Agbonla-score

George Dubaya as Chairman and Dick Cheney as Chief Exec. I can see it now.

As if

Jack wont be happy playing on the right ! Lambert in. Oh so he didn't sign for anyone else on his trip to Manchester then, Kev?

New Man Utd manager? That is very worrying. If Villa lose Grealish for peanuts after losing Crowley for nothing there is no point having an academy. What, Jack is in line to be the new United manager? Don't suppose Kev could shed a bit of light on this, could you Kev? ( I suspect not)

He looks knackered in the photos. Probably the first time in a while he's pulled his finger out in training. What a load of balls

Yep - The job is a poisoned challis. With the exception of Graham Taylor back in 1990 (who went on to manage England, another poisoned challis), every career of every Villa manager has gone down the pan upon them leaving the club. We seem to finish them off.

Can anyone post the video of this for a laugh? haven't got time to look for it at present

Isn't the problem though that we're not "treading water". That implies a bit of consistency. To extend the metaphor, we have been underwater most of the season, plummeting the depths, and have come up for air just enough times (Arsenal, Chelsea, Man C, Southampton, West Brom, Norwich) to keep us just about safe. WE HOPE! I think the metaphors are muddying the waters

I remember that season. We'd just lost David Platt and were dreadful. Still, at least we beat Inter Milan at Villa Park in the European Cup and we still had Tony Daley:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIFpNAOfyoI (Sid is in this video as well.) We just don't have players like this anymore.

He should certainly start ahead of Gabby. Let him play off Holt he at least will make the runs. His confidence is low but he was very unlucky not to score against Palace. The keeper saved it. He should have buried it, end of. He is shit can we stop,making excuses for these dick heads Out of order! But true. (and a little bit funny). The owner and manager may be at fault for some things, confidence may well be low, but just stick the ball in the net every now and then please. I've no sympathy. Holt Andi and Gabby earn more in a month than most people's houses are worth. Confidence low? That £30k per week should ease the pain. I'm a lawyer and I only get paid if I win a case. I can't afford to let my confidence, the alignment of the stars or the colour of my underwear affect my performance. I bet if they weren't paid unless they scored they'd bloody fight tooth and nail to put the ball in the net. Belt up and put the ball in the net because we've all had enough.

What a load of tosh. We're going through a bad run of form and we'll probably not finish higher than say, 15 or 16, but we're not going down. Fours words: Sunderland, Cardiff, Norwich, Fulham. If you were a neutral you would probably bet on us staying up. Having said that, the team is still a pile of poopoo and weewee and Lambert has one more season. (and he probably knows it)

Lambert admitted the other day that nzogbia was training with the kids and i dont think being expensive means you're automatically a big miss. He's not fit to train at the tempo of the first team though is he, nor has he been all season. If he was fit he would have played. lambert didn't bomb him out last season when he turned a few important matches for us. That whole fake injury conspiracy in the Nzogbia threat was incredible.

Well said Sunny. Couldn't have put it better myself. Our 4 most expensive signings (Benteke, Okore, Kozak & Nzogbia) are injured. Take the 4 most expensive signs out of most teams and watch them struggle. Lets grit out teeth, hope we stay up and see what happens next season. I'm not up for the club sacking Lambert and don't think they will anyway.

I've been a supported of Lambert all season and I don't think it's his fault Benteke, Kosak, Okore and Nzogbia (our most expensive signings) are all injured at the same time. That's rotten luck. If they'd all have been fit we'd have seen a different team with more points on the board and probably top half. Take the 5 most expensive signings out of every team and you'd see a real difference. Having said that, it sounds like Lambert bottled it today and gambled for the draw, which clearly was the wrong thing to do.

I visited this thread last week and thought it was preposterous. I can't believe this conspiracy is still running on. The man's had a very bad injury. He's nowhere near ready for first team drills. Can any physio or doctor members of Villatalk please come out and express an informed opinion on the likelihood that the Zog is nowhere near fit to train with the first team rather than "bombed out". Could we then put this to rest.

Lets put it in perspective -- He had a difficult brief when he started at the club - Make us better on the pitch with a fraction of the budget of the last three managers . Oh, and at the same time, halve the wage bill. That's a tough brief. Seriously, who could have done a better job? He's done better with the money he's spent compared to the managers of the clubs below us in the league who have spent more. Progress has been made from last season, despite the wage bill reducing. Lets see what budget he's given this summer and the quality of the play next season.

....So Zog has said that he isn't allowed to train with the first team.... Too bloody right he shouldn't - he snapped his achilles only 8 months ago! As dull as it is, I'm afraid its nothing more than that people.

Agbonlahor, Gary Cahill, Yep i suppose you could say those two. However, despite apparently having one of the best academies we still don't produce enough top performers at senior level, relative to other teams in the league. I wonder if its the way we integrate them into the senior team. Perhaps we don't have the quality at senior level for the youngsters to learn from and develop.

"Villa’s Bodymoor Heath academy emerged as the best in the country during an audit under the Barclays Premier League Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) in November 2012. Southampton’s academy is also highly-rated having produced current first team stars Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana and former Saints stars Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain." Just look at the list of graduates that have emerged from Southampton's academy. Who have we ever produced other than mid-table squad players? Lets hope our title of 'best in the country' starts to bare fruit at some point.

Lambert won't start with Holt. He has only ever used him at the end of the game - he doesn't have the legs for the prem. Its like when Boris Johnson came on in that Celebrity match. He's not really a player, he just boosts the mood of the team and poses as a distraction to the other team. Hope when he does come on, he rugby tackles Sidwell.

To be fair Stoke have been very good. They've not played like a bottom half team. They can do exactly what we can't, keep possession and break teams down.

Poor Helenius, can't even hold down a place at the white table. He looks like he's been Photoshopped into the image. So Sylla is drinking a Mojito. But what is Tekkers drinking there? is it a pina colada? Judging from the performances of Sylla and Tekkers since this photo was taken, I think its clear we need to get the whole team drinking Pina Coladas with a strawberry on the side. That's the only chance we have of beating United and Stoke. We need to ban Mojitos as well. We should be alright then.

Well you could argue Lowton was nowhere near the Dutch team, given that he's English. In terms of signings, it doesn't get much than this chap. We paid next to nothing for him, he's scored more goals than Gabby and even helps out at the back too. Good call Mantis... I've always liked the Netherlands, a wonderful country, a very friendly air force and attractive national team colours. I have a soft spot for Ajax too... They've always been our second team in our house... and let's not forget the lovely tulips, windmills, and 2 Unlimited. Definitely my second team.

That's what you get when you fail to make a positive substitution. Absolute bollocks

Not a game for the neutral