Marka Ragnos

May we play with the hearts of lions ... or even just very angry mogs with sharp minds and sharp feet.

Thread needs to be closed its pointless

I love pointless threads. And pointless posts, too.

I don't know. I think it's probably that he thinks that if he wants to keep the locker room on his side, he's going to have to pay a bit of homage to the Vieille Garde. Had he NOT done that, he would have been taking a massive risk. For all his rep for being a straight-up, tough-talking geez, he's not a fool.

I think he will score at least 5-6 goals before the end of the season.

He will stay with us for the start of next season and will be amazing in the first half of the season, maybe 12-15 goals, and then we will sell him in January.

Fernando Torres and Michael Owen both hit their peaks at around age 23. It seems very young to me, but it happens. 

I made some burgers earlier.   Minced lamb with mint, rosemary, chili, paprika and a bit of garlic served with mozzarella, cheddar and red onion on toasted brioche.

 

They were spectacular. 

You inspired me. I made a variation of this tonight, and I and the little lad gobbled it up. Even the dog had a little taste afterwards (he made had no complaints either). 

He was brought into the squad to be the creative midfielder we have been gagging for, for years. The few games he has played he has looked quality and does what it says on the tin, creates. To not use him now is just proof maybe that we never actually needed creativity and this squad can do without, or so Sherwood believes, personally I think without him we may win games which ultimately is the goal, but we will lack the spark to do it convincingly.

Well said, methinks. That's how I feel.

There are so many factors we are not privvy to.....Thats why we have a manager.

True enough. When the last game was 1-1 with minutes left, I felt bitterly angry at Sherwood's unwillingness to slot in Gil, and even though I think it's a little foolish to suggest that not putting him in was some kind of brilliant move on TS's part (which is easy to say after that very lucky if wonderful win), there certainly could be other factors at play. Considering the millions of £££££££ spent on N'Zog and Tekkers, you'd think Sherwood might simply feel obliged to see if he can get these lavishly paid men to function like their labels say they do. 

To say Gil SHOULD have played is absolutely laughable.

Not that laughable. Is there a point along your Great Continuum X Axis of Laughability that lies somewhere between, say, "faintly risible" and "absolutely laughable"? I would actually place the phrase "Gil SHOULD have played" a few inches to the left of "faintly risible," to be honest, somewhere in the vicinity of "potentially amusing" and "more or less unfunny."

I do sometimes wish that people would understand that FIRST IMPRESSIONS DO NOT MATTER.

Wait, are you suggesting, with devilish subtlety, that first impressions do not ... in fact ... matter?

 

 

Don't football forums seem sometimes like a continuous cycle of Optimism/Optimism-Mitigation/Pessimism/Pessimism-Mitigation ad infinitum?

Yep - apparently we weren't going to win another game prior to Tuesday and definitely down and out too! Just love VT and forums

 

Yeah but it's not the same people saying each of those things

 

FIXED: Don't football forums seem sometimes like a continuous cycle of Optimism/Optimism-Mitigation/Pessimism/Pessimism-Mitigation ad infinitum WITH THE OCCASIONAL PIPING UP OF THE INTEGRITY POLICE?       

It's pretty simple in my opinion.

 

Extremely talented, but ultimately can't be arsed to put the work in for a club he clearly wants to leave.

 

I suppose Sherwood's seemingly good start with him (relationship-wise) could help remove that, and that's the hope, but his transfer request farce was very poorly handled by him and his agent. Yes he got more money, but he basically admitted he wants to leave the club, yet his poor form means nobody will buy him. Short-termist thinking.

 

He had ego problems at Genk, and accused the fans of not giving him enough support, which was apparently bollocks and his excuse to leave (I have a couple of Genk-supporting friends). Apparently raised in a very rough area in Liege and hung around with some real wrong-uns (hence the stolen cars story).

 

He's a kid that's had too much too young and has a massive ego, and I think this is the main reason for his lack of form. Confidence does not appear an issue, as displayed by the pen. His phase of shouting at all of his team-mates also displayed what I think is his arrogance.

 

His ability is unquestionable in my opinion, which is why it's so frustrating. Let's hope Sherwood keeps giving him the love he needs and gets him back on form.

Whoa! Never heard any of this, tbh. Is it pretty well established fact,I mean the stuff about his childhood and time at Genk? I was really struck by how different he sounded when I heard him on the radio compared to the sort of confidence-wounded sweet-guy image I had in my mind. He just sounded a bit self-deluded and not someone who could entertain ambiguities too but it could also have been a language issue.

 

IMO all we need to do is beat Sunderland, QPR and Burnley. Those are the 3 must win games for me. If we can sneak some results in-between them (a win against Everton?) all the better, but 35 points will be enough to stay up this year.

 

"All we need to do" - If picking up three wins had been so easy and straight forward we'd be fighting the top three, not the bottom three.

 

I love the optimism in the wake of Tuesday's win, but a speck of perspective shows we struggle to win games, so winning three is not going to be straightforward.

 

Don't football forums seem sometimes like a continuous cycle of Optimism/Optimism-Mitigation/Pessimism/Pessimism-Mitigation ad infinitum?

The Odfather -- Vito's eccentric cousin from Staten Island want to control the black-market trade in obscenely shaped pasta.

The Legs Movie -- limbs, limbs, and more limbs.

American Swiper - he's loud, he's a little fat, he thinks France is weird, and above all, he's a total klepto.

Expected scores for our remaining games

Sunderland 0.7 - 0.3 Villa (so 0-0 most likely)

Villa 0.5 - 0.8 Swansea (0-0)

Man Utd 1.5 - 0.3 Villa (1-0)

Spurs 1.5 - 0.5 Villa (1-0)

Villa 1.1 - 0.7 QPR (1-0)

Man City 2.0 - 0.3 Villa (2-0)

Villa 0.7 - 0.9 Everton (0-0)

Villa 0.6 - 1.0 West Ham (0-1)

Soton 1.6 - 0.3 Villa (1-0)

Villa 1.0 - 0.5 Burnley (1-0)

So I'd have us on about 34 points most likely. When you look at the run-ins for the clubs below us, it's hard to see them hitting 34 points (Burnley's next few games are diabolical: they could well still be on 22 points with 6 remaining).

Have a funny feeling we're going to beat the Hammers but draw with Burnley.

The Philadelphia Tory -- a rom-com about a young rather serious gent from Chesham who emigrates to America's City of Brotherly Love only to find no American girls want to date a man who thinks "the power of entrepreneurialism" makes good pillow talk.

Aging Bull -- a children's comedy about a geriatric gentle-but-misunderstood bull Spike and his zany efforts to woo the much younger Daisy.

Close Encounters of the Hird Kind -- a documentary about the sexual lives of sheep.

The way he took that penalty makes me think confidence was never an issue and it was just our style of play. In 2/3 game with Sherwood in charge he has looked dangerous.

I agree with the first part of this wholeheartedly, and I hope you're right about the second part.

You know I wonder if something's been said to him...or he's over thinking things to much.

His best game after he came back from injury was probably the Spurs game. He was husseling and bustling, but got to much involved and got sent off...which might have cost us 3 points. Maybe he's nervous at costing the team again. Add that to lack of service it's all added up to what's happening atm.

Just thinking at 4.30 am lol

It's as good a guess as any. Let's hope Sherwood finds a way to reach him in whatever maze he finds himself in. I can't imagine there's anyone in the world who doesn't want to the see the lad succeed.

Inadequacy? He's hugely talented ffs - he's been going through a huge trough lately but his ability is there, he's shown he can do it for us in the past and there's no reason, bar your seeming vendetta against the man, that he can't find some form again.

Calm down, junior. 

Hopefully now we're creating more chances the goals and confidence will start to come back.

I don't think it's a confidence issue. I did think so for a long time, but I think it's deeper and less fixable. I hope I'm wrong! I'm genuinely amazed at the continued faith so many supporters seem to have in "the Beast," this persistent sense that he's coming back, soon, soon, tomorrow, tomorrow, to claim his right place again.

I just happen to think tomorrow's never coming, at least not with AVFC and Tekkers. 

 

Seriously. You crazy.

 

If you only knew how much I hope you're right. But when I look at Tekkers' contributions this year, I see someone holding Villa back. Yes, he scored a cool penalty against West Brom, and I cheered madly along with every other Villan, but it's just such flashes of brilliance that, I think, make it so hard for the managers to face the deeper fact of his inadequacy. The problem is, there's no one to replace him. But that doesn't mean he's any good any more. Again, I would be delighted to be proven wrong.

He looked somewhat emotional/relieved if anything

I heard an interview with him today, and I wasn't impressed at all, to be honest. I always thought his recent issue has been "confidence," which is a bit of a meaningless cliche, the more I think about it. He sounded a lot more complacent and self-satisfied than I'd ever imagined him being. I wish Sherwood would bench him.

I would bring the Fifth Dimension. I would simply unfold the "now" and stretch it into a place outside the room.

Last night on BBC 5 Live's daily podcast, post-match, veteran broadcaster Pat Murphy said that this is a time at Villa "for lions rather than lambs" as we face a tough schedule and, still, a relegation battle -- again. He also said many players have been in the last five years "phoning in" performances. I found this an intriguing comment that really got me thinking.

In general, this year, who are the lions?

Who are the lambs?

Last night, I felt that Grealish, for example, was definitely leonine. He wouldn't let up. He pushed and pushed. He fought for balls.

Thoughts?