Max the Silent

Anything less than an emphatically comfortable win should result in the sack.  For Mick McCarthy.

"Swansea forum"?? I didn't know they had the internet in Wales...

It's nice to be looking forward to a game, but I think it will be pretty tight. I couldn't pick a team because I'd want to keep Sinclair, n'zogbia, agbonlahor and benteke in, which might be a bit gung ho for an away game of this magnitude. I also want to see more of Gil.

Despite the recent cause for optimism I'll hang onto the default pessimistic mode for a little longer and say we'll be 2-0 down to two Defoe goals in the first 10 mins and an uphill struggle from then on. But we'll end up 2-2 because it seems we've remembered it's ok to score twice in a game from time to time.

Does anyone know if brown or o'shea are suspended?

Bribe for the ref and the following formation:

Given - Goose - Steer

Hutton - Okore - Clark - Cissokho

Bacuna - Sanchez - Westwood - Delph

Cleverley - Gil - Weimann

Benteke - Me - Gabby

Still think we'll lose 6-3 despite my hat-trick. At least I'd be our top scorer though.

I had today down as one of the 5-6 must win games for survival,and I can't see where they'll come from now. I won't lose hope though until we inevitably throw in the towel against Burnley.

For me, I'd rather stay in the prem than win the fa cup, as bad as that may sound. I'd prefer last week's win to have come today instead. As exciting as it is to think we might have a chance of some silverware, there's 7 better teams than us still in it too. Anyway, I don't want us to become another Birmingham, Wigan or Portsmouth.

We now have a mini league of 4 teams to come top of. That is the sum total of Tim's job, and what he will be judged on come the end.

TV coverage... What could possibly go wrong?

I'd play the 'first team' as they need the practice more than they need a rest.

I woke up when Fab came on, thought he played with more energy than the rest of the England team combined.  The only time he lost possession he made sure he won it back with a great tackle on the edge of the box.  Thought he was getting in some pretty dangerous/advanced positions with Henderson sitting deep - could be a sign of things to come with Villa and Sanchez.

There's only one thing I want to see more than Benteke back in the starting 11 immediately... and that's Benteke back in the starting 11 when he's fully recovered, fully effective, and not at risk of a setback due to being brought back too early.  I'm just a fan though - I'm sure the club's medical team knows what it's doing.

No thanks.  Very much doubt he's rejected any offers from anywhere at all.

@Vive_La_Villa (post# 1325)-

That's the spirit... I was starting to get concerned about the overwhelming sense of positivity on here, it's not right you know

I don't know much about him at all, but reading some of the messages on here it seems he can at least defend... if Richardson can attack, that gives us the most balanced left side we've had in a long time.

If they offered £50m it wouldn't be enough, as relegation would cost us more.  

Regardless of that, I'm a Villa fan - I want to see Villa competing and playing well.  Selling the best players from a weak squad is the antithesis of this.  Money in Randy Lerner's pocket does not interest me one bit, as it won't be reinvested in its entirety.

Thanks for that Andy, much appreciated.

 

In terms of an improvement, he's not better than Bertrand so in that sense we're weaker than how we finished last season..

 

Ummm, Bertrand was on Loan, Richardson is not.   Whether that's weaker on the field or not is debatable.  But it's not weaker from a business perspective.  If nothing else, Richardson can play against Fulham....

 

Sounds like you're planning for the Championship next year as well... 

I'm happy with all the signings so far.  We need bodies with experience, and we're not going to sign any world beaters in our current situation.  I'm surprised we're even adding to our wage bill at all.  Hope we retain Concrete Ron and we'll be ok, at least biding our time until a takeover can be agreed.  It's the very best we can hope for right now, sadly.

For a squad lacking depth and experience, Senderos is better than nothing at all.  

If one of his 8 languages is "How to defend... anything at all" then he is better than most of our team.

Considering the poor state of our current squad, and the fact that we've been crying out for an attacking midfielder, and for an experienced head or two, I'd say we could do much worse.  At least he's not a 16 year old turning out for the reserve team of a club playing in the bottom division of the Luxembourg league....

So, if you buy a house for £200,000, then spend another £800,000 on paint to decorate it with (really sh*t quality paint I might add), can you then sell it for £1m?  I think his valuation is going to hold up any kind of quick deal.  I hope I'm wrong.

I've just seen another post above though that suggests PL teams are worth 4-5 times more now than in 2006, which would explain it.  Do you have a source for that stat?

Great opportunity to win a trophy this season - the Premier League one for Liverpool 

Great team performance first and foremost, they didn't stop from start to finish.  Westwood MotM for me - exemplary midfield performance both defensively and in attack.

Wonder what the odds would have been before the game on a Villa win and Bowery on the scoresheet... ;-)

Our GD could take a battering at the Etihad.  If 2 teams below us do enough to reach 35 pts, I'm not sure goal difference will come into it by then.  The Spurs game could be intolerable.

Norwich, Fulham and Cardiff will keep Villa up.  Norwich need a win and draw against Chelsea & Arsenal; Fulham need to beat both Stoke and Palace; Cardiff need to get 2 wins out of 3 and it doesn't matter who they're playing.  If they beat Sunderland it doesn't matter, they'll go down instead.  I don't expect us to get a result against Hull, despite them being safe and looking forward to a cup final.  I think the board should give away some tickets though, as we'd stand a better chance if some fans actually turn up - I wouldn't want to pay to watch what will inevitably be a disappointment.  Staying up by virtue of there being 3 teams worse than us.  Again.  It won't happen next year.

I know this has all been posted already, I'm just trying to convince myself it's true.

That was so unbelievably obvious from the moment Guzan rolled it out instead of belting it.

A really boring and uninspiring 0-0 draw would be beyond my wildest dreams, as that means Norwich can get a lucky win against Arsenal on the last day without actually climbing above us.  That is assuming they don't get any lucky points against Liverpool, Man Utd or Chelsea.  It also assumes that 2 of Fulham, Sunderland and Cardiff still have too much to do, or that West Brom and Swansea remain as bad as we are...

I won't bother picking my team, because Grant Holt will still end up playing with no-one to cross it to him anyway.

Sell up you useless yankee ****wit.  A Championship club is worth less than a Premiership one,  You have but a few weeks.