Situation vacant... who do you want as the new Villa manager

[Redman]

Rafa - dismal anti-football, spent a fortune on some real duds, known to have a tantrum...the worst possible choice.

Obviously you're entitled to favour whichever managerial appointment you like.

But with respect, that isn't a very well-informed assessment at all.

What would you suggest then? Maybe ask a few fans on a Liverpool board and bring it back here for us to look over? Not a lot of us are fans of his.

Edit: that sounds sarcastic and I want to assure you, it is not written with that intent, I am genuinely interested.

It might be worth reading the following excerpts from Brian Reade's recent book. These shed a lot of light on the sort of nonsense Rafa had to deal with during his time at Liverpool:

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Brian-Reade-An-Epic-Swindle-44-Months-With-A-Pair-Of-Cowboys-Read-extract-of-how-Liverpool-was-dragged-to-its-knees-during-the-shambolic-reign-of-US-owners-Tom-Hicks-and-George-Gillett-article725227.html

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Brian-Reade-An-Epic-Swindle-44-Months-With-A-Pair-Of-Cowboys-Read-extract-of-how-Liverpool-co-owner-thought-Steven-Gerrard-was-gay-article725313.html

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Brian-Reade-An-Epic-Swindle-44-Months-With-A-Pair-Of-Cowboys-Day-Three-Read-extract-of-how-Liverpool-owners-Hicks-and-Gillett-betrayed-Rafa-Benitez-and-wooed-Jurgen-Klinsmann-article725482.html

What was his exuse at Internazionale then?

More of the same shit, wasn't it?

Moratti decided the summer he appointed Rafa should coincide with the first summer ever he wouldn't spend any money.

Not a problem - Rafa had plenty to work with. Until the injuries started mounting.

Still not a problem. But then Moratti started pointing the finger.

f*n hell - even his excuses are similar to houlliers !

Take it or leave it.

If you don't want Rafa (or any other manager), at least make sure the reasons you don't want him are valid.

[smetrov]

I just can't quite believe the amount of seemingly intelligent villa fans that have become so picky that they wouldn't bite the hand off of a massively successful manager with bucketloads of contacts in the top leagues just because he came to a ignominious end at Liverpool.

Count me as one.

Houllier had won a fair bit up there as well. those were the days when liverpool were funded man city style - and we had endless pundits discussing the secrets of liverpools success

how long ago was his last trophy

we don't want \ need a another overhyped ex scouse boss

Sorry to do this but when exactly was OUR last trophy?

1996

But we are looking for a bloke to win us the next one. and a bloke who was bankrolled 7/8 years ago - isn't going to do that

That's a bit strong. All I'm saying is that he HAS won trophies - if you took away 'bankrolling' you might change quite a few managers' credentials. Winning two Spanish titles isn't to be sniffed at, by the way.

i just don't want anyone who has ever been connected with the pile of shit that is anfield at our club.

(should we greet his appointment with a minutes silence - make him feel at home)

[Mantis]

i just don't want anyone who has ever been connected with the pile of shit that is anfield at our club.

(should we greet his appointment with a minutes silence - make him feel at home)

As I said, I'm not in favour of Benitez but that really is a pretty flimsy reason not to want him here. He's got a fair few things going against him but the fact that he once managed Liverpool makes no difference. If it was somebody else he managed instead of Liverpool would you suddenly not be against him coming here so much?

[VillaAlex]

i just don't want anyone who has ever been connected with the pile of shit that is anfield at our club.

(should we greet his appointment with a minutes silence - make him feel at home)

As I said, I'm not in favour of Benitez but that really is a pretty flimsy reason not to want him here. He's got a fair few things going against him but the fact that he once managed Liverpool makes no difference. If it was somebody else he managed instead of Liverpool would you suddenly not be against him coming here so much?

This :!:

I can understand people not wanting Rafa here because they don't rate him or like him but because he's ex Liverpool is a stupid reason.

[PieFacE]

I hope it isn't Rafa. For no other reason than i just dont like the bloke.

Wasted a lot of money too... we had that in MON.

[WHY]

I know that it's only a bit of recent betting, but if it IS Benitez, there's something that some people on here need to contemplate. In Rafa's words - THE FACTS!

-He's a dour man at times, stubborn and sarcastic at his worst - but he WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE and got to another final.

-Some don't like his defensive side and zonal marking, squad rotations etc but he WON TWO LA LIGA TITLES

-He's not the flavour of the month after his Liverpool showing, but the last club that wanted him were at the time EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

-He's not going to be as popular as Ancelotti on here, but IN COMPARISON WITH OUR PREVIOUS BOSSES, HE'S ACTUALLY IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE RESULTS-WISE!

I'm not his greatest fan, but you have to consider the 'facts' that he has won more in his career than Aston Villa have in their history. We could do worse, no?

Ps. I didn't even have to mention the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA cups, etc did I?

You are aware that if the FSW is our manager he will bring his own team in....thus dispensing of our youth academy staff..he did at Liverpool.

Considering how well your academy is doing, my guess is he'd leave it well alone.

He fought for control of the Liverpool academy for years - not because he was on a power trip but because it wasn't producing any quality.

Finally, he got his way in 2009 - appointed Borrell and Segura (ex La Masia) to run the show and now the youngsters are emerging.

This current crop of kids coming through at Liverpool is Rafa's legacy.

Rafa's legacy my arse....the only reason the fat spanish clearing in the woods never got the bullet earlier, was that you had to pay off all his mates ...BTW how many of Rafa's legacy are still employed.

[Moorski]

IF Rafa does get the job then surely the Board will know that unless he gets off to a good start they will get the Ex Liverpool stuff all over again.

If the Board cannot get the likes of Ancelotti,Moyes,Hughes etc to join us then they have to look further down the list and the options get less & less attractive as so to speak.

Some Managers just may not be gettable for a number of reasons or they don't want it full stop.

Rafa would not be my first choice but if he really wants to come to Villa I would support him.

Sometimes you have to move on.

[NowDoINotLikeThat]

Benitez would seem like another bad fit.

undeniably impressive CV , crap football tho and has been on the wane in recent years and seems be losing it - He even ended up alienating Stevie G in the end. Inter V Spurs he got so wrong .

His transfer record is pretty embarrasing on the whole at Liverpool. The sheer turnover of players he went through was astonishing and you can't blame that on the Yanks that were there.

I just think hed be a bad fit - no denying his pedigree to an extent in what hes won but just screams "no" to me.

[smetrov]

i just don't want anyone who has ever been connected with the pile of shit that is anfield at our club.

(should we greet his appointment with a minutes silence - make him feel at home)

As I said, I'm not in favour of Benitez but that really is a pretty flimsy reason not to want him here. He's got a fair few things going against him but the fact that he once managed Liverpool makes no difference. If it was somebody else he managed instead of Liverpool would you suddenly not be against him coming here so much?

my dislike is 90% that he managed liverpool. guilty as charged

but I think everything that comes out of liverpool is vastly overated - basically in the 70's & 80's they had more money than anyone else. - but the false aura still lives on. If I won the lottery I would buy Liverpool and put them into administration.

if you grew up in the 70,s you would understand

[steve_avfc]

I am trying to figure out who could be selected. Some reports said Ancelotti has been aproached by Villa and has 48 hours (sat/sun) to decide if he is interested.

There has not been much news (if any recently) of David Moyes, One thing I remember is that shortly before Houllier was appointed there was not much (if any) news on Houllier.....Does this say anything ?

After I emailed PF about Moyes an Ancelotti, I had a reply thanking me and that ''my ideas have been noted'' ....Does this say anything ?

I subsequently replied back asking for RL to read my email.

I am just trying to 'read between the lines' on certain things.

Then again are any other ex chelsea managers in contention...?...Scolari or Ranieri..?

Hopefully we can 'get our heads together' between us and hopefully try and work out who will be our next manager.

[VillaAlex]

Rafa's legacy my arse....the only reason the fat spanish clearing in the woods never got the bullet earlier, was that you had to pay off all his mates ...BTW how many of Rafa's legacy are still employed.

Nice of you to dismiss his post even though what he said is a fact.

[Gringo]

I don't really want Rafa but I would be behind him 100% if he were appointed. My fear is that he wont have the backing of a lot of fans from the beginning primarily because he managed Liverpool recently, which is a pretty silly reason if you ask me.

My fear would be that people would back 100% an appointment that was wrong and failing and defend it at every point they could regardless of evindece contrary to their spoutings.

Most managers have the majority of the supporters backing them when they get appointed. It tends to be events that are within their (the manager) control that turns fans against them.

[shambles]

I don't get this he got rid of the academy? It was actually Houllier who did that and now Liverpool have some great Youth coming through!

Nobody got rid of the academy - it just hadn't produced anybody of note since Steven Gerrard.

Then Rafa appointed the same guys who helped to develop Messi, Iniesta et al and abracadabra...

I don't think your youngsters had much of a chance looking at the number of foreign players Houllier and Benitez brought in between them. They had about as much chance at Liverpool as our lads under MON. MON **** off, and oh, guess what. A whole clutch of kids make the step up to first team football. Suprise, suprise.

[largelugs]

What has Benetez got to prove?

If his motives for coming to Villa would be to be near his family home and regular money its the wrong appointment.

If he wants to prove his credentials after his recent spells it would be different. However, i doubt he has the hunger and is just looking for comfort.

No thanks

[steve_avfc]

I am trying to figure out who could be selected. Some reports said Ancelotti has been aproached by Villa and has 48 hours (sat/sun) to decide if he is interested.

There has not been much news (if any recently) of David Moyes, One thing I remember is that shortly before Houllier was appointed there was not much (if any) news on Houllier.....Does this say anything ?

After I emailed PF about Moyes an Ancelotti, I had a reply thanking me and that ''my ideas have been noted'' ....Does this say anything ?

I subsequently replied back asking for RL to read my email.

I am just trying to 'read between the lines' on certain things.

Then again are any other ex chelsea managers in contention...?...Scolari or Ranieri..?

Hopefully we can 'get our heads together' between us and hopefully try and work out who will be our next manager.

Any ideas anyone ??

[TheEgo]

I am trying to figure out who could be selected. Some reports said Ancelotti has been aproached by Villa and has 48 hours (sat/sun) to decide if he is interested.

There has not been much news (if any recently) of David Moyes, One thing I remember is that shortly before Houllier was appointed there was not much (if any) news on Houllier.....Does this say anything ?

After I emailed PF about Moyes an Ancelotti, I had a reply thanking me and that ''my ideas have been noted'' ....Does this say anything ?

I subsequently replied back asking for RL to read my email.

I am just trying to 'read between the lines' on certain things.

Then again are any other ex chelsea managers in contention...?...Scolari or Ranieri..?

Hopefully we can 'get our heads together' between us and hopefully try and work out who will be our next manager.

Reading 'between the lines' it was a thanks for the email, but leave us to it. Nice you got a reply though

[shambles]

Why is betting suspended on 'next villa manager' on paddypower?

[Redman]

Rafa's legacy my arse....the only reason the fat spanish clearing in the woods never got the bullet earlier, was that you had to pay off all his mates ...BTW how many of Rafa's legacy are still employed.

It doesn't matter to me whether Rafa is your next manager or not.

I'm just giving you my interpretation so you can make an informed judgment.

Take it or leave it.

For the record, none of Rafa's mates are at Liverpool anymore and neither is the management team that sacked them.

[steve-67]

I am trying to figure out who could be selected. Some reports said Ancelotti has been aproached by Villa and has 48 hours (sat/sun) to decide if he is interested.

There has not been much news (if any recently) of David Moyes, One thing I remember is that shortly before Houllier was appointed there was not much (if any) news on Houllier.....Does this say anything ?

After I emailed PF about Moyes an Ancelotti, I had a reply thanking me and that ''my ideas have been noted'' ....Does this say anything ?

I subsequently replied back asking for RL to read my email.

I am just trying to 'read between the lines' on certain things.

Then again are any other ex chelsea managers in contention...?...Scolari or Ranieri..?

Hopefully we can 'get our heads together' between us and hopefully try and work out who will be our next manager.

Reading 'between the lines' it was a thanks for the email, but leave us to it. Nice you got a reply though

Inspector Clueso is on the case!!

[Supervillan78]

I just can't quite believe the amount of seemingly intelligent villa fans that have become so picky that they wouldn't bite the hand off of a massively successful manager with bucketloads of contacts in the top leagues just because he came to a ignominious end at Liverpool.

Count me as one.

Houllier had won a fair bit up there as well. those were the days when liverpool were funded man city style - and we had endless pundits discussing the secrets of liverpools success

how long ago was his last trophy

we don't want \ need a another overhyped ex scouse boss

Sorry to do this but when exactly was OUR last trophy?

1996

But we are looking for a bloke to win us the next one. and a bloke who was bankrolled 7/8 years ago - isn't going to do that

That's a bit strong. All I'm saying is that he HAS won trophies - if you took away 'bankrolling' you might change quite a few managers' credentials. Winning two Spanish titles isn't to be sniffed at, by the way.

i just don't want anyone who has ever been connected with the pile of shit that is anfield at our club.

(should we greet his appointment with a minutes silence - make him feel at home)

Towards the end of his tenure at Liverpool, Rafa was seen as a joke, an almost comical figure and for many he has failed to shake that image. As managers represent the clubs they serve, my biggest concern if he were appointed, would we now be left open to ridicule also?