Alec

It's his unavailability before July 1st that has me thinking it won't be Hughes now. Villa will need to have somebody at work before then - in terms of pre-season preparation, player contract issues and the need to quell what will sure to be a rising level of anxiety and discontent among a fanbase they desperately need to be renewing/purchasing season tickets this month. It's possible that Fulham made such a clear point about Hughes - or even his representatives - being unable to have any connection with a prospective club before July 1st in order to obtain a measure of financial compensation should anyone be that keen to get him started sooner. And even as an acknowledged fan of Mark Hughes, I'm not sure that he would necessarily merit either the wait or the extra expenditure when other options are available with fewer complications. My feeling is that we will have an appointment by this time next week - but who it will be I really couldn't predict as things stand.

Ancelotti is the complete opposite end of the spectrum to Ramos who couldn't speak English and refused to learn. That was never going to work out at Spurs. I agree with some of your reservations and think it's impossible to judge how he would handle the step down, as it were, to our level and the group of players we currently have. I have a feeling he would know where to start looking for improvements though, regardless of whether he has an enormous transfer warchest to use. And, like you say, if Wilkins was part of the deal that would be even better.

Neil Moxley in the Mail is also saying Hughes' 'antics' have 'upset' Villa, echoing a couple of other reports. I have no idea if this is true but I cannot understand why our board would be bothered one way or another - he has exercised a right in his contract, a contract that was drawn up and agreed by Fulham. Both parties were clearly aware at the time the contract was signed that there was a provision for Hughes to depart after June 1st if he so desired. I have some sympathy for Fulham supporters given they face a second summer searching for a new manager just like ourselves, but Hughes hasn't done anything wrong here and shouldn't be judged as having done so by Mr. Lerner. If that is actually the case, which I'm highly skeptical of. Very interesting times.

If he's picking up another two seasons' worth of wages from Chelsea - don't forget when you sack somebody you have to pay up the full terms of the contract - he would technically still be earning £5m a year even if we paid him nothing. Admittedly, money talks in this game and I'm sure he will be expecting a high salary but he may be more flexible than simply holding out for the same money he was being paid by Abramovich.

The thing with Wilkins at Chelsea is he was an ex player and had been at the club for a long time and had an affiliation to the club ... in that regard IF we went the Ancelotti route we'd be better with Cowans or Kev Mc as his number 2 Whilst I don't doubt Wilkins' affinity for Chelsea, I think as a professional he would be just as effective anywhere he was employed in such a role. I think he has a little more presence than Cowans, who seems happy to remain in the no. 3 slot (at least as far as I can tell), and was invaluable to Ancelotti in terms of relaying his methods and advice to the players, both young and experienced. I can see why players speak so highly of him as I met him myself way back when he was manager of QPR (had a decent team at the time with Les Ferdinand and Trevor Sinclair) and is one of the most personable, well-mannered people in the game.

are you for real? look at the dates, £128.5 million spent IN THE FIRST SEASON OF HUGHES AT MAN CITY, NOT THE 2ND WHICH YOU KEEP WRONGLY REPEATING just for you, because it seems blatently clear you are desperate for a meh manager such as hughes, to the point you are making things up to use as facts. lets go through the 2ND YEAR OF TRANSFERS hold tight, here we go, now dont forget, THIS IS YEAR 2. Roque Santa Cruz Blackburn £17,500,000 01 Jul, 2009 Gareth Barry Aston Villa £12,000,000 01 Jul, 2009 Stuart Taylor Aston Villa Free 01 Jul, 2009 Carlos Tevez Man Utd Signed 14 Jul, 2009 £30 million Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal £25,000,000 19 Jul, 2009 Kolo Toure Arsenal £16,000,000 29 Jul, 2009 Sylvinho Barcelona Free 24 Aug, 2009 Joleon Lescott Everton £22,000,000 25 Aug, 2009 total £122.5 million NOT £128.5 which is how much he spent in the FIRST year see i can see i made a mistake by UNDER ESTIMATING what money he had spunked away, i said it was £230 million, in actual fact it is £251 million awsome i have already said i will support who ever we get in, until they **** it up, however blindly pretending someone is better than their previous track record suggests and then ignoring or excusing poor performances by them to make him sound better ? really? he is an average manager, nothing so far in his managerial career suggests other wise. it doesnt mean he is shit it means he will be ok. why settle for ok when the conditions at our club our ripe for a top manager for once, to come in and take the reigns? Ok, hands up - we both got some of our numbers wrong. It's still a fairly even split across the two seasons. But the reason we're debating how the money was split at all originated from your statement that he took the team to below where Sven led them AFTER spending £230m which was still a massive distortation of the facts. All I can say is that I believe Mark Hughes is a good manager who will get better. I think he will suit our club and get us competing among the teams chasing the top four and hopefully beyond. I have not provided a revisionist history of his track record - he has improved every club he has managed and I hope that continues here if he is appointed.

The fact of the matter is that he saw the potential in Santa Cruz when he was struggling in the Bundesliga and snapped him up for £3.5m, allowing Blackburn to sell him for £18m a year later. Signed David Bentley for £500,000 - sold him for £16m. And one can only imagine what profit Blackburn will make on Christopher Samba this summer having signed him for £400,000, not to mention the increase valuations you would now find on the likes of Zabaleta and Kompany at City. As we've said before though, there's not much point debating profit margins on player turnover at Man City when they are happy to pay the wages of players (Santa Cruz, Bellamy, Onouha etc.) who they send out to other clubs rather than selling them to rivals. And your argument about finishing beneath Sven having spent £230m looks somewhat different in light of the fact that the majority of it was spent after that season ended and the Abu Dhabi consortium had taken over from Shinawatra. After the money was spent largely during the summer of 2009 - and some of it clearly went on players targetted by the board such as Robinho - he had them higher in the league at the time of his departure than Sven had them at any point. ? hughes worked his way through £128.5 million in his first season, Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 02 Jul, 2008 Tal Ben-Haim Chelsea Signed 30 Jul, 2008 £5,000,000 Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 22 Aug, 2008 Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 28 Aug, 2008 Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free 31 Aug, 2008 Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol Signed 31 Aug, 2008 £7,000,000 Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 01 Sep, 2008 Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 03 Jan, 2009 Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 19 Jan, 2009 Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 3 years later lets see what the players sold for or are doing for the club Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAROF CONTRACT LEFT Tal Ben-Haim £5,000,000 SOLD... FREE TRANSFER Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYS Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAR LEFT ON CONTRACT Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free SOLD FREE TRANSFER Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYED 1/2 THE GAMES LAST SEASON Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 SOLD 14 MILLION..OOOOFFF. Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 STILL AT CLUB? DOESNT PLAY WILL LEAVE FOR NOTHING THIS SUMMER Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB, PLAYS Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY awsome As outlined repeatedly now, selling for profit is completely irrelevant as far as City are concerned which is why I stressed the profits made from aquisitions at Blackburn in response to your statement that he supposedly fails to do this. If you're asking me if I think all of the above signings were good then I'd have to say no - in so far as Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tal Ben-Haim and Wayne Bridge have generally all been poor since going there. The others, however, have either proven to be very good signings or at the very least performed well under his management at the club. Robinho is the obvious exception to all of the above in that I think it's widely accepted that this was a purchase made by the board and the manager had very little to do with it. And that still leaves virtually half of the stated £230m which was then spent in one go during the summer of 2009. his buying and selling of players is part of his managerial history, just because you chose to ignore it, doesnt mean it didnt happen. £230 million -£128.5 million is not the "majority" his deals with blackburn included some good ones and some shit ones, he certainly did not make himself a reputation for finding good players cheaply. he picked up santa cruz for decent money, £3.8 million. cruz was a decent forward who got injured at bayer, was then used out on the wing ( like gabby) so scored less goals , he still had a ratio of 31 goals in 82 games for one of the top clubs in germany, so hardly an unknown player and bayer signed him for the same amount in 1999 so they already scouted him and signed him and developed him. our are we proclaiming DOL as a great manager as well? his record compaires favourably to hughes and they also have had the same sort of circumstances when it comes to a team with loads of money and then teams with less money. Given that I've attempted to look at ALL of the business he's conducted, I'm obviously not the one choosing to ignore anything. Santa Cruz scored 31 in 155 games, not 82 games, and was percieved to be washed up at the time (admittedly he was plagued by injury at Bayern). That he enjoyed such a revival at Blackburn should tell you a lot about Hughes' ability to work with players and get the best from them, especially forwards. £128m is more than half of £230m so, technically, yes it is the majority. The fact that it was also spent in six months compared to the previous £100m being spent over a year also weights the figure toward his last few months with the club. And what the hell has David O'Leary got to do with anything other than an attempt to tarnish an otherwise well-respected manager with one that has been ostracised from the Premier League since we sacked him? Don't remember anyone parting company under such acrimonious circumstances from any club as O'Leary - and certainly not Mark Hughes. ? weird because you proclaimed hughes spent the majority of the money in his second seasson, i prove he didnt and you then carry on pretending the £128.5 was spent the second season? weird? you put santa cruz 1 year of good football purely down to hughes? DOL is awsome after all then, getting laursen and bouma and solano, not forgetting milner. If you could see past your anti-Hughes rhetoric and allow for a couple of seconds of clarity, you will find that what I prclaimed was true - £128.5m was spent in his second season. He was only there 18 months - he spent just over £100m during the summer of 2008 and the transfer window in January 2009. The remainder was spent during his second - and last - summer with club. And, yes, I think you can give Hughes a lot of credit for getting Santa Cruz playing the best football of his career under his management. He's not matched that level of form before or since. O'Leary, on the other hand, got next to no game time from Laursen as he was injured, playing only one Premier League match during the 2005-2006 season (O'Leary's last). Bouma was absolutely shocking under O'Leary and only started to find form halfway into O'Neill's first season at the club. But, yeah, Milner played well during his first spell here. Not sure what any of that has to do with Mark Hughes though.

The fact of the matter is that he saw the potential in Santa Cruz when he was struggling in the Bundesliga and snapped him up for £3.5m, allowing Blackburn to sell him for £18m a year later. Signed David Bentley for £500,000 - sold him for £16m. And one can only imagine what profit Blackburn will make on Christopher Samba this summer having signed him for £400,000, not to mention the increase valuations you would now find on the likes of Zabaleta and Kompany at City. As we've said before though, there's not much point debating profit margins on player turnover at Man City when they are happy to pay the wages of players (Santa Cruz, Bellamy, Onouha etc.) who they send out to other clubs rather than selling them to rivals. And your argument about finishing beneath Sven having spent £230m looks somewhat different in light of the fact that the majority of it was spent after that season ended and the Abu Dhabi consortium had taken over from Shinawatra. After the money was spent largely during the summer of 2009 - and some of it clearly went on players targetted by the board such as Robinho - he had them higher in the league at the time of his departure than Sven had them at any point. ? hughes worked his way through £128.5 million in his first season, Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 02 Jul, 2008 Tal Ben-Haim Chelsea Signed 30 Jul, 2008 £5,000,000 Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 22 Aug, 2008 Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 28 Aug, 2008 Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free 31 Aug, 2008 Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol Signed 31 Aug, 2008 £7,000,000 Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 01 Sep, 2008 Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 03 Jan, 2009 Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 19 Jan, 2009 Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 3 years later lets see what the players sold for or are doing for the club Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAROF CONTRACT LEFT Tal Ben-Haim £5,000,000 SOLD... FREE TRANSFER Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYS Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAR LEFT ON CONTRACT Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free SOLD FREE TRANSFER Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYED 1/2 THE GAMES LAST SEASON Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 SOLD 14 MILLION..OOOOFFF. Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 STILL AT CLUB? DOESNT PLAY WILL LEAVE FOR NOTHING THIS SUMMER Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB, PLAYS Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY awsome As outlined repeatedly now, selling for profit is completely irrelevant as far as City are concerned which is why I stressed the profits made from aquisitions at Blackburn in response to your statement that he supposedly fails to do this. If you're asking me if I think all of the above signings were good then I'd have to say no - in so far as Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tal Ben-Haim and Wayne Bridge have generally all been poor since going there. The others, however, have either proven to be very good signings or at the very least performed well under his management at the club. Robinho is the obvious exception to all of the above in that I think it's widely accepted that this was a purchase made by the board and the manager had very little to do with it. And that still leaves virtually half of the stated £230m which was then spent in one go during the summer of 2009. his buying and selling of players is part of his managerial history, just because you chose to ignore it, doesnt mean it didnt happen. £230 million -£128.5 million is not the "majority" his deals with blackburn included some good ones and some shit ones, he certainly did not make himself a reputation for finding good players cheaply. he picked up santa cruz for decent money, £3.8 million. cruz was a decent forward who got injured at bayer, was then used out on the wing ( like gabby) so scored less goals , he still had a ratio of 31 goals in 82 games for one of the top clubs in germany, so hardly an unknown player and bayer signed him for the same amount in 1999 so they already scouted him and signed him and developed him. our are we proclaiming DOL as a great manager as well? his record compaires favourably to hughes and they also have had the same sort of circumstances when it comes to a team with loads of money and then teams with less money. Given that I've attempted to look at ALL of the business he's conducted, I'm obviously not the one choosing to ignore anything. Santa Cruz scored 31 in 155 games, not 82 games, and was percieved to be washed up at the time (admittedly he was plagued by injury at Bayern). That he enjoyed such a revival at Blackburn should tell you a lot about Hughes' ability to work with players and get the best from them, especially forwards. £128m is more than half of £230m so, technically, yes it is the majority. The fact that it was also spent in six months compared to the previous £100m being spent over a year also weights the figure toward his last few months with the club. And what the hell has David O'Leary got to do with anything other than an attempt to tarnish an otherwise well-respected manager with one that has been ostracised from the Premier League since we sacked him? Don't remember anyone parting company under such acrimonious circumstances from any club as O'Leary - and certainly not Mark Hughes.

The fact of the matter is that he saw the potential in Santa Cruz when he was struggling in the Bundesliga and snapped him up for £3.5m, allowing Blackburn to sell him for £18m a year later. Signed David Bentley for £500,000 - sold him for £16m. And one can only imagine what profit Blackburn will make on Christopher Samba this summer having signed him for £400,000, not to mention the increase valuations you would now find on the likes of Zabaleta and Kompany at City. As we've said before though, there's not much point debating profit margins on player turnover at Man City when they are happy to pay the wages of players (Santa Cruz, Bellamy, Onouha etc.) who they send out to other clubs rather than selling them to rivals. And your argument about finishing beneath Sven having spent £230m looks somewhat different in light of the fact that the majority of it was spent after that season ended and the Abu Dhabi consortium had taken over from Shinawatra. After the money was spent largely during the summer of 2009 - and some of it clearly went on players targetted by the board such as Robinho - he had them higher in the league at the time of his departure than Sven had them at any point. ? hughes worked his way through £128.5 million in his first season, Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 02 Jul, 2008 Tal Ben-Haim Chelsea Signed 30 Jul, 2008 £5,000,000 Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 22 Aug, 2008 Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 28 Aug, 2008 Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free 31 Aug, 2008 Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol Signed 31 Aug, 2008 £7,000,000 Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 01 Sep, 2008 Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 03 Jan, 2009 Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 19 Jan, 2009 Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 3 years later lets see what the players sold for or are doing for the club Jo CSKA Mosc. £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAROF CONTRACT LEFT Tal Ben-Haim £5,000,000 SOLD... FREE TRANSFER Vincent Kompany Hamburg £6,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYS Shaun Wright-Phillips Chelsea £9,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY 1 YEAR LEFT ON CONTRACT Glauber Berti Nuremberg Free SOLD FREE TRANSFER Pablo Zabaleta Espanyol £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB PLAYED 1/2 THE GAMES LAST SEASON Robinho Real Madrid £32,500,000 SOLD 14 MILLION..OOOOFFF. Wayne Bridge Chelsea £12,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY Craig Bellamy West Ham £14,000,000 STILL AT CLUB? DOESNT PLAY WILL LEAVE FOR NOTHING THIS SUMMER Nigel de Jong Hamburg Signed 21 Jan, 2009 £18,000,000 STILL AT CLUB, PLAYS Shay Given Newcastle Signed 01 Feb, 2009 £7,000,000 STILL AT CLUB DOESNT PLAY awsome As outlined repeatedly now, selling for profit is completely irrelevant as far as City are concerned which is why I stressed the profits made from aquisitions at Blackburn in response to your statement that he supposedly fails to do this. If you're asking me if I think all of the above signings were good then I'd have to say no - in so far as Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tal Ben-Haim and Wayne Bridge have generally all been poor since going there. The others, however, have either proven to be very good signings or at the very least performed well under his management at the club. Robinho is the obvious exception to all of the above in that I think it's widely accepted that this was a purchase made by the board and the manager had very little to do with it. And that still leaves virtually half of the stated £230m which was then spent in one go during the summer of 2009.

This is the Hughes thats about to walk out on Fulham after a season? Love you long term? I said this aswell, jumping ship after one year at Fulham.. what makes people think he'll stay here long term? I think it's fairly evident that Hughes took the Fulham job when no bigger club was hiring in order to stay in the game. He's clearly an ambitious guy - which is why he left Blackburn after three good years for the greater potential offered at Man City. I'm sure he thought that would likely be a long-term project until Sheikh Mansour arrived and changed everything (easy to forget now that he was appointed by Thaksin Shinawatra). The fact that he only signed for an initial year at Fulham was tantamount to him laying his cards on the table that he could still very much see himself at a bigger club with greater resources and if they weren't happy with the terms of a contract that afforded him such latitude they should have looked elsewhere. Just as I remain realistic about the kind of candidates who are beyond our reach, the plain fact is that Fulham are a club that will always struggle to hold on to talented managers who will inevitably move on to bigger clubs. I think he will see Villa as the pivotal managerial role of his career and the one that he ultimately has to succeed in. In all likelihood, it is the biggest remaining job in the Premier League that he will get and we can offer the stature and financial backing that will make him believe that this is where he should be for the long-term.

The fact of the matter is that he saw the potential in Santa Cruz when he was struggling in the Bundesliga and snapped him up for £3.5m, allowing Blackburn to sell him for £18m a year later. Signed David Bentley for £500,000 - sold him for £16m. And one can only imagine what profit Blackburn will make on Christopher Samba this summer having signed him for £400,000, not to mention the increase valuations you would now find on the likes of Zabaleta and Kompany at City. As we've said before though, there's not much point debating profit margins on player turnover at Man City when they are happy to pay the wages of players (Santa Cruz, Bellamy, Onouha etc.) who they send out to other clubs rather than selling them to rivals. And your argument about finishing beneath Sven having spent £230m looks somewhat different in light of the fact that the majority of it was spent after that season ended and the Abu Dhabi consortium had taken over from Shinawatra. After the money was spent largely during the summer of 2009 - and some of it clearly went on players targetted by the board such as Robinho - he had them higher in the league at the time of his departure than Sven had them at any point.

Shaun Wright Phillips, Santa Cruz (second time), Wayne Bridge...... Hughes would be a very, very average appointment and hardly one that would help keep the better players we have at the club. To be honest, other than Darren Bent, the rest of them are all replaceable. And Hughes has a very, very good track record working with centre forwards - who, in turn, seem to like playing for him. Santa Cruz was incredible for him at Blackburn, enjoying the best goalscoring season of his career if I'm not mistaken. Craig Bellamy was so good for him at Man City that he was being talked up as a PFA Player of the Year (09-10) contender at Christmas before Hughes was dismissed. Likewise, Emmanuel Adebayor started very well that same season and looked like the truly world class player he has it in himself to be during that notorious game against Arsenal. Ignoring the pitch-long dash to antagonise their supporters, he absolutely ran the show in that game. Carlos Tevez has been outstanding for every manager he's played under but he has been vocal in his support of Hughes, as evidenced by the warm welcome he extended to him when Fulham visited Eastlands last season, and clearly enjoyed a better relationship with him than he does with Mancini. Bobby Zamora briefly looked substantially better than he'd ever looked in his misfiring career during the first half of last season until he broke his leg last winter. And Clint Dempsey was superb, both alongside Zamora and in his absence, nicking an unlikely amount of goals whilst developing into a very accomplished player. Bottom line, centre forwards seem to love playing under Mark Hughes and they almost uniformly become better players in the process. I predict that Darren Bent will be even better next season if Hughes is in charge - and that is an enticing prospect indeed.

I think we have to accept that Ashley Young is going, period. I could see Downing signing a new contract under the right circumstances but Young knows this is his time to move - he's gone stale here and will know he needs to leave if he is to develop any further. Man Utd are strongly linked and it will be the prospect of playing with better players as much as a better manager that will be key to him improving. The chance to go to Old Trafford will likely not come round again, especially if, as rumours suggest, they will be rebuilding substantially this summer. When Fergie sets about putting a new nucleas together, they tend to remain for a number of seasons. Young won't risk missing that opportunity and he will take it, regardless of who we appoint.

Top post m8, all very true. But surely worth the gamble? Yeah, like I said, definitely worth the gamble if its feasible. I just wonder if he would actually take us further than Hughes, Jol or Benitez, any of whom I'm fairly confident would at least take us back to the top six and are more likely to remain in the post, building something long-term. But its impossible not to warm to Ancelotti and the prospect is exciting. To be honest though, I feel pretty optimistic in general right now and think that we will be in for a much improved season whichever of the candidates is selected (as long as its not Steve McLaren).

Very interesting news regarding Ancelotti (if true) - it would certainly represent a major coup and make for a pretty emphatic statement of intent by the club. However, I have a couple of reservations. Whilst I genuinely like the man and admire his approach, I think it would be almost impossible for anyone to assess from afar exactly what his motivation would be for a job such as this. Undoubtedly it would take a big salary to get him here and the position could offer a very comfortable outlet for him in the wake of his Chelsea dismissal. Any targets set by Mr. Lerner and the board will be in stark contrast to those issued by AC Milan and Chelsea, and the incentive of contesting the major prizes (league titles, the Champions League) will not be on the immediate agenda. There has to be questions as to his ability to impose his methods and style of play on a group of players inferior in technical ability to those he has been used to coaching, and we could find that we are in for another season of transition depending upon how quickly he settles and how many of his own players he is able to recruit. He has, to the best of my knowledge, not been in a position where he has had to actively 'manage' the wage bill as any incoming manager will have to do here and there is still much deadwood to shift. There is, perhaps, something to be said for his adaptability in conforming to the wishes of maniacal owners and chairman (something which he would not have to deal with here thankfully) who have imposed their wishes on player aquisitions and team selection - and always done so in a admirably professional manner. It's a different kind of versatility though and, again, it's very hard to know one way or another how he would ultimately take to working with a more limited squad in need of overhauling. I am also concerned that we would be continually living under the threat of his inevitable departure. He will be linked with every significant vacancy that arises on the continent and there will likely always be a suspicion that he will be tempted by offers from Italy and Spain. We may be used to having top players poached from us but in many ways any unrest that is created by their being unsettled or their subsequent sales is a lot easier to cover than the uncertainty that surrounds a figurehead. Such a situation would make it very difficult to plan beyond a given season. Hence, appointing Ancelotti would signal a desire, if not an absolute need, to obtain tangible success very quickly so that a) he may be convinced that he can take the club on to a bigger stage, or we ensure that the first team is in a much stronger position for any replacement to take charge of. Looking at our current circumstances, that is a very big ask on both counts - and it would arguably take a level of drive from Ancelotti that extends beyond what has previously been required of him. His appointment would certainly create a genuine buzz that most, if not all, of the other candidates wouldn't be able to match, and people outside the club would indeed be forced to take notice - if only for a short time. But I think success - as defined by winning trophies, qualifying for the Champions League and laying a sustainable foundation for future progress - would be far from guaranteed. On balance, his experience as a player and a manager is beyond question and he would bring a heavyweight presence to a club that has often failed to punch its weight. With the right financial backing, the appointment of a sensible no. 2 (such as Ray Wilkins), a good start and bit of all-important luck, the potential with Ancelotti is almost certainly greater than with any of the other contenders and if he is genuinely up for the task then I could see him emulating what Harry Redknapp has done with Spurs in the last three years. As such, he is worth the gamble - but I think people would need to steel themselves for the reality that keeping him may be even more difficult than persuading him to come in the first place, and we could well find ourselves back in this situation again within two years. Interesting times lie ahead.

You know, I genuinely love that rationale. We should do the same for players we want to sign too. Simples.

Who are the 'top' 4 or 5 managers that are gettable? And Fergie won't be going anywhere for quite some time. But if that was what you're worried about, it will be just as true of any manager a Eric Geretss it is a player that makes a name for himself here, as we know only too well. If you're concerned about attracting the attention of clubs who are above us, we may as well not even try to compete at all. (I can't see Hughes at Utd though after managing City - much was written about that at the time he took the job at Eastlands) top managers? ancellotti, rijkaard, deschamps, Louis van Gaal, ranieri to name a few then you have people like hiddink, gerets, jol and even the switz manager hitzfeld and thats without spending much time checking who is wanting out of clubs or contracts or who is a free agent. all are managers who would be good for our club you can argue all day long whether they would come to our club but money talks in most cases nowdays and so does being treated fairly by your employer. a mix of decent pay and treated decently by randy should get us someone of the calibre of the above mentioned. my expectations are high but not unrealistic with the majority of those names Your expectations are indeed high and completely unrealistic. You specifically said 'gettable' and Ranieri and Jol are the only 'gettable' names on that list - and neither would inspire more confidence than Mark Hughes. I like Jol but he only had one really good season at Spurs and the wheels then came off rather drastically. Hughes' overall record is better. Ranieri would almost certainly be a repeat of the Houllier experiment - very nice guy, great technical knowledge, but would likely be found wanting trying to implement his ideas at Villa. I'm also not entirely sure he's got the hunger to start a project of thi size at this stage of his career and having been out of the Premier League for as long as he has now. His re-emergence on Sky and such like as a pundit in recent months seems suspiciously like a plea for someone to give him one last big payday - and that's a road we really don't want to go down. as i said, we could argue all day long about who out of that list of mostly avaliable managers , is gettable, such as you dont think ancellotti is gettable which seems odd as he is available? i have named you more than 4 managers all of whom are not contractually obligated at this present time all of whom are better than hughes, more attractive to top players than hughes and better tactically, experience wise and so on.. than hughes i would even take steven mclaren who i think is a grade 'a' cock, over hughes Not being currently employed does not make somebody automatically 'gettable' for us. You have to assess exactly what we have to offer to those managers and in our present position it is going to be extremely difficult. Ancelotti could be a great appointment - not guaranteed because I, like others have outlined, are dubious that he could take a midtable squad and produce consistent results - but despite what may have been reported, I am highly doubtful of him remaining in this country unless a great offer comes in from a London club. It wouldn't surprise me if Villa have inquired as to his current thinking but we aren't going to know for sure - and Lerner and the board may well agree with those of us that feel that would be more of a gamble than they're willing take this time. Your last comment though suggests you are so intent on pushing your anti-Hughes agenda that nothing is going sway you so probably best we stop going round in circles.

Who are the 'top' 4 or 5 managers that are gettable? And Fergie won't be going anywhere for quite some time. But if that was what you're worried about, it will be just as true of any manager a Eric Geretss it is a player that makes a name for himself here, as we know only too well. If you're concerned about attracting the attention of clubs who are above us, we may as well not even try to compete at all. (I can't see Hughes at Utd though after managing City - much was written about that at the time he took the job at Eastlands) top managers? ancellotti, rijkaard, deschamps, Louis van Gaal, ranieri to name a few then you have people like hiddink, gerets, jol and even the switz manager hitzfeld and thats without spending much time checking who is wanting out of clubs or contracts or who is a free agent. all are managers who would be good for our club you can argue all day long whether they would come to our club but money talks in most cases nowdays and so does being treated fairly by your employer. a mix of decent pay and treated decently by randy should get us someone of the calibre of the above mentioned. my expectations are high but not unrealistic with the majority of those names Your expectations are indeed high and completely unrealistic. You specifically said 'gettable' and Ranieri and Jol are the only 'gettable' names on that list - and neither would inspire more confidence than Mark Hughes. I like Jol but he only had one really good season at Spurs and the wheels then came off rather drastically. Hughes' overall record is better. Ranieri would almost certainly be a repeat of the Houllier experiment - very nice guy, great technical knowledge, but would likely be found wanting trying to implement his ideas at Villa. I'm also not entirely sure he's got the hunger to start a project of thi size at this stage of his career and having been out of the Premier League for as long as he has now. His re-emergence on Sky and such like as a pundit in recent months seems suspiciously like a plea for someone to give him one last big payday - and that's a road we really don't want to go down.

Who are the 'top' 4 or 5 managers that are gettable? And Fergie won't be going anywhere for quite some time. But if that was what you're worried about, it will be just as true of any manager as it is a player that makes a name for himself here, as we know only too well. If you're concerned about attracting the attention of clubs who are above us, we may as well not even try to compete at all. (I can't see Hughes at Utd though after managing City - much was written about that at the time he took the job at Eastlands)

There's some dodgy signings on that list! yep add in robinho, £18 million on de jong who was available on a free transfer 3 months later and able to sign a precontract agreement in january with man city. 14 million on bellemy who did well for 1 season before being booted out of the club, given was 10 million i think? some in principle seem or seemed good buys but the value for money from them has apart from kompany who was wanted by several clubs but man city paid the most wages and arguably de jong even at 18 million is a good player but for the sake of 3 months? £18 million? really? every manager makes **** ups but when you can buy ANYONE in the world those signings havent been THAT good really. Transfer fees at City are irrelevant - every purchase was hiked up because the selling clubs knew they could demand it. All Hughes could do was pinpoint the right players and in this regard he did a mostly excellent job. Kompany, in particular, has proven to be one of the best finds in the Premier League in recent times. so if he spent alot on a player it is irelevant? but if he doesnt spend as much on a player then it is one of the best finds in recent times? you cant have it both ways kompany was no great find, he had been purchased for £6 million by hamburg in the first place who then sold him on,he was wanted by several clubs and only one of those clubs offered £100k per week, have a guess which one? you also make excuses for his signings saying that the money didnt count, just the players and he got the right players? No, nowhere have I equated the lesser transfer fee in Kompany's case as the basis for it being a 'find', purely that Kompany was a young player (he's still only 25) who was bought as a defensive midfielder and has since developed into one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. The fact that £6m looks like such a bargain now shows what excellent value for money he's been in comparative terms but I don't suppose City are that fussed about such things. He was also not signed on a £100,000 contract - it was more like £35-40,000. I'm sure it's a bit more now mind you. And as I've discussed before, Hughes has spotted great upcoming players throughout his managerial career with less money for transfer fees and less to offer in wages so its not an isolated case but merely one of many.

There's some pretty great signings on that list - and you can add Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, and Joleon Lescott for good measure. The backbone of City's success last season. Kompany is the only one on that list I'd call a great signing. I think they paid a fortune for De Jong when he was available on a free IIRC otherwise he'd be there as well. De Jong has been awesome for them and become one of the best defensive midfielders in the league. It really doesn't matter that he could've left Hamburg six months later for a fixed fee (not a free, although I believe it was only around £1.3m) when money means nothing to them. They wanted him right away so they bought him rather than waiting. Zabaleta has also been excellent and formed part of one of the best defences in the country, as has Lescott in the last twelve months. Barry has been the model of consistency for them, albeit in a more restricted role than the one he played here. Bellamy was terrific under Hughes - he was being touted as a PFA Player of the Year contender at Christmas of that season until Hughes was sacked. And as for Tevez....

There's some dodgy signings on that list! yep add in robinho, £18 million on de jong who was available on a free transfer 3 months later and able to sign a precontract agreement in january with man city. 14 million on bellemy who did well for 1 season before being booted out of the club, given was 10 million i think? some in principle seem or seemed good buys but the value for money from them has apart from kompany who was wanted by several clubs but man city paid the most wages and arguably de jong even at 18 million is a good player but for the sake of 3 months? £18 million? really? every manager makes **** ups but when you can buy ANYONE in the world those signings havent been THAT good really. Transfer fees at City are irrelevant - every purchase was hiked up because the selling clubs knew they could demand it. All Hughes could do was pinpoint the right players and in this regard he did a mostly excellent job. Kompany, in particular, has proven to be one of the best finds in the Premier League in recent times.

There's some pretty great signings on that list - and you can add Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, and Joleon Lescott for good measure. The backbone of City's success last season.

He has never done a good job either. A draw specialist. :yawn: First year with Blackburn he took them to 6th place and the League Cup final - at a time when they had little or no money to spend. In 18 months at Man City, he took them to the fifth (at the time he was ousted), having formed the core of the team that qualified for the Champions League a year later and won the FA Cup. Took Fulham to 8th with a limited playing squad, little money to spend, no pre-season (notice how he never used that as an excuse throughout last season?) and a goal difference of +6 with arguably his two best attacking players missing for a large portion of the season. And he's never done a good job? Opinions are one thing - ignoring the facts are another. Blackburn - He didn't win Blackburn the cup. Got worse in the club as time went on. Man City - We were above his team when we he left and he was on a much higher budget. Fulham - The same Fulham who got to the Europa League final the season before? It may come to shock, but they've got a solid group of players. Opinions are opinions like I've just proved. He's done an overall average job. Nothing too shocking, but nothing too spectacular either. Blackburn - when he left they had finished 7th having reached three further cup semi-finals and attracting the attentions of ambitious Man City who sacked Eriksson in order to appoint him. Man City - we may have been above City at the time but we certainly didn't finish above them, and most City fans would admit his sacking was harsh by a board. Had put a lot of the right things in place for Mancini to build upon - results since bear this out. Fulham - finished 12th in the league under Hodgson before he left. Hughes took them up four places at the first attempt, a much more accurate barometer of consistency than a one-off cup run.

He has never done a good job either. A draw specialist. :yawn: First year with Blackburn he took them to 6th place and the League Cup final - at a time when they had little or no money to spend. In 18 months at Man City, he took them to the fifth (at the time he was ousted), having formed the core of the team that qualified for the Champions League a year later and won the FA Cup. Took Fulham to 8th with a limited playing squad, little money to spend, no pre-season (notice how he never used that as an excuse throughout last season?) and a goal difference of +6 with arguably his two best attacking players missing for a large portion of the season. And he's never done a good job? Opinions are one thing - ignoring the facts are another.