you went away a lot as we won a lot away from home. But at home it was pretty crap and depressing. Only a couple of times was Villa Park even half full. Had we not gone up by the skin of our teeth I dread to think of where that would have left us.

[Chico Hamilton III]

It was only decent if you went away a lot as we won a lot away from home. But at home it was pretty crap and depressing

Plus ca change

[Vanilla]

Over the weekend I have got closer to thinking I would accept relegation to be rid of Mctwat but I just cannot want or wish for my beloved club to take the drop, it just seems wrong.

He'd be in his element if we got relegated; playing substandard long ball football, scrappy midfield battles, scraping results etc. So the club would consider him the best man to get us back into the PL.

[Irish villain]

Who'd have thought in those heady days of 06-10 we'd be debating this in 2012? Whether or not relegation might be what's needed to rejuvenate the club.

[KevinGage]

Worst thing that could happen to us!

You think we are on a budget now... With championship money think randy would throw a "yard" sale at the back of the holte end selling everything from players to 20,000 plastic seats that won't be used!

Didn't do Newcastle any harm. They're pushing for a Champions League spot within two seasons of us relegating them. McLeish has been a disaster of Billy McNeill proportions and look what happened within a couple of seasons of him taking us down too. I'm with you Brian, get down and get rid.

It's something I've been mulling over since Jan/Feb.

Last season I was absolutely shitting it at the prospect of going down and the damage it could do. 
Now, I think about another season of this, compared to a more positive approach with a new manager (albeit one tier down)  and I can genuinely see the appeal of the latter. 

Part of my concern last season was that if we went down, Albrighton, Bannan, Clark and co might be picked off by scavengers above us. Whilst I still think they can be very good players, this season has demonstrated that we probably don't have to worry about head-turning bids coming in from Man U, Tottingham and the like anytime soon.

A season of competitive football (and playing to win)   in the Championship might be the perfect halfway house between Reserve/Youth football and the top flight.   And might be the making of them.   And us. 

But as Paulie and others have pointed out, we could just as easily do a Forest or Wednesday. So my hope is that we do actually stay up, and the board get lucky with their next managerial appointment. Make no mistake about it, it probably will take luck.  As based on their previous, I wouldn't trust them to pick their nose.

[Chipsticks]

I think this argument is somewhat pointless, as if we (god forbid) actually do get relegated, why would the board want to remove a manager with a very good promotion record?

[rutski]

I think this argument is somewhat pointless, as if we (god forbid) actually do get relegated, why would the board want to remove a manager with a very good promotion record?

i quite like that pointless programme!

[villanois]

it's the new 5 year plan, 2 years to get us relegated, 3rd year a trip to wembley only to miss out on promotion in the play offs, 4th year an abysmal season just avoiding relegation from the championship, 5th year, relegation from the championship, All heil McLeish and Lerner's unwavering loyalty to his man.

[Eigentor]

I think McLeish isn't as bad as most on here seem to think. Seriously.

He's a limited manager, and an ambitious club shouldn't touch him with a barge pole, but he has shown that he is capable of building defensive-minded sides that scrapes enough 1-0 wins and draws to be considered mildly successful.

The main reason why this hasn't worked as Villa is the McLeish approach relies on strong defensive midfielders. Most of the season, our central midfield have been our achilles heal.

Secondly, to scrape 1-0 wins and (scoreless) draws you cannot have defenders who are almost guaranteed to make at least one cock-up every match. We have.

Thirdly, either because he don't have the players to carry out his preferred tactics or because he sort of understands that he has to try to play decent football to win over the fans, he periodically drifts away from the set-up that has provided him (sporadic) success in the past. The result is usually that the team looks even more disjointed and disorganised.

[john e]

I think McLeish isn't as bad as most on here seem to think. Seriously.

He's a limited manager, and an ambitious club shouldn't touch him with a barge pole, but he has shown that he is capable of building defensive-minded sides that scrapes enough 1-0 wins and draws to be considered mildly successful.

The main reason why this hasn't worked as Villa is the McLeish approach relies on strong defensive midfielders. Most of the season, our central midfield have been our achilles heal.

Secondly, to scrape 1-0 wins and (scoreless) draws you cannot have defenders who are almost guaranteed to make at least one cock-up every match. We have.

Thirdly, either because he don't have the players to carry out his preferred tactics or because he sort of understands that he has to try to play decent football to win over the fans, he periodically drifts away from the set-up that has provided him (sporadic) success in the past. The result is usually that the team looks even more disjointed and disorganised.

good try mate,   your making a argument there, building a case.

Verdict - Guilty as Charged


at least you had a go

[PeterWithe]

Well argued and very depressing.

[Tom Sawyer]

There is only one way forward for us. This would be... Stay in the Premier League... Get rid of McLeish... Appoint a different manager... Get rid of Faulkner... Appoint a football man... Begin the long task of rebuilding.

Anything other than the above and we'll stay on the road to disaster.