CrackpotForeigner

8/11 odds on Moyes suggests someone knows something, or thinks they do. That's almost the sort of territory where you'd expect a denial from the man himself if it's untrue.

Fixed 8)

Ha ha, same odds for Mourinho, MON and Maradona. Probably about right

Hope not, hasn't done anything of note in his managerial career except for finishing once in the top six with Blackburn. If I were Randy he would be far down my list of potential managers. Yep. Hopefully very far down, below a dotted line marked "Be SURE you have considered all other possibilities before proceeding."

This. If he had any real ambition at all he'd jump at the chance to manage us. Winning something with teams like Chelsea, Inter and Real, considering their players and finances, is peanuts really, any half decent manager will accomplish that. If he truly believes he's 'the special one', why not come here and prove it!? Not. A. Chance. Why stop at us? If he really wants to prove he's so great, why not go and take over a non-league team and take them on to win the Champs League. This just isn't going to happen. It would take him out of the limelight, and if it went wrong it would damage his reputation a hell of a lot. The best managers manage the best clubs. They don't drop down a step or three just for the hell of it. I know there isn't a chance in hell he'd come but it would be interesting if he did. But he isn't genuinely interested in proving his worth as he's mostly full of s**t anyways, and only seems to care about being in the limelight and earning astronomical sums of money. Fwiw I don't even rate him that much as a manager and I honestly believe he'd fail miserably, managing anything else than a world class club with infinite resources. This, really. Although his record is pretty astonishing. He went nearly ten years without a home defeat, so as much as you're right about him being full of shit, full of himself, and probably full of greed, he has actually done very well as a manager (of world class clubs with infinite resources!).

This thread is 136 pages long. If one divides that by the number of potential candidates, minus the candidates who are crap, (and hence, can get ****), the conclusion must be that it is time for a Jose revival.

I disagree. His track record of being a bit of an arse is, indeed, remarkable. Anyone else having dreams about Mourinho deciding he wants a challenge, for once?

Encouraging at least that he doesn't think he's wasting his breath calling for Ashley Young to stay. Maybe there's hope.

Poor pun? How DARE you? Anyway, it looks like we're getting back to it being simply a "results business", which ultimately it is. Without saying anything profound, a winning manager could paint his face & shuffle his oversize boots like a clown and (almost) hang his pecker out every time we score, and still command our unwavering respect

I'm sold. I'm not a GHater, but that is something that has been notably absent since he took over. In fact the gormless looks of GH and GM, firmly planted in their seats as we struggle on the pitch have been the thing I've liked least about their regime. running up and down the touchline line celebrating like a teenager getting to second base does not equal passion and is one of the things I really hate about some modern managers. There's got to be a happy medium. Mystic Meg for instance. Is she available?

I'm sold. I'm not a GHater, but that is something that has been notably absent since he took over. In fact the gormless looks of GH and GM, firmly planted in their seats as we struggle on the pitch have been the thing I've liked least about their regime.

We certainly can't afford to lose Downing and Young. Assuming Young goes, we will need to show some ambition or Downing will want to be next out the door I suspect. It will certainly be a hell of a summer for us. Hopefully it's not a HELL of a summer.

A lot of big clubs will have their beady eyes on Downing this summer. I hope we get a new manager in soon, and make another statement-of-intent purchase a-la Darren Bent. Otherwise we'll be looking and feeling like a club on the slide, which is not where Downing will want to be.

Search me. All a bit small time imo. Anyway, if DB went to Arsenal he'd end up with his finishing being compared to Arsene Wenger's wife's at some point. He's much better off here where we all love him and he is guaranteed to start when fit.

Stick around Darren, this summer we'll buy some defenders and with your goals we will be unstoppable.

Look son, you may have a million posts on VT, but you're not Jesus Christ. (I am)

Makoun and Albrighton for Petrov and Heskey, Ashley Young to the centre Or Makoun and Gabby for Petrov and Heskey. ...and I'm not even watching the game Surely, surely Gary McAllister can't be as pointless as he always looks.

Albrighton, Makoun and Gabby please

62% possession to Stoke. WTF?

If we could find a way to accommodate Bannan and Makoun in the same midfield together, we would create a zillion chances. Both have excellent vision and do quick ball brilliantly. It's just a question of whether our DM is good enough so that we don't concede a zillion goals as well imo.

I thought all Villa fans were crying out for Bent to sign for Villa. Especially when he left Spurs. I think an ITK said MON was interested but he didn't want to go any higher than £9 million for him. Maybe MOST of us wanted Bent. I admit I wasn't so sure. Probably would rather have signed him than Heskey, mind you. I just got a feeling his confidence was shot after his spell with the spuds. But signing Heskey instead was clearly false economy. As the saying goes "Why spend all that money on something that will do the job, when you can save a bit and get something that won't?!"

or quarks.

how do you know he won't stay here for the rest of his career? i certainly wouldn't bet against it Me neither. DB and AV are a perfect match imo. DB has never been considered glamourous like say Torres or Drogba, he's just a brilliant, reliable goal scorer. We will love him for his goals and he will love the chance to be one of our star players.

Plus, if you include the chances we ALMOST created for him....

Yeah, I was thinking the same. MA can definitely be as much of a threat, and as good if not better at crossing. Not to mention 5 X better at dead ball without even trying, ha ha. Where I think MA falls short of Ashley Young is stamina, pace, and general play in the middle of the pitch. AY was brilliant today. He made both goals (with a little help from Heskey and Luke on the first one). If we'd been that reliant on him the rest of this season I'd be a lot more worried about him going.