Next Manager Speculation/Hopes

[brontebilly]

Isn't our wage bill the eight highest in the division? Thought I read that somewhere recently. That's where we should be aiming as the benchmark.

[pauliewalnuts]

Purslow said our budget is based around finishing 8th.

[SoccerHQ]

We don't deal well with setbacks.

Seems we overachieve for a bit, people get giddy and excited (in the boardroom as much as stands) and there's no real plan or desire to bounceback if things go wrong.

We lost the 2000 final in dismal fashion and that was the end for us as established top 6 club in premier league and we just treaded water for many seasons after until Ellis sold the club.

We gave it a go for a few years under Lerner and it was genuinely exciting. Until the moment O'Neill walked out and we pretty much gave up overnight. No other club who'd just finished top 6 on three successive occasions would appoint a semi retired manager, they just wouldn't and then as player quality reduced our manager appointments were just punts.

Then in recent times we've done well but with so much ground to make up in premier league so I'd give the present ownership more of a pass. However it seems they all assumed Grealish would stay here for life (despite nearly leaving in August 2020) and we were blindsided by him leaving.

In fairness I actually thought some of the signings last summer were pretty logical, they just haven't worked out so far. In hindsight we probably should've signed one of Bailey/Buendia in summer 2020 so they could've been integrated into a winning club and settled quicker.

That all said giving Gerrard endless games when it's beyond him is not a good look especially as seemingly we haven't put feelers out to other managers until last few days as indicated by the emerging press reports.

We will never achieve anything of substance until we see dealing with setbacks as a challenge rather than a major hindrance and basically give up. I think that's what Neville was talking about with regards mentality.

[ChicagoLion]

Its a bit too easy and just point the finger and blame it on culture. Organizations ultimately reflect the caliber of people at the top. A fish rots from the head down.
I dont expect the owners to be experts in Football Club management I just want them to appoint people that are.
If you want to change the culture at Aston Villa, replace the people that have overseen a year of diminishing achievement with nothing to show for it except a higher wage bill.

[London Villan]

In fairness I actually thought some of the signings last summer were pretty logical, they just haven't worked out so far. In hindsight we probably should've signed one of Bailey/Buendia in summer 2020 so they could've been integrated into a winning club and settled quicker.

Ings was the odd one - panic purchase and a player that very clearly didn't fit (and still doesn't) into our system. Bailey and Ings are upgrades to Trez and AEG, but the third signing should have been a fast, strong mobile striker to replace/compete with Watkins.

[Rigadon]

And people were saying 10 years ago that breaking into 'the big 4' as it was then was unrealistic.  Now it's the 'top 6'.  There is always an elite set of clubs.  We should be one of them and until we actually start acting like that (Gerrard should now be gone but isn't) it will never ever change.

I'd say that's aspiration rather than expectation though, to be fair.

Aspiration is for clubs who don't expect to succeed.  The point about culture is that we accept that making up the numbers is enough so long as we're 'aspiring' to succeed (like every single other also-ran).  I sound like an entitled brat, but I'm bored out of my brain of watching us be so utterly mediocre.  It's joyless.   

[dave.woodhall]

We talk often enough about biggest club in the region, capacity crowds, rich owners and the like but we always then have excuses why it's potential not reality.

[Duncan Shaw]

Frustratingly, Newcastle seem to have done this in a very short timeframe and without spending vast amounts, so I think it is achievable.

This hits the nail on the head for me - a decent managerial appointment of someone with a proven track record (who we could have gone for at the time) and some sensible but not outrageous spending and look at the progress they have made - we all thought they would be throwing money around willy nilly, but what they have done in less than a year makes our position by comparison even worse.  Purlsow's vanity project, simple as.

[Beard82]

Frustratingly, Newcastle seem to have done this in a very short timeframe and without spending vast amounts, so I think it is achievable.

This hits the nail on the head for me - a decent managerial appointment of someone with a proven track record (who we could have gone for at the time) and some sensible but not outrageous spending and look at the progress they have made - we all thought they would be throwing money around willy nilly, but what they have done in less than a year makes our position by comparison even worse.  Purlsow's vanity project, simple as.

This is the issue - its not impossible, we've just made poor decisions meaning we have wasted a year and undone a lot of the progress from Dean and JG time

[ChicagoLion]

The decisions since Greasy left have been mainly crap and that is why we are where we are.
The bloke making those decisions is Purslow, it really is that obvious.

[sid1964]

The guy that Newcastle got in from Brighton Dan Ashurst? seems to do a very good job where ever he goes

We have never appointed anyone of that quality to be our DOF

There is no plan we just flip flop from young players then to experienced players there is no joined up thinking and therefore after a season or 2 it all starts to go wrong.

[Clive W]

Frustratingly, Newcastle seem to have done this in a very short timeframe and without spending vast amounts, so I think it is achievable.

This hits the nail on the head for me - a decent managerial appointment of someone with a proven track record (who we could have gone for at the time) and some sensible but not outrageous spending and look at the progress they have made - we all thought they would be throwing money around willy nilly, but what they have done in less than a year makes our position by comparison even worse.  Purlsow's vanity project, simple as.

I may be wrong but I seem to remember that when Howe’s name was mentioned as a potential Villa coach there was a collective “noooooo!!” from most people on this thread

[algy]

We're no stepping stone. There's generally only one way your managerial career goes after us. Which is possibly what puts some off more than anything else who might otherwise fancy a go at it.

Said before, but that's just _the way_.  Villa is a hard gig, IMO, because the expectation is that we finish above (for example) all of the London sides.  Maybe not straight away, but eventually.  Finishing, say, 10th/11th is never going to be good enough in B6 - except for exceptional circumstances such as second-season-back-from-the-Championship, which is a place we thankfully rarely visit.  Practically every Villa supporter sees us as at least regulars in the top 6.  A side who should be playing in Europe most seasons.  That's the base level of expectations for most supporters, even if that's not the way the rest of the footballing world sees things.

What? Who truthfully expects us to finish above all the London sides? Even if 'eventually'?

If you aim to qualify for the Champions League, you'll at least have to finish ahead of one from Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, and West Ham for obvious reasons - and in reality, if Man City and Liverpool take 2 of the CL spots, which they will for the foreseeable, then you'd need to finish above at least 3 in that group ... plus Crystal Palace, Fulham, Brentford, ..

There's no way around it - if your ambitions are eventually to compete in Europe, you're going to have to finish above sides that are currently playing in Europe.  Which means finishing above those London sides.

[Rory]

And people were saying 10 years ago that breaking into 'the big 4' as it was then was unrealistic.  Now it's the 'top 6'.  There is always an elite set of clubs.  We should be one of them and until we actually start acting like that (Gerrard should now be gone but isn't) it will never ever change.

I'd say that's aspiration rather than expectation though, to be fair.

Aspiration is for clubs who don't expect to succeed.  The point about culture is that we accept that making up the numbers is enough so long as we're 'aspiring' to succeed (like every single other also-ran).  I sound like an entitled brat, but I'm bored out of my brain of watching us be so utterly mediocre.  It's joyless.   

The problem is that the messages get mixed. We're fed aspirations (top 4 etc) by the marketing people but as Paulie said, we rarely follow that up with actions that inspire equivalent expectations.

Dave is correct that we have huge potential in that we have a unique name, rare colours, a rich history, reliable home & away support, are the biggest club within 100 miles in any direction and happen to be at the heart of a swathe of the country that has been starved of recent football success and is commonly neglected by the media.

We could be THE club outside of London and the Northwest, a third powerhouse except without any successful rivals in the region. But currently that is just potential, and I don't think anyone genuinely expects that - not from these players or this manager.

What I expect is for us to be a permanent fixture in the top half, challenging for Europe and the cups. But that's what we are organically, and therefore a minimum, hence 'expectation'. Anything less is underperformance.

As for anything more? That would require a change in approach and mindset for me to 'expect' it. Let's focus on living up to our actual stature to begin with, as we've done that for about five of the last 25 years.

[cdbearsfan]

You probably only need to finish fifth in future seasons.