Overdubber

Seems to be pretty deft with his head, though some of those situations don`t exactly lay credit to the defending teams.....

Laursen for myself, but as mentioned above, we should give Dunne more than a half year before doing polls like this.

One thing is for sure, Dunne is possibly the best bit of summer signing business for a long time.

Strange the way he came good again, and considering his replacements at City, I would expect the management to be pretty angry at Mark Hughes for that....

I`d go for the away win, as we seem to be getting some of those places where we get nothing behind us.

Spurs may be a bit tired from the misdweek game away at Leeds as well.

Hope Petrov is fit for this!

How come you can only vote for one? Seems a bit odd to me.

Classic Villa! Fast and furious stuff, lost out when it most mattered.....

I just love our club.

Iv gota very very bad feeling about this game all of a sudden. A very very very very bad feeling.

Yeah, when the press start doing a lot of stories about us it is always a bad sign.

I was enjoying our non-presence, but now we went and beat Utd away things can only go pear-shaped.

Things all falling apart when it gets to a worthwhile stage in a season is a tradition we seem to adhere to......

Still, we may have enough momentum at the moment to bring us through with a victory against Arsenal and Liverpool, then we can happily loose to Wigan, Fulham, etc....

A couple of pages back somebody mentioned the prospects of Delph getting into the starting line-up.

I`d like to second that, only if it is for him to be glued to Nasri all afternoon........

Seems it is being reported that fabregas is out until the 30th, which would suit our game just fine, as he seems to be the one to link up for them.

Don´t really want to pin it all on one player or the other though...

Looking forward to seeing if MON has got his tactics right for this one. As a few have mentioned we are looking better in the defence than last year, and I cannot see a Gallas handling Gabby at all, as he was ripped apart last time around, and this year Gabby is looking even better.

Added to that is the way we are pushing opponents further up the pitch, and have now the possibilities to play both wings and through the middle, I can see Arsenal being a bit more cautious than they usually are with visiting teams.

Seems to me a few of the top teams no longer have the squad depth/quality they have had in previous seasons. Hence a few of the recent results from such sides.

Makings of a great game here.....

Big game for both teams here, could even be the marker for our run in, what with Liverpool comming so soon after.

Could be our chance to make a mark on the league this year, and I hope we do it.

I`m going for a Villa victory, 1-2 or 0-2, ass we will quash all their midfield intentions.

With a little luck, and continuing some of the matchday attitude we have shown over recent weeks, we could be on over 40 points by new year, which means we are certain of avoiding relegation.....

Anything over 70 points would be a great reflection as to our progress under MON. Remember, the league we are in has become more difficult over the past 3 years, with some big money flying around, and a few teams have improved enormously, not just ourselves.

Can`t wait until we beat Liverpool, sending them into freefall....

Last year at the Emirates was fab.

This year could be even better. Arsenal will certainly not be taking us lightly, and we could be in for a great game here. Possibly the best game over the christmas period.....

Agree to some extent in that I don't think it was sitting back but we were clearly tiring and getting pushed back. FWIW Stoke looked much better in the second half once they had bought on Fuller and tried to join in with the game!

We only made it 2-0 with 8 minutes to go.

Should we have brought the less creative NRC on before or after we got our second goal?

ASorry , but didn´t Carew score the second before the 60th minute?

Maybe you mean they pulled ine back with 8 minutes to go?

maybe my memorie is letting me down.....

Those tracksuit bottoms.

makes him look like a yugoslavian drug dealer.....

How the flying bejezuz was Salifou a mistake? He cost next to nothing, his wages are low and he was brought in to see if he could do a job for us, he can't quite clearly but being as he hardly ever even gets on the bench how is that a mistake exactly. It was as close as you get in top flight football to a no risk gamble. In fact it was only a mistake if you want to find a reason to have a go at the manager from where I'm looking at it from.

Exactly what I was aiming at. harewood was the same, brought in for (relatively) cheap money, and given the opportunity to prove himself (which is still a point to be proven at newcastle).....

Though I must admit I expected a bit more from NRC.

Too true Roscoe, and a win in the LC will epitomise the state of affairs. Step by step.....

Last year was lesson enough that we do not make the same mistake again.

I am looking towards a Bolton like result here, their defence is slow, and we are currently hot. Let them come..... and get wrecked!

Shorey was a mistake, as was salifou, but these things all come with any manager, good or not.

Been great for Villa so far, and I am sure he could easily step into any club right now....

taken some time though, and the final result (title, cup) is still to come. I do not doubt that they will though....

Alright, first mistake was getting those glasses. Makes him look like a wannabe author or playwrite.

Second is his accent. people from NI have a dire accent, except rock singers like Rory Gallagher.

Third is his jump when we score. Not high enough, not timed well, and gets very low marks from the jury.

Fourth is his humour. Bad comic, and constantly downplaying wins is not going to veil the fact that we have a great team.

I mean after finally comming away from OT with a win almost as long as the history books can recall, when the league tables were written in latin, etc. All he finds to say is that we need to score more goals away from home!

Does not have the same flair and kick as Saunders.

Loads of mistakes in there....

I`ll go 3-0 Villa with a defender to sore the first from a set piece.

Nothing against Stoke though, they are a good team, and can hold their own against anybody on a good day, as they have often shown.

This time round we will be too strong for them, no collapse after 75 mins.

Please let this happen (the win against utd). I was actually at the last game we won there many years ago when I still lived in the UK.

Fergie would have all the excuses he needs for losing this one, and wouldn`t even have to blame the ref.....

Great win, could have been a couple more.

Allround effort was good and we never gave them a look in at all.

I too vote for Sidders.

Good game, pretty tight. Spurs had a lot of ball, but always seemed aware of the possible counter.

Not much in this one, and our defence did very well to hold them down. At times they looked a little planless as to what they should do with the ball.

The draw was a fair result, even though they came at us. Seems we had more posession according to the eurosport stats.

Read a few whims about the team selection with a couple of irrational thoughts as to the choise of player MON made for several positions.

I don`t see that the mentioned players could hold the ball up better than those who were on the field of play.

Seems we have a few managers on these pages who think they know better, rather amusing.

Whatever, there were several players who shone through their good play rather than flash moments, including some who are a little written off on this site, which is a shame really.

All in all a good display from a very solid backbone of a team.

Ive got to be honest and say that since he joined villa i take no joy from watching us, he is the reason i wont renew next season. Whilst players like him are at the Villa we wont win anything, thats how martin operates.

I want to ask you a question. are you happy with 6th???

I dnt mind finishing 6th if the football is exciting and we give each game our best shot but thats for a different topic

Same here...

I'd stick my Les Paul on O'Neill playing the following team

Friedel

Cuellar

Warncok

Dunne

Collins

Petrov

Sidwell

Young

Milner (or Coker if Milner is still injured)

Carew

Gabby

He won't go 4-5-1 at home to Bolton.

Last season Bolton played some defensively naive football against us. At the time i think we were struggling to find the net and beat the lower level teams but we beat them 4-2 and i think Gabby got a brace. We could really do with another poor defensive performance from Bolton and another 4 goals. A win is imperative.

3-1 Villa

Mate if i were you i would keep that Les Paul and not even think of using it to bet on what side O'Neill is going to put out at the moment. I have an 1989 sunburst Les Paul myself and i would rather sell my fiancee than risk losing it!

Really glad that Petrov isn't playing, so after O'Neill's team of liquorich allsorts against West Ham, it will be very interesting to see what he comes up with next?

My team for the Bolton game.....

Guzan

Young Dunne Collins Warnock

Albrighton Reo-Coker Gardner Young

Delph

Agbonlahor

Creativity, pace and Gardner there to at least test the Bolton keeper with a few long range shots. I also think Gardner has a better all round game than Sidwell!

Delph would move back into midfield when Bolton have the ball.

Would love to see this team and formation, but MON will play both Sidwell and Heskey and might even give a game to Salifou at RB! :cry:

Well as Petrov is suspended it's a good job i didn't bet it. It's not a sunburst, it's a white studio, 1996 i think.

I'd love to see a five man midfield with the likes of Albrighton and Delph given a chance but i can't see it happening. It'll be Sidders and Coker in the centre with Milner and Young on the wings.

Flogged off all my gibsons, as they are really not as hot as they are made out to be. Guitars for a lot of money made for posers..... Make my own now from cigarboxes.

With them you can model your sound so much better, and they are really a lot lighter when on stage for a few hours.

Any bets that NRC will get himself booked for either a silly foul or repeated fouls if he plays from the start.....

Same for Delph.

Nasty looking game if we are unable to hold the ball in our own ranks.

Bolton are maybe not quite what you could call top opposition, but they are a tough team to break down if they come and park the bus. An early goal is essential to make this look like a football match. Just hope it is for us.