Who Should be Aston Villa Manager ? Now with new, revised poll

[eastie]

Looks like I am in a minority here, but I think Hughes would be a good appointment.

He did well with the Welsh national team, better than anyone else before or after has managed with what was a rather limited pool of talent.

He then built an effective team at Blackburn which played reasonably good football (as well as not being afraid to mix it), getting them into the European places. He made some shrewd buys there (Bentley, Bellamy, Santa Cruz) and had players who have flattered to deceive elsewhere playing at the top of their game (Santa Cruz, Bentley, Pederson).

At Manchester City he played good attacking football, and was able to pull off some big name deals when given funds. He was doing every bit as well as Mancini when sacked, and most Man City fans were sorry to see him go, as were many of the players at the time.

At Fulham he took over from a popular manager (Hodgson) which could easily have become a poisoned chalice. After a choppy start he has won the fans over (most want him to stay now), played good football and got them to 8th with very little spend.

Coming in to Villa he has the advantage of having previously got good performances out of some of our 'dead wood' (Ireland, Warnock and Dunne). Whilst I am not happy with the attitude of those three wasters, if he got them back to historical form it would save the club a fair few bob which could be spent better elsewhere. A motivated and in form they are worth maybe Warnock £5m, Dunne £5m, Ireland £10m. That kind of money can't be thrown away lightly by a club with Villa's resource.

He has shown that he can get the best out of players he inherits at all his previous clubs, he has shown he can find bargains and polish rough diamonds (eg. Santa Cruz), he has managed difficult players to good effect (bellamy, Ireland).

Furthermore his teams generally play decent attacking football.

For me he is one of the better candidates, certainly as good as Moyes for whom we would have to pay large compensation to Everton were we to recruit him. Money that would be better spent on the team.

Ancelotti I am not keen on. I like him as a manager, but I am not convinced he would be suited to rebuilding a team on a lower (than he is used to) budget.

very good post and some well made points.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

My only point re. Martinez, is that he put the foundation in place for Swansea's success. The club now have a philosophy of playing good, winning football, and have talented players. Ask a Swansea fan what they think about Martinez.

That pretty much sums up my point about who we should be looking for. We need a football man, I'm so tired of workman like Villa sides, it seems so long since we've actually played decent football. You'd probably have to go back to BFR or Brian Little. This is such a massive opportunity to change for the better.

We can complain all we want about the media ignoring us but when there's little to write about, you can hardly blame them. Top 6 finishes are all well and good but we slogged our way there and due to our style of play, were soon found out in Europe. As much as I hate Spurs, Redknapp has got them playing the so called 'Spurs way' even if they did run out of steam last season, it's all built on a progressive style.

The thought of more seasons watching headless chickens run around has very little appeal. Whoever we bring in, I really hope they continue with the groundwork GH put in of moving us into the 21st century. Yes, keep up the workrate, we expect nothing less but let's start doing it with a little bit of style.

Why we must have a manager with Premier League experience is also open to question. Most of the top teams have brought in foreign managers with no PL experience. Wenger, Jol, every Chelsea manager since Glenn Hoodle, Houllier, Benitez etc, is it such risky business?

My point is this, if we are looking to compete with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool to finish in the top 6 next season, who would they likely bring in if they were looking for a manager today? I really do think we should, as the General likes to say, "aim for the stars".

I just hope this isn't just another chapter in the never ending Villa book, 'Missed Opportunities'.

[Damo70]

Villas-Boas as Villa boss? Learnt his trade as a scout and coach under Sir Bobby Robson. Seven  successful years as assistant to Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter. Had a season with perennial relegation strugglers in Portugal and turned them into a mid-table side,  then in one season with Porto they have regained their title from Benfica and won the Europa league.

[dave.woodhall]

One thing I will say for Hughes is that he took over from the most successful manager in a club's history at Fulham and kept them at the same level. That doesn't happen very often.

[hilts_coolerking]

My point is this, if we are looking to compete with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool to finish in the top 6 next season, who would they likely bring in if they were looking for a manager today?

Excellent point.  It certainly wouldn't be Hughes and I very much doubt that it would be Moyes.

[paul_e]

The reason the club need to appoint someone like ancelotti is to gets the fans believing we're a big club.  It's painful to read all the comments on him doing us a favour.  Until the fans start to think we're a big club how can we ever be considered one?

Spurs needed a good manager, their fans already thought they were a big club who deserved the champions league, they didn't need the boost a world class manager would bring.

We do, simple as.  However good a job hughes/moyes/martinez, etc might be able to do they aren't going to do anything to make us look and feel like a big club.  Ancelotti/Van Gaal will do that and that's what we need right now.

The key thing for the club, as a business, is to increase our profile and by doing so increase our turnover.  If we do that we can afford bigger wages, we can justify expanding the stadium, we can bring in the bigger name players.  Perception is everything.  Man U don't have a rich sugar daddy they have great marketing and a huge public perception of being a big club.  That's what we need to emulate, a high profile larger than life manager is a start to that process.

Aside from that both of those managers have a great history of trusting their youth systems (Ancelotti is the person who promoted Buffon and Cannavaro from the Parma youth team) which is a key element of what we need.  Hughes has no reputation for this and Moyes is a bit sketchy in this regard as I can only think of 4-5 youth players who established themselves in his time.

[pauliewalnuts]

My only point re. Martinez, is that he put the foundation in place for Swansea's success. The club now have a philosophy of playing good, winning football, and have talented players. Ask a Swansea fan what they think about Martinez.

That pretty much sums up my point about who we should be looking for. We need a football man, I'm so tired of workman like Villa sides, it seems so long since we've actually played decent football. You'd probably have to go back to BFR or Brian Little. This is such a massive opportunity to change for the better.

We can complain all we want about the media ignoring us but when there's little to write about, you can hardly blame them. Top 6 finishes are all well and good but we slogged our way there and due to our style of play, were soon found out in Europe. As much as I hate Spurs, Redknapp has got them playing the so called 'Spurs way' even if they did run out of steam last season, it's all built on a progressive style.

The thought of more seasons watching headless chickens run around has very little appeal. Whoever we bring in, I really hope they continue with the groundwork GH put in of moving us into the 21st century. Yes, keep up the workrate, we expect nothing less but let's start doing it with a little bit of style.

Why we must have a manager with Premier League experience is also open to question. Most of the top teams have brought in foreign managers with no PL experience. Wenger, Jol, every Chelsea manager since Glenn Hoodle, Houllier, Benitez etc, is it such risky business?

My point is this, if we are looking to compete with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool to finish in the top 6 next season, who would they likely bring in if they were looking for a manager today? I really do think we should, as the General likes to say, "aim for the stars".

I just hope this isn't just another chapter in the never ending Villa book, 'Missed Opportunities'.

I agree so much, I'm getting quite emotional.

Bravo!

[Merv]

My point is this, if we are looking to compete with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool to finish in the top 6 next season, who would they likely bring in if they were looking for a manager today?

Excellent point.  It certainly wouldn't be Hughes and I very much doubt that it would be Moyes.

Yes... although look at both clubs' latest managerial appointments. Spurs bringing in 'wheeler dealer, ducker/diver bargain basement signing Harry Redknapp', and Liverpool turning to Kenny Dalglish, who last managed 15 years or so previously. Safe and safe.

[brontebilly]

Benitez and Ancelotti - Champions League winners, league title winners

Hughes - Did well with Blackburn, Wales, Fulham

Moyes - Has done really well with Everton

McClaren - solid job at Boro, won Dutch title with FC Twente

Jol - took over talented players gone a bit wrong at Spurs and made them a top 5 outfit

Martinez - built a decent squad in the championship for Swansea, kept Wigan up in his two seasons in charge

Think thats the highlights of the main contenders. No guarantee either of them will be a success but if either of the top two really wanted the job it would be foolish to turn them down with their CV's in comparison to the others.

[eastie]

One thing I will say for Hughes is that he took over from the most successful manager in a club's history at Fulham and kept them at the same level. That doesn't happen very often.

Another thing dave is that he seems to be an exceptionally good man manager and most players who have played under him seem very positive about him.

[garyellis]

Posts: 6272

  Re: Who Should be Aston Villa Manager ?
« Reply #424 on: Today at 01:53:13 PM »Quote Quote from: Mark Kelly on Today at 01:40:58 PM
My point is this, if we are looking to compete with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool to finish in the top 6 next season, who would they likely bring in if they were looking for a manager today?
Excellent point.  It certainly wouldn't be Hughes and I very much doubt that it would be Moyes

Not sure either of Liverpools last two appointments or Spurs last one gives reason to believe they would do anything remarkable that Villa would not consider at this moment in time.

[Mister E]

Made the point elsewhere that I'm oscillating between GHou + young, up-and-coming manager (although I suspect GHou's involvement is fast-becoming unlikely) and a proven European manager of Ancelotti / Van Gaal proportions (with all the risks that they may simply bugger offf when a 'better' club comes calling).
Maybe the compromise is a Jol / Hughton combination, if that could be put together to the satisfaction of all parties.
Whatever, I do think it is time to be brave: we have a good crop of youngsters who need to feel that they are going to move forward, with opportunties to shine, led by a highly-respected management team with lasting ambition for AVFC. Rather than see a first-team squad compiled from tried-and-tested but limited professional, led by a management team with limited ambition.

[Mr Diggles]

I don't really understand the really negative reactions to Hughes. He's played for two of the biggest clubs in the world at a high level and won trophies as a player under Ferguson, no doubt learning from him. He has international management experience, allbeit with Wales, but did well by all accounts. He's managed some good teams in the league, notably Man City where he brought some youngsters to national attention, he's managed with money and without, and has done a good job at Fulham this year. If his reputation for poor football comes from his time at Blackburn, then its arguable that he was only playing to the team's strengths. I seem to remember that Man City's football was decidedly more interesting and attacking than it is under Mancini.

If he's the man that Villa want and he comes, then I'll wait to see how he does first before condemning him as a rubbish appointment.

Edit - Sorry, hadn't read ASHTONILLA's excellent post from about 1.30pm that made all the points I wanted to make and more, and far more eloquently. Bravo, and I'm with you.

[KevinGage]

That pretty much sums up my point about who we should be looking for. We need a football man, I'm so tired of workman like Villa sides, it seems so long since we've actually played decent football. You'd probably have to go back to BFR or Brian Little. This is such a massive opportunity to change for the better.

What did you make of the Man Citeh side that turned us over comfortably at Eastlands when we were going for 4th in March 2009? Or the one that came to VP in Oct/ Nov the following season?

I don't recall them being particularly workmanlike or lacking in technique.

His Fulham side that came to VP this season controlled the game from about the 35 minute onwards too. Christ, he even made Sidwell look like a competent footballer. He's got previous for improving players (and generally leaving sides in a better state than he found them). But that's got to be close to the footballing equivalent of turning water into wine.

[mazrimsbruv]

BUT there's no way Mark Hughes would see a move to Villa as 'bobbing along' and avoiding relegation. It would be the big job he's craved since City dumped on him. He's fiercely ambitious and he'd have bigger plans for us than treading water. There's no way he'd walk in through the door and claim 'Villa belong 8th-12th in the PL', as GH did when he arrived. He'd be targeting top six - and up.

My post was a reflection of Aston Villa's ambition if Hughes is appointed, not the ambition of Mark Hughes. I couldn't give a toss what his ambitions are or might be. He might believe Villa belong in the top six, he might have bigger plans for us than 8th to 12th, (he might have plans for his missus and the Au Pair to deep-throat him every morning before he goes to work), but what he will achieve with us is 8th to 12th place.

And what is all this gubbins about him being able to attract players? It was money that attracted big name signings to Wastelands, not Mark Hughes. I just don't see this appointment inspiring anyone - fans, players, sponsors - anyone.

Eh?

But if you acknowledge that Hughes may well have ambitions to get us into the top six again, why does that mean we'd only finish 8th-12th? He took Blackburn higher than that, took City higher than that. Why could he not take Villa back into the top six? It's not a huge leap away and I certainly haven't given up on us cracking the big four.

You might want to aim your 'gubbins' comment at someone else. I haven't made any comments about Hughes attracting players to clubs. What I do think about him is that he might well strike up a stronger rapport with players than Houllier did.

The 'gubbins' comment was aimed at someone else Merv, not at you. I was simply responding to previous posts claiming that Hughes would be 'attractive' to potential signings.

I could have gone back and quoted them all but I can't arsed.