Well, what can I say? That season was one of Villa's worst in a long, long time. Following Gerard Houlier's departure as manager, he was replaced by former manager of Villa's close rivals Birmingham, Alex McLeish. Having lead Birmingham to League Cup glory and the ignominy of relegation in the one season, many Villa fans expressed concerns about the appointment by breaking into and vandalising the training ground. Whilst I do not condone those actions of the fans, I must admit they were probably right, taking performances from last season into account. McLeish didn't have lady luck on his side with the quantity of injuries his side suffered, however, this doesn't account for the amount of times N'Zogbia was seated on the bench even though he was fit. McLeish also never played the quick counter attacking 'Villa Way' and was more keen on 'Route 1' football, much to the disgust of the fans. Having not delivered any long cup runs to compensate for poor league form, it wasn't a surprise to anybody when Alex McLeish was relieved of his duties at the end of the season.
