Today In Dumb Things Said By Alex McLeish

BBC Sport has an interview with Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish today, and the focus of the piece is the gaffer's comments about the club's inability to compete with the Premier League's "Super Clubs." That's not the part of the interview I found noteworthy though, because of course Villa can't compete with the Manchester City's of the world and I'm a bit confused as to what the point of eliciting those quotes could possibly be. Does this come as a surprise to anyone?

No, the part that caught my attention was this quote:

"We lost Luke Young and Jean Makoun, so it was two chunks of experience out of the squad that I felt was important to replace.

Now, look. I have accepted that Jean Makoun was never going to feature under Alex McLeish. I don't like it one bit, but I understand that it's the case. I've moved on. But don't BS me, Mr. McLeish. Aston Villa didn't lose Jean Makoun; they dumped him because you didn't want to play him. He makes a lot of money and didn't want to sit on the bench, so it made sense to ship him out. But don't try to convince me it was something you weren't happy about, or that you actually believe you've lost anything by letting him leave.

Stuff like sending Makoun away and making Alan Hutton the centerpiece of your deadline day will make me uneasy. Saying things like this will make me actively dislike you.