Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Thursday May 17 2012
Time: 12:27PM
UK time is: 11:59:40
Vital Login
Social Login
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Statement From Alex McLeish
The LMA statement on behalf of Alex McLeish.
'When I accepted the role as manager of Aston Villa Football Club, I was acutely aware of the responsibility I had to find the best way to serve the great traditions of one of the finest clubs in professional football.
I was truly honoured to have been given the opportunity to manage the club, which plays such an important part in the fabric of the local community and to its worldwide fan base.
I relished the challenge and, together with my loyal and very capable staff, dedicated all of my efforts into moulding a successful team. My only regret in leaving now is that we weren't able to achieve more for the supporters and their high expectations.
Finally, I want to take this moment to say that I have nothing but the highest respect for the club and sincerely wish it and the fans great success in the future.'
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for the British GP
Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!
Your Comments
best thing he said since he joined, fair play to him he just wasn't up to the job.
AVbornandbred
My expectations wern't that high.
tmg513
"high expectations"? seriously? I appreciate we are in a time of transition and would have been quite happy with a top ten finish. Europe was never on the agenda realistically, but a relegation scrap was totally unacceptable. So we're being criticized now for not wanting to be relegated? Even though he's gone I'm hating him more and more
KaBar
Career damage limitation statement, sorry but whatever he comes out with the facts don't lie....as the whole football world seems to want to enforce he seems like a genuinely decent man, just significantly out of his depth in the Premier League. Look out Championship clubs......
CannockVilla
Nice guy just not up to the task. Made his living for almost 20 years now
doing something he is no good at, I guess that is something to be proud
of?
Tallaght Villan
A nice man but the wrong manager. Still shows us respect after we ran him out of town and every keyboard warrior in the city hated the life out of him.
mmlozza
Thank you Alex.
Best to move on now for all concerned.
Personally, I wish you well in you your life and your next job.
Guys, lets leave all the hostility in the past and show that we Aston Villa fans also have some dignity.
Thomas Holte
Nice guy Alex and a pleasure meeting you, just shame you just arent very good at your job, goodluck none the less
Chiefy
Agrees with TH
kefkat
He must be a nice person, just not good enough a Manager for the Villa, good luck to him in the future. COTVABU
irish villa
Good bloke, bad fit. Onwards and upwards - and wish him all the best unless he ever gets to manage a team against us again.
onlyteaminthemids
Give me 3 mill for 11 months work and I will give you any statement you want lol.
Merlin128777
"I relished the challenge and, together with my loyal and very capable staff, dedicated all of my efforts into moulding a successful team."
Which he singularly failed to do. Good riddance.
Saurat
reading between the lines - "I'd do it all again as I needed a wheel barrow to collect my pay off. I'll blame high expectations and hope nobody remembers the poor results and style of football. Liverpool have American owners. Maybe I should throw my hat in the ring for that job and hope they are sucked in by my 'expansive football' bull*****? Ah, well. Off to Barbados for the summer it is then! Ha Ha Ha. Money money money, in a rich man's world!
heavy d
Fair do's Mcleish but still seems to be missing the point, 'High expectations'? We all knew the squad was pretty weak, but there is no excuse for the embarrassing anti football being played, that is his downfall...Change your style Mcleish and maybe you will be succesfull.
P.Avfc
He's a nice man, never hated him personally, just not a good fit for our
club. We're all happy he's gone now, but good luck to him wherever he turns
up, I'm sure he'd do well somewhere else. Seems like everyone is just
latching on to the "high expectations" bit just to flog a dead horse, don't know
what the big deal is, we do have high expectations.
Stephen Jay Hawkings
Even after he has departed people cant drop the hate can they. No need people, you got what you wanted. The man deserves respect for wanting to have a crack at managing us knowing the stick he would get from both sides of the City.
It didnt work out for a host of reasons. Its time to move on!
whvilla
"I have nothing but the highest respect for the club and sincerely wish it and the fans great success in the future.'
Fair do's. Thank you Alex. Bye bye.
Winsforvilla
heavy d lol well spotted mate judging from how he handled himself at our club that can not be far from the truth hee is very good at self PR which i rate him for. But none the less thats still a good gesture to wish us the best before he flies off to barbados after that massive payout he received
Shane Villains
All the best Alex
Shane Villains
nice bloke but crap manager... good too see no negativity (no pun intended) from him...
Good Luck for the future!
Metalvillan
If he had the "highest respect" he would have walked but he respected the £ more
KaBar
Useless ****.
lerneravfc
That was for old times sake.
lerneravfc
Apology accepted Alex
benham
wish alex all the best. at least he gave a statement not like over spending O`neil who left us in the crap 5 days before the start of the season then had to take us to a tribuneral
apache
well said apache, poisonous little *%$&*.
onlyteaminthemids
The man is never a football manager in any shape, size or description should be done under crimes to football act.
However if anybody has a job where parking a bus is an essential requirement this is YOUR MAN!
Randy bollox
There's a job going at Liverpool if you're looking Mr McLeish....
Pride of Lions
Fair play...that statement sounds like the man i met. A nice guy. Unfortunately he was'nt the right fit. Good luck Alex
reza
He may have failed as Villa's manager (and let's face it, many of us in our careers have had those intervals that were somewhat less than stunning) but he leaves with his dignity intact. (And his pockets full of cash as well!)
bbj
Decent statement, my heart sank initially when I saw he'd made one!
The Fear
F**k off Eck. What Eckscuses would he be saying now if he'd relegated us which was too close. He got lucky and did little better than joe bloggs from next door. Too little too late. He should never work in football again. To those that say nice guy, remember the comments to the press putting down our youngsters and saying anything to save himself. Shouldn't be taken in by a well worded statement from spin doctors which we've seen too many times.
Villan444
Dont let the door hit you.......
magicmerson
I hope you get a job back in the prem Alex, your a good honest bloke no doubt and i really believe WEST BROM would be a perfect job for you all the best in managing the baggies soon shame it didn't work out here but none the less get that baggies job!! ;)
clivethevillan
Yep good luck Alex. Seems a good bloke just the wrong manager for us. The only thing I would say is whoever you manage next (if anyone) you've got to learn fro this. FFS don't be so scared of pushing some players up to attack every once in a while. It helps and people may like you a lot more because of it!
Matt B
Matt B, that was his problem mate, he's too old to learn, his tactics revolve around 95% defence and then hoofing it to the oppositions goal and just thought that the strikers would do the rest without any reasoning, set plays or understanding. He's still trying to grab the limelight. The least said about him the better from now on.
Villan444
Fair enough way to draw a line under the disaster. Have a good life Alex.
mike_field
I think you're possibly right Villan444 but I believe in giving everyone a chance to reform their ways at some point in their lives. Surely it's got to sink in after last season?
The thing that really suprised me about him was the lack of success on set plays? You'd think your typical defensive managers would rely quite heavily on getting their share of goals through set plays like an Alladyce or Pulis. After all if we'd got say another 10 goals last season through set plays we'd have probably been in comfortable mid table. The football would have still been *****e but I just can't get my head round him not seeming to be that fussed about set plays when he was so defensive. Oh well at least it's not something I have to worry about any longer!!!
Matt B
Good luck for the future Alex. Just hope you learn from the experience
fulford
Face it, because he came from the blue side of the city, this guy would never have received any favours from most of the knuckle-dragging supporters even if we had finished in the top six. My major concern is the effect of the moron element among our supporters, and the way it might impact on the choice of the future manager. It's not too long ago when these same fans were abusing MON when he came out for the start of a game - and that's when we sixth in the league!! Think on so-called supporters.
AVFCinOz
Honest and respectful statement, tried, couldn't hack it failed,.........next please
Madirish
Nice way to go out Alex, fair play for that.
jasevilla
Seems a good guy, sign him up Randy.
Blitz
Stay in Oz you crim. you obviously haven't seen villa play recently or you'd know what everyone is on about and realize that it's nothing to do with where he came from for the millionth time. FFS.
Villan444
Have Your Say
Log in...
with your social network OR with your Vital account
Recent Articles
The Villa Times - 19/06/2013 (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - SimonBigRon (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Aston Villa Season 2013/14 Fixtures. OUCH Start! (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Seville Confirm Luna Interest (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Bacuna Speaks Roncrete & Improvements (Tuesday June 18 2013)
The AVFC Summer Transfer Action So Far (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Giant Striker Joins Villa! (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - Villa67 (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - Connerz1874 (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Pre Season Ticket Latest (Monday June 17 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | The Fear | 406 |
| 2. | Pride of Lions | 388 |
| 3. | ClivetheVillan | 322 |
| 4. | BodyButter | 197 |
| 5. | DeanoVilla | 195 |
| 6. | CDX_EIRE | 168 |
| 7. | mike_field | 167 |
| 8. | Green Tea | 160 |
| 9. | Trekker | 151 |
| 10. | HeathfieldRoad1874 | 149 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 12. Fulham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13. Stoke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14. Southampton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15. Aston Villa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16. Newcastle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17. Sunderland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18. Wigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Breaking League News
| The Villa Times - 19/06/2013
» Aston Villa : 19/06/2013 11:12:00
|
| Back To The Battle Again - Joe Kinnear First Up!
» Man City : 19/06/2013 11:10:00
|
| It's Barnsley Away To Kick It All Off For Latics
» Wigan : 19/06/2013 10:54:00
|
| Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - SimonBigRon
» Aston Villa : 19/06/2013 10:46:00
|
| Hughes look to favoured duo Santa Cruz and Bentley
» Stoke : 19/06/2013 10:41:00
|
| Fans believed Pennant deserved another chance
» Stoke : 19/06/2013 10:37:00
|
| Bowen and Niedzwiecki join Hughes backroom staff
» Stoke : 19/06/2013 10:34:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
1 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
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.