Anything11

Luna had a terrible game and the bullshit injury was embarrassing. However i do like the chap and i hope it was just a once off (or maybe 2 - newcastle as well).

i can't believe a player for Villa gets put on the bench by the manager and you lot use it as an excuse to slate him.

Delph is not a no. 10. Putting Delph in that role would just be putting a square peg in a round hole and i would hope we have moved on from doing that.

He appeared to be getting frustrated at points on Saturday as the other midfielders had gone missing. He isn't going to be the player to take the game by the scruff of the neck very often - he works well within a system and the system was not working.

When we were getting Lambert from Norwich, we were told more than once that he was great tactically, and would switch tactics in a match quite often to good effect, when he wasn't getting the desired response. I have to say that I've seen very little evidence of this so far. As you say, Ben Arfa tore Luna a new one all match, and nothing was done about it. It also seems to me that Lambert has also been guilty of leaving players in situations where they are getting beaten to avoid harming their confidence even more by removing them from a situation/game. He could have dropped Bennett on numerous occasions last season but he stuck with him.

He was injured at the beginning of the season (wasn't he?) and we performed well in the first 3 games. After the 3-5-2/3-4-3 debactle of last year i think Lambert may be wary of messing with a good thing as KEA looked to be performing well. I don't think there is much to read into to be honest. We played horribly on Saturday and i suspect he will get his chance. We are only 4 games in.

Just a pinch of racial profiling with no apparent basis at all. How ridiculous. I think Lambert thought the team was playing well from the start of the season and didn't want to change it. Would like to see Sylla given a run as the midfield 3 against Newcastle were horrible.

No one actually knows if PL isn't being backed (he bought 7 players didn't he?). People need to stop asuming that because we didnt spend 12 million on an AM that it means Lerner isn't dishing out the cash. There is speculating and then concluding things based on very little factual information which some posters seem to be going on about in various transfer threads. Personally i think as we move up the table we will get closer to the vision that PL and Lerner share and more money will be spent on players who can make a difference. This will take more than a season or two to accomplish. Lets be patient.

Zing

Although Bennett didn't do anything extraordinary today i did notice a positive attitude change. Losing his place like he did it would be easy for a players head to drop and just end up spiraling but he seems far more determined to make an impact than usual. Most of last season it seemed he was just trying to adapt and "survive" the game but last night i noticed him taking a man on more often and hanging around/making runs into the box. He looked desperate to get on the score sheet and stand out - credit to him for really having a go.

He is still improving with each game and watching him chip one of their players was great. Remember he was out with injury for a long time last season and has been shifted back across the backline to fit Okore in. I think the partnership will continue to develop.

Early days. I think he and helenius are two that we will see come into the side when we start to take a dip in form as our starting 11 tire later in the season. Much like it too a while for last years signings to get going - hopefully the timing is right and they prove to be good enough players.

Someone needs to make a .gif of the 17 passes involved in that goal please

I am sick of reading this tripe on VT. Unless you have lived in a bubble your whole life i doubt you have avoided making some mistakes and questionable decisions and then to write off a kid for doing the same is just ridiculous. You or i (and most people on this site) have no idea whats its like to have too much money and too much free time to make these sorts of mistakes - and most of us probably know someone who has been done for drink driving before. Get over it. Bannan is an alright player. He has showed flashes of potential and in almost every game he has given his all for the team. He has been frozen out and is just looking to further his career. I thank him for the energy he has put it while wearing a villa shirt and wish him all the best. We are not the shite - stop treating our own players with such disrespect.

I stopped right there. Why? Re-reading what i wrote i guess it could be misconstrued. I was more trying to point out that lamberts transfers (for the most part) are low fee's/low wages and potential where as in th past it has been the complete opposite. If Lerner was as stupid as some make out then we would have mark hughes or someone of that ilk in charge blowing money on sub par premiership players. All indications are that Lerner has learnt from that approach hence the massive change over the last 2 years in the way the club is being run.

Lerne has made his fair share of mistakes but seems to be putting them right with Lambert and backing him in the transfer market. It is likely that he has learnt a lot from these mistakes and how he invested money over the last however many years and now its trying to implement a sustainable and competative model with Lambert in charge. I have always felt Lerner has done what he thinks was right for the club and in some cases would have to admit he messed it up (McLeish) but i can see why he made these decisions. Compare that to the Chelsea merry-go-round and clubs like QPR and Newcastle who have just appointed Kinnear as DOF (How amusing their fall will be)

A kid rocked up to my school from birmingham when i was 12 (i live in Australia). We became friends and he introduced me to the villa and unfortunately the spice girls. I watched the villa on the only premier league highlights we had back then which was an hour wrap up on monday nights.

Do less reps with warmups. I am 70kg and could hit 150x3 on deads before i broke my ankle playing football. Its all in the mind!

I think you are blind if you can not see the difference between those nationalities. I am in no way saying Australians are superior but there is definitely an inbuilt drive to succeed within Australian sport even if we aren't the most skillful.

Pre 2009 Holman was a bit of a joke in Australian football - referred to as LOLman as he got hit on the back of the head by a through ball 2009 - Now he has found his feet with the national team and played well. He does a lot of work but his downfall is that he sometimes seems 3 steps ahead and rushes things and gives the ball away.

Excuse me? So you pay to go see the villa and you can slag off a very good chairman whenever you want? By that token Randy can tell you to jam it up your arse as he has put far more money into the club than you ever will. Villa fans acting like children all over the place at the moment.

The tackle wasn't even that bad - looked to me he was trying to block the run of the ball when the receiving player got it and he just caught him. He hardly made contact with DJ. While NRC had an awesome game Makoun is by far and away our best midfielder - i like his movement in the first half as he seemed to be coming out of his shell and pushing forward.

Re-watch the game and see how many headers are actually attempted by NRC. He doesn't get up for any of them and 99% of his passes are straight forward playing to the guy standing next to him (aside from one ball out to the left wing that i was very impressed by)

3 or 4? He didn't give the ball away at all that i noticed?

We knocked it around really to start the game, then lost our way a bit and picked it up again towards then end of the half. 2nd half we played some good stuff and when Petrov came on, really kept the ball well, till they equalised. Can't understand why we can't keep the ball more. Teams have spells where they don't get as much of the ball, but with the players we have we should be able to keep it more. I suppose it'll come the more they get used to GH's style of play. NRC and Petrov are both very static midfielders in that neither of them really push on up the park often and it makes it hard to form triangles and short passes.