bose

Although we've been through this a million times here MON's squad in his first season wasn't even close in quality to the squad that we have now. We had an inexperienced 20 year old Gabby Agbonlahor playing his first full season, a shite Milan Baros, Gavin McCann, Steven Davis, Liam Ridgewell, Jlloyd Samuel and Aaron Hughes as starting players back then.

OK what I mean by out of form is that they were absolute shite against us yet we just seemed content not lose. An attitude that I think Alex McLeish is all to familiar with. Stoke may well have played well in their previous games but today they were there for the taking. Is it possible to be certain that Stoke were poor despite Villa or because of Villa? Stoke's recent good form would point to the later and therefore not exactly 'there for the taking'. It was a decent point away at a physical team in good form. Sure a 3-3 draw would have been more exciting but would also have invited more 'our defence is sh!t' comments. :bonk: Well I guess it's all a matter of a point of view. From what I saw I wouldn't say that the reason Stoke were so poor wasn't because of anything Villa did, they were just poor. Anyway as I said this is a good result on paper. We'll lose against Chelsea so that game against Swansea at home has become very very important for us (and McLeish).

Yet you've given him a solid mark? Typo, should be a 5.

OK what I mean by out of form is that they were absolute shite against us yet we just seemed content not lose. An attitude that I think Alex McLeish is all to familiar with. Stoke may well have played well in their previous games but today they were there for the taking.

Yes a point at Stoke is good on paper but Stoke were dreadful all game long and offered no attacking threat at all. If we can't create chances against an out of form Stoke side where are we going to get three points? The only games we've won this season are against Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan (bottom three and will probably all go down) and then Norwich (newly promoted). McLeish is just a dreadful, negative manager who will never achieve anything with Villa. If anyone thinks he'll do something here, what are you basing it on? I'm genuinely interested. (Sorry, not just aimed at you Zatman)

Has impressed in his little run after Given was injured. Future Villa keeper maybe?

He's simply just a class player. He reads the game so well and like kurtsimonw said it's just a myth that he gets too tired after 60 minutes. I also like the fact that he gives a **** about the Villa, he's a good captain for the club.

On paper it's a good point but Stoke were very poor and offered no attacking threat at all yet we didn't take advantage at all and McLeish seemed very happy with the point. Guzan - 6 - never threatened but always seems calm and composed Cuellar - 7 - Kept things nice and simple and was assured in defence. Collins - 5 - Still hoofs the ball far too much and nearly cost us a goal in the first half Dunne - 7 - Never troubled and calm on the ball Warnock - 6 - Shotton is shit so he didn't have to do much Albrighton - 5 - Poor game and he looked disinterested. Clark - 6 - Either brilliant or terrible. Needs more consistency. Petrov - 8 - Our best player but the lack of movement of the attacking players hindered him. Won quite a few tackles and as usual gave his all. N'Zogbia - 6 - Tried but it wasn't enough. Had a good shot in the second half and he's looking better with every game. Heskey - 7 - Poor at the very start but he won some good headers after that and I though he played pretty decently after that. Gabby - 7 - Made some good runs and he set up Delfouneso brilliantly in the second half. Seems frustrated by the way we play.

Utter, utter bollocks. Both having their best games in a while. I agree with Heskey but Collins is his usual, albeit a bit less than normal, shit self.

All of this. Maybe expect for the smoking bit. I don't like it one bit but I do "get" why some people might start smoking when they are in their teens (although I hope that is slowly changing). People that start smoking nowadays in their early twenties or later are just utterly stupid.

Forgot to mention that. Guzan has really impressed me in the games he's played. He's much more confident and commanding than in the league cup games I've seen him in.

Not the result we wanted but a much better performance than usual. Dunne was absolutely fantastic, some excellent blocks all game long. Albrighton and N'Zogbia (finally) were also very good. One the other side of the scale was Gabby who looked lazy and was very poor and cost us the goal in the end. Hutton was also rubbish defensively and I think it's a blessing in disguise that he won't play at Stoke. If McLeish has any sense he'll see that Cuellar is a much better defender than James Collins but maybe he'll have to play right back because I don't see who else can play there if Hutton and Herd aren't available. Something needs to be done about our set piece defending, once again it's costing us and against **** Arsenal of all teams! But there were quite a few positive things about the performance which hopefully we'll build on. McLeish still has a lot too do to convince me that he can manage Aston Villa but today he was a lot more positive than in previous games which is at least an improvement.

Aston Villa with 60% possession in the first half. Hmm I wonder why? Hint: Ginger hoofer.

A completely different Villa side the first twenty minutes but the same old in the last 25 minutes. If we see more of the former in the second half then we might even have a chance of getting the three points here. Just trying to stay positive.

Ah I've figured out Randy's plan now. He saw that many people thought that we should get someone better than Mark Hughes who he really wanted. He then hired McLeish knowing full well that he would be utter shit for us. Now people are begging for Hughes and he will be like the messiah when he's hired! He's very cunning that Lerner guy.

Ha ha that sounds fantastic!

Please McAllister is like Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arrigo Sacchi rolled in to one compared to McLeish. I mean McAllister managed back to back wins against Arsenal and Liverpool, something McLeish wouldn't even attempt at doing.

9th place doesn't mean shit. We're only six points from the relegation spots but a whole 10 points away from sixth. We've got two more points than Everton and one point more than Fulham. Having seen a few games with both those teams this season I can safely say that their football isn't even on the same planet of shitness like ours is.

I don't like Hutton at all but this thread is ridiculous. Complaining because a player swapped shirts?

Gone are the days when we even try to give the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool a game. That's in line with DOL's "hones bunch of lads" comment.

Why isn't Emile Heskey on Twitter? Because he can't find the net.

No most aspects should work in a save game but to get all the effects you should start a new one. So if you're enjoying your game, I would just continue with it.

Just as I finish my exams I see that SI have released a new patch. Thinking of starting in Germany or maybe some low level Premier League side. Time for some brutal football management!

"Outstanding..........Outrageous" :bonk:

Never thought he would make it at Villa but he's really taken his chances in the first team well. It's always great when academy players manage to make the step up.