Recircle

MON did, but not as much as he bandied around the word "immense"! (I actually can't read that word without hearing it being said in my head in MON's voice!).

I predict utter frustration. Villa will work hard, enjoy some good attacking spells, finishing will let them down, and Suarez will nab one right at the death, reeling away from goal with a big grin plastered all over that rodentish boat-race of his.

Coaching. + natural abilty + drive, discipline and application. Yep, there are no shortcuts or magic formulas.

Pirlo will be having free drinks for him bought for life whenever he visits Scotland, Wales and Ireland for doing 'a Panenka' against England.

long? :? i think its been pretty quick so far... have Liverpool, Chelsea & West Brom already appointed their new managers as well? Sorry mate but i dont care when or who those teams appoint as their manager. He doesn't want to know whether or not anyone cares. He's making a point about time scales via a comparative, rhetorical question. That said, you'd imagine anyone with an interest in football would have to have at least a vague, passing interest in what opposition teams are up to.

If you're going to plunder the ITV football pundits couch, then I'd rather have Gordon Strachan (who to me gives the impression that he harbours a bit of a soft spot for Villa), than Southgate. Or Andy Townsend!

Villa are going to wind up with a rubbish manager again, aren't they?

It's not as likely as it once was, but it's as likely now as it ever was.

He would fit the Villa mould more than the Liverpool one. I don't think he's combative/belligerent enough for the scousers. His demeanour isn't that far removed from Roy Hodgson's.

he's my dark horse in all of this..Taken from the OGS thread:

Far too soon for that sort of thing, as Laursen himself has sensibly pointed out. Would come across as an absolute desperation measure. If you're so hung up on getting a young Scandanavian manager, how about at least considering one who has had some managerial experience? From what I can tell, Henrik Larsson hasn't set the world alight as a boss, but at least he's got some hands-on experience.

That's quite a woolly statement actually, unless the phrase 'clear vision' is just a euphemism for a shit boatload of moolah.

Or Bergkamp. Or Sonny Silooy...

I remember reading somewhere that Doug once had a clandestine meeting with Brian Clough to talk about the Villa job over a ploughman's in a Lichfield pub! In those pre Interweb/Twitter/Sky Sports New days of course the secrecy/subterfuge game was a bit easier...

That's interesting.

Is it a book, a film, or a TV show? Stage play. A tragedy in four acts: I. Lightbulb Moment II.The Chase III. Dashed Against The Rocks IV. Meet Mick

A Scandinavian variation of the old bar joke is in there somewhere: A Norwegian, a Dane and a Swede walk into a club...

Oh God. Celtic fans used to sing a version of this with Henrik Larsson's name inserted. A gawdawful song, even in it's unadapted form, and I say that with all due respect. Can't somebody come up with some OGS-themed lyrics to fit into a song like The Buff Medways' The Least Disappointing Man, or Truly Fine Citizen by Moby Grape instead?

genuinely not sure that's possible the guy is a winner, it's in his blood. mcleish on the other hand was happy just not to be too much of a loser. that alone should be enough to actually see even a slight improvement, managerial abilities aside This. Obviously, technically, he COULD be worse than McLeish, but... I was just playing the part of the 'Ah...but' awkward cuss, but yeah, people are putting a fair bit of faith in hazy, nebulous things like gut feeling and hunch and vibe (plus Clive Tyldesley's voice from 1999 spooling through in their head shouting "AND SOLSKJAER HAS WON IT!!").

Surely the worst case scenario would be that he turns out to be worse than McLeish? I don't think there's much chance he will be, if and when etc, but there's a chance that he could be appointed and go on to be an unmitigated disaster.

That was a while ago, though. Any idea what he's done more recently?

Good in terms of the contrast! Solskjaer's supposed to be a modest guy with 'real world' values, though; too much flash might make him uncomfortable.

It's a real at-the-crossroads moment for Solskjaer. Shrewd if dicey stuff from Villa for considering him at this early stage of his managerial career; he's probably going to be beyond the pull of a club like Villa in few years if his reputation keeps building as it has, and it's a good, calculated risk to go for him now and let this be his first Premier League job. Could be inspired, or it could be painful (Solskjaer has always come across as a good bloke, and I wouldn't like to see him suffer as well as Villa's fans, if things failed to take off). Manchester United will be pretty interested on-lookers if he gets/accepts the post!

But what if your grandad's Guus Hiddink?

There might be one way that Villa could secure the services of one of the very best football managers out there to come and manage. Now, this is a bit left field, with a dollop of the hypothetical on the side, but bear with me. There are those who believe that in the future (whether that be the distant or not so distant future is open to further debate) there'll be ladies managing football clubs at the highest level. So it stands to reason that out there right now must be a really skilled football manager managing a ladies team, someone who possesses more ability and tactical nous than many a fair-to-middling bloke manager, who just happens to be a woman. If Villa can think outside the box and lead the way, they could offer the best lady manager currently working out there in the world the Villa job, and I can't see how she wouldn't take it like a shot, and with the blessings of her - highly flattered - current employees. Yes, it's a quirky idea, but then, one of the things that people admire about Villa fans is their progressive thinking, their cosmopolitanism, their ability to think more obliquely than others. Villa fans aren't just a bunch of lumpen chavs, sticking up the St George's Cross flag in the window every World Cup, with armfuls of dodgy tattoos, a dog that would bite your face off if it weren't on its lead, and a houseful of squawking kids with names like Mason, Jayden, Kayden, Weedon, Bison and Kai. So how about it? Complete madness, or an ahead-of-its-time idea that's just waiting to be plucked out of the air and acted on by those with the gumption and cojones to do it?