Why Villa fans should look beyond the PR gaffes to see how Houllier has changed club for the better

By James Nursey

Published 09:48 10/03/11

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Gerard Houllier's Aston Villa team selection at Manchester City in the FA Cup understandably infuriated fans. And it exasperated most of the Midlands press too.

Because while Houllier has publicly been quoted as stressing he is "not in PR", he has actually tried to woo the locally-based press and given us an admirable insight into his personality, methods and plans.

The Frenchman was kind enough to invite a number of Midlands-based radio, TV and written reporters to Villa Park two weeks ago for a meal.

Houllier really looked after us all in the club's excellent Villa Midlands Food (VMF) restaurant, where we were treated to a three-course dinner and a selection of good wines.

None of those invited were naive enough to believe Houllier wanted to pick our brains on who to select or hear our life stories.

Houllier, who is both experienced and intelligent, almost certainly intended to ensure some favourable future coverage by opening up to us and showing himself to be a decent person.

And he succeeded, as not only did he give us a valuable, positive perspective on his new regime, Houllier was also very personable.

Even BBC Radio 5 Live's excellent Midlands reporter Pat Murphy, who had steeled himself to be unmoved by any charm offensive, admitted afterwards how much he had enjoyed the evening.

But all Houllier's hard-work and schmoozing was swiftly undone by his team selection for Villa's limp 3-0 defeat last Wednesday.

I was at the game and was simply stunned by Houllier's line-up when there was a quarter-final at home to Championship Reading up for grabs and it was inevitable that he got a terrible press the next day .

It was another blunder by Houllier - up there with his homage to former club Liverpool when Villa lost at Anfield last December.

Houllier's attempts in the post-match press conference at Eastlands to justify his selection were equally unwise as he confessed he didn't think Villa could beat City .

He has also developed a rather odd habit of saying one thing to the press and then doing a complete U-turn.

For example, when Houllier arrived, he said Ashley Young was a winger for England so would play on the wing for Villa - but then played him in the hole.

Houllier said before January that he had no plans to get another striker - then went and spent what may turn out to be £24million on Darren Bent.

When Bent joined, Houllier insisted John Carew was still part of the squad - then offloaded the Norwegian to Stoke days later.

And just last week he claimed Barry Bannan would not be going out on loan - yet the youngster has now joined Leeds until the end of the season!

But despite Houllier's penchant for gaffes and about-turns, following his recent meal with the press I must say his footballing philosophy makes complete sense.

Houllier spoke to us all individually about his views on how the game should be played, his tactics and coach Gary McAllister described a normal week's training at the club.

Their decision to implement an attractive, attacking 4-2-3-1 formation should eventually help Villa play 4-3-3 - the system top sides such as Spain and Barcelona use.

And new Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun, 27, who cost £6million in January, looks like one to watch.

Fans might not appreciate fully just what Makoun is capable of after his red card at Blackpool and subsequent three-game ban.

But he will be available for Villa's next game, at home to Wolves, and should be a key player in the run-in.

Houllier and McAllister have high hopes for Makoun after their ProZone stats showed he successfully completed over 100 passes in last month's game away to Manchester United.

Apparently, very few players ever complete over 100 passes - unless you are talking about Barcelona aces Xavi and Andres Iniesta  - and Makoun did it against no lesser opponents than United. At Old Trafford.

Robert Pires' recent display against Blackburn has also finally offered a glimpse into why he was offered a contract, while Villa are working hard to improve Bent's weaker left-foot.

Houllier said he spent a lot of time helping Michael Owen, during his time at Liverpool, to get the striker to shoot more with his left foot.

And it famously paid off when Owen scored a dramatic late winner in the 2001 FA Cup final against Arsenal.

Now, at Villa, Houllier's methods are clearly bringing the best out of those open-minded players willing to embrace change, such as Stewart Downing.

Those with supposed tendencies to moan or mess around - such as Stephen Warnock - have been ostracised for fear of affecting the main group of players.

At the weekend, another misfit, Stephen Ireland was heard grumbling about having to relocate from Manchester to Birmingham to play for Villa. Well, surely that is not too much to ask if you are being paid £65,000-a-week?

Houllier has had the balls to introduce unpopular rules and methods since arriving in September, for the long-term good of the club.

In return, club officials and Houllier himself accept this season represents a period of transition.

For while results have been slow to improve on the pitch, change off the pitch has been dramatic.

Now, mobile phones are banned at the training ground, players must have a home or base in the area and training is a lot more regimented.

It has clearly caused problems among the squad, but Houllier and Villa are right to demand more from their squad after the club's wage bill rose to a whopping £80m a year.

Under Houllier and McAllister, when the team is playing just on a weekend, like at the moment, players will take part in a tough, 90-minute training session on the Monday and Tuesday.

These are compromised of a 15-minute warm-up to stretch every main muscle in the body before series of drills lasting no more than six-to-eight minutes (that's apparently the average attention span of a professional footballer), some possession work and then an eight-a-side game to finish up.

Wednesday would be a day off, allowing the players to rest, before the Thursday and Friday are spent predominantly practising set-pieces and team-shape and working on the tactics to combat specific opposition ahead of the Saturday game.

It certainly seems as if training at Villa now is a lot more constructive than previously.

But, of course, it is not being translated into results, which is Houllier's biggest problem - because, contrary to that favourite football chant, I really believe he does know what he's doing.

And if Houllier can get Villa winning again, then fans will surely forgive him for his PR bloopers at Anfield and Eastlands.

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