Would you be happy with Ole Gunnar Solskjær? Now with added poll.

[Vanilla]

Doesn't it seem a bit strange that 'pool, Albion and ourselves are all eyeing up the same talent? Has the pool of good managers shrunk?

You could also see this in the fact that AV last season and Wolves mid-season also had problems attracting managers, and 'pool' and Yelsea have had to resort to stop gap managers for lengthy periods of time. 

[damon loves JT]

I like Rogers, but I think it would take a fair amount of time for his passing ethos to take effect at the club

I like him too, but he's had his share of abysmal failures. I have a feeling this season is as good as it gets for him. I may be wrong of course, I often am.

[damon loves JT]

Doesn't it seem a bit strange that 'pool, Albion and ourselves are all eyeing up the same talent? Has the pool of good managers shrunk?

You could also see this in the fact that AV last season and Wolves mid-season also had problems attracting managers, and 'pool' and Yelsea have had to resort to stop gap managers for lengthy periods of time. 

Yes, the Chelsea thing is odd. It's as if there is such a big coaching infastructure at the club, they're effectively just appointing somebody to name eleven players on matchday, and it could almost be anyone.

Anyone who gets the Chelsea job certainly isn't expected to shape the club from top to bottom, the way Ferguson does. He wants a say in what shifts the security guards work and what the cooks serve in the canteen.

[olaftab]

At this stage in his career Solskjaer=Paul Ince when he took over Blackburn. A bit early and a job that was too big for him. Let's not make the same mistake and ruin his career whilst we make no progress.

[Monty]

At this stage in his career Solskjær=Paul Ince when he took over Blackburn. A bit early and a job that was too big for him. Let's not make the same mistake and ruin his career whilst we make no progress.

It's also the same age that Rodgers took over Swansea, and older than Guardiola or Martinez when they took their respective jobs. Different managers mature at different paces, like players.

Also Ince had other problems besides being too young for the job he took, ie being pish.

[PaulWinch again]

At this stage in his career Solskjær=Paul Ince when he took over Blackburn. A bit early and a job that was too big for him. Let's not make the same mistake and ruin his career whilst we make no progress.

I don't think you can apply one man's experience to another man's experience. Just because it didn't work out of Ince doesn't mean it wouldn't work out for Solskjaer. Their experience is different and they're different people.

[damon loves JT]

I look at Paul Ince and look at Solskjaer and struggle to see anything that they have in common, other than being former players at Newton Heath.

Just as a f'rinstance, Ince has a big ego and a small brain. With Solskjaer it seems to be the other way round.

[Damo70]

I'm not sure all three clubs are looking at the same managers. It is public knowledge that Liverpool are/were interested in speaking to Martinez and Rodgers and that we spoke to OGS. Hughton is favourite for the Albion job having just missed out to Hodgson last time round. Anything other than that just seems to be speculation.

[Billy Walker]

Just in response to other posts: As for OGS being the next superstar manager, where is that idea coming from?  This is nothing but groundless hype as far as I can see.

Who has said he is going to be the next superstar manager? What a lot of people seem to be saying is that they are excited by the idea of having a young, talented manager who plays attractive football.

cb in the post above mine (I think cb was alluding to OGS).

Yep, I can understand everyone being excited by us getting a young talented manager who gets teams playing attractive football - it's just what we need.  We need a guy who can do that for sure BUT surely, first and foremost, we need someone who has that bit of proven experience to steady the Villa ship and turn around a side that just missed out on relegation?  That's the bit that OGS doesn't have on his CV.  Has he got the know how to turn us around first?  Has he the knowledge of the transfer market to quickly turn around our playing staff so that he can steady the ship and then bring in the lovely football? Has he the thick skin to handle the heat if it all goes tits up?  Maybe he has, but I don't see any of that on such a short CV.  It is a huge, huge gamble.   

[tomd2103]

Lamberts teams play far better football than mons teams, lambert is his own man and not a mini - mon.

I think there has been some pretty harsh criticism of Lambert on here.  Those who are slating the way he plays have to remember that a good number of the players he is working with were playing in League Two a couple of seasons ago.  Whose to say that he won't adapt his style of playing when working with better players?

As for those saying that he is an O'Neill clone, having read a few of his interviews, it seems that his experience of German football has influenced him just as much as his time at Celtic with O'Neill.  As this interview says: 

"Lambert also said he believes his decision to take his coaching badges in Germany has given him a broader perspective in management.

He said: 'I wanted to learn something different. It's a totally different midset to what it is in Britain.

'I was fortunate enough to play there and live there for a bit, and I was fortunate enough to go back there and do my licence. I wanted to learn something different, so I didn't become the same manager as the next person in Britain."

Still think he would be a good option for us.

[Monty]

Aiming to 'steady the ship' invariably achieves that and only that. It's a short-termist way of thinking, which often embeds problems of habit rather than removing them. What we need is a radical change of direction from where we've been, a completely different feeling around the club. In my view, that's more likely to achieve that yearned for 'stability' than any aim towards that.

[Monty]

Lamberts teams play far better football than mons teams, lambert is his own man and not a mini - mon.

I think there has been some pretty harsh criticism of Lambert on here.  Those wsho are slating the way he plays have to remember that a good number of the players he is working with were playing in League Two a couple of seasons ago.  Whose to say that he won't adapt his style of playing when working with better players?

Having read a few of his interviews, it seems that his experience of German football has influenced him just as much as his time at Celtic with O'Neill.  As this interview says: 

"Lambert also said he believes his decision to take his coaching badges in Germany has given him a broader perspective in management.

He said: 'I wanted to learn something different. It's a totally different midset to what it is in Britain.

'I was fortunate enough to play there and live there for a bit, and I was fortunate enough to go back there and do my licence. I wanted to learn something different, so I didn't become the same manager as the next person in Britain.'

Still think he would be a good option for us.

That's all fine and well, but there's still no evidence to suggest he'll implement any of that football with us. Rodgers is also playing with former lower-league wonders, remember.

[olaftab]

I think age is immaterial and agree that people mature at different rates. Also agree that having more than two brain cells helps however Rodgers and Martinez and Lambert have done their graft and added experience to intellect. Guardiola is from the best academy in the world. Ince succeeded spectacularly at lower level and was promoted too quick and failed miserably. I just want us all to understand the gamble that would be Solskjaer. It's no more than 50/50.

[adamski villa]

Molde game on here http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/123611/1/watch-sandnes-ulf-vs-molde-fk.html

[brian green]

I agree with Damon about Rodgers as you would expect me to do.   When Swansea ran rings around us at VP I got the overwhelming feeling that everything was clicking for them on the day.   Big pitch, beautiful playing surface, demoralized opposition, demoralized home fans.   It was as though George Formby had been handed his ukulele.   Hand him a trombone eg Stoke on a cold wet January Tuesday night and the result would be very different.