Aston Villa board retain faith in Grd Houllier despite fans’ response to Wolverhampton Wanderers defeat
Head bowed, shoulders hunched as he made his way from the dugout, Gérard Houllier endured the rage of the Aston Villa supporters after his ineffective side surrendered local pride and three significant relegation points to Wolverhampton.
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Demanding change: Aston Villa fans have made clear their opinion of Grd Houiller Photo: REUTERS
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Golden goal: Matthew Jarvis scores to give Wolves a famous win at Villa Park Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Ben Findon 6:00AM GMT 21 Mar 2011
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Up in the boardroom, however, calmer voices were trying to steady the ship.
The French manager’s relationship with the Villa legions hit a new low on Saturday, with a huge banner urging his departure unfurled before the game, choruses of “you don’t know what you’re doing” in the second half and a vitriolic send-off at the end.
A senior source in the Villa hierarchy said: “It’s been a bitterly disappointing day but nothing’s changed. We remain committed to the same long-term strategy. It’s important we show unity from the boardroom to the management, from the terraces to the players.”
Much to the chagrin of the protesting fans, there will be no change at the top. “I haven’t seen anything in Gérard’s body language to suggest he is losing faith. We have eight games to go and we have more than enough to stay up. I can’t see how changing things would have any positive impact on how the team plays,” added the source.
Support for Houllier also came from the changing room. “We all believe in the manager and we’re still fighting for him. There’s no reason why we can’t get out of it,” said Darren Bent.
Eight miles separates Aston Villa from Wolves or, going by the league table, only one point but this match showed just how far apart the two sides are.
Wolves were confident and purposeful, twice seeing goals rightly disallowed before Matt Jarvis’s unimpeachable volley flew past Brad Friedel seven minutes before the break. Apart from Ashley Young’s crashing drive that clipped the underside of the crossbar 10 minutes from time, Wolves rarely looked like being breached.
Villa, however, looked uncomfortable in Houllier’s 4-5-1 formation, with Bent unable to make any headway against Wolves’s excellent central defensive pairing of Richard Stearman and Christophe Berra.
The general unrest pervading Villa Park certainly permeated their players. Houllier said: “I thought we were a bit nervous. We weren’t relaxed and confident enough. It is difficult after you lose a game when playing well [at Bolton a fortnight ago]. It affects more than people think.”
The Villa manager cut short one post-match interview after he was asked about the banner raised on the Holte End that declared ’Had enough, Houllier out’. Perhaps that was enough about the supporters for one day but up in the boardroom they know they cannot afford too many more days like Saturday.
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