Alex McLeish is a bit like marmite.
No, I don't mean he is brown and sticky, or that he is only good for spreading on toast. I mean that you either love him or you hate him.
I think that Aston Villa fans are currently tending towards the latter feeling.
On the face of it, Villa are not doing particularly badly. At the time of writing, they lie tenth in the Premier League. Given that the cardiac-challenged Gerard Houllier's single season at the club saw the club finish ninth (albeit only after a very good finish to the campaign under his assistant Gary McAllister), and that the most realistic target for the team, on their budget, is battling for seventh, it doesn't look like McLeish is doing too bad a job.
On the face of it.
In reality, the Villa Park faithful appear to be losing patience already. The only reason why McLeish's players didn't leave the pitch to a cacophony of boos after their defeat by Liverpool this weekend was that the majority of fans had long since left in order to find something to do which would reduce the urge to slit their wrists. Villa were absolutely rotten; they conceded two early goals at corner kicks - something that would have been unthinkable when Martin O'Neill was in charge - and never looked like getting back into the game. In attack, they looked about as dangerous as the common cold.
There were some mitigating circumstances on this occasion; namely the absence of Darren Bent through injury and Gabriel Agbonlahor through suspension. But this doesn't excuse the fact that Villa have managed only 18 goals in 16 league games, including just 10 at home. This, along with 2 wins in the last 9 matches, means that McLeish's honeymoon period is long over. They are closer to the relegation zone than to Newcastle in seventh.
To an extent, the lack of flair and extravagant attacking play has not exactly come as a surprise. The former Aberdeen and Scotland centre-half has made his name in recent years mainly through setting up his sides to be well organized and difficult to break down, while relying on only one or two creative players, or on set-pieces, to provide goals at the other end. This achieved him some spectacular successes, particularly as Scotland boss, where he nearly qualified for Euro 2008 out of a group with France, Italy and Ukraine (I know Jesus could walk on water, but I don't think he could have coached a side to beat the Franch home and away).
And of course he managed to win the Carling Cup last year with Birmingham with an against-the-odds victory against Arsenal. This success may or may not be cancelled out by the fact that the Blues ended up being relegated a few months later. But the season before, he guided City to a comfortable mid-table finish based on a solid 4-5-1 and a backline that gave up goals to opponents in the same way that Philip Green gives up earnings to the tax man.
But his achievements with Scotland and Birmingham were made by getting the underdog to punch above its weight (argh, mixing metaphors!). Aston Villa is a different proposition; a side who were always battling in the top six under Martin O'Neill only a few years ago. They might have cut their cloth since then, having cashed in on James Milner, Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, but they have enough clout that they splashed out on Darren Bent last January. Certainly the supporters, rightly or wrongly, expect results, and some goals thrown in as well.
What they have instead is Emile Heskey huffing and puffing, and Charles N'Zogbia, McLeish's marquee signing, looking like the N'Zogbia that sulked his way out of Newcastle, rather than the one who at times carried Wigan on his back.
It's worth remembering that, for all his titles at Ibrox, McLeish's '1-0 is worth as many points as 3-0' philosophy left him far less popular at Rangers than you might expect a manager who won two league titles, two Scottish Cups and three League Cups. As soon as results went awry domestically, the fans turned against him, even though he simultaneously guided the Gers past the group stage of the Champions League for the first time - not to be sneezed at, considering the most dangerous forward he had available was Peter Lovenkrands.
Big Eck's current situation begins to remind me of Sam Allardyce's brief and ill-fated time in the Newcastle hotseat. When Big Sam was dismissed midway through the season, he left a team in mid-table who appeared in no danger of relegation, though well adrift of the teams chasing a European place. Certainly, they were no worse than under this predecessors, Graeme Souness and Glenn Roeder. But Allardyce's attempts to rebuild the team from the back resulted in a side that only scored 11 goals in his last 12 games in charge. The only thing supporters hate more than losing a game is losing a really boring game, and when form dipped, there was no goodwill coming from the stands.
For when the fans turn against you, you are doomed. Allardyce was. McLeish isn't yet. But if Villa continue to produce tedious displays under his direction, he could find himself out of a job before long.
L.
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