Confirmed: Houllier is the new Villa manager

[thetrees]

I don't think that KM wants the job, and I make him right if that's the case.

Koeman was at our pre-season tournament. Okay, he has connections with Benfica, but it was kind of a coincidence.

Jol would walk to VP for the job. If you are ambitious in your chosen field, then you want to improve yourself. The manager's job at Villa is one of the top 20, maybe 15 in the world, and Jol knows that.

[terrytini]

No to Koeman, would prefer MacDonald. Fresh blood needs injecting into the PL, it's stagnant with the same old names and has beens. Koeman has his name and that's all his got. Would rather give KM some time, there's no rush we are not relegation material. He might suprise he might bomb, but worth a gamble. If he is good we may have a manager who might just be with us for some time, we need some stability and consistancy. All the Koemans and Eriksons never last they just move on. Kevin MacDonald please Randy, 6 month trial see how he goes.

Again, I'd love to know why we have suddenly become so unambitious.

No rush ?? - why not ?

Not relegation material - is that the limit of our ambition at the moment ?

We can't afford this mentality - we need to be desparately trying to move on, not suddenly accepting 'transition years' and 'no rush'.

Whats got into everybody ?? :?

Im with you on this.

But i still think Macca is the one 8)

Why ? What has convinced you that out of all the Managers that might want to come here (no idea how many - not many if they think the Owner buys the players now perhaps) Mcdonald is the most likely to take us forward ?

I have seen nothing that would make me think that. Because by definition he can't have shown anything, as he hasn't done the job.

Had we lost that first game 3-0 would you still want him ?

[Demitri_C]

if w ecant get jol then i expect mac will get it. if not him it will be someone ine the calibre of curbishly: who isnt good enough for us at present

[Cracker1234]

Had we lost that first game 3-0 would you still want him ?

I think you should be asking West Ham if they want to keep their Manager because they lost 3-0....We never.

I never doubted that we would win, in this case it was by how many.

We have some real good talent at AV and we just need the right person to guide them.....Many questions will be asked at AV to who that person should be, before that person is offered the job......They're not just going to pull a name out of the hat.

If they decide that Kevin is that man then so be it.

[wiggyrichard]

if w ecant get jol then i expect mac will get it. if not him it will be someone ine the calibre of curbishly: who isnt good enough for us at present

This is how i feel Dem, Jol 1st, if not him i would rather MacDonald got it.

[VillaN.I]

But didnt Fulham have to give up on Jol because there is no clause in his current contract? Randy would have to hand over millions to release him. (allegedly)

[VillanWA]

No to Koeman, would prefer MacDonald. Fresh blood needs injecting into the PL, it's stagnant with the same old names and has beens. Koeman has his name and that's all his got. Would rather give KM some time, there's no rush we are not relegation material. He might suprise he might bomb, but worth a gamble. If he is good we may have a manager who might just be with us for some time, we need some stability and consistancy. All the Koemans and Eriksons never last they just move on. Kevin MacDonald please Randy, 6 month trial see how he goes.

Again, I'd love to know why we have suddenly become so unambitious.

No rush ?? - why not ?

Not relegation material - is that the limit of our ambition at the moment ?

We can't afford this mentality - we need to be desparately trying to move on, not suddenly accepting 'transition years' and 'no rush'.

Whats got into everybody ?? :?

Unambitious your opinion. I never thought we would win the league or European cup with Saunders but we did. Im very ambitious when it comes to Villa, but lets be fair we have been treading water for a long time. No one knows what the next manager will bring whoever it is, but I would rather let someone like MacDonald have his chance. He may end up the best manager we've ever had. As for bringing in a manager who will attract top players, well we just don't have top players money, so we have to do things a bit differently.

[ChrisNichollsToe]

Terry,

Call it a gut feeling mate, and yes....if we had lost against West Ham, i would still have the same view.

Out of all the candidates, its only Jol that stands out, and hes under contract ( though with a 10m buy out clause). If its not Macca, then like you, i want the best possible person to lead us, but i cant see us buying out his contract.

So im prepared to wait. In three monthes time, who knows whom is available?

The overwhelming majority of the players are happy for Macca to carry on, and he has one advantage over the others, because he knows the players inside out.

Rushing just to appoint a name, does not always work.

[villabromsgrove]

No to Koeman, would prefer MacDonald. Fresh blood needs injecting into the PL, it's stagnant with the same old names and has beens. Koeman has his name and that's all his got. Would rather give KM some time, there's no rush we are not relegation material. He might suprise he might bomb, but worth a gamble. If he is good we may have a manager who might just be with us for some time, we need some stability and consistancy. All the Koemans and Eriksons never last they just move on. Kevin MacDonald please Randy, 6 month trial see how he goes.

Again, I'd love to know why we have suddenly become so unambitious.

No rush ?? - why not ?

Not relegation material - is that the limit of our ambition at the moment ?

We can't afford this mentality - we need to be desparately trying to move on, not suddenly accepting 'transition years' and 'no rush'.

Whats got into everybody ?? :?

Im with you on this.

But i still think Macca is the one 8)

Why ? What has convinced you that out of all the Managers that might want to come here (no idea how many - not many if they think the Owner buys the players now perhaps) Mcdonald is the most likely to take us forward ?

I have seen nothing that would make me think that. Because by definition he can't have shown anything, as he hasn't done the job.

Had we lost that first game 3-0 would you still want him ?

Terry, I just replied to your concerns on the Blandy article thread. Can I ask how well you know Kevin MacDonald?

[wiggyrichard]

Terry,

Call it a gut feeling mate, and yes....if we had lost against West Ham, i would still have the same view.

Out of all the candidates, its only Jol that stands out, and hes under contract ( though with a 10m buy out clause). If its not Macca, then like you, i want the best possible person to lead us, but i cant see us buying out his contract.

So im prepared to wait. In three monthes time, who knows whom is available?

The overwhelming majority of the players are happy for Macca to carry on, and he has one advantage over the others, because he knows the players inside out.

Rushing just to appoint a name, does not always work.

Just a question...but how do you know who the candidates are?

[ChrisNichollsToe]

Ah, thats the question Wiggy...none of us do for sure. We can only go on what MM or the press tell us, and summise on whom is available right now.

Who knows, Randy may have planned for life without Martin, and have someone lined up?

Who knows!

[cheltenham_villa]

if w ecant get jol then i expect mac will get it. if not him it will be someone ine the calibre of curbishly: who isnt good enough for us at present

Out of interest, how is Curbishley not good enough but Mac is?

[DANVANDAL]

Maradona 25-1 at Paddy Power...hilarious

Big week for KMcD, a win in the Europa and beating Newcastle and I think he should be a serious candidiate to take us atleast through till January.

[VillanWA]

if w ecant get jol then i expect mac will get it. if not him it will be someone ine the calibre of curbishly: who isnt good enough for us at present

Out of interest, how is Curbishley not good enough but Mac is?

I suppose Curbishley is a known quantity, we've seen his limits. MacDonald is an unknown quantity, he might be crap, but he might be brilliant.

[Pelle]

if w ecant get jol then i expect mac will get it. if not him it will be someone ine the calibre of curbishly: who isnt good enough for us at present

Out of interest, how is Curbishley not good enough but Mac is?

I suppose Curbishley is a known quantity, we've seen his limits. MacDonald is an unknown quantity, he might be crap, but he might be brilliant.

Exactly. Same as with most foreign players vs british based players.

[MR.Smalljob]

Understand if he don't want to be manager KM. too much stress and pressure from all sides, bloody hell I can even feel it when I play FM. :-)

[Pelle]

I was thinking a bit about how managers will look at the job at Villa. Will it be

A: MON took Villa to 6th in the PL for 3 consecutive seasons and threated to break in to the top 4 the last two seasons. With the same backing as he got I'll have a good shout to take them to the CL and from there take them even further. This is a challenge I want! This is what can make my career!

or

B: Hm, so MON left because the chairman wouldn't back him with new signings anymore. The money pot seems to be empty and the club has probably gone as far as it can. The only way is down and the best that can be achieved is to stay in the top 8. And the fans will expect a lot more which can't be achieved.

Which is it? Guess it depends on who the manager is, but IMO I think we're a rather hot prospect for most managers just under the top ones. For the up and coming managers. I think if we can get the right manager in he can do some very good things here. You may say what you want about MON, but he built a very good foundation for a very good squad. We just need to add a few good players and we have a very good squad indeed. So a good manager with a good eye for spotting talents can take us even further, IMO.

[terrytini]

No to Koeman, would prefer MacDonald. Fresh blood needs injecting into the PL, it's stagnant with the same old names and has beens. Koeman has his name and that's all his got. Would rather give KM some time, there's no rush we are not relegation material. He might suprise he might bomb, but worth a gamble. If he is good we may have a manager who might just be with us for some time, we need some stability and consistancy. All the Koemans and Eriksons never last they just move on. Kevin MacDonald please Randy, 6 month trial see how he goes.

Again, I'd love to know why we have suddenly become so unambitious.

No rush ?? - why not ?

Not relegation material - is that the limit of our ambition at the moment ?

We can't afford this mentality - we need to be desparately trying to move on, not suddenly accepting 'transition years' and 'no rush'.

Whats got into everybody ?? :?

Im with you on this.

But i still think Macca is the one 8)

Why ? What has convinced you that out of all the Managers that might want to come here (no idea how many - not many if they think the Owner buys the players now perhaps) Mcdonald is the most likely to take us forward ?

I have seen nothing that would make me think that. Because by definition he can't have shown anything, as he hasn't done the job.

Had we lost that first game 3-0 would you still want him ?

Terry, I just replied to your concerns on the Blandy article thread. Can I ask how well you know Kevin MacDonald?

Sorry I don't know Mcdonald from Adam, as a person. I watch the reserves regularly, and his record as Coach is brilliant ,he has also a great record with the youngsters. And for all I know he is great in bed !

But none of that suggests to me we should gamble with the unknown (in terms of the PL) at this crucial time in our history, when , in my view , we either push on or go back to the old days.

[BOF]

3. I don't know what that means - are you using an analogy ?

I think he's using a hypothetical situation much like your 3-0 loss. The point being that we didn't lose 3-0 and that it might have had something to do with how MacDonald set the team up personnel-wise and tactically, and that they're playing for him. The result and the manner of the result suggests that your hypothetical 3-0 loss is a moot point and exists only in fantasy.

[Adbo9]

This is my take on it............ I think that the club know that KM is well respected by the squad and theyd like him involved, but as is normally the case, when a coach is promoted to management they inevitably have to remove themselves from the players and stop being their friend and go-between to the management - hence it never seems to work...............

I think for this reason KM will be kept on to work alongside a new manager, that way KM can still weave his magic on the training pitch, leaving the management to someone else, with KM still having a big say........ for that reason I cant see it being a big name manager, personally I think itll be someone like Southgate !!