NeilS

Yeah I'm not too sure about Poyet either. He has done ok at Brighton, but not outstanding imo. I see Brighton only won 1 of the last 10 league games, which would be a worry.

At no point have we said that Ole was the number one choice, we have always said that we have other targets to see. So I don't think we as a club don't end up looking too silly in all of this at the moment. I can only hope that Randy and Faulkner have other good quality targets lined up for the job, and that they are not too far from being appointed. I just hope it doesn't turn into last seasons fiasco again, and we end up with plan z. If that is the case, then lessons have not been learnt.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't fully understand BOF's idea. I had put it down to the heat affecting my brain.

I agree. Whoever is the new manager should be able to build the team with their own appointments. This is the time for s clean slate and a fresh start. Plus as you say, he could be a terrible coach for all we know. Great player doesn't always equal great coach.

But that's my point. The winner should be a separate spot, independent of nationality. So every country gets it's allocation AND there's the winner. You draw the line, but you draw it just beyond the point where the winner gets to retain the trophy without making a balls of 2 other teams who have qualified. I guess it depends on your viewpoint. I don't think having a quarter of the Premier League in the Champions League would be fair on the other nations. Having 5 PL teams would inevitably mean someone else misses out elsewhere. The rules were set after the Everton/Liverpool argument, so they have to abide with them whether they like it or not. They hadn't actually qualified for a CL place, just gave themselves a chance to qualify for it via a two legged knock out round. Spurs had the chance to qualify automatically in the top 3 and blew it. As Martin Samuels painfully put it last night on tv, Spurs have only themselves to blame for not getting a win against us at Villa Park. They would have had it in there own hands in the final game if they would have won against us at VP, like the rest of the top three did.

I thought as much. It is unfortunate for Spurs, but you have to draw the line somewhere. England have four teams in the Champions League already, the team that won the cup have the right to defend it, and it would be unfair on other nations if we took up all of the spaces available.

I would imagine that it is Robert Green out of the two that is more likely to end up at QPR, as his contract has expired. The journalist probably just threw Shay's name in to the mix to make up the numbers, and hedge their bets a little.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Spurs finishing 4th mean they have qualified to play a qualification round to get into the Champions League? Which if true means they technically haven't qualified for the Champions League at all? I know that 4th used to mean that as Everton crashed out that way, it may well have changed?

I would imagine the meat and bones of the deal has been sorted by Randy, and he has left Faulkner will deal with the finer details, either that or it has all fallen through and Randy has stormed off on his plane in a strop.

Very much this. But... OGS HAS NOT TAKEN THE JOB YET. I agree as well, it is not like we have reaped the benefits over the years. Maybe it is time for a fresh start. Maybe we need to let someone come in with their own team and give it a go.

Yeah, I'm thinking Darren Bent too. I was thinking the same yesterday. Bent will possibly love playing for one of the great goal poachers in recent times. I also vaguely remember Ole having positive words about Delfouneso a couple of years ago after a reserve match, so maybe there is some hope that Delfouneso can improve his game under OGS.

There is no solid news on this, it is a bit of speculation and guess work from some info. But, from my time on this website TheTrees has been very reliable with his info and has broken the news on Lerner Takeover/ Carew Signing / Houllier appointment before any of the major news corps, and has been proven right each time.

Perhaps Capello?

I agree it would have been a major risk to take him as he hasn't played for about two months. England have been down that route before, relying on injured players to come good and it doesn't work. The tournament is over before you get up to speed.

Good news, lessons seemed to have been learnt. Fingers crossed we do this correctly this time, and get the right man in fairly quickly so he can overhaul the squad during the summer.

I hope so, we need to have plans in place already and a list of managers drawn up at the very least. Hopefully Lerner and Faulkner will have learnt from last year and have plans in place already. Last year was strange as we seemed slow off the mark and got caught out, even though it was obvious for months that Houllier wouldn't be able to carry on. Similarly it has been obvious for months that McLeish wasn't working out for us, and plans should already have been made in advance of the decision to remove him.

Yeah I think Talksport are doing a bit of fishing, throwing some bait out to get some bites from panicking Villa fans.

Appointing McCarthy would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fryer. I can't see them making the same mistake twice. Can they? With regards to who I want as manager, i just want someone who has broader horizons than the PL, someone who will build Villa like Wenger did at Arsenal, changing the philosophy of the club and the image in the process. This would require a huge overhaul, and clearing of a few of the older players from the squad especially the back 4. For this I would take a chance with AVB, who I feel could build something special given time and means. I feel that this is highly unlikely to happen though and will probably have to set my sights a little lower. I'm 50/50 on Lambert, he has done a fantastic job at Norwich on a limited budget. Some of you guys on here talk about his tactical knowledge, and I would have to take your word on that as I haven't seen much of Norwich if I'm totally honest. What worries me about Lambert is is he another MON who will be limited by his transfer targets. He does have European pedigree having played with Dortmund, so maybe at a bigger club his scope for transfers would widen. I thought the same about MON though and he disappointed with signings like Harewood/Sidwell/Collins. I also am 50/50 on Martinez, he has done a fantastic job towards the end of the season, but I ask myself why he hasn't managed to build on impressive finishes to the previous seasons and have a good whole season? His transfer hit rate also leaves a bit to be desired, and most of his better players were bought in by Bruce. To summarise, I haven't got a clue.

A terrible season with virtually no bright spots, other than Chelsea away. Not even a cup run to keep the spirits up, thank god it is over.

Happy Days!!! Woohoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Perhaps it can be used as a helpful aid for insomniacs?

I was thinking the same before I opened the thread. I couldn't really give a toss about the result in this game. That must be a first for me.

http://tinyurl.com/cyxrdop Brilliant write up by ESPN. Yes it's hard to disagree with any of it, and the paragraph above highlights the main problem that has worried me from the start of the season. Even with a reasonable start to the season, the lack of chances created and goals scored stood out for me since the first game of the season. I hoped it would get better, but didn't expect it to, and can't see it ever improving under McLeish.

Yep, Tom is the stand out contestant at the moment. Gabrielle may have an outside chance though, and Nick seems to be doing ok without really standing out. I think Adam will be torn apart at the interview stages by Claude. The others have no chance, unless they can raise their game in the next few weeks. I agree with Tony about Steve, he is useless. Always coming out with terrible ideas, but his one major skill is blame shifting and being lucky which has kept him in so far.

I have part exchanged my house quite a few years ago now, and you have pretty much summed it up in the opening post. A few words of warning for you regarding the new house. They are not as stress free as you would imagine, and the build quality isn't always very good. The windows in my new house are terrible, they just don't feel very solid. You will pay over the top for your new house if the new houses around me are anything to go by. For example, they have built some new houses near me that are of similar size, so we had a wander down to have a nose around. We were shocked when we asked the price. We would struggle to sell ours for £140-£150k at the moment, whereas they were asking £190k for a similar house. I was expecting it to be around the £165k mark.