Villastine

Well you’ll be glad to know that us genius scouts on VillaTalk said the same about Benteke, Clark, Delph, Cleverly, Downing, Bacuna, Hutton, Sanchez etc. I am not criticising us Villa fans for this, I’m just pointing out that you shouldn’t judge a player without them receiving a decent run of games in our first team. I do think Gardner has a chance of making if given game time. Ryan Mason was wrote off by Spurs fans a year ago and now has an England cap, he’s a year older than Gary so you’d never know.

I think we can do better than Guzan. On his good days he is a very good keeper but those days are few and far between now. I like to think he can rediscover that form but I would have much preferred if we could have signed Begovic. Spurs, Chelsea, Untied, Arsenal and City all have better keepers on their bench, in some cases two better keepers on their bench. I think Szczęsny would be a good signing for us!

From sky's transfer centre His star has waned a little in the last 2 years. Surplus to requirements at Roma and didn’t set the world alight during his loan spell at Milan this season. Obviously they have not taken up the option to sign him permanently. Roma are looking to get rid. Would be a bit of a gamble.

Way too early in pre-season for that. He had a pretty crap time at PNE last year before proving a revelation at Forrest in a defensive midfield role. This early part of pre-season tends to focus solely on building fitness. These are the games where you’d see a centre half rampaging up the pitch never mind the full backs. Usually not the most disciplined or tactical performances. And as a result usual not the setting for a DM to shine. When we get back and start working on our shape and tactics we will see if he’s given a chance as a DM and if he can take it.

Have no problem with him insisting on a £8million release clause to a Champions League Club. I’m sure there was a relegation release clause also. If he goes to Citeh good luck to him.

The Berson person was very decent. Best passer we had at the time by a mile. I remember him getting MOTM against Arsenal IIRC. Didn't suit us at all though in general. Definitely a waste of an opportunity. I put him alongside the man with the jumper as examples of good players who didn't fit in. We can only hope if Gueye arrives that he's more Benteke than Berson/Makoun/Djemba. We talking Mathieu Berson here?! There is no two ways about it he was not good enough. DOL gave up on him after half a season, think home sickness was the excuse. He never did anything in his career to suggest that getting rid of him was mistake. Probably just proved signing him was one.

I'd take Lucas as part of the deal.

Came through our academy and never failed to put honest effort into his performances. Has had highs and lows here but on balance has demonstrated that he is capable of performing at Premier League Level. He's still only 23! As with any of our academy players who put in the effort I wish him the best. If he is used correctly at Derby I think he will thrive in the Championship and will be back in the Premier League next season whether Derby are or not.

I fully agree with Buy out Clauses. They work perfectly in Spain. Players are not unsettled by media attention. The clause is there, the player or his agent have nothing to concern themselves with unless the clause is activated. I’m 100% sure Delph also has one in his contract.

Yeah Gil was training with a big smile on his face The only one I noticed missing was Given

Of course there’s going to be speculation. Can’t see how it would distract him, in fact, it should give him a further confidence boost. He was wrote off in the media earlier in the year. I’m not worried by it at all. We can all leave that for a day or two after we win the cup!

Strange situation for Tim now. Guzan should start next week but the cup final is surely Givens? I mean it would prob split the dressing room to take it off him now. Not enough to warrant it on today's performance.

Lost the No.1 spot on today's performance.

Gutted for Benji. Hope the club do the decent thing and extend his contract until he has recovered. Hopefully its nor a bad break. Tough on Libor too

No, but we'd like to win it, and we seem to be doing reasonably well so far without Gil. So he's frozen out then. Noone can say it's about safety because it's not. I don't know why but it's clear he's not in the plans of the manager. FFS, he is certainly not “frozen out”. He is training with the first team squad, however the NEW manager does not currently believe he merits a starting place. He has named him on the bench. He has seen that the manager is giving lads a chance on merit and knows if he puts the effort in in training (which I’m sure he is) he will get his chance. Only reason he made the bench was he ran out of players.. He even put a 16 year old out there. Maybe frozen out wasnt the best term. Let's go with out of favour. Wrong. He made the bench against Liverpool. We did not run out of players. I certainly think Gil has the talent to make it here and no one has said anything different. I cannot understand where you’re coming from. He’s 22, he’s not going to run away from a challenge after a few months. If he has the right attitude he will fight for his place and prove himself when he gets his chance. Thankfully there is no suggestion of anything otherwise. Unlike yourself he seems to have faith in himself to break into our first team!

No, but we'd like to win it, and we seem to be doing reasonably well so far without Gil. So he's frozen out then. Noone can say it's about safety because it's not. I don't know why but it's clear he's not in the plans of the manager. FFS, he is certainly not “frozen out”. He is training with the first team squad, however the NEW manager does not currently believe he merits a starting place. He has named him on the bench. He has seen that the manager is giving lads a chance on merit and knows if he puts the effort in in training (which I’m sure he is) he will get his chance.

Looks like Cleverly and Grealish will be the two 10's

Think he's still eligible for England U21s? Anyone think he has a chance if making the squad?

Another game on game improvement. Hopefully this continues. Need to beat Swansea with the fixtures that follow. Would be nice to put some day light between us and the bottom four.

[emoji7]

Great to see him getting a chance and in my opinion giving a very good account of himself. It was not a dive and he should not have been booked. I don't know how the ref thought it was worthy of a yellow. As for Yaocbs secound yellow, just crazy. Misses Sunderland now which is a massive game for us.

We need Grealish on for Zog

Another small (but significant) incremental improvement. We fully deserved the win. If we can continue to improve game on game we will be capable of pulling away from the drop zone. Great to see the lads “play on the front foot”. Fair play to Tim, they look rejuvenated. Hopefully we continue improving.

Encouraging performance from Jack. Good to see Tim putting faith in him. He was very positive on the ball and once he drifted to the wing was dangerous every time he got the ball. Had a good chance to score himself. He will be all the better for the experience.

-----------------Guzan------------------ --Hutton--Vlaar--Clark---Lowton-- -----------------Okore------------------ -----------Gil-----------Delph---------- Grealish----------------------Sinclair --------------Benteke-------------------