Next Villa manager

[KevinGage]

With his contacts, you'd hope that if it was Wagner, some promising young Dortmund (or other Bundesliga) hopefuls would be targeted for key positions.

A lot was made of the French players not adapting last season, but was the In-ger-lund lot letting us down. Then and now. The French were actually OK professionals.

Germans, Dutch and the Northern Europeans usually find it even easier to adapt to the demands of English football.   They also tend not to be photographed out lying face down in a pool of their own vomit or smoking bongs.

[SteveN]

'Safe' could also mean 'unimaginative', and Christ knows that's been us in every way in recent years. I'm fed up of safe, of dreary failure. Wagner is fresh air, new ideas, not afraid, not one of the sodding old boys network.

Completely agree, Wagner would be good, Rowett, Dean Smith perhaps but a big no to any of the usual suspects

[Matt Collins]

I'm feeling the Wagner Love

Think he'd be a bit foolish to take the plunge though. He's top of the league and probably has a shout at a premier league club  at some point this season

[TaipeiVillain]

Completely disagree about the last few managerial choices as being safe. I'd argue the opposite.

Sherwood had hardly managed before.

Garde was the epitome of a stab in the dark.

RDM was a "name" but in no way a safe choice.

The safe choices would have been a Moyes or an Allardyce.

[brian green]

I am glad you used the word imaginative Monty.  It seems like forever since we had a manager who would actually THINK about a game, not just react to it with perceived standard wisdom from a play book.  Painting by numbers applied to football.  Grass - green, sky - blue, cow - brown, target man - Gestede, reliable midfield - Westwood, injured player on bench - Tshibola.  You get the picture.  Total absence of imagination.

[Rudy65]

'Safe' could also mean 'unimaginative', and Christ knows that's been us in every way in recent years. I'm fed up of safe, of dreary failure. Wagner is fresh air, new ideas, not afraid, not one of the sodding old boys network.

And his team played us off the park second half at VP earlier this season. We were lucky to draw

[tomd2103]

'Safe' could also mean 'unimaginative', and Christ knows that's been us in every way in recent years. I'm fed up of safe, of dreary failure. Wagner is fresh air, new ideas, not afraid, not one of the sodding old boys network.

I would hardly call Lambert, Sherwood, Garde and Di Matteo 'safe' appointments.  They were all fairly young managers and were seen as having 'fresh' ideas at the time of their appointment.  It soon transpired that the job was too big for any of them and they were out of their depth.  We are one more appointment like that away from being in League One next season as it stands, so I would prefer an experienced manager with a proven track record at this level. 

[john e]

can any one tell me what style of play Steve Bruce plays
He's been a manager for years and I still can't tell

he's just another name from the Lambert, Mcliesh, Mclaren, Alardyce journeyman bucket that some seem obsessed by

[oswald funkletrumpet]

fat sam aint going to happen, he is going to end up with a ban

ill chuck in chris coleman

[Toronto Villa]

'Safe' could also mean 'unimaginative', and Christ knows that's been us in every way in recent years. I'm fed up of safe, of dreary failure. Wagner is fresh air, new ideas, not afraid, not one of the sodding old boys network.

And his team played us off the park second half at VP earlier this season. We were lucky to draw

Not lucky at all. We should have been 3-0 up and they scored on a very jammy goal late on. Not at all dismissing what he has done so far because it is really impressive but we were the better side by a long stretch in the first half. We just became what we have been all season in the second half and they took advantage.

[oldtimernow]

any thoughts about going to Iceland?

[Matt Collins]

I agree we haven't gonr for a proven / safe manager since houllier and O'Neill

I wouldn't be averse to a Steve Bruce for that reason. He probably does lack an identity but I think he's pragmatic.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

David Moyes should be available in a week or two. Wyness and Round are surely big fans.

[Monty]

I agree that the managers themselves haven't necessarily been safe options - although I think Lambert was definitely the obvious option at the time - but they've all played football that's safe at best and unimaginative at worst (with the exception of Sherwood, who's just an anomalous person in general). Bruce will play that football, the kind that's definitely had its day, and I wasn't no more of it.

We need something to gee up the club. I don't want 'stability', because stability in the Championship is oblivion got a club like Villa.

[TopDeck113]

Beginning of October and we're yet again having the whole who'd-be-the-best-man-to-turn-the-ship-around debate.  Where's the I'm-almost-at-the-point-of-beyond-caring option?