Wes

Just someone pretending to be the ITK who used to be here and is now at H&V. Just after some attention and I'm not going to give it to him.

Overreacting a touch I think. McLaren is likely going back to The Netherlands anyway. Vitesse I believe. The only thing this whole episode proves is that the media have been wrong at every turn. They thought Hughes was leaving Fulham to join us straight away, which was wrong. Then they thought McLaren was a shoe in - Lerner didn't want to interview him because of the fans reaction. Now the Martinez issue. My opinion, the board are doing this carefully, exploring all possible options no matter how high or low of a reputation they hold, and that is the right way to be doing things. It's all a symptom of a long summer and the journos having not much else to write about.

My understanding is they haven't named any specific person, just that they have heard the board have someone in mind and it had the potential to cause the kind of shock the Bent signing did in January. They didn't want to name names in case it ruined the deal! With regards to facts, this is my understanding of the situation. Feel free to correct me: - The board contacted a lot of people when the search began. Martinez and McLaren are two confirmed. We can assume there are many more whom we don't know about or some we suspect, but haven't heard any confirmation about (eg. Ancelotti, Moyes) - Villa made contact with Wigan about Martinez 9 days ago but as he and their chairman were on holiday, they have only been able to get back to the Board in the past two days. We will likely find out by early afternoon tomorrow if he will be the guy or not as that's when Dave Whelan wants to know by. - McLaren had an interview scheduled earlier this week but Lerner, after he arrived in the UK, cancelled it reportedly because of the fans negative feeling to his potential appointment and an interview would've been a waste of time.

He posted a tweet saying "Gobsmacked, if true #utv", igniting the idea that there's something big breweing behind the scenes, which corresponds with what some ITKs have been saying - if you believe them.

Calm down. It seems to be just a random guy tweeting, asking what I'm assuming is a local Spanish journalist if Pellegrini would be interested in the job. If you see his earlier tweets he asks Marcotti the same thing but in English.

I disagree. Whelan himself today praised the way Villa have conducted things.

Everyone go outside, look up and see if you can see it. That way we can rule out where he isn't.

The media thought it was Hughes. Then they threw in Ancelotti. Followed by McLaren and Benitez. Now it's Martinez. I wont believe anything until the club release a statement. There's too much smoke and mirrors going on along with journos putting two and two together and getting seven.

Did anyone else listen to Pat Murphy on Five Live? Like I said earlier, didn't sound like Hughes was Lerner's number one choice to me.

I'm not convinced it's going to be Hughes. It's the obvious story right now. I don't think this thing is over yet. Could turn out to be completely wrong by 8pm - I'm still going to be watching the news wires.

A manager the calibre of Ancelotti doesn't come along very often. He's a winner. He's got no current contract. Perhaps most importantly to me he seems fiercly loyal. He didn't deserve to be treated the way Chelsea got rid of him. Maybe even with Wilkins along side him again? I think the feel good atmosphere around Villa would raise astronomically with Ancelotti in charge and that's what this club needs right now. Players have often been quoted as saying they wanted to work under O'Neill and that was one of their reasons for being drawn towards Villa. I very much imagine the same could be set about Ancelotti. To me he is the stand out candidate amongst a very good field. I would not be disappointed in the slightest in landing a Moyes or a Hughes.

What a perfect set of results! One goal netted us £3.75million. Oh I shall enjoy this the whole summer long.

That is some horrific defending. Absolutely dreadful.

I'm so sick of Collins trying long balls.

Guess we're not going to know for sure until the first 5 minutes.

This is the most important question of the afternoon.

ESPN: Bent agrees personal terms with Villa

HESKEY!!!

On Radio Five Live, just before the show finished (10:28ish), Pat Murphy came back on to say the Houllier deal was all but confirmed. He's with the French national team in Sarajevo at the moment but will be back in France on Wednesday to get out of his contract with them. So it'll either be Wednesday or Thursday when its finalised. Something along those lines anyhow. There was no mention of who would be the coach under him (as i recall). Have to listen again on the iPlayer when it's up.

On Radio Five Live they just said Aston Villa will release a statement regarding the manager position within the next hour.

A smaller wage bill and remaining in the Europa League spots.

If we could get Jol then he would be my choice but that's unlikely (unless they don't qualify for the Champions League maybe). Pickings are slim at the moment. Hitzfeld would be fantastic but is he a realistic target? Bilic or Bradley maybe.

The club stand by MONs interpretations of events. In that case so will I. £24m would be fine. I think they have to accept it now, just because there is no longer a relationship between player and manager.

I agree with everything you say. I would also add I would hope the majority of the money is spent on younger players rather than players who only had a few years left.

Hmm the Sessegnon and Flamini links make some sense (if true). If the rumoured valuations are correct a combined £15m for both sounds good to me.