Daholteend

I wish Collins well if he moves to the hammers or the black cats. He wasn't a bad footballer and lets remember that his first season with Dunne under MON they were arguable one of the best pairs of CB's in the Premier League. As they aged and got different managers in the post MON period both Collins and Dunne's performances were suspect. Without MON's discipline they seemed to have lacked direction. It was clear that neither of them liked Houiliers defence "system" and it showed. Then in the void we endured Eck and it was difficult for both CB's because with the crowd jeering every touch of the ball and our game being somewhat clueless in the wake of selling off our best players, it would be no surprise if any of the CB's wanted to drown their sorrows. To Dunne's credit, he hung in there and did his best to rally the troops and also appeal to the Holte End to get behind the team when he knew well enough we had a sinking ship. I suspect that Dunne's position as a veteran and his influence in a good way on the younger players has been noticed by the new management team. Keeping Dunne because of reputation and also because of his age and contract makes sense financially. Collins will do well back at West Ham and may well find that the change will help him play out a couple more seasons with a coach who philosophically is closer to Collins style of play. Collins has looked awkward on the ball with Lamberts system and bringing in a player like Vlaar makes even more sense. Dunne's football brain will work in his favour and if he can get his fitness levels up to where they need to be, no doubt he will have at least one more good season for us at B6. Keeping Dunne at B6 also helps the two young CB's Clark and Baker. Those two could learn a lot from Richard Dunne. James Collins, I wish you well and just dread watching you return to B6 with a corner kick heading in your direction with minutes left on the clock. Even better JC, we'll meet you for a pint or two at the Gatecrasher the night before every game v WHU .

perhaps after a late breakfast at the Gatecrasher with Herd and Delph

Liverpool need to watch this video to get rid of their moles http://tinyurl.com/d2d6oj Meanwhile back on topic ...... As much as we would like to see AC at B6 I would much prefer him to return to the Toons rather than watch him in the wrong claret and blue.

Albrighton has huge upside potential. If Lambert and his team of coaches can improve the defensive side of Marc's game and he is able to get stronger physically on and off the ball without losing any pace, he still has a promising future ahead of him at B6. Defensively, it has to be back to the drawing board fro Marc. Those schoolboy reckless tackles won't work in the Premier League. While his enthusiasm for getting the ball back is to be applauded the technique needs work. As an attack minded rightwinger Albrighton is exciting and now with Lamberts philosophy and passing and support system being ingrained into the minds of players like Bannan, Albrighton and Delfouneso we may yet reap rich rewards from their collective talent.

maybe his days are numbered :oops: Makoun is losing valuable time as a result of personal issues and visa complications. It is unfortunate because the style of play that PL is getting the players to play would suit Makoun and he might well be the "missing link" in the middle of the park with his incisive one touch passing game. I for one hope he manages to get back to BMH before the season starts and manages to show enough to be on the squad. I would like to see how he fits after an extended run of games under a manager who has more nous in his little finger than the last two managers put together.

On the basis of the game against the Timbers that will be sooner rather than later. A very solid peformance. Lowton scored a nice goal from a corner kick. Very promising.

Bannan had a solid enough game against the Timbers. As the preseason progresses and some of our newer players get used to reading Bannan's passes his value to the team will increase.

Stephen Ireland deserved the arm round the shoulder praise from PL. He had a good game. He came close to scoring which would have boosted his and our confidence even more. Nevertheless, a workmanlike performance with great touches and incisive passing. Such an improvement seemed improbable back in the dark days of the MON debacle and Houillier's tendencies to wash dirty launry in public. Keep it up Stevie! This is the Ireland we had hoped for from the beginning.

It would be too bad if this one goes south. I was looking forward to the chant " Villaaaaaar Villaaaaaar Villaaaaaar Villaaaaar..... Come on MON pay Randy the 5M for Collins and we can all go home happy. Mind you, I can't help thinking that we might have another Laursen on our hands if Villaaaaar does sign. Ooops, I've got to stop doing that ..

Can you believe it? Gabby was about to be subbed by Delfouneso in the 67th minute of a meaningless game and gets a knock and is taken off on a stretcher in the 66th minute. Gabby got a good headed goal off a Herd cross in the first half versus Chicago Fire. It was a promising outing by Gabby. Lets hope the knock is no more than a bruise and Gabby is back up and ready for the next game at Portland on Tuesday.

If this signing actually took place it would be a good sign as far as Nzogbia and Makoun are concerned. Having other players on the team that can speak to each other in French would only help all three settle in at B6. It might well be that the reason that Makoun was out on loan last year was simply that coaches weren't able to communicate well enough with him, in addition to the fact that some of their communications would have been clueless anyway oh and of course we needed help paying Makoun's wages ..

Options : Try the small womens sizes until you find one that fits better. Buy a mens small and cut out the logo portion and get your Mum, Sister or yourself to sew it onto your boys shirt. Send your shirt to a specialty printing company to over print the logo you want on your shirt. Buy a couple of pairs of fleece t-shirts to wear under the small mens shirt. You will need the shirts in the deep winter anyway to avoid freezing in the Upper Holte Or finally, be patient, in another five years you may see things very differently. For a 15 year old today, I am impressed that you posted a fairly lengthy complaint. Good for you. It's the overall content that is important rather than whether you post a grammatically correct epistle. This is Villatalk, not the University Literature Department!

magroll Don't laugh too much at Seattle Sounders magroll. As MLS teams go, the Sounders have a supporters strength as good as any and they also play decent football. After Aston Villa, I have always followed Real Madrid, so I enjoy the Sounders being ranked more highly than Atletico who since they let Suarez, Forlan and Aguero go probably should have declined in brand value. The Sounders can often get a gate of 68,000 for selected games. They choose however to limit attendance to 39000 for regular games and sell out every game. West Ham has always had a latent value since the days of Bobby Moore. Too bad for them their results have never matched their fans expectations. hmmmmmmm remind you of anybody?

Yes OBE, sad but true that this is as good as it gets under this management. Keeping 'arry and the spuds from the CL while escaping relly by default will be long remembered along with the fact that in all the years I have supported the Villa we have never won so few games at Villa Park in a season. It was good to see the effort by Ireland, Cuellar and Dunne. Without that many of us would be biting our nails until the final whistle at Carrow Road.

From the games that Makoun played for Villa he showed a quick eye for one touch passing. We rarely if ever got to see him hold the ball for more than two or three touches. So whether Makoun would be a holding player is a huge question.

Agreed. Today I couldn't help thinking about the days when DOL was manager and the then Villa team capitulated to the Arse and DOL was quoted fawning all over them the next day. It's hard to accept that football under AM can be as dire as the end days of DOL, but today I did

I agree DeepDish. Nobody can be surprised that McLeish will be with us next season. It won't hurt for Albrighton to have a bit of competition for his place. Having an alternative on the bench won't hurt either player or the team.

SI is definitely showing signs of being the player we thought we were getting in exchange for Milner. If we could now dress up Barry Bannan to look like Robhino and play like him, we will have something. Definitely a work in progress, albeit slow and steady .

Jenas won't be fit for the next game, so Bannan and/or Ireland will get their chances. As far as playing Bannan, Ireland and Albrighton as an attacking midfield to feed Bent is concerned, I fear that together as a group they are a bit lightweight. Look at how often Ashley Young was chopped down when he was with us. Do we really believe that these three will fare better than AY did? I hope to be proved wrong on this and that all three gain strength and form a power trio, but at the moment they have a long way to go. I'll be just happy enough if Ireland refinds himself and gets close to the top of his game of three years or so ago.

Alternatively Ireland's presence in training along with Gary Gardner may improve all three. There is no doubt that there is a player of some great technical ability in SI, if this gets downloaded to Bannan and Gardner that in itself might be the value from Ireland. If Ireland finds a fitness level and heals from any lingering mind or body injuries we will have something of value or we will just have to get used to the idea that we really only sold Milner for 18M and write off the other delusions we have about Ireland. Personally, I hope that Ireland puts it all in the past and returns to the player we know he could be,,,, if only IF....

Once he gets used to the Balti Pies and can speak a little more English and is fully fit he will be just fine The big problem is the Balti Pies !

The Honeymoon is over and all Eck is about to be let loose if they announce Tin Tin as manager today. In two words that even a Semper Fi Hail and Well Met American General can understand - BENEDICT ARNOLD It's worthy of note that Judas sold and betrayed only one man, but the choice to enlist an ex manager from sha is akin to selling out and betraying several thousand fans who help pay the bills at Villa Park who in many cases really can't afford to keep doing this. It has nothing to do with whether the candidate is qualified or not. I happen to think that he probably is. It has everything to do with loyalty to your tribe and holding true to the values and history that one american a few years ago thought had a Proud History and Bright Future. I will continue to support Aston Villa because it has been in my family's tradition to do so since 1874. However, I never thought that I would say this but Randy, I think you have let yourself down by choosing your business economies over your loyalty to the club that you claim to be a fan of. A true Villa fan would not even think of it. Faulkner I can understand because he is young, lacking in experience of the football business and probably at heart a Norwich City fan, but Randy, you had so much promise and suddenly since Sunday it is all going horribly wrong.

Armageddon at B6 with McLeish. Seems fitting for P. 666

For constructive dismissal in the premiership the typical complaint is where the manager is put in excessively difficult work situations and their decisions are undermined or not supported

constructive dismissal