When Houllier overcame the fall-out from his Liverpool love-in, there was rumour after rumour of a players’ revolt. Sadly, this has been a season when seemingly every advantage Villa have worked hard for has been subsequently thrown away by bad luck or bad decisions – hence their record of dropping a massive 26 points from winning positions. Remarkably, it took the record-breaking, statement-making signing of Darren Bent to convince some players that Houllier was going nowhere and that it was best to fight for him than against him. When senior players try to resist new methods on the training ground and during matches then there is an inevitable impact on results. Rather than turning a blind eye and allowing highly-paid young men to behave however they wish, the school-teacher in Houllier strives to bring discipline to the Bodymoor Heath headquarters. The friction between himself and certain players is because he wants footballers to respect themselves, their team-mates and the club. However, although the Frenchman has struggled to win over the claret and blue faithful, his motives are beyond question. Had MacDonald made a more persuasive play for the permanent position – and avoided damaging defeats to Newcastle and Rapid Vienna – then Villa might never have found a place in Gerard Houllier’s heart, let alone placed such a strain on it.Īs it was, Houllier’s charm during the interview process last September convinced Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner to bring him back out of the Premier League wilderness and he joined the club boasting the most impressive CV of any new Villa manager.īut while the travelling Liverpool fans sang their former boss’s name affectionately on Sunday and during the infamous Anfield PR disaster back in December, ‘Houllier’ is rarely chanted at Villa Park, unless it’s followed by ‘Out’. O’Neill walked out five days before the season started, taking all of his backroom staff with him and leaving caretaker Kevin MacDonald to pick up the pieces of a club in chaos. Whether O’Neill’s ill-timed exit was an act of sabotage by a vindictive man, an exercise in self preservation or a decision motivated by reasons which could forever remain secret behind the doors of this week’s tribunal, Villa have been playing catch-up ever since.Ī former Villa favourite recently suggested to me that the legacy of a great manager is to ensure that the club is stable enough to function without him in the months following his departure. Subsequently, those irreparable issues between the powerful American and the highly-strung Irishman set in motion struggles which could and should have been avoided. The Premier League arbitration hearing in London currently examining the circumstances surrounding O’Neill’s shock resignation proves conclusively that stories of a breakdown in their relationship were not made up. Rewind to a year ago and Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill were suggesting there was absolutely no friction between boardroom and manager’s office. Villa have had a testing, challenging and, let’s not pretend, slightly short of shocking season by the club’s own high standards. Neither can the demise of rivals down the road for that matter. Not even back-to-back wins over Arsenal and Liverpool, one defeat in the last eight games, a surprisingly high ninth-placed finish and ongoing status as the region’s top club can cover up the cracks. And there’s nobody of a claret and blue persuasion who could argue with that as an accurate description of the last 12 months. It doesn’t mean ‘pain in the backside’, although that would just as succinctly reflect a 2010-11 campaign which has been about as welcome as a boot up the bum. Manchester City have adopted the slogan ‘Superbia in proelia’, meaning ‘Pride in battle’, while Tottenham Hotspur subscribe to the maxim ‘Audere est facere’ or ‘To dare is to do’.īut if Aston Villa were looking for a little Latin phrase to embroider on any of their left-over kits from last season then surely there is nothing more fitting than “Annus horribilis”. EVERTON’S club crest bears the motto ‘Nil satis nisi optimum’ which roughly translates as ‘Nothing but the best is good enough’.
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