Looking beyond the city rivalry, there’s plenty of ammunition for Villa fans to suggest that ‘Big Eck’ is not the right man for the job.
Alex McLeish has won just 26% of his games as a Premier League manager, so far no Aston Villa manager with more than five games in charge has posted such a low percentage. Of the seven permanent managers to have held the post since the introduction of the Premier League, John Gregory boasts the best win percentage (41.22%) while Graham Taylor endured the worst spell of the seven – the former England manager won just 29.41% of his PL games at Villa.
Aston Villa managers in Premier League history
|
Manager |
Joined |
Left |
Games |
Win% |
|
John Gregory |
Feb1998 |
Jan 2002 |
148 |
41.22 |
|
Martin O’Neill |
Aug 2006 |
Aug 2010 |
152 |
40.13 |
|
Brian Little |
Nov 1994 |
Feb 1998 |
130 |
39.23 |
|
Ron Atkinson |
Jul 1991 |
Nov 1994 |
98 |
38.78 |
|
David O’Leary |
Aug 2003 |
Jul 2006 |
114 |
32.46 |
|
Gerard Houllier |
Sep 2010 |
Jun 2011 |
33 |
30.30 |
|
Graham Taylor |
Feb 2002 |
May 2003 |
51 |
29.41 |
Managers with more than five Premier League games in charge
Comparing McLeish’s record with the PL career records of the two most recent Villa managers – Gerard Houllier and Martin O’Neill – again does not make for good reading for the former Rangers supremo. McLeish’s 26% win record is inferior to those of both his potential predecessors at Villa Park.
McLeish compared to Gerard Houllier and Martin O’Neill – Premier League
|
Alex McLeish |
||||
|
Team |
Games |
GF |
GA |
Win% |
|
Birmingham City |
100 |
108 |
145 |
26.00 |
|
Gerard Houllier |
||||
|
Aston Villa |
33 |
42 |
50 |
30.30 |
|
Liverpool |
228 |
373 |
226 |
49.12 |
| Total |
261 |
415 |
276 |
46.74 |
|
Martin O’Neill |
||||
|
Aston Villa |
152 |
220 |
179 |
40.13 |
|
Leicester City |
152 |
192 |
196 |
34.87 |
| Total |
304 |
412 |
375 |
37.50 |
It would be unfair to judge the Scotsman only on his Premier League record, however. McLeish successfully oversaw promotion to the top flight with the Blues and was given the difficult task of integrating them into the Premier League, something he successfully achieved in 2009/10, and despite relegation this season, he also lead Birmingham City to Carling Cup glory; their first major trophy since 1963.
Alex McLeish’s managerial career – all competitions
|
Team managed |
Joined |
Left |
G |
W |
D |
L |
W% |
|
Birmingham |
Nov 2007 |
Jun 2011 |
168 |
62 |
51 |
55 |
36.90 |
|
Scotland |
Jan 2007 |
Nov 2007 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
70.00 |
|
Rangers |
Dec 2001 |
May 2006 |
235 |
155 |
44 |
36 |
65.96 |
|
Hibernian |
Feb 1998 |
Dec 2001 |
164 |
77 |
42 |
45 |
46.95 |
|
Motherwell |
Jul 1994 |
Feb 1998 |
156 |
48 |
45 |
63 |
30.77 |
How do you rate Alex McLeish as a manager? Do you think Villa’s owners are genuinely settling for mid-table obscurity by selling their top stars and bringing in a manager specifically to ‘maximise’ limited resources?
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