Jordanderve

R.I.C.O, I appreciate reading your opinion on my post and I thank you for taking the time out to let me know what you thought of it.

At no point did I ever try and put my point of view across as a matter of fact. The intention of the article was purely to make people think before posting extreme responses on the back of just a few results.

A couple of points I would like to make on your comments though; Firstly, I did not state that Houllier was appointed to cut costs. I speculated that after clearly making a switch to appoint a manager who would try to play football on the deck in Houllier, the club, after having to reluctantly dispense of Houllier for health reasons, approached and attempted to appoint Martinez, presumably to continue the work that Houllier had begun. The shift in direction from approaching and offering Martinez the job to appointing McLeish, in my opinion, can only be for the purpose of cost cutting and getting rid of dead wood. His CV didn't appeal from the point of view of being able to bring in quality recruits, his record shows that he plays dour, unattractive football which would be unpopular with the fanbase and, as the protests showed, he would be a hugely unattractive appointment. I believe that the board appointed a scapegoat. It didn’t cost that much to get rid of McLeish considering how much the wage bill had come down.

Secondly, you have stated that the club have insulted the fans. I personally do not feel insulted by the club. You have only mentioned the past couple of seasons but have chosen to ignore the 3 season prior to that. I have not looked at the stats but how many clubs, across the whole of Europe, have spent more money on transfer fees over the same period that Lerner has been in control. I would suggest that it will not be many. Lerner gave it a shot, and then was honest to the fans in that he could no longer bankroll the club and stated that the club would have to balance the books going forward. I applaud that, personally.

Thirdly, you too are speculating that Lambert was promised a pot of gold and suggested that the club is then tying his hands. Lambert, from what I have seen, is a man of principle. If Lerner did appoint Lambert under false pretences, I would expect Lambert to walk away. The fact that Lambert hasn't moaned publicly would suggest that he knew exactly what the financial position is. We still have time left in this window.

Fourthly, I never said that people cannot express negative views. I was simply stating that I, personally, am growing tired of negative views when you consider that Lambert has been in control for such a short period of time. The language that is used between posters of opposing views is sometimes unnecessary. Even in your response, the terms "bizarre" and "ridiculous" can be viewed as inflammatory, when really there is no need, even if you disagree with my viewpoint.

Relegation did not do any harm to the likes of Newcastle who treated the exercise as clearing the slate and starting again. Newcastle no longer has a large wage bill. The clubs that struggle when they go down are the clubs who continue to spend beyond their means and cannot sustain the liabilities they have accrued without the financial stability that the Premier League provides. I am glad that we are attempting to bring down our Wages/Turnover ratio which clearly was unsustainable.

If, when considering the choices I outlined in my original post and Allardyce was in charge and we stayed up, say by 1 point. You suggested that you would prefer this scenario compared to going down trying to play football on the deck with Lambert. I would suggest that if this scenario played out and Allardyce was in charge, he would be hounded out of his position by the fanbase and the club would be in the same situation whereby compensation would be due and the club would be looking for a new manager who would meet the approval of the fans whilst allowing them to bring their own ideas in again. The club needs stability and I would prefer that stability to come from a manager who plays the game like Lambert as opposed to a manger who plays the game like Allardyce.

All I would like is for the fanbase to unite for a season and enjoy supporting the club.

I can't help but think that Lerner is casting his net much further and much wider than ever before and may be ignoring this country completely. Let's face it, if we had approached Wigan, Whelan would have told the whole World by now. As it stands, I don't believe that we have made contact.

If Lerner was really targeting a Gus Poyet type etc why did he arrange for a relatively inexperienced manger, working abroad, to be the first person he arranges to see? In addition, why has a meeting with UK based managers not been set up before now if Lerner really has got a shortlist longer than OGS (which I believe he has).

Furthermore, and I know he has family, but Lerner came over to the UK to commence the manager search and I don't understand why he would have then flown back to America for 2 - 3 days to then come back to the UK. I honestly believe that he went over there to either interview someone in America or alternatively to fly elsewhere from America where he wouldn't be tracked.

For example, I was looking earlier at Michael Laudrup's Wiki page and it is almost as if his Managerial Style on Wiki was a job application for the criteria Villa have set out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Laudrup

Managing career

Laudrup as Brøndby managerAfter his playing career ended with Ajax, Laudrup became a coach at age 36 when he started serving as an assistant coach for the Danish national team coach Morten Olsen in 2000. The national team would play a 4–2–3–1 formation, depending on two fast wingers and with the aim to dominate games with a short-passing possession game. Together they led Denmark to the knock-out stage of 2002 World Cup, after which Laudrup took the job as manager for Brøndby in the Danish Superliga. As his assistant coach, Laudrup paired up with former Danish championship winning manager John "Faxe" Jensen, who had played alongside him in the Danish national team.

At the start of his reign, Laudrup proclaimed a tactical scheme close to that which Olsen and he had coached at the national team. Laudrup renovated the Brøndby team by letting a large contingent of older and experienced players go, in favour of several new offensive players, and he gave the chance to young talents from the club's youth scheme. To ensure the defensive strength of the team, he hired the proven national team player Morten Wieghorst. In his first year as head coach, he managed the team to a Danish Cup win against FC Midtjylland in the final. After finishing runners up twice, he finally led the team to The Double in 2005.

After finishing runners-up in the 2005–06 season, Laudrup left Brøndby along with assistant coach John "Faxe" Jensen. He could not come to an agreement with Brøndby about renewing his contract, and therefore decided to leave the club. He was associated with several new jobs, including head coach of former club Real Madrid and rumours that he would replace Lars Lagerbäck as head coach for the Swedish national team. In 2007, Brøndby decided to name a new lounge at the stadium "The Michael Laudrup Lounge", with Laudrup's approval.

On 21 June 2007, he was linked to a move to Madrid's La Liga team Getafe by sports newspaper Marca. This was confirmed on 9 July 2007. During his stay in Getafe the club reached the final in Copa del Rey, but lost to Valencia, and the quarter finals in the UEFA Cup (lost in extra time to Bayern Munich). During his tenure, as successor to former Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster, he brought a new brand of exciting and free-flowing attacking football to the club which brought back memoires of Laudrup as a player. His team, which is not one of the established forces in Spanish football, also enjoyed comparative success. However, he performed only one season as manager, tendering his resignation in May 2008.[14]

Since he announced his departure from Getafe he has been linked with jobs at Valencia, Benfica, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow and West Ham United. He almost got the job at Panathinaikos, but according to Danish media he wanted an option to allow him to leave, if he got an offer from a Spanish club. This could not be accepted by the Greeks, who chose Henk ten Cate instead. [15] On 12 September 2008, it was officially announced that Laudrup signed a 18-month contract with Spartak Moscow. However, he spent only 7 months in the post, being sacked on 15 April 2009 after Spartak's 0–3 loss to Dinamo Moscow in the Russian Cup.

On 22 October 2009, Spanish media announced that Laudrup would be appointed as new manager of Spanish side Atlético Madrid, replacing the short and unsuccessful run of Abel Resino, following Atletico's 4–0 Champions League defeat at the legs of Chelsea, but Laudrup and the club weren't able to agree on terms. The day after, on 23 October, Resino was sacked and Quique Sanchez Flores was appointed as coach as second choice instead of Laudrup.

In July 2010, Laudrup was appointed manager of RCD Mallorca on a contract that was to run until the end of June 2012. In his first season in Mallorca, Laudrup managed to keep a struggling Mallorca team, which was suffering from losing many first team players and who was ejected from the Europa League due to a bad financial situation, from relegation. At the beginning of the 2011–2012 season, on 27 September 2011, Laudrup resigned from his job, following the firing of his assistant, Erik Larsen. Laudrup cited that great frustration with Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, the club's Director of Football, leading to a bad work climate as the main reason for his resignation.[16]

Just a thought anyway people but I would really like an unknown to be our new manager so that the fanbase can try not to have already developed pre-conceptions and can unite as one behind whoever we appoint (similar to what would have happened if OGS hadn't been blackmailed by the Molde backers).

If the manger is young, whoever it is should be supported for years, even if they relegate us.

Support shouldn't turn on and off, if its clear what they are trying to do then its going to take years not months.

I don't care if the next manager is 20 years old or 90 if they preside over a relegation season then they will rightfully be sacked. You can't excuse failure no matter how old someone is. If they aren't ready for the job due to a lack of experience then don't employ them but don't use it as an excuse for failure.

This. No manager with a team of Bent, Nzogbia, Ireland, Given and Gabby should get them relegated.

Sorry but I am completely with VillaForever1970 on this point. We have to stop chopping and changing our manager. A team of Bent, Nzogbia, Ireland, Given and Gabby you say? Nzogbia has only ever proved himself in a small team which made everything revolve around him, Ireland has been poor (even last season) for 4 or 5 seasons now and Gabby simply has not produced considering the hype he gets. When he loses his pace, it is over for him. Therefore, are we really relying on a mid-30's goalkeeping who has a history of a dodgy groin and Bent to ensure we are a premiership team?

I am sorry but our squad is wafer thin and isn't as good as you make out. Our kids have got potential and under OGS I honestly think they will improve. For a start, the midfielders might actually see the ball now instead of it being lumped over them every time they come for the ball. They played a better type of football in the reserves than in the 1st team last year.

Providing OGS comes in, has the right attitude and tries to change things at Villa (for the long term) we need to get over our short sightedness. Eck was a shocking appointment from the start and never, ever, should have been appointed. His football was dross and always will be. However, when Houllier was here, even though we were near the relegation zone, I completely supported what he was trying to do.

Dunne, Warnock and Hutton are a disease of our club which we need rid of ASAP. I am not saying that they could not be good players but the influence they have in the dressing room is not good in my opinion. Houllier and GMac identified this and if it means OGS takes us down whilst trying to play the right way, bring on relegation I say instead of the prospect of having a run of the mill, mid-table manager like Allardyce, McCarthy, Bruce, Dowie etc etc.

Providing OGS maintains his appreciation for AVFC, has respect for the club and fans and plays football the right way, I will be behind him no matter what and I would like to think the majority of the fan base would be too.

Just my opinion.

I know BOF, I had a couple of quid on him at 120/1! Gutted!

If we do look outside of these shores, I think Rangnick would be worth a consideration providing his personal problems are out of the way.

Ralf Rangnick anyone? Currently out of work, did a great job at Schalke and Hoffenheim before leaving Schalke for personal reasons.

European pedigree, plays good football and has a very similar link to the Uk as Randy Learner had i.e. both studied in UK universities. Ralf also has a good grasp of English.

Thoughts people?

Mods, if this should fall under the McLeish thread, apologies. I feel the need for a constructive thread on how we, as fans, can get our voice heard, in a peaceful manner, to remove McLeish as our manager.

Like many fans, from day 1, McLeish to me was the worst appointment possible. It never, ever, should have happened. This is for two reasons which have been regurgitated on many occasions:

1) He was blues manager

2) He is an uninspiring, poor manager.

Now I, for one, have nothing against McLeish as a person, however he should never have been nor should he continue to be, the manager of Aston Villa.

I have seen the various posts and websites concerning the McLeish out day. Now, if we were safe. I would be fully behind this, however given our current situation, we need to get behind the team to stay up. Negative atmosphere and thoughts need to be put to one side for now. We have to help the team any way we can.

I too agree that Randy will listen to record low season ticket sales. However, a big issue is once people stop going, it becomes very difficult to begin attending games again once you get out of the routine.

Therefore, what do you propose we do to get Randy to listen to us. I can handle relegation, I really can, and if it happened under Houllier or Martinez, I would be behind the club still. However, I cannot accept our situation under the manager whom everyone said they didn't want.

First thing tomorrow, I will be writing a letter to Paul Faulkner expressing my feelings whilst also sending a heartfelt request to McLeish to do the right thing. I still believe that he is a good man and we have as much chance persuading him to step down as getting the club to admit that they made a mistake.

How do we remove McLeish without hurting our club?

Thoughts please?

Is the commentator not McInally?

Raneiri would be a random. Kinda like Houllier was?????

I have convinced myself it will be Ranieri. Would be a good appointment I recon.

~rehash from a post I made on another site~

I am telling you fella’s, I am convinced it will be Ranieri and I will take that as a good appointment. No evidence or ITK but I believe that the similarities between the Houllier appointment and Ranieri are too similar.

Ranieri is someone who retains alot of respect throughout the footballing World and I duly note the fact that he has not won much in his career but he has constantly been shafted but numerous board owners of large clubs who chop and change every season. How many people would take a number of past Madrid managers who have been sacked for under performing by finishing second?

Napoli – finished 4th and introduced Zola to the team following the departure of Maradona.

Fiorentina – gained promotion from Serie B and won the Coppa Italia & SuppaCoppa with a ‘sleeping giant’ team.

Valencia (first spell) – Was the manager that got them back on track and qualified for the Champions League for the first time. Credited with creating the team which Rafa took onto future success (similar to what is suggested about Rafa with GH team?).

Chelsea – In my opinion, put the foundation of the team together for Mourinho and harshly sacked (I am not suggesting that Mourinho is a bad manager!)

Valencia – won the Super Cup but was knocked out of the Champions League and suffered a 5 – 1 defeat to Inter. Criticised for his Italian signings and sacked whilst 6th in La Liga.

Parma – took over towards the end of the season with Parma in a relegation battle. He made several impressive results to help Parma survive their relegation battle, obtaining 17 points in 10 matches (to be compared to his predecessor’s 15 points in 23 matches).

Juventus – Took them to 3rd place in Serie A the season after they were promoted from Serie B which in Italy was considered an achievement. Ranieri was sacked in May 2009 in a season when they ended up finishing 2nd! Harsh to say the least but fans didn’t forgive a bad 2 month spell when they lost the championship to Inter.

Roma – Took over for the 3rd game of the season after the previous manager had lost the first 2 games of the season. Ranieri transformed their season and they led the championship with 4 games to go. Roma were his boyhood club and during the 10/11 season, Ranieri resigned following criticism from his home fans in February 2011.

Claudio Ranieri is not a champion with a track record of winning title after title but how many previous Villa managers have been? Ranieri is proven to be able to take numerous teams to the business end of the season competing for cups and championships. He is use to not having a massive amount of money to spend and getting results. It is apparent that he does still ‘tinker’ alot which seems to rile fans and he has a tendency to have bad runs of form. In my opinion, his manager record is excellent and although I too would love and hope Moyes is our next manager, I certainly wouldn’t be despondent if Mr Ranieri ended up at Villa Park and I hope our fans would support him and give him a chance.

I have an awful lot of time for our board and I wouldn’t swap Randy for anyone. I believe Randy would stick with Ranieri through any bad patch and I think Ranieri would be good for Villa. He has a track record of bringing through kids, and I for one, would be excited if he was our next manager.

Sorry for the long post, UTV (and I have Ranieri at 50-1)!

When you put it like that.... It sounds like he would be a great appointment

I agree and the more I think about it, the more I want him.I can't believe that more people are not seriously considering Ranieri. I just don't get the 'failure' tab when he has been treated so badly.

~rehash from a post I made on another site~

I am telling you fella’s, I am convinced it will be Ranieri and I will take that as a good appointment. No evidence or ITK but I believe that the similarities between the Houllier appointment and Ranieri are too similar.

Ranieri is someone who retains alot of respect throughout the footballing World and I duly note the fact that he has not won much in his career but he has constantly been shafted but numerous board owners of large clubs who chop and change every season. How many people would take a number of past Madrid managers who have been sacked for under performing by finishing second?

Napoli – finished 4th and introduced Zola to the team following the departure of Maradona.

Fiorentina – gained promotion from Serie B and won the Coppa Italia & SuppaCoppa with a ‘sleeping giant’ team.

Valencia (first spell) – Was the manager that got them back on track and qualified for the Champions League for the first time. Credited with creating the team which Rafa took onto future success (similar to what is suggested about Rafa with GH team?).

Chelsea – In my opinion, put the foundation of the team together for Mourinho and harshly sacked (I am not suggesting that Mourinho is a bad manager!)

Valencia – won the Super Cup but was knocked out of the Champions League and suffered a 5 – 1 defeat to Inter. Criticised for his Italian signings and sacked whilst 6th in La Liga.

Parma – took over towards the end of the season with Parma in a relegation battle. He made several impressive results to help Parma survive their relegation battle, obtaining 17 points in 10 matches (to be compared to his predecessor’s 15 points in 23 matches).

Juventus – Took them to 3rd place in Serie A the season after they were promoted from Serie B which in Italy was considered an achievement. Ranieri was sacked in May 2009 in a season when they ended up finishing 2nd! Harsh to say the least but fans didn’t forgive a bad 2 month spell when they lost the championship to Inter.

Roma – Took over for the 3rd game of the season after the previous manager had lost the first 2 games of the season. Ranieri transformed their season and they led the championship with 4 games to go. Roma were his boyhood club and during the 10/11 season, Ranieri resigned following criticism from his home fans in February 2011.

Claudio Ranieri is not a champion with a track record of winning title after title but how many previous Villa managers have been? Ranieri is proven to be able to take numerous teams to the business end of the season competing for cups and championships. He is use to not having a massive amount of money to spend and getting results. It is apparent that he does still ‘tinker’ alot which seems to rile fans and he has a tendency to have bad runs of form. In my opinion, his manager record is excellent and although I too would love and hope Moyes is our next manager, I certainly wouldn’t be despondent if Mr Ranieri ended up at Villa Park and I hope our fans would support him and give him a chance.

I have an awful lot of time for our board and I wouldn’t swap Randy for anyone. I believe Randy would stick with Ranieri through any bad patch and I think Ranieri would be good for Villa. He has a track record of bringing through kids, and I for one, would be excited if he was our next manager.

Sorry for the long post, UTV (and I have Ranieri at 50-1)!

I am convinced that the shock is ‘Ranieri’ and I would be pleased with that. Fits the criteria in that he has Premier League experience, is out of a job and has been reasonably successful without actually winning much.

Just been to Ladbrookes and William Hills both of whom didn’t have him on their markets but when a call was made from both bookies I was only offerred 16-1 and 25-1 respectively. I took 50-1 on Paddypower and hope that my hunch is right! Thoughts on Ranieri?

Ottmar Hitzfield's name is getting mentioned in alot of places now and his odds are tumbling. I would like to see him named.

Hi General

I'm behind MON. If he goes, who replaces him? There is nobody better in my opinion.

Keep the faith and up the Villa!