villaglint

He did get asked but as the deal is not done (i.e. Hughton/new Norwich manager causing delays) then he just said he hadn't even thought about it. I think the way to look at Lambert in dealing with the press is as being the Anti-Candleface. Rather than being all matey and giving an honest opinion on any question he's asked if Lambert gets a question he doesn't want to answer he just lies back to them/gets angry or says he has no idea what they are talking about. He could talk back to them in Spanish for all I care

yeah he really is a moody bastard when it comes to dealing with the press. Doesn't bother me at all - just excited to see what we can do on pitch.

If we got him at the right price (I mean cheap in terms of fee and wages) then I'd be for it. When was the last time we had two players in squad who were natural goalscorers. Also gives us a physical option which we've been missing for a long time. Could be the new Carew. If it turns into too big a deal we would be better of elsewhere in my opinion - based purely on his age.

£24m then?

I have shared some info with one or two these last two days and I will repeat here what I have said on PM, I am as optimistic about Villa as I have been in three years That is a scary thing to read

Richard I don't know how to react with you like this. All positive and what not. As a natural optimist I am about to giz myself if what you say is true

Very happy with this - feels like a lower risk than some of the names mentioned while still having lots of potential upside. He is the man to get good players playing like great players. Exactly what we need right now. MON did this too just unfortunate that he paid them like great players. Hopefully Randy backs him this summer to build the squad as he sees fit. As before priorities are. Solid ball playing DM Winger - who is actually good. Brand new defence.

Richard I find your constant negativity infuriating but that last comment is spot on.

To be fair Gazton MM has pointed the finger at the likes of Collins, Warnock, Dunne several times on this site. You have stated several times that MM is ITK so the rest of us are putting 2+2 together

A few bookies have taken it down Paddypower, betVictor, ToteSport, SportingBet, Bwin, 188Bet, Sign something could happen soon? Or is there another reason for this I cant think of?

Great manager but he had recently taken job at Anzi in Russia one of richest clubs in world.

YankeeinMadrid is an ITK and said we had approached Benitez. I would see it as a long shot that we could get him. In my opinion this would be a fantastic appointment. He may not be an open attacking manager but he knows how to win games and that is good enough for me. It is actually quite dangerous to play in a very open attacking way if you haven't got the players to do it. That's why Wigan are always down the bottom because they lose so many games. Same for Blackpool the year before. In contrast to AM who seemed to think a managers job was just to gee up the players Benitez is tactically brilliant and individually has a large effect on games. If FSG dont want him at Plop then I cant see how he can get a bigger job than us in England. He clearly still wants to manage here but is waiting for the right time. Didn't want to do it last year and be on a hiding to nothing like AM. If Randy shows he can invest to at least get us challenging for Europe if not CL then it might, might be enough to tempt him.

Bielsa wouldn't certainly fit the bill as an exciting choice but isn't going to happen. Balague has already discussed how Bielsa wont work in a non spanish speaking country because most of his method is based on meticulous communication with his players

Trees your doing a sterling job - I for one wont hang you if thats the case. You have to take these things in the spirit in which their intended. I have to ask - any reason you think there will be a press conference tomorrow. Seems odd to put these kinds of wheels in motion before they have even met the guy.

I think the current scenario is this. He is being interviewed. Villa end is obviously keen and he is obviously keen. Both putting in effort to make this happen. Others could also be being interviewed, people already based in UK or not requiring jets. In fact I would bloody hope so. Excitement on here relates to people hoping their bets come in. It's still early stages in my book. After the farce of last year and I am going to try and keep a stead hand this year. ....... I got in on OSG at 33/1!

I for one would be excited by Klinsmann - feels unlikely to me but I do seem to remember a rumour of his being friends with Randy. No idea whether he would be successful or not but he certainly got the Germans playing good football. And they were in a bad place when he took over.

Like this? Holman ------- Bent ---- N'Zogbia -------- Makoun --- Ireland ------- --------------- Diame -------------- Warnock - Clark - Dunne - Lichaj ---------------- Given -------------- If Martinez was in charge, this could be a formation he'd play. I've put Holman left wing because I think Martinez preferred Zog on the right. This could be interesting Except with a very different defense. After everything that has happened this year it would be pretty upsetting to see Warnock as our starting full back next year. When he scored that og I have never been so clear that a player was trying to ruin us from the inside.

So (with the players at our disposal presently) something akin to... Albrighton Ireland Herd Holman N'Zogbia BentYou'd have Herd competing in the air and putting in the bulk of the grunt work, with Ireland on occasional mop-up duty but primarily used to retain possession and move the ball around. Give Holman the entirety of the left flank to run up and down (by all accounts he has the engine for it) with N'Zogbia providing movement and an outlet for Ireland and also having enough space on the right to run at defenders. N'Zogbia's forays across and into the right channel could also allow Albrighton to sit back and play crosses in from a bit deeper, alleviating him of the pressure of trying to take on defenders and perhaps allowing him to find his range a bit better and rebuild some of that confidence from his first season. Yeah - although I would be loath to go into another season relying on Marc Albrighton as our 1st choice winger. We have already set his career back several years by throwing him in too often too soon. With our current players I would rather give Carruthers a go there.

Just putting this out there. I've got a bit of a feeling that Ireland would be better suited in a more traditional CM role than the "in the hole" role we mostly deploy him in. After Stan got injured I thought he did really well playing CM in the couple of games he had there and showed that he has the work rate and tackling ability to not get rolled over in this position. I see him as closer to Raul Meireles than David Silva. He his great on the ball and has terrific passing but he doesn't have that little burst of pace to beat a man create some space and play the killer ball. You see Silva and Mata doing this all the time and I think its critical to playing in that roaming position. I would like to see Ireland in CM with a real destroyer next to him (Diame?) and somebody with a bit more of a cutting edge ahead of him (Someone like Keane? or Sigurdsson if we could afford him?). Possibly even N'Zogbia if he can get sharp - it was off the front man where he had most of his success at Wigan. This way Ireland can helps us maintain possession (something which we have really really struggled to do this year. Whilst playing the odd killer ball and making the odd late run into the box.

My Short list (may not be gettable but I'm hoping were a more attractive proposition that last year, with a few of the dead wood big earners gone. And I hope Randy will invest) 1 - Moyes 2 - Benitez 3 - Hiddink 4 - Lambert 5 - Martinez 6 - Poyet

I'll be happy with someone who at least attempts to win the games.

Well Hallebloodylujah! Just hope hope hope that we have someone lined up - we seem to be lurching from one farce to another ever since MON left. Also I would be surprised if it was Lambert or Martinez - we never seem to go for the obvious option. I mean who would have guessed Houllier and the bloke who just got our Arch rivals relegated. On AM nice bloke and all but his record speaks for itself he cant have any complaints. The fact we got fewer points than the Blues did last season would make me cry if I wasn't a bloke and incapable of doing so.

is very good!

I think Daniel Johnson's decision making and general technique. Be interesting to see whether he can cope with the physicality of the Prem. Hope he does get a chance at some stage though we have a ton of promising CM's.

Excellent