Villastine

Did you even see the game? He was one of our best players! This. Also this.

Lamberts focus on honesty of effort is evident in the intensity of todays performance. Every player put in a shift which will soon be a given for Villa players. MOTM for me has to be KEA with special mention for Guzan and an immense cameo by Gabby.

I am not now and never will be afraid of the barcodes. I think we'l win 2-0

£7m bid accepted.......I'm shocked

Their a legacy of previous bad management decisions. Thankfully its seems to be a case of lesson learnt. I am more than happy with our new, sustainable approach to transfers. I honestly wouldn't swap places with Qpr, esteban granerro and all. I want to see a team spirit at Villa which requires honesty of effort first and foremost. It may take time but we need to start now. I want to see the required intensity in every performance. The results will follow.

Sky Sports understands Aston Villa have agreed a fee for Middlesbrough's Joe Bennett, but Charlton have rejected their offer for Dale Stephens. Sky Sports exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Villa had launched a bid for Bennett. The player had been in two minds about the move, but he is understood to have travelled down to the Midlands to discuss terms with the Premier League club. Boro are believed to have agreed a deal with Villa and have now left it to the 22-year-old left-back to decide whether he wants to finalise the deal. Sky Sports has also learnt that Villa have seen a £1.5million bid for Charlton midfield ace Dale Stephens rejected. A host of clubs including Newcastle, Everton and Sunderland are also believed to be keeping close tabs on the 22-year-old - who has impressed at The Valley since moving from Oldham last year.

Herd got 2nd. Ireland assist (also had a lobbed goal rules offside). Weimann should of scored. Nzogbia too. Easy win, 12mins left. 3-0 bent, holmann assist

How can you blame Lambert for Hutton & Warnock?

Actually we were decent enough from the start to about 30mins in when most of the ground figured out that we were harmless……Holding on to the ball but with no idea how to link play with Bent. Holman, Nzogbia and Ireland were supposed to figure this out and they, and in a way Bent (due to some poor movement), were responsible for our defeat. I honestly thought the defence coped fairly well with West Ham and we conceded an unfortunate goal. Our biggest problem was the collection of lightweight and pedestrian players we have as our attacking options. Our options on the bench were not exactly explosive either. Lambert needs to sort this problem. Saying that I hope I wont see Nzogbia, Holman and Ireland play so badly again. If they do I’m sure Lambert will never pick them again in the same team. What is clear is we need Gabby and Albrighton back badly (oh and playing well too) If we have any money for transfers we need a winger, a left full (or another shot at redemption for Warnock) and a Striker with pace and the ability to link play. Still I saw just about enough to be confident we will get better but it could be a tuff few opening games.

Hmmm....cannot see Spurs selling Defoe when he is their only senior striker. Add to that the fact that he would not be guaranteed a start here and it looks non runner. If we are really after a target man I suspect we could end with Carroll. Hopefully just on loan.

The season hasn’t even started yet and your shitting your kacks already!! Don’t worry mate we will not go down. We have a better squad and manager than we did last year.

It’s very likely we will go back with a bid for Aaron Cresswell.

This. When I hear fans saying we should sign A Johnson, Carroll, Sturridge etc…it makes me ill. We do not need to blow money on overrated Premiership players. I understand they'd blow a lot of money on the transfer kitty but theyre the type of players that if we play to their strengths that will get us goals galore up front. How you would not like Adam Johnson of all people is completely beyond me. Its down to Price tag vs. ability. At 25 and with a transfer fee in excess of £10Million he would not be a safe bet for us. He just is not that good. We already have Holmann, Albrighton and Carruthers. I would prefer to give them a chance.

This. When I hear fans saying we should sign A Johnson, Carroll, Sturridge etc…it makes me ill. We do not need to blow money on overrated Premiership players.

Yeah would be happy with that, except the only problem would be, hasn't he gone to Everton? No, it’s turning into an on again /off again saga. Apparently Spurs want the £5million up front but Toffees want to pay it in instalments. We should get into the mix with a £5million bid.

I know I’ve said it before but……Steven Pienaar for £5million must be worth a bid. And he’d certainly keep all the Villa fans on Twitter happy, he’s a fanatic!!

I know the majority of posters are just taking the piss but this Ramadan debate is not that funny. :shock: Most athletes who choose to strictly observe Ramadan do so with the benefit of special nutritional programs to counter dehydration in daytime training. Many choose to eat on competitions days and substitute days in terms of fasting. It has never had any effect on Yaya Toure or Karim Benzema’s level of performance.

Surprised by this one. He never fulfilled the promise he showed at Twente. Done enough last year (just) to put himself in the shop window but Villa and the Prem will be a big ask for him.

That's very easy to say from the outside looking in. However, he's 36 and at the end of his international career. He's travelled with the squad and worked bloody hard to try and get himself through the injury he picked up. He's been pretty instrumental in getting Ireland to the tournament. The whole squad (and the country, really) are holding their breath to see if you can play. The manager, player and medical staff all agree it's touch and go. But he can stand and kick. With painkilling injections, he can play. He's not perfect, far from it, but the manager asks him to play because, on balance, an unfit Shay Given is still better (at present) than a fit Kieron Westwood in terms of ability and the effect on team morale. Given is the most senior player in the squad. 120+ caps. He's seen by everyone (except Robbie Keane) as a better leader than Robbie Keane. His manager asked him to play and you don't say no to playing for your country in an international tournament. For once I actually agree with CI. If he is not fit he should not play. It’s simple. A fully fit Westwood would be better than a half fit Given. I don’t accept that he is not fit though. No way Ireland would play him if this were true. Can someone link where he admitted this?

Rob Green is sh1te as is that lump Robinson. I cannot comment on Butland. Don't know anything about him. Thanks for shaping such a reasoned argument. I believe Villa are looking for a chief scout, pull your CV together! Ha! I suppose it wasn't exactly a scout report. But seriously I really don’t think either Green or Robinson are on a par with Given. I do think a lot of fans views on here are being shaped by speculating about Givens wages and our financial restrictions. My advice is let PL worry about that. If QPR offer us £5 million then I'm sure he have somethink to think about. Also if we were on the look out for a new keeper I would be looking at Esteban from AZ. Prob only cost around £2million. Has been very good this year.

Rob Green is sh1te as is that lump Robinson. I cannot comment on Butland. Don't know anything about him.

Is he? My assumption (and hope) when we let Guzan go was because he will step up, but then we had the stupid link to hearts 3rd choice keeper Well we also let Elliot Parish go to Cardiff on a free. This was another show of faith in Ben.

This is absolute bullsh1t. :shock: Newcastle were relegated when he left and City spent a fortune. His save against West Brom this year kept us up….it was phenomenal. Don’t think we should sell him when finding a replacement of equal quality would be a lot more difficult and expensive than people on here are making out! But if it has to be 4 or 5 mill so be it ? as long as we will have a much younger goalkeeper who as you say is equal quality to shay why not grasp it with both hands ? Theres keepers available as we have mentioned... so i'd beg to differ that it wouldnt be that difficult. Maybe so. But it would be an unnecessary risk. I would prefer if we signed someone to challenge Given or let Ben Siegrist challenge him for the jersey over the next 2 seasons. If either a cheap signing or Ben took Given’s place we could sell him on then. Don’t think we would ever have a problem selling him and he’s not the bench warming type. In short of all the problems we need to solve the Goalkeeper is not the priority unless the deal is really right for our club.

We also have Benjamin Siegrist coming along nicely.

This is absolute bullsh1t. :shock: Newcastle were relegated when he left and City spent a fortune. His save against West Brom this year kept us up….it was phenomenal. Don’t think we should sell him when finding a replacement of equal quality would be a lot more difficult and expensive than people on here are making out!