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

[not3bad]

As long as we get one of Hughes, Moyes, Ancellotti, Benitez, McLaren or Jol, we'll have a good manager, so I'm quite relaxed about it.

Agreed 100%.

Good way of looking at it.

[nick harper]

This is very much off the wall but I still think Glenn Hoddle has something to offer. Very intelligent and understands how the game should be played. Has fallen out of favour but I think he would be better than Jol or McLaren for example.

I'll get my tin hat.

[TheEgo]

This is very much off the wall but I still think Glenn Hoddle has something to offer. Very intelligent and understands how the game should be played. Has fallen out of favour but I think he would be better than Jol or McLaren for example.

I'll get my tin hat.

Hoddle is bonkers, no thanks.

[UsualSuspect]

Hughes got fulham to eighth, got man city into top 6 before being sacked and got Blackburn into a cup final and into good league position.

I think he never failed.

He can take us forward.

 I can only see him signing bellamy and partnering bent, which could be interesting and also getting best from Ireland.

Ireland and bellamy? Are you taking the piss? why don't we just sign every trouble making c*nt in the league and be done with it.

Sorry but i don't want a manager who can get the best out the likes of Ireland, Warnock and Dunne - I'd much rather they just f**cked off

Double thumbs up

[Rigadon]

Hoddle actually strikes me as being a bit dim but maybe that's just the way he talks?  Never recovered from the England sacking which actually says a lot about how important 'perception' (a topic elsewhere)  is when it comes to a managers powers.  Players have to buy into and  believe in a manager as much as we do I suppose.   

[Phil from the upper holte]

Ireland and bellamy? Are you taking the piss? why don't we just sign every trouble making c*nt in the league and be done with it.

Sorry but i don't want a manager who can get the best out the likes of Ireland, Warnock and Dunne - I'd much rather they just f**cked off

Double thumbs up

triple thumbs up

[Phil from the upper holte]

Ancellotti & Wilkins for me, Moyes, martinez 2nd and 3rd choices, Failing that Jol

[not3bad]

Hughes got fulham to eighth, got man city into top 6 before being sacked and got Blackburn into a cup final and into good league position.

I think he never failed.

He can take us forward.

 I can only see him signing bellamy and partnering bent, which could be interesting and also getting best from Ireland.

Ireland and bellamy? Are you taking the piss? why don't we just sign every trouble making c*nt in the league and be done with it.

Sorry but i don't want a manager who can get the best out the likes of Ireland, Warnock and Dunne - I'd much rather they just f**cked off

Double thumbs up

Thumbs down from me.  I don't care who plays for Villa (up to a point Barton/Savage) if they are putting in good work on the pitch.  F*ck Dunne and Ireland off just because of who they are and get some other mercenaries in their place or get the best out of them?  I don't care as long as one of the above happens.

[LeeB]

The thing with Hughes is he'll be very hungry. You know he feels very bitter at how it all ended at Man City. He strikes me as being absolutely desperate to take a crack at challenging for the top positions because he's spent most of his career at that level. Man City would have given him that, Fulham and Blackburn never would have. He might see Villa as the perfect size club, in the perfect situation, financially and structurally to set about a long term strategy to get us back amongst the elite.

Anyone who thinks we are ready for the top 4 right now is kidding themselves. What we need is league progress and a solid cup display or two. Then in time, we can build for loftier ambitions.

Spot on there.

I think we need to be realistic about where we are right now. We need to think long term again, we need someone with talent and hunger who will appreciate the circumstances of the club, that he will be backed but needs to run a tight ship and is here for the duration. There's not many jobs at this level with the support of a board like this.

My first choice would be Moyes, but as that looks unlikely and despite disliking the man, Hughes would look to be ideal. He'd also think twice about jumping ship after getting burned at Citeh.

If it were 12 months down the line I'd be thinking hard about Martinez, but right now the supporters might not like it.

[maidstonevillain]

This is very much off the wall but I still think Glenn Hoddle has something to offer. Very intelligent and understands how the game should be played. Has fallen out of favour but I think he would be better than Jol or McLaren for example.

I'll get my tin hat.

In a similar vein, but not quite so much off the wall, I have always liked Steve Coppell.
What's he doing at the moment.

[DB]

If Hughes gets it, I won't be getting a new season ticket. In my opinion, a average manager with little wow factor, with limited potential. We should be showing intention/ambition - not a shrug of the shoulders appointment.

[Arsey]

I think we need a poll on whether or not we should adopt a AV poll system rather than a FPTP poll as we currently have.  I think if we took out Carlo and Moyes, then it would be interesting to see who their votes go to.

If we can not get Moyes and it seems we now can not get Carlo; I would be reasonably happy with Hughes, McClaren or even the waiter. 

[Mazrim]

Right, back from Kos. Sup y'all.

Houllier stepping down doesn't come as a shock to be honest but Hughes supposedly being favourite does.
He's not a bad manager, in fact he is decent but I wont change my mind and think its anything but an uninspiring choice if true. Did pretty well at Blackburn, the Man City circus would have beyond the measure of most and he's doing well at Fulham so I can see why he's a strong contender, I just wish we could go and pull a real suprise out of the bag, maybe an Ancelotti or van Gaal or somebody like that. I think I'd probably prefer Moyes too.

Obviously Hughes, if chosen, would get my full support and I'd just have to grit my teeth when watching his mini monkey tennis interviews, which get right on my morks!

[Concrete John]

OK, it's looking like it'll be Hughes then, doesn't it?

Not my first choice (or even 2nd for that matter), but lets try and look at it objectively:-
1.  Got Wales as close to qualifying for a major tournament as anyone, so did well there.
2.  His Blackburn side were a bit physical, but he also got the best out of some players there (Bentley and RSC), plus took them to pretty good league positions without any major finance.
3.  Man City is a hard one to judge as he really speaking got caught up in the circus that the arrival of the Sheiks brought.  His approach seemed to be to start with established PL players (Given, Bellamy, Lescott, Bridge and dare I say it - Barry), which I think was the right way to go.  His treatment by them was poor, but it's hard to argue he pulled up any trees given the spending power.  Was it a case of trying to integrate too many new players at a time?  Maybe, but still an average showing at best given the finances.
4.  Has done well at Fulham and similarly to Blackburn, has probably exceeded expectations given the spending power.
5.  As a general point, both his Man City and Fulham sides play decent football, without exactly being Barcelona, so maybe it's unfair to label him based on the Blackburn period?

So, is he a manager that does well with smaller clubs and struggles when going up a level, or a good manager all round that wasn't given a fair chance by Man City?  The thruth is probably somewhere in the middle, as most of these things are. 

I think he'll buy well and save us some money by reintegrating the likes of Ireland and Warnock.  Someone above said he'd rather they fuck off, but given what we paid for them I'd like to see if they can turn it around before accepting large losses on them.  If they don't deliver, sell them then and we'll probably still get what we would now.

One thing about him is he's never been anywhere long enough to develop a youth and scouting system, which is something we need for longterm and sustained success as we can't just buy it.  As such, I'd like him with a DOF type, yet see him in the Fergie/MON mold of "I control everything", so this is potentially a major flaw.

So, how will he do for us?  I'd say he's capable of matching MON's achievements of top 6, provided Randy releases some funds, which we all expect to be the case.  However I can't see that little bit extra special in him to get us a stage further and pinch a top 4 spot.  Hope I'm wrong.     

[DB]

Amen Mazrim, pretty much sums up my post.