villianusa

He has just learned money doesn't always bring success. Awesome.

He seems to be not fully fit but have to give him credit for being there for the team. When we beat Bolton in our next game I hope we can give him some time off to rest and use Weimann and the Fonz.

Quite a few if you look at the game thread but more predicted a draw. Can't blame them for that with the way things have been going this season. I didn't predict anything going into the game but if I had it would have been a draw also. AM hasn't made too many friends with his negative team selection and tactics this season. I think we got the rub of the green today in front of goal that we haven't had much this season. A bit more of that and I think we would have won our last two game because overall I think we have shaded both games. The real test will start now. One win must lead to two and then the run of games against the top half of the table. If he can come out of the next 6 game with 9 points and some strong performances some opinions may start to change. If he can continue to have the players stay more attack minded it can still be entertaining in defeat. We (those who post on VT) are the minority when it comes to Villa's fan base so if a few decide not to renew their season tickets it will be the same as when Villa haven't be doing well in the past. Actually it is the same for prertty much all clubs when they are doing poorly fans drift away. They will then come back when things are going well. Some fans will always find something to moan about while others will find something to cheer. Being a football supporter isn't an easy job and just because someone doesn't agree with your opinion doesn't make them any less a supporter. UTV!

A well deserved win; we went out in a positive manner and got the bit of luck we deserved. Not going to knock any players because we WON! Ireland MOTM for me. Worked hard in defense and was our most creative force. Bannan to Gardner to Weimann - GOAL; hopefully the first of many.

Correct - but with OUR club! Technically it's his club due to the money he stumped up for it. But yes it is our club from a supporters stand point. We have the right to pick and chose if we support the club or not. What we don't have it the right to dicate how someone spends their money. I'm not saying things haven't be done wrong (in my opinion) but all we can hope is the changes being made will correct the trend.

100%, been saying similar for approaching 3 years now. That is one option but not the only option. 1. Improvement will be had by getting rid of the high earners that MON and Lerner brought in 3-4 years ago. This will happen over the next two years with them all running out their contracts. Quite a few of them will be gone by the end of the season so that will help. 2. Not swapping managers every season could bring that down some also. 3. Purchasing players from the continent on lower wages. This is will need our scouting system to actually work and find some of the hidden gems other clubs seem to find. 4. Continue with the youth coming through the club and hope they can help us turn things around. 5. Continue to get further exposure worldwide like we have with the China deal recently. 6. Increase ticket prices (wouldnt be very popular) 7. Find investors for the club. There are more but I'm happy with that for now. Lerner has made mistakes with HIS MONEY and he will count the cost of that down the line. I believe he is doing the right thing now by cutting costs. It may take a while to turn things around off and on the field. Being a Villa fan I have experienced highs and lows many times before so I'm okay with waiting.

A couple of changes from yours but I like your team also. I think Warnock will play because we kept a clean sheet. I would use Herd as protection in the middle; I feel he is better than Gardner at that. Use Gardner as Petrov tires before towards the end. Bannan to replace Ireland if that doesn't work. Weimann must come on as sub for Gabby if he can't last 90. Not point in playing Heskey but I'm sure he will come on first. That team can win but I'm not sure we will.

@Trent I agree with you some managers have ability to motivate and MON is certainly one of those. But, I have to ask don't you feel that players have for many years now been the reason a lot of managers get sacked. Players for what ever reasons: don't like manager, no competiton in squad, no effort, not good enough, seeing out contract, etc... are the reasons teams perform so badly hence get the manager the boot. I think Villa the moment is suffering from quite a few of the above. Heskey, Collins, Warnock, Hutton, : not good enough Dunne, Petrov: No competiton is squad N.Zog, Ireland: No effort (most of the time) Gardner, Bannan, Albrighton, Herd, most of youngsters: No quite ready I'm sure I could add more to that list but what I'm trying to show is AM has been landed with a bum deal. Looking at that list above doesn't leave much with many players who are performing. Gabby, Bent, Keane, Cuellar; I would add Petrov to that as he is doing well but we need better in center of park. The squad needs an overall going into next season; maybe the youngster could be the solution but even though I'm not happy with A right now I would like to see him given a chance to change it. If still sucking by November then away he goes.

So is getting us from relegation possibilites to challenging for the top 4 in just over a season. Not going so well at the minute be shows things can change in a short amount of time if things are in the right place. It hasn't been 'going so well' since about August 2010. A bit longer than 'at the minute' I would think. I would say Christmas 2009 but I get your point.

Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager. Perhaps, just perhaps, we shouldn't have been in those 'Losing' positions to start with. Oh and I don't need to be given the chance to 'have another dig of the manager' as you put it as there are numerous reasons for this already and they are supplied direct from him. Thanks for pointing out the typo. But you never answered the fact that from results your statement was partially incorrect. If our heads went down so much we certainly have come back so many times. I totally agree we shouldn't be going behind as often as we do and he sets us up in a negative fashion but I wasn't commenting on that. I dunno, is it because once we go behind he makes substitutions or changes his game plan? Because a draw is a win to him, we go behind so we chase the draw, we sometimes get lucky and get the win from it too, because his tactics are forced to be changed to something attacking. 0-0 Vrs QPR, we go 1-0 up, he panics and realises we came for a draw, so we sit back, they get a player sent off, we still sit back, they score = 1-1 and for him still a good result. NO bollocks. I think he is trying so hard to succeed that he is causing his own downfall. I understand that it's easier to win games if you don't concede any but the players are forgetting how to transistion from defense to attack. He is just too overly defensive. The defense is too deep and he has even mentioned this himself when he said (paraphsing here) "that maybe you just can't teach some players new things." I think some of the issues lay with the players but his team selection certainly haven't helped him. Bent is isolated but when we do get some decent crosses in we do actually look like we can score. Sadly they don't get in there enough. I am thinking that Dunne's injury could be a blessing in disguise but sadly Clarke gets injured at the same time. Hopefully Cuellar can be more assertive and push the team up the park. There are issues I see but I'll save them for another day.

Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager. Perhaps, just perhaps, we shouldn't have been in those 'Losing' positions to start with. Oh and I don't need to be given the chance to 'have another dig of the manager' as you put it as there are numerous reasons for this already and they are supplied direct from him. Thanks for pointing out the typo. But you never answered the fact that from results your statement was partially incorrect. If our heads went down so much we certainly have come back so many times. I totally agree we shouldn't be going behind as often as we do and he sets us up in a negative fashion but I wasn't commenting on that.

Straight out of the McLeish book of football. If that's the case why have we won so many points from losing positions. Seems just another chance to have a dig of the manager.

So is getting us from relegation possibilites to challenging for the top 4 in just over a season. Not going so well at the minute be shows things can change in a short amount of time if things are in the right place.

From Stan the Man!

Yeah Ireland and Zog maybe, but probably not the trouble makers we'd want to leave, i.e. Dunne and Collins . Warnock.

This could be a Barton/Warnock all over again.

Can you quote it mate? Check the N'Zog thread.

From Twitter, and so it starts.

Maybe he also over-inflatted some fans expectations with too much growth too quickly after he purchased the club. It's sometimes easy to forget where you came from.

The trouble is the person who actually makes the decision does wnat him, that's why he has to go too. Don't hold your breath.

This The problem will still linger in the club until certain players are gone. A new manager I believe would still have the ssame issues to deal with. I don't think AM is doing consistantly well enough at the moment and I can understand fans frustration (if not the over reactions by the minority). I am no ITK but I feel there are still too many distruptive players at the club and will only do things their way. If they don't get their way it has a real problem on our performances. They had it there way in the past and when they have been asked to change it hasn't worked out. Watching AM press conference on BBC website seems to suggest that also. I look forward to this season ending and starting a new next year.

I'm guessing so Heskey would hold the ball up as it was coming straight back. And why was it coming back to us, unlike first half? Long ball, too deep, Bent alone. This is what I can't understand. Once we got into the game in the first half we moved the ball well and looked like we could win it. Started the second half and the players first options was to slam it down field. It was like we had a completely different team in the second half and not just Ireland off. Bannan didn't work out for me in the 2nd half I think we would have been better off if Gardner had gone right. Bannan tooked in too much and we lacked an outlet.

So are you saying we should get a manager in who should set us up to lose?

I would also have to agree with this. Some more stats for those who enjoy them. First 23 Games as a manager for Villa: MON P 23 Pts 26 POS 14 GD -4 GH P 23 Pts 25 POS 16 GD -14 AM P 23 Pts 28 POS 12 GD -3 And before anyone says MON had a weaker team I would agree with you. I would also state that the overall strength of the PL has improved since those days and there are more teams with money who are fighting for the same positions Villa are fighting for.

N'Zog been replaced by Gabby?