After the club’s lawyers were brought in today to bash out the final details on a parting deal with Rémi Garde, Villa’s car crash of a season produced yet more wreckage. MOMS has already explained our views on Garde’s departure and how, while he was indeed sold down the river, it wasn’t necessarily a case of the right guy at the wrong time, as some people have been led to believe.
From the moment the marketing team couldn’t even spell his name right when announcing his arrival, you knew the latest Villa managerial appointment might go up in flames like the previous ones. The club will now have to find its fourth manager proper in just over a year, a statistic that says it all.
The next managerial choice is vital for the immediate future of the club. Factoring in the parachute payments Villa will receive, the club have realistically two seasons before the financial gap between Villa and Premier League clubs,widens drastically due to the new increase of TV revenue.
At the moment, it’s fair to say the front-runners at the moment are Nigel Pearson and David Moyes. Both don’t offer any guarantees and good arguments can be made for and against.
A lot of Villa fans favour Moyes, but is he the new Steve McClaren? Confidence damaged from his last two jobs, with his best years may already be behind him? Villa could turn into a nightmare job for him, as failure will destroy any cache he still has left. The former United boss is also 2/1 for a return to Everton and 3/1 for the Celtic job, both would no doubt be preferable and lower risk to him.
A lot has been said about Pearson’s temperament, but while he might not be an ideal Villa manager choice normally, due to the club’s recent direction it may have bred a need for a character like Pearson to be the sharp tonic to get the club back on track.
Gary Monk is also thought to carry some favour within the new Villa board, but his inexperience will no doubt count against him. After all, half of his success at Swansea was from being part of the infrastructure of the club’s recent fortunes as a player and captain. He wouldn’t have the same sentiment at Villa though.
Another former Swansea boss, Brendan Rodgers might be worth trying to persuade, but would he fancy going back down to the Championship?
It is time for character and a clear vision, journey men need not apply. With the backroom increasingly starting to take shape in a positive manner under Steve Hollis’s guidance, the right man could make a real name for himself. It will be anything but easy though.
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For more from MOMS on Nigel Pearson
For more from MOMS on David Moyes
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I don’t think we need to be quite as pessimistic as Mug Handle but when you read his CV of the board it does not make comfortable reading.
Hollis is a shrewd guy and I believe he is trying to turn things round, clearly things were much worse than any of us really knew. We could guess, but we were not truly sure.
The next appointment is critical, I see it as the “Last Chance Saloon” and I would not be surprised if Villa suddenly pulled a rabbit out of the hat. We will see
Whole Board is a joke. Old white men who are part of the old boys network, just got rid of the arsenal old boys network now we get the FA’s. Their chief spin doctor to boot. Seriously thinking of no longer bothering with Villa. Terribly run.
As for Garde, well Villa fired/left by mutual consent two CEO’s, 3 Managers, 2 assistant managers, replaced the board, and guess what. I doubt very much that past the next game the players will improve on the pitch. Failure all round.
Give it to Eric Black, let him build for two seasons and see where we get to. Cannot be worse than the last 6 years of Train Wreck.