McLeish:No Regrets

[pauliewalnuts]

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.

Honestly, what nonsense.

He had plenty of chances to win the vast majority of supporters over - the sensible majority of us were willing to give him a chance when he got the job. No, we didn't want him - did anyone? But once he'd got it, he got a fair crack of the whip. He didn't even get any significant stick from the crowd till the latter stages of the season - Houllier got it much, much earlier.

I'm sure he's a lovely bloke, and it's good that he was so nice with your kids, but honestly, the only person he needs to look at to blame is himself.

In the 35 odd years I've been going, I can remember more really shit Villa sides than I'd prefer to, but I can't ever remember a season so depressing as last season, or a season in which I actually felt embarassed of my club like I did last season.

All McLeish had to do was to not fall back on the mindwarpingly defensive nonsense he played at Blues, and that's exactly what he did here. This is the man who delivered seven wins all season, four home wins, the fewest since 1888, and the lowest win percentage of any Villa manager ever.

The only surprising or disappointing thing about McLeish is that he managed to linger on the entire season, thus maximising the damage done to the club by our clueless leaders when they appointed him.

As for "wrong time", sorry, but as far as I'm concerned there's never a "right" time at my club for a manager who punches the air after leading Stoke at home till 80 odd mins, only to get a draw.

[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.

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

He shouldn't have come from Blues. I think both he and Randy misjudged the supporters feeling.
He came at a time when we were selling our best players and others too.
Yes, I agree, the football was poor, but, the players have to shoulder as much of the blame as McLeish

[pauliewalnuts]

Which Villa players were responsible for the four years of horrible nonsense he'd played at Blues?

Or for his relegations?

[LeeB]

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?

He shouldn't have come from Blues. I think both he and Randy misjudged the supporters feeling.
He came at a time when we were selling our best players and others too.
Yes, I agree, the football was poor, but, the players have to shoulder as much of the blame as McLeish

Is it the soldiers fault when the general fucks up and gets them killed?

The 20th best paid manager in World Football came up with that team at White Hart Lane last season.

[Toronto Villa]

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?

He shouldn't have come from Blues. I think both he and Randy misjudged the supporters feeling.
He came at a time when we were selling our best players and others too.
Yes, I agree, the football was poor, but, the players have to shoulder as much of the blame as McLeish

I can just about put up with the ignorant media going on his failure being linked to his previous employer. It had nothing to do with that. If he tried to play football, and treated the fans with respect which he didn't given the bollocks he had the lads serve up, then he'd have been fine. We all thought he had changed after Arsenal and against Chelsea. But he continuously let is down. By the end time saved us because we had bought a one way ticket to the Championship. His time as manager in the end had sucked the life out of the club and fans, and the only person that couldn't see it was him.

[Rigadon]

Nice bloke, crap Villa manager.  Glad he's gone, wish him all the best.

[Risso]

Nice bloke.  Decent fella, one of the very best, I'd trust him with my life.  Super chap, he really is.  Salt of the earth McLeish, an absolute diamond geezer, and an all round smashing person.

[Monty]

Might have been a nice guy in person, but he was a professional coward incapable of taking responsibility for even the smallest failing. Even now he whinges about the 'inexperience' of the squad - despite the fact that the youngsters out-performed the majority senior players for almost the whole season. That constant bemoaning of injuries to the seniors, coupled with instantly dropping performing juniors for lazy, jobsworth, undeserving seniors - not to mention always mouthing off to the press about how bad the youngsters were (essentially, that's what he was saying) - goes down as the most pathetic example of sacrificing man-management, sacrificing the needs of the team for the sake of saving his own face and making himself look better.

I've never met him, but if he's anywhere near as wheedling and self-preservationist as he is in his job then I can't imagine him having many friends.

[Chris Smith]

Why shouldn't the bloke stick up for himself? I'm sure we'd all do the same in the face of criticism. Until the injuries really hit we were comfortably mid table so the stuff about the kids outperforming the youngsters isn't backed up by results.

He was the wrong appointment and the football was mostly horrible but I don't see why people have to manipulate the facts.

[LeeB]

Might have been a nice guy in person, but he was a professional coward incapable of taking responsibility for even the smallest failing. Even now he whinges about the 'inexperience' of the squad - despite the fact that the youngsters out-performed the majority senior players for almost the whole season. That constant bemoaning of injuries to the seniors, coupled with instantly dropping performing juniors for lazy, jobsworth, undeserving seniors - not to mention always mouthing off to the press about how bad the youngsters were (essentially, that's what he was saying) - goes down as the most pathetic example of sacrificing man-management, sacrificing the needs of the team for the sake of saving his own face and making himself look better.

I've never met him, but if he's anywhere near as wheedling and self-preservationist as he is in his job then I can't imagine him having many friends.

Spot on sir.

[Monty]

Why shouldn't the bloke stick up for himself? I'm sure we'd all do the same in the face of criticism. Until the injuries really hit we were comfortably mid table so the stuff about the kids outperforming the youngsters isn't backed up by results.

He was the wrong appointment and the football was mostly horrible but I don't see why people have to manipulate the facts.

There's sticking up for himself and there's running down your own players to do so. It was troubling to watch.

[Rick_avfc]

Just out of curiosity, what was his brand of football like with Rangers?

[Risso]

Why shouldn't the bloke stick up for himself? I'm sure we'd all do the same in the face of criticism. Until the injuries really hit we were comfortably mid table so the stuff about the kids outperforming the youngsters isn't backed up by results.

He was the wrong appointment and the football was mostly horrible but I don't see why people have to manipulate the facts.

Rubbish Chris.  Bent was obviously a big loss, but it was senior players like Hutton, Agbonlahor, Warnock and Collins etc who were amongst our worst performers last season.  After Bent's injury, Weimann outscored Gabby in any case, and players like Herd contributed far more to the cause than the likes of Warnock.

[LeeB]

Why shouldn't the bloke stick up for himself? I'm sure we'd all do the same in the face of criticism. Until the injuries really hit we were comfortably mid table so the stuff about the kids outperforming the youngsters isn't backed up by results.

He was the wrong appointment and the football was mostly horrible but I don't see why people have to manipulate the facts.

What's he "sticking up for himself" for anyway?

I haven't heard anyone from the club slagging him, and he's hardly got the world's press on his back as they don't give a fuck about us.

He's the one touting for work through the press, giving his inexplicable performance with us some teflon sheen so some other mug will pay him vast sums for a job he can't do.

He's a wanker, David O'Leary with a little more charm but less talent.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Alex, but the regrets are all ours.