re: What makes a club, a "Big Club?"

In the case of the Villa managers, this is just a case of certain people viewing the club as big. In the big scheme, world class, whatever you want to call it, Villa is in no way a big club. But for some, a club is a big club if it is in the top flight. For others, if a club has a long distinguished history and great supporters then that makes it a big club. For others, it might be that a club has to consistently win trophies to be called a big club. Still others might say a big club has to have world class star players.

The term is subjective. My thought is that if a club is in the top flight then it is in the big time. However, that in no way means that it is an elite club.