pamparius

Actually as it stands right now we might want to consider

Young - Warnock - Petrov - NRC - Milner

as our 5 man-midfield.

I say this because Warnock can be an additional option on the left, which takes the burden off Gabby from drifting out left all the time, and instead focus more on attacking the ball in the box, because Gabby does have good heading.

change warnock to shorey

and then Shorey for Delph. he has a sweet left foot and plays with freedom

i'd guess we'll play 4-5-1 for a lot of games this season, we may change personel game by game though

we should pick and choose game by game. nobody should be guaranteed a start anymore, its a squad game and we have to use our options

Personally, I too believe Barry was by far our best player and there is a huge Barry shaped hole in our midfield at the moment

BUT

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on the matter.

KEEP HIM x 10

I may be alone in thinking this, but ...

If we'd have started the game last night with a 4-5-1 formation I reckon the stay awayers would've gone into internet meltdown. We needed to win the game, we needed to score goals, the only reason 4-5-1 worked before is because the opposition (lets take Liverpool as a recent example) were attacking US, the onus was on them to have a go as they were the home team

Rapid had absolutely no need to do that, if we'd played 5 in the middle they'd have just kept the ball even more and passed it amongst themselves

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but for me 4-4-2 had to be the formation last night

Having said that, certain players could've been better picked over others IMHO

I'd seriously think about dropping Petrov for Sunday and sticking NRC in the middle with either Delph or Sidwell (or all three)

Extremely disappointing result that basically writes off the whole of last season.

There are no positives to this IMO it is very bad news indeed for the club

very strange

care to tell me what is strange about a fan of the club being **** off that we got knocked out of a european competition when the whole premise of the club over the last few years has been to progress and that evidence of that progress is given through european qualification?

I will yes, you said it basically 'writes off the whole of last season'. How exactly ?. You play a season to finish as high as you can, you play 38 games plus any extra cup games along the way. Apparently none of that matters as we've now gone out of one competition

Weird.

I think i know what you're trying to say but your logic is skewed. Did you boo ?

I know they couldnt be bothered because they sat at home and then called the phone ins for a good old bleat!. Maybe go through the match thread on any forum from last night and see who was actively online but not at the game.

So anyone who was sat at home and/or actively online couldnt be bothered to go the game? No other possible reasons you can think of?

I'm sure you can if you really try

Feel free to post some, If we'd been playing Real Madrid they'd have got off their backsides i'm sure. Part timers

i'm on about the ones who live in the country but cant be bothered. you'd put your money on them being after a ticket for one of the big sides though. which brings the word FICKLE firmly into view

How do you know they cant be bothered?

Do you have any concept of the history of this club, indeed all West Mids clubs, and August attendances?

Clearly not.

I know they couldnt be bothered because they sat at home and then called the phone ins for a good old bleat!. Maybe go through the match thread on any forum from last night and see who was actively online but not at the game

No excuse not to support your side if you are able, it was practically free to get in and the club bent over backwards to help increase the attendance

Another kick in the teeth for them.

Extremely disappointing result that basically writes off the whole of last season.

There are no positives to this IMO it is very bad news indeed for the club

very strange

pay your money = have your say

don't pay your money = stop grumbling

So foreign fans shut up? Don't be ignorant. I'd suggest if you can't stomach people's opinions then you've no place on an opinion board.

well i think its a given for anyone abroad not to be at a match don't you ?

can't believe that needed pointing out

i'm on about the ones who live in the country but cant be bothered. you'd put your money on them being after a ticket for one of the big sides though. which brings the word FICKLE firmly into view

pay your money = have your say

don't pay your money = stop grumbling

thats awfully bitchy dont you think , i mean i have a season ticket but didnt go , does that now make me a poor fan and not give me the right to have a little whinge about certain parts of our performance ?

not bitchy at all in my view. its the same in any walk of life. i firmly stand by the pay your money have your say motto. always have always will.

its a bit rich for someone to moan about 'i can't believe we've been knocked out already' when they couldn't be arsed to even attend the game IMO

there were many fake supporters on the phone ins last night reacting to the result with mock/fake horror. if the Europa League meant that much to them you would have thought they'd have got off their backsides and supported the team wouldn't you ?

morning after thoughts :

Guzan - no problem with this guy, have every faith in him and Friedel. O'Neill has come up trumps there no question

Shorey - average, strangely much better going forward then doing what he's paid to, DEFEND. delighted we've got Warnock to take over at left back. if Bouma ever gets back match fit that'll be a more than decent pair

Beye - thought he did ok last night, not as good as against Liverpool, but i put that down to the complete lack of midfield protection ahead of him (and the whole back 4)

Davies/Cuellar - fairly decent, at least some glimmers of an understanding forming

Petrov - to be honest i thought he was pretty woeful last night. i'm not sure whats happened over the summer, but he seems even slower than normal this season, if thats possible. looks sluggish and not himself

Delph - maybe my highlight of the night. it was a joy to see a player demanding the ball and going looking for it, very unlike our usual midfield. not only that, but he seems to grasp the concept of pass and move!. had some lovely touches, passes and a nice bit of link up play at times. to me the one midfielder actually being pro-active last night. but i'd have said he'd have been even more effective had O'Neill saw sense, took Heskey off and put NRC in alongside Petrov and told those pair to sit and allow Delph a more free roll ahead of them

Young - did ok, must confess to thinking he may have gone over too easily for both pens, but having not seen either back on the box i can't say for sure. very few flashes of the old Ashley, the one who went to go past people instead of draw the foul. nice one in second hald though when he cut in and had thot shot the keeper parried

Milner - worked his lungs out back and forward

Heskey - the new fall guy, but to his credit - i thought he worked his socks off. he put in the graft but has no end product as we all know by now

Carew - the exact opposite of Heskey, little effort or graft, but has the ability to do something constructive. if you could combine both players best bits you'd havce a world beater. Big John needs to work a sweat up. i'll let him off on the off chance he was still feeling a bit groggy

Crowd at game - 10/10 for turning up

O'Neill - knew we needed goals so went with 2 up top as most would have asked for pre-match. typically the grumblers after were saying we should've gone 4-5-1. you can't have it both ways. I do think he should've made changes much earlier to be fair, some would find it strange knowing we needed goals if he'd gone back to 4-5-1. but for me we look more of a threat in that formation even with less forwards

Fans who didn't turn up - 0/10 utterly shameful and an embarassment to me and all others who turned up for such an important game. didnt stop em flooding the after match phone ins though with their views on the game.

pay your money = have your say

don't pay your money = stop grumbling

I'd have thrown Kilgallon in there as a back up option

I've always distinguished fans as casual followers who come and go and supporters as just that, supporting the team by going and giving them support

apologies if this has been done before,

just thought i'd do a quick poll to see what kind of mixture of Villa supporters/fans we have on here day in day out

Davies wouldnt be playing if he hadnt decalred himself fit, this isnt prison!

SSN seem to think it will be Lowry who comes in if Davies is injured!

good for him, lets hope he's got the talent to shine

Dear Martin

whatever you're thinking, please don't go 4-4-2. especially with our defence and unbalanced midfield when we play 2 wingers

either go for a 5 man midfield of :

Young - Delph - NRC - Petrov - Milner with either Gabby/Carew up top

or give Young the free role and play a midfield 4 of :

Delph - NRC - Petrov - Milner with either Gabby/Carew up top

if the latter, Milner must play a more disciplined role and not hug the touchline all night

we need a left footer in there so Delph gets the nod ahead of Gardner or Sidwell for me, and i'd rather have Delph's pace/tackling against Johnson too

I would think Beye to centre back and NRC to right back would make more sense than bringing in a kid against Torres and Gerrard??

Forget the kid, did you not see NRC at right back at Anfield last season ???

SSHHUUDDDEER

You shouldn't word your posts as if you speak for everybody mate. The recent polls on O'Neills tenure have shown a MASSIVE backing from the supporter base and we're not all impatient types who forget quickly

.I waited for the new season and i expected to see some different football to that played since january.

well you really are Mr Patience!

fancy waiting all of 1 league game to crack under 'pressure' like this ?

I would just add that I go to all Home and away and am seriously considering Away only. Not because of our form but our fans, who at Villa Park are simply appalling.

i TOTALLY hear what you are saying mate.

At what point would you start to re-think your position on Martin O'Neill?

at the end of the season if we've suffered from the squad size and dropped below 8th

How far does your support go at a critical time in our (and other teams') chase for the top 4?

my support for Villa is the same whether we're 1st or 20th in the league

What does Martin have to do (or not do) before you begin allowing yourself to think 'Hold on a second Martin sort it out'? Surely your support only goes so far? Only goes to a point? I want to know what that point is.

for us to fall below mid table in the final standings and for it too look more than a blip

Have we already reached it?

with two top 6 finishes ? don't talk **** stupid

at the moment i'd say compared to Davies he looks world class. but thats not saying a lot at the moment

Curtis needs a BIG wake up call and quick

thankfully Risso your opinion isnt matched by the majority (on here or H&V)

so why not give it a rest eh ?