Shoody

Im not convinced your a Villa Fan. However I would like to see more of it like you get with most others on this board.

I like our teams shape at the moment (the players dont quite fill it as a squad - the first 11 do kind of, but the squad doesnt). But I dont see why we are so Hesitant to alter it slightly depending on the game, The SS could easily be moved about to accomodate rotation into the team. Jose Mourinho always strictly teaches his clubs 2 main formations and makes them stick to it, usually using one for 95% of the time and another as a backup, rarely will he adjust from these 2 formations. I think we need something similar maybe 3/4 formations that practically keep the same shape and is easy to adjust from, 4-2-3-1 - Young/New Guy as an AMC or Second striker. --------------Keeper Fullback---Def---Def---Fullback ------------Mid---Mid Winger-------AMC-------Winger -------------Striker 4-2-1-2-1 - Bannan or Delph just infront of too Box-to-Box (rotating young out) or DM (for harder games) --------------Keeper Fullback---Def---Def---Fullback ------------Mid---Mid ----------------AM Winger-------------------Winger -------------Striker 4-1-2-2-1 (4-5-1) - Defensive Mid sweeping behind the midfield for hard games. --------------Keeper Fullback---Def---Def---Fullback ----------------DM ------------Mid---Mid Winger-------------------Winger -------------Striker 2nd one would be perfect for Bannan - especially for those that dont see him in the AMC role (personally i think thats where his future is) but not much diference between the first two really, would barely if at all change the shape would just mean there is a midfield 3 instead of 2 with a 3rd playing as a striker. Would give him 2 players behind him that are better defensively, and if they are experienced some players that can account for his mistakes (hes young, they'll happen). Would be good for him, cant personally see him in a midfield two (was same with Adam) he doesn't quite have the defensive capabilities and definitely doesnt have the height for it. In a Midfield 2, I think you really have to have the ability to be a Defensive midfielder (not a fantastic one, just the ability to put a great tackle in, be strong and also be able to pass)

One problem, I cant get Hamachi on my Mac as LogMeIn stopped developing the Mac version. I dont think you need to use Hamachi anymore, aslong as you can log in to your Router and open up ports 10093 and 10094 it should let people connect straight in without Hamachi, I dont mind hosting either I dont have the best mac in the world tbh ive only tried hostinga 1vs1 game so not sure how itd cope with more people.. but im willing, if Dvin has a gaming pc though thatd probs be the best choice

Opta Sports: Lets hope we dont rest him then.

Not really. Their other right back, Kyle Naughton can play both. Btw guys, Fullback's do play at other clubs as well as Tottenham, y'know.. just incase we'd forgotten.

Reckon we'll hit around 3,000. 2100 was of 10am this morning. Ive bought 3 since then and many of us even on here were rushing to meet the 1pm deadline, can easily see us making 3,000

also cant see many of their european games getting shown... do they go straight into group stage or do they go into qualifiers?

Best player EVER to play in the academy?

Why? Had a tough time of it or summit? Gives him a few weeks training with the squad getting up to speed without being in the middle of a game to settle in. He'd only been here about 3 weeks when he got sent off, not enough time to settle imo (neither is 6 but its better)

Same, Man City should be a write off really anyway, I think we can win it tbh as they will have to rest players with their fixture list and we're on a high. But i wouldn't be distraught if we lost it. Bolton I think we can win anyway aslong as we stop Sturridge from getting the ball (he might be in two minds about scoring vs us anyway ) then Makoun is back. Personally I think these are 2 games where Petrov, NRC (for Man City) and Delph, NRC (Bolton) might be better options anyway as MC needs a more defensive approach, which Makoun hasn't quite got for this league yet and Delph deserves a chance at Makouns role vs Bolton.

boy has GH got some contract signing to do in the summer. NRC, Young, Delph, Delfouneso

Bradley the defensive midfielder?

Weren't they incredibly close to financial meltdown? This could have really saved their shit little club. If they qualify for main Europa places they will have a lot of money (for them) to secure them

^ no.

I'll host one... anybody want to start one then? This thread is a bit slow should make it a bit busier. Premiership sides? abroad? what league shall we play in?

Yes please more songs that mention SHA. Exactly what we need more of.

Makoun must be rubbing off on him

A big cup game for us. Some may say we shouldn't be concentrating too much on the cups given we aren't yet safe in the Premiership, my own opinion is that a good cup run can give endless confidence to a team especially with yesterday's showing.. A 'shock' win vs City and a good performance and we'll be riding high for our upcoming games in the Premiership. Also, a game at Wembley can't do us any harm (Last season vs Man U not withstanding :winkold: ) If we can manage to win this and we are 90 minutes away (vs Everton or Reading) from Wembley again and something I personally believe to be very reachable. We have a few injuries keeping our defence pretty much locked-in. Cuellar is out for atleast another 3 weeks, Collins is also injured and possibly not back in contention for this game. I have not yet seen anything saying how long Baker is out for so he is also a doubt at the moment. Luke Young is also still a doubt as he made no appearance on the bench yesterday, even with a week in full training so may not yet be match fit. Leaving us with a fairly precarious position with possibly no left back. Meaning we are practically stuck with a defence of Walker, Dunne, Clark, Young/Baker (If fit) I think some of us will be tempted to move forwards with the team we played yesterday but personally I think we need a few changes, if only to keep people fresh for the arguably more important game next Saturday. I think this calls for a more defensive option to yesterday, I'd like to see the 2 centre midfielders playing a more defensive game, with a 3rd midfielder just in front of them who is more able at moving the ball forwards on the counter attack (the Quarterback if you will). Not 'In The hole' or Second Striker that we've been playing just behind the striker. I think that formation has it's merits and Young performed admirably there yesterday but putting Gabby or Albrighton on the wing in this game I fear will see them both looking lost and going missing in this game. For me, I'd go with ---------------Friedel Walker---Dunne---Clark---Young ------------NRC---Petrov ----------------Delph Downing--------------------Young ------------Heskey/Gabby? Walker and Downing looked superb coming forwards on the right hand side vs Blackburn they will be tested a lot more defensively this time round but we often see our wingers switching sides during a game to ensure we are getting the best mix so for me as long as these guys are on the wings they will adjust to suit the game. Some of Delph's passing vs Blackburn was sublime and putting him in the centre mid, taking the ball from Petrov (or NRC) and moving the ball forwards to the wings on the counter, I can see being our biggest threat in this match. Strongly believe we need to go into this with a strong defensive set-up and playing both NRC and Petrov more defensively worked last time round - even if we rode our luck at times. Who to put up front was the biggest problem for me, Heskey has been our best (non-cup tied) striker this season - which doesn't say a lot - so would be sensible to put him up top and allow him to hold up the ball and bring the wingers in to play up front. I can also see Gabby up there as he was clearly rested (great decision) against Blackburn and could see him up top also for incredibly speedy counter-attacks which Heskey's hold-up play may not be suitable for in this game. Either way I can see us nicking this and it would be a huge boost for the entire team. As long as we get a good performance, I don't mind too much what happens because they are a much stronger team, another performance like the last game at Eastlands and all the good 4 goals did us yesterday will be ruined. UTV! Que Sera Sera.

Me too, without doubt, aslong as we get in there soon and don't leave it too long as thats when players get to a point of only having 12-18 months left and get their heads turned by Chelsea, Man U etc and then command a relatively small fee.

This is exactly what I thought, really Blackburn would have thought they'd get the foul and then get back and reorganise but Downings positioning was good and a great decision by the referee to read the game as he did as Downing was still running on to the ball would not have been surprised to see the free kick given 9 times out of 10. When it came to it they did all they could in that move in the end, but once Downing had the ball it was always 3-0 either by Bent or Downing unless one of them messed up.

Agreed, we really shouldn't be singing about them but I get always get the feeling it catches on if a few youngsters start singing it, have been hearing Holte Enders In the Sky a lot more recently and the Holte were quite loud yesterday compared to other games I've been to this season, and tbf the 'Birmingham, are you listening' iirc was only sung rather quietly at the start of the game

I guess it smacks a bit of smalltime but as said above, most of the ground thought it was funny. It's light hearted banter. I would rather a humorous banner than us ripping their stands apart after games dont go our way.

Couldn't disagree more, was sat practically in line with him second half and atleast 3 or 4 times he really had to stretch out a leg to try and get hold of the ball, he quite simply could not get a first touch for some of those passes. Not dissing either player but I think if the pace of the passes was better we'd have been 3-0 up a lot sooner and been somehwere near 6-1

I thought he was good in his debut, showed his passing, made a silly tackle but it was his first 90 minutes in premier league football.

Definitely need to get him to sign up to a new contract, hopefully a 5 year deal in the summer would be ideal just before he starts putting in regular performances next season. Club needs to learn with contracts imo, hopefully we will get better but big or promising players coming within 18months of their contract that we dont want to lose (i.e Young) we should really try and re-sign with 2 years left of their contract. Even with player power players will still leave so long contracts are good for everybody, player can still leave cause realistically he still has the power, clubs get more money for their players (Carroll £35m), meaning clubs dont hate their players when they leave as much if they get big fee's in return.