Villastine

It’s an indictment of our recent form that our players putting in an noticeable effort is encouraging. When I saw the team sheet and the inclusion of Cuellar, Clark And Ireland was like a breath of fresh air and it seemed to have the same effect on the rest of the players. Heads did not drop, we pressed them high up the pitch and we played our game at pace all big improvements on what we have been doing recently. That said we still could not retain possession, we still created very little in the way of a goal threat and we still couldn’t defend a f**king corner. The manger is to blame…there is no excuse. Still I walked away in better form than I have in along time RATINGS Guzan: Played well. 7 Hutton: Combined some great play with some truly awful play and sending off really was stupid. I would try him out as a DCM! 2 (6) Dunne: Great game. Some brilliant recovery tackles when we were left exposed. 8 Cueller: Very Solid. Made good decisions. 7 Warnock. Some great play but crossing was terrible which is so frustrating for everyone else and really lets him down. Cannot fault his effort. 6 Albrighton. Excellent. His game is quiet simple but so effective. If he keeps if up he could make the England squad! 8 Clark. Inexperience caught him out. He is industrious and can pass the ball but not sure if he is a DCM. Still probably the best option we have at the moment. 6 Petrov. Solid player, gives it his all. Shouldn’t be let near a free kick in future though. 7 Ireland. Not match fit and it showed. He is a complete conundrum. He needs to play to find his form but we cannot afford to carry him while he finds it. Showed glimpses of what he can do. Month loan might be the best option. 6 Bannan. Made an impact from the minute he was introduced. Hopefully more to come. 7 N'Zogbia. Brilliant game. Keep it up. 8 Gabby. Done ok but looked completely wasted and indifferent in the final 20mins. Should of being sub for the Fonz at that stage. McL bottled the decision. 6 Crowd. 10 out of 10. Showed what we are all about if given anything to cheer. Manager. Beaten by a corner again!! Should of taken Gabby off when he became a spectator. Should of calmed Hutton down as the world could see that card coming. Should not of allowed us to invite them on at the end. I will give him credit for changing the team. If he does not learn from this match I give up! Fast running out of excuses. Possession stats, goals stats and defensive stats all very very worrying….on his last legs now. 5

Look the lad is 20. I have seen enough of him to know he has plenty of potential. He needs a run of games and a confidence boost. A loan to an SPL club would be a prefect fit. In fact Rangers will soon be stuck for a striker, we should pay them to take him on loan and give him a chance to develop his game. I think our club really needs to find loan deals to fit our younger players. I really question the wisdom of loaning Gary Gardner to a basement championship side who play him as a DCM! We should recall him and send him to Blackpool for the rest of the season.

Have you ever actually seen Bolton play?!!! This is a bizarre comment. Owen Coyle play a terrible brand of hoof ball….he is one of the few managers who play a type of football less aesthetically pleasing than McLeish!!

Come on folks...relax for a minute. Everyone at the club is aware of his talent and he will get his chance. I am more worried about Nathan and Mark. We need to get their confidence back. At this stage a loan move could be a risk, if it doesn’t go well could be a real problem for either of them. Nathan would be better off in the SPL than the Championship in my opinion.

Looks like we wil only sign someone if we sell first. So either Beye or Carlos leave or we stay as we are Here's Alex McLeish on future movement, or lack thereof, in the transfer market. "You can never say never but at the moment if we get N'Zogbia, which is looking good, then it's unlikely we will do anything unless there's more trading with the players we already have in the squad," he said. "At the moment we don't plan to do any more business, I believe we've got some great young players and we've got one or two sleepers in there that could emerge."

I don’t think Hutton has much more to offer than Luke Young when you consider Spurs would be looking for £4-5 Million. Attacking wise he is decent and can deliver some lovely crosses. However he tends to loose the ball in possession, loose his man, panic tackle and most shockingly of all for a full back tends not to get the block in on crosses. Saying that both of them are on free next year so maybe we can just sit and wait and replace one for the other with no fee involved in a year’s time!

Because we would be getting a useful – albeit inexperienced – addition to our squad in a position in which we lack cover. If we tie in a fixed transfer fee then we are in a win-win situation. If he doesn’t make it we he goes back to City if he does we have already agreed an acceptable fee. You must also take into account that’s its City we are dealing with. Their squad is huge and its unlikely players like Cunningham will get a look in even in Carling Cup games.

Yeah, he an old FM favourite! They bought him in the January window but eh ahs never seen the light of day since. They also bought Rubén Rochina off Barcelona but he never got much of a run out either. Any chance of anyone doing a bit of text commentary for those of us who can’t watch sky online?!!

Well for Left Back Greg Cunningham from Man City is available on loan. He really has impressed when fit and could do a job for us on a very cheap basis. Maybe we could even add an option to buy him.

To be fair that 1mil could be another player or 3 for Wigan. AND TO BE FAIR WE ARE NOT EXACTLY MAN CITY....WE NEED EVERY PENNY WE HAVE!

Wigan accepted a £9Million bid for him from the blouse last summer. He was their player of the season at that stage. Can't see why he is worth more now with a year left to run on his contract?! I cannot see a que of clubs forming for him at that price. Let’s not get ripped off. It’s immaterial that what we got for Downing or Young.

Even with NZogbia, Ireland and Albrigton at their best we will be struggling with Sunderland, Newcastle and Stoke for 10th place. We are way too light weight at the moment. We need a bit of grit, Parker or Barton and 2 decent fullbacks. Oh and Shay Given! Barton? Sub-human scum. No thanks. If he was as talented as Essien I still wouldn't have him, but you want an average player who is less well regarded than the shit on my shoes? Think again. I understand that point of view. But he has abilty. We need someone of a smiliar vien on the pitch. Kayal (Celtic) would be another option.

That defence horrifies me I honestly think the Centre Halves we have are sufficient especially if Clark continues to develop. In fairness to them they got little cover from the midfield and fullbacks last season and were left exposed because of that. If we sign a quality DM and 2 decent fullbacks our defence will be solid.

Even with NZogbia, Ireland and Albrigton at their best we will be struggling with Sunderland, Newcastle and Stoke for 10th place. We are way too light weight at the moment. We need a bit of grit, Parker or Barton and 2 decent fullbacks. Oh and Shay Given!

When exactly did this happen?!

He's had 201 premier league appearances! I don’t think a manager or a scout would need radar to be familiar with what he has to offer!!

Let’s just be serious here for a minute. Nobody is knocking Wigan’s door down for N'zogbia. In fact the interest from clubs for N'zogbia has never lived up to the hype. So far he went from Newcastle to Wigan and then almost signed for Birmingham!! The transfers fees demanded have been nowhere near astronomical. No interest from Champions League clubs, no interest even from the so called second tier clubs i.e. us, Liverpool, Everton, Spurs Let’s be clear if we do want to sign him we will sign him. But the fact that there has been so little interest in him does raise the question Why?!

Solid player. McLeish knows him well. Would be very good signing.

Well there has always been a question mark over N’Zogbia. He went from Newcastle to Wigan and then nearly joined Birmingham. The lack of interest from even mid-table clubs in him says a lot.

Thats the trouble with Ireland though, key word being potentially. Keep him happy and he'll play and play well. He is like Darren Bent in that regard if he's happy he will put in 110% week in week out, do something to annoy him or upset him and he'll coast at about 40% until he's sold. He hasnt done a thing for about 3 and half years though. Has he been unhappy for that long??? I just think he is a lazy arrogant git. He was outstanding in 08-09. He was OK in 09-10. He had a disaster in 10-11 although he did miss over half of it thorugh injury. Any way sick of repeating the same thing. Can’t wait until he bangs in a few in pre season and the usual fickle Villa fans will be licking his balls. Trouble is they will then be claiming he’s Zidane and will go back to moaning when he doesn’t secure us champions league qualification!!

Don’t agree with any of this. FFS what the hell are you talking about?! He hardly played last season. It’s shocking the crap some people will come out with! :oops: AndyHowell wrote: Excuse me — me and my season ticket had enough experience of Ireland to make a decision — keep you abuse to yourself. So do you talk to your season ticket often?!! Who does your season ticket rate? Was it disappointed to see Bradley leave the club? Does it rate Makoun? Have all you season tickets been so quick to judge? What did your 09/10 ticket think of Downing?

Well done lads write him off after half a season the club!

He was injured and loaned out for most of the season. Fully fit and motivated he is a top class player.

Don’t agree with any of this. FFS what the hell are you talking about?! He hardly played last season. It’s shocking the crap some people will come out with! :oops: Let the lad get a pre season under his belt and see what happens.

Its because they know that they are always right, and we are wrong I thought the days of signing over the hill players had gone with Doug? Whether he can do a capable job is missing the point that it is short term, which points to no long term team planning, and we wont get a return on our outlay for him, which kind of contradicts Randy's stance on wages :shock: Would rather we sign an young up and coming keeper, and build around him. I accept your point on buying players who will increase in value but Randy has not openly stated that this is our strategy? The important points here are 1.) We do not have a senior goalkeeper at our club. 2.) Given is only 35 3.) His wages are something to be negotiated by the board and should not overly concern the fans 4.) He is a solid keeper and would be literally a safe pair of hands!