briny_ear

Don't disagree with your general point but it is exaggeratiing in the opposite direction to say he "rarely" touched the ball. From where I was sitting he did all that was asked of him and looked very composed. Had 2 or 3 passes, a couple of tackles and a shot on goal. Not bad for his first 12 minute appearance, although, as you say, not worthy of some of the hype on here.

One thing I noticed yesterday was the way he was marshalling the troops, calling people for loose defensive work and geeing up the midfield. People often criticise him for not being a strong enough Captain but he certainly seemed to be doing his job yesterday, as well as scoring an excellent goal.

Hear hear. Cuellar in the side regularly now, please, not just as a second string Right back but as a Centre Back partnering Dunne.

Ahem, tipoeing quietly away from the above very very silly exchange, and back to the match... I only get to see matches in London these days and, due to personal disorganisation, this was only my 2nd of the season (the first being QPR). I was sitting in Matthew Harding Lower, which is VERY tribal Chelsea territory, looking across to the Villa contingent on the opposite corner, so I had a slightly uncomfortable time hiding my glee at Villa's excellent performance amidst a load of raucous fans chanting "we are the boys from CFC". But, strangely, the chanting died down and they fell to complaining bitterly about Villas-Boas and some of the players. Sturridge in particular was getting some stick. They were also inconsolable that they were going down to Villa, who they obviously see as Chelsea's whipping boys after the 7-1 a couple of seasons ago and the cup defeat. There were so many excellent performances yesterday it seems wrong to pick out a man of the match but it has to be Ireland, who ran the show in midfield and played with a confidence we just haven't seen ever in his time with us so far. Great effort from N'Zogbia too, although he is still a bit hit and miss in my book, and some towering performances from some older hands like Petrov, Cuellar, Dunne (who nevertheless lost a few points for the penalty) and Guzan. Was good to see GG's debut as well. He looked pretty assured from the word go after he came on. Full marks to McLeish for the tactics and substitutions and much kudos to the Villa fans for their usual fantastic show - loved it when they started the "handball" chant after a rather hopeful call by the Chelsea fans, and I can report that the "shit support My Lord" routine went down very badly in Mattew Harding Lower, much to the pleasure of this Villa fan keeping his head down but enjoying the show immensely in private! Here's hoping this is a corner turned... Happy New Year to all Villa fans everywhere.

Thought he was excellent yesterday. Whatever was in that pipe did the trick!

Yesterday was a massively better performance than we've seen from him so far - quite possibly because he had an excellent Ireland to spark off, not a luxury he's ever had before - but he is still a bit hit and miss. I recall at least one occasion when he tried to shoot when passing to Gabby in front of an open goal would have been the obvious option. Still needs to work a bit better with his colleagues, although his run and pass for the first goal was top quality.

Unbelievable.. i'm actually speechless. Take no notice, he just posts for effect You are incorrect there. I may not agree with all of his opinions but PB most definitely does not PFE. This site is much better for the likes of PB posting on it and if not for him we may not actually have this site in its form today. I think PB is dead right. If a player - however good - doesn't deliver what a manager wants, there's only going to be one outcome. (The player leaves)

The most worrying thing is, what is that long pink thing wrapped in a black and white stripey scarf that appears to be gnawing at his stomach?

Not sure anyone has claimed he is the "Messiah", although outside a religious context, I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean. Just the best manager we've had for a fair few years who brought a sense of optimism, excitement and achievement that has been woefully lacking in the 2000s/ Those would be the ones MON brought in or developed at Villa who have been sold off, I guess.

^^^Agree very much with the Rev there. This is a wise and generally applicable warning about the danger of overhyping young players too early.

Stoke were gash for almost all of the game and I can only see that as 2 points dropped.

Hey ho, here comes Stoke's late winner...

Low quality game but we certainly have the beating of Stoke tonight. The only question is if we can score. So far, the answer looks like "no".

Merry Xmas to all VTers and to Villa fans everywhere. My letter to Santa asked him to send a training course in spreadsheets and a simple financial forward planning package to the Villa finance staff; and Martin O'Neill to come back as our manager. I'm not expecting positive results.

I don't really buy the idea that Man C's recent spending is a triumph for their scouting. They just bought all the best players around, and they had some failures. I reckon I could have managed that. The reality is that Lerner never really gave us as much money as his ambition would have required.

Exactly. That's probably why Saunders is so keen to have him for the rest of the season. He is a free (or near free) good at present. Paradoxically, if Doncaster tried to get him on a "free" transfer it would start to cost them! Merry Xmas one and all.

If we were one injury or suspension away from needing him to be in the 1st XI or bench then it would make sense to recall him even if there are no immediate plans to play him. I do hope he gets some game time though. I've got a feeling in Gardner's case he would seize the oppportunity and do well.

Why would Clark start over Bannan? I guess because they need a DM and Bannan wouldn't do so well at that.

The Guardian - which has a pretty good track record of getting these things right - is saying this morning Guzan Hutton Dunne Collins Warnock Petrov Clark Delph Albrighton Agbonlahor N'Zogbia So those who are wanting Clark to start may get their wish but maybe not in the position they expected. Collins is doubtful, though, so maybe Clark will have to go back 4 and someone else -Bannan or Ireland? - might go midfield.

I'm sure there's something missing here that explains some of the more subtle tactics. Let me think...Ah, yes:

I've ben very disappointed with Bent's attitude and performances so far this season. OK, so he's lost Young and Downing and the team is not playing very well, but he's still got Gabby putting in excellent crosses and he's spurned a lot of chances. If we could get someone less "iconic" but more consistent, I'd gladly sell him. Not sure Zamora is the guy though.

Although he showed some nice touches with his passing, I don't think he ever showed the pace and strength needed for the premier league and he would come back with a big learning curve still to cope with. Wouldn't recommend him to come back into the current side and management set up tbh. It might finish him off for good.

I thought it was standard practice for a senior player that, if he's not actually on the treatment table, or immobile or incapacitated in some way, he should attend the match to support his team mates. DB doesn't seem much of a team player.

For the first time for a long time, I can't actually think of a man of the match.

Who do you think would play left back when Warnock was gone? Not that any of this has much credibility. The laziest journalism and punditry in the world is to link a manager of a new club with players from his old club.