AVFC statement - McLeish sacked.

[Legion]

Does he win the occasional match?

[Steve R]

Shay Given has tweeted, saying sorry to see McLeish go, he's a good man, but the fans wishes have been granted and they are the soul of the club

Don't quite like how that sounds.

Given is the only person connected with the club who has had an interesting season.

[PeterWithesShin]

Does he win the occasional match?

AM wins the occasional match 

[Brazilian Villain]

Yeah, IMO its starting to look like a no brainer now. Considering his non-committal statement when asked about his future at Norwich, it looks like he's hoping for a crack at a bigger club. The only thing is that maybe Liverpool would want him, but at the same time I think they'll go for Van Gaal.

I've heard that KKKenny will "step aside" this summer and his replacement will be AVB.

I think Moyes will wait for a chance at the Man U job. Another season of Citeh winning the title and Fergie could be off. Why risk it by coming to Villa?

I'd go for Lambert but then last year people wanted Owen Coyle and Mark Hughes so what do we know?

[Irish villain]

Just think of what we could have had this season with a decent manager:

Instead of buying Hutton we could have spent £4m on a decent midfielder and if we held onto Makoun:

---------------------------Given----------------
Herd/Cueller---------Dunne/Clark-------Collins-------Lichaj/Warnock
Albrighton------Makoun------Petrov/new midfieler-------N'Zogbia
---------------------Ireland-----------------------------------
--------------------------Bent/Gabby

Should have been comfortably top ten this season. There's so much potential at this club. By clearing Heskey, Cueller, Warnock and one of Dunne & Collins there is room to spend money on 4 or 5 good quality players to augment what is on paper a decent looking squad.

The villa job is attractive. Turning us from 16th to top ten will simply involve showing ambition in our tactics having a modern philosophy.

[The Situation]

I think we should be looking to do better than Martinez to be honest.  He hasn't set the world alight at Wigan (granted he got some unexpected results at the end of the season) but if Villa are planning on a relegation fight each season then Ok. We should be aiming for higher though.

I heard this same nonsense last summer.

Can people stop this elitist mentality and being all like "he's not good enough" "we deserve better". It's embarrassing. We aren't Real Madrid. We need to think outside the box. It's not necessarily about who is/isn't good enough, its about who is the right man for the job.

If Martinez isn't good enough than what have Rodgers or Lambert done in their first premier league season to show they're better? Lots of new promoted teams will have a good first season and the manager of that promoted team will get hyped up and then the following season things don't go so well and people wonder if it was all a fluke.

I'm not saying Martinez should be our new manager all I'm saying is that he should be carefully considered just like all potential candidates. I'm just sick of all this moaning.

When looking at Lambert, it's the fact that he's got Norwich back into the Prem from League 1 in 3 consecutive seasons.

Considering Martinez, his teams are shit, don't turn up until April, and turned us down last year.

His Swansea team weren't shit. He got them promoted. And his shit Wigan team has finished 5 points ahead of us.

Rodgers got Swans up, not Martinez, he was busy fighting relegation last year with Wigan. Oh, and Lambert's team finished 9 points above us without ever being involved in the relegation scrap. Not arguing btw, just posting the alternative viewpoint!

Martinez got Swansea promoted to the championship and it was Rodgers who became manager of a Martinez team.

Correct, and then Rodgers got them promoted to the Prem whilst Martinez danced with relegation last year, then finished higher than him while he diced with relegation again this year without ever having been in the battle. Your point?

Wow Rodgers' Swansea were only 4 points better off than shitty Wigan? Well my mind is made up, those 4 points makes all the difference.

What Martinez could do at Wigan/=/What Martinez could do at Villa

[Stu]

What Martinez could do at Wigan/=/What Martinez could do at Villa

Yeah, scratch around at the basement of the league before showing some stones in the last month of every season.

[pauliewalnuts]

Anyone else noticed the near total lack of "gutted to see the boss go" tweets today from the players?

I was thinking that earlier, and just noticed Mat Kendrick mentioned it.

[PaulWinch again]

Pat Murphy defending Villa's decision on 5Live. While Big Ron, Mcgarry etc are saying he shouldn't have been sacked. The usual tripe of Birmingham, good football man and having Young and Downing sold from under him.

[Lizz]

Such a shame it's a school night and a Monday or i'd have been out getting bladdered to celebrate

I'm invigilating from 8am tomorrow...

...POP goes another bottle of Chardonnay

I'm working from home tomorrow, time to look for the corkscrew.

I thought McLeish would get another season, happy to be wrong.

[pauliewalnuts]

Whilst I would take any of Martinez, Lambert or Rodgers, with Martinez I don't think he's a strong enough character to grab the club by the scruff if the neck, which is what we really need.

With Rodgers I am concerned how much of what he's done at Swansea is his work.

I think Lambert worries me in that he risks becoming a junior O'Neill, with the bad bits as well as the good bits.

Of the three, I'd go Lambert, Rodgers, Martinez in that order.

[garyshawsknee]

Pat Murphy defending Villa's decision on 5Live. While Big Ron, Mcgarry etc are saying he shouldn't have been sacked. The usual tripe of Birmingham, good football man and having Young and Downing sold from under him.

Just heard it,makes my piss boil. Murphy talking a lot of sense,saying it was to do with tactics and style of football. The other dicks coming out with rubbish. No one mentioned money spunked by ONeil,even BFR was talking rubbish.

[rob_bridge]

Pat Murphy defending Villa's decision on 5Live. While Big Ron, Mcgarry etc are saying he shouldn't have been sacked. The usual tripe of Birmingham, good football man and having Young and Downing sold from under him.

I listen to this program every week and McGarry is the biggest bollocks talker in the media - considering the competition that is some feat. I think he ghost wrote Lampard's Bio - the one where he said that he played well in the World Cup in 2006, apparently.

[Ian.]

Such a shame it's a school night and a Monday or i'd have been out getting bladdered to celebrate

I'm invigilating from 8am tomorrow...

...POP goes another bottle of Chardonnay

I'm working from home tomorrow, time to look for the corkscrew.

I thought McLeish would get another season, happy to be wrong.

I'm supposed to be off the ale in the week, watching my belly. I have a few in the locker though and the Mrs is at work. I think it would be rude to leave them there after todays news.

Or is that just weak?

[KevinGage]

I'd go for Ranieri.

Really Leeg? Over Lambert/etc?

Why not?

Shades of the Houllier appointment.

An older manager who has had a degree of success elsewhere but whose star is on the wane, living off newspaper cuttings of his glory days.

Easier said than done but -like the players we should realistically be targeting- we should be looking at a manager who wants to make his reputation with us and have the best years of his career here.