Birmingham Mail läsare: Lämna McLeish ifred.
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We received a very good letter last week from one of our Aston Villa facebook followers, sorry it's taken so long to post but thanks to M Lawrence for a very reasoned piece on why fans should give Alex McLeish a break.
Martin O’Neill, why Alex McLeish won’t be leaving, and a case in defence.
We’re 11 games away from the end of the season and everyone in claret and blue is ready to kill. Sadly, the knives are still directed towards the man in charge. Many fans still talk about Martin O’Neill and the great things he did for us while at the same time calling for the head of Alex McLeish. I implore you, Villans, to show some faith.
Martin O’Neill
No doubt, the man did some great work when Randy Lerner became chairman and MON was appointed manager. Proud history, bright future. Good times. But in 5 season in charge what did he actually accomplish? We finished top 6 a few times and got a cup final and semi-final. But what did we win?
That’s right, we won nothing. Despite the great football that we played, we still came away empty-handed while he was in charge, and to suggest that we made progress in the time he was here is wrong; the only thing we made were losses. Admittedly, MON made some great signings in Ashley Young, John Carew, James Milner, Stewart Downing and (at the time) Richard Dunne and James Collins.
But look at them now. All of these players have moved on and (aside from Carew unless you count the Championship as a possibility) look to be on their way to winning silverware with their new clubs. For the team that we had, in 5 years we should have won something by then. Still not convinced MON did a poor job? Here are some more facts....
MON spent approximately £140m on transfer fees (lord knows what went on wages) and re-couped around £40m during his time in charge. As a manager, that is an unacceptable amount to lose in 5 years. £100m. £20m a season. Look at the players he signed: Marlon Harewood, Wayne Routledge, Curtis Davies, Nicky Shorey, Nigel Reo-Coker.
For those 5 players with a total fee of nearly £30m, how often were they used? Luke Young, a right-back used to fill in at left-back. Reo-Coker, a midfielder used to fill in at right-back! Nicky Shorey sat on the bench kicking his heels and counting his wages. Steve Sidwell cost around £5.5m – hardly used. To say that the man wasted money is an understatement. Emile Heskey, £3.5m......say no more.
In contrast, he spent this money to replace these players who he deemed unfit to play for Aston Villa.....Peter Whittingham. Gary Cahill. Steven Davis. Craig Gardner. Players who came through the academy and would have bled for the shirt to this day. But I digress.
Why Alex McLeish won’t be leaving
There’s no hard maths in this one. If Randy Lerner paid compensation to the Blues to get him out of his contract, why would he then pay again to do the same thing? It makes no sense. If Alex McLeish did the unthinkable and took us down, that is probably the only situation in which his hand would be forced. It would still leave us out of pocket, but with good reason.
McLeish has reiterated several times this season that he is able to take the stick we give him on the chin, is thick-skinned and is determined to make our club great again. It may be the usual cliché, but what if he means it? Remember, this is a man who has come from the dark side to do a job for us. Why would he not have something to prove? “I’ve crossed the great divide to take Mr Lerner’s money and bring you relegation and misfortune....” doesn’t sound true to me.A case in defence
Alex McLeish could well be the man to take Aston Villa forward. If we lost him now, or at the end of the season, it would put us right back at square one. Things were different when Randy first took over, he was happy to plough money into transfer fees and wages, but then he had his fingers burned by the one they call O’Neill. Last season we faced a similar threat of relegation: enter Darren Bent for £24m well spent.
Now we have McLeish, after nearly 2 years of instability and uncertainty. He knows he’s caught between a rock and a hard place with us right now, but considering the players we have and the season we’re having, things could be a lot worse.
We’re only a few good results away from the top half of the table. If McLeish had the money that was given to O’Neill we could be looking at a different Villa side, but sadly that won’t happen. Yet.
What would you do? If you have 2 experienced international defenders in Collins and Dunne who rocked the boat last season, would you ship them out, leaving 2 huge gaps at the back, or try to get them back on side doing the job that they are capable of doing, and have done before?
Would you build the team around N’Zogbia and Ireland because that’s how they’d like it or would you try and get them playing as part of a team rather than the centre of it?
Would you come out to the press and undermine your own ability by saying you’re doing a crap job, or would you try and stay positive and keep faith in the players that are letting you down because you need unity?
Would you address the fans personally, in press conferences and letters, or would you shirk the responsibility and send a rep out to speak for you? These are the kind of decisions McLeish has to make, and has made, and they are pivotal.
Barring one player, McLeish brought in 2 great signings for us: Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia. One of the Premier league’s best keepers and a very talented winger. We also have a young left-back in Enda Stevens. These players can be big for us in the next few seasons, and with McLeish showing faith in the younger lads we could have a potentially ambitious, hungry, exciting attacking team over the next few years.
McLeish said on the official Villa website that he likes Gary Gardner because “he’d run through brick walls for Aston Villa”. I’m not sure about you, but I’d take a player like that over an £80,000 a week prima donna international any day. I think most Villa fans would too.
McLeish is adamant that he does not tell the team not to attack. Why would he lie? He knows that the only way to win games is to score goals and keep them out.
Maybe he’s been guilty of telling the lads to defend a 1-0 lead. A dangerous game, but if other teams can do it then why can’t we? Especially with the experience we have at the back? If the team’s shaky it’s because we have weak links, as mentioned earlier with the lack of passion for playing for Villa. Hopefully these will be fixed in the close season.
Overall, you can’t judge a man on three-quarters of a season. Chelsea are looking for their 8th manager in 9 years because their chairman thinks the league can be bought. Our chairman might not have the millions of Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour but he has faith in the manager.
He had enough faith to give O’Neill money to ruin the club and leave us when it couldn’t be fixed straight away. He had faith in Gerard Houllier to pick a top striker when we needed one. He has faith in Alex McLeish to do a great job for Aston Villa. It’s pointless to make petitions calling for him to be sacked, or for QIA to take us over. It won’t happen.
Next season I envisage changes, like getting rid of Dunne,
Warnock and Collins from the wage bill. I see Makoun potentially coming back in to do a job. I see more lads from the reserves taking first-team places, players who haven’t been tainted by wages, cynicism and hype, players who will listen to the manager and carry out their jobs with efficiency and style.
If football is a religion then at Villa some fans are missing a vital component of religion, and that is faith. To constantly undermine the job and performance of everyone at the club in a clearly difficult time is to abandon faith in Aston Villa. It’s time to stop complaining.
We have 11 games left. It’s a far stretch of the imagination, but that’s 33 potential points. Alex McLeish put together a team that knocked Aston Villa out of the Carling Cup, took them to the final and beat Arsenal at Wembley.
More than Martin O’Neill did for us. He is capable of doing great things, and he can do them for us if we give him a chance. He got relegated with Blues, but we are a bigger and better club with more money and stability. Harry Redknapp got relegated with Southampton, look at where he is now.
Give McLeish a chance to get it right. Wear your colours with pride and roar your heart out in the stands. One goal down, two goals down, keep on roaring. We laugh in the face of relegation. Show everyone that we are still Aston Villa. We still have a proud history and a bright future. We still have faith.
