It feels as if I've written a large part of what is to follow before and it's like we're going round in circles. And this isn't me having a pop at supporters of Aston Villa, as I'm one also, but so many wanted Lambert and they got that wrong and when we were in talks with Steve McClaren, so many didn't want him either and look, it looks like they might have got that wrong too.
I want it on record Lambert was never on any mental list I had made up and he should have gone in October having not singed a new contract. My point is, football isn't complicated, so lets hope the Club don't make the next few days complicated.
So I hope that they have a list or that the club are speaking to the right people. And I hope to hell that this isn't something that they're just starting now. The Club should always be prepared and it shouldn't be too difficult to know who you want. Getting them naturally could be quite tough. But, you've got to go for it.
The options
And now we have four options and these options will all have data points in the Tom Fox spreadsheet that we don't see. First, we go with assistants and let them steady the ship. Second we look for a young hungry manager who we can employee for years to come. Thirdly we go for the old head where we all know what we're going to get and lastly we go for an interim manager, probably on a big bonus to keep us in the League and if he likes it, an option to stay on.
Now, if we were not in such a bad place, I think it's fair to say that most of us would go with the second option. It's what we did with Lambert and it's the right way to think about things, but with that comes a huge risk and I'm not sure it's something anyone worth keeping would take on.
What I mean is, a young progressive manager is probably at a club and doing quite well but if he's willing to jump ship for a club on the slide like we are, for a slim chance, I'm not sure he's the type of person I'd want at Aston Villa - do you know what I mean?
But I also don't want the third choice. The third choice is Sam Allardyce or Tony Pulis or Alan Curbishley. Getting one of those would be confirming we're going nowhere. Sure, they might keep us up, but they also might not. One thing is for sure, with a manager like that, is we're going nowhere and we're confirming it.
For me, it has to be an interim manager and it has to be a man that will get the players fired up and playing the right way to win as many games as possible. There is nothing else this man has to do. There is no transfer window, no youth players to worry about, no three year plan. This is all about keeping Aston Villa in the Premier League and if you're willing to pay the money on that happening, you've got more options.
And I've just looked at the odds for the next Aston Villa manager and I'm not sure there is one on it that I'd like and not just for the interim role, but also for the long term. The likes of Roy Keane, Tim Sherwood, Glenn Hoddle, Michael Laudrup, Stuart Pearce and Jurgen Klinsmann are getting mentioned and when I look at that list I think to myself that it's fairly uninspiring.
I think they're going to move quickly
All that written, I don't think it's going to be an obvious choice and I think they're going to know who they want, so that means there will probably be an announcement quite soon. I mean, our dip in form and current position isn't something that happened over night, this is something someone would have been working on.
It's just a hunch, but we'll find out fairly soon. In the mean time, we've got option one, but I think we all know that wont last.