RotaxMax125

A fine performance and fully deserved against woefull opposition on the day. Pires had a great game i.m.o. He was full of energy and displayed the excellent footballing brain he has. He deserved to stay on for the full 90 i.m.o and if he can continue that sort of performance he will be a very valuable member to the villa. I didn't think it was right to see bent chasing the ball on the wing which happened several times, he needs the ball fed to him in the centre. Gabby not playing was probably the cause of this. I think we could all see that it was pretty obvious in the first half that we were trying to walk the ball into the back of the net. Which is what we have been trying to do all season. Robinson was tested 3 times in 3 minutes just before half time when our players finally decided to start striking it. (lesson learned, hit the **** thing, you never know who it may bounce off and in) Great atmosphere in the Holte !!

Last time at Ewood, Morten Gamst Pederson was the danger man. At the moment he is not in form and if lessons were learned we should be able to deal with his long ball / free kicks etc. As long as we go out and attack the game right from the off we have a great chance of victory. They're not exactly world class opposition and there support is pretty lame. This will be my return to Villa Park after an unavoidable absence for a few months and so I am very excited about the game Cmon Villa !!!

Tesco's caffe, Yeah !!! although they forgot my side order of beans last time I was there ! lol You also get a nice view of the ground as it is upstairs. I would also reccomend getting off the train at Witton rather than Aston. Enjoy the game

United sometimes show weakness when they go a goal down in the first half. They key is to score early ! If we don't it is going to be hard work.

Maybe we should get Ireland in for this one. I am sure he would love the opprtunity to kick city in the teeth.

I think this quote from the Guardian match report may give a bit of an explanation I'd like to think the players were trying their best, but they don't really understand what Houllier wants them to do, and, tbf, it does seem fairly loopy to play Gabby on the left midfield/wing. I agree. With Gabby's blistering pace it has often been seen that he makes a break down the left wing and when he crosses the ball in to the box there is no one there in time to recieve it. Gab should be played as a centre forward i.m.o. At the moment his pace is not really paying off as much of an advantage for us.

This is very concerning now as all of our relegation rivals seem to be able to regularly drag points out of their games. We are not doing this. If we carry on much longer like this then we'll soon run out of time.

Why the f**K is this happening ? We have most of our 1st players back now and they have a lot of skill that they are not putting into the game. I am starting to get a bit pissed that the players may only care about playing for a manager they like and don't seem to care about playing for us THE FANS !!

Yeah. it was great to see the old Villa back again. The whole team had a can do attitude in that game. Every time we got knocked down by Chelsea we got back up again and kept going after them. Fantastic spirit from all and thats the attitude the team have to carry through with them from now on.

We'll win !

Although there is still a lot of work to be done to get us back to where we should be (as we did still conceed 3 goals) I think this could well be the turning point. More than anything it showed the players that they have it within them to fight back from set backs in the game and get a result. And hopefully this performance will stop this head dropping attitude we have suffered from going a goal down to our opponents in recent games. That game was like a Rocky film. The champions kept knocking us down, but we kept getting back up and fighting with heart and commitment to the final whistle. It was a fantastic game

Excellent Post Yes I agree that a change in management would be money better spent than on the current opportunities of the Jan transfer window. As you quite rightly said we have many players (back to full fitness now) of great qaulity. If their performance is being dragged down by the manager then the only option for Randy is to ask him to leave asap. I am in no way a fan of his but I firmly believe that Big Sam would keep us up if he was appointed. Because of his current circumstances I think he would be willing to agree to a short term contract with a big club such as Villa. As for the ground improvements, I am quite pleased that this has been called off for the moment. Sorting out the teams performance and our current situation should be the clubs finacial priority. The ground can come later I am positive that however bleak things seem at the moment that we will not end up relegated. It should only be a matter of time before our defensive issue is resolved. West Ham, Wolves, Wigan and even Blackpool concdeed a lot more than us, when their defence are playing 100% at their best. Up the Villa ! Happy New Year everyone !

Yes. there is most definatley a clear pattern now, that when we go a goal down before half time, the players heads drop and we lose the game. This suggesting that the manger is not motivating and installing the belief in the dressing room at half time, and that we can go out there and get back in the game. This has not happened once under Houllier, but many times under Martin. A quick example that comes to mind was when we played Middlesborogh away at the end of the 09 season (when on our bad run). We were awfull in the firs half after conceeding a very early goal. The players came out 2nd half a different side with pace, and accuracey. Carew finding an eqauliser and we almost found a winner late on. We also managed the same against Wolves in march when we were 2-1 down. We played badly that day, but still found an answer to grab a point. This part of managment is so critical i.m.o to the overall package of a good manager. If Houllier is not motivating the players to fight back, then is their much point in having him ?

For me, the worst part was how Bale just walked through 3 of our defenders to set up his man. Bale is an exceptional player, but 3 against 1 ! That was embarrassing and painful viewing

Hope it goes ahead. The best way to grab a consecutive win is to strike whilst the iron is still hot !

I think Gabby should at least start. We need some instant pace to start the game off with. Wigan are a team that rapidly lose confidence when under pressure.

For me he's no better than anything else we've got. I'd use him as a sub against Wigan, not sure he's fully up to 90 mins just yet anyway, he was out for sometime I think he should start if possible. If anything it will dampen out the issue of in-experience that we are having at the moment. This was most evident at the Liverpool game, as the mistakes that led to the us conceeding goals generally came from the youngsters. I think we will beat Wigan as long as we don't conceed a goal early. 2 -0 before half time and we are ****. I think this is the priority issue Mr Houllier needs to address. Our players seem to be losing interest as soon as we go behind and he needs to bring out a more positive attitude out of them for the second half.

On the point of Fitness, surley this i.m.o is the initial essential key to success in any form of sport. This has been demonstrated in many other sports. For example Michael Schumacher in Formula One. A majour part of his dominance over the competition over the years was because he was so fit. If players are becoming fatigued before the end of the 90 mins its not just their pace that will drop, it more importantly is their concentration. If Houllier believes this is still an issue for our players then it needs to be sorted now !

Think we may be looking at a draw for this one. Its always a tough place to go there, and they are desperate to get the ball roling on their campaign. should be a great game

Definatley want David Moye's. He is the only one out there on the same level as Martin. I don't think this will happen though. But he's the man i.m.o I think Kevin Mac will get the job. Only time will tell if he is the right man for the job. This maybe the case for the short term, but we need a big name to build on the sucess that the club has achieved in a the last 3 years under o'neil. I like Mark Hughes but i don't think he is the answer. He didn't exactly set the world alight at Blackburn or Man city.