TRO

we always talk of jam tomorrow with our players.

Big Sam....To sort the club out.

I hope your right, but sorry for being so called negative or sceptical, but I've heard it all before. To dominate is what it means, not a few fab passes now and again..... I simply don't buy your rating of him just yet, but i may well change my opinion..... when i see what your seeing, I'm simply saying i havn't seen it yet. If you want to see domination at its best, play some footage of Paul McGrath or Martin Laursen....or Alex Cropley or Dennis Mortimer Thats being dominant and thats what we need.

He hasn't played enough games yet for anyone to get a real worthwhile opinion. lots of speculation which is great to turn you on. no substance yet. Hope he is a real gem.....yet to see it.

We have got a cutting edge though. 6 goals in the last 2 games and 13 in the last 6. There's plenty of urgency. its all a bit que sera sera.....we are conceding goals at will almost every sortie the opposition mount. I don't call that showing urgency or agression. There is a soft underbelly in this team IMO.

we are pushing the ball around better in area's that are not hurting the opposition. In the business area's of the the pitch i.e The Box we are conceding goals like they are going out of fashion and at the other end we are missing chances like a naive fool. There is no cutting edge in the team or any kind of urgency. Make him director of football and deal with transfers and bring in a young up and coming manager.

spookily agree on all fronts. Think the reo coker bit might be true, but will be a mistake IMO.

This is what pissed me off the most. Gabby was laughing his head off, what's up with him? I think he will either directly or indirectly ask for a move at the end of the season. He will ask for a move? Not **** likely he knows when he's on to a good thing.Why on earth do we pander to these over paid players.....if they don't do it leave them out. Like many, we all know he is being played out of position, but that is no excuse for some of the shit he's dishing up.....and yes Petrov was as bad.

I thought Gabby looked anything but dangerous.....uninterested, I would describe it as.If the game had of lasted until the end of march it wouldn't have made any difference to what he dished up.....He simply had no idea how to hurt the opposition.

The problem tonight wasn't team selection....partially granted. It was approach.....**** physical approach.It was simply naive. we needed to get in their faces, similar to how blues applied themselves to the Arsenal game. That was sheer suicide.

I'm really unsure what i make of all that. was it an FA Cup tie or a training session? The ability to pass the ball was impressive.....the physical approach and the ability to spot danger and close it down was thoroughly apalling. The defensive work from this team is shocking. I'm not convinced a full side would have done any better in terms of a result, because i think we have a serious defensive culture problem. If someone had told me that Man City paid us to throw that.....I'd be hard pressed to question it.

seems a thoroughly decent allround player to me.....and very much improved. all about settling in i guess.

If its all kept in context its fine, but just remember, what goes around comes around. The problem with all this sort of stuff is - some don't know where to draw the line, and some unsuspecting soul kops it for someone elses OTT actions/comments. I'm not really bothered who wins. I'm more interested in putting energy in to supporting the Villa than bashing our rivals.

This lad has had some good reviews from many a quarter, but so did Luke Moore. I havn't seen anything that would suggest to me we have anything special on our hands.....Young players can develop, so the jury is out for me on this one. I'm not expecting anything from him, so if it happens it will be a bonus. One thing i like to see from a central midfield player is COMMAND.....Even young players that are destined to make it, you see bits of it....I don't here. He has had a cruel injury,so i hope I'm wrong.

Wasn't overly convinced with the signing in the first place. Has improved with us, would do well to gain the "eye of the Tiger" needs to be more ascertive in his play to succeed.

He needs time to settle in and weigh up all around him.The pace of the premier will be different and he has to acclimatise to that..... until he does all that it is difficult to access. It seems who ever comes in we all assume they are better than we already have. and they go striaght in to the hot mix. We have to wait and see if that is the case. PS its interesting to see the effect Craig Gardner is having with our city cousins, with an extended run and the same could be said for Gary Cahill and Zat Knight.....These players are all featuring in teams above us. Sidwell and Hughes were deemed as rubbish, yet we could'nt get a home win against them.....HHHHHHHMMMMMMNNNN

Have been a season ticket holder for over 40 years.... not got one now. but never had an invite when I did.

Couldn't agree more.....and had that partner been on..... we would have notched a win.

we tried to play them at their own game..... mistake on one hand, but good to see villa move the ball well. I thought it was a really good game. we are not ready for them yet, but progress is being made in turning us in to footballing side. Their play had much conviction, ours was a bit tentative, only natural i suppose as we are in transition. They catch the eye in their offensive play...... but they are so competent defensively too.

Why bring a new manager in if we finish strongly? It'd make no sense.I'd just rather us have a manager that will be here for the long hall, I don't see GH being here for 3 or 4 years. beside me not liking him, i'd rather us not have to start all over again in a few short years.. That's the thing though. with GH, the plan isn't to start again, it's to build on what we have. The problem is, O'Neill left us in a 'we need to rebuild' situation. I'm certain the plan is for when GH to step down with a good squad of talented player, mix of English, British, foreign, great scouting network, good youth player emerging regularly into the first team with a wage bill that works. So, do you think another manager that comes in is not going to want to do things his own way??, ok good if he brings in a good scouting network as that will be god long term, all i was saying was that i thinkh could do a good job as DOF with a younger manager with a coaching team that has our youths right through to or first team trying to play the same brand of football. when have we had any manager other than Ron Saunders in the last 30 years above 3/4 years....so whats the problem. Houllier will do that providing he does well.

whatever the team he picks......you want everybody "AT IT" up there.

This team has been under too much pressure recently....Darren Bent's arrival has lifted the confidence factor right throught he club and this has had a knock on effect on so many( including fans)..... where other players have found some form, none other than the defence. The trick is to keep it going and grow our confidence. Houllier himself /as any manager,can suffer with confidence too..... thats why they talk about sticking together in tough times.

...... Not afraid to drop the big names .......Not afraid to put in the kids .......Not afraid to spend 18/24 million on one player. .......Not afraid to make changes .......Enters the transfer market at logical times .....makes coherent & analitical sense when talking about performances. seems to be doing ok to me.

ALL fans are fickle Tro. And i gladly admit it.......its part of every fans make up 8) it was actually said it a disageeing context meaning villa fans arn't fickle......sometimes i could argue with myself.....we all change our opinions, thank god.

Good to see a manager with the balls to give them a chance....its the only way we will find out if they are good enough or in fact whether they will develop. they have to get games in the first team.