Indecent haste?

[pauliewalnuts]

Patrick Barclay addresses this issue in The Times today, arguing that the best thing for Houllier is to get back in there at Villa, rather than be persuaded by anybody that his age means he should give way to a younger man 'for the future'.

Barclay argues that being wanted and expected back at work is more likely to help GH to a full recovery with renewed vigour than writing him off or assuming age-related decrepitude is imminent.  I agree, wishing I could quote some of the article but it's a pay per view, apparently.

I respect Patrick Barclay as a journalist, but I'm not so sure his would be the advice i would reach for on medical matters.

[Villa'Zawg]

After such a traumatic season I'm fairly certain the 'safe' options (Moyes/ Hughes) will most likely hold the biggest appeal for the powers that be. Can't blame them really.

I'm not sure. To paraphrase Paul Faulkner, "We wanted someone who would fit in with our philosophy - the Ajax approach, if you like"

 Are they talking about Total Football and the Ajax Academy? What is "our philosophy"?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

We need to get this man Ralph Rangnick from Schaalke. Failing that van Gaal will be fresh and ready. No need to look anywhere else.

Van gaal yes please.

Am I the only one that think Van Gaal is a heart attack waiting to happen? He certainly looks like he enjoys his daily fry-up washed down with a few pints.

GH's illness isn't directly football (stress) related, so I guess it all comes down to what the doctors recommend. Judging from the comments of Gary MacAllister, GH would love to be back tomorrow but sadly it won't be his decision. Whilst things haven't gone to plan this season, I do thing GH knows how to solve them. Missing out on Patrice Berges was obviously not part of the plan but something I expected him to address this summer.

My only misgiving about "going the Ajax way" is any new manager may think he has the time to build when in reality, as GH found out, you can build it but results on the pitch have to come first. At least with GH he now knows the score and despite having the backing of the board, he really won't want to put himself in a similar situation he found himself with the fans this season. I think he finally does 'get' what is Aston Villa and I'd be more than happy to see what he could do next season.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Please God, none of this 'Houllier upstairs' bollocks.
The 'DOF' idea is a non-starter, especially if Gerard's health and well being is suspect.

There are a lot of incomings/ougoings and new contracts to be sorted in the Summer, let's sort out a new man in ample time for this to be addressed.

I can see nothing but conflict going down the Director of football route.

As for the Ajax remark from Faulkner, I think we can put that in the 'meaningless soundbite with no substance behind it' category.

[WikiVilla]

Ajax Approach ? whats that then?

[flybo]

scrub hard

[NeilH]

I can only echo what has been said here about Houllier taking time to recover and then ensuring that his health
takes precedence over all other things.
As laudable as it is for the club to say that Gerrard can take all the time he needs to recover, I fear that it could prove to be very damaging for us. We cannot afford to waste another summer in limbo while those around us strengthen. Football is simply not the kind of business where you can get the deputy to stand in for long periods of time, with no visible sign of change; especially when your deputy is Gary Mc.
The simplest course of action would be to usher Gerrard upstairs into an advisory role, but then you will greatly restrict the managers who will be prepared to work under the shadow of someone upstairs. The more difficult path is to admit that we need to get a new boss and to look elsewhere. This is only ever going to happen if Gerrard confirms that he cannot continue for health reasons and that’s something he will be rightly reluctant to do given where we’ve come from and where he wants to take us.
The whole thing is being made even more problematical because unlike last summer, one of the most successful club managers around is available and he has stated on more than one occasion that he would love to manage in the Premiership one day. Louis Van Gaal could be a giant leap for Villa, but I suspect that the moral dilemma of replacing a man who’s just had a heart scare will rightly make an approach impossible.

[Greg N'Ash]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

[OzVilla]

Well I hope GH gets well soon and makes a full recovery, however I also would like us to look for another Manager.  I thought this before this weeks news and am 100% certain we should now.

So this gives RL plenty of notice that we need a change, time to get working on it because if we hnadle another search for a Manager as badly as we did the last one, I will be seriously questioning RL's ability.

Van Gaal would be fantastic but not sure he'd come to a Club with no European football on offer.  Forget Hiddink for similar reasons.

If we had to go for a current Premiership style boss then it'd be Moyes although id still look at Eriksson if he was 100% committed and not just looking to top up his pension.

[OzVilla]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

Well typically, I think you're being a bit mischievous there don't you.

Ajax are the team that promoted 'Total Football' and won European Cups doing it.  They have a philosophy based largely on home grown talent and are known as innovators within the game.

We're not totally dissimilar if you look at what we've achieved in our history.

[NeilH]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

That's about the top and bottom of it. They are the biggest club here and syphon up the majority of the Dutch league talent, hone their skills and then sell them on for huge fees. The list it pretty endless of players that have come through the Ajax system and will no doubt at the end of this summer includes the likes of Van Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel and Vertongen.

Re: Van Gaal and European football. Please remember that he went to AZ Alkmaar, a small club even by Dutch standards and with a free reign and a supportive board turned them into title winners.

[Greg N'Ash]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

Well typically, I think you're being a bit mischievous there don't you.

Ajax are the team that promoted 'Total Football' and won European Cups doing it.  They have a philosophy based largely on home grown talent and are known as innovators within the game.

We're not totally dissimilar if you look at what we've achieved in our history.

Maybe, but once AJax were one of the big names in European competition. Now they seem content to supply the players for other club's attempts. Last great AJax side i can remember was in the mid-90's i think

[LeeB]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

Well typically, I think you're being a bit mischievous there don't you.

Ajax are the team that promoted 'Total Football' and won European Cups doing it.  They have a philosophy based largely on home grown talent and are known as innovators within the game.

We're not totally dissimilar if you look at what we've achieved in our history.

Maybe, but once AJax were one of the big names in European competition. Now they seem content to supply the players for other club's attempts. Last great AJax side i can remember was in the mid-90's i think

To be fair though, that's mostly because of the disparity of income between their league and the major leagues in Europe.

[WikiVilla]

My general awareness of Ajax's approach is they produce loads of good youngesters and sell them to big clubs to survive. So basicially we're using the feeder club approach if faulkner is to be believed.

So business as usual in other words

[OzVilla]

I think the big problem they have is retaining players in a Dutch League that doesn't have the glamour, competition or money that The Premiership, La Liga, Bundesliga or Serie A have. The same applies to French and Portugesse clubs.  Not a lot they could do about that.