Written by Doc Bowles Sunday, 16 August 2009 07:33
I think there are times when stubbornness or single-mindedness are praiseworthy attributes. But not when they cross the line. Not when they blunder into blindness. Not when they enter into the realm of the three monkeys.
I don't care what you think about Gareth Barry or his mercenary move to Eastlands. There was a massive, Gareth-Barry-shaped hole in the centre of the Villa Park pitch today, and it was crying out to be filled. Crying out. Perhaps only the equally large Martin-Laursen-shaped hole in the centre of Villa's defence was as remarkable.
But don't get me wrong. I don't want this to be a tirade about Martin O'Neill's failure to restore the backbone of our team. I don't want to bang on about how obvious it's been for weeks and months that we needed to fill those massive holes with commanding, authoritative presence. I'm fed up with transfer talk and this Diagnosis isn't going there.
But I'll tell you where it is going. And that's right to the heart of the tactical intransigence and complete stubbornness shown by our manager. Because believe me, this was a tactical shocker. A day in the dark. A Hammer House of tactical horror.
Although it's fading, I still have belief that Martin O'Neill understands the scale of the problem presented by Gareth Barry's departure. And, if rather grudgingly now, I still harbour some anticipation that he will recruit a player capable of filling Barry's boots.
Like many Villains today, I feel angry and let down. Not because we lost - indeed, even the nine-year-old son I took to today's game already understands that sometimes you lose games. But because we lost when we didn't need to. We lost because we never really started. We lost because we surrendered the initiative to a sprightly Wigan side before a ball had been kicked.
It's not rocket science, Martin. It really isn't. But it becomes damned complicated when you've got the goggles on: you know what I mean, don't you? Those 4-4-2 goggles. Those Heskey goggles. Those "I'm going to show John Carew who's' boss" goggles.
Now, like Damian and many more of you, I'm on record as being a fan of O'Neill and a believer in his ability to take us forward. But at the same time, I did voice some recent concerns. I wrote that I was concerned by his tactical rigidity, his seeming inability to change a game in mid-course, and his over-reliance on a favourite players and a favourite formula which can be all too easily worked out by opponents.
Well, I guess all those chickens came home to roost today.
I don't always agree with Damian, and that's fine. But one thing we do agree on is that 4-5-1 is the system that suits Villa best. Even with Barry and Laursen, it still gave us a compact centre midfield and allowed our more pacy and skilful players to go and be - well - pacy and skilful. Our best players are young and fast, and love to get wide - love to cause problems down the flanks. But to do that you have to buy the licence: and that licence comes from having two solid midfielders holding the centre of the park. Full stop.
I feel sorry for Fabian Delph and I feel sorry for Stiliyan Petrov. Delph was handed a debut - and like many of you I was up for that - but was left in no mans land. Petrov, newly installed as Club Captain, quite simply had too much to do. O'Neill dumped both of them in the brown stuff, leaving quality, capped box-to-box midfielders twiddling their thumbs on the bench. Is there anyone else out there who - after 10 minutes - thought that we were desperate for Nigel Reo-Coker?
Today's game screamed for a five man midfield. It would have allowed Webcam and Jimbo to get wide. It would have given Delph just a little more time to settle and pick his passes. And it might have offered some protection to the defensive trifle that Curtis and Carlos managed to conjure up. It was like watching the Keystone Cops all over again.
I don't really know how to sum up - I'm so angry, hurt and disappointed.
So let's try this:
1. Martin - you're a decent manager, but get off your high horse damn quick and start being flexible. Or you're going to lose friends - tens of thousands of them
2. Martin - you have a side whose key attribute is pace. The ball has to go wide, wide and wider still - and to do that we need three men in the centre of midfield
3. Martin - we don't give a stuff what you think: we happen to know that John Carew is better than Emile Heskey. Trust us on that one.
Yesterday was pathetic. The way we marooned Stan and Fab in the centre of the park against a 5-man Wigan midfield was just ... sorry, you find the word.
I'm sorry folks. No player ratings this time. I can't be bothered.
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oldfart
said:
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... Mon has spent £29 million on sidwell,shorey,harewood,knight,routledge and davies. At best these have all been mediocre buys.What about Cahill!!?? He needs to improve this aspect of his management.Wenger seems to be the master of transfer business.The next two weeks could be interesting as Lerner might be wary of spending more on mediocrity |
parisianrob
said:
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... great post Doc Summed it up completely Lets look forward to thursday And hope i am sure MON will go 4-5-1 and big john leading the front thanks rob |
r0bb0
said:
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... ... I think it was ak27 who last season was calling for us to take on Martinez as our manager and at the time (as a strong MON supporter)I conceded that he was the one other realistic target that I would like to see at Villa park. Having followed Swansea for a few years you couldn't help but be impressed by the man's vision and application. Yesterday at half time I thought it was instructive to contrast our subs knocking the ball between themselves and having a but of fun with the structured approach of Wigan. They had laid out cones in a 10m square and had 5 subs quick passing and keeping the ball from one other sub in the middle, with a coach standing by making comments. I know it's standard training stuff but it was an indication that this was the way that players in a Martinez team will play and every opportunity will be taken to drum it into them. Time will tell whether Wigan will be able to compete with that squad for a whole season, but you can be sure that we won't be the only team that will be caught out by them, so let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater after one poor game. We were very poor yesterday..... Wigan are already a better side than people are giving them credit for..... Wouldn't it be even worse to be an Everton fan today? |
Daniel Wilson
said:
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... I agree about the tactical stubbornness and that Carew is much better than Heskey, but I don't think any more negativity is needed, weve already got about 600 posts summing this up, why not add another 300. 1 game, come on, if we beat Liverpool playing the same way next week Mon will be a savoir and the best thing since sliced bread, and we will go on to win the league. Doc, my diagnosis - take a few deep breathes  |
faangler
said:
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... Great read - good alalysis Not so sure it's all bout formation personally though Think it's more to do with ..... Aw hell, we've got to play REO whatever the formation. Starting with Delph was just crazy By the time Fulham bowl up in a couple of weeks, we could easily be out of the cup and bottom of the league. The next few matches will define the MON years in my op. Let's hope he gets his, and our, acts together. PLAY REO - our defence isn't good enough to leave him out ! |
mattyavfc
said:
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... First game of the season and it's like we've never been away. MON is still picking the same team in the same formation. I thought good managers were flexible, I doubt if MON even knows the meaning of the word. I've thought for the last 18 months that MON has taken us as far as he can, and after yesterday, I'm even more sure of that. |
Lukas
said:
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... I dont know if anyone noticed. Big John started the game on the bench, with Delfouneso hanging around the players lounge minutes before the game. Come half-time, Carew had vanished and Delfouneso was doing a few keepy-upies with all the other subs. Does anyone know in what instances a sub allowed to be switched. He was either slightly injured, tired from running circles round Scotland or cleared off home after not starting. However if he was injured or tired, he probably wouldn't have started on the bench. Leaving only one outcome. After again insisting on a 4-4-2, Sidwell (goals) and Reo (when played our most commited player) should have started in the middle. |
faangler
said:
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...After again insisting on a 4-4-2, Sidwell (goals) and Reo (when played our most commited player) should have started in the middle. YES YES YES |
chrisb
said:
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... Agree with what you say...well nearly. Has an attack of paranoia gripped some Villa fans? Heskey was not preferred to Carew, Carew got injured end of. Now we move on. |
r0bb0
said:
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... Doc, it's hard to disagree with anything you said there, but I'm not sure it's all about formation. I thought that even more important than that yesterday was the attitude of our players. Wigan were well up for it...we weren't. Ashley Young still seemed to still be fretting that he let himself down in midweek and only woke up with 10 minutes to go. Was Petrov struggling to come to terms with the responsbility of being captain rather than just doing the things he does well? Like you, I was crying out for Reo Coker. I wasn't as quick to see the light as you as I think we were about 25 mins in before I turned to my wife and said he needed to be on the pitch. Yes, MON is stubborn/strong willed, but he's also intelligent, and I'm sure after a blow like yesterday he will be analysing every aspect of what went on, including his own performance. |
faangler
said:
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...Carew got injured end of. He was named as a sub with Heskey in the team. If he got injured subsequently (nobody believes that) he was still playing second fiddle to Heskey |
sam
said:
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... Martin O'Neill Pull your finger out of your ass and spend some of our chaimans money, after all he has got BILLIONS!! Stop buying cast offs from relegated teams and bring in some foreign quality. You say you wont bankrupt us but your not improving us this season either. Stop using Lerners money like its your own. |
Ferdinand the imposter
said:
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... As with you I was disappointed with the result, but I don’t think even with Gareth Barry our midfield would have been better, but with Laursen our defensive line would have had more stability. A few days ago everyone was calling for Delph to play - he did and now you are mostly saying this was a mistake. We need a commanding CB and someone in midfield who can dictate the play maybe that’s VDV or Sneijder who knows. Yes its disappointing to lose but we still have a long way to go Man City lets see how the next b2 weeks pan out before we all start calling for everyone to be sacked from the chairman down to the teams pet cat. |
r0bb0
said:
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... Thank goodness yesterday is over.....let's hope for more sober reflections today. For a start, in the same way that pre-season games are unreliable pointers to the season ahead, so are the first few games of the season. !!!cliche warning!!! "the premier league is a marathon not a sprint". If you have any doubts about that, take a look at Man Utd's start to last season, or Hull's. Teams that feel they have something to prove are likely to come fast out of the traps and this would apply to both Wigan and Arsenal. Of course you need to have some level of playing ability to back it up, but confidence and application still go a long long way in football. Our attitude and application were wrong yesterday. A number of players were distinctly off form. Expect to see players with character pulling this round over the next few weeks and in the same way that winning the Peace cup engendered an overly optimistic mood, yesterday's debacle will prove to have generated an overly negative one. |
jason parkes
said:
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... looks like vdv is another missed target as arsenal want him there midfield,if we keep the team as is how many more games like that can we take or lerner mon has got to see we need more players |
Nick Wait
said:
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... While I agree with alot of what you say; I do belive there are positives to come out of this game. Number 1: Martin O'Neill actually made some substitutions yesterday - yes, perhaps the wrong ones, but at least he made them. How often last season would we go 85-90minutes without a change. Changes were made at a good time. Number 2: Martin seemed pretty despondant after the match, I do believe this will hurry up his transactions in the transfer market. If we had won comfortably, it may have masked problems that existed before we actually got a chance to solve them. Lets be grateful this happened now, when we have an opportunity to do things about it. Number 3: Hopefully, the result will coax MON into trying something new. "Hey Martin, why not take of Heskey for Carew, instead of pushing Milner back to rightback and bringing on Albrighton." Number 4: The biggest positive that we can take from yesterday though is this; Everton got smashed 6-1. We're not the only team struggling. |
faangler
said:
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...Our attitude and application were wrong yesterday. A number of players were distinctly off form. Why play a wasp buzzing round a slug ? Of course MON needs to play the dung beetle every match without fail. And having the greyhound up front with the donkey is also a mystery. Play the preying mantis ffs! |
jason parkes
said:
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... the result hurt yesterday but the way we lost hurt even more and worse than that you look at the bench and what we got is not alot defenders not alot of cover milner at right back says it all creative midfielders none best striker was sitting there tho things have got to change this cant be it |
sam
said:
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... We need to be beating the Wigans of this world if we were ever thinking about a top 4 finish. Regardless of whether it was the first game or not. I think O'Neill has took us as far as he can, he does'nt know what we need to take us further otherwise he would have done it already in the transfer window. One thing he does know is how to down size a squad very well and forget to replace the players that have gone. |
stevo
said:
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... i agree with what doc said but apart from sidwell not starting i think i would have started with that team. hesky looks sharper than last season and with carew carrying a knock on the foot from midweek then i think martin was hoping our front two would be enough and if needed bring carew on with 20-30 to go if it was required. agree with everything thats been said formation changing earlier in game/spine of team not replaced and all that but my bugbare with martin is WHY DO YOU LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE TO SIGN A PLAYER ! if they want more money for warnock/distin just bloody pay it please !!!! |
Jonathan
said:
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... As stated millions of times in the last 24 hours, we need to replace laursen and Barry. Hangeland ( speller?) please. |
Steve
said:
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... Initial thoughts: Continued the dreadful form we should post February, this is v worrying. I came on here and said all summer we will miss Barry and last season whenever he played poorly so did Villa. he was our heart beat and the only player with intelligence in keeping possession - he needs replacing. Carew is the only player that looks like scoring for us and Ashley the only likely person to create something. That in itself is worrying. Defending: Dont think anyone has picked up on this but i genuinely think we struggle because we play petrov as a holding midfielder (before you start saying he was our best player last season, well we still conceded too many goals). The guy never has or will be a tackling midfielder which is what you need in his role. Too many times we get cut apart through midfield leaving our defence exposed.NRC cant pass but with his pace, drive and tackling ability he would improve us. Any coincidence in preseason we looked better when Petrov was injured and NRC took over? Secondly I thought Delph did all you could expect a 19yr making his debut in the premiership in centre mid. Not only that but he seemed to be expected to dictate the game and was soo important he even took corners. Frankly with the team playing so badly, i say well done fabian for a decent shift and you will be top class in the future. Shorey cannot defend and is limited going forward and needs to be replaced, as does Davis who just looks out of his depth. Cuellar for 80 mins was our best player and won most his headers and with a decent partner will be a class act. Midfield. Delph and Petrov as above. Milner just isnt good enough, he runs all day but offers no creativity and lacks the pace required. Young - our only threat but is consistently double/treble marked. I also sense that AY knows it is down to him to create and hence tries too much. He also needs to stop moaning/diving anf get on with it. However he is our key player and without him we really are screwed. Strikers Heskey - doesnt cut it. Gabby - other than pace has nothing to his game Carew - should start every game, we also should have bought Darren Bent. The problem villa has, is that unless we are away from home counter attacking, we cant cause teams problems as they sit deep and long balls dont work. The fact MoN reckons that despite looking toothless for 90 mins, we are an attacking threat and despite only winning about 8 home games last yr, he doesnt think we need improving going forward. I am BLOODY worried. We need to buy: centre half to play with cuellar, a left back to replace shorey. A right winger with technique and ability to keep the ball (for me take Bentley for 8mill, yes he is p***k, but he would be good for us) A centre mid who can be our playmaker (we dont have one since barry left and one needs to be brought in, this is the key signing and MoN should break the bank and bring in a foreign name, not some average English player he thinks he can improve) Striker to play with Carew. I was genuinely optimistic before todays game, however since January 2009, Aston Villa FC has been worked out by opponents as to how to stop us scoring. We are also very easy to cut right through the middle of (looking at centre mid and defence here). I doubt Wigan will have an easier away game all season, I also worry that Villa Park is becoming the least intimidating ground to come to. There is no fear factor at all, all clubs need to do is double mark AY, sit deep against us and hit us on the break. That is f##king easy to do. Alot of work needs to be done or we are staring at mid table. F##k im depressed, oh and one last thing Guzan needs to start |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
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... Good post doc totally agree with the summary. Also this notion that we should play 4-4-2 at home and 4-5-1 away is also nonsense. Dan i think there has been alot of negative posts not because we lost :- . The mannner of the defeat. . The logic behind the team selection . Using the same stale tatics ending up with the same stale result. . Why when we have players who did very well in pre season were just ignored. just does not make sense. In mon i support and hope he succeeds but would like to see us play in a style and plan of what he and RL are trying to achieve. Yesterday was the first time were we looked like headless chickens without a plan b. |
waynevilla
said:
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... ... just gutted, after their opener we were shell shocked, shorey makes too many errors and delph was not ready for the speed of the prem, should of come on sub. if carew was injured we should not get on mons back for that. if heskey was injured and was forced to play with injection that was stupid, should of given young nathan a full game upfront. mon does seem to play his favourites (petrov)rather than picking who deserves to be in the team on form (nrc). I dont really think we have come on too far since o'leary he was 6th 10th and 16th with no money to play with and mon has been 11th and 6th twice will lots of money so has not proven to be any better. he needs to stop treating the money as if it was his and worrying about his rep. just spend spend spend and get good quality expensive replacements for the week players in the squad and sell the players you have bought in error, squad numbers 4,9,21 spring to mind. still two weeks of the window i have not given up hope of signing quality but on past windows should have no hope left. we will see what happens, after all it is one game wigan are a bogey team at villa park and we have a difficult couple of games to come, hardly seems surprising that we were favourites to be "crisis club" on paddy power. its my first post hope you liked it, im not a moaner im a believer and have a right as a paying supported to critisise and praise when necessary. we are part of the elite 7 that have been in the prem since it began so i am proud however anything less than 7th in any season and i think we have failed. |
sam
said:
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... its ok, we have got clumsy cuellar and daisy davies at the back another pair of useless twats the we overspent on. |
vogra
said:
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... The most worrying thing is that MON hasn't resigned yet... Get him out now and get someone in that has tactical nouse and isn't afraid to spend a bit of money.. If your looking for good and up and coming managers why not take a punt at Darren Ferguson at P'boro.. |
stevo
said:
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... er warnock /distin not good enough for us ? who would you like us to bring in perhaps lescott or terry eh |
Jeddo
said:
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... Pretty much agree Doc. Time to get players in who've been there and done it. Too many of his buys are "prospects" or from relegated clubs. |
b_chiller
said:
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... Wigan fan here. All football 'experts' were writing us off against you for similar reasons as some of you have mentioned ie losing backbone of team. we lost heskey (snigger), Catts and Palacios BUT I am not convinced any of them would have suited Matinez style anyway (apart from Palacios who would fit any team - seriously a player that a club like yours should have targeted). What I saw was a villa team set up to play against Wigan of last year and not this year - to combat our physical style - so when it didnt happen you looked lost. Heskey instead of Carew??? you must be joking right??? |
ruffy
said:
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... "I don't care what you think about Gareth Barry or his mercenary move to Eastlands. There was a massive, Gareth-Barry-shaped hole in the centre of the Villa Park pitch today, and it was crying out to be filled. Crying out. Perhaps only the equally large Martin-Laursen-shaped hole in the centre of Villa's defence was as remarkable." Spot on. For me MON is still believing his own hype, and this is very dangerous. He hit on successful formation with 5 in midfield and two fast wide men during the first half of last season and lived on the glory of that all season. He failed to realise that this was the reason for the success, and still seems to be under the impression that we have a right to beat clubs wuch as Wigan. I think that is now 2 wins in 17 in all competitions (not friendlies) and I think this is relevent since our form seems to have carried over from last season. I think the problems are more deep seated than we actually thought. And the main problem is that MON seems to think he still has the team that climbed upto 4th last season. He hasn't, he has a disjointed team with no midfield, in which players that deserve a place seem to be ignored. |
sam
said:
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... Warnock/Distin are not going to push us up the table i guess Lescott had a blinder yesterday then mate. |
bobvillian
said:
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... i used to be a football manager at conferance level 12years ago and villas problem lies in tactics.our defence is poor not only for players not good enough but having no protection from midfield.playing delph in a 442 is plain stupid being his first premership game;playing in a 451 would protect him more.reo-coker playing in front of back-four would help;with petrov playing a more advanced role.at celtic he was more free to score goals.i can only see problems sticking to 442 with the players at hand at villa.more like bottom 8 than top 8. sorry about this but we only changed to 442 last year due to signing heskey since then its gone downhill [mon sort it out] |
taglor
said:
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... omg doc, i actually agree with you on stuff, the 1st time ever maybe? what has happened you had a paper bag surgically removed from your head? onwards and upwards as soon as we have a 21st century manager. I bloody love villa and football, even all this, its great!!!!  |
av79
said:
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... I thougt beye and shorey were to blame for the goals yesterday.With luke young and a new right back it may have been different. we gifted the there goals.We had to work very hard just to get a shot on target. WE NEED 10MIL+ CENTRE HALF (hangeland/upson) 7MIL+ RIGHT BACK(pos warnock) 5MIL+ CENTRE HALF (distin/samba) 10MIL+ CREATIVE MID PLAYER ??????????????? 6MIL+ CENTRE FORWARD (pos beckford)wont be as hard to keep him happy on the bench |
Mostyn
said:
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... I think MON honestly believed he could re-create a similar partnership of Heskey and Owen in their hey day. However, Heskey was shocking and Gabby doesn't come close to Owen - past or present. A more credible formation would be Carew and Fonz if sticking with 4-4-2. I'd prefer Ash to be playing a freer role behind Carew. MON needs to wise up quickly as teamd have sussed our tictacs from last season. Plan B please Martin? |
taglor
said:
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... ps i notice rob h, 1874 etc have still all stayed away, wonder if it's because mon has shown them up for sticking by him no matter what the mentalist does |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
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... Vogra, ... The most worrying thing is that MON hasn't resigned yet... and if we go for darren forguson and he spends and looses 9 on the trot what do we do then ? getting rid of manager after just 1 game is abit far fetched and a receipe for disaster but we can only hope that mon does read the forums and listens to what us fans are saying. |
oldfart
said:
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... In order to follow the debate I have to keep logging off and come back to the site to see the next ten comments .Is there any way I can keep logged and follow the debate as each post comes in? |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
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... stevo, ... er warnock /distin not good enough for us ? who would you like us to bring in perhaps lescott or terry eh what would be even better is if we were linked with tuncay and another creative defensive midfielder... Can't see a LB solving our current issues unless warnock plays in the middle. I would also put clarke ahead of davies. i know he young but he looked good in the pre season tournaments and cannot be any worse than davies. |
FatKevs
said:
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... Good Post Doc But for me the bottom line is MoN buys poorly & lets players go to easily. OK he hung onto Barry but sold him as fast as he could before the window was open without seeing how the market was this summer. How much will lescott finally go for. MoNs football will always be shite though but what else can we hope for? our chairman does not have a clue & would not know who else to appoint even the board members are a sham & you would have thought this would be his stong point. With the clueless tight chairman we have no future |
Darragh McGeown
said:
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... Like everybody on here I'm absolutely gutted with yesterdays performance but booing and calling for MON's head after one game is a bit much. Relax your heads and see what happens in the next two weeks. Guzan should be starting! |
superspurs
said:
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... hahahahah as i have said all summer the real villa will show this season cause lets face it ur squad really is shit.hahahahah YID ARMY |
nigel
said:
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... Doc I do agree with everything you say, including the formation. We do not have the right quality of players to play 442. Week after week this has been proven. I can't understand why MON fails to see this! |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
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... Superspurs, ... hahahahah as i have said all summer the real villa will show this season cause lets face it ur squad really is shit.hahahahah YID ARMY Well every dog has its day...looking forward to the 4.00 clock kickoff.... |
Daniel Wilson
said:
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... superspurs, you've got balls coming on here saying that 6 hours before playing Liverpool, how about you pop back on at about 6pm and gloat then, good luck  |
Leroy
said:
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... I think formation is a key issue.....but we need the players to play in there. Would have loved it if Downing were available and had Ash in the middle......but he wasnt, and we were forced to play a "bit/part" team which has little creativity coming from the center of the pitch. We made Bramble look like a England international yesterday, and we very well should have had N´Zogbia from Newcastle last year, if not for cover for LB. It is all about the middle of the park for me. The defenders will do their job eventually, but we absolutely must bring in a play maker....many of us have been saying this for over two years, it is a key to success in modern football, especially playing 451 |
FatKevs
said:
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... Great Comment MoN "I think that in time he will be a real quality player," he said. "I knew he would get tired in the game, but we were loose everywhere, and we weren't good enough." Use the kid as an escape goat i do not think sir alex would of talked about the kid in that way (but we were loose everywhere) I would like to think MoN has watched the kid a few times & understood he has moved up from the 3rd division what did he expect |
StevieB
said:
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... Must play 4-5-1 against Liverpool next week. I know the reason the reason we played this system last season was because Carew got injured and we never had 2 experienced strikers to field. But the fact of the matter is that we went on a long winning run and got amongst the champions league places playing this system. Since we signed Heskey we have played 4-4-2 and our record has been poor. Its not Heskey's fault it's the system. Also Carew has the best goals per game ratio to any other player at the club (FACT). We need a goal scorer. Can't MON see this? God is that man stubborn! |
steve41
said:
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... we only won games last season when playing 4 5 1 catching teams on counter attack ,Teams have worked out how to against us and we have failed to adapt to the other teams formation .I dont know if its not having good enough players or the management ? |
stevo
said:
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... sam my point being is that we are in a different market to the lescotts/terrys of this world we have to pinch players from the lower half of the league that is just the way it is have a look at all our recent signings buddy ! |
vogra
said:
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... MON 4 - 5 - 1 Buddy, it's not just because of this game, i've been saying this for over a year now, i've never rated him it's just as simple as that. |
taglor
said:
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... oldfart press f5 mate. I also completely forgive barry now, no wonder he left Churchill your usually an eloquent and articulate poster, your c*** tirade at me last night just makes me even more happy mon is being found out if it means we get someone else to take us forward and you cant do anything about that which makes me smile. Al this its only one game, no actually its a continuation from relegation form from last season. |
FatKevs
said:
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... Spud you are no better, we know we are punching above our weight but you Yids are like the Geordie boys having delusions of grandeur look forward to your local derbies that is all you have |
Tom
said:
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... Superspurs - I seem to remember your start to last season wasn't exactly all smiles and happiness, was it? |
ruffy
said:
|
... It will be very interesting to see his line up for the next game. The trouble is if we think back to when MON started playing 4-5-1 it was because all our strikers were injured and he had no choice. You see it wasn't astute tactical awareness that made that formation, just necessity. Now, you have to wonder that he'll now change half the starting line up as a result of this performance as a result of needing to show who's boss, rather than learning tactically. We were the worst team in the league yesterday. no doubt. Including Everton. Anyone who watched both games will be aware that they were playing a top team on top form and at least managed a shot on target. It was the worst performance I've seen for years, and there was no excuse. Thats the worrying thing. And we have to think now all those pathetic performances at the end of last season, when we swallowed the "players are tired" excuses, were they justa sign of things to come? I know its early but I've seen enough for the time being to be betting against Villa next time out. |
Daiweide
said:
 |
... Well said. The only good thing to come out of yesterday is that this wake up call may make MON realise we need buy 2 or 3 seriously good players before the transfer window ends. What annoys me is that we lost Barry and Laurson at the end of last season and there has been plenty of time to do something about it. |
taglor
said:
|
... Yeah fatkev, also we were tired? wtf? 1st game of the season and your tired, hang on a minute i thought theye were all payed millions to be professional athletes, is he seriously using that as an excuse? imagine this shower if they had to pull a double shift to pay there bills lol they would be down the dhs bleating but im too tired i must have ms etc |
superspurs
said:
|
... ill be back on about 9 tonight so please come on and say what u like no matter what the score we will put in a lot better performance than u lot did yesterday. |
hugoavfc
said:
 |
... mon said on his interview on bbc wm that carew had a foot injury before the game which was very sore and would only have been able to play 30 or so minutes.during the warm up he felt it was to sore to even play a part.so villa asked wigan if it was ok to change our sub and they said ok. |
FatKevs
said:
|
... Now i have woken up I think mon needs to have another system for the Lesser teams because we do not have the abilty to break teams down. If we have to suffer the kick & hope to be successful so be it but we do need something else at home for the majority of the games. Hesky never again please |
mikey18
said:
 |
... Boys lets put things into perspective it was one game, we conceded a wonder goal and a sucker punch! Yes MoN made a mistake with the tactics and line up and we will find out next week if he's learned from them!! I AM DISGUSTED WITH THE THEM VS US ATTITUDE AT VILLA. WE ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER THE FANS MANAGER AND PLAYERS AND I THINK TO BOO DURING A GAME IS DISGRACEFUL. WHAT IS IT GOING TO ACHIEVE? EVERTON WERE BEATEN 6-1 AND NOT A SINGLE BOO! THEY EVEN CHEERED LESCOTT! ALAN HANSEN SAID THE FANS TEND TO GET ON THE BACK ABIT UP THERE TALKING ABOUT VILLA ON MOTD! IS THAT THE REPUTATION WE WANT FOR THIS CLUB! SICKENING! |
superspurs
said:
|
... fatkev our strike force is different class to urs u have 1 good strike we have 4 ur midfield again 1 good we have 4 maybe 5 that u would love at villa and our defence is much better. any way head up mate up the VILLA. |
vogra
said:
|
... And i don't believe for a minute Carew was injured, he found out he wasn't playing infront of the shower of shi$ thats Gabby and Heskey and stormed off...don't blame him at all.. And this tired excuse, was just waiting for him to mention the squad size.... Tired.. tired..fcuking tired...don't insult our intelligence Martin..these guys are payed Millions a year to be professional athletes, 90mins of running..horseshi$ |
FatKevs
said:
|
... MoN being a little man will always have a complex, i think this is why he does not automatically like big characters he has to be the man, this is why i guess he likes the mule so much a big bloke but a puff |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... superspurs, ... fatkev our strike force is different class to urs u have 1 good strike we have 4 ur midfield again 1 good we have 4 maybe 5 that u would love at villa and our defence is much better. any way head up mate up the VILLA. marvellous...but your playing scousers today....up the yid army you muppet... |
FatKevs
said:
|
... Micky it is not 1 game can you not remember the close to last season we could not buy a game. We have had the small tired squad shit for too long MoN is looking for the right man that will just slot into the team when has that ever happend |
oldfart
said:
|
... re:CAREW In MONS BBC interview he said that John decided it was too painful for him to play during warm up.Other reports said that on receiving this news MON became'animated' towards Carew.This could be interpreted that Carew fancied the day off, in MON'S opinion ,as a result of Heskey getting the nod for starting. I hope there are no ramifications from this. Any thoughts? |
TrueVillan
said:
 |
... the problem will not get better im afraid, that is down to MON inability to construct a decent defence,let alone a top 4 one! the best defenders we had, and who got us to where we are, were all buys by other managers! melberg, bouma, laursen, cahill, they kept us going, but are now all gone (not sure bouma will ever be the same) we now rely on MON recruits, and they are shocking! he left us without a rightback for 2 years and still midfielders play there! he has managed to whittle us down to 2 recognised CB who are both crap and injury prone! the centre midfield is weak, no commanding players and no real skill, even the flanks young goes missing in big games MON has favourites, how after the internationals and last seasons end can heskey be picked over carew, not a football decision,but a favourite, how can carew plat second fiddle to gabby and heskey, neither can score! MON cannot handle big names, the only one near to that is carew and MON looks and acts terrified of him! I said yesterday,MON, is best getting the most out a leicester type team, his outdated methods cannot succeed in the modern game, and his record of having never won a game in march is shocking and shows how is training and playing methods burn out a squad I hope to god to be proved wrong and we end up in 4th, but i think we have a long hard struggle and the players linked to us will make no difference! |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... oldfart, ... re:CAREW In MONS BBC interview he said that John decided it was too painful for him to play during warm up.Other reports said that on receiving this news MON became'animated' towards Carew If a player says he cannot play then really need to take his word on it...and then end of the day it can happen to anyone... |
FatKevs
said:
|
... Spud i can understand you looking up to the villa becuase we finish higher than you & your local teams are better than you. Remember we do not care about spurs in the midlands go & look for some pearly king to share your jellied-eals with & see if he gives a dammn come back if you must when we play you as it will be relevent then |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Re Carew, I would take what MON said as the truth. Were only getting worried about it because of a load of unsubstantiated rumours from the night club incident. Remember how mon and carew had fallen out back then and how mon was going to offload him and how carew wanted out? never happened. Carew said it was too painfull to play (the animated other reports - whats the source, again unsubstantiated) so he went away to get the problem treated. He's a pro athlete, not paid thousands to watch matches, if he had a problem it would be getting sorted straight away, not after 90 mins of football while he sits in pain. Carew will start on Thurs if he is better, I expect to see a lot of rotation between JC and Heskey this season, mon likes a big man up top and although Carew is the better player he also tires easily and picks up knocks, It's not like we can use him in every game for the full 90, that way we'll end up getting less out of him than we are currently. |
ruddy
said:
 |
... Friedel-- To old-- Play Guzan. Back 4-- Well they are every name to do with Shit! Milner and Young-- Can't realy drop them. Petrov-- Looked like he was back to himself back in the day of SHIT! Delph-- Doesn't look like a premier league player to me. Sidwell-- Did more than delph when he come on. Heskey-- Fatest shit i have ever seen i hate him ever since we brought him. Agbonlahor-- He is ok. Barry-- we need him back or some class signing which will never happen. Carew-- i can see him leaving if he isn't going to be playing in front of heskey. Playing like that yesterday we will be relegated!! 442-- What happened to last seasons 451  |
mikey18
said:
|
... P.S im top of the league in the blogs fantasy football even tho i started with Carew who scored 0 and with carrick and owen still to play... My opinion should be law on here this week!! |
faangler
said:
|
... Has MON lost the players ? By the time we've been mullered by Liverpool, we'll be out of the Europa and bottom of the league. |
Greg1981
said:
 |
... Doc your analysis is ok but how do you set it in a context of - 'Martin you're a decent manager? It was a disgrace. It was always waiting to happen. But what was surprising here? Nothing. We were playing relegation form - 14 points from 15 games; we lose our best player, replace him with a talented boy who should be developed gradually and not dumped in because of O'Neill's failings and we expect improvement? But my main problem isn't with O'Neill who has nailed his inept colours to the mast ages ago it's the O'Neill sycophants who blindly support him. We have a history of recognising rubbish too late. The crowd were far too gentle on O'Neill yesterday. All over the blog people are saying he got it wrong as if it was a one off. It's not. The game is up. As I've said before here - this team as we went into the season - is worse than the one that started the 2006/7 season when MON took over. O'Leary was dire but O'Neill, given the money spent, has shown no progress. Only Ash, Milner and Petrov can play but they can't perform on their own and within no structure. And some fans on this site are saying that they didn't show enough! Essentially the manager buys poor players and his tactics are inept. And we finished the game with our young kids - the future of AV - cruelly exposed. The defence is unbelievably poor and needs replacing. Gabs is a one trick pony who can only really play when he is away from home and teams come forward at us. There is no playmaker and no talisman. Ashley was really up for it, and yes went down blind alleys, but was surrounded by opposition defenders every time he touched the ball. The point about 442 doesn't tell half the tale. With two out and out wide players it leaves only 2 in the middle. There were two players wide and the whole of the Wigan team driving through Villa's two men in the middle of the park, one of whom was a boy who should be brought on slowly and not exposed to this and another who is talented but must have thought he was trapped at the Alamo with no back up. Never mind, we have our new great signing to come when he's fit … er… another winger!! You couldn't write this script. MON has days left for a rescue act. Forget progress. Keep playing this team and we will be relegated. The great hope is that MON has the transfer window to make changes. As a bare minimum this needs to be through the SPINE of the team: a towering central defender, a creative Sid or Merse in the middle, a defensive midfield player and a goal-scorer up front. It has been ever thus for a long time. All this and who wants to come to Villa now? The game has moved on and our window of real opportunity has gone. Yep people will say it's not that bad but it depends on where you want Villa to be. O'Neill has spent a lot of money (cf Wigan for instance) and come up with this. Why would anyone give him more? I wouldn't give him a penny. Over the next two weeks O'Neill will have his 'Angel' moment where we buy over the odds for a complete waste of space. You could tell before kick off what was coming. A poor crowd - 35,000 and a team that was so old fashioned in its formation it was embarrassing. It was men against boys. And that was just the management. |
Billy Banbury Villa.
said:
 |
... Superspurs you're right every dog has its day......today is Spurs day.....you could be above Villa for the first time in ages, as long as the POOH decide to keep it to a 1 goal win over you. Oh maybe not you're day then. PS you have no class, go be classless on a Spuds site. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... faangler - what will your views be if we batter Vienna and then take 3 points from pool. Not having a dig but come on, isn't it too early to be going into depression mode. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
...P.S im top of the league in the blogs fantasy football even tho i started with Carew who scored 0 and with carrick and owen still to play... My opinion should be law on here this week!! Mikey18 - If were going by fantasy league standings i'm never taking anything Damian has to say seriously ever again  |
Jinksy
said:
 |
... Doc - Apart from the Reo-Coker bit...you are right we needed more midfield players on the pitch but disagree we were screaming out for Coker...Gardener more like. |
vdv
said:
 |
... av 79 i could not agree with u more. we need upson/hangaland 10 mil distin/wheater 5mil VDV 8 mil tuncay 6 mil |
ak_27
said:
 |
... DanWilson82 we could go out and do that but it would also be guarinteed that we would probably lose then to a couple of mediocre teams at home straight away again to wreck those good performances. Its about time we were consisitantly strong at home isn't it? |
Anthony Laud
said:
 |
... guys i know i am a big basher of oneil but want your opinion on this we all know he is a 4-4-2 manager! what i dont get is surely he must be looking to changing that based on his signings this summer! downing an out and out left winger and delph an attacking well future central mid player! surely thses are signings when we already have young milner albighton etc of a manager that intends on eventually playing 4-5-1 4-3-3 whatever u want to call it? am i wrong? otherwise the signings make no sense? |
phil h
said:
 |
... really want to find a positive from yesterday but i'm struggling. I'm worried at the message MON is sending to sidwell/reo-coker when they performed well in pre-season and they are bombed out come first game of the season. I agree with the shouts for 5 in midfield and that means bench for gabby - he looks to have bulked out and lost a yard of pace which in truth was his main asset - defenders are containing him very easily these days. my main concern was the inept performance of our only senior centre halfs - In MON i trust but doubts are creeping in. |
toxytag
said:
 |
... Sorry lads but Guzan is rubbish Harewood Rubbish Cuellar Rubbish Davies Rubbish Sidwell Rubbish Shorey Rubbish Heskey Rubbish MoN bought them all does he really think they are good enough to wear the jersey come on MoN have some respect for this club and buy some quality players because at alot of other clubs he would have been sacked by now! |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... dont want my post to lead to people bashing me, i am generally interested in opinion. his signings lead me to believe eventually even he, how stubborn some of us think he is, will change formation. |
steve2000
said:
 |
... i lost the faith after the match with mon's comment 'its a new team'. No it isnt mon. Its lasts years team without our two best players and with a new kid who will be great but not quite yet and a poor poor defender from a team with a defence that dragged them into the league below. We arent idiots mon.. How can you tell us this is a new team. |
villa biker
said:
 |
... didnt really come on line during the close season. but read the comments most days but will confess to being a mon fan but i find myself a bit worried reason being all summer we have seen some qulity players slip passed us to push are club forward and i say are club because we are the ones that travel and spend are hard earnt cash. if the average joe can see wot is going wrong on the pitch why the hell cant mon. players bought from relegated clubs over rated players like harwood knight heskey shorey and in my opinion we let the likes of bent go to sland im not saying we should put the club in trouble debt wise but the money we have used has not been spent wisely. mon must take a step back have a look and bring in some help i now believe he needs it and hope he is not to stubborn to realise this VTID |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... and guys can we stop any confusion here! carew wasnt on the bench! mon couldnt bring him on - even i am sure he would of if he could! he was left out of the starting line up and genuinely got injured in warm up as many saw! if theres more behind the scenes then its an ongoing issue not based on today!! i for one dont understand how he can pick emile ahead of carew but i guess he will be proven right or wrong in the coming weeks |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
 |
... I am really frustrated with MON , he has had 5 months to replace Laursen and we are 2 wweeks away from the end of the transfer window and nothing, that i just cannot understand. The way its looking is that Hangeland is off to Arsenal, we might get Upson, it all depends on Man City and how much money Everton will get for Lescott. Barry too ofcourse he needs to be replaced, i just dont understnd with MON what he's thinking about, it could be his downfall, yes it only the first game but terrible performance yesterday, 4-4-2 not good enough, he needs to try different things, we also need another striker, someone who can score goals, we need to spend money, but we dont have it, that is clar to me!! |
Woffers
said:
 |
... I agree with your post Doc. But I have a burning thought that I need to express and it's about our holding midfielder - Petrov. Am I in the minority in thinking that he plays well in matches, making passes, runs and strong tackles, but personally I think as a DM his positioning is poor. I don't think he protects the backline in very well at all which leaves them vunerable and like we saw yesterday, they panic. This is why and I've said this all of last season that we need a defensive midfielder desperately. I agree with the 4-5-1 system coming back and I agree with the fact that we need a couple of better CBs. But I also think that a DM is of as higher possibility. Petrov was an attacking midfielder at Celtic and scored goals and created chances, let's buy a Cattermole (missed that boat), Palacious (missed that boat) type player, play Petrov and Sidwell/Reo-Coker in a 3 and mark my words we'll be a stronger outfit. He never, in my opinion, sits in front of the back four as there guard. Please let me know your thoughts on this, as it's burning inside me but no 1 else has mentioned it as far as I know. Please also dont think I'm slating Petrov as I think he was our best player last season, but not because he was an outstanding DM |
sdtw84
said:
 |
... Just to reinterate what most have said... 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1) To get anywhere near finishing 5th-7th we need a better back four than what we put out yesterday...I am hopeful that the back four, once settled will look something like this: Guzan L Young - Cuellar/Davies - £10mil+ CB - Warnock I also think we need 2 holding midfielders, when we consider what we have got and what MON will not buy! These two have to be: Reo-Coker - Petrov We need two to protect our back four against stronger sides, and then one of them can push on if we are either playing a weaker side or are in control of the game. Reo-Coker deserves a chance although his distribution isnt the best, but give him the chance, he may improve with confidence, players do improve at any age, just look at Barry, hes only playing his 3rd season now as a CM, and hes one of the better CMs in the prem! I would then go for Carew upfront on his own, and the other 3 midfielders as a mixture of wingers, second strikers, 'in-the-hole' forwards...basically fluidity and less predictable 4-4-2... For example: Milner - Young - Downing Carew OR Albrighton - Delph/Sidwell - Young OR Gabby - Young - Milner OR Milner - VDV/Sneijder/Defour - Young OR Milner - Bannan - Young OR Young - Sidwell - Milner OR Milner - Young - Heskey Basically have a central striker, mostly Carew, Heskey when injured, or even Delfouneso and Gabby. Then we have a mixture of fluidity between 3 forward thinking midfielders, and when in trouble and we need to get a grip on the game, send one of them back to help the 2 CMs leaving the wingers and the forward to counter attack with pace! TO CONCLUDE, less predictable, more fluidity in attack, working from a solid base of 4 defs and 2 holding midfielders, alot of very successful sides over the years have had 2 holding midfielders, one of which is usually box-to-box when playing weaker sides and/or on top of games! |
gareth
said:
 |
... i dont comment very often unless im really pi**ed off an im gonna upset alot of villa fans but mon has taken us as far as he can this is not on the basis on 1 game but the 3 years he has been with us. for 12 months we have stood still the money he has spent does not warrant the squad we should have made too many managerial mistakes may that be in the transfer market(all but the 1st jan)poor team tactics team selection i mean 4 heaven sake we spent 2 years without a specialist right back then when he signed 1 he had 2 play him at lb cause the 1 he signed was no good if we had a manager with less of reputation in the game we would of ripped him 2 shreds as would all pundits but they dont and pick there words carefully when they have somethin 2 say that maybe mon wont like.mon brings the best out of players but that is not enough if you fail in all other aspects of modern management mon would be perfect if he would just coach bring in a director of football im not sayin i want this to happen as i dont like this structure im just makin the point that mon has not moved with the times is stuck in his ways an thats is it. we need a manager who has a worldwide reputation along with a knowledge of players on the continent an with fresh ideas flexible to change an progression my choice would be roberto mancini and we would be able to attract him that is the main plus if anyone does not know about this man as a player or more importantly as manager then let me say he just wins trophies you may say so has mon but come on scotland just dont count and the prem league was a different beast to the one we have today as mon has proved with our cup runs compared to his foxes das. mancini has done it in one of europes top leagues i know im gonna get loads of stick for caining mon but i was 1 of his biggest fans as i thought we was gettin a top manager as that is the perception of the man why doesnt gordan strachan have the same reputation.my main thing is that i just feel mon is out of his depth is not the genius as perceived by others an before us only had 1 top job but was in a small league and at all his previous clubs has had no money to spend or very little an some managers work better like that as they work with a player of certain level of skill but that wont work in the prem an where we want to be mark my words we will do nothing under mon he has done his job at the villa its time 4 some fresh ideas on the pitch to take us further anyway this will be mons last season i think he will walk by the end of the season all of villa park will be on his back by then if not before but b4 i get a load of abuse i would love mon to prove me wrong an make me eat all of the humble pie |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... my personal opinion is if we paly 4-5-1 reo coker has to be the player in front of the back four mopping up! i dont think petrov can be that player! i know i will get slated for this but thinking long term with delph as an attacking central mid i dont see where petrov fits in = we need to bring in a player to play ahead of coker that can pick a pass not just short and unlock defences! |
confusedvillafan
said:
 |
... it is only 1 game into the season but we havent moved forward from the final third of last season.we have aspirations to be top 4 .HOW? lets look at spurs ( even though there a bunch of w****rs ) they have injuries to centerbacks they go and spend 8 mill on a replacement we have shit defence we spend 2.5 mill on a shit rightback, they have good strikers and they spend good money for crouch, we have a pretty poor forward line and we do nothing, i think mon has 2 weeks to show us where our club is heading.we will NEVER be top 4 with the likes of heskey davies friedel shorey beye etc in our first team.  |
Trezzy
said:
 |
... lads pls dont think im calling for mon to quit or leave or get sacked. but for those of you who keep saying its just 1 game, can you not remember the 2nd half of last season? we beat hull who nearly went down and needed an own goal to beat a newcastle team who did go down. when we played 451 last season we won games yes but like sum1 said before we had a lot of luck with penalty decisions and deflections. mon style is to bypass the midfield as often as possible to gain 50 yards where we can use our wingers to throw in crosses. we could have the best midfielders in the world but they wouldnt score from open play because of the way mon wants us to play. young has to play right side where he can go either way and we need to play gabby with carew |
vdv
said:
|
... guzan young upson davis warnock milner sidwell petrov young vandarvaart carew team v liverpool |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... and fot the couple of peole above slating milner! i agree he is not the complete article at all and prob never will be! but there is def a place for him in any side - villa and potentially england! and thats if and only if attacks are not one dimensiaonal - we dotn just attack down one side we have a 3 man midfiled thats spreads the ball etc... at the end of the day milner is the hardest working player in a villa shirt i have seen for a long time so there is a place in the side for him! |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... and i`m usually one of the positive ones.this transfer window/close season and yesterday has been horrible. |
VillaDude
said:
 |
... Mon will not buy veloso or vdv or sneijder. People hopes are far too high! His targets are more distin, warnock and jenas. And our biggest confers is davies. Watch the match again - he has no good attributes of a defender! He can't head the ball with any power he rushes into the tackle he can't pass he got caught out of position so many times he jus swings at the ball with his left foot he has no organisational skills If mon continues to struggle in the transfer window then Clark needs to be given a chance. Calamity Curtis OUT! |
gareth
said:
|
... hi could i get some feedback from other villa fans on my previous comment just to see if i stand alone thanx |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... dan wilson - i kind of agree with u about carew!! but usually when a story comes out from one papaer about unrest and a bust up it leads to being based on some sort of actual event which worroes me |
Damian
said:
 |
... 593 entered teh fantasy football league Mikey18 is top of the table after saturday how gutting is that? |
Trezzy
said:
|
... we are not going to buy any1 from abroad, vdv, veloso no one. yesterday was proof that you need players in b4 the start of the season so they can gel. we are going to sign a couple of emergency players (panic buys) if any. it hurts to be so down about things like this but i am really worried, lets not 4get they hit a post and had a 1on 1 saved, it could have been a cricket score, we created nothing from open play, |
Damian
said:
|
... Trezzy yes, you are right. the players should have been in a few weeks ago and o'neill is going to get a lot of flack for it but maybe it isn't his fault. remember the first season lerner had; we spent money. the next we didn't actually spend any. then last season we spent and this season .. it looks like not much - see a trend? people should because that has been the trend for the past 20 years |
Woffers
said:
|
... I think Davies is very similar to Dawson, in that he needs someone (ie. King) to hold his hand through the game. I remember when we played Spurs at WHL, the 4 all game and yes we conceded 4 that day but I remember coming away from that thinking that Davies was better than Laursen. We desperately need an authoratitive figure, not only at the back but in the team!! |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... damian no need to worry whos top = i havent looked at his team yet but does he have arsenal players in there that dont play midweek!! forward planning is needed and will win over the season |
Trezzy
said:
|
... well damien why openly come out and say we are wanting 5 players? should of done his usual trick and kept quiet. i really thought mon had a big player lined up,especially letting knight go and i am usually so behind mon but having seen wigan basically play us off the park im worried. our centre mids didnt get the ball in the final third |
Leroy
said:
|
... Tonebone - I agree with you. I think that if we are playing 4-4-2 then the signings make less sense. Although one signing wont be playing for months anyway. It is so obvious what we are missing. I mean we just have to replace what we lost in Barry and Laursen, what is so f**king hard to understand about that. Delph cannot be looked at as a direct replacement for Barry, and it is unfair to expect him to shoulder that burden already. Tuncay in, as we are clearly not going to get anything better. Next Laursen, we need to replace him with Distin or Michael Turner commanding types at the back. Warnock and Upson are not good enough. The team need to show a bit of steel as we looked like a bloody dogshow out there yesterday. A bit of guts and hard graft with the right replacements and we can still be ok... If we dont replace Barry and Laursen with similar quality (ie skill and leadership) we will finish 10th at best,its that simple. If you take Lampard and Terry from Chelsea and dont replace what would happen? Thats all there is to it... |
Jeddo
said:
|
... gareth - I think you're spot on. managers are judged on tactics and how they do in the transfer market. I think we can safely say that he falls way short in both departments.We need players who have done something in the game, played for CL clubs or won something then these kids can look up to them and learn how to become a top player |
Studav19
said:
 |
... I am 1 of a very few people who seem to Think Barry was Right for leaving our club he knew we would not be able to pull the players in and i dont blame him for 1min going to a team that will leave us well behind this season. I dont know about you lot but i wouldnt join the villa at the moment if i was a top notch player. Im prob gonna get slammed here but i think people need to lay off Heskey he was the only 1 to put the effort in where as u have Gabby who in my opinion is a lazy shit and will never change but fans seem to love him but slate Heskey who ok aint the best but Gives it his all. Everyone wouldve moaned like crazy if Delph didnt start and we had lost, which we would of as sidwell wouldnt have change a dam thing. I hope im wrong but i really fear if we dont get agood Centre back and a left back in or atleast get Bouma back fit we are going to be in for along hard slog but im gonna be there all the way through it as most of ya will be because we just cant help it lol |
Damian
said:
|
... Woffers he was more of an attacking midfielder at celtic but i think he has sort of fitted into the holding midfielder at villa i think you are asking too much of o'neill with your tactical throughts as they are pretty much too deep. i'm convinced all o'neill is doing now is saying 'work hard, chase every ball, don't give up' because i haven't for the life of me seen the football change since he came in five man midfield is desperately needed, for the reasons doc has mentioned above - maybe petrov could play a more attack focused role |
Steve
said:
|
... 2 wins in our last 17 league games, for those who say this is a one off game, you need to wake up. I'm not saying MoN out but unless we strengthen SIGNIFICANTLY and by this I mean quality players not average English players, we are in a lot of trouble. MoN also needs to stop having favourites, Heskey, Gabby and Petrov (not a holding midfielder for christ sake) For those saying, "it could be worse, we could be everton fans this morning" - well im sorry i would rather be spanked by a classy Arsenal team who will do very well this season than a Wigan team that has lost its 3 best players and were down as a favourite for relegation. Also lets face it, we could easily have lost 3/4-0 ourselves anyway with the chances Wigan had. As a side note, Valencia, Palacios, Zaki, Rodallego - any reason why Wigan seem to be able to pick up gems from abroad whereas we spunk £24 mill on Milner and Downing. Ridiculous |
tom P
said:
 |
... we need a player like snidjer to replace barry, i watched him in the england-holland game, i fort he was good, and an ideal midfield replacement, delph isnt ready yet, and sylvin distin is a good defender to replace the iriplacable martin |
Sweeno
said:
 |
... Damo, On a lighter note, I copied your bet on the arse, Fulham Man City and Chelsea and won £80 so cheers m8, I owe you a pint! |
Woffers
said:
|
... Asking too much? All I'm asking is for us to move to 4-5-1 and buy a DM to relieve Petrov of that duty as I don't think it comes natural to him. MOTD showed last night how Barry protected the back four, now I'm not saying Barry is the perfect DM, but I don't think they could show many highlights of Petrov doing that. Now, we're never going to find out, with our defence looking as vunerable as it did yesterday we need 1 if not 2 really solid DM's protecting it. Sidwell/Reo/Petrov all played more attack minded at their last clubs - bring in a DM and I think we'll really see a difference. I agree with you though I think he tells them to work hard, chase everything etc. But surely someone on his backroom staff has the more tactical nouse? Non? |
Trezzy
said:
|
... studav19, if gabby played for man utd he would score20 goals a season, and as for lazy? i dissagree totally if it wasnt for him running the channels we wouldnt be able to play the way mon wants to in lobbing the ball 50 yards up the channels for gabby to try and win throw ins, if we used his pace properly he would be a huge huge threat. |
Studav19
said:
|
... Everyone of us or most of us can see our team is screaming out for the 4-5-1 formation but Martin will not leave both Heskey and Agbonlahor on the bench so he will not play that role until maybe Downing is back so he can give Young a free role as he seems to have been found out abit now. Just 2 signings for me would change it, Upson and Warnock. Guzan Young Davies Upson Warnock Petrov -Reo Coker- Sidwell Milner n Downing on the flanks young Carew |
Woffers
said:
|
... johnnycarew - just read your post, I think you're spot on mate. Why can other clubs and it's pretty much all but us, un earth gems from abroad. OK, so I think the argument might be that we focus on bringing through English talent. but really, how many of our english youngsters are going to make it? Let alone be given a chance? |
Damian
said:
|
... jonnycarew i'm not directing this at you only that you were the last person to mention it i dont think it is about players anymore. sure, get in sneijdger and van der vart and we will be better but tactically i think we need to develop - i honestly dont think o'neill does enough or has done enough. okay, we know he only gets involved at training on a thursday and he really doesn't get involved in coaching but i think we are in desperate need of a change in formation. i banged this drum a lot last season, sang o'neills praises when he actually did it but when he changed ... it went all wrong can anyone say hand on heart the football is any better than it was under o'leary? it isn't - we are just playing with more heart but heart only gets you so far five in the middle forces the ball along the ground and stops the long ball. we need to get back to that players might also not want to come becasue they see we are playing football from the 90's. this might put them off, we don't know |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Studav19 - I like that line up, but were going to have to wait till FIFA introduce a new 12 players rule  |
ak_27
said:
|
... I still think their is a bigger more fundamental problem with this team/ manager that goes beyond his transfers and his formations. Its obvious MON cannot coach players to be comfortable on the ball and that is a major draw back to the team and where we can really go under his management. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Did anyone else see the article where Mon was talking about Carew having a psychological hang up about being able to play throughout a whole season and being better than he thinks he is? I remember being surprised when I read it and assuming that he was trying to get that bit more out of Carew. Maybe Carew did cry off at the last minute yesterday and MoN was disappointed/annoyed with him. Maybe Carew is the problem and needs to have a good look at himself. |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... oneil never intended on plying 4-5-1 at all last season. his hand was forced with carews injury and no options on the bench so gaby played as the lone striker - and guess what it worked!! what i dont get is he found something that worked even by accident and knowing he had Big JC to come back if he changed back to 4-4-2, but why sign emile to revert to that staright away and why still persist with him and the formation |
Woffers
said:
|
... If MON doesnt fancy carew he needs to get rid before it's too late and bring in a striker or two |
Studav19
said:
|
... Trezzy~~~ We must watch Different players than mate cus the Gabby i watch doesnt know how to run the channels, hold the ball up or take a players on im sorry i have and never will rate him, ur prob right about if he played for utd he would score Goals but thats cus he could stand there n do nothing as it would be handed to him on a plate and i dont if its just me which it prob is as every1 seems to love him but i dont think he has that blistering pace anymore. Look dont get me wrong i would love for him to come good and prove me wrong but for me he is just another Stefan n luke moore |
faangler
said:
|
... REO should be in the team no matter what the formation. He should be made captain too We need a rock to build the team round. After his performances in the Peace Cup he should put in a transfer request. If he can't get in the team now, he never will. Starting with Delph instead of REO was just plain stupid |
Richard
said:
 |
... My prediction - we'll finish 4th this season. That's all I'm going to say because, quite simply, what is the point. I feel sorry for MON and RL. Even if we won the treble people would be spouting crap that they know nothing, nothing, about. Funny how not one of you is so convinced of your own convictions that you get of your ass and start working toward your coaching badges so that one day you can manage the mighty Villa. What bravery you show. I challenge you to do it - afterall, how can you possibly not succeed. I promise, I'll be hear to defend you every step of the way. |
Michael panizza
said:
 |
... Barry looked class for Man City and he left because he wanted to go to a club with bigger ambitions. DEAL WITH IT. Villa looked appalling yesterday and the game could have ended 7-1 to Wigan. Football forgives nothing, MON has built a talented creche, now let's bring in someone who can deal with adults. Just watching Sidwell and NRC on the bench after the sort of pre-season they had, after NRC played in ALL SORTS of positions last season, kept his mouth shut and got on with it because our manager couldn't spot a right back to save his life...only to be thanked by playing a kid arrived 10 days ago at the club..unforgiving and clueless. Desperate. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
 |
... I went to the game yesterday and it was a joke. losing is one thing, but being outplayed and out thought by wigtan is a joke. Heskey & Agbonlahor were a joke up front. Shorey isnt good enough and we need a cm. quite ironic that they were singing Barry's praises on Motd. not once did we actually attempt a meaningful pass. its just hopefully bloody villa. hit the ball and hope a villa player gets on the end of. wigan looked for the pass and played in each other. we need new signings, and quality ones asap. another thrashing at anfield is on the cards. |
Rich
said:
 |
... This is not hindsight. I agree totrally 4,5 1 with Reo Coker and Petrov protecting our extremely fragile defence. Unfortunately although I prefer Carew to both Heskey and Gabby, I don't think 4,5,1 suits the big man. He is not mobile enough. Gabby isn't clinical enough so at present that leaves Heskey. We have a choice. With our present personnel we play either our more productive system (which is the way I would go) or we play our talisman. This wasn't the issue. As MON decided to play 4,4,2 Carew should have played if fit. |
parisianrob
said:
|
... Miguel Torres Gómez madrid full back plays either LB or RB two feet tall young and strong up for sale told he is surplus to requirements if we can find this out why carnt our managers team do the same |
Rob
said:
 |
... how can reo coker not play, it is blindingly obvious that the problem with villa is that the centre mid have no legs. petrov in a two is useless as he cannot run and tackle. o'neill is being stubborn at the moment and at home it is killing us. the players are good enough apart from our forwards. if we have to play 4-4-2 we need our support striker to do things and create, agbonlahor cannot find his feet at the moment so needs to be dropped. |
bring back john gregory
said:
 |
... mon said the players were tired after the match,we have the same size squad as last season no defence and no hope until we get rid of mon,oh by the way great tatics playing milner at rb when we are two goals down you clown |
keithj
said:
 |
... am i the only one that believes that if a manager tells someone they are sub they should abide by that decision without question, dont get me wrong i see heskey as a gareth bale, should be good but we lose every time he plays |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... We should be asking Lerner and the board what is happening, i dont think we can blame mon, where is the money we were promisd?? this is a joke!! if this season we finished 9th, then what?? |
Graymo
said:
 |
... You know what we need... a youngish Brazilian Manager with good knowledge of Brazilian Players and strong South American contacts. |
Woffers
said:
|
... Graymo - how many Brazilian/South American players have really made there mark in the PL? |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Are Villa fans part of the problem? Are our expectations too high too soon and have we created an unhealthy atmosphere at Villa park? Maybe our results last year were better away from Villa park because the players feel more able to express themselves and at Villa park are too afraid of making mistakes. You only have to read some of the criticism of individual players on here to know that there's at least some truth in this. Mistakes are so much easier to spot than the hard work that goes into tracking back, creating space etc. That's why a player like Reo Coker comes in for so much criticism from fans who take a shallow view of a player's contribution to the whole team effort. I've heard that there were no boos at Goodison Park even at full time. We had them at half time at Villa park for goodness sake! We all have our own views on things that could be done better which we can express on here but Villa park needs to go back to being a place of unconditional support where our players want to play. At the moment, if I was a Villa player, I think I'd rather be playing anywhere but Villa park. |
vdv
said:
|
... i was speaking to a steward who gets inside info and he said we r still going for sneijder and vandarvaart. good news |
Tony
said:
 |
... As we know it all started to go tits up when Laursen went out injured last season and we have need a strong man at the back. However my main point follows. I am no great fan of GB but he has left a massive hole when it comes to holding that ball and controlling the pace of the game. With four or five midfield we will struggle because the current personnel do not have it in their locker to dictate the pace of the game. Fab is one for the future and other the guys (Petrov/Sidwell/NRC etc) have other talents but it does not include holding that ball and stopping it bouncing around like a hot potato. Cheque book time. |
Rich
said:
|
... Where have all these Reo fans suddenly come from???? Throughout the close season, all I read was how bloody useless he was; that he should be sold; be a make - weight in a deal for A.N. Other; shouldn't even be put on the bench; can't pass etc etc. Reo is a good, effective player, if played in his correct position and confines himself to doing the job he does best. I don't expect him to be ' Mr Creative@ and continually play the defence splitting pass. Just win the ball and protect as much as possible our defence. |
Graymo
said:
|
... anyway, my point was more the fact that we need a manager with better knowledge of players from around the world. MON might be well know amongst British players but won't necessarily attract the more technically gifted foreign talent that we desperately need. e.g. Gregory bought in JPA. Who here believes that MON would have made that kind of signing. |
tom P
said:
|
... Who now is gunna b the engine room for us now barry has gone? delph? no chance, petrov, no chance, now i dnt kno why we didnt play reo cocker...at least he gives his all and looks like he wants to play! |
Mostyn
said:
|
... MON has got his tactics woefully wrong and he is to blame for that. He has perservered in the same way he did with PETROV when he was awful - I think he is going to recognise soon that the dead horse has been flogged enough and that 4-4-2 against a 5 man midfield will never work - Better late than never... What I don't understand is the lambasting of our players as not good enough (Gabby excl.). We have proven quality in the team, but we'll always look useless if we adopt the wrong formation. Granted too many lethargic players in Wigan game. How many of you were wishing for Lescott or Jagielka to come to VP? Are they crap now they leaked six goals? and lets face it, would any defence have been able to stop Wigan's first goal? |
Woffers
said:
|
... Graymo, I agree about the seemingly lack of knowledge abroad, just disagree with the brazil/south america point. Also, surely this could come from a network of scouts? |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... 0bb0: no, we're not part of the problem and for the love of God let's give fans of this club a break. Not our fault - when you select a midfield completely different from the one performing so well against Juventus and Porto: I've said this before, you have a player like NRC out of position for most of last season (and not a moan in sight), then performing well when you finally play him in midfield against the likes of Felipe Melo so what do you do to thank him? Dump him on the bench to play the new kid on the block arrived at the club 10 minutes ago. Same, with regards to pre-season, could be said of Sidwell. Morale-killer for the players: barmy. Not our fault - when you spend your money on Emile Heskey then you play him ahead of a vastly superior player like Carew. Insane. Not our fault - when it takes you 2 whole years to finally buy a right back. Lazy, incompetent. Not our fault - when you throw away the Uefa Cup because - on your third season - you still don't have enough players in your squad. Bad planning. Yesterday we could have lost 6-0, to Wigan. Not our fault either. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
...Where have all these Reo fans suddenly come from???? took the words right out of my mouth, just shows how some peoples oppinions change from game to game. It's the same with results. When we win on Thursday we''ll be brilliant again and everything will be perfect. |
villa biker
said:
|
... vijay i agree to a certain extent yes we should be asking learner and the board wots going on. but the butt stops at the manager always has done and always will do he picks the side and sorts out the tactics |
Rich
said:
|
... rObbO - I don't agree with the booing either; Everton were playing Arsenal though. If they were being torn apart by Wigan ther might have been a different reaction. VDV - Can't work out whether you're a Blue Nose or retarded. I'm normally a very patient person but you are so damn boring and imbecilic. Please STFU |
Wezavfc
said:
 |
... I agree with the fact the tactics probably need to be changed, however yesterday it was nothing to do with tactics it was the 11 players on the pitch who could not be bothered to turn up against a very average wigan side the looked lazy and like they did not want to play (O'Neil also looked like he couldent be arsed) so 442 or 451 we would have been beat yesterday due to the fact that gabby cant meet a ball,milner is a headless chicken.young wants to take on the whole world fails then wants to fight them then whinge about it,davies and cueller want to become the next laurel and hardy,Heskey does not no where gabby is where he is himself and as for the fans dont they have the right to tell there players what they think of the performance I THINK SO! |
paul mclafferty
said:
 |
... it comes to somthing when bramble and melchoit looke good against us. it cost me over one hundred pound to go yesturday just to leave 20 minutes before the end as it was horrible watchin the villa being totally outclassed. |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... biker mate, if mon doesnt have the money to sign the top players how can u blame him?? lerner needs to answer |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... danwilson, we won`t win on thursday with that starting formation and starting 11. |
gareth
said:
|
... was talkin to one of the chaps that sell the programs he gets inside info an neil lennon is comin out of retirement to sign for us im sorry mate dont mean to take the p*** out of you but we have no chance of signin vdv or sneijder nothin to do with the villa an all to do with martin no deal |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... holteend paul: yesterday I couldn't be at VP and didn't see the game on the net either..when I watched it carefully on Sky last night it was like living a nightmare. Wigan looked like Real Madrid, outsmarting us in every area of the field: and this with a team made of players from Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador (and Bramble which, by the way, looks much better than Davies these days). So much for our young team of English talent: this will probably not go down very well on here but remind me again when was the last time England won the World Cup? And why have English sides started to do well in Europe only when they were stuffed with quality foreigners? Enough said. |
Damian
said:
|
... r0bb0 expectations are not too high. we should be a top four club and we should be, like liverpool, man utd, arsenal and chelsea, starting the season with a real belief we can win the league those are where our expectations should be, just look at the history books. when fans start saying we are aiming too high our setting expectations too high and when others start to believe or accept that, then it is over for me becauuse as soon as we accept mediocrity then the game is dead we have won everything. not many clubs can say that in this country and we should not settle for second best |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... gareth, was talking to one of the chaps on the blog who gets inside information and he said that gareth is a twat ! |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Monkeywrench...I'm not saying that everything in the garden is rosy or that mistakes haven't been made. But I do think that there's something in the 'fickle Villa fans' tag. I do also suspect that the players find it less enjoyable to play at Villa park than the Emirates or Goodison or Spain. I've heard 'fans' booing Petrov, I've seen 'fans' on here being critical of Heskey before he even kicked a ball for us. I've heard 'fans' shouting abuse at Zat Knight even when he's playing well and made no mistake at all. I've seen a comment on here from a 'fan' who said he shook Reo Coker's hand told him he was his favourite player and then turned away and sniggered. All of this is despicable behaviour from some 'fans' and is part of the problem rather than the solution. |
Steve
said:
|
... Damo - i agree with you about our tactics needing to develop, not only that but MoN needs to work on a plan B. As shown by when we are losing, Mon doesnt know how to change a game. My dad said to me yesterday, "can you ever remember Mon making a tactical substitution that has changed the game" That summed it up for me. At the same time though, I do think we need some better players, shorey, davis, sidwell, heskey, gabby arent for me top 6 players, I personally dont think we stand a chance of getting Sneijder (unrealistic for me), but there are players we could pick up to improve us. |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... Damian: the reason why some fans settle for less is down to years of mediocrity. When you're married to a dried-up, unattractive prune that sucks the life out of you for so long it's hard to think you can attract anything better. It's down to confidence. |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... r0bb0: I appreciate that as fans we can be fickle and disrespectful at times but that's the name of the game, especially when you earn enough to sort out the national debt of a small African country. |
villa biker
said:
|
... the thing is we have had a certain amount of money which has been spent poorly is it that lerner is losing confidence we just dont know any way il be back after MOTOGP |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... How much have we actually spent anyway this summer..something like £5m after the Barry sale? Can anyone confirm? |
Markey Mark
said:
 |
... Ghost Hunter are you a bluenose. if we won the treble no one and i garantee you would "spout crap or moan" the very fact that we are venting are frustation is the sign that MON is doing his job probably. I was down there wen o'neil arrived. Does anyone remember the euphoria around the club that day. BUT it is clear for all to see a "manager" which does manage/ improves his workforce and only trains players on a thursday is disgrace. I believe alan 'i fuking took newcastle down' shearer and friends are talking crap abt villa being boo boys. the geordies always boo after a shit performance at ST james's park. Its unfair to see all villa fans moan. We just the best for our club. I like many others are fed up with shit we get served up week in weekn out. Any other manager at any other club wouldn't have been given 3years and money to buy shit and not progress??? Why wasn't this team played (with the exception of BIG JOHN's injury)? GUZAN Luchi CRUELLAR DAVIS SHorey Gardner ALbrighton Reo-Coker (c) Milner A Young Hesky Gardner should get a chance cuz he puts his body on the line for this club, and has more passion than the fukn north stand and the upper trinity put together!!! |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... vijay, can you also pass on this message to Davies for me please: the man's behind you, you're beginning to remind me of Zat Knight. Cheers mate. |
gareth
said:
|
... no need to get personal it wasnt an attack on you as im sure thats what you was told i was just sayin mon will not get any of those players in you f**kin dipshit |
Markey Mark
said:
|
... Ent doing his job properly apologizes and ghost hunter id happily do my uefa pro license if ull pay m8. PHIL BROWN has more tactical nous and conviction than MON |
noel farragher
said:
 |
... Mikey 18 surely you know there is another 37 gameweeks to go.Dan i only hope we can win midweek and stuff the pool the following Monday but i cant see either happening unless we go back to 4-5-1 and get in a couple of good CB.There is only one man to blame for this.How many league games have we won since Heskey came on board?HOw many goals has he got.A starter on the English team WTF. |
ak_27
said:
|
... The only reason why MON sold Knight and not Davies is that would make him look bad. Knight is the beter of the 2. That is not stating that Kniht is a good defender but it says more on how bad Davies really is. |
dan price
said:
 |
... Petrov new club captain? Alongside him not looking any more like a captain than any other player out there yesterday, he wasnt wearing an armband.... MON thinks he is better than he is... He is known for his man management, getting the most out of players - Did yesterday indicate that? Who gave it their all bar Milner yesterday? So... with no man management ability, alongside his tactical prowess which we all I think agree is on a similar level to a braindead donkey and his ability in the transfer market which is in fact even worse... what are we left with in a manager? Anyone? |
vogra
said:
|
... some very good posts on here, id love if Learner and O'Neill got to read this.. I think a lot of people are judging people's responses on just this game, as i've said this has been brewing since last January when on the cusp of really challenging and having a genuine chance to get 4th MON's complete ineptness cost us both 4th place and a real chance to progess further in Europe, we all knew that if Laursen got injured we'de be fcuked, why wasn't someone signed? how come Bolton,Pompey and smaller clubs get the talent. Lets luck at some of Bolton's signings in the last 5yrs and ask ourselves why couldn't we attract them Youri Djorkaeef Nicolas Anelka Jay Jay Okocha Ivan Campo Yes,Ivan Campo is not great but he did a job for them..but look at the main one..Fcuking Nicolas Anelka,look at the profit they made on him Is this because of the scouting network, i don't know but something needs to give this week because if we get knocked out of Europe before it's even started he has too go, end of story |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Damian, I accept your point about aiming high. There's more I'd like to say but if I don't get off here and into the garden right now my wife is going to turn into the domestic equivalent of taglor, and imagine having to share a house with that! |
Christian
said:
 |
... I feel sick. That was the most disgusting performance I have seen for years. I don't want to say to the anti-Barry brigade 'I told you so', but it was so bloody obvious we missed him. We missed him bad. Why, why, why, why can nobody in that god-awful team yesterday pas the ball along the F*CKING floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?? Same old sh*t as we've been watching since March, albeit worse because we have lost our best player. And Stan Petrov looked like he'd reverted back to 2 years ago. Emile Heskey isn't fit to wear the shirt, and his constant sulking face is enough to put even his most diehard team-mates off. Gabby, well, we've said it all before, he doesn't use his pace or his brain and his first touch is criminal. Delph, I felt bit bad for him, thought he tried hard tried to pick a pass and create- got subbed- 'brilliant' MON. Shorey is just horrific to watch. Cuellar will not make it as this level (see Barry Ferguson, Steven Davis, Shaun Maloney, Jean Boumsong, etc etc) Friedel- well if Guzan isnt in for the next game (considering how p*ss-poor Friedel is and Guzan's exceptional pre-season) he should demand a transfer to a club where a manager has some faith in him. My blood's boiling now. Unless Martin No'Deal signs FIVE QUALITY players we are heading for ~10th in the league (something which I predicted about a month ago, i hope to god I'm wrong) We'll get spanked by Liverpool (anyone remember 5-0 last season, expect more) and we'll be bottom of the league. Brilliant. Final point, what the F*CK was MON doing putting James Milner at right back again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm off to take some sedatives. |
gareth
said:
|
... dan price to respond to your comment i pretty much agreee have a look at my comment further up the page its quite a long one but let us know what you think |
Dublin Villian
said:
 |
... Just listened to Mon,s interveiw and at the end he was asked about bringing in new recruits before the window shuts.He replied only mentioning a Possible replacement for ML. This obviously means no GB replacement Mon is full of shit................... |
steveJ
said:
 |
... im very concerned by all of this........... , looks like many people dont want o'neill. have to agree with alot of posts, im sure we dont have much money to spend hence buying players like beye. gutted |
pete
said:
 |
... said this before if mon had the 20 best players in the world he wouldent have a clue what to do with them.he needs to go |
Faccundo
said:
 |
... HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT THINGS HAVE GONE BACKWARD FOR US SINCE WE SIGNED HESKEY? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE STARTED HESKEY AND GOT 3 POINTS? I CAN ONLY THINK OF HIS DEBUT. THE REST OF THE TIME HE HAS CAUSED VILLA NOTHING BUT PAIN. HE NEEDS TO LEAVE VP IMMEDIATELY MON PLEASE OFFLOAD THIS ONE DIMENSIONAL, UNINSPIRING HACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - DID YOU NOT HEAR THE HOLTE END YESTERDAY? CAREW IS BIGGER THAN ME AND YOU HESKEY IS THE CANCER OF THE TEAM - PLAYING HIM AHEAD OF CAREW IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE 442 IS DEAD - 451 IS THE ANSWER AND THE SOLUTION TO THE LACK OF INTENSITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. REO-COCKER MUST PLAY WHAT ABOUT NEILL? HE IS A FREE AGENT AND MERCENARY BUT A MERCENARY THAT CAN DO TEN TIMES THE JOB AT CB AS CURTIS THIS SEASON COULD REVERSE ALL OF OUR PROGRESS IF CB AND CM SIGNINGS ARE NOT BROUGHT IN IMMEDIATELY RANDY LERNER YOU TIGHTARSE SPEND SOME OF OUR MONEY AND BRING IN SOME PLAYERS OR SOON WE SHALL TURN ON YOU |
Christian
said:
|
... Of all the posts on here, Greg 1981 hits the nail on the head. We're in big trouble, the team has been Championship League standard for months, and there appears to be no signs of reprieve. BUT, BUT, BUT, MON has 2 weeks left to save our season, and at the same time his job. I don't think he'll ever get fired, but I think he could walk- especially if the disgruntled crowd really turns on him- and I dont think that is too many results away... Anyway, thought I'd paste Greg's post because it's pretty good and addresses our problems. Doc your analysis is ok but how do you set it in a context of - 'Martin you're a decent manager? |
Tom
said:
|
... Watching the bluenoses against Utd, they're already showing more than we did yesterday. f**king galling. |
Faccundo
said:
|
... Fair play just so furious with the cancer thats metastecizing in the marrow of the Villa Treat it to chemotherapy now |
Tom
said:
|
... Ghosthunter - try and add more facets to your persona other than just 'bell end'. It's a plain and simple observation, and one that galls as hard as it does because I love the villa so much. |
Eoin Greene
said:
 |
... Doc - I cant believe it but I agree with you for the vast majority. Even calling MoN 'decent' - not the messiah or one in whom we place unquestionable trust. My main point to slightly disagree with most is that, whilst the formation does us no favours, using it as the 'blame' instrument is wrong because it takes away from what we really should be looking at - the quality of our players. Now MoN has been in charge for 3 years, this is HIS squad and in my opinion not only is it hugely lacking in numbers, it is hugely lacking in quality and in different types of players. At half time yesterday - who had we to bring on to change a game - NO-ONE! Our defense is a shambles. Curtis Davis was horrific yesterday - seriously one of the worst performances from a center half I have ever seen. If you think I am exaggurating - look at a tape of the game again. Shorey also - pathetic. Beye - pathetic - panic buy. These guys are terrible players and I dont base this on one match - i've been saying it for ages. Martin Laursen single heandedly held our defense together for 2 years. He will not be replaced for less than 15m. Thats just the way it is. And then we have Heskey, I dont give a damn if he played 500 times for England - the guy is an absolute donkey, a waste of space and not fit to lick Carews boots. People can criticise Young all they want - and sure his whinging annoys me. But he is the one Villa player who constantly wants the ball and the only one who has an idea what to do with it. It takes cahones to keep wanting the bal when things aren't working out for you, crowd on your back and no-one on your side capable of giving you a good pass. No doubt i'll be seen as a di¤% for saying all the above. But i'll say this in my defense - I was absolutely gutted yesterday, sickened and I am still feeling sick over it. Its not loosing, its the fact that we were 'outclassed' by WIGAN at home. Its hard not to over react given the display yesterday - it didn't surprise me as we have been playing that way since christmas. MoN and Lerner has got 2 absolutely huge weeks. We need 4 serious top class players to walk straight into the team. And if I hear someone say 'he is young and english and played for the u-21's 5 years ago' - i will go daft!! |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... eoin1981 we should sign wheater he`s young english and been an under 21 international |
AVFC Tokyo
said:
 |
... I had a big post typed out, but what's the point.. Yesterday was a total embarrassment, but was it really expected? No not really. MON is tactically inept, plain and simple. Our club has regressed in past 12 months, last seasons 6th finish was more down to luck, and the poor performance of our so called 'peer's that anything else. I really don't think it matter we signed, MON is so set in his way in terms of style of play. Just watching Heskey mope about in the claret and blue jersey makes me feel sick. I can't even write more, it's too painful. This wasn't just one game, anyone who thinks that is seriously deluded. Have a look around us at the Fulham's, Spurs, Sunderlands's, Man Ciy's etc and think where do we fit in........ |
RichT
said:
 |
... First and hopefully last time I will say this- Blues look better than us right now! (Oww! That hurt!) I'd be pissed off if I were Carew of Milner right now. Carew was as his unplayable best for Norway in midweek and now he is dropped for Heskey! Milner has gone from England winger to Villa right-back in a matter of days! CRAZY!!!!!!! Reo Coker must play to protect the (crap) defence. He'll allow Petrov/Delph to play football and provide a short, easy ball out of defence. Also, Gabby needs sticking in the reserves to shrink his big head. If he doesn't want to play (and he looks like he doesn't)-don't play him! In terms of transfers we NEED a centre-back and quick! I'd also like to see a 'fox in the box' type striker. Negredo from Madrid would do (he'd rather come to us than go to Hull i'm sure!) I'm happy with the midfield we have, they just need using in the right way. Reo/Delph/Sidders/Petrov hold the fort while Young/Milner/Downing/Albrighton push up and create chances. For all our talk I don't think anything will change. I'd rather be an Everton fan right now- at least they got beat by Arsenal, not Wigan! Team i'd like for Thursday- Guzan. L Young/Clarke, Carlos, Curtis, Bouma/Shorey. Reo Coker behind Petrov and Delph in centre mid. Milner and A Young on the wings- cutting in to support striker or tracking back to support the defence. Carew up top. Won't happen but I can dream. UTV |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... vdv, cuz he had a cup of tea with mon and players and they discussed transfer targets with him |
TrueVillan
said:
|
... i dont believe it would matter if we had sneider, VDV or velso, they would still be told in training to just hoof the ball up field and run around like blue arsed flies! as per my previous comment, this is why MON has never wone a game in march, his teams are burnt out by this point, and it is around this time that you need to win to stay in contention for cups, europe and the league this point alone shows we will never win anything under MON as his teams are spent by feb and to exhausted to compete any longer, in boxing terms we are the fighter that looks good for several rounds due to work rate but ends up being knocked senseless in the final quarter! p.s. dont care who gets on my back for saying it again, but look to europe for players you stubborn idiot, we could get both the numbers in and quality with the limited funds we have! |
Faccundo
said:
|
... MoN Stop the rot - offload Heskey to Burnley for a pack of crisps and a pint Admit you were wrong to pay 3m for a has-been that never was with 6 months left on his wigan contract and move on Heskey did Wigan a huge favour by coming to Villa |
villa biker
said:
|
... well eoin1981 yea i agree its not about losing so much its the way we lost the fact we did not have a clue lack of effort on some players part FACT also some of the players ability now you cant blame the player for that because any player who is just average and is given the chance to play for a club like villa they are going to take it its there 10 minutes of fame and as i said earlyer ive always been behind MON but questions now must be asked great club great history and we all wont that again |
Faccundo
said:
|
... I know this is a big call guys - but I'm gonna say it I would have rather seen Maron "Biggie Smalls" Harewood line up yesterday than Donkey boy Heskey! |
Carl Main
said:
 |
... I wish the season never started now!...Cant we just do another Peace cup instead? |
testie
said:
 |
... I agree with Woffers and Johnnycarew about Petrov. I think he's been a great player for us and was superb last season but for me he is not a defensive midfielder. He just is not mobile enough . The best players in that position for me are quick, strong and successful when they tackle. For me Petrov is none of these. Damien, you suggest that he could have a more forward attacking role in a 451, maybe, I just can't see his where he fits in. You would want two out and out Defensive Midfielders that can play box to box. Petrov is not this player and he is not the attacking player that would play in the hole behind the striker. He certainly is not a winger. So where would he fit in? |
Steve
said:
|
... One final thing, anyone who says our centre midfield played very well in the peace cup, can i say one thing, against porto and juve for the entire game we sat in our own half, played on the counter attack and got completely dominated. My point is that we need a centre mid to hold onto the ball and dictate the play, we dont have a conductor in centre mid at the football club at present |
Ian
said:
 |
... MON is undoubtably a very clever man. He's just not half as clever as he thinks he is. |
tom P
said:
|
... well we are lining up YET another relegetion reject steven taylor. when are we ever gunna buy forign class players...we f**king need them |
James
said:
 |
... Hi Damian and Doc, I've read (and enjoyed) your blog since the days of O****e, keep up the good work! Anyway: It's the first game of the season! Ok, so O'Neill might have got the team wrong yesterday, but does that really justify comments such as 'he's got an x amount of time to save his job' or 'he hasn't got a clue'. Some of his decisions at times might be unorthodox, but does that mean he should be sacked? This man's got us to two top 6 finishes. I have to agree with rObbO. Sure, we should have aspirations to be a top 4 club, but I think many people are confusing aspirations with current expectation. The fact is: we don't have the money! It's not time to criticise our club (or Lerner, or O'Neill), but I think rather it's time to acknowledge how much further ahead the top 4 actually are. These teams have been in the Champions League recieving cheques for £10-30m for so many years now that catching up is going to be a long-term process rather than a short-term fix. Are the same people who boo at half time the same people who thought at the start of the transfer window that we could get the likes of Lescott for £8m and then that's our defence sorted. Yes, people at the current time have access to more football than at any other period in history, but does that mean you have all the answers, does that mean you have knowledge of all the facets that make up football management, no it doesn't. A defeat at home to Wigan is bound to hurt, but not so long ago people were rightly proud of our players for winning the Peace Cup. It's not the time to be reactionary, it's time to support the club and make their job easier rather than harder. There are many other clubs who are jealous of what Villa have, so why are so many of you so ready to throw that all away? The question is: Why do you support Aston Villa? Is it just for the success? All you have to do is look at Newcastle to see how supporter anarchy can drag a club down. The grass is not always greener. Oil rich multi-billionaire owners with an interest in buying Aston Villa Football Club, if that's what you think the better alternative is, perhaps don't even exist. (Please acknowledge that the use of 'you' in the above does not neccessarily relate to everyone). |
tom P
said:
|
... how manny times did we loose on the trot at the end of last season? mon just needs a bigger squad but he just doesnt buy, we always buy 'panic players' at the end of the window that are useless for the team, i still cant get my head around buying downing, he is good but do we need him? and plus he is injured for months! |
TrueVillan
said:
|
...well we are lining up YET another relegetion reject steven taylor. when are we ever gunna buy forign class players...we f**king need them the answer, never! they may ruin MON game plan by retaining the ball, dribbling and playing along the ground, then his little blue eyed boy heskey would look exactly wot he is, second rate shit who cannot hit a barn door! we will not see quality players from abroad until MON reign is over! |
tom P
said:
|
... sumthing just made me cackle, there is a 'choose a man of the match' question on the homepage |
Faccundo
said:
|
... Notfirthefirsttime Sounds like a defeatist attitude to me. Yes lower volatility equals less risk - but save that for your retirement. This is football - I want a Villa that aims high and achieves despite the odds. A Villa whose thirst for success is never quenched - despite how many cups are achieved. Do you know that at Real Madrid, the most successful team in football history, Capello was sacked, wait for it, for winning the league. Why? The fans dictated that the manner of success was not stylish enough. Do you know that Del Bosque was removed (in my opinion unjustly) despite winning two Champions Leagues and the La Liga. That is the ruthlessness that success requires. If we don't aim high, we'll never achieve. Be happy with 6th, and we won't stand still, we'll go backward UTV |
AVFC Tokyo
said:
|
... Jokesville talking about money boys. Have Everton and Arsenl spent more than us over the past three years (net spend). No they haven't yet they've finished above us. |
villa biker
said:
|
... its not about squad players now its about player who will start from the off some of the players who were on the pitch yesterday. should be squad players |
Billy7
said:
 |
... sorry havn.t read all posts. I agree with u doc regarding 4-5-1/4-3-3. This is EXACTLY how we need to play, we're crying out for it. Why cant he see this?? Its very frustrating. We showed nothing yesterday, Shorey/Beye/Cuellar/Davies were all over the place, and midfield?? You cannot replace an England midfielder with a young kid with plenty of potential! Carew is better than Heskey, what is going on with that? After all that i am happy with the progression under MON, I for 1 will give him this season and hope he proves everyone wrong! |
taglor
said:
|
... damian is it really true MON only trains with them on a thursday? If so that is one of the worst things i have ever heard about the idiot. Lol its ok for doc to be negative now and hopefully he will allow others to voice their concern now he is on the same track |
James
said:
|
... Faccundo, I completely agree with aiming high. I just think at this present time it's unrealistic to be comparing ourselves with Real Madrid. We are a big club and we should always be aiming to big things, but I just can't see how it's fair to appraise the class of 2009/10 after just one game as well as before the transfer window closes. Even then, will it be fair to compare ourselves to teams which can spend 20m+ a year more than us on wages? (Man City, I'm looking at you) |
rhymez1
said:
 |
... yesterdays game showed us what we all already know,we need to replace barry and king laursen.rumors are with the boro trio huth,wheater and tuncay,great,then we'd have 4 players that got boro relegated. pipe dreams of VDV and sneijder will remain that.who in there rite mind would want to go from galacticos of madrid to birmingham....no1! also rumors of dunne are hideous,he makes more mistakes than bramble (used to) its just that shay bails him out everytime. i dont know who we should get in...thats not my job.start by sacking all our scouts cos they seem appauling,and are probly never sent abroad to seek talent. with the money we've spent on crap english tallent -davies,NRC,shorey,downing,we could've bought some brilliant foreign players,but i guess these are just pipe dreams of my own,i beg for us to sign renowned players,cos i fear for us with games against rapid,bindippers and the noses coming up |
Patrick McDermott
said:
 |
... I’ve been putting this off since yesterday and reviewing the blog last night and again for most of the day. I think most posts have summed the situation spot on in particular eoin1981, christian1983 & creg1981 – totally agree with you guys. In coming away from VP after the game, walking back to the car – every conversation I over heard was the same – inept tactics – small squad – crap defence – lack of action in replacing the spine of the team in defence & midfield – players still playing in the wrong positions, etc, etc. Why can we see the problems/issues and MON either can’t or does not have the ability to address the problems. As many have said, the issues have been there for all to see since Feb/Mar 09, and after all this time, MON has effectively done nothing to address or change them. The performance yesterday was the worst I have seen in years. MON has had enough time to sort it – the squad is wholly his own. The summer and pre-season has been a joke, to go into this season (yet again) without a FULL squad is criminal. Forget“Proud History – Bright Future” perhaps we should replace it with the following strap line – “Proud History – Long Dark Tunnel”!! How can MON justify the current situation, we are going into the last 2 weeks of the transfer window with other terms/clubs knowing how desperate we are to bring players in – so we will continue to pay over the top again (add £2/3M on to any asking price) for panic buys. Look how many other clubs are in the market for centre backs. I’ve been a Villa fan for 44 years and feel totally conned by this regime (more so than Ellis – at least you knew where we stood with him) – I’m worry for our season - based on yesterday’s performance we are going nowhere, only backwards. I honestly can’t see a result for us in Aug/Sept and we will be stuck in the bottom 6!!! Sorry to rant, but ffs!!!! UTV !! |
Leroy
said:
|
... Even the shite started better than us....they put in a decent performance today. Well drilled good formation against Man U and they caused them some trouble today |
Adey Stuttard
said:
 |
...ps i notice rob h, 1874 etc have still all stayed away, wonder if it's because mon has shown them up for sticking by him no matter what the mentalist does Not staying away tags, just don't necessarily have a lot to say. I highlighted the mistakes MoN made during the game yesterday (see the previous post). But I do get fed up with a lot of people on here saying that the signing of Delph will be our saviour, etc. He is a kid and defo one for the future, but there is no way on earth he should have started yesterday. Sidewll and NRC must have been fuming after both having good pre seasons then being dropped for Delph... Must admit I am losing the faith in Mon a bit; how on earth he kept Shorey on (who was shocking yesterday) is beyond belief. Shorey off, 3 at the back (2-0 down, so what), Albrighton to right, Milner to left and Young have a free role, would have shaken Wigan up a bit at least, surely? Totally inept performance, and if that is the starting line up against Liverpool, I fear another 5-0 thumping. |
clarkamus
said:
 |
... 1 game is not the end of the world we have new players and it will take time to adjust to losing barry and the injury to carew just before the game wouldnt of helped morale at all we will come good i am as gutted as the rest of you to yesterdays result but it happens sometimes in football even the newest of football fans know that and for everyone to turn on our team already is not going to help anything lets have a little faith for once |
WOODYO
said:
 |
... where are all you martin o'niel lovers now???? you all shouted me down on friday, now most seem to be agreeing with me, what a difference a day makes. Yes, i might have gone over-board with my language, but thats how this inept man makes me feel. These are his players, his signings, his style of footbal, his tactic's HA HA. this man will take us down the league quicker than o'dreary. People said on friday that we have a better squad, HOW? we've bought a player who can't play til next year (signed a 4 year deal but can only play for 3.5 years) he's bought a kid from 2 division below, who will probably be a star but not for a season or 2, he signed a defender from a team who had one of the worse defences in the league last year, and a 34 year old keeper who we'll never see, add that to the dross he's already signed, (shorey, knight, mallony, davies (9mil), routledge, salafou, cuellar (8mil), harewood, etc) . Add to that 'gobby' has the quality of an average championship player thats being polite, the martin o'neil love child, heskey, and petrov needs to show the same form as last season, he's had 1 good season out of 4, and sidwell still has to prove himself, all players he's signed apart from gobby. as i said on friday what makes you think he will do anything different in the next 2 weeks. yesterdays debacle proves my point, his defence was a shambles, his midfield never turned up and his forwards non-existant. yesterdays game was much like all the games last season, the difference was the result reflected the game unlike most games last year where we got out played but had enough luck to nick a win or draw. remember the last third of last season saw us as bottom of the form league it looks like we will carry on in the same vein unless he does somthing drastic in the next couple of weeks. the other questions that people are asking is, 'is there actually any money to spend' i belive there is, my question is, does Randy trust o'niel with it after what he's wasted, i wouldn't. Damien, look, a post with no foul language!!!!! I am sorry if my language offended anyone, my passion does run very high. Althouh, i did notice quite a few posts after mine with similar expletives, although they didn't receive a 'yellow card'. you also asked me to not call people things, well if you look at 'timmyrara's' post before mine then perhaps you'll see where i was coming from. SAVE OUR CLUB - O'NIEL OUT!!!!!!!! SAME BORING FOOTBALL SAME BORING TACTICS (GET IT WIDE OR LONG BALL) SAME INEPT MANAGMENT |
bring back john gregory
said:
|
... how many people on here if they were randy learner would give that buffoun mon another £50 million to waste on the poxy players he rates?> SACK MON NOW TO SAVE OUR SEASON!! |
Patrick McDermott
said:
|
... Clarkamus – appreciate your points, but we have shown MON faith for the last 3.5 years and in particular since his decision on Moscow! I had every faith in MON when appointed and could see similar things about him compared to Ron Saunders, but on the last 12 months (lack of action in the Transfer Windows’s – tactics etc) he is well wide of the mark. The problem is - he thinks he is B Clough reincarnated!! It doesn’t work in this day & age!! This was a result we could have all predicted last May; the hardest thing to come to terms with about yesterday is that We were outclassed by Wigan …..WIGAN….ffs! |
jerry
said:
 |
... Tags, yesterday I was like everyone else - completely gutted. And more than a little confused. And you seemed delighted. You’ve been highly critical and you took yesterday’s result as a justification and you appeared to be revelling in the chaos. If you actually weren’t revelling in it maybe you should have taken the trouble not to sound as though you were. HOWEVER... By the time I posted my comments I’d been on the grog for a while which is fatal. There was no call for what I said and I withdraw it and apologise to you. You had every right to be abusive back but, in truth, you were very restrained which is to your credit. I’ve stuck a post-it on the monitor “don’t post when you’re pissed”. I have to confess that the current strategy at the club mystifies me. I do believe that O’Neill knows he has got it wrong, as everyone does from time to time, and will try to rectify it. Yesterday his demeanour struck me as reminiscent of ‘The Ancient Mariner’. Buying Heskey in the January window was like shooting the albatross. We’ve been cursed ever since. |
Andi
said:
 |
... I am a fan of MON, I was there yesterday and we was a shower of *** we looked tired and know one wanted to play while this should not be an excuse it is how it is we should have won and we are better but it is only the first game of the season the window isnt shut yet and there still is time lets not all start the get the manager out just yet, he has done us proud so far lets just hope he can turn it round. There are a number of players that didnt look good enough yesterday lets hope they realise and sort it out , I hope in a few weeks we will be seeing how we should be playing week in week out, Keep the faith |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... The whole point is...stop messing about the fans and say it like it is. If we don't have funds to spend then make us all aware of it and expectations will lower, people will know where we stand. Alas, that'd mean lowering attendances too, inevitably: and that's where the real lie begins and the Aston Villa/Randy Lerner/ Martin O'Neill PR machine begins. Marketing and gates over fans loyalty. |
Geoffrey Littleton
said:
 |
... Sign Campbell (I can't believe I'm saying that), and since we don't seem to want to bring in any big names... How about Olsson from WBA? |
av79
said:
|
... All in all yesterday was a bad day at the office. if MON can find us a top centre back and a top central midfield player,we are close then squad wise to our main rivals.we prob also need a left back as shorey is cack and bouma may never return by the look of it,Davies an culler are ok by the need a leader by there side.I also thing guzan needs a start.Freedal isnt vocal enough and takes to lond to distrubte the ball and slow the whole game down. |
villa biker
said:
|
... chief i hold my hands up i was backing mon all the way but to be honest im concerned i know its the first game but its the same team that struggle at the end off last season. and we have not brought in any better players that look like pushing us on and the players we are linked with does not install much faith |
Steve
said:
|
... Starting to think we have over achieved the last 2 yrs given the players we have. Look at just strikers at our rival clubs for 5th to 8th place this year. Man City - Adebayor, Tevez, Robinho, Santa Cruz, Bellamy, Benjani Spurs - Crouch, Defoe, Keane, Pavlychenko Everton - Yakubu, Saha, Vaughan, Anichebe Villa - Carew, Gabby, Heskey, Fonz Clearly we have the weakest of all. If we went through the midfields and defences, I also think we would come off worst. Buy some quality MoN or we are going backwards |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... Some comments on here saying if heskey plays and we play the high ball. This is not down to him but simply the fact we do not have the quality in the middle of the park. He plays for england and i don't see england playing long balls. Fabio seems to like him as well so there must be something in that. Watching the Spurs Liverpool game and the one thing that comes to mind is the quality in the middle of the park... Squad for the Liverpool games... --------------------Guzan--------------- -Beye/Young----Culler----Clarke----Shorey ----------NRC---------Delph-------------- -Albrighton-------Young------------Milner-- -----------------Carew------------------- |
vogra
said:
|
... Over the last lets say two years lets have a look at some strikers that feasably we could have got. Jermain Defoe when he first left Tottenham Peter Crouch when he left Liverpool Yakubu Louis Saha.. All of who score a bag full of goals when fit.. Who does MON get...........Emile Heskey, the worst out the bunch |
bring back john gregory
said:
|
... i cant beleive the small heath scum are charging villa fans £48 for the game the robbing w*****s, |
jaywillis
said:
 |
... If I was MON yesterday this would have been my team, knowing that Big John was injured. Friedel Beye Shorey Davies Cuellar Milner Young Reo-Coker Petrov Delph Agbonlahor in a 4-5-1 formation. For me I'd play reo-coker every single game, he is a battler and gives his all when he plays. I though delph showed glimses of brilliance, this was only his first game, he needs time. I would never ever ever play Heskey in the team at all. I dont think he adds anything to a team and if fit Big John is 10x than Heskey. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
 |
... Spurs are playing the footall we need to be playing. They are walking out of the defense(rather than hoofing) and playing it into midfield(who are creating so much chances). This makes me think we need a player like Modric, he has been quality! Niko Kranjcar please... BTW, great goal! what a strike! |
Leroy
said:
|
... Not surprisingly a fresh article where MON states that he is looking to strengthen.... http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1767_5494489,00.html In three years i think there has been atleast 50 articles like this. It makes me wonder sometimes if MON never buys the full squad because he can always use it as an excuse.... |
Graymo
said:
|
... Who ever it was that told that Spuds fan to come back on at 6Pm looks at bit foolish as it stands. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Anyone watching Spurs Pool? Hate to say this but Spurs look really really good, 1-0 up at half time, looks like we could be facing Liverpool both looking for our first points, although now I wrote this Spurs will probably collapse! |
Steve Badger
said:
 |
... I'm obviously going to be in a minority today, but I refuse to get totally despondent on the back of one game. Don't worry before you all start, I slated the performance on the previous thread. What I find most worrying and it's already been mentioned, is the lack of any guile/flair in the centre midfield. Someone who can hold the ball and make a decent pass. I'm not talking about another £arry either. We're begging for the likes of sneidjer, someone who can go straight down the middle, as we have no one at the minute. I've noticed MON has had Heskey playing a deeper role a few times, but he's just not up to it, no skill whatsoever. I now fear for MON, because if he doesn't do his usual trick of buying players in this window, it's pretty obvious the crowd are going to turn sooner rather than later and will be calling for his head. Having just looked at the fixtures, I'm depressed. I'm not concerned about Rapid. But then we've got Pool and a trickey game against Fulham. Then it's the scum. I predict that if we don't get the result against them, that's when it will start. And I still think it will be a mistake. |
VillaDude
said:
|
... Spurs are looking very good. The more football I watch this weekend the more I worry about villa. There so many teams that have improved. And villa - arguably stood still. The only excuse is the manager itself. - that's a fact to all mon lovers. Hope they all prove ne wrong |
vogra
said:
|
... Yes Leroy read that article..a nice line that i can rip apart..lol "We're going to try and get some extra players in if we can, and in our own way," 1)What the hell does Try mean, how about for once "We will be bringing players in.. and what i hate the most 2)In our own way...WTF does that mean,if it think what i'm thinking it is that he'll wait till the last minute to get the scraps.. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... By the end of the transfer window.... -------------Guzan------------- Richards-Distin-Cuellar-L.Young ----------Delph-Petrov--------- Milner------ReoCoker------Young -------------Carew------------- OR -------------Guzan------------- Richards-Distin-Cuellar-L.Young ----------Delph-Petrov--------- Milner--------------------Young ------------Kranjcar----------- -------------Carew------------- that side would take us places... |
VillaDude
said:
|
... Petrov has commented on yesterdays booing at the final whistle. He has said it has a big effect on the younger players and doesn't help. I for one think if there is booing it should be aimed at the manager - not players. But what do u think? |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... Watching the spurs game if you look at the liverpool center backs who are of good quality but on the rare occasion in the game when they also have no cover from there midfield they also look exposed. Only difference is for us we just did not have any cover for our center backs for the enitre 90 minutes.. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... should have been our player if MON would stump up some bloody money! ....... good goal Bassong |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... so far he looks good...hurts even more...but then again he's also from the same defence that got relegated last season... |
VillaDude
said:
|
... Liverpool are playing 5 man midfield. - spurs playing 4 spurs are coming out on top is nearly every battle! I think 4 man can work for villa- aslong as they are organised and improve their fitness. Palacious is a machine - and even huddlestone might last the full 90. I don't think it's the formation - it's the personnel! |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... probably because their manager was such an idiot, he didnt play 4-5-1, leaving their defense to get hammered all game. Seem familiar? |
albrighton
said:
|
... Villa dude Petrov has commented on yesterdays booing at the final whistle. I think that it's impossible for anyone to know if you are booing the manager, the players or the half time pies. At the half time boos I wondered how Delph in particular would feel after being booed in his first game. If you boo, then you will demotivate your players and adversely affect the performance of your team. You may feel momentarily better for having done it but it just feels self indulgent to me. |
Matthew Clark
said:
 |
... Its all very simple. We played an awful lot better before sidwell and heskey were in the team. Get them out and things will return to normal. |
Leroy
said:
|
... Thats what i think also Vogra. Ill never understand why we dont just sign the targets that have been identified early on and allow the new players to settle in.... Like i have stated earlier, if we are to "stand still" we need to bring in replacements of similar if not better quality for Barry and Laursen. I used the example before that if Chelsea lost Lampard and Terry do you think they would sign an injured player an untried youngster and then a bit part player from a relegated side? WHen you lose the spine of your team you have to replace it with personnel of ATLEAST similar quality if not better.......or how else can you progress? |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... VillaDude 4-2-2 will never work when we use the wings as our main tactic. Once we lose the ball in a wing attack, the pressure is put straight onto the midfield that held back(Delph, Petrov) who are helpless in that situation. They then beat our two midfielders easily and we have almost constant pressure on our defense(who are average at best). This is going to be happening more and more as it seems the other teams know Ash`s game too well! With 4-5-1, there will be less pressure on the defense with three midfielder at least covering back! |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... Aero-4-Villa, no says a 4-4-2 won't work it works for man united and yes spurs look good but could that be because the midfield players can actually pass the ball. Also if you actually look at the game modric tends to drift into the middle making it 3 across the middle...we just don't have that personnel... |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... mon says "we are going to try and get some players in if we can", well if we can`t then we really are fooked.why doesnt he give us confidence and say we WILL make some quality signings.i reckon mon was looking to sign a barry replacement saw one of his future stars (delph) play well against fiorentina and thought barry replacement.imo |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... it could be just because we use the wings as the main part of our game! Man.U and Spurs dont. |
VillaDude
said:
|
... The thing is - does anyone really really think anything will change? We all know mon. He is very very stubborn and arrogant. He refuses to involve a peter kenyon type person in transfers as he wants control over everything! Will anything change on the pitch? Formation? Heskey starting? Gabby starting - when he hasn't lives himself for months! Big name replacements coming in? Tactics - from long ball to passing? Will anything actually change? I very much doubt it! |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
 |
... god i wish MoN would go an spend money on some foreign players. If only we had Bosko Balaban or Joey Gudjohnsen or Markus Allback or Alpay Ozalan or ......... get real people. We lost a home game against a decent Premiership side. Bloody calm down. We are not a top four side, it's the first of 38 games ffs. Even if we finish bottom half MoN should stay, look at Moyes at Everton. You fickle grumpy short sighted idiots need to realise that we don't have the resources to compete,whatmakes us special is the spirit and team ethic. Fair enough we got caught cold so lets see what happens in the next game. Anyone who booed OUR team off yesterday should be f**king ashamed of themselves. Everton didn't get booed off did they? You lot are worse than the Norwich city board. |
Joevillan123
said:
 |
... i think we should put that result behind bring in some new players and put in a lot of had work! |
Simeon
said:
 |
... Utterly laughable. You claim you have faith in the manager (and I don't doubt this), and yet you recognise many of the deficiencies he has. I think it's misleading to talk about mistakes O'Neill has made. He believes in doing things in a certain way, and so he does things in that way. He isn't making isolated mistakes. His whole approach is mistaken. This fact has been glaringly obvious for almost 6 months now, and with hindsight, the signs were there earlier than that, even when everything seemed to be rosy in the garden. The O'Neill brigade need to get their head round the following concept: O'Neill does things his way. If you haven't worked out what that way is after three years, I'm not sure you ever will. So let's stop the calls for O'Neill to play 4-5-1, because it isn't going to happen. Let's accept that O'Neill is not going to sign high quality players from abroad. Let's accept that he's going to play injured and out of form players rather than rotate the squad. Please let us stop hoping that things are suddenly going to completely change and we're going to be challenging near the top of the table under this manager. It's not going to happen! For those of us who are happy to keep faith with O'Neill, please stop criticising him for doing things his way, for being consistent in his approach, and sticking with his half-baked, quasi-Cloughie football philosophy. And for those of us who have recognised that O'Neill is indeed incapable of taking us any further than the top 6, and who are in fact wondering whether he's eminently capable of taking us into the bottom 6, we need to somehow convice Randy Lerner that the manager in whom he trusts completely must go, because my feeling is that O'Neill isn't ever going to walk, let alone walk on water. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... I agree, if only he read the things the fans write on this website. He might do things differently. I wonder if he knows how frustrated we all are with him. If he does know, then he is just an arrogant arsehole for not changing things around! |
rubben
said:
 |
... friedel looked dodgy yesterday with some of the stuff like when milner cleared it off the line but my team at the end of te transfer window would be friedel beye,cuellar,upson(at right price), young (experienced strong defence) milner,reo-coker,petrov,delph ( i can see some creativity from that) young( because teams are learning how to deal with him let him float around meaning if they want to put 3 players on him when he has the ball it frees up other places) carew(only striker with quality) we all know agbonlahor without pace wouldnt be a footballer. |
Frosty
said:
 |
... Petrov said: “At the end of the day we are playing for the fans but they should understand at times like that we need their full support. “We were poor but when they boo they shouldn’t forget there are a lot of young players in this team.” Spot On! |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
 |
... While I do think the 4-5-1 would probably yield better results, I think MON's "tired" comment simply addressed the fact that Wigan worked harder. They closed us down, put us off, were well up for it. Villa never were. Whether the preseason went to their heads, etc., I don't know. But Villa didn't show much heart in terms of wresting the game back. I do agree, though, that I probably would've put NRC in, taken Heskey off, moved Milner left, or into the center, and had Albrighton out right. Using Milner at RB doesn't make me apoplectic...But, I think we were crying out for more in the middle. With what we've got right now, I'd have Milner, NRC, Petrov in the middle, with Ash and Albrighton out wide. One up front, probably starting with Gabby as he'll stretch sides more. We don't make good use of the space between opposition back four and the midfield. Ash needs to get the pass off quicker across field, and there needs to be Milner/Delph, whomever flowing into that space to take the pass, and then either the shot, or the one-two opening with Gabby/Carew, etc. |
VDV
said:
|
... MON HAS ADMITED HE NEEDS TO ADD PLAYERS TO THE SQUAD. THE WORRYING THING THOUGH WAS THAT HE SAID IN ARE OWN WAY. THAT MEANS CHEAP SHIT. |
Paul Theiss
said:
 |
... I'm not ready to revolt. It was game one of a very long season. We didn't play any worse than Liverpool or Everton, and we would probably all put money on the two of them recovering. That said, we absolutely need a center back and Stephen Warnock. I'd even take Neil Warnock. |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
|
... The booing is a tough question. The performance, in terms of effort, work rate, etc., getting outworked by Wigan, deserved booing, imo. It wasn't good. However...I'm not one to actually boo my team there. I may throw things at the telly, scare dogs and children, but it really would take a lot for me to actually boo |
Simeon
said:
|
... With all due respect Rubben, it is completely irrelevant what your team would be. The relevant questions are, What will O'Neill's team be, and What will the squad look like, and How will we play, and Will the squad be used? The answers to the last two questions aren't going to change between now and September, and they are wholly unsatisfactory answers. I expect more signings, and I expect more mediocrity. Carew might well need replacing, and if so, O'Neill will either panic-buy, or he will simply go with Harewood and Delfouneso as backup to Gabby and Heskey instead. I would be amazed if Reo Coker was still here come September, and given he's the only midfielder we have (with the possible exception of Gardner) who can put a meaningful foot in, we can expect to be overrun in midfield many more times this season. Until January of course, when Downing returns to fitness and we find that he's metamorphosed into the midfield hard man we've been crying out for... |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...Utterly laughable. You claim you have faith in the manager (and I don't doubt this), and yet you recognise many of the deficiencies he has. I'll assume this is aimed at me. NO, what's utterly laughable is the fact that you want MON sacked after an admittedly bad period, so soon. I can't remember if you've put an alternative name forward, but if it's the likes of Sven, forget it. You absolutely cannot deny that we have good young players who will get better, can you? Or are they all totally rubbish? Remember Ferguson nearly got the sack and Everton were garbage one year. It happens, simple. At the end of the day, I don't want us to get into the same cycle of give a manager 3 seasons and get rid every time things don't go our way. You need a decent manager and some stability. More importantly the fans need some patience. I know it's hard, because it's a symptom of today's "I want it now" society, but you need to have some faith mate. No manager will come to Villa and do it in 5 minutes. Even Mark Hughes (a bloody good manager) is under massive pressure and probably faces the sack in the winter. How many managers have Chelsea had? I think MON is a decent manager and should be given more time. Obviously you'll disagree. |
Villa Hombre
said:
 |
... What most alarms me is that MO'N just doesn't seem ever to address the longstanding problems. Among these are: (1) The fact that we are repeatedly going a goal down at home, and have been doing so for the last couple of years, meaning that we're always chasing the game, with the crowd getting more and more frustrated. (2) The fact that we don't have a natural goalscorer. If we did, we'd bang in some of the chances we get early in a game - before the opposition have realised we're not very scary - and therefore take the lead rather than spend most of the game a goal down. (3) The fact that the tactics we use simply do not allow us to win, or often even to score, at Villa Park. (4) The fact that we are second to most balls against most teams at Villa Park. (5) The fact that our way of playing and passing is ponderous, whereas most teams who come to Villa Park ping around short, accurate passes as though they're playing in a five-a-side practice match. (6) The fact that playing balls up to a big centre-forward may have worked in English football back in 1978, but MO'N's modern-day counterparts are sharp, tactically aware foreign coaches who've been educated in how to build stylish and adaptable European-style teams. We therefore look, and indeed are, one-dimensional by comparison. (7) The fact that if you play with two wingers and two forwards, you will be overrun in midfield - hardly rocket science, this one. (  The fact that Gabby is a one-trick pony, and Premier League managers have sorted out how to deal with his one trick. If he doesn't develop some new tricks, there's every chance that in a few years time, when his pace has deserted him a little, he could find himself playing Championship rather than Premiership football (hopefully not with the Villa!). (9) The fact that 'mesmerising wing wizard' Ashley Young is believing his own press. Go past a player, Ashley, or simply ping the ball into the box, but for God's sake, whichever you're going to do, do it quickly! Our forwards are marked by the time he delivers the cross (most of which, it has to be said, have ended up in the stands over the last twelve months). I'm really not looking forward to this season at all. We look like a side without any ideas or creativity. The problem is that in the absence of ideas and creativity, we're not able to 'keep it tight' either. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... Juan Pablo Angel, You dont think we should buy foreign To your sarcastic remarks of Villas success in buying foreign talent - "Bosko Balaban or Joey Gudjohnsen or Markus Allback or Alpay Ozalan" Ok... Martin Laursen(Arguably best defender we ever had). John Carew(3 months out, 15 goals? not bad). Wilfred Bouma(solid, brilliant defender). Brad Guzan(quality from what i have seen). So whats wrong with buying foreign? i dont know, you tell me? I will tell you whats good. They are cheap with no inflated prices like the ones you get for average British talent. 12 million for a crocked overrated winger, 4 million for Shorey when we got Bouma for half that and Laursen for around the same. ...Dont tell me its not good to buy foreign. Then you say we dont have the resources to compete... -12million for Downing -9million for Young -12million for Milner -Many....many more We have well enough resources to compete. MON just doesnt know how to spend Randys money correctly(with a few exceptions, obviously). Dont call us fickle and idiots. Yes, i agree booing was completely out of order but there are so many problems with MONs management that opinions deserve to be expressed! UTV! |
James Clift
said:
 |
... Doc, I've only just read your post as I've been unable to look at a paper or even turn the computer on since I left Villa park in a daze yesterday. It completely sums up everything that has happened. O'neill is absoulutely clueless, For a start how can he even start to think that Heskey is better than Carew?? Agbonlahor was terrible. Beye looked every inch the player who got relegated last year. Davies looked every inch the pub player he once described himself as. Delph showed his inexperience, experience that is vital in the premier league. Why could O'neill not see this? I could go on but as you so rightly put it, I really can't be bothered. So where do we go from here? Everton got hammered but I think most will agree that was just a blip from them. For us the story will be so very different unless we fill them massive voids, which we all know just isn't going to happen. |
James Clift
said:
|
... Aero-4-villa, Why is booing completely out of order??? We spend our hard earned money watching Villa. When they let us down like they did yesterday we are totally within our rights to boo. |
Simeon
said:
|
... Badger, I'm afraid my post wasn't aimed at you. It was actually aimed at the Quack and his umpteenth lame-headed article. Of course, I'm also addressing fans, like yourself, who see O'Neill's faults, yet believe he's the right man for the job because you believe he's going to suddenly stop doing all the stupid things he does and start doing the things you want him to do. If you are happy with Heskey as our first choice striker, if you are happy with a midfield with no physical presence, if you are happy with a central defender literally carrying an injured shoulder for five months and counting, and if you are happy with the players O'Neill buys, then you will continue to be a very happy man. Just don't expect to have your cake and eat it. That is to say, you can't be happy with all of the above, and with Martin O'Neill, and then get upset when we have a wretched season. But hey, it's only the first game. Maybe things will turn around completely and we'll actually manage a top half finish. And then every O'Neill disciple will be vindicated as the Villa once again punch well above their weight and finish above West Ham. |
confusedvillafan
said:
|
... rubben,in my opinion we need more than just a centerback (upson) we defo need to replace barry, and why are people putting luke young at left back when he`s a very good right back. |
Steve
said:
|
... Can i just point out that "Alpay Ozalan" when he signed for us was a top defender and went to the world cup, got to the semis and into the best xI at the world cup. After that granted he became an utter nob, but prior to that he was a cracking player and would get in our team today. |
Paul Theiss
said:
|
... Jimbo Daventry Villa: Just because you have a right to boo doesn't make it a good idea to do. |
Steve
said:
|
... I was there and didnt boo, but frankly 2 wins out of 17 in the league and an utterly inept performance, then i can understand people booing. If we had played well, tried and lost then fair enough, but that was pathetic and they can have no sympathy from me for getting booed. |
James Clift
said:
|
... Texas, Why? How else do we as fans let O'neill how we feel? If we clapped or did nothing it would show we don't care when for most of us Villa play a big part in our everyday lives. |
ChicoHamiltonsPants
said:
 |
... We definitley need an experienced well versed centre back, there is no doubting. Also a midfielder with a quality first touch distribution of a much higher class then present and potential to hold his own in the midfield. However these players are hard to come by, and if we were to find said players then why on earth at the moment would they want to come!!!! If i was WS and saw and heard the booing at the end of the game I certainly would think f**k that i'll stay on the bench at RM. I understand the booing and 2 wins from 17 games is not acceptable, but it is a new start to the season and i think that we should give MON a couple of games. I still believe he not a complete fool and hes knows what has to be done. I just think if anybody is going to boo then do it after the tranfer window is closed. Lets not scare any potential transfer targets off. Thats if we have any.... |
TrueVillan
said:
|
...god i wish MoN would go an spend money on some foreign players. If only we had Bosko Balaban or Joey Gudjohnsen or Markus Allback or Alpay Ozalan |
Rich
said:
|
... Smallville However bad we were SOL CAMPBELL NO WAY WOULDN'T HAVE HIM FOR NOTHING LET ALONE THE £60K/WEEK HE WANTS |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... Simeon, yes you makes a valid points and yes i am one of those supporters who still has faith in our manager for now.Please give me one manager that does not have defencies ? How many times has SAF, Rafa, Wenger it wrong. Would you also sack them. I do agree there a defencies but also believe MON has done enough to be a fair crack at the whip this season. So we went on a bad run last season who does not have that run. Moyes has it at everton. I for one was very dissapointed with the performance and tatics and team selection but also believe that lets give it some time beofre jumping the gun and saying sack the manager. By the way if we were to get rid of mon who would you bring in and why ? |
RAZ
said:
 |
... First Game Of The Season - CHILL THE f**k OUT Plus whats all this bollocks bout shit football. and that mon only says get it wide or play long ball... wat do you want him to say??? stick it up ur arse? cuz in football u can only do so much with a ball... shit fans and im ashamed to say im one of em! MON deserves a club with better fans. i hope he f**ks off so we get relegated and lose the arseholes for fans on this website. in the long run that would be the best fing to happen UP THE VILLA |
Rich
said:
|
... VIlla Biker We couldn't win today. If it wasn't Arry it would have been The Fat Waiter and I hate them both equally |
Oscars Arse
said:
 |
... I've just got back off holiday and must say Im not too surprised at yesterdays result. We all know pre season means jack shit and with the lack of signings in key areas we are going to struggle. We have become much too predictable and the manager must recognise this and do something very quickly or it's going to be a long hard season. Everybody on here knows what places need filling and I just want to add my disappointment regarding Gabby I feel he will go the same way as the Moore brothers. As for booing why the hell not? Are these over paid over rated prima donnas bothered not when they check their bank balance |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... Jimbo Daventry Villa, Like Petrov said himself - there is young players in the team. How will they ever gain some confidence and perform at the top of their ability if they are afraid of having a bad game and the fans turn on them. Example: I remember when i was young, i had a bad game for my local team and some of the lads gave me a hard time for it. Next game i went into, i was afraid to express myself on the pitch. I found myself doing the simple things like short passes and i feared making a run in case i screwed up and lost the ball. I wasnt making runs, beating players or playing to my abilities because there was a chance i could do something wrong and lose a goal for the team or something similar. Premiership players are people too, and they can have these exact same problems. Once something like that gets into your head it can effect you hugely mentally. One of the main aspects of nurturing your young players is giving them confidence and thats what Villa fans need to be doing. Not booing them! I understand and appreciate that people are spending their hard earned money(including myself) on these games but you have to give these lads a chance. UTV! |
Paul Theiss
said:
|
... Jimbo Daventry Villa: We were booing at the end of the first half! Why do anything to jeopardize the second half? If you want to boo at the end of the game, I can understand that at least a little bit. But, even then, I still find it to be rather selfish of the fans. I've never seen anything good from booing. |
Simeon
said:
|
... Who to bring in to replace O'Neill? If we're looking for someone to do a better job than Martin, then I think there are loads of candidates. For example, if Mark Hughes were sacked at City, I'd be happy to have him instead of O'Neill. This one will get a few laughs, but I think Steve Bruce would do a much better job with Villa than O'Neill. I think Allardyce would be a vast improvement. If Brian Little were to return, we'd improve. I reckon Glenn Roeder couldn't do any worse... Okay, that last one was only semi-serious. The point is that O'Neill has been living off his reputation. If a group of players believe in their manager, they can go a long way, irrespective of whether that manager has abilities otehr than getting players to play for him. But O'Neill's reputation has been tarnished, and players don't believe in him anymore, and so we're stuck with a manager who is tactically inept, and who is unable to sign quality players without first signing half a dozen mediocrities (or worse). If you're asking me who I would appoint as manager, I'm afraid I can't answer specifically. But in general terms it would be someone with a broad vision that made sense, and a good idea of how to achieve it, who was also capable of working within the limitations - whatever they might be - particular to Aston Villa. I would put money on the best man for the Villa job being someone none of us has heard of, or at least someone none of us has thought of. To nail down the identity of that man would require an exstensive knowledge of the world of football via trusted contacts. Scouting a manager is very much like scouting a football player. You have to do your homework and get to know the ins and outs of the man as far as possible. I'm not in a position to do that, so I can't give a name. But if all you want is an improvement on the current manager, I recommend the old pin in the phone book approach. Otherwise you'll just be spoiled for choice and never make your mind up. |
simondgm
said:
 |
... "We're going to try and get some extra players in if we can, and in our own way," he said. --- do or do not, there is no 'try' |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Maindog i agree 100%. spurs bench would walk into our team. cudcini, hutton, bentley, crouch, pavlychenko. also, martinez has had 3 months with wigan and had them playing us off the park. after 3 years oneill still has us hoofing hopeful balls us field. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Simeon id go for Moyes, what he has done with the money available is amazing. Failing that Martin Jol, Mancini, Rijkaard. |
john franey
said:
 |
... The whole squad should of been called in this morning for training after that excuse for a performance yesterday instead they are sitting at home in their mansions,While the rest of us pay with our hard earned money to watch that rubbish |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...But O'Neill's reputation has been tarnished, and players don't believe in him anymore How on earth has it been tarnished? By finishing 6th 2 seasons running? How do you know the players don't believe in him? The fact of the matter is that nearly every other club in the British game would love him as their manager. Even some Manure fans want him when SAF does one. He is a good manager, simple. |
James Clift
said:
|
... Aero-4-villa Firstly with the exception of Delph there wasn't any kids in the starting 11. These were in fact seasoned professionals who have been playing at the top level for many years. Its not the fault of these players that we are not living up to the expectation we have been sold into. Heskey, Agbonlahor, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Beye, none of these players are good enough to challenge for the top four or even six. The booing was pure frustration aimed at Lerner & O'neill which in mine and many people's opinion is totally justified. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...The whole squad should of been called in this morning for training after that excuse for a performance yesterday instead they are sitting at home in their mansions,While the rest of us pay with our hard earned money to watch that rubbish It was Wicklow. |
Chris Bird
said:
 |
... Lets put the whole team formation to one side for a second. Martin Oneil works with these players every day of the week. Nearly every player in that team has been brought in by oneil. Oneil makes Petrov our club captain (No desire), oneil plays one of our best players at right back! Now, we have two centre forwards one won everything in the air, the other gabby could not be bothered! A midfielder who never made a decent tackle in the game petrov! two full backs who looked completely out of sorts. One centre half (davies) who was caught out of position with every ball. It has been evident for sometime that the playing side of the club has slid. We have a manager who is a tactical clown and a complete idiot. He should be held responsible 2 wins in 20 premiership games. Get rid |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Wicklow, Boss O’Neill felt sufficiently let down by his players’ display that he cancelled their day off to haul them in for extra training. http://www.mirrorfootball.co.u...17521.html |
Simeon
said:
|
... AVFC Pete, Moyes isn't a bad shout at all (and after all, he's the man most see as SAF's heir, not O'Neill). However, I can't see him coming to Villa unless we are significantly stronger financially than Everton, and about that there seem to be question marks. Mancini would be interesting (and let's not forget that the guy has won league titles in Italy, as opposed to, for example, Scotland, and also that he was begging for the Sunderland job)/ Klinnsmann and Rijkard would also be interesting appointments, and if there was money to spend, and the same kind of freedom that O'Neill has enjoyed, I could see either as being realistic possibilities. Of course, without hearing exactly what their plans for Aston Villa were, I couldn't say whether they'd be exactly the right man for the job. But we could safely assume they'd be better than O'Neill. But then look at West Ham and their appointment of Zola. Although it's very early days, he and Clarke seem to have made a decent start. I'm not suggesting we go for Zola, but why not bring in a similar kind of partnership here (on the condition that whoever we bring in has a clear objective and a realistic means of getting there). How many Arsenal fans were delighted when Wenger pitched up at Highbury? Not many I'd imagine, but David Dein had done his homework on Wenger, and made a pretty shrewd decision in appointing him. Identifying talent isn't rocket science. It's simply a case of doing the hard-yards research. Of course, you need the right person to do that research or you'll end up with some funny results. |
TrueVillan
said:
|
... our pre season form has been mentioned by both fans and MON, but most of the first team that played on sat were not involved in that pre season i made this point a few weeks ago, about pre season preparing the team and players, and how most of the first team were missing, i understand that due to international duty they needed rest, but some missed all of pre season! and it showed saturday! is it not worrying that the players he does not coach ie the youth, looked good and played and passed, the ones he has regular first team contact with look inept and devoid of ideas! perhaps we should get our youth team coaches more involved in the first team (gordon cowans!)before he ruins that talent as well! |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...Mancini would be interesting (and let's not forget that the guy has won league titles in Italy, as opposed to, for example, Scotland, and also that he was begging for the Sunderland job) So why didn't Sunderland want him? Of course, without hearing exactly what their plans for Aston Villa were, I couldn't say whether they'd be exactly the right man for the job. But we could safely assume they'd be better than O'Neill. So you don't think MON has a plan? With the young English kids that we have? That's a joke, imo. Look, at the end of the day, MON is not the perfect manager. I'm happy to admit that. But to say he's rubbish is just, well, rubbish, imo. |
MON - 4-5-1
said:
|
... Simeon, yes all top mangers live of there reputation whould you not agree ? saf,wenger,rafa,fatnapp,moyes,oneil,ancelloti and to a certain degree even players who have not even managed shearer,zola and i could go on but i'll stop there. The point is they must have done something right to gain this reputation. So if through a bit of a rough patch in there managerial career it does not make the a bad manager overnight. Its how they get out of this mess which is why i say give oneil a chance and lets see what he does. Remember last season when arsenal lost 3-0 at man city and looked all over the place wenger rectified it as he was given a fair chance to do this. Same goes for moyes everton qualified for the champions league and then the following season they fell apart i.e getting knocked out in the qualifying round and look what he has done since. As far as it goes for belief of players i don't get a feeling the dressing room has been lost. If that was the case why would a.young commit his future ? Why would downing sign for us and make the comments he did ? Why would carew say he is happy at villa ? I have yet to read about a single villa player make a comment they are not happy with the club is progressing sure this may change as the season goes and yes then a better judgment can be made. excluding barry he only left for 120,000 a week. Do you really think big sam could provide a better quality of football at villa park i doubt it i really do!!.... |
Abdul Kashif
said:
 |
... Let's just put it this way. If Villa have the same record as the last 17 games in the next 10-15, then O'Neill is a gonner. He's got a big two weeks coming up now with the window still open and he needs to beef up the squad if we're going to make a go of it in the League and Cups, not to mention Europe! It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and such an anti climax to what we were all hoping for. Over the course of the summer, the squad hasn't really changed at all, with the exception of Barry and Laursen. Does anyone know what's happening with Bouma? I fear that he may have to retire if his rehab isn't going as planned. I hope he comes back as strong as ever but we just don't know. O'Neill needs to get in some real quality. Players who will actually make a difference rather than just bargain buys that will make up the numbers. He needs a 'Plan B' and I'm afraid we just don't have that at the moment. We'd all like to think that O'Neill will have taken yesterday's game as a wake up call but his record in the transfer market is pretty average so we'll see what happens. I do believe he'll bring in some players but who... that's another question.. |
Holte End Hero
said:
 |
... Bloody hell, we've lost 1 game and everyone wants o'neil sacked. You lot need to get real. |
Jinksy
said:
|
... Aero-4-Villa - You are showing yourself up again son.. You say Martin Laursen(Arguably best defender we ever had). What a complete load of bollox......DiD you ever see Paul McGrath??? There is no arguement buddy Laursen was a great player but couldn't lace GODS boots, doesn't even come close.... |
Abdul Kashif
said:
|
... Holte End Hero, I don't think that many people really want O'Neill sacked, but taking into consideration Villa's record in the last 20 games, if that continues then he'll really feel the heat. It's up to him to do something about it and I really hope he does. Once the transfer window slams shut then it's a long stretch with the squad that we have so he has to get it right. This 'small squad' rubbish just doesn't stick anymore! |
Simeon
said:
|
... I really didn't want to make a serious post until, well, ideally the end of the season. However, the events of yesterday (and the defeat is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg; poor attendance, the Carew scandal, clear dissatisfaction amongst at least some of the players with Villa life) forced me to comment, and for this I apologise. The fact is that O'Neill will be Villa manager come the start of next season, and in all likelihood the start of the season following that, no matter what happens, because Lerner believes in him. So what's the point in complaining? Venting one's frustration is perhaps healthy, but maybe a little unfair on the poor deluded souls who are still believing in the Mighty Martin Power Ranger. After all, ignorance is indeed bliss, and who doesn't want to be happy?? |
Jinksy
said:
|
... wicklow villa - It's MON that should have been called in not the players. lets get that right. It's not their fault they are shit it's his fault for buying the shit. |
tom P
said:
|
... --------------------Guzan--------------- -Beye/Young----Culler----Clarke----Shorey ----------NRC---------Delph-------------- -Albrighton-------Young------------Milner-- -----------------Carew------------------- this is proberbly are strongest side, can ANYONE pick out a 'world class' player in this team? yes we have a few good players, but match winners, no we dont, i dont see carew or young scoring 20+ goals this season...wer the f**k are are goals gunna come from? we need depth and we need a player the youngsters look up to, hate to say it...but like barry was, we missed him sataday |
faangler
said:
|
... First it is far from certain that MON will be here at Christmas let alone at the start of next season. Second; REO must be made captain NOW ! They need galvenising' the troops |
swevilla
said:
 |
... MON: "We're going to try and get some extra players in if we can, and in our own way," What a joke!! Wake me up when the next manager arrives |
faangler
said:
|
... Make REO captain and play him every game. OK he can't pass the ball or play footballreally, but who cares? He's got the drive to do it. Sheeeet isn't that's what we bought him for ? |
tom P
said:
|
... 'We're going to try and get some extra players in if we can, and in our own way' is that YOUR way martin? relegation rejects and 19 year olds here we come |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Simeon i feel we would get Moyes. We are similar to everton in that the manager is allowed to get on with the job with no involvement from above. but like you say, he is up there for the United job so why would he rock the boat and leave Everton now? only way he would is if someone else gets the united jon or if we can prove he will be backed sufficiently. mancicn/rijkaard/jol/klinsman would at least have contacts abroad is suppose! oh well, its all wishful thinking at the moment! O'neill will be here for the forseeable future and after we beat Liverpool and follow it up with the signing of a top CB and VDV we will all be singing his praises!! |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...So what's the point in complaining? Venting one's frustration is perhaps healthy, but maybe a little unfair on the poor deluded souls who are still believing in the Mighty Martin Power Ranger. After all, ignorance is indeed bliss, and who doesn't want to be happy?? That was a decent post until you said this. It's not about MON, being a "mighty power ranger". "ignorance is bliss". I agree. But if you want to sack managers who are actually trying to work to a plan (regardless of what you think), we'll never do anything. Wait until the end of the season or at least Xmas, as you said yourself. |
Steve Jones
said:
 |
... Hard earned money,is a phrase used a lot in previous posts.Can any of the players honestly say that their salaries have been "hard earned" over the last six months.i think not. |
tom P
said:
|
... signing of a top CB and VDV we will all be singing his praises!! in your dreams haha. more like stuart taylor and another overated 19 year old |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Steve Jones they have had to play alongside Emile Heskey and pretend that they have belief in him. that to me is harder than anything you or i have had to do!!! |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...poor attendance, the Carew scandal, clear dissatisfaction amongst at least some of the players with Villa life The attencance is always poor this time of year, go look at the records. What Carew scandal? It's speculation. What dissatisfaction? Again speculation. Show me a 100% happy squad anywhere in the Prem and I'll flash my bits for all and sundry in the middle of town. Utter rubbish. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... tom P it wont be another youngster weve had one of them. now its time for anohter over the hill player he has worked with in the past. muzzy izzet anyone? |
ak_27
said:
|
... Simeon said " He isn't making isolated mistakes. His whole approach is mistaken". Spot on. And yes you are right the signs were there far longer then 6 months ago. The signs were there 18 months ago when we were also in with a shout for 4th and had Defoe and Diarra in VP wanting to sign only for MON deciding that Wayne Routledge was the man to ge us 4th. The signs have been there for over 2 years to those who could spot it. |
Steve Jones
said:
|
... Point taken AVFC PETE.We need players with mobility,balance,2 feet,none of which Heskey has.So what is the answer in the real world? |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Admit you got things wrong, ship Heskey out and buy 3 top quality players; CB, CM, ST. No rejects from other clubs. Proven quality who will walk into the team and make an immediate impact. |
faangler
said:
|
... First off Reo Coker has to be given the arm band I'm serious! This team could implode if MON carries on like he is Starting with Delph was an inane kick in the teeth. Play Reo or sell him. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...only for MON deciding that Wayne Routledge was the man to ge us 4th. This is getting daft now. Routledge cost us a million and we got most of it back. It was a total cheap money gamble and not designed to make us challenge for top 4 at all. Salifou cost us pennies, but gets slated loads. He cost pennies Don't get me wrong, Curtis has proved a disastrous signing for the money, but ffs criticize when it's justified. |
macca
said:
 |
... Guys, I can understand everyones frustration and understand that this comes from your love of Aston Villa football club! I have commented on this site before about our over expectatiions as fans and find myself here again! We have a Manager who cares about our club and i really believe our fans dont see that!!! Do we want some foreign shite manager who can come in and spunk our money on shite players we havent seen!!players who dont care about AV at all! At least with Young english players we have a future!! How long did it take Ferguson to get it right at Man ure?? We have to have the same patience! I am also very scared about the transfer sitatuation at villa park and feel he has somewhat been outdone! He has been caught napping and managers have got in before him! he has also made mistake in letting knight go before no replacement has signed a dotted line!!! But why do we want to get rid of him now?? For every wenger there is an allarydcyce! For every ferguson there is a bryan robson! for every moyes there is a roeder!! Agree JC is the main CF!!!Cuellar is by far the BEST CB! NRC should play and break things up! We need a CB, CF, LB and CM. Lets give Martin a break and chill a bit ! If not , then after 10/12 games we should then make judgements! !! I say OUR money because it is mainly OUR money |
Steve Jones
said:
|
... MON will not admit anything like that firstly,no-one will want Heskey second,and third,who could not walk into that team on yesterdays performance? |
superspurs
said:
|
... alright lads so who wants to say somethin to me u muppets told me to come back on after thegame today. from what i saw we totally out played liverpool and won. our squad is different class to ur small shitty one |
ak_27
said:
|
... Simeon and others. How have you all missed the next big thing in world football management yet again? Roberto Martinez is the next special one. Mark my words. Only his teams will play attractive football unlike Mourhino's. Seriously if we could get him in next summer it would be the real start of the rebirth of Villa as a force. It will take a pair of balls on learner to get rid of MON next summer. It will take a step back to go 2'3 steps forward but uner MON we will never take that next step forwadr. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Good point!! i think you or i could walk into the team going on yesterdays shambles. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... Badger despite routledge only costing a million, do you not think it was a waste of time signing him and instead we should have been getting Diarra and Defoe? |
Villa man
said:
 |
... Has anyone noticed that our best defenders were brought by o'leary!!! Bouma, laursen and he also gave cahill his big break!!! Mon is utterley f**king shit! I hope that krulak guy reads these bloggs! We need mon out now!!!! gregory had the best pairing mellberg and alpay! Class defenders! Alpay was a excellent defender!! Fearsome! Does anyone agree? |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... ak_27 i commented earlier that Oneill has been here 3 years and Martinez has been at Wigan 3 months and just look at the difference in how the teams play. Under Bruce wigan didnt knock the ball around like that. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Jimbo, I have had little issue with most of your previous comments but if you booed during or at the end of the game I think you should feel a little guilty and should decide not to do it again. You ask how else are you supposed to let MoN how you feel......write to him, email him, write to Randy Lerner. If you do any of those things then you will be targetting your frustration where you want it. Booing is indiscriminate and can be misinterpreted by people who you were not intending to upset. It also sends a dreadful signal to other teams and their fans and potential new recruits. In other words, nothing good will come of it but it may well demoralise players and impair future performances. Every Villa fan was sickened and frustrated at the end of the game, but let's be honest, booing is really about people getting their frustration off their chest rather than trying to do something constructive. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Badger you are either missing my point or avaoiding it. We were in with a good shout of top 4 back then also in fact i would say we were playing better then we were last Jan) and he could have signed Defoe and Diarra for under 15m. And who does he bring in? Routledge. Where is the intelligence and ambition in that move please tell me? Last Jan we could have gone for Palacious but who did we bring in? Heskey. Again lack of intelligence and ambition shown. Palacious was top class again today. Chances were Barry was always going to leave this summer so why did MON not go for him? Also we did need a top CM back Jan also as that has been a major weakness of Villa's for years now. He keeps missing the talent? Why? Because they are now English? |
superspurs
said:
|
... hahaha take it as u lot have nothing to say u all agree spurs have a much better squad |
Steve Jones
said:
|
... By the way Damian,I live in the States now and miss the "crack" regarding football and being on the Holte.So I mainly keep up with all that on the internet and friends still in Blighty.Your Blog,to me,is by far the best and I appreciate you giving me an outlet(although I have only commented on happenings a couple of times).We as Aston Villa fans have and probably always will need patience whatever the outcome of the "situation"we find ourselves in.Remember AVFC is bigger than even John Carew. |
Alan B
said:
 |
... Morning - sorry but not had time to read all the comments so I'll be quick 1) we will stay 442 - MON will do it his way 2) No big signings ( maybe a couple of small ones ) as I believe we don't have that much money so maybe it's not all O'neills fault. 3) Anyway after sat who of the BIG signings would want to come anyway ??? Just food for thought Anyway off to work - have a good evening |
flash
said:
 |
... We were struggling towards the end of last season, really struggling and it was obvious that we needed to get some quality in but we've actually gone backwards and we have a weaker squad now than we had at the end of the season! I've always been a big fan of MON but he and RL have two weeks left to define our season. |
ak_27
said:
|
... r0bb0 if the fans didn't boo tell me how the club would know that a fair number of the fans are unhappy with the lack of ambition and direction the club is going in? |
Le Shava
said:
 |
... Not being funny, but i warned you months ago about everything you lot are now complaining about. - Performing above yourselves last season - Spurs and City pushing on, making it almost impossible for you lot to even challenge for 4th again. - The quality of your squad being well below par, with no worldclass players like Modric, Adebyor, Defoe, Tevez, Arteta, or Pienaar. (Although Carew is worldclass on his day and just needs a run in the team) - Tactically you have no plan B. Your manager only knows how to play one way. (Previously a problem of ours) - Fans that boo their team at halftime if they are losing. Not gonna boost any confidence is it. (I know from experience, remember the Eboue saga?) The thing is, when i highlighted these faults i was shot down time after time. Im just saying it how it is. You need serious investment or a tactical overhaul. |
Peter Dragoonis
said:
|
... ak_27 Robbo has already told us that. we can all write to Randy Lerner and MON. Im sure they will both sit down and read our letters. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Le Shava nothing is impossible but our current path is in my opinion completely out of date. How can you think you will compete with the top clubs in the world by confining ourself to 2nd rate English footballers? MON is still stuck back in 1997 managing Leicester. The game has moved on a lot but MON has not. Until we learn how to pass and keep ball( which comes directly from the managers coaching and over all philosphy) we will be stuck in our usual medirocity. And by the way Spurs showed us don't need 5 in midfield if you have a team that are comfortable and confident to get on the ball. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... AVFC. There's no need for the sarcasm. If Lerner and MoN receive a load of letters or emails then yes...you will get your message across. Anyone in business has to listen to their customers and don't imagine for one second that Aston Villa is any different. Boo, and you will make it less likely that the team you profess to support will succeed. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... ak_27, Badger you are either missing my point or avaoiding it. I'm not trying to avoid the point at all mate. I want us to sign the best players too. f**k, I want Gerrard and would pay £100 mill for him. But it doesn't work like that. There are constraints, that's been made plainly obvious by RL and MON. God, I'm falling into Damian's trap now, as he's always bitching about a lack of ambition purely because of money. RL isn't going to pile money in and we have to understand that. I don't know the exact constraints MON is working under, but it's definitely not a case of "just throw money at it". MON knows a decent player who can do a certain job and anyone who says he doesn't is just a fool, imo. He has a plan, I'm convinced. Us fans just need to believe it a little bit. And no, it's not blind ignorance. It's seeing past my nose. |
James Clift
said:
|
... R0bb0, I wasn't one of them that booed simply because I was that sick of watching the game I went back to the pub with 20 minutes left. Everyone is entitled to there opinion though and while I respect yours I would also expect the same in return. There was thousands of people booing in pure frustration at losing at home to Wigan. These people expect better and these expectations have been bought on by Lerner & O'neill. The 5 year plan etc etc. Doing something constructive like emailing or writing to either of them sounds good in principle but in reality they would probably never read them personally and would be a complete waste of time. Football fans all over the country boo there team when they let them down, its a way of venting your anger and I really don't see how its such a problem. This is something that we really don't agree on but we shouldn't make an issue of it as having different opinions is what football's all about and is also why we love the game as much as we do. |
ak_27
said:
|
... Badger im talking about the top top players. Im talking about the next level of player like Palicous and especially Diarra that would come to the club. Diarra was £5m. Naerly what we paid for Shorey and Knight and they are miles away from his quality. If we don't have the ambition to pay that and wages for quality players like that then seriously how can we really hope to compete? If we do have budget constraints then is MON who is only interested in paying big money for 2nd rate English players really the way forward? Surely then a maanger who can find quality on the cheap world wide is the way forward? How much did that entire Wigan midfield cost the last day? Even beyond the transfers there is an underlying flaw with MON and that is the lack of comfort on the ball his teams have. Put it like this. I have no doubt you put Martinez in charge of the same players MON has right now and he would get better results out of them. We certainly would not have given an away team 58% possesion at VP under his management. |
HT Sweden
said:
 |
... RumouRs says Figo,Vieira and Nedved are on Svens Notts Co radar-i say bring them to Villa Park. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... ak_27, I'm leaving it now. I feel totally ground down with all the negativity. I'm going to watch the "full Monty" and contemplate. I'm as depressed as much as some of you mugs now, but will be back tomorrow |
HT Sweden
said:
|
... Explain Mons logic having REO as acaptain in the peace-cup, and stepping him aside against Wigan? Why? |
faangler
said:
|
...Explain Mons logic having REO as acaptain in the peace-cup, and stepping him aside against Wigan? Why? Sack MON - Appoint REO |
Rich
said:
|
... Can't believe there's people on here discussing MON's successor. Well over the top. Did believe that we only needed another CB and an absolute top class midfielder this window. That was before Saturdays eye opener. Having spent the summer defending Shorey I have been convinced (and admit I was wrong) that a LB is also required. Also as people have mentioned, a natural scorer. These next two weeks are going to be huge as people are beginning to turn. Don't need to bang on but Laursen and GB have not been replaced. A worrying thought. Should a team require 3 points to stay up, where would they rather go; Villa Park or The Brittania Stadium. If people agree with me that the answer would undoubtedly be VP at the moment then this is a serious inditement on our aspirations this season. |
Jinksy
said:
|
... Explain Mons logic having REO as acaptain in the peace-cup, and stepping him aside against Wigan? Why? Sack MON - Appoint REO BECAUSE REO _ CKER IS SHIT THATS WHY are you bind? |
Jinksy
said:
|
... Explain Mons logic having REO as acaptain in the peace-cup, and stepping him aside against Wigan? Why? Sack MON - Appoint REO
|
coxy01
said:
 |
... we havent got world class players but that doesnt mean we are not a world class team at times and spurs did play ok 2day but its just lady luck like there neighbours |
Jinksy
said:
|
... faangler - Have you been living on another planet for the past 2 years? Reo-Coker has been a joke, waste of money, rubbish...come back down to earth man. |
Rich
said:
|
... Spurs fans. I'll advise you to remember how shit you were at the start of last season and how quickly things can turn. |
VillaDude
said:
|
... People who say the fans over the top on the booing, talking about a mon replacement, his inept tactics and transfer window failing. Please remember... He has had 6 transfer windows to sort the defence out we have won 2 of our last 17 league games we were dominated by Wigan at home - a club with a far smaller team valuation! |
coxy01
said:
|
... rich i totally agree wih your comments aswel because mon is the best thing 2 happen 2 villa and these so called villa fans just havent got a clue they would prefer us 2 buy shevcenko and other foriegn shit because fifa 09 has them as a good player |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...re=popular MON better be working his ass of to get this guy! we need him... |
Jinksy
said:
|
... coxy01 - Best thing to happen????? BOLLOX.... So called Villa fans?????? Bollox.....What the F has Shevcenko got to do with it???? We want a game plan, a squad big enough to compete, Tactics, A plan B , C, Fing D, Not excuses, saying the team looked tied after 1 fing game. So called Villa fans that care & are not binded by this elusion that MON is some special thing given by the God Learner. Lets get this right, MON has won f all in English football apart from the league cup, he has got Villa 6th David O'leary did that. Learner has invested our clubs money not his own money on the Stadium, training ground & a pub. Why? to turn his £64m investment into a £300m investment. He brought a tenner for a fiver but is no different from Ellis. Don't slate us paying supporters for giving a shit. We are there home and away, Were there before MON & Learner & will be there after. You are a sheep. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Jimbo, I do respect your opinions and agree with many of them. I'm not criticising you for wanting to let MoN know how angry you felt, just the way you and thousands of others chose to do it. Even if MoN and Lerner do not see all letters marked personally for them I would be very suprised if the contents are not brought to their attention. It takes more of an effort to write a letter or email than just to boo, but you can get across exactly how you want things to change and you know that it can't be misconstrued by people you weren't targetting it at. |
coxy01
said:
|
... jinksey u talk the biggest bollox ive ever heard we have got a good squad now apart from2 cb and a midfielder which will be seen 2 before september and who will come 2 villa and attract players that mon cant and i follow villa home away europe and anywhere else they may be so i think i have a valid point because i can see what is happening at the club unlike some and why would wesley come 2 a club like villa he wouldnt in a million years im not the shep here i think u are as mon will make villa a real force |
TheColonel
said:
 |
... I know what im about to say is controversial but to be honest it a view which i think is right. I feel alot of the big teams in the league have foreign managers that seem to have the edge over the english ones. You only have to look at how Wenger and Mourinho transformed their teams. Aswell as Rafa benitez taking liverpool to 2 champions league finals. Then you have Martin Jol who did great things with spurs and now Martinez who looks to be a special kind of manager. But aswell as their managerial skills its the players they look to buy that really makes the big difference. That brings me onto Martin O'neill. now i feel he had been great for us, and has taken us back to the top half of the league where we belong. We have also qualified for europe two years on the bounce which is excelent. So as far as sacking him i think that it is a harsh. however saying that Oneill is the kind of manager that can nver take us to an even higher level. The main reason for this is his transfer policy and i have been going on about it since he first arrived. i just dont know why it has taken everyone else till now to realise it. ive been saying since the beginning that his transfers are useless but he is a great manager so he will still succeeed. And so far that has been true but his failure to buy quality means we will never do better than 4th and even that will be a big stretch. You see other teams show ambition by signing players like fellani, palacios, modric, hangeland and other foreigners who are usually in most cases a much cheaper alternative. however martin oneill only wants to buy english and even then most of the players are from inferior teams and often inferior leagues. how can we ever challenge the big boys with signings like these especially when other teams are signing big name players. That is why i think to progress to the next level we need a foreign manager.how many succesful english managers do you see in other leagues? none. but even the england manager is a foreigner and look at the great things he has done. Now i know mon is british but he has that old school mentality which quite frankly is ruining us. We need a foreigner that has big ambitions, will most likely try and buy skillful players to the club and big names. if for example we got Paulo Bento from sporting lisboa. he would likely bring moutinho and veloso plus all the other good portuguese players over. then he would most likely know the spanish and italian markets and get the top quality from those leagues. plus the scouting would be so vastly improved that we would likely be picking up the best players from all other leagues in europe and possibly other continents and lets face it, the size of villa can attract most players in the world, except maybe the biggest names that are already established. and with a young foreign manager you know their ambition to do well is there and and to play good football. That is why in order to progress i feel a foreigner is the only way forward. i look forward to your comments!!!! |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Jinksy...you say Reo is shit...and if you can't see it then you're blind. If you've read through the comments over the last couple of days you'll see dozens of people on here who don't agree with you. Are they all blind, or should you try opening your eyes to the good things he does rather than just seeing the missed passes that everyone agrees he's guilty of. It's fair enough for you to be crtitical of his shortcomings, but saying he's shit really is overstating it. |
coxy01
said:
|
... colonel i agree with ur comments but mon plays safe and he buys players that he knows quite well and there not always the best signingbut do make an impact but with some of the foreign players coming in i feel that are either flops or superstars an mon will not take that risk and harewood was a great player 2 come off the bench he was immense at that and reo is a good player who has been played out of position |
coxy01
said:
|
... robbo his just p***k tbh who feels he is the greatest villa fan because he wants us 2 buy superstars and ak who will be a manager who can do a better job than mon who villa could attract |
ak_27
said:
|
... coxy01 ive said it many times just look at my comments. Martinez for starters. You don't need superstars but you do need a manager to have the right tactics and up to date philoshpy and transfer policy to have nay hope. MON has none of he above. But coxy to put the words Harewood and immense in the same sentense really shows your lack of knowledge to be honest. |
MartinOneillatemyhamster
said:
 |
... Im so glad I was too drunk to remember most of yesterdays match, but what I cant forget is Mr Oneill's im f**ked look in the post match interview. The transfer window is still open so he still has time to fill the obvious to all holes in our squad.Why we sold Knight for all his limitations i will never know and buying Heskey was the biggest mistake MON has made thus far. But as always people on here need to lighten up or stop drinking or taking so much drugs. it's only one game!! Faangler aka toxytag aka Tagler and Tom p aka VDV aka Mr Villa go and play with the traffic you complete and utter c**ts. Onwards and upwards from here I hope. |
coxy01
said:
|
... harewood against liverpool over headkick was immense goals against reading andderby were immense and martinez has had 1 good game he didnt set swansea alive has they didnt get promotion |
Graymo
said:
|
... I think the fans should decide who we sign. Email all the season ticket holders asking them who their top ten realistic targets are. Add up all the totals and go for the most popular 5 choices. If we fail to land these then MON can step in and buy his crap. I think the fans have been right about most of the signings so far. I mean how many people thought Heskey was going to be a good buy. |
James
said:
|
... What about Salifou? He was a risk, and O'Neill gets castigated for him all the time. He can't win. We know that he doesn't want to waste millions of Lerner's money on unproven foreign talent, and I don't think Lerner will want him to do that either. Yes it's the safe option, but I don't think we have the money to take the risk. I don't think he's adverse to buying foreign, but he sees an English core, an English team spirit as the alternative to money to break the top 4. I don't see what's wrong with that. Don't forget, a lot of our English players are still very young and still need support. Juan Pablo wrote a blog on the OS this week, he mentions that O'Neill has bought us an identity. That's priceless. We're not just another club in the Premiership like we were with O'Leary and it's not the time to start considering other managers. It's unhealthy, give them time! http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/Blo...91,00.html |
coxy01
said:
|
... why dont we support heskey he does a decent job and we knew he was go 2 scoe bagfulls but he puts in 110% so just give him a chance |
r0bb0
said:
|
... coxy, I find ak27 a bit too 'glass half empty' a lot of the time but I think he may be proved right with Martinez. |
Graymo
said:
|
... MON wastes far too much money on shit players.The joke is that he seems to buy shit players thinking he can make them good. You cant exactly call this a risk free strategy. He gambles for all the wrong reasons. Instead of splashing out on a wonder kid that might turn out to be a star, he gables on utter shyte hoping they will come good. I know which one I would rather. |
vdv
said:
|
... mon has lost it. if he new what he was doing he would have replaced martin and gareth by now. im not confident he will replace barry but martin larsy i think he will. if we dont replace barry we r f**ked. it has to be vdv who would only cost around 8 mil or kranjar. we also need a lb and a striker if not martin jol in charge please. i exspect 2 in by liverpool. vdv and upson and then deadline day warnock, tuncay and distin. if so we will be fine. come on mon we will take r stick back if u get these players. |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... Robbo, spot on! Reo was brilliant throughout the Peace Cup. His ball control and composure was fantastic, even his passing has got better. Above all, his presence on the pitch was massive. He kept the players in line and was the sort of leader Villa need now more than ever. Reo Coker for captain imo. Jinksy obviously didnt pay attention to the Peace Cup, Reo was immense! UTV! |
Jinksy
said:
|
... coxy01 - I hope it's not me you are calling a p***k??? You keep mentioning players names again i hope yopu are not refering to me because i've not mentioned names or mentioned sinings. I talked about tactics, a plan b if plan a isn't working, playing players in their rightfull position, having a clue what to do? A part from loving MON you have no point you can't argue it because you don't understand why you think MON is so great. He hasn't done anything to warrant being Lorded by you but you Lord him all the same. You then call people that have a clue p***ks??? I don't get it. You say we have a great squad? What 2 CB's 1 fit pub playing left back., i fit rubbish right back from Newcastle, The worst midfield in the history of our great club, 1 decent striker that the manager doesn't pick. Yes we have some good players but a rubbish squad and that is a fact. Our best 2 players have gone & have not been replaced. The manager is clueless. On Saturady when it was clear to anyone who understands Football we needed morew Midfielders because Wigan's 5 was all over our 2. What dis he do? He brought Sidwell on for Delph & it wsa still 5 against 2. The bloke is a genius. Then he brings a Winger on for Englands best winger against Holland & put him at right back....give the nman a medal that is genius. mate what i want is proof, show me where MON has done great, show me what Learner has done that has moved Villa forward in the last 3 years? Don't call me a p***k that is not going to win any argument. Show me tell me i'm waiting? |
coxy01
said:
|
... dv go and support ajax if u want jol mon is one of the best managers in world football and theres only a few o us that realise it i think that many fans have our expectations far 2 high we will not sign big plyers so get over it !! |
Freelancelot
said:
 |
... Well, I've just watched the whole game again and it makes me feel a whole lot better than the torrent of gormless garbage that's poured out all over this blog in the last day. With a few honourable exceptions all I've read is people using what they saw yesterday to back up what they've already decided. Of course their explanations are all different because they're opinions and not facts - too many commenters here can't tell the difference between the two. We weren't good enough for most of the game yesterday - that's obvious. There were good things too, and some things that weren't as bad (particularly on second viewing) as they appeared at the time. We made chances; some players played better than they're being given credit for; there are things that need fixing but these are more than doable. Whatever the details, anyone would think we're in a crisis. It's true that there are now only 111 points and 3 cups to play for - it's tough, but we'll just have to swallow that ... It was really disappointing but there doesn't have to be a long list of scapegoats. I won't even criticise the boo-boys too much. They're entitled to do what they want; they'll always be in the minority; like people who vote for extreme parties, they're a fact of life. We just have to make sure that they don't take over the conversation. The only thing I'd ask is for more of the quiet majority of Villa fans to get on this blog and provide a bit more perspective. So if you're reading this and you don't agree with the negativity, let's hear from you. |
Jinksy
said:
|
... r0bb0 - If they think Reo-Coker is the answer to our problems the yes they are blind. The bloke is one of the worst players i have ever seen in a Villa shirt. He is a David Hunt remember him it's not rhyming slang, a nigel Calaghan, a Bosko balaban rolled into 1 . Can't pass. Can't tackel, can't shoot, what does he do? he's rubbish even the tactical genius MON see's it & thats why he can't get in the team... he's crap. |
Graymo
said:
|
... lol, I think thats the problem mate. The majority of fans are starting to get seriously fed up and voice their concerns. |
coxy01
said:
|
... beye = 2million good signing i like the part were u say we have the worst midfield in villa history ok then mate sure with young milner downing delph sidwell reo coker petrov thats not what i call bad and davies was a quality defender with laursen next 2 him and thats all he needs next 2 him a big commanding defender like dunne/distin and in my dreams hangeland i think that gabby needs 2 be given more of the ball and the fonz will come good this season and marc and bannan will get there chance and if u have any clue about the villa youth u will know that clark is one of the best young defenders coming through in the whole league so i feel that has settled the arguement with our squad and mon is a man that knows his football better than me and you so saying he has no plan B is harsh as i feel he does when ur squad is fully fit |
Aaron Wilson
said:
|
... Jinksy, "The bloke is one of the worst players i have ever seen in a Villa shirt." Maybe because every time hes played its been out of position!!! |
Jinksy
said:
|
... coxy01 - One of the best managers in the world??? Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa again you make yourself look like the fool you are. Don't make staements give us the facts. I know i'll play your game... Robby Savage is without doubt the best looking footballer that has ever lived. It must be true because i say it is. He's Georgous. haaaaaaaaa What has he done EVER to be the best manager in the world? Won the League Cup with Leicester twice? Oh of course he must be then. |
Jinksy
said:
|
... Aero-4-Villa - No when he 1st came he played central midfiels & was shocking & has been ever since. |
coxy01
said:
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... nigel gives us energy and fight alot like delph but i agree he cant shoot and he hasnt a bag full of tricks but he can pass a ball for sure and why dont u just f**k off and support citeh if u want big signing f**king support the villa and stop critisicing |
Jinksy
said:
|
... coxy01 - The fonz will come good? again no facts just speculation. Beye - Is a pub player like Shorey. where was the plan B on Saturday? against Fulham last season? Middlesbrough? Liverpool at nafiels? i could go on.. If plane a works fine if it doesn't he reverts to plan f**king A with different players & players out of position but within plan A. He is clueless. |
coxy01
said:
|
... jinksy he made leicester a premier league club stable and won them cups he went 2 celtic and his record speaks 4 himself and at villa we have had 2 top6 finishes and almst cracked the top4 with not unlimited funds like chelsea and man utd and before that liverpool spend big you are a f**king c**t tbh |
Graymo
said:
|
... MON becomes Manager of Man City: Owner: So.. Martin, Glad to have you with us. I’m sure you’re aware of our ambition at this club and we know you’re the man to take us forward. MON: Yes, in fact I’ve already got my eye on a few players. My number one target is Heskey. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to get Villa to sell; it won’t be easy mind. Owner: Martin….. that’s strange, I thought you said Heskey. MON: Yes? Owner: Martin….(awkward pause)… close the door on the way out would you. You just know it would happen. |
Jinksy
said:
|
... coxy01 - I knew you wre going to start insulting. Why?Because you've lost the argument you muppet. Home and Away i'm there so don't question my support. I'm just not a sheep like you deluded & brainwashed in the Church of MON. |
coxy01
said:
|
... no no10 i just state my opition and reo is a squad player and a f**king good 1 at that and i think that mon a quality amazing everyword that is good comes 2 mind but all the greedy vlla fans want more and more get real for f**k sake |
coxy01
said:
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... im there home and away u idiot and how have u won the arguement im pretty sure i did as i stated y mon is a great manager and please me who would be the replacement then please i will look forward 2 who u choose |
pete
said:
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... dont know the answer to that coxy01,but i would hope they would know a bit more about football than mon |
coxy01
said:
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... ok then im the 1 that hasnt got a clue so no10 if u was lerner u would sack mon???? and bring in .... yh ok your a great fan please just go 2 sleep and never come back on this page u moron and graymo are u on this planet |
Goldie 7
said:
 |
... It's not looking to good for us at all well be bottom with 2 games 2 losses! We won't win at anfield on the back of their loss they will be wanting to show the other sky 3 they still mean business i'm fearing the worse? Yesterday was so weak and pathetic i witnessed it from r'block to be far to wigan the scoreline flattered us it should have been more like 0-4. I'm going to be bold and give my prediction a week early 3-0 loss Our whole training and coach setup needs to be fired because it's not working something drastic needs to happen. Gabby is a bag of shit very harsh but all very true send him on loan and get kevin davies in i know that was random? He's had to many minutes on the pitch with little success! Ashley Young isn't world class he's far from it on wednesdays/saturdays performances overated springs to mind! People who think he's the best are crazy get in lennon and bentley + cash for him! I'm deadly seriously but of course it never will happen.. |
coxy01
said:
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... no10 i think jinksy may even agree with me that u are the biggest armchair fan at the villa ever |
Graymo
said:
|
... I'm sorry but we need a manager that shops in Harrods, not f**king car boot sales. He needs to get himself some ambition. |
coxy01
said:
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... graymo u think im a happy villa fan we have brought shit this widow compared 2 what we was promised and what we have lost but me coming on here moaning and that gets us nowhere mon is our manager and i will 100% back him along with lerner and no10 is the biggest waste of space ever |
Graymo
said:
|
... yea but you're allowed to be a passionate fan and let it all out from time to time. If everyone just sat back and pretended everything was fine then that wouldnt be great either. I don't really believe that mon should get the sack now but if things are bad at xmas I will be all for it. He's wasted too much money on poor signings. It will be sad to see him go but like all relationships that get stale, sometimes its just best to part company. Anyway, here's hoping for a good couple of months. |
coxy01
said:
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... graymo u do talk sense tbh i apoloise for earlier and it pisses me off ppl like jinksy and no10 arguing with nothing behind them |
Graymo
said:
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... yea well i'm sure they're just a bit pissed off at the moment like the rest of us. Right I'm off. Take it easy. |
Goldie 7
said:
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...Superspurs Who could disagree you guys have a solid midfield very good forwards the only thing that a bit dodgy is the defence? I've always said 'arry is a better manager than mon i believe that look how spurs were before arry came a laughing joke now they've made progress we haven't |
coxy01
said:
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... spurs =8th this season villa =6th this season arry = big echo not good mon = quality |
Steve Jones
said:
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... I hope you are right coxy,but am afraid that the game is passing our manager by.I would love me to be wrong though |
Rodin
said:
 |
... Initial thoughts: Continued the dreadful form we should post February, this is v worrying. I came on here and said all summer we will miss Barry and last season whenever he played poorly so did Villa. he was our heart beat and the only player with intelligence in keeping possession - he needs replacing. Carew is the only player that looks like scoring for us and Ashley the only likely person to create something. That in itself is worrying. Defending: Dont think anyone has picked up on this but i genuinely think we struggle because we play petrov as a holding midfielder (before you start saying he was our best player last season, well we still conceded too many goals). The guy never has or will be a tackling midfielder which is what you need in his role. Too many times we get cut apart through midfield leaving our defence exposed.NRC cant pass but with his pace, drive and tackling ability he would improve us. Any coincidence in preseason we looked better when Petrov was injured and NRC took over? Secondly I thought Delph did all you could expect a 19yr making his debut in the premiership in centre mid. Not only that but he seemed to be expected to dictate the game and was soo important he even took corners. Frankly with the team playing so badly, i say well done fabian for a decent shift and you will be top class in the future. Shorey cannot defend and is limited going forward and needs to be replaced, as does Davis who just looks out of his depth. Cuellar for 80 mins was our best player and won most his headers and with a decent partner will be a class act. Midfield. Delph and Petrov as above. Milner just isnt good enough, he runs all day but offers no creativity and lacks the pace required. Young - our only threat but is consistently double/treble marked. I also sense that AY knows it is down to him to create and hence tries too much. He also needs to stop moaning/diving anf get on with it. However he is our key player and without him we really are screwed. Strikers Heskey - doesnt cut it. Gabby - other than pace has nothing to his game Carew - should start every game, we also should have bought Darren Bent. The problem villa has, is that unless we are away from home counter attacking, we cant cause teams problems as they sit deep and long balls dont work. The fact MoN reckons that despite looking toothless for 90 mins, we are an attacking threat and despite only winning about 8 home games last yr, he doesnt think we need improving going forward. I am BLOODY worried. We need to buy: centre half to play with cuellar, a left back to replace shorey. A right winger with technique and ability to keep the ball (for me take Bentley for 8mill, yes he is p***k, but he would be good for us) A centre mid who can be our playmaker (we dont have one since barry left and one needs to be brought in, this is the key signing and MoN should break the bank and bring in a foreign name, not some average English player he thinks he can improve) Striker to play with Carew. I was genuinely optimistic before todays game, however since January 2009, Aston Villa FC has been worked out by opponents as to how to stop us scoring. We are also very easy to cut right through the middle of (looking at centre mid and defence here). I doubt Wigan will have an easier away game all season, I also worry that Villa Park is becoming the least intimidating ground to come to. There is no fear factor at all, all clubs need to do is double mark AY, sit deep against us and hit us on the break. That is f##king easy to do. Alot of work needs to be done or we are staring at mid table. F##k im depressed, oh and one last thing Guzan needs to start Took the words right out of my mouth,jonnycarew.Exactly what i think,from start to finish.The best post i've ever read by a fellow villan. |
dan price
said:
|
... your right steve it is... results with 451? results with 442? reuslts with heskey? results with carew? Stevie wonder could see what we need to do, but Martin the magnificent cant... He is scared to buy in quality that he cant control. |
Rodin
said:
|
... I dont really think we have come on too far since o'leary he was 6th 10th and 16th with no money to play with and mon has been 11th and 6th twice will lots of money so has not proven to be any better. Yeah,totally agree.Also,i reckon that after our display against wigan ,we sh'd be favorites to go down ,apart from the newly promoted teams.This season's derby against bcfc should be exciting ,with two equally shitty teams playing each other! |
KeithC
said:
 |
... Rodin: I disagree with you on Milner's performance- I don't recall Petrov and Delph looking to him often enough. Far too frequently they passed the ball out to Ashley, who would promptly get triple-marked, with Gabby and Heskey too frequently standing next to each other in the box rather than going to Ash and showing for a short pass or a one-two. When Milner did get the ball in attack, I thought he looked more like creating something than Young did. As far as central midfield goes, Petrov played some very intelligent balls (even if he was looking left a little too much. . . in fact, some of his passes up to Ash looked like passes that Barry would make), and would probably do much better with Reo-Coker next to him than a kid making his debut in the Prem. Delph at times looked composed, but not enough to warrant 60 minutes. Also, while Gabby was anonymous, I'm willing to let that go because it seemed he and Heskey were moving to the same space multiple times, something that may not have occurred had Gabby not been deemed good enough to be part of the England U21s for preseason. I know Milner had the same absence, but he also technically has no partners up on the wings. At the end of the day, it's one game. It's harder to take than a midseason loss, because this was the first we saw of the full squad in a game that counts, but I'd reckon the loss will galvanize the side and manager. Also, it could be a lot worse. Villa could have taken a hiding like Everton did. |
Richard Walker
said:
 |
... I think disappointment is natural: a witch-hunt against Martin O'Neill is not. He is not somebody to lose lightly; yet, also, he needs to improve results quickly. If we are in a relegation position after 6 games, then *at that point* we should start thinking about a new manager. But remember this: his inability to break into the Top 4 was predominantly down to available funds. Many of you assume the money is there - it patently isn't. Or is only in a limited quantity. We need to understand the limitations O'Neill is working under. And *get behind the team*. We are supporters through thick and thin, aren't we? Give them some support. Also: players like Davies and Agbonlahor *are* affected by booing - theor fragile confidence gets knocked. It is counter-productive and doesn't get anyone anywhere. |
Dubai Dave
said:
 |
... We've lost the 1st game of the season and now we want MONs head? I think the best for Aston Villa Football Club is fans to demonstrate a bit of fortitude and comnposure, a bit of class: get behind the players, and be the twelth man. i can't see how boos and insults are going to help. At the end of the season we can sit down and have a look at the teams performance, and then if it's time to let MON go elsewhere, so be it. |
Dubai Dave
said:
|
...players like Davies and Agbonlahor *are* affected by booing - theor fragile confidence gets knocked. It is counter-productive and doesn't get anyone anywhere. a bit of sense that's far from common on here , I agree 100% |
Andri I
said:
 |
... Team for next match should be: Guzan. Lb:Salifou Rb:Beye Cb: Cuellar Cb: Pub player Defensive ball winning midfielder: NRC Midfield: Sidwell and Petrov Attacking Wingers: L: Milner/Young R: Milner/Albrighton Striker: Carew I say Salifou because he just couldn't be worse than Shorey. It was way to much work put on Cuellar cleaning up after Shorey's mistakes last game. ..and for crying out loud. MON buy a defender!! Same bull **** about a small squad year after year. You have had way enough time to sort this out. Mon should maybe be sacked if this doesnt get any better very soon. Yes and Young maybe needs to be dropped so he can learn he is in a team. Gabby also needs to be dropped. Hasnt had a performance for a long time. Should be brought on as sub when Carew's body and the opposition defenders get tired. |
nigel
said:
|
... It's not just because we've lost one game, it's because we've won about two in the last 17! Not that i'm one of those calling for MON to be sacked. 451! |
Ronan Kenny
said:
 |
... Lads Wake up for fxck sake, whats the point in getting a new manager in when he will pretty much have the same shite budget MON is working with. Why else would we be signing Beye. Dunne will sign as soon as the lescott deal goes through, warnock and a serious midfielder and were in good shape. Jesus one game gone is a bit sharp to be calling for MON head. |
Michael panizza
said:
|
... The Black Pearl: with respect, I think anyone still using the same refrain of the last 3 seasons ("give MON time") is either living in a time warp or not observing what he's been up to so far. |
Ian
said:
|
... Hiw shrewd is Doug Ellis? Scoured the world and found someone who would make him look good! |
Graymo
said:
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... He has a shit budget cos hes already spent all the f**king money on shyte. Jesus..its not hard to understand. Thats why people are getting on his back. |
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. |
Halfwit
said:
 |
... We will never ever break top four under O Snail because of the players he buys they are not what you need to break into the champions league....If anyone thinks we can then ur totaly mad look at our squad compared to other i think even spurs and everton have a better squad than us if im honest everton cud sell lescott and still have a better team than us cause O Snail signs has been's or players that need a lot of work on them or children that are not even ready Get the bloody snail out im sick of his same old rubbish every season in the market and in press confrences |
Rodin
said:
|
...For those saying, "it could be worse, we could be everton fans this morning" - well im sorry i would rather be spanked by a classy Arsenal team who will do very well this season than a Wigan team that has lost its 3 best players and were down as a favourite for relegation. Also lets face it, we could easily have lost 3/4-0 ourselves anyway with the chances Wigan had. Couldn't have said it better.I know that a 6-1 defeat to any team should be embarrassing;however,in everton's case,they lost to arsenal - so it shouldn't be that bad.But as jonnycarew has said above,we lost to a weakened wigan side that is predicted to go down.In my eyes,our defeat over the weekend was far worse than that of everton's. |
Rodin
said:
|
... As for signing only English players,i think that is a big mistake.Reason being,most English players are shit;and so the English team performs abysmally international matches. |
Rodin
said:
|
...Where have all these Reo fans suddenly come from???? I'm one of reo-coker's biggest critics.However,i reckon we missed him dearly on Saturday,as the only thing he is good at is dispossessing the opposing player of the ball.And none of our players that played seemed to be able to do that. |
Rodin
said:
|
...e.g. Gregory bought in JPA. Who here believes that MON would have made that kind of signing JPA - one of the shittiest strikers to have ever played for our beloved villa,enough said! |
Rodin
said:
|
...I agree with the fact the tactics probably need to be changed, however yesterday it was nothing to do with tactics it was the 11 players on the pitch who could not be bothered to turn up against a very average wigan side the looked lazy and like they did not want to play (O'Neil also looked like he couldent be arsed) so 442 or 451 we would have been beat yesterday due to the fact that gabby cant meet a ball,milner is a headless chicken.young wants to take on the whole world fails then wants to fight them then whinge about it,davies and cueller want to become the next laurel and hardy,Heskey does not no where gabby is where he is himself and as for the fans dont they have the right to tell there players what they think of the performance I THINK SO! Another good post! |
Rodin
said:
|
...vogra said: Exactly,what i have been thinking to myself all these years.How were shitty clubs like bolton ,pompey,blackburn etc able to sign awesome foreign players,and we weren't?Our Villa is way better than the likes of the above mentioned clubs and ,having said that, we have got a bunch of shitty,talentless players who are overpriced and overrated. |
Rodin
said:
|
... Is today the day i have been waiting for or what?I've been saying for a freaking long time that most of our squad is worthless,even when we were on a roll in the first half of last season,and before.I'd get slated a lot on villa's message board on the official website for my opinions on our team back then for being "negative". I dont want to go into detail about how useless each and every player on our team is as i can now see that pretty much everybody on here is seeing what i could see coming back then.Even if we beat Rapid vienna,and Liverpool(highly unlikely) in the next games,i'd still be of the opinion that our squad is shitty,and pretty nearly the whole of the squad needs a radical change. |
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