Initial impressions under PL

[ktvillan]

the whole football world saw what he did with Aston Villa and no one wants any of it

The whole football world saw what he did with Birmingham City, twice, and Hibs,  but it didn't stop Lerner and Faulkner employing him.

[Risso]

They must have been the only two people in the world other than McLeish himself who believed that he didn't play boring football.  I'll never forget the General's message "Imagine what he'll be able to do with Lerner's backing".

[N'ZMAV]

the whole football world saw what he did with Aston Villa and no one wants any of it

The whole football world saw what he did with Birmingham City, twice, and Hibs,  but it didn't stop Lerner and Faulkner employing him.

For as long as I live i'll never ever understand that decision.

[Aston Villa]

the whole football world saw what he did with Aston Villa and no one wants any of it

The whole football world saw what he did with Birmingham City, twice, and Hibs,  but it didn't stop Lerner and Faulkner employing him.

For as long as I live i'll never ever understand that decision.

This. I have probably gone over it hundreds of times in my head trying to see it from every possible angle and I haven't come close to even coming up with a theory as to why he was chosen. I am now resigned to never knowing unless Randy or Faulker ever go public about why.

[somec]

I don't understand why they would have considered interviewing Mcleish let alone actually giving him the job. And worse than that they tried to dress it up as a a coup, saying we were getting one over on our neighbours.

 They'd just been relegated and most of their fans were happy to see the back of him and excited at the prospect of how he could relegate our club, which he very nearly did.

Back on topic I'm pleased with the progress under PL and I'm sure the results will start matching the performances soon.

[PeterWithesShin]

Add me to the list of people who will never understand the logic in appointing McLeish.

[not3bad]

And me.

[Legion]

The list would be rather long I think.

[silhillvilla]

Avec moi

[Aston Villa]

What baffled me most about the whole sorry affair was the way it went against everything Randy had built. His image of being in touch with the fans. The image of the club that was seen as a nice club that plays by the rules. Remember the Delph transfer? When we were praised by Bates for being the only club that dealt with Leeds in 100% the right way. How did we go from that to tapping up our fierciest rivals manager? From supposedly refusing Hughes because Randy wasn't impressed with the way he quit Fulham to hiring someone who resigns from the club that he just relegated by fax. Ahh! Hurts my brain just thinking about it!

[DrGonzo]

Can we get back t talking about Lambert...this is making me depressed.

[pauliewalnuts]

They must have been the only two people in the world other than McLeish himself who believed that he didn't play boring football.  I'll never forget the General's message "Imagine what he'll be able to do with Lerner's backing".

I heard Faulkner being interviewed on WM shortly after McLeish was sacked. He said two things which made me thump the steering wheel (was driving at the time).

The first was "well, it's easy to say it was not going to work out with the benefit of hindsight". What a joke, there must have been three people in the world who thought it might have worked, Faulkner, Lerner and McLeish.

The second was, "Alex came here, and his record spoke for itself". Yes, it did, it said "don't go anywhere near me",  his proven record of relegation and awful football at this level meant we should have gone nowhere near him.

Even now, looking back, I still can not believe we made that appointment. I don't think any Villa news has left me as gobsmacked as the news we were talking to him did.

I bet there's some funny stuff to look back at on this place from that time last year.

[PeterWithesShin]

They must have been the only two people in the world other than McLeish himself who believed that he didn't play boring football.  I'll never forget the General's message "Imagine what he'll be able to do with Lerner's backing".

I heard Faulkner being interviewed on WM shortly after McLeish was sacked. He said two things which made me thump the steering wheel (was driving at the time).

The first was "well, it's easy to say it was not going to work out with the benefit of hindsight". What a joke, there must have been three people in the world who thought it might have worked, Faulkner, Lerner and McLeish.

The second was, "Alex came here, and his record spoke for itself". Yes, it did, it said "don't go anywhere near me",  his proven record of relegation and awful football at this level meant we should have gone nowhere near him.

Even now, looking back, I still can not believe we made that appointment. I don't think any Villa news has left me as gobsmacked as the news we were talking to him did.

I bet there's some funny stuff to look back at on this place from that time last year.

The who will be manager thread is like a car crash. I've gone back a few times and re-read it, the posts as the realisation sinks in that it's for real make me want to stop reading but I can't. 

[cheltenhamlion]

Here is some ITK dropping I didn't share with the outer world but hope he can corroborate for those who have taken a swing at me about this in the past.

I talked of the board flapping like a fish on a rod and told Paulie by PM that TSM was the new manager long before it was official.

On topic, Lambert will do just fine. Just let the man get on with it and don't shit yourself in the meantime.

[hawkeye]

I like him and think he is just what we need, that does not mean that I am complacent about us stsying up.
He has inherited a squad of misfits and has to try to rebuild very quickly and we are still displaying the frailties of recent seasons, we look likely to concede and scoring does not come easily, add to that a very lightweight midfield.
This season is going to be a big struggle and I hope he can get us through to safety.