chomer

Exactly - it's CL football and outrageous wages that attract the top players. Anyone think Van Der Vaart went to Spurs because of Harry Redknapp?

Agreed - it's a risk, but one worth taking.

Why not? My point is that IF it turns out to be Martinez it will be hugely disappointing given the calibre of manager in the market for a job at the moment. IF that happens, then in my opinion it will be fairly obvious that Randy has downsized his ambition for Aston Villa and wants a man who can work on a downscaled budget. Because IF that happens it no longer is speculation and then becomes fact. At which point you could fairly criticise the board if you didn't like the decision. But don't criticise them for what might happen.

'Apparently', which means you dont know, so why speculate?? Speculation and discussion is what this thread is for. Speculation and discussion are what the thread is for. However speculation is not something to use to criticise Lerner and the club.

The statement from PF suggests no appointment is imminent. My guess is it'll be at least next week before we know and means Martinez is far from a foregone conclusion.

We can't compete financially with the CL clubs and we all know it. So what if we got a "big name" manager in to attract the "big name" players. We still either couldn't afford the transfer fee and/or their wages. Therefore a "big name" manager <> CL football. Like others, I'm warming to the idea of Martinez. A young and promising manager, good man-manager (did you see the Wigan players hoisting him on their shoulders after surviving relegation?) and tries to play attractive football. We provide him with significantly more funds than he's had before and who knows where he can take us? I also like the idea of him staying here for a number of years. For those saying he'll be off to a big CL like any other manager if he's successfull - you may well be right. But he'd have been successful for that to happen - and that's what we all want isn't it?

Quite Right. But he appointed Houllier. And now looks set to appoint a 2nd rate manager IMO because he doesn't want the hassle of appointing a stronger manager. By all means criticise Lerner if he makes an appointment you think is not appropriate. But you know no more than any of us who Lerner is "set to appoint", so criticising him now just makes you look like you are being negative for the sake of it.

Will be Happy with Hughes too. Whilst Ancelotti would have had the wow factor, I think Hughes is a perfect fit for us and us for him. I don't think the same could be said for Ancelotti.

Hi General, I've never posted on this thread before, but frankly, I'm embarassed by some of the comments posted by my fellow Villa supporters. I suggest you take a break from the messageboard for a while. Whether we are relegated or not, it is clear the hostile postings, some of which are little more than loaded questions, will continue. Even through these difficult times, I know myself and friends still support the board.

Not true. Japan and Singapore both enforce capital punishment and both seem to have lower violent crime levels than the UK. Not that I support capital punishment or believe the levels of crime are directly related to it.

None of these proposals deal with the possibility of executing the innocent. A mandatory death sentence increases the probablity of such an event. Would you be prepared to hang for a murder you did not commit in order to deter others from murdering?

and whilst murderers are allowed to get away with it, 100's of innocents are murdered on our streets instead. i vote for the life of my family, my friends & the other innocent people in this world, against the life of a murderer. How would murderers "get away with it"? I did not advocate releasing murderers from prison. In fact, my views on prison are, probably, very similar to yours. Prison should be hard and sentences long or, in some cases, indefinate.

May I suggest those for the death penalty watch the documentary called "14 Days in May". Not saying it'll change your mind...but it is an extraordinary piece of film. Personally I'm against capital punishment. Whilst the system is run by humans, there is always the risk of executing the innocent.