“Out, out, out …” is the cry. But how many times more must this cry be heard in my lifetime! Although there are plenty of reasons behind this latest call I find it all so sad.
In fact, the one such call from previous eons that stands out in my mind is that against Joe Mercer in 1964 – which happens to be exactly 50 years ago. The poor feller was massively unwell after his conscientious efforts to carry on when the board were doing things like selling the training pitch to find cash. Mercer was ignominiously sacked, yet when he recovered his health he became manager at Manchester City, got them promoted and then won the League Championship (1968). In the 1970s he managed the England team for a spell when we saw some of the brightest football they have ever played.
In 1964, just as now, the Villa board was composed of people that seemed to believe that being gentle people in business was the most important aspect of running a football club. Well, yes, that is a desirable aspect, but, just as now, that simple approach failed to bring Villa back to the top. Worse, their approach led to a dismal relegation (1967) followed by the old Third Division (1970) as it had been too late by then for the new hierarchy to salvage the situation.
So, what I believe I am saying is that it’s so easy to shout for the exit of the manager. I am not denying that he has faults, but perhaps (like Joe Mercer) some of those faults have developed from the framework within which he is obliged to work. Maybe – just maybe – Lambert guestimated wrongly in his efforts to please his boss’s grand strategy (which, to me, looks understandable but highly questionnable in its approach).
Can we keep on having new managers? And in the current set-up at VP, would such a change make any real difference? Who is the new manager that will be able to achieve what we ask?
O’Neill’s exit in 2010 led to a caretaker appointment that I believe nearly morphed into a full appointment, which then led to Houllier with health problems that caused his exit by the end of the season.
Immediately we then tasted the leash of McLeish and Lambert soon followed.
Lambert has been in the job for less than two years and the common factor that he and McLeish possess (apart from being Scots) is that they have had to work to an austerity plan. It is interesting that Villa’s awful home form started with McLeish and has been carried on (with new personnel) under Lambert. Is this just coincidence? I don’t know how to explain it.
But, despite all that is happening – and even if relegation does occur – I don’t see any way in which matters will improve at the club with simply a new manager. The whole edifice needs to transform in my view – not just the manager.
I sense a deja vu from eons past.
The Author
