AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[Monty]

Ralf Rangnick would be my choice. Bet we could pay him more than Leverkusen are offering (which they presumably are). Plays entertaining football, successful, bit of a nut, will make things fun around VP again. Or maybe Robin Dutt, just sacked by Leverkusen. Great tactician and producer of aesthetic football, he lost the dressing room a bit like AVB, but he's recognised this and is definitely young enough, and methodical enough, to learn from this mistake.

[andyh]

The who will we get instead argument drives me mad.

It's a worldwide sport with thousands of professional coaches and managers, finding one who will get us playing decent football for less wages and with links to bring in a few decent players really isn't that hard.

Look top half of the league in holland, sweden, norway, france, belgium - you'll find 10-15 good managers in amongst that lot, most earning less than a quarter of what McLeish is on.  We need to get away from the premier league experience restriction, but as UK based fans of course we, the fans, are going to look at UK based managers and see very few decent options, the club should be much more capable of conducting a thorough search.

Great post.
One that should be quoted out everytime someone spouts, 'but we can't get rid of him because there is no-one to replace him with'. 

[PaulWinch again]

It's correct there are so many options out there. I could probably throw a stone from here and hit a better manager. However our board's ludicrous requirements rule out pretty much anyone.

[Percy McCarthy]

Me too, and I'm in the back garden with the cat.

[Concrete John]

The who will we get instead argument drives me mad.

It's a worldwide sport with thousands of professional coaches and managers, finding one who will get us playing decent football for less wages and with links to bring in a few decent players really isn't that hard.

Look top half of the league in holland, sweden, norway, france, belgium - you'll find 10-15 good managers in amongst that lot, most earning less than a quarter of what McLeish is on.  We need to get away from the premier league experience restriction, but as UK based fans of course we, the fans, are going to look at UK based managers and see very few decent options, the club should be much more capable of conducting a thorough search.

Great post.
One that should be quoted out everytime someone spouts, 'but we can't get rid of him because there is no-one to replace him with'.

The question isn't asked as there are no good managers out there, but rather in relation to who would take the job?

Yes, we could pay more than, for example, a Dutch manager would earn in Holland.  However, if he wishes to guard his reputation, then would he accept the job where the prime consideration is cost cutting?

[VillaBobby]

Bring in Glenn Hoddle.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Bring in Glenn Hoddle.

Cue mass exodus of wheelchairs.

I wouldn't give him a job selling Balti pies.

[VillaBobby]

Bring in Glenn Hoddle.

Cue mass exodus of wheelchairs.

I wouldn't give him a job selling Balti pies.

His record stands up and be would be great for our youngsters.

Eileen could help the disabled section, but I am not sure about the pie sales, not after the pasty tax is brought into play.

[Concrete John]

Hoddle was a good manager, but the England job ruined him. 

I also think it's unfair to judge his football credentials on his religous views, however strange we may find them. 

[RonBurgundy]

What i still struggle to get my head around in the current context of cost cutting is not only the monumental sums swallowed up by the severing of ties with MON and Houllier plus the costs of extracating our current unmentionable; but the fact he is the 20th highest paid manager in the world!
It keeps going round in my head - why he is so well paid, what on earth has he done to deserve such a wedge.

I think it shows Randy will invest heavily in certain times and key positions - but my goodness how incredibly misjudged this one has been. Given his experience with MON, how much he seems to like McLeish and how much he will pay him - i think he's really bought into him as a manager and as a man.

I fear he will remain the captain of this sinking ship. We are merely the string quartet playing on whilst the life rafts fill up.

[pauliewalnuts]

Hoddle was a good manager, but the England job ruined him. 

I also think it's unfair to judge his football credentials on his religous views, however strange we may find them. 

It's not so much about his religious views, it was the fact that it influenced his job - he sent the players individually to that mental Eileen woman who was his svengali. He also made some truly disgraceful comments about the disabled.

That touches on his job, because it shows a real lack of judgement in a high profile industry.

[Concrete John]

I fear he will remain the captain of this sinking ship. We are merely the string quartet playing on whilst the life rafts fill up.

You were watching Titanic last night, weren't you?

[Risso]

I also think it's unfair to judge his football credentials on his religous views, however strange we may find them. 

I don't.  I wouldn't give the job to somebody who came out with racist views, so why should somebody who makes offensive remarks about disabled people get away with it.  The logical extension of Hoddle's comments is that anybody with an illness or disability is paying for their deeds in a previous life, so that includes people like our very own Petrov.  I'm not a fan of McLeish as you may have gathered, but at least he's just a shit football manager.  Hoddle for me is as offensive as KKKenny.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I also think it's unfair to judge his football credentials on his religous views, however strange we may find them

I think his views were a bit more than just strange - they were offensive.

If I was a disabled Villa fan, I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel knowing that my manager thinks that the reason I am disabled is because I committed a sin in a previous life.

[RonBurgundy]

I fear he will remain the captain of this sinking ship. We are merely the string quartet playing on whilst the life rafts fill up.

You were watching Titanic last night, weren't you?

Thankfully i wasn't, but the feckin thing is everywhere on telly and the cinema so my subconscious is being lazy.