Kuwabatake Sanjuro

Blackburn proving that they are capable of performing to a high level today, if they beat Burton away on Friday it would be huge for them.

Reninds me of I wouldn't be a fan of Pearce but that was some serious commentating.

I read somewhere that Zeman will only retire when he dies, worth a go I reckon. Would be some culture shock for the fans and players I suppose. Would tick most boxes: Would make watching Villa entertaining. Would set out to play football in a certain way and stick to it. Would improve players no end e.g. Verratti, Insigne, etc Would get players ultra fit. Has to be attainable, he regularly takes on teams in lower divisions and I'm guessing would like to prove himself in England. The defending can't get any more shambolic thus negating the one weakness in his sides.

I wonder is it worth trying him out on the right wing. He has failed to impose himself as a number 10, on the left wing he slows play up too much by cutting in unnecessarily and turning back too much. Put him out on the right, instruct him to put a shift in and tell whenever he creates a yard of space in the opponents 3rd to put a quality ball in. Encourage him to play through balls for Hogan and Kodjia when further out. Adomah could be used as impact sub if chasing the game. On another note I reckon Jack is not happy with Bruce in charge. So far in his career his performances have been poor when he was unhappy with manager. Petulant I now but he has played well under Shaun Derry and Sherwood when he had a close relationship with both. He could come good with the next one. Green is still a better prospect at the moment though.

Against Newcastle and Derby, the only change will be our goal difference will be a lot worse.

Bringing Richards back is Bruce's way of looking for a way out and be sacked. It is the only logical explanation. His lack of effort in running back for Tadic's goal last April was the worst I seen from any player last season and that is some achievement. At least Lescott tried to run.

Big win for Burton against Norwich, they are only 2 points behind now. Wigan only picked up a point at home to Preston which in itself is not a bad result for them but they are still 6 points down. QPR hammered Birmingham City to move a point ahead of Villa while Cardiff hammered Rotherham to pretty much guarantee safety for them. The only positive result was Sheffield Wednesday beating Forest but their performance was meant to be decent.

Worth noting that the winners against Fulham and Burton and equalizer against Leeds all occurred when he was taken off. He isn't the messiah but he does help out defensively. He has been a terrible signing given the wages he is on.

I'd say he would want to come. He couldn't do any worse than Bruce has but I reckon there would be a limit to his ability level. I could be wrong and he could be as good as Sean Dyche but I doubt it.

Hughton is an unrealistic suggestion. It would be highly unlikely that any manager doing well in the English leagues will leave their jobs to come to a demoralised, struggling team that is being dragged into a relegation battle. Out of the available English managers there is only Pardew, Rowett and Warburton that jump out. Rowett would probably be the best of them but is a bit of a risk and may not be a huge upgrade on Bruce in terms of tactics. He might be better at motivating the team and bringing a bit of confidence back but I can't see him setting up a team capable of winning the Championship in the next couple of seasons. I wouldn't be happy with Pardew or Warburton as there is too much potential for things to go downhill even more. To find a good available manager it might be a wise decision to broaden the clubs horizons. Stephen Kenny of Dundalk would be another foreign manager I would be happy with. He breeds confidence into his players, has his teams well set up and they play a good brand of football.

Gollini conceded on average less than a goal a game in his time here.

Clearly has, if he was managing a Sunday league team in the same manner wouldn't you lose confidence.(although he could argue that he is trying to give everyone a chance with his constant changes).

If Brendan Rodgers (technically foreign as I reckon he travels on an Irish passport) was available I'd go for him but unfortunately there is not too many tactically astute, impressive and progressive English/British managers available at the moment. Rowett did very well in his last job but they played underdog football too, Warburton is a spoofer who was found out as a man and a manger at Rangers while Dean Smith is doing ok at Brentford and they play good football but a lot of that is down to the club. You could take a chance on the likes of your man at Lincoln or other lower league successes but in Villa's precarious position that wouldn't be wise. Easier to find proven tactically astute, impressive and progressive managers from abroad.

Look at what Clement has done at Swansea, pretty much the same 11 since he took over bar the odd change like Dyer for Routledge and bringing Olsson in and it has worked well.

I suppose you are right.

Bielsa, Marcelino, Schaaf, Paco Ayestaran, Guidolin, Juande Ramos, Prandelli, would be no harm for Steve Round to make a few phone calls to see if there is any interest.

If you are willing to pay £30m+ on championship level strikers and are willing to pay the likes of Jedinak £60k a week it would be worth offering a shitload of cash to potentially world class managers. He is disillusioned with Argentinian football at the moment too for various reasons. He will probably replace Simeone eventually though. It would be no harm to have ambition when going for the next manager.

Would Marcelo Gallardo be attainable? Has been sensational at River Plate and would speak English due to his time playing in the MLS. Be worth trying anyway.

Big win for Wigan tonight too, themselves and Blackburn are still 7 points behind but Villa are clearly the worst team in the league at the moment. Even Rotherham are showing a bit of fight these days.

It is a good thing our second half performances are always better than our first. We will come back and win 4-2 and all will be forgiven.

Of course sacking Bruce and putting in a positive, intelligent and tactically astute manager might save us.

I know the Bielsa ship is long since sailed, maybe one of his ambitious young disciples scattered across Europe and South America might be attainable. Zdenek Zeman until the end of the season would also be the stuff dreams are made of also. Let him teach the coaches how to coach and how a team is set up properly to attack. Pardew is probably what we will get though.

Warburton is probably not the answer either, Rangers have been shambolic defensively under him in both the SPL and Scottish championship and he has made some ridiculous statements. He was lucky to have been in place in a well run Brentford outfit to make a name for himself but he would be a disappointing appointment for me.

And we might enjoy dominating teams in League 1 next season.

I honestly thought that signing new midfielders would be enough to keep us out of a relegation battle, I was wrong. No clubs will fear Villa and all teams will raise their game their game playing us, if there isn't a marked improvement in performances then League 1 is a real possibility.