HappyCatMe

The bunch being touted by the media, you dont know who Randy did consider/contact/interview, Houllier is Randys choice and may well be the best of a good bunch. Well good/bad is a matter of opinion. The managers that we didn't have to pay compensation too were the only ones we considered it seems. So he was the best of a bad bunch. The good managers don't stay out of the managers job that long. Well, as far as i can see, Houllier HAS a job, so that point is irrelevant here. He patently doesn't need the money and has what appears to be a cushy little number in France. Bearing this in mind, he's obviously impressed with what Mr Lerner has presented him with. Maybe Mr Houllier decided he still has a hunger for this management lark, and so, he could prove an inspired signing. Age also is not an issue: ask Fergie if he still has the fire to succeed!! Managers can be out of work for a number of reasons and not just because they are pants- taking a sabbatical, waiting for an opportunity they REALLY want, etc. MON wasn't working for quite some time, due to his family medical issues, but that didn't prevent him returning to manage Villa when the time was right. Things aren't always as black and white as we like to paint them sometimes.

A quality point. Was Wenger a huge Arsenal fan before becoming manager? SAF at Man U? Are any players/managers/coaches fans of the teams they join? Indeed, are any of our non-Birmingham bred players Villa fans before they came here? These guys are professional footie players and managers because they want to win things, regardless of where it is or who they join. PT is a winner, patently, and will bring the desire for and the taste of winning to our team, as will GH, assuming this all goes through.

I think there are some legs in this. Remember Moyes, McDonald and Curbishley have all been heavily backed to favouritism in the betting market, with the press then spouting off that their appointment is imminent. I have no doubts GH has been interviewed, and is being considered, but i also doubt very much that ths is a done deal, otherwise it would have been announced by now. I think (and maybe hope!) we may well have a surprise in store...

And don't forget the players that we were allegedly pushed around into selling were players who apparently wanted to go anyway. Cracking bit of business on both counts, as far as i can see...

Just a little query: Why, on a Villa forum, do we feel the need to discuss Spurs at all? Just curious...

To be fair to KM, he's been in charge of a skeleton crew at a time of rocky waters. I think he's done a sterling job in unexpected and uncertain conditions. Considering all he's done, with no support team to help out, you have to give the man credit. It's not at all like a new managerial appointment where a backroom staff is also installed. Five games in charge with the backdrop he's had to endure is hardly enough to prove his mettle. Whoever comes in, you have to give them a fair amount of time, and see how they operate with a full complement of back-up staff before judging them. There are a lot of wish-they-were-know-alls on here who think they could do a better job. It's easy to do from afar, like watching a quiz show on TV and getting all the answers right from the safety of your own armchair. It's a different matter when you're suddenly thrust unexpectedly into the limelight.

I disagree, hopefully some of our young players will get a chance, Nathan, Bannan, Clark, Albrighton etc. I think (apart from Milner) we possibly have a better squad - because we may get someone who uses it. Have to agree. We have the makings of a great squad but for whatever reason, the previous manager refused to rest key players or to bring on others at crucial times to win games that were drawn. We were so close to the top 4 and i feel crucual mistakes cost us dearly. Many people last season were saying we are only a proven goalscorer and a creative midfielder away from cracking it, and although that still remains the case with the striker, with the right appointment made and a little investment in January, we can make it. We've young, hungry players chomping at the bit and seasoned pros who didn't get a fair crack desperate to prove a point (Luke Young for example!) The doomsayers here with their paranoid conspiracy theories bordering on X-Files territory are driving me nuts...Really folks, it's not so bad!

Thats photoshoped!! Or he has a very large head!

People grumbling at KM for his selections for the Rapid games because of a lack of experience, etc. should look at the corresponding fixture last season, and our game in Moscow the previous season under the tutelage of an 'experienced tactical genius.' His selections have proven themselves at reserve level time and again, and although it's a different class in the PL, you still know your tactics. Games are won and lost by the players: he could not have foreseen Petrov missing a penalty like that, or a mistake by Beye, etc. That's down to the players performing on the pitch at a given moment in time, not tactical naivety. And as for some saying Ireland getting injured was a blessing because we'd have lost otherwise is just base. We were playing at home, and determined to put things right, against an Everton team who have been struggling also. Maybe we'd have been all over them and Ireland scored a hat-trick if he'd played. Really, to think some of the people on here are probably mature adults...It's almost embarrassing supporting the same club sometimes...

I don't think it's fair to single anyone out for criticism or plaudits today. The result was ALL that mattered after the past week, and fair play to all concerned, they ground it out. We're 4th and looking down at Man City, Spurs and Liverpool...To me, that's satisfying enough considering all we've been through. Well done to all concerned, and people here, let's not analyse too much: ours was a team without confidence and belief before today. They did us proud, so let's just applaud them...

I think the world of football management seems oddly detached from finding a job in the real world. It seems that, rather than send in a letter of application, you wait for the job to come to you. I think there will be a drawn out process of drawing up a shortlist, looking into their background, liaising with knowledgeable folk, then making contact. Maybe he has applied, but they're also sifting thorugh a zillion other applications- what do we know? Once the shortlist is created, the process probably moves really quickly, and people are jetted in immediately for an interview, etc... Maybe i'm wrong of course.

I wonder if any villa players ever read these forums and think to themselves, "well, if the fans don't believe in us, why should we?" All this negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophesy... This is the same team that whooped numerous asses last season, reached a cup final and came within a hair's breadth of top-4, barring the loss of Milner. Why are people suddenly assuming we're going to get beaten by Everton at home? Football is full of freakish results like Newcastle, which are nothing to do with backroom issues, but luck, mistakes, etc- who would have predicted Spurs' result yeterday?- and we just have to accept that these things happen. There is not a crisis at Villa. Yes, we need a permanent manager soon, and we'll get him- the right man!- but games like today are where the players show us all what they're really capable of. Stop with the whingey downer nonsense and believe!!!!

It's only in the Catalan region at the moment, but you know, I am all for a ban. It's archaic and cruel. Most spanish are now against it with only the older generation being in favour. Bit like burning witches, slavery, etc. It's not for the 21st century...

Hey if you're talking about the weather in Ukraine, this summer it's hotter there than in Brasil!!!

So, shock of shocks, tabloid journalism is basically a load of concocted bo**ocks? Too right! I can't believe the amount of shoddy, made up nonsense i'm reading in the sports press these days, from so-called 'sources close to...' How about we all start a campaign and not read/buy these pieces of crap and hit them where it hurts?