Roberto Di Matteo: Ex-Aston Villa Manager

Sandie wrote:"There's a team here that is good, it will come good for us.

"We will keep working. I have faith in the team, I believe in the team and I think that, come the end of the season, they will be up there.

"It's been a bad day at the office for sure. We are 10 points from sixth place so it's still all possible.

"It's normal that when the results of the team aren't what you expect, the results will be questioned. That's part of our job."

He's living in cloud cuckoo land.

It's quite amazing how out of touch RDM is with the reality of what's happening.

Tom Ross has just tweeted that "people in the game" have told him that RDM has gone, and an official announcement will be made in the next twenty four hours.

I see names like Wagner, Johnson and Smith are being mentioned along side some usual old suspects like Bruce, McClaren etc. What do you think about going for youth and energy rather than jaded experience?

https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2016/10/03/club-statement-roberto-di-matteo?

I've switched on this morning to numerous "Villa sack Di Matteo" stories. No surprise there then. It appears that he was sacked by Wyness on Saturday evening, and yesterday was spent sorting out a compensation package for him.

What now? It's over to the "Next Manager" thread to sort out the future of our great club.

It's the right decision. I'm glad the club have acted so quickly.

Sandie wrote:It's the right decision. I'm glad the club have acted so quickly.

It shows that Dr T is prepared to take advice from his more knowledgable employees. Last week he seemed convinced by RDM's confident prediction of finishing in the top 6. Someone has explained the reality of our situation to him since then.

I think he was all for giving him more time but the Preston game knocked that notion out of his head.

Thankfully! Another match with RDM's team selection would have given me a seizure!

Have you seen the short BBC video highlights? Hutton was guilty of weakly running around behind the player then giving him the softest of pushes and stopping, before the first goal .... and Westwood meekly surrendered prior to the second goal. Try and spot Hutton in the clip of the second goal. He must be so far up the right wing he doesn't bother to try and get back to support Westwood .... he's not even visible when the ball's already in the back of the net!

His team selections has been mystifying. Rather than play the team that plays well such as Newcastle second half, Barnsley until he took off Tish he mixes it up again.

It had me wondering if he spent too much time analysing the opposition and picking those who trained well rather than those who played well in actual matches.

Defending woeful, midfield at times look clueless & Dr T did warn us, can't keep making mistakes and not learning from them.

Sandie wrote:I think he was all for giving him more time but the Preston game knocked that notion out of his head.

That's exactly what happened with me.

South London Villan wrote:His team selections has been mystifying. Rather than play the team that plays well such as Newcastle second half, Barnsley until he took off Tish he mixes it up again.

It had me wondering if he spent too much time analysing the opposition and picking those who trained well rather than those who played well in actual matches.

One of the big question marks I had over Di Matteo were the stories I heard about his time at Albion. Basically, he was never at training so I wonder how much oversite he gave? Wonder if that was the case at Villa?

Sandie wrote:

South London Villan wrote:His team selections has been mystifying. Rather than play the team that plays well such as Newcastle second half, Barnsley until he took off Tish he mixes it up again.

It had me wondering if he spent too much time analysing the opposition and picking those who trained well rather than those who played well in actual matches.

One of the big question marks I had over Di Matteo were the stories I heard about his time at Albion. Basically, he was never at training so I wonder how much oversite he gave? Wonder if that was the case at Villa?

After he was appointed he was asked what roles Clarke and Bond would have. He said that they would do the hands on training because he believed he needed to be at a distance and more office based in order to have a 'motivational impact' when he chose to appear. That rang warning bells with me at the time, because I didn't see him as a motivational character, and we needed hands on coaching to change some really bad habits.

Which begs the question of how the team - dubious picks amongst them - was selected. Did it come from recommendations from Clarke and Bond or was it based on RDM's own views? Will be telling if we don't have a manager in situ by the next game if Clarke does things differently.

Sandie wrote:Which begs the question of how the team - dubious picks amongst them - was selected. Did it come from recommendations from Clarke and Bond or was it based on RDM's own views? Will be telling if we don't have a manager in situ by the next game if Clarke does things differently.

I'm sure that RDM had only one thing on his mind when he took the job. That was introducing the players to the RDM method of football. The system that he has adhered to for years regardless of the particular skills and attributes of individual players. That would explain why there were so many pics of him taking training initially, before retreating to the manager's office. I'm also convinced that the team selection was down to him. I remember him saying that he would talk to Clarke and Bond, but the team sheet would be his own exclusive area.

As you say Sandie, if Clarke is in charge for the Wolves, Reading and Fulham games we shall have a clearer picture of the similarities or differences in both thoughts and tactics between RDM and SC.

I wonder if Clarke is fancying an audition for the role? He's managed before and has been mentioned as a contender.