DCJonah

I tried to sign him in Fifa 15 and villa wanted £25 million, so quite clear Sherwood does in fact rate him.

I think we all did stupid stuff when younger and I look back and think what a bloody idiot I was on occasions, just like I look at Grealish and think what an idiot. This one incident will not ruin his career, but he's done himself no favours and it puts unnecessary attention on him and the club. For a young athlete to reach their full potential they must make sacrifices, if he wants to be a normal teenager then he's not going to be the best football player he can possibly be, because normal teenagers aren't world class athletes. You think every 19 year old footballer ends up passed out in the middle of the road, on their own, in a foreign country?

Surely there's a difference between being 19 and having fun and being unconscious in the middle of the road on your own in a foreign country. Don't think anyone thinks he shouldn't have fun and enjoy his lifestyle but this was stupid and let's himself down.

He's not a normal teenager though, he's a gifted athlete with a lot of potential. I doubt most gifted athletes fulfilled their full potential by acting like normal teenagers.

What a **** idiot.

Lerner has allowed quite a few teams to take over us on and off the pitch.

Not sure he confirmed it was us but even so, I don't find that worrying for us one bit.

I'd love Townsend if we were to play with out and out width but I'm not sure Sherwood wants that.

Don't forget the two Swindon lads who turned us down because they didn't feel they were good enough for the premier league. Worrying times. Apart from the one nailed on signing we're actually making. But yes, very worrying if we go by paper gossip and rumour.

Awful: Southampton, Arsenal Poor: Newcastle, Stoke, Swansea, QPR, Burnley, Man United. Good: Everton, West Brom x2, West Ham Very good: Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Sunderland I think the performances under him are split, as above. From your poor list, Stoke and Newcastle were two games without any of his coaches having had chance to work with the players. And I didn't think Swansea was too bad, thought we deserved a draw. And QPR wasn't tactically poor, we looked like we were going to score every single time we attacked. The problem was Richardson and other defenders had a mare. I'll stick with my original point. The good performances were not just down to motivation IMO.

Yes but this is the start of him creating his Aston villa team.

Great start to the Sherwood era.

Couldn't disagree more. From the short spell we've seen under him, he's set us up to play better football, got players performing better and brought out the best in our most important player. That wasn't done because he got them working harder through motivation, its from the way the team have been set up and the way they've approached games tactically IMO.

This is true - but also, there are some who wanted Lambert out who throw toys out of the pram when Sherwood's mistakes are brought up. He has made mistakes, some of them Lambert-esque, which does worry me. BUT he needs to be able to buy in players for the job he thinks he needs to do. If Richards is the start of that, then I am quite happy - I just hope he does play right back and can stay fit. Maybe those people would also have not been as critical over lambert after a handful of games with someone else's squad. I'm sure if Sherwood makes us worse, the more time spent with the club and delivers atrocious football and results, those that wanted lambert out so much will also feel the same towards Sherwood.

Unfortunately, Yes! Then surely you can see its not knee jerk to be unhappy with the current position of the club, mainly thanks to the owner and a few bad managers. And while palace being in 'another league' is probably an overreaction, its frustrating to see these smaller teams overtake us and become sides we'll struggle to compete with, both on and off the pitch. Hopefully though the lerner era is close to the end and we can once again look to improving.

Knee jerk? Have you watched us for the last 5 years?

There's no way Richards is coming to play as a cb in a 4-4-2. I think he will be a very good rb for us and probably would be decent in a back 3 but I have doubts that's what Sherwood will switch to.

That's the effect Randy Lerner has had on us unfortunately BOF.

I think the fact Richardson playing lb didn't make me long for cissokho back in the end sums up how average he is for me. No problem with replacing him.

I thought he'd been poor before Sherwood signed. Never really kicked on from a very impressive first few games.

I find it hard to believe journalists know the formation Sherwood is aiming for next season.

We never once played 3 at the back and I'm sure the same could be said for spurs under Sherwood. Why are some convinced that is the plan going forward?

Well he's starting by signing the best full back we've signed in the last few years. Positive start on that front.

His hype was him being one of the best full backs in world football. Not living up to that is still more than enough for a club in our position as he enters his prime.

I don't think his legacy takes a hit if they lose. A lot of people were predicting a sweep. I've heard some pundits still think he could be the finals MVP even if they lose.