VillaDave

so are we saying Solsjkaer is like Solbakken?

I think we're merely speculating/stating that Solbakken had a fantastic record before he stepped up a level at Cologne.

And then he bombed. Badly.

So is OSG the 'new' Solbakken? Or is he more than that?

wasnt Arsene Wenger working in Japan when he got the Arsenal job - did he do much previously in France?

Wenger was at Monaco wasn't he? Or am I imagining that?

Wasn't he at VP when we played Monaco in a friendly at VP in the early 90s? And played them off the park I add.

Or did my fevered imagination make all that up??

Solbakken win ratio was only 22% a koln, that is terrible..

Cologne are completely dysfunctional as a club. They're like Newcastle were a couple of years back - big club, massive fanbase, over-inflated opinion of themselves, too many uncommitted high earners on the books.

They were completely unmanageable last season.

OGS - we need to take a gamble. The tired old candidates have failed. Lambert appears not to be interested. Same with Martinez.

Personally I'd prefer someone with a bit of experience in Italy or Germany or Spain rather than Norway (no offence). But what the ****, fortune favours the brave!

I do wonder, what he would do differently if he could wind the clock back

Thats the thing - he would not do anything differently at all.

This season has been a mirror of his last season at the Blues. He seems NOT to have learned anything.

The style of football is the same (arguably even worse, as at least 'they' had a go).

And he's signed the very same players he tried to sign whilst he was at Blues (N'Zog, Hutton).

The man has learned nothing. Nothing.

my ultimate team luck is finally changing, lavezzi and pastore in one pack

Levezzi is a hero of mine. I'd give my right nad to see him pulling on claret & blue at Villa Park.

Not looked like we have a formation, game plan or tactics apart from trying to strangle the life out the game.

Obviously different scale, but that approached work remarkably well for Jose Mourinho.

Quote - Graham Taylor's words of wisdom for the day are "that we must hire soon". - hello captain obvious.

No we don't. Downing has two years of his contract to run. He can sit tight until the new manager is decided. Same with Ashley Young. He can sit down until the new man comes in as well.

Its far more important to get it right, than to rush in an appointment.

Blended whisky??????

Wrong. So, so, wrong.

Its got to be single malt or nothing surely?

Blended whisky is like drinking lager dash. Or cider and black.

There's just no comparison between it and single malt.

And that my friends, is the difference between the very top (Man U) and the rest (Arsenal and us).

Fair play to Utd they made Arsenal look exactly like they are - little boys who can play keepy up in the playground, but soon get found out when the big boys come to play.

Just goes to show Utd are absolutely way ahead of the likes of Arsenal. The ga between them and Arsenal is far, far greater than the gap between Arsenal and us.

Italy v Germany in the final.

The two best teams on the continent. France and Croatia loosing in the semis.

Note - the FA should hang their heads in shame when they compare England's record against Germany's record since that 5-1 drubbing in Munich. Shameful. And believe me, I've lived in Germany - their press is even more scathing/critical than England's - so yu can't blame the media for any of the current shambles.

The 2-1 win at the Sty in the Championship season. Alan Evan's scoring a pearler of a volley on the turn, very late on in the game. Happy memories.

I'll say it now and I'll say it honestly - I would gladly take a 0-0 on Sunday.

They're certainly no mugs at home so far this season. A point away from home is always a good point in my book. Every season we're in the same division I always think "draw at theirs, beat them at ours". And its no different this season as far as I'm concerned.

Any talk of us crushing them is just pie in the sky. It'll be a draw, or one goal in it either way tops.

I'd agree with 90% of what you say PB, completely.

The 10% where I'd differ is in the belief that its better to engage in informal dialogue with fans groups, as opposed to formal dialogue with a fans rep on the board. But its all down to opinions so thats cool.

Have the fans group in question proactively engaged other potential buyers to ascertain their plans? I understand that the onus is on the buyer to contact the fans group, but in the absence of that happening, why not contact the buyer directly?

Ask Padfield the same questions. Ask Still the same questions. See if we get the same answers. Hell, we may even get better ones. If we don't ask, we run the risk of never knowing.

He's spoken to fans groups which is alot more than any of the others have done

Don't get me wrong, talking to fans groups is positive. But where's the minutes? What was discussed? What promises were made?

Padfield wont be welcome in Aston that's for sure.

People have short and selective memories. A blank cheque of £30M to MO'N will ensure that.

However, I do not like the way that the waters have been clouded from a fans perspective

I guess in an ideal world, all parties would have published their plans, and we (the shareholders) would have had a free, open and honest choice.

That obviously hasn't happened. We've had one bidder talking to a select few fans, we've had leaks, counter-leaks and denials in the local and national press.

But we're still (or at least I am) none the wiser on who will be the best going forwards for AVFC. And there's still no end to it in sight.

want to see my team fighting it out with the best in Europe, like tomorrow, and would encourage whatever it takes us to achieve that.

If it means waiting for AV06 so be it.

My major concern is the delay in getting serious money to O'Neill now

Well said. To discount one (or more) bidders even before you have heard what they have to offer smacks of stupidity to me.

Doug is duty bound to accept the best offer for the 'club

Define 'club'. I thought Doug's only requirement was to satisfy the shareholders of AVFC PLC?

Or are we nieve enough to think Doug has gone gone all altruistic in his old age?

He can freely overrule whatever Rotschilds recommend. He can justify accepting the higher bid whatever way he choses.

Petchey and Doug will decide which bid to accept based on the same criteria the club has been run for 25+ years - that is to say whichever bid will furnish Doug's pockets the most.

cash bid, from a single investor, with a board as strong as was presented yesterday will be VERY VERY difficult to beat. And it will be difficult for them to come up with a package to beat that in the timescale given.

Do you honestly think Doug and Petchey will care about the make up of the board and future prospects for the club? The cynic in me believes they will want the maximum profit now and bite the hands off the highest bidder on the table (regardless of who will be best going forwards).

And to think we slagged Doug of for 'overpricing' us not letting us go for £45M!!!!

Lerner is Rothchild's preferred bid.

Lerner is Doug's preferred bid. Thats the root cause of what scares me.

AS PB said earlier - win, win. If the judge has got the funds to gazump Lerner, then fair play to him. More funds, more money for players (hopefully).

id love to see Curbishley run Aston Villa with a bit of money to spend. He did superbly with limited funds at Charlton.

Curbishley would be an admittance that all we can aim for as a club is midtable.

He has done absolutely nothing in the past to suggest he can step beyond that. The bare minimum we should be planning for is a manager who can guarantee top six (with the usual caveats of funding, no interference etc).

The owner of Hearts talking about a lot of russians wanting to invest in english football

No thanks. Not if they are like Hearts current Lithuanian Chairman. Belting article about him picking the subs and the time they are sent on, let alone the starting XI.

Out of interest, if he did die in charge, who would take over as chairman?

Gareth Keenen- aka Steve Stride.

Thats the thing - we don't know. I'd put my money on Mr Peter Ellis ESQ personally.

They say they want answers and won't stop asking until they get them. If they really mean this, they should start asking the right questions to the right people. The Mail is obviously more interested in selling papers than getting answers.

That Bob is probably the most sense I have read in these 111 pages so far.

If any of us really think the Mail are on some great investigative crusade on our behalf, then we are more addled than Doug is.

Dave - if relegation is avoidable don't you think it becomes a big deal? If we get relegated because of a situation in which a stubborn old man squeezes the club so hard that we go down?

Everything is relative in life.

Should releagation be avoided with all reasonable means? Yes, defintely.

Should relegation be avoided at all costs? No, probably not.

Lets move the arguement away from wishing one sick man dead. Or lock this thread.

If we continue to lose matches and players we will continue to lose potential revenue and will not be in the prem

Big deal. I'm old enough to remember life before the premier league. Old enough to remember life in Div 3. Its not the end of the world. Life goes on. Don't want us to go down - but its not life and death. You need to experience the lows before you taste the highs. I'm not settling for mediocrity, just trying to see the bigger picture. And not geting involved in wishing an already ill 80-something man dead.