Another Defeat Leaves Alex McLeish One Step Closer To An Unwelcome Double

When Birmingham City were relegated last season, it was the second time they had lost their place in the Premier League under Alex McLeish.  But Birmingham’s board stood by McLeish, and expected him to return for this season, and try to get Birmingham straight back into the top flight.

Meanwhile, across the city, Aston Villa were looking for a new manager.  Villa too had endured, rather than enjoyed, the 2010-11 season.  Martin O’Neill had suddenly resigned as manager five days before the start of the Premier League season, with long-time reserve team manager Kevin McDonald taking over in a caretaker capacity.  McDonald repeatedly stated that he didn’t want the job permanently, and eventually owner Randy Lerner appointed former Liverpool and Lyon manager Gerard Houllier.  Villa’s results and form were not impressive under the Frenchman, but his reign as Villa manager effectively ended when he fell ill in April, and was unable to attend any of Villa’s remaining games.  Assistant Gary McAllister took over, and Villa eventually finished 9^th.  Houllier stood down as manager in June, and Randy Lerner began the search for yet another manager.

Following Houllier’s departure, managers like David Moyes, Mark Hughes and even Carlo Ancelotti were linked with the vacant hotseat.

But Randy Lerner had other ideas.

Villa fans had barely had a chance to enjoy the relegation of their city rivals when news broke that Lerner wanted Alex McLeish to be his next manager.  To say that they were less than enthused at the prospect would be an understatement, and they protested outside Villa Park and painted anti-McLeish graffiti outside the Villa training ground.  But Lerner would not be dissuaded, and McLeish was appointed on June 17^th.

It was clear from the start that McLeish would have a lot of work to do to win Villa fans over, and he certainly wasn’t helped by the combination of experienced first team players leaving the club, and Lerner giving him relatively low transfer funds.  Stewart Downing and Ashley Young left the club in high profile moves, while Brad Friedel joined Spurs and John Carew and Nigel Reo-Coker joined West Ham and Bolton respectively.  McLeish brought in Shay Given to replace Friedel, and also signed Alan Hutton from Spurs and Charles N’Zogbia from Wigan.

Despite such a hectic and disruptive summer, Villa actually got off to a decent start in the Premier League, going unbeaten for their first seven games (albeit with just two wins) before losing heavily away to Manchester City in October.  After that defeat, their form got much worse, and they won only three more league games in 2011, although one of those was a memorable 3-1 over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.  Since the turn of the year, their form hasn’t gotten any better, and they’ve won just two leagues games, and since a 1-0 win over Fulham on March 10^th, they’ve lost 4 and drawn 3 games.

Their most recent defeat was on Tuesday night at home to Bolton.  Going into the game, Villa were 15^th, and on the verge of securing their place in the Premier League for another season.  That looked more likely when Stephen Warnock gave them the lead in the 61^st minute, but almost straight from the kickoff Bolton won a penalty, which Martin Petrov converted to level the scores.  And Bolton weren’t about to settle for a point either, and about a minute later, David N’Gog scored from close range to give Bolton a lead they’d never lose.  The result moved Bolton into 17^th and a point from safety, but more importantly moved them three points behind Villa, with a game in hand.

Now Villa are in serious trouble, and so is McLeish’s reputation.  Having been relegated with Birmingham last season, he faces the prospect of managing two teams from the same city to relegation in back-to-back seasons, and with two away games against West Brom and Norwich and a home game against Spurs as Villa’s remaining fixtures, it’s going to be a rough final month for him.

League survival is still in Villa’s own hands, and McLeish must rally his troops for one final push.  Four points from their final three games would probably be enough to save Villa, but whatever the outcome, it seems unlikely that Alex McLeish will be managing in Birmingham again next season.

For more blogs, follow me on Twitter @DavidWDougan and @TheGlassCase

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