Johan Lange - appointed

[SoccerHQ]

Finland is not part of Scandinavia.
Though surely this director isn't just heading round Norway's  Eliteserien, Swedish Allsveska and Denmark's Superliga hope he casts his net far and wide.

Sounds like he'll bring home the bacon

Bring home the bacon you say.....

[Mister E]

So, Brentford had a link into the Danish league, didn't they? Wonder whether Deano ha been the driver for this appointment.

[enigma]

• Off the top of my head I cannot think of a Scandinavian player at Villa that has been a dud -
  

Nicklas Helenius
Allback
Okore

Leonhardsen
Erik Bakke[/list]

Totally forgot Bakke played for us. I wouldn't count Sorensen as a dud. He did OK.

[darren woolley]

Welcome and let's sign some top players please.

[Russ aka Big Nose]

Not having Sorensen as a dud or Allback. There has to be some middle ground between legend and dud!

Okore also not having that - if memory serves, he picked us over Chelsea and looked to be a great prospect but he got injured straight away and never properly recovered.

Hellenius and Bakke were poor - still not Steve Hodge-esque.

Still in the other column Carew, King Olaf, and Laursen. For one of them, how many duds would you put up with? 1 for 1 or a different ratio?

[Risso]

Okore was terrible, right up their with the very worst defenders we've had.

[LeeB]

Okore was terrible, right up their with the very worst defenders we've had.

I'm sure it was Okore who received a straightforward pass from kick off in the cup final, and it ballooned off his foot, which absolutely set the tone for the horror show to come. I honestly believe he could trap a ball further than I can kick it.

[Clampy]

I didn't think he was that terrible, it just didn't work out. He picked up a lot of injuries, one bad one if I remember rightly which didn't help him.

[Drummond]

Very unfair on Sorenson who was pretty good for us before O'Neill bombed him out, particularly in O'Dreary's first season when we finished 6th.

I remember getting really fucked off with him at Villa Park for repeating the same shit he had numerous times before, to the point I got up and started to shout 'booo' but hadn't meant to/realised until I was halfway through. I sat down, a bit embarrassed with myself and sulked for the rest of the game.

[Risso]

Okore also scored that ridiculous own goal v Luton, which left Di Matteo smirking in the dugout.

[placeforparks]

So, Brentford had a link into the Danish league, didn't they? Wonder whether Deano ha been the driver for this appointment.

brentford's owner, matthew benham, also owns midtjylland in denmark.

he was/is a professional gambler who used data analysis and algorithms to play the betting markets, and has applied that model to football scouting.

[kippaxvilla2]

I think it will be a Lange term appointment.

I think the Langer he stays the better for us? 

[Brend'Watkins]

I thought Okore was going to be a great player for us.  I remember watching him for some Danish side V Chelsea in a European game.  He played a blinder and was MOM easily in a game I think the Danish side won.  For the first few games with us it was clear it was going to take time for him to settle in.  This was incorrect.  He was just an occasionally average player but more often he was rubbish.

[eamonn]

I thought our new man would be Iberian given the talk of Sawiris investing in that Portugese club.

Lange sounds target-driven and a shrewd judge. Hopefully that will remain now that his parameters are higher/more difficult.

[algy]

It is very reassuring that they have replaced Suso so quickly, leaving us a whole transfer window for the new appointment to get his business done.

He has a good CV (but so did Suso), but we can only guess if he will be good for Villa.
Slight concern is that players that can find their feet in the Danish League becoming good enough for our League may flounder when put straight in at Premier League level. So will have to look for different kind of players here than he did at Copenhagen. Having said that he sounds driven and able to adapt. Lets hope he is a big success.

I've more hope in him than I had in Suso personally, who from what I remember didn't come away from Valencia with the best of reputations, and seemed a bit abrasive at Atletico Madrid.

I think he's just going to be one rung up the food chain at Villa than he was at FC Copenhagen.  There, they were buying players to develop them & flog them to teams like Villa, who play in a 'top 5 league'.  Now he's going to be trying to spot players at those sort of clubs - promising players who are already successful, and have some experience (via the Champions League) of playing against Premier League quality opposition.

I'd guess his role at Villa will be, for the moment, to bring in players from those leagues who have the potential & aspiration to play for Manchester United/Manchester City/Liverpool/Spurs/Chelsea/Arsenal.  Bring 'em in, develop 'em, flog 'em.  That strategy can evolve as we become a more attractive proposition, maybe aiming to sell on to Barca rather than Arsenal ... then to be the one Barca sell on to.