Written by James Monday, 26 October 2009 15:05
A point away in a local derby and the vultures are gathering once more. Let’s be honest we didn’t play that well against Wolves however, a number of our attacking players performed below par. But how does this equate to a loss of faith in our manager?
We’ve seen his skills questioned on many levels over the last few years. He couldn’t build a decent defence, so sack him. We don’t have a big enough squad, so sack him. We cannot compete against the big teams, so sack him. He signs useless players like Reo-Coker, so sack him. He will not adjust his tactics, so sack him.
Now, this season he appears to have cleared most of those hurdles.
- Defence – sorted
- Squad Size – sorted
- Beat the bigger teams – sorted
- Reo-Coker is a joker – not any more it seems, many now think he is the answer to our prayers
- Systems adjusted – sorted
Of course, there is still some way to go. We do need a quality play maker in the middle, but these are hard to find and sign, even with big money (the best Man City could find was Barry). We could do with a 30 goal a season striker and many suggested Owen, but look now, I'm not sure he’s going to get there, are you?
At this moment in time, you have us, Spurs and City knocking on the door of the top four. City do have a great big sledgehammer, which should help, but I’m not so sure we are the weaker of those three, despite what the bookmakers say. All three are finding things difficult and a good result is followed by a disappointing one, but it is the reaction of the fans that appears to be different.
This is also true of the top four teams. Fans of other teams seem to shrug off a bad result, they highlight poor individual performances, they blame opposition teams for lack of ambition and sometimes blind/biased refereeing.
But what do we hear from a lot of Villa fans? It’s Martin O’Neill. Full stop.
I think that it is time we started acting like a big club. Let’s start blaming the officials, let’s berate the lesser sides for their lack of ambition. Let’s start pointing out that the only reason we failed to get all four points was because Ash had a bad day or Gabby forgot his shooting boots.
Let’s stop claiming our players aren’t good enough. Let’s stop suggesting our manager is a joke and let’s start looking upwards, because I’m fairly confident that that is where we are going.
James goes by the user name Nanwasafan on the site and in the forum
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Mike Carter
said:
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... I agree. O'Neill is the right man and we should definitely back him. However, I still think we should blame some of the players because quite simply some of them aren't good enough. |
DannyVillain
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... Frequent reader, very rare poster here. Excellent article James. It's nice to see that not all Villa fans are completely mental and can spot the farce in blaming O'Neill for all Villa's "problems". Seriously, the moaning and negativity from some bloggers and posters pisses me off big time. You rightly point out that O'Neill is gradually rectifying Villa's issues as he goes along - sensibly and cleverly in my opinion. Yes he has made mistakes in some decisions, but if his gamble with the EUFA cup last season paid off and got us in the Champions League I'm sure there would still be a couple of fans who'd be complaining, because thats what we seem to like to do, but the vast majority would have been overwhelmed with joy! I haven't bothered to register on this new server because frankly the posts and responses often depress me and piss me off, especially Damien's recent viewpoint that MON is not the right man to be in charge of Villa. Having said that, fair play to you for posting an article that must be pretty much the opposite of your current viewpoint. |
Dan Clinton
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... I've now registered. I have posted under the name "I'd let MON have my babies" and "DannyVillain" amoungst other pseudenyms in the past but from now on I will always be the "Fenian Villain". Always happy to row with the Taglors and the other habitual pessimists and fickle fans among us  |
Astom Villa
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... I'm an almost daily reader but very rare poster. Felt the need to with this however as it warranted a hats off. Exactly what I've been thinking for months, even years, and very eloquently put. |
jk92923
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... well said James! i assume there will be a fight between Damien and James behind the schoolsheds at 3 becasue of this post?? |
Longman1980
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... Always like your comments and your posts are even more refreshing Nan. Seriously wondered what had happened to this blog in recent weeks and began thinking that the name should be changed to 'The Anti-Villa Blog' what with the constant negativity. MON is building something special here and any educated fan can see that. I've just spent a weekend in Leeds and Manchester and all the footie fans I spoke to can't speak highly enough of Villa, MON, our players and Randy which made me immensely proud. I think some people (No names, Damian) need to take stock and see how we ARE improving year on year and that MON is taking us forward. Patience is a virtue and the ultimate rewards will be ours if we stick behind the team and the manager even if we do have the odd slip here and there. |
JohnnyMcleod
said:
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... Under O'Neill we'll certainly win more than we lose, and we'll also have a team of 100 percenters, he's a good motivator, and his Cloughie/Saunders rod of iron approach seems to earn respect from the players. On the downside he probably isn't the best coach in the world, the style is an upbeat version of O'Leary's, he occasionally drifts into mistifying tactical ineptitude (substitutions/fullbacks), and has a blind faith in one or two playes who we all know aren't cutting it. Overall I'd stick with him as we haven't had any continuity since the days of Saunders, and who knows with a fit Downing and a world class playmaker (January) we might do something. He needs to rectify a pretty apalling record in the cups though as that's our only realistic chance of silverware (even O'Leary got us into a semi final !) |
Edward Riordan
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... Well said! My nan was a fan too. I think MON should be around for as long as Ferguson or Wenger has been at there clubs. He has transformed our club! UTV! |
Longman1980
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... Just to back up my previous post, from another villa fansite, this is from an interview with a Sunderand fan: 11 The lazy interviewer's question. Is there something I should have asked but didn't, and what is your response? What do make of Villa? Like the club, the manager, the fans. the pair of old codgers whu run Dalut! Sunderland disagree on plenty but are as one in our respect for Villa. |
kiddervilla
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... well surprise me i have not writen on here for a few weeks becuse of the negitivy of some on this blog i still stroll down and read some of the comments sometimes to just log off again, last week we was going to win the league , this week relagation fodder becuse with only drew against wolves, martin oneill not good enough to take us to the next level cuz we draw a game away from home in a derby game dont make me laugh, i wonder if the fans from spurs the arse m utd m city everton are saying the same i dont think so so if you are villa stay villa trou think and thin and stop posting negitive post whice is doing our club no good at all. |
Tony
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... James, Quite correct. In my opinion the agenda is all wrong. MON is the man. Turn the attention to RL and the lack of the big money. Somewhere else on this blog Damian mentioned that the fat waiter has not had the backing to push on from 2nd place! That says it all - he's spent £17 million on a full back! Bring the Spaniard to AV with MON's resources and see what he will do. Change the agenda and back off MON and let's have an attack on RL. |
paul mclafferty
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... good article nan i think the reason most bloggers have a go at mon is because they still live in the hope that when we got brought by lerner ( billionare ) we would for once challenge at the top, but the only trouble is that half the teams in the premier are now owned by billionares so the only way any club was going to overhaul the top four was to have a trillionare (man city). i think it would be less painful for most of us is if we take another look at our aspirations and set a new level to where we should be and then you will see what a good job oneill is doing at villa. if we look at what the fat spanish waiter has done for liverpool since he has been their then if o'neill ever manages to do the same at villa then i think he would have a statue outside the holte, but the fickle fans of liverpool were calling for his head and god knows may well have got it if they had been defeated yesturday. so to be fair to the moaners of the villa blog you (we) are not on our own even the bigger clubs supporter have a whinge. |
John Samuels
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... Finally a sensible post that doesn't involve the words Mon out, 4-5-1, 4-4-2, Sidwell, Carew, Gabby and whoever else is crap and weshould appoint Martinez and sign Vagner Love. Sense at last. Nan, well written, it's like i penned it myself. |
HT Sweden
said:
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... If Villa this time next year have brought in Mr Genious Playmaker Midfieldson and Signore Goaaaal Scorerese in the team (I don´t care if it´s for £1 or £100.000.000 as long they deliver big-time)together with the blokes we´ve got now (plus REO or similiar)-I say : here we go for CL and PL!! |
VDV
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... it seems evrey week there is a post about oneill being the right man for the job, well it seems there is one after evrey game we loose or a game where we draw against a shit team because if we do there are some mupits sayinfg oneill should go. MON is the right man for the job so when we loose PLEASE STOP SAYING HE SHOULD GO ! |
Andi
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... At least some positivity brill post wish there was more like this. Holte1970 -- why do we have to attack anyone ?? January is not here yet so we have no idea what RL is going to give MON to spend !!! |
John Samuels
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... Chiefy, I'll write a nice positive one tommorrow if you like, any title ideas? |
Longman1980
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... Yeah, Randy's an tight idiot. We were only the SECOND HIGHEST SPENDERS IN EUROPE the summer before last. Jesus. do people have a NEED to have a pop at someone or what? |
Steve Badger
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... Great post Nan. Nice to see positive types signing up too. Even though I bitch and moan sometimes (just for balance you understand) MON is definitely the man and we are moving forward, without a shadow of a doubt. I suddenly feel very uplifted, which shows what this blog can do to you. UTV! |
kiddervilla
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... sorry nan well said nice to see some one talking a bit of sence for a change with out all the doom and gloom, makes you laugh sometimes dont it villas best start in the league for a good few years and so called fans calling for the managers head makes a lot of sence dont it, who would wont to be a manager certainly not me  |
Longman1980
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... JPA - What about - Emile: The answer to all our problems - or is that taking the positivity a little too far?? |
Stuart Kinane
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... Fair play Nan, a positive and refreshing read! I fully agree with you. I was only thinking, if it wasn't for one error of judgement by Sidders on saturday, we would have taken all 3 points from Wolves with a really poor performance by our standards and that would have been a great day. Unfortunately it wasn't to be but at least we didn't lose. Like yourself, I am not worried in the slightest with Martin O'Neill. I think that this sesaon's squad and first team is better than last season's, despite losing Barry. MON's signings during the summer may not have got the fans or the media too excited but in time, I think some of them could prove to be excellent moves. Dunne/Collins/Warnock - they have completely sorted out our defence. The shakiness of the back 4 against Wigan on the opening day seems like a distant memory. Downing - perhaps the player to step up and provide the cretaive midfeld spark that we have clearly missed since Barry left. Anyone else think that Ashley Young's dip in form could be in some way due to the lack of the service he once had from Barry in central midfield? I for one am very excited about what Downing could bring to our play. Delph - we have only seen glimpses of what he can do (one or two moments of magic against Fiorentina, another in the dying moments aginst Rapid Vienna, a few crunching tackles). He is still young but judging by whet we have seen and from the demand for his signature in the summer, we could have one of the stars of the next decade on our hands. Beye - probably the least essential of the six signings. Still at only £2m, he is a good back up player to have. It's weird that for so long MON was struggling to find a right back. Now we have Luke Young, Beye, Cuellar(when needed) and Lichaj. Sure, we will have a few bad performances but what team won't? So far, every team in the league has lost a game. Only Man City have lost 1 game. Ourselves, Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal have lost 2. Everyone else has lost more, including our rivals for the Top 4 Liverpool and Tottenham. Is it time to panic after a 1-1 draw at Molineux? Of cousre not. Obvioulsy the proof will be in the points and position at the end of the season but from what I have seen from Villa so far, I think things are looking up. Am I happy with MON? Yes, 100%. Up the Villa! |
Steve Badger
said:
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... Bonus bit of good news. Bent is out tomorrow; http://www.astonvilla-mad.co.u...&id=469821 |
James Clift
said:
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... That little read lit up an otherwise very boring, hungover Monday afternoon. Well done that nan! |
Geoff
said:
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... Well said, every manager has blind spots. But he is a good manager. If you gave O'Neill the same amount of money that Liverpool handed Rafa Benitez (which really was a lot of you look bad at some of his goose egg big money signings) then Aston Villa would have landed in the Champions League already by now and would be challenging the big Two (what I call it now, really - Man U and Chelsea) in the top of the table. Arsenal, Liverpool have both shown signs of vulnerability over the past few years (though much less in terms of Arsenal because of how great of a manager Arsene Wenger is; he finds guys with raw talent and molds them into big time players and he is NOT afraid to rebuild the squad every few years to get better the following year). Dont get me wrong, there have been a few bad signings. But he doesnt miss as often as other managers do because he knows he cannot afford to. It really does not matter if Chelsea makes a series of 20M mistakes because they can compensate. Even Liverpool can afford Jermaine Pennant's every so often. But O'Neill has to hit it big in January with the the most talented playmaker he can afford. They ARE out there, you just have to look for them - sometimes half way around the world. |
Andi
said:
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... JPA -- not sure what the title could be but the post it self should defo have a positive spin on as i think every post should we have got things good at the minute. |
henrydouble
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... good post, thumbs up from me. we just need a midfield maestro and we'd be sorted. doesn't matter if they're a Gareth Barry type maestro or a Fabregas type maestro, we just need someone who gives us direction in the opposition half. BTW that isn't a slight on Petrov cus he's the main man in our half and seems never to play less than 8 out of 10. I also think Gabby will be up to the task of getting our 20 goals wen the playmaker comes in because he wont have to drift outside and the team will actually start making chances for him, instead of the other way around. |
Andi
said:
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... JPA -- All i do know is that we need to rally behind our team over the coming weeks we have 4 games over the next few weeks we should be winning and by doing so we are keeping the pressure on everyone above us, every post needs to be positive to keep the mood good we have Sunderland for our cup run, Everton West Ham and Bolton and we can win all of them we have just got to keep things upbeat, positive and focused |
John Samuels
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...JPA - What about - Emile: The answer to all our problems - or is that taking the positivity a little too far?? JPA -- not sure what the title could be but the post it self should defo have a positive spin on as i think every post should we have got things good at the minute. I'll have a think and see if we can get some positivity on the blog tomorrow. Bent AND Cattermole out for Sunderland what a stroke of good fortune. I really think we can win this one chaps. A performance like the one at Anfield will do it. NRC has to play and I'd give the Mule a run too. Save Gabby's legs unless he's really needed. |
Andi
said:
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... JPA -- i would agree with you there mate Guzan Young Collins Cuellar Bouma Albrighton Milner Petrov Delph Young EMULE bench -- brad, fonz, gabby, clark, carew, SALIFOU !! |
Christian
said:
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... Good article James. The funny thing about the comments on here (and this has been the case since the o****e blog) is that appears most bloggers fall into one of two categories. 1. They are either in cloud-cuckoo-land that we're the best team in the Prem/Europe and will the giants and anyone who dares question anything is a imbecile and a bluenose. Or 2. They are the most negative suicidal bunch of fans in the world! MON is not the man, nobody is really. All our players are turd, our owners are thieves and anyone who thinks we're any good is mental. I'd like to believe we're a pretty decent side. We don't play attractive football and we don't really have any genuine superstars. But we're hardworking, hard to beat and capable of the odd eyebrow-raising win, as well as inexplicable defeats. We wont win the league, but we'll flirt with Top 4-6 and finish somewhere around there. Our manager has limitations and doesn't see some of the things that it feels 40000 fans do, and our players can be damn frustrating. But that's Villa. And it's not really gonna change much in the foreseeable future unless we go bust or get bought out by Bill Gates. Enjoy it. We're a good side. There's about 86 professional teams in this land who would swap with us in the blink of an eye. |
Dan Price
said:
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... Good motivating post... but realistically... Still stubborn and refuses to play better players (Reo-coker) above bad players (Sidwell) if they have an argument. This some could argue led to our downfall against wolves. Still unaware that we have 3 subs available to us and they are available throughout the entire 90+ mins. Still thinks Heskey is a premiership player. So whilst some things are looking better lets not forget that improvement is still needed. Also, on a completely different side note... Anywhere showing the villa game tomorrow... Rococco perhaps? |
Dan Price
said:
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... Btw. I support MON adn in no way want him out. He is just as important to this club as ashley young... but just worth balancing the argument out a little. Hopefully we see a bit of nigel and delph tomorrow! |
Christian
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... Not sure where the game will be on tomorrow. There's a bar in Erdington that gets all Prem games via Arabic TV, i would imagine it would be the same for Carling Cup ties...? |
paul mclafferty
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... christian1983 well well after reading nans uplifting post i read your reply and bloody hell i cant beleive i am agreeing with two posts on the same day as what you say about the two types of blogger i have been thinking the same for ages. |
Mike Carter
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...Still unaware that we have 3 subs available to us and they are available throughout the entire 90+ mins. This is an interesting one. My argument would be - just because you have substitutes available, does that mean you are obliged to use them? I say no. Take Saturday as a perfect example. The game is 0-0 an in desperate need of a shakeup. That's all well and good, but when you look at Villa's bench who do you see that can do that? In my mind, there wasn't anyone. Villa needed someone who could string a few passes together and deliver a final ball. That rules out Reo-Coker straight away. The only person I could make an argument for was Delph, but he's done very little in the previous opportunities he's had so far. In the end, it was Heskey who came on and actually ended up changing the game, which leads me to your next point |
Chris Harper
said:
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... Excellent post Nan, wouldn't expect anything less with you-your comments normally lighten the mood on this blog. I, like others haven't been bothered to post over past few days because of the silly, negetive mood the draw with Wolves created. Yes, we weren't at our best but I just take it on the chin and move on- no need to throw the toys out the pram. Its so predictable on here nowadays. Anyway, again, great post and fully agree. Bring on Sunderland! |
John Samuels
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... Christian, well said. The mood on this blog is like a seesaw at times. People just go up and down with the results. We lose or draw and there is something fundamentally wrong and if we win we are going to win the league. The expectation that follows a win is as unjustified as the despondancy if we don't. We have a team that might break into the top four, but it depends on a large number of variables. It's more likely we'll finish top six or seven, but no one knows. To really go somewhere in the league this year we need to replace Laursen and stop conceding silly goals which we have done. We also need to pass the ball and retain posession better in midfield, which we haven't been doing. We need to have more attempts on goal than we do as you can't win if you don't buy a ticket. On top of this we need everyone to play well which the defence is at the minute, but now we've sorted that out the forward players are misfiring. If everything clicks with this squad we have enough to beat any team in the league. At the moment consistency is the problem. We were flying for periods last year, but at the moment the team is barely jogging. We need more of the determination that we showed against Chelsea. We were lacklustre at Molineux, we paid for it and we could have lost that game by a margin. We were lucky to get a point and at the same time unlucky not to win (wierd). The lads should draw a line under it and move on. As should we. |
Chris Harper
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... Oh, and lets give Heskey some credit ay?!? He came on, created the goal and what a suprise- He miss hit it. Im a huge Carew fan but I would drop him tomorrow and give Heskey a chance to prove himself, he deserves it after the Wolves game. Carew doesn't. |
John Samuels
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... Villa Chris, I don't know about you mate but Carew was AWFUL for me on sat. Deserves to be dropped immediately. He was a bit lazy agianst Chelsea but if Heskey had started instead given the enthusiasm he showed when he came on we might have put that game to bed early in the second half. Heskey deserves a start tomoz as does Coker and I'd let Gabby have the night off and stick Nathan on the bench. I'd also be tempted to rest Ash and play Brights to mix it up. We can always bring him on if we need him, but I think it may really do him some good to get a night off and think about why he's being rested. So much hinges on him we rally need him back at his most dangerous. |
Christian
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... I didnt get chance to read the blog post-Wolves game, but from what I can gather it was very negative on here? I don't understand. Yes we weren't very good but we got a point away from home in a hot derby. I'd have settled for the point before kickoff (albeit with a better performance). The rest of the weekend's results make our Molineux point look very much like a point gained. City couldnt beat Fulham at home, Arsenal slipped up, Spurs had the worst result of their season, Everton got beat by a terrible Bolton side... There's gonna be many, many more bizarre results like that every week until May. Remember, we're not Barcelona. |
Christian
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... Damian, you've not put your clock back an hour. Or you have and I should've left work a long time ago... |
Matthew Clark
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... If we all agreed to go on hunger strike do you think Martin would stop playing Sidwell? I think he would eventually, and anyone we lost in the process would be looked at as a true villa legend! |
Eoin Greene
said:
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... Someone needs to say something controversial or else nans hand will be sore from all the high fives..... So here it is - nan - i agree with a lot of what you say. For instance I dont believe villa should 'expect' to beat anyone, if you looked at the previews on here friday - about 70% were predicting 3+-0 wins. Even MoN himself says we are not good enough for that. I just think that there is a LOT wrong with out team right now. I think we have scored three or more goals in a match twice in this calendar year. I think we have not had more than 5 shots on target in a whole game ALL season. Yes we have good spirit and fight but so did Wimbledon and Leicester. The way we play is unbelievable limited. MoN has had three years now and this is his team, his players and he has had enough time for us to have a way of playing. Nan - you say that we didn't play that well against Wolves and that a number of our attackers played below par. Can you tell me the last time our attacking players played well? Isn't it fair to say that so many under par performances - are actually our par performances. One other point - signing one big name flair player midfielder - is not going to change the way we play or solve our problems. |
Steve Badger
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...The way we play is unbelievable limited. This is an interesting point. If truth be told, there is only one team apart from us that I actually want to watch - Arsenal. I personally think even Man U and Liverpool this season have been poor at best. I think man U were poor for most of last season too, while I'm at it, but they still won the title. Take out Chelsea (sometimes) Spurs and Man city and everything else is dross or very average at best, imo. So why do I think like that? It's either that the rest of the league has raised it's standard and any team can stifle any other on a given day or it's simply that the whole standard has fallen. I personally think it's the latter and I remember saying last season that La Ligue is probably better than the prem for a neutral viewer. What am I trying to say? I'm really not sure, but perhaps we've moved away from the beautiful game and results are all that count? Jeez, that's sad if true, but you've read me saying today that I don't care as long we are winning. I guess if I'm right, I'm being sucked in too  The trouble is, we've seen what happened to the Albion after they tried to play properly. |
Mike Carter
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...Can you tell me the last time our attacking players played well? Gabby's been playing well all season. Milner has put in some good performances too. Apart from that, that's it. One other point - signing one big name flair player midfielder - is not going to change the way we play or solve our problems. It's not going to solve all the problems, but it will solve most of them. And it will change the way we play. |
James
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... Telegraph says we had 8 shots on target on Saturday. More than Liverpool. More than Man U. More than City. Only 2 less than an on song Arsenal. On the flip side, I'm wondering if some of them were goal kicks. Cheers for all the positive feedback. (To be fair to Damian, the reason why this blog keeps us all coming back is because the boss is big enough to deal with diverse opinion.) eoin 1981 Thanks, my right hand was getting sore. |
Steve Badger
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...To be fair to Damian, the reason why this blog keeps us all coming back is because the boss is big enough to deal with diverse opinion. Absolutely. Although a lot of stuff on here has me pulling my hair out, the fact that Damian lets both sides of the argument go is to be lauded. And the reason it's the first bloody thing I look at each day  |
Steve Badger
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... Nan, Telegraph says we had 8 shots on target on Saturday 2Shots on Target 3 6Shots off Target3 I did comment on this earlier (yesterday?) saying that is desperate, if you think one was the goal, the other gabby's tap in the first couple of mins. I forget the other one????? http://www.skysports.com/footb...96,00.html |
Steve Badger
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...I forget the other one????? Sidwell's effort that Dunne played a blinder with? |
VDV
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... We need- Mark noble and hleb. get rid of coker and gardner, and we also need keane, pav or JO. |
Steve Badger
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... VDV, no we don't, we need Gerrard and Torres. Get them in Jan and we'll win the league, sorted. Now that I've stated the obvious, is there any chance of maybe saying why instead of just chucking names in all the time? Sorry mate, it just gets on my threepennies  Fwiw, Keane would do, links up the midfield and attack in a way that Heskey just doesn't for Villa and he's an intelligent player. Pav, could we afford someone who many say is lazy? I don't know. Hleb in the mid, yes, I could live with him too. |
Frenchy
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... The thing that has really disappointed me about this post is I have just found out you're a man. |
VDV
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... Badger- noble- WHY ! he is a boox to box player and has his ranger of passing is bril. Unlike grdner a reo he has goals in him, has a bit of skill but the main thing is hes a playmaker. Hleb- he has flair and quick feet and can find a killer pass and is great around the box. Just what we need. Pav- look at his goals. a fox in the box again what we need. Keane i would love but do you think we could get him ? |
Eoin Greene
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... nan and Badger - check out the guardian.co.uk and use the chalkboard - it lets you customise what you want to see. Check out villas stats for all games this season. Its fair to say our shots on target is appalling - but not suprising. As i asked earlier - whens the last time we atacked well for a game?? |
Steve Badger
said:
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... VDV, Badger- noble- WHY ! he is a boox to box player and has his ranger of passing is bril. Unlike grdner a reo he has goals in him, has a bit of skill but the main thing is hes a playmaker. That's better mate. Sorry if I seemed harsh, btw Noble, I don't know. NRC and Petrov were box to box players and MON has killed that in them, imo. Hleb stood out for me when he tore us to shreds just outside the box when we played them. Consistent enough? I don't know. Pav and Keane are better than Heskey, imo. I think both will be gettable, but perhaps not in Jan. |
greg1982
said:
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... Home James. Sorry but I agree with little of this post. I do think MON has done enough to earn more time but so far progress has been slow and his learning curve shallow. ‘a number of our attacking players performed below par. ‘ It remains so because we have a poor central midfield. You pass over this lightly but it’s fundamental to a good team. Pivotal. Literally. ‘Defence – sorted’ Well, Hopefully but it’s been at a huge cost and he bought 3 expensive centre backs who are now not first choice for that position (and sold a better one…) ‘Squad Size – sorted’ “squad player” is the worst word in football for a progressive club. If they aren’t first-teamers, waiting in the wings, then we are not a top team. ‘Beat the bigger teams – sorted’ Chelsea and Man City and Liverpool clobbered us for possession. If we re ran those games again we would lose 4 times out of five. I loved them. I danced. I screamed. I was there. But that’s a Raffa fact. ‘Reo-Coker is a joker – not any more it seems, many now think he is the answer to our prayers’ It’s not so much NRC but just shows that ANY able body in the centre contributes. If we had had any central midfield player in on Sunday for lazy Carew we would have won it ‘Systems adjusted – sorted’ Blimey. Where would I start? See above for one We do need a quality play maker in the middle, Eureka! Yes but this is CRUCIAL but Mon thinks it’s the last piece in the jigsaw if at all. Er strikers equal goals don’t they? Well, no MON, creating gilt-edged chances so your mum can knock them in is what’s required. Villa score the bonus goals not the bread and butter goals. ‘but these are hard to find and sign, even with big money (the best Man City could find was Barry). ‘ Wrong. Barry plays with the creative players albeit very creative himself. Petrov/Ireland Robinho et al for that. And how dare you!! Barry is a giant of a player - the first name on city’s team sheet now. ‘MON: ‘give me one more year Gareth’ lost him because his progress was so slow. ‘We could do with a 30 goal a season striker and many suggested Owen’ Not me. But yes a goal poacher. But we have to create gilt-edged chances for a poacher option to work and from a creative midfield. ‘This is also true of the top four teams. Fans of other teams seem to shrug off a bad result.’ Nope. They don’t. Liverpool fans are saying ‘do the business Rafa or on your bike’. They support the club. We need to do the same. Liverpool are above us and they are claiming a calamity. That’s what I want for the Villa. Think like a top 4 club. ‘But what do we hear from a lot of Villa fans? It’s Martin O’Neill. Full stop.’ Sorry but the REVERSE is true. Look at this site. Depressing. Only when we are top 5 and are still NOT happy will I be happy. ‘I think that it is time we started acting like a big club. ‘ Agreed. See all the above. ‘Let’s start blaming the officials’ Pathetic. Let’s get creative and pass. Let’s change the music and Dance. In conclusion: in 5 years Man Utd have spent 27 million in players. Aresnal 27 million Damian will tell us the Villa total. I’ve lost count. Buy cheap buy twice. MON: I’m watching you. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...nan and Badger - check out the guardian.co.uk and use the chalkboard - it lets you customise what you want to see. Check out villas stats for all games this season. Its fair to say our shots on target is appalling - but not suprising. As i asked earlier - whens the last time we atacked well for a game?? So it was 2 on and 3 off? Even more desperate and a big problem, imo. As i've said, if we're winning, I'll live with it. When we lose I won't. We'll win more than we lose, simple. Or is it? |
Andy Scarborough
said:
 |
... Past experience should teach us that MoN will buy who MoN buys, whoever is mentioned on here. The next piece of the jigsaw is probably a midfielder, I predict DJ Downing to come in and change things about a little, not a lot, just a little. If by January things look thin in midfield MoN will do one of three things; buy, bring in Albrighton, or nothing. How much money will RL continue to throw at the side? How good is Albrighton? We won't know about th money until there is none there. We won't know about Albrighton until he plays a couple of games in the Prem. As for doing nothing; MoN has never really done that. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... greg1982, Reasonable argument until you came out with this; In conclusion: in 5 years Man Utd have spent 27 million in players. From what starting point? Big slip up there, imo. |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Greg1982 I really don't know where to start with your post. So much of it is bordering on complete rubbish. Defence – sorted’ Eh? Huge cost? £5m on Collins must be the bargain buy for the entire league. A similar amount on Dunne who has been very good. A little more on the best left back we've had since Steve Staunton. Let's summarise - Man City have spent more than £60m on their back line and conceded 11 goals so far. We spent ~£25m on ours and have conceded 8. Huge cost? A huge cost is £30m on Rio Ferdinand or £100k+ a week on John Terry. This defence cost pittance compared to the teams we aspire to be. ‘Squad Size – sorted’ What rubbish. United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all have players they would quite happily judge as being "squad players". Park, Kalou, Diaby, Bendtner, Alex... need I go on? If you expect 20+ players all worthy of starting you're off your rocker. |
greg1982
said:
|
... Badger: All the points are my own except the one you refer to - which is the Sunday Times. You’re obviously amazed too. PS from your points through the week I sense a badger coming out of the dark and into the light! |
greg1982
said:
|
... VIVA VILLA: ‘Eh? Huge cost? £5m on Collins must be the bargain buy for the entire league. A similar amount on Dunne who has been very good’ ??? That IS my point!! It’s Davis/Knight/Cueller I'm talking about. Don't tell me you've already forgotten about our first choice centre backs of two months ago? What I say is accurate. You respond with the players he has bought in to REPLACE these! 'United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all have players they would quite happily judge as being "squad players". Park, Kalou, Diaby, Bendtner, Alex... need I go on? If you expect 20+ players all worthy of starting you're off y' ?? blimey You're making my point again. Bendtner? he would WALK into our first team! Ditto Park. Ditto Kalou. That's the issue - our reserves aren't the calibre of their reserves. |
robb david
said:
 |
... Right i was not an o'neill fan, up until this season, actually ive been moaning all the time up until the Chelsea match. Thinking about it, i should have stoped moaning after the man city match. I have seen in the last three games something i have not seen from o'neill before. The ability to adapt a team or formation during a game. I have finally seen him realise we need the extra man in the middle, so against man city, carew dropped in, against chelsea, a mix of carew and gabby dropped in, agaist wolves we were getting over run so milner moved in and gabby on the right. This is something o'neill has never done before, ever. He has finally built a squad were we have decent players able to come in if we have an injury. The only thing missing from the squad/team, is the world class link forward, who i hope o'neill is looking to bring in. The wolves match in my eyes, was down to the players not o'neill, the tactics were spot on, the players just didn't turn up, none of our attackig threats fired and as a result we only scored one goal. Wolves worked really hard to frustrate us, if we put in that performance agaist a bolton, or blackburn we would have nicked it, because they wouldnt be as fired up as wolves were. I will jump on the managers back at any opportunity, but i think he deserves some credit at the moment. |
James
said:
|
... Just out of interest Greg, when did you lose faith in MON? From the start? After a year? What were your opinion and attitude towards previous managers? I can see where you are coming from with all your points. It is simply about the tint of the lens we are looking through. |
Mike Carter
said:
|
...In conclusion: in 5 years Man Utd have spent 27 million in players. This is pointless as well. You compare how much United & Arsenal spend to how much Villa spend as if these clubs are on a similar level. In case you didn't know, Greg, both of these teams are established top 4 clubs. You see, when you're established, you don't tend to need to spend quite as much on players. That's sort of the point. |
david
said:
 |
... On the subject of shots on target: There have been games when it's felt as if we've dominated and created lots of chances and yet our shot count has been very low. Could this be because such a high proportion of our attacks come from the wings? How many times have we jumped up from our seats in anticipation of a goal but the crossed ball has just eluded the outstretched foot or head? The statistics wouldn't record a shot even though we'd come close to scoring. In contrast, another team may make many shots from 25m that don't come close to threatening a goal and yet they would beat us on shot count. Another example of why statistics have to be treated with extreme caution? |
Mike Carter
said:
|
...??? That IS my point!! No, it's not accurate. You can reel off as many O'Neill purchases as you want, it's still not a "huge cost" or anywhere near it. We sold Knight for more than we bought him so that discounts him straight away. Davies needed surgery that would rule him out for a long period of time. Would you rather we didn't buy someone to cover this? ?? blimey You're making my point again. Bendtner? he would WALK into our first team! Ditto Park. Ditto Kalou. That's the issue - our reserves aren't the calibre of their reserves. Actually, that's not the point you made. You said - "If they aren’t first-teamers, waiting in the wings, then we are not a top team.". You were referring to our squad players. Nowhere did you say "the reserves of the top 4 teams would walk into our team". That's a completely different argument. |
Paul Gough
said:
 |
... Everyone that has watched a few seasons knows and has heard often enough that you don't win anything before Christmas but you can lose things. We are doing fine. All we have to do to have a chance of getting fourth this season is to be within 4 or 5 points of the team in fourth place in January. At the moment we are 3 points behind with a game in hand. So relax lads we will get the exciting run in we all want. You'll see. |
Ammar
said:
 |
...Reo-Coker is a joker – not any more it seems, many now think he is the answer to our prayers’ Good points Greg i think you have summed up whats been said on the blog by some of us in the last few days. Does not make us anti mon but just honest about what needs to be addressed.... |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Also, straying somewhat off-topic here, I wouldn't want Kalou anywhere near my team. I think he's dreadful. |
greg1982
said:
|
... Nan That’s reasonable. I’m just desperate for the Villa to do well. And will now accept nothing that stands in its way. The top teams do this, that is their attitude. We are too “nice”. That is why when Liverpool ‘fall’ to our level their manger is in trouble. That’s what I want for us. But let me explain myself. I don’t mind MON. I’m so happy he’s our manager and he’s still my favourite for a long time. I loathed the spiv Gregory and the sheer lack of intelligence of the very stupid O’Leary. But we need to get there quicker so we can preempt this sort of rubbish at our club. MON is first on the list as a dinner guest but I’m ONLY now interested in one thing: The Villa. We have been poor for decades. I want an end to it. MON is gearing himself up to be England manager, he was disappointed to ‘just’ be Villa manager. I think his plan is to angle for the job after the Italian experiment has run its course. We are the Villa, not all these temporary people. Mon, like him as I do, is limited all over the park. I just can’t understand how he, or any of you, are so happy that we can’t pass or hold onto the ball. Even when we win. We’ve wasted a lot of money and we have no play-maker. But I have no quibble with the man in charge. My main gripe is with the fans who accept the latest incumbent as a saviour. Wait and see and judge all you see objectively. Now even the quality like ASH is being dragged down by the foraging dimension. He should be receiving threaded balls. I’m just going to wait and see. The MON’s will come and go. We are here for life. This is my club. Your club. Mon’s just a hired hand. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... greg1982, PS from your points through the week I sense a badger coming out of the dark and into the light! Not at all. MON has his weak points mate and I don't deny it. I've taken on board that the negative posters always throw at us (positive posters) the point that we're 100% blinkered. So I've actually gone out of my way to look for bad points this season. At the end of the day he is moving us onward, regardless of the football. This bloke, given the time, will get us top 4. Of that I have no doubt whatsoever. I am 100% convinced. You have to realise he's on a learning curve too, as are all us fans, imo. And I still see no-one who could have/do a better job, given the circumstances. Hughes? Bruce? Martinez? They pale into insignificance when compared to MON, imo. And I'm glad we've got him  This is a positive post and I want to keep it that way for a few hours  |
jerry
said:
 |
... Jimmy - well, well, moving up the food-chain I see. Nicely done. Under 500 words and said with passion. When I saw the author I half expected a little more subversive humour - but never mind. Next time perhaps? eoin1981 & greg1982 Dudes, you're next. I know you fellas are devoted Villa fans with passionately held convictions and it would be nice to read an extended version of them at the top of the blog. Fatkevs, if you read this, same goes for you. Badge, Junior - you up for this? Well done Nan and well done Damo for giving us irritable, argumentative visitors the chance for our fifteen minutes in the sun. I've just re-read it and I think I've found the subversive humour: We could do with a 30 goal a season striker |
greg1982
said:
|
... Vivavilla Davies/Cuellar and Knight. Re zat it’s the fact that MON even thought that he could play. Davis might be injured but he’s a long way from a top half of the table premier central defender. What we already have in the reserves is better. Cueller is out of his depth in the middle (again qualify – ok for a mid table team – just not the Villa). Re the reserves: my point, if it’s misunderstood, is that we need players who can come off then bench who are top premier league players. That’s the ‘benchmark’. |
James
said:
|
... http://transferleague.co.uk/data/data.html This makes interesting reading. We're doing OK. (Man U and Arse have low overall net expenditure for various reasons.) Liverpool's excuse about not having the money is blown apart. You also need to consider wages when judging one club against another. I'm guessing we're not in the Top 6 for wage bills. |
neil57
said:
 |
... Great post, Nan. Only reading Blog now. One poster had verbal diarrhoea, Greg? Christ. I keep saying, Villa is a very highly respected club in the land, part of the reason MON manages us. Aston Villa is going places. Not fast enough for some. Weird results at the weekend. We totally overran Fulham, yet look at saturday. The bookies must have cleaned up on saturday. Nan/James you talk a lot of sense. Keep the faith and positivity. UTV |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...Badge, Junior - you up for this? Well, yes I'd be up for it, but think I'm better at arguing than putting a point across from scratch. And my post would be very similar to yours and Nan's, although I perhaps could chuck a bit more criticism in than you (re: kids). That might suit the blog better, come to think of it It's in my nature to not hog the limelight and more keep in the background, digging away I'll think about it though. I'm just not sure where the starting point would be atm. We're doing pretty well, after all |
James
said:
|
... I was filling a hole Churchill. Jumpin on the other end of the seesaw (and trying not to catapult Damo into the bushes) I think the subversive humour is better down here in the darkness. I prefer it when you have to search. Also, if you drop it straight up there, simple folk often get confused. They get all excited and start calling you nasty names. But hey, as you say, maybe next time. (I'm tempted by the article suggested by someone earlier re:Heskey, The Final Piece to the Top 4 Jigsaw. Maybe some room for humour there?) |
Ammar
said:
|
...Liverpool's excuse about not having the money is blown apart. Very much so and looking at the last 5 years weve not done to badly either. RL has put his money were his mouth is credit were credit's due... |
greg1982
said:
|
... And ps which job? Maybe MON is more likely to be Englang manager after the world cup? |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... greg1982, Cueller is out of his depth in the middle Eh? That's your opinion and one I don't subscribe to at all. Re the reserves: my point, if it’s misunderstood, is that we need players who can come off then bench who are top premier league players. That’s the ‘benchmark’. Now go and look at Liverpool's reserves. Enough said, imo. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... I probably should have clarified at least one example; N'Gog? I'd rather have Heskey thanks. |
jerry
said:
|
...It's in my nature to not hog the limelight and more keep in the background Badger behave One poster had verbal diarrhoea, Greg? Greg I assume Neil's refering to post 71. I know you wrote this with the aid of a keyboard. If you'd used a pen you'd have shredded the paper so powerful was the passion that manufactured the comment. I loved it - not all the views necessarily, but the combination of love and anger that was clearly expressed. The words tumbled over one another. I liked this especially: Let’s get creative and pass. Let’s change the music and Dance. You always know when someting's good - you wish you'd written it yourself. Your missus could get really lucky tonight; you might make the earth move. Like I said, submit something to his nibs. Don't forget - under 500 words. |
greg1982
said:
|
... Churhill It does come out like that. Too many years getting cold on the hill of the Witton. Thinking that we were great when we weren't. Chico, Chico When they remeber... E for B and... etc And re your last comment... A motor car is phoney (but don't tell her!) |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...It's in my nature to not hog the limelight and more keep in the background Badger Would I be a Mandelson, blatantly killing his own side openly from within and taking centre stage as much as possible? No. I'm much more likely to be the beast of turnover |
jerry
said:
|
...I'd like to write more but never really sure what to write about. viva I didn't see a smiley so I assume you weren't being coy. (I'm not very good at these things). Revisit your earlier post (no. 84). Try to remember the irritation you felt as you wrote it and topics for articles will flood into your head. Whatever you feel stongly about - write about that. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... hmm, so MON might mix it up then; http://www.mirrorfootball.co.u...01963.html |
jerry
said:
|
... http://www.skysports.com/story...11,00.html Even Heskey might want to score in front of that stand. |
paul mclafferty
said:
|
... greg.. whats wrong with our reserves and youth team? because as far as i was aware they have been the best set ups in the premier league for the past few years as they seem to win the leagues year in year out. it just seems odd to me that the youth system is calculated on the youth f.a cup which is a knockout but not a league which as i said we keep winning. please if i am wrong, can some one point out to me why the youth teams are judged on the f,a youth cup and not the league. |
Faccundo
said:
 |
... Nan Agree 100% that MON is the man to lead us forward. Not sure if tight-arse Lerner (aka Deady Doug Mk II) and his propaganda minister "30m pound signing" & "European champions" General Goebbels are. For over 6 months astute commentators have been talking about picking up players like Marek Hamsik, soon to be Premier league superstar with Chelsea. Purchased for only 5m by the partenopei in June 2007, he could have been had in the off season for 12m. Now he's off to Chelsea for close to 19m. If Lerner had opened his notoriously tight chequebook we would have had this type of player, had some creativity to go with the grit, and potentially been challenging for the league. As it is, the Tottenham and Man Citeh squads are moving past us in spending and creativity. Even at the noted asylum that is Liverpool under the Hicks/Gillet regime, the most parsimonious owners in the league have made far more NET funds available to advance the team. LERNER TIME TO PUT THE DO-RA-ME DOWN OR WALK AND STOP THE BIG-NOTING EMPTY TALK AND CHEAP GESTURES |
greg1982
said:
|
... James: forgot to add as my list was long enough: ‘He couldn’t build a decent defence, so sack him. We don’t have a big enough squad, so sack him. We cannot compete against the big teams, so sack him. He signs useless players like Reo-Coker, so sack him. He will not adjust his tactics, so sack him.’ I see little evidence of many fans waiting to ‘sack him’ at present. Just a few who are saying there have been lots of minuses about him and he needs to buck up. So far it’s a B- for me: much room for improvement. Must show that he has the ability to learn from mistakes. The formation on Saturday still suggests he’s very slow at it. Not bad work for 8 mill eh? Holtened paul I agree our youth set up is good. I would rather see them coming through the ranks. A lot of the money spent is keeping some of these equally talented youngsters away from the first team. When we bought Ash the equally good idea was Forrester for a tenth of the spend. We need a balance of some top players who can come off the bench but also let the youngsters through. We need 16 top premier league players and let our youth set up breath. We’re historically not good with our young players: Dwight wasn’t a first team player well beyond his years neither was Barry. It’s always been a concern to me. VDV Someone like Arteta would be the missing link. And I expect someone who gets paid what MON gets paid to know of ten of them across the world. We always seem to appoint as if it’s only on the back of watching Match of the Day or Skysport. Faccundo ‘As it is, the Tottenham and Man Citeh squads are moving past us in spending and creativity.’ Agree, agree, agree. |
James
said:
|
... I reckon Heskey could hit that clock. City and Spuds will have their own problems in Jan if they are not meeting expectation. As several people have noted, quality like Petrov and Ireland are not going to sit around on the bench unless City are making huge strides into the Top 4, which is by no means guaranteed. Also did we see a little flicker of a fire as Lennon came off injured. It looked a little tense. Watch that space. Big squads of ambitious players who chase the money are not easy to keep happy. There'll be fall out. |
Shashwat Sapkota
said:
 |
... Logged in to this site first time since the wigan defeat and i've seen some positivity in the villablog camp. And i think the above post is a great one. Hope Villa enter the top four this season as man city and tottenham are in the competition. Hope the penalty hadn't been given by the refree against wolves but hope we grab two wins this coming gameweek. |
Mark
said:
 |
... Well done James. Glad to see you've got a completely opposing angle on things to Damian. Sack him and take on the role full time. MON is completely understated. However, he doesn't compromise his principles, which people mistake for stubbourness or arrogance. Good on him f*****g Coker on to the bench. The minute you open a crack, and let one get away, a chasm develops. SAF is the same, there is no dispute who has the power at Man.U. |
Mark
said:
|
... Here's a thread for you. NRC - The man who can win us the league? - Or Sulky half-wit who needs punting in to touch in the Jan window and replaced with a pick of at least a dozen alternatives? |
Adrian Kilgallon
said:
 |
... Faccundo do you honestly think MON has ever heard of Marek Hamsik? Stop blaming Leaner. He isn't the guy who is telling MON to limit himself to the way over valued English market. |
GWADS
said:
 |
... *applaudes* well said. i dont think the negative ppl are in the majority... they are just FAR more vocal. those of us who are happy with the club arent going to rant daily about it are we i think the majority are happy with the chairman, club, mon and our start to the current campaign and are looking forward to seeing how it turns out. its a good time to be a villa fan.. and i'm gunna enjoy it!! |
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villarobin
said:
 |
... Totally agree.. We have improved no end under Oneil and are now challengers again. Oneil is frustrating (His use of substitutes GRRRRR) He makes mistakes... But all managers do. Oneil just doesnt have the luxury of the massive players that some clubs have . Blame a player / Blame the ref etc , but at this point Oneil has taken villa by the scruff of the neck and given us hope again. Everyone is part of the 2 second culture these days, look at the stick Rafa was getting before the Man U game , its pathetic really.. Although we can criticise him sometimes as he does make mistakes. |
John R
said:
 |
... Good post Nan, I feel that MON has overseen a steady improvement in the side since he's arrived. We've made the best start in ten years. I feel that being a villa fan is a rollercoaster ride, sometimes good sometimes bad. The wolves match was a potential banana skin, we should have been a goal down after 3 mins, yet we came away with a point. Somebody else made the point that if we look at the results of other clubs around us this was'nt a bad result. The bottom line is that while everyone is entitled to their opinion those who suggest that MON is'nt doing a solid job are off the mark. UTV |
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