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It is looking very likely that Alex McLeish is going to be our new manager. This post presumes that he will be joining us.

I have no problem with Alex McLeish’s competence levels, considering the appalling club he has just left. My big concern is the lack of support from Aston Villa supporters. I think he can do a good job if we give him the backing. I’m willing to do it and I hope that in time the majority of fans will do their best to support the team and the club. Here is why I think he can do a good job.

At Villa, McLeish will markedly improve our defending. We have good defenders at the club. We saw them perform well under O’Neill but not under Houllier. I have no doubts McLeish will sort out this critical area. We can’t gift goals away like we did last season. We conceded from corners and free kicks regularly. This won’t happen under McLeish.  

Friedel was at fault far too often in conceding from set pieces last season and he is now gone. McLeish has an excellent track record of bringing in quality keepers. This will be a priority and I don’t think we should have any worries about his judgement here.

He will see that our wingers are excellent, even with the departure of Young, who we will have to replace. He will want to play to their strengths. He will see that we have one of the best strikers in the Premiership. We have some good youngsters that have now had some significant experience last season.

We have to start somewhere

I see all the areas outlined above as a great starting point for McLeish.

The area that worries me is central midfield. This is the key area. McLeish will have all the other areas under control. Can he sort out our central midfield? To my mind this is an area where we really aren’t good enough. This may encourage McLeish to compensate by playing his favoured 5 man midfield. This will make us hard to beat and helps the defence out. With Darren Bent up front we don’t have to worry about where the goals are coming from.

Our central midfield currently consists of Petrov, Makoun, Hogg, Bannan, Delph, Ireland and Gardner. There are question marks over all of those players in my opinion.

Petrov’s legs had gone 18 months ago. They will not improve. He is way past his sell by date and ideally we would ship him out. His ludicrous contract prevents this though. Due to his naturally defensive mindset, I can see McLeish using Petrov a lot for his experience in the role that Barry Ferguson has performed in for the B-Lose.

Makoun looked like pure quality when we first signed him but then faded and lost his confidence. Injury prevented him completing the season. The question I have about Makoun is can he perform consistently in The Premiership? We will see this season. The guy has quality.

Delph’s progression has been hampered by a nasty injury. Like Makoun, he showed signs of quality play last season but was also inconsistent. His knee seemed to trouble him at times. If he can stay fit and have a good pre season then I am hoping for a big season from him. He can be a driving force.

The first time I saw Hogg was at home to Man Utd. I thought he was immense. He is the only midfielder we have that has a great engine now that Milner and Reo-Coker have departed. A neat and tidy defensive midfielder. McLeish might like him but I just wonder if he is going to be good enough. He had a little run in the 1st team but also could not maintain a good standard and faded. Did well at Pompey by all accounts when loaned out.

Bannan has a great eye for a long pass and has good technical ability. Sometimes he looks fantastic but other times he is totally anonymous. McLeish might give him a run if he decides to play a 5 man midfield. I don’t think Bannan can survive in a 4 man midfield in the Premiership.

The same goes for Stephen Ireland. He doesn’t look strong enough to play in a 4 man midfield. He was particularly woeful for us last year whenever he played. I don’t think Houllier liked his attitude and he could be leaving this summer regardless of whether McLeish wants to give him a go or not. If he does settle and gets a good run in the side then this is a player capable of getting goals from midfield and supply Darren Bent. Who knows what will happen with him?

I have never seen Gary Gardner play but he is possibly our most highly rated youngster. We may see him in the first team picture at some point this season.

So what will happen?

In summary I think McLeish has a solid base to build on. We could finish mid table easily with what we have, possibly better. To progress and challenge for the top 6 again we need to urgently address the central midfield. Yes we need a quality keeper, that shouldn’t be a problem. McLeish also needs to decide whether he wants Warnock or a different left back. However the key area, the area that needs the utmost attention to get us knocking on the door of the top 6 again, is central midfield.

Randy Lerner needs another marquee signing to appease the fans. James Milner would be perfect. He would solve our central midfield issues in an instant.  This is the sort of quality that we urgently need to be progressing up the table again.

McLeish can do it.  But only with our support. It’s the least we can offer him.

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