bannedfromHandV

DailyMail are reporting he's got it though

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1308543/Gerard-Houllier-lands-job-Aston-Villa-Ex-Liverpool-boss-set-sensational-return-England.html

Sorry, don't know how to do short links.....apologies if already posted.

confirmed Houllier according to my mate

EDIT - I've been wound up by my mate, sorry

Nice quick edit.

All the bloody stoke and everton fans in the office wound me up, sent a fake story round on email but made it look dead official like it'd been copied and pasted from BBC....twunts

confirmed Houllier according to my mate

EDIT - I've been wound up by my mate, sorry

Donadoni! Ace

Donadoni in for Villa job

"Roberto is a great student of the English game and he is very interested in the job at Aston Villa," Collymore told skysports.com.

"He knows Villa are a top club with an ambitious owner and he feels he could be a success there.

"Roberto has worked at the highest level and he has always dreamed of coaching in England.

"Roberto has the experience and talent to help develop the best young English talent and also the knowledge to help find the best foreign talent available."

:notworthy:

Donadoni makes Phil Brown look good.

Isn't this a complete non-starter though being as the main criteria for our new manager is that they must have Premier League experience?

Unless I'm being thick and have forgotten him having managed someone here already.....

I'm not trying to generalise Bof nor am I assuming that just because SI is Irish that he therefore warrants the unconditional support of any and all Irish people, but, upon posting yesterday my initial thoughts on SI, I was quickly met with firece opposition from the likes of yourself, Reality and P3TE, just to name a few off the top of my head.

I could be wrong but it's how it's appeared to me.

Yes, you've looked and found what you wanted IMO. Here are the names that weren't on the top of your head who also disagreed with your opinion. Gazton, Wiggy, Hanky, nedster, villan007, CoopsAVFC, gilbertoAVFC, villanmike, Pieface, tezzaleed & omariqy. I think you 'could be wrong' as well

Bof, I never, at any point, tried to make out that it was only Irish based people who were in favour of SI.

In all honesty, were not too big for anyone at the minute

Don't talk pish.

well were not. Just look at the names linked. Regardless of the timing, if we as big as a lot on here think we are, the greatest managers would be jumping through hoops to get the job.

But the point quite clearly is that we're not as big as some people on here think we are.

Fully aware of all this and therefore a little surprised that the Irish contingent on this forum appear to be such advocates of him.

I think you are attributing or seeing a national bias that simply isn't there. Every Villa fan, irrespective of nationality, wants him to succeed and after 2 games they are probably giving him the benefit of any doubt. If you are then choosing to read into the Irish contingent who are affording him the very same leeway, then I'm afraid that's your prerogative but it's wrong for the reasons I've just outlined.

I'm not trying to generalise Bof nor am I assuming that just because SI is Irish that he therefore warrants the unconditional support of any and all Irish people, but, upon posting yesterday my initial thoughts on SI, I was quickly met with firece opposition from the likes of yourself, Reality and P3TE, just to name a few off the top of my head.

The same happened when I queried the transfer initially under the previous SI thread, upon posting my opinion that I didn't think much of the lad I was met with staunch resistance from the likes of the aforementioned plus Zatman etc....

Hence my belief that he appears to have captured the imagination of most of this forums Irish subscribers, I could be wrong but it's how it's appeared to me.

As for the 'Irish peeps who seem to think that the sun shines out of his backside'. You obviously don't get the Irish media over there and aren't aware of our opinion of him. By and large, he is hated over here, he has been disowned. He is probably the only Irish player who would not be given the benefit of the doubt by Irish supporters. We all hope he succeeds in the same way that we hope any new Villan will succeed. But to think we have some affinity with him over his nationality? You are so far off the mark with that. He's often referred to as Stephen England because of his snubbing of our national team.

Fully aware of all this and therefore a little surprised that the Irish contingent on this forum appear to be such advocates of him.

He's also not a central midfielder though is he, which has been said all summer.

He's not a goalkeeper, he's not a centre-back, he's not a full-back, he's not a winger, he's not a striker, hmmmm.

Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Gareth Barry, Scott Parker, Lucas, Petrov are central midfielders...Stephen Ireland occupies a role which is nothing like any of these players.

Emile Heskey is nothing like Jermain Defoe yet they're both strikers?

Okay, after two games my opinion is that I am unimpressed, that, coupled with the fact that I didn't rate him particularly highly in the first place leads to my personal and current opinion being that he's not particularly good.

I don't honestly feel that I need to explain myself further, sorry to all the Irish peeps who seem to think that the sun shines out of his backside and sorry to anyone else this offends.

I hope to be proven beyond wrong come the end of the season.

He's also not a central midfielder though is he, which has been said all summer.

He's not a goalkeeper, he's not a centre-back, he's not a full-back, he's not a winger, he's not a striker, hmmmm.

The 'Confess you were wrong' thread should remain open till next summer and there could be a new entrant by then. I respect anyones opinion but forming it after 2 games is pretty ridiculous.

Oh really, funny that being as Kev Mac has been condemned after a not too dissimilar amount of games....oh, but is that different somehow?

Perhaps because it's a little more mainstream and not so against the grain eh?

What happened to opinions on this forum.

Can i just ask what you were expecting with the arrival of Ireland?

To not lose 6-0 to Newcastle in a match in which, by all accounts, we were over ran in midfield.

I also did not expect to crumble at home to RV and to concede two goals in two minutes, one of which had nothing to do with SI I am happy to concede.

Oh, the Newcastle game. Yeah, I agree. Ireland was the only player who played poorly in that one.

Surprising really that he played so poorly in that one, considering he hasn't played a full 90 minutes in the PL for well over a year. And Ireland played very well in the first half against Vienna. Some lovely balls and there are definite glimpses of quality. There is a real crispness to his passing that has been long missing from our team.

Granted he was lost in the second half.

Whereas most of the other 21 players on show had only played one game in 4 months?

What's the difference?

Most? Where are you getting that from? Apart from 4 players - Guzan, Beye, Davies, and Reo-Coker the rest of the squad played in the Premier League last year and mostly on a week to week basis at some stage.

Ireland did not have that luxury, or anything like it.

Read the post again mate eh.

Jez, personally I think it's just frustration, we claim to want the right man to take us forward, but with all the rumours of Curbs, Houllier, they could have been appointed two weeks ago! It's just ridiculous that it's taking this long to appoint someone, first process should be to identify the man to take you forward not just fly around, book interviews! It's a waste of time but this falls at Paul Faulkner for being an inept CEO!

You do understand don't you that it can take months sometimes to fill high profile positions outside of football?

Whilst football does not mirror the rest of the world I for one am happy for them to take their time in this matter as hoepfully the club will reap the rewards later down the line.

As ever, it's a case of I WANT AND I WANT NOW....with no thought beyond that.

Oh, the Newcastle game. Yeah, I agree. Ireland was the only player who played poorly in that one.

Surprising really that he played so poorly in that one, considering he hasn't played a full 90 minutes in the PL for well over a year. And Ireland played very well in the first half against Vienna. Some lovely balls and there are definite glimpses of quality. There is a real crispness to his passing that has been long missing from our team.

Granted he was lost in the second half.

Whereas most of the other 21 players on show had only played one game in 4 months?

What's the difference?

Why the **** are you slating Ireland??

Can you not grasp the fact that he is not 100% match fit and still bedding into the team???

Why is that so hard for you? Or were you just against the swap deal from the off and Milners biggest fan?

What were you expecting?

Yes, now having an opinion on VT must mean that I'm secretly in love with Milner and will stop at nothing until AVFC no longer exist.

Grow up mate, he's been sub-standard in his two appearances for the club looks nothing like the player(s) we need to move forward.

If he isn't 100% match fit then he shouldn't be in the team, I am aware he will take some bedding in but I have seen little that has impressed me.

SO so sorry to have offended you, I didn't realise you were so delicate when it comes to Steve Ireland.

Sorry ... hang on... are.? No, wait, seriously, are people actually negatively judging Ireland's value to us already?

BOF, he's played two games now, I'm aware it is two games and my posts have quite clearly stated that my opinion has been on those two appearances.

I'm entitled to my opinion in that I think he's looked shit.

Certainly nothing like the replacement for Milner that so many thought he would be.

I'll be as happy as the next man if he goes on to have a great season but I wasn't happy about us signing him in the first place, I don't believe his head is at Villa let alone his heart and I think, honestly (and this could be one for the other thread about being wrong) that he will not be at VP come the start of the 2012/2013 season.

Oh, the Newcastle game. Yeah, I agree. Ireland was the only player who played poorly in that one.

Surprising really that he played so poorly in that one, considering he hasn't played a full 90 minutes in the PL for well over a year. And Ireland played very well in the first half against Vienna. Some lovely balls and there are definite glimpses of quality. There is a real crispness to his passing that has been long missing from our team.

Granted he was lost in the second half.

Whereas most of the other 21 players on show had only played one game in 4 months?

What's the difference?

so any news on Houllier? is he coming or not?

I hope so, need the £100 from William Hill

In that case, I think its worth mentioning that last time i looked, we were 4th in the league

I wish it mattered after three games............lets face it, we could easily have lost 4-1 on Sunday.

Nice little Villa. Won't "bully" another club. Yet, we constantly allow other clubs to bully us into selling players etc. Its time this club decided to stand up for itself and stick two fingers up to other clubs.

Sigh.

Yes that means they will all come and want to be Villa manager!

You want our owners to do things like City and that tit Cook?

You we're slagging him off in the Milner thread if i recall correctly.

Fickle?! Never

I take it you missed the first 45 minutes of the Vienna match then.

No, I sat through it, in the rain just as I did the second 45 minutes.

He looked lost against Newcastle, left gaps all over the midfield, didn't do anything of any great substance going forward and certainly did nothing defensively - I must add, this is based on only seeing the first 25 mins of the Newcastle match, once I knew the score the recording was quickly deleted off the planner, but I can't imagine his performance picking up greatly being as we went on to lose 6-0.

RV - are a poor team, I'd probably equate them to Bolton? Maybe Blackburn if on a bad day? We looked poor as a team, little cutting edge. Ireland did nothing to create space for himself, got bogged down and invariably ended up playing backwards or sideways, except for a great burst down the inside left channel which resulted in him being tackled.

Granted it's only two games but my impression, from those two games is that he's been shit and has looked like a headless chicken.

Ireland's looked shit so far.

Headless chicken springs to mind.

If it's Curbs Villatalk will crash within 90 seconds of the announcement.

You readit here first.

Whoever gets appointed this site will crash

Took me about 2 hours to get on after MoN went....

Houllier's tumbled down to 5/2 on skybet........