I've never known a team like us, when we put in a respectable performance in one half, we then totally collapse in the other half or vice versa.
It's happened so many times this season.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect anything at the Etihad, however the manner in which we again collapsed really is unacceptable.
I take on board confidence being a factor, but surely by holding Man City 0-0 at half time, you would think this would give the players confidence. What happens in the dressing room at half time? or what doesn't happen in the dressing room at half time?
Is Garde pressing the right buttons with the players, motivating those that need to hear it, putting an arm around those who need it? It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall.
I'm genuinely starting to wonder about Garde, and I'm wondering whether the board were wondering about him too in January, hence why he was given no money.
I take every comment and opinion on board that Remi Garde is a nice chap and hasn't been able to bring his own players and that the executives at the club seem to have hung him out to dry, but seriously i'm not sure I want him in charge next season. We have to give ourselves the best chance possible next season and get the best manager in to grab the club by scruff of the neck and sort us out.
I've a terrible feeling if the board give a Remi the opportunity next season, it'll be like Fulham and Felix Magath. Let's hope Newcastle don't beat us to Pearson or Moyes.
Sorry to be negative, I went for a few frames of snooker this afternoon so I didn't have to tune into Soccer Saturday and get grumpy! it didn't work!
Same old, same old...
posted on 5/3/16
You still here?
posted on 5/3/16
In body, not much else!
posted on 6/3/16
There's a practical issue re the manager position. There should be some money available (I hope) to invest in the squad. But not a huge amount. To make the best use of that then we have to keep hold of the better 12-15 players in the current squad. Spend the money on getting in the 4-5 players necessary to provide a much better balance of our massively unbalanced squad, and bring on the youth for back up.
This means that whoever comes in has to be in favour of those 12-15 players in the squad. I'm pretty sure Remi could find the right 12-15 players. But are they, say, Moyes or Pearson type players? I'm not saying that they aren't, but the question has to be asked. With Moyes or Pearson I'd guess that possibly they are, but with other managers maybe not. Tim, for example, went in the direction of ignoring half his own squad.
Then there's the question of would Pearson or Moyes come? I think they'd need cast iron guarantees of the support and control they were going to get. But then I think Remi would need that to stay. And would there be enough funds to attract them? They'd get more at Newcastle.
As for today, the playing for only one half goes way back beyond Remi. I think it's out of his hands and that's not a reflection on him as a manager. You can only go so far with pressing the right buttons; there is a problem at Villa going way back. Gabby is the perfect example of it; he does what he wants to, or not as the case may be. And we don't have a proper leader on the pitch. Vlaar was an average defender but he was a good captain, and Delph never gave up in midfield.
I doubt if Remi was refused funds because of board doubts, the board aren't that clever. I suspect that Hollis asked the (reasonable) question of what we were going to get by spending, and Fox & Co didn't have an answer.
So, I think given the chance to build his own squad it's still worth giving Remi a go. I'm sure he has problems with some of the players, but it's a similar situation as when Houllier was here. The answer is to ditch the players. He will know what he wants, both from existing players and new ones. If it doesn't work ditch him, but even then I think we'd be better off than going for a change straight away. Of course Remi may decide to go, in which case we don't have much choice. But whoever is the manager has to have the resources and the support to give things a decent go.
As for the rest of the season, just lets hope these nine matches go quickly. We might even win the odd one or two but don't hold your breath. I think there's too much wrong with the team to hope for much. I'm wondering if going on the attack might actually be the best way forwards.
posted on 6/3/16
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posted on 6/3/16
He's not the answer and has been unable to answer any of the problems since he came in, appreciate that a lot of the Villa's issues are deep rooted, but two wins since November...appalling.
posted on 6/3/16
Go back to just before the Liverpool game and Remi was on a decent run, W2 D2 L2. Then the impact of being denied signings in the January window struck. Can anybody suggest how on earth he puts together an attack which has a reasonable chance of scoring goals? The only answer to our problems lies in the way the club is run, and not Remi or any other manager.
The difference between us and Sunderland and us is that Sunderland have Borini and Defoe up front; Sunderland are leaking goals like us, 54 as opposed to our 55, in spite of having a defensive expert like Sam in charge. But they have scored 35 goals to our 22. The bottom 4 clubs have all leaked about the same number of goals. But the goals scored are 35, 31, 28, and 22, with us the 22.
You're right, Remi can't find the answer. Because the answer doesn't lie with the manager.
Ask yourself how it was that Middlesborough could sign Jordan Rhodes, and we couldn't? Even if Rhodes struggled in the PL he'd be useful in the Champioship; it was a no brainer.
We need a total overhaul of the club, which the culprits for this season's disaster gone, the right people brought in, and a sound strategy for next season, which includes getting in the players we desperately need. Either Hollis can do that or we're sunk. That matters far more to me than who is the manager.
If Hollis does get it right, then a critical part of it is that the manager gets to build the team he needs. You will have gathered that I think that under those circumstances that Remi can do a job for us and he'd be a good choice; there are advantages in keeping him. If he has an appetite for it. But he may want to move on. Or he may not be given the chance, if Hollis's broom sweeps that far. But if we go for somebody else then it has to be somebody of that calibre, who is in tune with where football is going, who can bring in the right players and who can bring on the youth (in a way we've not been doing recently), who can ultimately make us a successful PL team again. Pearson has been mentioned, but he wouldn't touch us unless Hollis has succeeded in the right sort out, which means he'd have both the authority and support in the club he needs.