Dom_Wren

Yes mate, ALL the time, bless em!

Check your pms my old China!

Sad to say, but no. Stan is a good player, but hes a very specific player, a DM in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 against a passing team, or if we played with NRC in front of him. He just doesnt have the mobility and athleticism to play in a 4-4-2, its almost like we have no balance with him in there as hes not a true DM (Cattermole) or a CM (Barry) or AMC (Cahill). Its not as if hes a luxury, hes a bloody good player, but def has trouble in a 4-4-2 and/or against very athletic players. Def mid playing against good footballing teams week in and week out and hed be grand!

This.. Im waiting to book my flight.. Knock yourself Bandy lads Shes gone a bit chicken oriental lately, but you know what there like! Bloody Verizon, they told me i was getting free internet, i wasnt, i misheard them bloody $400 phone bill from that trip! Truth is i can live without it, thats why im surprised its in my hand!

Some trips form my time in Blighty this summer: Me and me mate Gofto down laaaandan way: In a pub by fleet street watching the ashes, ex bird was bothering me: me and ex at oasis: Ruby with me family: Room serivce at the chelsea whyndham @ 5am. Good work lads. Bottle of wine at the chalet, tough life!

I might pop to the next one if hes gonna be on!

im assuming the 2 in the US are Big and little, but isnt Eric Lichaij a born US bretheren? or is he not considered first team squad? *Edit, just seen that both Lil Brad and Eric are from IL

Gaffing in my cricket hat!

Does anybody have Nicky Keye's email? pm if needed. ta.

First of all, i dont want MON out. He is 100% the right man for the job. But to paraphrase him, he is the boss, so the boss in this case has to take some responsibility. OBE has put it in better words than i could have, so i will talk a little bit about the tactical breakdown of the game. Last week agaisnt pompey, i thought 4-4-2 would not work, i advocated a 4-5-1, i got porved wrong. Maybe i gave pompey too much credit, but todays tactical battle was why i am against a 4-4-2, especially without NRC. Delph will come good, and was not bad today, however Stan cannot play to his ability in a 4-4-2 without an industrious partner, Stans strength is linking play all over the field, and breaking things up with positioning, not athleticisim. In a 4-5-1 he is a classy holding midfielder, in a 4-4-2 without that partner (some could make the argument even with such partner) he is just not at ease. JC has so much ability but is playing with nowhere near the confidence level he has, Gabby is the flip side, and long may it continue. Back to the tactics. No sidwell today, should have meant NRC slotting straight in, wether in a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, beleive me i know NRC limits as a footballer but he is a huge part of the system we play at Villa. Delph is hungry, but playing with Stan needs discipline as you will have to do alot of his covering, again in a 4-5-1 he can just sit and dictate. Milner and Ash, What a pair of players! They are brilliant, and i love em, the 4-5-1 system give us/them the flexibility to change to offensive and defensive structure at the drop of the hat, in all honesty, Heskey is and should be our 3rd choice forward in a 4-5-1. The sub today, i was in the match thread, and i think everybody thought the same, WTF! I couldnt quite work out what he was thinking? It was still a 4-4-2 with Hesky as a left mid, and Milner center mid, now looking at the bench we had 2 center mids (NRC and Gardner) to bring in for Delph, maybe MON saw a weakness in Center mid that Milner could exploit, fine, but why not put JC up top on his own (or even Heskey), Gabby out right, and Ash on the left, gone 4-3-3 and played Milner, Delph, with Stan provding cover to the back four that Dunne (David) was proving was much needed. I am not posting for effect, or do i not beleive, cos i do, we have a fantastice manger, squad, owner, club etc... I suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing (ps if Albrighton was not out on loan, would he not have been better to put in out left, or even out right, and bring Ash out left, than Heskey? Again OBE told it better than me, and i will papraphrase him, players didnt lose it today, system did!) Brad - 7 - Did nowt wrong Cuellar - 6 - Not a right back, gave his all! Dunne - 6 - Not his fault, should have done better with first goal Collins - 7 - Love this guy, composed, and keeps possession! Warnock - 7 - Did well, great signing Ash - 6 - Worked his socks off, needs to be more direct in taking his man on, if you mess up forget, it, get up and do it again! Jimmy - 7 - Love this guy, everything about a villa player rolled into one Stan - 6 - Struggles in a 4-4-2 without a warrior cm partner Delph - 6 - Full of energy, lots of talent, will be good for us Gabby - 7 - What more can he do, getting better every game, this loss hurt him, walked off the pitch without any handshakes, good, losing should hurt! Carew - 6 - So much talent! if we continue to play 4-4-2, we need NRC back and JC firing on all cylinders!

That funny, cos my missus was like, you dont half look like Milner! I said sweetheart, he dont half look like me

Been a while, so thought id post a few oldies but goodies, we need more from the new brigade! Me and a mate at the Hotters in Nottingham (im in green): At some football ground: And of course any chance of me getting the pic of where Carew was wanting to fight me, cos hes scared of me like.

Had 2 large kingfishers at the curry house, now redstripe, touch.

Carlsberg here

Quality!

My mates Kenyan, dont they have a footy club attached to this?

id love a pint right now, at work.....then soccer practice.....then a cold beer to end the day with Yuengling, cheap at the store.

Quality!

excellent! cheers Stato!

Friedel - 7 - Did what he had to do, was vocal, and looked good with his feet, when we released pressure to you Warnock - 7 - Didnt shirk a tackle and got forward well, accomplished first performance Dunne - 8 - Rock at the back, bit dodgy on the deck when pulled out wide, but for this derby day a correct choice. Well done. Collins - 9 (MOM yes i know gabby got a higher mark) - Won everything in the air, looked composed on the ball in bringing it out of the back, and sprinted to celebrate with Gabby like any of us would have done! Cuellar - 8 - Again, solid as a rock, we needed his ariel prescence with diagonal balls. Milner - 5 - I always say its fine to have a bad game as long as you dont hide. We all know he was having a mare, but he always wanted the ball, and was working his socks off. Thats the measure of the man. Young - 7 - Another that worked his socks off in pressuring in his zone, won the free kick and had a great service for the goal. Petrov - 6 - Bit subdued today was Stan, but i think that was down to our tactics, we just bypassed him, did his job though, but needs to be on the ball, to utilize him best. NRC - 8 - Thought he was superb again today, his work rate and passing were first class ( i counted one pass under no pressure given away) his energy transfers to the team. Sidwell - 6 - Did his job again, actually put in a good shift, but this was not a ball playing midfielders game so he was finding it hard to get a rhythm. Agbonhalor - 10 - Scoring a game winner against the scum in the 85th minute if you have had a mare gets you a 10, but he had worked hard and brought others into the game the best he could. Subs: Carew - 7 - I dont think HE changed the game, but the fact that the formation changed gave us better attacking options, big JC will always give you what he gave you today, a physical prescence with class! Gaffer - 9 - With 2 late given finshes taken it would have made it 3-0 and the classic smash and grab result, as it was, the balls to blood 3 new of the back 4 and play Cuellar at RB gave us the platform to wint the game. Brought Carew on at the right time and made the switch to 4-4-2, well done MON, showed well!

kin brilliant, did we look **** ace at the back or what! dunne and Collins for me was MOM. Gabby stepped up big time. You gotta love the heart to stay in it after they put us under the cosh for a while

now keep it the **** tight at the back.

They look shagged, id bring sidders off for Delph and let him run his nuts off for last 10 mins!

i can us snatching this. A. Young. Collins been MOM so far for me. looks very composed, positioning excellent