Philosopher

20 million give or take 2.5 million. At least I hope.

All I know is he was very lucky not to be here last season! That wasn't good for any of our players careers!

Ireland had an average season at best last season and now hes our best player, if thats the case then we really are in dire straights! 1 goal and 3 assists in 28 matches, while playing in the hole for most of those matches! Ireland had some neat touches and interplay and so was the only thing (apart from Gabby's early season form) that we had to enjoy last season. The football was absolutely dire, I feel sorry for all our attackers for the crap they had to put up with last season!

His problem was that he gave Nani too much space. Every time he looked to close nani down he stopped a few yard short of nani and just stood there. Poor defending, and something that would get him destroyed in the premiership. However its easily corrected. After Denmark went behind thats when his problems started as he was very isolated and he seemed scared to tackle Nani without support. Clearly a player not confident in his tackling. Would be a liability in the prem. Say what you want about Hutton and Warnock at least they aren't afraid to put in a tackle. Simon Poulson can stay at AZ.

Naughton can play LB as well and going forward is pretty effective cutting in onto his right foot. Would be a good signing. If Lambert can overhaul our defense and really improve it in one transfer window I will become his number one fan as its a big task. The links to Naughton, Poulson and Anita are very positive, any two of those three would be a very good start. The real problem is going to be CB!

Agree MON days were good for the most part. My saying he is MON mark 2 is no insult, I just would've liked something different, and more modern. The board were as much if not more to blame than MON in regards to the expensive flops. My problem with MON is more the manner in which he left us, as I really respected the man.

I am not jumping on any bandwagon, I have been saying this since before Mcleish even got sacked and people started banding about PL's name. From what I have seen of Norwich they were playing a very similar brand of football to MON's Villa. There best attacks always came on the counter, the games were very open as they tended to defend deep, in addtion to aggresively counter attacking. As for his transfer policy we shall see I have already said he MAY be different from MON is this respect. I doubt it though as there wasn't too much wrong with MON's transfer policy if you take out giving high wages to players no better than able back ups (this however wasn't all MON's fault as he didn't get involved in contract negotiations). It makes sense to base your transfer policy around proven premiership players as we know that they are happy with life in this country, and they have shown an ability to deal with the unique physical strains of English football. The only real problem with this is that many British players that aren't good enough to be snapped up by the top clubs (Villa aren't a top club) tend to be technically inferior to their foreign equivilents (even if they are superior physically). Take Arsenal out of the equation and all the top clubs have a mixture of foreign technical ability and british physicality and determination (although their British players are technically accomplished too).. You can talk all day about PL changing tactics but MON changed tactics also. This BS about MON never changing tactics always bugged me as it was false. When we were behind we would push up and look to pressure teams, but because we lacked creativity through the middle all we could do was get it wide and cross. When we played a top team like Man U we would not play so openly, press and close down a lot harder. When we took the lead we would drop even deeper to create more space in behind our opponents so we could kill them off on the counter while protecting our lead. Its just most people on football message boards lack the observational and analytical nous to pick up on these things. It must be said though we was pretty shocking with it came to tactical substitions. Only time will tell how Villa will play under Lambert, and what the transfer policy will be, but don't surprised if you see us playing a big man and a fast man up front, playing on the counter, and signing almost entirely british based players.

Thats fine, I am not trying to knock the man, but as I have detailed, his approach (outwardly at least) seems almost identical.

My one reservation about Lambo is that he seems like MON mark 2 (which is why Martinez was my prefered choice). For me its the way his teams play and the type of players he signs that make me thing MON mk2. Always with a big target man. Defending deep and aggressively counter attacking, pace out wide, strength in defense. The type of football we will play I expect to be very similar to what we saw under MON (not really a good omen for some of the youngsters particularly Bannan). Signs players with experience of the english leagues, never signed a player with no experience of the english leagues. So expect his mantra to be similar to MON's in that he want proven premier league experience. Oh and then there is his manner during interviews, to me everything about him screams MON mk2. None of this is neccesarily a bad thing. MON did well for us and is a quality manager, but for me its a case of been there done that! But on the plus side he is inheritting a squad with a higher level of technique than what he has had to work with previously plus a wage and transfer budget that dwarfs anything he's had so far so it maybe we will see a different side to Lamberts ability and approach as a manager come to the fore. He has played on the conitnent and in the champions leagues so knows what overseas players have to offer.

K-Mac is very popular in the dressing room and many at Villa i think might have wanted him to be given a shot at managing the team, including K-Mac himself. So I would for Lambo say it was simply a case of drawing the line under that. It may well be best for the team, even better would be to have him run the youths again but that would be a step down I don't think K-Mac is willing to take.

Luc Nilis was tragic! The guy was class, then SNAP! Berson sweet passer never given a chance. Sasa Curcic - horrendous. I was in the Doug Ellis stand when Richard Walker scored his only Villa goal, It was Arsenal and finished 1-1. Or what about Osbourne, Chris Sutton and Phil Bardsley!

The first thing I would say is that WHOEVER gets the job will need time! Why because we have a mish-mash of players which results in our squad not really favouring any particular style! Our midfield is rather slow and rather lightweight meaning counter attacking and defensive styles aren't really going to help. Our defense is slow and technically poor, meaning if we played an attacking passing style, defensively we would be extremely vulnerable (as proved by Houllier's reign). Our Strikers are a mixed bag, Gabby is dangerous on the counter but has fluffed most of his one on ones this season. Bent is a fox in the box in the Andy Cole mould (in that he needs a 3 or 4 chances to put one away), but has the natural insticnts to sniff out the chances plus some pace so would suit any style really. Weimann is a fox in the box too, but a fine shooter from outside the box also, as well as an extremely hard worker, but doesn't have the pace Bent has so isn't really suited to playing on the counter unless he is with a speed merchant. So what it comes down to for me is who are the players that need to be off loaded. Why, because when you look at the players left you will have a better idea which direction is best to take. Once you do this it becomes clear as to the direction we should be heading in. Players to be off loaded (ideally) Warnock, Dunne, Collins, Hutton! Basically our first choice defence. So what we are left with is a midfield with two natural playmakers (Bannan and Gardner) and a quality (suppossedly - still not convinced) flamboyant midfielder (Ireland). Plus Makoun (better suited to a more measured style of play), Delph (a lightweight attack minded central midfielder that flies into the tackles), and Herd (our only tough tackling athletic midfielder). Then we have N'Zogbia, who's best form has been under Martinez's Wigan and Albrighton. Not only that all the players I have mentioned are under 27 with the exception of Makoun. I haven't mentioned Petrov as to be honest I think he's finished at this level(hate to say it)! My uncle died from the same form of Leukemia Petrov has, he overcame it twice, until the third time took his life. His energy levels after the first bout never got near what they were pre-leukemia. Chemtherapy destroys the body and even if you can rebuld your body afterwards its a long process. Throw the fact Petrov is 32 with only a year on is contract and has always faded badly in the second half of games make pretty grim reading really. So with the above as my basis I have reasoned that a fluent passing attacking style would be the best direction to go with. So that rules out Rafa and Lambert for me. Martinez, AVB, Rodgers, Poyet and Di Matteo of the names mentioned make the most sense. Lambert's career, interviewing style and demeanor, and his team's playing style have led me to label him 'MON mark 2'. Thats no bad thing, but his teams approach is hard work, playing at a blistering pace, always looking for the counter. But if you squeeze the space and cut off supply to the front men there is no penetration, and a lack of the patience and guile needed to take control of the game. So to me this would be a backwards step!

I wish he and al the journo's would stop trying to blame the kids! The young players have been some of our best performers. Herd and Clark have been decent in defensive midfield. Baker didn't put a foot wrong against Bolton, it is was cuellar that made the mistakes. Weimann has delivered 4 points that we wouldn't have had overwise with his last minute goal against Fulham and his wonder strike against Stoke. Its been players like Hutton, N'Zogbia, Warnock, Dunne and Heskey that have been letting us down this season. Even Albrighton whose delivery has been rather shocking (surprising as up until this season that was considered one of his strengths) has been very positive and tried his heart out, which is more than we can say for some of our experienced players. The reality is from the first game of the season we have looked like a team scared to lose and that stems from the manager and his appointment.

If Gabby is out and Heskey plays with Weimann that might work, Weimann looks intelligent enough to feed off heskey's flick on's. But maybe not!

Not covinced Lambert is the right man for the job, his team reminds me of MON's teams! Counter attacking based around workrate, determination and athleticism rather than skill. The few quality players we have and youngsters coming through need to be playing technical attacking football to get the best out of them (Gabby the exception), thats the main reason why Mcleish is failing so miserably.

The more I think about it the more I think that Martinez turning us down was disastrous. I keep hearing name like brendan rodgers and paul lambert, but the kind of manager we need is one that can understand and work with and get the best from many different personalities, while playing attractive passing football. Any manager that can keep N'zogbia happy must be good at dealing with different characters and we know wigan play good football. But I blame him! I blame him for us having Mcleish, because if he had taken the job we would have Mcleish and be where we are now!

I am not saying Bannan is a world beater (he may become one, but right now he's nowhere near it), but some of the criticism is grossly unfair. The lads got a decent first touch, good close control, plays with his head up, can spot a pass better than anyone else in the squad (Ireland's vision is not that good, he's creative with a beautiful touch, but his vision is not that broad) and to me looks like a natural playmaker. When he's been played in the middle he has shown genuine 'moments' of quality. However since the drink drive thing early this season he hasn't been played centrally and only started a few. Up until that point (drink drive incident) everyone was chomping at the bit to see him given a proper run in the team. Since then he has been played out of position in a team defending for its life, so obviously he is going to struggle. Gerard Houillier, who's man management and motivational skills are rather poor, does have an eye for a player, and immediately he picked out Bannan as one of our best prospects. The problem with Bannan is he is the kind of guy you have to build your midfield around, he lacks pace and strength, is not a tough tackler and at the same time does not run beyond players making lung brusting runs from the centre of the park. His game is about spotting the passes and keeping the ball ticking over. To get the best out of him you need two players alongside him in the middle of the park one to do the defensive work and another to make those forward runs from deep. Used in the right way he could be a real asset. Does anyone remember Riqelme, (now I know Bannan is not in the same class [ever diminishing small chance he may prove to be but thats it]) when he moved to europe he struggled at every club with the exception of Villareal, where he was superb. The reason he succeeded there was because they built their team around him, and pretty much all their attacks came through and were orcastrated by him.

Glad the lad wants to play any player worth there salt will want to play in critical matches like these. At some point they are going to have to jump in at the deep end! The only thing unfair is the shitty supply our attackers get mainly as a result of the boring negative tactics of the manager!

I would celebrate by making a season ticket enquiry, and if by some luck we get a manager I feel I can beleive in then I will make the purchase!

I remember an alcohol that regularly pulled on the claret and blue jersey, he goes by the alias of GOD. Anyway Stevens and Clark are Irish and it was St Paddy's day, and it was three days before the Bolton game. Some of you guys need to chill out. The manager has not mentioned it, they haven't been disciplined so obviously it was ok with the managment so whats the problem?

Bannan will never cut it in the premier league, it's wrong to say Ireland holding back his development. I expect Bannan to prove you wrong there. He is easily the best passer in the squad, if used as the main playmaker in a 3 man centre midfield unit he could become one of our best players. I don't, he seems reluctant to make a short pass, preferring to try the Hollywood pass instead. That's why he'll struggle at this level in my opinion. He just needs a run of games, at the moment he is only getting a few minutes here and there, plus after his drink driving episode he seems to be trying to force things a little too much (everyone on here was raving about him up until then). Given a run in the team I think he could do well. The problem is who he is played alongside as he will need a strong def mid and and a midfielder making forward runs to provide another forward passing option. Unfortunately that means playing Gardner and Herd alongside him which is a risk McOnALeish won't take. Thats why I am so frustrated with the Villa right now. Potentially (at least) we have a midfield trio to build the team around that could be together for the next 10 years, but unless we get a manager that is prepared (or forced) to take that risk we will never know. Those 3 compliment each other so well. Herd - Tenacity and work rate Bannan - passing awareness and vision Gardner - Good in the air, good shot on him, good passer, potential to score goals. Its a very nice balance. If we are going to unearth any top class players they are going to come from our youngsters, they certainly have the talent. The only real hope we have at Villa right now is in the shape of those youngsters.

Bannan will never cut it in the premier league, it's wrong to say Ireland holding back his development. I expect Bannan to prove you wrong there. He is easily the best passer in the squad, if used as the main playmaker in a 3 man centre midfield unit he could become one of our best players.

Good riddance to him I say. Has been ok in some games, very good in 2 matches and utter tripe the rest of the time. He is holding back Bannan and Gardner's development and they have shown far more comitment to Villa than Ireland. Hope we get a decent fee for him. We don't need selfish arrogant pricks like him at Villa! Sigguardson is a great shout, he has a big future.

I thought Ireland was disapointing, as I have explained, why because he is built up to be this amazing player on a fine run of form, but other than his first touch everything looks average, he's had one good season, and even in that he only played well in the home games. The truth is he has done very little to justify the billing he gets and his form has been OK not great. All Ireland did was play a few nice touches and make 3 good tackles. I don't think you have ever really watched bannan play because he is always looking for and attempting killer passes., so for you to say he doesn't play killer balls, renders your post as BS in my eyes!

I don't have anything against Mcleish, he hasn't said anything wrong in interviews in my eyes, and he is a decent manager. However I don't believe he is the right man for Villa, I don't believe he is the manager for our young players. While he hasn't done much wrong, he hasn't done much right either! Too conservative, plays it safe 99% of the time. He needs to go out on a limb and take a few risks and try setting up our team to go for wins than this avoidance of defeat shite! Needs to risk playing more than two of our young players at a time (from the start of a game). There is no excitement at VP, on Saturday (the 93rd minute apart and the 3 outbreaks of booing) VP was like a bloody funeral, never haerd the place so quiet in my life! Even though we dominated possession and territory, we didn't really look like scoring until Bannan and Gardner came on, and it was all rather boring!