CBGB

I agree it'll be ugly. But Fulham are ahead of with their fitness from being in Europe while we don't seem to be quite there yet in terms of meshing as a team. So I can only see a loss for us, 2 or 3-0. Cue mass suicide on VillaTalk.

What was interesting to me was seeing Ireland and Bannan playing together. Both have an eye for a pass, and there were a couple of moments where they linked up nicely. Against a team that's going to leave some space in midfield and isn't all that physical (like Braga), this partnership could work.

Funny. I thought NZ was nailed on for Everton, or was it Sunderland, and there was no way he was coming to Villa. Anyhow, glad he's here. He'll be a decent, occasionally great, and no doubt frustratingly inconsistent player. Not a million miles away from Ashley Young last season.

Barton could just be the catalyst to catapault us towards relegation.

Yes, people are desperate and getting carried away as usual, overhyping the youth one game, writing them off as flops the next. Because we're not going to sign anyone else this summer, a youngster who looked quite promising for quarter of an hour is an instant inclusion in some people's Villa XI. I'm hoping for big things from Gary Gardner, and I'm sure AM and the Villa staff will bring him on in a sensible way.

15 minutes in a pre-season game and he's ready for the first XI! What if he has a bad next game, will he be shit and overrated?

He looked useful, but I think people need to be a bit more patient than insisting he starts from now on.

Finally! Hopefully he'll be a decent player for us...

I don't think we're "relying" on him. But having a supportive manager won't hurt Ireland. In fact it may well help him recapture some form and that, obviously, would be a good thing.

Like him. If he's up to speed with the pace of the Premiership and able to communicate better, then we could have quite a player on our hands... to sell to the Top 4 for a big profit next summer.

Good signing, think he'll do well for us - injuries permitting, of course.

This. I'm more disgusted than angry, to be honest.

hercs23 - you must be ITK about Bent, clearly

No. Meanwhile, Shay Given would be OK. I'm not convinced by Foster either, Zatman.

We might as well try and get him playing well. Who knows if we've got anything in the way of decent money to spend on new players, sounds like we don't. And we won't get much money by selling him, so... Maybe he can play in the Sheringham role in a 4-4-1-1 behind Bent? Hope so.

Have to agree with Bland over Bosworth.

MacCleish as one of my favourite players in Ferguson's great Aberdeen team, but as a manager he's on a par with Gordon Strachan (also part of that team!). I'd be shocked if the board were that desperate/out of touch to appoint him. I think Mark Hughes was be a step up, and that's not saying much AFAIC.

Shit, yeah, imagine if a press conference was called and it was Chris Hughton sitting there as the new manager of Aston Villa :shock: :x

Clearly the board's targets are governed by the poll on this thread :winkold:

I'd be much more disappointed with Hughes than Benitez. But I'd rather have Ancelotti, Deschamps, or Moyes.

Of the realistic options, Moyes is way ahead of Hughes for me. Under him, Everton have qualified for the Champions League; I suspect if they hadn't been in constant financial troubles and he'd had money to spend, they would have been consistently top 6. To me, Hughes is just a very mediocre manager. People seem to be mistaking being a great player in a successful team with being a "winner" in management. I haven't seen anything other than solid and unspectacular things from all his teams. To me it just seems that our standards have fallen: no one really wanted him when GH came in, so why does he seem so great now? Happy to be proven wrong and all that...)

Great result, and we haven't been brilliant at the Hammers over the years. We played well, not the best I've seen, and West Ham were poor, but we deserved the win. Maybe, just maybe, we are turning a corner. I'm not sure I see radically improved football - still lots of balls thumped up to Bent - but getting a couple of wins on the trot is a big positive.

A much better performance. We ran rings round a very poor Blackburn side. Agree with most of the ratings given so far, except the Pires ones. He was OK - certainly his best game for us, but only because he's been so invisible up to now. Yes he had a couple of shots on goal, but he still goes missing for long periods, gets caught in possession, and looks wearied from the start. And Ashley Young's set pieces... hmm. Oh well, that didn't matter today because we pressed and got the goals. Only a fluke goal stopped us getting a clean sheet. EDIT: Agreed about Bent. I thought he got into excellent positions again and again, but was let down by overhit passes. He did fluff a one-on-one with the keeper, though.

Pretty much how i feel. Are you aware that Blackpool actually have the worst home record in the Premiership? THat said... we weren't as bad as some are making out.