UK time is: 11:29:07

Aston Villa News 24/7

Choose your club

Other Sites

Network Navigation

Vital Partners

Safe Standing!

'If It's Football, It's Vital'

Check out the forum! There are 75 members viewing right now and 559 visitors today.... Click here to join in!

McLeish & Co In Trip To Cleveland

I`ve sort of avoided this all day and was hoping Fieldy might cover it. Not because it doesn`t interest me, I sort of feel ambivilant about it, more because of the anger in the McLeish thread on the forum and also the anger on our facebook part.

I might be missing something but I can`t really get angry about such a small issue.

What issue ?

The official site: www.avfc.co.uk have reported that Alex McLeish, Peter Grant (the man that points a lot!) as well as fitness coach Adrian Sheep, or Lamb, or something.. and Dr Ian I`ll Have a Pint of McGuinness oh and .... ok, ok, I can concede, I understand why this will make you laugh... 'performance analyst` Patrick Riley, have all jetted off to talk to their counterparts at the Cleveland Browns.

So?

I know most want the manager gone, not just gone on a trip, but this might have been booked months ago. Not quite sure why some are jumping up and down in fury.

The forum thread (not for the lighthearted or kids) starts at the last post or two on this link for the Browns anger: Click Here

I personally don`t think I could give a care what he does in the off time, if anyone of the group can get anything out of this trip to benefit Villa then where is the problem?

And the quotes, like everything else, I realise will be ripped apart!

Chief executive Paul Faulkner said: ''When the fixture schedule allows for a break, such as this upcoming weekend, some managers may take time off to refresh ahead of the busy run to follow. Not for Alex. He is keen to do everything he can to push Villa forward. Alex is always looking for any advantage he can get and he felt this was an ideal opportunity to exchange ideas with his American counterparts at the Browns.'

The report also says that McLeish and Lerner have a close relationship and email and phone each day. Ok, that might start to ring alarm bells to be fair!

Martin O`Neill also went on several of these trips, so it isn`t new. The Browns medical staff also came over to Villa.

Hey ho, thought I`d best throw it up for discussion at least. Not that we can have balanced discussions these days, everything is so polarised. End of the day, not my fault that, I didn`t choose the manager. I do wish we could go back to happy campers though, this is all too tiring and depressing!

Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!

Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.

Writer: J P Fear

Date:Wednesday February 15 2012

Time: 3:56PM

Your Comments

I reckon Mcleish is teling Lerner which players are letting us down, and he wants rid of and what players he needs in the summer? I remember reading a while back when MoN was stil here that Randy admired moyes and Mcleish so don't look like he is going anywhere soon does it?

clivethevillan

Well the longer he is away from our players the better, they might even start to mutiny in his absence and throw him in the ocean when he's back, I have strange dreams I know...

KerryVillian

Can't see the point in getting angry but I can't see the point in the trip either. "Hello. The Cleveland Browns are doing well aren't they?" "No, we're *****" "Oh... Well we're ***** too" "Oh... wanna get drunk?"

Sheriff Kimbo

I think Villa and Randy missed a trick here. What he SHOULD have done is take the fans to visit "The Browns" and left the manager to sit on the steps outside VP and think about the mess he has caused........it's good PR lol

griffgriff

THFC fan and I come in peace. I hope Mccleish and co arn't expecting any insightful coaching advice from the Cleveland Browns staff. They have just come off a losing 4-12 season and are in an absolute mess. The Browns are hopeless, they have the worst offence in the league this year and cannot even agree on who should play QB. Anyway good luck for the rest of the season and I hope that McCleish's trip is a fruitful one. It must be for business as there is nothing else to do in Cleveland.

Cleveland ARTSPURS

ARTSPURS - give yourself more credit - there's the Rock & Roll HOF and Chagrin Falls..... and they can always take a quick road trip to Toledo - beautiful piece of Americana! :). And the Browns (just like every other team in the NFL) need a quality QB to expect success - they don't grow on trees! But seriously, I agree with the trepidation of Fear in posting this one. No doubt it will invite the usual reaction of unwanted negativity instead of being seen as, at the bare minimum, a solid attempt at professional development and improvement.....

gmvillan

They can bloody stop over there for all I care..... tossers!

Pride of Lions

Paul Faulkner you are a joke. Dread to think what this tosser gets paid

craigy1874

Its just Randy getting everyone together to share information and best practise, right? I was so excited about Randy, how he did everything the right way: root and branch, evolution instead of revolution. I understood the need to scale back the investment - he lost a bucket of cash unexpectedly and financial fair play rules kicked in anyway: I understood what that would have to happen. However, there is a big question mark over Randy's recruitment and selection now. I got the impression Douglas was instrumental in the selection of MON. The messiah he may not have been but all in, you'd have to say he did a pretty good job. Others have spent fortunes and still failed to get anywhere. We got Houllier, we all gasped, we all worried and we were proved right. Then we went for Martinez and, to be fair, we all gasped until the alternative was McLeish! Then we got McLeish. We all gasped, now we are worrying and we could well be proved right. I also understand the Browns have been far from successful for a long time. How well respected is their manager? Have they changed him in recent years?

revolutionatlast

What was that Clive, Randy admired Eck, Moyes and also has Fulcker as his right hand man. This infatuation with gingers has got to stop FFS. We are a joke. May aswell have the dildo salesmen in charge. I know that's a horrid, horrid, horrid notion but you can see why Eck and they got on so well with the press PR.

Villan444

Good news, hopefully Eck can have a chat with their QB and will be able to teach Collins how to perfect his long diagnol balls for Heskey to flick on to nobody.

son_of_cher

Losers sharing information with losers. You simply couldn't make it up. The clubs attempt at PR makes them look even more foolish. Instead of ordering McMuppet to work on his ailing team of overpaid prima donnas, they tell him and all of his staff to take a break in good ol' US of A and see what it takes to be the bottom team over there. My oh my. What has become of our once great club? Randy has been her a little over 5 years and understands more than he did, but not enough. Those of us old enough to have seen the Villa in evey decade since the 60's (I got the last year of the 60' as a 5 year old) can see when we are about to go in to a serious decline and we are trying everything to prevent it happening. At least when we had shareholders we could get in front of the board and voice our disapproval face to face, even if Ellis did always use his majority vote to overturn the show of hands that often went against him. Those of us protesting are doing it ouf love and fear (not The Fear) for the club. We must do everything possible to force a decision to get McMuppet out of the club, be that protests, boycotts, banners, songs, refusal to buy season tickets etc.

voiceoftheholte

@gmVillan Rock & Roll HOF is OK, but it's overpriced and overrated. Chagrin Falls is nice and Amish country is also very nice and very interesting. The City though is awful especially in winter. @Revolutionatlast The Browns have changed their head coach 3 times since 2008. The current coach Pat Shurmur replaced Eric Mangini at the start of the 2011 season as Magini's Browns slumped to a 5-11 record in 2010. Pat Shurmur somehow managed to do worse. You should check out some of his post game press conferences. I've never seen a manager so clueless and so uninspiring.

Cleveland ARTSPURS

Have thought about this a little more. We have conceeded 13 goals from set pieces this season and other than penalties have scored eeerrrr . . . . . . . . none, nil, zero!!!! If somebody can explain how our entire first team coaching and management staff can improve this from visiting one of the worst performing American Football teams then I would love to hear. And as for somebody (Fear???) saying it may have been booked months ago, please get real. Did they know we wouldn't be in the 5th round of the FA Cup months ago?? No? I thought not!!! It can only have been booked in the last couple of weeks. So somebody somewhere thinks that rather than using a two week break from games, with no internationals to worry about, to make the players train every day to eliminate the mistakes at one end and improve the goals going in at the right end . . . . . . . . that a trip to Cleveland would be better??? Who ever thought this up should be sacked on the spot. It is the most ridiculous decision at the most worrying of times for the club. Now is the perfect time to organise the team, especially in light of the new centre half pairing we will be having, into learning how to defend set pieces and attack them at the other end. If it was Randy's idea then McMuppet should have refused and informed Randy that this sort of thing could happen on a pre season tour, not during the most important two weeks of team training available during the season. And whilst I am on my soap box, we scored from a corner routine at the Emirates recently where we decided to do something different to just 'putting it in the mixer'. We worked it short, created confusion and scored. We haven't done this routine again since. If that doesnt tell you everything you need to know about McMuppet and his coaching team then nothing will. This episode is further proof, if it were needed, that we are in the brown stuff, well and truly, until McMuppet has gone.

voiceoftheholte

Hilarious Villa!!!!! Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. What would they possibly talk about? How NOT to win football matches!!!! Mcleish OUT.

Timmsy

Agree with everything voiceoftheholte said. 2 weeks to work on some serious issues, but instead, a trip to the U.S for what, I don't know. What can be seriously gained from this trip? Why not take a trip down to Swansea to see how they do things? Absolutely clueless we are. Fed up of it.

Stephen Jay Hawkings

This is great video of days when McLeish made us all happy. Watch it and realise what is coming our way. Somebody please send this to Randy so he can be reminded of the passion, fun, noise the Villa fans can have and how much he is driving the enjoyment out of Villa Park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu_bYcnnXSY&feature=related

voiceoftheholte

Faulkner is on another planet! "McLeish looks for every advantage he can get". Has Faulkner seen us play this season? These thick *****s manage our wonderful club.

M5villa

There's a main problem. Randy and McLeish get along really well. I knew since that first glass of red we were doomed. As many of us have said Eck seems like a nice guy, but being a nice guy doesn't make you a good football manager. I honestly think Randy hasn't been watching as I know any man in their right mind wouldn't stand this going on

AdzVilla11

hopefully McLeish will stay............. Don't come back........................... Your brand of Football is not wanted

ShaneBlack

On the plus side Fear, despite all the McLeish inpired depression I still find me checking Vital Villa just as much :)

alcoollie

alcoollie... I check this and other sites regularly too. The Villa's like a massive pile up on the M6 at the minute... you know you shouldn't look but you just can't help it.

Rawlie

Wouldn't Heskey make a good QB? Perhaps we could ship him off over there?

AVFC4ME

Rawlie, great analogy there mate. As for the trip, our defence will learn nowt and neither will the attack from any AFL team, it's just another jolly up when they should all be working hard at bodymoor ffs!!

holte ender 1969

Maybe he is getting the sack? Two weeks to bed in new gaffer?

VillainYorks

good to hear alcoollie and rawlie. Must admit it has 'got to me' now, so depresing and obviously, running a football network, I can't really escape, I have to be on vital! lol I do worry about the site, like it to be rightly balanced etc but nothign I can do about the negativity about, it reflects the season, not me our the editorial. Still get it in the neck from 'both sides' though! LOL

With this trip, to be fair, there is a massive overreaction, MON has done it a few times, other staff have gone over there as well. It isn't costing us so why worry? Might benefit the fitness coach or medical staff. But yes, I understand the comments about Alex from anyone in praise won't be well received and we aren't pushing forward at the moment, we are sinking down. I might go and sit in a dark room for a while I thinK! Thing is holte ender 1969, it is only a few days, the players have had a few days off anyway so it isn't really a jolly up!

The Fear

Hi Clevelandartspurs..... so, the browns are doing terribly, with the worst offense in the league, and cant agree where their players should play? Rings bells with most of us villa fans at the moment! Sad times =(

thorpyuk

http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/removal-of-alex-mcleish-as-aston-villa-manager-before-its-too-late/4196

thorpyuk

Is it just me that was thinking that we were trying to bring in our own brand of game called American Soccer? This kinda backs up my theory! This goes back to the MON days also so not just now but never have I seen a team play the same way we do. Trying to advance down the touchlines and gain about 10 yards a time, slowlt walking to pick the ball up for a throw in, no one actually showing to receive tha ball. Every free kick has to be lumped as far up the field as possible. We seem to play for set pieces and yet cant score from them and concede a lot from them! Maybe they need to start handing out large foam hands and we need to start chanting D Fence at corners / free kicks against us and bang the drum like they do in American Sports. I bet that would help us for a few home games and would be quite entertaining if we become a yank crowd for the entire match! Maybe its how we sort out our home form?

Chelt Villan

Have been an armchair fan of american football for many years,was warned by a cleveland browns fan to make the best of first few years under Lerner because he would lose interest.(ignored it to be honest because the Browns were his fathers baby not Randys.) To be honest dont think this trip is worthy of comment.

Merlin128777

On a lighter note a well known burger chain have brought out a new burger its called the McLoser just two halfs of the bun shaped as ears with nothing between them !

Merlin128777

I've heard of that burger Merlin! The same burger chain claims the burgers to be EXCEPTIONALLY low in fat and calories, but scientists have tested there to be 2000cals and 100g of fat per burger. Take one bite and you feel numb, apathetic to everything, and hate anything ginger....

thorpyuk

I'm sticking pins in my voodoo-airfix model of Randy's private jet as we speak.....

BigFatRon

maybe he's gone to the browns to get some new tactical advantage in the prem. Perhaps next week we'll see the lads picking up the ball and trying to throw it as far as they can because they don't seem to be able to kick it each other !!!!

villatillidie77

Have Your Say

Recent Articles

The Villa Times - 23/05/2013 (Thursday May 23 2013)

The Vital Villa Player Of The Season Is... (Thursday May 23 2013)

Bumper Transfer News - SOME Inward! (Thursday May 23 2013)

New Contracts? Better Deals? It's Only Money!! (Thursday May 23 2013)

Petrov Delighted With Assistant Coach Role (Wednesday May 22 2013)

Broadcasting Revenue For AVFC For 2012/13 Season (Wednesday May 22 2013)

N'Zogbia Exit And £5m Given To Keeper? (Wednesday May 22 2013)

Villa's Pre Season Schedule (Tuesday May 21 2013)

Vlaar Pleased With First Good Touch Of The Game (Tuesday May 21 2013)

Villa Season Ticket Help Sessions (Tuesday May 21 2013)

Archived Articles

Vital Villa Articles from 2005
Vital Villa Articles from 2006
Vital Villa Articles from 2007
Vital Villa Articles from 2008
Vital Villa Articles from 2009
Vital Villa Articles from 2010
Vital Villa Articles from 2011
Vital Villa Articles from 2012
Vital Villa Articles from 2013

Vital Members League (view all)

1.	Pride of Lions	1030
2.	The Fear	782
3.	BodyButter	514
4.	kefkat	423
5.	CDX_EIRE	347
6.	ClivetheVillan	331
7.	Villan57	245
8.	thefacehead	241
9.	DeanoVilla	234
10.	holtelower	215

League Results (view all)

Latest Results
Wigan	2	-	2	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	1	-	2	Chelsea
Norwich	1	-	2	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	6	-	1	Sunderland
Man Utd	3	-	0	Aston Villa
Aston Villa	1	-	1	Fulham

League Table (view table)

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
12. Fulham	38	11	10	17	-10	43
13. Stoke	38	9	15	14	-11	42
14. Southampton	38	9	14	15	-11	41
15. Aston Villa	38	10	11	17	-22	41
16. Newcastle	38	11	8	19	-23	41
17. Sunderland	38	9	12	17	-13	39
18. Wigan	38	9	9	20	-26	36

Breaking League News

Tabb's move away from Royals stalls

» Reading : 24/05/2013 11:00:00

Wigan Athletic - 12th Man - Season End

» Wigan : 24/05/2013 09:49:00

Looking Towards the Bundesliga

» Chelsea : 24/05/2013 09:45:00

Ferdinand Pens One-Year Deal

» Man Utd : 24/05/2013 09:43:00

United Miss Out on Begovic

» Man Utd : 24/05/2013 09:42:00

Schwarzer Urged to Stay

» Fulham : 24/05/2013 09:40:00

Hammers Chasing Douglas

» West Ham : 24/05/2013 09:38:00

Current Site Poll (view all polls)

Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.