Why Aston Villa fans have to back Houllier
As alluded to in our earlier glance at the Premier League relegation battle, we believe Aston Villa have left it too late to sack Gerard Houllier and are more likely to survive by sticking with him than by finding a replacement. A look at the last four post-March managerial appointments backs us up...
Iain Dowie (Hull City)
Phil Brown was turfed out after a 2-1 loss to Arsenal last March and with limited options available that late into a season, they were forced to turn to Dowie. Six points from nine games followed as the Tigers meekly ended their two year top-flight stay, and another change at the top was required.
Alan Shearer (Newcastle)
Shearer arrived for his first crack at management on April Fools' Day 2009 to a Messiah's greeting yet the homecoming hero oversaw the end of the Magpies' 16-year Premier League stretch after collecting only five points from his eight matches as boss. One more would have been enough.
Sammy Lee (Bolton)
Unlike the other examples, Bolton were forced to put their former number two in charge after Sam Allardyce's abrupt departure in April 2007, but compounded their error by making it a permanent move. He claimed just a point from his first two games as they fell from fifth to seventh.
Lawrie Sanchez (Fulham)
Sanchez succeeded Chris Coleman with quite the reputation after achieving some fine results with Northern Ireland but lasted only eight months. His sole victory in his five fixtures at the end of 2006-07 came against a weakened Liverpool side and were it not for that, they would have gone down.
So there's a clear argument for Villa supporters needing to get behind Houllier until May because a lack of faith in the stands can only have a negative impact on the pitch.
Do you think Villa could go down? They are [8.6] to be relegated...
Published: 21 Mar 2011
Leave a comment