Bruce Sacked at last (now official)

[murgsy]

Maybe it's just the romantic in me, but I would take a punt on Dean Smith. Anything but the dross of 'merry go round old boys'...
Or something leftfield - Slaven Bilic. I also think we need to build on our young talent and recruit/pay wisely, so that when we go up - we won't come straight back. Fulham is a good example.

[TopDeck113]

Zidane is free  now to come to Villa park.

Dream scenario: Real spunk up £50 million in compensation to get Bruce in as their next manager.

[Hookeysmith]

Bunn / Steer / Sarkic

Elmo / Chester / Suliman / Bree / Taylor / DeLaet / Bedeau / Clark

Doyle-Hayes / Lyden / Grealish / Lansbury / Green / Hourinane / Adomah / O'Hare

RHM / Hogan / Kodja / Davis

Surely even with this squad we would look to be one of the favourites next term - what we need is a method and a style of play

Agnew definitely made a difference so keep him but bin the dinosaurs

[Hookeysmith]

Maybe it's just the romantic in me, but I would take a punt on Dean Smith. Anything but the dross of 'merry go round old boys'...
Or something leftfield - Slaven Bilic. I also think we need to build on our young talent and recruit/pay wisely, so that when we go up - we won't come straight back. Fulham is a good example.

Think Bilic is on the verge of a mega money deal in China

[Keeno]

Maybe it's just the romantic in me, but I would take a punt on Dean Smith. Anything but the dross of 'merry go round old boys'...
Or something leftfield - Slaven Bilic. I also think we need to build on our young talent and recruit/pay wisely, so that when we go up - we won't come straight back. Fulham is a good example.

Think Bilic is on the verge of a mega money deal in China

...and if you think Bruce is prone to the under-coaching of players, then Bilic is another level of that altogether. Awful. No thanks

[tomd2103]

Bunn / Steer / Sarkic

Elmo / Chester / Suliman / Bree / Taylor / DeLaet / Bedeau / Clark

Doyle-Hayes / Lyden / Grealish / Lansbury / Green / Hourinane / Adomah / O'Hare

RHM / Hogan / Kodja / Davis

Surely even with this squad we would look to be one of the favourites next term - what we need is a method and a style of play

Agnew definitely made a difference so keep him but bin the dinosaurs

We would need to replace Johnstone, Terry, Hutton, Jedinak, Snodgrass and Grabban from the recent starting XI and we are going to need to sign players to do that.  Also think that the likes of Whelan will still be around.                           

[paul_e]

I'm torn about it really, because as much as I admired the way Fulham played in the first half and would like to see us play in a similar way, I wouldn't have really cared less how we played had we won on Saturday.  We desperately need to be back in the top flight if the club is going to move on.  I think it also has to be remembered that although Wolves and Fulham went up playing an attractive style of football, Cardiff went up with Neil Warnock as manager and playing a completely different way.  As I said, financial circumstances might dictate the direction the club takes this summer, but I think we will have to accept that the model many of us would like to see (more progressive model with a focus on developing younger players) might not bring instant results and our stay in the Championship could be extended by a few years. 

The counter to that is that there is a reason why almost every bookie in the country has Cardiff as favourites for relegation whereas Wolves and Fulham are generally being predicted to stay up.

[ktvillan]

According to Wyness the "Villa Engine" is already supposed to be setting up a "house style", but the exception has been at first team level.  If we want to build such a style we have to start somewhere and I think there is more leeway to do it while in the Championship.   The alternative is to take a chance on one of the old school getting us up, but what then?  If we retain old school, we will struggle, if we try to become progressive there is very little margin for trial and error while in the PL.  This why I was disappointed we didn't go progressive after RDM, I doubt we'd be any worse off than we are now, we'd be a year and a half down that route, and we may not have pissed away quite so much of the parachute payments either.

Bit off the wall here and some will think me mad, but I'd love us to offer Wenger a role as the person to oversee the progressive approach - possibly as mentor to someone like Smith.

[VinnieChase84]

If he’s still here by a week tomorrow then he’s going nowhere

[tomd2103]

I'm torn about it really, because as much as I admired the way Fulham played in the first half and would like to see us play in a similar way, I wouldn't have really cared less how we played had we won on Saturday.  We desperately need to be back in the top flight if the club is going to move on.  I think it also has to be remembered that although Wolves and Fulham went up playing an attractive style of football, Cardiff went up with Neil Warnock as manager and playing a completely different way.  As I said, financial circumstances might dictate the direction the club takes this summer, but I think we will have to accept that the model many of us would like to see (more progressive model with a focus on developing younger players) might not bring instant results and our stay in the Championship could be extended by a few years. 

The counter to that is that there is a reason why almost every bookie in the country has Cardiff as favourites for relegation whereas Wolves and Fulham are generally being predicted to stay up.

Well yes, but after the experience of Saturday and the concerns that have been raised over the subsequent days, it could be argued that getting up is all that really matters and we can worry about the Premier League when we have achieved that.  I think what Warnock and Cardiff proved is the importance of having a way of playing that best suits the players you have got and playing a style that is going to be effective and get the most out of them.  We haven't really done either since we came down, as any of us who have witnessed an endless procession of hopeful balls being hit up up the pitch for Hogan to aerially challenge massive centre halves can testify. 

[Rudy Can't Fail]

If he’s still here by a week tomorrow then he’s going nowhere

I think he'll be gone, the club have probably delayed the announcement to let him have a bit of R & R after the personal turmoil he's been through these last few months. It also gives the club time to find his replacement. It's a tougher job than should be having wasted the last two years and millions of pounds with next to nothing to show for it.

I wonder how many ex-managers/coaching staff are still on our play roll. Then we have the likely case of playing out compensation to bring in the new manager and his backroom team. Dean Smith extended his contract back in February until June 2020, so even he wouldn't come cheap. We're in a right mess, one that was pretty easy to predict 12 months ago when action should have been taken as the writing was painted in very large letters on the wall.

Despite the situation today, I'm very confident that with the right manager we can finally go on and achieve promotion next season. Others clubs have done it will less, we just need to focus on what really matters.. the football. Everything else will fall into place.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Bit off the wall here and some will think me mad, but I'd love us to offer Wenger a role as the person to oversee the progressive approach - possibly as mentor to someone like Smith.

Interesting read on Smith from Brentford fans here.

[PeterWithesShin]

A number of websites are saying Villa execs have met with Andrea Stramaccioni.

[VinnieChase84]

A number of websites are saying Villa execs have met with Andrea Stramaccioni.

Would be the most bizarre move ever

[dave.woodhall]

A number of websites are saying Villa execs have met with Andrea Stramaccioni.

They all seem a bit clickbait-y, but if he does get the job God knows the reasoning behind it.