Dave1380

My three candidates would be Martinez, Lambert & Di Matteo and for me tick the right boxes for us. All of them have worked to a moderate budget & have their teams set up to be positive, which is more than the previous incumbent! For me, the manner in which the club have dealt with sacking McLeish & the statement which has accompanied it is a sign that Randy has made the decision rather than Faulkner. I suspect that whilst Randy clearly agreed with appointing McLeish he was prepared to let Faulkner make the decision but sees that it was clearly a monumental f-up! I think we'll have a new man within 2 weeks!

We need to beat Stoke & Bolton as a minimum, anything else is a bonus as far as I am concerned

I've never doubted that Randy will invest in transfer fees, the austerity measures are linked to wages. The reality is he backed MO'N and gave him too much control and MO'N went out and brought the likes of Habib Baye (£50k pw), Sidwell (£60k pw) and Heskey (£60k pw). The reality is that whoever we had as Manager (and I hate the Ginger one as much as anyone) we would have had the same scenario.

I have been one of his biggest critics but he has been getting better, he is certainly better than that clearing in the woods at left back! "Al" was much better yesterday, thought he had a solid game. I am a big believer in players needing time to bed in and a full Pre-season with their teams before they can be judged.

I'd like to see that with a white collar and no claret trim on the sleeves.... I love this design - think we need to get used to the fact that the little "man" will be on the sleeves, it seems to be on most of the current Macron designs.Can you mocks it up with the man in Blue? I've done some digging and it seems that we'll have the 2nd biggest deal from Macron behind Napoli, and given their recent success lets hope Macron have the same impact on us!

Sorry....was, not is!

Ridiculous in my opinion - Stan may not be a star or be the most imaginative of players but we'd miss him if he weren't there. He gets about and in my opinion is a good captain. The dressing room seem to look up to him as well. As for Mortimer, there is no doubt he is a great player but he likes the sound of his own voice, & in truth he is a bit of a moron - he only says something when he is slagging someone off! Given that he has been such and influential part of our history he needs to stop being such a negative so and so and get behind the team.

General - firstly I'm as disappointed as anyone that your comment re "hearing lots from the club" has failed to materialise, however it's pretty funny how some people both interpret a comment & listen to the tripe the media then spin on something. Which is annoying really as I for one think the club needs to spin some positive PR. The way I interpret Eck's comments is that there will be one more signing before the start of the season which will then give us 2/3 weeks to assess things before the window closes, at which point we will make a call on things. I'm not saying I'm right but I'd appreciate a comment either way as all tuis negativity is doing my head in!

General Firstly, if Downing doesn't want to be here and we have received what we believe to be value for money then good riddance. I neither want or respect a player who behaves in the manner he has. However, you promised us action, you have consistently said that Randy will & always has backed his manager - well now is not the time to be shy, now is the time for action. As you have said, actions speak louder than words - well I'm listening!!! UTV

General Firstly, I appreciate that one of your abiding comments is that we should trust Randy (not a criticism!) and that we shouldn't believe everything that we read in the press. I also appreciate that you regularly state that our club does not do it's business in media and that if we were to comment on every piece of press speculation, our club would forever being doing so. However, I firmly believe that the club is not doing itself any favours of late when it comes to recent press speculation. We, the majority of fans, appreciate that not everything we read should be believed but in reality the current speculation in relation to the appointment of AM & now the daily articles in relation to Stewart Downing is farcical, and in truth the latter situation is doing nothing to calm an already irrate fan base! I've kept the faith with the structure and management of our club since day 1 of Randy's tenure, I renewed my season ticket the day of the so called protests over AM's appointment but I am beginning to lose faith. We all expected A. Young to go to Man Utd, we got good money and he had a great opportunity to play for a massive club, but after a frankly disastrous season we need our board to make a statement of intent - do you want to compete at the top end of the league or are we happy being average? I hope we will opt for the "top end of the league" but in truth I am Villa through & through and whilst I won't like it I'll continue to support my team - I'd just rather know what we are in for. As a football fan, no feeling is worse than one of disappointment - at the moment I have had that feeling for longer than I care to think about. Last season was very much a case of the board/club over promising & under delivering, I would rather we had a bit more under promising & over delivering. I'm afraid that at the moment we don't have a clue. I appreciate that 4 out of 5 seasons since Randy has been in control of Villa have been good and during those seasons communication was first class. Unfortunately, I dont believe that this was the case last year and I truly hope that this was a blip We could do with some of our faith being restored - as you have said actions speak louder than words, how about a bit of both General? UTV Dave

General - I ballsed up my previous post, I do not condone this behaviour at all, I am ashamed by villafc82 post, it's a joke. You've got my backing, I renewed today, and I'll back you all next season UTV

I was listening to Paul Hartley on TalkSPORT this evening and he was saying that the football McLeish played at Hibs was "exciting & entertaining". He also made the point that O'Neill wasn't renowned for elegant football at either Leicester or Celtic but we didn't seem to have an issue with him, and in truth I agree with him on that point. Being honest, I'm baffled by it all but having had to endure the shit of the last 72 hours and to still want the job I'm prepared to get behind him & reserve judgement.

General Just wanted to make it perfectly clear that whilst I am a little confused by McLeish's imminent appointment I am 100% behind you and Randy. I would also like to point at that some of the comments on here aimed at your good self and Randy are completely out of order in my opinion. Please do not let them detract from posting on any of the forums - your input is greatly appreciated! And for my fellow fans - just ask yourself why on earth Randy would spende the best part of £300m if he wasn't committed? Lets be truthful, he is a wealthy man but he's no Sheik!! I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him, he brought us Darren Bent and I wouldn't mind betting that there will be a few more "Stellar" signings in the very near future. Keep the faith and UTV Dave

On his backroom team, Aitken and Spink have both left - Aitken went to Dubai with DO'L and Spink is at Sunderland so no idea who his team was! I think Peter Grant had something to do with it!

Well, I'm not trying to pretend I'm ITK, but I had a feeling we'd end up with McLeish! I can't say I'm enthused but I'm sick of reading about it now - if he gets the job I'll be behind him because he will be Villa Manager and I love the Villa! I'm trying to console myself with the view that he has won as much as MON both North & South of the border! However, if he buys either Roger Johnson or Fat head Gardner I'm officially giving up! Welcome Alex, please prove us wrong!

In all honesty this is becoming the most bizarre couple of weeks to be a Villa fan! FWIW, I think the only contact between ourselves and the Scum is likely to be from that Prat of an acting Chairman Peter Pan-u telling us that we can't speak to McLeish. This doesn't mean that we intend to or are interested in speaking to him just that the prats at Small Heath are preparing themselves for a legal battle with McLeish and are deluded enough to think we would want him! The one thing that we do know for certain is that Randy doesn't like doing his business in the media and that this irritates the press no end - hence all of the negative press. Let's trust Randy, leave him and his team to get on with appointing the right person for the job - let's be honest, we never thought that Bent would be a Villa player but Randy pulled it off! I'm not for one minute saying that I want McLeish, but I'm prepared to give Randy the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to do what he thinks best! Keep the faith & UTV

General Firstly, whilst I am not and never was a fan of GH, I wish him a speedy recovery and urge him to enjoy is retirement, I love Football as much as the next man but your health is and should always be of the paramount importance. Secondly, I implore you and your fellow directors to take their time over our next manager. If we have a number one choice then let's "do the deal" and appoint him - if we don't, let's make sure we do our homework- we must get the right man otherwise we risk falling further behind our competition in the race for trophies or the ultimate aim of the Champions League. Good luck General, we all hope the next few days or weeks are successful in getting the right man! UTV Dave

I'm less than convinced we'll get a new Manager - whilst you would expect the club to making possitive noises I cant help but feel GH is going nowhere in the immediate future. I've said it before in this thread and I'll say it again - I'll donate £20 to VT if he is not our manager for the first game of the new season!

I'll give £20 to VT if we have anyone other than Houllier asvour Manager for the first PL game of next season, I just can't see him leaving - I know the club has to remain positive etc but everything I read tells me he will be in charge! God I can't wait to be proven wrong!!

General - Great win today, most pleasing thing for me was the fact that our defence looked like they knew one another! Makes you wonder why it has taken so long! UTV Dave

I can not see Randy sacking GH - I am hugely concerned that he will be our Manager next season. My only hope is that GH is sitting in his sick bed cursing his inept assistant and sounding out replacements! I hope he's got Ray Wilkin's number!

General As an ex-military man, you of all people must agree that Emile Heskey's half-time/early departure strenghten the underlying belief that there is a complete lack of discipline within the current regime? Whatever we say about Martin O'Neill, we never had the indiscipline we are experiencing this year in what is becoming the biggest farce of a season I can ever remember! In truth Sir, I can only see this indiscipline as being the route of our problems, and there is only one person to blame for this. Mr. Houllier and his management team have had the best part of a season to stamp his authority on the playing staff and it just isn't working. And to suggest he needs more time and resources to mould his side is nonsense, Randy backed his purchase of Darren Bent and Makoun at a cost of c£30m. Whilst we can all question some of our squad this season, on more than one ocassion in the past you and a number of football pundits have described the majority of this squad as a "good honest bunch"! So what has gone wrong? Whatever the state of Mr. Houllier's health, and I sincerely wish him a speedy recovery, we must act now and replace him with someone who is capable of managing at the highest level. Whilst Houllier has undoubtedly been a successfull individual in the past he is clearly out of touch. And with respect, the way our team has performed under his assistant underline that Gary McAllister is clearly a pundit at best!! Week in, week out I have paid hard earned money to watch this side and I am afraid it has been a complete waste. As a season ticket holder and regular attendee at away games, why should I renew my ticket to watch the dross I have been subjected to so far under Houllier? And by the way, this coment isn't made because of the price increases that have been implemented because I agree that we are still able to purchase some of the cheapest tickets in the league - in truth I'd pay more if we were successful! Whilst I may be pesemistic, we are still not mathematically safe - our superior goal difference (what a joke, -13!) may be our saving grace as I can not see us getting anymore points and without a doubt have the toughest run in of the bottom 8 clubs - and the way our defence is at the moment I'm not convinced we won't ship 7 or 8 goals!! Not only has this season been a disaster from a footballing perspective, I am certain that it has impacted both our commercial negotiations with our current and future sponsor as well as putting further doubt in the mind of potential signings. I sincerely beleive that if you and your fellow board members do not act decisively now, the club will suffer on more than one front in the future. Thanks for listening! Dave

Role lol spell checker corrected rile!

I'd be happy with Hughes or Jol myself. I would be gutted if we ended up with the Fat Waiter, he would role me in similar ways to GH! I can see GH announcing his retirement before the Liverpool game (assuming we are safe!) and taking in a lap of honour (silly me I meant a walk to the corner of the Doug Ellis & his adoring public!!).