Nigel Pearson has signed on for Derby then and that’s disappointing on my part as I was convinced he was the man that was needed for our current situation.
We all know there seems to have been a massive lack of discipline down the Villa for a while and my thinking is very much in line of lots of comments I’ve read in that we need a strict disciplinarian who will sort out the wasters.
Which is exactly the reason I don’t understand why it seems we’re going to run with Di Matteo.
He seems far too nice to me.
I’m also in agreement with the views that he’s never really rebuilt a team in the same way that we need rebuilding, whereas Pearson has.
So what can we take from things, if indeed we do appoint Di Matteo?
Well, it totally convinces me that Holis’ and Brian Little’s choice have been ignored.
Which can be taken as a plus point as surely it means that all parties involved on the Villa side must be convinced that Dr Xia will pass the required tests, no problem?
It also shows that Xia will be the one who firmly calls the shots. Or has this decision come from his advisors?
Either way, whether that’s a good thing, I’m not so sure.
It’s always struck me that if a club appoint a manager that’s frankly not wanted by the fans, it doesn’t bode well further down the line, just as we saw with McLeish.
While I love the things Xia is coming out with, so I also have to question how realistic they are.
Of course, anything’s realistic if you continually pump enough resources in and have enough patience.
But I wonder what the owner’s viewpoint will be if we fail to get promoted straight away?
Xia has admitted that buying the Villa is mostly business, something I have to confess worried me, but if it’s true that he’s already in the process of buying another club, it gives me hope that he’ll stand some loss in the earlier year(s).
And it would also convince me that he’s deadly serious, regardless of if the money’s his or China’s.
If, as he’s said, we’ll be the main club in any Manchester City type network (let’s face it, the Premier League is the big one, money-wise and will be for a while yet), then so much the better.
It’s all about Xia backing up the rhetoric now.
And while I think many of us fans think he will have made his first mistake in appointing Di Matteo, equally, massive investment might retrieve the situation in the winter window.
I predict a roller-coaster ride this season.
