In an astonishing act of honesty, James Collins, seen by many as the weak link in a poor performance at Spurs on Monday night, has come out saying that it is the players who are fault, and not the manager.
Speaking about the current situation at Villa Park, Collins said:
He said: “There are certainly a number of fans who are not too happy with the manager – one bad performance and that was always going to happen.
“That’s wrong, though, because the manager has come in and done a great job and some of the fans have to realise that he’s here to help Aston Villa. He’s the manager.
“We are working tremendously hard for him. Taking away Monday, we were getting better with every game. Now, it needs everybody here to get back on board.
“The fans have to get behind the manager and the players have to start performing like we can.
“Then the club can move forward again.
“We had a big discussion in the changing room at Spurs.
“Individually, and as a team, we knew we weren’t good enough. It needed to be talked about and it was. It’s been sorted.”
“We know there are fans who are still not happy with the manager and that one bad performance would bring people out again against him, but that is wrong.
Is This A Sign?
With such honesty, albeit delayed, are the players actually admitting there is more to be changed than the manager? Knowing what I know, although Alex McLeish’s team talks are focussed on the tactic of “supply Darren”, I also know that they are regularly fiery because of the current defending.
Make no mistake, Alex McLeish is far from happy how the team is playing. With defending like we have seen in recent months, it is inevitable that unless the players shore up sloppy play, the manager is fairly limited in what he can do. After all, is McLeish actually on the pitch?
That isn’t to say that McLeish is free from blame. Monday was a terrible performance tactically as well as it was by the players. Playing one genuine midfielder in midfield illustrated far too much variation in roles against a resurgent Spurs side. With players such as Bale, Modric, van der Vaart, and Adebayor to name but a few, Villa couldn’t afford to just sit back and absorb pressure. The only positive is that we didn’t concede more.
So with James Collins showing such honesty, will we see any kind of change in attitude of the fans? Many players speak highly of the manager, and maybe it is finally dawning on some of them that they can not let McLeish take all the blame forever. To do so would show many of them to be cowardly, as their performances have lacked effort and ability, leaving the young players to make statements about how things have not been good enough.
I am glad Collins has made this statement as it shows an attitude of a man who knows where he has gone wrong. However, this is only the first step. What matters now is how Collins performs if he is called upon at the Liberty Stadium, along with the performances of the rest of the team.
For many weeks, Agbonlahor has been one of the sole outfield players displaying regular effort. Hopefully at Swansea, Alex McLeish will see many more of the squad pulling their weight to earn their salary.
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