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

The below image was sent to by a gentlemen in Norway

The gentlemen who sent it me had this to say:

Randy Lerner’s private jet landed in Kristiansund to fly Ole Solskjaer to Birmingham tomorrow!

As many of you know the story has been breaking over social networking sites that Lerner was flying out to Norway in unconfirmed reports.

After seeing this I have quickly spoken to a number of my sources who have told me to expect news within the next 48 hours. OGS looks set to become the next Villa manager.

Do do doo, Ole Gunnar Solskjær!

We’re all, I’m sure, glad to be able to put an abysmal season to bed and tonight the future looks brighter now that it’s no longer orange. Night, night, Alex…

In the 1990-91 season, we finished seventeenth – in what was then the First Division.

Exit the ‘visionary’ Jozef Venglos, a man arguably ahead of his time.

Enter the one and only Big Ron, after his unexpected departure from Sheffield Wednesday.

The wheel of chance was spun and the draw saw Villa, and Big Ron, head to Hillsborough for the first game of the 1991-92 season.

Ron wasn’t exactly welcomed back and, three minutes in, the home side took the lead, much to the delight of their fans, who chanted “Judas” at Atkinson with even greater venom than before.

Their cheers grew louder still when Wilson made it 2-0 after thirty-six minutes.

However, a Villa team that had been transformed over the summer quickly saw a chance and Regis grabbed it.

After the break, Villa were firing on all cylinders. It was no surprise to the Villa faithful when Dalian Atkinson’s equaliser came six minutes into the second half.

Suddenly, Hillsborough was silent.

There was more misery to come: with five minutes left on the clock Steve Staunton scored and there was much leaping from the Villa fans, myself included, in the Leppings Lane End of the ground.

The sleeping lion was reawakened that day and Villa improved on the dire seventeenth place of the previous campaign to finish a respectable seventh.

Insanity, according to Einstein, is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. The board has recognised now, just as it did at the end of the 90-91 season, that change is needed. We live in hope that, as the winds of change blow, the bells can ring loudly and proudly once more for the claret and blue on the opening day of the 2012-13 season – and beyond.

Article by Anne Mc

I am a Management Consultant by trade and part of my job is visiting companies that are struggling, assess where they are, discuss their expectations and then work with them to build an action plan to help them to meet their goals, at whatever level that may be. So I thought for my first article, I would try and do that with our great club. Of course another part of my job is then putting out my action plan for review and I am sure I will receive plenty of feedback, and I look forward to hearing from you all.

So for me, if I look back at Villa over the last 30 years I have always felt that Villa has been an attacking team by nature. We have always had one fast front man and when we have had someone who can tap in the goals as well, then we have been a real threat. Agbonlahor/Carew, Vassell/Angel, Atkinson/Saunders have for me, been great combinations. We have also had exciting wingers, again with a bit of pace, but occasionally they have even been able to pass the ball and we have been a team that have created plenty of chances, even when we haven’t been able to put those chances away. Then we come to the great defensive partnerships. Melberg/Laursen, Southgate/Ehiogu, Mcgrath/Teale.  We also have had some pretty good goalkeepers in our time. We can look at Given, Friedel, James, Bosnich, Spink.

However for me the problem areas have been full backs and attacking midfielders. Merson for me was our last half decent attacking midfield and he was rather inconsistent at best. So historically we know where our short falls are, but also where our strengths have been. So now let’s look at the current squad of players we have.

Again this is only my interpretation, and I am sure you will have your own ideas!

• Given as GK I think is fine for another couple of seasons but we need to look at younger alternatives.
• Warnock LB – I actually rated him at one point, but has suffered with confidence and general performances issues.
• Dunne CB – On his day, excellent, however how many times have we seen that day over the last 2 seasons?
• Collins CB – For me is someone who doesn’t get a lot of credit. He reminds me of Shaun Teale as someone who although individually was nothing special, when paired with the right person is a solid performer.
• Hutton RB – I have spoken to Newcastle and Spurs fans and they said early in his career he really showed a lot of promise but really lost his way. He has shown improvement but I don’t believe is good enough.
• NZogbia  LW – Massively underperformed. He has the potential to be brilliant but we simply haven’t seen the best of him.
• Albrighton RW – Had a great season last year but this year he hasn’t had the same opportunities and looks to be low on confidence.
• Petrov  CM – A work horse player, Mr dependable and I sincerely wish him all the very best, but I think he was reaching that time where we need to look at alternatives.
• Ireland CM – A great midfielder who has bags of potential but I don’t think he has been handled right and I do believe he could still have a massive part to play for us.
• Bent  SC – A top finisher who I think if is given the service will bang in 20 a season regularly
• Agbonlahor SC – I think he has had a rough ride the last 2 years. Played out of position, lost his scoring touch, if you get this man firing on all cylinders I think he and Bent could be a great partnership.

Now you will notice I have gone for a 4-4-2 as I believe that best shows the strength of the squad. Obviously there are the other squad players, but I believe IF we were firing on all cylinders, that would probably be our team.

So just bear with me for a minute. That is MY assessment of where we are at. The next question is the fabled roadmap of where we want to go. What should our expectations be? This is a highly emotive subject and one of the things I am taught as part of my role is to take the emotion out of the situation and just look at things objectively. Are we a top four club? No. Are we a top six club? No. Are we a top 7 or 8 club? I think with our current squad if we had over performed we could have got eight.

So then again being purely objective I am saying that 8^th place is the absolute minimum we should expect, however for the size of club we are, we should be making serious inroads in the cup competitions and for me that is where we start as a club. It is about a change in mind-set and starting to get that winning mentality at the club. If we start to win silverware then that keeps the fans happy and is improves the stature of the club. Yes we should always try to aim as high as we can but we also can’t run before we can walk.

If we do make it to Europe then we should be an active member and play to win, not throw it away like so many English clubs, devaluating the cups has always been a personal bugbear of mine.

So then let’s go back to the where we want to go. How do we do that? We have established that we can’t outspend our competition, so we have to out think them. That comes with experience, or by a completely fresh thinking manager. Again, looking historically we are at our best when we attack and I have to say I was always a big fan of 3-5-2 which could revert back to 5-3-2 when needed.

So who do we need as priorities? Well for me we definitely need a new left back. It is a position that doesn’t get a lot of credit but it so important to get right. With regards to our CB it all depends on how good we think Clark is. I am a big fan of Ciaran but he needs to be playing regularly at the back and with someone like that you need an assured CB to support him. If you don’t rate Clark then we need two CB.

The jury is out with Hutton. He is someone who can do a job for now but we do need to look at other options and we may have that in Lichaj. With regards to our CMs, I think Makoun was treated very badly by the club and I would love to see him get a second chance at the club. I also think if Ireland can get his act together then he can own the midfield and I also still believe that if Delph can sort himself out, then we will be ok.

I think our left wing is ok again as long as we can get the best out of the player. I like Albrighton, but I think we do need another option here.

Then I really do like Gabby and Bent as a pairing and if we got the supply right then there are goals there.

Obviously I have missed out players like Bannan, Herd, Stevens and Weimann because they are talented but I am not sure at this stage how talented they really are.

So for me, whoever comes into this club as an absolute bare minimum we need a LB, CD, RW and another striker to keep our main pairing fresh.

I don’t want to talk about who those players should be because that will come down to whoever the manager is and the cash he has available to him.

So here is my final report.

Villa has plenty of potential but has suffered from two years of mismanagement. The club needs a change in mind-set and needs to change its focus. An attacking approach has historically led to the greatest success and we should look to continue in that tradition as it is also what attracts the fans to games. There should be greater consideration given to the cups as this realistically is the clubs best opportunity for success. The squad does have potential but is four key players short and as this season has shown, the club needs to have a greater depth of squad to help mitigate the risk of injuries.

The next season will be another transitional year, however the fans will accept it IF they can see an improvement in the football being played. There is a current perceived lack of communication between the club and its fan base. It is recommended that the club works on its short to midterm plan and then communicated it to the fan base.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to your responses.

This is Jimmy B signing out.

We broke the story over the weekend stating that McLeish was looking set to get the boot from the club at some point this week. Mat Kendrick broke the story early this morning within the Birmingham Mail.

The club just after 3:30PM today released the following statement:

Aston Villa can confirm that Alex McLeish’s contract has been terminated with immediate effect.

The club has been disappointed with this season’s results, performances and the general message these have sent to our fans.

The board wishes to assure supporters that we are conscious in every sense that Villa expects and deserves more and we will strive to deliver this.

Villa chairman Randy Lerner said: “We need to be clear and candid with ourselves and with supporters about what we have lacked in recent years.

“Compelling play and results that instil a sense of confidence that Villa is on the right track have been plainly absent.

“The most immediate action that we can take is to look carefully at our options in terms of bringing in a new manager who sees the club’s potential and embraces our collective expectations.”

Chief Executive Paul Faulkner said: “We’d like to thank Alex for his hard work and efforts throughout this tough season.

“We are mindful of the club’s need to prepare thoroughly for the new campaign and for the new manager to be able to begin working with the board so that he is quickly immersed in these preparations and also in the long-term objectives of the club.

“Our focus now will be driven by these imperatives and we will update when appropriate.”

The search for a new manager begins & Paul Lambert has become the favourite to take over the helm as Villa boss. Stuart questioned what I thought to McLeish’s departure:

I am delighted that Alex has been given the boot by the club. I’ll go on record & say the man just oozed out negativity into our team! Regardless of his Birmingham City connections the man was never right for our club. Randy plus the board have done the right thing on removing him from his post, but I do feel though this could have happened sooner.

Asking if Villa could get Lambert to replace McLeish:

I think Villa could easily convince Lambert to come.  Villa have now cleared out a lot of the deadwood & cut the wage bill down, Paul can go in & start a fresh. We would need to give him time; Paul can do good things at our club very much like he has done at Norwich. With the right backing, Paul can bring some glory back to Villa & those Lions can roar once again. Saying that, anyone is better than McLeish!

McLeish has finally gone & already numbers of supporters have renewed their tickets ready for next season just moments after the club released their statement.

The search beings for a new manager of Aston Villa only time will tell who that may be. The Villa is ours once again!

Friday morning started off with look at my Twitter account – seeing if the story on Villas-Boas being linked with the Midlands outfit wasn’t just a dream thanks to the amount of blue M&M’s I had the night before. To my surprise I didn’t dream it & was quite pleased. Suddenly the noise of the ‘suspense’ message tune came from my iPhone. Surprised to be receiving a message soon early I found it to be a text from my mate Doug. The next part nearly made me spit out my coffee! So be warned!

Mate, just been told that McLeish has been sacked & will be announced Sunday after the game! Manager at work is best mates with a recent former Villa player & has inside info!

Now the words, McLeish & sacked are my sort of good news at the minute. Asking if he was kidding me he replied:

Nah, I swear to god mate he saw him last night! And he was also with an ex villa player who is now a football agent who also confirmed it!

One, I know Doug wouldn’t lie to me. He is a passionate about the Villa as I am & even he hates the sight on Alex McLeish standing on our sideline. Two, he isn’t in the know or the type of person to BS anyone. Three, I know the contacts he is talking about but I am not prepared to publish names.

So I went on through the day getting tweets & messages saying the same sort of thing. Some saying he’s going Sunday, some saying by next Friday. Either way, come this time next week I can see McLeish not being Villa boss.

Mat Kendrick & the rest of the press boys had the fun of grilling Alex McLeish for possibly one final time as Villa boss. Mat tweeted some of the comments which came out of that press conference.

Reporter: Is there a question mark over your job? McLeish: I haven’t given that any thought I don’t know – I anticipate still being here next season

Reporter: If you’re not here next season will that be unfair? McLeish: That’s hypothetical

Timothy Abraham from the Express & Star also posted items onto his twitter account:

Alex McLeish on his future: “I don’t know if I’ll be manager but I anticipate it.”

McLeish: “I haven’t heard an open debate about my future?Is it on the radio and in the papers.I don’t get distracted by these things?”

Reporter: Have you had an indication there will be a positive conversation going forward? McLeish: I will have a conversation next week.

McLeish: “I know we are looking at bringing in players to change things.”

As the weekend has gone on I have received more & more information regarding McLeish’s future. Some of the points raised to me include:

• McLeish leaving by Wednesday the latest.
• He has put his house up for sale in Dorridge & he has moved to Welford on Avon.
• Club previously sold just over 5,200 season tickets last month. It is still alarmingly low & one figure given to me shows that they have not reached the 6,000 mark.
• Damien Comolli was at the Spurs game. He is set to replace Paul Faulkner as CEO. Faulker however, will be kept on at the club & moved to the business side of things due to his fantastic work on deals he has pulled off for next season.
• Deals for Leon Best & Danny Guthrie were set to go through. But McLiesh has cancelled 3 meetings over players within the past 3 weeks.

So read into it what you will gang. If you are still doubt it then I am sorry but for me, the above states only one thing, McLeish is doomed at Villa Park. This time next week the flood gates will open with season ticket holders renewing.

I don’t think I have ever NOT watched a Villa game weather it be at the game, or on some illegal stream on the internet.

Not only did I sell my ticket for today’s game, but I decided to go car shopping with the wife instead of watching my beloved Aston Villa.

Lets be honest, we knew we were staying up and we knew we would lose.

I am not going to bore you by telling you about a game I didn’t watch, but I will say keep your eyes out for a busy busy summer at Villa Park.

Bye Bye Alex McLeish

(PS. Sorry for such a short report)

Let me just make it clear, this does not mean it is the beginning of the end for the website, as we are committed as ever for the website to be your number 1 Aston Villa Fansite, Blog & Forum.

The website has suffered recently with both myself and Karl being extremely busy work wise and ill but with a busy footballing summer ahead and a brand new season coming soon we plan to try and make Avillafan.com busier than ever.

So we are asking members of the Avillafan community for there advice on what they would like to see on this website in the future?

What do other websites have that you would like to see? Or what would you like to see that no other website has? Either way we will do our best to make this the number one Aston Villa fansite.

Writers Wanted

As always, we are still on the look for writers/bloggers to write for Avillafan.

If you have knowledge and passion for Aston Villa Football Club, then you could very well be the kind of person we are looking for.

So for all those suggestions, or people interested in writing for Avillafan, please leave a comment below and we will be in touch.

If Villa match either of the results at Bolton or QPR, then they will be virtually safe as long as we don’t go on a conceding frenzy as we have a much superior goal difference to the both mentioned.

With Tottenham winning twice in their last three visits to Villa Park they will very much fancy themselves tomorrow, but Villa know they must give it their all as they continue to battle against the drop.

The away side have managed to take 6 points this week from our fellow relegation rivals Bolton and Blackburn and will need to build on there recent form if they are to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

However, both sides have had an indifferent week off the field. Villa players Chris Herd, James Collins and Fabian (sicknote) Delph were all involved in trouble at a city center nightclub on Monday night.

While we will never know how Harry Redknapp really feels about being overlooked for the England job as Roy Hodgson was appointed new Head Coach.

Team News

Aston Villa: Stephen Ireland should return to the starting line up after recovering from a knee and hip injury.

James Collins will also be available, but is likely to only find a place on the bench as Alex McLeish will most likely want to stick with the pairing of Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar who help Villa to a clean sheet in the goalless draw at the Hawthorns last weekend.

Marc Albrighton on the other hand has been ruled out for the final two games of the campaign with a thigh injury.

Tottenham: Harry Redknapp is hoping Scott Parker will be available after missing there last two games with a Achilles injury.

It was also revealed that Kyle Walker has a broken toe, but should play with an injection.

Statistics:

Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham.
Kick Off: 14.00 GMT.
Tickets: Adult tickets available from £26.
Last Corresponding Fixture: Aston Villa 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2.

The group has put in a lot of work organising events, banners, newspaper advertisements and flyers and whether you agree with them or not, you cant fault them for all that they have put into this day.

Yesterday I received an email from Chris – the man behind McLeishout.co.uk, giving me a run down on their plans for tomorrow so I thought I would share it with you.

Outline for the day:

• Flyers will be available from all around the ground from 11.00am onwards.
• Protest will be begin at 1pm. Trinity Road, near the McGregor Statue.
• As part of the organised McLeish Out Day protest we suggest to hold your flyers up when McLeish emerges from the tunnel and also at full time.
• We propose that fans remain for the “lap of honour” and make their feelings known about McLeish remaining as manager.
• This is our last chance to make ourselves heard, we cannot endure another season like this.
• For 90 minutes we will be behind the lads 100% as always and will do our best to roar them on to victory. These protests are aimed solely at one man.

We all want what is best for Aston Villa, and one thing most of us can agree on is Alex Mcleish is not the man to take this club forward