sharkyvilla

I don't think he's lost anything other than his confidence. It happens to most goalscorers, the important thing is to keep giving him opportunities because he'll get on a roll eventually. Michael Owen could go half a dozen games not being able to hit a barn door and then get 12 in his next 8 games. Bent's only gone one game without scoring btw.

People were saying the same thing about Gabby's attitude last year under Houllier. Change the manager and he's twice the player. Sadly McLeish hasn't managed to improve any other player other than Gabby, though to be fair he hasn't had the excellent wide players that Houllier had. I just don't see the financial sense of selling Bent unless it is another ridiculous Liverpool fee that's too good to turn down like the Downing one. We signed him because we were shitscared of getting relegated and selling him now would put us in real danger of getting relegated. If he leaves I'll stick my head up a cow's arse.

Carrick is average in an average side and good in a good side. He's not dominant enough like say Scott Parker in the middle for a mid-table club to stand out, but in a good side he is a pretty decent foil to the talented attacking players. He's a perfect 'Man Utd' player when they were brilliant but at the moment they are a side in transition and he kind of goes invisible, recent performances aside.

Great touch for a big man. Rivaldo was frigging amazing too. Not really adding much to the thread but hey-ho.

I often wonder what someone like David Dein could do for the Villa as Chief Exec. He was a big part in enabling Wenger to introduce all the changes he needed to bring Arsenal to the forefront of European football. Don't know whether he'd be up for it though.

I'm not sure I'd fancy us getting taken over by the Qataris and buying the title, giving players £250,000 a week. I'll always stick up for Randy and sure the last two managerial appointments leave a lot to be desired but I can see the reasoning behind both. It's just the deadwood left from O'Neill's reign that is the problem and I really hope it's true that Randy is waiting until they are off the books before reinvesting his money. He couldn't go on giving out £30m a season forever unless they got in the Champions League so it's inevitable he'd have to scale back as he isn't quite that wealthy. He and O'Neill had a good go but it's really tough.

The bit where he did the land diving the other week had me in stitches. I agree it's all staged yet I can't help but watch, a bit like wrestling really

At international level, is there really that much that a top, top foriegn manager can add in such a short period of time that he is involved with the players? He can't improve any of our players' technique overnight, which is basically where we fall down. I quite like the way some of the other international teams have picked a former great player to take over regardless of previous managerial experience. Get someone with an infectious personality that will get the players enjoying playing for England. Give them the best coaching staff behind them to help them out. The problem is I can't think of too many former England players that fit the description, although I am personally quite fond of Stuart Pearce and the job he has done with the U21s.

It could depend on how Guardiola's future pans out. I can't see Messi ever wanting to leave Barca with him as manager. I doubt he will ever leave Barca tbh. Messi could do Xavi and Iniesta's job. Neither could do Messi's.

I caved in and got a Kindle for my holiday (I was going to wait until they came out in paperback so they'd be cheaper). I'm reading the latest Peter James novel basically because they're set around where I live and they're generally enjoyable. I've recently worked my way through most of Robert Harris's books, I loved The Ghost and Archangel.

Yeah it's hard to justify the first half performance even for those of us who are more willing to give McLeish time. I rarely get angry about football but I was disgusted by the first half. At least it seems McLeish thinks it was equally unacceptable and things improved 2nd half (I thought we deserved to win in the end and the back 5 deserved a clean-sheet for their display) but the problem is does he have the tools and will to change it? We all need a bit of a lift really.

Thought Leo deserved a bump after his second hat-trick in 3 games. Anyone see his run from his own penalty box until he got scythed down at the edge of the area? Would have been a cracking goal that.

I would actually put O'Neill up in the same bracket as Moyes. The only difference is that Moyes is prepared to put up with the rough as well as the smooth, which MON clearly wasn't. Shame really, and I wonder whether MON is regretting the day he left as he obviously hasn't found a similar project to the Villa one since he left. He did lift the club and players whilst he was here and although he was by no means perfect, managers with that kind of ability don't come round very often.

That is my current wish It would have to be the right person/group though. How realistic is it that another Arab gazillionaire is out there. Other than them I can't see anyone else doing more than what Randy has for the club and we have seen so many clubs go down the shitter because they sold out to some crooks.

To give both credit, Randy and O'Neill had a proper good go at getting Champions League football. Fact is we missed out and you can't sustain that level of spending without actually getting in the Champions League, unless your owner is willing to keep donating 10s of millions out of his own pocket. Randy isn't, which is fair enough. What O'Neill should never have done is leave so close to the start of the season and leave us in the shit.

markavfc40 has the thread nailed. McLeish has done pretty much everything that was needed so far. It will be less pretty than some of Houllier's football but I'll take it for this season if it spares the embarassment I felt last year.

Doesn't sound too bad to me, having not watched it. Not sure anyone would have expected it and it leaves all sorts of ways to build stories. Still 4 champions in about 2 weeks is a bit shit. At least it isn't Cena.

I read he still had 4 years on his contract, which was mental in itself as he's wanted to leave for at least 2 years. Why did he sign such a long contract in the first place? No doubt Arsenal have got a pretty shit deal in all this, though if they get Mata in for half the price it would soften the blow

Messi did look a bit lardy yesterday. May just be the stripes. Loved the way he bounced off the challenge before tucking it away for his goal. All in all Barca looked a mile off the pace whereas Real were almost at full pelt and yet it was still 2-2. God knows what will happen when Barca get up to 100% in the next few weeks.

Getting a decent winger in to provide for Bent could make several positions in the table's difference, and with that comes several million quid's difference in prize money. Come on, fork out the extra million and get him signed up.

5 years is insane. Still, welcome to the club, he's a top top keeper.

Punk v Cena was the dog's bollocks, one of the best matches I've ever seen. I'd lost interest a bit after I wasted my money on Wrestlemania but Sky Plused it last night as I love ladder matches. Christian is great though the flobbing in the gob was a bit near the knuckle.

Agreed, though he was good last season in a really dire team. Just frigging hope those three come in

Foster always seems a bag of nerves to me. Talented, but I think I'd prefer Given

Ireland is the kind of player at the club that will define McLeish's tenure. Forget the new signings, it's what he can get out of the players that let themselves down under Houllier that is most important imo. It's up to Ireland to work harder than he ever has done this summer to get himself fit.