MacDonald now possibly looking at a move

[Dribbler]

Sorry but i don't get what the story really is here? K-Mac says he may or may not want to go in to management proper and is not sure whether or not he wants to return to the position of reserve team manager. And?

I don't think this shows any failings on the boards part at all. Once given the caretaker manager's role K-Mac was unsure initially whether or not he wanted to apply for the position permanently, because he liked his previous role so much. He applies but doesn't get it because it is given to a better man with much more experience. Maybe now he has had a taste for first team management he fances a crack at it himself, then again maybe it's just a flippant comment and he will be quite happy to back to what he was happily doing beforehand. Either way fair play to him, but i don't see anything to criticise the board for. They have given him their support all along and made it clear that they envisage him as being a central part of the club.

Personally i think he's just angling for a pay rise when he returns to his old position.

[eastie]

the board encouraged him to go public and say he wanted the job , he should have been discreetly told thanks but no thanks after his 4th game before going public about applying , now everyone knows he applied and was turned down , could have been handled far far better !

[TimTheVillain]

He shouldn't have been asked to apply in the first place.

It was obvious that the board were looking for a lot more experience than he has on his CV to date, so he should not have been encouraged to apply - in fact, he should have been told he was a temporary manager while one with the right CV was appointed and paid as a Manager while he was acting Manager.

That's why it was handled badly, he was asked if he was interested, after a while he said he was, then he was discounted on lack of experience.

No wonder he's pissed off, I think we led him down the garden path here.

[maidstonevillain]

He has said a few times how MON had helped him, and how he learned from him. This seems to include how to have a hissy fit, and throw the toys out.

[KevinGage]

It's not necessarily  the boards fault, this.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, he got a taste for senior management. Decided (eventually) that he liked it and wanted more.

He applied for the vacant Villa managers job, but after a less than impressive audition (which was a headstart on all the other candidates) didn't get the gig.

But having tried it, he thinks he wouldn't mind it again. If not here, perhaps elsewhere.

His prerogative. Thanks for your fantastic contribution for well over a decade, particularly these difficult past few weeks.

[dave.woodhall]

The board wanted him to have the job and gave him every possible opportunity to make a decent fist of his caretakership. That's why the whole process took so long.

[john e]

you only have to look back at the threads just after the west ham result to see there were a lot of people, me included ,that thought he should be given decent chance of proving himself for the job,

he was. and didnt come up to standard,
 the board obviously came to the same opinion as most on here in the end, theres nothing wrong with giving the bloke a chance, it just didnt work out

[eamonn]

They did want someone with experience of managing a Premier League side but obviously made an exception in Kevin's case as he's part of the furniture at the club (I know there's that elderly gentleman Jack who does the tours, but are there many other members of staff that have been here longer?) and he's done such a good job in his usual role. Maybe the board were a bit naive and put too much faith in him. Yanks valuing loyalty may be a horrible generalisation but they seem to have put too much faith in MacDonald.

[not3bad]

Reports in the papers this morning: Kevin MacDonald will ask to be released from his contract at Aston Villa "because of a growing sense he was poorly treated by the club's American owner, Randy Lerner, over the replacement of Martin O'Neill as manager."

[Risso]

The board wanted him to have the job and gave him every possible opportunity to make a decent fist of his caretakership. That's why the whole process took so long.

and of course, he's made an absolute arse of it.  Which is why I find it incredible that we don't know when Houllier will start, and that MacDonald continues to run the football side of things

[Mazrim]

Fickle Pit Vipers. It's all true.

[Simon Ward]

Fickle Pit Vipers. It's all true.

No no no. We're not fickle we...

[garyshawsknee]

I think we all got giddy after the West Ham game,we did play really well,but West Ham are a really poor team this season,and the other performances(apart from Stoke first half) havent been good enough.
 I think Kev Mac would be realistic enough to know that he's not up to scratch to get the job. Its a shame that pride,stubborness,ego,whatever you wanna call it,got in the way of him taking the assistants job,as i think he would've been ideal for that role.

[TimTheVillain]

You can't just become a top flight Manager overnight - if KevMac was of the right material, he'd have been one a while ago, so, recognising this rather than pushing him forward (in hope more than anything) only to find out that he wasn't 'up to the job' so to speak, should have been managed very carefully so as not to get to this state of affairs where we have a) lost our Manager ( O'Runner) b) 'replaced' him with a temporary Manager who was managing the reserves very well and it appears now wants to leave the club because the firts team job wasn't made permanent and to c)  appoint a firat team Manager who hasn't got a start date !!

Only at Villa.

[MalcolmP]

The board wanted him to have the job and gave him every possible opportunity to make a decent fist of his caretakership. That's why the whole process took so long.

If they had wanted him to have the job they would have given it to him surely?
Every possible opportunity?  You're joking - 3 league games - Won 2, lost 1, 2 clean sheets and 2 home wins out of 2, 66% win record!!
As for Europa matches, we know what they mean to the club don't we?

It's a pity Fergie wasn't only given 3-5 games - we might then have won the first ever Premiership instead of finishing 2nd and history may have been re-written!