McLeish:No Regrets

[Toronto Villa]

Why do some people get so wound up when other posters don't want Alex McLeish castrated?  He just wasn't good enough, that's all.  He never slagged the club, or the fans.  He was just shit. 

no, not directly, you're right. But in the manner of what he produced and the excuses he came up with every week he royally took the piss for the money he was on. It was all very subtle wrapped up nicely in the guise of "nice bloke"

[Monty]

Why do some people get so wound up when other posters don't want Alex McLeish castrated?  He just wasn't good enough, that's all.  He never slagged the club, or the fans.  He was just shit. 

Well, I thought that at first. But I lost a lot of respect for him as he went on and on blaming all others, including the players, for the failings. In public. That was appalling man-management, and terrible for results, so the only explanation is that he was saying it all to cover his own arse. The idea that a Villa manager would be so cowardly as to even undermine results to avoid taking responsibility for his failings was not endearing.

[jembob]

Why do some people get so wound up when other posters don't want Alex McLeish castrated?  He just wasn't good enough, that's all.  He never slagged the club, or the fans.  He was just shit. 

Well, I thought that at first. But I lost a lot of respect for him as he went on and on blaming all others, including the players, for the failings. In public. That was appalling man-management, and terrible for results, so the only explanation is that he was saying it all to cover his own arse. The idea that a Villa manager would be so cowardly as to even undermine results to avoid taking responsibility for his failings was not endearing.

I agree. He may not have had an regrets about last season but I do - it was £500 of my hard earned cash down the pan with absolutely nothing to show for it. Not one half decent performance and a number of absolutely shameful ones. For him continue to blame everybody but himself is insulting and craven.

[Monty]

Why do some people get so wound up when other posters don't want Alex McLeish castrated?  He just wasn't good enough, that's all.  He never slagged the club, or the fans.  He was just shit. 

Well, I thought that at first. But I lost a lot of respect for him as he went on and on blaming all others, including the players, for the failings. In public. That was appalling man-management, and terrible for results, so the only explanation is that he was saying it all to cover his own arse. The idea that a Villa manager would be so cowardly as to even undermine results to avoid taking responsibility for his failings was not endearing.

I agree. He may not have had an regrets about last season but I do - it was £500 of my hard earned cash down the pan with absolutely nothing to show for it. Not one half decent performance and a number of absolutely shameful ones. For him continue to blame everybody but himself is insulting and craven.

Craven. Nicely put.

[Rigadon]

I get why folks are pissed off at the shite we watched last season and I was 'outraged of Bromsgrove' in many a post match thread.  I just don't think he's bright enough to put on an act of being a nice guy to curry favour and I think the craven-ness is just his fairly low intellect on display.  He was a disaster of an appointment though and yes, it would be refreshing to hear that now and again from people in the game but when it's your livelihood you're hardly likely to come a=out with that kind of thing.  It appears that in this interview he has gone for the only option he has for an excuse (injuries) and I can't say he's totally wrong.  Maybe 5% of the dross served up was a result of players missing or carrying knocks but  the rest was that he just wasn't up to it.   No mud-slinging though and he speaks highly f the club as he always did.

[jembob]

Why do some people get so wound up when other posters don't want Alex McLeish castrated?  He just wasn't good enough, that's all.  He never slagged the club, or the fans.  He was just shit. 

Well, I thought that at first. But I lost a lot of respect for him as he went on and on blaming all others, including the players, for the failings. In public. That was appalling man-management, and terrible for results, so the only explanation is that he was saying it all to cover his own arse. The idea that a Villa manager would be so cowardly as to even undermine results to avoid taking responsibility for his failings was not endearing.

I agree. He may not have had an regrets about last season but I do - it was £500 of my hard earned cash down the pan with absolutely nothing to show for it. Not one half decent performance and a number of absolutely shameful ones. For him continue to blame everybody but himself is insulting and craven.

Craven. Nicely put.

Credit to Roget's Thesaurus!

[Risso]

I get why folks are pissed off at the shite we watched last season and I was 'outraged of Bromsgrove' in many a post match thread.  I just don't think he's bright enough to put on an act of being a nice guy to curry favour and I think the craven-ness is just his fairly low intellect on display.  He was a disaster of an appointment though and yes, it would be refreshing to hear that now and again from people in the game but when it's your livelihood you're hardly likely to come a=out with that kind of thing.  It appears that in this interview he has gone for the only option he has for an excuse (injuries) and I can't say he's totally wrong.  Maybe 5% of the dross served up was a result of players missing or carrying knocks but  the rest was that he just wasn't up to it.   No mud-slinging though and he speaks highly f the club as he always did.

Did you miss the part where he mentioned the fans who were never going to give him a chance?

[timeoutbigbar]

Getting himself in the public eye I see, a pundit on ITV4's coverage of the Hearts v Liverpool game.

[Chris Smith]

Fucking hell Chris. You'll need to dig up Johnny Cochran for this one if you are planning on defending McLeish. Most rational people gave him every chance to succeed....

Problem is there are lot of irrational people posting on the internet

I'm not defending his record just objecting to the revisionism and character assassination that has been prevalent for the past few months.

[avfc_1874]

With the money he earnt as manager & the compensation pay-off he received. I'm not surprised he doesn't have any regrets.

[Rigadon]

I get why folks are pissed off at the shite we watched last season and I was 'outraged of Bromsgrove' in many a post match thread.  I just don't think he's bright enough to put on an act of being a nice guy to curry favour and I think the craven-ness is just his fairly low intellect on display.  He was a disaster of an appointment though and yes, it would be refreshing to hear that now and again from people in the game but when it's your livelihood you're hardly likely to come a=out with that kind of thing.  It appears that in this interview he has gone for the only option he has for an excuse (injuries) and I can't say he's totally wrong.  Maybe 5% of the dross served up was a result of players missing or carrying knocks but  the rest was that he just wasn't up to it.   No mud-slinging though and he speaks highly f the club as he always did.

Did you miss the part where he mentioned the fans who were never going to give him a chance?

Are you saying there was joyous rapture when his appointment was announced?  I remember lots of fans giving the guy a good go and slowly but surely having their collective will to care sapped as the season drew on.   However, I also remember a significant proportion of our numbers moaning like fuck and a even having a half-arsed protest.  I also recall sitting next to a group of blokes in the lower north who turned up for the first home game signing 'McLeish out' 'bluenose ******' style songs for the first 10 minutes of the game (only stopping to go and piss the 10 pints they'd drunk before the game).  It was a mixed bag in truth.

He isn't lying when he said some fans were against him from the first moment he was appointed and he isn't lying when he said he had problems with injuries.  What he fails to mention was EVERYTHING else he did wrong, either because he has amnesia, or he doesn't realise or he's toning it down so some mug chairman, probably in Scotland, gives him a job.   

Now, can I please stop sticking up for the manager who served up the most depressing season I can remember?  Thank you!

[not3bad]

I agree. He may not have had an regrets about last season but I do - it was £500 of my hard earned cash down the pan with absolutely nothing to show for it. Not one half decent performance and a number of absolutely shameful ones.

Actually that's not quite true.  Blackburn, Norwich, Arsenal (though we lost) and QPR were all decent home performances.

[Percy McCarthy]

We wouldn't be playing Coventry instead of Everton this weekend if we'd been relegated. Unless the authorities decided to drop us two divisions because we were so fucking boring.

[MYSTERYMAN]

Spoke to him for over an hour this morning . I 100 percent don't think he was right for Villa but as a person think he is decent bloke and will be a decent manager for another club . Glad he went YES but also think that he inherited probably the worst dressing room in living memory . Too many egos and far too many average players who have no affinity with our club !

[placeforparks]

don't blame mcleish for taking the job, blame the idiots who offered it to him.