Next Villa manager

[aj2k77]

How about Wagner, Rowett, Smith and Johnson for starters.  They have only fallen out of the posts because it looks like a done deal and those of us who think we should be trying to do better are accused of snivelling.

Wagner 50 games.
Rowett midtable championship, dour, defensive manager.
Smith, only managed tiny clubs with no expectation and small budgets.
Johnson, completely unproven as anything other than a decent lower league manager with limited experience at this level.

All of them seem like a desperate attempt to try and uncover the next Guardiola or something who can build a dynasty. Its much more likely theyd be a massive gamble that blew up in our face, again.

[Toronto Villa]

It's entirely possible that the weight could sink all of those. It's a huge jump from Huddersfield or Brentford to Aston Villa. I'd rather we took our time to find the next big thing and have a structure in place to truly support them. Rather than turn one of those guys into what Paul Lambert ultimately became. A broken and forgotten man.

[chrisw1]

How about Wagner, Rowett, Smith and Johnson for starters.  They have only fallen out of the posts because it looks like a done deal and those of us who think we should be trying to do better are accused of snivelling.

Rowett wouldn't come mid season.  Johnson &Wagner have both ruled themselves out and frankly would have been a pretty big gamble anyway.  Dean Smith would be a possibility I guess, but surely Bruce is the safer option?

[AVH87]

Whoever the manager is to be (and its looking pretty much nailed on Bruce) they are at least inheriting a decent squad to work with, even if their fitness levels need work.

I wonder however why it is taking so long with Bruce as he is a free agent. Surely they saw the writing on the wall with RDM and would have started the process of sounding people out before him biting the bullet?

I know Bruce is limited and I know his limits could still see him successfully get us at least into the play offs. My biggest issue is that I, like many thousands sang, "sit down potato head" at every visit to VP - I feel a real hypocrite now thinking I will support him as if nothing happened before. The other worry is that a huge part of his career so far was with Eric Black, and we certainly don't want that clown back

I think they had to look at other options and also once they identified it was to be Bruce he might have certain personnel demands. I'm sure Atkins joining isn't just coincidental and they might be looking to secure Agnew. But I imagine this will all be done by Wednesday and Bruce is already looking at DVDs of our players and performances from this season.

Plus there's no rush as we had 2 weeks between RDM going and our next game, may as well use that time wisely to do due diligence etc.

[CT Villan]

I don't mind Bruce coming in at all - if you did a risk assessment of all those available Bruce would be the lowest risk option for our immediate goal of gaining promotion. Where I start to have a problem is that Xia, Wyness, Round and to a lesser degree Sir Brian have been talking a lot about getting a structure in place that promotes a Villa identity through an attractive, attacking (and successful) playing style whilst also building a stronger commercial business too. I wonder how, or even if, Bruce can fit into this philosophy and will we ultimately scrap the long term view in favour of short term success - which obviously maintains the reactive nature of our decisions and the revolving door keeps a spinning.

[Chris Jameson]

How about Wagner, Rowett, Smith and Johnson for starters.  They have only fallen out of the posts because it looks like a done deal and those of us who think we should be trying to do better are accused of snivelling.

Rowett wouldn't come mid season.  Johnson &Wagner have both ruled themselves out and frankly would have been a pretty big gamble anyway.  Dean Smith would be a possibility I guess, but surely Bruce is the safer option?

That's why I hope our owner never seeks the advice of supporters when appointing a manager. I haven't accused anybody of 'snuivelling' and can't say I've noticed anybody else doing so, I honestly can't see how any of the names mentioned would be a better appointment than Bruce. I keep seeing his sides play 'hoofball' (they don't) and dour football,all those wanting Rowett have watched the type of free flowing, entertaining football his sides play I take it?

[Allan C]

Like a few others on here, I'm now resigned to us getting Bruce and I'll get behind him and the team like I always have.  But it's a poor appointment in my opinion lacking in imagination and vision. I'm also sick of hearing how he's got experience in getting teams promoted from this league. IMO it's a shite league with shite players and shite managers.

Allan what exactly is it that you want from our next manager? For me they simply get us promoted as you point out the teams we've played are not great but we're not winning. Right now with the managers available the most likely candidate to sort us out and get us up this league is Steve Bruce. Vision is over rated and will keep till we're back in the top flight.

I want a manager who will do more than just get us promotion and then we dispense with him because he's tactically limited in the PL. I want a manager who will develop a style of football that will be recognised as the Villa way. For me, Bruce's only real attribute is he's available and has a history of promotion from, as we both agree, a poor league. I understand that our pull to prospective managers has diminished due to the shocking way the club has been run but if we want to reverse the decline surely now is the time to start.

[LeeB]

How about Wagner, Rowett, Smith and Johnson for starters.  They have only fallen out of the posts because it looks like a done deal and those of us who think we should be trying to do better are accused of snivelling.

Rowett wouldn't come mid season.  Johnson &Wagner have both ruled themselves out and frankly would have been a pretty big gamble anyway.  Dean Smith would be a possibility I guess, but surely Bruce is the safer option?

That's why I hope our owner never seeks the advice of supporters when appointing a manager. I haven't accused anybody of 'snuivelling' and can't say I've noticed anybody else doing so, I honestly can't see how any of the names mentioned would be a better appointment than Bruce. I keep seeing his sides play 'hoofball' (they don't) and dour football,all those wanting Rowett have watched the type of free flowing, entertaining football his sides play I take it?

Indeed, if you look at the rags their possession stats would embarrass Lambert in his "possession is overrated" phase.

They are strictly a counter-attack side.

[django]

I'd probably be happier with Rowett rather than Bruce, but none of the teams
Bruce has managed in the championship, Blues, Wigan, Hull have had anything like the quality in their squads like we have in ours. Blues current squad has been put together for a few
loose coppers and buttons found down the back of the sofa.

Comparing their possession stats etc with some of our recent managers is pointless.

[Ads]

The 10th fence on the racecourse should not be uppermost in your mind, when you are approaching the first.

True but if your goal is to be in first place after the 10th fence then make sure you're not making that more difficult on yourself by only training the horse to jump 1 or 2 fences.

But Bruce has a good record, I don't get the issue?

Bruce has a good record if you rarely watch his teams play and if you ignore the bad bits of it.

He got Hull up twice, got the Noses up and kept the latter there for a good while and the former for a season too, both of which are shite 2nd and 3rd division garbage in the grand scheme of things.

I saw his Noses side regularly beat ours.

I'm not arsed about style of football. I genuinely don't give a toss anymore. I'm just sick of walking away from grounds and using the word ****** more times than Roy Chubby Brown to describe how badly we've failed.

I think Bruce would get this squad into the play offs. Chances are that means we will win 20 plus games between now and May. That will make me very happy indeed.

[Toronto Villa]

Good call Ads. I like you am just fucking sick to death of us losing games and for my weekends to be utterly ruined. I've hated watching any football for a while now simply because of how crap we are. If Bruce brings us some wins and gives us a bit of hope I'm all for it.

[Monty]

I care about style of play because I think it'll help us win more, not just because of some frivolous idea about entertainment. My problem with Bruce is that, even if we have a huge spike in enjoyment for one season and go up, we'll flatline again the next with boring, pointless, drawing football in the lower half of the Premier League - which some people I'm sure will find preferrable to this, understandably, but to me there's not a huge amount of difference.

[Chico Hamilton III]

My problem with Bruce is that, even if we have a huge spike in enjoyment for one season and go up, we'll flatline again the next with boring, pointless, drawing football in the lower half of the Premier League.

Then we sack him and get someone else, that's how it works. I'll eat my own shit if whoever comes in as our new manager lasts more than 2 years. How many current Premier League mangers have held their post for more than 2 years? I'll take Bruce to get us out of the division and worry about our Champions League prospects when we're in the right division. And there'd certainly more chance of us getting some of the big-name managers that have been mentioned on here.   

[nigel]

I wasn't inspired by Houllier but thought he would steady the ship. Experienced at the highest levels. But he was useless.

I thought Mcleish would be useless. He was.

I thought Lambert would be great for us. An up and coming British manager who had excelled in the lower leagues. Dare I say he was young and hungry. He was useless.

Sherwood, British laddish, I can't stand him but maybe he might get on with the players and...useless.

Change of direction, garde, cultured European, champions league experience. Useless.

Di Matteo, a pretty unique cv, experienced at championship and champions league level. Useless.

All I know is everyone we have appointed since MON has been an unmitigated disaster. One day we will appoint someone who isn't useless. Maybe it will be Bruce, maybe it won't. But
Basing it on people's cvs and types almost seems irrelevant. I can't see enough about
Bruce to make me either opposed to it or enthused by it. Hell either be good or just another step
On the way finding the guy who is good for us.

Have to disagree with you on Houlier.
Took a while for him to get the players playing it his way, but, come the end of the season we were being to fire.
If Houlier and McAlister had stayed I'm pretty convinced we would not be in this position. Plus Gabby and the the other wasters would have been got rid of.

[Monty]

My problem with Bruce is that, even if we have a huge spike in enjoyment for one season and go up, we'll flatline again the next with boring, pointless, drawing football in the lower half of the Premier League.

Then we sack him and get someone else, that's how it works. I'll eat my own shit if whoever comes in as our new manager lasts more than 2 years. How many current Premier League mangers have held their post for more than 2 years? I'll take Bruce to get us out of the division and worry about our Champions League prospects when we're in the right division. And there'd certainly more chance of us getting some of the big-name managers that have been mentioned on here.   

But hiring the right manager is a big part of establishing a lasting club infrastructure, something we have the chance to do now. It's not about our 'Champions League' prospects or other such snark - it's about trying to avoid the short-termism and footballing cavemanism that's got us into this shit already.