Dion said on McVeigh and Butler on Thursday that the three years PL had with us could very well turn out to be the best of his managerial career. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if Dion is bang on with his prediction 
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- Thread starter JM Fan
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When PL took over at Carrow Road, he was able to bring in players he already knew well. At Villa he hasn't had that luxury. He's also got to deal with players with egos who have seen better days, like Bent and Agbonlahor. And on top of that, he's got to get it sorted quick time because Villa are " a big club" and relegation and regrouping isn't considered a practical option. That's the task ahead of him. Everybody assumes he is equal to the task, but if you look at his managerial career as a whole, it is relatively undistinguished. At Livingston, his first job, he failed. He got League Two Wycombe to a League Cup semi, but that can happen in the League Cup; in the league they got to the play-offs, but that was it. In his year at Col Utd, they finished mid-table. So it is only with us that he really had any sustained success. We know all about his tactical nous, his ability to read a game and decisiveness, and his attacking instinct. But there's a lot more required than that. The few leaks we get from behind the scenes, the talk that follows him of favoured players and others frozen out, etc. suggest someone who creates problems as well as solves them. He is far from proven managerially, and the idea that the Norwich miracle was wrought by him alone is wide of the mark. I'm tempted to say that turning Villa round is the biggest challenge he's faced.
Great post!