Peter Griffin

Exactly, hardly a vanity signing. I think JT was an opportunistic appointment. We had him as a player so he knew the club, he commanded respect in the dressing room (so much so the players locked up their WAGs) and he was a leader on the pitch. There is a lot that made sense about bringing JT into Smith's team.

I don’t get this view that Purslow wants a glamour signing or a name from Sky or TalkSport. It’s just so poorly thought through an argument. At Liverpool he sacked Rafa and employed Woy, this is exactly the opposite of what is argued here. He did this as he was selling the club and needed a safe pair of hands that wouldn’t spend any money. He came to Villa and sacked Bruce and employed Deano, again making the glamour / sky / TalkSport argument look very weak. He then sacked Deano and brought in Gerrard, the same people claiming this is a variety signing or sky/TalkSport name claim this is because Gerrard is his mate and accuse him of nepotism. Now when the wind is blowing a particular direction that has changed to Purslow wanting a name talking about on sky or a podcast

Parker is now available

I think betting on us going down is really daft. Its not going to happen and is just throwing money away. I think SG needs some time and he may come good. If he doesn't he will be sacked and we will get a new manager. Our squad is very capable of staying in the PL and I can't see any other outcome. So people saying we are going down is just narrative imo. If u have much bigger odds than 11/2 then u must of put the bet on a while ago, that really is dodgy betting thinking we are to be relegated, I wouldn't give up the day job and become a professional gambler if I were u

I only saw Dave's comment after I posted this

I haven't noticed any lack of knowledge about Brighton

If he succeeds at Villa he will already be in a top 4 club

That depends on what his ambition is but if he wants European football, Champiosn League and to compete with the top 6 then he has no chance at Brighton. He could get a league cup win which would give a one off season in the Europa but when I say 'European Football', I mean qualifying for it regularly via league position

The best time to leave is when your stock is high. I don't see Brighton making a step up from where they are now. I can't see Europe and their better players will just be bought each summer

Its a good point that. If Potter has ambition he will know he needs to leave Brighton at some stage

We just have to take potentially leaving us as a risk we need to manage. The same applies to every player we buy too. What happens if Man City come looking for Kamara in the summer, it will be nearly impossible to keep him. We are going to be subjected to this type of risk for our manager and players until we are a CL team and competing for the league title. Even then, the likes of Barca and Real will always have a certain pulling power we can't compete with.

This is such a key point. If a manager of Poch's calibre gets a job it will be with a good club and he will be well funded. We would have no chance of prizing him away. This is an opportunity that rarely comes around and I am really surprised the likes of Everton or similar haven't tried to get him. Villa has always said that if the right player becomes available they would always be interested. This is the right manager, we should show the same opportunistic approach

I get the feeling that Potter wouldn't leave Brighton mid season through loyalty. I could be completely wrong but if we were to get Potter I think it will be next summer. That said, it is very early in the season and he would leave Brighton with lots of time to find a replacement

I agree with that and also the bigger clubs look more stable with their current managers than they have in quite a long time. PSG have a new manager, Bayern have the right man for them and he is newish and young. Real Madrid just won the CL and the PL top 6 all look very happy with their managers. I know it is football and anything is possible but Poch could be waiting a long time for a big club to come calling

I would hope any new manager would be able to influence strategy to fit with his/her footballing style

I really can't for the life of me understand what is difficult about selling the manager's job at AVFC to Potter is

Any change of job is a risk for anybody. If he is not prepared to take the risk of changing jobs I really wouldn't want as it shows a complete lack of balls. I would also disagree that we are currently a club in trouble. We have only played 4 games in the PL. If, as most people believe the reason we are not higher up the league is due to the manager and not the players then surely that suggests we are not in trouble?

I don't think they have a point. Villa is a bigger club and has more potential and money than Brighton. Any ambitious manager that doesn't have a personal connection with Brighton would leave them for us

Villa will not be relegated this year. It is just narrative suggesting and I suspect none of the people saying we will go down will take the generous odds on offer.

Bet 365 are offering 11/2 on Villa getting relegated. For all you guys sure that we are going down, that sounds like very easy money for you.

The only PL manager I would want outside of those managers in the top 6 is Potter. Other than that I would look outside of the UK and Poch is by far my preferred choice

I would say yes, Monday night football is classed as midweek football

They didn't cancel his contract without his agreement. It was cancelled with his agreement. He wasn't fired and marched out the door. They negotiated an exit with him which he AGREED to. Edit: If PSG were just going to pay Poch the remainder of his salary in full, they would have just kept him on the payroll and had him 'working from home' or on gardening leave as it is called. They would not need to pay a lump up front and if Poch was offered another job in the meantime, he would have to resign from his job at PSG and also the club offering him a job would have to pay PSG compensation. This is why clubs and managers reach an agreement on their exit and this is why compensation payments cease when the manager gets a new job.

I agree with Potter not jumping ship, I agree with Poch wanting a mountain of cash but think we have the cash to pay him but have we the appetite. I hate the thought of Rodgers as Villa manager