mwj

I guess I'm just not impressed by a few pointless cruyff turns in the centre circle. IMO a midfielder should either bring: a) creativity b passing & movement c) tackling (makelele style) or if you're zidane, then all 3. IMO he succeeds in none of them. a) his forward balls always try to thread a non-existent needle and end up going to the opposition... how many assists or goals scored does he have this year? according to Opta... 0 on both counts b his excessive dribbling gives the opposition time to adjust their shape, or he cruyff turns, draws a foul, they get back in position, and we lose any advantage we have playing our "counter-attacking" style c) he is liable to trying to snap someone's leg off which is just stupidity from a professional footballer on 30k a week.

@Papillon That's the thing, I don't even think he's good enough for us, let alone England. People seem to be distracted by the fact that he beats a player in a dribble once or twice a half, but honestly he's a charlatan. His decision making is terrible. He runs with the ball when there are strikers in space and when he finally decides to play it forward its often to the opposition. I'd rather we gave Bacuna or Tonev a longer run in the midfield to see if they can improve instead of sticking with someone who is essentially at Championship player playing at his limited potential already.

I have to say, I have no idea why this guy keeps getting votes in our reactions threads. I've never seen a player run so hard and so far and achieve so little. A typical Delph performance for mine: Run, run, tackle, run, bad pass, run, run, dribble and lose it, run, win ball but then give it away, run, run, draw a foul trying to take on 6 opposition players (that's not a compliment), run, tackle, lose ball, run, pass backwards, run, run, lose ball again. Then always a brain explosion in the final 5 mins to pick up a yellow card. He's like a shit Ian Taylor that gives the ball away and doesn't score goals.

My ratings to come..

As a fellow traveller I have to agree with this on both counts. Asked the Stewards after the game the other week where I could find a taxi (as I had to be somewhere quickly after the game) and they told me I'd be better off catching a train from Witton Station to New St and using the taxi rank there. Not really an ideal solution if you're in a hurry...

General, Just a quick question: Did you find many of the techniques and practises from your military career transferrable to the world of big business? Any examples?

General, Two questions / statements: a) As a long-time (10+ years), long-distance Villa fan and recent arrival in the UK, I would like to add my weight towards a membership style program. I won't be able to get to every game this season (and so won't be buying a season ticket), but would be happy to pay 20-40 quid for priority ticketing to the games that I can make it to. This could work two-fold with having second-refusal to the Cup games etc that aren't taken up by season-ticket holders. Maybe a 5% discount on merchandise? I imagine there would be other knock on effects as well like increased revenue, higher crowd figures, larger demographic to entice sponsorship / sell marketing etc. Can you shed light on any strides Villa might be making in the sports science / coaching area? Obviously the new training facility is a massive boost, but it would be great to hear about any other developments the club might be making such as player conditioning, statistical analysis, coaching methodologies etc. Thanks in advance, and keep up the unbelievable work, Matt

25/26 from memory... Try 22! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_%C4%8Culina = 26 years

Dont know anything about him. How old is he? 25/26 from memory...

Yes, absolutely. I cant understand with all the hype surrounding this player and the talk about his value in the transfer market how he cant get near the 1st 11 at the Appy Ammers! Got to be worth a shot but im not sure id be happy spending good money on him! He couldn't get near the first 11 @ the Hammers because Pardew is an idiot. Did you see any of the Argie games at the World Cup?

Have read on other forums we're being linked with PSV and Australian midfielder Jason Culina again. What are everyone's thoughts? I personally think he'd be great. Has a high workrate, good passing and seems to be everywhere on the field every time I see him play. Would take the pressure off Petrov and allow him to focus on being creative.

291!

It would be if you could spell. Get it together man, you look like a dyslexic bluenose.