After the internal bust-ups and PR cock-ups, Gérard Houllier came out fighting yesterday. The Aston Villa manager said he has no doubt that the players are totally behind him, despite the discrepancy between their fortunes with club and country, and that reports of a dressing-room mutiny are unfounded.
That Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Darren Bent all starred for England in the past week has provided a stark contrast with the club’s plight, with Villa sitting a single point above the relegation zone in the Barclays Premier League amid allegations of infighting and clashes between players and coaching staff.
Houllier warned the Villa players that the remaining eight games represent a challenge for their futures, as well as his, although the manager has been assured that he will remain in charge until beyond the end of the season.
The international break has provided the Frenchman with respite from the pressures at Villa Park, where he was jeered during and after the home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers a fortnight ago. Supporters told him “You don’t know what you’re doing” and hoisted a flag saying “Had enough — Houllier out”.
But the spotlight will intensify on the former Liverpool manager on Merseyside tomorrow, when Villa travel to play Everton. Richard Dunne and James Collins, who were fined a fortnight’s wages last month after a drunken row with coaching staff, will be recalled because the manager needs all hands to the pump. Bang on schedule, the Ireland and Wales defenders recovered from shoulder and calf injuries respectively in time to play for their countries last weekend.
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Houllier warned that anyone not pulling in the same direction will follow John Carew and Stephen Ireland out of the door in the summer, but if he is to have any say in who stays, the manager first needs Villa to survive this season. “If someone is not with us and is not giving more than 100 per cent, he’s got to leave because he won’t make it,” Houllier said. “I think we are all right. The spirit is good.
“It’s about their futures as well. I’m sitting in front of you but it’s about the club, the fans, it’s about the heart of their lives.”
Asked whether the board’s support of him remained unwavering, Houllier said: “I think so. In fact, I’m convinced of that. I speak to Randy [Lerner, the chairman] on a regular basis and I speak also to Paul [Faulkner, the chief executive] at least once every day, so we are very close and very tight together. We know what we are going through and we know that we need the forces of everybody. And I think the team knows that.”
Villa find themselves in a dire situation after three successive top-six finishes under Martin O’Neill. Irregular observers of Young suggested this week that he was displaying a creativity that was unexpected of him, whereas, for all his posturing, the winger signed from Watford for £9.65 million has produced consistently inventive performances throughout his four years at Villa Park.
His confidence has lifted another notch since O’Neill told him, as James Milner was preparing to leave for Manchester City, that he would be playing “in the hole” behind the main striker. Downing, after a full pre-season, has been Villa’s best player this campaign, allying workrate with pace, and Bent — although yet to integrate himself fully into Villa’s build-up play since his arrival for a fee of up to £24 million from Sunderland — scores goals.
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Marc Albrighton was man of the match for England Under-21 against Iceland on Monday, when Nathan Delfouneso — on loan to Burnley — opened the scoring, while Stiliyan Petrov, the deposed captain, went beyond 100 caps for Bulgaria this week.
So how can such a talented group be in such very real danger of relegation? Although Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool might help by taking Young off the wage bill in the summer, it is not thought that players’ contracts contain Championship safety triggers, so relegation would be severely damaging for Villa.
Confidence is so brittle that Houllier admitted a single defeat, away to Bolton Wanderers this month when Young missed a penalty with Villa leading 2-1, cost them the “composure and fluency” to cope with Wolves at home.
A lack of leadership is infiltrating Villa Park, from boardroom to tactics board, that is deeply disconcerting. Houllier blamed the loss away to Bolton on the zonal marking system that he claimed he inherited from O’Neill’s reign, but Villa did not defend against corners zonally under O’Neill.
Houllier, only seven months into a three-year contract, says that he does not feel the pressure personally. “No, not at all,” he said. “I fully share [the fans’] frustration when there’s a discrepancy between what we’re capable of showing and what we show at the time of the result — that causes disappointment, frustration and anxiety. It goes through everybody.
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“I understand the frustration and I know that it goes against the manager because the manager is responsible for the results, but the players are responsible for the game. We are in this together, the staff, players, owner, chief executive and fans — everyone. Sometimes you play to get into Europe or to win a cup, but this year we are playing to battle adversity and we’ve got to embrace that together.
“I know the job and I’m immersed in it. We start a league of eight games and this is vital for the future of the club and everyone at the club. We are doing things the right way. What we need is to stay relaxed and composed in the remaining part of the season.”
Sept 10 Just before he is introduced at Villa Park, Gérard Houllier tells French press that he is joining a club “that according to me has belonged between seventh and twelfth place in the Premier League”.
Dec 6 Touches the “This is Anfield” sign as he walks out for an emotional reunion with his former club. After a resounding defeat, he applauds Liverpool fans, ignoring Aston Villa’s. Then he says: “If I have got to lose 3-0, I would prefer it to be to them as I like Liverpool.”
March 2 With an FA Cup quarter-final against Reading at stake, he selects a much-weakened team to face Manchester City because he does not expect to beat them ... six weeks after beating same opponents 1-0, a week after Birmingham City beat Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley and in a month when Villa had two league games.
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March 9 On a team-bonding trip to a Leicestershire health spa, Richard Dunne and James Collins get into a drunken row with coaching staff over Robert Duverne’s fitness regime.
Words by Peter Lansley