HolteExile

Very good point. Except Robbie Brady was absolutely bobbins against us only a few weeks ago. Both in terms of effort and delivery. So maybe not such a great example.

Thank Christ for that.

Don't think he'll be playing League One football somehow. He looks the part at times, fills the goal and is a decent shot stopper (though that's a minimum requirement for all keepers, I suppose) but it its all the rest that gives us kittens. Communicating with his backline, coming for crosses clearing with his feet et.c. I can recall right off the top of my head at least 4 games when his blunders have cost us points. I can't recall too many games when he has kept us in it, and helped us to an unlikely or undeserved 1 point or 3. Punt him out on loan to Italy and see how he feels come the summer if we are back in the top flight. If he wants to stay and fight for a place then, kudos to him. The higher standard might be kinder to him, in a weird way. Less crosses and less physicality.

If you ever had the misfortune to witness our other right back from Legia Warsaw in action, you might re-evaluate that.

He's reduced his fatman fold overs from five to four, so don't be so harsh. He needs at least this season to get back up to match fitness. Then we can look at giving him a contract extension.

Ayew's alarming dip in form seems to have coincided with Gabby's return to the starting XI. If the meek way we got relegated didn't illustrate we aren't the most ruthless, professional outfit out there, this bloater getting straight back in the side when he decides he fancies a game or two seals it. Would be natural enough for any half decent player to question why he is wasting his time with us. Not that Ayew or Kodija can be excused tonight. That was rancid.

Sam Johnstone would concern me. Gollini does need competition and I do have misgivings about him. But Johnstone is another rookie keeper finding his way, so probably not the best competition for another young keeper. Or someone to bank on when (God willing) we face increasingly important games in the second half of the campaign. Gollini has had a full season in Serie A and came through that test with flying colours. The standard in Italy might have dropped a bit, but it will be better than League One -where Johnstone has spent most of his time to date.

If we can win one out of Norwich or QPR away and beat Burton after Christmas we'll be in reasonable shape going into January.

The lightweight thing doesn't automatically have to be an issue. Gordon Cowans was probably less than 10 stone wet through, but he could tackle as if his life depended on it. Like other diminutive players, he had good balance as well, so he could shield or manipulate the ball and transfer what bit of weight he had to make it work for him. Westwood has none of those things. The purchase in 2012 probably made a degree of sense, as the hope would be that the more physical things might come with time and experience. But he will be 27 this season and the penny hasn't dropped yet. For the most part, he still goes into 50/50 tackles with all the courage and conviction of Stewart Downing. You can just about make excuses for that from a winger. Harder to gloss over it when it is your defensive midfielder. That said, he at least provided a degree of nuisance value last weekend. His energy levels were good and he was one of our better players. More of the same over the next few weekends and he still might be worthy of a place in the squad by the end of Jan - though hopefully we'll actually have better starting the match in his place.

When you are out of form (as Westwood has been) you need to show more endevour. There was more bite in his tackling yesterday and more positivity in general. He has his limitations and I am not a fan, but if we had seen more performances like that over the years there wouldn't be the same outcry when he's named in the starting XI.

Think Veretout would see it as punishment if he had to come back. He couldn't get away quick enough in the summer -as opposed to us forcing him out. Good player, but we need to be looking at different options.

Leeds (A) L Wigan (H) D Norwich (A) W QPR (A) L Burton Albion (H)W Leeds (H) D Everyone seems to have Wigan as a nailed on home win, but even when we've had good sides we have struggled at home against them. I don't recall too many wins at Loftus Road either. Norwich has been a good ground for us in recent seasons, and with their current travails, hopefully we can be ruthless enough to take advantage. The above is with pessimistic hat on and we would still be on for 8 points. Which is a healthy return and should keep us there or thereabouts for the play-offs going into the January transfer window.

Hourihane would be a great signing. Old school central midfielder. Think he is out of contract in the summer too, so Barnsley might look at a reasonable offer.

I always felt with Benteke that he was merely passing through. Great player, but it was always an arrangement rather than a marriage. Still have him back under the right circumstances though. I sincerely doubt that Kodija grew up with pictures of Gary Penrice or Sticks Ormondroyd on his wall, but there seems to be more of an affinity there. Maybe because he came into the game late and appreciates what it is like to play at a venue like Villa Park, I dunno. He is our focal point, and seems to have the talent and swagger to deal with the pressure that comes because of that.

I get that. Probably the best way to watch us at the moment is via the BBC website -when the result is in. But all managers have blindspots. I knew when we got Bruce that we'd probably improve defensively and be better at set pieces, but that the football wouldn't be so great. That's how it's panning out so far. He would have been my choice too, over Wagner and some of the more exotic names, as we needed someone who could come in and hit the ground running. A sort of low rent MON, if you like. We have ground out results so far, as opposed to continuously throwing away leads from good positions, so there is progress and he should be hailed for it. Doesn't mean doubts can't be expressed about his approach or his track record. He is 55, been a manager for the best part of 20 years and yet -prior to us- hasn't managed any club of note. That isn't accidental. He only gets a job as big as this because we have torpedoed our own boat so spectacularly. I was concerned about the Richards selection. Picking a player (Gabby) who looks like he needs about three pre seasons is even more bizarre. Despite ample evidence that the pair have been in semi retirement in recent seasons, it seems Bruce needs to see them stink the place out on his watch just to be sure. I wouldn't back the pair of them to do much, but they should be able to deliver for him there, at least.

Maybe Gabby is great for you still on FIFA and you have some odd attachment to him. Kudos to you. Prior to the Wolves game, Bruce said Micah had been a big player at Man Citeh at one point and had been good enough to play for England. He said similar about Gabby being quite good a few years ago. It's as deep (ie not very) and as ITK as that.

With respect, Bruce showed how much of a modern, forward thinking manager he was when he put Micah Richards in his first side. We aren't talking about one of the games great innovators here -as evidenced by the roll call of dross he has managed prior to us. Michah Richards played a decent season and a bit for Citeh nearly ten yeas ago = lets put him straight in the first team. Gabby takes a year off but Bruce remembers he was quite good in 2009 = back in the team as soon as he turns up for a few training sessions. If Lescott hadn't been bombed out we'd probably see him shoehorned into the side as well. It's a grim set of circumstances that makes Bruce an upgrade on what we have had in recent years, but an upgrade he is. With that, you take the rough with the smooth.

Well I am not personally dishing out contract extensions to Gabby, or giving him second, third or fifty third chances. As it's a Villa fans forum, thought it might have been reasonably easy to understand we in this context is Aston Villa FC? But obviously not, so my apologies. For the last part, yes, that's all he needs to do now. Airbrush out the last few years -particularly last season when he disgraced himself as club captain. He's trying ( not succeeding, as he's still overweight) to do the minimum now expected of any professional footballer so park the rest. We are not a rehabilitation centre for disinterested or doomed footballers. Our status might have taken a battering these past few years (helped in no small part by the likes of Gabby) but we should be holding the club to a higher standard than that. It is still a big deal to play for Aston Villa.

I just think reintroducing Gabby sends out all the wrong signals. The argument from Bruce (and a few others) seems to be he is only a stone overweight now, as opposed to two. So he is trying. Properly ran professional clubs these days often fine their players for every pound they are overweight when they return after pre-season. That sort of casual fecklessness and contempt for the job just isn't tolerated. Though it still is at Aston Villa, it seems. How can we on one hand say to Jack that he needs to sort himself out and make better decisions, and yet we give a useless old bloater who has been eating his career away since 2010 chance after chance. Why would any other young player feel compelled to tow the line, for that matter. It's only Aston Villa, they'll put up with any old s*hite. As they have shown time and again. If Gabby was talented but troubled, it might be a bigger dilemma. But he looked for all the world like a Sunday League player last week. What bit of ability he might have once had looks like it has been well and truly blunted.

The only logical reason I can see for playing Gabby is if Bruce is trying to make a point to the owner. See? I do still need a CF -despite what you spent last summer. There might be merit in the argument that Kodja is more comfortable cutting in from wide, but for the time being, him and Gestede are our best options directly up top. Any forward line containing the likes of Kodja, Ayew, Jack and Albert should be fine for movement anyway, and able to intechange during the game.

Or even just 15 years, when Brum is seen as part of Greater London.

Not sure how much scope there is to develop it with the height restrictions, but I'd have no qualms about the Doug Ellis being bulldozed and a modern, futuristic stand going there. The name could go too. Corporate considerations should be well down the list of any fans priorities, but a three tiered stand there (even if the overall height is not much bigger than the current one) would mean we could devote the middle tier to the prawn sandwich lot and drive them out of the Trinity. It's galling to see the best seats in the middle of the Trinity continuously empty -even when we have a decent gate.

Wouldn't go near him with a 20ft one. Not just because of his previous and the fact that he is a sh*tbag (he is). But also because his powers to influence a game (such as they were) are on the decline. Smarter players who have a bit upstairs can still offer something; they become more pragmatic and figure out what they can and can't do. With his legs going, Barton is more likely to blame everyone around him for his own shortcomings and cause a commotion we could well do without. We are a team that finally looks to be knitting together. Still some pretty fundamental weaknesses and areas for concern both in terms of personnel and resilience. But the last thing we need is a Barton picking at the scabs and phucking up what little bit of team spirit we have built up. If ability-wise, he was so clearly a few notches above our level, there might be an argument to indulge him and let the slurry that pours out of his mouth ride. But he isn't, so there isn't.

Absolutely. Though I wouldn't be against a modern, futuristic North Stand -providing the Trinity was given a more traditional finish. Throughout my time supporting the club, each of our four stands have often had a distinct, separate identity. So there is a historical argument as well to avoid making them all similar/ the same. Another option to explore re increasing capacity is to actually build down-rather than up. FC Porto did this at their old ground, building below the original lower tier and having an intimidating 'bowl' that bit closer to the pitch. The effect when you land into a stadium like that -from the street, but essentially entering the second tier- is quite impressive. Making the ground tighter might have the additional boost of improving the atmosphere as well. Enclose the corners as Rangers have managed to do (even with four separate stands)to improve the acoustics further and it's job done.

Wholeheartedly agree about the frontage of the Trinity. The current set-up looks like a carbuncle. Might be OK at Middlesborough, Sunderland or one of the other legoland grounds. But it is dismal compared to the original, which was comfortably the most majestic entrance at a club ground in British football. The 2000 plan for the new Trinity also included the lion rampant crest on the roof, carried over from the old stand. But Herbert had a change of heart and decided not to bother. The way the roof slopes down, a replica could still be incorporated. None of those things will make a bad team a good one on the pitch, but they might go some way to making the Lions feel proud in their surroundings again. The amount of space behind the goal at the North Stand end is an obvious starting point for a proper club shop/ megastore. And whilst I'd like to see the ground more enclosed to help the atmosphere, I wouldn't want a complete wrap around. We have always had four distinct stands for as long as I can remember, so we should maintain that.