EPL: Houllier and the January transfer window, McLeish talks up Birmingham’s chances in upcoming derby - Part 1
Aston Villa manager has revealed that he will be looking to reinforce his squad of players at the club in the January transfer window. Gerard Houllier who took charge at Aston Villa in early October after Kevin MacDonald was removed
as the club’s temporary caretaker manager. The Frenchmen said in one of his interviews, "I don't like January because January is not a good period. But you need to be blind not to see that there are some areas where we are not blessed with numbers. If we spot
a really good player with internationally-proven experience who can bring something to the team, particularly in some areas, we will take him. We need to bring some players in. That's it. I think we will have one or two coming in January. Will it be up front?
Not necessarily."
Speaking about the upcoming midlands derby, Aston Villa boss said, "I had the Lyon-St Etienne derbies and the Liverpool-Everton derbies. I know the importance of the derby for the fans and the players. The players talk about it, which
is good. All I know is that we need to play our football. At the end of the day, it is a game of football. Knowing their manager very well, I don't think he will pump up the players to do anything but just play football. The fierier it becomes, the more composure
you have to give. The derbies also show a lot about the character of your players. I very much like the mental attitude of the players."
Speaking about Villa’s previous performances in the 2010-2011 season, the former Lyon boss stated, “I don't think our defeat against Tottenham or Sunderland should make us blush. The performance levels have been better than the results.
That is the message to the players. The past is the past, whether it is players or results. It is a different era. We are looking forward to this derby. Don't make reference to the past. That is always the message to the players. The most important game is
the coming game, and that's the derby."
On the other hand, Alex McLeish, the Birmingham City manager also spoke about the match up informing, "The derby compares absolutely favorably to the Rangers-Celtic derbies. I underestimated it in the beginning and the fans really
love each other down here don't they? It's a little bit similar to Glasgow. In Glasgow it divides the whole city. The Birmingham derby is quite tasty as well. It's very much a derby that is up there with the best of them. We got a thumping in my first derby
at Villa Park (5-1) a couple of years ago. I went a little bit bold in that game, I played too many attackers in the game. The backlash from the fans made me realize this was an enormous derby."
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