Daholteend

Has the German coach Ralf Rangnick's name been thrown into the hat on this thread yet? LINK

Disagree. I thought Downing had some good touches and was showing improved confidence and strength last night. Unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. I thought he looked sharp.

My suspicion is that Randy has some serious doubts about Martins ability in the transfer market....actions speak louder than words. Randy is not broke by any means but will not keep funding players high wages to be consistent bench warmers. His message seems clear to me play them or sell them. If Martin was a well oiled wheeler dealer he would be walking around with Randy's cheque book sticking out of his back pocket, of that I'm sure. we have many players we have and will lose large sums on, so i guess there has to come a time to cull. Sorry TRO, Can't agree with the first couple of paragraphs of the post. There is a wonderful Anglo-Saxon word that should be used to describe my response to them ..... bollocks . If Randy had serious doubts about MON they would have parted company by now. Over the last twelve months MON appears to have listened to Randy's perspective of the financial situation for Aston Villa and has responded appropriately and professionally. You only have to look at how Randy handles the Cleveland Browns to know that he allows his Coaches/Managers free reign to manage the footballing side of the business while he attends to the all important financing of the franchise. He is a savvy businessman and knows what the respective clubs have to accomplish in financial terms to remain viable over the next few years. MON from the day he started with AVFC in 2006 has stated that he is cognisant that he must not spend the owners money unwisely and in my view has invested money prudently on Randy's behalf. It cannot have escaped anyone's attention in the business world that we are going through a period of tight financial times and I am pleased that the management team at B6 are not throwing money about like Manchester City. Even if Randy was as wealthy as Sheik Mansour or the Sultan of Brunei for that matter, it still wouldn't make sense in this economic climate to throw money around as if it came from an endless fountain of bounty. It doesn't. FIFA, UEFA and other footballing authorities around the World are going to be changing the rules concerning clubs that continually operate with massive losses in the next few years. Clubs that show continual losses may find themselves suspended from some major tournaments such as the Champion's League. Others may be levied even worse sanctions. I am pleased that Aston Villa is taking a responsible course of action at this stage. Prudence now is the best insurance for our club's survival and a prosperous future, let alone a Bright one. I may be wrong, but I don't believe that MON and Randy have lost any respect for each other. If I am wrong, I will happily eat my words.

He's no worse than the rest of them I don't know much about him to be honest,think it was MM who said he didn't have future in the club I think this is more to his size or ability to be honest Can't be his size, just think about Messi :-) In Messi's case Barcelona acquired him as an eleven year old and immediately paid for Messi to have Human Growth Hormone treatment. Look at the result of that! I hope that Villa hold onto BB for a couple of years more. He has time to grow in stature and ability and could develop into a very tidy player.

Well there is but you only get to see their eyes. But the eyes are the window into the soul... ...but have you ever looked into a stripper's soul? hahahahahaha I think that 99% of full blooded lap dancees are hoping to look into something that rhymes with soul leviramsey! If you are staring into the eyes in the hopes of finding the soul I think you just wasted 20 quid meanwhile, back on topic, JC has the ability to score at least 20 goals in all competitions. The three things he will have to do this season are, stay fit, stay healthy and stay focussed on the football. Oh and I got a fourth thing.. stay out of the Rocket et alia

That scion of accurate media reporting, the Mirror are publishing what could well be our own speculation on their website Irrespective of the accuracy of their article, it leads me to ask two questions, What valuation would you put on Ireland and/or Nedum Onuoha ? Would you accept 22M plus the two players if you were MON ? I would like to think that all this speculation over Milner's future ends with Milner signing a new contract with AVFC and telling us all how much he loves being here.

Yes, but don't forget the fact that Sorensen was the GK. Tommy was up to his old tricks I am afraid. He looked suspect on crosses and set pieces. It will be interesting to see how Honda does as the WWC progresses. If Honda can't speak fluent English he might find it difficult acclimatising to life with an English club.

Davies £7.5m Young £5m Reo Coker £4m Sidwell £5m Shorey £2m Beye £2.5m

I suspect the real reason is that they couldn't provide enough heat to defrost the humble pies they were expecting to eat Drat ! and I had just filled my thermos with cowing Bovril ! Oh well on the bright side it gives Milner a few more days rest to get over any injuries he might have been suffering

Before this game started I was discussing Torres with my mates and saying that I was hoping his groin injury whatever it was would keep him from getting any space because let's face it Torres on his day is one of the best strikers of this era. In order to beat teams that have clinical strikers you have to be able to build a cushion. Downings attempt may have made a difference, Gabby also had an opportunity but neither of them are killer strikers yet and perhaps they never will be and without putting away those chances we are always going to be victims of teams that play a Torres upfront. For us to get to the next level with any confidence we have to have more production from the midfield by not only creating goals but scoring them. We need a Lampard midfielder who can control the midfield and score on a regular basis and we definitely need a world class striker. If we have aspirations rather than hopes of playing in the Champion's League these two positions are essential for us. Without them we will play the Wigans and the Plops at home and come away with results like these. It's all very well playing with passion and effort but if you don't get goal production the way that the Big Four have done forever in games like last nights we will continue to struggle along in the top eight fringe positions. I thought MON did what he considered to be best but I think I would have brought Albrighton on earlier for Downing and kept Reo Coker. I might also have taken Luke Young or Dunne off and brought Collins on. With Dunne on a yellow card and with the succession of Blackburn games coming up I would have given him a rest in the second half. I know he is an immense player, but even immense players need rest periods when the fixture list gets crowded with 48 hour spaces between big games. I thought Albrighton did well in the limited time he had and MON could also have rested Milner by using Albrighton earlier then he did. This was a tough game to lose especially in the conditions at Villa Park. The players should be proud of what they accomplished because we all know with a little bit of luck the 3 points could easily have been ours. Fortunately at this stage of the season losing this game isn't the end of the world. There are still plenty of points to be earned in the second half of the season and I daresay that we ourselves will steal 3 points away from a few teams. One day, may it not be far away, we will be able to play gobby scousers and arrogant arses KNOWING that we are going to silence them and their fans by winning, nay dominating games like this...... sadly as of today that day is a way off but it will come........ eventually.

Must have been that torrent of emails and texts from irate Villans

Would that be the MON U Nited ? :oops:

AVFC = Awesome Villa FC. This is the second best day since Doug sold to Randy. Absolutely Fantastic. This is going to be a truly great Christmas. Best Present in 26 years!!! The Bogey is dead!

Happy to see Carew. This is definitely the game that JC needs to put his mark on.

Warnock took a knock in the first half. Bringing Collins into the middle and having King Carlos at RB and Luke at LB might actually be a tougher defence for this game. There will be no prisoners in this game.

Dont think 2 will be enough now owen's on the pitch they are cutting us apart through the middle and owen lives off those poacher chances Have faith in Cuellar and Dunne.

55 minutes ??? hehehehehe If Man U haven't scored it could be 65 minutes

Oh what a delight it would be to see Stewart Downing make it a 0-2 game in the next ten minutes

If anyone has a clip of Milner's goal from Ashley's throw in would they post a link please ? The Beeb reports say that it was a thunderous shot and Begovic didn't move. I want to see that one

Can we get the club hypnotherapist at BMH to convince Emile that we are playing Pompey every week ? Brilliant to hear that Downing and Heskey had good games. Will MON play the same team line up against Hull except to bring back Friedel ? Great result tonight. UTV !

Thus endeth the play Sidwell and you won't lose streak. Upton Park has always been a nemesis over the years and tonight was no different. By the end of the season O'Neill will have me bald as a result of all the head scratching and hair pulling over his selection choices and sub strategies. With Milner injured, I would have used either Delph or NRC as a starter earlier in the game. I hope that Downing is going to be ready to play soon. Our midfield is lacking a creative dynamic spark.

I thought it was probably Emile and NRC having a laugh

Well that was a little disappointing wasn't it ? t'rovers down to 10 men, Delph on a yellow, Carew a little lack lustre, oh I know let's make our midfield even weaker just to make it an even entertaining game MON rating = :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Can't disagree with this. Milner's work rate and stamina are a couple of reasons why he can be so effective. Too many defences have worked out a strategy to defend against Ashley and if you haven't noticed, Ashley is easily frustrated when he gets soundly double teamed and boxed in on the wing. Of course a lot of this boxing is created by the type of service that Ashley receives. Delph showed a couple of times in the Rapid game that if you place a precision pass inside of a defender for Ashley to run around the defender Ashley can be lethal. When he is running at pace with the ball and has no time to think about his moves he is at his best. Milner is a different type of player. His pit bull tenacity and for his age his experience and desire to win is what makes him so effective. He is also very willing to track back and find the ball time after time. If Milner loses the ball just watch him go tearing after it and hustle to get it back. Also because of his burly physique he isn't the kind of player that can be brushed off the ball easily unlike Ashley whose slight frame can only too easily be sent crashing to the ground by the more cynical, less skilled defenders. Both players are footballers of quality. At this stage I like Milner a little more because he is more consistent. However, if you're looking for a lesson in artistry every now and then Ashley is going to make you gasp. MON was promoting Ashley as a world class player last season. I think that is true but only in one game in four or five. Milner is a notch below Ashley on the skill level but he more than makes up for it with his heart and dogged willingness to leave it all on the pitch game after game. If I were picking players for a pick up game on the playground Milner would be my first choice simply because I like players who play their hearts out game after game and when the going gets tough, he just gets tougher. Don't get me wrong, I love Ashley Young. I think he is extremely gifted but you always have to bear in mind that AVFC is a Martin o'Neill team and Jim lad is the archetype o"Neill player.

Good Morning General! Thanks for your response. Please find more on Billy Walker and MON here