Former Aston Villa star Gabby Agbonlahor has opened up about the explosive reaction to Alex McLeish crossing the Second City divide, describing the controversial managerial appointment as a move that was never going to work.
McLeish appointment doomed from the start
Agbonlahor believes the club's decision to appoint Alex McLeish as manager back in 2007 was a huge mistake on the part of owner Randy Lerner. The appointment led to fan protests and even vandalism at Bodymoor Heath, as Lerner made the uncomfortable decision to replace Gerrard Houllier with McLeish, who had won the Carling Cup with fierce rivals Birmingham City.
It did not go well. Less than 24 hours after the end of his first season in charge, McLeish was sacked. A winless run stretching to nine matches saw Villa finish just two points clear of relegation, and his fate was sealed.
It was no surprise to Agbonlahor, who told the All Out Football podcast that it was always doomed from the start.
"Alex McLeish, the season before, say a month before he got the job at Villa, he got relegated with Birmingham City. That season, they had knocked us out of the League Cup. We were all thinking, 'Hmmm, all the managers available in the world, and you have gone for him.' Apparently, he gave a good interview with Randy Lerner, and he got the job. It was never going to work."
"The fans were rioting at Villa Park when he got announced; trying to get into the stadium, they were fuming. Whenever we dropped points, there were boos and screams around Villa Park."
"I actually got on really well with him at the time, and he gave me the captaincy after Stiliyan Petrov fell ill."
Gabby's rivalry with Blues
The rivalry with Birmingham City is something Agbonlahor has always found himself at the center of, and he even admits he played a big part in it.
"I had a habit of scoring against Birmingham City. Whenever we warmed up, me being a local lad, I'd get some insults, and I'd be like, 'Okay, I'm pumped up even more now.' I remember the first time I played at St Andrew's and I cleared a ball off the line, and then ten minutes later I went and scored the winner. It doesn't even feel noisy; it just feels silent. But then the Villa fans are going crazy, I jump in the crowd, the referee books me because the stewards are getting squashed."
"It was chaos, and then all those Blues fans giving me stick during the warm-up, I just held my finger to my lips with a 'shhhh.' They are then trying to get on the pitch, and I am making it worse. I was all over them."
"I played against them the second last time at their place; I was on the bench and coming back from injury. I'd never been on the bench before against them. So I had to warm up, I was getting pelters, coke bottles thrown at me, but kept making it worse saying, 'come on then.' I remember Tommy Elphick asking me what I had done to them, and I just said it was always scoring against them and trolling them."
"It was weird for their manager to come to Villa. Owners just get it so wrong sometimes."
