Villain-from-Texas

Madness. By the second-half of this season, he wasn't even starting for Wigan.

Glen Hoddle is moving up the betting table....

Which means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

1. Rodgers

2. Poyet

3. Martinez

4. Lambert

I have reservations about every single one of them. Martinez, for example, gets a lot of credit for keeping Wigan up. But Paul Jewell and Steve Bruce not only kept Wigan up, but also got them higher finishes in the table.

@AVFCMysteryMan reporting on Twitter "£20 Million for Lambert if it has to be AVB with a DOF £30+ Million"

He has then been having conversations with a few other people tweeting back saying "AVB's people have been in contact with Villa"

Hey, it's probably a load of bollocks, but I personally think it would be a good move for AVB and for us.

It would be a terrible move for AVB.

Diame? No offense, but sometimes I wonder whether people pay attention to other teams. Diame hasn't made Wigan's starting-eleven for a while.

Anyone who thinks that AVB, Hiddink, or Moyes might consider Villa is, with all due respect, deluded and grossly overestimates our current standing in the footballing world.

Danny Guthrie and Leon Best?

Jesus wept.

Why would he go for Lennon though? He doesn't even have PL experience.

This.

How much experience managing in the PL did Paul Lambert have before this season? Or Brendan Rodgers before this season? Or Roberto Martinez before Wigan hired him?

I wouldn't hire Lennon, but it wouldn't be because he lacks PL experience -- which is a vastly overrated criterion. Focusing on it puts you on a fast track to hiring a retread like Curbs or Sven.

I, like most, have never seen him play. But Alkmaar are first in the Eredivise and just thumped Udinese. Surely a player who starts for them won't be out of his league here. Given that we won't pay a transfer fee, I can't complain.

I don't see it, guys. I'm sorry, but I don't. Herd hasn't impressed me. He has a good engine and some bite in his tackle, but so do Jay Spearing and Lee Cattermole.

Does anyone have faith in the board that they'll be able to keep Bent this window coming? I'd like to see their reasons. It would be interesting indeed.

The better question is, why wouldn't they be able to keep Bent this window?

No Gardner?

Gardner is hurt.

People need to slow down about Gardner. He looked perfectly fine for 20 minutes at the tail end of a preseason friendly. That hardly makes him ready to start. Remember how great Delph played against Fiorentina?

Lichaj . . . really isn't good enough either.

What do you base that on, the great spell he had at Leeds?

Makoun, Delph, Ireland

Simples

Been Saying this for a while.

--------------Bent--------------

N'Zogbia---Ireland---Albrighton

--------Delph--Makoun---------

I, too, would like to see that. But how comfortable are we with that midfield defensively?

I didn't think he was good last season whilst a number on here thought he was. however, I think after a pre season to get up to speed with the english game we'll see the best of him

He didn't play enough last season for anyone to get a reasonable impression about him.

Not since Bannan at Fulham have I seen a Villa player pick a pass as well as Ireland's on the first goal.

If Downing is sold, it will mark the the completion of a transformation from an upwardly mobile club, close to breaking into the top 4, to that of a selling club, content with mid-table mediocrity.

How is this a sign of intent? Do you honestly think that our board has suddenly become "content" with being midtable? I see no basis for that. What do you expect us to do about our best players wanting to leave?

It's easy to criticize the appointment. Who would you all have appointed instead? And, please, don't say Frank Rijkaard or Louis Van Gaal.

Why would we not want Rafa?

People will quickly question whether a manager has won anything. In the same breath, people will quickly discount everything that Rafa has won: two league titles in Spain; a Champ League title; and a UEFA Cup. He had a dire final season in England, but that was on the heels of a second-place finish and in the midst of a crisis in ownership. Common knowledge says that he stinks in the transfer market, but the evidence says otherwise: he made some clever signings while at Liverpool and even turned a profit there in the transfer market.

He should be the man.