Kevin MacDonald the next Manager???

[pauliewalnuts]

The main thing with comparing the situation now with that when Tony Barton took over, is that the job of being a football manager is very different now to then.

I can't help feeling that the transition from reserve team coach (or even first team coach) to manager isn't as smooth as it might have been back then, as there are far more complicating factors to running a football club the size of Villa these days. Agents, uppity players (!!), the media ... there are all sorts of demanding factors to bear in mind.

Does anyone think, for example, that Pat Rice, who has been at Arsenal since the beginning of time, and has been Wenger's assistant for almost as long, will move up when Wenger retires or leaves?

KM seems like a really nice, unassuming, humble bloke (all good personality traits, but not so good in football) but let's remember that yesterday, for all its exhilirating, out-on-parole gloom lifting, was just one match.

The decision Lerner makes now will be for significantly longer, and must be based on far more than the emotion of one day, which is what I suspect is affecting most of us today.

[TonyD]

The main thing with comparing the situation now with that when Tony Barton took over, is that the job of being a football manager is very different now to then.

I can't help feeling that the transition from reserve team coach (or even first team coach) to manager isn't as smooth as it might have been back then, as there are far more complicating factors to running a football club the size of Villa these days. Agents, uppity players (!!), the media ... there are all sorts of demanding factors to bear in mind.

Does anyone think, for example, that Pat Rice, who has been at Arsenal since the beginning of time, and has been Wenger's assistant for almost as long, will move up when Wenger retires or leaves?

KM seems like a really nice, unassuming, humble bloke (all good personality traits, but not so good in football) but let's remember that yesterday, for all its exhilirating, out-on-parole gloom lifting, was just one match.

The decision Lerner makes now will be for significantly longer, and must be based on far more than the emotion of one day, which is what I suspect is affecting most of us today.

Very true.

But yesterday was nice and pure.  Almost like the old Holte was back. Warm glow and all of that.

[dave.woodhall]

I honestly could not believe the feeling yesterday. Even before kick-off there was a real all in it together feeling of liberation. No visible support for Martin O'Neill and no antipathy towards the board.

[pauliewalnuts]

I honestly could not believe the feeling yesterday. Even before kick-off there was a real all in it together feeling of liberation. No visible support for Martin O'Neill and no antipathy towards the board.

Before the match, I was absolutely convinced that there would be at least a few choruses of "Martin O'Neill" from the Holte, and that tensions would be high between those supporting him, and those supporting the board, but there was absolutely none of it at all.

[TonyD]

I honestly could not believe the feeling yesterday. Even before kick-off there was a real all in it together feeling of liberation. No visible support for Martin O'Neill and no antipathy towards the board.

Before the match, I was absolutely convinced that there would be at least a few choruses of "Martin O'Neill" from the Holte, and that tensions would be high between those supporting him, and those supporting the board, but there was absolutely none of it at all.

How it should be.

Like Villa Park was made for. 

[TonyD]

It is going to be nice to hear Villa Park or  Villa or Aston Villa, without the reference to MON's Villa etc etc......................

[Monty]

This is true Dave.

But a new guy might come in, have very different ideas and marginalise some of our younger players. Playing it 'safe' as it were. It could be a very costly error, in many ways.

You could point to Guardiola at Barcelona and even Pigface initially at Leeds (that's likely to be the last time you see those two in the same sentence) as examples of a guy trusting the youth and other unfancied players as he'd worked with them.

It's up to Randy to hire someone with similar ideas and philosophy to K Mac, and would like to work with him in bringing through the young players. After all, only a moron would not want KM around to advise him about the young players he - and Sid and McAndrew - know so well.

I agree with Dave, the option known as the "safe" option is never actually safe. I always think of when Menzies Campbell became leader of the Lib Dems; he was seen as the "safe pair of hands", but in politics, like football, going for a safety-first approach actually puts you on the back foot and loses momentum, the most important thing to have.

[Toronto Villa]

Clearly Randy has a lot of time for KM. Even if he doesn't get the main job, he has a job for life at the club. If he wants to be part of the main show under another manager then that is something that will be negotiated as part of any deal. KM in my opinon should be the short term cosy blanket over the club, and we should hire a proper manager that has experience enough to move us to the next level.

[nechells]

Clearly Randy has a lot of time for KM. Even if he doesn't get the main job, he has a job for life at the club. If he wants to be part of the main show under another manager then that is something that will be negotiated as part of any deal. KM in my opinon should be the short term cosy blanket over the club, and we should hire a proper manager that has experience enough to move us to the next level.

I agree with this-Would you want any of the proposed candidates to take over though?

I think we should wait untill the right person becomes available & untill such time,KM should hold the fort.

[Toronto Villa]

Clearly Randy has a lot of time for KM. Even if he doesn't get the main job, he has a job for life at the club. If he wants to be part of the main show under another manager then that is something that will be negotiated as part of any deal. KM in my opinon should be the short term cosy blanket over the club, and we should hire a proper manager that has experience enough to move us to the next level.

I agree with this-Would you want any of the proposed candidates to take over though?

I think we should wait untill the right person becomes available & untill such time,KM should hold the fort.

For sure. Thing is there are candidates that are reportedly linked with the job, and then there are those that will have applied that we don't know about. I mean who'd have known we'd have Maradona wanting to manage Villa a day or so ago, as ludicrous as it sounds. From the list, Jol is first choice for me, but I'd also be willing to give Sven a shot as a mentor of sorts to KM. After that from the names we seem to know, it's anyone's guess as to how well they'd do whether they are even really candidates. I mean, Curbishley's never getting the job is he?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Spot the difference:

MacDonald's approach to the job has been impressive ever since he stepped up from reserve-team duties last Monday. He introduced changes to training by working closely with the side that would start against West Ham, rather than keeping everyone waiting until the day of the game to find out who was playing (as was the case under O'Neill) and he got his team selection spot on.

Pundits said it was impossible to play James Milner because of the distraction of his proposed transfer to Manchester City but MacDonald's faith in the midfielder was vindicated and his decision to include a couple of academy graduates, Ciaran Clark and Marc Albrighton, brought instant reward. But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Saturday's display was the tactical change that allowed Villa to play as if the shackles had come off.

"Every manager has a different style and Kev has a different vision on how we can play, and we showed we can be faster and play with more freedom," Petrov said. "We are moving the ball quicker. We try to hurt teams, not just play on the counterattack, and we created a lot of chances. It could have been a different result, not just 3-0. He gives us a new way to play, more freedom, and when you know exactly what you need to do, it makes it easier to perform."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/16/kevin-macdonald-aston-villa

[Monty]

It was so noticeable that thing about moving the ball quicker. You could just see it, that if there was no direct option on they would pass it, see if someone else could do it. Only Luke Young didn't really do this enough, and maybe this can be worked on.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Agreed Monty. The irony is last season I was calling for MON to get KMac working with the first team squad and he actually invited him in the summer to join up with Robertson and Walford pre-season. Those that have seen the Reserves in action will not have been that surprised with the way we played on Saturday. He's a bloody good coach.

[Monty]

Agreed. Whether he becomes permanent manager or not (I would prefer not, so as to keep him out of the limelight and the pressure off him) he has to be a key voice in our coaching set up.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'd hate it to end in tears, he seems such a decent chap. A first team coaching position rather than manager would be my choice.