Garde gone

Pearson won't demand funds, but he will demand that the right structure is in place to give you a chance of getting out of the Championship. If not, he won't come.

I do hope you get your problems sorted out quickly - as others have said, the Championship is a pretty unforgiving league and it would be a fatal error to expect promotion just because you fell out of the PL. Better teams than yours have failed to make it out at the first attempt.

If its not to be Moyes, I would take Pearson.

Leicester have proved that if you get your management structure right, anything can be achieved.

Villa have always had the potential to be a leading club, but unfortunately due to miss management, poor decisions and at times a lack of investment they have not in recent years achieved there potential.

It appears that the correct board members are starting to be put into place, if we get the right manager things could soon turn around.

The Championship will be a tough division and so we need to make the right choice.

I think both Pearson and Moyes will demand that the right structure is in place. But if Moyes thinks it is then I can see him attracted by the job.

For a start there's no obvious vacancies coming up in the PL. Then he can see the potential in Villa, even if it's in the Championship and even if it's current state is dire (but if the right setup is in place that matters less).

If the right set up is in place then it's the squad which needs sorting. There's at least 6 players apart from those with minor parts who need to be out of the door, and there needs to be funds in place to attract the right players for next season.

Both Pearson and Moyes can handle a dressing room. Personally I'd go for Moyes, because I think his record of building at Everton on limited funds was impressive, he'd be good for the long term, and I think he has sufficient stature to attract players who otherwise wouldn't come and keep players who otherwise wouldn't stay. He has a good record of making the right signings as well.

Pearson I'm less sure about. He appears something of a bully; in fact he may not be, but if he is then that fails as often as it works. I'm not sure he'd get on with the club over the longer term. He's record with Leicester at the end of last season was impressive, but why were they in such a poor position anyway? However, if the club get him I'd go with it.

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comment by McParlandTheGreat (U6150)
posted 11 minutes ago

Pearson I'm less sure about. He appears something of a bully
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Don't let his outward appearance deceive you. Our players would have run through brick walls for him last season. What he won't stand for though is anything less than 100% - just look at the clearout he did at Leicester after Eriksson left (unloading a load of high earners too).

The only question mark should be whether he will be the same manager without his backroom staff, by all accounts they are about to sign new contracts at Leicester and they've previously been wherever Pearson has been - can't see Villa luring them away while in the Championship.

Paddy, you typed in "keep" next to Cissoko, surely a mistake!!
What a dreadful squad we have assembled. The only ones I would want to see at Villa next season are, Grealish, Westwood, Clark, Baker, Gestede, Bunn (as reserve goalie), Amavi, Bennett, Green, Lyden.
The realism is though, that we ain't going to be able to shift the amount of players we need to in one pre-season. It could take 3 years to shift this lot. Any manager coming in will want assurances of a lengthy project.
The comment regarding Pearson getting rid of Sven's players is interesting and its a similar situation. Pearson's credentials make him the ideal candidate for me and he would need to be in charge of all signings so that he can see the hunger in a players eyes before he signs them, something we haven't done for years when recruiting players.

comment by Paddy (U14157)
posted 2 hours, 6 minutes ago
The job is massive. I've just looked at our entire squad and I'm actually questioning whether there are really any more than five of the current bunch we'd want to keep?

I've been generous to some, and even then I can only come up with wanting to keep about 10. This just shows what a massive job things will be ON THE PITCH with playing personnel as well as off the pitch. I'm not sure if Moyes has that hunger anymore.

No. Position Player
1 GK Brad Guzan - GET RID
4 DF Micah Richards (captain) - GET RID
5 DF Jores Okore - KEEP (but will move on)
6 DF Ciaran Clark - KEEP
7 MF Leandro Bacuna - SACK IMMEDIATELY
8 MF Idrissa Gueye - KEEP (but will move back to France)
9 FW Scott Sinclair - GET RID
11 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor - GET RID
15 MF Ashley Westwood - KEEP
16 DF Joleon Lescott (vice-captain) - GET RID
17 MF Jordan Veretout - GET RID
18 DF Kieran Richardson - SACK IMMEDIATELY
19 FW Jordan Ayew - KEEP (but will probably stay in lower PL team)
20 MF Adama Traoré - KEEP (but will want to leave)
21 DF Alan Hutton - KEEP
23 DF Jordan Amavi - KEEP (possible with injury)
24 MF Carlos Sánchez - GET RID
25 MF Carles Gil - KEEP
26 DF Lewis Kinsella - GET RID
27 FW Libor Kozák - GET RID
28 MF Charles N'Zogbia - GET RID
31 GK Mark Bunn - GET RID
38 MF Jordan Lyden - KEEP
39 FW Rudy Gestede - KEEP
40 MF Jack Grealish - KEEP
43 DF Aly Cissokho - KEEP

With our current squad that leaves just 9 players that we want to keep, being realistic.

We will effectively need to gel an entire new squad, on a limited budget, in the Championship.
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Looking from the outside in your biggest problem next season will clearing out enough of the high earning failures to give the new manager any sort of budget.

The one you want to keep will be the ones that attract interest from elsewhere while the ones you want shot of will happily sit tight and keep drawing massive wages.

Good luck in the Championship it is a hell of a league to try to get out of (in the right direction)

hallgreenfox - you may be right about Pearson, I did wonder if his public image is misleading.

Paddy - I like your list. The only ones where I might differ are:-

9 Scott Sinclair - KEEP. Main problem is that he hasn't been played where he can do damage; he's probably the most dangerous player we've got in terms of finding the net IF he's played not too far from goal, and can see him and Grealish linking up well.

17 Veretout KEEP. He took a long time to settle, some players do, but he'll have more time to get forwards in the Championship and his record in France was impressive.

You've got 14 KEEPs, I'd have 16. But then Ayew will want out and Okore probably will. Players like Gana I'd keep with salary at PL level.

Then there's players out on loan: Bennett, Steer, Siegrist, Baker, and others.

Sorry, you have 13 keeps, me 15.

If we really wanted to stretch it further, then:

24 Sanchez KEEP. Could be a good enforcer in the Championship, and I reckon a key to Championship success is to have good depth to the squad because of the long season.

31 Bunn KEEP. As backup, if Steer and Seigrist aren't good enough.

The thing I like about the list then there's none of the troublemakers / lazy s*ds / deluded in the KEEP category.

A lot of the media are assuming that no manager will be appointed before the end of the season. I'd be very surprised if the appointment isn't made quickly, even if the vibes coming out of VP are on the lines "we aren't going to rush this".

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