SumoVillan

I agree with the poster. What with this summer's world cup and the comings and goings at VP I'm genuinely starting to lose my love of the game. It was gutting to see Milner and Barry celebrating in blue shirts. What's most galling about Man City is that they have improved whilst at the same time systematically weakening a Villa team who 2 years ago was probably one of their strongest rivals and were teetering on the edge of genuine progress. I can't agree the posters comments abount class. The fact Milner and Barry have been poached attests to the class in the team and on his day, Young fits into the same catagory. I persoanlly don't believe the club would have sold either Barry or Milner to City if the players hadn't forced the issue. It the want-away players that have capped the ambition of the club, not the manager and not the chairman. Its the want-away players deserting the club that made them a household name who have condemned us to this mediocrity for the next decade. Last nights celebration was a kick in the guts, not just because of what might have been if those players were still wearing claret and blue, but also because of how easy it is for players whose names we chant in the stands every week to not only move on without a second thought, but to also screw us at the same time!!! I feel sick.....

It is a rare occasion that I don't agree with Pete having followed his pearls of wisdon since his "Teamtalk" days, but on this occasion our opinions differ. Chelsea do have quality in every position but outside of them, I have to question most of the points Pete has made. Liverpool have some shocking players at present. Outside of Gerrard and Torres, I wouldn't swap a single player in the Villa first team for a Liverpool player. Admittedly Gerrard and Torres are genuine world class but the rest are either good (Carragher/Reyna) or mediocre to poor. Put Gerrard and Torres in the Villa team however and we would be pushing Chelsea for top spot in my opinion. Villa's worst squad players are now mediocre players and those are mostly on the bench and can do a job. Most of the starting 11 are good players in my view. I agree that Villa lack world class talent in any position, but who doesn't outside of Chelsea? Man U have Rooney, Liverpool I've already covered, Arsenal have Febregas & Van Persie, (on the rare occasions they are fit), along with Arsharvin. Spurs are full of mediocre to good players as are Man City, who also have a couple of poor ones thrown in for good measure. Villa won't push on from here until we can secure champions league football, as genuine world class talent won't settle for mere premier league football, except those odd mercenares who want Man City wages. Villa will need a couple of top, top players to really bridge the gap but they will simply not be interested in Villa right now. Villa do currently have some of the best domestic talent around at present and I think this is all we can aspire to if we aren't able to push up the league into the top 4. I agree we were outclassed by Spurs on the day, but every team, no matter how good, comes against a team who really hit their stride in a particular match, or a style of play they just don't cope well with. Look at Villa's recent record against Chelsea. Something about the way we play clearly doesn't agree with them, but they are obviously a better team than Villa, even if the recent head to heads don't reflect this. Just goes to show, sometimes even the best can have an off day. The ability to grind out results like we did against Spurs and Stoke when we have been outclassed is a positive. There will always be odd games teams don't deserve to win and the ability to get away with a "bad one" is a defining characteristic of the "top 4". I think Villa have a realistic chance of competing for 4th place. Spurs, Villa and Liverpool are all equally vunerable and who knows what effect the change of manager will have at City. I do know their defence is terrible at present, so if that continues, they will probably be just as hit and miss as the other contenders. Also, of these four contenders, I don't really believe any of them have a significant advantage in term of seeing out a winning campaign under pressure. Even Arsenal do not have more experience than Villa in my view. Their first 11 has won nothing, just like us. Villa have a far better defence both on the pitch and on the bench than last year. This, in my view, will make a difference this year. Time will tell, but I genuinely believe that whilst Villa will have slips along the way, so will Spurs and Liverpool. Citeh...who knows? For me, if we can at least get a share of the points from the Arsenal and Liverpool games over xmas, there is reason for optimism in 2010.

I'm as upset as anyone about what went on last summer and the way Barry conducted himself, but I genuinely think he has been the same player this season as he always has for us, (spells of brilliance mixed with spell of indifferent form) and genuinely believe he is the glue that marries our defence and attack together. We need to keep him as he is genuine class, but if he wants to go he should, (for the right price), but with no pissing around like last year.

I'll start by saying I have been appalled by Barry's behavior during recent weeks and the total lack of professionalism he has shown towards the club that he is supposed to be the captain of. I understand the reasons for his decision, (even if I don't agree with it), and would have wished him luck if Liverpoo had stumped up all of the cash in a timely manner. His conduct following Liverpoo's antics however has been shocking. Nevertheless, if he stays, I would not be upset as I believe he has sufficient strength of character and enough self interest still at stake to perform well again for Villa, if for no other reason than to prove this doubters wrong.

Thought Barry was a massive miss last night. Without him to glue the side together, we resorted to the long-ball far to often. I too was bemoaning the introduction of Harewood and couldn't be happier that he proved me a mug. If he can reproduce that level of performance on a regular basis he is going to be a good asset. Great resilience from the boys. The mark of a good team is to grind out results even when you don't play at your best and that's exactly what we did. Now bring on the signings!

Another great reserve team report - thanks for some good news at last!

Brilliant report - thanks for keeping us Villans in exile up to date on the stars of the future!

An outstanding result and massive congratulations are due to everyone at Villa Park who contributed to this performance. Thank's for bringing the pride back to VP. It's a real shame that we are going to lose the momentum and confidence gained from 3 back to back wins due to the internationals. Whilst the Chelesa result is one I am going to savour constantly for the next 2 weeks, it's actually quite rare for us not to put in a good performance against the top 4 sides, even if we don't get a result. It's the poor performances, the inexpilcable defeats and draws against the weak to mediocre teams like Man City, Wigan, Reading and of course the Birmingham's of this world that have really hurt us in the past. Therefore how we do in our next match is probably going to tell us as much, if not more than the Chelsea result, about the amount of progress we are making. Personally I can't wait! BTW - Doug's cameo performance is probably the best thing he has ever done at Villa, (apart from selling up to the Randy man). I think I'll download that clip as a screensaver for the benefit of all my Chelski following work colleagues. Absolutely priceless!

Welcome Zat and best of luck in your career at Villa.

Good post! I agree 100%. We may have money and big plans but all of our best efforts may not be enough to convince world class players to come to a club that just now is not even in Europe. Remember, these "top class players" have personal ambitions that will have to go on hold for a least a year if they decide to sign for Villa right now. Being realistic, if these "world class players" are even half as impatient for success as the fans on this site, then by any standards, that's some sales pitch that MON will need to make to get them to Villa at the moment.

Marlon's now a Villa player so true fans will cut out the negativity and get behind him. He deserves our full support. All I've got to say is thanks for signing for Villa Marlon and for showing a willingness to fight for your place. Score a couple of goals and you'll be a hero. Welcome to Villa and good luck!

Good post - the Villa faithful need to try and keep things in perspective. If Harewood decides to join, I'm sure all true vans will get behind him when he plays.

Great post and echoed my own thoughts exactly. I must admit that I have been underwhelmed by Petrov to date and believe the NRC has been bought in to do the job that Petrov has failed to do. NRC is a good tackler but he is more than a holding player that sits in front of the back four. What he brings is a great ability to carry the ball with pace and power from his own half of the pitch, turning defence into attack. With the speed of Gabby, Young (and hopefully SWP or someone of his ilk), this could potentially make us extremely dangerous next season. Can't wait to see who comes in next!

I appreciate the value of Villa's new "professionalism" but it has to be said that with Villa's history, even though I know Mr's Learner and O'Neill won't let us down, its still really hard watching nearly all of our major competition strengthening their squads left, right and centre with some good players. whilst Villa merely clear the decks. Pre-season training starts soon so I really hope to see some significant Villa movement in the transfer market over the next 10 days. Afterall, half of the fun of signing new players comes from spending the next 6 weeks dreaming about just good the new look team will be next year, before the season starts and reality comes crashing in. This is hard to do when there is hardly any clues as to who we are looking at and the occasional worrying links to distinctly "B or C List" players!

I appreciate the value of what you say but it has to be said that with Villa's history, even though I know Mr's Learner and O'Neill won't let us down, its still really hard watching nearly all of our major competition strengthening their squads left, right and centre with some good players. whilst Villa merely clear the decks. Pre-season training starts soon so I really hope to see some significant Villa movement in the transfer market over the next 10 days. Afterall, half of the fun of signing new players comes from spending the next 6 weeks dreaming about just good the new look team will be next year, before the season actually starts and reality comes crashing in. This is hard to do when there is absolutely no clue who we are looking at!