Well, that’s it then, it’s official. After one of the most protracted and very public management searches ever, the club have confirmed that they have appointed ex-Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish as Gerard Houllier’s successor at Villa Park.
Frankly, it’s an astonishing move that has already upset the overwhelming majority of fans. It’s also a move, right or wrongly, that takes some extreme guts from everyone involved. If nothing else, you must have some respect for McLeish’s willingness to take this
Continue Reading
We were promised an announcement confirming Alex McLeish’s appointment by now*, but that’s about as timely as everything else connected to the search for a manager, so I thought I’d share something I was just looking at instead.
For one reason or another, it doesn’t matter why, someone put it to me on Twitter that all MON’s Villa side did was hoof it up the pitch; the old long ball. It’s not a new charge, of course, or particularly accurate
Continue Reading
It’s hard to know where to begin at the moment, any thought I try to commit to the page risks spiralling into a 5,000 word mess. I’m sure you all have dozens of competing thoughts bouncing around inside your heads too. Whatever ends up here in this post, trust me, I’ve deleted more than remains. Chances are, this post doesn’t say now what I started out trying to say.
To keep things as brief as possible though, there are two subjects
Continue Reading
I don’t think I’d classify this as a good day to bury bad news – although your tastes may cause you to disagree, but while we’re all wailing and gnashing teeth over the Alex McLeish debacle, it appears that the new 2011/12 away shirt may have found its way on to the internet.
I stress may because unlike the 2011/12 home shirt, which I have very high resolution pictures I obtained myself, I’m not sure of the authenticity of this one.
Continue Reading
You’ll already be aware that Aston Villa issued an official statement earlier this evening confirming the intention to interview Alex McLeish. Birmingham City have issued their own statement declaring their intention to take legal action in response.
Both statements in full:
Aston Villa Football Club
This is a message to the fans of Aston Villa.
The Club has been reluctant to elaborate publicly on our search for a new manager and, in particular, to confirm or deny our interest in specific candidates.
This is not
Continue Reading
I’ve managed to post very little on the subject of our manager search; the absence is probably bordering on conspicuous by now despite my distaste for diving into pure speculation. There’s nothing sinister about it though, the situation seems to be ever-changing, I’d be writing a half dozen posts a day if I attempted to cover every twist and turn.
For instance, I had barely finished writing one post that held Roberto Martinez at its heart before the Lactics manager withdrew
Continue Reading
I know I’m in danger of turning this into the Michael Bradley blog, but US Soccer are doing a great job of putting out videos like this with their national team players. In this one, which is far more in-depth than the last one, Bradley reflects on life in England and the key differences to playing in Germany.
Bradley discusses the different emphasis on tactics, speed of the game, his frustration at not getting to play, but his pragmatism and
Continue Reading
Over the past week or so we’ve had bookies’ favourite after bookies’ favourite billed as the next Aston Villa manager, only to later be dismissed almost as quickly as they emerged. I could count all the posts on the subject from the various Aston Villa blogs and news outlets I subscribe to, but I’m pretty certain it’s easily in triple digits.
Attempting to sort the wheat from the chaff would drive me insane. I’ve taken the nuclear “mark all as
Continue Reading
Brad Friedel may well be on his way to Tottenham, but it’s easy to forget all the good work goalkeepers do while remembering the saves they didn’t make. This video shows some of Big Brad’s finer moments during his final season at Aston Villa and reminds us what big gloves he has to fill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbgz9HuGFjY
[Spotted on AVFC California]