danceoftheshamen

Thought we sacked Nike off didn't we? Due to being bottom of their list of priorities.

It is looking more & more as though our survival depends on us finding that defensive midfielder. Worrying thing is it also looks as though one may not be coming...How long is left of the window now? 10 days? Also with Baker now injured we really do need that new CB.. What state would we be in if Clark got injured now? Or Vlaar?

Another nail..... Lovely.

?? So thats as i thought then.. In the late 80's was when we went down (87) which was the tail end or "bust years" as i mentioned of Thatcher, leading to the recession of the early 90's.. At least thats what i meant..Anyhow enough about politicians (even though the Prime Minister is a Villa fan of course)

In all honesty although i know it would damage the club in many ways financially mainly, i do remember the last episode & went home & away to every match practically then. I remember we had an awful start.. loads of poor draws if i remember correctly & everyone was really worried .. but then we started to adjust & get some results. I was hitch hiking to loads of away games back then.. we'd take a tent & make a weekend of it.. watch the game (which were always Saturday afternoons back then) then off out clubbing.. sleep in the tent & hitch hike home on the Sunday!. Great times Remember getting completely soaked at Plymouth then pitching the tent in the middle of a ring road island with a thicket of trees in the middle which gave us a bit of cover lol!.. Eventually got a lift back as far as Bristol off some sympathetic Bristol City fans who had a huge camper van & arrived back sometime Sunday evening lol!...Cost... £0 (apart from admission) But what i think you'd find is it would bring the Villa fans back together again. It had a kind of galvanising effect.. the attendances were around 25,000 but then attendances were generally lower back then anyway due to the Thatcher "bust" years leading into a recession in the early 90's if memory serves. The away support was, as it still is, magnificent... So on that side of it it could be beneficial & good fun in some ways.. great to see some different grounds too & we would be well capable of winning any game home or away too... forgotten what that feels like thats for sure So, for all those who have never experienced such "lows" before.... all would not be lost my fellow Villans. It may just bring the whole club back together again after the fragmenting effect of the last few appalling years. We have a chance to avoid it yet though so fingers crossed but this club can definately come back from that. Never know it might even bring the lion out of it's coma too!

Do agree Mantis.. thing is i think they are looking at the "could" stay up bit. meaning we could also spend & still go down resulting in problems financially maybe?.. After the decimation of the last 3 seasons i guess you can see why Randy is so determined to not let it get back to that point... by the looks of it that includes if we got relegated.

I think it's becoming obvious now that the investment is being held back as they realize we are not good enough & could well go down. This would explain the cautiously low budget Lambert is saying he has gotten. Surely if they really believed we would stay up with a couple of decent signings then it would be folly to not do that considering the immediate 60m hit from the new TV deal. If we spend big & still get relegated however that could cripple the club. It's a "covering all bases" move for me... at least thats how it is appears.

It is noticeable how over the last 3 seasons we have had incredible amounts of injuries... Houllier was wiped by it out in his first half season, ditto AMC & now Paul Lambert... I can never remember such a harsh run of injuries & nearly always to the spine of the team too which cripples us & for me is why we have consistently struggled to find form.

Problem is teams don't fear going down a goal or 2 against us because all season we've been having these "20 minute self destruct" sessions.. When we readily concede 2, 3 or more goals. With this side as soon as you rattle them they implode ..badly. It's happened all season.. Everton (H), Southampton (A), Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd etc etc etc etc... Never seen anything like it its damn odd?!

scary thing is i wouldn't even say we've been standing still..... more like sprinting backwards!

I think we need 5 wins 5 draws minimum from 15 games?.. that was crucial today.. draw was no good for us.. to have it at 2-0 then throw it away is inexcusable proves they are simply not good enough for the Premier League (& thats even worse considering how poor the Prem is this season).... Roll on another embarrassment on Tuesday. Don't tell me... we'll go 3-0 up, be at Wembley & then concede a dodgy penalty & lose it in the last 5 mins. effing muppets

I take that as an awful point... 2-0 up to screw it all up .....AGAIN!... Once is bad but to do it again when you are 2 goals up in a local derby & in the relegation zone & havn't been ahead in a match for what seems like months is pathetic. Awful football team.

They may have just thrown survival down the toilet.. bunch of clowns excuses have now run out.. furious

Excellent!!.. that was so important,... especially after the Baker issue. When the last time we were ahead in a game? Was it Liverpool?...Fantastic Benteke!

Its bizarre isn't it... A settled back 4 as we all know is key to keeping clean sheets. It's killing us all these changes all the time... Always seems to happen to the spine of this team too which is also crucial. No wonder we are so crap.

This season just sucks more & more with the passing of every hour. Disrupted already so now watch them panic.

Big shame.

Oh goody, Bennett is starting

4-0 loss is my guess

Sadly my head says there is just way too much damage to our players psychologically now after the shameful defeats we have suffered since the Chelsea humiliation. My heart however says we can do it with players coming back from injuries etc. I do feel we are the most out of form side in the country at the moment & i struggle to see how, even with a bit of an improvement, we can turn this around considering the teams around us are now all getting results. Some of them against the likes of Chelsea too. It will take a massive upturn in form & fortune to stand a chance now & no matter how hard i try i just cannot see how we can survive this. The damage is too deep & our manager appears somewhat deluded in thinking we will be ok. It's the results which tell the accurate story & they are shocking. For me we have to win today otherwise we are as good as down. If we do i may change my opinion but sadly i doubt very much that will happen. Really hope i've misjudged the players.

Have we actually played really well in a single Prem game this season? I'm not counting the cup games as largely against weakened teams. You could say Man U but we lost, or Liverpool away but we were a touch lucky in reality in the first 30 mins... Perhaps Swansea at home? I struggle to actually think of 1 game!

Teale? McGrath?.Kent Nielson?.. anyone remember Nielson's goal against Inter Milan?

If only we could clone Martin Laursen ..............Hmmmmn?!

Have to say i am quite surprised by these stats.. He always seems to lose too much possession when i watch him. Does look though like our most creative is really Albrighton as he's only played 454 to create 13 chances. So he has a better chance per minute ratio.

Agree with this ^^ We have still never found that midfield maestro, someone with real quality to create things. I like Westwood, Bannan is too costly with possession however. otherwise ditto Ash's post & maybe a new wide man too. Someone who can dribble through a defence (but also has end product).