It’s good news from the coronary ward of the Queen Elizabeth hospital: Gerard Houllier will not require any surgery, just rest and medication. It’s unlikely that we’ll see him in the dugout again this season though, so Gary McAllister will fill in as expected.

So, whether you wanted it or not, we will have a fourth person calling the shots from the sidelines this season. Fortunately, we’re more or less out of the woods and McAllister will just be supervising Houllier’s plans, not trying to rescue a desperate situation.

It’s entirely possible that the whole club; management, coaches, players, and fans will be further galvanised by the latest turn of events. Just as things were looking up, it’s one more challenge, but what does not kill us will only make us stronger. (No pun intended).

When we look back on this season, there will be plenty of lessons which, if drawn on, can only benefit us next season. But we’re not quite ready to look so far down the road just yet; one game at a time. So, next one; Stoke.

Stoke

Three points against Stoke tomorrow and relegation will be practically impossible. Under the circumstances, if those points are won, it would be fitting to dedicate them to the man who has carried himself with dignity and determination through some extremely challenging circumstances.

When you consider all the trials and tribulations of this season, you might be surprised to learn that we’re actually a point better off than we were at this same stage in 2006/07; Martin O’Neill’s season. The bar of expectation was rightly much higher this season than back then, sure, but it still provides some interesting perspective nevertheless.

Lessons from the Britannia

If you cast your mind back to September of last year, you might recall that we lost at the Britannia Stadium thanks to Robert Huth pouncing on a loose ball from an injury time set piece. It was what would become a familiar case of three points dropped in the last ten minutes, but much was made of Tony Pulis appearing on the sideline for the second half after his mother had sadly passed away earlier that day.

Everyone handles grief in different ways, there is no rule book and I pass no judgement here, but I’m not sure Pulis’ behaviour, as inspiring as it may have been, is the benchmark for what is decent or “normal”.

The reason why I bring that up is that Pulis’ appearance prompted some online vitriol aimed at Houllier who was seeing out prior commitments in France (an awards dinner that night I think) and was yet to join up with his new employer. Here was Pulis, mother recently deceased, carrying on as normal while Houllier, presumably bow-tied and drinking Martinis, was still in France. How outrageous!

I saw it differently. Pulis’ actions were a bit weird – as I say, no judgement, grief can do that – Houllier was showing some honour and loyalty to the employers he was leaving (at shorter than required notice) to join us. These are qualities we’re all quick to claim are absent in the game today.

Aerial battle

Anyway, aside from noting the criticism Houllier was attracting before he’d even stepped foot into Villa Park, what he should have learned from watching the tape of the game is that Stoke dominated the aerial game and ultimately bullied their way to a win.

Throw-ins-a-go-go

In short; we could have done with Emile Heskey and I’d like to see him start again tomorrow, despite Gabby getting the injury time winner against West Ham last time out. Actually, for that matter, why change anything from Upton Park? Same again I say, but hopefully with an opportunity to introduce some fresh legs a little earlier.

As for Stoke, I believe that John Carew is allowed to play against his parent club, so I wouldn’t rule out seeing him in front of the Holte End one last time, but I’m not sure he’ll start if he is included. Pulis is much more likely to stick with the Jones/Walters partnership that were part of the FA Cup destruction of Bolton last Sunday.

Other than that, I think we all know what to expect from Stoke. The ball will be in the air a lot, all set pieces will be dangerous, there will be long throw-ins, they have the ability to take advantage of any lapse in concentration, right into injury time.

It won’t be pretty very much, but hopefully a charged up Villa Park will provide the cauldron for the home side to grab all three points.

Three points for Gerard.

UTV