WHY

Rijkaard won the Champions League as manager and was voted UEFA Manager of the Year - not too shabby! To be fair your right.....however my next doors neighbours cat could have managed the best team in the world to the CL... For the record SHA won the Carling Cup this year.... You do realise Barca hadnt won hardly anything in 6-7 years prior to Rijkaard joining? He was the one that started it all off.. They are where they are today because of Rijkaard.. Thanks for backing me up. WHY, your neighbour's cat sounds incredibly gifted, if this cat is as good as Rijkaard then I'd be happy for Villa Park to be fitted with a golden catflap and a bowl of milk in the dugout. Seriously Rijkaard is noted amongst Barca fans for turning them into the club they are now, promoting the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. I accept he's a risk but one I would take (given that I have an emotional and not that significant financial investment in the club). Mate anyone who knows anything about football will know it was Johan Cruyff who took the Ajax system to Barca...Rijkaard reaped all the benefits....WHAT has he done since Barca?

Rijkaard won the Champions League as manager and was voted UEFA Manager of the Year - not too shabby! To be fair your right.....however my next doors neighbours cat could have managed the best team in the world to the CL... For the record SHA won the Carling Cup this year....

Rijkaard has done nothing to even be considered for the job of our ladies team, let alone being the main man of our great club. Rijkaard was a great player of this I have no doubt, however this doesn't make him a good manager. Far too often in todays games former greats get jobs at big clubs on name alone. Moyes was my first vote aswell as my second and will be my third as well as my fouth.........

doesn't Moyes do better with limited funds. when he's had money at Everton, hasn't he spent it unwisely? i'm not sure, thats my impression. I wouldn't call Cahill, Saha, Arteta etc "unwise". I don't know if you've missed ender4's point? Cahill and Arteta cost peanuts. Saha cost more but he's been injured a LOT, so I don't class him as one of Moyes' most successful transfers. IIRC, Moyes didn't do much with the money from selling Lescott or Rooney.. (that said, I'd still like him here!) He never got the money from Lescott!!!

Love how this ITK info has only surfaced since Ancelotti ruled himself out. As I pointed out in an earlier post I would have loved Ancelotti, having said that Moyes has always been my first choice.....FFS sake I also stated I was not ITK.

I would have loved Ancelotti but have a feeling he will be the next Spurs manager when candle face goes to be England manager next July.

I have just asked the guy why would we wait until the end of June for a manager...he's reply was that Hughes has been the number 1 target from the off and will be sorted before the end of the month????

ahem, i would contend that there is only 1 numpty here. I guess you would like Ron Atkinson over Hughes based on your criteria? Make that two numpties then coz I can't see the whole Jol thing either. Oh and yes I would give my left arm to see the football we played under Atkinson at Villa Park again Agrred mate Big Ron's team was the best footballing team I have ever seen at VP....been going down since 1984 how unlucky am I.

Guys I would like to point out I'm not ITK but am posting this as the guy who told me to back Houllier at 16/1 has just text to say.... Get on Hughes 100%. I would like to point out this guy knows a few people at VP but when pushed he clammed up. I will have £200 out of the £800 I got of the Houllier tip off....just got 3.9 on betfair.

Of course the board manage what happens on the pitch. When your manager and top players sign contracts on the proviso that they'll soon be joined by more world class players, how can they be expected to stay motivated when it transpires they were lied to? There reached a point when Liverpool stopped being run by football people and started being run by financiers with the remit to reduce debt whilst making the club as attractive as possible to potential investors/buyers. For the whole of 2010, nobody was interested in what was happening on the pitch. The bank wanted their money back, the owners wanted their profit, the supporters wanted the owners gone and the players wanted to leave. And in the middle of it all was Rafa. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure he made mistakes at Liverpool. But there is a mountain of mitigation. Do you think he would have the hunger and passion to start a long term project again, or do you think the last few years has taken a lot out of him? I think he needs to be back involved. He's obsessed with football to the point that his wife complains because when they go on holiday, he's always disappearing for a kick-about with the kids. Give him a supportive board who let him do his job and he'll be in heaven. Would you have Rafa back yes or no.....why don't you phone a friend!!!

Of course the board manage what happens on the pitch. When your manager and top players sign contracts on the proviso that they'll soon be joined by more world class players, how can they be expected to stay motivated when it transpires they were lied to? There reached a point when Liverpool stopped being run by football people and started being run by financiers with the remit to reduce debt whilst making the club as attractive as possible to potential investors/buyers. For the whole of 2010, nobody was interested in what was happening on the pitch. The bank wanted their money back, the owners wanted their profit, the supporters wanted the owners gone and the players wanted to leave. And in the middle of it all was Rafa. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure he made mistakes at Liverpool. But there is a mountain of mitigation. So you would have Rafa back?

I wanted Moyes....but if Randy gets Carlo in....I will write to the Queen...Arise Sir Randoplh!!!

It doesn't matter to me whether Rafa is your next manager or not. I'm just giving you my interpretation so you can make an informed judgment. Take it or leave it. For the record, none of Rafa's mates are at Liverpool anymore and neither is the management team that sacked them. So are you saying you would have Rafa back?

You are aware that if the FSW is our manager he will bring his own team in....thus dispensing of our youth academy staff..he did at Liverpool. Considering how well your academy is doing, my guess is he'd leave it well alone. He fought for control of the Liverpool academy for years - not because he was on a power trip but because it wasn't producing any quality. Finally, he got his way in 2009 - appointed Borrell and Segura (ex La Masia) to run the show and now the youngsters are emerging. This current crop of kids coming through at Liverpool is Rafa's legacy. Rafa's legacy my arse....the only reason the fat spanish clearing in the woods never got the bullet earlier, was that you had to pay off all his mates ...BTW how many of Rafa's legacy are still employed.

You are aware that if the FSW is our manager he will bring his own team in....thus dispensing of our youth academy staff..he did at Liverpool.

If McClaren is appointed I will happily punch Randolph Lerner on the nose!!!

Not a bad shout mate but I think we will smash them 3/4-0 with DB9 scoring first.

very surprising, but quite amusing To be fair how can Milner be picked infront of either of tham having hardly kicked a ball for Man City....Walcott has he showed against us has been poor for most of the season...but maybe its because they don't play for a top 4 team.

Neither Downing or Young in the England team which I find surprising....maybe Capello has decided they need bringing down a peg or two. Either that or he thinks their heads are not in the right frame of mind?

Stewart Downing has a good season in a team that under achieved....all of a sudden he thinks he can play for a top 4 team. If I was Stewart Downing I would probably want to make a move. He knows he has had a good season but will find it harder next season without Young who in most games has two men marking him. He also probably knows he want have the luxury of Walker bombing past him, allowing him to cut inside. Without Young and Walker he is afraid of being found out for the player he is. In his first season for us he was poor, but to be fair to him he was coming back from an injury. I would like to think that having paid £12 million for him whilst being injured he would show us a bit of loyalty. For me, Downing needs to stay and prove himself for at least another season but I honestly believe he is scared of being found out. He should look at Young who in his 4 years at Villa has given his all, but let himself down last season for probably trying to hard. Young will be sadly missed by the majority of Villa fans but i cannot blame him for wanting to move to a bigger club afterall he has earned his stripes, can the same be said of Mr Downing?

Rooney has scored 15+ goals in each of the last 6 seasons, Tevez in each of the last 4, and Drogba has managed 13+ in each of the last 7 seasons (only 2 seasons below 15), so I think the same can be said for them. To be fair they all play for teams in the top four....Berbatov was the leading goalscorer this season in the PL but was left out of the Man U squad for the CL final. If DB played for Arsenal I am quietly confident he would score 25 league goals....didn't he finish Spurs leading scorer the season Dirty Harry slaughtered him....IMHO he is an average player like Gary Lineker was but like Lineker the kid scores goals. I like all Villa fans knew we should have signed him 3/4/5 seasons ago. DB9 will be a Holte End LEGEND!!!!!

I believe MH has burnt his bridges with Randy by leaving. Randy likes to do things the right way and ask for permission to speak to another clubs Manager. If he would have been able to do this maybe it would have left MH available to start work straight away. However by leaving he cannot do anything until 30th June which leaves no time for him to convince players their future lies at Villa Park. Maybe Randy was in talking with Fulham about getting MH when he suddenly leaves, leaving Randy looking foolish.

Hello General, I hope you don't take offence but what is your job at our club. This is surely a question that has been answered earlier in the thread (possibly in the first few pages). Please look through the thread.