dukes

This would be lunacy, Lambert never played in the premiership, has coached a few lower division teams, how does that qualify him any more than K Mac ? If we're looking for experience, even if only short term until Jol is gettable then I think the outstanding candidate is Sven. He did a decent job at Man City, and right now we need someone who can steady the ship, and can immediately bring in a striker. Sven has the track record, the reputation and the contacts, and he's available now. It's just a shame he seems to have loyalty issues, but maybe a 1 year contract would suit him and us for now. Never played in the premiership yeah, but has won stuff like the champions league as a player in the 90s and done very well with teams he has managed in England. Look at how fantastic he he turned Norwich around after they lost 7-1 at home to Colchester under their caretaker boss at the start of last season. They went on to win that league by a long way, even though Leeds were like 10 points clears at the top of the table. I'd sure take Lambo over an aging Sven, who seems to be going down hill as a manager. Hes been sacked by 2 clubs in 3 years, City and Mexico and did nothing to help the Ivory Coast really. Like everyone else I want Jol, but looking down the shortlist of possible names I see Lambo as a better option than the likes of Bob Bradley, Koeman, Southgate, etc. From the sounds, its seem we either can't afford Jol or he just doesn't want to leave Ajax at such a late time as their season is starting. And who is going to sign for a manager they have never heard of ? Yes, Champions League as a player is great, but he was never talked about as world class, and I seriously doubt any foreign players have even heard of him, I doubt even more that he has the contacts to bring in players suitable for this level in the timescales we have (and players are still needed). Lambert has had 2 good seasons at lower league clubs, it would be suicide to appoint him here at t his time.

This would be lunacy, Lambert never played in the premiership, has coached a few lower division teams, how does that qualify him any more than K Mac ? If we're looking for experience, even if only short term until Jol is gettable then I think the outstanding candidate is Sven. He did a decent job at Man City, and right now we need someone who can steady the ship, and can immediately bring in a striker. Sven has the track record, the reputation and the contacts, and he's available now. It's just a shame he seems to have loyalty issues, but maybe a 1 year contract would suit him and us for now.

So the board shouldn't dictate who plays, but you'd be happy for them to buy a striker when we don't have a manager ?

Just to clarify I mean as Villa manager.

Totally agree with this. To my mind, an experienced manager such as Sven or Jol, with K Mac as assistant would be the best way to move forward. The more i think about it, the more I want Sven.

Post removed. It was off topic and on poster.

It's ridiculous, for sure. :oops: Dreadful !

seems like utter bullshit to me, Spurs won't compete with Man City on wages, and losing Ashley Young and Milner would be suicide, although I've already stated that I htink Milner can be replaced far easier than Young.

Yeah i read that link in the News Of The World too, utter shite (unless he's a secret plop fan ?). I can't see Liverpool having the cash to sign Milner, and at the ned of the day, whoever buys him (assuming he leaves) will have to meet Villa's valuation (the same article says MOn has apparently stated £40M). i suspect he'll leave for Man City in a deal worth £30M (but including players). If he wants to go, then i think there's little point in risking another Southgate situation, we should take the money and reinvest. I'd like to see Ireland included in any deal though, i think his game could benefit from being at Villa in the same way that Milner has.

hmm, anyone who has seen the last two performances must have noticed how poor the defenders have been playing. If Dunne is injured (as he clearly is), then we have centre backs that could cover. Why doesn't MON use them ? For me Collins has not been the same player he was since his injury, and Dunne has spent a lot of time clearing up after him the last few games. I'm frustrated more that because MON doesn't rotate the media buy into us still having a small squad, it's not that small, and with the money that has been spent if it's still small then only MON is to blame for that. In the end after a decent first half we got what we deserved from this game. I didn't ever really think we'd finish 4th, and following this I think we'll struggle to qualify for Europe via the league, but perhaps this might just drive us on for the FA Cup, and perhaps Chelsea might just be a bit complacent at Wembley. Whatever happens, our season now rests on the Semi Final. MON out is not the way forward here, but he must shoulder the blame, he is not above that. Lets just hope he can dig deep and motivate the players in the coming weeks. One major positive for me has been how good Delf has looked during the last two games. Must much better than having Heskey on the pitch, and surprisingly quick too.

General, I hope this is the right place for this. What is going on with catering in the Doug Ellis Upper ? For most of the games this season we've arrived at least 20 minutes before the game to find there are no pies or cornish pasty's. Today when we arrived there weren't even any chocolate bars available. We left our seats 5 minutes before half time (something I don't normally do) with the sole purpose of securing a Pie, even at this time service was extremely slow, and on arrival at the kiosk (after approximately a 10 minute wait) we found there were no Pies at all, and we had the last 3 Cornish Pasty's. I asked the server why they were so ill prepared for the number of people with both service and quantity of food, and he just responded that "I should use a different kiosk". I then repeated to the Manager, and she just said that "it's not my fauly, I just have the food I'm given and when it's gone it's gone". It seems to me that as the area I sit in is mostly populated by season ticket holders (Block P5, Row EE, Seat 175) there is really no excuse for the shortage of hot food. I appreciate that this may be a sign of the times, and that with things going OK on the pitch my complaint about catering may seem like a minor thing, but I wouldn't accept it at any other venue, so I feel it right to voice my opinion. Being fair, I was one of the lucky ones today, it got worse as shortly after we were served the lasy shouted there was no longer any Coffee. There were many irate customers in the upper Doug Ellis today, maybe some other visit this board.

I'm thinking this guy knows his stuff, he's a tactical genius for starters !! http://rumours.notlong.com Never fails to make me grin that site.

Looks just what we are looking for, sign him up !!!

You really do send out mixed messages, i thought this was the type of player we should be aiming for if we really want Champions League. You appear to be a media whore, so i thought Heinze would appeal to you. For what it's worth i think left backis a positon that needs little consideration, and for the reasons Rocafella pinted out, Bouma has been hampered by injury, but had agood season, imagine how good he'll be with a preseason and 20 games under his belt !

Gustavo Bartelt ?

I don't know ........can you ?

Haven't seen his name mentioned here, but what about Kevin Davies ? He always causes defences bother, and might be happy to play secind fiddle to big John Carew. Timing could be right for him now too.

Whereas we must all bow to the superiority of your views, which are almost entirely based on watching TV and listening to pundits ! Youtube tells part of the story, so if your mate happens to score a few goals from 40 yards, or takes on an entire team then yeah lets mention him in this thread. Buying foreign players we have never heard of is always gonna be a risk, ask Brian Little about the video he saw of Savo, or John Gregory about JPA and his video, youtube is no different to an agents video, it's just accessible to mere mortals. For what it's worth, i'd like to see us sign Aldo Duscher, we need some bite in our midfield, if we're in dream land though why not Gattuso ? sorry no youtube link.

Don't matter how much is available to them, they couldn't spend £200M even if they had it. Who'd join them over all the other established names ?

Give it a rest. He also missed a sitter in the same match. I don't see anything in him that we don't have in the current squad already. So glad you are not our main scout. Last year 18 or 19 goals in the league, and this year 12 or something for a relegation destined side when he has been injured for big parts of the seasons! Pretty glad you're not our main scout too, what does it take to scout Bent ?? He's a high profile player, not necessarily because he's better than the rest, wonder how much he'd be rated if he played for blackburn or wigan ? Open your mind, for £13M there are better options !

This : let us just say that if the rumours are correct, while MON will be Villa's next manager, he wont be Ellis' 14th appointment. if the rumours are correct then MON will not report to Doug during these, the latter's last days at the club, but will be working to a schedule drawn up by someone else. If the rumours are correct then Ellis has had absolutely nothing to do with this appointment, with all the details being handled by a third party. if there is a press conference today (and there is no guarantee there will be) then it seems highly unlikely that Doug will be anywhere near the place while it is going on. We will see Together with this : Has me quite excited, 2 moderators (generally appearing to be "in the know") getting excited baout rumours suggests to me there may be more than just rumour here !! Champagne is on ice !!

I'm a season ticket holder, and haven't received a pm, if someone could pass on the info to me, i'll gladly join in. An organised approachis what we have needed for years now. 1 voics agaisnt the old godger

Thats how i read it, which is why i consider it worthy news. Does the club have to make a statement recognising that a bid has been made ?

Pompey aren't a listed company though, so the rules (LSE) don't apply. People are only informing others of changes, if you don't like it, you don't have to make any comment. There has been a change (minor), and we've been led to believe soemthing will happen today, and we're desperate for that to happen. As a moderator i'd have thought you'd have more respect for other on the board. Unless you are better informed than the rest of us, and know that this change is meaningless, in which case inform us all, and we can all move on until there is something ACTUALLY happening.

I agree, the difference here is that there has been communication with Ellis, they must know the ballpark figure needed. Please god let this happen.