Harry

Also you can read the quote from Moyes two ways:

“The last thing he needs to hear is someone talking about his job but I’m not interested in it, so that answers it.”

The key phrase could be "his job". Once GH goes its a vacant position - very different IMO.

Hmmm, maybe be worth the risk rather than take on Moyes.

I just want some exciting football to Villa and to me that means taking on a foreign manager.

I keep reading Houllier is working on the new season, list of transfers, planning the pre training. Maybe were all barking up the wrong tree and Houllier is staying. I for one would welcome this. Im a little worried if we take on a new manager, he would'nt really know the players. Like who needs to leave and who we need to bring in. Moyes started last season with 2 points from 6 games with his own team and this worries me.

I think we would still need to change our number 2 though. He had a good game against Arsenal, but remember Houllier was pulling the strings.

My take on that is that is all spin from the club mostly from GMac. I think GH and the club have agreed an honourable exit for him once the season is over.

Looking at the facts he is still, weeks later, not fit enough to sit in the directors box and watch the game tomorrow. How long is this recuperation going to last for? Any more than a couple more weeks and it will impact into pre- season. RL and PF must realise that we cannot have a manager that is not fit in charge and as has been said in the media Mrs H will have a big say in this too.

So I think he will 'retire' in the next couple of weeks to be replaced by one of Moyes, Hughes or Benitez. All this talk of them not being interested is simply out of respect to GH. Once the post is vacant all that changes.

Still can't see Houllier staying on for health reasons. As Lawro said on MotD on Sunday Mrs Houllier will have a big say in what happens. I'm sure he sees Villa as unfinished business but surely his health comes first.

Personally I don't think Houllier should stay on as manager given our performances this season. I had high hopes when he started and I can sort of see what he is trying to achieve but I think it will take a long time and involve a major overhaul of the squad to get there. I'm sure he would argue that once he gets a chance to really stamp his mark on the squad it will make a difference and maybe it would. My biggest concern is the way he managed to take a very good and difficult to beat side and turn into relegation candidates. That suggests to me that its all to do with the relationship between him and his assistants and the players. That is not solved over a transfer window.

If we are to appoint a British Manager I would go for Moyes on the basis we have a better squad in raw terms than Everton and money to develop it so he should be able to do much better. If we wanted someone for the future maybe Lambert or Grayson. As for a foreign manager and recognising the names floating around my pick would probably be Ranieri.

Interestingly I think Benitez is definitely putting himself in the frame but I'm not convinced by him on many fronts.

Wonderful result today which I have to say I did not see coming. Nice to see Arsene (jam tomorrow) Wenger's hang dog expression post match.

Bent worth every single penny IMO. GMac called it right today with a meaty midfield including the mighty NRC and Delph. Just right to boss the pretty boys of Arsenal.

Great great day made just that bit sweeter with Blues teetering on the brink

I'd like to see a German manager. How about a team of Joachim Low and Mathias Sammer? Style, with organisation. I think Low has a contract with German national team until 2014(?), but what an opportunity!

I didn't know that Villa played in the Bundesliga...

I'd like to see a British manager - Hughes, Moyes, McClaren, Lambert, Curbishley or Allardyce.

Interesting take on my suggestion.... :shock:

I see no reason for a British Manager. If you don't like Germans, what about Deschamps...or even Rjikaard?

He wants a British manager and no foreigners. He also wants an English manager and coaching staff for the England national team because he feels if we won anything under Capello, it would be a victory for the Italians, not us, despite it being 11 Englishmen on the pitch.

A manager no doubt contributes significantly to a team's success or failure.

So it would be an English victory masterminded by an Italian.

I'd rather an English victory masterminded by an Englishman.

I would rather take the victory (of Aston Villa) whoever is the manager. You hire the best person for the job of manager IMO.

Anyway we are hardly knee deep in top quality English (not British) managers to chose from so why limit our choices?

What class player (for example) on the continent is gonna want to sign for Moyes at a mid-table club? He may be a respected name in Britain but overseas he would be just another British manager trying to reach the big time.

We need a big named manager that can attract and work with the type of players that can take us to the next level.

Moyes,Hughes,Coyle,Lambert they will be no different to MON and end up just signing the likes of the Wayne Bridges and Scott Parkers of this world.

Houllier is the man to take us forward, he has the connections and the name to attract the calibre of player required to get into the top 4.

What makes you think Houller is the man to get these players??. Your off your head if you think he'll get these players, and even more mad if you think he'll get us near the top 8 never mind the top **** 4. He's a useles manager that had his time with Liverpool years ago.

I think he is highly reguarded by many world class players both at home and on the continent. He has had massive influences on the type of calibre player's careers that end up playing at top clubs. Players like Toulalan, Malouda, Benzema, Gerrard are just a few that have graced the big stage that he had big influences on.. Words are that there are another batch of class players behind all these that Houllier is well aware of and has the pull to sign. Maybe M'Vila, M'Bengue etc? I dont know.

Only a couple a days ago we have McAllister getting all excited in the press saying that big things are going to happen and there's people/players we want to bring in.

Houllier has moved on since Liverpool and Lyon, does he not get the inside info at the French Football Federation about raising talents? Isnt/wasny he something to do with Clairfontane?

I would hate to throw away a huge opportunity for Villa to reach the big time.

Jam tommorow mate.

the £24m spent on bent looks a good investment. - but thats about it. Houllier weakness at Liverpool was his transfer dealings - and willingness to throw massive amounts of money on french youth players - where are they now ?

I again agree with you...However would you not think Houllier's weakness in that area has been some-what improved since his Liverpool days? Houllier since Liverpool has worked very closely with some of France's raising talents,where this wasnt the case when he was Liverpool manager.

Houllier could maybe know the next Essien, Henry, Evra etc that are coming through the ranks in France, more so that he did in his Liverpool days?

Sounds like a job description of a Director of Football to me which I think would be a superb use of his talents....but of course you need manager happy to work in that framework and that's the hard bit.

I don't subscribe to the view that we are already sounding out managers. However the situation will not be wasted on potential candidates who are positioning themselves for what seems likely to be an inevitable change.

Hughes has apparently not signed a new contract at Fulham, Benitez saying he wants to manage in the PL again and ditto for Ranieri who apparently still owns a property in London.

The big question for me will be whether the club are prepared to pinch an incumbent manager. Last time they categorically ruled that out which I believe was enormously shortsighted.

Personally I could (now) see Moyes up for a move to Villa as he goes to a similar sized club with much more money. I think he cannot do anything more at Everton. Hughes I think covets the Villa job so would be interested. Coyle would be gettable too as we are a bigger club than Bolton.

However I do wonder whether we should be looking at a good young manager like Paul Lambert who could really work with the team and build something.

Horrible play on words but Houllier has to be a dead man walking as far as the manager's job is concerned. Its simply inconceivable that he continues if his health is not good. I'm not a particular fan (now) but he's a decent bloke and he should look after himself. The club are making noises towards him carrying on simply to dampen down speculation.

As for the replacement both Hughes and Moyes would be good shouts IMO as we need someone to organise the players. Everytime I have watched Villa this season at some point in the game I have seen disorganisation. I hate to say it but that was MON's strength.

Properly organised with a clear out of the dead wood and the money from the inevitable departure of Young and a little bit extra cash without breaching any fair play rules I think we will be OK.

The biggest challenge for the club is making the right appointment and they have to recognise that may involve poaching a manager from another club.

My nightmare scenario edges ever closer! Namely we have to get something out of the last two games. Beat Wigan and it does not matter but that's easy to say but the way we piss points away anything could happen.

Yet again we failed to get anything from a game we dominated and could and should have won. Were the very worst to happen you could pin it down to 2-3 games were we **** up, this being one of them.

I have little or no faith in the management team and although its a shitty thing to say GH's illness will almost certainly force a change of manager which has to be the right decision for the club. Despite what the club says I can't believe they think we are going to get anywhere retaining GH and GMac.

GMac made some very poor tactical decisions today. Clark for Dunne when it should have been Cuellar. NRC for Pires when it should have been Petrov for Delph or Bannan. And what was Albrighton supposed to do in 4 minutes of normal time?

GMac was outsmarted by a better manager today and as usual the result was aided and abetted by some piss poor individual performance from players who frankly should know better.

This season has been a shambles from start to finish and I blame the club for it starting with letting the MON situation fester so he can royally **** us over five days before the season started.

Maybe the Sun guy just gets fed the same info as MM, though I wouldnt put it past a Journo to come on here in order to pick up snippets of info.

I think football forums like this are pretty much accepted by journos as 'legitimate' sources.

I just arrived at Liverpool Lime Street on my way back from the match and some random bluenose word removed took a swing at me as I was on my way down the road. Hit me in the bloody eye for no reason. Luckily I managed to move my head a little so he didn't catch it anywhere near full impact, but bloody hell. They really are scum. Big fat baldy bluenose knuckle-dragging word removed!

Nothing ever changes mate. You either have class or you don't and its a fact that most Blues fans don't.

Back on topic it was ugly anti football from Stoke but I think they would have turned us over a few weeks ago. I know we are still not anywhere near a good as we could be but I do think we have improved a bit, enough to stay up anyway. Stoke came for a point and got it. The only comfort I take is that we are probably safe now, not quite but just about.

I echo the sentiment that I cannot wait for this season to be over. You could not have made up what has happened to us.

Nice not to have your weekend spoilt by poor Villa result. Only managed to catch Radio 5 updates and MotD as we were driving to the South Coast but it looked like we bossed them which was good to see. WHU looked shite but how many times have we not put away sides like that? Shot count was good to see too.

I think we still need another 3-4 points to be safe but we should manage to get those before the last two games meaning that we are not relying on getting something at places like the Emirates

Petrov did well and I think one of the motivations for starting him may have been that he has a cooler head than NRC.

90 minutes of NRC vs Barton would probably have seen one or both of them being sent off.

I think 90 minutes of Barton battling it out with NRC and Delph would have been worth the ticket price alone

Three very well deserved points. Gabby was MotM for me. Never stopped running all game. It was a mistake to sub him as that just invited pressure. Far better to keep the pressure up than sit back and defend.

For me a really good all round performance, very pleased.

We had a corner in the second half and Gabby ran over to Petrov and said something then Petrov ran over to the bench and to me it looked like Petrov was telling Houllier that Gabby had pulled his hamstring as he pointed to the back of his leg when telling Houllier whatever Gabby told him.

That's the reason Gabby was taken off, it may have been a dead leg, but he did point to the back of his leg.

Albrighton felt his groin on Friday Houllier said, maybe he just didn't want to risk him for 10 mins of the game when a full weeks rest would be better for him?

Must of missed that. Fair enough if he has tweaked something but I think Pires was a poor choice to replace him.

Three very well deserved points. Gabby was MotM for me. Never stopped running all game. It was a mistake to sub him as that just invited pressure. Far better to keep the pressure up than sit back and defend.

For me a really good all round performance, very pleased.

Hottest day this season and scarfs? Left mine in the car based on the weather but there were quite a few in M5 where we sit so well done to them, Overall a great day scarf or no scarf, Mediterranean sunshine, three points and a foxy woman two rows in front of me to enhance the view. Bliss.

I agree that SM could be good for us. But the number of people who disagree is a bit of a worry. Partly because they may be right, and partly because I don't think I could take another season of watching a beleaguered, unpopular manager try to turn things around amid a cacophony of abuse from the fans.

I think that's just the way at VP these days. MON was hardly beleaguered but he was unpopular with quite significant proportion of the fans. DOL was as well and roundly hated by most. Bit of a pattern there if you include GH.

As I thought we would lose its a point gained.

Very very soft penalty. You tell by the look on Jagielka's face, that expectant and hopeful pleading look he gave the referee, that it was not a penalty. As for Beckford's shot he was offside as far as I could see so whether it crossed the line is irrelevant.

Overall a real shame as Bent is banging the goals in but the defence is as shite as ever. How much do Everton need for their first goal?

Gary Cahill has turned out an above average defender who is overrated because he scores a few goals. I'm certain that Clark will turn out much better than Cahill

Cahill 'above average'? C'mon. You better ring Fergie, Wenger & Redknapp and warn them before they go and blow £20m on him this summer. One of them is about to look a prized fool.

Very true, biigest transfer cock up made in the MON era was selling Cahill and buying Davies. Twice as much money for half the player.

M5 next to the Holte is a good view. We have had tickets in that section for a few years now. Quite a few season ticket holders but also plenty of seats available for games.

trouble is, you go too far back and you're in the danger zone every time we get a free kick.

When Young is taking them at least :shock:

BTW he leaves his shooting boots at home before Villa games but always takes them to England games.

And don't ask me to spill how I know as I don't want to get the guy in trouble. But Houllier won't be sacked. From what I've been told Randy blames Dither for being the cause of the state we are in and Dither ALONE.

I am assuming that you mean MON and if that is the case the Board really has lost the plot. MON made lots of bad calls over signings and wages but his record speaks for itself. I am also firmly of the opinion that he deliberately chose to resign when he did to maximise the damage to the club.

But having said all that he cannot be blamed for the abject dross we have been treated to this season, responsibility for which largely rests with the manager and certain players, the latter being a function of poor management anyway.

The simple truth is the Board made a duff appointment which will almost certainly cost us our place in the PL. Picking through the wreckage once the season is over I think the club would be best served by hiring a good young manager to work with what remains of the squad which will probably largely be the kids anyway. Someone like Grayson would be a good shout.

I'd get Big Sam in and give him a £5m bonus if he keeps us up. Yes it really is that bad.

Probably the worst game I have seen all season. Wolves simply wanted it more. They were organised, played as a team and taught us a lesson in simple football. We were shit and we will be relegated,

If we stick with the French prick I agree.

I agree mate and before today I would have disagreed with you. I have come to the conclusion we will end up playing our clever tippy tappy football in the Championship with Houllier in charge. We should have fired him at Christmas but sadly its now too late to change.

The players clearly have no idea what they are supposed to be doing on any part of the pitch and that is the managers job. Ok today the defence was a lash up but the same basic mistakes get made week after week. How complicated is it to defend set pieces? As for playing players out of position, MON has nothing on Houllier.

As for Ashley Young he is an embarrassment in a Villa shirt. the quicker he goes the better but Houllier persists with keeping him as captain and playing him in the hole in the fruitless hope he will stay. His free kicks and corners are simply laughable along with his other antics. Man U are welcome to him.

Today was the turning point for me with Houllier. Relegation, IMO, is now virtually certain as Houllier does not know what to do and the players simply do not have the stomach for the fight,

Proud History, Bright Future, what a **** joke that is.

Probably the worst game I have seen all season. Wolves simply wanted it more. They were organised, played as a team and taught us a lesson in simple football. We were shit and we will be relegated,