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

[holtepaul]

He may well do. Who would have thought JG would have put us top of the league - no one can see into the future.

But McLaren has done very little , twente are not a little club, never was. Where did they finish this year ? - 2nd wasn't it ?.

Boro - at the time, Boro were spending equivelant of Man City - they were spending fortunes, and they were already a good side, and he did little more than what they were doing already.

I cannot believe the guy is even being talked about as a possible. If the only people we can get are like this, then we might as well give McDonald and Cowans a go !

[holtepaul]

yes it was - are you from the United States - or can't you see sarcasm and irony ?

[pauliewalnuts]

If only a tenth of the people who rant on about not renewing their season tickets because a, b or c might happen actually didn't renew, the world would be a better place for the lack of their constant threats not to renew.

If you're not going to renew because of something, don't renew your season ticket, but don't tell us every ten minutes that this is your plan, because it is mightily boring.

[Jim Shoes]

If it does turn out to be McLaren I think I will vomit, I thought it couldn't get lower than when we signed Marlon Harewood but I was wrong as we signed Heskey. These 2 signings left me feeling somehow "dirty" but I as always kept the faith.

If Mclown were the next manager then after 40+ years (26 as a season ticket holder) I will give it up, well at least I would try which is something I have never even considered before!

[Phil from the upper holte]

Even though he says Cloob, I'd rather have benitez than mclaren

[Ger Regan]

I also don't want Mclaren.

I want a manager who'll treat going bald with a quiet dignity.

Definitely my favourite criteria for choosing the new manager. Bravo!

[montague]

Really??!! . McClaren did a good job at Boro looking at where they are now. He is not a fave of mine but he would do a good job.
[/quote]

Was that before disgusted fans were throwing their season tickets at him?

[Irreverent ad]

He may well do. Who would have thought JG would have put us top of the league - no one can see into the future.

But McLaren has done very little , twente are not a little club, never was. Where did they finish this year ? - 2nd wasn't it ?.

Boro - at the time, Boro were spending equivelant of Man City - they were spending fortunes, and they were already a good side, and he did little more than what they were doing already.

I cannot believe the guy is even being talked about as a possible. If the only people we can get are like this, then we might as well give McDonald and Cowans a go !

Twente are hardly PSV, Ajax or Feyenoord!

Boro were spending a lot of money before they got relegated. McClaren got them to the UEFA Cup Final too. They were hardly Man City standards....

As I said he is not my favourite, but he is not as bad as you would have everyone believe.

[Irreverent ad]

Really??!! . McClaren did a good job at Boro looking at where they are now. He is not a fave of mine but he would do a good job.

Was that before disgusted fans were throwing their season tickets at him?
[/quote]

And look where Boro are now....

[john e]

he won more than Moyes and Hughes put together before he went abroad, with a lot smaller club in lesser time

[hilts_coolerking]

Didn't he take Middlesbrough to their first ever trophy?  And then followed it up with their first ever European final?

There's talent there, but I'd want at least one club to deal with the embarrassment factor before he came here.

[cdbearsfan]

If only a tenth of the people who rant on about not renewing their season tickets because a, b or c might happen actually didn't renew, the world would be a better place for the lack of their constant threats not to renew.

If you're not going to renew because of something, don't renew your season ticket, but don't tell us every ten minutes that this is your plan, because it is mightily boring.

That's it. I'm not renewing.

[john e]

now on Talksport Goughy talking us up, ginger twat talking us down

[cb]

OK,well I haven't been original in my vote. Ideally I'd also like Ancellotti. So much of what a club can achieve flows through the manager. Get one of the best in and back him; don't interfere and let him do his job and you usually have a recipe for success. So for me Ancellotti with appropriate backing definitely would get us into the CL at some point in the relatively near future, which I believe is where we're trying to go.

A lot of this next appointment comes down to Randy and his strategy for the club. For me Villa can go any one of three ways:-

1. Spend big again by Aston Villa standards and try to buy the management and players to get into the CL.

2. Continue to try and play a long game. Building slowly, investing in youth and try to get to a point where "critical mass" pushes us into the top 4.

3. Ensure that we stay a stable PL outfit. Be profitable and invest when we can (which will be more often than most), but we will be preyed on by the top 4 for our best players and will need to still work hard to keep our PL status, but provided there isn't a disaster, we shouldn't go down.

I've long been a fan of option 2, as I believe you have to at least have elements of this to be sustainable in the long run, but it would seem that with every rich Sheik in the world eyeing up a PL side that you have to incorporate elements of strategy 1. into this, or you rapidly risk turning into option 3. I don't know if Randy is willing to spend the kind of cash necessary to go with option 1. To do so would probably consistently require very similar levels of backing that MON had early in his reign. However, I'd be very intrigued to see what someone like Ancellotti could do with this type of backing.

Below I'm listing managers in my order of preference according to strategy 1, 2 or 3.

Strategy 1

1. Carlo Ancelotti
2. Van Gaal
3. Rijkaard

Strategy 2

1. Coyle (surprised there hasn't been more mention of him)
2. Martinez
3. Moyes (this guy is in danger of becoming a strategy 3 type of manager, needs a fresh start)

Strategy 3

1. Hughes (I've seen the arguments for him, but I just don't see what he's done so far to justify it. He's not as young as some seem to think he is and hasn't won anything as a manager)
2. Hodgson (always had time for him and a good football man, but definitely strategy 3!)
3. Allardyce
4. McClaren (on the edge of strategy 4. ie. lets get relegated and win the Championship next year!)

FWIW I'm OK with anything involving strategy 1/2. I don't expect Randy to bankroll us with his children's inheritance (but it would be nice). However I do think the manager should fit the strategy. There's no point getting in Ancellotti if you're not going to at least spend a fair bit on players; he'll only get fed up after a season or two and leave, probably causing tears from our side of things. What I want is a manager that I can see us having success with in the coming years and maybe someone who'll still be in charge in 6 or 7 years time. I'm also quite surprised there is no more mention of Coyle. For me he looks the best bet of the young, up and coming managers, who play attractive football and could be someone you can build a club around...

[cdbearsfan]

I've gone off the idea of Coyle. Started well but fell apart at the end, and utterly bottled their biggest game of the season. Hodgson always seems too nice to do well to me, he might be a decent shout though. One thing's for sure, Albion will never give him, or anybody else, any money to spend.