Next Villa manager (Poll added)

[Condimentalist]

In a break from the VT trend I'm looking forward to the summer and am optimistic about it.

Me too. It'll be interesting at the very least. Or it should be.

I think Houllier could perform a useful function at the club if he is to step down as manager. Not necessarily DoF, but as some sort of consultant and someone whose contacts and knowledge we can use to our advantage.

[Shillzz]

True, wouldnt be fair to write him off without giving him the chance. Would still prefer Coyle, but Moyes would be the only other British manager who I'd like to see appointed.

Moyes or Coyle are the obvious shouts and I'd be happy with either. Lambert looks a superb prospect and destined for a bigger club having done a great job at Norwich and Colchester before that.

It won't take much given the players we have to see us back in amongst the top half dozen clubs in the country. We have underachieved big time this season. Big opportunity for someone to come in and move us up half a dozen places.

I'm confident we'll have learned from the **** up made with the appointment of Houllier and will get things right this time.

As others have said its an exciting summer coming up but that is obviously totally dependent on making the right managerial choice.

Yup, dependent on the right managerial choice, and getting said manager in before the players are back for pre-season. I feel this is equally as important, the last thing we need is another campaign ruined by a manager trying to shoehorn his ideas into the team midway through the season.

[TrentVilla]

I'm confident we'll have learned from the **** up made with the appointment of Houllier and will get things right this time.

As others have said its an exciting summer coming up but that is obviously totally dependent on making the right managerial choice.

I'm far from so sure and as such don't share your confidence at the moment.

Personally I'm dreading this summer.

Any particular reason Trent? is it that you worry we'll make the wrong managerial choice again or something else?

Lots of reasons and its not really the thread for it but I think this summer will be quite a tough.

The situation regarding the manager is a large part of it but only one aspect of it, at this moment I have serious doubts about how this will be handled given the mess that followed O'Neill's departure.

[CrackpotForeigner]

8/11 odds on Moyes suggests someone knows something, or thinks they do.

That's almost the sort of territory where you'd expect a denial from the man himself if it's untrue.

[Condimentalist]

8/11 odds on Moyes suggests someone knows something, or thinks they do.

That's almost the sort of territory where you'd expect a denial from the man himself if it's untrue.

It's probably based on little more than the conjecture on here, as well as where money is being put. We saw what happened last summer when titter tatter led to flutter and Moyes' odds came crashing down.

[David-Copenhagen]

It looks like it is working for Liverpool and Chelsea?

Seriously I think the whole one manager thing is crazy. It makes the club to dependent on one man and when he has to do all, it is difficult to do it all well.

I think much of the problems with DoF comes with the lack of clear mandate. The manager must have veto over player purchases, but why should one man do all the work?

[TRS-T]

He's never managed in the Premier League and he hasn't set the world alight as England manager - I mean, he refused to drop Heskey!

Plus he couldn't even top a group containing USA, Algeria and Slovenia (could only draw against USA and Algeria) and then losing 4-1 (our biggest ever World Cup Finals defeat!) against Germany (arguably our biggest rivals!)

Another case of the manager being blameless and it's all the players' fault (a la Houllier at Villa)

Best win % of any England Manager.

Never said he wasnt partly to blame but you believe he is to blame for Englands poor World Cup. The players totally bottled it.

But no lets get Allardyce a man who has achieved so little in football that Capello could probably use Sams trophy cabinet as storage space for his his own honours. Where his and your reasoning for his long ball is because of the constraints he has had to work with. Which of course is total shit, because Newcastle werent exactly broke and the likes of Coyle at Bolton, Hodgson at the baggies and many others all play decent football with constraints.

Who cares if he can win friendlies and beat lesser nations.

What happened at the World Cup then eh?

The manager is responsible since he picked the players.

You say Allardyce has acheived so little in football then again Allardyce has never been given the chance to manage the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid.

And don't give me "and why is that. because he's crap" etc.

Capello's first job was AC Milan.

Allardyce's first job was Blackpool.

Spot the difference.

You can't just simply compare trophy cabinets.

Look at the clubs they have managed

Capello - AC Milan, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus

Allardyce - Blackpool, Notts County, Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn

It's like me in a Ferrari racing Lewis Hamilton in a Ford Focus.

I win the race so does that make me a better driver.

No you gotta look at the cars we have at our disposal.

Likewise you gotta look at the clubs at their disposal.

You can say Allardyce has never won the Champions League or league like Capello.

I can just as easily say Capello has never got a team promoted to the top flight, established them as a Premier League club and got them into Europe for the first time in their history.

End of the day - if I had to choose between Allardyce and Capello for England manager - I would choose Allardyce every single day of the week.

Capello should go manage his own country where he would actually sing the national anthem.

And I wouldn't want him anywhere near Villa.

Just like people say Allardyce has never managed a top club etc so too risky.

Well Capello has never managed a club that isn't one of the best in the league etc so too risky

/rant over

[TrentVilla]

I think it is a little early to be claiming Liverpool a successful example of a DoF model within British football. I agree that so far things are going well but considering that Dalgleish isn't yet their actual manager and only has the role for another 4 games its a little premature, if he had a 3 year contract things may well be a little different.

As for Chelsea I would argue very strongly with you on that one, it hasn't worked. The appointment of a DoF at Chelsea was the beginning of the end for Jose and their various DoF have spent a small fortune on youth development and talent from around the globe with almost no success at all.

[avfc89]

If GH moves up or decides enough is enough it will be a straight choice imo Hughes or Moyes .

Randy likes both

As I thought. I think Hughes/Moyes could both build a dynasty at this club.

[uncy_chris]

Moyes will only leave Everton if he thinks he's taken Everton as far as he can. Villa is a sideways step, and to be honest I can't see how we can offer him any more than what he has at the moment.

[VillaAlex]

Allardyce hasn't ever managed a top club as his style is so limited ffs.

The one club that comes even remotely close to being big (Newcastle) he barely lasted a few months and they hated him.

What manager across Europe uses his style to get major success? Don't say Mourinho as there is a massive difference.

[TRS-T]

Allardyce hasn't ever managed a top club as his style is so limited ffs.

The one club that comes even remotely close to being big (Newcastle) he barely lasted a few months and they hated him.

What manager across Europe uses his style to get major success? Don't say Mourinho as there is a massive difference.

They sacked him when he was 11th - they went on to get relegated

Btw, the fact that Newcastle sacked him when they where 11th shows how kind and generous we have been to Houllier and that he needs to leave our club this summer.

[Houlston]

You say Allardyce has acheived so little in football then again Allardyce has never been given the chance to manage the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid.

And don't give me "and why is that. because he's crap" etc.

Ok then so why hasnt he?

End of the day - if I had to choose between Allardyce and Capello for England manager - I would choose Allardyce every single day of the week.

Fair enough then, sometimes its hard to reason with people when they have views like this.

[Danwichmann]

They sacked him when he was 11th - they went on to get relegated

Btw, the fact that Newcastle sacked him when they where 11th shows how kind and generous we have been to Houllier and that he needs to leave our club this summer.

So that we could go on and get relegated after sacking a manager? I really don't get your point?

Well, apart from the obvious point of "I hate Houllier and all foreigners." Never mind.

[smetrov]

The manner in which he left the club, and the timing of it, is nothing short of criminal and i dont understand why he is still hailed as a god by many villa fans when in my opinion he is on a level with Gobby Cabbage and Alpay - he's an absolute word removed.

I'd go as far as saying the manner in which he left the club and his general attitude might seriously affect the thoughts of any chairmen considering him for their clubs. Totally unprofessional, also the manner in which he took most of the 1st team coaching staff with him, showed a complete lack of respect for the club and it's fans. He wanted to inflict the most pain he could. He comes over as a very arrogant, self centred man. He will never manage a club on the scale of Villa again.

I keep hearing this about 'most of the coaching staff' ? - do we mean Steve Walford and John Robertson ? - The Norm is for a new manager to bring his own anyway - don't really see how them staying would have altered much ?

[VillaAlex]

Allardyce hasn't ever managed a top club as his style is so limited ffs.

The one club that comes even remotely close to being big (Newcastle) he barely lasted a few months and they hated him.

What manager across Europe uses his style to get major success? Don't say Mourinho as there is a massive difference.

They sacked him when he was 11th - they went on to get relegated

Btw, the fact that Newcastle sacked him when they where 11th shows how kind and generous we have been to Houllier and that he needs to leave our club this summer.

That doesn't mean he was doing a good job... It just meant more disruption.

Kind and generous? It was sensible by Randy, changing a manager with 10 or so games left would have been idiotic and because we hadn't we're comfortably safe. Now we have the summer to probably get a new manager seen as its unlikely that Gerard will return.

I'll tell you something if Big Sam comes in players like Downing and Young will be off and you wouldn't see the best if Bent having the ball hoofed to him every time we go forward.

Big Sam is a good manager for a mid-table team where he maybe win the odd trophy with negative tactics. We're better then that, we need a manager who will build a foundation that can to better then just winning a League Cup.

[TRS-T]

You say Allardyce has acheived so little in football then again Allardyce has never been given the chance to manage the likes of AC Milan and Real Madrid.

And don't give me "and why is that. because he's crap" etc.

Ok then so why hasnt he?

End of the day - if I had to choose between Allardyce and Capello for England manager - I would choose Allardyce every single day of the week.

Fair enough then, sometimes its hard to reason with people when they have views like this.

Because he's unfashionable, unpopular, unproven at top level etc.

Capello only got his break because he played for AC Milan so they gave him the job.

Let's say Allardyce had Man U as his first job - would we still be saying he hasn't won anything etc etc - I highly doubt it.

[TRS-T]

Allardyce hasn't ever managed a top club as his style is so limited ffs.

The one club that comes even remotely close to being big (Newcastle) he barely lasted a few months and they hated him.

What manager across Europe uses his style to get major success? Don't say Mourinho as there is a massive difference.

They sacked him when he was 11th - they went on to get relegated

Btw, the fact that Newcastle sacked him when they where 11th shows how kind and generous we have been to Houllier and that he needs to leave our club this summer.

That doesn't mean he was doing a good job... It just meant more disruption.

Kind and generous? It was sensible by Randy, changing a manager with 10 or so games left would have been idiotic and because we hadn't we're comfortably safe. Now we have the summer to probably get a new manager seen as its unlikely that Gerard will return.

I'll tell you something if Big Sam comes in players like Downing and Young will be off and you wouldn't see the best if Bent having the ball hoofed to him every time we go forward.

Big Sam is a good manager for a mid-table team where he maybe win the odd trophy with negative tactics. We're better then that, we need a manager who will build a foundation that can to better then just winning a League Cup.

You only say that because you're used to him being a mid-table manager.

Also winning a League Cup would be our first trophy in 15 years lol. In fact, the League Cup is the only Trophy we've won for nearly 30 years lol.

[CrackpotForeigner]

If GH moves up or decides enough is enough it will be a straight choice imo Hughes or Moyes .

Randy likes both

As I thought. I think Hughes/Moyes could both build a dynasty at this club.

Moyes yes, Hughes no.

Hughes is a nasty piece of work imo. Typical of him is the current quote on the bbc website "Game was too much for ref - Hughes". He might be an okay manager, but for me he acts like a spoilt, petulant little shit, and I wouldn't like to see him managing the club I support.

If Huges comes in I'll be to him what markavfc40 and franvilla are to GH.

[VillaAlex]

Yes he's a mid-table manager for a reason. What are the advantages of an Aston Villa, Tottenham or Liverpool for instance taking on the great Big Sam.

I know it's the only trophy we've won, but if you would settle for fluking one with negative tactics like SHA did then it concerns me. Our club is capable of so much more, we have the resources to win League Cups with good football and better managers.