JoeParker91

Lowton is our best crosser and he gets taken off.

Gabby down the middle at home is rarely effective.

Well this is dull.

I'm pretty confident we can get a point, even nick a win. Really a good time to be playing Everton with their injuries. With Distin out I fancy Benteke to bee too much for them.

On the whole I'm delighted with the Bertrand signing, even more so if there is an option to buy, I think that shows a level of ambition a lot of fans would be happy with. I do worry if Vlaar/Benteke get injured then what we will do? Also, at the beginning of the season there was an air of expectancy Benteke would leave this coming summer. I just hope if that is the case, Lerner reinvests that money back into the club along with his regular £20-25 million. Then we could pursue more attractive deals and have a stronger team as a whole. There has been worse Januarys.

After the nightmare start, I can't remember being so excited watching a Villa game in a long time. I've been very critical of him this season but Weimann was excellent, took his goal tremendously well. Second goal started with a confident run by Bertrand, his difference in quality to Luna is startling. Delph was brilliant in midfield and he deserves his first PL goal at home; he topped his strike against Southampton and he continues to be our player of the season for me. Bacuna had some decent moments but I'm still not sure what his best position is for us, Lowton looked better especially going forward and his general distribution. Second half was understandably a less frantic affair. Benteke's brutal persistence paid off and I thought he looked a beast. I gave him MOM because he was involved in every goal, sometimes by his mere presence. West Brom couldn't handle him (unless they literally did for the penalty) and when Benteke plays well, so do those around him. Vlaar was also a beast second half and just as important for the team, Clark seemed quite rash which does happen when he plays against a striker with sufficient strength but Vlaar showed a lot of experience. We held out well and it was a thrilling game. Although I was delighted with the Man City and Southampton wins, we actually deserved it this game and there was know niggling doubts if we were just flukey. Well done boys.

Was it definitely his goal? I couldn't tell for sure while watching.

Was it definitely Bacuna's goal?

We won't score a better goal this season.

I do prefer Bacuna further forward than RB. His positioning at times is poor (like Lowton) but he does have the pace to make up for this (unlike Lowton). At right-back he seems more nervous on the ball than when he plays further forward. I don't blame him, at his age, adjusting to a new league and not playing in his preferred position, he is doing rather well for the team. At the moment, he does look like he has a mistake in him (ball given away last minute, misjudging his attempted 'header') but I think out of all our signings this summer, he shows the most potential and I think he'll keep improving.

As someone who has been pretty abject with some of our performances, I was absolutely thrilled with how we played today. The last minute goal in the first half and Gabby going off cost us the 3 points (including a penalty that never was). We played some really good stuff, showed fight and resolve and apart from the Henderson save, Brad didn't have too much to do. Bertrand is a fantastic edition, if we could secure him at the end of the season for around 6 million I think our defence of Lowton, Vlaar, Okore and him would be very promising. I know I sound like everyone but an AM would really improve us at home; West Brom now looks like a good opportunity to build on a great result and performance, rather than a must win pressure game.

Absolutely delighted about this signing, completely unexpected when I found out today. He may not play in one of the crucial positions we need but no one can argue he won't get into our first team and improve it. I was worried we would only get in more back up players due to funds, should be one of Lambert's better deals. Welcome Ryan.

My major problem is a lot of people want to see Helenius given a chance and this is just another indication that Lambert doesn't have faith in him. I've seen people on here argue that Helenius isn't a target man so he shouldn't be compared to Kozak and I agree that he isn't, probably one of the reasons he doesn't get a game, but why is being different a bad thing? Holt does show our intent, whether a loan or not, as in if we are losing (which we predominately are) our tactic will be to throw him on and go long. And god forbids if he starts. Our style of football is abysmal and Grant Holt will fit perfectly into that.

Second half did show a dramatic improvement, epitomised by the performance of Bacuna, who actually wanted the ball and made things happen. Other big pluses included Vlaar being back and Benteke scoring. Arsenal did drop off though and allow us a chance back into the match. At least we showed a bit of fight and it wasn't just another meek performance where we just wilt but coming back from 2 goals down is just too much to ask. Hopefully players will gain a little confidence from this as it is an improvement. Can't fathom why he wouldn't chuck Helenius on though?

Why not throw Helenius on?

At least with had a little bit more about us second half.

Well done big man.

Great ball Matty.

It's just nice to have a bit of excitement. A confidence boost could see a big improvement in our football.

Nothing really exciting about him but certainly solid and versatile. Think he'd get into our first team.

Budget and wages can't be used as an excuse, I'm sure we have spent slightly more than Sheffield United. Also, the idea that we came good this time last year so don't panic worries me; you can argue since Houllier we have been in danger of going down in the tail end of the season, we are becoming the new Wigan. Eventually it will catch up on us.

Lambert can't have it both ways, saying the Cup isn't of importance and then play possibly the strongest team available to him bar Gabby. Either he shouldn't have said it or even better, say he'll take the competition seriously like the majority of the fans want. If he doesn't want to concentrate on the cup, then I could accept that more if he gave our younger prospects a game, but alas that wasn't the case. I lost faith in him after Palace, nothing since then has changed my opinion, including the win a Sunderland.

Sheffield United have been the better team the second half, we have been woefully inept.

First post, hi all. Went to the game today, first time I've ever booed my own team. I'm pretty sure we are all pretty unanimous about how we played so I won't bother going over how shambolic we were for the umpteenth time. I am very worried though, our football has been horrendous for the majority of the season, except possibly the West Brom fightback I can't remember us playing well since the first 20 against Everton. Confidence seems rock bottom, very few want the ball and even less are willing to take risks to create anything. I was heavily pro Lambert when he came but I have finally lost faith in him. I accept losing Okore was a big blow but every team has injuries. I'm constantly dumbfounded by certain tactical decisions; his clapping on the sideline like a performing seal and his need to defend the team in every post match interview is frustrating (I'm severely hoping he doesn't actually believe it). He has had a pretty impossible job given the absolute lack of any ambition from the owners and I wonder why he even took the job if he was made aware of this. Now I agree with the post by Wedge, no way can I see Lerner sacking Lambert, I honestly think Lambert would go down with us if that is the case. Lerner has clearly lost interest after the O'Neill romance crashed. Whether Lambert should be sacked, I can agree with both sides but personally I'd like to see him go. Our football is worse than under Mcleish, surely the worst in the league? Victories over Southampton and Man City are proving to be flukes we feared by these performances, they are just papering over the cracks and we would be in the bottom 3 without them. I'd like to see Clarke come in, West Brom were playing great earlier in the season and although I agree this would be a short term fix to a long term problem (lack of ambition from the top), I'm honestly not sure if Lambert will keep us up. There were boos at the end but I'm really surprised the crowd have been so patience with him, I couldn't hear any clear 'Lambert Out' chants (Trinity Upper), losing to Swansea could be the final nail.

Hi all, 22 year old Villa fan from Walsall, supported the team for as long as I can remember. Currently living away due to university so I don't go as much as I used to. Favourite past players include Yorke, Laursen and Ashley Young. Currently ones is dwindling but I know how to correctly spell Clark (I've been browsing the forum for about a year). I'm normally quite an upbeat fan giving people/players the benefit of the doubt but after todays game (0-1 Palace) I booed for my first ever time at Villa Park. Hope I can contribute to the forum, Joe.