John

There is nothing not to like in that Daily Mail article. I thought there were shades of Sir Ron Saunders in the following comments from Sherwood: "We were playing Chelsea. Nearly an hour in we had them where we wanted them. Then Jan Vertonghen makes a mistake, Younes Kaboul gets sent off, and we capitulate, lose 4-0. ‘I’m hot, I’m upset. Jose Mourinho shakes hands, doesn’t say much. Steve Holland, his assistant, comes up and he’s trying to be nice. “Unlucky mate,” he says. “You played really well in the first half.” I tell him to f*** off. Lost my temper. Called him a patronising c***. I had to phone and apologise. Still fuming, but it was my mistake. He didn’t mean it as I thought." "‘People say the fans have got to get behind the team. Hold on, why must they cheer? You make them cheer. They’re the only loyal people in the game. Make the difference for them, get them on your side." "I’ve told the players, if you’re not in the team, I can find an excuse for why you’re not playing,’ he explains. ‘But you want the truth? The other 11 are better than you. If you train properly, next week it might be your turn. If you don’t, you’ll never get the chance to show me." "Then, when I was at Watford, I was playing against him (Brian Talbot) in training every day. And every day I was tackling him, flying in, didn’t care.‘The coaches used to call me Tackler Tim, or some rubbish. One day, I put one in and he said to Graham Taylor, “Why’s he keep doing that?” I have never forgotten his answer. “Brian, you know that shirt you wear on Saturday?” he said. “That’s the shirt he wants.” He was right, too."

I guess the daily order will be something like: Season ticket holders in the cup scheme. Season ticket holders who have attended cup matches. Season ticket holders. Half season ticket holders. Fans who have attended league/cup games this season starting with a full attendance record and working down on the number of games missed by say 2 games a day until our allocation runs out. The club cannot hope to please everyone and it will be worse when we make the final. But I suspect our best bet would be if we play say Blackburn in the SF and Bradford in the Final because I think the number of seats given may well be linked to average attendance and for no other reason. (honest!!)

Welcome back Stan! He will have the respect of the players as he has played at the top level for club and country recently. He will always have the support of the fans here as he also has at Celtic. The appointment is a good one for him and for us. I cannot see any negatives here and I wish him the very best on his return to first team involvement.

Given, Lowton, Clark, Okore, Bacuna, Gil, Cleverley, Delph, Sinclair, Gabby & Benteke for me. Another win would be great for our confidence and it will be a nice evening out for those Baggies who come to see us do them twice in a week. Wembley calls!

Source: Player Match Ratings: Massive club defeats little club!

Our first penalty of the season brought us our first goal in the last 15 minutes of a game this season and our first league win of 2015. It stopped the rot and brought to an end our embarrassing runs of 7 successive league defeats and of 12 league games without a win. Let us hope that league wins prove to be like London buses for us and that having waited ages for one three come along at once. We hit 2 goals for only the third time this season and took our goal tally up to 15. Our first win in 7 league games also gave our new boss his first league win and took us out of the bottom 3. Our penalty winner may have come very late but it would have been a travesty had WBA taken a point given the game could have been finished as a contest at half time had we had the rub of the green. Their equalizer came from their only shot on target. Given we scored 2, hit a post and had another 2 efforts scrambled off the line we were very worthy winners and recipients of all 3 points. We threatened to blow WBA away during a first half that we dominated with some of the best football seen at Villa Park from us or indeed from any of our visitors this season. This was a game that we showed we wanted to win the most. But in the second half no doubt stung by some choice words from their boss during the interval The Baggies pressed us more and we allowed them to come into the game. They then claimed a soft equalizer on 66 minutes and our players naturally were deflated by being pegged back having put so much into the game. But we did not surrender and emerged victorious having rallied and gone again for the win when the game having opened up looked to be drifting towards a draw. We face the same opponents at the weekend. Not only does that present us with an opportunity to appear at Wembley in an FA Cup Semi-Final it also gives us the chance to win a second ding-dong derby within a week. By putting two wins together it will also give us some level of confidence to take into our crucial next ten league games. Bring them on! My player ratings from a game that lifted us 3 points clear of the bottom 3 but left our blood pressures at a dangerously high level are: Brad Guzan – 6 – An evening when he was rarely called upon to do his stuff. Alan Hutton – 7 – Another whole hearted performance at the back and when going forward which he frequently did. Such a pity that the red mist descended on him again on 88 minutes when he earned his 10th booking of the season and a 2-game ban that we can ill afford. He followed through with his boot pushed into Berahino’s stomach and then stupidly twice went head to head with him when the forward reacted to this which left the referee with no alternative than to reach for a card. Ciaran Clark – 8 – He has become so valuable to us and this was another exemplary display of central defending at its best. Jores Okore – 7 – Might have been punished on another day for gifting the ball twice near the edge of his box to Gardner on 3 minutes and then Morrison 41 minutes later but fortunately nothing came from either mistake. His was otherwise a solid defensive display and he got an important touch on 70 minutes to a Morrison cross that was aimed for the waiting Ideye who otherwise looked likely to at least test Guzan if not to put them ahead. Matt Lowton – 6 – It was he who was felled for our late penalty by Foster when he raced off his line to offer us a late match winning opportunity and to complete what was almost a man of the match display for us from their keeper. Did well enough given he was again filling a position that is not his own through necessity but Matt is likely to get an opportunity on the right side now due to Hutton’s suspension. Charles N’Zogbia – 7 – A surprisingly good contribution particularly during the first half given some of his previous performances. Ran at defenders and looked for the ball prior to his substitution. Ashley Westwood - 6 – Worked hard throughout. Fabian Delph – 7 – Very unlucky in first half stoppage time to see a curled shot from the edge of the box that had Foster beaten strike the post. This was a solid midfield display which was his best since he signed his new contract. Fab found space as well as his man on a regular basis and kept us moving with purpose. Tom Cleverley – 7 – Hit a speculative shot from 30 yards over the bar on 20 minutes which did not trouble the keeper. But he worked hard throughout and continued to show the improvement in his game we have witnessed of late. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 8 – MOTM – Might on another day have claimed a first half hat-trick but he did score our vital opener. He ran on to receive a flick from a Guzan clearance off Benteke before outpacing Lescott and hitting the ball between the advancing Foster’s legs and into the net on the 22nd minute. Gabby had earlier been found in the centre of the penalty box by Benteke on 14 minutes. He turned well and hit a shot which Foster fumbled and allowed to run through his legs before he got a hand back to hook it off the line with most but sadly not quite the entire ball having crossed the line. Six minutes after he had scored N’Zogbia touched the ball to him and he again ran clear only to be felled by the advancing Foster inside the box a moment after clipping the ball past him. The ball had taken a slight touch off the keeper which slowed it down just enough to enable Lescott to clear it off the line. Gabby often saves his best for local derbies during which he also often scores. He repeated the trick yesterday particularly in the first half when his pace and runs proved too hot for the Albion defence to handle. It is more than a little infuriating that outstanding performances like this one demonstrate just how effective he can be for us when he is up for it but that this happens so rarely. Now is the time to reproduce something like this level of performance on a regular basis which would see him playing a big part in maintaining our top flight status. Christian Benteke – 6 – Again looked some way off his very best other of course than when he made two crucial contributions to our win with an assist for our first and a late penalty conversion of his own for our second. Christian settled the game with a second half penalty as he had done last season’s game at Villa Park. He showed his was possibly the only cool head in the ground when he made a stuttering run and stroked the ball into the right side of the net with confidence after Foster had made a move to the other side. Substitutes: Jack Grealish – 6 - Replaced N’Zogbia on 59 minutes. This was a high pressure game and one that it was always going to prove difficult for Jack to come on and make a big impression in but he did well enough in the time he had available. He was in the right place at the right time on 72 minutes when he connected with a Hutton cross but he was unable to get quite enough on the ball that went straight to a grateful Foster. But he did so well to win the ball back and was then brought down near the edge of the box for Leo’s free kick which is described below. Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Cleverley on 77 minutes. Did not have sufficient time to earn a rating but did squander a late free kick which he hit harmlessly off target with several players up and waiting for a good delivery into the box. Andreas Weimann – Replaced Gabby on 82 minutes. Andi was not on long enough to gather any rating. Up the Villa! John Lewis

I hope we can just about manage 17th on the last day. Anything above that would be a big bonus anything less would be a blight on our proud history.

Well no, not really. PSG's sponsorship deal with the QTA failed the UEFA fair value test. Laurent Blanc has been moaning about how they've been impacted by sanctions. You can't just sponsor a shit, under achieving football club, who have won nothing for pushing twenty years, to the tune of £200M and claim fair value. Manchester City managed it and given the way the World Cup bid has gone I would back our Qatari group to learn from the PSG situation and smooth things with UEFA for us. Although I do take your point and this is a bit Fantasy Island after all. You forgot to mention Wroy. A very English selection, no? What's the deal? I have every confidence in this group of players. I believe in them because these are players worthy of believing in. But it’s going to be very much a case of what those players can actually do when I show my confidence in them, tell them I think they’re the men for the job. I doubt £50m would buy us two of those players, let alone the whole list. I think we might get 3 with less than £50m (Berahino, Milner and Cahill). I also mentioned some (which I admit would be rather a lot of) spare change... I doubt £50m would buy us two of those players, let alone the whole list. I like Berahino -- who doesn't? -- but I feel Sterling is overrated. Not all that impressed with Barkley. Cahill getting old -- would be too pricey, too. I can see Cahill giving us a few more years in the way Terry has at Chelsea. I think Barkley can become a very good player following his dream move to us and that Sterling may yet prove to be more than a one season wonder although if Liverpool want silly money we could move for Bale instead. As DK82 said earlier "It does say dream".

The first thing I would say is where is the rest of the money because we will need a great deal more of that "lot of money" to compete at the top. We can forget about FFP because our new owners will find us someone to pay £200m to have naming rights for the Holte End refreshment kiosks. So I would spend my first £50m and some spare change on bringing in Ross Barkley, Gary Cahill, James Milner, Raheem Sterling and Saido Berahino.

I like many back then found the original Star Trek must see TV. Thanks for the memories Mr Spock. LLAP

This is a real must not lose for us. A point is the least we need but we could really do with all 3 points.Beat them twice in a week and it could give us the boost we need to get the points we need to stay up. It seems they might be a tad short of goal scoring strikers after today's game. If so, welcome to our world Baggies!

10 of Small Heath's Championship points.

I had not thought about the Sherwood-Spurs link. They might just help us out as long as they are not still in with a shout of a top 4 position at that point. But I guess it will be down to us winning the home games we need to and not losing games against those clubs who are in the bottom 6 with us.

John Carver when asked if there would be no love lost should Villa be relegated said "Absolutely not". I suggest that be pinned on the dressing room door today!! We go into this game having been shown the most red cards in the PL against a team that have yet to have an opponent sent off against them this season. We have also lost 6 league games in a row for the second time this season. We last won up there 10 years ago. Everything points to a win for us then albeit one in which we end the game with 10 men again!

I think to get something out of this one we really do need to have Hutton and Cissokho fit or a minimum of one of them.

As part of the deal with the former chairman he agreed to spend £20m on players as well as meet the asking price.

Agreed PaulC but he has not had as many opportunities as Andi has had. I think both can contribute in what is left of the season but Joe was never going to play every game and if he can give us a couple of good games (possibly off the bench) then I will take that.

Played a blinder against Burnley and scored. If he can do the same a couple of times this season it will do a lot to keep us up. He also offers us some creativity that we otherwise lack.

Did one of them have a beard or might one have recently shaven one off? If so could it be Conchita Wurst of Eurovision fame? After all she did sing "Rise like a Phoenix" and must therefore have a link to The Phoenix Group...

Optimistic? As ever! I thought we would beat Stoke as well. Does a draw against Swansea and a win on the last day (which would give us 33 points) sound a little more possible?

My only reference to confidence above was that "we arrived at Villa Park unusually with some level of confidence". That reference was to the fans rather than players TRO. But the players do lack confidence and given the dire run we are on that is to be expected. I agree that some are also lacking in the other areas that you have mentioned.

I take your point TRO and thanks for making it. As you say it was a horrendous mistake that had such a telling impact on the final result. That is why he just about shaded a 5 rather than a 6 for me. As I said above his very solid 90 minute defensive display for 90 minutes was undone in stoppage time and but for that I would have been looking at a potential 7.

I have just looked at the remaining games and had the following bottom 6 before the last game of the season: Villa 32 pts Leicester 31 pts QPR 31 pts Hull 30 pts Sunderland 30 pts Burnley 30 pts So that would be any 3 from 6 on the last day. I had us getting our points against WBA (1), Sunderland (1), Swansea (3), QPR (3), Everton (1) & West Ham (1). On the last day 4 of that bottom 6 play each other (Leicester vs QPR and Villa vs Burnley) with Hull vs Manchester United & Chelsea vs Sunderland. I had Sunderland to lose, Hull to win (with Manchester United helping their old boy Bruce) and Leicester to win. That would leave us needing a point to stay up on 33 points but I have us to get 3. So 11 - 13 more points please Villa! Relegation really is not an option for us. We have been there and done that. Games against us would be like Cup Finals for our opponents down there and we do not have a great recent record in such situations.

"as of a few years back we started putting clauses in playing and non playing staff's contracts where in the event of relegation wages are cut". That shows the budget we have been working with since then was known to be insufficent to ensure we would retain our top flight status useless but that it was a risk the owner was prepared to take. It seems prudent now in our current sad situation but I doubt that Spurs or Everton for example felt the need to do the same back then.

A must not lose game for us although we could really do with a win after Saturday. Every game we have left this season is a must win/draw other than the games with the two Manchester clubs, Southampton and Spurs where anything other than a sound spanking would be a bonus. I would try Given (on his old patch), Hutton, Cissokho, Clark, Okore, Gil, Cleverley, Westwood, Delph, Sinclair & Benteke for this one.