LordSepulchrave

Difficult game, both teams look like they are about to turn a corner in the season. Have a worrying feeling that new (highly rated) manager-ism will trump Benteke's threats to return to form. Still, a winnable game, and if they do play a high backline (which Martinez was keen to stress is the way Mel works) there's plenty of scope for burning them on the break.

From what he told me he made it sound like Lambert identified the player and it was up to the club to see if they could make it happen. Looks like they couldn't. Also Richard was hinting at a big signing so let's see if we're in for a shock. Yeah i mind richard suggesting as much as well. Hopefully we have an exciting 3 days ahead We've made a very BIG signing. His name is Holt! The guy's over 6ft tall, how much more do people want?

Atm if we're being publicly linked with anyone who isn't Hoolahan, I'm assuming it's because other clubs of our size or league standing are interested and clubs/agents are trying to push up the price or provoke interest.

Was it just me who got the impression that the "meltdown" signing was probably Bertrand on loan? Tbh I'm uncomfortable with loans generally. We're spending for fairly minimal short term gain atm - hopefully we can bring in Bertrand on a permanent basis.

I'm a Hearts fan as well as a Villa fan, so if we signed The Thumb I'd be horribly torn.

Sorry guys, but I feel Fulham aren't gonna be interested in him in the long term. Based on today's performance, they might try and demand a refund, frankly.

He has, to be fair, played well for Scotland recently. Just a pity that hasn't tempted anyone into having a punt for him.

Reports so far suggest Fonte - according to the Mail he's been done some pretty serious damage.

Well I'm glad somebody has. What channel that on?

The amount I've heard there was "clearly" contact Guzan made with his elbow/stomach/knee, you'd have thought he was giving him a hug. I think a depressing gap between pundits and fans have appeared over this. A dodgy decision happened, we suffered, not the first or last time - it's annoying but we'll get over it. What really makes me feel disillusionment is the lack of anyone making a counter argument or trying, really, to understand why we think it wasn't a penalty. Between Linekar's scowling condescension and Neville's fatuous appeal to authority ("we're professionals"), the closest I've seen is Pat Nevin saying he would give it "but..." It's depressing really.

He won 1 header. Yes I think it's very poor for a half. He passed the ball to a member of his own team 5 times in 40 minutes. I think if a striker, often isolated, can hold up a ball over ten times a match then they are making a decent defensive contribution. How often should we be looking for? Do you have actual statistics that say Holt only won one header? I seem to recall it happening multiple times. Edit - seems you're right about the headers. http://www.fourfourtwo.com/statszone/8-2013/matches/695114/player-stats/5741/OVERALL_02#tabs-wrapper-anchor I can't speak for anyone else, but if I say I thought someone was decent, it's because I thought they were decent based on what they contributed to the match. Cutting players slack because they are young and have potential makes sense, but I don't see what the point would be in doing so with a 32 year old. Not sure I buy that this is what is happening in this thread.

Who said he was unbelievable? A lot of the reaction seems to be extremely negative. He looks decent cover, and like a not bad alternate option for Lambert to bring on. I'd be surprised to see him starting I suspect he's mainly a signing for the dressroom rather than the pitch.

His backheel created a clear chance, and whenever the ball was lumped towards him he did an alright job of winning the header or holding it up. Worked hard and created space for Benteke and contributed to slowing the play down. I keep reading about his hold up play. In nearly a half of football he held the ball up and kept it 5 times. Is five times that bad? How many times would you expect? Especially when you consider most of the passes he received were in the air and he generally had to fight for a header, it seems like holding up the ball five times in 40(ish) minutes is pretty useful.

I was a big fan of Moyes at Everton, but he's looking a lot like a bottler at this point. One win in 10 matches against everyone above us. His record against the big clubs at Everton was also terrible.

The Guardian is a dreadful newspaper. I expect no less from those cretins. The Guardian is the best newspaper in the UK, the only one worth reading. Their reporting on Villa is also consistently excellent. see my post on the previous page, the write up for todays game is somewhere between amateurish and childish Just in case you didn't get it first time, the guardian is the best paper in the UK and their reporting of Villa is excellent. Who do you think is better? Express? Mail? I actually agree that The Guardian is the best UK newspaper generally, but that article was fairly snide and patronising.

Decent first half, flashes of looking pretty good, but also moments where he was a bit off the pace He's not got the positional awareness to be a defensive mid, can't beat a man and his passing and movement isn't good enough to be an attacking mid. He's just not consistent enough either. Can't see where he fits in the team as anything more than a squad player.

The problem with defending Suarez's action there, is that you are ostensibly saying that if a goalie wants to challenge a striker for the ball, the striker is within his right to go down regardless of actual contact. It just isn't a precedent you want to set really.

I though KEA played well in the first half. He is at his best when we move the ball quickly though. He wasn't terrible, was actually looking suspiciously like an attacking mid', but there were plenty of times he just didn't react quick enough and couldn't make use of chances. Even during his better first half he wasn't convincing enough to really justify his place. He doesn't do any job in midfield to a high enough level to justify a place. He did do a lot better than Sylla though.

Sylla and KEA probably shouldn't be first team players, but we work with what we have. Could have won, could have lost; at the end can't be happy or sad with a draw really. That dive though...

Benteke doing decent defensive work actually. Great to see rumours of his imminent diva-dom were overstated.

Holt's hold-up play looking very decent, and his through balls have been kinda clever.

Diving.

I like the idea of him emerging, as if he is going rise from the earth itself. It's a compelling image.

Who is this team and what have they done to my Villa?

YES!