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

[Mr Diggles]

I can recall the Board intimating through Pelty and General Krulak on this site that one of the main problems they had with MON was his insistence on buying players from Britain and not getting his passport out.

How ironic then, that the very same charge can be levelled at the Board with their 'Premier League experience' criteria, ignoring a vast amount of out of work talent in Europe.

Anyway, they have seemingly made their decision, all we can do is get behind the team again.

[Klaus Katt]

Don't know if many care, but I think it's worth noting that a poll from VillaSweden shows the same as here: 86% no to McLeish.

[Nev]

George Graham at Spurs went down well, so i dont see the problem.

George Graham didn't take Arsenal down twice, how's that for starters?

sense of humour failure, i was being ironic

Oh right....

[Hammer]

Gregnash, look away now.

Matt Scott at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/16/mark-hughes-aston-villa?CMP=twt_gu

As Alex McLeish entered into discussions with Aston Villa on Wednesday, angry fans must wonder why their club did not pursue Mark Hughes instead. The day after a managerial vacancy opened at Villa Park the former Wales manager exercised a break clause in his Fulham contract to leave the west London club.

"This decision to leave Fulham has not been influenced by any outside party," Hughes said at the time. "Neither myself nor my representative have approached or have been approached by another club." That is of course not to say Hughes did not bat his eyelashes towards the former European Cup winners. Villa acknowledged it privately at the time, but were said not to have pursued him because they considered the manner of his departure unseemly.

Yet Hughes's is as nothing against McLeish's resignation by email from Birmingham City to join Blues' bitterest rivals. So where did Hughes go wrong? Well, Digger hears Villa was the wrong bigger club for him to move up the managerial ladder. Fans at Fulham's last game of the season, which confirmed an eighth-place finish in the Premier League, saw Hughes receive short shrift from Mohamed Al Fayed during the chairman's lap of honour. It was clear then that theirs was not a match made in heaven.

Unfortunately for any Villa ambitions Hughes may have harboured, Fayed is very close to Doug Ellis, who is still heard at Villa Park, and it is believed Fayed was asked to write a reference for the Welshman. Throw in the fact that Hughes is said to see himself enjoying a more generous budget than he received at Fulham (he did previously work for Sheikh Mansour) and it becomes clearer why he might have been overlooked in favour of McLeish. The Villa owner, Randy Lerner, is believed to be keen to reduce expenditure. For all these reasons Hughes misses out.

[Eigentor]

As for Flores, you're right, he is a decent shout, though he wasn't too hot at Benfica.

He seems like the only perceivable escape route from the mess we're in. I fear though that Randy has drawn a path and decided he'll walk it, making McLeish's appointment inevitable. I just hope he'll panick and switch to Flores instead. He would piss off some of his management and his advisors, but that would pass. The media would perhaps lay into him for flip-floping once more, but by now that shouldn't make a difference.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

As for Flores, you're right, he is a decent shout, though he wasn't too hot at Benfica.

He seems like the only perceivable escape route from the mess we're in. I fear though that Randy has drawn a path and decided he'll walk it, making McLeish's appointment inevitable. I just hope he'll panick and switch to Flores instead. He would piss off some of his management and his advisors, but that would pass. The media would perhaps lay into him for flip-floping once more, but by now that shouldn't make a difference.

Well the Rags are planning to put an injunction on AM moving anywhere unless we pay them a shed load of money. Never say never.

[Concrete John]

Well the Rags are planning to put an injunction on AM moving anywhere unless we pay them a shed load of money. Never say never.

I'm no legal eagle, but I'd guess they have fuck all chance.

[maidstonevillain]

Makes you wonder whether the Martinez/Whelan duoble act was arranged with Villa, to give Whelan a bit of good publicity, and to make Villa look as if they were doing things by the book, whilst all the time AM was being "tapped up" in the background. Just a thought.

[andyh]

I'm all for making a contrubution to their legal 'fighting fund'. Anything we can do to help.

Fucking good luck to them, I sincerley hope they win.

[pauliewalnuts]

As for Flores, you're right, he is a decent shout, though he wasn't too hot at Benfica.

He seems like the only perceivable escape route from the mess we're in. I fear though that Randy has drawn a path and decided he'll walk it, making McLeish's appointment inevitable. I just hope he'll panick and switch to Flores instead. He would piss off some of his management and his advisors, but that would pass. The media would perhaps lay into him for flip-floping once more, but by now that shouldn't make a difference.

Well the Rags are planning to put an injunction on AM moving anywhere unless we pay them a shed load of money. Never say never.

Christ, I hope not.

If we're going to make this mistake, let's at least make it quickly now and not get dragged into a legal wrangle that could go on for weeks.

[eastie]

blues havent taken it further because they know theres no chance of winning their appeal , mcleish has 100% grounds.

[Concrete John]

Makes you wonder whether the Martinez/Whelan duoble act was arranged with Villa, to give Whelan a bit of good publicity, and to make Villa look as if they were doing things by the book, whilst all the time AM was being "tapped up" in the background. Just a thought.

As conspiracy theories go, that right up there with aliens building the pyramids and Andy Carroll being a £35m footballer.

[Maradona10]

Peter Pannu has no evidence of tapping up and in my opinion he will possibly get minimum compensation add to the fact no doubt Villa will raid them for Foster.

[maidstonevillain]

Makes you wonder whether the Martinez/Whelan duoble act was arranged with Villa, to give Whelan a bit of good publicity, and to make Villa look as if they were doing things by the book, whilst all the time AM was being "tapped up" in the background. Just a thought.

As conspiracy theories go, that right up there with aliens building the pyramids and Andy Carroll being a £35m footballer.

you really think the aliens didn't build the pyramids!

[Concrete John]

Makes you wonder whether the Martinez/Whelan duoble act was arranged with Villa, to give Whelan a bit of good publicity, and to make Villa look as if they were doing things by the book, whilst all the time AM was being "tapped up" in the background. Just a thought.

As conspiracy theories go, that right up there with aliens building the pyramids and Andy Carroll being a £35m footballer.

you really think the aliens didn't build the pyramids!

No, everyone knows it's the remnants of the lost civilization commonly called Atlantis.