After a season of turmoil following the resignation of Martin O’Neill, the club’s unexpected season has lurched from crisis to crisis. Between receiving spankings by newly promoted Newcastle, as well as losing to Birmingham City in the league cup, falling into a relegation battle in the league’s most competitive season to date, Aston Villa’s latest issue is again managerial. Sadly Gerard was admitted into hospital last week after suffering from chest pains. Whilst Gerard’s external appearance to the public has seemed that of an unruffled man dealing with the cameras with typical French charisma, internally between dressing room unrest, fan revolts, and an injury crisis, it is not too much of a surprise that such a series of circumstances can cause their issues. As we are all aware, we have been subjected to a mass of overly sanitised PR, as well as a fan view that, for the most part, has left the view of the club as one that is shrouded in secrecy, but the next steps regarding the manager need to be dealt with in a more open manner.
Bold steps in a different style
Let me make a specific point to say that I know the actions of the manager to resolve a number of underlying issues at the club such as lax discipline, players being favourited by the former charge, and a massively excessive wage bill, have been (for the most part) a resounding moral success. Whilst those of an anti-Houllier nature will point to the club’s plight this year and, in their eyes, taking a club that was 6th last year into the depths of the relegation zone at times, 2010/2011 was always going to be a tough season no matter who took the reigns. There would be few fans who would uphold a framework of childish horseplay running what is a multi tens of million pound business, and anyone with even a basic understanding of accounting can see that when your wage bill increases three- to fourfold, but your turnover doesn’t move at all, then you are going to fall into financial ruin without a suitable remedy.
Even the most staunch of the O’Neill supporters would struggle to argue the case for keeping expensively paid players permanently out of the squad, with the likes of Sidwell, Davies, Beye et al having never been good enough for the club. Purchasing Sidwell on the basis of his taking apart Villa the season Reading went down was not so much a shining light on Sidwell’s ability, as Villa under O’Neill’s inability to deal with players of his ilk. After all, if you continue to purchase players who go down with teams year on year, one can only expect a certain level of success. It isn’t, in my opinion, the mark of a manager who is aiming for anything extravagant for the club, merely to stabilise the club at a particular level. In my opinion, whether we had this terrible season or not, we are much better without our former manager than we would have been with him this year. I’d rather have a season of dicing with death than I would have a season a few years down the line where we are in administration.
Lighting striking twice – in a different way
Looking for a second at some similarity between Messrs O’Neill and Houllier, there is a striking parallel illustrated by what some might call the “interesting” PR levels that have come out of the club in recent years. Both managers have appeared publicly to be unruffled, whereas it has appeared that their outward appearance was reflective of the swan – moving along seemingly graceful along the river, but with erratic movement happening ten to the dozen under the surface. Both managers have shocked the club by sudden statements that have plunged the club into doubt. Martin upped and left with little notice, and Gerard’s health appears to have taken him by surprise. Both situations have caused massive uncertainty for the club, and both situations required/require a level of resolution that is fast acting. We need a plan of action for next year that is solid, and that means guarantees. Aston Villa Football Club can not, and should not, base the future of the club on sentiments regarding being “nice”. I am absolutely and totally saddened to hear about Gerard’s health issues, but I also have enough of a business brain to know that Villa need to treat things as “once bitten, twice shy”. The situation is simple – the club must do everything it can to ensure that next season has an air of stability about it, as otherwise we might not be so lucky next time (and we’re not mathematically safe this time yet either).
Just as it was fairly evident that Kevin McDonald was not going to take the job with the club at the start of the season, so we need somebody in at the club who wants the job, is well qualified, and is eager to take things forward. I remember thinking at times whilst listening to Kevin McDonald after a match, where he seemed almost ambivalent regarding whether he wanted the job or not. He did, in my opinion, approach what was a massive opportunity and relegate the effort in the decision making process to a level that I might reserve for choosing what meat to have at a carvery. How any company, let alone one the size of Aston Villa, can wait for so long before thinking “We can’t let the club slide while some guy ‘ums’ and ‘arrs’ about if he wants the job” is absolutely beyond me.
Bad HR + Bad PR = A very bad situation
As for when we recruit another manager, whether that is this season or five from now, from the top of the tree right down to whoever was dealing with the management recruitment process, somebody really has to take responsibility for the matter. Running a football club with no designated head (figurehead or otherwise) of operations that knows a thing about football is totally off the wall. Just as I wouldn’t choose to operate a major bank without a seasoned CFO, one can not expect to run a football club by employing people who don’t really know football. It would be akin to me attempting to run a forum for midwives when my closest approximation of understanding their work is of having sex with a woman. It just isn’t going to work is it? Somebody needs to accept that the process of appointing a manager has more to it than scanning CVs and highlighting interesting sections with a marker pen. The process was sloppy at best, and whoever came up with it should be fired.
Whilst nobody here, as fans, were expecting a consecutive 6th place again, to see the club teeter on the edge of oblivion for large portions of the season is just not acceptable. We can’t, in any shape or form, have the potential for this to happen again. Gerard, if you’re reading this, please put your health first. Speaking as a fellow human being to another, your health is more important than being the manager of our club. I would like to hope that you don’t have any more health issues, and have many more years of health life to come, but please don’t risk it if you are not 100%. It would be bad for your health, and it would be bad for Aston Villa. We know you have done some very good things at the club and we are proud of you for that but please, for the sake of your health and our sanity, only continue in the role if you are 99% sure this won’t happen again. We’d rather remember you fondly as a good man who did his best, than to see you collapse on the touchlines. We here at the site wish you all the very best, and hope you maintain a speedy recovery.
I know this post we be divisive as Houllier and O’Neill camps have formed over the course of the past part of this season, and the years prior, however we can’t afford to lose another manager to a sudden shock again, and this is my attempt at stating we need to do better if we find out Gerard may suffer a relapse in future.
Looking back at this article as fans, whether we want to point the finger at person(s) x, y, or z, but in reality it matters not one bit in terms of progress due to our lack of control over the club. However somebody, anybody, at the club needs to ensure that lightning doesn’t strike three times. It can’t, can it?
*** NOTE *** – We have disabled the news service temporarily as we have been experiencing server crashes and need to check to see if this is the cause of the fault. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
The Author
