MYSTERYMAN

Spot on BOF, even Gazton was sure it was OGS....He also still thought it would be him when the papers were saying he is staying at Molde because he didn't want to move his family. So something must have been said to all these ITK's to make them sure he was coming to Villa. If I may fight my corner for a moment.. Personally, I hate the term "ITK". I don't claim to be "in the know". What I can say, with confidence, is that I hear stories from someone very much at the heart of AVFC. When this person tells me something, I make a very conscious decision to remove the emotion from what this person is telling me and then, if appropriate, report as much fact as possible to VT. My history of these kinds of stories is, if I may say so, pretty strong. I don't remember exactly how much I've told VT but this person was spot on about the timing of Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland signing for AVFC. He was spot on, so I said "Welcome Richard", and he was also spot on about the delay to RD signing on deadline day. When all around us were wringing their hands about the registration forms being delayed, he was absolutely confident that it was done on time and that was borne out. With the Stephen Ireland deal, I told VT "Welcome Stephen" when it was complete and confirmed hours before it was made official. I was confident enough to do this because he rang me and physically put SI on the phone to me. With all the upheaval of Gerard Houllier, I was privy to a lot of the internal strife. I took as much of the emotion out of it as possible and report back. Any emotion I added in was my own, and I was feeling a lot of different emotions about the whole Houllier situation. With Darren Bent's signing, I heard about it after MYSTERYMAN (I think) but there are 2 people on this board who I met for a pint and to watch a match on TV. Tony and Paul will vouch for me, they knew about DB signing before it was even a sniff of a news story. As for OGS, I was told that it was done. My source (another phrase I hate) had been told it was done. For me to come on here and say "Welcome Ole" wasn't a tough decision given the track record of this guy's information. For one reason or another, it didn't work out. I don't yet know why, I will hopefully find out eventually what happened. If it's appropriate, I'll pass on that information too. There's been many times I have heard news and chosen not to tell VT about it. We don't need to know it, and putting it into the public domain would do a lot more harm than good. It would also lead a very definite trail back to the source of the information, so I keep it to myself. That will continue, as will any bits of relevant news that I pass on. Am I embarrassed about being wrong? Not in the slightest. I give info on here in good faith. What anybody does after that info, or how they choose to bet their money based on what some bloke on the internet says, is up to them. If people don't want to believe me, that's their right. I absolutely accept that "some bloke on the internet" is more likely to be a spoofer than a genuine conduit of information. Just don't call me a liar, I don't like that I sypathise with you must admit after the AM debacle and me going off from a respected source but not the main one I got slated and to be honest I deserved it . The DB deal was 2 weeks in the making pretty much the same as Charlie Adam who rang Gary Mac asking to come but I didn't post that part of it as I wasn't sure at the time it was right . It was right but as we know Holloway did his job on it and then Liverpool came into the fray . The danger is posting everything you hear Julie B is aware of the same rumour as me about Moyes but the source isn't strong enough for me to commit to posting about it . I also can't see it either :!: The reason we post is we try to tell other Villa fans what we ourselves would want to know and even then you get accused of all sorts . It's a no win but have to say you have been right a lot of the time especially over Ireland

Your right don't know anymore than I did last week and that wasn't a fat lot either just posted what I know is correct

Unfuckinbelievable 4th time don't think she will let me go again . 9 Villa lads toasting Rotterdam at J Lo after party it don't get much better

Cheers for the info as always MM. From what you know, or have seen, would you say that the board are acting confidently and the lack of info available is because things are actually going to plan, or would you say the lack of info is more due to them struggling to line up their targets? What I know for Fact is they have a Main Target and then least 2 options . McCarthy was never an option or contacted :!: They have already interviewed people behind closed doors :!: . They thought with OGS that it was part of the process and wanted it low key but the plane stopped that and that made it look as if there was far more to it other than him being an option . The part not clarified was if he was the main target ( I now don't think he was ) I wanted him but then again I wanted Hoddle aswell and that wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular . They are still adamant they will get the right man and understand why WE are concerned after the AM debacle . I am being told to expect twists and turns and the unexpected whatever that means :?:

Just back from Vegas Gabby in same hotel some of the lads asked him who he thought it would be and he replied with Poyet . We asked based on what he said just a hunch thinking it wouldn't be one of the mainstream . He said I know I havent had a great season ( Understatement ) but said just want someone to come in who will play to benefit the strikers . In a nutshell players don't know because GG saying Grayson to people and Bent saying Lambert , thing is none of us know :!:

And you know that's the offer made to OGS how exactly ? Surely if that was the offer he would have immediately said he wasn't interested, when in fact after the "informal meeting" he seemed to send out positive messages about wanting the job. Something else happene to change his mind, none of us know what, but I suspect it wasn't at the Villa end. He was never made an offer :!: Impressed with him but not enough to take it any further but was a Good back up option . I admit I wanted him and haven't a clue as I have said before who the other candidates they have seen :!: are . My take on it is : Outstanding candidates Martinez not sure we would go through the fiasco again and he is meeting Liverpool in Boston today but YES Lambert YES would have him but is he too much like Martin ONeil ? for Board to go down that route Options Rogers has already turned down Liverpool so won’t come to us Poyet Possible with experienced coach ? Quite like him Di Matteo can’t argue he has won things but is he billy big time ? didn’t exactly do wonders at WBA but wouldn’t rule him out . The kudos is good about him but nagging doubt was he already had the infrastructure there Ian Holloway fits the bill good eye for a bargain but is he too Barry Fry and his comments last season about Villa ruled him out Then the outsiders Kevin Mac proved in his last spell he wasn’t up to it coaching the first team and would be Another Terry Connor Grayson preparing for a play off game didn’t cut it in the championship , fans would be up in arms Zola with Steve Clarke ? Uninspiring and aint sure Hoddle my choice but been out of work too long ? Southgate safe pair of hands but again hardly likely to be vibrant for the club Lee Clarke see Zola comments Uninspiring and aint sure Chris Hughton good manager and proven but would we go down that route again from the dark side Rank outsiders David Moyes Perfect choice but hardly likely to leave Everton for Villa unless we have said we will spend heavily Rannerri past his sell by date and flitting in and out . Check book Manager Bilbao Manager like him a lot but destined I think for bigger things than Villa Bob Bradley wasn’t considered before why now ? Nigel Adkins done a great job at Soton can’t see him leaving Ones we don’t know about ? Foreign Managers who are young / vibrant doing it in their leagues ? Guy just left Lazio as an example don’t know enough about them to give an opinion on it . Do you know if the club/PF/RL knows how frustated fans are with The Search and total lack of communication from the club to the fans? Yes but they have nothing to say until there is anything to say for definate . I am as frustrated as everyone else and wanted OGS but it was never confirmed he was Number 1 choice and lets be honest I suppose if he was the main target they would have offered him the job . They didn't and thats been said from OGS side so my take is the Number 1 target is still out there . The worry is MM that according to Kendrick (the most ITK) they haven't talked to Lambert or Martinez yet. Surely if they were high they would have spoken to them. I am not sure they have approached their No.1 yet. If not why not? etc Maybe they have :?: as OGS was supposed to go under the radar from both ends but we leaked it ! I really haven't a clue maybe it's Martinez but Liverpool scuppered it and they are waiting to hear if he will take that job before we go to option 2 . That's guess work by the way because as I say I haven't a clue they have in mind other than they are adamant about the ideal identkit of manager they want .

And you know that's the offer made to OGS how exactly ? Surely if that was the offer he would have immediately said he wasn't interested, when in fact after the "informal meeting" he seemed to send out positive messages about wanting the job. Something else happene to change his mind, none of us know what, but I suspect it wasn't at the Villa end. He was never made an offer :!: Impressed with him but not enough to take it any further but was a Good back up option . I admit I wanted him and haven't a clue as I have said before who the other candidates they have seen :!: are . My take on it is : Outstanding candidates Martinez not sure we would go through the fiasco again and he is meeting Liverpool in Boston today but YES Lambert YES would have him but is he too much like Martin ONeil ? for Board to go down that route Options Rogers has already turned down Liverpool so won’t come to us Poyet Possible with experienced coach ? Quite like him Di Matteo can’t argue he has won things but is he billy big time ? didn’t exactly do wonders at WBA but wouldn’t rule him out . The kudos is good about him but nagging doubt was he already had the infrastructure there Ian Holloway fits the bill good eye for a bargain but is he too Barry Fry and his comments last season about Villa ruled him out Then the outsiders Kevin Mac proved in his last spell he wasn’t up to it coaching the first team and would be Another Terry Connor Grayson preparing for a play off game didn’t cut it in the championship , fans would be up in arms Zola with Steve Clarke ? Uninspiring and aint sure Hoddle my choice but been out of work too long ? Southgate safe pair of hands but again hardly likely to be vibrant for the club Lee Clarke see Zola comments Uninspiring and aint sure Chris Hughton good manager and proven but would we go down that route again from the dark side Rank outsiders David Moyes Perfect choice but hardly likely to leave Everton for Villa unless we have said we will spend heavily Rannerri past his sell by date and flitting in and out . Check book Manager Bilbao Manager like him a lot but destined I think for bigger things than Villa Bob Bradley wasn’t considered before why now ? Nigel Adkins done a great job at Soton can’t see him leaving Ones we don’t know about ? Foreign Managers who are young / vibrant doing it in their leagues ? Guy just left Lazio as an example don’t know enough about them to give an opinion on it . Do you know if the club/PF/RL knows how frustated fans are with The Search and total lack of communication from the club to the fans? Yes but they have nothing to say until there is anything to say for definate . I am as frustrated as everyone else and wanted OGS but it was never confirmed he was Number 1 choice and lets be honest I suppose if he was the main target they would have offered him the job . They didn't and thats been said from OGS side so my take is the Number 1 target is still out there . The worry is MM that according to Kendrick (the most ITK) they haven't talked to Lambert or Martinez yet. Surely if they were high they would have spoken to them. I am not sure they have approached their No.1 yet. If not why not? etc Maybe they have :?: as OGS was supposed to go under the radar from both ends but we leaked it ! I really haven't a clue maybe it's Martinez but Liverpool scuppered it and they are waiting to hear if he will take that job before we go to option 2 . That's guess work by the way because as I say I haven't a clue they have in mind other than they are adamant about the ideal identkit of manager they want .

And you know that's the offer made to OGS how exactly ? Surely if that was the offer he would have immediately said he wasn't interested, when in fact after the "informal meeting" he seemed to send out positive messages about wanting the job. Something else happene to change his mind, none of us know what, but I suspect it wasn't at the Villa end. He was never made an offer :!: Impressed with him but not enough to take it any further but was a Good back up option . I admit I wanted him and haven't a clue as I have said before who the other candidates they have seen :!: are . My take on it is : Outstanding candidates Martinez not sure we would go through the fiasco again and he is meeting Liverpool in Boston today but YES Lambert YES would have him but is he too much like Martin ONeil ? for Board to go down that route Options Rogers has already turned down Liverpool so won’t come to us Poyet Possible with experienced coach ? Quite like him Di Matteo can’t argue he has won things but is he billy big time ? didn’t exactly do wonders at WBA but wouldn’t rule him out . The kudos is good about him but nagging doubt was he already had the infrastructure there Ian Holloway fits the bill good eye for a bargain but is he too Barry Fry and his comments last season about Villa ruled him out Then the outsiders Kevin Mac proved in his last spell he wasn’t up to it coaching the first team and would be Another Terry Connor Grayson preparing for a play off game didn’t cut it in the championship , fans would be up in arms Zola with Steve Clarke ? Uninspiring and aint sure Hoddle my choice but been out of work too long ? Southgate safe pair of hands but again hardly likely to be vibrant for the club Lee Clarke see Zola comments Uninspiring and aint sure Chris Hughton good manager and proven but would we go down that route again from the dark side Rank outsiders David Moyes Perfect choice but hardly likely to leave Everton for Villa unless we have said we will spend heavily Rannerri past his sell by date and flitting in and out . Check book Manager Bilbao Manager like him a lot but destined I think for bigger things than Villa Bob Bradley wasn’t considered before why now ? Nigel Adkins done a great job at Soton can’t see him leaving Ones we don’t know about ? Foreign Managers who are young / vibrant doing it in their leagues ? Guy just left Lazio as an example don’t know enough about them to give an opinion on it . Do you know if the club/PF/RL knows how frustated fans are with The Search and total lack of communication from the club to the fans? Yes but they have nothing to say until there is anything to say for definate . I am as frustrated as everyone else and wanted OGS but it was never confirmed he was Number 1 choice and lets be honest I suppose if he was the main target they would have offered him the job . They didn't and thats been said from OGS side so my take is the Number 1 target is still out there .

I would have had Hughes last season but RL wasn't interested too much baggage think that was down to his agent . Also think Jol would have been good aswell . As for AVB discounted him but maybe he is under consideration

And you know that's the offer made to OGS how exactly ? Surely if that was the offer he would have immediately said he wasn't interested, when in fact after the "informal meeting" he seemed to send out positive messages about wanting the job. Something else happene to change his mind, none of us know what, but I suspect it wasn't at the Villa end. He was never made an offer :!: Impressed with him but not enough to take it any further but was a Good back up option . I admit I wanted him and haven't a clue as I have said before who the other candidates they have seen :!: are . My take on it is : Outstanding candidates Martinez not sure we would go through the fiasco again and he is meeting Liverpool in Boston today but YES Lambert YES would have him but is he too much like Martin ONeil ? for Board to go down that route Options Rogers has already turned down Liverpool so won’t come to us Poyet Possible with experienced coach ? Quite like him Di Matteo can’t argue he has won things but is he billy big time ? didn’t exactly do wonders at WBA but wouldn’t rule him out . The kudos is good about him but nagging doubt was he already had the infrastructure there Ian Holloway fits the bill good eye for a bargain but is he too Barry Fry and his comments last season about Villa ruled him out Then the outsiders Kevin Mac proved in his last spell he wasn’t up to it coaching the first team and would be Another Terry Connor Grayson preparing for a play off game didn’t cut it in the championship , fans would be up in arms Zola with Steve Clarke ? Uninspiring and aint sure Hoddle my choice but been out of work too long ? Southgate safe pair of hands but again hardly likely to be vibrant for the club Lee Clarke see Zola comments Uninspiring and aint sure Chris Hughton good manager and proven but would we go down that route again from the dark side Rank outsiders David Moyes Perfect choice but hardly likely to leave Everton for Villa unless we have said we will spend heavily Rannerri past his sell by date and flitting in and out . Check book Manager Bilbao Manager like him a lot but destined I think for bigger things than Villa Bob Bradley wasn’t considered before why now ? Nigel Adkins done a great job at Soton can’t see him leaving Ones we don’t know about ? Foreign Managers who are young / vibrant doing it in their leagues ? Guy just left Lazio as an example don’t know enough about them to give an opinion on it .

Cheers MM... Mat reckoned OGS is in P'OLE position for the job earlier on via a tweet on his day off. Without doubt out of all the journalists he is more ITK than any of them and more trusted since MON left :!: I am waiting for him to confirm about others no longer in the running

Nothing to report lots of mixed messages outside of VP about what is going on . My understanding same as Saturday is they are still in the interview procedure and its 3 in the process with others who have thrown their hat in the ring via agents . Think Matt Kendrick is probably as ITK as anyone at the moment outside of the inner sanctum

who cares about TM? It's guys like him who get inside info, not saying I agree just quoting. Think we should have a poll to see how much money has been put on OGS He is big mates with Sid obviously but neither are in the know on this . I know most of the old players don't think OGS is the man for the job but still is for me . The training ground seems to think its going to be Lambert but don't think they know either

:?: News to me

Maybe MM does know but doesn't want to cause the furore that Trees did! Any thoughts on who the ITK that was "spot on" mentioned? I said I didn't know who we were speaking to but I know RDM is interested :!: but didn't say Villa were interested in him or planning to speak to hm .

This is a Former Villa players take on 2 of the candiates : Not sure if Solskjaer has enough experience to take on the job even though he has done a good job in Norway with Molde. I hear he was well supported financially there which helps big time plus I’m not sure that it is a great level of football over there. If he gets the job then you’ve got to support him, he can’t do any worse than A M, having said that if he doesn’t succeed it could mean relegation, heaven forbid. Di Matteo I hear was not liked by the players at West Brom came across as Billy big time. He won the two cups at Chelsea by playing defensive and riding his luck in both games with Barcelona and Bayern. You don’t get that sort of luck in the Prem for 38 games. Time will tell I suppose, we wait with baited breath.

MYSTERYMAN, I know you don't want to say too much....BUT please for my sanity tell me that one of those 3 IS NOT Di Matteo..... No I don't know who they are talking to other than Bruce and McCarthy were never ever considered :!: I didn't know about OGS until Trees was spot on then had it confirmed . They are well aware of his popularity but won't knee jerk a decision and are adamant that they want to interview others and won't make any statement on OGS until that has been complete . They like the fact the press are making wild guesses and its keeping cover for them allowing then to fly under the radar RDM is interested in the Villa job there is a poster on here who won't come out but he is spot on with his ITK but not sure if Villa favour him or not . I am not convinced they do , personally . I also think Matt Kendrick is probably more ITK than the rest of the Journalists , Lambert is not liked by the National lot apparently difficult to deal with .

Was at VP yesterday for Sunday lunch noticed Norwegian TV filming there not sure that means he is coming or not . I think by Friday we should know who it is and it's out of 3 people the positive thing is I think the fans will give whoever time and a chance without the pressure of being top 6 . Following ONeil was always going to be difficult 6th and less cash with a tired squad then season after arguably our 2 best players leave it was even worse ? Then we stay up by the skin of our pants god awful football same old rocket polishers playing up so new bloke can come in clear the dead wood out build a platform . We only need to finish mid table and be a bit more positive and it will bed him for a challenge season after . Whilst it's frustrating because we want somebody in now and I would ike OGS I think it's right that they take their time interview the candidates and make sure we do get the right person this time .

That is 100 percent correct but I never professed to know who it was other than target plus 2 options very good options . Villa thought that OGS was going under the radar and didnt expect it to get out . There is no panic from there end just part of the process , well aware of the feeling on OGS think Mail doing decent job on that . But their logic is Villa fans might be happy with Option 2 and 3 they just don't know them. NOR DO I :!:

I don't know but he fits the profile for them and the fans the club . Ticks majority of boxes and what I would say is if it's not him then whoever gets it will have to be and they know it same profile . Some who are throwing hat in the ring aint that profile , some are but who don't know :!:

Nope :!: I didn't know about Ole until Trees wasv on the money then had it confirmed . But similar profiles of the other 2 to OLE . Did you read the villa website as well? Nope just got in . News ruined my balti :!: Do you know who the other 2 are??

:!:

In a nutshell ! I wanted OLE but another couple of twists don't rule out Di Matteo as one poster has told me

Did you read the villa website as well? Nope just got in . News ruined my balti :!:

Sorry far from happening option yes but 2 others in frame :!: No appointment imminent :!: