danceoftheshamen

Hmm.. Think its more important to get the foundations right before we put the cream on personally.. Its the spine of the team that needs major work especially in midfield & defence.

Dead in water Link: http://tinyurl.com/b4jpo6q ""Aston Villa rubbish reports claiming they are keen on Inter Milan's Philippe Coutinho Sky Sports understands that Aston Villa have been left bemused by links to Inter Milan's Philippe Countinho. Quotes attributed to Coutinho's agent, Cacau Barbosa, on Thursday suggested that the winger was a top target for Villa during the January transfer window. While pointing out that no deal had been agreed, Barbosa claimed that the Premier League club had enquired as to the winger's availability. Villa have informed Sky Sports that this is not the case, with no approach having been made. Paul Lambert is in the market for new recruits, but Coutinho is not considered to be a name towards the top of his wish list. It is possible that Countinho will be on the move during the current window, as the Brazilian is out of favour at Inter, but any imminent switch to Villa Park would appear to be unlikely.""

^^ This It's the startling pace at which & unbelievable length of time that this decimation has occurred over which is mystifying. It's almost as though Randy came in one day & just threw his toys & said "right thats it... Plan B now everyone & if you don't like it do one!" I think we all know the long & short of the financial issues etc but it's been done in such a destructive & careless manner with little regard for the fans.. Indeed a whitewash of info decended at the same time don't forget. This just seems a bit odd to me? Surely this could have been done but on a not so steep downward curve? After all if we'd finished higher we'd have earned more in prize money thus helping bridge the gap whilst the wages came down......... Odd.

I think the thing with the Bradford debacle is that we had ample pre warning of what to expect.. I can understand a shock cup result but i fail to see where the "Shock" was in that. We should have known what to expect & i am sure did so & to lose like that despite being "prepared" is what worries me. I still have time for Lambert i really do it's our players i have issues with. They are simply not good enough.

What i find a bit of a concern is that the style Lambert appears to be trying to incorporate, which appears to be something he picked up from his time under Hitzfield in Germany maybe, needs good players to make it work. Lets face it look at the players he played with in Germany.. that was a team packed with top players. Then if you look at his time at Celtic & compare the opposition up there to the Prem & a few things become apparant. So maybe the theory is good & could be great... But you need darn good players to make it work right?.... One thing we desperately lack by the looks of it is good players. So to Saturday & Southampton... I fear for us. Their forward line is 10 times the force that Bradfords is & we already of course have history against them with ..& thats with Vlaar playing!. Our only chance is a high scoring encounter which we edge in my book as i really cannot see them scoring less than 2/3 goals... Sad times when we need to be looking at 3 to 4 goals just to ensure draws!

I wonder what odds you'd get on a "0" in the against column for a Villa game now?

I take my hat off to you Rigo82

This is just so bitterly disappointing,,, I So wanted it to work out for Paul but what i fear is we have been made a laughing stock by one man who is barely in the country anymore (That says a lot right there now really does it not?!)The writing was on the wall when MON walked & the General quit. They both knew what was coming & clearly disagreed with what has now become evident....A 3 year (& counting) decimation of the playing squad. Well hope your happy.. you now have a corpse of a football club which is beginning to rot & the stench is becoming unbearable!

Part of me does say wait & see what happens in the window & when we have the other half of the squad back fit.. But i simply cannot understand whats going on in the defence.. Our 3 left backs are shocking THREE of them!! Well actually four if you include Warnock. In fact i would say Warnock although error prone would still be streets better than the other lot... We are missing Vlaar & Dunne badly now... How long do these injuries take for goodness sake?... Don't tell me we need to sack the physio's too :s

Can't explain how disgusted i feel after the result tonight. This is/was a proud football club.... Now it's an embarrassment & it sickens me to say that. Its now 21 goals against in 5 games..including one against a poor Championship team & one against what is in effect a 4th division team who are not even in the top 2 sides in that division! The bad thing is we were LUCKY to only concede the 21!! That is an average of 4.2 goals against PER GAME! As compared to an average of 5 goals for which is 1 goal per game. Against Chelsea, Spurs, Wigan, Ipswich & now Bradford. That can only be summed up as a disgrace. I too like Lambert & would love him to succeed here but i think that result is simply too much now. I don't blame Paul as such but that defence & midfield are utterly diabolical. I remember us turning round a similar result against Tranmere but i just can't see it this time.. They will score at ours at least 1 most likely 2 & there is not a cat in hells chance we will score 4 or 5 against them... As for penalties? .. I wouldn't fancy that either it has disaster written all over it with this bunch of muppets. Roll on Southampton lol!.. I Wish!

Yet more embarrassment supporting this shower of ****... I actually am quite pleased as i can turn this pathetic season off now & focus on things more worthwhile spending my time & money on... No more from me Mr Lerner until this tripe is sorted out once & for all which i fear will be a very long time indeed.

Firstly Great to see you back on Julie B... secondly the Southampton game is indeed simply huge. They have the upper hand after stuffing us 4-1 earlier this term & of course will be much fresher than us. It's a tough one & they will see it as a must win too. It's our defence which is the main concern of course so i agree.. we ideally need someone in. I cannot recall a Villa team that implodes so easily when things don't go as planned. We seem just about ok when we go 1 down later in the game but if we either concede early, or go 2 down we implode.

Problem is Vlaar is still a while away & we could be right in it by the time he gets fully match fit.. At least Baker is back mind!

I have just read this piece in the BM from Benito Carbone & i have to say this is exactly how i see this football club & how far it has fallen. The article is bang on in my opinion & this is what Randy & the Pauls need to be both aware of & aspiring to. LINK: http://tinyurl.com/aaa7plx Our target each season should be 5th & on the odd occasion with 1 or 2 of the SKY 4 having a transitional season or something we could nick a place or 2 higher... Not saying we could stay there but maybe on the odd occasion it could happen. This is for me where this club should be at... Of course we have a couple of clubs vying with us for that now but it should still be our target. Along with maybe Spurs & Everton (although our finances are significantly in better shape than Evertons' at present surely) So thank you Benito for a cracking & very real article which rather goes in the face of all the belittling biased c**p we get constantly fed about this club from the national "short term memoried" media. Randy take note!!

Very interesting game this.. giving us a 1st hand look at how we will cope next season against the poorer teams in the Championship lol! What a joke!

Being linked to Graham Dorrans now from the Baggies LINK: http://tinyurl.com/besaory

I agree with this ^^ For me this club is potentially huge. Our main problems in my opinion are: 1. Unlike the other "large" clubs, since we won the big one way back in 82 we have been run with a distinct lack of vision. 2. The surrounding area in Aston has plummeted & the majority of the local population hold no interest in the support or otherwise of the club which to me has an impact. For me the whole region needs redeveloping in a Man City esque style or the club moving somewhere where it is appreciated although i do of course understand that this would be heavily opposed by many & a very controversial action. My view is that desperate times call for desperate measures & although Villa Park is of course a magical & very special place for me personally, if it meant the sleeping giant finally awakening i would go for it. Surely any massive club has to have it's own neighborhood behind it? This would surely add some of the missing numbers to the attendances? & indeed maybe in part the reason we struggle to fill the stadium?.. Most people who go to Villa Park have a journey of sorts which adds to cost & time etc etc... This ultimately has to have an impact in times of recession such as the one we are in at present? 3. The main thing though is surely the depressing transfer policy this club has had for several seasons now. Even under MON we bought quite dull "Mr average" players rather than players who got your pulses racing & for me this is where the club has erred spectacularly... We have a reduced wage bill matched by reduced excitement levels resulting now in reduced attendances & poor results.. it is a downward spiral & it needs to be reversed. The fun has been strangled out of a visit to Villa Park & we need that back too... So over to you Mr Lerner & Paul x 2 Time to have a new vision, give the fans something to be excited about once more & over time this club can indeed be great once again... The fans are there make no mistake but they need to be sold the club again, to get excited about matchday again & this can only be done by getting it right on the pitch & attracting some decent & exciting players here. Villa fans are proud of their club & this last 3 years has been frankly highly embarrassing.

Well that just about sums up how this season is going... We get stuffed 8-0 & QPR get a flukey 1-0 win with Chelsea having 25 shots but only 2 on target. Either that or the back handers have started early due to QPR's desperate situation.. Another loss or two & they'd have been out of it..how convenient that they suddenly start to win

Quite concerned about the Southampton game.. they looked quite a physical team against Arsenal & of course were one of the many sides to hammer us this season at theirs... Just watched the Swansea game & thought we looked a shambles frankly. You can see why we keep getting hammered thats for sure. Still like the look of Benteke & Weimann but as for the rest? Our defending is frankly embarrassing & was summed up well by the analyst on Football First as being akin to playing around manikins! Good point though which just about keeps us alive for now but this transfer window is crucial.

I'd go ...............Guzan Lowton..Vlaar.. Baker..Steven .................Clark Holman...Westwood...Nzog ...........Gabby.. ...................Benteke

I do think we have the right man now in PL.. He has only had one transfer window thus far & i think he will need at least 4 to get us anything like but he is on the right track in my opinion... just been crippled by injuries to the players we least needed to get injured in Gabby, Baker, Vlaar & Weimann .. two of our best attackers & two of our best defenders... no wonder we are suddenly struggling for & conceding too many goals. Also Ireland is in horrendous form as was Nzog & Albrighton has been found out now for me too... but if you look that is the creative armoury of the club decimated... Benteke is great but he simply cannot do it on his own.

I do think he is the right guy but it is possibly we may have to go down to sort this all out... i hope not though obviously as there are no guarantees we would come straight back of course... But this is a pretty long term project for me which we have embarked on in possibly the most volatile season, due to the new Sky money etc, that we have ever witnessed. Gotta say that getting slaughtered as we are doing at present is gonna take one heck of a turn around & quick.

Sadly this illusion that we are going to be able to exist by perennially treading water as a club that brings through new fresh talent is just poppycock. Standing still in this World does not exist.. you are either on an upward curve or a downward one & boy are we on a downward one & have been for 3 years now... I thought maybe this was the start of an upward one but sadly it's not been enough to even halt our rapid downward momentum least of all reverse it. I tilt my cap to PL though for having a go at least & who knows it may just turn with one or two new additions & a couple back from injury... It is though i fear last chance saloon time now for this club... It will either turn or we will be relegated. The problem with the Premier League is that the top 3 places are unachievable due to the money & protection of those with the money.... So it's basically a closed shop & the rest are playing for the last of those top 4 slots. Problem is we now see the 2nd tier of the super rich with Spurs, Arsenal, QPR, etc whose owners are all much more interested in having a go for that last 4th place than ours. In fact ours appears to just see himself as a temporary incumbent who's ambition goes no further than rebuilding & updating facilities & supporting local charities. All very good & noble of course but what about the flipping football team?... It's like he wants to put the cherry on but sadly forgot to make the cake? I have seen this club lift the Title & European cup in my time, i now realize just how fortunate i was. So would i take a super rich owner? ... You bet i would as this is sadly, in today's corrupt & money mad World, the only way to get any success of note. It sucks for sure but there is no other way so far as i see it & yes i would like us to compete at the very top & be mixing it with the Man U's, Chelsea's & Man City's. I was having an interesting chat with an old Holte Ender the other day.. this guy is 90 yrs old+ & even has an old wooden post top from the old original Holte end before it was modernised which he has attached to his gateway.. It even had some original graffiti carved into it. Well i asked him what he thought about it all now as he remembered the great Aston Villa.. the Super Club which won all & sundry in his time... What he said suprised me rather...." Well it's all about money these days" he said.. "but then you must remember it always was ..even back then" he said. "We were very successful of course but even back then Villa were a cheque book team".. he said .. "so nothing has really changed if you think about it!" One thing he did point out was the massive local support we used to enjoy.. Which ultimately has gone now from the Aston area resulting in less money for the club therefore less income & the subsequent loss in ability to pay the wages necessary to compete. How could i argue with that?!

Sure i heard the Everton fans singing "bad as Aston Villa... Your just as bad as Aston Villa" when 1-0 up against Chelsea today... We really are the laughing stock now.... Sad days. As for the injuries we seem to have been in this boat for 3 years now.. Same under Houllier same under McCleish too... very odd.

The biggest thing killing us is the early goals going in... Teams know now that if we go one down we are there for the taking & they are going for the jugular early doors & sadly succeeding due to our p***poor defence. Those players will be having nightmares at the moment having conceded 15 in 3 & frankly i cannot see how we recover from this now. I do feel Swansea is a game we could have done ok in but not with confidence & injuries as they are... another 3-0 for me. Very unsure now about this whole thing & will be amazed if we don't finish bottom this season.