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

[hilts_coolerking]

No, my argument is that the criteria for the Villa now job should be about more than just who has won the most trophies. That the challenge facing whoever we get is nothing like the one at Chelsea or Milan. it's about rebuilding now and putting in place a strategy to allow us to have the best possible chance to win things in the future.

It requires long term thinking, not just a quick fix. I am not arguing for any specific candidate but rather the type of manager we should be going for and, in my opinion, Ancelotti does not fit the profile.

Fair enough but simply because Ancelotti hasn't faced that type of challenge recently doesn't mean he can't do it.  The bottom line is that he is an extremely capable manager who is adaptable enough to have enjoyed success in Italy and England.  In my view, the biggest single thing we can do to increase our chances of success in the future is to appoint the very best manager we can.  Circumstances at the moment are such that we have a chance to appoint a very successful, internationally renowned manager, the likes of whom we have never appointed.  We've tried the solid, steady eddies recently and got close but not close enough.  I just think it would be a massive missed opportunity if we went instead for another solid but unspectacular manager, particularly given who else is available.  Slow and steady doesn't win the race in the PL any more; it just about gets you 6th or 7th.  Some of the clubs we can't compete with financially but we could negate part of that advantage by appointing a genuinely top drawer manager like Ancelotti.  Houllier was a very conservative, cautious, almost timid, appointment and so, in my view, would be Moyes or Hughes.

[paul_e]

We need stability, a manager who will stick with us for the long haul, develop a competitive squad and bring an authoritative persona to the job. Moyes would be the ideal candidate, IMO.

What the club doesn't need is a shiny, gold-plated cock-swinging contest. Ancelotti represents that.

Why does he?  Ancelotti wants to stay in england.  The only side above us in last years table without a manager are the ones who sacked him.  We're also in the 20 richest clubs in europe and have the basis of a very good squad, with a clump of very good internationals and some of  the best youth players in the country coming through.

Yes Ancelotti might look at us as a stop gap but as no one on here knows if that's the case why is it suddenly being treated as fact?  He could easily look at us and think there's a chance to show that I can do just as well at an up and coming club and be begging Randy for the job.

[mcgrath_85]

I am really interested and somewhat shocked that people will take Hughes over Ancelotti !

Now, even if the obvious seems ridiculous, I actually find the reasons given, also astounding.

So, you don't want Ancelotti - a manager considered in the three best in the world, a manager who has won Italian Leagues, Italian cups, English Leagues, English cups, Champions Leagues - and a guy who is 51 yrs old so still young.
 

Reason why don't want - he will see us as a stepping stone to bigger things, and could leave us in two years for something better.

And then you have Hughes, who has won.......................................er.......................................er....................................

And, in the space of around 6 yrs has managed Wales, Blackburn, Man City, Fulham and possibly Villa !

So how is that a "safe" appointment.

Fergie product ? - so you don't think he will be interested in the Man U when Fergie goes then ? - no doubt he wouldn't get it - but I bet your bottom dollar his agent will try and get him an interview - leaving us up s... creek.

MON mk 2 - both of them don't like year to year contracts for nothing you know !

You write a lot of shit, but I couldn't agree with you more on this post!!

[Chris Smith]

to appoint the very best manager we can.

For the job in hand.

Being Chief Exec at M & S doesn't make you the best candidate for managing your local Lidl.

And before the easily outraged jump in, no I'm not comparing us to Lidl, just illustrating that different jobs require different skill sets and that the "best manager" is the one most suited to the job on offer.

[sonlyme]

Why isn't Bruce Willis or Cheryl Cole on that list?

Who do you think you are?

What about Jedward?  They've got a great European profile.  And if one of them has a heart attack the other can take over.  Simple.

[holtepaul]

We need stability, a manager who will stick with us for the long haul, develop a competitive squad and bring an authoritative persona to the job. Moyes would be the ideal candidate, IMO.

What the club doesn't need is a shiny, gold-plated cock-swinging contest. Ancelotti represents that.

Again, I'll go to my original point.

Villa need a guy for the long haul , stablitity

1999 - 2004 Wales
2004 - 2008 Blackburn
2008 - 2010 Man City
2010 - 2011 Fulham
2011 - ?       Villa

5 different jobs in 7 years doesn't seem a guy for "the long haul" and "stable"

Especially when you played 350 games for Man U and their managers job will be coming up in 2 years time.

If the arguament is that if Ancelloti has success at the Villa, he will go elsewhere is peoples issue, whose to say when the Man U job comes available Hughes wont fancy that !! (and even more immenant - don't you think he will fancy the England job)

mark Hughes is no where near a "stable" appointment

[mcgrath_85]

We need stability, a manager who will stick with us for the long haul, develop a competitive squad and bring an authoritative persona to the job. Moyes would be the ideal candidate, IMO.

What the club doesn't need is a shiny, gold-plated cock-swinging contest. Ancelotti represents that.

Ridiculous. He would be most welcome, even if he did swing his gold plated dick during his first press conference.

[hilts_coolerking]

For the job in hand.

Being Chief Exec at M & S doesn't make you the best candidate for managing your local Lidl.

And before the easily outraged jump in, no I'm not comparing us to Lidl, just illustrating that different jobs require different skill sets and that the "best manager" is the one most suited to the job on offer.

If there was clear evidence that Ancelotti couldn't cope with the challenge of reinvigorating a talented but underperforming and low on morale squad, and couldn't cope with a well-financed and extremely hands-off owner then I would agree with you.  But there isn't.  So in the absence of that, you have to ask yourself would a vastly experienced manager, who has won pretty much everything going in the club game, not just in his home country but abroad as well, be able to adapt to the current situation at Villa?  To which my answer would be almost certainly.

[holtepaul]

Tell you what,

ask Inter fans , after winning the league and european cup whether they are gutted they employed a short term ego cockswinging what-ever you called it.

If Ancelotti was with us for 9 months, and at the end of it, we won the league (in fact, if he was with us 9 months and we ended up winning the FA Cup for that matter) and he buggered off to be manager of the New York yankees - frankly, my dear, I wouldn't give a f.....

EDIT

The other reason I would be very underwhelmed (I'd accept it, but would be happy if we got Hughes) with Hughes is that he would certainly bring his backroom team with him. Now I could be wrong, but wasn't mark Bowen a bluenose somewhere down the line. Sorry, I didn't like Robertson, I certainly dont like McAllister - but a bluenose !!

[Billy Walker]

Hughes is not the man for Villa if we want long-term success.  On so many levels I will be very disappointed if he is named our new Gaffer. Incredibly underwhelming, hugely uninspiring, not a man - in my view- ready to lead Villa into a genuine new era of success.

And on the off-chance that he is successful (which he won't be) he'll be off to Man Utd like a shot.  It would be a lose-lose appointment.

[Dante Lavelli]

Ancelotti's term as manager of Reggiana is probably closer to the task in hand at Aston Villa, i.e. building an entire club from the bottom up.  Yet all Wiki has to say on that era is

"Ancelotti began his managerial career with Reggiana in 1995, where Reggiana achieved promotion to Serie A. However, he left the following year for Parma."

At Parma he was bankrolled by Parmalat and their subsequent decline i.e. relative bankruptcy would suggest that he did not build the necessary infrastructure to have a sustainable club (not that anyone could in one year).

From everything I have read I question whether he is the right man to build a club rather than a good team.  What is evident is that he is a great coach and has managed (the egos) of some of the world's greatest players.

If he was happy to come as a coach (on a lot less than the 6m per year he was on at Chelsea) then awesome.  However I would like to see a low profile guy in the background responsible for the building Aston Villa's football philosophy.

[Dante Lavelli]

oops - double post

[holtepaul]

Man City and Arsenal for the oppositite reasons have proven you cannot build a club for the long term nowadays - those days are totally gone.

And to be honest, I am not interested in the long term anyway. I now this sounds morbid, but none of us know how long we have left on this earth. I am 40, now I hope I have at least 50 years left in me at least, but as we all know, you can't take that for granted, if people like John Hartson , Russell Watson and others can get life threatening illnesses, so can any of us.

So, quite honestly, I want Villa to win things whilst I am alive, I don't really care if we build a club that can compete with the best in Europe in 15 years time if I will be dead !

I'll take short term success now thanks !

I can't recall anyone saying here "I wish we hadn't have won the league in 81 , and Euro cup in 82 - we didn't sustain it long term !"

[Michel Sibble]

We had a massive chance to remain top dogs after 81/82, we didn't, because of short-term ego cockswinging.

Ancelotti, even if he did win us the league, would be off.

[Ian.]

To be perfectly honest with the way football is there is no way we will compete at the very top until something shifts in football drastically. I reckon even Totenham have probably got as close as they can get.
I might sound very pessimistic but I think I'm being realistic. Gone are the days when we will win the league or anyone else for that matter without huge, huge investment unless it's Man Utd or Chelsea. I don't think Man City will either. They might have the money but it all seems to be a 'quick fix' procedure to sustain a long term challenge of winning the league. Maybe they will in time?
But for us we have not got the resources and unless a complete fluke happens it does not matter who is in charge. I would like Ancelotti in charge, I just can't see it.

We need to build for the next 5, 10, 20 years and try and compete at the highest possible which is what I think Gerard's plan was going to be, mixing youth and buying when possible. That is why some of our youngsters went out on loan, to prepare them for next season. Maybe Huges or Moyes can do this or even Martinez. I would be very surprised if it was not any of these.