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

[rob_bridge]

OK here I am going to muddy the waters further. Spoke to Pat Murphy at Trent Bridge today. He does not know who the manager may be but thinks the board are considering DiMatteo in the event Chelsea don't - he wasn'timpressed with the idea. Told him my preference was Lambert. He also mentioned the 30year anniversary of Rotterdam 7yesterday, thought Saunders was brilliant and is a huge fan of Cloughie (no shit). He thinks Lerner is a poor leader and agreed with the line I nicked from someone here - Ellis was a crap owner but a decent chariman whereas LErner is the opposite. And he thought Houllier and McLeish would be car crashes - or maybe that was me telling him they would be.
 

Pat Murphy doesn't know his arse from his elbow. The waters are no more or less muddy than before you posted that.

Fair enough - you obviously know better. TWAT! Seem to remember he broke the O'Neill story and Sky ignored it until he was being driven to the ground.

Do let me know when you have  a better insight.

Good day at Trent bridge?

Yep - very good day thanks.  A little on the warm side so Factor 30 was required throughout.

Best used externaly i find

Clearly - it's not Vaseline

[rob_bridge]

OK here I am going to muddy the waters further. Spoke to Pat Murphy at Trent Bridge today. He does not know who the manager may be but thinks the board are considering DiMatteo in the event Chelsea don't - he wasn'timpressed with the idea. Told him my preference was Lambert. He also mentioned the 30year anniversary of Rotterdam yesterday, thought Saunders was brilliant and is a huge fan of Cloughie (no shit). He thinks Lerner is a poor leader and agreed with the line I nicked from someone here - Ellis was a crap owner but a decent chariman whereas LErner is the opposite. And he thought Houllier and McLeish would be car crashes - or maybe that was me telling him they would be.
 

if you shook his hand i hope your not going to wash it for a month

If you shook  his hand I hope you are going to scrub and bleach it.

Missus Rob_bridge is South Korean who are an OCD nation about cleanliness so hands are washed about 93 times a day.

[AvFc4eVeR]

It seems some posters have had a bit too much sun this weekend.... calm down lads, were all on the same side here.

Back to topic, if it is going to happen this week, who will it be, and on which day??

AVB on Friday is my guess.

No basis or evidence for this just a bit of fun.

[ozzjim]

Pat Murphy runs us down all the time due to his infatuation with wanting to interview Randy, and Randy not really wanting to do it. As such, everything we do, or are going to do, is met with a negative stance from Murphy.

And Di Matteo is not good enough in my view, was struggling badly with West Brom when he left and may well have taken them down. We have been down that route with a manager from our neighbours, not another one with bottom of the league tenancies.

[olaftab]

Unlikely. We know the sort of people they're looking for from the aborted OGS fiasco. Family reasons or not, if Lerner had gone in there with the sort of spending budget he gave MON or even Houllier then he'd have been here now.

Sorry, but how exactly was it a 'fiasco'??

the fact that we did it in the full glare of the press rather than OTR. That's not particulary the clubs fault  but it would be nice if we started tapping up people like the other 99% of clubs so we know their answer before we approach their club.

So what should they have done differently? Camouflaged his plane? Shut down Villa message-boards?

Greg's right it was a fiasco. What was all that about sending the private jet over to get him here? Surely negotiations  could have carried on in secret and than get him here on the private jet by all means to sign on the dotted line.

[rob_bridge]

i have met pat murphy a couple of times, last one he spoke at our cricket club gents dinner, and i dont know which camp he is in?? pro villa or negative villa. he is massive o neill fan, granted and he tells loads of stories about cloughie which are very amusing. I think, like before the mcleish appointment, the journos are pissed off as they do not seem to have a clue about what is happening and the scoop they are after is not falling at their feet. 
good cricket knowledge, articulate without being pretentious and a nice chap i think!

He's anti-Lerner for not speaking to him (preferably exclusively) but otherwise fairly neutral. He's very clever, as good a broadcaster as you will ever hear and one of the funnest speakers around.

About right but get the feeling he'd like someone to take it to the North West / London love in and dare say feels Villa are one of the best bets to do so.

[Greg N'Ash]

My main problem with Murphy is he thinks MON is some sort of genius which sort of sums up his football knowledge really. If he doesn't fancy Di Matteo, i'm tempted by him frankly, but i'm not sure we're in the running now. Plenty of clubs wouldn't mind this year's European Cup winner as their manager even if Chelsea don't. I reckon he'll end up back in Italy.

[dave.woodhall]

Unlikely. We know the sort of people they're looking for from the aborted OGS fiasco. Family reasons or not, if Lerner had gone in there with the sort of spending budget he gave MON or even Houllier then he'd have been here now.

Sorry, but how exactly was it a 'fiasco'??

the fact that we did it in the full glare of the press rather than OTR. That's not particulary the clubs fault  but it would be nice if we started tapping up people like the other 99% of clubs so we know their answer before we approach their club.

So what should they have done differently? Camouflaged his plane? Shut down Villa message-boards?

Greg's right it was a fiasco. What was all that about sending the private jet over to get him here? Surely negotiations  could have carried on in secret and than get him here on the private jet by all means to sign on the dotted line.

We asked someone to speak to us, and made it easier for them to do so. Both parties decided they didn't want to take these discussions further. By no stretch of the imagination, even whatever passes for Greg's imagination, could that be described as a fiasco. 

[olaftab]

A polite plea: can no-one talk about disasters, fuckwits, fiascos etc. at least until we have appointed this year's equivalent of McLeish? If we don't, then great!

Yes those fuckwits in the press have not termed the fiasco so far as a disaster!

How exactly is it a fisaco?

Requires no further answer from me my lord other than the OGS effort and previous track record of our Club management.

[rob_bridge]

Pat Murphy runs us down all the time due to his infatuation with wanting to interview Randy, and Randy not really wanting to do it. As such, everything we do, or are going to do, is met with a negative stance from Murphy.

And Di Matteo is not good enough in my view, was struggling badly with West Brom when he left and may well have taken them down. We have been down that route with a manager from our neighbours, not another one with bottom of the league tenancies.

Disagree mainly with the first para - agree with the 2nd completely

[olaftab]

I will now abstain from this discussion for at least 24 hours.

[dave.woodhall]

A polite plea: can no-one talk about disasters, fuckwits, fiascos etc. at least until we have appointed this year's equivalent of McLeish? If we don't, then great!

Yes those fuckwits in the press have not termed the fiasco so far as a disaster!

How exactly is it a fisaco?

Requires no further answer from me my lord other than the OGS effort and previous track record of our Club management.

Sounds like you don't have an answer.

[danlanza]

DiMatteo for me is a no-no.He was never actually "in charge at chelsea".

[Greg N'Ash]

Unlikely. We know the sort of people they're looking for from the aborted OGS fiasco. Family reasons or not, if Lerner had gone in there with the sort of spending budget he gave MON or even Houllier then he'd have been here now.

Sorry, but how exactly was it a 'fiasco'??

the fact that we did it in the full glare of the press rather than OTR. That's not particulary the clubs fault  but it would be nice if we started tapping up people like the other 99% of clubs so we know their answer before we approach their club.

So what should they have done differently? Camouflaged his plane? Shut down Villa message-boards?

Greg's right it was a fiasco. What was all that about sending the private jet over to get him here? Surely negotiations  could have carried on in secret and than get him here on the private jet by all means to sign on the dotted line.

We asked someone to speak to us, and made it easier for them to do so. Both parties decided they didn't want to take these discussions further. By no stretch of the imagination, even whatever passes for Greg's imagination, could that be described as a fiasco. 

I think the major sponser threatening to pull out the club if he left is pretty much of a fiasco even if we weren't at fault. The whole thing was about as messy as you can get. In fact show me discussions with a manager that have gone worse?

[bob]

I remover shaking Big Ron's hand when I was a boy.

He had chubby fingers.