Martinez stays. Down to two?
So it seems that the shortlist we mentioned in a previous article has already been reduced to two, with media shy Wigan chairman Dave Whelan telling Sky Sports News that Roberto Martinez is now staying with the Latics.
I’m slightly disappointed, because as mentioned he was my first choice but we move on and it’s looking more and more likely that Paul Lambert is the man we’re after. Some are suggesting (well mentioning on twitter) that Martinez’ representatives contacted Villa and were informed that we’re already talking to other people, so who knows things might be drawing to a close sooner rather than later.
A BBC journalist Ben Smith has tweeted the following, and seemingly because of the fact he’s not just some random punter his statement seems a bit more genuine:
‘Martinez is a fantastic young coach. But with both #LFC and #AVFC going with other options, his choices were limited.’
Personally I don’t understand it but there we go. Wigan will eventually go down, and when they do Martinez will not be half as appealing as he is now. How much further can he realistically take them? Anyway like I said we may not have even been as interested this time around, and if it is to be Lambert I will still be happy with that choice. If it is someone else then I guess we can assess at that point. The board won’t (well hopefully) make a similar appointment to last year, so hopefully the majority of us will be happy.
Lambert is odds on across the board with the bookies (we all know it means toffee but still) and it would be a bit of a surprise if it wasn’t him now. Equally this is Villa we’re talking about, so someone completely out of left-field also wouldn’t be a major surprise.
We’re inching nearer to an appointment, who would you like to see come in?
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Di Matteo?
He may be waiting to find out that he won’t be the Chelsea boss before switching to Villa. Lambert is a brilliant manager, but is likely to stay at Norwich. He has only had a year in the Premier League, but his team were great to watch.
I’m not bothered that Martinez is not coming. Last seasons embarrassment was enough for me, plus the fact that his sides only seem to play the last 10 games of the season.
I actually believe he is so revered at Wigan that he is actually scared to move on.
Lambert or Poyet for me or maybe even AVB, but not Martinez.
Lambert has always been my first choice but I’m not confident. Can’t see AVB being interested after his last two jobs but Poyet would be well worth a punt. Don’t really want Di Matteo but I could be wrong about him. I just hope it’s an appointment that unites our fans.