Written by Damian Monday, 17 August 2009 08:36
I didn't do this yesterday as it felt like there was more that needed to be said and I also thought it best to have a bit of time to think. It was only the first game of the season but as someone has pointed out, it is only two wins from the last fourteen in the league, or something like that, correct me if I'm wrong.
The performance was very poor. Tactically I don't think O'Neill has a clue and I'm starting to think he is only good for motivating players to work harder than they would under another manager, which is okay if you are a Celtic or a Leicester, but we need O'Neill to take us to the next level and he needs more than that.
I'm not calling for his head and while I might look at the transfer market in a minute, I don't think it is necessarily about that, although it is a factor. Things need to change and that might just be O'Neill accepting he needs help as the starting point.
What The Papers Say
Stuart James, The Guardian
Villa were booed off at the interval and full-time following a dreadful performance that culminated in Martin O'Neill telling his players to cancel their plans for today and report for training instead.
If viewing footage of this match were part of the punishment, then today must have been a torturous experience. As impressive as Wigan were, it was impossible to ignore Villa's shortcomings, with their shambolic defending and failure to play with any cohesion highlighting just how badly Laursen and Barry will be missed unless O'Neill can bring in some stellar replacements before the transfer window closes.
Myles Hodgson, The Independent
Goals in either half from Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega and Jason Koumas emphasised Wigan's superiority, but also served to underline the job ahead for O'Neill as he seeks to strengthen a squad who have now won just two of their last 14 Premier League matches.
Gary Jacob, The Times
Briefly forceful, direct and fluent, sparked by Ashley Young, Villa quickly ran out of ideas and never looked like getting to grips with Wigan Athletic’s formation and the impressive Jordi Gómez, who was allowed space and time to dictate proceedings.
The Manager
Martin O'Neill
It’s up to me to get the spine of the team reinforced and get it right. We should have shown more fight and determination.
The Players
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Friedel; Beye (Albrighton, 67), Cuellar, Davies, Shorey; Milner, Petrov, Delph (Sidwell, 60), Young; Agbonlahor (Delfouneso, 78), Heskey. Substitutes not used: Guzan (gk), Gardner, Clark, Reo-Coker
Wigan Athletic (4-5-1): Kirkland; Melchiot, Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa; Brown, Thomas; N'Zogbia (Sinclair, 66), Gomez, Koumas (Cho, 89); Rodallega (Scotland 90) Substitutes not used: Pollitt (gk), Boyce, Edman, King Bookings: Aston Villa: Delph, Young. Wigan: Bramble, Figuerora
Man of the Match
I put the poll up yesterday because I forgot to click it on after the match so we didn't get as many votes as I would have liked but the winner is a clear as day James Milner, followed by Fabian Delph. I'm actually not surprised here.
Final Analysis
I can't for the life of me figure out why Heskey gets picked over Carew. I can't figure out why we are still playing 4-4-2 and while he is a prospect, I can't understand why we put Fabian Delph straight into the middle of the park, then take him off when he he had made a couple of mistakes but actually did okay, as well as any other player.
I'm not going to go over old ground but with our net spend this summer at something like £5mn if I were Randy Lerner, who has apparently told the manager that lots of money is available, I'd be talking to the manager as to why he hasn't spent it. The season has begun and we are not prepared. Was the Martin Laursen news a surprise for O'Neill?
Up Next: Europa LDV
We have Europe this week and I've got the option to go, but I'm waiting on getting confirmation from the club that we are going to take this tournament seriously this season. If we are not, I'm not going to spend the money.
Basically, O'Neill has to change things around for this match and if as he has commented above, he is just looking for more 'fight and determination' then I fear he has lost the plot, it's not about that any more.
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Leroy
said:
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... What else can you say that hasnt already been said........replace the spine of the team that we have lost with equal quality or there will be further embarrassment like saturday. There is news of a big bust up between Carrick and SAF, this is why he was nowhere to be seen yesterday. I think he is better than Jenas or Bentley.....perhaps worth i shot if we are not going for international quality |
Spaniard
said:
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... these next two weeks are make or break for us, so obvious how we missed barry and a partner for cuellar, in the mean time we have got to give reo a run out and revert to a 5 man midfield with carew up top. As defenders go west ham say they need to sell so maybe upson ? |
Chiefy1
said:
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... The weekends game has been pulled apart so much already its bee done happened and there is nothing we can do to change it. Lets look forward now gt behind the team and move forward. I am positive MON will sort it out. Firt game of the season we lost so did everton and liverpoo, i am sure new faces will be in before thrusday. |
ak_27
said:
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... MON should be given this full season to show he can learn from his mistakes (which i doubt very much). But the main reason is that if Learner has any real ambition for this club he should use this year to have his replacement lined up to come in next summer. MON just has too many flaws that are and will hold us back from ever really challenging. Bring Roberto Martinez in next summer and that would be the start of big things for us. |
vogra
said:
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... As Leroy said everything that needed to be said has been said over the last two days, i will give 100% support to the players but not to the clown that is in charge..I want him out and its as simple as that. |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Upson good shout, too early to call MONs head after he has improved us so much already give the guy break |
Nick
said:
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... It was only one game, im not going to get too upset. It was a stinker, we looked lost defensively and it seemed like everyone was trying to do it all themselves on attack. We need to attack and defend as a team or we arent going to get anywhere. I cant remember the last time we looked dangerous on the counter-attack, it seems all of sudden (coinciding with the return to the 4-4-2 maybe?) we lost our biggest attacking weapon, our pace and play on the break. Agbonlahor gets absolutely no service, Ashley Young and Milner are trying to do way too much themselves, and Heskey is well Heskey and that isnt helping either. I wouldnt mind seeing NRC in the middle, he brings something similar to what Laursen did, intensity and that never say die attitude. I think we are lacking whenever NRC is not in there. Despite his odd bad touch or pass, he more than makes up for it imo. I would save Delph for substitute appearances for now, bring him on when we need something different, etc. anyway.. |
Darragh McGeown
said:
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... Let's call a spade a spade. We haven't been playing well since Martin Laursen got injured early in the year. He was arguably the only villa player that would walk into any premiership team (when fit) and he needs to be replaced - urgently! You can bang on about VDV, Sniejder or Veloso but at the end of the day our defence is a complete shambles without a world class center half. I've been banging the Richard Dunne drum for a while but only as a backup to Carlos and a class CB. Why can't MON search the Europe for the next Vidic or Vanermalen - he's exhausting the 'buy british' policy at this stage. Starting to lose the faith  |
One New Villa Blogger
said:
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... Apparently Carew was pulled out of the starting line up with an infected toe just before the game......? |
Michael
said:
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... Watched the game on Saturday and I have to say that when I seen the line up i knew we were beat. Our midfield looked as if there was no one there. Heskey is not a finisher, gabby is not a finisher, hell i would prefer harwood to heskey any day, at least he tries. We need big john to start every game if we are to score!. I feel we are just repeated ourselves so I am just going to sit back because if we know we need players then MON should know and getting bidding at least! |
philh
said:
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... Never mind Davies being a pub defender - i think him and Cuellar were on the piss on friday night with Mcgrath. Sad truth is Mcgrath even now would perform better than the pair of them - They were a total shambles. Emabrrasing. I didn't boo but mainly as i was stunned silent at how inept we were. Don't get me wrong we were toothless up front but it all starts at the back for me. |
Ronan Kenny
said:
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... Considering we played like the preformance against wigan for alot of the second half of last season and havent improved the team player wise bar one (Dowing - cant play for obvious reasons)im surprised alot of you really believed we would have a good season this year. Davies and Ceular and shorey are very average at best and Delph is possibly one for the future but certainly not good enough to replace Barry. I expect one or two signings before the window closes but they wont be world beaters, probably just slightly better than what we have. Mon doesnt have the money and ambition to get in real quality simple as. |
Darragh McGeown
said:
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... In addition to what i said above - I really would rather start the season poorly than have things go the way the went last year. This way i might realise that he can't get away with his miserly transfer policies. At this stage I wouldn't be surprised if he purchased Bobo Balde as a replacement for Laursen  |
ak_27
said:
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... We need a striker who is comfortable with the ball at his feet. Tuncay would be perfect. He could come deep to get the ball if needed which Gabby cannot do. |
jk92923
said:
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... there goes my week! my mood depends on Villa's results.....not as bad as my Evertonian colleague...i think i hear him crying! |
Damian
said:
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... Sorry, meant to add this into the post, but forgot again. Basically, it is only the first game. We will finish higher than Wigan and Blues will get relegated. But it is extremely frustrating. Sure, more quality is needed, but a bit of direction wouldn't go amiss either. |
Sweeno
said:
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... Having watched the Spuds outplay Liverpool yesterday, I don't believe we have the quality of depth to compete with them and will struggle to finish above Sunderland who have quality goalscorers. Spurs have a much bigger squad, more importantly it has quality to it. Just look who they ended up bringing on up front, 2 players who both cost double figures. Quality CB and lets spend some decent money on firepower for once!!! |
ak_27
said:
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... jk92923 you'll be ok after Thursday as we will beat Vienna away. They are a very average outfit. The Irish champions were one minute from putting the Austrians champions out of the CL a few weeks ago and the Irish champions would be the equilivant of a league 2 team in England. |
Hathers
said:
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... After watching that awful display on Saturday it looks to me we are going to have to spend another £30 million to get it right. But I'm not sure I trust o'niel spending anymore of lerners money (if he has any) If u look at our 2 CB they cost us 18mil and after watching them on Saturday they would struggle to get into a Sunday league side. We need quality no more lower league players. Just get proven players that's all we ask. Also has anybody seen the rumour that luke young is going to Hull city.Hull City have had a bid accepted for an un-named Premier League right-back, with Radio Humberside reporting Luke Young is City`s latest target. If this happens all faith would be lost. UTV |
Michael
said:
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... I feel if we get 1 experienced Central Defender then the likes of Davis and Carlos will come good, look at what Laursen done last season |
Doc
said:
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... Villa were crap Saturday no doubt about it but they were largely crap at home all last season. If our away form is not to the same standard as last year then we are going to be in trouble. MON has to address the problem of our home performances. Regardless of any players we bring in changes need to be made to the way we play at home to break sides down. Bringing in a creative midfielder isn't going to help us if we are playing long ball all the time. |
One Skin Wes
said:
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... People calling for MONs head are f**king idiots. He is clearly the best manager we have had for some time! Although I am constantly telling myself he does know what he's doing in the transfer market, but im still waiting for the Barry & Laurson replacements to be brought in! He only had all summer!! He still hasn't clicked that 4-4-2 doesn't work for us and that our record last year while playing 4-5-1 was superb. We were also playing an attacking & exciting style of football with that formation & it only seemed to change to accommodate Heskey. Which brings me to my final MON moan. HESKEY...... WTF ! Buying him was an error, but playing the C*** ahead of Carew! He should only be used when Carew isn't playing, if at all! & can anyone tell me if its true he stormed out of Villa park on Saturday when he was told he wasn't starting? Im scared what the rest of the season may bring! PLEASE prove me wrong MON & spend big on quality!!!! |
Rowley Villain
said:
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... We lost one game to Wigan and someone wants Martinez in??!!! Surely you're kidding?  : I'm mega disappointed and can't seem to get optimistic at all, but I still think we will be ok. We might have a poor start, can see us going 5 or 6 without a win. On another note, Jeff Stelling and Alan Hansen gave us (Villa Fans) a bit of a bashing for booing at the end of the game! We always seem to get bad stick from national press when it's not always deserved. (Idiot at Portsmouth game excluded) |
Rowley Villain
said:
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... Is there a Villa fan anywhere in the world that would pick Heskey above Carew? Big JC could be a legend but for some reason MON doesn't seem to like him. He would be the first name on my teamsheet and captain. Imagine the team bonding sessions at the strip clubs!! |
Tim Wood
said:
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... It could be worse, we could all support Everton!! Lets just keep everything in perspective! We lost, shit happens! |
Hathers
said:
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... Nah he didn't storm out. Also there were rumours he had a punch up with Heskey in pre season. Can't be true either would of made the papers by now. |
Damian
said:
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... Rowley Villain I don't think JC is a MO'N signing. I think it was more a case of he wanted rid of Baros and this deal was proposed. I could be wrong and it could have been MO'N who instigated the deal but can you imagine O'Neill dealing with any club outside of England or Scotland? |
Rowley Villain
said:
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... I agree, but surely he can see the quality Carew brings us. I'm not bothered if the tea lady instigated the signing, if he's the best we've got, he needs to be playing every game! |
Gary Cross
said:
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... THE TRUTH ABOUT JOHN CAREW ON SATURDAY !!! This is straight from people who work in the Dressing Room at Villa Park. JOHN CAREW DID NOT GET INJURED IN THE WARM UP ON SATURDAY !!! Martin O'Niell and John Carew had a stand up argument in the Dressing Room Area after MON told him he was only a substitute for the Wigan match. John Carew got changed back into his suit and walked out of the ground !!! That is why he wasn't even on the bench. Marc Albrighton was quickly changed as a sub, and the Referee was told John had been injured in the warm up so that the teamsheet could be changed ... and that is the truth !!!! |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Lets not start with the Carew is leaving talk again, he was injured thats a FACT, he never left the ground FACT he was getting treatment for his infected toe !!!!! Look at the comments recently made by MON do you honestly think Carew was not picked over Heskey !!! get real it is also reported than Carew new he was playing prior to kick off yet his injury would not allow him to !!! |
Tim Wood
said:
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... Gary Cross - If that is the truth then Carew is to blame! Not one person is bigger than the team! |
Rowley Villain
said:
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... Chiefy 1 Thought the team was named with Carew on the bench and then got 'injured' in the warm up. May be wrong. MON has picked Agbonlahor and Heskey over JC a few times so it's not out of the question. I hope you're right though |
jk92923
said:
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... AK_27.....thats still monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday afternoon of crying in the bathroom at work though  |
Steve-o
said:
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... Firstly I am not a fan of heskey, but credit to the guy he chased down, and from what I remember he won every ball he went up for. On the other hand what did gabby do in the entire game that was worthy of his starting place? The defence id in pieces and has been since Laursen got injured last season, why sell a central defender with no replacement in place? mon's 1st big mistake was selling Gary Cahill to Bolton and bloody replacing him with Zat Knight who wasnt fit to lace Cahills boots! Why has virtually every player that mon has signed either been sold or benched or left to rot in the reserves? Reason is because i believe that this guy has not got a clue. The players he signed for us would have been good at Celtic but the Premier League is a much tougher faster league mark my words we are well on our way to becoming the Leicester City of the current Premier League. An average team with an average manager who makes average signings!!!!! |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Oh my god i an not beleive how now after one bad performance Carew has had a row with MON, MON should be sacked come on it was a bad day at the office nothing more yeah we need players but MON gets paid to know what we think we do. His CV in football managment is one of the best in the premier league i was there saturday and there was NO positives but we need to be POSITIVE and get behind the team it was a bad result not the end of the world and perhaps ironically the wake up call some of the players and MON needed ! |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Rowely Villain- Honestly Carew was meant to be starting but after having his infected toe inspected after warm up they decided to not play him |
Michael panizza
said:
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... What I'd like to know regarding the Carew/Heskey thing is...why don't they clear the air at the club with a statement? They must be aware of the rumours out there..either way whoever claims MON needs more time has either lived in a time warp or is not paying much attention to what he's been up to so far. |
Tim Hodgetts
said:
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... Carew was unfit apparently and it's obviously ludicrous to say he hasn't got a clue. Where were we when he took over? That's not to say that we don't need more down the middle of the pitch and that sometimes there is an obvious lack of tactical variation. Dare I say it might be just a bit premature to be calling for his head. Are Everton fans calling for Moyes' head? |
ak_27
said:
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... The main thing regarding Carew is that MON's first choice striker is Heskey. MON would have been delighted if Carew had not come back from his "injury" last year and had not made such a good return as he wanted him out of the club. MON would have sold him off this summer if he could have done so without the fury of the fans. He still hasn't forgotten the night club injury and apparently there was a lot more to that then also as Carew mysterious back injury happened staright after that kept him out for months with no reported date of return. MON knows that you can't really play Carew and Heskey together as their is no mobilty in that pairing and like i said in his mind Heskey is humber one which should really tell you a lot about MON as a manager to be honest. But for all the abuse Heskey gets Gabby is far worse and far more ineffective. |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Saturday i thought Gabby was the laziest player on the pitch, if he wants to be a great he should learn from Rooney if he aint getting the ball because of the service go get it yourself and do something !! ! |
Deano avfc
said:
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... We should have signed Darren Bent. I'd rather see the Fonz start against Liverpool than Gabby, at least let him know that he isn't automatically in the starting line up each week and he has to fight for his place and start knocking them in. We really should have shaken the team up this summer. Got rid of Shorey, Salifou, Harewood etc UTV |
Lions Den Penang
said:
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... To all the 'string 'em up' & 'hang 'em high brigade', please be very very careful what you wish for, I remember a certain Martin Jol down the 7 sisters road facing a similar lynch mob & eventually being ousted, what a mistake for Spurs that was!!! The past 2 seasons Villa have improved & consolidated, so far we are on the right track. Ok Saturdays performance was woefully lacking but let's get a reality check here it was the first game of a long season & I believe it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as the pain of this embarrassing defeat will be resonating in MON's mind for some time to come. He knows what is required to instil some vertabrae into what can only be described as the nearest thing to an arthropodan team performance. If anything MON's poker face when negotiating transfer dealings may slacken culminating in a speculative loosening of the RL purse strings which so far have been guarded with the zeal of a politically correct greenie inflicting the looniest of laws upon us downtrodden minions. Saturdays defeat has not only served to raise the the profile, but more importantly with 2 weeks to go until the transfer window closes for its winter break, it has raised the stakes somewhat. Watch this space & please don't panic. |
Tim Wood
said:
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... ak_27 - Are you being John Malkovich? How the hell do you know what is going on in MON's mind? I often agree with your views and opinions but making comments like that is just pathetic! |
bobvillian
said:
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... i dont think mon or staff have a passport;why else do we always buy english when there is quality players oversees at half the price.scouting system at villa does not exsist.mon talks the talk;look to denmark;sweden;and norway for defienders built like shithouses at halfprice. |
WorcsAV
said:
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... Isn't it time MON woke up and realised his 'mates' Petrov & Heskey just dont cut it. We keep banging on about the lost of 2, lets face it, quality players, but is it not coincidental that since Petrov cemented his place in the team last season after missing the start through injury that our defence now seems to get 'split' apart, when was the last time anyone saw him track back with any vigour or drop off when the rest of the midfield go forward, seems he leaves that to Milner, give Sidwell & NRC a go and leave Petrov to work out how much his new contract is worth MON. Worst performance i've seen for a long time.... |
clarkamus
said:
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... MON would have been delighted if Carew had not come back from his "injury" last year and had not made such a good return as he wanted him out of the club get real if MON wanted him out he would have done it your talking crap |
ak_27
said:
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... Rowley Villain ive been saying for ages that Martinez is the next big thing in management and we should get him in before another big club goes for him. It is not based on one performance it is based on his last few years and the style of football he brought to Swansea and now Wigan. Swansea played like Barcalona in the championship last season which is no mean feat for such a small club just promoted and playing in a very hard tackling league. That is the way forward by having a team who are all comfortable on the ball and keep it and that comes directly from the manger and his coaching methods. MON's teams will never do that and so will never really challenge to be honest as the premier league is getting more techincal each year with the influx of more foreign players. Also Martinez is far better at finding cheap players from all over the world which is also the only way we will ever challege the big boys. |
jk92923
said:
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... re Gabby, i think he is asked not to use as much energy (chasing back etc) so he can keep the pacey runs, perhaps? it would make sense b ecasue he would be pretty rubbish without the pace. takes alot to run like that every time vill ahoof the ball up, which they seem to do all the time. could be wrong but maybe he is told to be "lazy.." in that regard. |
jonnie 5
said:
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... Being there on saturday it was so evident the formation does not work with the players we have in the team. Its frustratingly obvious we would be awesome playing 4-5-1 with the player at our disposel. The defense would benefit from reo playing just in front of them with his leadership skills,drive and determination. Gabby for me would be far better pushed out wide right or dropped with albrigton cuming in Petrov and Sidwell in the middle. I will say the positives i took from the game were for sidwell and albrighton. Sidwell looked fitter and more determined to get involved, Albrighton his delivery was second to none and he wanted the ball which was a nice sign from such a young lad. I do feel its a little early to judge it is the first game of the season, it could be be worse just look at everton. I will be holding my judge for at least the first 5 or 6 games. I feel also its important to stay behind the team for our frustrations will only create nerves for the players on the pitch. Lets see what MON can do before the transfer window closes in a couple of weeks before we right them off, its one game of 38. I remain positive we will do well this season, yes we were crap and no 4-4-2 does not work and I'm sure MON is aware of this so lets just wait and see before we jump on the band wagon. UTV |
Chiefy1
said:
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... jk92923 - Rooney does both though why cant Gabby ???? He doesnt have to sprint back to get the ball but atleast make an effort to go get it |
philh
said:
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... gary cross - if your info was nay good you would have known it was delfouneso who was the replacement sub - albrighton was already on the bench - stop causing trouble |
Rob The Villain
said:
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... Right, can someone please clear this up... Some people are saying Carew was injured (which MON also said) and some are saying he had a big bust up with MON, what really happened? I know some people like to bullshit so I'm probably not going to get a straight answer! Damian, what have you heard? |
jk92923
said:
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... Chiefy1 - just a suggestion. he is asked to sprint alot more than Rooney though. its bascially Gabby's game. but i do agree, he needs to do more, but they may be more than just being lazy is all. |
Chiefy1
said:
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... Rob The Villain - Carew has an infected toe which they checked after warm up and decided not to risk it for futher infection or injury |
Andy Young
said:
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... At least O'Neill acknowledges that he needs to rebuild the spine of the team (finally) because, let's face it, spineless pretty much sums up the performance on Saturday. I reckon we need a leader more than anything. Obviously we need to properly plug the gaps left by Laursen and Barry as a priority, but we also need someone who grab hold of Davies and Cueller and tell them to pass the ball out of defence, not just hoof it upfield. Petrov is a good player but he doesn't seem to have the presence, grit or authority of someone like John Terry or Roy Keane. That's the kind of person we're sorely missing. |
Chiefy1
said:
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... jk92923 - i know what you mean but if Gabby doesnt add something to his game he will be a one trick poney and look what happenend to Vassell he was fast but that was it |
ak_27
said:
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... Timmyrara which part is pathetic? The part that MON wants Heskey in the team before Carew? He would have got rid of him if he could have done so this summer. Like i said there is a lot more to what happened last Nov with Carew and the subsequent mysterious back injury. |
Eoin Greene
said:
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... I think the penny has finally dropped for some regarding MoN. However, I am shocked at the dramatic turnaround in general opinion based on one match. I for one believe that the signs have been apparent for 18 months that MoN has taken Villa as far as he can. Ultimately his philosophy on playing football and indeed managing a football club, which has been championed so strongly by the masses, will be his downfall. MoN does what he does very well and he would always take a club like Blackburn, Fulham, Sunderland, Leicester or Villa(considering where we were when he joined - 16th) and make them solid, workmanlike and even over achieve. But, in my opinion, his philosophy means that he will never take us to the next step - i.e. a top 4 finish. That may sound harsh - but I have long been of that opinion and believe it to be true. To be honest, to have gotten to this stage of the transfer window without a replacement for either Laursen and Barry is absolutely shocking even reckless management. I know people say its not easy sign players, but we need a new top class center half and we needed him two months ago. Even if we get one now - it'll take him 2 months to settle in - ridiculous. If we look at thinks in a route cause type of way - I believe that our biggest problem is defense. We have four players, the highlight of course who is Davis - who is a shambles, who are inept in posession. They never take posession from the keeper and try to build from there and when they do get posession they hoof it forward at every single opportunity. We have the fastest striker in the league and we hoof long balls up to him - of course he will look crap. Now we talk about Sneijder, VDV and Tuncay - who all play off the front man/attacking midfielder - and whilst they would be great......if we had Messi, Pele and Maradona up front they could do nothing with the ball that is hoofed up to them. These players need posession, they dont win it themselves so unless we get two footballing centerhalfs and fullbacks - then whats up the pitch is almost irrelevant! After three years in charge our defense, the rock on which teams are built - has Beye, Cuellar, Davis and Shorey - and thats one of the reasons why I have no 'faith' or 'belief' in MoN. |
KingoftheLions
said:
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... They went in for extra training yesterday,which indicates Mon's displeasure.Whether we like it or not we have lost 2 genuine world class players.This leaves us with Carew who on his day is every bit as good as Tony Hately or Andy Lockhead were[both these players would in todays market be worth £20 mil each]i.e world class. I am now convivced by DAMIAN'S argument that with our current personnel, 451 is the way forward with Carew being up front,but he has to do a hell of alot of running.Is he prepared to do it ??. My point is that Carew is temperemental,as was Ronaldo and Mon now has to cuddle him into doing all the running required.Perhaps he can do it for first half only to be replaced by Gabby or the Mattress. Any thoughts??? |
Villa man
said:
 |
... Like I have said damien we must find a way of getting answers off Lerner and ask him is there money for transfers or not? The club owe this to us the fans!!! Just like deadly doug would "we ain't got money" at least then we knew wat to expect! I really wish mate that we had a Arab at the villa not this yank, I would love a manager who gets all the players he wants before pre season starts. I think that manager for mr would be martin jol! With the money mon has had to spend I think jol would have brought in better quality that's for sure. If we don't get quality players in by Thursday then we will lose against Birmingham city no doubt. If that happens then mon has to walk! Message to the board and mon. "I am a villa fan not because of Lerner or mon, I am a villa fan from the dark ages of the 80's, if either of you go I won't bat an eye lid and I will continue to come to villa park because it's my religion, I might be fickle but I just don't like mon" |
Andy Young
said:
|
... I remain dubious that Carew has in fact chucked his toys out of the pram, but if this does indeed turn out to be the case then I wouldn't blame him for throwing a wobbler. If Emile Heskey was picked over me (fit or otherwise) I think I'd be pretty miffed about the whole thing. |
gareth
said:
 |
... mon has failed in his 3 years at the club after all that money he has spent he still hasnt addressed the size of the squad which is a problem we has under dol its a joke every summer its the same story we are never ready come kick off he hasnt taken us that far in comparerision to the money he has spent the last 2 years we have spent more that arsenal an everton an we havent even had a sniff off a cup run this is mon last season |
Damian
said:
|
... Villa man The problem is with Lerner and maybe this isn't a problem, but it's his way, he just isn't going to communicate with us. To some extent, I can understand why, but on the other hand he does have a responsibility but there are no channels open. He is aware of this site, he has all my contact details and if he ever wants to give me 10 minutes (he also knows this is all I want to begin with) then he knows how to get in contact with me. |
Leroy
said:
|
... Chiefy1 - Excellent point about Gabby. In many ways the whole team needs to consider the work rate aspect of the game, a problem Reo has never had....(wink wink) I guess it is just so disappointing that the was a clear and distinct lack of fire in the side on Saturday...if the rumour with Carew is true that would spell massive trouble for the club. As Carew is a cult hero for us and i would imagine that more than a few fans would be up in arms about it. Fact is, the more we struggle and dont appear to be advancing ie lack of full squad, poor decision making, lack of adaptability with tactics any other excuses etc, the more fans will turn against MON. I dont want this to happen, but if we get off to a poor start and we still dont have a squad capable of competing, whos fault is it? When a managers best asset is motivating players and getting the most out of them, and all of a sudden that is no longer the case, how long can you ignore all the other niggling things that were over shadowed?? For his own sake he had better sort it out quick, because from outside in the cracks may be starting to show..... |
confusedvillafan
said:
 |
... eion1981 you are spot on going into the new season without replacing those two is bloody insane,he has had 2-3 months to find replacements, harry redtwitch signed bassong in no time at all for 8 mill,cahill has an 8 mill get out clause in his new why not try get him back why couldnt we have done a deal regarding zat |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... Damian - isn't it funny Lerner's not prepared to talk to fans then he sends some muppet of an ex army guy to do the PR on some random website? Concerning. |
carl 8767
said:
 |
... GABBY WTF he was s**t middle and end of last season and s**t again saturday he is just lazy thats it. Heskey for me put more effort in than gabby did all game. on the carew front he was out for warm up then just walk off around 20minutes before every other player didnt look in pain or limping and if he was injured in warm up wudnt they have announced it in stadium that he picked up injury and we had changed who was on the bench the fact is that they didnt and usual villa fans are left to guess what really happend for me i feel he had a bust up and left the stadium and i dont blame him GABBY STARTING, CAREW BENCH just not right. mon has promised to replace spine of team of all summer so why ppl think he goin to do it now after this game i really dont know. final point why did MON change a winning team from pre season does not make sense to drop players that have had a great pre season if we lose carew we are fked he is without doubt our 20 goal a season man. |
Ronan Kenny
said:
|
... Infected toe my arse, there was no talk of the infected toe before kick off on saturday. Carew has obviously fallen out with MON caus Heskey sarted before him, id be Fxxkin disapointed if Heskey started before me, did anyone see when Heskey nutmegged the defender then swung the left putter and scuffed the ball wide. Heskey is a donkey, he wouldnt get in the Wigan side now. |
Chiefy1
said:
|
... on a lighter note has anyone seen the aviva advert we should sign dick var van nosteral boy hahahaha in just come on it has me in bits |
OJay
said:
 |
... Stop with the carew bullshit! Even if he had of played we were still shit! We need another stricker,we need someone decent in the centre and we need someone at the back. We need 3 big name signings! |
simo 09
said:
 |
... oi cheify,bit of bad news 4 ya mate,carew was named as a sub & heskey 2 start,now my logic is this o'neil must obviously rate heskey more than carew 4 him 2 start,because there is absolutely no reason & i speak 4 the majority of villa fans here that heskey in any way is better than carew,now this is where i start 2 wonder if mon has really lost it upstairs cos it makes no sense wat so eva,and not only that we have cover @rite bk so y oh y did he then put our "best" player there,im struggling 2 stay positive at the mo,the only way we will rectify this situation is by getting quality in and unfortunatly i just dont see o,neil doing that.i mentioned the uva day on this blog that by the end of the transfer window we'll know wat season 2 expect,but now i really think that after the liverpool game we'll know if weve got the bollocks 2 do anything.oh and anuva point people going on bout "well we cud be everton fans" i cud probably just bout handle being battered by the better team a team who r 1 of the top 4,i tuk the beating off liverpool with a pinch of salt,but 2 b comprehesivly outplayed by a team who have no intention of doing anythink than stay up yr in yr out is beyond a joke,we were @ home we supposedly had our tails up from pre-season,and 2 cap it all off mon says afterwards that they were tired "TIRED"! wat the f**k is he on bout!!!!!!!!!!! they cant surely still b suffering jet lag!!!! im sorry but like others on here im losing faith with the shit excuses been thrown @us,but also like others on here im an optimist have been 4 25yrs so deep in my heart i want mon 2 sort it out & become a hero 2 us all,time will tell eitha way,i know which way i want it 2 go & i'll pray they know how 2 do it,so i apolgise 4 the rant,ive tried 2 calm down over the past 24hrs but its still niggling so ive got it off my chest now,happy days villa fans |
Damian
said:
|
... Monkeywrench I don't know how to take what you've said but don't get me wrong, the PR is nice, but most now just see it for what it is, a stunt. I mean, due respect to Krulak, but what does he really know about football, let alone Aston Villa. Sure, he could create a position that he has learnt a lot, get the fans on side with certain words and examples, but put him in a room and ask him some serious questions, he'll get lost, we all would even if we went to do what he did at an American football team and had only done it part time for three years. He is doing a job. He is a soldier and he is following orders. |
Chiefy1
said:
|
... I have read Carew was set to start but he has an infected toe that they looked at it after the warm up and decided not to risk him and draffted in Heskey. Either way he got it wrong it was a bad day Gabby was shocking the back was shocking it was all shocking but frustrating ourselves with hearr say is making it worse things will change if MON dont do it (which i think he will) someone else will dick van var nostral boy !!! |
vdv
said:
 |
... it does show mons english policy. VDV and kranjar r cheap and great players, but mon prefers jenas who is SHIT and dear jjst because hes english. if he keeps doing this policy we r not going to get anywhere fast. please just get one or foreign players thats all. |
carl 8767
said:
|
... just add to what i put earlia beye was also shocking almost as bad as gabby but not quite |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
 |
... Damien, MoN tried several times to sign Carew when he was at Celtic, so I think you may be wrong with that one. |
vdv
said:
|
... ojay, we do need a striker but mon said before the game that we dont and yesterday MARLON HEAROOD HAS A FUTURE. |
vdv
said:
|
... if we get jenas and no striker villa will be in deep deep trouble. PLEASE NO JENAS AND PLEASE A STRIKER. |
carl 8767
said:
|
... ghosthunter ur talkin out your arse if gabby and heskey was selected ahead of me id walk out he could walk into any champions league team IMO |
Jae86
said:
 |
... Anybody else expecting us to bid for Jason Koumas. MoN seems to like signing players who do well against us. Hes british, he scored, sounds like a perfect O'neill signing. Ad theres all this optimism about we'll get 1 or 2 more quality additions in i just can't believe it from whattwe have previously seen. For instance in my opinion the good signings Ashley Young John Carew Curtis Davies/Carlos Cuellar - both of these are good players just not toghether, they need a no nonsense vidic/laursen next to them Milner Petrov Delph - still young and the jurys out Sutton - at the time he was a great player for us Luke Young With the exception of Carew and Cuellar we massively overpaid for all of these players. Young and Milner are exceptions as they are now worth their price tags but not when we brought them. If we had got these players at Market value we would have saved about 15m which would have been our big name signing or a few squad players extra but when we sign squad players we moan that they are not good enough ie salifou and Beye. We need to reach a happy medium as ans would you spend this hypothetical 15m on 1 big marquee player or build on the squad. Damian I think this would make a good poll cos the marquee player followers would complain about the squad size and thh squad players followers would moan we lacked quality. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... vdv, wouldn't you rather have a centre half? we already have four strikers and if we play 4-5-1 like everyone is wanting then what will we do with them all? Why won't everyone stop panicking....ridiculous. If we lose eight games on the spin i can understand it, but one game? how many games did we lose last year? |
ak_27
said:
|
... Ghosthunter i agree that if Carew did that it is wrong and he should have been professional about it even though it was a terrible decision by MON. I wouldn't sack him though but i would say a fine would be imposed upon him. |
jk92923
said:
|
... Carl - i dont think ghosthunter is talking out his arse. a job is a job and if you walk out, there are always repercussions. as good as he is, we can't have a disruptive force in the squad either. ...and he is my favourite villa player. but i will note, this is all just hear-say, he probably was injured.... |
Damian
said:
|
... Juan Pablo Angel I've just done a Google search from Jan 1st 2000 to Dec 31st 2005 for 'john carew celtic' and found no link anywhere that O'Neill was interested in Carew. Then I've just done a quick search for players signed by O'Neill while at Celtic and in his 5 years he only once paid for a player from overseas. Okay, that information might also be wrong and has no real bearing on Carew - but to think that in 5 seasons he only once paid for a player from overseas (if that is true) and he was also after Carew, who during the same period played for 3 clubs and it never happened, doesn't feel right to me. |
Damian
said:
|
... Cant say who just yet, but I just got this email from someone. I've taken bits out but you get the general feel: O'Neill will motivate and shake things up and have a 2-3 year impact but beyond that he has nothing to offer. The players know him, opponents and managers know him and there isn't remotely a plan B, Robertson and Walford are as constructive as Phil Neal. Celtic were a shambles through his final season with Strachan inheriting naff all other than expensive contracts. The small squad at Villa is to retain trust, he gets players loyal by playing them all the time, after 12-18 months at Celtic he found his team and flogged them to death for three years till there was nothing left. Post Celtic only Petrov and obviously Larsson have had any type of career. Another O'Neill crony to beware of is Doctor Roddy, it's very strange to find a doctor following a manager but Dr Roddy left Celtic when O'Neill left then quit Newcastle to rejoin him at Villa All the best but last season was as good as it gets for you under MON. |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... MON " people have mentioned the absence of gareth barry and martin laursen,this is a new team we have to be ready for that".WTF ? Does that sound like he was gonna replace them with like for like quality to you. said it before i reckon he thought delph could walk straight in and replace barry f**k knows what he`s thinking about our shambolic piss poor defence |
Jae86
said:
|
... From the birmigham mail Marlon Harewood handed Aston Villa challenge Aug 15 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail Comments (2)Recommend MARTIN O’Neill has warned forgotten frontman Marlon Harewood that he must raise his standards significantly to prove he still has a part to play at Villa Park. O’Neill has surprisingly left the first team door open to Harewood who was widely expected to quit Villa this summer after a lack of claret and blue opportunities. And the former West Ham powerhouse is now set to remain at Villa beyond the August 31 transfer deadline after sustaining a foot injury in training. The problem is likely to keep Harewood out of action for three weeks and would appear to end his hopes of a fresh start at another Premier League club. Harewood is believed to have attracted interest from a host of Championship suitors but, according to his representatives, he is reluctant to drop out of the top flight. O’Neill insists the 29-year-old striker, who ended last season on loan at Wolves and was heavily linked with a move to Hull, will start this season with a clean slate. “I think Marlon believes that he can go and score goals given the opportunity on the field,” O’Neill said. “You have to work for these opportunities – in every single minute in training. ‘‘You’re going to have to strive and you’re going to have to strive harder and do you know what? ‘‘Then you’re going to have to strive even harder. “That’s the way it is and that’s the same for everyone, so if you’re asking me specifically, everybody here at the end of every season has a clean slate. “You take a breath, see where you’ve finished, see what’s about and then have a look at it. And if I’m doing that then all the players are doing the same.” Harewood failed to begin a single Premier League game last season and was restricted to a handful of substitute appearances and six starts in the League and UEFA Cup. And he was a peripheral figure in pre-season, appearing in only the first friendly at Peterborough before a late cameo in the opening Peace Cup defeat against Malaga. O’Neill, who signed Harewood for £4 million two years ago, insists the former Nottingham Forest favourite knows the level he must attain to get into Villa’s first team. “I view everybody’s role in the same way,” O’Neill added Worrying!! |
Villa4life
said:
 |
... mate.... ive had enough already...... sick of watching that rolledga goal on SSN..... I turn it on to see if any transfer news..... but no... they seem to think its funny how we were trashed at our ground. And guess what???.... no transfer news. MON must be sitting at home doing F88k all!!!..... I've lost confidence in him already. You can have your opinions if you want, but you can't tell me you saw what happened on Saturday.... this will be a repeat and it will be typified by the Blues game when we lose!!!!!!! |
ak_27
said:
|
... Damian from what i can see through the way the team plays is that the coaching is not right. How can Martinez come into a club and have such an impact on the way a team passes the ball in such a short time? We seem to have an outdated philoshphy at the very core of the club. The signs have been there since he started regarding this. How many of our team are comfortable with the ball at their feet? |
Damian
said:
|
... Jae86 Why would Marlon Harewood leave Villa and have to accept less money? He isn't going anywhere until his contract is up. |
clarkamus
said:
|
... right the weekend has gone now and it was a poor performance but the only way is up and we have to now look to rapid vienna on thursday and they will be no pushover thats for sure, MON will have all the lads feeling like they need to rectify what happened against wigan and im confident that we will go there and put on a good show, now to transfers we need defenders this is evident i think 3 great shouts for MON would be shawcross, wheater and turner they all fit the young english bill and all have premier league experience and would be a fair price??? |
Damian
said:
|
... ak_27 i agree but i also think the answer is a simple one change from 442, that promotes long ball football especially when playing against a team with five in midfield to 451, which promotes getting the ball out wide, the main striker running channels and people attacking from left right and middle what baffles me over everything is why o'neill hasn't seen this. i banged this drum a lot last season and got a lot of stick but i stand firm with my belief that that is the reason you don't put delph into a 442 against 5 in the middle and expect anything other than what we got on saturday we have 5 better midfielders than wigan and it isn't about 442 at home and 451 away. it is about consistency and playing the same football home or away so it build confidence and understanding o'neill has to do it otherwise we will be beaten by most teams that play 5 in the middle |
Villa4life
said:
|
... By the way..... if any one must know.... I think MON has lost it.... Laursen and Barry were not his players...... he never paid for them as they were there when he took over, so I have to say he has no idea how to replace them or he would have done so by now!.... expect to get rubbish players and forget the likes of VDV and any foreign player......he has no clue on how to deal with them...... If we don't make it this year then MON needs to step off and jog on!!!! |
Jae86
said:
|
... Damian, its not the leaving villa part that worries me, its the part where O'neill says he still has a serious part to play in our first team and we don't need another striker. And surely for someone like Harewood money isn't the issue. He wants to play football and he shouldn't be able to do that at the villa. |
carl 8767
said:
|
... jk92923 if he walked out he was right to and also if you agree with ghosthunter then fine thats your opinion but if we lose carew we are fkd as i said before we cant get mon to sign players now if we lost carew he will just stick with gabby heskey fonz and harewood. carew should be captain every player at the club gets on with him and he is a big help to young players |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Damien, That is definitely the case i'm afraid, i actually remember it happenning because he very nearly went. Can't help thinking Hartson was then brought in as a second choice although i'm not so sure of that bit. If we signed Upson and Jenas i think we would be more than capable of replicating last years achievements. As you said in your post the other day we are so close and just need a couple of the right buys. If we now sign nobody else I won't be very impressed but I can't see that happening. Intersting piece of literature on O'Neill however it smacks more of bitterness that the guy left (because he thought his wife might die) and hasn't Strachan just done exactly the same thing? Whenever there is a change of manager there is always a period of rebuilding. Remember that the squad he assembled won loads and very nearly won the UEFA cup. I would argue that O'neill outgrew Celtic, and while it's very clear that he likes to operate a small sqaud he does only buy quality or squad players who are very cheap. |
villan from aus
said:
 |
... well said damian this is the first time on this blog for me i have been following the villa ever since we left the u.k. for aussie.1965.I think we should give mon till the end of the trans window that is ample time to get the players we need,I for one thought that we should have replaced laursen and barry by now very disappointed villa fan once again Hi to all the villa fans all over the world Keep our chins up it can only get better surely. villan from aus. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Damian i still think if the players are not being coached and encourged to become more comfortable on the ball it won't matter what formation you play. We were still long ball merchants last year in the 451 formation also. The last day i saw Martinez go mad at a defender for hoofing it up field with 10mins to go. I have never seen MON do this in his entire Villa tenure. The culture of how we play has to change but i honestly think that goes againest MON's core belief of hard working and battling players will win out. |
Randall Northam
said:
 |
... Doesn't look to me as if O'Neill is confident about signing big players with big personalties. And when it comes to tactics it seems he has no idea of what to do if a team sits back and says: 'bring it on.' I thought the days of big centre halves bit centre forwards and lumping it down the middle had gone. But it doesn't look like it. |
Leroy
said:
|
...Cant say who just yet, but I just got this email from someone. I've taken bits out but you get the general feel: The part for me is the "no plan B"....i think that MON does that because we have to stick with him longer. If he plays Liverpool with 4-4-2 then i will just about want his head on a stick... Damian, i absolutely agree with the formation. Infact i think that someone touched on the point yesterday....if we are not going to play 4-5-1 then our signings make less sense. Bang on about Delph too. He is not capable (yet) of holding his own in the 4-4-2 formation, and nor should he be expected to at his age and (lack) of experience. What do you make of th team doctor thing though Damian? I thought that was a bit weird to be honest... |
OneVilla
said:
 |
... Its only the first game and im a bit concerned. MON said that we would not be in this situation, he said he would bring players in and strengthen the squad, he said we would not have one of the smallest squads in the league again. But this is not the case we are probably in a worse situation than last year. WHY? I just dont understand. If we dont have the money fine... i can live with that, but tell us you dont have any money... But if you do have money... WHY! WHY! WHY! Wait until the season starts to buy them... just doesnt make logical sense to me. Im disappointed and worried that things may not improve... i truly hope they will and i actually believe we will get something from the L'pool and Fulham. What concerns me is that MON just doesnt even look like he is trying to resolve the problem... if he was trying and failing i could understand, but it appears that he not even trying... Its just disappointing and worrying. |
vogra
said:
|
... Oh and 7mill for Stephen Warnock..wahahahaha Did you see how easily Shaun Wright-Phillips mugged him off to create Man City's first goal, so easy.. |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... juan pablo...JENAS ? why don`t you ask the next spurs fan who comes on here to give you his opinion of jenas |
VillaDude
said:
 |
... I am not the biggest Heskey fan - but have to say - he ran the channels and chased everything down, he worked pretty hard and can won a lot of headers. The main reason we didnt have a goal threat was GABBY - he is f**kin useless - it's like playing with 10 men! |
VillaBoy69
said:
 |
... Carew: apparently he hurt his foot in the prematch warm up.. but he would get my vote on 1st choice striker every day. We need to replace laursen QUICKLY (maybe Upson or Dunne, as Distin would have already been bought if he could have been) and we should not have sold Zat Knight unless we have cover - we only have Davies and Cueller and neither of them are defensive giants lets face it. We still need a central midfielder (we are NOT going to get Sneider - no matter HOW much every Villa fan wants him or how much MON buffers his ego - and what about Sidwell or Reo-Coker, what must they think of their standing when Delph gets straight into the first XI - one of both will be on their way, they shouldnt be allowed to leave until January when we MUST have MORE Central Park cover) to Loose to Wigan is embrassing, the performance was shambolic, and unless we buy 2/3 players before Thursday, Europe will be a dream (or is that a Nightmare) again, Vienna will kick our asses' - they will look at the Video from Saturdays game and laff, they could put a 2nd Xi out and still kick us out ... I LOVE VILLA with a Passion, but on Saturdays performance (is that what you call it) 8 or 9 of the players DONT LOVE VILLA and are only there for the money (come on this aint Mercanery City) where was the pride to wear the claret and Blue ???? Roll on Rapid Vienna...  |
DavidC
said:
 |
... " thought the days of big centre halves bit centre forwards and lumping it down the middle had gone. But it doesn't look like it. " Seems to work ok for chelsea. and liverpool too. But I digress. I'm of a mind to put this down to simply 'one of them games'. Just like we weren't worldbeaters after beating fiorentina etc, we're not relegation candidates now. Get some perspective people please. |
bobvillian
said:
|
... why cant fans see that gabby is a total waste of space.ok his quick but cant control football 1to1 with goalkeeper you only have to remender everton last year when he even missed the goal all together;mon gives him massive praise but you dont here many offers for him do you?should have brought bent in not a great player but his premership goalscoring record is really good.with gabby;heskey; carew;and fonz you would luckey to score 25goals.carew would score 70&#xof; them? |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... Fulham are a good example of what happens when you get in a manager who likes to play good passing football, they were very nearly relegated a season later top 7 and they haven`t got a team of superstars |
Damian
said:
|
... Leroy I think the team Doctor thing is just going to emphasis that O'Neill doesn't like change and sticks with what he knows .. I can still see it coming good with O'Neill but I'm half expecting him to roll out the excuse that progressing in the Peace Cup didn't do us any favours as it was too many competitive games in pre-season .. much like the Intertoto was used for last season. More quality players are needed and a change from 442, but I've been saying that for a long time now and my heart tells me it isn't going to change under O'Neill. |
jk92923
said:
|
... Carl - for sure we would be f**ked but no player is right to walk out becasue another player starts ahead of them. thats childish behaviour. they are supposed to be professionals who are earning top wages. as a fan, i want him there weather he punches little childrten fans in the face or pisses in the stadium coffee before each game, but my point was not for our benefit, but for the stabilty of morale in the club behind closed doors. |
Leroy
said:
|
...Carew: apparently he hurt his foot in the prematch warm up.. Agree with everything here mate. Do you think we can achieve better than 6th with Upson and Jenas though? |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
 |
... I think we have a big problem to sort out, we need players that goes without saying but we need the manager to sort out tactics and we also need the chairman to tell the fans the truth, that is the least we deserve, im worried for the season, why does mon leave everything for the last 2 weeks, these 2 week will make or break his season and ours!! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Jae86, If you go back and read the article more closely you'll see that O'neill doesn't say 'i think' (he can be a part of the first team) it says 'he thinks' a clear indication that Harewood has said that he wants to stay (no one can offer him a decent contract) and O'neill clearly values the validity of a contract and has said fair enough. I really don't think we will see much of Harewood this season, i can see him playing as often as Salifou. Fair enough Wigan had a good game at the weekend, but was anyone thinking of making the Tanned One manager when Hull were beating everyone last season? and looked what happened to them! On the balance of one match it doesn't mean anything, Martinez inherited a solid squad from Bruce (they nearly made europe last season) and the only player he signed that played was Jordi Gomez (a player he knows very well) and Rodollega was already there but spent a bit of time playing second fiddle to Zaki last year. Martinez is in his honeymoon period that every manager gets when first appointed. Anyone remember when Peter Taylor took control at Leicester? They had an awesome run and everyone was saying Taylor for the engalnd job! they went down the same season!!!! Please can everyone get a little more realistic. No offence to anyone on this blog who has a brain and you need not take this personally. |
Trezzy
said:
 |
... vogra, i believe warnock slipped? jenas is a tidy player, good engine scored goals from open play and does the ugly stuff, never gonna be a world beater but he would do for me just like bentley, when he was at blackburn im sure people would of liked him then? |
carl 8767
said:
|
... jk92923 fair enough you want him there but not enough to support him you know IF he did walk out he is obviosly not happy and when your earning what he or not earning that much if your not happy you have to make your point and that what he was doing IF he did walk out would you not do the same if you were not happy in your job ?? |
ak_27
said:
|
... Juan Pablo Angel not talking about results but more about the approach of the manager. MON does not and will not at this stage bring a passing possesion game to this Villa team. That is the core problem as the PL has and is continuosly moving more torwards that type of game. MON is outdated and if his Leicester team of 1997 were now in this league today they would struggle to stay up. |
Jae86
said:
|
... the 1997 leicester team would do just fine in this league, they were that generations stoke, Matt Elliot, Spencer Prior and Steve Walsh battling at the back. Savage and Lennon running the midfield and Muzzy Izzet doing the fancy stuff with Tony Cottee getting on Heskeys flick on i may have 1 or 2 players wrong in that buits close enough. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... ConfusedVillain Why don't you ask Capello why he's picked him in the England side? Why don't you ask Mourinho why he wanted to take him to Inter? With the right application that lad could be very very good. He has an excellent touch. Something we don't have in our midfield at the moment, we already have too many battlers, this lad can pick a pass...i've seen it. |
villa tom
said:
 |
... we need a striker or wer the hel are our goals gunna come from, gabby? carew? or f**king fonzi? i dont see us scoring unless from a set piece! |
Jonathan
said:
 |
... Wow, Wigan Game again! Fairly sure there has been around 1000 comments on this topic allready. We Lost tpo wigan at home ( not the first time) we need to replace 2 key players we lost over the summer. End of story, Next topic pleace. |
Andy Young
said:
|
... Martin O’Neill admitted the loss of big John Carew minutes before the Wigan defeat had had an effect on his team as the giant Norwegian was pulled off the bench with an infected toe. Surely if Carew had such an 'injury' he wouldn't be on the bench in the first place. Or did his toe become infected from sitting on the bench? |
villan from aus
said:
|
... Can,t understand why mon said we looked tired this was the first game of prem lge what are we going to be like at the end .we need a 20 goal striker and we need him now. we also need to fix our defence and i don,t mean in january mon we need them now,now,now,if i keep saying that maybe mon will take note.does anyone know if mon ever reads these e-mails.i think he should because i think all the people on this site would make a better manager than mon.we all know what we need so how come mon doesn,t |
DavidC
said:
|
... "Fulham are a good example of what happens when you get in a manager who likes to play good passing football"... and so were that lot that play down the road at The Hawthorns. Its just too simplistic to say long-ball = bad, short passing = good. To me, its to do with the lack of any leaders in the backline, and the lack of a true quality box-to-box midfielder. |
jk92923
said:
|
... Carl - i think the point has gotten hazed a little. i dont want him to walk, fair enough if he does walk, its his call, but if he walked out of the game at wigan, he will not go unpunished for it, that was my point. |
Christian
said:
 |
... I'm so downbeat  Even Wesley Snjeider couldn't fix what's wrong with that team and manager. MON will pick Emile Heskey, Friedel, Gabby, one of Davies and Cuellar and put Milner at right back as long as there is a hole in his ass. And that, my friends, is why we will be as sh*t as we have been since January, forevermore. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Does anyone agree with me that mon has lost the dressing room? I am worried very worried! No mention of new players, no sign of improvement. we took the p**s out of Newcastle end of last season and if things dont improve quickly we could be in their shoes come the end of the season!! Its Time To Get Real, We Aint Champions League!!! |
Trezzy
said:
|
... people keep going on that we need to replace the 2 big names that left over the summer, but even with laursen and barry,didnt we conceed bag fulls of goals? 4 at spurs a couple seasons back i can recall, 2 at home against city opening day last year?? yes laursen was hugely missed but for me our midfield is way way to open, our ball winner cant get on the park, reo needs to play to win us the ball then needs to give it simple, i was sat at the front of the trinity on sat and his face shown his emotion, he never smiled once unlike cuellar who i usually back by the way, he came off the pitch laughing with the wigan players. anyway for me we need our midfield sorted to provide much more protection to our back 4. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... ak, we don't have the players to play this game. The reason MoN would like Downing and players like Scniejder in the midfield is because that is what he aspires to. At the moment we have pace and suit counter attacking football. This is a building process and we simply need more numbers. I really don't have a problem with any of the players on the pitch on saturday although i maybe would have played NRC instead of Delph. What was lacking on saturday was application. The performance was lazy and tired. We have more quality than Wigan all over the pitch. We suffered from an outstanding wonder strike anfd our heads dropped. The loss of Barry and Laursen, while notable losses on the pitch could potentially be more harmful psychologically to the players. We need to be positive and get behind the team. In terms of signing someone like Jenas (an england international who captained his club) even if he doesn't play will provide a huge boost psychologically to the team as would the signing of Upson (i imagine they would play but you know what i mean) We need someone to put their foot on the ball in the middle of the park and from what i've seen Delph can, he just needs to grow into the role. Jenas is a better player than Gardner and Salifou so an improvement in my book. A centre half is essential however and Upson would be my choice. Loads of experience at Arsenal, Scum and West Ham and he's played international football, however MoN won't pay 15m and neither would I. If we did pay that everyone would forget how desperate we were for a CB and start moaning that we paid too much for him.. blah blah blah |
boumavilla
said:
 |
... damo, stan petrov said that the club were really going to give this years tourament a go so you may aswell watch the matches but i wudnt personally, got no money 1-1 next monday, carew to score 2-0 villa on thursday davies and heskey to score!!! UTV |
Graymo
said:
 |
... It really annoys me when people say that it's not MON's fault and that Randy needs to get his wallet out. Firstly, Randy has already got his wallet out and MON has poured most of it down the drain. If I were Randy I'd be pretty worried about giving MON my money as well. Can someone please clarify how much in total we have spent under MON (I dont care about net, I want totals- I would but busy at work ) |
Chiefy1
said:
|
... Carew pulled himself out of saturday game is looking like he wont be fit for thursday, he was down as a sub yes but he pulled out due to an infected toe |
BARRY
said:
 |
... Hello all, First time for me and yes we are all horrified. I think this will wake MON up and realise that yes he will not bankrupt AVFC but he also needs to know that if he does not buy quality then poor attendance and high wages WILL bankrupt us. Its only one game and we have had simular starts so maybe it is a blessing in disguise. On another note the ideal season for the midlands would be Villa finishing in the top four and maybe a cup or 2, Wolves, Birmingham and Stoke staying up, Albion and Coventry with Notts Forest or Derby winning promotion and Walsall and Leicester winning promotion. Then the Derbys would be Electric.............What say you? |
Damian
said:
|
... Graymo off the top of my head ... i'm going to guess £95mn. hopefully someone will come on and put me right |
vdv
said:
|
... just reading things mon has said. he keeps going on about lausan and barry and how we will miss them. well stop f**king moaning, get your face out your backside and replace them with quality. for me and i think everyone else upson or hangaland who r both available and vdv who is cracking player and cheap so stop moaning and the cash out. |
carl 8767
said:
|
... However, while the former Celtic boss is confident in his new-look side, he still feels he needs to bring in more players to strengthen the squad. "We're going to try and get some extra players in if we can, and in our own way," he said. "It's a lengthy season and I'm going to have to try and look after the players. "Certainly from this performance, we've got a lot to do. We were poor, and the fans would be disappointed with our performance." again MON does not say we will sign players he says we will try if we can and bring playersin jus goesto prove there is no players lined up |
jk92923
said:
|
... totally agree vdv: we might as well be saying we are not the same with Dean Saunders and Tony Daley and we miss them |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... carl i think you'll find that this means they are TRYING to bring players in. If i said to you i'll buy you a Mars Bar and then turned up and said sorry mate someone beat me to it i'm sure you'd be disappointed. He said we were trying and signed Downing, then hes said we were trying and we signed Delph and Beye. I know it's hard, but try and stay positive. |
bobvillian
said:
|
... just a thought?dion dublin was a good centre forward and a decent centre half;hows about heskey doing that role.if i suspect mon has very small funds to play with could do worse what do you think? |
Andy Young
said:
|
... The problem with trying to sign players late in the window, with the season now underway, is that managers will be reluctant to let players leave for fear it may disrupt things. I reckon we might end up with Didier Agathe on loan again to replace Laursen. |
Chiefy1
said:
|
... tell who we do miss PAUL MCGRATH what i would not give for him to be at his peak playing, IAN TAYLOR gave his heart for the cause we need a new heart in the team !!! |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... Juan pablo, i dont think jenas can get in the spurs team, spurs fans say he`s not consistent enough,1 decent game in 8 or so,i think we should aim a bit higher,only my opinion. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Juan Pablo I think you will find that we have been Trying to sign players for the past three seasons and 6 transfer windows!!! Its simply not good enough!!! |
boumavilla
said:
|
... It was bowt £95-98m damo cos of the risin fees for milner, delph, young and so on By the way, damo am i in the league for the fantasy football???????????!!!!!!!?????!!!!!! |
Chiefy1
said:
|
... ironically Zat Fright while is was at times bad at least he put his heart into the team and the game |
Jae86
said:
|
... Mon has spent approxiamately 106.6m thats counting salifous transfer as 1m and counting the extgra add ons for young downing and delph |
villan from aus
said:
|
... Damo, do you have any idea on mon targets he keeps on saying we need more players but doesn,t say who he,s after i thought you might have some idea as you seem pretty close to the villa also what do you think of heskey and gabby.i didn,t think gabby turned up on sat,what do you think. |
carl 8767
said:
|
... juan pablo he said that and signed downing out till december great he said that and sign delph and beye delph looks like he could be a decent player beye is s**t y cant ppl see we have signed 3 players all from lower leagues and 1 retired GK basically ppl who want to challenge for the top 6 and top 4 dont sign players from where we have they go abroad and buy in top quality or they buy from prem league rivals |
Graymo
said:
|
... So we could have kept some of the better players we let leave and spent that 95 million on 7 quality players (£13.6 Million each). And if you said £ 9 mill each for the first 5 players in = £45 million, that leaves 25 million each for two stars. = 5 great + 2 fantastic players. Obviously you have to factor in whether we have the appeal to attract the etc... but still, it's good to put it into perspective. |
TrueVillan
said:
 |
... we do not have a defence, and that fact alone means we will have a poor season. we have an average midfield, and average strikers, carew aside, but MON wont play him anyway! unfortunately the way we ended last season is what this team is about, we chose to ignore it and blame fatigue (even tired, a class side would win more than 2 in 17) we will now pay the price. MON is outdated, clueless in the transfer market and tatically naive, even fulham have a better squad than us now, but then they have a manager who knows about foreign players! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Steve-o, I understand what you are saying but in that 3 yr period MoN has signed Petrov, Maloney, Carew, A Young, Knight, Sutton, Routledge, Harewood, Salifou, Sidwell, NRC, Shorey, L Young, Friedel, Guzan, Cuellar, Davies, Milner, Lichaj, Downing, Heskey etc etc. Confusedvillain: Jenas is uffering a crisis of confidence, Red fface has made it clear that he doesn't want him and we all know that managers have their favourites and he's favouring huddlestone and palacios and thats fine but Jenas has somethjing to offer. Bobby Robson saw it, Eriksson saw it and Capello sees it. If we get him for like 7/8m that would be fine with me. Bouma is the only player in the entire squad O'neill didn't sign now. He's taken three seasons to build his own team. With two more players of the right quality we'll have a better, more flexible, younger and bigger squad than last season. Save the judgements for september 1st. |
Damian
said:
|
... boumavilla not sure .. go have a look: http://fantasy.premierleague.com villan from aus not sure of anything. it is a closed door on all things like that these days |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Juan Pablo R you mon's love child?? Lets look at what you just said m8:- of the players you named 1 signed injured till xmas 3 have been sold on by mon 5 are being used as subs at best and making up numbers 1 has retired 1 is lost in our youth system and wont play 1st team cos we signed beye the donkey 1 is a reserve who was loaned to wolves the end of last season and one is an oap goal keeper who fluffed every cross on saturday. Does mon have a strategy for bringing players in? Answer NO NO NO. we have sold the majority of his buys so why waste the money and wages in the first place????? |
Darragh McGeown
said:
|
... Does anybody know when Freddy Bouma will be fit again? Did he have a setback or something because there were hopes he would be back early in the season? Or what that just me? |
faangler
said:
 |
... How can Reo be the captain lifting a cup one minute, then dropped the next ? Beware the body language There's more wrong than bad players and naive tactics |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... faangler spot on about reo, he SHOULD have been captain on saturday if not then he should defo of started, but don`t tell jinksy |
Steve-o
said:
|
... I dont understand how you win the Peace Cup with one team and start the season with a completely different team??? |
villan from aus
said:
|
... Damo,I got my prem lge fixtures of the e.s.p.n.soccernet site it says we play West Ham on tuesday the 18th is that correct.i dont have the fixtures for europe games so i dont know when we play in europe. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Cheers Christian Juan Pablo Angel would you say that Wigan had the players in place before Martinez took charge? Did Fulham? I don't think so. But they are improved by their managers coaching to become more confident on the ball. No point in bringing in top CM if the back 4 are incapable of passing the ball to them and are so afraid of having it that they just launch it up field at any gievn moment without any rebuke from MON for doing so. You can have the likes Inesta and Xaxi in ther but if you go over their heads with the ball they won't do much either. |
Frosty
said:
 |
... With Reo and Gardner playing each week I'm sure we would be top half but probably not top 6. At this minute in time I'd take that and put this season down as a rebuilding exercise. Slightly negative maybe but I prefer that thought to the Newcastle one. |
vdv
said:
|
... mon said this. ' its a team game. (never) we are trying to get new players if we can ( well u can. so why r u not) in our own way.( His wat cheap, shit and english ). its not convincing |
Rich
said:
 |
... Just to rub salt into the would by all accounts Barry had a blinder for Citeh. Just like Laursen, Barry's absence left a huge hole on Saturday and like for like he is going to be extremely difficult and expensive to replace. |
Villa@herts
said:
 |
... Why has everyone turned into Taglor!! Although to be fair to him his glass is always half empty. It was the first game of the season. I would rather we lost now before window is closed rather than scrape a win. I still think MON knows what he is doing. I may be proven wrong we will see. I have always thought, and said so a number of times on this site, that there will be only 3 or 4 big signings and that a number of the reserve team will come through. There will be at least one or two further big signings this week and we will progress this year. But as I said I may be proven wrong. But I am prepared to wait and see. Many have already said that the next 2 weeks will are crucial. I would be happy (well maybe not happy)to wait for a win if I can see that MON had started to put things right with both selections and formation. But if we get the same as we got on Saturday my views may changes. This does not mean I have turned into Taglor but simply that I know when my glass needs filling. UPV and keep the faith and remember how bad it was before MON and RL came. |
BARRY
said:
|
... Has none of the players or the manager thought of saying publicly, we are sorry for Saturday and we will do better? |
Steve-o
said:
|
... BARRY265 Of course not mate they have taken their big time charlie wages and headed off home in their bentley's without a care in the world for the people who actually care for the club!!!! |
villan from aus
said:
|
... Thanks Damo who are we playing and what do you think our chances are.and do we play home or are we away |
Villain down South
said:
 |
... Does anyone else think Ashley Young has dropped considerably from his form early part of last season.....after he got that 3 game ban he never came back to form and that seems to have conicided with Villa's slump. Thinking back to the days when we scored so many set pieces, yes it was partly down to Laursen, but also Youngs delivery - which seems to have gone very much missing of late! |
Frosty
said:
|
... Barry had a mare, lost posession more than he did for England midweek. Voted as the worst player on the pitch by News Of The World & The People ~ In the words of Billy Joe Armstrong "Good Riddance" .. cue song. |
faangler
said:
|
...... On that we may agree to differ, but if that is so, why was he captain in pre-season? A captain who bust a gut for the team showing all the heart you want. Then he's dropped for a league one kid (nothing against Delph) and MON wonders why there's no heart in the team. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Young is a one trick pony and has been sussed out, other teams know we can only play through young or resort to long ball. Thats why young looks poor everytime he got the ball on saturday 3 wigan players closed him down but unfortunatly he always trys to beat them!! Pass the ball or cross the ball dnt keep takin people on time and time again!!! |
ak_27
said:
|
... NRC has his flaws but the way we are giving the ball away iwe need him in the team to chase and win it back further up the field then what we did the last day. Put him in with Petrov Delph with Young and milner on the flanks. Carew up front if fit. |
pete
said:
 |
... so mon had carew as a sub to start with,then carew felt he was not fit enought. sounds a bit dodgy to me. |
rhymez1
said:
 |
... i cant see us signing any 'big' names,which manager would want there star players to go just before the season? theres a chance we could get kranjcar cos pompey seem skint and would cost us 10m ish. the problem with buying british is that managers dont want to sell to british teams,hence why we got slapped for NRC,davies,cuellar,milner,downing etc. hope randy saw that shower on saturday and wants to get his cheque book out 1 more time for MON. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPJgnH7cPqw MON,end our striker problems with fernando llorente,a guy who CAN ACTUALLY SCORE WHENS HE'S IN THE B |
Pete Hutton
said:
 |
... Vogra.... you clearly dont have a clue what you are talking, all this off with MON's head, have a word with yourself!!! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... steve-o, you say we have sold most of mon's buys. does this mean we won't be fielding a team on thursday? the whole squad is made of his buys. a squad that nearly broke the top 4 last season. Calm down mate, just trying to stay positive. I would simply ask you to base your argument on fact rather than just getting in a girly tizz cos we lost a game. Lets look at what you just said m8:- I was simply trying to say that we do actually sign players which you seemed to think we didn't. I said nothing about the quality or who we've sold. Chill out. |
mikey18
said:
 |
... Boys lets be honest its not all about formation. Tottenham who played a 4-4-2 Corluka, King, Bassong, BAE,Lennon Palacious, Huddlestone, Modric, Keane Defoe beat liverpool who played a 4-5-1 convincingly yesterday! so im afriad to say that our problems lie deeper than formation! |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Juan Pablo So because we field 11 players that mon signed that makes it ok the fact that we have sold a hell of alot of players who he has bought. The fact of the matter is that his buys simply arnt good enough and even he can see that by a, selling them on without them playin for us or b, benching the ones who he deems to be good enough to improve our squad, the long and short is that the quality of the team we have at the moment isnt good enough to break the top 6 let alone the top 4. just making my point mate. |
Shakey Villa
said:
 |
... What a massive disappointment, Randy Learner and Martin O'Neil need to tell the truth, they have for the last 3 years built everyone expectations up, but have failed to deliver any of the objectives, no decent cup run and 2 top six finishes hardley an amazing achievement for all the hype that has surrounded Villa Park since the takeover. The question 1 is what funds does O'Neil have? and if its only 20million why spend the bulk of it on a player who cant play until December...strange!! Question 2 the best results last season came when he played one up front, so why did he changed it, and why will he not revert back to it. I am a fan of O'Neil but time is running out, the atmosphere at Villa Park is changing, the next two weeks are very crucial!!! |
john franey
said:
 |
... Stiliyan Petrov blames Villa's woes on 'long, hard summer' Birmingham Post - Aston Villa 13:24.You were right damien. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... ak, Juan Pablo Angel would you say that Wigan had the players in place before Martinez took charge? Did Fulham? I don't think so. But they are improved by their managers coaching to become more confident on the ball. I would argue that Hodgson added a couple of decent players to fulham but no world beaters, they are just an organised side. They have a solid defence and a few passers like murphy. I agree that a certain amount is about coaching, did Ashley Young just accidentally become a really good winger? Has Gabby improved as a striker by accident? We have a great coach, who, despite what people say is tactically aware. I really believe we need to stick with him. Ferguson spent 4 yrs at MU before he won anything. I don't believe that people suddenly think that we are title or top four contenders, we are a solid, improving PL side prone to a few errors but capable of some great, pacey, attacking, flowing football, we have a young side with a new player in one of the most important positions on the pitch. Give them a few games to gel and i'm sure we'll see an improvement. However i don't believe this would have been an issue on this blog last december when we were in the top four. I just firmly believe that unlike yourself who has a reasonable argument and likes to back it up with fact, that there are an awful lot of 'fans' who don't know a great deal about football and think the world is ending. Thre was something wrong on saturday I agree, I don't however agree that it is an insurmountable obstacle. We played some great football last year and this side is still capable of that. We showed it for the first 15 on sat and now we need to do it for 90 next time. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... memo to stylian its a long hard season ahaed and it aint started yet 30 god knows how many games in europa ldv and 38 league + our usual short runs in domestic cups!!! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Steve-o, I see what you're saying, but do you not agree that if we went and signed Hangeland, Schneijder and Tuncay we wouldn't have a crack at the top four? The bare bones of the squad are there and O'Neill has done that himself, We just need the finishing touches. Like i said, if we now fail to bring in anyone else i will be disappointed but i honestly believe that if mon felt he couldn't improve us he would walk himself. Our squad is younger and more attacking than the one O'dreary left us with. We got rid of a lot of dead wood and we now have a small squad of a reasonable PL standard minus harewood and salifou who i consider the only real passengers in it. Get another three in now and one or two in jan and think we will be a serious threat this year. I honestly belive we will be fine. |
Damian
said:
|
... wicklow villa i've just read that .. i gotta tell you i'm not surprised but at the same time, for them to be saying that already .. is flabbergasting |
vogra
said:
|
... lol..Peter Hutton, i've been having a word with myself for the last year, Peter,please understand this is not based on this one game...ive been banging on for the last year or so.. I do have a clue what i'm talking about mate, pity your another sheep in the field baah baah baah |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Steve-o, Which fans dont know alot about football? Who you talkin Bout? Not you mate. There's a lot of wannabe managers on here who'd prefer MoN to sign a player based on their stats on football manager more than anything else. As for you, i'm always in the mood for a good Villa based argument. |
vdv
said:
|
... when i watch nrc he cant pass to save his life. he works his ass off and would break a leg for villa but for a center mid who cant pass whats the point in havin him. petrovs a great passer. and like nrc gives 100 percent. but if i had to choose one to play it would be by far petrov. they cant play together because they r both holding centermids. so i would not be to bothered if nrc went but we have to get a creative center mid in . vdv who we can get if mon trys or kranjar. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... juan pablo It aint gonna happen mate we are not in the market for players like schneijder and hangeland or even tuncay (again raiding a relegated club) we aint gonna pay the money these guys want you may believe im being negative but i feel im being a realist. I wish i could share your enthusiasm 4 the club that i love but i am disillusioned by it all this summer and saturday was the worst game ive seen since o'drearys days. Ive been a season ticket holder for 15 years and have neva been so disapointed with a performance! |
simo 09
said:
|
... juan pablo, the problem is mate is although nearly every1 would agree with the 3 players u mention 2 b bought do u really believe we will,now just as u believe if that happens then yes i'll b more optimistic,but wat wud u fink if we bought wheater,bently & campbell instead im pretty sure u wont b as pleased. |
simo 09
said:
|
... please excuse any spelling mistakes,ive been doing nuthing allday & im really tired lol |
Christian
said:
|
... JuanPabloAngel, I don't think we'd see the best of Sjneider and Tuncay even if we did sign them- we'd still be launching the ball up the pitch as soon as it got anywhere near our back 4 or Petrov. It's about the mentality we have. We DO NOT play good football. We kick it hard and fast and 'fortunately' we have the pace to exploit this style against the poorer teams- i.e. those who don't keep possession. Our squad is simply too small and simply not good enough. People have said on here 'calm down, it's only one game'. It's not! It's been since January. The fact of the matter is, since January we have looked like being relegated had we not acrued enough early points (i wont go into how many of those points were very fortunate indeed). We, arguably, have 3-4 players who are genuine Top 6 standard. And by that I mean could get us into the top 6 and MAY even be glanced at by the Big 4, even for a nanosecond. We need new players and a new mentality. Come on MON, pull something magical out of the bag. |
vdv
said:
|
... stevo u r wright. mon is scared to for players like hangaland, sneignder. we ant going to improve. |
vdv
said:
|
... the worst transfer window ever under mon and thats saying something because they have all been shit exsept 3 or 4 players. i hope mon proves us wrong but i am 99 % shore he wont because he will bring 1 or two more players when we need five, none of them will be any good and in the postions we dont need like bentley a winger.so we will or be moaning and seriously worried about villa. |
Villa@herts
said:
|
... Damian if you were flabbergasted by the Petrov article your flabber will be about to burst from MONs comments on the official website. Although I have to say although it does show a level of naivety it also shows that he is capable of learning. We will see. My glass is still half full but I wouldn't mind a top-up!!! “This is a game for all of us - it's going to be a long season ahead,” “At the end of last week, I went to a meeting for managers and they put up some interesting statistics. “They showed that 17 of our lads had played in the Premier League last season. Other teams had used 23, 27 and others over 30. I was a wee bit surprised.” “I knew how many we had used but I didn't realise it was less than anyone else.” “It is a team game. We are trying to get some extra players in if we can and in our own way, we're hoping to look after the players. There's a long way to go,” “From the performance against Wigan [Atheltic], however, we've got a lot to do.” |
Tim Hillman
said:
 |
... I have read hundreds of comments over the past couple of days regarding the Wigan result. I thought I would share my two cents worth. My word we are a fickle lot! To call for MON head is utterly ridiculous. This man no matter how frustrating has just given us one of the best season's we have had for years. Ok it tailed off somewhat last season but how good was it when we were in the top 3 mixing it with the big boys. Yes we lost to Wigan whom we haven't beaten at Villa park since they came into the Premier league. It doesn't mean we should just sack the manager and bring in someone new. Rome wasn't built in a day and if you look at the succesful teams in the premier league (Chelsea excluded) they all have one thing in common. They all give their managers time. When I say time I don't mean 3 years!! Fergusen had a dodgy patch when he joined Man Utd, Moyes almost got Everton relegated in one of his first season's in charge, the fat waitor almost got fired a few times at the beginning, Wenger has had more than his fair share of disgruntled fans. I bet you would be hard pushed to find any of the fans from Man U, Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal who would want a new manager! Yes MON is frustrating and stubborn but lets not lose the faith. The guy needs to be supported not hounded out. We don't want to become Spurs and get rid of a decent manager just cos they have a sticky start! Rant over! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Christian, could you also tell me how many of those 'lucky' points were in games where we were very unlucky not to take more? Man U maybe? Stoke maybe? People have very short memories. |
boumavilla
said:
|
... yeah i logged on 2 my team damian but i duno if i in the same league as u!!! how wud i find out?! |
Christian
said:
|
... JPA, if you think we didnt have MORE than our fair share of luck last season you really haven't been watching much. CSM, your optimism is great, but this isn't just a 'sticky start' as you put it. It's been a sticky 7 months. Yes Moyes did have trouble at Everton, but he'd spent NOWHERE, NOWHERE near as much as O'Neill. This is 'his' team and since February it's been looking a bit bleak. |
ak_27
said:
|
... CSM i would say that Spurs now have a better manager in place then when they had Martin Jol. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Steve-o, to be honest mate Campbell is a good player with loads of experience, wheater is a solid player on the fringes of the engalnd side when he's playing well and Bentley has quality just needs the right coaching. I am of the opinion that if we bring in three decent quality, hard working premiership players we will have a decent enough team. Is Schneijder like for like with Barry? No! Barry isn't that good. Jenas could be as good as Barry with the right application, lets face it, he was bloody nowhere when o'neill turned up. I fancy Downing to really have a stormer this year. We need a no nonsense CB to play with Cuellar and a Midfielder who can put his foot on the ball and stop this lumping it up the park. If you look at the opta stats for the weekend game more balls went out to the triple marked A Young than there were long balls. We just need a passer in the middle of the park to give us a few options. All Barry did was keep the ball and use it intelligently, this is what we need now. |
Christian
said:
|
... JPA, Barry is very, very good- the evidence was there to see on Saturday. it's a bit more difficult than just 'use the ball intelligently'- Danny Murphy does thsi but I wouldn't want him in our starting XI. The fact is the league runners up wanted him, as well as Spurs (who have Jenas??), he's signed for the richest team in the world on a global domination project and he's a starting midfielder for both the last two England managers. He is NOT easy to replace. Jenas could not lace his boots. |
Steve-o
said:
|
... JPA Campbell = OAP Wheater = Another player Relegated with previous club Bentley = Another Milner Style Player We need players to improve us and these three will not. Going back in time would we be having this discussion with John Gregory in charge, answer no he spent the money and brought in decent players. Granted the market has changed somewhat but wouldnt it be nice to have the Paul Mersons and Dion Dublins of the current market? |
Tim Hillman
said:
|
... Christian, If you look at Moyes spending, he hasn't exactly been strapped for cash: Johnson 8.6 million, Fellaini 15 Mill, Yakubu 11.25M, Beattie 6M, Per Kruldrop??? 5 Million. Ok he got some good players for little money like Arteta for 2M and Jagilka for 4M but still wouldn't say he hasn't been backed with cash to spend. If you look at MON signings, the players he has paid big money for, have been or will be good players. Petrov (player of the season last year), Young (our best player), Milner (improving game on game), Cuellur (ok still not set the world on fire but will come good), Downing (Proven England international), Delph (looks a great prospect) I admit some of his transfer dealings are not great, Knight, Heskey, Harewood but overall his signings have not been bad. Give the guy a break, the premiership is a tough league and Wigan are good team capable of beating alot of good teams! I hate it when we lose without putting up a fight but I am ewqually fed up with all the negativity. |
Damian
said:
|
... boumavilla email me, using the contact page, the name of your team and i will check |
Steve-o
said:
|
... Does it not say alot about the direction we are going in with our signings up to date? Andy Marshall = Who? Habib Beye = Relegated with Newcastle Stuart Downing = Relegated With Boro and Injured Fabian Delph = One for the Future but to go straight into a game after playing in league one hard for the kid Linked With Sol Campbell = Past It Tuncay = Relegated with Boro Bentley = Not good enough for the Spuds Dunno what more to say really! |
Villa@herts
said:
|
... Christian1983 Barry is not a very, very good player. He is a good player but he owes a lot to MON and his coaches. I remeber the season before MON came. Barry looked good but in a very poor team. He improved because MON not only motivated him but allowed him to play a role that best suited his style of play. This came with a cost last season as it dictated the style of play of the team. I was pleased when he went as it provided the oppotunity to change our style of play and to rotate the squad which we could not do when Barry was always playing. The other thing about Barry ws that when he was not playing well (Which was more often than most recall the team did not play well). CSM: Great rant ak_27: If you think Tango man is better than MON you have not taken time to consider his past performance as a manager. If Ashley is a one-trick pony then he is a one-trick donkey. |
Christian
said:
|
... CSM, I agree Wigan aren't a bad team. But considering they'd lost their manager, Heskey, Palacios, Valencia and Catermole since January and were visiting our 'fortress' I don't think what happened was acceptable. They didn't just 'smash n grab' which I could've lived with, they destroyed us. They came and gave us the 'ole's'!! This is Wigan. They wont be doing that away at any of the other top 6 you can be sure. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... What is the problem with signing a player from a relegated club? If they are good enough then they are good enough. Beye is a good defender with european experience he won trophies with Marseille and won the UEFA cup in the same side as Drogba! The guy needs to settle in which may take a season but hopefully a few games will do it. Is AF bothered that MO came from Newcastle? is Roy Hodgson who everyone has been lauding as a genius, an idiot for wanting Duff? Tuncay is agood player who has played CL football in Turkey and is a regular international player who has already shown that he is a good player. If the coach is answerable for the decline of a team (i.e what everyone has been saying about O'Neill and it's not the players fault) then why not sign players from Boro if southgate is the reason they went down? Some consistency please people. We need bodies and we need quality. Jenas is a good player, have we forgotten that he played his way into the England side and led a team that finished 5th in the league? Such short short memories. If someone told you that GB would be one of the best players in the league five years ago when he was barely starting a game under O'Leary would you have believed them or said he was s**t and we neeeded to sign a quality midfield player like Man U's new signing Kleberson? I'm not jumping on board with the doom mongers or the optimists, i'm just being realistic. Football is fickle, the media are fickle and the majority of fans are fickle. Petrov was a waste of space, as was Barry, Young was a waste of Money, Milner was overpriced, etc etc. Please be patient and realistic. These are human beings who have the capaciy to learn and improve under the right influence and with the right......SUPPORT! |
Geoffrey Littleton
said:
 |
... I don't mind relegated players, if that's all we can get right now. Steven Taylor looked decent last week, and I like Olsson from WBA. Heck, I'd even take James Morrison. He goes all out every minute in the mold of Milner. Fulham did well to get Duff. We at least need depth. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Villa@herts explain to me how MON is a better manager then Redknapp? He finished ahead of us when he was manager of Pompy. They won the FA cup. He then left and went to Spurs and if you add up the points he got from that time to now he has picked up more points then MON in the same period. His teams can all play football the right way and he can spot talent(and it doesn't matter where they are from in the World) and more importantly he can sign talent as well. Whatever about not liking him personally as a manager he is far better and complete then our out of date manager. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Juan Pablo Angel i have no problem with the signing of players from relegated clubs if they are good enough. Like Tuncay (not Wheater he is just another average English player with a fee 4 times his worth). But it is the signing of players not good enough for our direct competitors that i cannot stomach anymore. Jenas is not that good. He will put in the odd good performance but will then also have a lot of mediocre games as well. There is a reason why Spurs are selling him. Surely you can see how this a poor transfer strategy? |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... Christian, how can you be sure about Wigan? If we lost 2-0 to Fulham on the first day of last season I hazard a guess you'd say the same thing and they took points off the champions last year. Who's to say Wigan won't finish in europe, christ they might even get relegated the fact of the matter is no one knows. On paper our team is more than capable of winning a lot of games this season have a bit of faith. |
Ben Wood
said:
 |
... If O'Neill is so dedicated to buying only from the English league, how come we've missed out on so many good players in the last few years? Phil Jagielka to Everton for £4m? Matthew Upson to West Ham for £6m? Wayne Bridge to man City for £9m? Glen Johnson to Portsmouth for £4m? Not a bad defence that eh? What about available players this year from the Premier League? Darren Bent when we are crying out for another top quality striker and a 20 goal a season man? Elano from Man City for the creative spark (especially as we were already talking to them about Barry)? Wilson Palacios who everyone knew was too good for Wigan? I'm not saying that MON is right or wrong, and I'm playing devil's advocate to some extent by saying all of this, but if we he was only interested in British/British-based players, do you not think we'd have bought a bit better? Perhaps the transfer policy and the way we go about buying players is a bigger problem than we think. Take those 4 defenders listed above: they are not signings that have been proved good in hindsight, they are solid signings at a decent price. Jagielka was a relegated player but no-one thought Everton hadn't got a bargain. Is Jagielka really worth only £1.5m more than Habib Beye? Hell no. Something is wrong with our transfer policy but I haven't the foggiest what… but it's bigger than simply not signing players from overseas, whether we are a big enough club to attract players or not. But if Sunderland, Fulham, Wigan and the like can sniff out the bargains, no matter where they are, why can't we? |
simo 09
said:
|
... juan pablo yeah on paper definatly but are we not a betta team than wigan on paper ????????????????????????? |
Geoffrey Littleton
said:
|
... One other thought. While Moyes is so miffed with Hughes, maybe we should put in a major bid for Lescott. Spite can be good. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... xjarmeen, We can, Ashley Young is a perfect example, the trouble is attracting players who might wanna play in London or up north and whether we needed them at the time etc. There are always going to be players who slip through and MoN has made several mistakes in hindsight, but we all do. The guy doesn't have a crystal ball. We just need a couple more players. We don't need a whole new squad. We need the players we have to pull their bloody fingers out and have some pride in the shirt, MoN has assembled a decent squad, now they need to repay his faith in them. I think next PL game Milner should play in the middle and albrighton should play on the right. I reckon make Milner bloody captain too and see what that does to Petrovs game because he was lacking on sat and thats not the attitude for our new captain is it. |
Ben Wood
said:
|
... OK, I carried on thinking, here's a team all signed from within England since ONeill took over. Total cost? £63.5m. I'd take any one of these players… Rob Green 2m Glen Johnson 4m Phil Jagielka 4m Matt Upson 6m Leighton baines 5m Wilson Palacios 12m Elano 8m Yossi Benayoun 5m Matt Taylor 4m James Beattie 3.5m Darren bent 10m I'll leave it at that! |
simo 09
said:
|
... to many people on here are accepting the fact that we sign mediocre players hoping mon turns them in 2 world beaters thats sumat he has not done,with the exception of ash young none of he's buys have been creditable,ie:harewood,sutton,heskey,shorey,routeledge, maloney,salifou,sidwell,just a few off the top of my head.then he has players like gabby,osbourne,gardner,cahill,the so called youth players who have a future yet neva given a go or play them out of position or even worse sell them on. |
ak_27
said:
|
... xjarmeen you missed out on Distin available on a free when MON decided to pay £4m for Knight instead and Diarra was in his office and available for £5m and also Defoe. Harry Redknapp did not miss on them when he knew they were available. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
|
... simo, thats exactly what i mean, we shouldn't be harping on about transfers - we all know we need a defender or two and a cm, i'm sure this will happen in the next couple of weeks. What i'm saying is we have a decent squad and now we need to trust that MoN will put a rocket up their arse and we will see the team we know and love in the next game. Only god knows why it was such a poor show on sat but the reason it hurts so much is that we know we should be winning that game and if you ask me it wasn't the formation or the team selection, we just rolled over and got dicked by a team out to impress their new manager and wanted it so much more than us. Plus i don't think wigan had any players playing in the last round of internationals that started on sat, Manu, chelsea, liverpool etc have a large contingent of internationals and the former were lucky to take points at the weekend. the problems arent' as fundamental as people are making out and they're also not as dire. Patience from us and hard work from our team is what is needed, We need to be sharp for Vienna and who knows if we can win that and get a bit of confidence going into the liverpool game we might even win that too, they didn't look too hot against Spuds did they! We need to be optimistic instead of hounding our players and making theit job that much harder! |
Villa@herts
said:
|
... ak_27 said: In the last two years when have Pompy finished ahead of us. He shot off to Spuds when he saw the writting on the wall at Pompy. He sold Kean to L'Pool then took him back he has now started picking from the Pompy team. The better plays he has were all at Spud before he arrived. They may well do well this year but he will not sustain sucess and will move on before it all falls apart. It was for the same reason he didn't go to Newcastle he could see the problems and that there was little money to buy the players he always buys. That is why I say he is not as good as MON. Despite what Damos mystery emailer said he has always build sustained sucess. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Villa@herts he wasn't there when Keane went to pool. He bought him back for a lot less then they sold him. Good management in my book. |
Villa 79
said:
 |
... I went to the game saturday and sat a few rows behind Martin, he seemed very quite and not once did i notice him communicating with the players. A great motivator but i'm not sure he has the mind to make the big decisions in big games. NRC and Sid should have come on early in the second half...in saying that the players were beaten by a far better team who were fitter, stronger, more committed and they wanted to impress their new manager - fair plate to Wigan...Gabby, Young seemed almost arogant and i was disappointed with their workload...not once did we use Gabby's pace and this season I have a sad feeling the premiership will have Asley in their pockets all season..when he had the ball he was surrounded by 2 or 3 players...i like Young but he quite limited with his skills...I may not seem it but I love Villa and we are nearly there....Dunne, Distin, McGeedy, Brown,Forlan, I;m too clued up on european football but we need a player like Deco.. |
Villa Hombre
said:
 |
... Martin has made a rod for his own back. These are tricky times for a lot of clubs, because out of nowhere Manchester City have put together a side that's undermined all the hard work taking place at clubs like Villa, Spurs and Everton. MO'N has himself admitted to being deflated by City's arrival on the scene. Where I think he's exacerbated the problem is by giving the impression over the summer of being a beaten man; of being somebody who's maybe lost a bit of heart. For ages during the close-season he was conspicuous by his absence, not talking to the press or even the Villa website, and since then he's made some signings that seem half-hearted, to say the least. Against Wigan, Villa played like I think the whole club feels, including the fans. There's a sense that a herculean effort failed to get us any tangible success last season, and now we're all too tired and weary to 'go again' - and that includes the players and the management. I think there's every chance that Everton will be affected similarly. It's almost a case of 'all that effort and where has it got us - now there are FIVE rather than four clubs against which to compete!'. There's little wonder that both Villa and Everton look like they've had the stuffing knocked out of them. As I stated in my previous comment, I think MO'N has got to sort the home form. The reason we're all moaning more than you'd imagine the supporters of a top-six side should moan is because our home form doesn't make us 'feel' top-six. You watch them struggle at Villa Park, get frustrated and go home. The next time they play at VP, they're probably three or six points better off because they've nicked a couple of away wins in the meantime. Great, now we'll really push on, we all think to ourselves. Oh, no we won't - we're 1-0 down at home AGAIN and looking clueless. More frustration. It's as though the 'top-six' Villa side play anywhere but at home. At Villa Park, it still feels like we're watching a David O'Leary team - except it's worse, because we've now got all the expectation that goes with having a highly regarded manager and a billionaire chairman at the helm. A massive amount of the current Villa situation is about 'vibe'. What I don't understand about O'Neill is that he could have affected that vibe in a positive way in the summer, but chose not to do so. Speak to the supporters regularly through the media during the close season, Martin. If you know you're going to have to buy, buy early so that our interest and belief is stimulated. Recognise and address during the close season the long-term problem of why we can't win at home. If we win at home, supporters stay happier for longer. Make us feel as though you've got a plan, Martin. These were all opportunities lost in the close-season. At the moment, aside from knowing that he's stubborn so is unlikely to do this, MO'N looks to me like a man who's fallen out of love with the Top Four challenge and could resign at any time. I think he is indeed deflated by Manchester City's arrival - as I think is David Moyes - and seems to be struggling for enthusiasm. It's something he needs to address, because I don't think that there can be a bigger warning sign of problems to come than having a sluggish and, on his own admission, a "tired" team taking to the field on the very first day of a brand new season. |
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