This one is mostly for fun, as guessing the next manager is nearly always wrong, but there is some logic in my final answer, so bear with me.
Let’s look at some of those suggested;
Moyes? Ha, no chance. Why on earth would he leave Sociedad when he’s doing not brilliant, but ok?
I can’t say I’ve kept an eye on things there, but am guessing he’s in the middle of a plan, where there’s no way he’d take on a poisoned chalice like the Villa, in my opinion.
Benitez? Interesting, but he’d want a boat load of money, which he has been prone to waste. Even if Fox suggested him, I’d guess Lerner would put the block on him.
Wasn’t he supposedly the manager who laughed at Lerner when he heard what the spending budget was last time? Whatever, no chance again.
Martin O’Neil? After he won an out of court unfair dismissal settlement against Lerner? Just laughable.
Alex McLeish? Stop, my sides are aching!
Back to more reasonable suggestions and we have the likes of Jurgen Klinsmann.
He’s another interesting shout, but again, why would he come?
Southgate? I don’t rate him at all, so I definitely hope not, although I’m sure Lerner would at least entertain an ex player. No, perish the thought.
Laudrup? Young and up and coming, but what has he done in any decent league? Nothing, I’d suggest.
Allardyce? Hmm, Smethwick born and I have a sneaky feeling he might even be a Villa fan at heart, but again, why would he want to move from West Ham to Villa?
That said, he hasn’t got a new contract yet has he???
Decent manager, but his footy is generally poor, hence he wouldn’t be my choice.
Hoddle? Excellent coach, but tainted, so I don’t see it.
I’ve no doubt missed some other choices, but quite frankly it’s a lottery trying to guess.
Lerner will want cheap and we have even less idea what Fox thinks.
The question is what does the club need at the moment?
While a top manager, who can make us win most of our remaining games and keep us midtable next season, while having some masterplan to build us into a European powerhouse is always the aim, the reality is we need someone who can get us out of the dire straights we are in now.
Someone who can have an immediate effect via a boot up the proverbial on a side, even if it’s only short term.
I know it’s not going to be a popular choice, but mine is to pay Tim Sherwood a right good wedge of money purely to keep us up this season. A short term contract, that he can’t refuse, in other words.
I know it seems he has far too many demands, but desperate times need desperate measures.
And for me, there’s no doubt he can fire players up to perform, which is what we need right now.
We can call for any manager you like and indeed they might prove better over the longer term, but our immediate priority is simply to survive this season. Hence I’m suggesting he’s the man.
Unless you can think of someone else who could hit the ground running, faster?
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