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I’d started off writing about a supposed call for patience from quotes attributed to the General, and had a nice article ready. Well, I thought it was good, anyway. Then, of course, the McLeish story started taking on a life of its own. I’d written that off, as well. And then I just saw a story in The Daily Mail where Peter Pannu has apparently made extended comments and that blew up my plans once again. So apologies for a somewhat scattered post, but as you all know, the world has gone mad.
There’s an email, and Pannu has said that in it the Villa legal department are saying they’re free to speak to McLeish since he resigned. Speculation about flights around the Mediterranean and where people are having their holidays. Demands for compensation. Questions about tapping up. Fan frenzy on Facebook. Fan protest being organized and a bed sheet.
No official comment from Aston Villa as yet, but I would expect something forthcoming.
Until I saw Pannu’s comments in the Mail, I’ve seen virtually every paper print some version of the same article. And they all even manage to incorporate Graham Taylor’s pointless and irrelevant expression of “disappointment” in our search. You can expect quite a day of reading if these quotes turn out to be accurate, and likely a general meltdown.
Blues’ Blues
I have the luxury of not having to pay much attention to what’s happening with our bitter rivals. I do know that apparently McLeish was unhappy about some things. “Duh,” I hear you saying now that he’s emailed in a resignation. Not a happy camper. And Pannu is not very happy, either, it would seem.
And since Villa are looking to hire a manager, well, I thought, here we go again. The usual speculation.
And now we’re asked to believe that a club widely praised for doing things the right way has tapped up Alex McLeish.
Does it make sense to you? It doesn’t to me.
But what about the email?
I don’t know whether the Mail article is an accurate representation or not, or if Villa actually want to do anything beyond simply clarifying McLeish’s status.That would mean nothing more, on its face, than is he someone to add to the list or not. Matt Kendrick is reporting with some certitude that Villa “WILL” want to talk to McLeish.
And we’re all saying, “What?! This doesn’t make sense. What happened to the list? We’re only just now asking about McLeish? Where did this come from?”
It makes sense to me that McLeish would be interested in the Villa job. I know I would be if I’d been employed by the outfit across the city and just gotten relegated. And Aston Villa would very rightly want to know what’s going on at Birmingham City in case they are approached by McLeish, through whatever channels.
More than that, though, is that we don’t know who was on the original list. For all we know, McLeish was on it, and we were denied permission to talk to him. Then he was unhappy for whatever reasons and decided to quit.
All I can say is that if McLeish does come under consideration, Villa will go about it the right way. See: “Martinez, Roberto.” And if Birmingham are saying they deserve compensation, well, it would be the same as if we’d asked for permission to speak to David Moyes or anyone else under contract.
But of course, many will wonder whether anything can be right about hiring McLeish, however we go about it. If the thought of Alex McLeish as our manager fills you with dread or anger, then perhaps you can take heart from Pannu’s stance. Or go sign the Facebook petition. Regardless, you can have your say here as well.
The Author
