Who do you want as the next manager? New poll option.

[Mazrim]

Yes, but someone with football knowledge - which I'd agree on - doesn't necessarily mean a director of football.

I think in our case, it does. We need a director who understands the game. It's just a title though that people can associate with. Call it what you want; Technical director, Development director, Grand vizier of footballing supermagic, we need somebody to define and deliver a consistent plan over a number of years.

A special manager can do that of course but managers come and go and when they go you invariably have to start all over again. So leave the business side of things to the likes of Faulkner and start getting people on board who understand what Aston Villa needs to compete, who has some clout in the game to get players, to develop networks, relationships.

It's a shitload of work for a manager to do it alone AND produce a team.
The sheer naivety and lack of understanding our board displays is astonishing. I dont want them making any more footballing decisions or we'll keep struggling.

[Merv]

I agree. I said as much over on the transfer thread, because DOF was being discussed on there. I do think, from a business and commercial perspective, PF is doing a lot of good things. He's just not really a football man. My vision for Villa would be to have a 'football man' alongside PF effectively running the club across all matters, with a head coach reporting into them.

[Mr Diggles]

True, and that will buy him some time, but unless Lerner backs whoever he is the transer market, it's going to be another difficult season.

I think its going to be tough whatever changes are made (within reason).

[dave.woodhall]

Grand vizier of footballing supermagic,

Assume that you'll be hearing that phrase repeated over the coming months.

[Mr Diggles]

I believed at the end of last season that Houllier might have made a good DoF type appointment, with a young manager (like McAllister or other) below him on the coaching side. It's a pity from my point of view that that didn't happen.

[Vanilla]

Whoever it is, it will be yet another season of transition. The only difference this time is we don't have any players who want to leave, as the best have been poached already. 

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

I don't recall too many howls of derision when we played good stuff under BFR and between 1995-97 under Sir Brian either.  So I'm pretty certain Villa fans as a whole will be able to appreciate good football -when they finally see it.

That was a very attacking style aswell as good passing.

Anytime we see a back or square pass when we're not winning you can feel a section of fans get frustrated.

Exactly. The moaning from large sections of the crowd at the sight of 2/3 sideways/backwards passing is inevitable.

[Mister E]

... With Houllier I think he was almost trying to do that job himself as well as manage the first team ...

That's definitely the way it was going, with GMac, and particualrly after the heart trouble.
The question this raises is: - why did RL / PF decide that the GHou / GmMac was not the right approach to take? Was it simply the health problems experienced by GHou or was there another reason?

[Dribbler]

The one thing I hope is that Randy et al are now actively searching for and sounding out our next manager so that we can make an appointment as soon as the season ends and give the new manager a full pre-season. For some reason i don't have faith in that though!

For those saying they don't think Villa are an attractive proposition for a football manager, come on, even in our current predicament we must  be one of the most attractive clubs in football to manage. (i.e., top 20 in Europe)

We have a great history, a great stadium, state of the art training facilities, some top quality experienced players, some quality up and coming 'young' players, a brilliant Academy, a top reserve team, we give good managerial contracts (and pay-offs), our expectations will have been lowered a little after this season, we have some major contracts ending this season and next, which means we can clear some of the costly senior deadwood and replace with new players, plus there will be some money to spend in the summer, and so on.

I think any top manager, given the right conditions, should love to come and manage the Villa, there are only a very few managers that can step into a top title chasing job in a top league where they have loads of money to spend and are almost guaranteed to be challenging for honours. Other managers have to look at prospects and potential and many of the criteria i have mentioned above.

I agree with some of the comments above that we need to create a new long term plan and philosophy, based around football style not just business, whether that means a DoF or not is up for debate, but i would say it's a good idea. I think the DoF is probably a better idea than the current restriction we had around keeping KMac and Sid in the senior coaching team. Yes ensure they carry on their amazing roles with the academy and reserves, but a manager needs to be able to bring his own staff. It's much more important to bring in a manager that would naturally continue the good work of the Academy and reserves and create a natural progression of playing styles from them to the senior team. As others have said, it's been patently clear over the last 2 years that we need a 'footballing man' on the board.

As for managers, I would go for Andre Villas-Boas, after all, he has Villa in his name, so he's bound to be a success!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I see Dave Whelan is now prepared to lose Martinez, though whether either believe Villa to be a step up much depends on Randy's support. Recent results against Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and the Barcodes certainly makes Martinez flavour of the month. I do like the way he goes about things, playing it down, very similar in character to Sir Brian, though whether or not he'd be the manager to instantly bring back the missing 10,000 is another matter.

I'd certainly hope and expect him to be on our radar come the end of the season. The big question is whether or not we'd send Whelan another letter requesting permission to speak to Martinez.

[mr woo]

I agree, Martinez is flavour of the month. Unfortunately a season lasts for 9, and he's been shit for eight of them.

[Dante Lavelli]

Okay, so let's pose this question then:

Who do you want as DoF at Villa?

Southgate. 

He has said he does not want to manage again and instead he wants to concentrate on the development side of football.  Admittedly this was said when he was appointed Head of Elite Development at the FA.  In this role - his twitter account suggests - he is studying how the top clubs and countries develop both their young players and their coaches.  I’d assume that the FA role would also include a fair amount of “pressing the flesh” at conferences with footballing dignitaries so he would also be a good ambassador for the club.

Add in his media knowledge and I think he could be a pretty effective guy at communicating the what the club is doing, beyond the obligatory match day press conferences.

He has always been bracketed as one of football’s intellectuals too (writing books, a journalist whilst at Palace etc) so I think he would have the imagination to create and deliver an over-arching infrastructure for the club.

[Mazrim]

An interesting suggestion.

Perhaps not for the role but a role.

[barrysleftfoot]

  After watching Villa on saturday, with Clark and Warnock as central midfielders, needing 3 touches each time to pass the ball square, with no creativity, the only footballer in a Villa shirt, N'Zog, getting substituted, and then watching Wigan on the night, with the passing, movement, skill and endevour of the team, on a quarter of the wages paid at Villa, then for me there is only one choice at VP at the moment, and that is Martinez.

 McL will get rid of players like N'Zog and Irelan, and we will be left with a team of triers......no thanks.

[Ger Regan]

  After watching Villa on saturday, with Clark and Warnock as central midfielders, needing 3 touches each time to pass the ball square, with no creativity, the only footballer in a Villa shirt, N'Zog, getting substituted, and then watching Wigan on the night, with the passing, movement, skill and endevour of the team, on a quarter of the wages paid at Villa, then for me there is only one choice at VP at the moment, and that is Martinez.

 McL will get rid of players like N'Zog and Irelan, and we will be left with a team of triers......no thanks.

He's a choice, not the only choice.