Sam3773

You're probably right. Nixon seems to be selling the notion there may be 'fall out'. Presumably to sell papers. I hope we do announce Terry Henry today so we can crack on.

Yeah, I think it makes sense to interview a couple. I'm only repeating what Nixon is saying. I'd buy it as it kind of ties in with why there are such vastly differing reports. Some saying Henry is done, some saying we're speaking to Celtic this week. I hope it's done soon so we can crack on and have a couple of weeks for the new manager and players who aren't away on international duty to gel and train.

Apparently there's potential for a bit of a rift. The owners want Henry like they did in summer which is why we've approached him and all the stories are out that he's the man. Purslow wants a process involving approaching Rogers, Smith and Howe and decide at the end of that interview process. Hence contrasting media reports. Very interesting.

We would do that with anyone. You can't please everyone and they all come with caveats. In fact, the one person you would say 'yeah, he can get a club promoted' was just sacked. By us. Because he couldn't.

Anyone chucked this in yet?! Slackers.

The thought of Henry and Terry is inexplicably exciting. Really exciting.

Couple of people claiming to have heard from separate sources in the club that Henry is going to BMH Monday to sign a 4 year deal. Sweet dreams.

I seem to recall big calls for Wagner last time from large sections of the fan base as he was doing well at Huddersfield and playing great football. When Bruce was appointed, some accepted a certain style of play, as Bruce was tried and tested and would get us promoted, as opposed to Wagner's relative inexperience. Wagner is now competing in the Premier League and Bruce failed. The point I'm trying to make isn't that Wagner was better than Bruce, it's that we shouldn't fall foul of requiring lots of experience again. As TRO said, just because they've done it, doesn't mean they can do it again, and just because they haven't done it, doesn't mean they won't.

Probably. I created it after everyone jumped on the David Moyes one. I wanted to see how something some bloke knocked together on a PC could get people talking about someone who hadn't really been mentioned. I definitely don't think it affected the betting, but he was 33/1 when I picked him at random. Just goes to show, you can't trust anything on the Internet.

Handsome lad. Too much time on his hands but a great looking guy. Seems quite intelligent too. What a guy.

So if he comes in, will we still be able to loan Januzaj?

It's not about how the others are doing, it's about how we're doing. 15 points from 11 games is very poor, and considering that it looks like a very average league this year, we were right to take first blood and try to attack it. Anyway.. Has Fonseca ruled himself out? I've seen people say it but no actual quote. I'd love it to be Rodgers, and I think with the right deal and vision, he would come. If it's not Rodgers, it can be Smith or Henry. Both have advantages. Henry is more of a 'star name', but as we saw with Di Matteo, that isn't necessarily the best plan. I have reservations about Smith. Money no object, and assuming Pep isn't interested, I want Brendan Rodgers.

Unless they're managing in the top 6 of the top division, competing in the latter stages of the Champions League, or have a deep, long standing connection with their current club, I honestly believe we can tempt most. Our squad in the Championship, the money our owners have to back us, the ambition.. We are prime for a manager to succeed. Couple that with the fact we're Aston Villa, and if we come knocking I think your Rodgers', your Fonseca's or your Spanish waiters would raise an eyebrow and consider it. Certainly. Maybe I'm dilluded, but Dean Saunders echoed it on the radio this morning. "It doesn't matter who you are, or where you are in your coaching career, if Aston Villa corm knocking, you're gonna have something to think about"

Couple with Rafa not leaving Newcastle when they went down. It's a long shot, sure, but let's face it, he's no different to Rodgers. Yeah, they get a bit of CL football, but christ, who wants to be chilling in the Ukraine top flight for their career? Ambitious? Sure. Impossible? No.

A few years ago you'd have a point. Santos, formerly of Champions League competitors Porto joining newly promoted from league one Wolves changed all of the rules.

What have I missed?

Perhaps the disappointing scenes he witnessed relate to his assistant manager reportedly telling fans to F Off when we equalised, smugly. Bye Steve, Colin, Steve and Steve.

Oh, I agree that I think we should be going for a bigger name in management, certainly. I was just backing up the source. I must admit, I'm amazed Bruce hasn't gone yet, either forced or resigned. By all accounts he was pretty annoyed about the Henry talk. If more papers run with the Smith story, maybe it'll push him over the edge? I'm not convinced he's waiting for the pay off. He's resigned a lot more than he's been sacked and some of those would have had tasty pay offs for him I'm sure.

Bit in paper:

Paper shite*. Nixon is a Mirror and Sun journalist who is one of few I would listen to. Has proven in the past to have links in the club and is usually a devout supporter of Bruce. If he's saying it's happening, it's probably happening.

Dean Smith then. Not surprised. His team play good football, he's a Villa fan and the majority want him in. I think I'd have preferred a bit more ambition to go for a Rodgers but I'm certainly not against Smith. Quite excited in fact. Let's hope it comes to fruition.

I've seen this on here and on the socials, but the presumption that the owners "will have a plan" or "won't suffer fools gladly" is exactly that, a presumption. The fact of the matter is we don't know and aside from the hard stance on Grealish over summer, this is their first real test. I think there are those searching for optimism in silence and finding solace in "the owners will have a plan". They might have a plan, sure, and there might be a reason they haven't removed Bruce yet, but this presumption that they will simply do the right thing is astounding after we extended the same belief in Dr. Xia. We know nothing, and a presumption shouldn't excuse them from being called into question the longer this goes on. I hope there's a plan and I hope they're looking for replacements, but didn't a paper report somewhere that Purslow wanted stability under Bruce? For all we know, they could simply be sat there waiting for this to blow over like Xia did time and time again during the rough patches. As for Sawiris and Edens, well we'll find out what they're really made of soon enough. I hope it's what we want. I really really hope they have ambitions of instilling a system with the right manager in place.

Just to chuck some apples for apples in, here's the same fixtures from last season. We got 11 points from the same fixtures. Not bad considering we didn't play three of them. Hull: Draw Wigan: DNP Ipswich: Win Brentford: Draw Reading: Win Sheffield United: Win Blackburn Rovers: DNP Rotherham: DNP Sheffield Wednesday: Loss

Wouldn't surprise me if the club already had someone else in mind and lined up. I would also assume they're out of work as paying compensation is the last thing we'll want to do. My dollar is on Henry still.

... He gone yet?