Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has penned a letter to all season ticket holders.

In an extraordinary new year message, the Villa boss has:

- ADMITTED he and the team could have done better

- RUBBISHED his label as a defensive-minded manager

- PLEDGED to produce a "dynamic" side

- HAILED owner Randy Lerner for having the courage to appoint him.

Villa fans have still to accept McLeish, who moved across the city from Birmingham last summer.

McLeish wrote: "I can't pretend that the first half of the season has not been ­without its setbacks and disappointments, all of which have been felt as intensely by myself and the ­players as I know they have been by Villa's fans.

"So the mid-term report for myself and the team should ­perhaps read, 'Satisfactory progress, can do better'."