Eric

It was more a dig at Whelan..... and I would imagine RM isn't too chuffed about him spouting off all the time. I don't think FGS were at all impressed. However if I was running Aston Villa FC I really wouldn't be wanting a manager who thought perhaps he could do a bit better than a small time club like Villa...if his talks with Liverpool didn't work out. Applying or getting offers from two different employers isn't anything that I would mind. It happens all the time. You go to interwievs You take the job that seems the most intresting or pays more (depending what you look for). This time Learner decided that Lambert was his prefered option, one reason probably that he turned us down last year.

The crack is though... Martinez approached Villa this summer about the vacancy and it was Villa that did the........ "we'll let you know, we're speaking to lots of targets" SSN Whelan (sans any compensation) has apparently been spouting off that Villa aren't a big enough club for Roberto again today........ Ahh diddums... Rodgers for Liverpool...Lambert for Villa and poor wee Roberto gets to stay at home and suck lemons with good old Dave Gutted for the pair of them......NOT!! I can't understand the attitude against Martinez. He seems to be a good professional and showed loyalty to the club who gave him the chance to manage a Premiership side and chose to give the club one more season. I can’t see anything wrong with that. I wouldn’t mind him managing Villa at all. I’m extremely happy with Lambert though! Whelan on the other hand is a complete word removed!

:nod:

absolutely, valued more than the noise on twitter for me! only reason i keep coming back here to be honest is from finding out a few things first on here via those sources. otherwise, 90% of the posts on here would have you reaching for the razor blades whilst running a hot bath...

So how many do you think died fighting Mussolinis troops in Africa and in Europe. How many died fighting Francos facist troops in Spain in 1936-1939? Yes there is a difference but that doesn't mean being a facist is ok. He never said it was. And I never said di Canio is a Nazi... but never mind

So how many do you think died fighting Mussolinis troops in Africa and in Europe. How many died fighting Francos facist troops in Spain in 1936-1939? Yes there is a difference but that doesn't mean being a facist is ok.

'I don't want' Spoken like a true democrat. I mean we don't want... :winkold:

di Canio - NO THANKS! I don't want a facist managing Villa!

+1

Totally disagree! That would mean that SAF is who has managed the same club for over 20 years should have passed his best a long time ago. And Arsene Wenger, how many years has he managed Arsenal? There is a lot of managers who has been managing for a long time and still are very very good. Bielsa in Bilbao is certainly not a newcomer and neither are Capello and a number of other competent managers. I think that age factor is more likely to link with lack of motivation that managers get when they are getting older and/or has won a lot of titles. Furthermore the key is to get a manager that fits the situation the club is in, can work well together with the board and senior staff at the club and is widely accepted by the fans which insures him the time needed to change a clubs direction even if the initial results on the pitch are not what the fans expect. Who mentioned any timescale or any age limits? I very much consider SAF and Wenger to still be at their peak. Sorry I got the impression that you meant Benitez although a very successful manager had passed his best before date and that was due to the age factor. I don’t believe that at all. I think the problems he had at the end at plop, was more or less the same everybody involved with the club had with Hicks and Gillett. The club was in serious financial problems which seemed to be ignored by the two previous owners. There was constant friction between Benitez and Hicks and Gillett regarding backing and so on. At Inter he came to a club that just won the CL, although with luck beating Barca. It wasn’t easy to succeed after Mourinhos departure with a team that was moving backwards and with teams like Juventus and Milan moving forward. Juventus that had been relegated to Serie B was on the way up again and which meant that Inter had a lot more completion than the previous years with Mourinho. And Milan was again trying to pick up lost ground by investing heavily in players like Zlatan. So I don’t believe Rafa had an easy task at Inter with fans expecting success and taking over after Mourinho which has been very hard even in Chelsea, that haven’t been the same since he left taking the CL win that was although a great achievement very lucky. Saying this, Rafa is not my first choice. I was in the OGS in brigade and think a young manager like Martinez or AVB would be ideal for us. But if we sign Benitez I would welcome him with open arms and I think he would be able to attract quality players and it would be a statement from the board that we are heading back for Europe.

Totally disagree! That would mean that SAF is who has managed the same club for over 20 years should have passed his best a long time ago. And Arsene Wenger, how many years has he managed Arsenal? There is a lot of managers who has been managing for a long time and still are very very good. Bielsa in Bilbao is certainly not a newcomer and neither are Capello and a number of other competent managers. I think that age factor is more likely to link with lack of motivation that managers get when they are getting older and/or has won a lot of titles. Furthermore the key is to get a manager that fits the situation the club is in, can work well together with the board and senior staff at the club and is widely accepted by the fans which insures him the time needed to change a clubs direction even if the initial results on the pitch are not what the fans expect.

Sorry Brian but that is simply wrong. In 2009/10 he started 36 league games and started a further 12 cup games. He wasn't far off being an ever present. In his other season under O'Neill in 2008/09 he started 33 games and a further 4 as a sub. Yeah fair point, my memory of O'Neill's time is dimming. Make it 3 managers overlooked him and the one that bought him didn't. And the three who did have been absolutly shit!

Where has Kendrick stated this? Havent seen it on his twitter. Per Kendrick is Matt Kendrick's Swedish cousin.

I would love Rafa Benitez won the spanish league twice in three years with Valencia, won the UEFA cup with them as well. Two CL finals with the bindippers (won one).

Stuart Pearce http://youtu.be/Te2gE0dKwas Don't need to say more.

Strange, I interpret this meeting totally diffent than you brits. With an almost smug smile on his face he says to the press" you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand what this meeting is about" Then consider the fact that OGS has said to Røkke that he wants to manage Villa, then it seem rather unlikely that he would bring the wife and be overly cheerful if its to say no to Villa. or am I just a helpless optimist? No I think you are right. I am swede of course so we might se it the same way. It seems more like they re sorting out the details on OGS exit.

I read somewhere in thread that the Aker company pays half of his wages, which gives them the right to use him in marketing and business events. That means that he probably has a contract with them as well as with Molde or there is an attachment to the contract he has with Molde. This means that they have to terminate that contract or part of that contract too. I think it’s still definitely on. Being a local lad he doesn’t want to leave his home club without a nice exit. That means that they are negotiating the terms of the contract termination and if he is willing to stay for the last two games before the European Championship break. It's quite common that players and som time managers of Scandinavian teams due to the spring-summer season we have over here sign contracts that start as soon as we have our summer break. This gives the clubs time to get a replacement.

Dunne You **** Clown!

Wanting to keep him, Ireland going to NY RedBulls makes perfect sense. Their Manager is Hasse Backe who was Sven-Göran Erikssons assistant manager at Man City, the same season Ireland was player of the year at Citeh. Hope he is still at Villa next season, we definatly need players with football brains, no more hoofing please!

Oh but Mantis, we've turned the corner! :| I really don't see how certain fans giving credit where it's due and being happy we got a win, as a result of subs made by the manager is a "sudden proliferation of pro Mcleish" articles. Jesus get a grip, most of us feel the same way but at the end of the day we are Villa fans so we should be able to be happy when positive things happen for once for **** sake. the majority of us still dont want him. However if he keeps getting good results from his decisions and builds on them what excuse can we have then? The point is some ppl have gone so far with there anti Mcleish agenda they have lost sight of what the real bigger picture is here. Which is wanting the best for ASTON VILLA no matter what the circumstance as an ASTON VILLA supporter. :?

HAHAHA No i am not thinking that at all. I still think we have a piss poor season, but I don't think AML is the only reason for that. Would I rather have for example Benitez? YES! But I would not like to see O'Neil near Villa again, **** quitter and the reason why we're paying people like Heskey £60k a week.

Thats not the point is it? Nobody is saying they are happy! The point some posters trying to make is that the criticism of AML is onesided and just trying to prove a point(that you hate him). And just post info and stats that prove you're point and leaving out facts that doesn't suit you're agenda. And I think the reasons are: A. You think that the appoinment was totally underwelming (I agree). B. His last club was sha. C. You actually thought there was a chance Ancelotti was signing (and said Benitez was not godo enough LOL). The fact is nobody wanted the job because there was nog money available for transfers and with an overpaid useless squad that nobody wants to touch with barge pole AND a wage budget problem from hell. I'm no fan what so ever but at least he had the balls to take job under the circumstances given to him. I'm sure the huge increase in wages was the clincher over the size of his balls! Money probabaly a factor, but still he knew how much abuse was coming his way, could have chosen the easy way out and playing it cool at sha and waiting for the next PL offer, that would come his way. Instead of risking more at Villa (geting sacked and his reputation destroyed by angry fans).

Thats not the point is it? Nobody is saying they are happy! The point some posters trying to make is that the criticism of AML is onesided and just trying to prove a point(that you hate him). And just post info and stats that prove you're point and leaving out facts that doesn't suit you're agenda. And I think the reasons are: A. You think that the appoinment was totally underwelming (I agree). B. His last club was sha. C. You actually thought there was a chance Ancelotti was signing (and said Benitez was not godo enough LOL). The fact is nobody wanted the job because there was nog money available for transfers and with an overpaid useless squad that nobody wants to touch with barge pole AND a wage budget problem from hell. I'm no fan what so ever but at least he had the balls to take job under the circumstances given to him.

yeah, **** all to do with the fact that we're playing one of the best teams in the world like