smokingzen

Not many people seem to be falling for your rhetoric Or maybe put another way, rather than some people focusing on what he doesn't bring to the team, others, the majority it would seem, focus on what he does bring to the team. Recognising that he plays an important role for the team. Sorry but it's not a fact. It may be a fact that more people on here are a fan of Reo Coker than not, as evidenced by the poll, but it is not a fact that all the people voted for him purely on the grounds you mention. That we are all football plebs who just appreciate the baser aspects of the game of effort and graft, but of course couldn't appreciate the finer aesthetics of the game like your high self. Please, you may not like Reo Coker for whatever reasons you might have, but don't try and debase the opinions of those that do because they disagree with you, it's just a shallowly disguised ad hominem attack.

It's going to be a Houllier MacDonald partnership I can tell. MacDonald throws his hat into the managerial ring after an 'extended interview' and expressing some doubts about whether he wanted the role, saying he liked working with the first team players but wasn't too fond of the other aspects of the role. Graham Taylor writes an article stating MacDonald should be coach but not manager, that he's best served by working with the players on the pitch. Also that the club can't afford to lose the key infrastructure of support staff that all left with MON again and we should consider a Director of Football working with MacDonald. Graham Taylor has advised Randy on the managerial situation. Randy shortlists and interviews Houllier because he: is available, has top Premiership managerial experience and won trophies, has had a dual management situation before at Liverpool, twice, has good experience with youth development having been head of technical development for France, has worldwide scouting contacts. Everything just seems to fit, he fits all the known criteria and more, Houllier has got 37 years of managerial experience and that experience will be invaluable to MacDonald and the club. It could be quite a good set up. Houllier should be able to give his premiership experience to MacDonald, help develop the youth and reserves, set up a scouting network to identify and bring in new signings to both the youth and senior teams and I expect take on much of the media duties too. I think the club will see this as a win win situation and I think there will always be the prospect of reviewing the situation at the end of the season depending on how results have faired and who might be available then.

It would show that we've resorted to Curb crawling..

Hi General, When Randy came to the club there was a big wave of optimism regarding the future of Aston Villa, with the prospect of some serious investment in the club and a new highly regarded manager in MON, most of the fans bought into the vision of the club once again rising to the top and having success. This was often talked about as the “5 year plan”, if not officially at least by many of the fans. Whilst I doubt any plan is specifically a “5 year plan”, I'm sure any rolling plan would look forward over such a time frame and have expectations accordingly. When MON walked out several weeks back it was almost certainly the end of an era, in a sense, to my mind at least, the end of the “5 year plan” that never was. Looking back we can say we have partially achieved, the club received substantial sustained investment over several years in many different areas, and MON took us to three consecutive 6th place finishes, several ultimately unsuccessful European jaunts and a cup semi final and final. We of course have come agonisingly close to both silverware and a prized Champions League spot, yet we didn't achieve them. In a sense I think many fans feel lucky but also disappointed, we did well to progress as we did in those years, though there are many that would say we could have done better. From those that might blame some of the managerial decisions to those that say we should have invested slightly more than we did. Despite our progress as a club in many ways then, there will always be that 'familiar' feeling, that we came so close but failed to achieve. With the comings and goings over the summer, (mostly goings), there is a now a general air of despondency with many supporters. We sold one of our best players, lost a fairly good manager and his groupies and all of the talk has been about 'reigning in investment', we of course only had one player coming in, and as I write this, still stand managerless, and I think more importantly for many fans, visionless. As it is, the king is dead, long live the.....? I think what many people want to know is what is the board's vision for the club over the next 5 years, the next “5 year plan” so to speak? There are many concerns now over spending, over who the new manager will be, over the size and calibre of the squad etc., and many concerns that with the changing footballing and financial situation over the years, we are now going to be in decline. There is probably an overwhelming feeling that 'it's all downhill from here'. I think most people understand the financial situation regarding wages and the impending financial “fair play” regulations and the need from every perspective to get our financial house in order. Yet this arguably in a way has been the cause of our problems over the summer. Now people want to know how the club envisages building its way out of this situation and either maintaining our position or improving it? The club says it wants to build sustainably and surely one of the main ways to do that is through the fans, but to do that the fans need to buy into the club, I suppose literally and figuratively. The fans need a realistic and truthful vision to buy into of where the club is going and what it can achieve. If they get that, the support will be more vehement, consistent and grow, so bringing in greater revenue to the club. In that sense the great wheel of sustainable progress requires the dangling carrot of future hope to keep it turning. I hope then that when the our new manager is appointed that both the new manager and more importantly the club, i.e., Randy, spell out a new (revised) vision of the club over the coming years. Rightly or wrongly, and for better or for worse, this will be perceived as the beginning of a new era in the clubs history and I hope the club provides us the fans with a 'statement of intent' of how we are to go forward. I fear, considering the available pool of managers, that whichever manager is appointed, if they are not appointed with an explicitly stated vision, we will lose in one sense or another, many fans. As I'm sure I don't need to tell you, football is not just about selling football, it's about selling realistic dreams too. I would just like to add that I for one appreciate your making the effort to come on here to communicate with the fans, I think is amazingly important. I also think that so far Randy and the board have done an extremely good job and I just hope that he can now step up to the plate and deliver once again.

So you know the full list of criteria being used by the board to select a new manager do you? Please share it with us all as no one else seems to have this information in the public domain. Plus i surmise you are assuming he would be cheap, cheaper than who exactly, and "malliable", i presume you mean malleable and by that, that he shares the same vision as the board as to the way to take the club forward?

Richard – off of the top of my head: Injuries - Gabby, Cuellar, Colins, Dunne, Ireland, Carew, Suspended – Dunne, Left – Milner In any game we have played so far we have not been able to play our strongest defence or our best midfield together. I've also addressed the issue of taking three weeks for MacDonald to decide whether he wants to be considered above, that's not weakness of will. Weakness of will (akrasia) FYI is not doing something when you have decided to do it. He's been weighing up the options before making a considered and informed choice. Oh, and please don't accuse me of “aggressive, abusive, undertones” I disagree with much of what you say, but my comments are not abusive and they are only aggressive insomuch as they are actively questioning what I consider are foundationless comments by yourself. (Weak willed, lost boy, bottom 6 material, conspiracy by the board, etc., etc.) I don't particularly like the tone or content of many of your posts but I don't resort to such baseless accusations.

And would you expect us to appoint Chris Hughton as manager? No! Yet he has the best starting record of any Newcastle manager ever. Your analogy kind of falls down when looking at it from that perspective. Well if he does get appointed, I will take every pleasure in saying I told you so!

Sorry but he was given an ideal opportunity, he has effectively had an extended interview for this role and given the chance to prove he can do it. If I said the jury was still out or that evidence was inconclusive I would be doing him a massive compliment and Villa an incredible injustice. Quite simply if he had demonstrated an ability, a natural gift or even a propensity to be a premier manager then you would see 100% support on here for him, given the fact he has tremendous goodwill for his work as reserve team coach. The factthat he has shown weak will, looking like a little boy lost, poor tactics and decision making in each of the games he has been in charge for shows me . and many others, he is not the right man for the job. I am afraid that if we appoint this man quite aside from forgetting about the top 6 we should all readjust our ambitions and look to not appear in the bottom six. Awful awful appointment and if it comes to pass is yet further confirmation of a few things some of us have been saying for a while Sorry but what a load of rubbish. For any manager to come in at the time he did would be extremely difficult. As it is he has had a mixed bag of results, won 2 lost 2, drawn 1, with quite a few injuries, suspensions and one of our top players leaving. Not too bad really considering the situation. Now were out of Europe, like last year, and sitting 4th. Anyone fairly judging him and not looking at him with a squint of managerial dysmorphia would admit that. Contrary to your assertion I doubt any manager will ever receive 100% support on here, at least for a prolonged period of time. And please what is this lost boy, weak willed rubbish? Yes he's learning a new job but he looks far from lost and far from weak willed. If he is lost then great, because when he finds his feet and gets to work more with the team, we will only get better. And what exactly would his appointment confirm? You just want an opportunity to have a go at the board. As someone said above, if he were appointed and did well for us, there would still be the likes of you bitching away.

I've got a feeling we could see a Klinsmann - MacDonald partnership, it would make sense for us and seems a more viable option now that Bob Bradley has renewed his contract with the US team. The style of football MacDonald is trying to get us to play is very similar to Klinsmann's preferred style too.

Wow, some real bull being spouted on here today. MacDonald's delay in deciding if he wishes to be considered for the job is a perfectly sensible approach, indeed it is the most sensible approach. Psychologically it shows he's a well rounded and considered character that wants to weigh up all of the options before making a decision. Whenever I have heard him speak he comes across as one of the more intelligent and rational managers I have listened to and I'm sure that if he does get the job he would do well for us, though possibly only until our first choice manager becomes available next summer. Some people on here just want a big name manager wankfest now so they can toss off whilst chanting the name of their favourite manager under their muttered breath. Talk of betrayal by the club, OMG what a pathetic overreaction I think some people need to get a sense of perspective. I'm sure the club will do what is best for the club, and the majority of the fans will support them in that choice. I too would have liked a top new manager straight away and some signings this summer and I'm frustrated by the situation we find ourselves in, but that said I think given the circumstances we have been put in, as a club we have taken the best approach to the situation we can, and we will make the best choice we can.

Well i'm not sure what people want from such a statement but it does show the club is listening and the General is passing on the concerns of the fans.

The club is in turmoil, 4th after 3 matches with no permanent manager, what are we going to do and who are we going to blame? Seriously though, a top performance today, not because we played well, but because we showed 100% commitment and really got stuck in, sometimes you have to win ugly and today we did. We rode our luck a lot in the second half and lacked composure on the ball, but we had a few good chances to get a second on the break and were quite unlucky in that regard. Watching today was almost as though MoN had never left. Friedel - 9 - for those that say he's past it watch today's game again, he made several 'game saving' saves today. Young - 8 - Great goal but went missing a few times in the first half, second half he was much more solid though and had to be. Colins - 8 - What we needed today, big and strong in the box and in the air. Dunne - 7 - Same as Colins really, solid as. Warnock - 7 - A much improved performance today. Petrov - 8 - Great performance from him, really got stuck in and led by example. Looked really pumped up for this, though i think he lost some of his usual composure in the second half. Reo Coker - 8 - Was excellent today, again really got stuck in and made some nice movements off the ball. Young - 7 - Great pass for the goal and put a lot of effort in without too much to show for it. Albrighton - 7 - Defensively lax in the first half but better in the second, some lovely runs as usual. Should have scored that sitter though. Downing - 5 - Who? Seemed really poor again today offered nothing defensively and not a lot going forward apart from misplaced passes. Carew - 7 - Led the line well but was feeding on scraps for the most part, some lovely powerful surging runs into the box however. Gabby - 5 - Never really got into the game. MacDonald - 7 - Get the back 4 right and we will win games. Would have liked to have seen Downing dropped for this game and Reo Coker taking his place. Personally i would have put another defender on near the end as well. Also I wouldn't have started with Carew. But hey we got the result and that's what ultimately matters. Ref: 6 - Could have easily cost us the game but at least he didn't make any disasterous mistakes.

WTF warm ups are meant to prevent injuries not cause them!

Petrov, Ireland, Downing, Young and Albrighton in midfield, a very offensively talented midfield but where's the defensive balls? We'll be great on the ball but will we be able to get it back once we have lost it? I just hope our first choice defence can be strong today if they are then i'm sure we can get a couple of goals.

Not being funny, and i respect your opinion.....but why? The only club job he had at Bayern, was a complete disaster. And as for Germany, its commonly accepted that it was Lowe whom brought those players through. Sorry, but i think Barry Fry has more credentails, but ive had a bad fcuking night, and im not thinking straight :winkold: Klinsmann wasn't that bad at Bayern, he was sacked with five games to go of his first season, being 3 points off of first place and with a record of 16 wins, 6 draws, and 7 losses in the Bundesliga. In the Champions League Bayern reached the quarter final, losing to Barcelona who went on to win it. His record in that competition was 6 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss. But if Barry Fry can get us those kind of results then i say lets get him, he would be the cheap option and press conferences might even be funny.

--------------------------Friedel------------------------ Cuellar--------Collins---------Dunne-------Warnock ------------------------Reo Coker----------------------- ----------------Ireland--------------Petrov-------------- -------------Heskey---------------------Young--------- -----------------------Agbonlahor----------------------- Personally I would go with the above, defence has been our weakness over the last few games and we need to address that so go with our strongest tried and tested defence. I would go for Cuellar over Young for the extra height in the box and because of the success of it last year, despite my own reservations about it last year. With Milner gone we also need a midfield engine and the best player we have for that is Reo Coker but playing as a defensive midfielder, protecting the defence, breaking up play in midfield and doing simple passes to the likes of Petrov and Ireland. I would then have Young as a free roaming player behind Heskey and Agbonlahor, but with Heskey sat back a little linking up play. I think with that system we would have a little bit of everything, solid in defence, a bit of mettle and creativity in midfield, wing play, speed and power. The main thing is we need to be strong defensively again, and it would be good to have Dunne, Colins and Cuellar back in the team together. We also need to be strong all over, a midfield without Reo Coker, I.e., any combination of Petrov, Young, Ireland, Albrighton, Downing, Sidwell, is just too lightweight in my opinion. Which is why I would have both Albrighton and Downing on the bench and get Heskey on to help out with midfield duties. He doesn't score goals, but he can be the first line of defence for the midfield and the link up man between midfield and attack. Personally I've always felt it's better starting with Heskey to soften up the opponents a bit and then bring on someone like Carew to grab you a goal, than the other way around. Contrary to some of the doom mongers on here, if we play our strongest defence and Reo Coker in midfield I think we can keep a clean sheet and win it 2-0. Gabby and Ireland to score. A win today and everything would look slightly rosier going in to the international break awaiting our new manager.

Well considering the team we put out it was a good result. The football was very disjointed from both sides, but the ref really didn't help. I think it's pretty hard to fully judge any of the youngsters on the back of this, really you need to see them in a full strength side to properly assess them, but certainly no one embarressed themselves tonight. I would expect to see a stronger side in the return leg though to ensure we go through. Job done really.

Ah, like Klinsmann you mean? But how can you not want Klinsmann!

Found this on the OS Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Elliott Parish, Eric Lichaj, Stephen Warnock, Ciaran Clark, Curtis Davies, Nathan Baker, Isaiah Osbourne, Habib Beye, Nigel Reo-Coker, Barry Bannan, Stewart Downing, Marc Albrighton, James Collins Jnr, Nathan Delfouneso, Shane Lowry, Emile Heskey, Jonathan Hogg, Andreas Weimann Hmmm. Wow that's quite a reduced team with injuries and omissions. If K-Mac can get a good result with that team then fair play to the fella. I hope some of those players grasp their chance. I think i would go for a mixture of youth and experience, something along the lines of: -------------------Guzan------------------------ ------Beye - Clark - Davies - Warnock------- -Albrighton - Reo-Coker - Bannan - Downing- ------------Heskey - Delfouneso----------------

People mention that we played a poor West Ham today, however this is still the same team we drew with and lost to last year. From the sounds of it Randy will take his time looking at potential candidates for the post, this time will probably allow MacDonald the chance to manage the Rapid and Newcastle games. If after that stage we have performed well and there are still no outstanding candidates then i think he will get the post for the rest of the season at least. If there are no good managers around now, why get a substandard one in now? We could wait until a decent manager becomes available and go with what we have. That would also save us money on a new manager and new players and allow us to bring some youth through this season. It would also mean we would have a lot more money available next season to attract a new manager with.

Wow, what a game, I can't remember seeing us play like that for the majority of a game for a long time. As others have said, we just seemed to play with freedom today. We played with great style, passed the ball around brilliantly, had variation in our play and created more chances than i can remember. I know it's too early to say, but if MacDonald can get us playing like that on a regular basis I would be happy to see him take the reigns permanently. That's the kind of football we should be seeing at home. And who says we can't win playing beautiful football.

Yes.

Wouldn't mind him in some capacity, player coach? VERY high profile and our youngsters would learn a lot from his application and technique. More chance of me being appointed coach though and im shit. Would never happen but I must admit the idea popped into my head too. As a club we need to expand our revenue to catch up with the big boys around us. The appointment of Beckham would give us massive world wide appeal and bring in lots of new fans and so revenue. Just think of all of the sexy girls that would come to the games too!