27 Oct 2015 06:35:37
I'm hearing Harry Redknapp's name popping up for the job?

{Ed001's Note - would you want someone who refuses to move away from his house in Sandbanks, Poole?? Mind he very rarely goes along to even watch players train, so it would make little difference I guess.}

1.) 27 Oct 2015
27 Oct 2015 06:51:17
I Agree Ed, whoever takes the job on though will have one tough season ahead of them for sure. I don't like to choose between managers myself I find it difficult to pick a good one, you can manage a team like Man City and have plenty of success but for obvious reasons it does not mean that you will have the same success at Villa so I'm happy to wait and see what happens :-)

{Ed001's Note - and it depends on the objectives, do you just want to avoid relegation and settle into midtable or do you want to build for a long term future strength of the club? As a long term outlook might see the club relegated in the short term, but end up with a club like Stoke City or Swansea City.}

2.) 27 Oct 2015
27 Oct 2015 07:20:33
With the strong possibility that Villa will fail to escape the drop this season anyway, unless of course Harry Houdini takes over then I would have to say that the long term future of the club would be the best objective at this point, but having said that relegation would still be a bitter pill to swallow.

{Ed001's Note - do you think the fans would stand for it? Only they have pretty much turned against Randy Lerner now, would it be possible to do that with him as owner? I fear the club might pull itself apart if it got relegated under Lerner. In the short term at least. Then I would fear that Lerner would give up on it, even more than he already has done.}

3.) 27 Oct 2015
27 Oct 2015 07:41:21
The club as been in trouble for some years Ed and like it or not it may well get a lot worse before getting better, I watched us playing third tier football many years ago but we rose back to the top eventually, in fact to the very top as European Champions so although we may have to endeavour bad times there is still plenty to smile about. In my time as a Villa fan we have won four League Cups, been crowned Champions, won the European Cup and the European super cup despite those bleak years and not many clubs have had that success over that period of time so I still feel humbled to have followed such a great club.

{Ed001's Note - I can see where the old bit comes from in your name now then!}

4.) 27 Oct 2015
27 Oct 2015 07:49:28
54 now Ed, old but not quite a relic Lol.

{Ed001's Note - nearly half Ed003's age then.}

5.) 29 Oct 2015
29 Oct 2015 16:57:48
Guys, enjoyed your little back and forth here. I fear that villa are looking highly likely to go down but if I could maybe pull a silver lining out of it if it happens, of our current squad who's likely to jump ship or be snapped up by a premier league team next season? I could realistically only see grealish attracting suitors. What my point is is that if we do get relegated then the chances are that 90% of our squad will still be in place to develop together under the right manager. They may not be the best squad to ever grace a football pitch but maybe a season in the championship without the threat of relegation looming over them may allow them to gel into a cohesive unit capable, with a few wise additions, to get back into the PL and compete again. Look at the Newcastle team that got relegated and won promotion the following year! They were a solid team with good work ethic and played very well under "the right manager". Now I'm not saying Chris Hughton is the right manager for us but maybe if we can get the right man in now and allow him the time as fans, even if it is a season in the championship, to work with and mould a team to his philosophy then we can start to rebuild our club. I agree it would be gut wrenching to be relegated but I can't help but feel that it may not be the end of the world for us either.

ed as you say you fear the club might pull itself apart if it was relegated under Lerner but perhaps that may be the final straw for him to accept he will not get his full investment back and finally move on. Surely a strong competing team in the championship is a more attractive prospect for a long term investor than a struggling PL team?

Anyway, win lose or draw I wear my villa shirt with pride and pray that our beloved club can one way or another get back on track.

{Ed001's Note - can I just ask a question about Grealish, do you rate him? I have seen nothing regarding him to make me think he is going to ever amount to anything. He wastes possession so often, there is very little, if any, end product to his work and he doesn't look like he cares about that. It seems he just wants to look good, rather than play well.}

6.) 30 Oct 2015
30 Oct 2015 14:18:54
Ed I agree that his end product is questionable but my point would be, as he shows potential and is British he will be taken from us.

{Ed001's Note - ah ok, so you are not particularly impressed either? I am trying to find anyone other than commentators who do rate him. The commentators go on like he is Best, Pele and Maradona rolled into one with a sprinkling of Messi, but my mates who are Villa fans think he is not good enough. Just wondered if my mates were in the majority or minority, as they are season ticket holders and go to every home match, so I would normally assume they would know better than the commentators, but anyone who buys a Villa season ticket these days must have suspect judgement! ;o)