mjames333

http://tgr.ph/cJJyzL Didn't remember this from last year but apparently Mcleish spent time with Houllier at Lyon after being Rangers manager.

Obviously if McLeish is appointed we still have to support the team and get behind the lads next season. But if things start going wrong then it will turn nasty very quickly.

Dion Dublin defending McLeish on Talksport right now.

that last match at Tottenham was a joke considering what was on the line. No motivation in that team with the exception of Gardner, Johnson and Foster. If you can't motivate a team for that kind of match then what are you doing in the premier league?

To be fair mate I think a lot of us have been patient and been having a laugh at the press for their constant changing of who is favourite for the job. But they have been proven right on the McLeish link and there stands a good chance their coverage of our manager search being a farce is also true. I'm all for an extensive manager interview process but the noises about McLeish have come not only from the press but now from our club with Krulak desperately trying to defend him. How can we be expected to be happy with our manager coming from your Pile 3?

I don't think anyone has anything personal against McLeish, it's just that he is so average as a football manager.

Are you having a laugh?

They are talking about paying McLeish 2.5 million a year which is the same as Houllier so it can't be about money. If it were then MacDonald would be the best candidate.

I like Shearer but I think he is the kind of guy that would operate purely on passion. He may make a fine England manager or Blackburn/Newcastle manager at some point but not sure he could do it for a club he has no connection to.

and give them time to get a new manager before the europa league kicks off i thought his quitting was fine. he didnt buy 4 players then decide he couldnt work under those conditions and Hughes has never been relegated. Fulham have a much smaller budget than Birmingham aswell. That lets see what McLeish can do with owner backing from the general has really pissed me off.

yeah but Faulkner is big mates with their Managing Director so we don't want to piss Fulham off do we. Maybe it was part of the Sidwell deal. Whatever the reasoning it is shit. Hughes would be a dream manager right now.

I have no doubts that with McLeish we will still be the best team in the midlands again next year. However I thought our owner and board aspired for Champions League football and creating a new culture for our club. That ain't gonna happen with McLeish. I can see us coming 8-12th but that is not good enough. There is no plan here, no vision of developing our young talent and what will Darren Bent make of all this?

I'd take any style over the drab crab-football that nearly relegated Villa last season ! I'd take any manager who can actually manage a side without having wars breaking out amongst the camp and I'd take any manager who has the balls to drop our "superstar" egos when they stop performing for the team. Truth of the matter is that had Blouse not been wrecked by major injury problems at a bad time, they would have finished above us with a fraction of the resources made available to the French idiot who we tolerated ! His drab football led to relegation our so called drab football with infighting, injuries, supporter discontent, 4 managers and speculation that everyone was leaving at the end of the season got us 9th.

From the board's statement today I just get the impression they think we are angry because McLeish is coming from Blues and that that is our only gripe. From my interaction and reading various postings we couldn't really care that he is coming from Birmingham it's that his track record in the Premier League is absolutely awful and his style is really no different to Alladyce except Sam doesn't get relegated TWICE! You can't blame McLeish for wanting it but he must have one hell of an ego if he takes this job. I just don't see how he and the board think this will work out for the best. I think we would need to be in the top 4 by October for him to start winning fans over. Mediocrity will lead to empty seats and a very nasty atmosphere at Villa Park. And what if we draw Birmingham in the cup away. Not a place I'd like to be that night.

Just listening back to the monday night club on 5live. I am really starting to hate Pat Murphy, what a clearing in the woods.

In my opinion Pannu is using this situation like Whelan did. He wants to get his fans behind the Birmingham board who lets be honest aren't exactly the most popular down the road. He knows the real reason McLeish quit and its not villa. Using Villa as the enemy is a great way to increase the popularity of Yeung and Co. Also McLeish says he is interested in the job, well who can blame him. It's a massive step up for him and I'm sure he misses those big nights when he was at Rangers. I just can't see it happening though. It makes no sense. I try and look for any reason why our board would appoint him and I don't see any logic. O'Neill made sense, Houllier made sense but this doesn't.

Mcleish would have strong ties with Walter Smith maybe so Everton could be a possibility for him.

consequences of an evening of binge drinking.

Daily Star story is absolute shit. Clueless idiots.

Come on now. That's about as likely as Mourinho being our next manager.

And I'd rather have O'Neill back than have McLeish. Infact I'd rather have Steve McClaren than him.

Just got back from work and missed about 100 pages here. Been on twitter all day though. I really find it frustrating that the national media want to believe that Martinez was always our #1 target and that we are back to square one. We interviewed 4 people when Houllier got the job what makes these people think that was not the process this time. When we contacted Wigan I'll bet we contacted Everton, maybe Bolton who knows. We are being portrayed as clueless rocket polishers and the bastards will probably spin it into Bent-signing-out-of-fear-and-desperation proportions when we unveil Moyes. They'll say we threw wads of cash at him because we were desperate. Whelan knew Martinez was up against some bigger names and saw the liklihood he would not get the job so came out and made it impossible for Martinez not to sign a new contract. Clever but it's made us look like fools and the press are lapping it up.

It's sad isn't it but I'm the same. Just had 2 days off work where usually I'd catch up on sleep but I think I've slept less. Keep refreshing VT and Twitter like crazy.

Martinez as Assistant to Flores? I've been thinking that too. Maybe not Flores but Martinez as assistant to a more experienced manager to mentor him to takeover in a few years.

Don't forget Moyes came close to getting Everton into the Champions League a few years back. I know. Just saying that eventhough Martinez struggled near the bottom he could be good. Moyes is a very good manager and I'd prefer him to Martinez but it doesn't look likely right now does it? If we went back and appointed Moyes from Preston then everyone on here would be saying WTF is Randy doing.