The Villa Blame Game....

The Blame Game

As you read this article Aston Villa Football Club is currently looking for its 3rd manager in 2 seasons. The quick release of Alex McLeish is a clear sign that the club's hierarchy were massively disappointed with his services, and we yet again enter the summer with a period of uncertainty towards the future, both immediate and long term.

As McLeish left Bodymoor Heath this morning, I wonder what he was thinking.

Maybe I should have stayed at Birmingham; I wish Bent didn't get injured; I shouldn't have bought Charles N'Zogbia?? Perhaps it was all of these things. I know what I thought when I read the reports this morning, WHY ARE WE IN THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE????

As a student of only 20 years I know I don't have much life 'experience', but what I have learnt is that someone is always to blame in every bad situation. Someone has to take responsibility. People always look to blame others, it's a defence mechanism, and it doesn't apply any more often than sport. So who is to blame for this seasons mess?? It's clear most of the fans have looked to the man in the dugout, and so has the football club. He picked the teams; no one forced him to start full backs as wingers and persist to play defensively. He signed the players, some of which have been shockingly poor (Hutton, N'Zogbia.) others he didn't, but still picked to play.

It's all debatable, but what has happened? Who's to blame, why are we yet again in limbo?

Well Randy Lerner step forward and you need only but look into the dark mirror. Who knows why he did it, but he made the appointment regardless if he was advised by others on it. Just like McLeish picked the teams, Lerner picked the manager. I never believed that McLeish was the right man for the job. I wrote an email around the time of the protest to the club advising Lerner not to appoint him and to look at other free targets like Chris Hughton. I understood the clubs financial struggles and how we would be focussing on cutting the wage bill. But I still didn't understand why he thought AM was the man for the job. I remember thinking why is he doing this, does he not understand football?? I contacted some Cleveland Brown fans asking them what they really thought of Lerner and it's safe to say he's not a popular man among them. They feel he's too attached to his 'soccer' hobby and that we will one day find out what he's really like.

Well I feel like I learnt a lot on the 17th June 2011 and think I've learnt a bit more today. In his short statement, he writes that we have lacked 'compelling play' in recent years. Well how did he think McLeish was going to give us that? McLeish had to go, but he did do everything that was asked of him. He slashed the wage bill, bedded the young players in and survived relegation. But the main fact is he should never have been appointed in the first place and we should not be in this position we're in now.

He was left high and dry by the CEO and owner on numerous occasions to take a lot of abuse from the fans, some of it deserved, others not. The players were poor all season; whoever inherits the squad is going to have a tough time regardless of their age or what they've achieved. The squad must be strengthened and a few players must be pushed out of the club. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks. Our problems lie deeper than the manager. In my letter to Lerner almost a year ago, I wrote that his whole ownership will be defined by the decision he makes in the coming days. That was then; it's just a shame it applies, yet again. UTV

VILLA 4 LIFE

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