wilson_2k4

O'Neil is up there with our top performers. We were all worrying about his commitment when he first joined because he talked about nothing but Pompey. But since then, he's been quality. Creative, hard-working, can see why we payed £5m for him. He deserves to have a goal or 2 for his displays so far, because he's just an absolute quality player. Shame we already have Rochemback and Arca settled in the centre, or I'd say move him there in the future, and get a quality right-winger in. What would be better is having Arca in the line-up ahead of Boateng, purely for the creativity of Rochemback and Arca together. And also having Mido up front alongside one of Tuncay or Aliadiere. Personally, I'm currently Tuncay's only fan I reckon, so I'd have him. But I can't deny Aliadiere has probably been the best forward so far for us, even having only scored once. His pace is something to give Agbonlahor a run for his money, just wish he could finish like Gabby too.

Aliadiere, thing with him is he's a quality player, just not a quality goalscorer. He's impressed everyone up here, but he either doesn't get into the right positions to finish (i.e. always out wide) or he can't finish off runs he makes himself. He's quality for running at players, just needs to improve his finishing. Our prime target in January is a striker. If it wasn't for possible Work Permit problems and the fact that Man City may launch a much bigger offer than us for Afonso Alves, I'd say he was our main target, but I can't seriously see that happening. Luke Moore is a possibility, plus we also need a keeper, and word is it's going to be Sorensen. No one else has been linked for that position, and seems like he'd be cheap at £1m. Not exactly the perfect replacement for Schwarzer mind. He bottles it from time to time too, e.g. Rochemback's opener last season. Most our goals will come from Mido, I expect. Shame he missed pre-season, or we might of been higher up. His first 3 games he was fantastic. Hasn't played for ages, though. Arca will create goals for sure, because he is just a quality centre-mid. Anyway, expected team for tomorrow... Schwarzer Young Woodgate Pogatetz Taylor O'Neil Rochemback Boateng Downing Aliadiere Tuncay

Oh so do I. That could be something to do with us having the worst disciplinary record at the moment, though... And bickster - I can see why you think that, but as I've said, we're a small town, and we got into a UEFA Cup final with Steve McClaren as manager. That's a bloody good achievement if you think about it that way.

Who's done the most in recent years, considering where we are based as well? Villa may have a decent academy, but I look at ours and I can see Premiership regulars all the way through. Just the fact they are all defenders or midfielders that have the best talent doesn't help. Carling Cup '04, UEFA last 16 '05, UEFA final '06 after the 2 best games I've ever witnessed as a Boro supporter. The atmosphere was immense in both of them comebacks, and it's a shame the final was in the PSV stadium (which is hardly bigger if at all bigger than the Riverside), or I would of went myself. Everyone is spot on about Gibson. He is a top, top man. He doesn't have all the money in the world, but he's a supporter of the club so he will push his budget as far as he can for the good of the club. Knowing Arca and Mido may not be available, but having our best defense available for the game, I think a 1-1 draw is the best we can hope for. Young against Young is a clash I can't wait to see. One isn't afraid to put in a tackle, the other isn't afraid to run at his man. Zat Knight and Scott Carson should be our main targets, especially Knight because that man... well how he got an England cap bemuses me.

And Villa have done...? :? :roll: Lerner has way more money than Gibson. The only reason we've spent the big amounts of money this summer is because A: we sold Yakubu and Morrison for a combined fee of nearly £13m and B: because we had to to try and keep up with club's in and around the same position in the league. I'm not saying that the fans do turn up either, I was just pointing out that we've done pretty well for the amount of fans we get in. What you Villa fans may forget is that we're a small town, and most fans have emptied their pockets a season or so ago on 2 seasons of European football. And also because of that, the fans expectations sensationally rose. And our ambitions aren't about survival. Our ambitions remain exactly the same as they were at the start of the season, and that is to improve on last season. 13 games in, you can hardly call it a relegation battle, especially when we've been missing some of our best players for the majority of our last spell of games, which included Everton, City, Chelsea and Man Utd. Still different ambitions yes, but we're aiming for a high mid-table finish, and with a good January transfer window, I truly can see that happening. I said this at the start of the season, and that is that considering the experience of our manager, I would be proud to finish in 11th this season, as it marks improvement, even if it is minor. And that Man Utd game, well your thoughts are the same as mine. We seemed to be very much in the game until Stewart 'I'm too good for Boro' Downing decides to try a bit of skill when he should just thump the ball down-field. And finally, I understand that people can look at our league position and say 'They are vulnerable'. But you'd be extremely surprised at how together the team is, and how capable they actually are of pulling themselves out of this mess.

Boro fan here, and I've just come to say that that is one of the most ridiculous previews ever. You could at least respect the strengths there are in our team compared to Villa's. Why should you beat us? Because we have 2 ex-Villa players who you don't like? That is absolutely disgraceful, to be honest. You seem to insist that Boateng is unsporting from one thing that happened in a game against Villa. So the other 36 games, you don't pay attention to them do you? You say your prediction is 2-0, but you could at least say why you think that. It seems like you've gave that prediction without any thought of the opposition at all, just the fact we're lower in the table than almost everyone in the league doesn't make us pushovers. So Spurs away would be a certain win for you if you'd played them while Jol was still in charge? And you also have gave your prediction based on your own team's ambitions, and nothing else. And finally, we're so irrelevant? I've never been so insulted. Especially when the only reason Villa are still in the Premiership is because they got someone coming in backing them with big money, which in turn got them a much better manager than O'Leary. If it wasn't for Randy Lerner, you probably wouldn't of survived another season in this league, while we've been consistently finishing mid-table for so many years with 'Boro fans who never bother to turn up' and a Chairman who hasn't had the big bucks to spend, just the passion to see his team succeed.