Papillon

Dude, they are 7th with 51 points. It's basically like playing Liverpool of the last few years in terms of where they are in the table, it's not like we went there every season and grabbed three easy points. We won there a few years ago I remember, we also lost 0-3 at home this season, they will be huge favorites to win but stranger things have happened. We do have the system to beat them to be fair; they will have a lot of the play but will lack penetration as they have done all season, and we will have the players to benefit on the counter.

I do wonder that if our team 'grows up' and 'get the necessary PL experiance' and gets 'consistant', are they capable of targeting the top 6? Yes. Potentially top 4 IF we invest bigger amounts in individual transfer targets and reinvest well from player sales. The sky is the limit for this club. True. But you also described the climate for every single club in the division! Swansea, Newcastle, Palace, West Ham - you name it. Man City were relegation fodder the season they were taken over, now they are the best team on the island. In theory it is possible to create a team with rubbles in the transfer market, if you isolate some of Wenger's buys over the years there are some absolute gems in there. However, Lambert and Wenger are so far from each other in the market it's not even possible to compare them. Let's not forget the only true success Benteke cost 7M, it's not like he was some 350k signing from League 1.

I wouldn't go as far as saying he has a knack for goals. He is a striker, he is bound to get a few just like Holt, Bent or any other would when playing on top. Comparing him to Weimann and Gabby is also false, they would have scored more if they played as a striker with two guys roaming around to create for him. I saw very little from Kozak in terms of having any real attributes to him. He reminds me more of an early Peter Crouch than an Edin Dzeko. Heading and challenges is so and so, doesn't create space for himself like the best strikers and generally looks like he is marked the entire game - which in the end is a sign that you struggle with the tempo. Could probably become a nice player to have on the bench, but I severely doubt him replacing Benteke with ease.

I am not worried at all this season, we will be just fine. I am always pessimistic for the sake of it in terms of our chances, but this time I am very positive. Last season was living on a knifes' edge, we were really close to going down. Only a matter of results, and only a few good results from other teams would have taken us down. I remember Wigan playing away to Arsenal and we were all terrified when they equalized at some point. They lost that game 4-1 or something and we drew them at the last day of the season, but things were close. This year we will be fine, we have many winnable games left and we will surely snatch a few - it's the law of averages really. We play Fulham (h), Crystal Palace (a), Southampton (h), Swansea (a) and Hull (h), and also Man Utd, Man City and Spurs. In those five games we will at least win one game and we will at least draw one game. Let's say we play 1-1-5, that will see us safe at 38 points I'm sure of it. If we beat Fulham, draw Palace and beat Hull (not out of the question at all) we will have 7 points and 41 points. Even the crappiest of runs, and add a low average of points, all outcomes go in our favor. We will not lose the last eight games, we have too much surprise and ability with certain players for that to happen. Benteke will score, Gabby will suddenly roam free as one of the teams underestimates our counter-attacking potential and so on. On top of that, we have eight teams beneath us and six of them have to perform better. That's going to be impossible, because they are playing each other as well as top teams they are bound to get zero points from. If I was to predict the last games I would say 0, 3, 1, 1, 0, 3, 0 and 0 points. That's eight points and 2-2-4. Seems about right and on average - and safe.

To be honest, I don't remember many gaffs from Guzan in terms of flapping in shots a la Hart season or cock-ups like Lloris is prone to do with his feet. The last true mistake I remember was against Fulham a few weeks ago when he went after player/ball when Sidwell was already covered by Bacuna (I think). Had he stood still, like he obviously should have done, it would never been a goal. But hey, stuff like that happens.

Borussia Dortmund seldom pay over the odds for players. They spent 24M on Mkhitaryan in the summer, but they had a lot of money from selling Götze. They also spent 15M on Reus, but that was a bargain if I ever saw one. They will never pay something like 20-25M on Benteke, he just isn't proven enough to command such a figure from such a club. Sure other clubs have the money and loosely spend it, but I think Dortmund is a no-go. Spurs are a club he would love to play for I presume, but it all depends on who manages them next season. I doubt Sherwood would make way for Benteke by pushing out Adebayor (who has been pretty good this season) or Soldado (as few clubs like to admit failure after one season - see Torres). However, another manager could make drastic changes and bring the big guy in. Arsenal could be interested, but I think Wenger likes his strikers to be mobile a la Suarez, Rooney or Henry, or extremely technical like Bergkamp or Van Persie. Benteke is neither. Wouldn't be surprised though, Wenger has made a lot of signings that a based on future promise and Benteke can suddenly turn into something very special when he is 26 years old. Same goes for Liverpool, they basically have Suarez and Sturridge an no-one else, if they want to challenge on all fronts they need more backup. Chelsea don't need him since they have his twin Lukaku, Man Utd will surely buy a proven star if they do spend and Man City needs no further analysis. Atletico will probably sell Costa, they are an option. Then you have the Italian clubs, they always like to buy strikers and he would be a good fit for most of the top clubs down there.

I am all for keeping Gabby for the rest of his career. Sure he isn't always the best player, he is inconsistent in front of goal - but he brings experience, leadership and he is true Villa. Certain players must guide the new players coming into the league and into our club, if we signed just a bunch of Sylla's and Tonev's the identity of the club would disappear immediately and the QPR-syndrome could come to haunt us. It's difficult to use the example of Ryan Giggs, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard (due to their obvious superior ability over the years), but I bet you these guys have had a value inside the dressing room and around the club that even surpasses their value on the pitch. Gabby is the only ambassador for this club right now and he's worth the extra wages. I am not a fan of Lambert's tactics at all, because it works so seldom. However, when it does work it's much down to Gabby using his pace to cause some havoc down the left side. So in many ways he is instrumental for our attacking success, even though he isn't scoring many goals. This again is down to Lambert's tactics, as Gabby has to operate like a winger when he really is a striker.

Man Utd didn't play particularly bad last night, it's just that Man City is such a great team with set roles performed brilliantly. Yaya Toure is slowly turning into one of my favorite players to watch in football, he has the strength like no-one else and the touch and close control of a little Spaniard. Although a few have been penalties, he's now up to 17 goals and we still have a lot of games left. Silva orchestrated the whole thing last night, and when Yaya is up high Fernandinho will lay low to take on the counters. United did play well between 20 and 70 minutes, but when you are one or two notches behind a team that is fully prepared, you have no chance at all. Mata should have scored, Welbeck should have scored and so on. It could have been a couple of goals the other way as well. The problem is Moyes, and after some initial benefit of the doubt, I cannot see how he will turn this into a successful stint. He lacks the charisma, he lacks the tactical know-how to change games and he just isn't equipped with enough tools to beat managers like Guardiola, Mourinho et al. People have been bashing their squad the entire season, but these are the exact players that won the league last season - so they should have performed much better. I never gave them a shot at winning this year, not even under Ferguson, but you don't go finishing 30 points behind last season just because the squad is a year older. Van Persie has been out a lot for sure, but last season Rooney didn't perform at all and now he is. They have got more than enough firepower to beat most teams and also sustain a better challenge against the better teams, but Moyes doesn't know how to do it. Simple as that. Bayern can and will be dramatic. If Bayern avoid anything like harsh penalties, red cards and such, it can turn into a 9-0 total as it is right now. Except for the economic windfall, David Moyes is the last person I would want to be right now. I remember I had a job ten years ago that I was vastly unprepared and too young to do, like cold-calling people to get them to partake in investment meetings, and I felt like a loser. Just imagine what this guy is feeling...

Excuse me? What a pathetic attempt to score a point. I had money on Man City and also transferred Edin Dzeko into my Fantasy-team alongside Yaya Toure, so I was quite happy with that result. If my opinion on Bacuna differs from yours you should try to discuss why you disagree in a more convincing manner, it's how the civilized world works these days.

really? Im sure teams would bite our hand if we said he was available for that much. and mediocre? if being 13th highest scorer in injury hit season is mediocre then ill take that all day long Well, no-one came close to bidding that much after a marvelous first season, so why would they come back with 10M more after a tough second season? It's often about perception in the market, last year he was very hot, this season people are probably thinking he is struggling a bit more. Sure, injuries kept him out of the side for 8-9 games or so - but he did go just as many games without a single goal in the league at one point and that's alarming. Don't forget he's been on the pitch for 300 more minutes than Daniel Sturridge this season, more than Romelu Lukaku - in fact, only 8 strikers in the entire league has played more than him! So can we blame injuries and time off? Not necessarily, although he might have been carrying an injury more severe than we have been let to believe. Benteke has 10 goals this season and will probably finish with 14-15 tops. Out of those ten goals I think three were penalties, if you count the one he missed and rebounded in against Arsenal. All in all I think his second season has been decent, certainly not great and with many frustrating patches. That is totally fine, he will certainly have a good career in front of him. However, 28M for him right now is total utopia. Tottenham were rumored to offer 16-18M last season, more than doubling our money and we said no, as we always would. Lambert and Benteke probably have a Gentleman's agreement in order for him to leave without resistance when the right offer comes along in the summer. Someone is surely going to remind me that the selling club sets the price, but we have seen many times that buying clubs set the standard and then the player bitches the entire summer before he is sold at a price in the middle range. If he delivers the good the remaining games I think we will sell him at anything between 18-22M, depending on the competition for his signature. Remember Chelsea offered 28M for Wayne Rooney in the summer, Man City got Alvaro Negredo for 15-16M if I remember correctly. No club is going to be interested at 28M.

In what alternate universe has Bacuna been an outrageous success? He's scored some decent goals, but as a right back he's mostly been dreadful. In the universe where he kept the best winger in the league quiet (a winger who earns his transfer fee in a month), the universe where he's been crucial in every home win, the universe where he's provided a threat from set pieces, while being played out of position the whole time in his first season away from home at the age of 22. When you spend six figures on a 21 year old in the PL you expect them to have a 1st season impact like Helenius (ie. none). He's already a key first team player who provides a goal threat from right back. Obviously its not unthinkable that someone on an anti Lambert crusade might try to highlight his tactical naivety at RB (not his natural position) as evidence he's another shit disaster waste of money idiot loser signing but to be honest I don't really feel the need to debate that. Then again you do think Vlaar is a "Terrible player" IIRC so by that measure the Bacuna signing has been an unmitigated catastrophe. I can't even begin to comprehend how disappointed you must be with Holt. Keeping a player quiet for a game doesn't prove much in the big picture, especially when you gift a few goals to Stoke at home the next. There are numerous examples of poor right-backs keeping Bale and Ronaldo quiet in Real Madrid-games, but when you think about it, it might be the fact that the players themselves are having off-days. Like everyone else in this game. Luis Suarez failed to score or assist against Fulham a few weeks ago, his only zero-contribution game in 11 games - was that down to the immense defending by John Arne Riise? Hardly. Bacuna has energy, a good shot and confidence. However, his positioning is below any standard. Playing him at right-back is a disaster in my opinion, because he cannot defend at all. He behaves like a midfielder, i.e not taking the necessary precautions in his defending. Always trying to nutmeg players instead of just clearing the ball upfield, passing sideways, leaving room to exploit because he is way up the pitch and tackling - well, like he was doing it in midfield. Sure, it's not his fault Lambert is playing him in that position and he'd most likely play wherever he was told. I am not seeing a great player in midfield either, let alone a mediocre one. Again, positioning is off, his forechecking is poor, he has little time on the ball and he seems to be chasing a player rather than being in his face before he can control it. Bacuna, for me, is one of the weakest right-backs in the league and an ordinary midfielder. He has got some goals in him, which is always a nice threat to have, but so did Matty Taylor who always struggled to find his place whether it was at left-back or left-wing. A great goal out of nowhere does not hide the fact that him being in the side makes our team easier to score goals on.

Ron Vlaar was a very known commodity around Europe before he came here. He just turned 29 years old and he has been quite good for us, but not anywhere near the top of the Premier League in terms of ability. We got him for 3.5M or so, I'd say that's exactly the maximum any interested club would pay for him. He has played 189 games in his 10 year career at senior level, not exactly encouraging statistics for a buying club either.

Ashley Young was quite brilliant when he was here, easily my favorite player in the last ten years. Sure Benteke has a higher level when he is playing at his best, but it's hard to appreciate anything when the rest of our team is so crap. Under MON and when we had Young et al we had a genuine belief of winning every single game at home. We didn't, of course, but we were even odds-on favorites to win against Arsenal at home one season. When did that happen lately? People wanted to see Villa, because we were both a good team and we played interesting football. Sure the current Everton-side is very appealing, but back then we even surpassed them in terms of interest for our team. Young was excellent at challenging the line and whipping in crosses for Carew, just imagine what could have happened if let's say we had signed Darren Bent back then instead of Emile Heskey. Lying nine points ahead of Arsenal at Christmas is no guarantee for a team like ours, but we really had a shot at that 4th spot back then.

Michu, has ability? It's like you're talking about some bit-part player like Kone or Gouffran. Michu at his best is a very, very good player and I can promise you that much bigger clubs will go after him if he is available. I was quite surprised when nobody did buy him, but Swansea was in a position to demand a hefty sum after a brilliant first season and other clubs were probably hesitant just like with Christian Benteke. The difference is of course that Michu is 28 years old and not 23, so the figure will not be that high. Michu scored 18 goals last season and this season he has been injured most of the time, or carrying an injury in the beginning (just like Benteke did for a while). He's barely had 1000 minutes on the pitch, his scoring ratio has been low and his star has fallen because of this. However, the chance of us signing him when he is in his prime is next to zero. There will be numerous clubs in Germany, Italy and Spain out to grab him, especially if his contract will run out soon. Just imagine, they will probably get him at 5-7M, wages will be decent and the potential upside is very high. The demand will be high!

I am not talking about this particular shot, obviously, I am talking in general for such decisions. Your example makes no sense either, as you probably knew when you wrote it, because we are talking about clear shots with one single intention of going for goal. This shot didn't go in the goal and it wasn't going there, but like I asker earlier, what about shots that are stopped intentionally right after leaving the boot of the striker? The referee knows the striker tries to score, the defender handballs on purpose to hinder the obvious goal and there is no goalkeeper to save it. The shot, stopped after just a few yards, it would sometimes be impossible to know if that shot was going in the middle of the goal or one inch outside the post. And what about a lob? What if a defender reaches his hand up to stop it? Should a forensic analysis take place to determine if the ball would have gone over the defender, hit the ground and then maybe bounce over the bar? My point is; trying to stop a shot inside the area with your hand is a penalty and a red card every day of the week, because the defender is clearly trying to stop a shot he thinks is going in the net. Where the ball would eventually end up is a bit pointless in my honest and humble opinion. It would be nice to see a referee comment on the issue, because I don't know the answer 100%.

That's not how it works. The rule doesn't say "intent to deny a goal scoring opportunity." No. It says denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area) Oxlade Chamberlain did what he did because he thought the ball was going in. So in his mind he was denying the opposing team a goal It was deliberate, but it wasn't denying them a goal because the ball was going wide. It doesn't matter that he didn't know that or what he thought. It's not a red. I can understand why the ref gave a red, because it's tough to tell in real time. Makes no sense. The ref cannot judge the path of the ball, what if a shot has a curl before it is hand-balled? So at the time of the incident the ball is going three yards out, but if that ball was allowed to continue it would have curled in the corner. Then what?

That's not how it works. The rule doesn't say "intent to deny a goal scoring opportunity." Oxlade Chamberlain didn't know that. The player who shot the ball tried to hit the goal, obviously. Sure we can all see that the ball is going outside on TV, but what if a player shoots the ball from 20 yards only for it to be blocked intentionally by a sole defender after 5 yards of flight? The referee cannot possibly know if that ball is going in the net or one yard outside the post, but he would most definitely give a red card and a penalty. It's a shot from 12 yards, in that melee the referee isn't going to know that the ball is going outside when a player intentionally uses his hand. The linesman cannot either, the only thing he sees is a hand altering the path and then it goes outside.

How the absolute f.uck has Oxlade-Chamberlain not been punished?? Complete madness. Deliberate hand ball. Oxlade wasn't trying to prevent a goal kick, he was trying to prevent a goal. Because the ball was going wide so it shouldn't have been a red in the first place. Sorry but for once i think the FA have got it right. Does it really matter? The referee cannot see (well, duh!) if the ball is going out or not in the heat of the moment, the player clearly thinks the ball is going in since he is deliberately using his hand and so on. So in my opinion you have to go with intent, no matter if the ball is going outside the post. It's easy to comment after the game when we have cameras from all angles. For example; what if the ball has a wicked curve to it, so it seems like it's going outside (think Roberto Carlos), but if you carefully examine the video you will see that it is going to go in the net except for a hand-ball. Then what? .

Nonsense. He's had 2 outrageous successes that have quadrupled in value and several others that have more than justified their meagre transfer fees as well as a good few that could well do so in the future. Out of interest, who is the second player you are talking about? I take it one of them is Benteke, but I really struggle to see which player has quadrupled in value since arriving. Maybe you are thinking of Guzan, but he was basically a Villa-player and I doubt he would have been signed if let's say he was released from a club like Newcastle or Southampton, and not Villa.

Fair enough. I too agree they are pretty close and I don't think Guzan would look out of place at one of those clubs.

Each to their own. For me, that's like saying you wouldn't swap Benteke with Suarez or Vlaar for Kompany. If you're saying it because you are found of him as a true Villan and so on fine, but I just want us to have the best available squad. Guzan is a fine goalkeeper, but if the market agreed with your sentiments he would play for a better club than Aston Villa. Especially if he's "miles better" than Szszesny and Mignolet! Is he even the first pick for USA?

Rating Guzan highly is perfectly alright, but saying he is miles better than the first choice keepers at Arsenal and Liverpool is bizarre. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, which is obviously what you are going to get on a forum, but let's not carry away and accept all opinions as of equal value. Ronaldo is miles better than Agbonlahor, Hummels is miles better than Baker, Guzan is pretty close to the guys mentioned above. Am I talking Guzan down? Hells no, I am only speaking positive about him. If he in fact is miles ahead, then we will have bidding war in the summer - and I suspect we will not. I want us to keep him for the rest of his career, because he is solid and consistent, the two most important assets in the game for a goalkeeper. Also, he is one of our best players. However, every team in the bottom 10 would say their GK is top 3 in the league, from Marshall to Vorm and Foster. None of us would swap Guzan for theirs and none of them would do the same for Guzan. The true verdict probably lies somewhere in between?

I can't wait to see the development of Okore the next few seasons, but I really don't want him to return this season. We don't need him to risk an early return to action, I hope he gets the summer to really strenghten his joints and build up physique. Sure enough, I don't know how his injury tolled up, but he is young and overly aggressive, so he is the kind of player that can injure himself in the first game by doing something heroic. Now that we are virtually safe, I want him back 100% fit - not 95% with a risk of immediate damage. So many players come back and injure themselves within 3-4 months. Wilshere, Ramsey, Diaby, Anderson, Delph, Nani.. The list is long

Oh he loves the Villa, even said he would play for free last season when they were discussing our ongoing problems. He is a club nomade of course, and he had his best times at Valencia, Roma and Lyon, but he actually played the most games for Villa if you look at his stats. Nowadays he spends his time on the golf course, I've met him several times the last year. Nice life that, having so much money you can actually play golf 5 times a week and still have a good conscience

To make our team better and avoid relegation. A team with Luna/Bennett playing 38 games, with Baker and also Bacuna at the back will always ship in lots of goals. Our main ambition seems to be to avoid relegation each season, so getting help from better teams is OK by me. Sure a team like Everton or Tottenham, trying to break the top four, wouldn't always benefit from having players on loan (like Lukaku going back next season), but sometimes you just accept that it's the only way to make your team better. I am not entirely convinced of Bertrand, it's not like he is destined to play for Chelsea in the next few years - but it goes without saying that he is lightyears ahead of what we already have at this club and I want us to buy him in the summer. How we go from shutting out Chelsea to let in four goals at home to Stoke is a question I'll never be able to answer. Lambert's teams ship in a lot of goals, it's now over 175 goals in 106 games in the Premier League, we clearly have a lot of problems no matter who's playing at the back.