carlitobrigante

great result for khan, not many people stop Paulie who is a very good fighter, yes he hasnt got a knockout in him, but he is a skillfull resilient fighter..

Khan is progressing very nicely. Not sure why people are accusing a 22/23 year old world champion of 'ducking fights', i think its very harsh and premature to say he has a glass chin, it might not be the best chin in the world, but ive seen him take a few shots and not be worried...

Has the potential to be a top fighter, linking up with Roach was a master stroke, and Khan is very very very lucky that Roach took him on, Roach is easily one of the greatest trainers of all time.

Have to admit it, Harry has built an exciting team, i predict that with the usual £20 - 30 mill yearly splurge they will improve even more and do quite well in the champions league.

Modric, King, Lennon, Defoe, Bale.....all very very good players. King looks the best centre back in the premiership. He must go to the world cup. Dawson looks tidy aswell all of a sudden. Thats in addition to a bunch of good players like Crouch, Pavlechenko, Gomes, Huddlestone, Krancjar etc.

Liverpool I feel are in real danger of fading into nothing as Man City and Spurs are better now and dont have the debt worrys.

About time spurs did it though considering the money theyve thrown at it over the years.

Unfortunately its plain as day that we are probably joint 7th best team in the prem with Everton. To make that next step up we need some shrewd signings. And a few of them at that.

unfortunately Downing, Ash, Warnock havent contributed enough to our run in, and although i didnt see the game, look like again in another massive game they didnt offer anything of note.

Downing needs major work over the summer / pre-season. Needs confidence and to bulk up / man up abit. As each game passes im regretting us not get a young, cheaper and seemingly more talented Johnson. Warnock I bloody hope has been playing with injury as he's been piss poor for almost 6 months now. Cuellar needs to replace Collins at CB, with Luke Young getting a look in.

City have been throwing money around like a lottery winner having a breakdown, the only way we can realistically keep up with the usual suspects and now city, is to either a) spend similar amounts, spend less but be extremely prudent and clever in the transfer market not wasting a single million, or c) give up entirely. A and C arent options and is MON really good enough to suceed with option B?

On current starting 11, which he never bloody rotates, Davies, NRC, Beye, Young, Shorey, Harewood dont have a future here, and in most cases rightly so. How much money is that though wasted, of which we wouldnt be able to re-coup half. We cant afford slip ups like this in the market if we are going to have any chance of cracking top 4.

That being said MON has had to buy a complete new squad, and Im more than happy with being a top 8 team with a chance of good cup runs. Some expectations need to be lowered on our part unless we have another spending splurge this summer.

Well that was a enjoyable game. Open and end to end almost, good stuff for the neutral.

Warnock again was poor, has been pretty shoddy in general since turn of the eyar, looks our weak link defensively....

Downing tried but again his final ball was most often poor, seemed to want to cut inside every single time he got the ball on the flanks and so made it very predicatable for his marker.

We tried to keep the ball down and pass it on the deck. It was the same against Everton and you can see that something was said or done by MON / Coaches ref our passing as you can see Cuellar, Dunne, Collins etc have cut down on the punts upfield. Cuellar in particular has looked half decent at RB in the last cvouple of games and tried to get forward more. His crossing / passing was better than Warnocks anyway!!

Collins looked the weakest centre back for me and id look at getting Davies, or Cuellar in there to try them out alongside Dunne, and get L Young and Beye some time on the pitch.

Petrov had a rare poor day where the game seemed to pass him by. Agbonlahor was decent enough and Carew once again scored and could have had a couple more. Great to see the Fonz grab his first of hopefully many Villa Park goals.

So basically we were better going forward, but still look shaky at the back, we just dont press hard or close enough until its normally too late. Its becoming more and more obvious that Petrov / Milner in a 442 isnt going to trouble the big boys out there, that Dpwning / Warnock are majorly off form, that Delfounso can do a job for now, and that one of Luke Young / Beye will ask to leave in the summer....and we could lose both if we arent carefull....

well just got back..

it was obviously that the manager had said something about keeping it on the deck as we seemed more eager to keep the ball down and retain possesion than ive seen all season.

Apart from a few typically dodgy moments Cuellars distribution was much better...

Downing started really brightly and was one of our best players in first half. Second half he was poor, bottling too many 50/50's, poor passing and terrible crossing from set pieces and open play....

Ashley Young was shite. Yet again he couldnt seem to hit a decent cross. Didnt see him beat his man once. God this kid frustrates me, im gutted he doesnt seem to be anywhere near the player i thought he could be, no consistency at all. For someone supposedly a setpiece specialist with a sweet technique, his crossing and free kicks were appalling. I cant understand what has happened to who not long ago looked like one of the most natural crossers in the league. He needs to spend some serious time on set piece delivery as what used to be one of our main goal threats has dissapeared...

Downing isnt helping with the set pieces either. How come Downing and Young, both often labbelled as great crossers of the ball, great free kick takers, excellant technique etc etc cant seem to put a decent ball in the box?

Warnock was ok. Nothing really amazing going forward, didnt look as shaky at the back as he has done in recent times...

Collins - ok, im getting worried how often Dunne seems to have to bail him out though...

Dunne - great game, didnt put a foot wrong, no siilly hoofing and some quality blocks....back to his best...

Milner, good game overall, too often he was far too tight with petov meaning our central midfield can be by-passed with a single pass...

Carew & Gabby - i dont see any sort of patnership developing. they never seem to link up, and i cant remember the last time i saw gabby get one of carews flick-ons....they didnt get much service today, although carew have a couple of sniffs and had one chance he really should have put away...

On the positive side, i liked some of the football we started to play in patches and it was good to see less of the aimless hoofs that only suceed in giving them the ball straight back.

On the negative, downing & youngs poor / inconsistent delivery, same starting 11 yet again, still seem to have not enough movement on the pitch and so our play becomes very predictable.....

good result overall as i expected us to lose...

Have seen a result coming like this a mile off. We looked very poor recently and have been shipping goals against poor opposition. Since the turn of the year, Warnock has started to look shaky defensively, Carlos at RB has been a disaster, and Collins hasnt looked as confident as his early games for us. Dunne luckily has been solid....unto the sunderland game....

Petrov and Milner both good players, but a very awkward mix. We have the most important area of the pitch manned by an attacking midfielder and a winger by trade. We get waltzed through time and time again. Our ball possesion is appaling. We hand the opposition the ball back again and again in the most cheap ways possible. Theres no pass and move, no variety, unless milner produces a moment of magic, or ash hits an inch perfect cross we dont look like scoring.

I think most people who get to see us in the flesh each week have known for a while that we are behind man city, everton, spurs, let alone the liverpools, arsenals etc.

The balance of the team seems out of kilter. We never seem to dominate even weaker teams, never have long periods of possesion, and only ever seem to play decent football in 10 -15 min spells.

Ive not given up on MON yet, theres alot of potential in the squad if it can be balanced and added to with quality in the right areas. Times running out though because for me he isnt grabbing the oppotunitys we have been gifted on a plate (arsenal last season, liverpool this), and doesnt seem to be learning from his mistakes.

We need some fresh faces. Id like to see Bouma, NRC, Delph, Davies, Beye and Albrington utilised.

Hi General, well two trips to wembley and still have an outside shot of 4th spot. Whatever happens it has been another good season of progression and my season ticket was again money well spent.

I know Randy is a private man, and doesnt like talking to the press but the fans would love to hear something from him, even if its just his thoughts on our progress so far. I know he likes to stay in the background and not have anything to do with the press (completely understandable), but it almost feels like he doesnt want to have anything to do with the fans either??

Would love to hear from the man himself, if just toi dispel some of the rumours floating round about cut backs etc.

As to the team, well Martins insistence on playing Cuellar at RB instead of Luke Young, one of the best RB's in the country (When Cuellar is a world class centre back, but hapless at RB) is still completely baffling me. Its becoming obvious we need a real quality signing up front, and to cut loose one of Heskey / Carew in the summer (Carew being the younger and more productive goal wise of the two being the one id keep, I just know its going to be the other way round though) along with sorting CM (selling Sidwell, sorting the reo coker situation one way of the other i.e he starts using him or sells him). Other wise the team looks in great shape and Martin is doing a quality job getting us fighting regulary for trophies.

twas a good day out in all. Great atmosphere before the game. Villa fans were jumping around everywhere. Good times.

Wembley... we yes its big but to me was slightly dissapointing on the outside and inner concourse bit, couldnt get a program as they were sold out, food ridiculously priced. My seat was fantastic though and the pitch and view was fantastic.

The build up was good aswell, slightly cheesey maybe....

We started great, got the early goal, then ref obviously pissed yhis pants in the presence of fergie and turned against us.

We played decent in patches but Cuellar at RB really holds us back attacking wise. We stood off Man Utd too often, we played well but really it could have been 4-1 with the efforts that hit the post.

Man Utds equaliser killed some of the atmosphere in the ground for me, also not helped by the muppett stewards screaming at people to sit down for the first 20 mins or so.

Cant see us getting 4th, the fa cup though is another final though within touching distance.

I dont think its a case of him not looking interested. He still seems to be trying hard (carew hard anyway) but it just isnt coming off for him.

His first touch is heavy, he looks clumsy. Gives away too many fouls.

That said he still knows where the goal is. I cant decide if he is just not match fit, whether his body is just past it, whether he just needs a run of games etc etc

I hope he proves me wrong, a fit and fiting John Carew is so a more usefull player than the Emile Heskey of today.

Never thought id ever be so frustrated coming home after watching us draw with Man Utd.

Yet another massive missed oppotunity. We looked like we didnt have a clue what to do once they went down to 10 men off. Taking Delph off seemed strange but I could kinda understand it at the time, yet made to look stupid by the fact Petrov then got injured.

Friedel - 9 - Great saves, always alert, Very Solid.

Dunne - 9 - Man of the match (again) so solid, barely put a foot wrong and made some nice passes (unlike the midfield)

Collins - 7 - Doesnt look quite as good as he did when he first signed. He is becoming my 3rd choice CB, behind Cuellar and Dunne once Warnock is back.

Cuellar - 7.5 - Great goal, some good defending, and to be fair his distribution is slightly better than it was. Still way too many aimless hoofs to no-one, but then again his isnt a RB.

L Young - 7 - Solid, wasnt overlapping with the wingers enough for me. Didnt see him do much wrong.

Downing - 6 - After a bright start he has been very very poor last few games. Please dont encourage these voices at the back of my head saying we got the more limited, expensive, older, and more injury prone winger from Boro than the one Man City have just bought. Still early days, he looks unwilling to put his foot in at times which i guess is a knockon effect from his injury. Needs to improve though andf quickly as we know he can do alot better.

Milner 6.5 - Was going to give him a 7, but this was very poor by his usual standards. At least he was willing, but looked slightly slower than usual, made multiple stupid passes and looked abit jaded.

A Young - 6.5 - Every time he ran at the full backs he was doubled up on since he was getting no support from our own full backs. Didnt really see him do anything noteworthy.

Delph - 8.5 - Looked great. He still lunges in slightly but less than he did when I first saw him. Much more comfortable on the ball and snappier with his passing and tackling than most of our other midfielders. Barely put a foot wrong. Was very surprised when he came off.

Petrov - 8 - Good game from Stan till the injury. I cant believe some of our fans dont rate him. He is our most intelligent player helps keep us somewhat coherant when in possesion. Yes he tires towards the end of games and yes he tend to go sideways a little too often, but he tackles well, rarely loses the ball and did some good stuff tonight.

Gabby - 6.5 - Bit harsh seeing as he had almost zero service. But he didnt offer any threat tonight. He never bothers looking to make runs off the shoulder of the last man anymore, probably because he knows none of our players seem capable of threading a through ball at the moment. He still doesnt utilise his pace as he should. A couple of good pieces of hold up play and that was about it.

Sidwell - 5 - I think this guy is utter tosh. He cant pass, he cant seem to tackle, he cant head a ball. Where the hell has the player that Chelsea signed gone? Its lookign more and more obvious that he simply had a decent one off season in a Reading side who were flying at the time. I see so many midfielders better than him in teams in the relegation zone / Championship.

Carew - 6 - Pains me to say it but i think the big mans time is up. Offers nothing anymore except the odd flick on that Gabby cant read anyway. His first touch has gone, he looks clumsy and slow. Does he just need a run of games?

We are never going to finish top 4 while we are so poor at simple pass and move football. We only ever seem to have one player at a time making himself available for a pass, meaning our every move is telegraphed to the opposition in advance. No one touch football, no movement off the ball. To be fair alot of it was down to how damn good and expierienced the Utd squad is, but its not just tonight Im afraid. Is it a confidence thing? Is it a traning ground issue? We have seen in patches that we can play good stuff but its not clikcing at the moment.

Im still a massive MON fan and still think he is the right man for the job. We have major work to do this summer though if we want to keep pace with the others around us.

I loved Laursen, a true legend in the short spell he was here.

However in the season before he got his career ending injury, there was already signs that he wasnt going to keep up the standard of performance he had shown the season before. He wasnt as dominant in the air, was making mistakes and wasnt scoring any goals either. He was still comfortably our best defender though.

Dunne looks an absolutely brilliant defender so far. I thought we would struggle big time to replace him, but on all evidence so far Dunne is an even better player!!

So pleased we have him, such a warrior at the back.

fair play to Blair today, looked and sounded convincing, a man who obviously has absolute faith that he did the right thing.

He raises an interesting point about Iran. Imagine how volatile that region would be now in 2010 with Irag comepting against there hated neighbours in Iran.

I think we did the right thing to be honest in invading iraq, its just a shame we ballsed up the justification for it, instead of just saying 'look he's a monster, he needs to go, he has used chemical weapons before, if we let him do his own thing he could do something like that again', instead they bigged up the MWD bit and paid the price when it turned out to be bollocks.

Shame we messed up the part that comes after the invasion, although i understand things are slowly getting better out there now.

Dont know why but out of all the labour scumbags i liked Blair the most. Shame he let his basket case of a wife influence him with all this health and safety, political correctness crap.

i thought we played pretty well from my seat high up in the trinity...

played some nice football at times, our passing / keeping possesion was better than it has been..

Downing and Petrov both played very well for me. Dunne was a rock yet again. Even Carlos looked comfortable at right back and was playing some nice passing on the deck to Ash (with a couple of exceptions).

Unfortunately Gabby missed 2 gilt edged chances. To get anywhere in this league we need a striker who can put chances away like that for breakfast. I like Gabby, but needs a clinical poacher next to him I think. Heskey looked ok when he was on. Like Gabby though he never seems to hit anything first time, always wants an extra touch and by then the chance is gone.

Ash had a mixed game, some of it he was back to his best, some good deliverys etc etc. Then again still slightly too many errors and poor decision making.

The thing thats frustrating at the moment is you know that with another quality midfielder, and a clinical striker we would be one hell of a team. I cant see us getting them anytime soon though, at least not till the summer.

Still alot of deadwood to shift out of this squad to help pay for the quality that needs to come in. Gardner, Sidwell, Salifou, Shorey, Osbourne, Harewood, and maybe even Curtis Davies. Thats about 20mill give or take, enough to get what we nearly need, and still leave enough strength in depth (when would any of those players realistically play? We still have Delph, Reo, Albrington, Clarke, Beye, etc not even getting a look in...

If Gabby had been clinical, and we had a touch more luck we would have won that game. Except for one 10 min spell we dominated.

I think 4th is beyond us this season. Top 6 and a cup final would still be pleasing progress for me.

Arsenal on form are a team no-one can cope with. No disgrace losing to them at all.

However our ball rentention still needs seriously work. I dont think Petrov and Milner is a viable central midfield when playing the better teams. I dont think Heskey or Carew are good enough for where we want to be either. My main worry is Ash Young, im coming away from every match massively frustrated with him. Cant seem to beat even the supposed lesser full backs, always takes an extra touch when he doesnt need to, too much diving and whinging. If we got a 15mill bid for him id be seriously tempted.

Still no need to be dis-heartened, things still look very rosy long term, and we still have a shot at a cup final and chance of grabbing 4th spot with some luck.

General, can I just say...

Ive never ever been as proud to be an Aston Villa Fan as I am now. I was born in 82 so obviously missed the euro cup win.

To read such talk about us in the papers, to see the admiration for us that many fans of other clubs have for us, the players that so many clubs would want (and yet i feel confident we wont lose them regardless of who comes in for them) and all the amazing work behind the scenes, the statue, Acorns etc...

I know there was some criticism from many fans recently. I hope you never take any negative comment you see here or elsewhere too seriously because most Villa fans realise how much they owe Randy, and MON...

MON is his own man, a maverick if you will......there can be no doubts now that the guy has a long term vision for the team that is coming together brilliantly...

Im not really too fussed if we get top 4 or not this season.....because for the first time ever, i feel we will get there, sooner or later....

Overjoyed at the moment.

Reo has the potential to be a world class holding midfielder if handled correctly. Petrov is a more than adequate squad player / starter in a 451, sidwell is shocking, offers nothing but work rate, clumsy tackle, poor shooting, terrbible passing, no where near good enough.

Sorry guys, we just keep on looking more and more like a mid table team, that can occasionally step it up and perform when 2 or 3 key players feel up to it.

Dodgy team selections arent helping. Sidwell needs to be dumped and fast, so far from being good enough its scary. Petrov would work brill in a 4-5-1, infact why are we playing 442 when our away form has been dire, and Burnleys home form is so good?

God its frustrating.

Had a great day at Villa Park today. We got off to a brilliant start which set the atmosphere in the stadium off Was so happy to see us mixing it up and playing it on the deck. More importantly we saw Carew and to a lesser extent Ash, get back to their best which on their day is nigh on unstoppable. With those 2 playing at peak performance we are almost a top 4 team.

Cuellar was fantastic today. Didnt misplace a pass, so solid at the back. Really happy to see him thriving in his favourite position and getting a goal. He is a quality CB, and happy to help the team out by playing at RB without any fuss.

Sidwell was good, lots of energy and tackiling, some decent passing aswell, he cant get a goal for love nor money at the mo. I dont think he is the answer personally but he deserves a bit longer to make an impact before we write him off. Reo was good also, anchored the midfield, his passing again was much quicker sharper and he kept it simple. Hope he isnt tossed back onto the bench as soon as Stan is back.

Gabby had one of his best games. Fantastic performance. His positioning and finishing still needs some work, but he always looks like getting goals at the moment. Hope he can keep it going. We have a major assett here if he can keep improving as he matures.

Warnock & L Young, solid yet again. We have one of the best full back pairings in the country IMO.

Milner - Top notch. His workrate is phenomenal, never seen anyone run so much or work so hard. He makes our right hand side rock solid when combined with L.Young.

Been a while since Ive seen us dominate a game like that. Very encouraging after a particulary poor set of recent results / performances.

As each month passes im getting more and more worried. I dont think we have enough quality upfront, we could get away with it when Carew was playing well as Gabby although has an IQ of a soggy brown envelope also manages to get the old goal.

Carew has been gash in every game so far and gabby cant be relied upon to go to the corner shop and buy a tin of beans let alone carry the responsibility of being our main goal threat.

We need Luke Young back in the team asap, and Albrington / Delph / Bannan to be given a chance to shake things up abit.

big big game. Cant afford to let Everton jump start their season by beating us.

4-5-1 all the way for this one please Martin. I know he wont though....

I thought Warnock, Ash, Carew and Sidwell were very poor today. Collins, Gabby and Cuellar were our only players on form. Carew doesnt look fit and isnt even getting chances on target let alone put one in the net. Id drop him and Ash unless they turn it around asap.

I seriously worry about our style of play. Our general passing & movement is appalling. It seems every team we play regardless of how poor has more possesion than us.

Our Defence is now rock solid, and looks secure for the future, with lots of strength in depth. Our midfield play is terrible at times, only really held together by Milner and Petrov. We dont seem to have many goals in this team unless we score from a set piece or Gabby is on form. Luckily the midfield will shortly get a big boost with the appearance of Downing who i really rate.

I still think MON deserves massive credit for keeping us near the top of the table and grinding out results. At the half way point of last season Id say than our four most important players were Ash Young, Barry, Laursen and Carew.

We have lost one to Injury, one to Man City, and Carew and Young have yet to put in a good performance this season let alone score a goal.

http://tiny.cc/hilarious675

had me in stiches, the timing is perfect...

Id like to see..

Guzan

Beye Cuellar Clarke Shorey

Milner NRC Gardner Delph

Carew (or Gabby) The Fonz

Give a couple of our players a rest, and give a few squaddies a try.

wow some strange comments in here. fascinating really how people can watch the same game but have such vastly different opinions.

Friedel - 9 - Very good game, apart from one dodgy save / clearance at end of first half he was flawless.

Cuellar - 6 - Linked up well with Milner in first half, looked poor in the second. Feel sorry he has been shunted out to right back berth as started season well

Dunne - 6 - Didnt win enough headers for me, but made some good commited tackles, looked solid.

Collins - 8 - Has looked better than Dunne so far, seems to have better distribution (some lovely cross field passes / through balls) and better in the air while being just as commited. Looks a bargain.

Warnock - 7 - Played better than last week and will get better as he settles. Impressed so far.

Sidwell - 7 - Nothing amazing from him, but we saw his usual workrate and closing down and didnt lose the ball when he had it. He stepped in up in the the latter part of the game when it looked like Pompey might conjure something.

Petrov - 8 - Looked knackered again by 70th min but held us together in the middle, lots of clever play and started most our good moves. Good to see him egging team on like a proper captain should.

Milner - 8.5 - Fast becoming my fave villa player. Much better than last week, looked our most dangerous midfielder and was showing some lovely touches. His workrate & energy level is for me best in the league.

Young - 7 - Better but still has been a while since we have seem him at his best. He needs to bulk up abit like gabby has to handle the double teaming better. His set peice delivery much better, and still had a good game overall. Has picked up an annoying habit of ignoring the obvious option / pass and trying to pick oen thats 10 times more difficult and doesnt pull it off.

Carew - 5.5 - Very poor game. Didnt seem on the same wave length as his team mates and made some poor, often baffling decisions when he had the ball at feet. Bound to be rusty though, hope its just a one off.

Gabby - 9.5 - One of the best games Ive seen him have for us. Worked his arse off, and his first touch was exceptional! His goal was a beauty and he should have had an assist wehen he crossed for Carew. This kid constantly surprises me. When he broke through I thought he'd be another Vassel. Then after a whileI thought he'd be world class. Then after the 2nd of last season I thought he would he would be mid-table quality at best, not enough for a top 4 team, now after another blistering start I think he will be great again. Good to see year on year he is still improving. Hopefully his confidence and performance wont dip like last year if he hits another drty spell.

The game - Very happy with the first half. We looked lively and at most inventive and creative in patches. 2nd half we eased off and it was dissapointing. We still defend too deep and dont push out well enough. Cuellar is not a right back, and I think MON has to decide pretty quick who his top 2 CB's are, and leave the ones left out on the bence instead of trying to squeeze them in elsewhere. Luckily we look very solid at the back and can cope with anything aerial, which against the bottom half of the league clubs tend to be the main threat.

Delighted with our form. Hope the NRC is resolved quickly so we can keep on creeping up that league table. Big credit to MON and the boys, I was shit scared after Wigan & Rapid Vienna, now we look much more solid and still have options to come back, and big players yet to hit anything like top gear

Subs - None on long enough to rate.

Hi General, so happy with the spending again this summer. Real investment spent on the team and the facilities year in year out. Im gobsmacked how many people dont seem to appreciate this. Very clever buys by MON, and we have done what i thought would be impossible, i.e improve the first 11 and the squad despite the massive losses through no fault of our own. Apart from disastar (from the PR side of things to the loss in morale) that was Moscow last year, and the fact he didnt sign what was needed in January to help us keep that 4th spot, are the only real critiscism I can have of MON at this point after 3 seasons, any their are so many plus points and the guy has donew and is doing a stirling job. Well set still I feel to have a good shot at meeting our target, at the end of the 5 year plan.

Infact ref the 5 year plan, was it a solid, thought out, step by step plan we have attempted to follow, or was it just a figure of speech basically saying you hope to be battling for a top 4 slot within 5 years? If its the former, have recent events / takleovers meant the plan has been adjusted, and perhaps extended?

My question to you which may have already been asked is, what are your thoughts on the low attendences aty certain games this season? Due to the recession did you exoect this a downturn is ticket sales? If so are there any more offers in the pipeline (like the brilliant announcemnent today ref the free tickets for those who attemded the Vienna game?) to help get a few more through the doors.