There was an article written a while back about Aston Villa being something reminiscent of the film Groundhog Day. I have to say, it certainly feels that way at times. However, this time I want to focus on the current situation, and compare it to issues that have passed.
It’s hard to get Villa fans to agree to support McLeish, but few can say he inherited the best situation ever. Sure, moving from Birmingham City was a step up but, under current constraints at least, it was hardly a move to spend untold riches on anyone he wants.
Instead, he’s been told to make do. Now before anyone think I am an apologist on his behalf, I have to say the guy has made some big mistakes, Tottenham away being the freshest one in my memory.
The problem though, is that too often things slide directly on to McLeish in terms of blame.
Playing The Fans
Before McLeish was even appointed, he was reviled by Villa fans. In the view of many, his football was poor, and he had far too much experience at the wrong end of the table rather than the right one. When the board appointed him, fans reacted as though the board didn’t know what they were talking about, as though they didn’t care about the fans and what they thought.
In that sense, half of the statement is true – the board certainly were not going to let fans change their position on who they did or didn’t appoint at Villa.
Regarding the board not knowing what they were doing, they 100% knew exactly what they were after. A tough man for tough times. If the fans didn’t like it, tough.
McLeish was hired because he was, in the board’s view, a plan that couldn’t backfire. They knew before they even looked at hiring him what the fans reactions would be. Villa fans weren’t going to welcome McLeish with open arms like he was Jose Mourinho. We all know that for certain. If you want a dirty job doing, you don’t get in a beloved servant of the club. You get in a guy who knows how to deal with a lack of money and a difficult situation.
Seeing Clearly
The reality is the board hired McLeish because that kind of appointment fits. If McLeish does well, the board are performing a masterstroke. If he does badly, they can get the fans back by sacking him and saying “We made a mistake” and apologise. Bottom line is for all the ire going on now, the board were and are willing to take the heat.
After all, it isn’t like they are walking in and out of Villa Park every day having to face picket lines. Even if another protest kicked off, it would be McLeish who would take the heat again. So whilst fans might think that it is good to lay the blame all on McLeish, you should realise that is exactly what the board thought would happen, and precisely what they want you to do. More blame on McLeish’s shoulders means less on theirs.
Of course, McLeish has made mistakes. I can’t sit here and claim he is beyond reproach, but I can say that he is being left twisting in the wind.
People might not believe what I am saying, and this is only my opinion, but when you face tribunals from former employees on multiple occassions, there’s no smoke without fire. Two of the stories of tribunals that are public – Martin O’Neill and John Lerwill – told the same story. The story was that when things went sour in the eyes of the board, the club wanted to shift as much of the blame on to people who were out the door.
O’Neill was a difficult situation. Like McLeish, he isn’t free from blame, but he isn’t the sole reason for the current situation either. Sure, he spent money, but he didn’t have final sign off on payments. The board were happy to let O’Neill take the heat. Martin put out a fairly bland but logical message following his departure, and that was fair enough. After all, if the money he was used to running a club was going to be taken away, he probably felt things were only going to go backwards after. Why leave that on your CV?
Don’t get me wrong, the board have a right to set financial parameters for running a club. As a manager, you should work with what you have. If you don’t like what you have, then you should leave. O’Neill decided he didn’t want to be there, and so he left. Free choice, especially considering the one year rolling nature of his contract.
So Martin did leave disruption behind after he left, but even though I’ve found Martin to be a prickly character at times, I still support his desire to protect his own reputation.
We all know what happened last year. It was a step in the right direction, but only in one sense. Trying to play good football is not the same as playing good football. I could see what Gerard was trying to do when at the club but, at his age and with his health issues, it wasn’t going to be any kind of long term strategy. The reality is we nearly went down.
We finished 9th, sure, but that was a false position. Before the Arsenal game we were mathematically able to go down. For all of the effort in putting together “good” football, this is a results game, not the football version of the Harlem Globetrotters. Looking like Barcelona isn’t the same as being Barcelona.
Fast forward to this season and McLeish is guilty of playing defensive football but, given the circumstances, he might believe that is the criteria for how Villa have to get through the next few years. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong. We’re never going to know exactly what was said to Alex McLeish when it came to accepting the job at Villa.
I honestly can’t imagine it was “Get us into Europe” as Paul Faulkner stated last week. Making those kind of statements just feels silly. Anyone who know Villa’s current predicament would struggle to put us above 8th this year, and that is being generous.
When McLeish was asked if he wanted the job though, it was an obvious choice. Take a job at a bigger club for more money, or face a pay cut and having to operate under a board who had just had their chairman arrested. Tough call. Whatever we might think is lacking at the board level in B6, at least these guys aren’t being arrested for money laundering.
So we have McLeish as our manager. He isn’t going to be popular, but the board knew this before it even happened. Perhaps they do care about the fans, but the board have a funny way of showing it.
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