Aston Villa Infrastructure

[TopDeck113]

Steve Stride? Did he not help form the MK Dons?

Being part of the three-man FA commission that made the decision that allowed Wimbledon to relocate to Milton Keynes is indeed a big blot on his copybook, but the fact that he was invited to be part of the process also says a great deal about his standing within the wider football community.

[Percy McCarthy]

The Independent's take on why we're looking for a manager on the cheap

Oh no! It says Spurs have got a wage bill £20m higher than ours!

I think we were really unlucky not to make it to the Champions League under MON. A lot is made (and it's a fair point) of the injury crisis GH had to contend with. But IMO the injuries of Laursen and Bouma started the tailspin that did for O'Neill. Even Davies looked promising alongside Laursen before his achilles injury at Arsenal. All the money spent trying to replace them had a massive effect on both the transfer budget and the wage bill, and probably indirectly on the thinking of Barry and Milner too. Were it not for circumstances beyond our control (injuries and Man City) and one big mistake by MON, we could have lined up the last two seasons mostly thus:

Friedel
Cuellar
Laursen
Cahill
Bouma
Downing
Barry
Milner
A. Young
Gabby
Carew

Plus whoever else we'd have spent the money on that would not have been spent on Dunne, Collins, Shorey and Warnock.

[eamonn]

I do think Villa are lacking some sort of ambassador who is recognised in the football world, a la Quinn at Sunderland rather than the fella at Man City.

What is Graham Taylor up to?  He comes across as a pretty charming man when on TV and knows the game and club inside out.

If he is a bit old school and not SKY TV enough then I'd like to see Southgate given a role at the club.  He has good media relations working as a pundit and journalist.  He is currently at the FA in some sort of duel role as an ambassador between the FA and clubs trying to form better relationships whilst also working with Brooking strategically planning the youth set up.  Basically ideal for Villa.

Sir Graham's Watford chairman. Southgate would be good.

Ian Taylor works in an ambassadorial role for the club. Not sure if that's related to basic corporate meet and greet type stuff but he was out in Hong Kong at the youths tournament lately so he must spend a decent amount of time in this role.