El-Reacho

Arguably there was nothing between him and O'Neill in the SPL given their respective resources. He'd organise our defence and probably get on better with the players than Houllier.

Would be thoroughly underwhelmed though. Still think Lerner has something better up his sleeve.

Crap article on villa managerial situation

They simply have nothing to write about so are coming out with this stuff. If Lerner was more like Whelan or Redknapp - giving them good quote to write about our managerial and player targets then Villa would be loved by the media and there wouldn't be any rubbish like this.

I guess it's over to Randy to silence them.....

would you not agree that the whole Martinez saga was an embarrassment, so it's ok saying our board do it all behind closed door and in the meantime the public image of our club is damaged, unless he pulls an ace form his sleeve in the next few weeks, some serious questions need to be asked and god forbid answered by the board

Whelan obviously has done us over on the PR front. It doesn't look great to us or to the media, but I'd say insiders like agents etc and most importantly the managers that RL and PF are trying to get will know that Martinez had already signed a new contract long before Whelan's deadline on Friday and he never had any intention of joining us.

I'm not bothered about how we appear to be dealing with this appointment. I'll be gutted if we end up with Grayson or McLeish but I'm confident the club has things under control.

Proof will be in the pudding though.

Crap article on villa managerial situation

They simply have nothing to write about so are coming out with this stuff. If Lerner was more like Whelan or Redknapp - giving them good quote to write about our managerial and player targets then Villa would be loved by the media and there wouldn't be any rubbish like this.

I guess it's over to Randy to silence them.....

Saw this morning that Mat Kendrick was having the weekend off, in what seems to be a busy time at Villa park or is it not as busy as we are led to believe?

Considering that MK was the one that broke GH sacking before anyone else in the country and was given plaudits from national press for this story you would think he would want to be around in order to break the story of who is going to be the new manager.

This makes me think that he knows that nothing is going to happen over the weekend, possibly been tipped off as when some press releases are occuring. Link this with the TheTrees stating that RL has left the country does this mean that everything is sorted and it is just a matter of getting the timing right for an Aston Villa unveiling?

Obviously this is all speculation but it just strikes me as funny that a professional like MK would not be available to report on the BIGGEST story in sport at the present moment, if the news broke over the weekend regarding a new manager, cos he's having a couple of days at home?

What do you think?

Yeah Tim Abraham said this morning he was off to play cricket this afternoon. Would make you think they've been told to put the feet up until Monday morning as those guys wouldn't risk missing a story as big as this by playing cricket.

Either everything's done and dusted, Randy's got his man and there will be a press briefing on Monday morning, or else they've just put the search on hold for a few days which would be bizarre.

I reckon it's either Hughes or Moyes and it's all done and dusted. They're planning a time to announce for some reason.

I don't think I ever recall hearing stories of any other club holding a series of interviews before deciding on a manager. Is that just me?

I've heard it mentioned regularly enough for both clubs and international posts too.

Apparently Kenny Dalglish attended an interview for the Republic of Ireland job and when he went into the room where the panel was they asked for a copy of his CV - so he just walked out.

It seems odd that people like that have to do an interview because their strengths and weaknesses are pretty apparent when you get to Premier League level.

Who haven't we thought of yet?

Bernd Schuster

Otto Rehhagel

Christoph Daum

Diego Maradona

Dunga

Marcello Lippi

Luigi Delneri

Paulo Sérgio

Köbi Kuhn

Christian Gross

Luis Aragonés

Claude Puel

Zdenek Zemen

Fatih Terim

Paul LeGuen

Slavin Bilic

Quique Sanchez Flores

Marco Van Bastem

How can you be a good coach but a crap manager - I mean how would you know ? -

Stuart Gray was always touted as a top coach - but so far as I am aware never did anything to justify his tag

I think top managers have something coaches do not. An allureness about them. I've a book on how business can learn from football and top sports when dealing with management and they talk of Fergie quite alot and say that he never gets too close to the players, and has the aura of a father figure that they love but fear at the same time.

McClown's problem is he has always been far too matey with players, so they automatically see him as no threat, that they can do what they want without fear of his wrath so to speak. Top managers have a stern coldness underneath their exterior. Fergie, Clough, Mourinho, Hiddink, even Dither. You just wouldn't **** them about really.

The first thing Capello did when he took over from McLaren was teach the England bunch manners - he cut out all the nicknames and made the players address him as Mr Capello. He also made them turn up for dinner on time and stay until everyone was finished. They're tiny things but just show the players who's boss. He also kind of suggested the players basically ran the England show under McLaren's management.

If Talksport are right Mustapha Salifou just booked his flight back to Birmingham.....

It annoys me when all these people say we need to be patient. "oh, Houllier's only been gone a few days".

Now in the case of MON, fair enough, it needed time. But in this case when, at the very least, we've had a good idea that Houllier would be leaving most big companies would have a very good idea of the list of replacements ready should that situation arise. It just makes sense. I'd hate to think Villa didn't even plan for a very likely set of circumstances.

So really, most of the research, short-listing and due diligence (for want of a better word) should have been done BEFORE Houllier left. It is perfectly reasonable to do in the circumstances and could easily have been thrown away should Houllier have remained.

So considering that now should be done, the actual process of getting the man in should be day to day until we find someone who wants to take this collapsing team on and then a week maybe to dot i and cross t's extra.

Under that time scale it should be all done and dusted THIS week. What could possibly take longer than that? Talk of it taking to end of June is ridiculous. We've all had a pretty good idea Houllier was leaving since April - those at the club probably had an even better idea and should at least have planned for a 'worst case scenario'.

How can it take a team over 2 months to find a new manager if this speculation of it taking a couple more weeks be true? Time will be a killer on this one and make fans, sponsors, ticket sales and players very nervous about the future.

Agree with every word - good post. 2 theories

1.We are waiting for Hughes

2.We aren't good at manager hunting.

I know I'm being totally hypothetical here given today's news - but what if Randy had done a behind the scenes deal with Hughes in May because he knew Houllier was gonna have to leave. Then Ancelotti gets sacked from Chelsea a week later and takes the Fulham job? And we missed on him because we'd done our appointment weeks before.

Lerner and Faulkner will have been scoping managers out from the start of the year I reckon - way before Houllier even got sick, in case they would have to make an appointment. They'll have known Ancelotti was probably going to be sacked like most of the media did. They'll also know the current status of most of the top managers in Europe both in a job and out of it through a huge number of contacts. They will have people with their ear to the ground chasing agents all around Europe.

We'll be waiting for a very good reason. It's probably going to be like trying to sign a player - it will be once Hiddink makes up his mind or it might be some post in France or Germany and once that happens the knock on effect will make things happen I'm sure.

If it was going to be McLaren why wasn't it done last week? Likewise Rafa etc.

As long as we're not waiting until July no news is good news a s far as I'm concerned. It's not like we're missing out on any transfer coups at the moment is it?

Interesting that Hughes is now all set for Chelsea if John Terry has his way. If that's the case Hiddink could be an interesting candidate for the Villa job? If we've approached Carlo why wouldn't we approach Gus too?

Thoughts?

Carlo Ancelotti è il grande favorito per la panchina dell'Aston Villa dopo l'addio di Gerard Houllier, mentre il Chelsea ha finalmente ottenuto il "sì" di Guus Hiddink. Secondo gli allibratori britannici l'ex manager di Stamford Bridge è il candidato più forte per guidare la prossima stagione i Villas, preferito a Mark Hughes (Fulham) e David Moyes (Everton). Il presidente del club di Birmingham, l'americano Randy Lerner, deve ancora prendere una decisione finale ma secondo i rumors che arrivano dalle Midlands per Ancelotti è pronto un contratto principesco di lunga durata. Prima di firmare però il tecnico italiano, che nelle scorse settimane è stato contattato anche da Arsenal e Tottenham, vuole conoscere i piani della società e ottenere rassicurazioni tecniche per puntare alla qualificazione in Champions League. Nell'ultima stagione i Villas hanno chiuso al nono posto, a 20 punti dalla zona Champions.

Nel frattempo Hiddink manda messaggi inequivocabili al Chelsea: è pronto a lasciare la Turchia per tornare in Premier League. Il tecnico olandese - in un'intervista al Sun - ha dato la sua disponibilità a prendere il posto dello stesso Ancelotti.

It does a little more than say he is favourite, Don.

Carlo Ancelotti is the big favourite for the Aston Villa bench after the departure of Gerard Houllier, while Chelsea have finally got the "yes" from Guus Hiddink.

According to British bookmakers, the former manager at Stamford Bridge is the strongest candidate to lead Villa next season, who prefer him to Mark Hughes and David Moyes. The President of the Birmingham club, the American Randy Lerner, has yet to make a final decision, but according to rumours from the Midlands, Ancelotti is ready for a princely long-term contract. Before signing, however, the Italian coach, who in recent weeks has also been approached by Arsenal and Tottenham, wants to know the club's plans and wants to obtain assurances to point towards their ambition to qualify for the Champions League. Villa finished 9th last season, 20 points off the Champions League zone.

If rumours are correct (and they may not be) then he is willing if we can convince him of our own ambitions.

If there is a rumour that Ancelotti has been approached by Spurs then Redknapp might be one of Chelsea's candidates (or he might be the next England manager). In this case Ancelotti would probably be Spurs' nr1 target, and Ancelotti would no doubt choose London. It would be wise to let Chelsea (and Spurs) make their move first.

Think we could end up waiting until Turkey's qualifier this weekend.

If Turkey win Hiddinck will stay put - Roman will turn to Redknapp and Carlo will head to Spurs.

If Turkey lose Hiddinck will jump ship, Redknapp will stay put and Carlo and Ray will sign up with us.

Anyone know who Turkey are even playing?

Although based on what Ancelotti did for pirlo's game Stephen ireland could be our new holding midfielder. ;-)

If we did get Ancelotti who do you think he would sign? I reckon he would bring in Pirlo. We would play 4-3-3 with pirlo petrov delph and makoun being rotated.

Sign Ancelotti up!

Pirlo's off to Juventus by all accounts - Gattuso seems to be on his way from Milan though with nowhere in particular lined up.

Chickens - eggs - count etc....

GuillemBalague Guillem Balague

if Gerard Houllier decides 2 leave AV (the club want him to stay and reduce his workload) David Moyes is top of a shortlist to replace him

That's someone ITK about most footballing matters.

Balague said Villa and Liverpool had agreed a fee for Barry a few summers ago about two months before the transfer window opened, which turned out to be bollocks.

He's annoying because he states these things as fact when he only hears the same rumours everyone else does. Same as his mate Marcotti.

He also by all accounts seems to hate Gerard Houllier.

Phillip Auclair was on the Guardian's Podcast yesterday and james Richardson asked him specifically about Houllier and whether he was likely to continue next season. Auclair seems to be as close to Houllier as anyone. He said he has spoken to Houllier twice on the phone since his health scare and whilst Houllier has said he wants to come back, Auclair doesn't think he'll be able to.

He also said Benitez was likely to be in the running as a replacement as his kids were settled in England and he's currently touting himself for the best PL job he can get.

He commented that Villa will be a big attraction for managers at the moment given the quality of the squad etc, and Randy's supposed willingness to spend.

Journalists were tweeting that Villa's fans where chanting GH's name tonight. If true that's some turn around - with just two signings and two wins...

On a side note - Villa's fans were getting rave reviews for their performance tonight on the twittosphere.

Just watching the highlights, Bent has already made 3 superb runs that none of our other strikers would even think of making.

Yep - Would love it if Stephen Ireland got his act together and created a partnership with Bent like he had with Robinho a few seasons back.

R5LX Commentators: "Relegation not even an issue - far too much class"

Good reports about Makoun - will be good when he gets up to full fitness.

Didn't see the game - followed it on twitter though. Henry Winter was very impressed with Downing:

"What a game Downing's had...passing, tackling, blocking, outstanding. #avfc 1 #mcfc 0... De jong shot deflected off Clark onto post...6 left"

Was a nice tweet by one of the Guardian journalists today along the lines of - I wonder how Martin O'Neill feels seeing RL give Houllier £24m to spend on a new striker while he's negotiating with a pair of porn mongers to try and keep West Ham up.

I may have used some artistic license here but that was the general sentiment. Fair enough I know we're not out of the shit either by a long run....

Dear Mr Holloway;

are we still a half-arsed club? We've just signed a player for an amount of money that could probably buy your entire club. Up yours.

Regards, me

Like it.

Our manager is taking a bashing from all sides at the minute. Alot of the senior players obviously dont like him, and performances on the pitch have not endeared him to us fans.

But is that his fault??

I think it isnt. The players (or a majority of them) are refusing to play for him, which in turn is making alot of the fans turn on him. Does he deserve this??

In a word...NO!!

He came here with the best intentions to do well for this club. He doesnt deserve his otherwise impressive recored in management to be ruined because of a group of divas who care more about their 50k per week wage packet than the club. If the players arent gonna do it for the manager they should at least do it for us fans. After all, it is us paying their wages.

We need to get behind our manager at this crucial time. Let him bring his own players in and get rid of the players who will inevitably take this club down.

UTV

Agreed with this.

When Avram Grant took over at Chelsea the players had zero respect for him. If rumours are to be believed they ignored his tactics and told him what team to select. He fell out with half the team - yet the players still managed to get themselves to the Champions League final.

Our players are pathetic. To go from three sixth places etc to languishing in 18th place and some of the worst Villa performances in modern day history shows they have no respect for this club, and no respect for themselves as players and professionals.

If Houllier's tactics are really that bad, his set piece organisation so awful etc why can the players not just take matters into their own hands. Why can Dunne Collins etc not just say it worked like this last year so we're going to keep doing like this. They know how to play successful football and win games so why can't they sit down together and say bollocks to Houllier we'll do it like this.

They're a bunch of lemmings that are walking of a cliff with no spine to say hang on I'm going to take control here. They're every bit if not more the culprits here, than Houllier is.

He's a class little player, and he'll fill the LB area got Ireland i'd say, i called todays formation early today. GH is looking at my posts.

Not the forum for it Fran, but I'd say Trapattoni will be delighted with that today. Solves a problem or two.

I wonder if the squad have had the 'now we have a manager' moment in the last few days a la Paul Ince in Houllier's first few months at Liverpool. Certainly a big difference.

If Delph's just been dropped so much for Houllier's 'like a new signing' comments before the Spurs game.