Manager for next season

[Rudy Can't Fail]

And just to qualify I don't mean a shouter I mean a disciplinarian.  Someone who can instill into the players that texting Tony Xia if they don't agree with something he implements isn't a good career move.

Care to offer an example from their careers where Pearson has done this and Di Matteo has failed at this?

Built a Premier League winning side?

Bollocks to him, he's gone. Time to get behind Bob.

[Villa in Denmark]

Was Sir Graham's appointment greeted with such negativity at the time as I can't remember.

I'm willing to bet that if these boards had been around then the folk on here now would state:

1) Long ball merchant, don't want his anti-football tactics.
2) What has he ever won?
3) Has no track record - blah, blah, blah.

I was around at the time and I was very impressed with the appointment.  We had just been relegated and it looked as though we were not coming back quickly.  Taylor had taken Watford through the divisions to just below the top in the 1st Division.  To convince him to come to Villa was one of the best things Doug actually achieved.

I can remember being in my boss's office at the time and we were talking on the phone to a client who was well in at Watford.  He said that Taylor would be a great as manager but one of the most important things was bringing Steve Harrison along with him.  With any manager it's really important to have a good management/coaching team behind them.  It is probably even more important now than then to have the coaches as it is a much more technical game now.

And we've spectacularly failed to secure that with most appointments post MON.

Houllier - no.
McLeish - yes?
Lambert - yes for first 2 seasons.
Sherwood - no.
Garde - no.

I don't know if RDM is actually first choice, but whoever is shouldn't be allowed near Bodymoor Heath without their first choice backroom staff.

[Dave]

I would like someone with more Championship experience

A surefire way to have lots of Championship experience?

Not being good enough to manage your way out of it, or good enough that a team higher up wants to employ you.

Presumably you Newcastle are screwed next season?

[old man villa fan]

I think with the take over our wanted characteristics in a manager have changed.  If Lerner had stayed on, I think Pearson would have been the right type of manager but Xia wants to rebuild us.  This will mean the new manager having a free hand to get rid of which players he wants to.  With this in mind, I think there are better managers around than Pearson.

Lerner selling up is seeing us go from defence to attack.  The new manager should reflect this and put us on the front foot.

[dave.woodhall]

The thing I don't understand is that we have a squad that should almost all be got rid of because they're either a) not good enough, b) the new buzzword 'toxic', or c) both. But we also need a ranty, shouty manager to manage them. If so many are going then ranty shouty shouldn't be the prime criteria. 

[Stirchley Villain]

Was Sir Graham's appointment greeted with such negativity at the time as I can't remember.

I'm willing to bet that if these boards had been around then the folk on here now would state:

1) Long ball merchant, don't want his anti-football tactics.
2) What has he ever won?
3) Has no track record - blah, blah, blah.

I was around at the time and I was very impressed with the appointment.  We had just been relegated and it looked as though we were not coming back quickly.  Taylor had taken Watford through the divisions to just below the top in the 1st Division.  To convince him to come to Villa was one of the best things Doug actually achieved.

I can remember being in my boss's office at the time and we were talking on the phone to a client who was well in at Watford.  He said that Taylor would be a great as manager but one of the most important things was bringing Steve Harrison along with him.  With any manager it's really important to have a good management/coaching team behind them.  It is probably even more important now than then to have the coaches as it is a much more technical game now.

And we've spectacularly failed to secure that with most appointments post MON.

Houllier - no.
McLeish - yes?
Lambert - yes for first 2 seasons.
Sherwood - no.
Garde - no.

I don't know if RDM is actually first choice, but whoever is shouldn't be allowed near Bodymoor Heath without their first choice backroom staff.

You could argue O'Neill was a failure too. He won nothing of note and wrecked the club.

[cdbearsfan]

It's a mental thought process in my opinion.

Manager spends half a decade in Championship, before finally getting out of it. Great candidate.

Manager gets promoted from Championship at first attempt. Rubbish candidate. Not enough Championship experience.

I bet that idiot Di Matteo is regretting getting promoted and winning the European and FA Cups now. He should've tried to stay down in the Championship for a few years to make his CV more enticing.

[Gregorys Boy]

Towards the end of the season everyone was agreed we needed a manager proven to bring stability to the dressing room which we all agree is a major problem ....for me Pearson would have done this without any issue

I am not sure why there are so many anti Pearson comments here ......... I would now back derby for automatic promotion

I am totally unsure about RDM - if he is appointed I hope he proves me wrong - as I doubt he will ever have dealt with such a mess as he will inherit here

Our planning is already way behind everybody else ....I have not even seen pre season games being planned or a retained list etc

We should be appointing a manager NOW otherwise our chances of making the play offs I fear will be NIL

Options for the manager are slim but we need to appoint and then move at great speed to start the squad etc etc

Pretty much agree with you.  For me Pearson likeable or not, has a strong track record, is very direct and strong in a dressing room, and knows the Championship inside out. 


RDM's experience at the highest level of the game cannot be denied, but this is a big long term job, where some slow building, and tough decisions might be needed, and I'd back Pearson to make those calls over him.

Would have liked to have seen Pearson given a chance actually, out of the limited options think he was one of the best.  RDM has a decent record, but I would like someone with more Championship experience, and a stronger personality, think he's a bit passive.  We could do worse, but I'm not 100% sold on him.  But who ever we are getting we need to make the move fast, otherwise our planning for next season will be behind the others.

Depends on what you mean by stronger personality.

Compare him to some of his compatriots.

Ranieri
Maldini (sr)
Trapattoni
Ancelotti
Prandelli

None of them outwardly very demonstrative, but all successful in managing / massaging the biggest egos in the game, completely destroying the latin "passionate temperament" cliche exuded by losers like di Canio.

Fair point, but fact is to get us out of the Championship we are looking for a different kind of manager than them (not that we could realistically attract them anyway).

I do find it a bit backwards that we never seemd to really consider the likes of Houghton or Dyche.  The later was always going to be out of
our reach when Burnley got promoted, but the former should have been one we at least inquired about.

[Villa in Denmark]

SV, I was only talking about if we'd successfully secured the preferred backroom staff for the manager, otherwise it would be "no" all the way down.

I'm starting the whole MON success or failure debate again, but I don't think it's a point we'd end up falling out over.

[cdbearsfan]

He's so great you couldn't even be bothered to learn his name.

EDIT: response to Gregory's Boy, don't want to clog the page quoting the whole thing.

[dave.woodhall]

Fair point, but fact is to get us out of the Championship we are looking for a different kind of manager than them (not that we could realistically attract them anyway).

And again, why is it that the Championship is the only competition in any sport where this is a 'fact'? Why is experience at that level more important than ability?

[Gregorys Boy]

I would like someone with more Championship experience

A surefire way to have lots of Championship experience?

Not being good enough to manage your way out of it, or good enough that a team higher up wants to employ you.

Presumably you Newcastle are screwed next season?

But how often does a manager of the experience and class of Rafa manage in the Championship? That is a one off, not the norm.  I do take your point that within reason a good manager can be sucessful in any league, but the Championship is for me a more fast pace, and in your face league than the PL.  Not to mention that by becoming a big fish in a small pond that Villa just became a marked team. 

[old man villa fan]

I would like someone with more Championship experience

A surefire way to have lots of Championship experience?

Not being good enough to manage your way out of it, or good enough that a team higher up wants to employ you.

Presumably you Newcastle are screwed next season?

But how often does a manager of the experience and class of Rafa manage in the Championship? That is a one off, not the norm.  I do take your point that within reason a good manager can be sucessful in any league, but the Championship is for me a more fast pace, and in your face league than the PL.  Not to mention that by becoming a big fish in a small pond that Villa just became a marked team. 

but probably still less of a marked team than Newcastle, if the Newcastle hype is to be believed.

[john e]

I came round to the idea of Pearson as our next manager when it was looking likely

but he's gone now I'm not going to lose any sleep over him, he ain't that great

I've not come round to the idea of RDM yet but if it happens I will no doubt get on board,

I said last week I'm not sure how dr X appoints a new manager until he has officially bought and paid for the club, I know it happened with MON but maybe both sides were in agreement with whatever happened and that's not the case this time,
if he's chosen his man and its that easy then why isn't he in the job yet

[Stirchley Villain]

It doesn't matter who the next manager is, because unless the deep rooted issues at the heart of the club are resolved it won't matter a jot.