smetrov

A mate of mine who is a bookie - reckons Curbishley is the best value for money bet at the moment. Personally I reckon he is the fallback position if we can't pouch a manager. .......Tony Pullis for me ....and if we can't pouch him ...were are in deep shit. Faulkner will be out by Christmas as well.

Relegation may be a long shot, especially with the likes of Blackpool, Wigan and West Ham down there but just how bad were we last Sunday? Certainly not a top six (ten?) side playing like that!! But when a big club implodes - it tends to snowball and happen more quickly- When a small club struggles - there is often a galvanizing effect - they all pull together. in 1987 - We had players with more ability - than those who stayed up - but the club got on a downward spiral - and we couldn't get out of it...... Be warned Randy

Sadly it all points to KM - Even if had won every game - I wouldn't think this the right move. I also question the 'he knows the players theory' - He was reserve team coach - not first team coach - so he might know the players fleetingly after they come back from injury - but his coaching of the first team will have been minimal. Sad day - and if it happens - I beleive the conspiracy theorists are right (ie were are running on the cheap) - Been tried before Randy - Google Graham Turner ..........& think again.

F**n Hell - this a low ebb - in almost 40 years of following the villa - the likley candidates of Bradley, KM, Curbishley must be one of the worst shortlists I have ever known. - If we were to get Sam Allardye I d be whooping for joy - thats how poor the list is.

If this is the thinking at the top of the club - then heaven help us. KM has proved in 3 games he can't organise or discpline the defence. The players came out second half - and really played like they couldn't give a toss. Sadly if we are going to poach a manager - the way to do it - is to leak your intentions to the press. That hasn't happened. Amazingly KM - isn't sure if he wants the job - but if we beleive these reports he is going to get it - a win against Rapid - a draw against everton and he's in charge. Don't get me wrong luring a big name - won't be easy. But if your running a big football club, with any ambition - you just have to get the appointment right.

What about a Roy Keane, Stuart Pearce combo ? - might up our red card tally abit though !

Didn't the general say they want someone to continues MON'S work - to me that would rule out Bradley, Sven, as they are looking for MON V2 - Allardyce, Pullis, Curbs, Hughes,

Im thinking Tony Pullis - gettable - good job on a budget - seems to be in the market for similar players to MON. Not saying I wouldn't prefer Hughes or Jol - but I don't think they are gettable now.

I really don't think it will be BB. Curbishley seems to have been a big mover(in the betting) since the weekend. As I said earlier would be surprised at Allardyce, Pullis. None great - but whatever his reasons MON's timing left us in deep sh*te.

A larger transfer kitty doesn't really catch it though does it, to get into the top four in this league might cost us another £300m. As we are, we're comfortably in the top half and we've every chance of pushing for sixth again. Spending ten million doesn't really change that, twenty million doesn't either. Pushing for the top four has become much more expensive since Randy took over, four years ago you would have thought £30m a year in spending would give you a chance, now it would get you nowhere near. We could go out now and spend £40m and be fifth - and bust. Faced with that, I think we're playing the right game - we're holding and waiting for a weakness or an opportunity. Exactly. One of the reasons why it costs so much. Man City! People need to get a grip and not be such spoilt brats! I know. Such spoilt brats who want to compete with the very best. How dare they. What are they thinking? We'll simply accept mediocrity and finishing 6th-10th and wait for an opportunity. God knows what that opportunity will be, or when it will come. God knows if Randy can even afford to bankroll another spending spree. But Villa fans have been waiting for years anyway. Another few won't hurt. Also can I just point out that Bob Bradley is WAY ahead of other candidates when it comes to bookies odds. He is 11/10 with William Hill to be the next manager. That usually means he's nailed on to take the job. Sven is second at 5/1. Bradley 1/1 with Sky Bet. How did we find out that MON had walked out? When the odds on him leaving were slashed by the bookies. I would say there is certainly something happening very soon, especially in regards to the Generals latest comments. They are not always correct. This is how bookies make money. Sven was huge odds on two weeks ago, and Macdonald was 6/4 on Sunday morning. If i had a spare 20k and whacked it on Mark Hughes in the morning he would be favourite. I still think there is not a cat in hells chance of Bradley being our manager. I backed Klinnsman at 11/1 two weeks ago and think that was a fantastic bet I was listening to a bookie on the radio when MON first quit. He said it sometimes about who places the money - and not so much the amount. They will be certain people who hear things first - and thats who the bookies watch.

Hi General. I will judge the boards actions when the new manager is appointed. However I trust you will understand the fustrations of some - Prior to RL - for over 25 years - we kept getting so close - then it all fell apart - then a new guy would come - we get close again -. A mate of mine who is a Blues fan, said it must be worse being a a villa fan - because you get so close - then it all goes wrong - where as blues have never looked doing anything in over 100 years.

The one that would be a worthy MON replacement are:- Hughes Jol Moyes They all look difficult to get - esp for a chairman who is a rookie in this area. The next clutch of Candidates would be:- Allardyce Pullis Maybe Grayson Not exactly great - which is where I think Curbishley comes into the running - a comparable record to Allardyce & Pullis - but is available and said he would be interested - its a gamble - but unless we can lure one from the first group - I don't see many alternatives.

The One bloke who has always been short odds is Sven - others like Kmac - BB, have drifted in and out - but sven has always been in thr frame.

I don't actually blame Randy for MON walking out. I think his error is that he thought finding a replacement would be easier (for those old enough - this is like when Ellis sacked barton - then pouched the Shrewsbury town manager - for those not old enough - this is true) RL has to get someone who looks ungettable (Moyes, Jol, Hughes) - however todays results chages alot - and if I were a betting man - I would be taking a fresh look at Alan Curbishley (bit boring but can hold the fort) or Klinsman - we may already be down this road.

Defensively maybe. But I absolutely cannot believe how badly we are losing given the quality of our passing in the first 20 minutes or so. Oh funny how the game against Spam was the best we've seen in years as well eh? Yes - but is was passing where it didn't hurt newcastle - it didn't produce a single shot on target. Steve Harper will never have an easier day

How on earth do you arrive at that ? - we haven't had a shot on target - penalty included.

Iam not exegarating when I say this is the worse villa performance I have seen in over 25 years. Yes there have been games where we don't look like scoring, yes we have been hammered by the big boys, - but today we haven't even had a shot on target, contributed to at least 3 of the goals - with awful defending. What was that half hearted Dunn chalenge for goal 4 ?. Lets not forget this isn't a good team we are up against. Ashley Young is only one who looks like doing anything. 4-0 flatters us to be honest - this could be 7 or 8

Bizzare as it sounds - this could be what happened. MON said a few months earlier he wouldn't walk over a lack of funds. But I could imagine indecision at board level really annoying MON.

Apparently MON is regretting his decision to quit villa. He wanted clarification transfer funds - but Faulkner and Lerner were evasive. MON resignation was a back me or sack me - but his resignation was accepted without much discussion. MON didn't walk over amount of transfer funds - he just didn't know where he was. OK its third hand to me - believe it or not. But this sounds feasible to me - reading between the lines KM seems to be hinting at similar things.

There just isn't anyone available who is anything approaching what we want. I think Kev Mac until Xmas is about the best option. Then if someone becomes available - he can either be assistant - or go back to coaching the reserves. This sort of reminds me of when Ellis sacked Barton, and a whole host of top names turned the job down - we ended up with the shrewsbury town manager - Graham Turner - who was a disaster !

Aston Villa's search for a new manager rumbles on, but it won't include Ajax boss Martin Jol, who has ruled himself out of a move. The former Spurs boss, who snubbed a move to Fulham last month, told Dutch paper Algemeen Dagblad that he wanted to stay as Ajax boss and lead them to the Dutch title. "I want to play in the Champions League with Ajax and become champions of the Netherlands. So Villa have to wait therefore," he said. Goal.com UK revealed last week that the Villa Park board had approached Jol for the position. Meanwhile, former AZ boss Ronald Koeman has revealed that he is on a shortlist of managers to take over from Martin O'Neill who sensationally quit Villa Park last week, but hasn't had the call yet. "I'm interested in the position of manager from Villa," he told NOS. "I know that I'm on the list of them. I don't know how many more candidates are on that list. But I haven't had contact yet with Villa."

Milner wanted to join us. Ireland didn't. Maybe it makes no difference. But we'll see. while the whole world wants to join Man city, why would Stephen Ireland want to join us.....on the surface. deep down we are a great club....as are Everton imo I as many others could write reams and reams and reams of lines on why money does'nt buy happiness and it seriously doesn't but on the surface it does. because synthetic people believe that... there are managers by the bucket load have proved that theory wrong.... but its hard work and nobody likes hard work these days. Don Revie, Harry Catterick, Howard Kendall,Bertie Mee, Ron Saunders,Brian Clough,Arsene Venger. The Man City thing is a joke to me.... its just that they have won the lottery.... Chelsea and Man U were doing it way before them.... i say good luck to them. Of course I am biased - but I watched chelsea on the TV saturday night - they won 6-0 - but it just didn't seem 'real' - Our victory over West Ham was all the more glorious - because we probably won't play like that every week !

Interesting point - on how a club keen to reduce debt, supposedly shun a cash only deal - to get Ireland. On thing that would make sense of a lot of things, was that if MON didn't want Ireland, but Randy and Paul Faulkner did - that would explain why MON walked - and why we didn't do cash only.............and maybe its why Kevin Mac is a bit cool on being permanent villa manager.

Not ITK - but in order of proability my top 3 would be:- Jol Ronald Koeman Mark Hughes

Ive still got some ££££ posters from years gone by !