villabromsgrove

Actually, if it was his family who decided they would stay in Norway, isn't it his family who can decide that actually they'd be quite happy to move back to England? OGS doesn't need to change his mind at all...... The strange thing about playing the family card was the fact that OGS had previously said that his kids were so anglicised that they didn't want to go skiing, instead they just wanted to go back to the UK at every opportunity.

In order to make the right appointment we have to firstly have the right package to offer the right target. That takes ambition and I'm not sure Randy is prepared to put enough into the package to make it a deal clincher. Secondly we have to be in the face of our prime target! No more MR. Nice guy. Kick arse, squeeze bollocks, rattle cages .... do whatever it takes to get the right man. It's not difficult to do, unless you're the archetypical "Gentleman" with a poodle for a sidekick.

Problem with Ranieri is that he is now a serial failure on the managerial merry-go-round.

Spot on. We need to get in first for once, because we've got a hell of a lot to do.

Me neither. It would be a little on the underwhelming side. I'd be gobsmacked! Vibrant? Inspirational? Reinvigorating? Surely not.

I'm glad we got rid of the Heskey twins. That's saved us 120 grand a week!

It wouldn't take much of a football brain to realise that you can't come in and play McLeish type football and get away with it! Also if you wan't to play like Stoke, then the Villa midfield and strike force would all need replacing, therefore whoever comes in is likely to coach a passing game. If it were Martinez .... a fairly risky high tempo passing style with three at the back and full backs getting forward. Plenty of goal attempts and few clean sheets. Rodgers .... a patient passing game with loads of short possession balls (back and sideways as well as angled forward balls). A willingness to press the opposition to win back the ball quickly. Could work well with two good strikers. Di Matteo .... a well organised (low scoring) patient style which may alter week on week depending on opponents. Poyet .... plenty of possession and "caring for the ball," but defensively dodgy. Lambert .... high tempo never say die football, where the opposition is never allowed to rest even in their own half. Wide men getting forward, plenty of attempted crosses, but also a willingness to try and play a bit of football when the team gets on top. Few clean sheets with this "lets score more than they do" philosophy. That's my reading of what may lie in store for Villa fans next season.

That would've made sense last year, or if we'd sacked McLeish mid-season. But now is surely not the time to be making another potentially short-term appointment. Most of the worst contracts have run down now. 1 more year of Warnock, Collins, Dunne is all that's really left of the overpaid MON squad. It's very likely that our defence next season will still be Hutton, Collins, Dunne and Warnock. If that's the case then we probably need a disciplinarian like Lambert to kick their collective backsides when some of them try to run the club for their own benefit. He wouldn't be my first or even second choice because I would love to see a Martinez/Rodgers football revolution begin to take shape at Villa, but I'm realistic enough to settle for a more pragmatic change. Lambert would quickly improve Villa while ruthlessly controlling the possible trouble makers.

RL/PF know that Lambert is a good manager, so the delay in approaching him indicates to me that they are a little bit worried about working with him. Anyone else think that this may be true?

Did Jack help you write this?

I have a lot of respect for KMac as a person and as a coach. I've watched loads of reserve games and the guy is very good at what he does. His reaction to media questions last summer about whether he wanted to be Villa manager tell you everything you need to know about KMac. He would find the stress and long hours too much for him over an extended period of time. I hope he stays at Villa for many more years, but not as manager. He doesn't have the mental toughness and sheer ruthless dedication to stay on top of things 24/7.

Having worked in education it's my experience that Asian parents have high aspirations for their children. They expect them to excel, which may explain why Asian youth look to support teams which excel such as Man U. Villa are currently an unpopular subject on the curriculum.

Dave Whelan is doing what he's best at, looking after the interests of Wigan FC. Staying in the Premiership is worth at least 50 million a year to Wigan, and DW is desperately trying to piss people off so they'll go away and leave Martinez alone. He probably knows that he's fighting a losing battle this time, but you can't blame the mouthy old b*gger for trying.

Good post!

My word for today is "waiting." Randy talked to OGS, then b*ggered it up by "waiting." Randy is now "waiting" in hope that Martinez will turn down L'pool, but "waiting" probably means that if he doesn't go to L'pool he'll announce that he's staying to finish his project at Wigan. Randy is "waiting" to see if Di Matteo is offered the Chelsea job, mistakenly thinking that because Chelsea won the big one RDM is now a big name. Randy is "waiting" to see how fans react to the rumour of giving the job to KMac (that should be a short wait) before reluctantly approaching a candidate that both he and Paul Faulkner are a little bit afraid of .... Paul Lambert! The above is all "in my opinion" of course, and I'm "waiting" with no real hope or expectation that RL/PF know exactly what they are able to achieve at this moment in time.

Benitez still has a network of "scouts" reporting back to him on a regular basis. He analyses euro football on a daily basis from home near Liverpool, and has an up to date and encyclopaedic knowledge of all things football related. A guy like Benitez could still add value to a club that was prepared to back him with a large wages and transfer budget. That means that he's currently not a good fit for Villa, unless Randy is about to do a huge and unexpected U turn.

If I was Randy at this moment in time, I would be urgently putting together a compelling financial package of wages and squad investment with which to attract Paul Lambert. PL is not my first choice, but with OGS out of the frame, RM looking unobtainable, and Brendan Rodgers verbally committing his future to his "Swansea project," PL would seem to be the only one of the young and hungry brigade left. If Randy doesn't move swiftly then how long before PL saves face by fully committing in the press to his "Norwich project?" If Lambert isn't wanted by RL then that would leave Poyet then very risky "young and hungry" managers from european leagues, with all the potential of coming in and doing a "Juande Ramos."

If Martinez is offered the L'pool job he will take imo. The chance of a top job would be too good to turn down, and what's the worst that can happen. He could fail and do a "Hodgson" and get sacked because of fan and senior player power, collect hefty compensation and still get on with the rest of his career. The media probably wouldn't blame RM, they would blame L'pool. Villa is a tougher job for RM imo. One year at AVFC has destroyed whatever remaining reputation AM arrived with, and Houllier's reputation was sinking fast until ill heath intervened. In order to leave Villa for a club the size of L'pool in the future RM would have to bring success to Villa, and that is a very big ask at the moment.

The time to have done that was last friday evening. The fact that Randy did not do it means one of two things. Either, (1) that he had already lined up other impressive candidates and he was confident that he could do better than OGS, or (2) he was indecisive. I hope it was (1), but his track record would suggest (2).

Wasn't Benitez too defensive in the Premier league matches for L'pool, and more adventurous in his tactics when it came to playing the continental teams in the CL?

Villa fans never fail to disappoint .... Carlos is only expressing his personal view about a lack of communication and consideration .... cue personal abuse! Good luck Carlos, you are one of the guys.

What happened to the vibrant, inspirational, reinvigorating stuff? Benitez has his good points and may or may not be a potential target, but unless my memory of his Liverpool days is faulty he fits none of the above criteria. Can't see him being considered against a background of cost cutting etc. etc.

Do you think he might accidentally refer to Randy's ethnic origins a few times, and call PF a ginger tosser by mistake? Don't worry I'm sure his mate Suarez will advise him on how to make friends by saying all the right things. He'll go to shake Faulkners hand then pull out Joking aside I think Poyet's an interesting shout, but he does have a temper that RL/PF will be aware of.

Do you think he might accidentally refer to Randy's ethnic origins a few times, and call PF a ginger tosser by mistake? Don't worry I'm sure his mate Suarez will advise him on how to make friends by saying all the right things.

AVB is a 100% no from me. AVB would definitely not want the job, and RL couldn't afford the kind of package to try and change his mind. I also think that AVB genuinely didn't understand the Premiership from the top end, and would be even more clueless about starting from scratch at the wrong end of the Prem.