As Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish faces a meagre 13% approval rating from his own fans on Bantr is it worth posing the question to Alex McLeish, Randy Lerner and Roberto Martinez – do you regret your decision 8 months ago when Villa were searching for a new boss?

For Martinez, the decision to turn down the Villa role was a surprising one, as he nobly decided to repay the faith that Wigan owner Dave Whelan had shown in him by signing a new contact. However those looking on from the outside could see that such a move was masochistic at best.

 

Wigan are bottom of the table for many reasons and one of those is why I don’t particularly like the idea of Martinez as manager of Aston Villa and also why we will get three points today.

Wigan is the win out of four for Alex McLeish and it is playing teams like Wigan that keep him in a job and it is why if you were having a bet today you can stick it on Aston Villa.

 

In the second half, when Alex McLeish made a change, pretty much all the away fans at Wigan today sung as one. The song was a simple one but the message was clear as day directed to Alex McLeish and it went something like this; you don’t know what you’re doing.

The thing is, I’m actually surprised by the result today. I thought we would win by default but I didn’t factor in that McLeish would send his team out to not lose and I didn’t think we’d be so good at that and only that.

 

Who said that thing about a picture is worth a thousand words; anyone know? It doesn’t matter that much, but today, instead of writing a post about what is or isn’t happening at our club, I thought I’d use images.

One of the images is the manager approval – now down to 7% but also showing our position in the League from the first game through to the last game at Wigan – notice the one direction we seem to be going.

 

There was speculation. Forum posters, in the know and I even wrote a post suggesting there was no smoke without fire and yesterday, Central News told us that the oil nation Qatar is on the verge of announcing a major local investment.

Where to begin? How about with Doug Ellis? Okay, maybe not with Doug Ellis, but he and Randy are very similar and many wanted Ellis gone and the core reason for it was that he didn’t take the risks.

 

I’m a simple person. I don’t pretend to think too much but I rarely think too little and I’m not going to try and blow smoke up your arse or for a moment let you think that you are blowing smoke up mine. Actually, when someone does try to blow smoke, alarm bells tend to ring.

At the same time, I must confess that football isn’t a difficult game and it certainly isn’t rocket science. I’ll hold my hands up though and happily accept that managing a club, in terms of actually running the entire business, isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Sure, mistakes are going to be made, nobody is perfect even if they think they are, but it’s how they are fixed that counts.

 

Let me get this out, right away; this post isn’t a form of endorsement and I’m writing that because I didn’t really promote the McLeish Out protests that happened recently. Let me also get this right out of the way; how they plan on going about this, is the right way. To start anyway and that is why I’m posting this today.

I’m also going to be a little critical of Villa Fans United today and Ryan, the guy that set it all up, knows this is coming and I like that. His response to me before I put this up, warning him that I would be critical if I did, was “people can make there own minds up”.

 

Aston Villa didn’t go out to win today. Aston Villa went out not to lose and look how it turned out. I think in ninety minutes we had two attempts on target and both of those were soft headers my seven year old son would have caught.

Alex McLeish is slowly destroying Aston Villa Football Club and the blame for that rests very firmly with the CEO and owner who decided to appoint him.

 

Today is the day. We could start our match in 15th position in the table and if we don’t at the very least get a draw, end the day in fifteenth too. For transparency, I should also write we could end the day in 11th if we beat Manchester City and Sir Alex will be hoping his mate does exactly that.

The odds for the match are below and they really do tell a story. As I write this we are 4/1 and Manchester City are 8/11 and I have to be honest, I thought they would have been worse than that, I might even have a cheeky double on us and Wolves to win today at 11/1 – a nice price you can get here.

 

Somebody needs to tell Alex McLeish that actions speak louder than words. Maybe he should speak to General Krulak – the PR wizard. What ever happened to that Aston Villa fan, that felt our pain and shared our passion?

The reason I write this is because McLeish seem to be saying an awful lot at the moment and it is all just PR and it really does wind me up that he lives in this deluded world where he believes this or he is lying to us.

 

Well, the dust has settled and it turns out Stephen Ireland didn’t get subbed for telling the manager something he shouldn’t and there is no unrest in the dressing room. We know this because of all people, Stilyan Petrov, has come out defending him.

So, if the captain comes out defending him, it has to be true. It doesn’t matter that Stephen Ireland told him twice to do one and that Charles N’Zogbia sadly admitted that he was unhappy playing football, for the first time in his career, under this manager. There is nothing wrong and the players are happy.

 

What can I possibly write that will make it easier to accept that under this manager, we are going nowhere? I could try with ‘our Academy players are getting some chances’ but I’m not sure that is going to do it and I think we just have to accept that we all knew this was coming and we really shouldn’t be surprised.

But there are positives. Stephen Ireland apparently told the manager to ‘f**k off’ which resulted in him getting taken off at half time and Barry Bannan coming on. It is positive, if true, because players are now telling the manager what we all think and again, if true, it is a horrid signal to everyone associated with the club

 

I’d love to be able to tell you something about the match today that would inspire a feeling of confidence, but I’m not even feeling that pre-match optimism that makes me believe we have a chance, if we do everything right.

I feel, right now, that if we leave Newcastle with anything it will be down to luck and we should be grateful. Not that they are really that much better than us – they just have a manager that sends his team out to win. We could beat them with a proper manager.

 

Have you read about my one in four theory? If you haven’t, it basically suggests that under Alex McLeish we will one game out of every four and I first wrote about it four games ago and sure enough, we won one out of the four.

So, if just for a moment, we start to happily accept that this is the best we are going to get from this manager – happily because it seems we are stuck with him until Randy Lerner can find a new owner, of the next four matches, what are your predictions?

 

Am I happy with the result, no. Am I happy with the overall performance, no. I am however happy with the 2nd half and last ten minutes of the first.

But the result is the result and despite a lot more about us in the second, we still conceded two goals, even if one was a candidate for own goal of the season.

 

You know, there are times when you just know what is going to happen, even before it does and tonight, oh Lord, is one of those times. It’s like, I could be surprised, but if I am, that would be a surprise in itself.

I don’t want to get to down on Alex McLeish, because he’s getting it from everywhere at the moment and rightly so, but I think for tonight, he deserves a break, because, oh Lord, if there is a chance to get three points, it surely is tonight.

 

Sometimes it is best to forget so after my next paragraph, I’m going to forget yesterday. I’m not going to start looking for excuses, blame the players or the opposition – we all know where the blame sits, I’m just going to forget. After the next paragraph.

The thing that really got be about yesterday is this: if all you are going to do is sit back, defend and hope to steal something on the counter attack, for the love of all that is holy, make sure you do it right. My point is; the first only works, if the second does. There is no point playing the first way if you can’t successfully deliver the second which is why playing not to lose is the wrong thing to do in this league.

 

I don’t know what to write that isn’t going to antagonise someone, so I’m going to write it as I saw it and that is that. If you don’t agree, let me know by all means, but it is just the way the game went.

First – we had two chances in the first half and took them. One came from a corner and I think it will go down as a goal from a corner, as it was a move that happened from the corner and the other was some quite delightful counter attacking football.

 

There is a magic associated with the FA Cup and I believe, because it is only ninety minutes of football, that we can win today. The bookies don’t think we will and I’m old enough to know that the chances are slim, but there is a chance and when there is a chance, I become a blind optimist for the few hours leading up to the game.

There might also be a great incentive before the match too as the draw takes place (I think) just before kick off and we might end up with a home tie against Stevenage – early passage into the 6th round and if that happens, you never know, that could be the incentive the players need.

 

I really do love the FA Cup and everything it stands for. The game, to a large degree, has ruined it, but the magic is still there and when magic is involved anything can happen. This gives me hope for tomorrow.

Most, if not all, of the magic for this season has sadly already gone and it is only the fourth round. Usually look to who Stevenage are playing but they are now in Division Three and doing well and I’d guess they are favourites to win today.

 

You know this, but I’m writing it again; I’m a football fan first and Aston Villa is my team. I’m getting that out of the way, because I’m reluctantly supporting Cardiff in the final of the League Cup. I am also reluctantly writing that I was happy that Liverpool went through last night.

It isn’t that I dislike Manchester City any less than I dislike Liverpool – it is just so annoying that they’ve gone and bought success and we haven’t. In the case of Liverpool – it is just fun to watch that once great club competing for the League Cup.

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