Philosopher

Thought Delph did today. Looked like he was trying make things happen. In the first half everyone apart from him and albrighton seemed afraid of the ball, unfortunately they all made a few silly errors mainly due to not having any decent options. I liked the fact he gave Weimann a bollocking after he got that stupid yellow card, it sorted weimann out who was behaving very petulantly up until then.

Great draw! Over two legs we should have too much for them. Best league cup moment, 94 semi final second leg (v tranmere) after losing the first 3-1 (bloody John Aldridge) we came back to win on penalties in probably the most dramatic and nerve wrecking game Villa have been involved in since I became a Villa fan (I was 12). Then to beat Man U in the final, who beat us to the first ever premier league title the previous season was the perfect end to a victorious league cup campaign.

This sounds interesting.

I am going for 10-12th on about 45-50 points. I expect us to keep gradually improving. I also think we might struggle in our christmas schedule. The two tough matches which realistically one would expect us to lose coming first may take a lot out of us, so that could make things harder in the two easier fixtures. There is a good mentallity being instilled in the players at the moment, the manager is doing a fine job, so we will bounce back from defeat more often than not.

I disagree! Vlaar is the experience player that can rally the troops. Also in Westwood and Clark we have two young natural leaders. So I don't think we are lacking in terms of leaders. The only thing we really lack is a genuine top class attacking midfielder. There are a couple of areas where we may need some reinforcements but I think its best to see how some of the youngsters develop over the season. Also If we sell dunne it would be wise to bring in a replacment.

This is spot on. I would also add that, that creative midfield needs to be able beat a man with skill. Thats what we are lacking most right now. The movements good, the pass is getting pretty slick, but we need someone in midfield that can force defenders to commit, and create that bit of extra space.

GET IN!

I wasn't being serious, CHILL!

Yes

I didn't know that! Well even the most accurate sterotypes can be wrong!

Andy I see where you are coming from and mostly agree but I am going to disagree ever so slightly with you. From what I have seen, he should dribble as much as he wants he has the touch and potential to beat anyone. I would say that he needs to make sure he is always dribbling for a purpose, not just to show off or just for that sake of it. Always looking for the cross, through ball or shooting oppourtunity that should always be the point! A lot of youngsters with great skill seem to dribble as to show off and hog the limelight, because they want everyone to know how superior they are. So long as he is dribbling in order to make something happen, eventually his dribbling skills should reach a level where he can do pretty much whatever he wants on the pitch, thats what his potential is. I see a player that can be whatever he wants, the talent is prodigous, just needs to stay grounded, work hard and be confident. Those are three big if's though as with any youngster. Albrighton when he broke through had all three, but lost his confidence and now look at him. Delfouneso lacks the confidence, he's too soft! Luke Moore lacked the work ethic and couldn't stay grounded, the same with Forrester. Time will tell whether JG has the mentality, but the talent is wonderful!

When watching the Man U game Bannan was trying the hollywood pass alot, but it was coming off! Personally I think the lad needs more first team football, so he can a improve his consistencey with the hollywood balls and that comes from choosing the right times to do this! If he has the time and a good target to aim at why not, his problem comes when he tries to force it! Personally I think he has the makings of a good deep lying playmaker. PL just needs to make sure that Bannan is working hard for the team and recognise when he is in need of a rest. I don't think Bannan can play twice a week at the moment. We are passing it around nicely at the moment and Barry is one of the reasons for this. He and Westwood are both good passers with good awareness. Playing the hollywood ball is about more than passing ability, you need the vision and awareness to see the oppourtunity in the first place! In this league his size will always be a handicap, so needs to always be one step ahead mentally to make up for this, and he has that potential, but he needs experience to hone that.

I worked for a Jewish guy recently, the jews and money stereotype is very accurate! So I concur we need a Jew on the board!

Personally I reckon Lamberts telling the truth. As for DB I see the situation like this: A - DB was the big dog! Almost guaranteed first team football based on his goal scoring record. B - He started the season playing rubbish! Doing very little and being annoymous most of the time! C - Benteke comes in and has been unplayable. D - We have been playing with one upfront when Bent is out of the team. This is working for us! E - Bent's been carrying a knock for most of the season so far. F - Bent is throwing toys out of pram as he is no longer an automatic choice! So Bent has two choices stop sulking, work hard and wait for his chance or hand in a transfer request. I won't blame Lambert because the man is right in my opinion. You pick a team based on what you believe will get you results. When Bent was in the team we created nothing, so having Bent upfront when there is nothing for him to put away is pointless! Gabby and Benteke create havoc! Gabby's pace, directness and workrate are a constant menace playing as a wing striker not to mention he is strong as well. Benteke's strength, link up play, touch plus a bit of pace make him a real handful. He is reminicent of Drogba and Adebeyor in terms of not just his strength and aerial prowess but his touch and ability fo find his team mates most of the time. Bent is a clear second choice right now behind Benteke and if Benteke was ruled out of a match Bent might start, but there is also the temptation to put Gabby as the lone striker as he is more adept in the role. The players we have and the system we play makes it difficult to find a place in the first team for Bent. Now if we are losing and are commiting bodies forward, Bent would be the perfect player to bring on, His best role in THIS team is super sub really! Now if we had a physically impossing athlete, with great passing prowess in midfield, two really creative, skillful wide men and a player adept at cutting the opposition open playing in the hole, DB would be a revelation, but for us right now he is a luxury! Houilliers vison was Downing and Gabby wide with Young in the hole and a very promising looking Albrighton as back up to supply DB. Unfortunately Young and Downing left, Albrighton has not fulfilled his promise and HWSNBN spunked 10 million on the flop name N'Zogbia. Our front 3 or Benteke, Gabby and Weimann are the primary source of creativity. Holmann, workman like but not particularly creative. Albrighton is hard working and when in his game puts in some good wing play, but is not creative, all we have is Ireland who has so far only ever shown us glimpses. Having Bent is like having a gas guzzling american muscle car when we can't afford to put petrol in it! End result it stays in the garage! There are only 3 teams in the premier league that could incorporate bent, Chelsea (thanks to Mata, Hazard and Oscar), Liverpool (thanks to Suarez, Sterling -massive talent-, and Gerrard) and Man utd (take your pick!). Oh and maybe swansea. Of those teams only Liverpool are a realistic possibliity right now and they can't afford him! So unless we are happy to loan Bent to Liverpool or QPR are willing to take a punt Bent won't be going anywhere!

Just based on this half alone Stephen Ireland has had his best game in a VIlla shirt! **** if he could play like this for the whole ninety and then at least 2 out every 3 games he plays, We would be flying!

I remember delboy scoring a very good goal in the prem, I remember him running at the chelsea back line when they could defend and scaring the shite out of them. I see potential to be a quality stirker. His problem however has always been belief. There is nothing wrong with his attitude, he just need more self belief. If he bang in the goals this season for Blackpool I am sure the self belief will start flowing. 2 goals and an assist, could've had a hattrick if they let him take the penalty., thats a fine start! Also from what I have heard his link up play with Tom Ince is what caused all the problems! Seems like he and Ince are striking up a good understanding. I remember Weiman going on loan to Watford he scored 1 goal! Delboy's already surpassed that! However Weimann's loan was short term for 2 or 3 months. It just not enough time to make an impression! And thats all the time Delboy has had when on loan before now. Iremember he was given 4 game on the trott under houillier because of injury (his longest run of games), in the last of those he scored one, looked a real threat after scoring and looked like he was starting to grow into it, but then Gabby returned to fitness and he was out of the team! I reckon he could still go either way! Be an excellent striker or lower league averagness. People talking about Bowery have never seen him play, he cost 500K he is one of those low risk punts, based on having outstanding physical abilities. Weimann is also unproven as well as Benteke, let just see whats happenned come the end of the season, and forget these stupid write off comments.

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.