Alan Hutton

Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton was one of the influential players in the second half for Aston Villa in the match against QPR. It was a match that was highly stressful for Alex McLeish and QPR manager Mark Hughes given that both teams could not dominate beyond 45 min.

QPR managed to take control of the match in the first half and scored two brilliant goals to give them a 2-0 lead at the break. It looked like being enough to send Aston Villa to yet another defeat this season, but Alex McLeish made some crucial changes to the side’s formation and personal.

It paid off in the end when Aston Villa recover from being two goals down to equalise the match. The 2-2 final score may not be pleasing for both managers, but it is a point earned for Alex McLeish nonetheless. A Cisse goal in the first half coupled with the Stephen Warnock own goal ensured that Alex McLeish has a lot to say during the first half break. All the things Alex McLeish has said during the interval paid the right dividends, as Darren Bent and Charles N’Zogbia scored in the second half to equalise the match.

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Former Tottenham defender Alan Hutton has said that with Aston Villa fans have the right to boo their own team. Aston Villa have been extremely inconsistent this season, and has been very poor when it comes to the playing style.

A lot has been targeted towards the former Birmingham city manager Alex McLeish, but Alan Hutton says that everyone is at fault for the poor results that Aston Villa have been getting this season. Even though they remained unbeaten in the league during the initial part of the campaign, the huge defeat suffered at the hands of Manchester City has now extended to a number of games.

Aston Villa are currently in the 13th position in the table. They recently suffered heavy defeat at the hands of Liverpool and Arsenal at home, which have only increased the animosity from the fans. They find themselves only a few points above the drop zone and it becomes extremely crucial for manager Alex McLeish to get some games under his belt to relieve the pressure. Alan Hutton has come under intense criticism of late for his performances and also for his temperament. He has received a number of yellow and red cards this season, which have compounded the misery for Alex McLeish. However, the player has said that he will certainly improve in the future once he gets regular game time at Villa Park.

“I think it can happen where supporters forget players are human beings and think we’re just mechanical. They pay their money and they want to come and see the players on a Saturday playing to the best of their ability. For different reasons, it doesn’t happen every week. But at this club, at this level,” Alan Hutton said after the match. He is expected to be dropped for the Chelsea match.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has said that he has a lot of doubts about the striking situation at the club over the busy Christmas fixtures. Aston Villa have been losing a number of players to injuries in recent weeks, with Emile Heskey becoming the latest player to enter into the injury table for Aston Villa. Aston Villa have been struggling a lot to score goals this season, although this is mainly because of the decision by Alex McLeish to use a lone striker upfront even for home games.

Even though Darren Bent has been a prolific scorer elsewhere, there has been a lot of doubts regarding his future at Aston Villa. The striker was pictured shopping during the defeat against Liverpool and it has put his Aston Villa future in doubt. Further, it seems that Darren Bent does not have the required physique to play as the lone striker for Alex McLeish. So far, Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor have taken the mantle of scoring the goals for Aston Villa, with five goals each. After suffering a poor run of form just ahead of Christmas, Aston Villa have dropped out of the top 10, with teams like Norwich and West Brom going ahead of the Midlands club.

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