danceoftheshamen

Still think it highlights that we have a lack of creativity & as it stands i think we will struggle to score goals. looking at our pre season results they have hardly been laden with goals.. Sounds like the Forest performance which i couldn't attend was very similar to the Burton one which i did manage. lots of possession at the back but lacking penetration? Still PL seems happy enough which is good news i guess. Still will be much happier when we have some back up for Bent, a new LB & some more creativity on top of Ireland & Nzogbia.

There are 3 possibilities in this story 1. It's just a newspaper "sensational" story designed to flog more papers. 2. Bearing in mind the timing of it & the fact it's a London tabloid it could well be written or conceived by a West Ham fan intent on unsettling us as much as possible ahead of the season opener against them. 3. The story is correct & somebody connected that the reporter has links to (not uncommon with reporters obviously) has actually been told something & Lerner really is giving up on Sporting ventures altogether & looking for a buyer.

Well firstly i am not bothered by the Forest defeat today... It happens & they start back the week before us too so should be ahead in their fitness, which may be something to do with why we flagged in the last 15 mins. As for the season I will, as many have posted above, also be happy with watching better football & seeing proper commitment from the players. I will be delighted to see us play minus Heskey (Bless him) I fully expect us to win a few, lose a few & draw not so many :| I also fully expect it to be approaching the end of October before we really start to see how well the new signings are coping & have gelled. So i expect several draws & even a few humiliations up until then with a few wins to boot but with further work being done in January i really don't expect much at all until the following season. So long as we avoid a relegation scrap i am reasonably happy so long as we can see clear progress.

It really is odd with Warnock... I remember when we signed him my mate (a Blackburn fan) was absolutely gutted.. He was their player of the season...But since Houllier came here & he was ousted he has been abysmal or occasionally ok too. Very odd... Is it actually possible for a player to forget how to play the game?

I don't want Sturridge if i'm honest.. watched him for team GB the other night & OMG he was dire... I know he scored but really he couldn't miss & that was the only decent thing he did all game aside from hog possession never pass & mess up several promising position due to his selfish play.

Still think we lack creativity & a decent goalscorer aside from Bent, who it seems is being rather dogged by injuries of late. I just worry where our goals are going to come from if (or more likely "when") Bent gets injured. In midfield i still worry about our creativity. Ok we have SI & to a point Bannan but for me we still lack creativity. Our wingers are unpredictable too it has to be said. On the positive side i love the look of KEA & Lowton, am happy with Vlaar (though have yet to see him play of course) & delighted that Guzan resigned as for me we always seem more secure at the back with him in there. To be fair to AMC the Aussie looks decent too. So New striker New Midfieilder, New winger New CB dependent on Dunne's form Oh & LB region is not sorted yet either of course.

This sounds like utter nonsense... Why on earth would we build Brad up as competing for the 1st team jersey & then loan him out allowing Given to steal a march on him?

I used to be a season ticket holder for the Holte from 1979 onwards & well it was awesome then up until the seating of course which kinda ruined it very quickly. These Health & safety nonces need a check up from the neck up as they have ruined the atmosphere at football... I was at the Burton game where it was primarily terracing & well the atmosphere from the Villa fans was better in my opinion than what i have witnessed at Villa Park for years. When i went up against Swansea last season the Holte end really was the quietest & worst i have ever heard it...utterly like a library as the Swansea fans correctly pointed out.. Ok we played "McCleish" football but nonetheless it put me off going again all season. So for me why not 1. Petition the club to re train the stewards to stop being such idiots & ruining the game on behalf of a few boring old cronies who don't like atmosphere. 2. Introduce the safe standing area & then try to expand it year on year as possible. 3. Ask the club to advertise the main sections of the Holte as only suitable for the more vocal fans... Basically push the library dwellers to the front & sides. Surely this must be possible? 4. Only issue season tickets for those area's on the premise that it will be the vocal part of the stand so if they don't like it buy elsewhere in the ground. 5. Have the Ultra's given the main area..i.e central upper Holte.. I guess as a members only area or something... For me get this area full of passionate fans & it will spread forwards & outwards. Thats all i can think of at the mo but something needs to be done thats for sure... The whole buzz about going to Villa was because of the brilliant atmosphere of the Holte... Now thats gone it's kinda dull now.

Tough one... Looks like PL wanted to meet Vlaar to see what kind of character he is etc?. But PL has, by the look of it, other irons in the fire too maybe? From the info that has been released it looks like we didn't actually make a definate offer for Vlaar just asked to meet him?.. In which case, surely they have jumped to conclusions over in Holland?.. Or have i misread something? So i doubt these "hurry it up" noises coming out from Feyenoord will have gone down too well with PL. Obviously they must be anxious to get it done with the Champs League fast approaching etc but if no deal was agreed then surely this is jumping the gun somewhat? Having said that it does appear that maybe there is a strict policy of no players in for positions we already have covered unless one of them leaves first?... All i can say is good flipping luck if we are waiting for MON to buy Collins/Warnock or whoever as he doesn't do business until the last day of the window. You can kind of see why he does that now too... He waits for other teams to do their buying thus leaving themselves overladen with players & therefore desperate to offload them on the last day for a reduced price... So for me if MON is involved we should say buy now or forget it pal! Otherwise it leaves PL in the position of having to wait until it is way too late to buy... That for me is MON's game.... Forcing the other club to buy first then waiting until the last day before bidding thus forcing that club into a corner & having to then reduce asking price or be stuck with the player & a huge wage bill!

Aha!.. Thats the blighter! He's the one i was thinking of Stevo!..

I stand corrected (& ill informed ) Dunno where that came from :oops: Still i don't think we are bad in the youth department

Could of sworn i heard some mention of him being a schoolboy with us or something? :? Maybe i was mistaken?... Anyhow granted even if he was it's kind of not right to include him i guess.... So i will delete him from the post.

Ok just for the record, & in no way am i refuting the higher quality of Feyenords Youth system over ours.. But we did produce Gary Cahill (Current England international), Darius Vassell (former England international), Gabby (Has been in England squad before now)..Then Ok Gareth Barry to a point & of course we have several who are still to reach their true height in Bannan, Weimann, Clark, Carruthers, etc although jury is still out on many of these guys... So credit where it's due we ain't all that bad... So we have 4 England internationals 1 x current Chelsea star & several other established Premier league players too.. Plus of course half the current Villa side with others coming through So we ain't doing bad. Liking the sound of Vlaar too.. Hope it's done soon..

^^ Agree with this... Owen would be ideal back up for Bent or as another option if we needed to push for a goal etc.. After all have we all forgotten what happened to our attack once Bent got injured last term? 0 wins i believe? & hardly any goals? Wages is of course the issue however & i can see him ending up at one of West Ham, who appear to be going for any big name they can get hold of regardless of wages (A habit they appear not to have learned from since the last time they were in the Prem) or Southampton, who appear to think they are now akin to Manchester United for some bizarre reason... The other places would be Reading or QPR who both appear eager to buy anyone who moves again regardless of wages. (Nathanial Clyne being the case in point as i think he is one of those Lambert was critisizing for being greedy?)

In all honesty, & i only speak for myself here of course, any story that i now see with the old "Spurs,West Ham, Everton & Villa" or similar are "all after this & that player", intro to it i competely ignore. It is clearly just a complete load of tosh made up by a newspaper to try & generate mass sales. We see it week in week out & it's always something along the lines of all us mid level Prem clubs are "vying for the signature of so & so" or Sunderland, (the new current fave as MON is there) are about to pip us to this or that player etc... BORING! & i just don't fall for it anymore whatsoever.. I have to ask, out of the players we have bought, which one of those clubs were also linked? Sunderland? Nope! Spurs? Nope! In fact none of them..

Vlaard the impaler... I.E DRACULA :shock: He will suck the life out of opposition forwards.. I'm off to buy me a Ray Reardon wig & have my fangs elongated

Was at the game today... good Villa following for a friendly... Thought first half we were quite poor but that was surely always going to happen with 3 new players half the reserves & a sprinkling of 1st teamers? We did look disjointed in that half & lacked threat badly particularly considering the opposition. Thought Enda Stevens looked a bit out of his depth in all honesty.. Midfield looked more energetic i felt just severely lacked creativity & that is my main concern... Also our crossing was utterly abysmal time after time & whilst i can understand rustiness to a point i found it rather too poor too often for professional Premier League footballers. Burton scored a good goal so nothing to worry too much about there as it was simply unstoppable. Second half was better.. much better in fact & we hardly gave the home side a look in but again just lacked a threat up front & looked really powder puff. We need a presence in the box in my opinion as Bent has literally no scraps to feed off. Time after time crosses came over but were dealt with really easily by the home defence. So to surmise: Enda Stevens = not ready Warnock = same old lapses New players = Impressed with all of them though need to gel. Bannan = looked much better than last season Bent = Easily marked out of it Fonz = Some good touches but oh such woeful finishing. Hutton = Awful crossing Nzogbia = Some good touches & looked slippery but with no end product Weaknesses = Lack of threat going forwards, zero ariel threat (No wonder we never score from corners & concede so many from set pieces) Weak full backs & a lack of creativity from midfield... No penetration. Players needed New striker with ariel threat Creative midfielder (Even if Ireland fits this role what if he gets injured?) Left back Central defender (Preferably one who can score the odd one too)

Just got 4 tickets! Yay!.. Thats 4 more Villa fans in the home end

Well i actually live just round the corner from the Pirelli stadium... There are loads of pubs around Burton & there used to be a "Pub run" many years ago starting at the top of Horninglow road North & then steadily heading down the hill all the way into the town centre... The challenge was that you had to stop & have a pint at every pub (Of which there are many) & if you made it into town still conscious then you were a true man lol! As for now many pubs have closed down due to the current anti-pub+club culture. So to the pubs ideal for pre match drinks:... Well the ground is situated on the corner of Derby Rd, Hawkins Lane (which comes from the town centre) & Princess way (Which goes into a large middle class housing estate called "Stretton"). The best pubs are in my opinion either in the town centre, The Lord Burton, The Devonshire, The Coopers Tavern (All drinkers pubs with the Lord Burton being right in the town centre & the other two being right near the train station (exit right & about 50 yards down the road).. Here is a map LINK: http://tinyurl.com/cbkqlng Also a decent pub on the Horninglow road called the Navigation inn & a little locals pub on Wetmore road which is probably the closest to the ground though never been in always seems busyish on match days. Let me know where everyone is going as i would love to come too .. I have tickets to the game (I'll be the one jumping up & down in the home end if Villa score lol) Also beware as Burton was actually recently voted the Chav capital of Britain I remember when they played Man U in the FA cup a couple of years ago.. their 3 Chavvy hooligans were mouthing off to the Utd lot until in town until the UTD lot turned out to be a crew & all stood up saying "OK who wants some then?" the Chavs were silenced!... You get the idea Oh & by the way Burton look a bit like Oxford Utd.. Most of their fans are armchair Man U & Liverpool fans.

Reading this article it appears that Andy Carroll isn't into a move to VP anyways... He is mates with Mr Downing afterall & remember that "Take the p**s photo with him & Downing in too? Think he would do a job here but just cannot see him moving here. Link: http://tinyurl.com/d7c2e7a

My goodness me i thought i was watching McCleish's Villa tonight! Absolutely shocking display of giving the ball away constantly & parking the bus. How we did not lose that game in normal time only the Italians will know!.. I have to say too that i just cannot believe the continuous over hyping of the simply awful Mr Wayne Rooney!.. What on earth does that guy have to "not" do to get a bit of criticism? It's now years since i actually saw him have a half decent game for England & yet listening to the media you would think he was Lionel Messi! :shock: .. I watched & counted & in the first half he was appalling & barely any better in the second apart from one or 2 very brief touches & the Penalty he scored...About 8 times from ten he failed to find his man & that was with simple 5 to 10 yard passes which a 5 year old could make! Baffling :?

Can't say i'd fancy it No doubt all to to with the new Russian ownership.. Wouldn't be suprised to see a few Ruskies down there over the next few seasons.

Close the thread he's signed on a 4 year deal for Reading (Russian owners) just on SSN!

Was at the launch yesterday, some good bands by the way :winkold: Have to say i liked the long sleeved top better than the short & it does look much better with the PL badges in my opinion... Was a little unsure at first glance as it looked kind of "unbalanced" but then realised the ones i was looking at didn't have the GENTING logo on nor the PL badges as they were the ones for kids. Have to say when i realised that the Macron logo on the shoulders was actually light blue to match the sleeves & saw the fully fledged kit with Pl stickers & Genting logo it did look much more well balanced & actually quite nice... The more i saw the away strip though the more it grew on me.. Very slick & should be a real eye catcher in the kind of electric yellow/lime green.. Did only see it on the large posters however so guess the jury is still out on that one. Overall great day despite the rain & was great to go on the mini tour & be able to actually touch the European Cup too!!.. Shame someone nicked Carlos Cuellars top from the dressing room mind! The guide was not happy!