PeteStan

Agree that he will play Clark in place of Gardner, who lets not forget played on Wednesday. The defence will see the return of Warnock. I don't see how he will leave Keane out given, his limited time here and impact last weekend, but it's a shame that this will almost inevitably mean that Ireland, our most impressive permanently contracted player, recently, will miss out. We play best on the break and with width. Gabby will be expected to play as a winger again, which he really isn't and other width will be supplied by Albrighton, who despite his sometimes deadly delivery can also be so frustrating. I presume N'zogbia is still injured and anyway has not done enough lately to warrant inclusion. One thing this assumes is that McLeish will play his strongest side, with maybe Guzan coming back. A cup run and high profile victory coud be crucial to the perception of the manager and fans support. And crucially for the confidence of an apparently improving team!

You can't get away from the fact that because of the general financial situation both in the country and within the game, he has not had much financial backing and is working with a significently lower quality squad than Houllier. It's very obvious now that one of the main reasons that he was brought in was that he was an established Premier League Manager who would agree and stick to the 'trade carefully' and 'utilise the youth' policies. We have to accept that these are the policies that our Club (and others) are operating within. There maybe some light at the tunnel in the summer when some of the high wage earners come to the end of their current contracts and maybe the odd other high earner is moved on. McLeish is here to see the policy through and I have to stick to my mantra; whether you wanted him or not (and 99.9999% seemingly didn't), he is the manager of Aston Villa and as such we have to get behind him!

Just watched the latest AVTV interview with 'Captain Jack'. One thing with this lad, he really does seem to care about the Club and appears to be truly "living the dream". I know Craig's love for the Blue side of the City has been much reported, but I really think Gary is one of us. This can only help his development if he is playing for a club he really cares for. Villa just need to be careful they don't overplay him: last week he played 90 mins of a reserve game plus the best part of the Premier game at Molyneux. Now there is talk that he will be involved in the Nextgen game this Wednesday. The lad is willing but Villa just need to take care. This could be the jewell of our team for the next 10 years!

Give him some credit, please!

Apologies if this has already been said. But maybe the loaning out of Delph is more to do with 'our trading carefully policy' than the development of a young player? Leeds were one club who wanted one of our players, currently, at least, temporarily surplus to requirements. They were prepared to pay some of his wages, freeing up some potential slack in our wage bill. Perhaps now Mr McLeish can belatedly do some limited business before the window ends?

Sadly I can't get to my seat at VP at the moment, so I have only seen Stephen lately when Villa have featured on TV. Just watched the AVTV interview with him, very interesting. There has been much talk of 'his head not being right' in the past but this interview showed him in an excellent light. Really committed to the team, enjoying and grateful for his current run, respectfull and thankful to the fans and up for the future. He comes across as a quiet, reserved but very decent young man just like in the Acorns visit feature around Christmas 2010. I know the fans are starting to really warm to him and Alex McLeish seems to appreciate his qualities. He does seem to be the one young, flare mid-field player that we have at the Club, with incredible natural skill and vision. He seems to really 'coming on track' now and becoming a real asset for the immediate and I hope longer term future. I just hope there is nothing in these QPR/Hughes whisperings.

And four goals in the first half of the season in the context of some of our performances is an important and telling contribution. Just checked Wikipedia and two or three seasons in Scotland he averaged a goal every three matches. So he does have this finishing ability in his locker. Yes I know he has been used more as DM since joining Villa and clearly doesn't have the legs these days to be the true 'box to box' midfielder he clearly once was; but I loved it when he pushed up in the last ten minutes or so and although Clark's pass was so simple, he did take that goal, our key winning goal, so well!

So many players had excellent games yesterday. The whole defence (minus the questionable Hutton) played very well, showing dogged commitment. But Stephen stood out with his total tenacious attitude. That one block was outstanding. It seems quite extraordinary that he was totally discarded by Houlier last season for 'footballing reasons', something reiterated by McAllister when he fronted in GH's absence. Stephen, I believe has been ever present this season. This just does not look like a player with an 'attitude' and I believe he has now re-located to the Midlands. As a very long-standing fan now all I ask is that players show effort and commitment to 'the shirt' and the Manager sets up the team positively and appropriately, with the players playing to the plan. For me Stephen epitomises this effort and commitment. You can see why he was once an England squad player, he may lack true quality, but tenacity and commitment never!

Sadly I am not able to travel at the moment but luckily I watched the whole match on Sky, as for once it was the featured match as 'Footbal First - Game of the Day'. This was a magnificent effort by every man in the team. a masterclass in tactical planning by our Manager (yes Alex McLeish - he is the Manager of Aston Villa) and a set of players sticking to the plan, playing for the team, the Manager and us. Harrowing, closing down, defending like Lions and the key; exposing one of Sky's chosen, with naked pace and attacking guile. Just brilliant! And, yes it's been said many times on here today (well mostly yesterday now), in Stephen Ireland we had true quality to match anything Chelsea had. A player who has vision, was comfortable on the ball and has an eye for a pass. He also showed desire throughout, chasing down and harrowing the Chelsea midfield. He scored at a critical time to get us back in the match after we had been denied our first penalty and then intercepted the ball to run free, unselflishly releasing Darren Bent in the dying minutes of the game for our 3rd goal. A true 94 minute total, quality performance. Lets see the Manager show some faith in him again now and Stephen, lets see some more of this type of performance. You can do it!

In my earlier post. Sorry for years read improvement over last three games.

Today was a masterclass in tactical planning for a specific game and a set of players who stuck to the plan and ran themselves into the ground, to a man,to achieve an outstanding and magnificent (and don't let anyone kid you that this result was because Chelsea were poor) result. Alex has not laways achieved this this season. But today it was cear that the players are playing as one and for the manager. Ther have been assive improvements in attitude, performance and application in the last three years suggesting the Manager might just deserve some time. I know have posted this before. Many of us might not have wanted him. But for the sake of the Club - Get behind the Manager and the Team. And three more things:- 1) Happy New Year VT'ers 2) Congratulations Sir Doug! 3) Stephen Ireland you were magnificent today Sir. Keep it up!

An outstanding Club man. Deserves his captaincy for his leadership by example and commitment to the cause. This is his sixth season at Aston Villa, no one should doubt the part he has played over these years. A roller coaster period for the Club and sometimes a roller coaster for Stan. Our most consistent player this season. sometimes lacks the legs these days but never the desire or the effort!

I completely agree with PB. He is only being completely realistic. AMc is going nowhere soon, whether we like it or not. All this divisiveness is doing us no good at all. The best for us as Villa fans is if we go and thrash Chelsea tomorrow, McLeish gets widely lauded and the boys steadily climb the table with improved performances and results and we start to get somewhere again. And to achieve that? He does need to be given his head in the transfer market and as he is being given limited, if any funds; he will have to find a way of 'trading carefully' but effectively. Unpalatable I know, particularly if it means selling 'the family silver'! Face it he is our manager, like it or not. Recent games have shown it doesn't have to be all negative football. He is a genuinely decent man who seems to lose no opportunity in talking up the name of Aston Villa, quite unlike that runaway character who now plies his trade in the north east. And no he wasn't my choice either. But I guess my love for Villa and desire to see us succesful far, far outweighs any slight, negative feeling I might have for a small club across the City.

Why are so many so negative? This was a fantastic effort by the boys at a place where we nearly always get 'done'. Remember last season? Of course it underlined the lack of quality that everyone must realise McLeish has to deal with. And one or two didn't show up. Albrighton either seems to be excellent or as tonight, anonymous. But the commitment of many eg: the whole defence and Stillian Petrov for instance; cannot be doubted from tonight's game. The challenge now? Take this effort on to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

All these comments about our defence and our defensive frailities are so true. And I have previously posted querying why in the continual shipping of poor goals AMc fails to consider Cuellar and/or Clark? Presumably he would say he has tried things on the training pitch and this is his preferred defence for the game in question (which appears to be every game). I still cannot in anyway see the man being fired by this board or this Chairman at anytime in the near future, unless we drop to the bottom and stay there and even then I wonder if they would take such mid-season action. If this is a correct reading of the situation; what are we as true, loyal fans of this great, historic Club to do? Hold onto the raft, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Get behind him? We are all in this together. And please I'm no Blue-nose or great McLeish fan, just a Villan through and through, for the last fifty years. Or what else? It's a fan's right to criticise and boo the team (though I never would), but where's it getting us?

Thanks everyone. At least I got a response. I'm just trying to be realistic. This current Club regime are not listening to the fans and even if they did they wouldn't take the action that most seem to want. We are not back in August 2010. Bad managerial appoinments have been made since then and they will be frightened to death of compounding these by a further early change.

Now come on everyone. McLeish was not my choice as manager, although I do like the way he seems to respect and appreciate the football Club (and I know what most will say to that!). In fact for some reason I wanted Mark Hughes. But this current situation and every Villa fan knows this side will plummet down the League now, is not ALL the managers fault. He has been left with a squad with precious little quality and no depth. Yes his attempts with limited funds to improve the squad have proved unsuccesful and poorly judged to date and I have criticised him today on the match thread for not changing this poor defence around; but he has had little support from his players and has been unlucky with key injuries. If he is staying here for the time being and in practice it would cost a fortune to sack him (athough not as much as a relegation would cost) the Club needs to find a way to freshen this squad up, preferably with some quality. And I know this won't go down well; Villa fans need to try and find a way to give him and the team support. Because there doesn't look any way that he will be fired at the moment and all the negative messages are not helping. Look at Blackburn, what is happening there is not helping their team at all. Sack him and appoint someone else to work with the current squad with no financial support and where would that get us? Just a continuation of the malaise that we have seen since the Club had to pull back on the financial excesses of the O'Neil years.

Why is he not considering Cuellar/and or Clark? Or am I mssing something? This defence doesn't look good enough against the better sides particularly. You know what you are going to get from them at the moment across the whole back four and it just isn't good enough!

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this. Darren features in the regular Sunday Times Magazine feature 'A life in the day' today. (11.12.11 p.82). The article gves some insight into his daily life since he joined Villa. People talk about him moving on but clearly the proximity of his family (mother) in Huntingdon, which he describes as visiting '2 or 3 times a week' (an hour drive he says); is a key factor in his current life. He may not find other clubs as convenient. He does say that he is playing for a great team - and loving it. Probably he would, wouldn't he? But somehow I don't see him moving on this side of the Euros anyway.

Further to my earlier post:- I did mean to add (and it won't be a popular view on here):- I give great credit to Alex McLeish and his fitness team (the already legendary Adrian Lamb particularly) in the part I am sure they have played Gabby in getting so lean and fit and in such good form this season. The recent Peter Grant interview on AVTV highlighted the time Alex sets aside to go through videos of players performances with players like Gabby. There was also the story about the manager's use of an optician to develop players like Gabby's peripheral vision. Gabby clearly was unhappy, unfit and unloved under the Houllier regime. He has almost said as much. The contrast this season could not be more marked!

God bless you Gabby. Every Villa fan shoud try and get to read the feature/interview with OUR Gabby Agbonlahor in this mornings Sunday Times. In it he affirms his loyalty to Villa as his local club and says he is enjoying his football and asks why should he leave for another club and risk not playing? A lovely last paragraph underlines that this is where he wants to play his football. A pity a few more don't feel the same way. He's been fabulous this season. Gabby, sir, I salute you. A true Villan!

Thank you Gabby. You showed you care about this great club. You were brilliant!

AM saying today in his pre-match press conference that it is still probably too early for Jenas. Everyone else seems to be fit again (excepting Carlos & Lichaj of course).

I think he's trying too hard at times at the moment. That challenge for the penalty was just ridiculous and after such a fantastic save by Shay as well. We can't afford to be gifting teams goals at anytime but particularly during this transitional period, with such a thin squad and with all the middle placed Premier League clubs 'bunching up'. We are rarely going to be in such a comfortable position to give away such a goal. Barry Bannan needs to take care in the penalty area too. On such moments results are decided.