Die_Hard

Guzan was solid today, very confident keeper. Can't help but feel Given was unlucky to be dropped though. The guy literally helped keep us in the league last season and I hope those slating him remember that. Seems he has fallen out of favour after his error last week. That's the life a goalkeeper I guess, one **** up and you've had it. Fair play to Guzan though, he will keep Given out of the team permanently if he performs like this every week.

Is it? It used to feel that way. Not sure it does any more. My point is that whatever greed and mismanagement goes on at a football club, no one will ever take away the emotional connection you have with it. VTID etc etc

I don't think any of our current crop of Academy graduates, with the exceptions of possibly Clark and Weimann, are anywhere near good enough to take us to the next level. I see them going on to become also-rans in the same mould as many who went before them (Gardner, Ridgewell, Moore, Davis, Samuel, Whittingham etc) There is no doubt our academy is very good and consistently brings players through. But apart from Cahill, in recent years how many of those players ever go on to be considered top class? Gabby and Vassell made the fringes of the national team but neither of them are world beaters by any stretch. I know it is tiny percentage of players who make it to the top. Perhaps only once in a generation do you get a Wayne Rooney for all the thousands of others who end up as lower league nobodies. I'm not saying our youngsters are bad but they are certainly overrated. And Lerner, like Ellis before him, seems to be deluding himself that they may one day blossom into great players, therefore saving him money on improving the squad. All I can say is I hope they prove me wrong.

I fully understand the sentiment. Football in general has indeed been ruined. I have zero respect or admiration for most modern footballers, including a fair few of our own. To compete at the highest level now you need untold wealth. Even a man like Lerner with all his millions is considered a peasant compared to Abramovich, City Arabs etc. Football has become just another reflection of a greedy and superficial society. It's a damn shame. As for the fans, I agree there are some complete morons out there. Morons who think because they pay their money for tickets it gives them a right to demand footballing perfection week in/week out and mercilessly abuse the team when this doesn't happen. And then attack other fans who don't share their opinions. I can understand it when frustrations reach boiling point like they did last season under McLeish. No fan deserves to suffer that kind of football and sometimes the abuse is warranted. But booing the team off first home game of the season? I know we were poor on Saturday but many fans don't seem to have an ounce of faith or patience anymore. They want instant gratification. Another mirror of society in general. Yet despite all this, I can't ever imaging "divorcing" the club. I would find it literally impossible to sever an emotional connection to a club I have supported since I was a small child. A love that was handed down from other generations. I'm as disillusioned as anyone but confident things will start to improve and when they do I'll wager that the stay-aways will return to Villa Park and their love affair will be re-kindled. Football is about far more than the players and the money and Sky. The sense of loyalty and identity you get from being a fan far outweighs all that. Even if the Premier League ended up a crass, OTT spectacle like in American sport, it will never change who you are and where you came from. The Villa is yours. Don't give up on it.

If Dunne remains in the first XI surely it will be him? A natural leader with bags of experience Gabby is definitely not a leader.

Thats that then. Martinez certainly lacks ambition, what on Earth does he think he can achieve at Wigan? Whelan is such a prat as well. If we don't get Lambert now I am very concerned about who will be coming in.

We currently have a choice between unproven, ambitious young managers like Solskjaer and proven dross like Mick McCarthy et al. After the disaster of McLeish and Houllier, we need a complete U-turn and I believe OGS could be just the man. McLeish was seen as a "safe" option by the club, someone who was supposed to hold us steady whilst Randy tightened the purse strings and improve us defensively. And look what happened. In my opinion, OGS poses no more a risk than Lambert or Martinez would and there would actually be less pressure on him due to his inexperience. He played in the Premier League for over a decade under one of the greatest managers of all time. He knows this league inside out and what is required of teams to succeed in it. He is attack minded by his very nature as a player and seems intelligent, down to Earth and likeable. I'm not getting too carried away but I honestly believe we could do no better than him with the managers we can realistically attract. Sure, its heading into the unknown but the unknown is exciting and God knows we need some excitement back at Villa Park. We all knew EXACTLY what we'd be getting under McLeish in advance and I hope we never have to stoop that low ever again. Ole for Villa.

Just pay him off and consign the memory of his tenure to the dustbin. I don't want to think anymore about the money that was wasted on the man and the money he personally made for doing such a shit job.

Krulak knew absolutely nothing about British football or the culture surrounding it. He tried his best to be "one of the lads" on here but most of his comments were ill-informed and often plain embarassing. At first, his walkabouts on matchdays and interaction with fans on Villatalk was a novelty. But lets face it, he was just a PR man who is now spouting the same "Proud History, Bright Future" guff at that University in America of which he is president.

My head just exploded

PLEASE let this be true. If it is, the board have done the right thing by acting immediately to remove him. Like many others, I gave him a chance but it was painfully obvious from the start it was never going to work. A truly hopeless manager and way out of his depth. Pity the club that ends up with him next

I like Bilic, not that I think we have a chance of getting him

How deluded is the man? 99.99% of perfectly sane and sensible Villa fans DO NOT WANT HIM.

Just to clear up on this guy, before AM got the job he was spouting stuff about Moyes.. when AM got the job he tweeted saying he was a bluenose all along at SOTV etc.. This. He's a complete **** numpty and has deleted all his previous tweets from last season which turned out to be a total wind-up.

I'm completely fed up of using the word "negative" but once again, that was exactly the case today. Wigan - went all out for a win against good opposition, got an emphatic one Bolton - attacking performance and substitutions, scored 2 away from home Villa - team full of defenders, set up not to lose All credit to Martinez and Coyle, they are having a real go and if either goes down, at least they will go down fighting which is more than can be said for us. This is EXACTLY what McLeish did at Blues last year, right down to their last game against Spurs where they had to win to guarantee survival but set up defensively as always and sat back. Even in that life and death situation, McLeish lacked the guts to just go for it. It is mind numbingly frustrating to watch. McLeish flat out refuses to take risks and prefers to just hang on and hope. We had chances today which were wasted but its no surprise when Gabby hasn't scored in Christ knows how long and is only half fit. Again, McLeish was too scared to give Weimann a chance. Bringing Carruthers on in injury time was just a gesture, and a pathetic one at that. Our future is no more certain after today. And my heart can't take much more of this shite.

Definitely set up "not to lose" But then what did anyone expect?

The team today is physically imposing if nothing else and we've got 8 experienced players in there. Its definitely going to be a messy one with that line up though.

Yes Alex, albeit getting your previous club relegated in the process

Blues had more points than us at this point last season

Newcastle bounced back due to great management from Hughton and Pardew respectively. Positive, motivational managers with very little to lose, exactly what we need at the moment instead of a dim-witted yes-man and his useless assistant who ooze negativity from every pore. Newcastle may have lost players and had to cut wages but they were still getting significant income from attendances when in the Championship and their wage bill still dwarfed other clubs in that division. And then came the small matter of £35 **** million quid for Andy Carroll to ease any lingering financial worries. Whilst on the subject of Newcastle, I'm sick to death of thick Geordies taking pleasure in our current situation, still bitter that we relegated them as if it was our fault entirely. I do think they are punching above their weight and next season will see them slip down the table somewhat.

As much as I can't stand the cretin, Villa in the Championship is just not an option. I'd rather we survive by the skin of our teeth and then hopefully, if we're still this bad come Christmas, McLeish will be sacked and a new manager appointed. I hate the argument "at least we'd win games regularly in the Championship". That is the kind of small time mentality you hear peddled by many noses and Wolves fans. They deserve no better, we do.

It makes my blood boil thinking about it. Lerner and Faulkner should hang their heads in **** shame I honestly never thought relegation would be an issue, even with that useless piece of shit McLeish in charge. But we really are in deep, deep trouble now. Thankfully the clubs around us have some tough games but unlike us, the likes of Bolton and Wigan seem able to lift their spirits when the occasion calls for it. We don't deserve to be in the Premier League

If the unthinkable happens, the rest of the Premier League will simply say good riddance the same as they did when McLeish took Blues down. No one likes a boring, negative, anti footballing side and thanks to McLeish that is exactly what we have become. I predict defeat by MON's lot and anything other than 3 points against Bolton could result in disaster.

Getting beaten by Utd at Old Trafford is the most predictable result of any season. Defeat today was always going to be an odds on certainty. However, at least in recent years we've managed to put up a good fight and make them work for their annual guaranteed 6 pointer. Today was just simply men against boys. And despite McLeish's laughable post match comments about him always believing we can get points off any team, we were never going to get anything out of this game in a million years the way we were set up. Yes, we've got plenty of injuries but how much longer is that excuse going to be wheeled out to deflect from the obvious woeful misunderstanding there seems to be between the players on the pitch? And the blame for that lies solely with Eck. And even if the likes of Dunne, Bent and Stan we're fit and available today, would it honestly have made that much of a difference? It says something when a re-arranged home tie against Bolton is set to become the defining moment of our season. It really has come to that. If we lose that game, we really could be going down.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a chance in hell that McLeish will be sacked this season, unless of course the unthinkable happens and we go down. He will be given time to buy players in the Summer with the limited resources that will be available. If we are still sitting in 15th come Christmas, then I believe the calls of protest against McLeish will be so loud and attendances so low that Lerner will have little choice but to give him the boot. We keep hearing about the wage bill but wouldn't a more positive manager who is going to shift ST's and start filling the ground again compensate for any extra expenditure on wages? The way its going, there will be sub 30k attendances in numerous games next season which is absolutely unacceptable for a club of our size. Hitting Lerner in the pocket is perhaps the only way he will truly take notice of the fans.