Ponky

That's a really good point actually. As long as they pass to him.

I suspect they have a picture of a jiving cat with headphones on pinned up in their security office just waiting for you to show up again...

While I am not sure who precisely is to blame I think you could probably add James Milner to the mix. Whilst not a cause he was certainly the catalyst for a whole heap of shit hitting the fan. Butterfly effect so to speak.

I am now starting to feel that there is no more time for being patient with Houllier. Something is seriously broken at the moment and I don't think Houllier has the nous to fix it. I have been keen for GH to be given the chance to bring in a few of his own players but I would suggest that it's too late for that with the character of our team currently rotten to the core. The fact that for the last 10 minutes of the match we did nothing but defend a minus 4 goal lead says a lot for the fact that most of these players don't give two **** for this club or in fact their own careers. As for the match - when it rains it pours - desperately unlucky for at least two of those goals - but it might as well have been 8-0 in the end. Man City were taking the piss, and we were giving it freely. While at the start of the season - even with MON still at the helm - most of us would have chalked this one up as a defeat, in a season of disappointing defeats this has by far been the most disappointing of them for the fact that some players clearly decided they didn't care about the Villa any more - that their own personal feelings towards the manager and his coaching staff became more important than the club that pays them and their own personal/professional integrity and reputation as men and footballers.

:cry: Barry suffering from Houllier syndrome

Thank you OBE. I agree entirely. I was devestated at the end of the game but I think we will make some great strides if we can bring in a goal scorer.

is a fascinating oxymoron....

21 shots on goal to 11 and lost 1-2 against 10-men. Says it all really. We simply do not have the firepower to put the ball in the net. We are crying out for a goal poacher and a creative midfielder who can shoot from distance. Hopefully these are the players Houllier will bring in soon. VDV is a great player but an absolute arsehole. And oh how I wish Pires had clocked Redknapp. He would have been worth every cent of his wages had he done so. Great game by Lichaj today. Took this "world-class" winger out of the game completely. And I disagree with those who say Albrighton played well today. He was okay, but 90% of his crosses were into Assou-Ekoto's legs and it was only once he & Downing swapped wings that he started to threaten.

This is could be a good game for Pires to come in and control things for us. We need one of those central midfielders to start having a pop from outside the area - we are too predictable. I think Lichaj is doing a fine job on Bale thus far. Every time Bale knocks it past him he uses the angles to cut him off.

I think we should let him go on a Bosman for 20 million!

Saying we will run out his contract is really just a negotiating tool. The same was used to keep Barry for an extra season when Liverpool wanted him at a cut rate. It effectively says to AY - you don't get a move unless it's on our terms and it says to other clubs - if you want our prized asset you need to make us an offer that makes it impossible for us not to sell him.

Well if we had one or two slightly more creative players this wouldn't be as big a debate because we would not be so utterly dependent on Ashley for ideas going forward. The other thing is if we signed a couple of similarly talented players god-forbid Ashley might not be allowed to take every free-kick and corner he could get his hands on - and that might actually hasten his departure!

Any more than that tismyk? Line up for us, any of the injured chaps back? A report on the Leicester OS Apparently Dunne played!

Both Delph and Gardner are going to need a lot of time to get themselves up to the standard we hope they can achieve. You only have to look at Downing's comeback last season and how he is a different player now with a pre-season under his belt. And that's for a seasoned Premier League player. They will play bit-parts at best this season I would say and you would have to say barring another injury crisis they would find playing opportunities few and far between, in my view.

Don't really have any figures to back this up but you'd have to say some combination of Heskey, Albrighton and Downing has been responsible for at least 70-75% of our goals/assists this season.

Back 4 looked pretty solid for me. Lichaj had a good debut but still let Thomas get away from him a few too many times. The big difference having Carlos there is that, apart from that one occasion, he meets every ball and times his clearances perfectly. No fresh-air shots and hacked clearances from Carlos. I gave Downing as MOTM, but could have easily given it to Albrighton. Hesky looked well off the pace in front of goal but his aerial and defensive work were a god-send. Halsey was his usual incompetent self. Jara could have easily been sent off twice over and I thought Scharner's hack at Young's ankle deserved more than a laugh and a stern talking to. And what was with the time-keeping - I swear they initially showed 3 minutes time added and then changed it to 4 - sneaky buggers!

You should read the main board

Anyone think he might do a decent job at left-back? He is not the fastest but neither is he the tallest for a centre-half, but he uses the ball pretty well. He would be an extra body in the box for set pieces, like Cuellar was last year and Mellberg was in his seasons at RB.

I have been in the "needs more time" camp and I have been feeling that once players start coming back and with a good January we might have a strong finish to the season. I am increasingly worried though that Houllier doesn't seem to be capable of setting us up to win games - or at least not lose games - as the performances are getting worse rather than better. At this point in time I think we need to give him a few more weeks to turn because at this point in time the last thing the club needs is more instability. Unless there is a ready-made replacement in the wings, we are better with the Devil we know... for now.

Totally this. We just got hammered by the worst Liverpool side in my lifetime. As I commented at half time, we were shite, shite, shite. Hogg MotM, but he didn't have much to beat. Time to say Au Revoir, Gerard. This is the thing - I don't think they hammered us at all - they only really had 5-6 chances of note and happened to score from them. All Liverpool really did was sit back and let us do their work for them. We really are lacking leadership and confidence. Our players are getting caught out with the ball and misplacing passes way too often, which is because they are playing a style of football which is against their natural style. Luke Young for example is never going to be a pass & move player because the ball always bounces 10 yards off his feet when he tries to control the ball. One thing I will say - we look far more convincing & threatening with 2 strikers on the pitch. We need to play 4-4-2 to give us a chance of scoring. I am not in favour of sacking Houllier just yet - I think given the money next month he could bring a few good players in - but if he was sacked I wouldn't be particularly upset about it, as long as they had someone to replace him immediately.

Do you notice though how many people actually struggle to know how to use a knife & fork these days?

Book yourself into a hotel that has foxtel and preferably foxsports, even if just for one night. It's a night match so kick off would be about 6 am there - unlikely to find a pub or anything open, although foxtel tends to replay matches through the day. Your only other bet might be the casino, which may be open 24hrs and have a sports bar running the match. If you can find yourself somewhere with foxtel you'll definitely get to watch it. It's a Liverpool match.

FIFA in corrupt decision shocker!

I agree with you srsmithusa - it is a bitter, bitter pill, but we have to swallow it for now I think. That said, I don't have to co-exist in my community with those awful, vile, disgusting creatures called Blues fans. All I can say is I sympathise but can't imagine what it must be like to have your life endangered simply going to a footy match

Disappointing result although it was a competent away performance. I have defended Dunne all season but he was abysmal, abysmal, abysmal. He looked like he was pissed off to have to be out playing in the cold, put in so many half-arsed challenges and kept on doing tame headers that bounced front and square outside our penalty area. Personally, I think it's time for Houllier to have a bit more faith in our forwards and play two of them at once. It's once thing for Gabby to head out wide left and cross it in, but we need someone on the end of those crosses. And why did two of our players get yellow cards for dissent in the 2nd half and the likes of Ridgewell were screaming at the lino in the first and not even a word from the ref? The telly said Ash was suspended now for the Liverpool game - maybe this will force Houllier's hand with the striker situation.