Manager for next season

[Dave]

Hard to say Hughton can't cut it, Newcastle binned him while they were 11th after romping division 2, he finished 11th with Norwich and was binned the following season when they were 5 points clear of the drop zone. They ended up relegated. I doubt he'll ever be a great manager but he has held his own in the top flight the few times he's been in it.

He offers far more than Pearson, even when you disregard Pearson's horrible personality.

I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion, Dave.

Pearson's record makes an interesting read, not only is he a fire fighter, brought in to clubs struggling, he takes them up the table and pushes them to places they could only have dreamed of. Another trait is the number of records he sets with unbeaten runs. The 21 game unbeaten run at Leicester in their promotional season is hard to ignore, as was there 9 wins on the trot. I like the fact he served his apprenticeship for 10 years, not going for the manager's jobs he was offered until he was ready. The stand out stats for me though are the promotion season in 2013-14 where Leicester finished champions with 102 points, losing only 6 times all season, just two at home. In fact Pearson has a great record of getting his teams to win at home, something we've struggled to do for decades.

Hughton, as I mentioned a few days ago has a more than decent record, I like him but I really don't see what he offers more of than Pearson other than being a very likeable chap.

If we must have an English/British manager, I'd rather we go with Pearson with Gary Rowett as a second choice.

Well, if we say that each of them have one solid achievement, winning the Championship, both with (a nice aid for comparison of) 102 points. Both sides kept a side in the Premier League, Hughton more comfortably in 11th with Norwich, Pearson with an excellent late run getting Leicester to 14th. Let's charitably (for Pearson) call that a draw.

So if we take our the last two seasons for Pearson (those two above), what else is on his CV? Getting Leicester out of League One with the capacity to outspend everybody else, followed by four seasons in the Championship with two of the wealthiest sides finishing anywhere between 5th and 11th. Not exactly anything that elevates him above any other manager as far as I can see.

Hughton's seasons other than the two compared above - taking a basket-case Birmingham side to fourth, being fired from Norwich when they were five points clear of Premier League safety, joining Brighton while in the relegation-zone mid-season and taking them out of it and to safety, and so far in his one full season with them has them in third in the league having spent far less than any of the other teams in the top five.

So to the flip your question on it's head (given that none of the above factors in the fact that one as you say seems like a good person and the other seems like a horrible, unhinged bully), what do you feel given their records up to now means that Pearson is a better option than Hughton? From what I can see, at absolute best we're talking about par between the two of them.

And I'm not particularly fussed about having Hughton. Just fussed that we don't have a nasty, toxic shit like Pearson associated with us when there are plenty of other people who are just as competent without his ugliness.

[SoccerHQ]

Hughton would be a very good pick up for the championship.

[DrGonzo]

  Short term thinking is, largely, what has landed us in the mess we currently find ourselves in.  We need somebody who understands how to succeed in the lower leagues but with the drive and ambition to manage at the highest level.  Look how well Howe is doing at Bournemouth, a brave appointment in the same vein would be something that excites me.  Monk will have learnt many lessons from his time at Swansea in the Prem, coupled with his time as captain at the same club in the lower league gives him a good insight into the realities we wil be facing next season.  That's not to say that he is the answer but more the type of person we should be looking at.
  Defintely a British manager, or at least somebody with a good history in the English leagues, and maybe somebody without the preconceptions that a Moyes type manager would bring to the club.

[shipscat]

I'm another whom thinks Hughton could be a decent fit for us.He handled some big reputations,whom had collectively failed, within that basket case of a Newcastle club ..They had lost a few of the bigger hitters like Owen and he managed to rekindle that squad and integrate some of them whom had not been involved much in the previous season,like Carroll.

The Blues looked like they'd tumble through the divisions as the full knowledge of the hairdressers modus operandi became apparent.The players  bailed out on mass at the start. He made the play offs.

Brighton to me still look as if they could sneak the automatic

[Holte L2]

I've been backing Hughton since the start of the start of this thread.

[Jimbo]

However comical Newcastle were, they weren't in the same universe of shitness as we are now. They had just enough to build on and turn around. We have to start from the basement up. And after five years of getting almost everything wrong, we suddenly have to start getting most things right, while every ragtag outfit in the league lines up to have a pop. That's going to be some turnaround.

Again though you are looking at it from a Villa fan perspective, and all I am saying is Newcastle fans thought precisely that about their lot at the time. Yet their rag tag lot walked the division. I don't believe that our players are as bad as they have shown, but they need help from some new players and a fresh start with a manager that is going to unite them.

Prior to their relegation, Newcastle hadn't even been involved in a battle against the drop since their previous promotion in 1993. They'd never finished below fourteenth in that period. It seems likely they'd have survived if not for one awful season in which the fuckwittery of appointing managers based on Geordieness rather than ability saw them relegated. Even then, they only went down by a point.

Our relegation, by contrast, is after half a decade of just about surviving, culminating in a relegation with an embarrassing points total.

There is no comparison between their side that went down and straight back up and our shower of shite.

Well, there obviously is a comparison there as they are both relegated sides. The particularly telling comparison is that both clubs have had abysmal leadership.

Nor really sure what the relevance is of going back to 1993 either?

It doesn't really make any difference that we have struggled for four years. We are a shit side and so were Newcastle when they went down  - and they are this season too.

It makes all the difference that it's been going on for five years. The culture of failure and unprofessionalism is something that permeates almost every facet of the club, certainly where playing matters are concerned. The culmination of which means the expectation isn't just to lose, but by how many.

The players try even less than Newcastle's mercenaries, both the current tools and the 2008/9 chancers. For us, it's humiliation after humiliation. The only remaining pride exists in the stands, although there are some young fans who can't remember anything other than scrabbling around at the bottom of the table. That's a very, very tough thing to bounce back from.

It will take the entire club to pull together, and at the moment it's in total disarray. The new manager is going to have to convince whoever is left that from August we'll somehow be a different club than the one that habitually accepted failure, in fact gave up completely, just a few months ago. 

[Toronto Villa]

If Nigel Pearson walked into Villa Park tomorrow he won't give a shit about the culture. Neither would Moyes. He'd be greeted by Hollis, the new board and told hold amazing the place can be again. He'd meet the players and would tell them in August to forget about the previous season because there's nothing that can be done. Along with new players he brings in they can make changes to the current without it being affected by any residual culture. It's not like a new manger or players would arrive at Villa and the weeds are growing, the lights don't work, the paint is peeling off the walls due to some neglect. They will be met by a sensational stadium and a new board looking very much to put things right quickly. Get a few wins and things change very quickly.

[Matt C]

Extra kudos to Hughton too for bailing on that lot the minute he had the opportunity.

[Jimbo]

If Nigel Pearson walked into Villa Park tomorrow he won't give a shit about the culture. Neither would Moyes. He'd be greeted by Hollis, the new board and told hold amazing the place can be again. He'd meet the players and would tell them in August to forget about the previous season because there's nothing that can be done. Along with new players he brings in they can make changes to the current without it being affected by any residual culture. It's not like a new manger or players would arrive at Villa and the weeds are growing, the lights don't work, the paint is peeling off the walls due to some neglect. They will be met by a sensational stadium and a new board looking very much to put things right quickly. Get a few wins and things change very quickly.

I think those first few games will be key, because as you say, wins make all the difference. But I think it depends how many charlatans like Gabby, Richards, Lescott, Guzan, Bacuna etc. we still have at the club, because at the moment those players know three things about playing for Villa. They get a lot of money, they don't have to try, and they can get managers they don't like the sack by continuing to coast. 

[robbo1874]

Going short-term has contributed to this

No, appointing shit managers and not buying good players caused this mess. None of our recent managers were appointed as short term options. It was just that they turned out to be absolutely shit and had to go. No point keeping bad managers.

and selling the good players we did have.

Going short-term has contributed to this

No, appointing shit managers and not buying good players caused this mess. None of our recent managers were appointed as short term options. It was just that they turned out to be absolutely shit and had to go. No point keeping bad managers.

So do you think appointing a good manager but potentially getting rid once we're promoted is the way to go?

Why can't the way to go be "appoint a good manager, get promoted and carry on with that good manager"?

thats the ideal scenario Dave. What we'd all give for a mk 1 Graham Taylor... I think most of us realise we're unlikely to get that lucky this time round.

[villan from luton]

I don't like the personality of Pearson, but maybe he is what we need. Read somewhere today we are prepared to give Hull 2 million for Bruce, that's a whole lot of pies

[Toronto Villa]

If Nigel Pearson walked into Villa Park tomorrow he won't give a shit about the culture. Neither would Moyes. He'd be greeted by Hollis, the new board and told hold amazing the place can be again. He'd meet the players and would tell them in August to forget about the previous season because there's nothing that can be done. Along with new players he brings in they can make changes to the current without it being affected by any residual culture. It's not like a new manger or players would arrive at Villa and the weeds are growing, the lights don't work, the paint is peeling off the walls due to some neglect. They will be met by a sensational stadium and a new board looking very much to put things right quickly. Get a few wins and things change very quickly.

I think those first few games will be key, because as you say, wins make all the difference. But I think it depends how many charlatans like Gabby, Richards, Lescott, Guzan, Bacuna etc. we still have at the club, because at the moment those players know three things about playing for Villa. They get a lot of money, they don't have to try, and they can get managers they don't like the sack by continuing to coast. 

I think most of the charlatans will want out. It's almost better that we are relegated in that regard because had we stayed up they'd all still be on their PL contracts. It's important the club helps them move on. In the best interests of giving the next manager the best chance of success he needs the distractions of this year to be out of the club.

[VinnieChase84]

I live in Leicester territory and spoken to lots of them lot. They have nothing but praise for NP. Say he rebuilt the club from league 1 and had a massive clear out of the deadwood and rebuilt. The lunatic you see is due t his hatred for the media. Will protect his players in front of the press till he's blue in the face. This is how he gets players playing for him.
I'd welcome him given the striking similiarities of where we are at as a 'squad'

[PeterWithesShin]

I don't think the press made him tell his own fans to "fuck off and die", or his hatred of the press is why he throttled an opposition player during a game. I reckon it's because he's unhinged.

[TonyD]

The more I look at NP's record , the more he makes sense.  Somebody strong enough to sort out the bad apples too.   Come on down Nige.