McLeish:No Regrets

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Having players on the pitch who are "attacking" by nature means sod all if you send them out to be defensive, or, when losing, to keep the score down.

'Keeping the score down' was our trump card in staying up last season. Because we kept the score down, our goal difference wasn't as bad as those around us.

Saying that, we should never, ever, have been down there to begin with.

[paul_e]

Having players on the pitch who are "attacking" by nature means sod all if you send them out to be defensive, or, when losing, to keep the score down.

'Keeping the score down' was our trump card in staying up last season. Because we kept the score down, our goal difference wasn't as bad as those around us.

Saying that, we should never, ever, have been down there to begin with.

I'm utterly convinced that was actually because teams took the foot off the gas as soon as they took the lead against us because they knew the points were in the bag.  Far too many times last season our matches looked like a training session for the other team, that was the worst thing about it.

Oh and bobo, if you can't see anything different from saturday to last season then we can't help you.  Yes we weren't great at the weekend but we never looked anything like as poor as we did in some of the games last year (can anyone raise me on the tottenham game with heskey and hutton in midfield as the worst they've ever seen from a villa side? - we've been battered in games before but I've never seen us look so gutless, any respect I had for McLeish left that day)

[phantom limb]

You would have to be wall-gnawingly mental to employ him as a football manager now. It was a bad enough decision for us to offer him the job last season in the first place, and I can't see a queue of suitors for him after the abysmal cack that he inflicted upon everyone who was unfortunate enough to watch one of our games.

[Legion]

Wrong person, wrong place, wrong time. I do actually wish him well for his future well away from us.

[john e]

Wrong person, wrong place, wrong time. I do actually wish him well for his future well away from us.

i'd go along with all that

[Dave]

Even with Bent in the team we looked dismal as an attacking unit, so I wouldn't have banked on us winning more games. 

Even with Bent in the team we looked dismal as an attacking unit, so I wouldn't have banked on us winning more games. 

The difference on Saturday from last season was what exactly?

The fact that we registered more than 60% possession for what must be the first time in about six years and that we actively looked to pass it to the nearest player rather than slog it to the opposite corner of the pitch.

The incisiveness will come in time, but asking the difference between Saturday's performance and a typical McLeish performance is a bit daft.

[Steve R]

Je nae regrette rien.

Does this mean that he still thinks that playing Hutton and Heskey on the wing was a good idea?

[ACVilla]

A negative manager who always has been and always will be.

I don't really buy into this nice guy philosophy, he came out in interviews after games and treated us Villa fans as absolute mugs with his ridiculous comments. A nice guy would have quit when he realised he was way in above his head and no one wanted him as manager.

[Big Dick Edwards]

Perhaps we should see how this season pans out before condemning McLeish's contribution to our club? Judging from our attacking potency on saturday we may view McLeish in a different light if Lambert, hampered by the same financial restrictions, fails to keep us in the Premier League.

[Legion]

McLeish v Lambert:

McLeish P1 W0 D1 L0 F0 A0 GD 0 PTS 1
Lambert P1 W0 D0 L1 F0 A1 GD-1 PTS 0

[SoccerHQ]

Bit when he said our fanbase always demands top 4 or top 6.

Not really, last season I'd have been happy finishing mid table playing good attacking football, same as this season. You failed miserably by not even trying to do that last season McLeish.

Also Sigurdson, yeah right. Why didn't we try to get him on loan then in that January when he went to Swansea. Does McLeish really think he'd have chosen us over Liverpool or Spurs?!

I'm just glad this bloke is a forgettable footnote in our history. Onwards and upwards.

[nigel]

Agreed, he's always carried himself with more dignity than most managers.  I like him as a bloke, just not as a Manager.

Agreed too,
Met him while on holiday in Italy when he managed the Blues, no celeb private stuff, mixed with the normal folk.
Had his photo taken with my lads, all in Villa tops.
Top bloke, in my opinion.
Come to Villa at the wrong time, he was never going to win some supporters over.

[Risso]

Agreed, he's always carried himself with more dignity than most managers.  I like him as a bloke, just not as a Manager.

Agreed too,
Met him while on holiday in Italy when he managed the Blues, no celeb private stuff, mixed with the normal folk.
Had his photo taken with my lads, all in Villa tops.
Top bloke, in my opinion.
Come to Villa at the wrong time, he was never going to win some supporters over.

When exactly would have been the right time time for his brand of football?

[boboonthecorner]

Even with Bent in the team we looked dismal as an attacking unit, so I wouldn't have banked on us winning more games. 

Even with Bent in the team we looked dismal as an attacking unit, so I wouldn't have banked on us winning more games. 

The difference on Saturday from last season was what exactly?

The fact that we registered more than 60% possession for what must be the first time in about six years and that we actively looked to pass it to the nearest player rather than slog it to the opposite corner of the pitch.

The incisiveness will come in time, but asking the difference between Saturday's performance and a typical McLeish performance is a bit daft.

We had 60% possession for the first 20 minutes. The game went on for another 70 minutes after that in which time we were restricted to a speculative 30 yard effort from our CB.

[LeeB]

I'll bet he has "no regrets", as he rides of into the sunset with probably the best part of £5m.

Fucking chancer.