heystally!

Like when we concentrated on the League out in Moscow? I don't want us to go out of any competition. We're now not going to be challenging ourselves against some of Europe's best teams. Playing in Europe helps develop a team further.

It's amazing really, the world we live in. This game of football. Probably the only game in the world where someone can win whilst being "**** appalling". Yes but winning 2-1 wasn't good enough. We knew that beforehand. We needed to win outright on aggregate. And because of MON's decision to play 4-4-2, we didn't do enough to win the tie.

Sorry, I can't believe people actually think this is a good thing, and that MON was good tonight. I though MON was **** appalling. 4-4-2 just doesn't work. Petrov and Delph had too much to do and couldn't give our defence enough protection, which ultimately led to them scoring. If we'd played 4-5-1, like against Liverpool, we would have had more possession, less running back and defending to do, and we would have eventually broken them down further with more chances. I don't blame the players. I thought they put in good effort. The defence still looks shaky though, and Dunne isn't going to change that. And fair play to Rapid, they didn't come for the draw and kept the pressure on. But I blame MON for going out of Europe. This is not a blessing in disguise. Our latest signing talks about ambition, and being in Europe as a big deal. And we go out in the first round we are in. Not acceptable. The players will not be happy afterwards, confidence will drop. Being in Europe is good because it tests our team further against better teams, and it gives us the boost because we are mixing it amongst the best. After tonight, I don't think we'll do very well against Fulham. Especially if we play 4-4-2.

Hi General, I'm normally a big supporter and defender of MON, but tonight he got it plain wrong, and going out of Europe at the Playoff Stage is just absolutely unacceptable. How can we push the ambition of our club (a factor in our latest signings decision to join us) when we are not even in a European competition which we could have, and indeed should have, won with comfort? We go to Anfield Monday and win 3-1, yet cannot even beat Rapid Wien, cannot even play better than Rapid Wien, over two legs. Atrocious. Let's look at the story of the season so far. We lost to Wigan 2-0, played a 4-4-2 formation, and looked lost and overrun in the midfield. We lost to Wien 1-0, played 4-4-2, and had absolutely no creativity from midfield, whilst again looking overrun. We beat Liverpool away 3-1, played 4-5-1, looked solid and assured in midfield, and dominated the Liverpool midfielders. Then tonight we go back to 4-4-2, and again we looked overrun. It is not difficult to see what the factor is in that chain of games. Anyone could see that we played well in a 4-5-1, yet MON changes back to 4-4-2 and we looked worse than Monday against a team who are nowhere near as good as Liverpool, a Champions League team who regularly go far in that cup. There is only one person to blame for our exit from Europe, and that is MON. I'm not saying it's time to go, far from it. But I just find it hard to believe.

Turner against Spurs was absolutely shocking. Made at least two mistakes which caused goals.

Not a chance, he was their best defender at the end of last season, and they've just lost Cannavaro. Not going anywhere.

Hangeland. Distin as fourth choice.

I don't think it was as simple as playing 4-5-1 and playing NRC. The amount of chances they had we could have been beaten if we simply did that. But MON had them organised and drilled, he gave them their own jobs to do, and told them to stick to it firmly. Basically he had a plan, based on the players we had and the players they had. We haven't seen that too often from MON, and I hope we see more of it this season.

Holte End Lower ST holder. Go to maybe five away games per season at least. Working in retail means it's difficult getting weekends off. I have enough trouble rearranging shifts for home games.

Surely that's bollocks? It felt like they had at least 70% of the possession.

Hi General, Please pass on a message to Martin O'Neill for me. 4-5-1. It works. It works so well. For many reasons. If tonight isn't proof of that, I don't know what will be. Thank you.

Special mentions for Friedel, Shorey and NRC. Outstanding performers tonight.

------------Friedel----------------- Beye--Davies--Cuellar--Shorey ----Sidwell--Petrov--NRC---- Milner---------------------Young -------------Gabby--------------

Until we get a top quality central defender, and a top quality central midfielder, we have got to keep playing 4-5-1.

I love this ref. Rightly let us have the corner, because Reina kicked the ball away like a dick.

The main one being, they haven't scored.

Gotta hope Johnson gets forward and covered by other midfielders, then hit them on the break with Young when Johnson is trying to get back.

If MON were to go, it's gotta be Zola we go for. Been impressed with him, even though he works with a Director of Football. I still think he could make decent signings when given control, and he knows how to get his team to get the ball down and play football.

That actually puts it back into some perspective. (however, I am not to sure if we are going to score 5 goals against Liverpool) I doubt we will. But Man Utd lost 4-1 to them, at home, when they were on their title challenge run. I don't think losing to Liverpool is going to define our season.

Hi General, I wholeheartedly agree with your post on the previous page. When times are tough, fans of this club should get behind their team. We choose to support this club, and the majority will continue to support them through thick and thin. If some 'fans' decide they don't want to support our team when we are not performing well, then they can go off and support one of the true teams of glory supporters, like Manchester United. I want this team to succeed as much as any other fan, but failure to do so will not affect my support of my team. Even if we are a relegated side I will continue to support this team. Some 'fans' seem to place the club and the current management/playing staff on the same level. But this is simply not the case. No individual, whether it be a player on the pitch, a manager in the dugout, or a chairman in the boardroom, is bigger than the institution of Aston Villa Football Club. If we start deteriorating, I will expect changes to turn around our fortunes. I will not be happy seeing my club fall further away from success without changes. I am not an unconditional fan of any individual at the club. My support for the players is conditional on them giving 100% every time they pull on that claret and blue shirt. My support for MON is conditional on him leading my club forward. My support for Randy is conditional on him putting the interests of my club ahead of his own private interests. For the past three years, the players, MON and Randy have been absolutely fantastic, and they have earned my support of them as individuals, doing what is best for my club. The players have been fantastic in reaching two top-six finishes in the League, and getting us into Europe for the first time in a decade. MON has been fantastic in building his own team with young, home-grown talent who have the ability to play exciting football and are potentially the future of the English national team. Randy has been fantastic in revamping the image of this club, physically with his investment in the stadium and training facilities, and charitably with his support with Acorns. In the past three years, I could have realistically asked for little more than what my club has given me as a fan. It's the reason I have renewed my season ticket for the third year running, it is the reason I attend as many home games as I can physically get to, and as many away games as I can get the time off of work. And for some to question the direction of the club after two competitive games, almost judging our season, which could last over 50 games, on two, is completely beyond me. I can not say what will happen to our team this season on the field, because I do not have the powers of time travel, and I cannot see what will happen in the future. Like many others I believe we have lost two vital players to our cause, and we have yet to replace them adequately. But there is still over a week left to do so. I cannot, I WILL NOT, judge a man who still has time to make changes. And even if MON does not meet my level of expectation over signings, despite being disappointed, I will see how our team performs throughout the rest of the season, and I will continue to support them, because I want us to win, because I am a fan. I do not believe with the current playing squad, that we are a team who could even come close to being threatened by relegation. If bizarrely such a conclusion seemed likely during this season, I have faith the club would change things. If by May we have not matched reasonable expectations, I have faith the club will change things. Because no man is bigger than Aston Villa Football Club. But we have come so far from where we were three years ago, and I believe we can go even further under the current setup. Please keep up all the good work you have done for us in the past three years. I hope to read your posts here for many years to come. Best wishes, J

Milner has done absolutely nothing this game. He hasn't taken on his man effectively, his crossing has been dire. Just a poor, poor performance, get Albrighton on.

It is no coincidence that Davies has been shit since we lost Laursen. No Laursen just made Davies look good because Davies is no more than championship standard when with another mr average like Cuellar I can't agree with that I'm afraid. Watching Davies and Laursen play together from January 2008 until January 2009, we were very solid defensively. Laursen was no nonsense, and Davies was good at man marking and tracking runs. Since then, Davies has looked absolutely lost. I cannot believe people think he should be captain, he has no idea what to do unless someone is next to him calling the shots. Cuellar is decent, he's shown he was decent in the Peace Cup. But he needs to take control, he needs to say to himself "Right, no Laursen, we need a leader at the back, I'm going to organise this mess and **** off anyone telling me otherwise". That's what we need.

It is no coincidence that Davies has been shit since we lost Laursen.

They have given us so much space in midfield. But the most creative player for us is Shorey. His dribbling and passing has been better than anyone in claret and blue. And they are walking through our midfield and defense. Three central midfielders, and still they can't take the ball off them. NRC should be holding more, and Sidwell and Gardner are invisible defensively. This is the just pathetic. MON better bring in a quality defender, and a creative midfielder, or we will not finish in the top half of the table. Not a chance based on this shit.

It only looks like we're passing it better with NRC in there because we have three central midfielders. We have absolutely no creativity bar Ashley Young, and the next best to him has to be Nicky Shorey. No one else is creating anything, and we're being given so much time.