TRO

I like the lad.....just learning his craft.He needs to be left alone to do so.

http://tinyurl.com/4b8kd3l What the **** does that mean? i think its meant as he moans and whinges to get his own way on the field he is a niggler..... sounds positive to me. I hate happy losers.

just reading the after match comments from our manager proves to me he has a clear understanding of what's going on.....and he is fearless about what he says.

slowly, slowly, catch a monkey

well lets see if you are right. I hope he is better than Nigel. oh and regards Gabby, I thought scoring goals is what strikers are all about, but hey a more selective appraisal for that one ah. perhaps he's a certain type of striker that is not meant to score very often.

do you mean in the same manner as Bent is the player Gabby thinks he is ? guess that could be aimed at quite a few. but after such a good win yesterday the negativity/sarcasm is unnecessary, don't you think. PS by the way was that an echo from woody.

I would still desperately love to see this lad find his form. I don't know the ins and outs..... but he can be a real talent. PS some need a kick up the arse.....i think he might need a cuddle.

I too don't know much about him, does anyone on here know his capabilities? The fact Lyon went from the bottom of the league to near the top after he come back from injury must say something.

When there is no food in the cave the wolves eventually turn on each other. Gerard Houllier has experienced a very difficult period .... a period that some managers with less experience would have wilted.....or in some cases walked. He has showed composure and a steady hand. No one knows if he will be the man to deliver our hopes, but his actions along the way will help us to know. He has made a signing in Darren Bent that on paper is as good as it gets. with the kids getting older i.e Gary Gardner etc the future looks bright. lets at least give him a chance, and if you don't fancy him fine, but if he turns out to be the dogs wotsits......at least have the balls to say I got him wrong. PS One swallow doesn't make a summer and we were heavily out possessed, but that will be a big confidence booster, I'm sure we can build on that and blow a few cobwebs away.

I wouldn't boo him, its just the predatory nature of the game football. I am not as bitter and twisted as some over Milner mainly because I don't rate him as highly as some. I think Ash is a better player and I think Albrighton will be eventually.

.....its called envy...and its too pathetic for words.

Had he gone to Man City would they be saying the same thing? Dammed if we do, dammed if we don't. End of the day, we've signed a PROVEN Premiership goalscorer. Absolutely brilliant and I couldn't give a flying feck what the media think about it. I'm a bit fed up with the media MON lovefest. Randy couldn't trust him with any more transfer money with so much in wages sitting on the bench and some utter tripe signed with Randy's good money. I wish the press would get real and stop talking bollocks. This is nothing more than Randy supporting the Manager that he appointed. Two good draws in our last three games might be good evidence that we are turning things around, regardless of any new signings, Walker apart. The deeper story is though - that MON should have sat tight - lerner would have given him the cash - if he had shited the benchwarmers I don,t believe that to be true.I don't believe Lerner intended to give him the cash....He had the cash and Lerner was dubious about what he saw for it.

.....just totally amazed we wasn't in for him when he was leaving spurs....but hey ho.

could be said .....sign of a good signing too. too many journo's happy to see us languishing and when we fight back it's all nego.

lol

well he may not of managed a single game, but they are all his purchases, they are the players who have listened to his doctrine for 4 years and then watched him dump them in a flash.....are you saying thay are not to be affected by that double standard. yes its the responsibility of the present incumbent and for what its worth its looking pretty grim for him (despite 17 odd games, an injury list that would drag any confidence out of a team and no opportunity until now to bring anyone in)and being a bit too soon to be comfortable to be calling for his head. If we are to go down O'Neill can take every bit as much as Houllier in terms of blame for this mess. Ps It may well be Houllier ain't right for our club, but any manager given c 17 games ain't right either....Randy must take some of this responsibility along with Faulkner. don't forget Faulkner is the 3rd CEO after cunnah and fitzgerald, so all may not be right there either.

He walked out because he was denied the opportunity to buy his way out of the mess he had bought.....he over paid on dross half of them can't even apply the fundamentals like controlling the ball. when he left he ripped the heart out of the club.....most seen him as a man of integrity.....a man who had built a team that finished 6-6-6 would not have walked in the manner he did.....he should have stayed and finished what he started..... was he so prickly that a little contretemps with the chairman would let him leave his band of merry men behind....he obviously had time to rally his loyal subjects in to throwing the towel in too as if that wasn't by design. I think the players loyalty has been rocked by O'Neills departure and its created a broadside. No it was a dispicable thing to do to create maximum collateral damage to the club and he has succeeded.

......Neil Warnock.

we've spent c 100 million on players and we can't control the ball. some what we have bought are right now worse than what we have let go....its a bloody mess and its been coming for some time. I went to the game tonight and while it isn't right to expect a manager to turn things around so soon.....it would take a brave man to defend him. 2 centre midfielders off with 3 minutes to go....what was he expecting? its a bloody mess.

well thats interesting, because Lee dixon on MOTD 2 made a specific illustration to say we didn't play like that last season when we lost 7-1 he made reference to how narrow we were as opposed to the width we employed on sunday. Admittedly I'm referiing to a direct comparison with the same game last year, when i think you are referring to generally. I know what you are saying Mark and i tend to agree with the fullbacks they looked more robust, i thought Clark was very encouraging.... when Luke young played last season, albeit just back from a lay off. I thought we passed and moved quite well at times too just a litle bit of poor control broke things down. lets hope we can build on it.

This is perhaps one of the best reasoned comments I have seen in a long time. It would seem to me that MON's "achievements" were achieved almost by stealth ... it was always clear that Villa fell away in the second (and most crucial) half of the season. To my mind, MON could only have been more successful at Villa by spending huge amounts of money, but even that may have failed as buying the very best players to play his style would seem to be contradictory in terms. GH, on the other hand, may well have the genius to evolve long term success, and that is what we all would like to see, I'm sure. Whether he can do it? We have to give him the chance. I vote for TRO's view. Thanks John I can tell you i would have posted that even if we had of been beaten 3-2 at Chelsea. That team had more balance and experience about it....lets just hope we can build on it.... but confidence is brittle, there may well be some setbacks.

What do these numbers mean? And in response to an earlier question, yes I feel more confident about getting something out of Sunderland. Home wins during Martins Tenure.

I'm not doubting your sentiments to be correct and I'm not suggesting that criticism in public is correct whether it be Carew saying Houllier is the seventh best manager i have worked for out of seven or whether the manager has openly criticised the players. The bottomline is Houllier and Martin O'Neill have different footballing philosophies and methods to take them there.... there will be transition and for some players/fans it will be nice and for some it won't be and a bit of resentment may come in to play. Right now, Houlliers case ain't strong, due to results, but what the future holds who knows he could go on to eclipse everything O'Neill has done with us ....what then, do we send an apology saying we reacted too hastily. Some fans on here could be right it might be just a matter of time before he goes....I don't know.What i do know is a manager with such a big task of transforming the playing style needs time to do so. Some may say but why does he need to change it, for one he is not Martin O'Neill and two maybe he doesn't believe in it. Martin O'Neills tenure wasn't everone's cup of tea( it wasn't mine, but i did wholeheatedly applaud some of his results i.e Man U away) 6-6-6 was very commendable but 7-7-10-8 wasn't and prompted a few season ticket holders like me to think again....hoof football was not my kind of entertainment and counter attacking football is one thing but being overrun in midfield constantly was not easy on my eye and resulting in breakaway goal to win a match was not my idea of development.....hey ho would'nt do for all of us to think the same. Gerard Houllier has acheived some success elsewhere he has credentials to support he fact that he may be able to repeat it again.... he needs a reasonable amount of time and the support O'Neill enjoyed to help him acheive it. I don't know which camp is right or wrong for or anti..... what i do believe in is fair play PS I accept managers will make mistakes, they all do including the best and they may say things in their defence that is best not said.... but hey they are only human. PPS... WE NEED TO GET BEHIND HIM

Richard, that's the Sun you're quoting from!! Whether Chelsea are not as good as last season is not an issue. We all know that how a team plays on the day depends on the opposition as much as anything. One thing is for sure ... the Villa were a damn sight better organised than they were in the corresponding fixture last March. Why don't we just see what happens over the next month. well said john, I'll bet the Chelsea camp wasn't busying themselves saying villa were poor today after the 7-1 drubbing last season. I don't give a flying toss what the opposition do all i care about is it what we do.

just a couple of points : 1. If Martin O'Neill had any respect for what he built at villa in his 4 years he would not have walked out in the manner he did. 2. Whilst 2 wrongs don't make a right ...it was ok for Carew to declare his opinion of his managers ability... but not ok for the manager to do the same. 3. you say he possibly underestimated the size of the job he was undertaking, you could be right..... but how many of us do that in starting a new job.... you only find the "warts and all" when you are in it. 4. The six year absence is anything you want it to be it was a comment levelled at O'Neill saying he had been out of English football for too long managing in a mickey mouse league in scotland( not my comments by the way) The guy has been employed for his all round ability in the same manner as Martin O'Neill was he deserves the opportunity to manage once the fires have been put out...I agree with some, he has tried to make radical changes too soon before he has gained everyones confidence... that could be a mistake, only time will tell. One thing is for sure, we should all get behind him as he is representing the club as our manager.... if folk can't do that then discretion is probably the better part of valour.