Roberto Di Matteo

[terrytini]

13 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Took MK Dons to the playoffs, got West Brom Promoted, Averaged over a 50% win rate.

Even if people take away his CL win, which so many seem desperate to do for a reason I'm yet to discover, he's still got a very good record.

Indeed. Odd people, Villa fans.  If you take away Alf Ramsays World Cup win he achieved nothing either.

I said my bit a few pages ago, not convinced but not unhappy.

I think the real issue is he hasn't built a Team before, combined with we don't know his backroom or scouting people. Add that to a Squad which needs complete overhaul there is obviously room for concern. Having said that, these issues must be clear to him and the owners, so fingers crossed they know the people they are bringing in for those roles.

[Stevo985]

Yep, the building a team thing would be the major drawback. But it's not to say he can't do it.

It wouldn't surprise me if he's taken an interest in us recently anyway. he lives in the area, if he's been considering getting back into management for a while then we'd seem like an obvious potential destination for him.

He may well be more clued up on what we do and don't need than many people think.

[Gary Thomas]

13 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Yep, the building a team thing would be the major drawback. But it's not to say he can't do it.

Absolutely - and maybe he has the draw and influence that others don't.  I sometimes wonder if the rebuilding job is as hard as we all suggest.  He has plenty of money and a poor squad.  So broadly speaking if he can replace 6-7 of our poorest players with 6-7 good and experienced players in key positions, while keeping our best players, I think he would have a very competitive squad.  The rest is down to coaching and instilling confidence which he has plenty of experience of.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Gary Thomas

[terrytini]

Agreed.  If you look around at all the many and varied appointments an awful lot of them involve Managers suddenly having to buy in markets they must be unfamiliar with.  And by no means all of them have extensive scouting networks in place.  I can only imagine that behind the scenes there are more networks of Managers, ex-players, Agents, etc than we realise. Also its a safe bet that - unless hes an idiot - he is even now watching games from last season.

Another point is that the pool of available worthwhile players isn't as big as might at first seem.  Leaving aside players playing on the Continent the best have obviously just got promoted, so are in the most part unlikely to be going anywhere.  Then there is half a Leagues worth who would be no use.  So that leaves, as the main targets probably 40/50 players.  A fair few will be staying and having another go with Derby, etc, and others won't fit the positions we need (??!!).

Of those that's left, half of them will be angling to move here anyway, so their Agents will do most the work.....plus, he must know some from his time in the lower Leagues.

So it may not be as tricky as it at first seems.

[Stevo985]

Just now, Gary Thomas said:

Absolutely - and maybe he has the draw and influence that others don't.  I also don't think ANY of the candidates had done what we need given the timescales and extent of changes. That said, I wonder if the job is as hard as we all suggest.  He has plenty of money and a poor squad.  So broadly speaking if he can replace 6-7 of our poorest players with 6-7 good and experienced players in key positions, while also keeping as many as our better players as we can, I think he would have a very competitive squad.  The rest is down to coaching and instilling confidence which he has plenty of experience of.

The difficulty of the job, imo, depends on the players we keep from this season.

If we keep most or all of:

Clark, okore, Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Grealish, Gil, Adama, Ayew, Gestede

and add youngsters and loanees such as

Gardner, Hepburn Murphy, Toner, Steer etc

 

Then I don't think the job is as massive as some are making out.

HOWEVER, the more of those players listed above we lose, the harder the job becomes.

[rubberman]

re: building a team - it may not need to be such a massive overhaul.  Let's say (in the spirit of optimism) that the combination of Dr X's cash, his stated ambition and RDM's status means we hang on to some of the players we might otherwise have lost.  Still ship out the crap, but replace them with 3-4 promoted from the youth and add 6-7 to solidify the spine and we should be there or thereabouts.  I don't think we'll need 15+ brought in.

[Gary Thomas]

Just now, Stevo985 said:

The difficulty of the job, imo, depends on the players we keep from this season.

If we keep most or all of:

Clark, okore, Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Grealish, Gil, Adama, Ayew, Gestede

and add youngsters and loanees such as

Gardner, Hepburn Murphy, Toner, Steer etc

 

Then I don't think the job is as massive as some are making out.

HOWEVER, the more of those players listed above we lose, the harder the job becomes.

Spot on.  If I was RDM I would be targeting all those players I want to stay.  One-to-ones Tuesday talking up the new Villa plan and how they could be part of it.

[terrytini]

Just to add, I actually feel the amount (and the names) of those he gets rid of will be the more important task. Do that right and we are more than half way there.

Do it wrong and we are knackered no matter who comes in.  It really will be the most important news we get, that of whos contracts have been terminated, paid off, or whatever.

(Hadn't seen the last couple of Posts when I wrote this but yes, saying the same thing the other way around)

Edited May 27, 2016 by terrytini

[villaglint]

Anyone else wondering if this is a player manager thing, I reckon he'd be a starter as things stand...

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, terrytini said:

Just to add, I actually feel the amount (and the names) of those he gets rid of will be the more important task. Do that right and we are more than half way there.

That's true too. The bad eggs need to go. Easier said than done.

[terrytini]

4 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

The difficulty of the job, imo, depends on the players we keep from this season.

If we keep most or all of:

Clark, okore, Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Grealish, Gil, Adama, Ayew, Gestede

and add youngsters and loanees such as

Gardner, Hepburn Murphy, Toner, Steer etc

 

Then I don't think the job is as massive as some are making out.

HOWEVER, the more of those players listed above we lose, the harder the job becomes.

Agree (except Okore whose attitude I don't like).

[Dante_Lockhart]

Toner, Gardner, Lynden and RHM will all be part of the 1st team squad next year. Hopefully CalRob too.

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, Gary Thomas said:

Spot on.  If I was RDM I would be targeting all those players I want to stay.  One-to-ones Tuesday talking up the new Villa plan and how they could be part of it.

To be honest, even if they want out, I'd be playing on their ego.

Tell them they're way more likely to get a better move if they play a good season in the Championship and get us promoted.

Adama, for example, will eat the Championship for breakfast, If he moves now, then who would buy him? Stoke?

If he moves after a season of tearing up the Championship, I bet he'll have more attractive suitors.

It would also be financially beneficial for us. We're more likely t get a better price for players after a good season in the Championship than a shite season in the prem.

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, terrytini said:

Agree (except Okore whose attitude I don't like).

Yeah I hesitated to include him. But I do think he's a good player so hopefully his attitude under a new manager will improve.

[sexbelowsound]

My attitude would be shit as well if I had Lescott, Richards and Barry Chuckle being picked ahead of me.

Edited May 27, 2016 by sexbelowsound

[terrytini]

Well there you go, in the space of fifteen minutes we've solved what we thought was his least convincing area.  Piece of cake.

[Gary Thomas]

4 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

To be honest, even if they want out, I'd be playing on their ego.

Tell them they're way more likely to get a better move if they play a good season in the Championship and get us promoted.

Adama, for example, will eat the Championship for breakfast, If he moves now, then who would buy him? Stoke?

If he moves after a season of tearing up the Championship, I bet he'll have more attractive suitors.

It would also be financially beneficial for us. We're more likely t get a better price for players after a good season in the Championship than a shite season in the prem.

this is where i think RDM may have the edge - he's achieved a lot in the game and he strikes me as a good man manager.  The younger players like Adama and Amavi will respect him I think and may be more likely to listen to what he has to say about their careers and getting to the top.

[Dr_Pangloss]

In terms of the rebuilding aspect, I doubt RDM will be doing it (all). I think we will have another 'panel' to recommend players, at least that's what I got from one of Dr T's interviews. 

[dn1982]

RDM wouldn't be my choice but he does seem to have an initial effect on squads. It wasn't his team that won the CL and FA Cup And tactically I don't think he did much but he got the players playing well. He did the same at WBA and MK Dons. I believe if we keep the players we want to and add in the positions that need addressing he can have a positive influence on the squad once the bad apples are kicked out. We have the nucleus of a decent squad if they don't jump ship. If we add 5/6 exp Championship players we will be up there. 

[dn1982]

25 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

The difficulty of the job, imo, depends on the players we keep from this season.

If we keep most or all of:

Clark, okore, Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Grealish, Gil, Adama, Ayew, Gestede

and add youngsters and loanees such as

Gardner, Hepburn Murphy, Toner, Steer etc

 

Then I don't think the job is as massive as some are making out.

HOWEVER, the more of those players listed above we lose, the harder the job becomes.

Getting rid of the bad influences is as important as keeping the ones we want and maybe harder to achieve!!