smokingzen

I think he's a good manager too, but I'm beginning to doubt he's good enough for the Premier League.

Agree, but unfortunately sometimes he seems so comfortable on the ball he falls asleep.

So are you an ITK on the ITKs, or just another broken clock?

Smith needs to show he's learnt his lessons from the last game and not play so open and with such a high line for Vardy to exploit the space in behind. If we can do that and nick a goal without pushing too many players forward we could nick the first half. If that were the case, or it was a draw, then Leicester would likely switch things up at half time and again Smith needs to react and change our system again accordingly. There's a reason we've had a lot of first half success compared to second half, and that's because teams have adapted against us in the second half of games but we've carried on playing the same way.

Not really... you just need to understand what they've said in context. Our primary recruitment strategy is to buy younger players to develop, to bring in to the first team or sell on for profit, but that doesn't mean we can't supplement this with more experienced players for the short to medium term. In fact I'd suggest every team needs that balance and it's what we've been lacking this season.

Being given the opportunity to play, and play regularly, with the right players in a system that suits can make all the difference. He suited Leicester's counter attacking style and I think he'll also suit ours. I think he could be the missing link in our midfield and will balance out well with the players we're already have. He has a good footballing brain and positioning, can retain the ball well under pressure and doesn't keep the ball any longer than needed; more often than not providing good link up play and moving the ball forwards for quick transitions to move from defense to attack. I think he'll link up really well with Grealish and our 'wingers' and help us to retain the ball better and create chances.

Only if you haven't been watching the last few games and understand very little about football. It's a home game we need to press up the field and attack, Engels gets turned for pace too easily whereas Konsa has more pace and will therefore provide better cover. Guilbert has been having a mare the last few games, that's plain to see, Elmo will steady the ship a little and also link up better with Trez.

The Arsenal penalty wasn't a penalty, the goal they scored from the free kick should have been disallowed for interference with our wall, and we had a stonewall penalty disallowed. So whatever the pros and cons of our play, inept refereeing cost us 3 points yesterday.

Hourihane will almost certainly start today IMO... it's a big game, first game at home and we'll want to be on the front foot but also start with a relatively settled team that's not going to be phased by playing at Villa Park. We need to set the foundations for fortress Villa this weekend. For that reason i think that Taylor and Elmo will probably start also. It's going to be an interesting tactical battle but i think we can control this game a little more and exert some real pressure. We'll need to be weary of the counter attack though. 3 - 1 to the Villa.

Link

You state you don't have an agenda but then your second paragraph quite clearly spells out where your coming from and what your trying to get at! You didn't "simply hear what he said" either, you have heard the words he said and then drawn a meaning from them no doubt based upon the beliefs you express in your second paragraph. That is how you "hear that how [you] want." It's called selective interpretation.

Mmm i love the way you turn your interpretations and suppositions into a fact. Can you teach me this trick of alchemy?

Some nice selective 'glass half empty' interpretation of his words there. I suppose we shouldn't mention: * Wants to progress year on year * Has a target of champions league place and silverware over the next 3 years * Said there was money but thought we have a very good squad and that January wasn't always the best time to buy * Said that money on it's own can't buy success and that we also have other weapons in the bag Etc., etc.

There are a small number of supporters that were vocally against GH's appointment, you remember, the ones that the papers picked up on and quoted as representing the majority of Villa fans. No doubt these same people will now be picking up on any point they can, real or imagined, to try and stick the knife in to our new manager. I'm sure that over time this will only get worse.

Do we win a prize for that? My point being, that table is based upon the all time Premier League points tally, not on average finishing position which at the end of the day is the important thing.

If we are being honest, difficult as it is to accept, Liverpool have had better success in the last forty five years than ourselves. I still believe we've got great potential to become a massive club, and I hope this cause is aided by GH's management. Although, I will say it isn't advisable to make a statement such as this when first appointed at a new football club. I don't care about the Liverpool being a massive club bit, that's blindingly obvious. I care about that 7th to 12th bit. Not only is that entirely wrong, it's probably the grouping of positions we least belong in, why the **** would you say that about that club you've just took over? A moronic statement. I would say a moronic statement is one like the above that is quick to jump on a manager's back based upon a translated quote when the context of the statement is unknown. Also his statement isn't "entirely wrong" which means that your statement must be at least partially wrong. Actually I'm being kind, if his statement isn't 'entirely wrong', i.e., it's partially right, then yours is entirely wrong. Our league positions over the last 18 years of the premiership have been: 6, 6, 6, 11, 16, 10, 6, 16, 8, 8, 6, 6, 7, 5, 4, 18, 10, 2 Averaged out over the full 18 years our average finishing position is 8.38, obviously you can't finish 8.3 rd (that would just be moronic and idiotic hey) so rounding up we would say 9th. If we do the same averaging over the last 10 years we would get 9.3rd, or rounding down, 9th. Only averaging over the last 3 years would we get 6th. At the end of the day we don't know the context of how he said or meant the statement. But there are plenty of contexts where it turns about to be not entirely wrong! Where I do agree however is that he shouldn't have said what he said in any context, he should have heeded the General's comments about how some of our 'supporters' can act like "pit vipers" purely on the basis of a couple of random media quotes.

Yes I think he's going to ruin their careers just as he did with Gerrard, Caragher, Owen etc., to name but a few. And I think he might just fail like he did at Liverpool and Lyons and as French Technical Director too. I take it your not an empirical philosopher then?

When the doubters and the cynics start to moan it is up to the positive majority to sing louder and drown out these negative supporters.

Well a month ago never in a million years would I have thought he would be the next Villa manager his name never even entered my head as a possibility. The more I have read up on him however the more I think that he is the right man for the job and he ticks almost all of the boxes for what we need at the club at this present time. In that regard then I think the board have done very well in choosing the right manager for the right reasons and I hope of course he is now a big success at the club. I'm glad that we can now get back to football, what really matters at the end of the day, and we can begin to judge him not on the past or preconceived judgements but on what he does at our great club. I think it will take a bit of time for his influence to truly shine through, but it will be interesting now to see how he works with the present squad, how he sets them up and if he can get them to be a little more tactically and technically astute. I look forward to seeing some of his hopefully more eclectic signings and how his knowledge can help develop the academy and the whole structure of the club to bring the youth through. It will also be interesting to see who he clears out. I think we've got interesting and exiting times ahead then. I also think that he buys into the club's philosophy and Randy's vision for the club which with his background is I believe good praise for where the club is now. Indeed he even had his own '5 year plan' back when he was at Liverpool. I think Houllier has a winning mentality and he wouldn't have come to the club if he didn't think we could challenge for something, no doubt then that he will understand the club structure that he has to work within and will have been given assurances that he will have some money to spend. I hope now that all Villa supporters get behind him and give him a fair crack of the whip. This was always going to be a season of transistion but I still expect no less than a top 8 finish and think he will attain that easily. Next season with possibly 5 or 6 signings under his belt I think we can really push on.

Richard, from your posts I seem to get the impression that you think MON is (or was) Aston Villa and now that he has walked out, yes, walked out, feel it is justified to criticise pretty much everyone involved with the club because he isn't here. What is this Aston Villa you support so much if it doesn't have something to do with the Chairman, or the board, or the manager or caretaker manager, and the players, etc, etc? These are the 'real' and 'tangible' things that actually constitute the club at this time, yet your comments are consistently negative towards all of them. So is it just the ethereal concept of Aston Villa that you support? Imagine this, you walk into someones house, you critice them, their wife, their children, siblings, parents and grandparents. The person gets angry and says how dare you insult my family please leave. You say, no I wasn't criticising your family, just you, your wife, your kids, your parents etc., etc., your family is something more than these. Somehow I don't think the argument would wash. Also there is a huge difference between being critical with just cause and being critical because you just have an axe to grind. All of those people you mention are more a part of Aston Villa than you, or I for that matter, will ever be, they constitute part of it's core history. Our current owner, the board, manager and players, and a host of other staff, constitute what Aston Villa is at this point in time, and for that reason I will support them for they are Aston Villa at this present moment. No everything hasn't been perfect, but things rarely are, but I would say we are arguably in the safest pair of hands we have been for a long time and I am generally happy with the way the club has conducted itself and think the future is bright for the Villa. The fact that some people on here cannot understand that is to their immense discredit. My apologies if this is veering slightly off topic, might be better in the Support the Board thread, but it does also obviously relate to our new manager.

Deleted, please confine you comments to peoples opinions and not making posts about other posters - Bicks

Please let us put to bed this totally pathetic talk of the club trying to get a manger on the cheap. Now I'm not quite sure of the financial difference between a “cheap option” and an “expensive one”, £2 million, £5 million, £10 million? At the end of the day do you really think a man that has ploughed a couple of hundred million pounds worth of investment into the club would risk much of that investment by trying to save a few million on a manager? It should be perfectly obvious to anyone with half a brain that the right manager will pay for themselves at the end of the day and that Randy has enough common sense and nous to try and get the best person for the job regardless of cost. Anyone that thinks otherwise really just can't see the wood for the trees and IMO has an underlying agenda against the board.

Well i will wait and see, the point being however that IF whomever comes in fails, then i will criticise them then for whatever reasons. I won't be waiting like many of the naysayers to smugly say "told you so!". Many people were saying we would be lucky to get better than 8th with MON here, so whomever comes in I will be satisifed with 8th or higher. As soon as MON went this was always going to be a season of transition.

Nothing wrong with Houllier? You mean other than his previously questionable health, the fact he is 63, has been out the game for a couple of years and out of the Premier league even longer and despite some success at Liverpool spent a lot of money on some utter utter shite. He may well be the best or one of the better options available but to say there is nothing wrong with his selection or should I say possible selection is staggering. Bah humbug. There isn't a prospective manager out there that we couldn't make a list of 'perceived negatives' about. 1) 'Previously questionable health' - well you said it, previously, he's had no problems in the last 9 years or so. 2) 63 - there have been much older managers and it need not be a detriment to the job, indeed 37 years of managerial experience might actually be a good thing. Wenger, Ferguson, Redknapp 3 managers in the top four that are all over 60. 3) Out the game for a couple of years - well no he hasn't he's been technical director for France, something which also might prove invaluable here. 4) Out of the premiership for a couple of years - So? So has Mourhinho. Means nothing. 5) Despite some success - 6 years 6 trophies, yes please. Despite? IMO if he wins that amount of trophies his player purchases are justified. 6) Spent money on utter shite - See 5, plus he also brought in some great players for the time and developed players like Gerrard. Fair play to the man he also admitted that he bought some shite players after he was ill which also shows he's open to learning from his mistakes. This kind of post is exactly the problem with this thread, as soon as any manager is mentioned there are a load of people that are all too willing to shoot them down in a hail of negatives, often when they are not even justified.

A MacDonald Klinsmann combination was always my first choice but Klinsmann just doesn't have the depth of managerial experience that Houllier does and so I doubt it. A 'dream team' of MacDonald, Houllier, Klinsmann however, now that would really be something.