Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers Post-Match Thread

[Chris Harte]

Agree with this. We played well for 60 minutes, made loads of chances, took a deserved lead and then out of nowhere 2 minutes later somehow we're losing. From that point many of our fans couldn't wait to turn on Mcleish despite the fact that there had been nothing wrong with our display to that point.

The final 30 minutes were a complete shambles, but what else would you expect from a bunch of kids playing in front of a crowd pre occupied with slating their manager?

The highlighted bits are utter bollocks. The crowd turned on the manager with a few minutes to go.


Cheers. However unequivocally you're wrong  within a few minutes of Bolton's second goal the Holte was singing  - Fuck off McLeish the Villa is Ours

Look at the posts around your own. If there was any chanting it wasn't loud enough to be heard on the pitch. Not until almost at the end of the game.

Edit, I'll add that I was sat in the Lower Holte and heard nothing until the last five minutes.

[Steve67]

Agree with this. We played well for 60 minutes, made loads of chances, took a deserved lead and then out of nowhere 2 minutes later somehow we're losing. From that point many of our fans couldn't wait to turn on Mcleish despite the fact that there had been nothing wrong with our display to that point.

The final 30 minutes were a complete shambles, but what else would you expect from a bunch of kids playing in front of a crowd pre occupied with slating their manager?

The highlighted bits are utter bollocks. The crowd turned on the manager with a few minutes to go.


Cheers. However unequivocally you're wrong  within a few minutes of Bolton's second goal the Holte was singing  - Fuck off McLeish the Villa is Ours

I sat on the Holte. 86 minutes the chanting started. I was thinking to myself that it should have started earlier.  There was a very small chant earlier on but it was hardly audible.  The 86th minute onwards and the crowd shouted much louder. He deserves the lot.

[Greg N'Ash]

Have any of our fellow strugglers got Chelsea reserves between now and the Champions' League final?

thing is, a lot of their reserves in the final games will be the normal first team. think they'be got 4 or 5 first team regulars banned for the final so QPR won't get an easy ride. Plus they hate QPR

[James]

If the man was half as decent as everyone says he is, he'd have resigned by now and taken his puppet Grant with him! He doesn't give a fuck about Villa or us, he's just counting his retirement fund because he knows he'll never work in football again. With apologies in advance to the site and acknowledging site standards and such, the man is a ............................. Get rid now, put Sooty and Sweep in charge they wouldn't do any worse!

[Irish villain]

"Just imagine what he could do with Randy's backing."

I think they were genuine at the start. I think they were just a lot more incompetent than we could have imagined.

That quote is blood curdling.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

The fans were behind the team tonight, even after we threw the lead away. It was only after 20 minutes of utter drivel following their goals that a season's worth of frustrations were unleashed.

We desperately need inspiration and leadership from somewhere, we can't sign any players so our only option is to change manager. I'd back us to win our last three games with K-Mac and Sid in charge.

Agree.

The thing is, we can't get any worse.
I can't see where any points are coming from.
The fans made their feelings known tonight and have every right to.
We would have just as good a chance of surviving with me in charge. Unfortunately I have a proper job and if I (or anyone else) performed it as poorly as AM is doing his, I'd be out on my ear.
I actually think the fans have been pretty neutral towards him until tonight and have given him a good chance to prove their fears wrong. He's failed miserably.
Admit it Randy that you made a mistake and stop the club from rotting any further. He deserves to go so get rid of him now.
So how come Randy back a manager who is so completely inept

[Stu]

Thats right, it's the fans fault.

Don't be simplistic. For me, it's partly Randy's fault, a bit O'Neills fault, and a lot McLeish's fault. But turning the atmosphere poisonous with 5 minutes left doesn't help our team of Academy grads try to force a potentially relegation avoiding equaliser across the line. Are you only capable of seeing things in such obvious stripes of black and white?

No. I think our fans have been amazingly patient this season considering the dross that has been served up and just lost it tonight in frustration. The blames lies with the chairman for the apointment of the manager. An expert in relegation and thats what we've got. Regardless of the fans support, this was inevitable.

Was there tonight and I think even in the Trinity, where I was sat, joined in with the singing. I found it quite upsetting, the team were losing and looked totally ragged and raw abuse for the manager was cascading down from the stands. Not a good place to be at that point. Is this the first time the Villa fans have completely turned on McLeish?

I don't think the team had played badly and we deserved to go in front, but by that time Kevin Davies had started to get stuck into our defence and it seemed only a matter of time. The penalty so soon after the goal was a kick in the teeth and then the winner was just gobsmacking. I was sat next to some helmet who was saying from about the 10th minute in "We'm gunna lose this" as well, which really set up the night in good fashion. An utter prick he was.

[ktvillan]

I sat on the Holte. 86 minutes the chanting started. I was thinking to myself that it should have started earlier.  There was a very small chant earlier on but it was hardly audible.  The 86th minute onwards and the crowd shouted much louder. He deserves the lot.

Yep - it should have started about 6 months earlier

[tomd2103]

Agree with this. We played well for 60 minutes, made loads of chances, took a deserved lead and then out of nowhere 2 minutes later somehow we're losing. From that point many of our fans couldn't wait to turn on Mcleish despite the fact that there had been nothing wrong with our display to that point.

The final 30 minutes were a complete shambles, but what else would you expect from a bunch of kids playing in front of a crowd pre occupied with slating their manager?

The highlighted bits are utter bollocks. The crowd turned on the manager with a few minutes to go.

You're right, it is utter bollocks.  We were shit right from the start of the second half.  Bolton started the better.  Villa had a couple of corners but that's about it. Bolton had nearly 60% of the play overall.  McLeish deserves everything he gets from the crowd. Perhaps it's a good job only 32,000 bother to turn up, thanks to his inept management of the club.  38 to40,000, as it used to be, sounds far better baying for blood, good job he's helped to keep the crowds lower.  He's a c*** and shouldn't be at this standard of football.  I wonder if people will still feel sorry for him if/when we get relegated?

I too disagree with the points in bold.  To be honest I thought Bolton were the better side for parts of the 1st half as well and all we did were hit long balls up to Heskey and try and pick up the flick-ons.  At least Bolton tried to play football.  The writing was on the wall before we scored in the 2nd half and our goal came a bit out of the blue.  It was clear we needed a change, but McLeish was unmoved.  When he did bring Gabby on for Heskey, we just kept pumping balls up to him and he didn't win one.  He then waited until there was about 15 minutes left to make another change.  I did think we had a couple of good penalty shouts in the 2nd half and McLeish only got really hammered in the last few minutes.   

[Stu]

I sat on the Holte. 86 minutes the chanting started. I was thinking to myself that it should have started earlier.  There was a very small chant earlier on but it was hardly audible.  The 86th minute onwards and the crowd shouted much louder. He deserves the lot.

Yep, it started in the last 5 mins and was being belted out all round the ground.

[Greg N'Ash]

I just think he's lost the plot really. He's been dull and unadventurous mainly all season and when we need him to be dull and unadventurous he stops..*faceplam*

[Steve kirk]

That 2 minute spell when Bolton scored twice was gut wrenching and there was no way we were going to respond, its felt somehow from the day that he was appointed that this slow death was meant to happen, we are not down yet but it seems inevitable now that it will happen, I have been feeling so stressed in the last few months but at the end of the match a calmness came over me, an acceptance of our fate, I got through 1967, 1970 and 1987 and I will get over this, whatever happens we will always support and love our beloved club.   

[Mike Jeffries]

To be in the position we are in, with the players we have is truly awful.

I blame senior players who didn't have the bottle to finish off a good season under O'Neil (yes he played them into the ground, but there was still a lack of back bone at crunch times), who then went on to throw their toys out of the pram when Houllier tried to change things.  And then when we think about now - They could at least play for their Careers the work shy fops, how many of them do you think will get premier league gigs next season on the money they've spunged off us? (Probably too many in truth, when not a one of them deserves it).  Kids like Lichaj, Baker and particularly Herd have put them to shame, simply in terms of effort let alone skill.

All that said, there is no hiding from what a terrible appointment McLeish has been.  Utterly tactically inept.

Can we stay up? of course we can, if we fight.  I hope we do, I'll be at the Hawthorns shouting and praying for it, but I've little confidence to be honest, unless of course the players can pull together despite the manager, because he just doesn't have it in him to sort this out (Please prove me wrong........please).  I'm not going to go on a swear fest against him or the owner, what's the point? but he just isn't good enough and this need never have happened.   

[Steve67]

Warnock did ok in the centre of midfield to be fair, but I couldn't understand why he left Clark and Gardner on the bench, taking Herd off and leaving our left back on, in the centre of midfield?  Why not move Warnock to the left, take the utterly useless N'Zogbia off and bring Gardner and/or Clark on?  Heskey was at least getting the better of their defenders in the air too, then we change our tactics and go punt ball.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  This is the worst Villa side I have ever seen and McLeish is worse than Billy McBingo ever was.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Can you really blame season ticket holders for venting their frustration at this man 5 minutes from the end of match number 18 ? Four home wins all season, four !

Assuming we do not beat Spurs, where I sit its worked out at something like £135 per win !

£135 to beat Blackburn, £135 to beat Wigan, £135 to beat Norwich, £135 to beat Fulham !