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

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Randy should only interview Fletch if he's been tapped up and there's nobody else in the frame.

"No, there's nobody else sweetie. You're the Duke, A1, the big cheese, the head honcho, numero uno, the boss, the one and only...."

I'm thick, but I reckon even I could run rings round Lerner, he's like Cletus from the Simpsons.

[Vanilla]

The difficulty we have is that with so many clubs looking for a new boss at the same time, there's going to be a lot of horsetrading going on.  It's a bit like transfers, we probably need one of the clubs to appoint somebody, then it'll all settle down.

Are you suggesting skullduggery by the manager's agents?

[ozzjim]

Randy should only interview Fletch if he's been tapped up and there's nobody else in the frame.

"No, there's nobody else sweetie. You're the Duke, A1, the big cheese, the head honcho, numero uno, the boss, the one and only...."

I'm thick, but I reckon even I could run rings round Lerner, he's like Cletus from the Simpsons.

The Lerner with a law degree from Columbia and Cambridge St Claire, and operated as a lawyer in NYC for years. Randy is many things, naive, too philanthropic, elusive, but not thick.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Randy should only interview Fletch if he's been tapped up and there's nobody else in the frame.

"No, there's nobody else sweetie. You're the Duke, A1, the big cheese, the head honcho, numero uno, the boss, the one and only...."

I'm thick, but I reckon even I could run rings round Lerner, he's like Cletus from the Simpsons.

The Lerner with a law degree from Columbia and Cambridge St Claire, and operated as a lawyer in NYC for years. Randy is many things, naive, too philanthropic, elusive, but not thick.

I didn't mean thick in the academic sense, more in the common sense.

[paul_e]

To compare employing a football manager to any other job you need to put everything in context.

The application/CV stage is watching their team play and deciding if you like what you see.

The first interview stage involves doing some research on how they do the job, do they work with the existing coaches, bring through the youth, etc.  This can largely be done talking to your own scouts and agents and shouldn't require a meeting with the candidate.  If the other club or the manager are aware of this happening it's generally in their best interests to keep it quiet, but the odd chairman might make a big deal of it (*cough* dave whelan *cough*).

The 2nd interview is where you actually meet them, see what they think of you and get them to sell themselves for the job.

If this is how we've done things I'd expect no more than 3 people to be met with (within a day or 2) and I 'd expect an offer to appear very quickly after the last meeting.  OGS was never offered the job which means they must've wanted to talk to more people.  That we've had no news suggests these meetings haven't taken place, if that is because of the reaction to ogs by the fans it makes sense, if it's as was always intended then it's pretty poor planning.  I've no issue with it taking time or interviewing multiple people but leaving such a big gap between an interview going public and an announcement of anything concrete is pretty poor in my opinion.

When things are played out in such a public arena a drawn out process is no good for any of the parties, once you've decided to speak to 2-3 people it needs to become a race to the contract for me, up until that stage is the time to be methodical and make sure you've done all your research.

[ozzjim]

Randy should only interview Fletch if he's been tapped up and there's nobody else in the frame.

"No, there's nobody else sweetie. You're the Duke, A1, the big cheese, the head honcho, numero uno, the boss, the one and only...."

I'm thick, but I reckon even I could run rings round Lerner, he's like Cletus from the Simpsons.

The Lerner with a law degree from Columbia and Cambridge St Claire, and operated as a lawyer in NYC for years. Randy is many things, naive, too philanthropic, elusive, but not thick.

I didn't mean thick in the academic sense, more in the common sense.

He appears to lack common sense, that I will give you. If he had that he would never have bought the Villa.

[nigel]

Isnt it about time this thread was closed and we move on from the OGS saga?

Agree

[KevinGage]

To compare employing a football manager to any other job you need to put everything in context.

The application/CV stage is watching their team play and deciding if you like what you see.

The first interview stage involves doing some research on how they do the job, do they work with the existing coaches, bring through the youth, etc.  This can largely be done talking to your own scouts and agents and shouldn't require a meeting with the candidate.  If the other club or the manager are aware of this happening it's generally in their best interests to keep it quiet, but the odd chairman might make a big deal of it (*cough* dave whelan *cough*).

The 2nd interview is where you actually meet them, see what they think of you and get them to sell themselves for the job.

If this is how we've done things I'd expect no more than 3 people to be met with (within a day or 2) and I 'd expect an offer to appear very quickly after the last meeting.  OGS was never offered the job which means they must've wanted to talk to more people.  That we've had no news suggests these meetings haven't taken place, if that is because of the reaction to ogs by the fans it makes sense, if it's as was always intended then it's pretty poor planning.  I've no issue with it taking time or interviewing multiple people but leaving such a big gap between an interview going public and an announcement of anything concrete is pretty poor in my opinion.

When things are played out in such a public arena a drawn out process is no good for any of the parties, once you've decided to speak to 2-3 people it needs to become a race to the contract for me, up until that stage is the time to be methodical and make sure you've done all your research.

The fundamental difference between vacancies in football management and jobs in the real world is any football owner/Chief Exec worth their salt should already know what a prospective candidate is about. 

Unlike 95% of real jobs, the past careers of football manager are a matter of public record.  Yes, even with that, it's still possible for some to blag it.  But it's not like a Joe Soap, walking in off the street telling the interview panel he went to Oxford when it turns out he did a hairdressing course in a regional tech there once.

Once they've decided on the criteria and narrowed it down to who they think is suitable, then it's time to find out through third parties/intermediaries whether said candidates are actually interested in THEM  (again, a break from the real world)  and what they would require in job conditions, salary and so forth. This should narrow the field further.  Maybe the guy they have approached is keen, but is concerned about leaving his present employer. This plays out a lot in football, and is again different to most real life situations, where -you can be nearly certain- if a bloke has actually spoken to you about a job, he'll drop his present employer like a stone should a concrete offer be made.

[Percy McCarthy]

The usual sound reasoning from Mr Gage.

That's why he annoys me when he disagrees with me.

[Mazrim]

Look, whether you like it or not, Randy likes to engage people face to face to see first hand what they're about and if they fit in with the plan, not get second hand info or whatever he's seen or heard on Match of the Day. Its his money and his prerogative.
And before they get millions of pounds to piss away, its good practice.

There's probably 3 or 4 candidates and they're being sounded out. The most suitable will hopefully get the job.
Much ado about nothing.

[Havencheese]

Does anyone who posts on this site have any knowledge of how a football manager is chosen in general or by our board?

Perhaps Lerner and Faulkner have made one of those paper things girls make in primary school.

PF: Pick a colour?
RL: Claret
PF: Pick a number?
RL: 87
PF: Okay (unfolds) Graham Taylor Mk.III
RL: Well that's that then, let's get our man. I don't want any leaks and I don't want our Key Selection Criteria or interview methods disclosed for people on Twitter, anyone ITK, or Internet message boards.

[Caiphus]

I guess it's time to change my name back to Caiphus... unless another Norwegian manager comes from nowhere...

[Risso]

Look, whether you like it or not, Randy likes to engage people face to face to see first hand what they're about and if they fit in with the plan, not get second hand info or whatever he's seen or heard on Match of the Day. Its his money and his prerogative.
And before they get millions of pounds to piss away, its good practice.

There's probably 3 or 4 candidates and they're being sounded out. The most suitable will hopefully get the job.
Much ado about nothing.

The trouble is, he's got it so spectacularly wrong in the past that you can't help but worry.  I'm sure McLeish came across perfectly fine when they met in Corsica or wherever, but in this case, one look at his record and style of play should have made any sensible owner run for the hills.

[john e]

Look, whether you like it or not, Randy likes to engage people face to face to see first hand what they're about and if they fit in with the plan, not get second hand info or whatever he's seen or heard on Match of the Day. Its his money and his prerogative.
And before they get millions of pounds to piss away, its good practice.

There's probably 3 or 4 candidates and they're being sounded out. The most suitable will hopefully get the job.
Much ado about nothing.

The trouble is, he's got it so spectacularly wrong in the past that you can't help but worry.  I'm sure McLeish came across perfectly fine when they met in Corsica or wherever, but in this case, one look at his record and style of play should have made any sensible owner run for the hills.

you cant argue with that,
 i still have time for Randy and hope he's learnt from mistakes in the past, but there is no getting away with what happened last season, i would love to draw a line and move on, but untill a new appointment arrives we still have nagging doubts

[nigel]

Look, whether you like it or not, Randy likes to engage people face to face to see first hand what they're about and if they fit in with the plan, not get second hand info or whatever he's seen or heard on Match of the Day. Its his money and his prerogative.
And before they get millions of pounds to piss away, its good practice.

There's probably 3 or 4 candidates and they're being sounded out. The most suitable will hopefully get the job.
Much ado about nothing.

The trouble is, he's got it so spectacularly wrong in the past that you can't help but worry.  I'm sure McLeish came across perfectly fine when they met in Corsica or wherever, but in this case, one look at his record and style of play should have made any sensible owner run for the hills.

Although he got AMcL wrong I though Houlier was a decent appointment.
Yes, we struggled at first, but that was only because it was a dramatic change in playing style. At the end of that season we were begining to look pretty good. Had Houlier not had to retire I reckon we'd have seen a different Villa last season.