onje_villa

The fact that no-one has a clue about any of this makes me think that the board are very happy with how things are going. If they pull off a good signing they can be very happy with the way it's all panned out.

Think we can rule out Rodgers now, along with OGS and Di Canio...

Out of interest, VTers out of Martinez and Lambert, who do you want and do you think will get it? I'm pretty unsure still but at a push would say want: Lambert think: Lambert

Not convinced Rodgers will be bad for Liverpool. I know the whole was-it-him-or-Martinez but Swansea were incredibly impressive at VP - I mean in all facets of the game. Agree that his CV doesn't make for great reading though. I wonder what chance of a PC these days where no-one knows who is going to be announced? Wouldn't it be incredible if Villa announced one for Friday at 2 and then they just pulled back the curtain on.......

Norwich fans were saying they'd heard it on BBC Radio ... maybe on such a station as a BBC Radio Norfolk or something? Beat me to it!

Hope people who say they don't want Lambert aren't made to eat their words if we unveil Bruce or Curbishley. I think Lambert would be an excellent appointment even if I'd be happy with some of the other choices too.

Agreed. EDIT: I mean I agree with the sentiment but not sure it will be leaving Villa for Norwich any time soon though but would probably feel the same if it was to a bigger club than Villa

If there really are three potential candidates and they hope to get it sorted by Friday. Does that mean that they have some sort of order of preference and are waiting on something happening/not happening in the next few days? Big Gob opening his mouth about RM perhaps? Does that mean that the other candidates are very much second choice? Or, have all three candidates basically said 'yes' and we're making our mind up? Also Kendrick's article states that we still haven't had permission to speak with either RM or PL yet they still hope to tie up a deal in the next few days. What does that suggest?

Interesting that reports of progress in the next 48 hours coincide with the ST offer which they're busy plugging... Could be nothing in it though

Think 3rd name could be just designed to keep people guessing. If he's said two names, it would be pretty obvious who they were (if we believe Kendrick et al)

Who's OGS? Joke.

Have to say I would take Lambert or Martinez. Martinez is an exciting prospect with the way he likes to play the game but he's also much more of a risk factor, with the worry of leaking goals. Lambert isn't going to take any crap from anyone that's for sure. Any thoughts on comparing Norwich's and Wigan's squads? A lot of people on here reckon RM did brilliantly to keep Wigan up, do we thing Norwich's squad is stronger or has PL done a better job than RM?

RM presser tomorrow may shake things up a bit, strange that none of the 4 clubs without a manage has seemingly made a move yet. Would indicate that RM to Liverpool may be holding things up. This is frustrating.

If we need to "sound out" KMac then we are in big trouble

I think people have seen a lot of Barry in the reserves and seen just what quality he has on the ball. I mean technically he is incredible, the problem seems to be his match effectiveness. At the top level he doesn't seem to know when to keep it simple, like another poster said, too many Hollywood passes but it must be frustrating for him as he knows he can pull them off. I think a good start for Barry would be to keep it simple, and as he gains confidence start going for more. He certainly has quality, that is there for all to see.

You know Warnock wasn't always that bad. In fact I sometimes wonder why everyone has it in for him, Dunne and Collins, wasn't so long ago they were an incredibly impressive defensive unit under MON. While Warnock clearly is no longer the same player, I actually still rate Dunne and Collins as above average Premier League CBs.

So when they for talking to Moyes. Pretty obvious the board dont have a new plan and are using the old one again. At least 'The other Guy' is not on that list any more. Ok, the board have got form with McLeish for sure, but I feel this time it's different. We're all frustrated due to the lack of noise coming from the club and the recognised ITK's, but I honestly think we're still on plan A, and certainly nowhere near plan Z, as someone said. It's just that we have no idea who our first pick is, but I believe it was not OGS. Up there, but not him as I they had really wanted him, they would've got him. This leads me to believe they've already got their man wrapped up. This could also account for the apparent lack of chatter. RL and PF know they **** up badly and, sentiment aside, they know they're going to have to excite the fans again in order to get the season tickets sales up again. I don't think they'll be content with the PL's and RM's of the world, hence the OGS contact. To not offer him the job would suggest someone even better. Could it be???? Going to stick my neck out and suggest an exciting manager from abroad, or AVB! Like it Stan but if it's wrapped up, where's the announcement?

Maybe Martinez has already met with Lerner, he's now met with the other Yank as well and I think the decide by Tuesday thing may be decide which club you're going to manage. If it was Liverpool or nothing, I have a feeling he'd have signed straight away. Just can't see him staying at Wigan this season, his stock may be as high as it will ever be.

concur

Sure that's not reverse order?

Well you obviously do think there's something in it, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it. People don't seem to understand how bookmakers odds work and how they fluctuate by the day. Nothing in it. I really don't think there's anything in it but since there's absolutely nothing else going on what else is there to talk about? I know how they work. However, when odds on somebody drop suddenly it does make you think that somebody knows something. Remember OGS's odds dropping? They dropped because everyone on here knew Randy had flown to Norway and thus were putting bets on him. We all knew something. Not that I think that's the case with Ranieri, but it's still interesting to monitor odds. There may be something in it. When the odds drop, if there's nothing in it then after a while the odds go back up. Just look at GMac, Grayson etc. for examples of this. Rafa's odds have been decreasing for around 24 hours now and show no sign of going back up. If they are still low tonight I would suggest there's something in it. I think they go back up when another new name crops up and comes in, in the absence of any new names, it just stays static. The only question I'd like answered now, is roughly when will we have a new manager?!!

I think we all need to agree on our new first choice. For all we know, the board are on VT gauging the fans' reaction. The only candidate we know we went after was Ole and he was obviously the N°1 choice in this forum. Let's just hope they don't do a word count and end up with McCarthy...

I suppose the good news is that most of the names here are all exciting to some extent, so while I'm impatient, I'm quietly optimistic. Martinez, Rafa, Poyet, Lambert, would be reasonably pleased with any of them

When do we all think/hope an appointment will be made? It's important to get it right but bloody hell, it's exhausting all this anticipation. At the beginning it was exciting, now it's more like a strange mix of excitement, boredom and desperation! People keep saying the wouldn't expect anything til the middle of next week... Any reason why?

Jesus, all this talk about there being "no rush" and not to expect any news til next week (and on and on). I'd pay 50 quid just to have them hurry the hell up. My work productivity is at an all-time low. And that is saying something!