New Manager Search *BACK ON*

[Templeton Peck]

After sleeping on it (and still being a bit angry) I do think we've taken the right decision albeit it has been self-inflicted by complete incompetence. Lage should have been sacked earlier, probably around May as some have said, and that would have given the summer to be thorough and appoint.

However, I am fully on board with not making a bog standard appointment now just to see us safe from relegation meaning we then have to sack said manager in the summer and start this entire process all over again (see Zenga, Lambert). Obviously we wouldn't be in that position if we had done our due diligence, but I *do* think Lopetegui's dad is genuinely ill - and with an ill mom currently I'd love nothing more than to take 3-4 months off from work to care for her properly and you can't begrudge Lopetegui that - and part of me thinks Beale flip reserved at the eleventh hour (he won't say that in his interview with the QPR media team because their fans will bay for his blood).

I don't think we're magically waiting for candidates to become available post-World Cup. I'm probably a blind optimist, I'm probably giving the team at Wolves too much credit, but someone must have gone "I'm yours in 2023 if you want me" (maybe Lopetegui) which means we aren't rushing now.

This is slightly different to Terry Connor in that it hasn't been a knee jerk sacking in February - if anything it came too late - and our current interim does have SOME experience of managing a successful team, albeit in lower leagues. If they're going to supplement that further with coaches around them to add fresh ideas and then the head coach takes over that setup that's not too bad of a way to do it.

As said, could have been avoided, but it could also be a lot worse. Obviously a Martins/Bosz would have been better than their predecessor but they're not a long term solution, and to me we made the mistake in hiring Lage who wasn't a long term solution either.

Nothing to suggest Bosz or Martins wouldn't have been a long term solution. They're not old and they're not Zenga. And we apparently rejected Svensson.

 

[jd1981]

Davis has my backing I’m desperate for us not to go down. I’ve had 23 of the last 35 years watching us in the second tier.
Just don’t see us scoring enough goals to stay up it’s a huge problem and I just don’t see us improving on it anytime soon.

 

[Johnny75]

The play has gotten slightly better - all fine margins but if Neves nails that free-kick or Costa hits the ball first time we're 3-0 up into half-time and winning in the end.

He isn't the answer, of course he isn't, but I'm happy to have him in charge for 4-6 games if we get the right man. As long as we appoint the right man regardless of whether he loses all 4-6 or gets anywhere between 9-12 points.

Obviously if we don't get the right man, that's another story.

This is absolute rubbish Sam.

Anybody defending the club, and that is what you are doing by saying you're happy to wait, has not been paying attention.

1) they wanted to appoint Lopetegui
2) they wanted to appoint Beale
3) they lied to us by saying there were no stand out candidates.

Stop feeding on bullshit and see these people for what they really are.

They are incompetent fools that would be sacked in any other industry.

For every game we have with an underperforming coach we are closer to relegation. We are closer to not getting a good manager because who would want to manage a club that doesn't win and is likely to be relegated?

Steve Davis is a Lg2 manager and we are likely to be 19th or 20th come January.

 

[prawnking]

Nothing to suggest Bosz or Martins wouldn't have been a long term solution. They're not old and they're not Zenga. And we apparently rejected Svensson.

Yep, I'm not going to be gaslit by Jeff that there's no option but to do nothing for 3/4 months. Bosz, Martins or Svensson would all have been acceptable.

I very much doubt we're waiting all this time with the aim of securing a real coup or a proper elite manager like Poch or Tuchel in January anyway. It'll be someone of a similar level to those above, so what's the point?

There's no reason to believe Shi has some 4D masterplan he's going to pull out in 2023, he clearly doesn't have a clue and this is just pushing the problem into some imagined future

 

[slink]

How can anyone be comfortable with Steve Davis (nothing against him as a bloke) managing us in the PL for anything other than a game or two

No one should be comfortable with it. He was sacked while Leyton Orient were in the national league in his last proper job. He wouldn’t even be in the running for most if not all league 2 jobs.

Jeff/Fosun/Mendes have done some great things and they’ve done some shit things but this is the worst imo. Now we might pick up points because the players are just happier Bruno isn’t here but what other club would have made this decision. Absolutely baffles me.

We do have to back him though and hope the improvement in player morale and man management of Davis gets us something.

What doesn’t sit well was a comment Nathan Judah made when we bumped into him outside the ground on Tuesday night that Sellars was in contact with the bench during the Forest game as he was sat not far away from him. With the runs Nunes was making in the game i can see that though as it was like a reincarnation of Dendoncker.

 

[Tony Towner]

I actually don't have an issue with waiting for the right appointment - and I still think Lopetegui would be a decent appointment.

But the amount of time it's taken for us to act on the fact we were shit, bad to watch and unable to win under Lage is something that I can't so easily forgive. It's made us look incredibly reactive, and I very much doubt that 'waiting until after the world cup' is a process we had envisaged when we first sacked Lage.

I don't agree with anyone saying we're as good as down already but FFS, it's not going to help matters - Davis needs a pretty urgent upturn in form and results because otherwise, the job looks harder, less attractive and our better players will be looking at January with a different perspective.

Building on that. His dad is 92, clearly has more than a cold and without wishing to be macabre is probably going to end one way, so hypothetically I can see him saying he'll take the job in the New Year, but what if in Jan we are 5 points adrift, would he still come? I doubt it

If it wasn't for Neves hitting the post with the freekick, we'd have probably gone on to win the Palace game. At that point, Davis would be on 6 points from a possible 9 and we'd all be feeling a lot more optimistic. Razor fine margins!

I think on balance, things have improved with Davis and I think he's good enough to at least keep us in the race until January. His willingness to give some of our promising youth a chance and the fact that he uses players in position are both refreshing and I think he's as good as a steady hand as we could hope for at this stage. Still gutted about Beale though. He could have been our most progressive managerial appointment for thirty years.

Fine margins as you say, equally if their shot that hits the post goes in then they go on to win easily as we don't come from behind as demonstrated later in the game

 

[YoungWolf]

Villa are speaking to Amorim according to David Ornstein

 

[pr0sl0]

Rejecting Svensson is the one that's particularly bizarre to me, if he did truly want the gig. On paper he's of the same ilk as Beale, but with an actual track record in a major league.

 

[Wilf Wolf]

Villa are speaking to Amorim according to David Ornstein

The manager who doesn’t want to leave mid-season? What a waste of effort…

 

[b3h]

That could mean anything really .

Yes I appreciate that he needed a rest after what was it , 4 years at Seville . He clearly puts his heart and soul into it , so understandably he needs a rest .

Does that mean he'll be ready in November / December ?

I don't believe that his father's illness is the reason . Lots of people have ill parents , but that does not mean that you give us your job and be with them for 3/4 months until they pass away . Life goes on . If Lopetegui were to move to the UK having stayed close to his father for 6 weeks or so it doesn't mean that he cares any less .

Still pages to read and might have been mentioned but if I had earnt shit loads and got my house paid off I might take a few months off for that tbh.

 

[Del Woppio]

If Villa get even a remotely desirable manager I'm just going to set my phone on fire to stop me ranting for a week or so

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Villa are speaking to Amorim according to David Ornstein

That would be depressingly hilarious if they got him. They will appoint somebody decent either way.

 

[Kenny]

This made me laugh

https://twitter.com/x/status/1583384643608645632

If only for a few moments to forget our search.

We all know Villa will get somebody we will all say "why didn't we try for him" so accept it, bring your blood pressure back down and enjoy life.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

Its like Villa are trolling us in real life.

As frustrating as things are at the moment its easy to whip ourselves into a frenzy on the web. They've made a balls up in not getting their first 2 choices, that is clear. They have made a questionable temporary appointment in Davies, we have to hope that (dispite recent evidence) they get the next appointment bang and and that they actually have someone in mind who will actually come to manage us.

I know this is alot of faith but it'll save a fair few peoples blood pressures over the next couple of days.


I would also suggest blocking any Villa news for the next couple of weeks too as they inevitably appoint Poch with Beale as his number 2

 

[Wolvensam]

I would also suggest blocking any Villa news for the next couple of weeks too as they inevitably appoint Poch with Beale as his number 2

Whoever they appoint we'll moan, so just best to accept it really.

 

[Johnny75]

Whoever they appoint we'll moan, so just best to accept it really.

They're going to find it tough without any stand out candidates.

Maybe they should take their time and wait for the right man to become available?

 

[Kenny]

The list the Telegraph have put out for Villa is

Poch - Pretty much saying no
Tuchel - Deffo saying No
Amorim - Lets see if it was working for Jorge that made him be loyal to Sporting
Frank - 50/50 on this one I reckon
Emery - Just to annoy 1 fan on this forum I think
Dyche - Have to say, for Villa that is a big drop off and would be amazed if they went for him

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Away from Villa, because who cares what they do and we can't control it - If I had to guess then my theory is that whichever non-Lopetegui candidate is being asked to be more or less a caretaker until Lopetegui wants to come here, at which point he'll be punted regardless of results or performance. That's pretty much the only kind of factor that would stop someone like Beale taking the job, because for all his talk of loyalty, that should be a slam dunk of an appointment.

But I'm guessing there because I don't know.

We had the opportunity to offer a £100m+ spend and retention of star players to any candidate in the summer and failed to do so. We only began to look for a new manager when we were in the bottom three and potential candidates (say, Fonseca or Rose) had taken good jobs elsewhere and were now off the table. That is the glaring error. Everything else is just a symptom.

This is what I said on 30 June:

I still think we've condemned ourselves to an awful season by retaining Lage, whoever we sign/keep. I can't see anything other than a mediocre 1PPGish return from the opening six, then we'll go on a losing run and have to sack him as we'll be in the shit, and his record over 25+ games will be awful and untenable. From that point you're just hoping someone can tip you up enough, you're unlikely to actually achieve anything. We either had to write him off (the easy option, anyone can swap a manager) or spend a lot of money on revamping the squad and he lives or dies by the results. Not some crappy halfway house where we have a stale playing staff and a manager who lacks any of the qualities required at this level.

Which has come to pass, although we actually spent a lot more in the summer than I thought we would.

Whether we appointed Lopetegui or Beale in the last fortnight, the season was already reduced to nothing more than a quest to finish 17th or higher. Which is a shit state of affairs.

Do I think we should appoint someone right now? Yes. I would say there are conditions and stipulations from the club which prevent anyone decent and/or with any integrity or dignity from taking it.

 

[Tony Towner]

The only thing I'd query is the 100m spend, not the amount obviously just the freedom to use it. I doubt the 65m that went on Guedes or Nunes would have been used on players from another agent

 

[Jinky]

The list the Telegraph have put out for Villa is

Poch - Pretty much saying no
Tuchel - Deffo saying No
Amorim - Lets see if it was working for Jorge that made him be loyal to Sporting
Frank - 50/50 on this one I reckon
Emery - Just to annoy 1 fan on this forum I think
Dyche - Have to say, for Villa that is a big drop off and would be amazed if they went for him

Scenes when Lopetegui rocks up to Villa Park next week.