Nowadays, there seems to be a general acceptance within the footballing world that Alex McLeish’s days are numbered as manager of Aston Villa. Suddenly the press, once suggestive of the fact that he was unshakeable from his position are changing their stories to state he will be axed.
With that said, just who can we believe from the press nowadays anyway? I won’t believe it till I see him with his box walking out of B6, but the question I have is why are the club keeping him on for the final two games, if he is, in fact, already determined as a goner?
If the guy is not going to be here in the future then, from a business point of view, wouldn’t it make more sense to get rid of him now?
The club would make in-roads to repairing a relationship with their customers. The final day of the season at Villa Park would have a more positive atmosphere, one that was fully behind the club and team again, and there would be more of us at the game.
By doing the right thing now, the club could put some hope back into us – something that has been missing all season – and get some more season tickets sold. It’s a no brainer, right?
However, what if the reason McLeish hasn’t been sacked yet is because there are no plans to get rid of him? If Randy doesn’t pull the trigger, we are going to have to endure a vile, hatred filled atmosphere on the final home game of the season.
Now, no matter what anyone taking part in the protests will tell you, the situation is going to spill into the ground. Sure, people can say it will be tightly regimented so that it only happens before and after games, but how is that going to be managed?
It is impossible to stop because of the strength of feeling, and the fact that someone will shout a comment out and get the ball rolling, despite it being counter productive. If the protest does happen, and gets out of hand as I think it will do, it is not going to help the players – remember we still have a game to play, and we need the points.
We also shouldn’t forget there are still a minority of our fans that think McLeish deserves the summer, and they feel as strongly about the situation as those that don’t want him. You know how it is in these situations – people get stubbornly entrenched in their view when everything gets so angry.
You also have the fans that disagree with the protest, and don’t want them because of the light they show the club in. The last time something like this happened, I have been told stories of our own fans fighting each other in the Holte End – steamer may be able to clarify this – and I can see it happening again.
To top it off, all this would make grim viewing when it plays out on Sky Sports. Think us fans have a bad name already in the press? That would top it off and make us look even more like a joke compared to how other people think about us.
With the reality of all these awful situations potentially coming to pass, it is time for the people behind the hiring to do something about it.
This is the fault of two men. The same two men who had been warned about the depth of feeling amongst fans, but who ignored us as customers.
When you treat your customers, your fans, the people who have financially supported the club for generations, in the way we have been treated then, like it not, those in charge deserve everything they have got and, unfortunately for us, many of us have had to just watch it happen as these people ate away at our club like a cancer.
So enough is enough. Come on Randy – do the right thing, retain some respect, and restore the faith!
For all those going on Sunday all I ask is, from the first whistle to the last, that we make as much noise as we can and get behind the team. Forget McLeish – he is nothing any more, he is a nobody to us, and never has been anything but a nobody.
There is still all to play for and, with the grace of McGrath, we might just get something out of the last two games, allowing us to finish safely without having to rely on others ineptitude.
The future may well be unclear now, but the future will always be claret and blue. Let’s hope that the club can do the right thing to cheer us up.
The Author
