Villa Park: a managerial graveyard?

[SoccerHQ]

Houllier was and would have continued to turn us around had he not become ill. He was a top class manager

In about 2001.

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Houllier had no comprehension of the club and was far too detached to really work.

[SoccerHQ]

Since Houllier, we have appointed average to below-average managers and bought average to below-average players. MON was successful, albeit within an illusionary bubble, because we bought top quality players. Players like this are driven, self-motivated and high achievers - even lower grade players will improve being around professionals like this. In addition, the weight of expectation at Villa will soon take a toll on those managers that are not equipped to handle the pressure. I see Bruce as an average manager at best, one that might be good enough at your typical Championship or smaller PL club but he is floundering at Villa.

As has already been said here, we need a manager who has been successful at a 'big' club or was a national team coach for a highly rated country, ie. not Bob Bradley. Obviously, we could get someone like Arsene Wenger and there is still no guarantee of success, but you have increased the probability of success enormously.

MON was more successful imo because he had a defined style of player and moulded the side to  play to those strengths.

We had a transitional season of 06/07 to get things going and then the team had lift off the following season.

It's rare now to give the manager a free hit of a season as MON had that year. At least he kept us well away from relegation danger so never came under pressure.

Most managers we've had since either haven't had a style or tried to play one ill fitting to the squad. Houllier played a patient passing game that our squad at the time couldn't cope with, Lambert eventually settled on a counter attacking style that worked well for 6 months but failed to sign the players to keep it going once regulars like Weimann lost form.

McLeish had a style but it was such a terrible appointment and the football he served up just further dampened the mood on match day.

We need a manager who has a decent philosophy, Wagner has that at Huddersfield and he was given a free hit last season to shape the squad and now the results are happening.

My worry is even if SB rides out this storm the football isn't going to magically improve next season. This is how he plays so he needs to start digging out some results again like at the start.

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O'Neill had us struggling until February after that good start whereby we climbed into the safety of mid table.

He identified a lack of height and chiefly pace. We built that into the side and physically bullied others, played the percentages from set pieces and we're very well organised. The individually quality counted for a lot too.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

Houllier was the best. Shame he had health issues. Would've got us top six in my opinion.

Based on what?

Played   28   
Won 8
Drawn 9
Lost 11
Win ratio 28.57

Dont let facts get in the way

[Olof's Beard]

Houllier was the best. Shame he had health issues. Would've got us top six in my opinion.

Based on what?

Played   28   
Won 8
Drawn 9
Lost 11
Win ratio 28.57

Dont let facts get in the way

Houllier had to content with an absolutely awful run of injuries and we often had 5 or 6 untried youngsters in the side at the same time.

When some players started to return and he got to spend some money in January, we began to improve. There were some pathetic performances and other embarrassments, like his fawning over Liverpool, but we were going in the right direction. It would have been interesting to see how he coped with losing Young and Downing though.

[SoccerHQ]

O'Neill had us struggling until February after that good start whereby we climbed into the safety of mid table.

He identified a lack of height and chiefly pace. We built that into the side and physically bullied others, played the percentages from set pieces and we're very well organised. The individually quality counted for a lot too.

Yeah we had a long unbeaten run and then stopped winning and had our annual poor xmas/new year run. And March of course. We were never really in any danger of going down though.

That's the thing I don't get though....when people say they'll never go again if we appointed a manager like Pulis.

Yes he's long ball but then so was MON.

It might not have been as extreme as Pulisball but it was still cut from the same cloth...get the ball forward quickly to Gabby who's pace would win free kicks and corners and then the likes of Carew, Young and Laursen would do the rest.

We had the money to get the players who could execute those tactics pretty well given the long unbeaten runs we'd go on under him.

Sadly it's different days now....the club is I'm afraid like a terminally ill patient....we keep thinking it will get better and we try pretty much every treatment but nothing is working.

[PeterWithesShin]

Might have had something to do with winning the League Cup.  We were third that season into February.  Having secured the cup (our first in 20 years) and European football  in March , BFR decided to field sides made up of the likes of Beitkreutz, Beinlich and Yorke with one eye on next season. Finishing 4th or finishing 10th didn't matter a whole pile either way back then.  This was pre 1999, when you couldn't get a CL place by failing to win the league.

6th was the highest we were in Feb.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

Didnt he also have the brainwave of playing gabby as a winger?

We got him in years too late and surprisingly the man who had to leave liverpool for health reasons had to leave us for health reasons. Thats nothing against the bloke but just a typical villa lazy appointment

[SoccerHQ]

Houllier was only really going to be a short term appointment due to his age, ill health etc.

I don't get the fawning over that this was some managerial genius and only heart trouble denied us glory under him.

To me I just saw it as a massive missed opportunity after the MON era.

Houllier's last good season at Liverpool was 01-02. We appointed him 8 seasons later when he was in semi retirement at the French FA.

Just to recap we'd finished 6th three times.

When you look at clubs like Southampton and West Ham and who they appoint as managers when they don't finish as high I'm surprised more Villa fans don't look back at that period as when things under Lerner started to decline even before McLeish turned up.

[SoccerHQ]

I thought if we kept Gary McAllister after moving Houllier upstairs we wouldn't be in a mess. But we went to appoint Alex McLeish and co afterwards. We doesn't have a system, a playing style, or a vision or right people to make things happens.

One day I want to hear what happened then. The appointment of McLeish was SO beneath us as a club, so completely wrong and against our play style it has to rank as one of the strangest appointments ever. I cannot imagine the circumstances of that Board meeting when they said "Yup, thats our guy." and nobody questioned it. Bizarre.

He should never have been appointed once SHA went down.

I can only think (and said this in July 2011) that the board looked at the previous season when SHA finished 9th and thought he could keep us top 10 in the Lerner austerity years. And win a cup like he did there.

Anything else yeah I can't come up with a logical reason.

[Villafirst]

Houllier was the best. Shame he had health issues. Would've got us top six in my opinion.

Based on what?

Played   28   
Won 8
Drawn 9
Lost 11
Win ratio 28.57

Dont let facts get in the way

Things were on an upward curve towards the end of the season - even beating Arsenal away and Liverpool at home. This resulted in a 9th place finish which was excellent given all the turmoil beforehand. So your comment is somewhat misplaced.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

Houllier was the best. Shame he had health issues. Would've got us top six in my opinion.

Based on what?

Played   28   
Won 8
Drawn 9
Lost 11
Win ratio 28.57

Dont let facts get in the way

Things were on an upward curve towards the end of the season - even beating Arsenal away and Liverpool at home. This resulted in a 9th place finish which was excellent given all the turmoil beforehand. So your comment is somewhat misplaced.

We finished 9th on 48 points and bolton in 14th had 46 so it wasnt some master stroke it was results that went our way on the last day, oh and mcalliser was in charge

Add to that the liverpool arse kissing, the chants of getting sacked in the morning after losing at home to sunderland and the daddy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/8362600/Gerard-Houllier-says-sorry-to-Aston-Villa-supporters-for-FA-Cup-selection-fiasco.html

The bloke didnt get us at all and was a busted flush

[PeterWithesShin]

We finished 9th because after a 38 game league season we had the 9th best record in the division.

[Villafirst]

We finished 9th because after a 38 game league season we had the 9th best record in the division.

Exactly. Some people can't recognise the bottom line.