Philosopher

So how do you explain his man of the match performance up at Newcastle then? I'd hardly call them "lesser" opposition. So much rubbish is spouted about Stephen Ireland because of a number of reasons - too many than I care to go into. Yes, he has acted like a prat in the past. And, yes, he needs to be far more consistent for us. But, you can tell he is trying to knuckle down more under Lambert, and his quality still shines through on occasions. What he needs is a regular run in the side now, which he is getting at the moment, to prove that he can produce performances like the one up at Newcastle on a regular basis. If he can, he will be one of the first names down on the teamsheet. Of that I have no doubt. If your going to quote then quote the whole comment! He may have been your MOM but he wasn't mine! To me it was clear that Holman was MOM against Newcastle. I personally think the billing Ireland gets that newcastle display should be the MINIMUM we expect! If he is our best player then he should be getting MOM's more than any other player, but really the only MOM he has this season is against Tranmere! That includes preseason as well! Your entitled to your opinion, but really Ireland is one of many good players at Villa and out of all of them he is the one capable of more, yet always plays within himself! It's clear his head isn't right to me.

Well Albie has tweeted that he is ready to start training again and is comping at the bit to get to it. Great news this as I truely beleive Albie will flourish under Lambert. We all know how hard he works and how quick he is to close down, so if he can get his delivery back to where it should he would make a nice alternative to Holman as someone that can provide width and penetration down that right hand side, while being nearly as hard working!

MOTD are an f'ing farce! Saying our win was lucky when we pressed Swansea so hard they cracked under the pressure. We destroyed their style, and thats why we won. It was definitely not luck! Benteke seem to be what I had hoped when watching his youtube vids! Good touch, composure, calm in front of goal and strong. He is more than your typical big target man, he is a modern target man where technical ability and holding up the ball from into the feet is the primary focus, and the high ball onto the head are plan B rather than plan A. We have gotten rid of the old fashioned big man in Heskey for the modern day equivilent. My concern though is that he is the type of player that can be unplayable one week then disinterested the next. Fortunately Lambert doesn't seem like a manager that will put up with that shit!

Who would buy him? I think Given would probably have to take a massive pay cut so he probably won't want to move. We might have to sit him on the bench for 4 more years earning 50k a week. he is in the second year of a 3 year contract,

I remember going to an open training session at VP and Guzan and Friedel were going through their drills, and I remember asking myself why Guzan wasn't starting! His reflexes, speed and recovery were all on a diffrent level from Friedels! Friedel really looked he age in comparrison. When it comes to Raw ability he's is top class, I think the problem with him has always been reading the game his kicking and communication. With Vlaar and Clark at the back who are both good communicators on the pitch its really helping him. Brad can concentrate on what he is good at, shot stopping. Also his kicking has improved a lot over the last 3 seasons. He is great on penalties as well.

Delighted with the start he has made. If he keeps this up he will be entering GOD territory in a couple of seasons time!

I have said consistently since his passable form under HWSNBN that Ireland was being overated and that we could be more effective without him and I stand by that. However I actually feel if he can start working hard again like he did for a brief time at Citeh then he could be an asset. I have my doubts though. The problem with Ireland is since that heart scare where he collapsed after the game because he had worked so hard just coming off spending the whole summer running in the hills he seemed scared to give it his all. I think the current SI is a broken version! If Lambert can help SI get over it then we have the perfect player to work alongside KEA and Bannan in a midfield trio, but until then he will only really shine against lesser opposition.

Clark will be an excellent CB, for me he has at least the same potential as Gary Cahill. Cahill was a little lightweight and suspect in the air at first then he hit 24ish and filled out and that was no longer an issue. Cahill also used to pick up a lot of cards. I think Baker has a lot of potential also, I think get rid of Dunne in the Summer and bring a quality replacement that is under 27 and we will be sorted for the next 5 years at centre back, so long as serious njury and the top clus poaching our talent is avoided!

I think Lambert will rotate quite a lot especially for cup games. So burn out is not a fear of mine. Lambert has proven with the dropping of Given and Sticking with the team that done well at Newcastle when the likes of gabby and benteke where ready to come in that he is not only decisive, but his cdecisions are good ones as well. I think Brett will improve as he gets used to playing at this intensity. I am sure Brett is used to working his arse off, but the pace of the premier league is on a different level, so it will take some time. I also think both he and Lambert recognise that Holman cannot possibly last a full game at the intensity he plays, but that doesn't matter as by the time he is ready to come off fresh legs and a different threat will invigorate the team. Like Gabby vs Newcastle and Benteke yesterday.

This is a fantastic idea, so much common sense, which is why it would never happen! I think it would certainly create more of a buzz regarding international football for me at least. The managers would have a series of matches and a solid 5 or 6 weeks to work with their player, which would only benefit their team play and plenty of time to assess players fitness and mentallity. Throw in a couple of midseason friendlies just so players that missed out over injuries and youngsters can be given a chance and you have a brighter future for international football, which I beleive is dying out! I doesn't address the problem of FIFA (rotton to the core), but it would be a start. But yeah Villa first, second and third, then England! Foreign managers, boring football, unerperforming big time charlies and players that simply aren't likeable has killed my passion for the England national team. The most exciting England prospect for a decade breaks through (Oxlade-Chamberlin) and what happens he gets a series of well publicised rollockings!

Ulvers comments seem spot on to me! Thats always been my impression too! Question his attitude doesn't mean he's a billy bigbollocks type, it simply means they doubt whether he has the mentel attributes required to succeed and that can mean many things! Delfouesso has never had people talking about drunken or thuggish antics, or even being showey! His weakness is that he himself doubt his ability! This is why I think working with Holloway could be good for him. He takes all the flack and attention away from his players and clearly gives his players a lot of support, but at the same time he is blunt enough to tell them exactly what they are lacking! The talent is there with Nathan, he just needs a manager to instill the belief in him. Even the great Drogba ended up playing lique 2 football and being seen as a talented failure, he only got his career back on track at the age of 24, so 21 is way too young to be written off!

Personally I think this guy was always more of a priority than Dale Stephens. Many Crewe youngster have made the step up from the lower leagues to the premier league/old div one, they have a fantastic record of producing quality players so their 22 year old captian and player of the season is probably a very fine talent!

I am optimistis. I think its wrong to judge them based on a handful of games or where they have come from, we will only see PL's vision starting to bear fruit come the second half of the season at the earliest! I have to say his signings all point to a clear vision of the type of mental attitude he wants and the type of footballing philosophy their talents will fit into! Spelling it out - A strong desire to prove themselves at the highest level and the ability to fit into a style of play that involves keeping the ball on the deck, passing it around and being adventurous. So PL has my full support for the next 18 months at the very least!

This could be the making of the lad, hope he does well! I think Hollaway could bring out the best in him. Also maybe this will oil the cogs for potentials moves for Ince and/or Phillips in the near future!

From watching his vids on youtube, the player himselfs assessment and the fact PL bought him to play with Bent and Gabby plus considering the way we have been trying to play it seem to me that he is more of a back to goal, into feet type target man. Seems like he has a good first touch going by what I have seen on youtube (very limited info to go on granted) doesn't seem like he really throws his weight around like Lukaku, but should be able to receive it into feet, control the ball protect it well and thus bring others into play. Then when he gets the ball in the box has the composure to calmly finish. If so he could well be the perfect foil for the quicker, likes to get in behind duo of Bent and Gabby.

PL's correct to do this and it maybe has backfired a little but at least he knows what we need and where to strengthen. I disagree - considering the amounts were spending. If he thinks Joe Bennet is a good full back at £2.5m we should have brought him a couple of weeks back. He was injured so it wouldn't have made any difference!

Acadamy product James Collins has bsagged a hattrick for swindon against stoke! Maybe he is worth keeping an eye on!

If Benayoun was willing to accept a two year contract I would snap him up, inventive little player capable of dribling in tight spaces, the type of player we are lacking.

Not sure about that, Dawson + Vlaar = no pace. Better than what we currently have. Faster than dunne. Dunne may be a big clumsy oaf with a turning circle like a french car but he is easily faster than Vlaar, Clark and Baker and probably Dawson too. Dream on! Dunnes top speed ain't bad but his acceleration is horrendous! Clark and Baker are both quicker than Dunne.

Its way too soon the be writing off the Vlaar Clark partnership. Vlaar only two premier league matches, Clark only a handful played at centre back, only two competitive matches they have played together. Its going to take time for them to develop a partnership as right now they are not a partnership just two players playing next to each other. Also you guys must realise that they looked quite solid against Wet Spam (we are still terrible on defending crosses and corners though) and against everton we had to deal with Jelavic who has exception movement and antiscipation, and felliani who Vidic found far too hot to handle last monday, the guy is a beast. Left back is far more pressing than CB. I would also like to see us sign a proper goalscoring midfielder, I think that would be a massive help. Especially now Gardner is out for the season as he had the potential to be that midfielder goalscorer. We need Gabby fit and to keep him fit, then I think we will look much more effective in attack. This time last season we would have lost our early fixtures if it weren't for Gabby, so him being out now I beleive has highlighted how important he is to us.

When you win the Champions League your revenue increases, allowing you to spend more. I think that's how they work anyway. Well they did make in excess of 50 million from winning the champions league, then theres the increase TV revenue from the PL rights deal! On topic, I think Doyle is decent but really lacking confidence, don't think that would help with our current predicament! We need some creativity and flair, but there aren't really any realistic options, I am praying for a pleasant surprise! Also believe we aren't as bad as our first two results, so a desperate signing like Doyle would disapoint me! I don't believe PL will sign players just because he is desperate for players. Obviously our summer business isn't going to be well planned, PL only arrived at the club in may and most teams spend a season our two scouting a player before signing them!

Credence on this site hahaha! Some cocks on here constantly berate our youngsters when all they want to do is play football for aston villa, many haven't even had a proper crack of the whip, so I feel I am well within my rights to call them cocks, obviously not everyone is a cock! Credence on this site is a myth! I am not having a dig at anyone in particular, I am just disgusted with the knee-jerk overeactions and youngster bashing so if I no longer have credence with those cocks then good because thats the last thing I want!

Perhaps because he was SHIT last week!

I will start with the positive! Thought the second half was pretty good, we scored, didn't concede and played 30 minutes of the half with 10 men (never a sending off btw). I thought our second half performance would've beaten Wet Spam so I would say we have seen an improvement. The ease with which Swansea best the Hammers today shows that they are a poor team! We are a work in progress, in the early stages of the job so its no surprise we lost to what is a very good outfit in Everton, it was the same team that beat Man U on Monday! Vlaar, El Ahmadi and Lowton look like quality additions, Baker looked decent when moved to centre back. Bent needs to be stripped of the captiancy! He is a goal scorer not making runs, how the **** will he scored goals like that? He is so far removed from the play his influence is non-existent, PL must make Vlaar captian NOW! We lined up without any central midfielder runners the same as last week! This is PL's mistake! Bannan and El Ahmadi like to see the play in front of them so we need the other central midfielder making run in between the opponents midfield and defence, this isn't happenning! Ireland sat deep last week (and was SHIT) but wet spams midfield sat infront of the defence and there was no room in the hole, so what we should have done was expliot the flanks but Ireland alway stayed central so did Zog and Holmann. We need Gabby fit, we need Albrighton fit, we need another wideman, Zog needs some confidence he is playing like he is expecting to get tackled but dribbles anyway! Bent needs confidence too, he doesn't look at the races! Clark needs time, I have faith in him, and all the youngsters that played today, they need a run of games and the fans behind them, some of you COCKS need to stop bitching and back them! I Actually believe todays result will mark a turning point! Up until the second half today we were playing scared, after half time the found some fight, I hope and believe they will carry that through to the next match.

**** off with your spam! No worse than most of the dross on this thread! Your right, so the last thing it needs is off topic, self promoting posts of wannabee sports reporters! That kind a shit annoys me, it pops up everywhere on the web, so when I see it I get kinda prickley! Anyway on topic, I pray we don't go anywhere near that overpriced Wolves dross! 15 million for Fletcher, thats 10 million more than Adebeyor! 10 million more than Berbertov's quoted price! 10 million for Jarvis ridiculous! BTW Man U have done a very good job of dominating English football without having one big lump it to target man! Man U have targets up front but they play into feet or over the top to run on to! Arsenal when they won trophies didn't have a lump it to target man, Man City have one lump it to man and he hardley gets any games (Dzeko). As long as when the ball reaches one of the strikers it is kept and not given away thats all that matters, how it gets there is irrelevent. Bent is shit when it comes to keeping the ball so we need someone alongside him that can keep the ball with aplomb, and some big fella with average technique will be hit and miss much like Heskey! Ireland has nice touches and link up play but the guys awareness is pretty average and his creativity is nowt special either. N'Zogbia has been piss poor for us and Holman is a very average player that works hard! None of that is going to carve open defenses on a regular basis. At least Albrighton offers some width and when confident good crosses. Gabby's pace, strength and directness keeps defences stretched. We missed those two badly on Saturday. Brahimi probably doesn't interest us but he looks like he could be the creative spark we need!