GeordieVillan

I wonder if he gives facials.....in a non-metaphorical sense....

Good results this weekend - but honestly, it shouldn't surprise us, there are plenty of poor teams in this league. We just need to win a couple of games and things will look alot better. All those looking at the Watford game are way off the mark for me - they will sit in and be well organised and hit us on the break. I think we've got a better chance of points against Spurs and Everton, as they will allow us to play and hopefully we can get a bit of luck.

Realistically - I don't see who else we could have got that would be more highly regarded and potentially could fit in to our current structure and get the best out of our summer signings. Its a risk no doubt, but given the alternatives I think its one we have to take....

Welcome to the madhouse Remi. I hope you know what you have let yourself in for. Feel safe in the the knowledge that if you can put together a half decent team built around the handful of decent players we seem to have, then you will be loved almost immediately. If you can do more than that - give us an identity, get us looking forward to games again, and get us to mid-table consistently, you will be seen as a Messiah. I'm pretty sure we are going to be entertained between now and the end of the season, and I wouldn't be amazed if we are out of the bottom 3 by the time we get to January. Still think we will be in trouble towards the tale end of the season though.

I think we might win this - even though its nowhere near the lineup I would have gone for . He's picked 11 players he will get a shift off - and he's picked players in the full back and wide positions who will cross the ball. Gestede to score 2 goals tonight is my prediction, and we will win either 2-0 or 2-1. UTV!

I agree with this - we have the players to give Southampton a game and not be embarrassed. We been totally lacking direction all season and we still havn't been dominated by anyone really - imagine what we might be able to do with a decent formation!

Totally disagree. We need a win, any win, to boost confidence - play our best team in a decent formation and see what we can do. We don't have the luxury of playing fringe players at the moment!

Can't wait to see what team he picks. I don't think he will be resting anyone - I think it will be our strongest possible team, whatever MacDonald believes that to be!

The only concern is whether he's good enough to justify the wages. I would assume that we think he is good enough, but that after the Delph situation we have protected ourselves e.g. he will have to start 30 or 40 games before the high salary kicks in. That being the case, if he's started 30-40 games, then he is probably doing the business. Its also far too early to judge him - he's not started a single league game, and has only had his cameos in the league with a struggling team who need an immediate impact from him. Its hardly low pressure for a young player trying to settle in a new team and new country. He's also been injured FFS! Lets give the guy a chance - the wages only becomes an issue if he proves beyond doubt that he is useless and is another Nzogbia.

Is MacDonald doing any kind of pre-match press conference for the game tonight??

Is MacDonald doing any kind of pre-match press conference for the game tonight??

Scott Sterling is favourite now.....

He had a decent cameo against Palace as well. He hasn't had a decent run in the team to be fair - no-one really knows what impact he can have...

Doomed!!!! We were in the bottom 3 on goal difference and two points off 14th place. Hardly doomed. He's left us in a far worse position than the one he took over. That's true, but we hadn't won for months with Lambert, were barely scoring and the players had visibly given up. None of those things are visible simply by looking at the league table. Tim has left us in possibly an even worse position, but both have left the club in an absolute state. I can't wait for them to both be ancient history. I don't believe he's left us in a worse state at all. We are on a nightmare run, but in pretty much all games we played we have been in with a shout and they have generally been lost because a stupid mistake. We havbn't been outclassed our outplayed by anyone really, and while its clear confidence is low because of results, the team is still playing decent football at times. Christ we are scoring a few goals at least. Under Lambert we couldn't even create a chance, nevermind score a goal. The game at Hull was one of our worst performances ever. Its not comparable to the Cup Final, because Hull are not Arsenal. Also - we have loads more games between now and the end of January, so its entirely plausible that we might be out of the bottom 3 by then. Bottom line, more than 25% of the season gone and we're cut adrift at the bottom of the table, already two games from safety. You can take your 'being in with a shout' and 'not being outclassed by anyone really' and see how much you get for them. Points are what matters. And when Lambert left more than 66% of the season was gone and we were 2 points adrift. -1 game from safety. If your argument is that if Sherwood had stayed until February then we would have been in worse position now than when he took over, then yes you are possibly right. But I would much rather be where we are now and looking for a new manager, than where we were when Lambert left. If we make a decent appointment now, we have the makings of a team that can finish 10th-15th.

Doomed!!!! We were in the bottom 3 on goal difference and two points off 14th place. Hardly doomed. He's left us in a far worse position than the one he took over. That's true, but we hadn't won for months with Lambert, were barely scoring and the players had visibly given up. None of those things are visible simply by looking at the league table. Tim has left us in possibly an even worse position, but both have left the club in an absolute state. I can't wait for them to both be ancient history. I don't believe he's left us in a worse state at all. We are on a nightmare run, but in pretty much all games we played we have been in with a shout and they have generally been lost because a stupid mistake. We havbn't been outclassed our outplayed by anyone really, and while its clear confidence is low because of results, the team is still playing decent football at times. Christ we are scoring a few goals at least. Under Lambert we couldn't even create a chance, nevermind score a goal. The game at Hull was one of our worst performances ever. Its not comparable to the Cup Final, because Hull are not Arsenal. Also - we have loads more games between now and the end of January, so its entirely plausible that we might be out of the bottom 3 by then.

I Agree, just can't see him leaving it at that though. Bet he'll get stuff out in the press without being quoted directly so as not to breach any confidentiality agreement. Possibly - but we didn't have a confidentiality agreement with Lambert did we? Or if we did - it didn't stop him coming out and making some incredibly annoying comments.

To be fair, that is a very decent and dignified statement, if he says nothing else then I don't think he deserves any abuse.

To be fair, that is a very decent and dignified statement, if he says nothing else then I don't think he deserves any abuse.

I don't have anything against Tim, in fact I desperately wanted him to succeed, because I love managers with personality who are entertaining. However, it clearly wasn't working, for whatever reason(s). Some of the comments about him are way over the top - he's failed as our manager, like so many others, he hasn't killed anyone. I have found that most of the media are sitting on the fence - "Tim hasn't been getting the results and Villa are in danger, but we don't really know whats going on behind the scenes, or who bought the players, so maybe its harsh to blame it all on Tim" - is an example of the kind of things I've heard and read from those who don't really have any ties to Villa. Its hardly mass condemnation of our board for sacking him. I have to say though - given that everyone is criticising Sherwood and the media because so many pundits are saying he's been sacked too quickly, I'm really surprised he hasn't given an interview to anyone today so that he can give his side of story. He doesn't strike me as the sort of bloke who is going to sit quietly and allow others to quasi-defend him. He will probably want to work again, and a failed 8 month spell at Villa is not great on his CV.

Nice question. Does he definitely want the job? You could make your question even more spicy by adding that if we also win in the cup tomorrow , so 2 wins on the bounce, would you keep him in charge? I don't think he's got enough about him to be the main man, and thats why he's not a contender - regardless of the next couple of results.

Yorke did raise agood point though. Not saying I want him but he said whats the point of young coaches like him doing their badges when no-one will give them an opportunity. I would not oppose any ex-villians coming in as coaches as at least I know they care about the club. Hopefully one day see Laursen in the club in some capacity Lower leagues are there for him to prove his managerial abilities. This. Yorke made a choice (the correct one to be fair) to go to Man Utd and win trophies. However, he forced a move and treated the club with disrespect. I'll never forget how he played in that game at Everton before he left. He now has to live with the consequences - he is not loved by Villa fans. If Yorke had stayed with us, he would be held in the same regard as Matt Le Tissier by Southampton fans, and I have no doubt people would love him to be manager. Contrast that with Gareth Southgate, he left because he saw the club had reached a plateau and weren't going anywhere, and he was right, but he made the questionable decision of gambling on Middlesborough being the next big thing. However, the way he played and behaved during the season when he was on the transfer list and wanted to leave, was incredible. I will always hold him in the highest regard. I'm not saying I want him as manager right now, I'm just saying that if he demonstrated his credentials then I would welcome him.

Oh yeah because he has a great record. Surely not! This is Sky wanting people to throw money at Skybet. Have the odds lengthened on Garde with the emergence of Poyet? I suspect not, its just garbage to sucker people in.

What do you mean 'we are a lot less patient'? GeordieVillan OUT! "You don't know what you're typing.....you don't know what you're typing...." I'm not saying we should have stuck with Sherwood, I think the board made the decision at the right time. I just think that even before this season started, there were some fans calling for his head, and that there was general lack of patience even after the 3rd or 4th game to give him some time. Maybe that patience was borne out by people seeing much quicker than I did that Sherwood just didn't know what he was doing - I honestly thought he would turn it around. My question was more about the attitude of the fans - if the board appoints someone that most of the fans want (or it seems that way anyway), and it turns out to be a disastrous appointment, then can we as fans really turn on the board and say they have got it horribly wrong again?? It would be a bit hypocritical?

I actually think he's showed some improvement in the short time he's been with us. His hold up play seemed much better against Swansea, and he won alot more of the long balls that were thumped forward to him. Again though, we havn't given him any decent service at all. Did anyone see Milner's cross for Benteke yesterday? That wasn't a cross getting to the by-line, it was from in line with the penalty box. For me, dropping Amavi was bizarre as he was the only one who can cross from Gestede. Aside from the assist against Liverpool, Hutton's delivery has been shocking.

Hypothetically, given that 75-80% of us on this forum seem to be happy with the appointment of Garde - if it doesn't work out - are we all going to give the board a pat on the back and say "well they tried their best and appointed a guy that we all thought was a good choice, so its not their fault", or will we turn on the board and blame them for making another terrible choice.... My recollection of Lambert is that most were happy with the appointment, and the only criticism of the board was that they stuck with him too long when things just weren't working out, but I think the mood of the fans has changed since then, and we are alot less patient with managers now.