Who do you want the next Villa manager to be?

[onje_villa]

Garde would be interesting. I think I'd take that. Goes along with the sort of players we signed in the summer. Sign of joined-up thinking. Mind you I thought Sherwood would be interesting. He was. Sort of. In a bad way.

Anyway feeling positive about at least trying to bring in a more progressive coach.

[German James]

Villa are a very English club, I sometimes think, and this means all sorts of good things - the classic four-stand shape of the ground, the (remaining) red-brick in the stands, the multicultural make-up of the crowds in more recent years - but I wonder if that general feeling has been perpetuated by our choice of managers and players (or possibly the other way around).

I think the things you mention are part of what makes Villa a traditional, English club. I would add the location of the ground, it's still always such a thrill to suddenly be confronted by Villa Park after walking along terraced streets, it's a sign of how much of a comunity sport football is - or perhaps was. Out of town stadiums will never have that pull. I don't believe the actual football played need be "very English", in order to keep that feeling, though.

[ozzjim]

The read ups on Sherwood before he came were bloody awful. Garde seems to be universally positive. Lets hope that is a good sign. There is a talk of Houllier coach coming back that was here when GED was.

[Monty]

I agree James. I just wonder if the feeling of Englishness has been enhanced by the football. While everyone else has been moving on, we've been perservering with lumpball. Let's hope this is the end of all that.

[Sexual Ealing]

Have there been any further reports of developments? No doubt in six months time we'll be all-fart-and-no-shitting him out the door but, today, he seems like a good idea.

[ROBBO]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months. They couldn't sack Sherwood after keeping us up and they may have waited until we were in the bottom three before contactually able to sack him. If this has any credence then it is the first bit of long term planning we have seen at the club in years.

[Stirchley Villain]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months. They couldn't sack Sherwood after keeping us up and they may have waited until we were in the bottom three before contactually able to sack him. If this has any credence then it is the first bit of long term planning we have seen at the club in years.

I am sceptical about conspiracy theories. Usually it's just a fuck up.

[godzvilla]

Have there been any further reports of developments? No doubt in six months time we'll be all-fart-and-no-shitting him out the door but, today, he seems like a good idea.

Approx 10 minutes ago, hot off the French Press:
Remi Garde – Aston Villa talks progressing “very well”
According to our colleagues at Canal +, talks between Aston Villa and Remi Garde have in the last hours been progressing “very well”.
Canal +, who currently partially employ Remi Garde as a pundit, are now confident that Garde “should” become the next Aston Villa manager..............Godzvilla ! ( Vive le Claret et Bleu )

[Jimbo]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months. They couldn't sack Sherwood after keeping us up and they may have waited until we were in the bottom three before contactually able to sack him. If this has any credence then it is the first bit of long term planning we have seen at the club in years.

It's a neat hypothesis. I'd like to think our bunch could be as Machiavellian as that.

[Sexual Ealing]

Have there been any further reports of developments? No doubt in six months time we'll be all-fart-and-no-shitting him out the door but, today, he seems like a good idea.

Approx 10 minutes ago, hot off the French Press:
Remi Garde – Aston Villa talks progressing “very well”
According to our colleagues at Canal +, talks between Aston Villa and Remi Garde have in the last hours been progressing “very well”.
Canal +, who currently partially employ Remi Garde as a pundit, are now confident that Garde “should” become the next Aston Villa manager..............Godzvilla ! ( Vive le Claret et Bleu )

Merci!

[Matt Collins]

He does have a good rep. But he's got a bloody massive task. Only four teams have ever stayed up in the premier league after having a record as bad as us at this stage.

I'm not sure we've got anyone who's definitely proven top half class for the first time in my life.

The striking position is the big worry. I'd like to think he could get these players to be better organised in defence and midfield. Played a 4312 at Lyon apparently.

Guzan - Richards okore Clark Amavi - gana Westwood veretout - grealish - gabby ayew

Doesn't look good enough does it?

[Dave]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months.

I can easily imagine that we bought our players over the summer with an eye on how somebody else might use them.

But if the whole plan above was put together based on how Remi Garde would do and he had shown enough interest in the job to warrant putting this plan into place - he wasn't working at the time we hired Sherwood. If Fox wanted Garde to be our manager, he would have just hired him when we needed a manager last February.

[Stirchley Villain]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months. They couldn't sack Sherwood after keeping us up and they may have waited until we were in the bottom three before contactually able to sack him. If this has any credence then it is the first bit of long term planning we have seen at the club in years.

It's a neat hypothesis. I'd like to think our bunch could be as Machiavellian as that.

But in reality we know Randy is at home playing with his toy helicopter and Fox is throwing arrers at pictures on a dart board...

[silhillvilla]

Could it be that this was set up months ago? the fact that Sherwood didn't have control over the players we bought, that Fox and the new football director spent time at Arsenal with Garde, that most of the players bought in were young and French. You don't just get someone like Garde after a couple of weeks, it could be that this has been planned for months. They couldn't sack Sherwood after keeping us up and they may have waited until we were in the bottom three before contactually able to sack him. If this has any credence then it is the first bit of long term planning we have seen at the cjlub in years.

It's a neat hypothesis. I'd like to think our bunch could be as Machiavellian as that.

I suspect the meeting in the U.S. the other week when sherwood was omitted from the invite list would of been when they hatched the plan

[Dave]

But in reality we know Randy is playing at home with his toy helicopter and Fox is throwing arrers at pictures on a dart board.

If we do hire him, I do think it's the latest lurch to hire the precise opposite of what immediately went before.

Eventually we'll stumble across the right person, but it wouldn't surprise me if this one turned out not to be it. Even if it looks like it will be a much better lurch than last time.