At the start of the week, Villans breathed a collective sigh of relief as Alex McLeish, whose initial appointment was deemed an own goal by many, was shown the red card. Now, we find ourselves on the managerial merry-go-round once again.

After the rather bizarre scenes at Carrow Road last Sunday, which involved the travelling claret and blue army joining the Canaries in their rousing rendition of ‘there’s only one Paul Lambert, it is no surprise that the Norwich City boss has emerged as the fans’ favourite to replace McLeish.

A successful player in his time, Lambert got his first taste of management at Livingston in 2005. From there, he went on to manage Wycombe Wanderers and Colchester United before taking up his current post at Norwich.

It’s no real exaggeration to say that Lambert’s record at Norwich speaks for itself. Since becoming chief Canary in August 2009, the Scot has led the team to the League One title and secured back-to-back promotions. Just as impressive is his 49% win rate, which can be rivalled only by George Ramsey in all of Villa’s proud history.

Next out of the traps came Gus Poyet, a well-respected former midfielder who hails from Uruguay. Poyet joined the then League One side Brighton and Hove Albion in 2009, steering the team to safety that season before masterminding a successful campaign the following one, which saw the seasiders gain promotion to the Championship on 16th April 2011 and Poyet revealed as the League One ‘manager of the year’.

Poyet has been credited with making some influential signings as he’s continued to steady the seaside ship. His win ratio of 46% at Brighton is almost as impressive as Paul Lambert’s at Norwich and is one of the reasons why the Uruguayan was presented with the ‘outstanding managerial achievement award’ at the Football League Awards ceremony in March of this year.

Then it was time for the win ratio to plummet as quickly as the odds on Mick McCarthy taking the Villa hot seat did. Lions from London to Los Angeles watched the news in horror and their blood pressure soared to dangerous new levels.

Given Paul Faulkner’s comments in his much-publicised statement after McLeish’s dismissal, ‘Big Mick’ seems a highly unlikely candidate for the crucial job at Villa Park. After all, our neighbours Wolves chose to dismiss McCarthy, preferring to dice with relegation rather than allow the man (who offered them a 38% win rate during his five and a half year spell) to remain in charge. Would the Villa board really risk appointing McCarthy? It’s doubtful. Nevertheless, at least one fairly credible source is claiming that the highlight of Mick McCarthy’s holiday in Florida to date has been his transatlantic telephone call with Paul Faulkner on Tuesday evening. Still, I won’t be getting hung up on that particular snippet of information.

If we are looking for even lower win rates then, offering us a less-than-impressive 27%, there is always Roberto Martinez, a graduate, it would seem, of the Time Delay Academy of Football Management. In now almost customary scenes, his Wigan team found itself floundering at the bottom of the Premiership table at the end of January. Cue some Martinez magic and the Latics leapt to life, picking up points left, right and centre with wins over Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool to name but a few.

The goal-posts move once again and we find that ‘The Man from Molde’, former Manchester United star Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is now in pole position with several bookmakers. This seems to have surprised some given his lack of management experience but he has won the Norwegian Tippilega, the country’s top division, with Molde, a club that had previously won nothing in its hundred year history, at his first attempt. Plans to appoint this Norwegian newcomer can, and surely will, be viewed as either a glass half empty or a glass half full situation: his rawness could leave us looking over our shoulders again next season or it could just prove to be a leap of faith that indicates a long-term strategy to rebuild and reinvigorate the club.

There are, of course, many other names being churned around by the rumour mill. Brendan Rodgers has been mentioned but that may be purely because people admire what he’s done at Swansea and because he’s such an affable man. Andre Villas-Boas is skirting around the periphery of the mix but I suspect it is tabloid journalists who see great pun-writing potential promoting that particular candidate. Indeed, it seems like every out-of-work manager still alive, even if he’s barely breathing let alone fitting Faulkner’s person specification of being “vibrant”, has been linked with a move to B6 lately.

With Villa set to lose at least Cuellar and Heskey, an already small squad will be further depleted, and it seems a man like Lambert who has the ability to run a tight ship and to secure the signatures of up-and-coming players from lower leagues could prove useful. He has proven himself to be a sound tactician too, even if he does come from the Kenny Dalglish School of Media Relations.

Gus Poyet has been lauded for his attractive style of football and is certainly well respected within the world of football, although his inexperience at the highest level may count against him.

Martinez may not have had Mancini’s money to spend but his Wigan team looked appalling for around two thirds of the season. There are eyebrows being raised when his name is mentioned since he turned Villa down last year and he has been speculatively touted as King Kenny’s successor at Liverpool.

As for McCarthy, we could do worse but his appointment would not appease frustrated fans so the mere suggestion of it seems to beggar belief.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to me at least, has the potential to be a refreshing risk.

There can be no vacillating at Villa. We cannot afford a faux-pas from Faulkner. Our ‘bright future’ cannot be overshadowed by another mismatched manager. The truth is that few, if any of us, know which names even appear on the short-list and there will, no doubt, be certain factors beyond the control of Lerner and Faulkner as they prepare to make what is a massive managerial decision. Candidates will be ruled out and the merry-go-round may slow in the coming days and weeks but we could well find ourselves spending another summer on Randy’s rollercoaster. Let’s just hope that we don’t throw up when the ride is over…

Article written by Anne Mc

AVillafan.com can break the news that Randy Lerner’s jet is currently sitting in Norway

Hearts goalkeeper Marián Kello is on the verge of signing a pre-contract agreement with Aston Villa according to STV.

The Slovakian goalkeeper is no longer wanted at the Scottish club after falling out with the manager over a January move to Austria Vienna.

He is 29 years old and there are rumours that Everton, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City were also interested, but Villa are the most likely destination.

He was regarded as the number 1 goalkeeper at Hearts before the falling out incident having made 86 appearances in 4 seasons at the Edinburgh club.

The player did state, back in February, that he wanted to work things out and sign a new deal at Hearts but the club seem to be taking a similar approach as Villa are by slashing their own wage bill.

Kello is said to be on around £2,000 a week, which is an estimated £18,000 less than Villas current number 2, Bradley Guzan ,who looks almost certain to leave Villa Park on a bosman free in the summer.

I can’t say I know much about the player but we are lucky enough to have a few members on our forum who follow the Scottish Premier League and a supporter of Rangers described Kello as a ‘really good keeper’ and a ‘great buy on a free’.

Aston Villa have this evening announced the signing of Australia international Brett Holman.

Rumours surfaced this afternoon that there was a player at Bodymoor Heath, and Mat Kendrick of the Birmingham Mail did confirm there was someone – but he wasn’t sure who and when a deal would be completed.

Despite his wikipedia page stating he is a second striker, Villa have said on the official site that he is in fact a winger.

The 27 year old currently plays his trade in the Dutch Eredivise league for league leaders AZ Alkmaar.

The Australian is described as a ‘very intelligent player, a great team player and a man who is recognised in the game as a non-stop, committed wide midfield player’ by manager Alex McLeish.

Holman said: “I’m delighted to have agreed terms with Aston Villa and I am looking forward to joining up with the team in the summer.

“Villa have a long and prestigious history in English football and a fantastic set of fans.

“In the meantime I have a job to do with AZ in trying to finish the season as Eredivisie champions, as cup winners and progressing as far as possible in the Europa competition.”

Not sure if you would of heard already by other Fan sites who were quick to jump on the story but according to the Birmingham Mail’s Mat Kendrick, Aston Villa are close to sealing a bosman deal.

The reporter stated on his live web chat on the Mail’s website today:

I’m told club are close to completing Bosman for a player. Not sure if it is close enough to announce today, but will report when we know more firm details

Of course that got the social networking world talking, and many expected it to be Greg Wylde who was recently released by Rangers.

However, that would just come under a free transfer, and not the ‘bosman’ that he actually mentioned.

And on top of that, Mat also updated his twitter a little under an hour ago:

For those asking, I believe #avfc are closing in on a Bosman signing for next season, but it’s not ex-Rangers winger Gregg Wylde.

On top of this, It can not be a player who is based in England, as you can only pre-sign players on bosman’s from across seas.

Many names are available from Croatian international Darijo Srna to Bayern’s Ivia Olic.
Olic is 33, and has had problems with injuries this season, but if it was to be him, regardless of his age, if you can keep him fit he would be a pretty decent free transfer.

You can’t help but think it is a ploy to get the season tickets sold though can you?