and then who?

[Californian Villain]

Hoddle? Really

I think all this talk of Hoddle is the best indication yet of how badly PL is performing.

[richardhubbard]

André Villas-Boas for me, he was my first choice before Lambert was appointed...

He track record shocking

[curiousorange]

You could pick someone out from the Holte end to manage us for the Swansea game and I doubt the performance would be any worse than what we've churned out today or the Sunderland game.

What I want more than anything is for our players not to look surprised when they receive the ball. Most of them throw their hands up from their sides like they're disarming an IED.

[SoccerHQ]

AVB don't win many more home games either, think his Spurs record was 4/9 this season which considering how much better and creative their squad is than ours isn't great.

One thing that is saving Lambert is I don't see a present manager available who'll push us that much significantly forward especially with this board's track record of appointing mangers.

I really think the time has come to go abroad, imagine if we could coax someone like Marcelo Bielsa to Villa Park? The football world would sit up and take notice of that.

[curiousorange]

How depressing is it that we're in such a state that a terrible manager stays in a job because we can only afford to attract somebody worse?

[paulcomben]

My great uncle is 80 and sadly has dementia. But, even so he knows that footballers must track runners, get goal side and get to the opposition goal line, among other utterly obvious basic things. He is available.

[CJ]

Carlos Queiroz. Currently languishing at the Iran national team - may be persuaded to come to the PL?

[Irish villain]

How depressing is it that we're in such a state that a terrible manager stays in a job because we can only afford to attract somebody worse?

Look, we are in a dire position. Absolutely dire. I don't know what the club's standards are anymore. After McLeish was sacked it seemed that the owners laid down a marker that flirting with relegation and trying not to lose games was Unacceptable.

Nineteen months later we are where we are. I don't know anymore and things are so bad I don't think we can change manager as it is too risky with a group of young players who were moulded by the man who gave them their chance. The new manager might just think 'Holy Crap none of these are good enough' and then what? Buy a new squad in January or shatter their confidence?

We have no easy way out of this I am afraid. 

[Seb_AVFC]

Gary Neville anyone?

[curiousorange]

Carlos Queiroz. Currently languishing at the Iran national team - may be persuaded to come to the PL?

By 'languishing', do you mean "preparing for the World Cup"?

[onje_villa]

How depressing is it that we're in such a state that a terrible manager stays in a job because we can only afford to attract somebody worse?

Look, we are in a dire position. Absolutely dire. I don't know what the club's standards are anymore. After McLeish was sacked it seemed that the owners laid down a marker that flirting with relegation and trying not to lose games was Unacceptable.

Nineteen months later we are where we are. I don't know anymore and things are so bad I don't think we can change manager as it is too risky with a group of young players who were moulded by the man who gave them their chance. The new manager might just think 'Holy Crap none of these are good enough' and then what? Buy a new squad in January or shatter their confidence?

We have no easy way out of this I am afraid.

We could start by remembering that although not at the levels of old, we're still a pretty big fucking club. And then start acting like one.

[Irish villain]

How depressing is it that we're in such a state that a terrible manager stays in a job because we can only afford to attract somebody worse?

Look, we are in a dire position. Absolutely dire. I don't know what the club's standards are anymore. After McLeish was sacked it seemed that the owners laid down a marker that flirting with relegation and trying not to lose games was Unacceptable.

Nineteen months later we are where we are. I don't know anymore and things are so bad I don't think we can change manager as it is too risky with a group of young players who were moulded by the man who gave them their chance. The new manager might just think 'Holy Crap none of these are good enough' and then what? Buy a new squad in January or shatter their confidence?

We have no easy way out of this I am afraid.

We could start by remembering that although not at the levels of old, we're still a pretty big fucking club. And then start acting like one.

Amen to that.

[tepavilla]

It would be too risky because of possible/likely relegation? Would that be the end of the world really? I don't think so. Hitting the rock bottom could actually be the exact thing we need right now. Otherwise I fear nothing changes in this football club.

Just get a foreign manager in who has shown he can organize his group to play good modern football even with limited resources. And if we'll stay in the Premiership, good. If we'll be relegated, that's fine too.

[curiousorange]

It would be too risky because of possible/likely relegation? Would that be the end of the world really? I don't think so. Hitting the rock bottom could actually be the exact thing we need right now. Otherwise I fear nothing changes in this football club.

Just get a foreign manager in who has shown he can organize his group to play good modern football even with limited resources. And if we'll stay in the Premiership, good. If we'll be relegated, that's fine too.

This isn't Fight Club.

[LTA]

Relegation is the last thing we need.

Sheffield Wednesday, Forest, Wolves, Ipswich.....all clubs which have gone down and have languished in the lower league for years afterwards.

We got away with it in the 1980's because Graham Taylor went through the place like a tornado and turned us round.  The game is a world away from that now