I've got my eye on you: Gerard Houllier watched
from the stands as Aston Villa drew with Bolton
The jury would appear to be out on new Aston
Villa manager Gerard Houllier if the
remarks of Gabriel Agbonlahor are anything to go by.
The striker appeared reluctant to offer any kind of endorsement
of Houllier, who watched Villa's 1-1 draw with Bolton from the
directors' box alongside new assistant Gary McAllister.
That is despite Houllier's enviable managerial record that
includes winning French league titles with Paris St Germain and
twice with Lyon, as well as the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup
(again twice) with Liverpool.
The Frenchman takes over from Kevin MacDonald, who has spent the
last six weeks in caretaker charge following the departure of
Martin O'Neill.
When asked whether Agbonlahor was impressed by Houllier's
curriculum vitae and if he was looking forward to working with him,
he said: 'Next question.'
Agbonlahor was pressed for an answer, to which he replied: 'If
you look at his record at Liverpool, what he has done, what he has
won, obviously we're looking forward.
It's hard to say anything because Kev (MacDonald) has done so
well, but times change and we'll be looking forward to training
with the new manager.'
It is clear there is an affinity towards MacDonald, highlighted
by Ashley Young's celebrations after opening the scoring with a
superb 24-yard free-kick in the 13th minute.
Tall order: Gabriel Agbonlahor recognised
Houllier's achievements but failed to endorse him
Mac's the man: Ashley Young celebrated his goal
with stand-in boss Kevin MacDonald
After seeing the ball ripple the net, Young turned,
pointed towards an applauding MacDonald before racing over to the
Scot standing on the touchline and giving him an embrace, with
several other players joining in.
Asked whether there was any sadness MacDonald had not been
offered the role on a permanent basis, Agbonlahor added: 'It's hard
to say that.
'We don't want to discuss that now because there is a new
manager in charge, so we have to look forward to that and be happy
with what Kev did for us.
'He'll still be around so we'll still be able to see him and
thank him. But I think you could see by the goal, how everyone
celebrated, that it shows how well we've enjoyed working with him.
He's been a good manager.'
The uncertainty is behind everyone at the club after six weeks
in limbo, which is a positive, even according to Agbonlahor.
'It has been frustrating not knowing what was going on, but at
least now we know and we can look forward to the future,' added the
23-year-old. 'We're just going to get our heads down as a team
because we want to try and impress the new manager.
'We don't know what he knows about us, so hopefully it will be a
fresh start for everyone in the squad. We'll see what ideas he has
and what training will be like, and we'll take it from
there.'