Indigo

Saw Collomosse say that part of why he was identified as such a priority as well as the obvious was due to his experience in using/getting the most out of a 4-2-3-1. Just gets better and better this.

Buzzing with this. We should feel very fortunate to be getting such a successful and intelligent coach. Have always had great respect for him and hated the way the media and general football fantom treated him when at Arsenal, I'm glad that Villa get to be the club where he can try to put things right on that front. Makes me much more confident in Villa than I've been for quite a while.

Added to this, last season Villarreal averaged the 4th highest possession in the whole of La Liga, so it's not as though they exclusively play some kind of deep-sitting counter-attack football. Think folk are getting too hung up on select games in Europe where they were the underdogs and played those games pragmatically. Surely that's the kind of versatility you'd want in a coach.

These players are good!! Don't let the lack of coaching in recent months tell you otherwise.

Have worked with autistic kids before and sent this along to several people and groups who are hugely grateful for it. So classy from Ings today.

Give Danks the job.

For what it's worth I called Gerrard weeks before Smith was sacked and half-seriously said similarly about Dyche whilst despairing a couple of months back. Sincerely hope I'm not some kind of inadvertent oracle of doom.

I agree overall, though in fairness I do think a lot of the push back on the formation at the time was that you had Luiz and McGinn as the 2, which mainly due to it not suiting the latter wasn't ideal at all. With Kamara in there now (when fit) it seems a no brainer to play it though. That or a 3-4-2-1 seem to suit the squad best as it stands. Martinez Chambers-Carlos-Mings Cash-Luiz-Kamara-Digne Buendia-Ramsey Watkins ...or whatever combination of players you'd like in certain positions.

I don't necessarily want him more than all other options, just wouldn't mind him as an appointment. He's had far more good seasons than bad, the worst being this season which is a culmination of several seasons of Leicester either hemorrhaging their best players or others like Vardy and Evans aging, without being adequately replaced. Most people predicted them to have a difficult season after the summer window they had, so it's not exactly a huge shock that they're struggling and I don't think it suddenly defines his level as a coach.

I don't really care that Leicester fans are fed up of Rodgers or that he's a bit of a silly character, his credentials as a good coach speak for themselves. He wouldn't be the most exciting appointment but I wouldn't turn my nose up at him at all, just seems that things have gone stale at Leicester for a number of reasons and a fresh challenge is needed for all involved. Villa could do much worse.

He might need recalling to then go on loan to the Championship in January. League One is looking easy for him by a few accounts that I've seen.

Emery would be brilliant really, would be surprised to see Villa pull it off but it isn't as preposterous an idea as Poch or Tuchel seemed. He really does tick every kind of box you'd want. Would be delighted with Amorim too. I think all of the Gerrard comparisons are incredibly devoid of context, he's achieved some impressive stuff and on top of that is actually lauded for his coaching ability. Any Dyche or Rafa shouts have me wanting to gouge my eyes out. We've been miserable enough already.

No offence but I see stuff like this get posted all the time when people speak of any football outside of the Premier League and it's a bit silly. It's never been easier to be clued up on football from around the world, from watching it to reading it. Not saying that everyone has watched Sporting in forensic detail but Amorim has quickly built a good reputation in the game and lots of people are aware of it from all over Europe, hence why he's even being linked to the job in the first place.

For anyone interested in knowing more about Amorim, this is an article I read earlier in the year on him from a decent site: https://theanalyst.com/eu/2022/01/ruben-amorim-sporting-transformation/ Though for reference, this article was posted immediately before Sporting played Man City in the CL, who proceeded to absolutely pump them.

"Statement" signings just feels very 10 years ago or something. Or 12 months ago in our case. I'd rather there just being proper due diligence on getting the best coach in rather than flexing muscles to convince people we're "serious". We're regularly getting embarrassed by teams that have just made smart appointments on a footballing level, I'd like us to follow suit if possible.

Amorim has done some incredibly impressive stuff so far. In half a season made Braga the most in-form team in Portugal, which got him the Sporting job where he proceeded to win them their first league in two decades. Ironically he's only really starting to get wider acclaim now (presumably because of some good Champions League results) when things have dropped off a bit in the league as they've begun to have players more picked off and have struggled as a result, so it could be a good time for him to move on. Would be an exciting one if Villa managed it.

I don't think there's any particularly click-baity about thinking it's highly unrealistic that Villa could convince Pochettino to take over. I'd be absolutely stunned if it happened. Whether folk like it or not he's operating at a higher level now.

He's had an absolute stinker here. Feel for him a bit, took a risk by jumping ship from Blackpool and it's blown up in his face in a matter of months. Wouldn't be surprised to see him end up on a similar path to the one Beale is on now though.

Seen it mentioned elsewhere and I agree, we seem to constantly be trying to act like a "big" club rather than a smart club. Sawiris taking the lead now because Purslow made a balls of the last appointment and hoping we can convince a big name to come in by throwing money at them doesn't instill me with huge confidence even if it does end up going well, because most of the clubs we're aspiring to be like tend to have more joined-up thinking on matters like this that comes from the footballing staff. I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or not but I don't see what the point of Lange is considering the last two managerial appointments will be headed from other areas of the club, and under Gerrard the previous transfer strategy seemed to be thrown out the window in order to give him specifically what he wanted. It all just seems terribly haphazard from the outside looking in.

Not surprised by the Tuchel news and similarly I would be stunned if the Poch idea worked out. I appreciate the ambition but I don't see a world where it happens, as much as Villa can throw money at them that really isn't unique, and many other clubs that are or will be interested in such names can offer a lot more than just that. I'm so jaded with Villa from this year of Gerrard's tenure that I don't really know who I'd like or what's within the scope of realistic though. Has felt like such an enormous set-back, but at least they can't get any worse.

Can't help but love the guy. He'd flourish in a better team, but hopefully that can still happen here if the next appointment is gotten right. Thought the red was harsh but at the same time it's hard to have many complaints. He got mugged off by Mitrovic, who got exactly what he wanted out of the situation. More frustrating than anything is that he now misses the next 3 games.

This club is an utterly preposterous one. After seemingly turning things around after years of decline we managed to now have one of our most ludicrous years yet by giving the job to a man that by his own admission cannot coach his own teams, all because the CEO is utterly besotted by him and decided to undergo a personal vanity project by handing him the keys to the castle. An absolutely embarrassing appointment that has set us back god knows how long. To actually look like the most poorly-coached side in the entire league after all the money that has been spent is a disgrace. He should be gone tonight, never mind the morning.

On for Fulham's first clean sheet of the season and I doubt they'll have an easier game either. Never mind sacked in the morning, I'd like it to be tonight.

I feel like both decisions were extraordinarily harsh but at this stage I truly don't care. Get him out.

3 games without him as well right? Good times.