CBGB

Am I the only one confused. Or is it something to do with a lack of caffeine and it still being early in the morning :?:

Amen brother.

Oh man, hope he signs. He'd be a really inventive appointment. We definitely need a shot in the arm. Over to you, RL......

It shows MON was consistently able to get us sixth, which is an achievement. Obviously we hoped he would have got us into the Champions League and it was frustrating he didn't quite, but three sixth place finishes is looking better and better as time passes.

I have to say I find the Cuellar situation completely baffling. Every time I've seen him play he's been at the very least solid and often very good. Why Collins would be ahead of him based on the form of the last couple of seasons is mind boggling. Playing Hutton ahead of him is just stupid.

Who is this Ireland of whom you speak??!

Pretty good performance today, shame we don't have the cutting edge to take all 3 points. Have to say, I much prefer Clark as a central midfielder than as a defender. He can tackle well and has an eye for a great pass; OK one or two went astray, but basically it really helps to have two players who can both tackle and know what to do with the ball in the centre of the park.

Best manager for us since Little, and actually more consistent than Little. Certainly frustrating in several respects and left in a shoddy way. He signed enough good players to offset the crap ones. We'll be lucky to get a manager remotely as good for quite a while.

Mostly mediocre, with a few inept moments.

Looked alright today. In the first half, he made a great pass to Hutton who harmlessly lobbed it onto the top of the goal.

Up to now, our season's been so-so - considering the board's outlook. But unless we're very careful, this could be the game that's a real turning point for the worse in our season.

Well, at least our goal difference didn't suffer too much. Rubbish unimaginative tactics from the manager. But in truth they have a better manager and players, so it's not a huge surprise.

OMG you just "proved" MON is the best or third best manager we've had in the Prem. THat wouldn't do.

Glad we've all decided that he's decent after all, seem to remember quite a few negative comments not so long ago... He's playing well, and I think he has a really clearly defined role in the team - one that we really needed and weren't sure we had. He didn't work out as a full back, but he's obviously very comfortable as a centre mid.

With hindsight N'zogbia is shite. The majority here were screaming for him over the summer.

We were the better team all game, so the fact we couldn't hold onto a lead for the last few minutes was very disappointing. A little better from N'zogbia, but he's still not effective. Hutton was a bit sloppy as usual. But Petrov was excellent, Herd pretty decent, Agbonlahor lively. Overall we were pretty solid and, except for a horrible miss by Bent and a horrible defensive lapse by Collins, this would have been a comfortable win. Work to do.

Just watched the whole game. We were certainly the better team until the sending off. Could/should've been 2-0 up inside 10 minutes. Then we got the penalty and scored. Up until the sending off Baggies had created no chances. The red card was a complete joke. And unfortunately we are nowhere near good enough a team to play with 10 men. Herd was OK before the red card, one great tackle but not too much else. Bannan was good again. Strikers were good, but not much service for most of the game (for obvious reasons). Special mention to N'Zogbia - I mean I really want him to succeed, but I didn't see a single thing of significance he did the whole game. And it's been the same in every match he's played. WTF? It's bad enough being down to 10 men without carrying passengers.

One of the most sensible posts on VT in a while.

Not sure what kind of loss it will be - an unlucky, last-minute one; the run-of-the mill 2-goal margin variety; or an utter stuffing - but a loss it will be. Anything other would be remarkable.

That doesn't sound crap at all!

Round and round it goes. People making the same points over and over.

I knew there must be a reason why Dunne being back in form is not that in fact all that great and thank you to this thread for supplying it. Jesus...

Disagree that Delph is "woefully out of form" and has "brought nothing to the team so far". He's finally getting a run of games and had a crap one on Saturday - it happens, especially to youngsters. Up to then, most people were pretty happy with how he was playing. In theory, giving Ireland a full 90 minutes is good, but on Saturday's evidence Bannan is ahead of him and he doesn't play in Delph's position. So he's gong to need to impress as a substitute and look to Cup games.

Given = 8, kept us in the game with some great saves, one blunder thankfully went unpunished. Hutton = 5, not a great debut. Match fit? Warnock = 6, not great but made a crucial block or two. Dunne = 8, held the whole defence together, very good. Collins = 6.5, mostly good, the odd mistake and some hoofball. N'Zogbia = 6, OK but I hoped for more. Delph = 4, a youngster getting regular games at last, so unfortunately these kind of games are going to happen. Jenas is breathing down his neck, so he's going to have to impress the manager in training. Petrov = 7.5, great goal, and other than that a normal Stan-like game. Bent = 4.5, I'm just going to assume he's not fully fit, because he was lethargic and completely fluffed the couple of chances that came his way. Agbonlahor = 7.5, good goal, not much service, but he's playing pretty well at the moment which is a great thing for the Villa. Heskey - injured early Bannan (for Heskey 16) - 7, really enjoyed his game, again he's a youngster, passes went astray occasionally and he was outmuscled here and there, but mostly he played adventurously and well. Albrighton (for N'Zogbia 72) - one great cross. Ireland (for Delph 80) - not on long enough to rate. Hope to see more.