Ooh-Ah

The one of him sitting outside Bodymoor saying he doesn't want to go to work is blatantly taken by him.

What a moron. Those comments are inexcusable.

Red Power Ranger ‏@g15bes Protected account12m Campbell for England I think Expand Reply Favorite Adam A9 ‏@adlovesbeer11m @g15bes Hodgson doesn’t pick in form strikers remember. Expand Red Power Ranger ‏@g15bes Protected account10m @adlovesbeer he has a English surname so he's ok. U can't be half caste and have a different surname I don't think Expand Adam A9 ‏@adlovesbeer6m @g15bes You may have a point. But our Woy would argue that with his selection of Zaha. You should get a chance soon hopefully. Expand Red Power Ranger ‏@g15bes Protected account6m @adlovesbeer u mean zaha who plays for MAN UNITED or another 1? ....?

Top half finish would be excellent. The optimism is fantastic but talk of 6th is more than a little premature IMO.

Both? I counted an elbow that was only a yellow, a booking for simulation after he got kicked in the face, an offside goal that was allowed to stand and a john terry handball Benteke got booked for dissent, not simulation. And to be fair he didn't get kicked in the face. Even when he was complaining to the ref he was holding his shoulder. I don't think that incident warranted a yellow for Ivanovic to be honest. Benteke came from behind Ivanovic and lowered his head, Ivanovic had every right to try and hook the ball away. But Ivanovic should have been sent off for the elbow, the goal was (marginally) offside and Terry handballed. Really pissed me off the way Mourinho spoke about Lambert challenging every decision. What a condescending, hypocritical arse.

I have to admit I was wrong about Delph. I thought he'd never come good. Delighted for him, he seems like a good guy and his attitude is always spot on. He was outstanding last night.

Unbelievable. Ivanovic absolutely clattered Benteke into the side of the head. You can tell a lot by players' reactions - all of the Villa players ran to the ref and Ivanovic looked terrified. The commentators' reaction to the replay ("Oohhhhhh!") said it all. Then he goes down the other end and scores, and the commentators don't even mention the fact that he shouldn't be on the pitch. And then the handball at the end? His hands are stretched out above his head! How does the ref not see that? Very good performance all the same. Delph was phenomenal. His close control is top class.

People need to relax. He didn't say anything bad. Gabby slating him is interesting though. Think there might be something in the "family club" jibe... Maybe. There were certain rumours weren't there? Or maybe we shouldn't bother!

Lyrics are: "We don't care about Arsenal... They don't care about me... All we care about is AVFC." According to the guy who posted the video on YouTube.

I feel the same. I really love this team and the way it conducts itself, the manager and the players. I know it doesn't really matter but I think neutral supporters are starting to like us again. We have been so poor to watch at various intervals over the past three years but now we've got a young, hungry team, we play decent football and we're exciting again; a bit like MONs team but more methodical. I know we haven't achieved anything yet but I think Lambert deserves a lot of credit for doing things the right way so far. To be honest, I think Gabby is the only player whose conduct can be a tiny bit distasteful. Putting his finger to his lips when he scores might be apt when we're playing SHA or WBA or the likes, but I don't think he gets much, if any, stick from other teams. And applauding Koscielny's red card wasn't necessary either. It's not as if it was a bad tackle. But from a Villa fan's perspective it's excusable because he clearly loves the club, and I don't think he's a bad guy by any stretch of the imagination. There isn't any harm in one or two players having an "us against the world" attitude.

Regarding the Tony Moon nickname, Lambert doesn't get us: "I don't know who that is, I don't get that." WARNING: EXTREMELY DULL ARTICLE.

Quick one... The Sylla chant, I've heard it but I can't make out the tune...? That Helenius one is brilliant. Although it does kind of sound like we're saying that we like to do Nicklas Helenius. ("We like to fight and do cocaine and Nicklas Helenius.") Reminds me of Chelsea's Josh McEachran chant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scIQoltJu_0

Yeah. It was about time someone took Shane Long down a notch with a reckless, cowardly tackle.

Was he really subjected to that much abuse?

True. In the case of Petrov I think for many it was harder to see what he contributed simply because he did a lot of the positional and unglamourous stuff. It was only when Petrov wasn't in the side that many realised the whole thing didn't quite knit so well without him. OT but I'm not entirely sure about that... I think it was mainly down to the fact that Petrov really didn't play well for a long time when came here. And also fans felt he was getting a lot of leeway from MON when perhaps other players deserved a chance.

Foul?? Wow. You should be embarrassed! Never a foul in a million years. The two players ran into each other at a similar pace. It's not Benteke's fault he's an animal. None of the Malaga players even protested. Crazy comment. What a goal by the way. I've never seen a more talented player at the club with perhaps the exception of God. I think Benteke is going to achieve a lot more in the game though (if he stays fit).

The first thing I thought too. Are you sure you guys aren't jumping to conclusions based on the fact that they're of similar races? Because I can't see what else would help you to come to such conclusions. To be fair, they play in the same position, they're both tricky, they both started their careers in Ligue 1 and they both represented France underage before declaring for the country of their birth. And they're roughly the same build (although Taarabt looks a bit chunkier). If Inter have been sniffing around, and if Lambert fancies him, that's good enough for me. He's 23 and for £3m I really don't see the risk. I think most of us have been crying out for a flair player for years so I'm surprised that some people seem to be doubting him based on a YouTube video where he does lots of tricks. A couple of those goals were outstanding. Who was our last flair player? For my money Benteke is the closest we've had in an very long time.

Gabby is the best thing on twitter. Is that definitely him? I know he put stuff up from his Keek account but he still only has 800 followers. Seems strange.

Busted.

I'd be very interested to hear where you've heard this. As would I. Everything I've heard about the guy suggests he's an absolute gent. Not that it proves very much but he was on a stag in my hometown last year and my friend works in the hotel they stayed in. She said he was extremely nice. Didn't Lambert even call him a "model pro" the other night?

I'm not so sure... Presumably he'd be on lower wages than he is now and for £5m I think a lot of fans would be excited about signing an established player with such a good record. And he obviously wouldn't be coming in with any delusions about being our first choice striker.

I thought our kits were chocolate-coloured back then?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'ability', but as I see it Bannan has plenty of that. He just lacks physicality defensively and he doesn't contribute enough offensively. He isn't good enough for us for lots of reasons but he does actually have ability. Bent actually isn't that great a footballer. He's a good goalscorer, which is obviously a talent, but in terms of technical ability he isn't up to much. (For what it's worth I still love him!) Obviously Bent is more of an asset than Barry Bannan, but I don't think it's fair, or correct, to assert that the latter has no ability or that he's "totally useless". Really don't get all this Bannan-hate.

I think it's pretty straight forward with Bannan: he's not physical enough for the position he plays in. Plenty of small players are prospering nowadays but not in centre-mid, and certainly not at centre-mid in the Premier League (I'm not counting players like Mata who tend to operate in more advanced areas and Paul Scholes, who is a freak). Too often opposition midfielders breeze past him and it simply isn't good enough. And although he IS technically very good, he doesn't even do enough when we have possession. It's a shame because when he first broke through I really liked the look of him. He's certainly a stylish player. If you want to have a go because of the drink-driving incident that's fair enough but in general I think some people are being a little harsh... As far as I'm concerned he always put in a decent shift and, unlike some of our players over the past few years, it seemed as though he genuinely cared about the club.

We clearly have different definitions of what a "superb footballer" is. I'm talking about the type of player you see play and you know straight away that he's class. Players with perfect technique. Maybe in your opinion "superb footballers" are players who achieve great things at the highest level.