The controversial appointment spent just one season at Villa Park.
Former Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish
Alex McLeish has told the Daily Mirror that he feels that he performed some miracles during his one-season spell at Aston Villa.
The Scotsman was a highly controversial appointment at Villa Park, given that he was appointed just a matter of days after leaving their bitter rivals Birmingham City in the wake of their relegation from the Premier League.
And while his tenure got off to a promising start – they avoided defeat in their first seven league games – McLeish was dismissed at the end of the campaign after the Villans finished 16th in the table, just two points above the bottom three.
Nevertheless, McLeish has suggested that he deserved a lot more credit than he received for the work he did.
“I still feel raw about that job,” he told the Mirror.
A large group of Aston Villa fans never accepted McLeish
“When I look back on it, I think I did a miracle for that club at that time. Subsequently the miracle couldn’t be sustained.
“We got good results up until January and then we lost Dunne, Shay Given, Bent, Keane and Petrov, which was a devastating blow. People didn’t seem to have any understanding of that.”
In hindsight, it does appear that the club as a whole was in decline by the time McLeish arrived. However, that does not mean that he deserves to be completely absolved of any blame for the disappointing campaign.
The side secured just nine wins all year in all competitions, and finished the season having failed to win any of their last 10 fixtures.
And while some fans may have some sympathy for the number of players he lost during the season for various reasons, he was also the manager that oversaw the £9.5m acquisition of Charles N’Zogbia (via ESPN), which turned out to be an extremely poor piece of business for the club.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
