The replacement for MON...?

[OzVilla]

Martin Laurson. I would happily let him have his first managerial experience at Villa.

Plus: the players would welcome him with open arms.

Sorry but way, way too much of a risk for us to take.  Have him on the staff yes but top job, no way.

[Chris Smith]

If the rumours of money restrictions are true....

I don't think there's any doubt that there were financial restrictions. But they were placed on MoN.
If you have a wife who's spending massive amounts of money on useless shoes that she'll wear once or twice then disgard, you're not likely to fund that little hobby for long.

Doesn't mean you're not going to throw money at the mistress though, does it?

There's a huge flaw with that argument. If they didn't want to back him specifically why didn't they fire him a couple of months ago rather than put themselves in this position now? I think it is clear that whover we appoint will be expected to drive down the wage bill.

[Olneythelonely]

When has Sven ever done a bad job you say? You mean apart from England, Mexico and Ivory Coast?

[PaulTheVillan]

When has Sven ever done a bad job you say? You mean apart from England, Mexico and Ivory Coast?

Ivory Coast was always going to be difficult in a group with Brazil and Portugal.

He got us to quarter finals with England? That's about fair.

Mexico, I give you that. But who cares about Mexico

International football

[themossman]

His England results aren't looking too bad these days.

[BannedUserIAT]

If the rumours of money restrictions are true....

I don't think there's any doubt that there were financial restrictions. But they were placed on MoN.
If you have a wife who's spending massive amounts of money on useless shoes that she'll wear once or twice then disgard, you're not likely to fund that little hobby for long.

Doesn't mean you're not going to throw money at the mistress though, does it?

There's a huge flaw with that argument. If they didn't want to back him specifically why didn't they fire him a couple of months ago rather than put themselves in this position now? I think it is clear that whover we appoint will be expected to drive down the wage bill.

We won't know the truth for a long time (if ever) but i suspect that MoN was working under the assumption that he'd have all of the Milner money to spunk on useless numpties from Scotland. Hearing that wasn't going to happen and that he'd be best off accepting Ireland as Milner's replacement may have been enough to send him on his merry way.

[SteveN]

Felix Magath - but if we are looking for a cheap high risk option Sean O'Driscoll, but I have a feeling it will be Bradley.

I've said it before but you just have to trust the owner's judgment and support whoever he chooses.  I reserve the right to change that opinion if he appoints Curbishley, Allardyce or Reid.

[badluckeric(gates)]

I wouldnt pick any one from that list. Which one of those will get us to 5th?

Can we have O'Neill back?

Question time for Randy if he dosent get this one right. He may well get to realise how fickle football fans can be

What he said.

[garyfouroaks]

There is a case for Sven, not least that his international contacts are excellent.He would come with risk, as would virtually every other appointment.He would not be my choice, but we could do a lot worse.

[themossman]

That's the bottom line here. I know things are different in practice, but on paper at least I can't see anyone of MON's standing who's available and would be prepared to come to us.

[Drummond]

I'd still think there will be a lot of managers interested in this job, however, the timing of it is an absolute pain in the posterior.

We need to act very quickly so that the remaining time in the transfer window can be used by the new man.

[Chris Smith]

Question time for Randy if he dosent get this one right. He may well get to realise how fickle football fans can be

Yep, he'll have nowhere to hide if it goes wrong now. Hope he can pull a rabbit out of the hat but I'm amazed how unconcerned some people are.

[TimTheVillain]

One things certain, it is a shock for Randy as well.

He's on his way back to sort it out.

I read a post on here last week saying that Villa are such a wll run club, he'd be surprised if Villa hadn't got a contingency plan should MON walk.

I doubt it myself ..... other than doing what we are doing ( McDonald temporarily), the game is so fluid and MON's departure so out of the blue, Randy & Co are working on the list we see above I'd guess.

I do hope Randy doesn't go with anymore 'rolling contract' Managers.

[mshurst]

In a way I'm in favour of the rolling contract.

What's the point in Lerner hiring a manager for 3 years if they turn out to be toss?

Granted, there's always a cloud of uncertainty at the end of each season as to their future, but it gives us the option to chuck out a manager should they be rubbish.


E.g. Let's say Bradley signs a 4 year deal. In the first season he manages a 40% win rate. Not bad. Second season he only manages a 25% win rate. The third and fourth season we'll be stuck with him (unless he walks). With the rolling contract he'll be out that door faster than a northerner to Man City.

[garyfouroaks]

By common consent there is no obvious replacement. So maybe we are going to have to take a chance on someone who could go horribly wrong, or be a surprise success ( Wenger to Arsenal and Moyes to everton were not nailed on success appointments).

Owen Coyle would jump ship again and is a young talent.One tier down O' Driscoll has worked wonders at Donny.Rijkaard has a distinguished playing and managerial background.Pelligrini has a Wenger "Football Professor" repuatation. I mention the above because they are NOT the obvious choices, not because they are. Although Bradley also fits into the "wild card" category I regard the risk factor with him as being greatest of all.