sled

How do you know he was lazy? Make a habit of hating one or two Villa players do you? You must live a miserable life.

As 239 so far have voted for MON to stay, I think there's a bit of an over-reaction going on up there ^^^^^^, especially from Daft. Very rarely is there a 100% Yes vote, although I can think of one country where the dead once upped and voted giving the regime in power 102% backing. Calm down.

Well I did write "I suppose some would say to that that Carew should have just carried on as if there was no problem" in the hope that this would obviate any likelihood that anyone would point out that Carew is a big boy now, but then along comes BigJim, omits that bit from his quote from my post, young scamp that he is. Foiled again. You're absolutely right though BJ. I wonder though if the fact that it's been some time now since JC ran into such an enemy referee, perhaps he was thinking "Oh shit, is this all starting up again? I thought it had died a death." And of course he hasn't been in the best of form lately anyway.

Agree with this, the ref was **** awful with Carew Well said Wol. I suppose some would say to that that Carew should have just carried on as if there was no problem, but this isn't the first time he has been penalised for I don't know what, breathing perhaps. It can't be much fun. Naturally there is no shortage of experts in man-management whose remedy would be 'a rocket up the arse', whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. At different times this rocket up the arse has been seen as the solution in the cases of Gabby, Ashley Young, NRC and other players. No doubt from people who solve problems with malfunctioning TVs by giving them a thump (it's the only language they understand) or moody photocopiers by giving that jammed paper a good hard tug, or Basil Fawlty-like, giving that car that won't start the damned good thrashing it doubtless deserves. Meanwhile one or two are elsewhere proposing that Carew should '**** off'. That'll help, I'm sure. Seriously what you see isn't always laziness or lack of effort and a rocket up the arse is hardly ever the solution to anything.

How about the monthly "Thank God we haven't still got that bastard O'Leary" thread?

So why did so many players suddenly have an off-day today? Something to do with the tactics, gameplan or formation perhaps?

No Osbourne??? :confused: :?: :? You're all completely warped. OK, but seriously, I'd love to see Albrighton given a runout. Tomorrow would be ideal for it.

Desmond? What is he on about? Villa to win by something like 4-2.

Indeed. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

So it is now "arrogant" to say that Petrov is knackered without asking him. Hmm.

I'd go further. It's called a dugout for a reason too. Back to dugouts that really are dug out.

Uncomfortable rusty seats in the dugout. In the passage leading to the pitch some nice old prints over on the opposition side of players being stretchered off with a coat over their head after a butchering by Frank Barson, George Curtis or Andy Lochhead. Something like 'This is Anfield' but much more macabre and threatening. Dear old Albert, the 88-year-old Visitors' Dressing Room Attendant, snot streaming from his nose, nice clean white coat already soiled by the afternoon's first three attacks of diarrhea. No, change that to dear old Douglas, well it'd give the old duffer something to do. His young protege Noel Blake looking after their belongings during the match. A dressing Room Ghost. A personal handshake and smile from Craig Gardner. Loud Black Sabbath music as they come out on to the pitch. Make Villa Park a fortress. The dugout is already in place.

Is that the Hawthorns?

I'm more bothered about what opposition players and management think. Do they think our dugout is a disgustingly cramped and uncomfortable throwback to the 20th century, a total embarrassment, bringing memories of players with 1930s hairstyles and fans on the terraces gobbing lukewarm Bovril at them from behind? They do? Good. Keep it as it is then.

I always use a bag myself. :oops:

They always get off to a woeful start but this season they seem to be pushing things too far. Losing the manager, Pellegrini, can't have helped. Incidentally, the Wiki page for Pellegrini currently contains this gem: On October 19,byran Robson resign, Thailand at Manuel Pellegrini as manager, Get Thailand will to world soccer 2014. Good old Robson, popular as ever!

I am often very sceptical when fans of the home team scream for a penalty but watching the game on a poorish stream the Bosingwa/Gabby incident looked very much like a penalty. I then saw it in slow motion from behind it was quite clear what had happened. I am also often very sceptical when fans blame the poor old referee for every decision that goes against their team, even the perfectly correct ones. I wondered if the referee had been badly-positioned for that particular incident. In fact he had what looked to me like a perfect view of it. Though of course he didn't have an action replay in slow motion. That's the only excuse I can make for him. That and the fact it's a difficult job and everybody makes mistakes. He'll have seen the pictures himself and will know that he should have given a penalty. It was absolutely cast-iron. But even an honest Chel$ki fan sitting in the Witton Lane Stand and having a fairly similar view to what was on the TV will know that. Or an honest bluenose watching it on the telly in the sex-offenders' wing. Good job we won Mr Friend. Good job we won.

Answered however. By me and by Ryan. Any more questions you don't want answering? Perhaps a better answer would have been: All Hail the Great Saviour 4-4-2! Sound familiar? 8)

Yes. As mentioned by Stato about 40 minutes ago on another thread, I've just noticed. I'm slow today. I wonder if Pandiani ever got his HGV licence. Quite apart from looking a bit like a lorry-driver (or a typical brawler from the back streets of Montevideo, as one Spanish commentator once observed) he once bought himself a nice shiny red lorry (chassis) - no Baby Bentleys for him.

Good old Atlético. As I write they're 3-0 down away to the not very mighty Osasuna with 2 goals coming from that great superstar who once graced the ranks of small heath alliance with such notable success, Walter Pandiani.

"As well as Chelsea have played all season," according to more than one. And I was impressed as impressed as I was last season in the away fixture with their passing and build-up. They have a very decent defensive record too this season, but I thought this side of their play was less impressive. And is Bosingwa so wonderful that most of the time they didn't double-mark him? Chelsea looked very good near goal too, but I think the fact they only scored once was due to some superb heroics by Friedel and the wonderful Collins, though the other 3 defenders were pretty wonderful too. For me Warnock had his best game. Some uniform high marks there John. Not like you at all. As someone else has said elsewhere, several candidates for Man-of-the-Match: Friedel, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Milner, Gabby, even Martin O'Neill despite an untimely lapse in concentration, which Anelka certainly made him pay for. I think he got the tactics just right. I groaned when I saw he was going 4-2-4, but this was fine for a match against this Chelsea side, as indeed it was for Man Citeh a fortnight earlier. So who could you have given a low mark to? One or two would say Carew but they don't post on VT any more. Nobody really is there! Like TRO I would like to see an improvement in the passing and I also agree with what he says about the team spirit etc. We've shaken off the home bogey and we've beaten Liverpool and Chelsea and got a good draw against a Man City with a rampant Bellamy. Things are going very well at present, roll on the next game. Thanks for another great report.

4-5-1 (4-3-3) against teams who play this. 4-4-2 against teams who play 4-4-2. Until we can get Gabby to work in a meaningful partnership with another central striker. But the thread is supposed to be about whether Petrov can play in a 4-4-2. Yes of course he can, but I'd rather it wasn't with Delph for the time being. With Sidwell, NRC, Gardner even yes, why not?

We are indeed fortunate to have people to point that out.

Ash isn't at his best and hasn't been for a while. Some little jumped-up shits would sulk but Ashley just gets on with it and is still keeps making good runs into space - the men behind him must appreciate this. Good attitude.

A shame you didn't post this before the match in fact.