M_Afro

But he was romantically nourished! Don’t forget that!

Him and McGinn both seem to struggle a bit with their weight. They both need to be in peak condition to be effective but both seem to have prolonged periods where peak fitness eludes them. I suspect Stevie G will have a bit to say about that!

I could never understand why we let him go. He is a class player. I met him once in a bar in Sutton Coldfield. He was with Peter Whittingham, God rest his soul. Both really good lads.

What a first interview. He is so focused and determined. I love the fact that he said we will be aggressive which is something we have really lacked in recent times. I also love the fact that he says there are no excuses for underperforming. If you are still not sure about Gerrard then please go and watch the interview. I am so excited now. Roll on Saturday!

If we really do only have £5m available to spend in Jan then the signing of Ings makes even less sense. Spending £25m on a striker who doesn’t suit your style when your midfield is broken, when you have no additional money to fix it, is ridiculous. Someone deserves the sack over that decision. I mean no disrespect to Ings at all, who is decent at what he does and seems like a really good bloke but I would try and send him to the NE in January. I could see him being a really good fit for Newcastle and we could probably make a profit on him with their new found wealth. I don’t think that will make our January situation any brighter but it will have a positive impact upon our summer spending capability.

He’s always talked of the club in a very complimentary manner. Always shown us the upmost respect. His last spell at the club was unfortunate due to lots of factors but he was a really good footballer and I think he will slot in nicely.

I watch quite a lot of Rangers and I genuinely don’t think any of their players improve us. Hopefully we will steer clear of them. I really hope we just do the right thing and invest some serious cash on a centre mid. I would much rather we buy one really good player in a key position than 3/4 average players.

Someone’s gotta put out the cones!

I’ve been reading through this thread and two things are abundantly clear. Firstly, some of you guys are incredibly harsh and secondly you should all contemplate counselling! There’s a lot of pent up feelings in this chat. Let it go boys!

I have never known a day before this one when villa have received such media attention. It’s been incredible. Whatever happens it’s going to be interesting. I think he will be successful and I also think it’s a really exciting appointment. Come on boys. Let’s get behind him unequivocally and enjoy it. UTV.

I hope he doesn’t go to Norwich. It’s a poison challis that one. Deano should give it a miss. He would be better off going to Rangers.

It will be very interesting to see how he develops under one of the best English central midfield players of the last 20 years. Exciting times.

Class work from Purslow as per usual. This guy is levels above anybody else when it comes to running our football club. He is a Don.

Welcome Steve and good luck. Well done to the board in making such an ambitious and swift appointment. Exciting times ahead.

If Gerrard comes in I can see this guy getting in the squad regularly. He has a bit of the Gerrard about him and Steve might just want to give home a chance. Gerrard could be key to his and lots of our other kids developing into first team players.

Stephen Fry is a 10 on the word removed scale in my view

The truth is, no way would Gerrard go to Wolves or Southampton (or probably West Ham). I think that people are underestimating his status in the game. He has never failed at anything.

When we hired Dean, we went through a proper interview process. All candidates were given a chance to present their vision for the club. Dean got the job because in the words of Purslow, he was the outstanding candidate with the greatest vision that aligned with that of the board. NSWE will not allow Purslow to hire a mate. We are a professionally run sports team. Whoever gets the job, will get it on merit. Everyone just needs to calm down.

Listen to the “For the Love of Paul McGrath” podcast. He did a short pod on Gerrard yesterday. It was actually really encouraging. Well worth 20 minutes of your time.

It was very much a 1 team league when Gerrard took over at Rangers. He made it a 2 team league again.

Class from Smith as expected. Time to move on now and back the new guy, whoever it may be. UTV

Why do people think that Gerrard is such a bad person? Is it because of the way he was on the pitch? If so, I don’t see the problem. He was an absolute winner, knew when to be nasty and absolutely would do anything to win. If ever a club needed a bit of that, it’s us. Is it off the field antics? I remember one unsavoury altercation but I thought that he was found not guilty. Also, we don’t really know all of the details, people do make terrible mistakes at times and it was a long time ago. I know that in his time at Liverpool and Rangers he has been involved in lots of good community work so if we are going to focus on the bad, it’s only fair that we should take a balanced view on all aspects of his character. Genuinely interested in the reasons that people see him as such a nasty piece of work. I’ve always thought he was ok.

The lack of ambition thinking that we’re not!

Please be true. It makes sense on all levels.

Gerrard has done really well at Rangers who also play really good football. He is brighter than he seems and is a born winner. He is measured and calm and he is also high profile. He will be a real attraction to our players and any new recruits. He will 100% sort out our truly awful midfield. He will win the fans over with performances and results.