On 17 June 2011, Alex McLeish will have been Aston Villa manager for 12 months. Usually, such anniversaries are celebrated by manager and supporter alike. However, it's almost certain that next to none of the claret and blue faithful will be raising a glass to toast their current gaffer, and I'm not entirely sure whether Big Eck himself will be opening a glass of the good stuff to mark the occasion. This has surely been the most difficult period in the Scotsman's coaching career, as he had to constantly fan the flames both on and off the pitch. It's unlikely that he would have expected any different, though, considering the controversial nature of his switch from St Andrews, home of rivals Birmingham City, to Villa Park. But does McLeish deserve the antagonism from the clubs supporters that he has received throughout this Premier League campaign? The answer, in my opinion, is not as clear cut as most Villa fans would tell you it is.
Whilst it takes a man of considerable gall to make the move across the Second City, McLeish is not the most brazen of characters. Rather, he has always struck me as a quiet, methodical figure and I have heard no reports to the contrary from those that have met him. In fact, a friend of mine who has just finished a week's placement with BBC WM informed that he was told by one of the chief sports reporters there that McLeish is one of the nicest gaffers currently working in the Midlands. Now, nice guys don't always come first, granted, but this does suggest that the Villa manager is not the sort of disrespectful character that he has been portrayed as by large sections of Birmingham City supporters. Take into account the reality of McLeish's situation last summer and suddenly his move to Villa does not seem as outrageous as it did when the news first broke.
The Birmingham hierachy, we are led to believe, made it clear that in no uncertain terms the club had to be promoted at the first attempt or McLeish would find himself out of work. Considering the club later underwent a fire-sale of the squad assembled by Big Eck over four years in the job and were also preparing to undergo a season in which they would be competing in four competitions, the ultimatum delivered by the powers that be was a particularly daunting one, and is further proof of the credit deserving of McLeish's replacement, Chris Hughton, for managing such a task. However, Hughton was a manager out of work and in need of a job, whereas McLeish was a coach who was offered a better job (if only marginally) in a higher division, so comparisons between the two are somewhat short-sighted.
The mandate at Villa Park wasn't entirely dissimilar to the one being left behind at St Andrews, but the deciding factor (presumably) was the offer of Premier League football and assurances that, providing there were no disasters, there was no threat of dismissal at the end of the season. To McLeish's credit, there have been few disasters in his first year in charge. Yes, it has been turbulent, but when you inherit a squad that sold it's two best players and released ten others during the summer, struggles of some sort are to be expected. Villa, though not safe yet, are likely to secure another season of Premier League football, despite having to navigate the final throes of the season with a considerable injuries to an already threadbare squad.
As well as this, a promising crop of academy graduates have been eased into the first-team squad, with some looking as if they could play a big part in the club's future. It is my belief that with a considerable degree of investment from their elusive owner, Randy Lerner, Villa could well be a side capable of finishing in the top half of the table again next season. McLeish was allowed to invest in his two years as a Premier League manager at Birmingham, and in the first of those campaigns he guided them to an unlikely top half finish. If he hadn't have been so unlucky with injuries in the following campaign (and, admittedly, been a bit more adventurous tactically) it is unlikely that the club would have been relegated. This to me suggests that the future at Villa is not as bleak as their attendance figures would suggest, that is presuming that Lerner remains as committed as he was in the early stages of his chairmanship.
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