We've not had a Martin O'Neill argument in ages...

[lovejoy]

Not sure you can compare ONeills spending with previous managers, for one inflation and secondly the fees/wages in the premier league era are way ahead than those previously spent.

[LeeB]

Bloody heck, does all this mean there's an impending argument about Ged Houllier right around the corner?

I'll go.

Houllier was an enigma, on the one hand you had the "between 8th and 12th" comments, the Liverpool love in and and our cunning ability to chuck away points.

But on the other hand, he was probably the most ambitious manager we'd had since Big Ron. It seemed more the players struggling to adapt to modern methods than a lack of ideas, and he'd have cut out the rot out before it spread, but in my opinion the board shit it, and jumped at the chance to get rid as it would've cost to much.

This also explains what I can only think is the driving reason for bringing in McLeish, so he could get Dunne and friends back on board and squeeze a bit more out of them.

It's such a shame that someone of Houllier's calibre, a man with those kind of connections, could've done had he come in on the back of the takeover.


Instead of that twat.

[dave.woodhall]

Bloody heck, does all this mean there's an impending argument about Ged Houllier right around the corner?

I'll go.

Houllier was an enigma, on the one hand you had the "between 8th and 12th" comments, the Liverpool love in and and our cunning ability to chuck away points.

But on the other hand, he was probably the most ambitious manager we'd had since Big Ron. It seemed more the players struggling to adapt to modern methods than a lack of ideas, and he'd have cut out the rot out before it spread, but in my opinion the board shit it, and jumped at the chance to get rid as it would've cost to much.

This also explains what I can only think is the driving reason for bringing in McLeish, so he could get Dunne and friends back on board and squeeze a bit more out of them.

It's such a shame that someone of Houllier's calibre, a man with those kind of connections, could've done had he come in on the back of the takeover.


Instead of that twat.

I'd agree with the first bit, but he left because of his health. "He wanted to spend too much" doesn't really hold up when you bear in mind that O'Neill walked out for the same reason. And I agree with the last bit.

I also wonder what would have happened had Randy gone with his alleged first choice, Jurgen Klinsmann.

[dave shelley]

What we had when MON and Randy arrived was a situation that gave the manager carte-Blanche to act as he saw fit with impunity.  What we have now is exactly the same thing, only the manager now has virtually no money.  I'm sorry for stating the obvious.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Spot on, Dave. As I've said before, Lambert is MON without the money. Both f**king clueless.

[SoccerHQ]

Bloody heck, does all this mean there's an impending argument about Ged Houllier right around the corner?

I'll go.

Houllier was an enigma, on the one hand you had the "between 8th and 12th" comments, the Liverpool love in and and our cunning ability to chuck away points.

But on the other hand, he was probably the most ambitious manager we'd had since Big Ron. It seemed more the players struggling to adapt to modern methods than a lack of ideas, and he'd have cut out the rot out before it spread, but in my opinion the board shit it, and jumped at the chance to get rid as it would've cost to much.

This also explains what I can only think is the driving reason for bringing in McLeish, so he could get Dunne and friends back on board and squeeze a bit more out of them.

It's such a shame that someone of Houllier's calibre, a man with those kind of connections, could've done had he come in on the back of the takeover.


Instead of that twat.

Right idea but really the wrong man.

Someone who let's not forget had been out of football management for 4 years (remember he couldn't take over straight away because he was scouting for the French FA or something which immediately gave him an uneasy feeling) and of course his health which was always a lingering worry.

His problem was following MON so expectation of a top 6 finish was still very high so fighting a relegation battle for most of that season was a massive shock. Like Lambert he'd have got a lot more time and support if he'd followed McLeish.

I liked his ideas and signings though. More possession football, Bent supplied by Young and Downing, continuing to play some of the young players. Signings like Makoun and Bradley were unlucky in not working out/getting a chance.

Where we massively fcuked up which Paulie for once correctly brings up time and again was then going from that continental template and instead of getting Martinez or another young foreign coach was somehow appointing McLeish.

Any team can have a bad season and recover. Spurs and Everton have both been bottom half teams in recent years and yet been up in the top 6 again very quickly.

When Houllier left we still had some pretty good players in our squad so we could've been easily around 8th the following year. Instead we started the downward spiral we're still arguably on.

Now that Mcleish fellow....

[Toronto Villa]

I may be wrong (I usually am!) but wasn't Ian Storey Moore our foreign scout. If MON took no notice of his recomendations what was the point of paying him a salary?

Wasn't Glenn Roeder bizarrely on the payroll too? Or did I imagine that one.

Didn't he just use to do some scouting for us?

Yes and in the grand scheme of everything else going only the club his presence was less than a blip in our history.

But it did provide the most hysterically over the top reaction in H+V history.

Considering his recent cv included some good work in relegating Newcastle it's kind of understandable.

He got relegated Newcastle as a scout?

[pauliewalnuts]

Houllier was in a totally different league to the likes of Lambert and MON, the problem was that he couldn't help putting his foot in the mouth all the fecking time.

Over the course of the season, though, it is hard to deny we started to play better football. I also got the idea that over time he'd have settled into the job comfortably.

The Houllier appointment wasn't the big problem, though. The enormous fuck up was who we followed him with. Not just because of the obvious poor record and dire football, but because we went through quite a lot of pain in the Houllier season, and really needed to take that and build on the progress we had made with a manager of the same ilk.

Instead .... well, you know.

[pauliewalnuts]

I may be wrong (I usually am!) but wasn't Ian Storey Moore our foreign scout. If MON took no notice of his recomendations what was the point of paying him a salary?

Wasn't Glenn Roeder bizarrely on the payroll too? Or did I imagine that one.

Didn't he just use to do some scouting for us?

Yes and in the grand scheme of everything else going only the club his presence was less than a blip in our history.

But it did provide the most hysterically over the top reaction in H+V history.

Considering his recent cv included some good work in relegating Newcastle it's kind of understandable.

Not really.

Roeder left Newcastle at the end of the 2007 season, it was another two years and four managers until they got relegated.

[dave.woodhall]

It wasn't even Newcastle, or for that matter his time at West Ham. Houllier had asked him to look at future opponents, the sort of job where you see who takes the throw ins and how many defenders they leave back at corners. The hysteria that greeted this lowest-scale possible temporary appointment on here was akin to him having been made manager, team captain and head ball boy.

[silhillvilla]

Sometimes it's all about symbolics. Glenn Roeder was always going to get peoples backs up. Maybe that's what they wanted.
Are we seeing another attempt now with Keane !

[Toronto Villa]

Sometimes it's all about symbolics. Glenn Roeder was always going to get peoples backs up. Maybe that's what they wanted.
Are we seeing another attempt now with Keane !

It was only symbolic to those people who are susceptible to hysteria. Most people saw it for what it was.

[dave.woodhall]

Sometimes it's all about symbolics. Glenn Roeder was always going to get peoples backs up. Maybe that's what they wanted.
Are we seeing another attempt now with Keane !

He was never going to get anyone's back up if they were in their right mind. He was doing some part-time scouting yet the response was laughable.

[passport1]

Not sure you can compare ONeills spending with previous managers, for one inflation and secondly the fees/wages in the premier league era are way ahead than those previously spent.

Unsurprisingly this rather relevant point has been ignored.

[ChicagoLion]

Not sure you can compare ONeills spending with previous managers, for one inflation and secondly the fees/wages in the premier league era are way ahead than those previously spent.

Unsurprisingly this rather relevant point has been ignored.

because it is not relevant, no other manager left us in the same financial mess, no other manager left us paying over 90% of revenue on wages. No other manager was  given the then equivalent of £200 million to spend.
If you can think of a Villa manager that had the same investment and was allowed the same prolificacy, please name him.