I think we have to take a gamble too, and I also think it's important to look at what the club needs, and get a man suited to that. What has gone on before isn't that important as long as they have the skills to do what we needed doing. Obviously it isn't important in some way, but it needs to be look at on it's individual basis. Is AVB suddenly a bad manager? Not really, there are reasons why it didn't work at Chelsea.
Saudi Sportswashing Machine did that with Pardew. They sacked Hughton and everyone thought they were mad. They brought in Pardew and everyone thought they were madder still. He'd been decent at Reading, average at West Ham and below average at Southampton. But we didn't know what Saudi Sportswashing Machine wanted. They did, they knew they wanted Pardew, they knew how they wanted to build their team and they knew the skills they needed to make that happen. It's working out for them.
It's for that reason that I think AVB will be good for us. We are never going to be able to build a squad that is on a par with United and City, until the FFP regulations have had a good few years to kick in and even out the playing field or until we get a sugar daddy of our own. Therefore what we need is someone that can implement a style and a system that makes the team play to a level beyond what it would usually be capable of. Harry was good for making our good squad play at the level it 'should' be playing at, and if we had the funds to let him sign anyone he wanted, I'd keep him because I think he'd do a great job. But we don't. AVB got a Porto team winning the treble and going undefeated while doing it. That's what we need. He implements a system that means the players perform above their station, rather than simply letting the players play to their station. The barriers to success at Chelsea shouldn't be apparent at our club.
So I think AVB would be very good for us. And if that's not possible, Martinez and Rodgers should be given serious consideration. Ahead of the likes of Ancellotti, Capello etc. Martinez has done a fantastic job with Wigan, and has made them play a style of football that should be beyond their capability. Same with Rodgers. Watching them at Bolton I was jealous - I've forgotten what it's like to watch a Spurs game and see us penetrate a defence like they did, and I certainly can't see it happening when we go up there.
Ancellotti and Capello fall into the Harry mould (don't laugh) in that I feel they can handle big name players and will manage them to the level they should be playing to, but their skill isn't getting players to play beyond. I don't think we should be looking at titles won and say 'well he's a winner, he'd probably do that for us', because every circumstance is different, and every job is different. Harry was perfect for us when he came, because we had a good squad (at least too good to be fighting relegation) and he got us performing to where we should be. But now, if we are going to compete with the clubs with all the money, we need to play beyond our capability so that we can be up there with them. AVB would be the front runner to acheiving that IMO.
