Overdubber

It is a little disheartening to see certain members on here (just a couple) keep going on in their strange anti Petrov modus, as the guy is our captain and is one of the few players in the side who shows any capability of retaining posession whenever we get the ball. There is a lack of realism in these repeated posts, like the more it is said, the more it will sway opinion against him, evn though it is obvious to everyone and their dog as to where these smear remarks are comming from. Shame those same voices are apparently unable to see when the guy puts in a decent performance and are unable to recognise any thing he does in contribution to the overall performance (apart from anything negative that is). If their attitude was man enough to recognise the fact that he does actually contribute something positive to our game, then they might find their posts being read with a bit more enthusiasm, instead of the "oh no" effect they seem to carry with them. I hope he does well tonight( if he plays after recovery from the injury incurred at the end of the last game away at Everton), as the rest of the team. 3 away points would be great for us, but Upton Park is not the easiest of places when the Hammers come in form, as Arsenal felt las time around there. Whatever, looking forward to a good game.

Have been shocked as to how disorganized everton are looking at the mid/back. Really very unlike everton as they are renowned for their discipline. If we are to get a win, it would be the right time to snatch it....

Sidwell is apparently better off the ball too....

Typical game for us to bodge up, but still I will go for the victory, 0-3 Villa. Have a feeling MON will go for the strongest side, which may result in a loss at Sunderland during the week. Hope not, but it would not suprise me too much.

TBH I cannot see NRC as being of too much use against a team using a physical midfield. Sure he can break them down, or divert the rout of play, but what then? He certainly has not shown us the skills required to hold the ball, let alone mentioning his passing game..... No, we are certainly better off with a player who can keep possesion, be he tried or not.... There has been many a moment when NRC gets a good early tackle in, only to give the ball directly away in the following pass. These are the moments when I question his real footballing ability, and obviously I am not the only one....

Whatever, the poll here is pretty overwhelmingly in favour of a stay so far....

There are loads of biggest games to come, as we quite often loose out on valuble points against clubs like this.... IIRC we came away with one point against Stoke last season. But the point you made is certainly quite valid.

Like many posters here I also felt that Stan handled the midfield very well. Okay, tired towards the end, but still did a very good job. If we had swithched to a 4-5-1 with fresh players we may have seen out the game better, but who knows? I see teams like ManU , Chelsea and Arsenal constantly comming up against defensively orientated teams, particularly in the last 20 minutes or so. Funny enough these teams always come away with the win (or almost). The way to break these teams is go and attack them, the whole game. Sunderland did that last week at OT, and almost came away with a vital win, instead it turned out a lucky draw (for Utd.). By always looking to attack Chelsea we took off some of the pressure they were willing to apply as their defence could not easily force up to the half way line. I`m not really concerned about the set piece situation, as these kinds of goals are typical for some of these big games. 2 quality headers, that second one was faster than a bullet!

are you for real?? friedel was at fault for the goal then in the 2nd half saved a couple of shots that were straihgt at him. if he didnt save them they would hav been even bigger **** ups than the one he let in.... Sorry, but that shot was very fast and had a wicked dip on it. I am not saying he was not at fault, but that made for an impecible performance thereafter. At one stage he saved a shot from Anelka which MUST have been in, and the save against Deco, not to forget the set pieces. At no stage did Chelsea (the league leaders until today) look anything like dangerous on set pieces. Defence was very well organized, and Friedel played a big part in that. Credit where credit is due. Same goes for Petrov, who was vers solid today.

I also found him to be very good today, but not MOTM. For me that was Friedel....

I go for a 3-2 villa win in this...

I find it a little disturbing to read Barrys boots writing that Stan did not play well here in this thread, whereby in the Where art thou Fabian? thread he is writing that he did play well. maybe it is time to make your mind up before you post, not after, as this simply makes you look foolish. Sorry, but truth is truth. The game I saw on Monday he did play well, even in the second half when Ireland came on. At times he was alone in the defensive midfield, so it it obvious that he is not going to break down their play and strike the magic cutting pass.... He did , however manage to push them out to the wings on several occasions, thus hindering the line on goal, and giving time for out other midfielders to pull back...... Young should have been taken off, as he was useless after that DeJong foul, never really got back into the game at all. Crosses were haywire, and his tracking back to help out in the midfield was more of a problem than the points Barrys boots is trying to raise about Petrov.

Good game, fair result. City struggled to get into space despite having periods of possesion. We often looked a threat, and a better second half than first. Collins won everything in the air, bar three or four headers. Dunne was very organized, as his goal showed, power in the perfect place. Ashley was not good tonight, his crossing was bad, and I`d have expected a little more contribution from his side, despite being a marked man. Gabby was top, his running and body language showed just why he is in the national squad. Cuellar was also good on the tackle, sometimes let down by his heading of the ball. Glad to see NRC finally return, even though the contribution he put in was sub optimal, but still, he was in there. I thought a bit more of Sidwell than a few posters here, but it is all opinion, so no need to quarrel about it. As mentioned, a fair result from a good game. Nothing to be ashamed of, and really no grounds for the gloom and doom prophecies here.

Bellamy...

Looking forward to the game comming up, and think L.Young is not one to shirk for the derby, but this one may be one too early. Changing too much of the defence we have had so far would maybe an error, but who are we to determin what MON thinks? Give Beye his first midland derby, I`m sure he will be up for it.

Surely this is a two way thing. You will only get the real take on the bums-in-seats revenue when you are successful(everybody loves a winner....). If the team can bring in some silverware-REAL silverware, not to suggest that winning the peace cup wasn`t an achievement to be proud of, but it is a preseason friendly tournament- there would be bums on seats for sure.

Both top players who would fit into just about any team in the league straight off. I`m glad they are both with us. Still hear this long reverb of the complaints on here as to them being both overrated and overpriced..... I did not vote, as they are different types of players.

Was he not injured? Something muscular.

He will be the backbone of our defence sooner than you think...

The ultimate protest vote is to go to the ballot and make your vote null and void, not to vote for an extreme. The message you are trying to give can and will be used in a completely other sense.

Nice article, a lot better than Paul parkers on Eurosport (but that`s not too difficult I suppose). Yes tis is a big clash, and I`m really looking forward to it, as are all of us I would expect. But I`m not too worried if we don`t win it, as it really is typical of Villa to do all the buildup, and then get a letdown when it comes down to the most important moment. Something we have been doing for so many years. Still, I love villa, and I really am looking forward to this.

All this pushing the ball around Chelsea do may well play into our hands with a fast break or two. Vividly remember our second goal against them last season. lightning attack, excellent finnish by Gabby after a fine cross from Young (having skipped over a portugese dfender who had been fouling him all afternoon). Was more or less the end for the special one.... Zat Knight, first game, first goal. Excellent stuff. You never know, they could end up playing into our hands on this one.

Anelka and Drogba are certainly a handfull for our rear end, but with Ballack out of form, as with Deko not performing, Mikkels passing right off, and Lampard spluttering, we could win the midfield battle. Could be some cards in this game too, and I`m certain we will not be physically bullied out of it. I`m going for a Villa win, as we have given up giving up. No more roll overs. Biggest test will be at UTD. comming up. But Saturday we have a good chance of winning. Could well be that if e get one good chance taken, the rest will follow after,as football is like that.

Beating Chelsea would be great for starters, but the league is by no means over then. If we loose to Moscow we will be out of the Uefa, as we would have to win on a plastic pitch in -20 degrees, something we are not used to doing. Moscow are a good side, a bit of a dark horse, as the season in Russia is about to begin. Win against Everton would be fantastic, as we could be in with a chance of an FA cup title this time around should it happen. Possibly the most difficult draw of the round. I`d go for all three fronts, as John mentioned a couple of posts back. Not every year it goes so well for us, so we should take what we can.

Do we miss Carew? Yes we do, and we don`t need a polll to answer that.