Should Villa Managers Be Former Players

BodyButter

BodyButter

Vital Football Legend
Watching the John Gregory interviews on The Villa View got me thinking. You can see it in his face how much the defeats hurt and how much the wins ment. He loves us just like a fan. He talks about us not being up there with Utd and Chelsea as a mistake.

After JG came GT2, another Villa man to his core. Since then, we haven't had a Villa man in the hot seat.

When things went wrong for DOL, he seemed surprised by the fans' reaction. He seemed to take the attitude of 'what do you expect, you are only Aston Villa'.

Maybe it doesn't matter? Maybe modern football has moved beyond passion?

What do you think? Should Villa managers be former players?

PS. This isn't the Steve Bruce thread.
 
Not sure the Watford fans would agree with your assessment of GT BB. I think Watford would always be above us in his affection but that's beside the point.

Anyway.
If they tick all the appropriate boxes required to be the manager of the club AND they happen to be a fan then bring it on.
Being a fan should be last on the list of requirements as I don't think it means jack as to having the tactical brain, player management skills, in game management etc etc etc required in football today. All being a fan and manager means is you care more which doesn't mean you are any good. If it did there are thousands of us in with a chance You don't need to be a fan of the club to be successful at the club. It would sure help though.

One thing that's done my head in when there was talk about Dean Smith is people giving the sole reason he would be suitable was he was a fan. And.....
There needs to be more to it.

The other thing is the tainting of past success. I always say never go back. The game is littered with managers going back to an old club and not getting close to where they were before. GT with us, Keegan at Newcastle, Dalglish at Scousers, psycho at forest. Would anyone want the likes of Melberg and Laursen managing us to relegation and it all ending in tears. I would prefer to remember Melberg raising his fists to the air walking off the pitch 5-1 against blues rather than in a suit looking on uselessly as we suffer.

Of course however I could remember them gloriously lifting the euro cup......

:39:
 
Have a to agree with Melon. It doesn't matter.

In an ideal world, it would happen and we'd all love it. But how many of our former players have gone on to manage? Not many, and even fewer have done so with any degree off success. There is such a small pool of managers/head coaches who 'make it' as evidenced by the same old names cropping up every time there is a vacancy popping up.

The likes of Guardiola at Barcelona or Dalglish at Liverpool (first time around) are few and far between in reality. Brian Little worked out ok for us, as did JG, for a time at least. But there's a limited shelf life for any manager and even more so for a 'former son' of the club - the pressure and intensity is magnified because we expect them to have as much invested in the club as we do as fans.

In my humble :14:
 
I don't think it matters either.

It's always nice if you have an ex player as manager but it's not the end all - be all. Success is the most important to any club. Having an ex-player as manager doesn't guarantee success.

After saying that, but wouldn't it be great if we got either Laursen or Mellberg in and went on to the success that all fans and the good doctor wants.
 
Can't think offhand about a player we had back as manager who didn't justify his appointment. You can add Vic Crowe to the list. While I don't think it's a major reason for appointing a manager, I think somewhere along the line having that connection does help.
 
Most, by far, successful managers have been players, albeit not highly successful players.
Probably because to be a highly successful player requires an amount of self interest.
Less successful players realise, on the whole, that they aren't as talented as the star players and tend to be more of a team player. This attitude translates into a coaching or management role far more readily than the self serving attitude of most star, or would be star players.
 
Agree with what most have said, there is always the danger of a club legend coming in, being a disaster and tainting his legacy. It happens.

Don't agree with Melon re Dean Smith though. First and foremost the reason he was wanted was his style of football and the fact that he had Scott Hogan firing. Being a Villa fan was simply a bonus, and might have made it easier to lure him to the job. I think that had been said umpteen times here.

 
JuanPabloAngel - 27/1/2018 11:23

But how many of our former players have gone on to manage? Not many, and even fewer have done so with any degree off success.
Click to expand...

The current England manager used to play for us. Just saying.
 
Speaking of former players, I've just checked up on Mellberg. He was manager of BP in Sweden for two seasons when they won the 3rd tier and then the 2nd tier. According to Wiki, he decided not to extend his contract after getting them back into the top division. I wonder what happened there.
 
Beovilla - 28/1/2018 00:59

JuanPabloAngel - 27/1/2018 11:23

But how many of our former players have gone on to manage? Not many, and even fewer have done so with any degree off success.
Click to expand...

The current England manager used to play for us. Just saying.
Click to expand...


I didn't say none of our former players, I said "not many". And I'm struggling to recall what success Southgate has had, unless getting Middlesbrough relegated counts?
 
It would be nice, someone to really closely identify with and someone who closely identifies with us.

Big Ron was a Villa fan. Brian Little and John Gregory both massive Villa figures.

But no, it isn't a pre-requisite and is a hard thing to achieve.

Would be nice if Mellberg and / or Laursen one day were good enough to manage us though.
 
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