Robbie09

Were you at the game last night?

Agreed. And his second half performance was much better. Interesting to see that those who continual jump on his poor performances can't offer any praise when it's merited.

hmm i would not have wanted houghton, it is easy looking at it now, and houghton was treated like shit by newcastle, getting them to 9th intheir first season back up. i honestly think the decision to employ the current manager is down to faulkner, i think randy has given him the power MON once had, and he is **** it up even more. not looking at things from a football point of view, but looking at it in terms of black and white on paper, trying to get future money projections based on when we were top 6 and thinking that by selling players and turning over a profit on the players will equate to more money being generated. something a football person would not be silly enough to do, they would realise it is the whole package which is responsible for generating money, fans being kept excited, high profile activity ( in a positive way) players playing for their country ( gets other people supporting the club who may not have previously) under randy, he did the acorns thing, it soon stopped once faulkner came in, while that is not a stick to beat him with it seems to me to be a small part of the 'black and white on paper' that faulkner seems to be rigid on. if we can get rid of faulkner or have him as business manager and get someone in who actually knows something about football to make the player decisions/ contracts and so on, this club can start to move forwards. employing people with no knowledge of a specialist profession is not a very clever thing to do. Spot on. If we had a CEO with a better understanding of running a football club things would be a lot different. For me Faulkner is the root cause of alot of the issues at Villa Park.

I've seen every Villa game he's played bar one and i don't share your optimism. I agree he's been exceptional - at passing sideways or backwards. I've never rated him although I'm happily eat humble pie if i'm proven wrong. I can recommend a good optician though.

I wonder what the purpose of his visit was ? I was going to say that he visits quite regularly, I just don't bother reporting it any more. I think he comes over to show an interest in the business that he's not interested in :winkold: Thanks dude. I was hoping he'd flown in to sanction the odd deal or two or at least delay his return to take in the game tomorrow.

I wonder what the purpose of his visit was ?

Absolute drivel This team is easily capable of being sucked in I disagree. The team on PAPER is far too good to go down. Any team boasting a spine of Given, Dunne, Ireland, Bent should be too good to go down. I didn't say we wouldn't however - I just think at the moment it's unlikely. The manager is capable of making any team get sucked into it. But I don't think that will happen this year. But I'm worried very much if he's given another season. However, maybe your simple 'drivel' comment is so awe inspiringly well thought out that my argument holds no water...! This. Whether you agree or disagree with your opinion it is at least reasoned and balanced. FWIW i don't think we will go down but that's not an attempt to defend either the manager or the board. However I do feel the finger of blame should be pointed at the board and in particular at the current CEO.

Is that fact or hearsay?

This. Having suffered the same injury as him i can confirm it takes a bloody long time to recover from it. To write him off at 22 is premature.

It's a pity Fonz doesn't have the desire of Weimann or Weimann doesn't have the ability of Fonz. Sadly I don't think either of them are quite good enough to push on but I hope I'm wrong. Both better options than Emile though.......

Agree he had a torrid time at left back today but I'd like to see him at centre half instead of Collins.

This. Clark was run ragged by Kightly first half but never had a kick second half. Warnock's tackling, distribution and forward runs were a major plus second half.

I think what sums it up is we have possibly the worst manager in Aston Villa history and if he remains at the club he will take us down

Whilst I don't disagree with your point, I'd rather persevere with Delph than sign someone like Steven Davis who we have been linked with.

I'm still shocked people say this.. you'd think he has been here a full season playing each game that people have formed this opinion. Dzeko is just one example where i'm sure people said the same thing. He will not under this current team though as nobody can pass the ball forward currently in midfield (infact we'd be lucky to string a couple of passes in midfield let alone pass forward) so I don't blame him for wanting to move on if that's the case. Having watched all of Makoun's first team games for Villa, i still can't form an opinion about whether he is suited to the premier league. I couldn't question his ability, it's a question of whether he suits English football. Having said that I would've liked to seen him have a run in the team this season having had the benefit of a full pre season before writing him off or otherwise.

Spot on. It seems a lot of opinions are formed on hearsay and paper talk rather than recent performances on the pitch.

This. He's possibly the only player we have at present that has the ability to do something out of the ordinary. Yes he has been poor in the past but maybe some of that was down to how he was managed. Leaving City was a massive issue for him so maybe he's finally come to terms with that. I'm not excusing the poor start to his Villa career, but i don't think it is purely down to his attitude. At least when his name is on the team sheet I have some hope that we may see some creativity during the game. Sadly the same can't be said about the rest of his team mates under the current management and style of play.

Has he really got 8 fingers on one hand then?!!!!!

100% this. Downing was garbage in his first season due to his injury and not having a pre season behind him. His second season was a massive improvement due to having had the benefit of one. Whilst you can never be certain a player will come good, i think he'll get better given more time on the pitch.

Not everyone on this thread is slagging him off. Some posters have an objective and balanced view and point out his errors and also highlight his decent performances rather than just continually slagging him off. And my point is what is the relevance of you describing him as being a mommy's boy?

What relevance is your reference to him maybe being a mommy's boy? The point another poster made about his confidence being low is valid not your comments. Yesterday there were numerous fans around me on the terraces that were almost willing him to make a mistake so that they could give him grief, yet won't offer any credit when it's due. It seems Warnock is the whipping boy on here and will be no matter how well he performs.

Maybe you should attend more matches then because Dunne in particular has been very solid this year.

100% agree.

You've not watched the same games as me then! well maybe work rate isn't the right word, I'd say maybe desire. Anyway I hope he can start performing, we'll see! watch him closer, as ive said a few times on here when ireland looks out of the game it's not because he's not arsed, it's because there's nobody else on the pitch in our colours even remotely up to speed with him. he makes runs nobody sees, he picks up positions nobody else does, he never stops chasing the ball and he always tries to pick a pass nobody else is able to 100% agree. Maybe the inability of some of those around him has been a factor. If we had a Cowans type player who could spot the runs and make the killer pass then we would see a completely different Ireland.

Care to eat some humble pie? By the way I'm not blind or something, maybe I just recognise a decent footballer who when given a little encouragement along with a run in the team can come up with the goods.