Steve Bruce - officially confirmed (as Sheffield Wednesday boss)

[Villatillidie25]

Said it previously when people in dreamland brought him up but why on earth would Eddie Howe leave Bournemouth for a basket case like Aston Villa?

Because they're Bournemouth and we are Aston Villa.

17th in the Championship and on to their 8th manager in the last 6 years. He didn't stay long at Burnley and i'm sure if he were to leave Bournemouth he wouldn't be heading to the Championship. Or League One.

Football has changed an awful lot since Graham Taylor managed Watford.

If we look at the smaller, less established, clubs up there at the moment, there isn't a single one of them who would come to us right now imo - few ramblings below

Eddie Howe - doing a great job at Bournemouth and surely, if he were to leave Bournemouth, it would be to a higher placed Premiership team - an Everton or maybe even Spurs (if and when Pochetino gets poached by Madrid/Barca)
Dyche - probably the only one on the list who might but only if it goes v. pear shaped at Burnley as I think both they and he seem v. comfortable with things there. (and would we want him if it goes really pear shaped!?)
Allardyce - only just joined Palace and if he were to leave it would be for next seasons relegation favourites not for an aspiring Championship promotion team
Marcos Silva - looks to be turning things around at Hull with a desperately poor side. Has probably impressed a few people here and abroad and is unlikely to want to step down a league. Could be the sort of person, if he continues to flourish, that we could go for if and when we get up and want to try to take the so-called next step but that feels so far away right now it probably isn't worth talking about
Ranieri - if/when Leicester pull the trigger he will go back to italy
Karanka - seems to have a bit of money up in the north east and has a good opportunity to consolidate Boro in the top flight. Unlikely to give that gig up while it is mutually beneficial. Rumours last season of him quitting though might suggest he could be persuaded but it wouldn't be by us
Clement - only just joined and doing a great job. Seems to be settling in and given his job at Derby is likely to want to see out the Swansea gig in order to establish himself as more than a good number 2
Mazzari - would never drop down to the second tier of English football. if/when he leaves Watford, he will go back to Italy or for a big pay day somewhere else

[Reuben]

“I found when I arrived that it was difficult to hand out advice or ­criticism without getting something back. People felt like it was a personal attack." - James Chester

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-skipper-james-chester-9854822

[paul_e]

Said it previously when people in dreamland brought him up but why on earth would Eddie Howe leave Bournemouth for a basket case like Aston Villa?

Because they're Bournemouth and we are Aston Villa.

17th in the Championship and on to their 8th manager in the last 6 years. He didn't stay long at Burnley and i'm sure if he were to leave Bournemouth he wouldn't be heading to the Championship. Or League One.

Football has changed an awful lot since Graham Taylor managed Watford.

If we look at the smaller, less established, clubs up there at the moment, there isn't a single one of them who would come to us right now imo - few ramblings below

Eddie Howe - doing a great job at Bournemouth and surely, if he were to leave Bournemouth, it would be to a higher placed Premiership team - an Everton or maybe even Spurs (if and when Pochetino gets poached by Madrid/Barca)
Dyche - probably the only one on the list who might but only if it goes v. pear shaped at Burnley as I think both they and he seem v. comfortable with things there. (and would we want him if it goes really pear shaped!?)
Allardyce - only just joined Palace and if he were to leave it would be for next seasons relegation favourites not for an aspiring Championship promotion team
Marcos Silva - looks to be turning things around at Hull with a desperately poor side. Has probably impressed a few people here and abroad and is unlikely to want to step down a league. Could be the sort of person, if he continues to flourish, that we could go for if and when we get up and want to try to take the so-called next step but that feels so far away right now it probably isn't worth talking about
Ranieri - if/when Leicester pull the trigger he will go back to italy
Karanka - seems to have a bit of money up in the north east and has a good opportunity to consolidate Boro in the top flight. Unlikely to give that gig up while it is mutually beneficial. Rumours last season of him quitting though might suggest he could be persuaded but it wouldn't be by us
Clement - only just joined and doing a great job. Seems to be settling in and given his job at Derby is likely to want to see out the Swansea gig in order to establish himself as more than a good number 2
Mazzari - would never drop down to the second tier of English football. if/when he leaves Watford, he will go back to Italy or for a big pay day somewhere else

To me this seems a bit like "know your place, we're shit".  I get that self-deprecation and talking ourselves down i a brummie thing but why do we get upset about comments like 'half-arsed club that used to be famous' and then come out with things like this?  By being afraid to even suggest we might get a decent manager or that we could play good football, or that good players might stay for a while (look how many of our own fans had Benteke down as sold before the end of his first season) we consign ourselves to our fate.  Some posters would like us to go the other way and act like the plucky underdogs but the truth is we should be a big deal in this league and we need to understand that and start acting appropriately.  That's not just about throwing money around and taking teams best players, lets take their coaches as well and start playing a way to blow them away.  Lets aim for managers and players who are too good for this league and need to be convinced that we're going to be the bollocks once we get our act together (which is happening NOW!), that's how we use our size and history to our advantage, we don't hide from it or ignore it.

[adrenachrome]

From the same Moxley piece in The Mirror:

Back-to-back home defeats have led to ­grumbles in the stands. But Chester says that is understandable and, if anything, the supporters have been too soft on the players.

He added: “Villa fans have suffered. They’ve been in and around the bottom of the Premier League for a number of years – and now they are in the Championship.

“With the form we’ve shown over the last six weeks, they could have made it worse for the players.

“They are well within their rights to be having a moan and, if I’m honest, they’ve been gentle on us.

“It certainly wouldn’t have been unwarranted given the results against Ipswich and Barnsley in the past week.

Stick that up your pipe Cyril Lord Balti More.

[john e]

Said it previously when people in dreamland brought him up but why on earth would Eddie Howe leave Bournemouth for a basket case like Aston Villa?

Because they're Bournemouth and we are Aston Villa.

17th in the Championship and on to their 8th manager in the last 6 years. He didn't stay long at Burnley and i'm sure if he were to leave Bournemouth he wouldn't be heading to the Championship. Or League One.

Football has changed an awful lot since Graham Taylor managed Watford.

If we look at the smaller, less established, clubs up there at the moment, there isn't a single one of them who would come to us right now imo - few ramblings below

Eddie Howe - doing a great job at Bournemouth and surely, if he were to leave Bournemouth, it would be to a higher placed Premiership team - an Everton or maybe even Spurs (if and when Pochetino gets poached by Madrid/Barca)
Dyche - probably the only one on the list who might but only if it goes v. pear shaped at Burnley as I think both they and he seem v. comfortable with things there. (and would we want him if it goes really pear shaped!?)
Allardyce - only just joined Palace and if he were to leave it would be for next seasons relegation favourites not for an aspiring Championship promotion team
Marcos Silva - looks to be turning things around at Hull with a desperately poor side. Has probably impressed a few people here and abroad and is unlikely to want to step down a league. Could be the sort of person, if he continues to flourish, that we could go for if and when we get up and want to try to take the so-called next step but that feels so far away right now it probably isn't worth talking about
Ranieri - if/when Leicester pull the trigger he will go back to italy
Karanka - seems to have a bit of money up in the north east and has a good opportunity to consolidate Boro in the top flight. Unlikely to give that gig up while it is mutually beneficial. Rumours last season of him quitting though might suggest he could be persuaded but it wouldn't be by us
Clement - only just joined and doing a great job. Seems to be settling in and given his job at Derby is likely to want to see out the Swansea gig in order to establish himself as more than a good number 2
Mazzari - would never drop down to the second tier of English football. if/when he leaves Watford, he will go back to Italy or for a big pay day somewhere else

balls to that load of losers, just get Wenger when he leaves at the end of the season

PSG, maybe Barca, other top clubs around Europe won't stand a chance if he thinks there's a smidgen of a chance of becoming the manager of the greatest club ever invented

[Villatillidie25]

Said it previously when people in dreamland brought him up but why on earth would Eddie Howe leave Bournemouth for a basket case like Aston Villa?

Because they're Bournemouth and we are Aston Villa.

17th in the Championship and on to their 8th manager in the last 6 years. He didn't stay long at Burnley and i'm sure if he were to leave Bournemouth he wouldn't be heading to the Championship. Or League One.

Football has changed an awful lot since Graham Taylor managed Watford.

If we look at the smaller, less established, clubs up there at the moment, there isn't a single one of them who would come to us right now imo - few ramblings below

Eddie Howe - doing a great job at Bournemouth and surely, if he were to leave Bournemouth, it would be to a higher placed Premiership team - an Everton or maybe even Spurs (if and when Pochetino gets poached by Madrid/Barca)
Dyche - probably the only one on the list who might but only if it goes v. pear shaped at Burnley as I think both they and he seem v. comfortable with things there. (and would we want him if it goes really pear shaped!?)
Allardyce - only just joined Palace and if he were to leave it would be for next seasons relegation favourites not for an aspiring Championship promotion team
Marcos Silva - looks to be turning things around at Hull with a desperately poor side. Has probably impressed a few people here and abroad and is unlikely to want to step down a league. Could be the sort of person, if he continues to flourish, that we could go for if and when we get up and want to try to take the so-called next step but that feels so far away right now it probably isn't worth talking about
Ranieri - if/when Leicester pull the trigger he will go back to italy
Karanka - seems to have a bit of money up in the north east and has a good opportunity to consolidate Boro in the top flight. Unlikely to give that gig up while it is mutually beneficial. Rumours last season of him quitting though might suggest he could be persuaded but it wouldn't be by us
Clement - only just joined and doing a great job. Seems to be settling in and given his job at Derby is likely to want to see out the Swansea gig in order to establish himself as more than a good number 2
Mazzari - would never drop down to the second tier of English football. if/when he leaves Watford, he will go back to Italy or for a big pay day somewhere else

To me this seems a bit like "know your place, we're shit".  I get that self-deprecation and talking ourselves down i a brummie thing but why do we get upset about comments like 'half-arsed club that used to be famous' and then come out with things like this?  By being afraid to even suggest we might get a decent manager or that we could play good football, or that good players might stay for a while (look how many of our own fans had Benteke down as sold before the end of his first season) we consign ourselves to our fate.  Some posters would like us to go the other way and act like the plucky underdogs but the truth is we should be a big deal in this league and we need to understand that and start acting appropriately.  That's not just about throwing money around and taking teams best players, lets take their coaches as well and start playing a way to blow them away.  Lets aim for managers and players who are too good for this league and need to be convinced that we're going to be the bollocks once we get our act together (which is happening NOW!), that's how we use our size and history to our advantage, we don't hide from it or ignore it.

It wasn't meant as that. I am definitely an advocate of us trying to throw our weight around and act like a club of the stature that we should demand.
It was more an attempt at objective reflection on the current crop of Premier league managers and whether or not we could get them. Nor was it a reflection on whether we should go for any of them because I'm not actually sure we should do given that (imo) the more exciting prospects (Howe, Silva, Clement) are all v. inexperienced and would be something of a gamble right now and, personally, I wouldn't particularly want any of the others, despite the relative successes/experience.

I do, however, think it is harder to prize managers away from clubs (in comparison to players), particularly when you are in a lower league. It's also fair to say that not that many managers are poached from a club (as a percentage) but should any of these individuals become jobless, I would see absolutely no reason why they wouldn't be tempted by the Villa job, assuming we were looking!

John E is probably on to something though, lets just go for Wenger

[PaulWinch again]

His quotes are becoming a bit worrying. He sounds rather like he can't see where we're going wrong.

[john e]

as we know money talks in football
if you pay the money you can get anyone you want within reason

the manager is the most important person at a club so why not overspend in that direction rather than shitarse  players like Mcormac for 12 million quid now farmed out to Forest

[cheltenhamlion]

“I found when I arrived that it was difficult to hand out advice or ­criticism without getting something back. People felt like it was a personal attack." - James Chester

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-skipper-james-chester-9854822

Fair fucks to Chester for that.

[AV82EC]

“I found when I arrived that it was difficult to hand out advice or ­criticism without getting something back. People felt like it was a personal attack." - James Chester

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-skipper-james-chester-9854822

Fair fucks to Chester for that.

Yep, one of the few players whose been reasonably consistent and deserves his say. He must have wondered what he'd wandered into after he experience with the close bonded Welsh team.

[paul_e]

as we know money talks in football
if you pay the money you can get anyone you want within reason

the manager is the most important person at a club so why not overspend in that direction rather than shitarse  players like Mcormac for 12 million quid now farmed out to Forest

exactly right, we keep giving average managers massive wages and then being surprised when they sign average players on massive wages.

[cheltenhamlion]

as we know money talks in football
if you pay the money you can get anyone you want within reason

the manager is the most important person at a club so why not overspend in that direction rather than shitarse  players like Mcormac for 12 million quid now farmed out to Forest

exactly right, we keep giving average managers massive wages and then being surprised when they sign average players on massive wages.

As it goes, I wouldn't pot Bruce yet but will go with that. I wanted a 2 year step change type appointment like Bielsa. We don't have it though so time to mend and make do with him having some very important KPI's put in front of him.

[Ian.]

The way I see it even if someone massive came in because we paid top dollar and after 15-20 games it wasn't working would we still be hanging the fella on here? Or would he have more slack because they cost more and look more attractive? I reckon if we had Rafa last season instead of Remi and got relegated he'd have had as much stick.

Bruce needs this season and the summer to get this working with the squad we have now with maybe a small adjustment this summer. The squad looks very good now.
He's got a very good record in management at this level, he needs time.

[john e]

The way I see it even if someone massive came in because we paid top dollar and after 15-20 games it wasn't working would we still be hanging the fella on here? Or would he have more slack because they cost more and look more attractive? I reckon if we had Rafa last season instead of Remi and got relegated he'd have had as much stick.

Bruce needs this season and the summer to get this working with the squad we have now with maybe a small adjustment this summer. The squad looks very good now.
He's got a very good record in management at this level, he needs time.

I think it would depend on seeing if there was a plan, any sort of improvement, some system that you could see formulating
you know the feeling if something is heading in the right direction even if results don't always show that

You really can't say that with Bruce it's all over the place bad at every level possible

[PeterWithesShin]

From that Chester interview, a bit different to it being a weight off the shoulders when relegation was confirmed.

It’s a huge privilege to be playing for this club. We need to turn around the embarrassment and suffering that the fans have felt for a long time.