Morpheus

Looking at this game with a lot of trepidation. We're not ready, our pre-season form has been abismal, we haven't yet purchased the midfielder we need and we're up against a team playing well with a better manager than we have. Unless we bring in at least two players before Saturday CM and another winger then we will lose. Start of the relegation battle!

Again poor and very uninspiring. Petrov and Dunne should be made available for transfer now with either Barton or Parker to replace Petrov and Dann to replace Dunne. We need another winger and if Johnson isn't available then SWP who will be much better than Heskey!

Another poor performance and result. I have noted a few posters stating that wearing the Villa jersey gives us no right to expect victories. Well if we can't beat Derby who were one of the worst teams last season in the Championship then who can we expect to beat? Pre-season games are all about fitness and learning about where you need to improve your squad and so AM should now know how poor the squad he has inherited really is. Been saying it for quite some time now. OUR KIDS AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH!! IRELAND SHOULD NOT PLAY AGAIN FOR US IN EITHER THE RESERVES OR THE FIRST TEAM! We need a minuim of six new players. A RB, LB, CB, CM, left winger and a forward to play alongside Bent. We simply cannot rely on a squad which is not good enough to sustain us in the Premiership this season.

Heskey as Captain would mean he would have to play in every game. No thanks! As our squad stands at the moment Dunne should be given the armband and the extra responsibility might just get him to focus a little better but i doubt it. Just goes to show the dearth of experienced quality within our squad!

Pretty much agree with what Mortimer has said. A poor man's Ray Wilkins.

Ah yes, just fall into the same old trap that our previous fool of a manager fell into. There is absolutely no use in alienating players, especially in pre-season for crying out loud. Maybe it should be Warnock next? I love how Ireland gets the attention when there were plenty of other players lacking against Chelsea. Your not alienating players for the sake of it. Your just accepting that they are no longer good enough to play at the required level based on several games or indeed what you get from them in training. We sent Ireland on loan to Newcastle and do you not think if Newcastle had made an offer for him that we would'nt have excepted it? In our case to make do with what you have got is not going to be good enough for us to compete in the top half of the Premiership.

You might be correct, but IF we don't bring any other midfielders in this window then we can not afford to write him this early into the season. Agree with a certain extent on what you are saying but the idea that we play members of our squad in games because they are rotting on the bench, or in the reserves even though they have continually shown that they are not good enough is quite beyond me!

Looking forward to see what formation we play when Charlie boy plays. Agree that we still need further additions to the first team. Probably four players. A new CB and LB. A new combative midfielder(Barton is available on a free from Newcastle) and another striker (Sturridge on loan) with Gabby sold!

After his performance against Chelsea Ireland should be no-where near our starting line-up again. He looks good on a teamsheet based on previous performances with Man City but the reality is he no longer the player he was and we should all accept that. I'd rather see Bannan in there alongside Gardner or Makoun until we get someone better.

Welcome Charles. We're sure going to need you this season, but please don't look at the video of the Chelsea game because you just might change your mind.

After that performance today Ireland should be sold or given away with a bag of M'Coys Multipack to make sure someone takes him!

Dreadful, dreadful performance lacking in any real quality or guile. The first half performance was probably the worst i have ever seen from a Villa team and the way in which the players came out for the second half told it's own story. Albrighton, Ireland, Fonz, Warnock, Gabby simply not good enough. I've been stating for quite some time on here that we should sell Gabby and either pay Chelsea what they want for Sturridge or at the very least get him in on loan. Gabby literally couldn't trap shite and was completely useless! The only plus from that was the performance of Given which was outstanding and i hope when we return from the tour 'Tin Tin' is on the phone to Randy to get his cheque book out again because if we go into the new season with this current squad, by January we will be in the bottom three!

Literally burst out laughing when i read this. Thanks 'Witheorwithoutyou' for that.

With our current squad absolutely no chance of us finishing in the top six but i admire your gusto!

Very interested to watch the perceived difference in quality between the two teams. Will give us a better indication of what to expect this season since we apparently aren't signing any more players.

Woeful performance against a desperately poor Blackburn. Young players aren't up to it and today should show this to anyone who feels differently. We are severely lacking in any real quality which needs to be addressed before the season starts!

I hope this comment by McLeish on transfers is bullshit? If it's not then we will have a relegation dogfight to look forward to. As far as Hutton goes still not sure about him as a purchase but very sure that he should not be purchased to also play as a wide man. Depths of despair on that one!

First of all over the moon that seemingly we have got N'Zogbia However, i still think we are way short of the quality needed to compete in the top half this season. We need to strengthen the spine of the team further by signing at least one new centreback and a quality defensive midfielder along with another striker. At some time or another Bent will need to be rested and i have no faith whatsoever that Gabby will score the goals needed, or indeed any of our younger strikers coming through. What if Bent picks up a long term injury? I'd like us to sign Dann, Parker, Johnson and Sturridge (Loan) if Sturridge doesn't go to Spuds and another FB. Given Young Dann Clarke/Dunne Enrique N'Zogbia Parker Delph Johnson Bent Sturridge To me that would be the team to have us competing in the top six again. It would require the money left over from the sales of Young and Downing plus Randy dipping into his pocket but i believe those players are gettable if we show a little more ambition in the transfer market.

Seconded!

Yes. Definitely. Especially if Everton sell to Arsenal in the next few days! From being very positive about N'Zogbia coming to us i'm now ready to throw darts at our board.

Guess I should clarify 2 things before stating why I think he's an arse. First, I've no problem with him asking whatever he likes for N'Zogbia, it's his job. If he's gone back on his word then thats just another slight on his character but otherwise, no bother. Second, I genuinely don't like many other clubs, players, managers, owners, etc outside of Villa Park, but Wigan and Whelan I have particularly distaste for. Whelan is an arsehole. As BOF says, he's rather too keen to lick Manchester United's arse and fondle Fergie's balls. But I'd take it further, he's a little too keen to talk to the media at all. Owner's shouldn't be on the telly giving interviews or constantly in the pissing papers. With how often his tongue is up Salford's finest's fundament I surprised he's available so often for comment but he seemingly is. He's also a man who is a skinflint in the extreme. I remember a newspaper story a few years back that to save cash he was turning off the undersoil heating at Wigan between fixtures, which you don't do because it stops it working so well, which in turn lead to the pitch being even worse than it usually was in winter. And so on. He's a pointless self celebrating arse whose sole aim is keep a pointless club in the league, which year in year out, he somehow manages, by doing the only thing he knows how, which is flogging players. He may as well open up a business securing the work permits of players from countries you'd struggle to find on a map on flog them as soon as they get off the plane for all the difference it's worth. To really claw at my throat though, it's the apparent fact he views himself as bigger than Wigan. What he does isn't about Wigan, it's about him, or at least thats the impression I get whenever he reels his face from Fergies balls for 5 mins to talk about how great everything he touches is. Including Fergies balls. Flogging players like we do then :winkold: So theres nothing really in your post other than personal dislike against the man because as you say he is a 'skinflint' or he likes media attention, or indeed he seems to be rather fond of 'Sir Alec.' Our own manager seems to be rather fond of 'Sir Alec' as are most of the other managers in the Premiership. I don't really think your personal opinion automatically make him an asshole though. To my mind he has done acceptionally well to keep Wigan in the Premiership and he should'nt be criticized for keeping a 'pointless club in the league.'

They're not really fair enough to N'Zogbia though. He was told "we'll sell for £9m". They accepted £9m in January. We bid £9m and they reject it. Not only does this go back on what they told N'Zogbia but it's more money for a player with 6 months less on his contract now than he had in January, even accounting for his performances over the latter half of the season. So while it is Whelan's prerogative to do whatever the hell he likes, it doesn't change that he's being an utter arsehole about it all. Calling someone an 'utter arsehole' for doing exactly what we did over the sales of Barry and Downing is just being hypocritical in my book. It would be, but then I'm not. We didn't change the asking price of those players. We set one and stuck to it. Whelan has changed N'Zogbia's from £9m in January including a verbal agreement that he could go for that price to the £10m he wants now. There is a difference and there is no hypocricy. He's entitled to do it, but he's still an arsehole for doing it. So what your basically saying is this. Say we purchase N'Zogbia. We then tell him that if a top four club comes in for him we will sell him at a set price. N'Zogbia not only maintains his Wigan form but actually excells. Several months later Man U come calling and we sell N'Zogbia to them for the previous agreed price? Sorry no BOF. Not in any business that i know would that happen. We'd be looking for more money because the players form has improved. I'm actually surprised that Whelan isn't looking for more.

Just wondering why people keep referring to Whelan as being an 'arsehole?' Most of his managers always seem to get on with him. He has given a lot of money to Wigan Football Club and he has continually kept them in the Premiership against the odds.

They're not really fair enough to N'Zogbia though. He was told "we'll sell for £9m". They accepted £9m in January. We bid £9m and they reject it. Not only does this go back on what they told N'Zogbia but it's more money for a player with 6 months less on his contract now than he had in January, even accounting for his performances over the latter half of the season. So while it is Whelan's prerogative to do whatever the hell he likes, it doesn't change that he's being an utter arsehole about it all. Calling someone an 'utter arsehole' for doing exactly what we did over the sales of Barry and Downing is just being hypocritical in my book.

The remarks by Whelan are fair enough. N'Zogbia is their player and he has put a price on him which they will accept. We are trying to get him on the cheap while we stood steadfast over the Downing fee.