John

Alan Brazil said this morning speculation should not have started until after the FA Cup Final and then interviewed Dwight Yorke (who knows all about leaving our club). From "The Times" today : Liverpool are preparing a bid for Christian Benteke but will not lodge it until after Aston Villa have played Arsenal in the FA Cup final on Saturday. Benteke enters the final two years of his contract at Villa Park this summer and Liverpool are hopeful that an offer of more than £20 million will convince Villa to sell the Belgium forward, who Brendan Rodgers wants to become the new spearhead of his attack. Rodgers wants to add greater physicality and firepower to Liverpool’s front line and believes that Benteke would provide both qualities, hence the 24-year-old emerging as one of the club’s chief transfer targets before what promises to be another close season of change at Anfield.

Lots more on link. Anyone who has yet to click on the above link really should. Peter is a Villa legend and we really need to win this one for the boys of 1957. Could anyone really tell Peter, Nigel Sims or Jackie Sewell that we have no chance of beating Arsenal in the final? Lets win it for Peter, Nigel, Jackie and for our past & present Villa players/managers/fans on Saturday!

Lambert had his opportunity to join us and that bird (and our then manager) has flown. I really do not want to see Christian at Liverpool, Chelsea or at anywhere else next season and I hope Tim can persuade him that B6 remains the place to be for him next season.

Many thanks for the comments above. I think you are correct on the reason for the team selection yesterday but sadly it did not work for us. I guess the players were shell shocked by those early goals last week and could see no way back from 4 down so it became damage limitation for the rest of the game. I also think that having already secured our safety and with one eye on the game next weekend they failed to produce the level of performance they had done in previous games under Tim yesterday. I think our confidence has taken a hit due to these last 2 games. The question now is whether the team can raise its performance level back up to where it had been previously by next weekend. I think we have grounds to doubt it. But I am going there hoping we can do to Arsenal what we did to Liverpool.

Source: Player Match Ratings: This was no rousing send off!

So we head to the FA Cup Final next weekend on the back of two confidence sapping defeats. Those two defeats reminded both us and our new manager that there is an awful lot of work to be done if we are to avoid another season of relegation worry next year. Burnley clearly wanted this win more than we did. We had players who had given their all to keep us up and to get us to the Cup Final in recent games who seemed for a second time to have nothing left to give. Our players would have been aware that one knock might see them miss a Cup Final appearance but our visitors had no such distractions and left the division on a high. Surprisingly we started with our third choice keeper between the sticks rather than Guzan in Given’s absence. Our defence even more shockingly included N’Zogbia in its ranks so there was clear cause for concern for a defence that had leaked six goals last weekend. Burnley sure enough took an early lead and they were able to hang onto it without too many causes for concern. We did make some chances but those were either saved by Heaton or spurned. On another day we might have put one, two or three of those opportunities away. Let us hope that other day will come next Saturday. Our eighth home league defeat this season has seen us finish fourth from the bottom rather than 15th which would have been the case had we won. We ended the season only three points clear of the drop. We have lost games against all three of the relegated teams and have taken just 5 points from a possible 18 against them. Even the likes of Sunderland and Newcastle ended the season above us so how bad have we been over the course of this season? Tim has done what he was appointed to do having secured our top flight status with a game to go and I think if we had needed the win yesterday to stay up we would have got it. But Tim has also given us the bonus of an FA Cup Final appearance. We will go to Wembley as underdogs but we did so in the semi-final and emerged victorious. Tim now needs to perform another magic trick by leading a team out at Wembley that are able to shake off their last two inept performances and perform at the same level as they did to keep us up and to get us to the final. Do you want to bet against him being able to do that? My player ratings from a game that those present who have not been regular attendees at Villa Park this season might have replied “sitting here” when asked “Where were you when we were cr*p?” are: Jed Steer – 6 – Had little to do yesterday other than to pick the ball out of the net. He did well to come out to block a 64th minute effort from Boyd who had the ball played through to him by Ings and had then ran clear past Baker. Might have been embarrassed in the first half when he half came for a ball that Ings headed on into his hands rather than over him and into the net. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Not at his best today but he was far from being alone in that. Nathan Baker – 5 – On the positive side Nathan played the full 90 minutes to prove his fitness on his return from injury. He was beaten too easily in the air by Ings when he headed home their 6th minute winner. Ron Vlaar – 6 – A steady enough defensive display. Hit a hurried shot high and wide on 18 minutes having received a header from Baker in the centre of the box. Charles N’Zogbia – 4 – Hit the ball sweetly on 73 minutes after getting on the end of a half cleared Bacuna cross but Heaton reacted well to push the ball out for a corner. Charles may be a lot of things but this game showed that he is no wing back. Injuries led to his being played out of position yesterday. But what we lost up front by playing him there was not compensated by what he did at the back. He cannot be blamed for not being able to fill this role adequately but surely this was an opportunity to give one of our youngsters a run out in a role in which they would be at least familiar? Tom Cleverley – 6 – Not quite as effective as he has been of late. Ashley Westwood - 6 – Hit a shot over the bar on 43 minutes after N’Zogbia had pulled the ball back to him on the edge of the box. Might have hit an equalizer 2 minutes later when Gabby back headed the ball to him and he fizzed a shot that Heaton did well to tip over the bar. Fabian Delph – 7 – MOTM – Forced a save from Heaton on 73 minutes from 30 yards and hit another in injury time that flew just wide of the post with the keeper unsighted. The best of our midfield yesterday and kept trying to get us working more fluently. Jack Grealish – 5 – Jack was some way off his best. Appeared to have one eye on next week and would have benefited from a game off. I’m sure Gil would not have minded stepping in for once. Gabby Agbonlahor – 3 – Has done nothing to force himself into our starting line up since his return from injury. Looked off the pace again yesterday and was far too comfortably handled by the Burnley defence. Really should have done better on 63 minutes when the ball broke to him off a defender following a Benteke run into the box and he placed his shot straight at Heaton who kept the ball out with his legs. Christian Benteke – 6 – Christian chested a Bacuna cross down before seeing his 36th minute shot deflected just wide of the post. He then out muscled Trippier two minutes later to power a far post header from a Delph cross that Heaton saved at the foot of the post. Thankfully he came out of this game unscathed. Substitutes: Scott Sinclair – Replaced Cleverley on 72 minutes. Unable to make enough of an impression to earn a rating in what time he had been given. Alan Hutton – Replaced Bacuna on 80 minutes. Alan was not on long enough to merit a rating. Staying up and up for the FA Cup Villa! John Lewis

Bentley looked decent for Southend at Wembley yesterday. Does anyone think he might be a shout for a young back up keeper for us next season?

If he decides to stay then I would be happy about that. I think Tim has made such a difference at the club that players want to stay with/join the Villa now. I would far prefer him to be with us rather than playing against us next season. It would represent another positive signing and it might help Benteke want to stick around when he sees another international pledge his future to our club.

I think his not making the England squad may not help him to choose us. If he was playing for Everton now I suspect he would have made the squad because Everton players seem to find the England squad easier to make than do our players in general. Everton looked his likely destination when he joined us but I think things have changed now. I hope to see him in our shirt and an England shirt next season if the former WBA boss can bring himself to select a second Villa player for a future England squad.

If Benteke does go we should have enough money to buy Berahino and have some change from the two deals. If we get new owners they might have the money to bring him in to play alongside Christian. If Liverpool can talk of bringing in Benteke then why should we not talk about bringing in Berahino? We could double/treble his current wages and his fee would not be that much more than QPR would want for Austin. We are Aston Villa after all!

So was I. It was a desperate game and we were all so down afterwards. It is not going to happen this time!

Delph, Gil and Cleverley for me with Sinclair a close 4th. I agree with dakid 007 above that the FA Cup winner will be likely to be the best goal of them all. Who would have thought 3 months ago that we would have so many goals to choose from?

Great news for those with a 5 game booking history or above that are still in need of a ticket. Friday could be a very happy day for the 800! Tickets from the Villa Park ticket office or by telephone. Good luck!

So the Daily Star says Benteke is £30m rated and that Ferdinand has slapped a £20m price tag on Austin's head. Jog on Les!

"Austin would also prefer to stay down south". So be it then. With relegation, their money problems and a year left on his contract £10-£12m should be about the asking price. I wonder if he would be so happy to stay down South if it was Liverpool who wanted him rather than Ings for nothing? I like the look of the player but he is no Benteke and this looks more like a deal for West Ham than for us.

Hutton & Grealish for me.

Great news. Scott has shown he can be as good or even better than he has ever been with us.

From the history of previous potential moves between the 2 clubs I would also expect Liverpool to under bid and then let it be known that we are denying him his dream move to Anfield.

Our players would need to be issued with compulsory handle bar moustaches should we go for something like the 1881-83 kit.

If he goes then he can go where he likes as long as we get the money we want for him. If it is to be Liverpool then it is his mistake to make. It would be very sorry to see him go because I rate him alongside Andy Gray and Peter Withe as one of the best three centre forwards I have seen in a Villa shirt. I really hope we can get at least another season with him. We cannot afford to let him go and most do everything possible to keep him and if that fails try some more! Given the coming relaxation in FFP and a potential new owner we might even be able to increase his pay to match what a player of his ability can expect to earn these days. That and a FA Cup win might just persuade him to remain in claret & bue. If not, it may be another 30 years before we see a striker of his quality play for us again.

I think the club need to make it clear that fans need to stay off the pitch before the game and at half time or face bans. They also need more stewards at the potential points that fans might come on (including the away end). I hope we do not need to give out such warnings but better safe than sorry.

I think N'zonzi will more likely be bound for WBA than us should he leave Stoke. I suspect Luongo might be more likely a choice for Tim and might cost half the price or slightly less.

I wonder it our potential new owners have asked Platini for some advice on how the changes that they would want made to FFP might happen in the same way he or others might possibly have been asked for advice on how a 2022 World Cup bid might be won!

I do not think anyone deserves a rest that played on Saturday because they got one then! I think those that played need a shot of confidence that a win against Burnley would provide. Given that anyone with any slight knock should not play. It would also be nice to see three or more of Gabby, Sinclair, Gil, Weimann, Cole, Lowton and Senderos getting some sort of time on the pitch with the final in mind. Looking forward to a game without the pressure of relegation hanging over our heads particularly in the last few minutes.

I would guess their plans are more "when" rather than "if". There again this was going to be Stevie G's Cup Final so it would not be the first time we have spoilt a party this season. If the council agree to a victory parade (and they have appeared more blue than claret & blue of late so that like Arsenal's parade might not be quite on yet) I hope we can arrange to borrow the 57 open top bus that is now in the transport museum in Aldridge that was moved from Witton because the Birmingham Council's rent demands were too high for it to stay in the city.