PauloBarnesi

Gareth Bale is up for sale according to the BBC rumours website

Eastwood has issues; would he actually want to come to the Midlands? When he was at West Ham his record of attending was ‘sporadic’. Sounds like he wants to stay where he is. Where would we play Smith? Upfront? in the Middle?

Delaney isn’t the answer; he’s just not reliable (to play games). In the centre we look strong, but we need to make the left and right back positions work; we need to decide whether to move Barry permamently back there; I don’t subscribe to this he’s too good to play there argument. The right Back (and right midfield in general) needs some new blood. Would a decent Right midfielder make Hughes look better? Probably.

Some players needed to step up to the plate; Petrov being the main one, but to a lesser extent Davis, Bouma and Hughes. Out of that lot Davis and Hughes might have shown commintment, but were lacking something more. Petrov and Bouma were poor. Baros is just playing with no heart. Berger is past it

Like the unfit 800 meter runner who can fake a reasonable first lap, the Villa proved that you can only go so far on pure adrenaline, before tiredness and lack of quality kick in. Today we were totally outclassed and outplayed by a far superior team; we seemed bereft of ideas, invention and in some cases a desire just to get the ball. O’Neill said that players have two months to prove themselves; for a few today will be a final warning. People can hope all they like that players like Bouma are going to come good, but on tonight’s evidence I just don’t see a future if we want to improve. Next season I just can’t see players like Baros and Berger (whose contract expires in the summer) pulling on Claret and Blue. Anyway to the game. It was fantastic that we took the whole of the Shed and throughout we were excellent. We sang and sang, and only when Chelsea were home and dry did I recognise any real noise from them. Its a great gesture from the club to pay for the transport; I just wish the result had been better. The first 30 minutes we were resolute; Mellberg and especially Laursen were controlling everything; It felt comfortable at the back. McCann was impressive as always and I thought we could go through to half time and frustrate Chelsea. What did worry me was the anonymousness of Davis, Petrov and Bouma. Davis just didn’t seem to offer anything and just looked lightweight. Bouma to me just isn’t good enough; his positioning seems poor and he seems to have trouble tracking back most of the time. He’s not strong enough in the tackle and seems to offer little going forward. Petrov just did nothing for me; he seemed annoyed most of the time that people weren’t picking him up. He seem to lack the verve he showed at Upton Park. Its hard to remember if he did anything right or anything wrong. And then came the Chelsea goal. Davis was dallying on the ball, Ballack showed determination nicked the ball and then played a cross to an unmarked Lampard who headed it in. One nil and MON’s plan was in tatters. We hadn’t even vaguely threatened the Chelsea goal. Worst was to come; in the space of five minutes first Barry and then Laursen picked up injuries. I couldn’t see the Barry incident, but he was walking down the tunnel and Berger was coming on when Laursen seem to fall over Drogba; not sure what happened, but Laursen took a bit of time to get up. When he did he looked sheepish. I thought he had been excellent today and I am praying (like with Barry) that its nothing serious. With Barry off the spirit just seemed to disappear into the ether. The start of the second half saw Ridgewell on for Laursen, who seemed to have a reasonable game. Sadly within 20 minutes we were a second goal down and as Chelsea moved up a gear, we decided we would move down a gear. We were just outclassed, but no one in the team seemed to be able just to pull up there socks and get stuck, bar Mellberg, Ridgewell, McCann and Hughes. For all of there running, neither Gabby nor Angel were any threat. Its games like this where players like Petrov need to make a difference; not to shirk a challenge, to step up and take responsibility. It’s time to stop pulling grimaces when the ball isn’t played to you, to actually show movement and some commitment. Baros came on for the last twenty minutes. I don’t know what to say, other than his heart just isn’t in it. At least Angel shows some commitment. Baros just seems disinterested, and I find that disheartening. By the end of the game the two nil had doubled to four and Chelsea were just able to strike at free will. What can you say? Well I hope MON (and I am sure he will) tear a strip into players like Petrov and Davis; they simply weren’t up to there own standards. Even if you think Davis isn’t that great he was poorer than normal. Yes he was playing out of position; but today he made cardinal mistakes we can’t afford. For some players like Bouma and Berger, its a sad fact, but in the new Villa we need to have better players. You just aren’t up to the job. For the disinterested like Baros, we know that MON can’t work his magic; he just seems immune to the stuff. As I left the ground I mulled over a few things. Yes Chelsea love to bend the rules as much as they can; they lack a kind of grace which is hard to stomach. Sure I am jealous of there success, but certainly not jealous of how its been achieved. For all of this money they should have better catering for away fans for a start! I think that both Lerner and O’Neill will have just seen there hunches proved correct. We lack a 10% that can move us from being a top ten to a top five club; a certain quality, a certain attitude. Whether it comes in the winter or the summer I know we are going to see some new faces. But even though we got tonked I knew it was a temporary setback; things are getting better for us, if only tonight it was the free coach travel that was visible.

General Any chance of a train decked out in Aston Villa colours? Or a locomotive named Aston Villa (there is a long history of naming locomotives after football teams) Any chance of Union Pacific branching out to the UK?! Thanks again

Can we have fine French cider?

Anyone seen anything of Billy Sharp of Scunthorpe?

Has this been mentioned; from club call http://www.clubcall.com/index.jsp?storyID=297645 O'Neill eyeing French wing ace? 2006-11-05 17:09 Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has been credited with an interest in exciting Bordeaux winger Julien Faubert. The French U-21 star is a speedy playerr who operates primarily on the right, and it is thought O'Neill is keen to recruit that type of player so that youngster Gabriel Agbonlahor can be played in his natural centre-forward position. Faubert is thought to have been disappointed by his club's failure to perform in the Champions League, and he is assessing his future. Reports in France suggest a bid of £3.5million may be enough to land the talented youngster.

Talk of Freddy Eastwood from Southend?

Its all about opinions. Strange things happen in football; I am not suggesting that any of those names are going to turn up at Villa, but there are always transfers that defy belief. I would also say that Martin O’ Neill turning up at Villa defied belief?

why not?

No Cheerleaders; ever seen the Hammerites?

Mirror saying we after Lee Cook from QPR; I ve seen him a couple of times and he’s always been pretty good, best man on the pitch against Wolves last year, but that doesn’t mean much.

and will be massively overpriced

vanden Borre? Or have been reading too many football manager threads ?

To be honest Mike I am glad that it hasn’t been picked up; the General has come here in good faith and as soon as this gets aload of publicity, there is a good chance that this communication would end. Some of the things we are being told are better off not in the public arena.

Will the Union Pacifc Railroad Corp be taking over rail transport to and from Villa?

He’s not even near the others; Greaves for one

Welcome onboard General, its a priviledge and an honour to have you and Randy at our club. I don’t think I have enjoyed supporting Villa quite as much as I have since the arrival of Martin O’Neill and Randy (and your goodself). Its a heck of an adventure we are embarking on, but its going to be a great adventure. Just a couple of questions: Will Aston Villa be going on a Stateside tour in the near future? Can I buy you a pint?

I thought George Martin was a producer? and McLaren well the best thing he did was force Adam Ant and Marco Pironi together....

We are after Richard Stearman according to the Mirror. He’s a right back at Leicester, 19 years old. Played for England U-18, U-17s. From LCFC: http://tinyurl.com/y8z89k Richard Stearman continued his fine progress with the club during the 2005-06 campaign. Having broken into the first team squad during the previous season, Stearman build on that foundation by making an impressive 39 appearances during the term, scoring four goals. His fine form at right back led to him being awarded a new contract towards the end of the campaign which runs until the end of the 2008-09 season. The 18-year-old defender, who can also play in the centree of defence and in midfield, came on as a substitute for his first team debut away to Cardiff in October 2004 before starting at right-back in Leicester's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Reading later that year. He has since become a regular feature in the starting line-up and scored his first senior goal at home to Millwall at the end of the 2004/05 season. His overhead kick against Sheffield Wednesday earned Stearman a nomination for City's Goal of the Season at the Annual Player Awards, where he was also shortlisted for both Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. Richard is a life-long City fan and joined the Foxes back in 1998 after being spotted by a scout playing for Harborough Town FC. He has represented England at both under 17 and under 18 level.

I am shocked that people think that Gangsters just have to be of Italian American descent... Why hasn’t anyone given out a shout for the Kemp Brothers as the Kray Twins....

Caine in Get Carter

I just saw the new Canon compact the G7; it looks great http://www.dpreview.com/news/0609/06091405_canon_g7.asp#press so Bicks whats the deal?