sting

Thought we'd signed someone from Man U, or Liverpool

Hi Chris. Loved the post. Agree totally that the ref didn't help matters at Anfield last Sunday. However, playing 4-4-2, with Barry and Petrov as our two central midfielders, was just asking for trouble against a Liverpool side that had just thumped Real and Man U. Couldn't believe that we didn't have a combative midfielder to keep Gerrard company and also to give extra protection to our shaky defence. Only MON knows why he didn't play 4-5-1, which has previously been so successful? Nevertheless, to end on a more positive note, i certainly don't believe that the chase for fourth spot is over yet, not by a long way. If we lose against Man U and take all three points against Everton, then we will only be six points behind Arsenal going into the final run in. If we take a look at who Arsenal have yet to play, as compared to our run in, then it actually might go right down to the last game, who gets that fourth place and we have Newcastle at home, who may be already relegated by then. Agree also with your Steven Defour comments. He is exactly the type of quality MON needs to sign as possible replacements for Barry. We should also look at Downing, who has more pace and guile than GB!

Really enjoyed the excellent report. Very uplifting after Sunday!

Much better than a rant, although i'm sure there are going to be plenty of those in the next few days! Bloody hell! 4-4-2 at Anfield! Barry and Stan as our central midfield parring! Reo-Coker, playing, eh, for Liverpool! Heskey and Carew as our forward line partnership! A world class player called Gerrard, given the freedom of Anfield when there was no holding midfielder to keep him company, or to protect our back four! Our manager then stating after the slaughter was over, 'that villa have over achieved this season' giving a perfect excuse for the players, not to still fight for that CL place! Anything, but being the manager's fault for the way the team was set up and the players he chose and put in the wrong positions? Oops, i guess that was a rant. Sorry!

Hi Jon. Glad someone here doesn't take comments too seriously! Just posting this thread after the Liverpool game. I'm in total shock, not only at the system MON chose to play, but our overall performance! I guess both you, i and a million others will now be sitting in front of our computers, waiting on John's report tomorrow(Monday). I guess the knives will now be out. I sincerely regret to say that i told you so about Reo-Coker. I had hoped that he would somehow prove me wrong and that i could shake your hand and buy you a pint!

Yep Jon, great for GB Athletics teams, but for Villa?

Hi Blandy. The quote about Zidane was rather tongue in cheek and i had hoped that it would be taken as such! My point about Reo-Coker is this. When you pay 8 million for any player you would expect that he would at least be able to pass the ball to one of his team mates from time to time and certainly look comfortable when he receives it. Watching Reo-Coker reminds me of a cartoon characterture, juggling with a time bomb. You state that his overall play has improved? Would like to see the stats on that. Played more for our second string in the UEFA Cup. Eh, why? Martin preferring to play him now at right back, eh, why? How many goal assists, eh, few. How many goals scored, emm? Lets just agree, to disagree Blandy and you can watch your Reo-Coker, while i continue to watch a midfielder bought by MON, who doesn't score regularly, can't pass, or keep the ball with any consistency, but on the positive side, can point and shout at his team mates all day. What a player!

Just wonder Blandy if we are both watching the same player? However, if he becomes Zidane overnight, creates and scores enough goals to see us into fourth spot, then i will gladly agree with you, but i doubt it!

I have been one of those who have ridiculed the signing of Reo-Coker and i still stand by that. For me he gives the ball away too much for a midfielder that cost 8million and he doesn't score enough goals! Nevertheless, he is, less of a liability, at right back, than in midfield and does give us loads of energy from that position, but you couldn't exactly call him a cultured right back? MON might however use Reo-Coker in a five man midfield against Liverpool and Man U, so i would hide behind the settee whenever he receives a pass!

What Villa system and side is going to turn up?

Now that everyone has voiced their opinion here, can we all calm down? The reality of the situation is this. Yes, we have lost fourth place to a excellent Arsenal team which their manager invested in a world class player in January and who is now starting to make them tick. We, needing a new left back, at least one quality midfielder and at least two quality forwards in January, purchased a striker who doesn't score goals, to replace Carew, who is one of our few goal threats, but is however, injury prone! Furthermore, we have been playing Gabby, who has obviously been knackered for quite some time and as a consequence, his confidence has suffered. We also have a manager at the moment who has made some very bizzare tatical decisions in our game against Spurs, which left a lot of head scratching on and of the pitch on Sunday. Does that now make him a bad manager? I think before we continue to hit the panic button, we should look at the teams we play after the Liverpool and United games. Yes mistakes have been made, but lets get behind the team and manager and we can all go out and get pissed at the end of the season with a CL place, or, sit in front of our computer's and have a good old inquest as to why we have only qualified for the UEFA Cup! I mean folks, really?

I have to say a very big 'WELL DONE' to 'Lancsvillan!' Your post said everything that needed to be said and i hope it finds it's way onto the lap of our manager, 'Woody Allen.' As for the above quote from 'Blandy,' eh, i don't yet think we have the quality of player to impersonate any member of the dutch national 'total footballing team' of the 70s!

I think we all need to calm down a little here. Whether some Villa fans booed Gabby or not really shouldn't matter. If they did then they have the right to show their displeasure with either Gabby, or Martin O'Neill, because they pay good money to be entertained by the Villa players and Manager who they trust in making the right decisions for the club, on and indeed of the field! Gabby has been fantastic for two thirds of the season and has ran himself into the ground for our team. MON should have purchased another striker in January as cover for Gabby in the same way he purchased Heskey for Carew. The fact he did not, has had repercussions for the team and indeed Gabby. Gabby should have been rested long before the Spurs game. Also, before we all get ourselves into a real tizz, don't be surprised if we take at least a point against Liverpool and a further three against Everton when we revert back to the tried and trusted 4-5-1 system which had given us so much success! No, i haven't forgotten about Man U, but they are unlikely to play as badly again, as they did against Liverpool, so we could be in for the usual tough afternoon at Old Trafford? However, once the aforementioned games are over, please everyone take a long look at our remaining games. Everyone of them are certainly winable and if we find ourselves three or four points behind Arsenal, remember, Arsenal still have to play Chelsea!

Totally agree with your statement BrownBurger. I've been banging on about this since the January window closed and if we had signed more players, then MON wouldn't have had to sacrifice our UEFA Cup place! Jon i think big Carew plays the lone striker role ok, but i understand your concerns. MON should have bought young Sturidge from Man City to give Gabby a rest, instead of waiting for a cheaper deal for him in the summer! John, i take your point about Davies and i would always choose a in form Davies before Knight, but is Davies also fully fit with his dodgy shoulder? Arshavin for less than 15million John. Me thinks that if you or i had been the manager of our great club, we would have flown, or crawled through the gas pipelines to Russia and then offered Arshavin a yacht, just like Deadly's, to sign for us! Forgot to say in my previous thread that i would also rest Milner. His form has generally been poor in my opinion and therefore MON should set an example to the rest of the players that below par performances are no longer exceptable! I would replace him with either Bannan, or Albrighton(sorry for the spelling). Yes, both these players are inexperienced, but they would give us more than Milner is at the moment. It doesn't matter what age they are. If you are good enough, then you are old enough. The manager at Old Trafford has already proven that, so over to you MON!

Ok John. I agree with most of what you say here, although Reo-Coker as your MOTM, i am finding it hard to reason with. Yes he did play in three different positions within the game, but did he excel in any of those? Petrov was my MOTM, but it is, only my humble opinion. I would also question your assumption that Davies should have played instead of Knight. Based on recent form, i think MON was right to choose Knight, even though i have made my feelings clear on Knight's signing! As for the game itself, it probably was one of our best first half performances, at home, since the season started, but without that, final killer ball! Again, i have stated many times, in previous threads, what the answer would be to this and a little Russian at Arsenal is already starting to prove my point for me! However, with the games away to Liverpool and Man U coming up, MON will probably revert to the 4-5-1 system which has previously served us so well. In the present circumstances and with Gabby's loss of form due to playing from last July, playing with a rejuvenated Carew, as the lone striker,(please MON, not Heskey, no goal threat) will give us an extra body in midfield, to help Barry and Petrov, which as results suggest, we have missed! When Barry and Petrov play in a four man midfield, i believe, due to both players lacking pace, they are therefore too similar and it is allowing the better teams in the Premiership to play through us far too easily! So MON has a choice now. Once we play Liverpool and Man U, do we then revert back to 4-4-2? Considering our run in, after the aforemention games, we should pick up quite a few points, against teams, apart from Everton, that we will certainly be expected to beat. However, it is my opinion, that we should now start with the 4-5-1 system in every game until the season ends. This will then give us more security in midfield and consequently, at the back and also allow MON to have a plan B, should we need to bring a second striker on. A fully rested Gabby coming on for the last 20 minutes of a game would frighten the living daylights out of a tired second tier Premiership defence!

Thank God!

PB, you really should get out a bit more!!

Probably right. However, fans sometimes go onto each other's websites just before a game, and website quotes can find their way into a player, or manager's locker room, amongst other things!

I'm not sure it is correct to being so critical of a manager just before we play his team in one of the most important games of our season? I don't think MON would thank any of us for those sort of comments, even though some fans here, may think that they are well founded!

Totally agree with everything you have said about the Man City game. Not for the first time this season Blandy, our first half performance was poor and that is being kind. I actually thought we were watching a re-run of our UEFA Cup performance against Hamburg, but unlike that night, we did improve in the second half. Clearly Agbonlahor needs to be rested. He is, as always, giving 110%, but 1 goal in the last fourteen games speaks for itself! Martin should now give the Fonz a chance to show what he can do if we don't revert to one up front. He is knocking the goals in for the reserves and plays more in the mould of a young Dwight Yorke, so would give teams prepared for Gabby, something different to think about! Heskey is also proving why Martin shouldn't have bought him. He will run all day foryou and hold the ball up, but his lack of goal threat is too obvious. However, on a more positive note, when Cuellar was moved into central defence, we looked a lot more solid at the back. Martin should now keep him there and let Davies shoulder and his confidence heal properly! Shorey, or a fit again Boom Boom should then play at left back and Young at right back. James Milner at right, eh, no and our Goalkeeper from Alien 4, simply fantastic! We don't have too many other options to freshen things up but i hope the break will re-focus the team to the job in hand? So please remember we are still in fourth place, three ahead of the Arsenal and CL qualification to play for!

I actually agree up to a point with a lot of what you say PB, but if we fail to qualify for the CL, i believe it will be more to do with Martin's failure to strengthen our squad properly in January! Right up until the last day of the transfer window, reports coming out of Villa Park were stating that Martin was trying to buy players. The fact that we didn't probably could be explained by one quote from Martin which stated, 'value for money.' Where do you get value for money now? Certainly the signing of Heskey could be termed as 'value for money'(even though i didn't agree with his transfer due to his injury record and lack of goals) but you really need to shop in the european market were Wenger is a master and Steve Bruce is trying to be one! As we all know, Martin likes to buy British and he generally won't pay the going rate for top British players, with the probable exception of our Messi. Consequently, my point is that if Martin had improved our squad with more quality players from home, or abroad, in January, then he wouldn't have had to make the decision about the UEFA Cup! Martin has recently stated that if we do qualify for the CL then we will have to strenghen significantly in the summer to cope with all the matches we will have to play. It may well be that he should have done this last January, but nevertheless, we should all get behind the manager and the team and get ready for a real nail biter of a finish!

I have chosen this comment just to further highlight your negativity PB. We still have an excellent chance of finishing in fourth place. Yes it is true that we have some very hard fixtures coming up and the likelyhood is that, over the next five matches, we are going to drop points! However, i think it is inportant that we get things into perspective here. I would hope that those morons who showed their dissatisfaction by booing the team after conceeding two late goals against Stoke, remember where we have been before Martin and Randy arrived? We also have to remember that those two goals by Stoke, were actually very well worked goals and certainly not lucky! It is therefore very inportant that over the next period of these aforementioned matches, we, the fans, do not panic, but create that extra 12th man and give the team all the support they need. I think PB, it is you, who, not only is showing signs of negativity, but also the very thing you accused our manager of suffering from, 'pressure!' Very glad indeed that we have Martin as our manager and NOT yourself PB!

Very, very disappointed in this quote. However, i'm glad that the vast majority of Villa fans on this website can at least understand my point of argument, without trying to make it personal and are supporting our manager in what he is trying to do!

Just a few words in reply to the above comment. The majority of British players will not tell their manager, fans, or media that they are tired, in fear of losing their place in the team, or indeed being ridiculed by the ordinary man in the street who has to work for a living! Tiredness can also lead to a loss of form, whereby you don't have that same sharpness to put away goal chances that you would otherwise score if you were fresh. Agbonlahor is tired and his form is suffering as a consequence. By stating that Martin should have bought someone to replace Agbonlahor, i meant a proven goalscorer, of the same ilk, who would also have improved competition for places in our forward line. I don't think for one minute that Martin would see Carew and Heskey as a long term partnership. Generally speaking, Martin sets his team's up with a front pairing of the one big and little man partnership! Martin's decision on the UEFA Cup has split Villa fan's opinion. What would Villa fans prefer? To send a full team to Russia which was showing signs of fatigue and risking burnout for the Premiership run in, or rest his main players, giving them every chance of qualifying for the CL? I think Martin has looked at it and felt if we don't qualify for the CL this season, then barring a catastrophic reversal of form, we should still qualify for the UEFA cup again, without having to enter 'The Two Bob Cup!' Good players are more inclined to come to a club playing in Europe, and therefore qualifying for Europe, will help Martin boost our squad in the summer again with better players to replace those at Villa Park who simply aren't good enough! I think the only thing that has changed at Villa Park since the Chelsea defeat, is fans perception of exactly what we are going to achieve with our present team! I have read in certain threads on this website that we were going to repeat the European Cup successes of the great Villa and Forest teams and now those very same fans are starting to criticize the manager. Maybe now a little bit of realism has set in and we now realise that we are in a transitional period, rather than the finished article! However, to my knowledge, there is no negativity coming out of Villa Park at the moment and we, the fans, should not try and concoct any!

We had a choice, or Martin had a choice of whether to run our season into the ground by sending our Premiership team to Russia, or giving those players a much needed rest and giving squad players a run out. Do Villa fans think our players are machines whereby they can play from July untill the end of the season without a rest? Certainly GB needed a rest due to carrying a injury. Petrov also needed resting after trying to give protection to our defence when we were playing one up front. Gabby is showing all the signs of burnout and his form is duly suffering. The systems we have been playing has also taken a lot out of the players, with Martin's high pressured game plan maybe now showing it's effect on the players. We don't seem to have the energy to close down players in the final third of matches. Maybe Martin should have improved the squad more in January. Maybe he should have bought someone to replace Gabby. However, he did not, so he had no other choice than to rest some of the players. I don't think there is even a question of whether Martin can handle the pressure. Of course he can! He has made a decision to forsake the UEFA cup, to give us a better chance of CL qualification. No sign of pressure there. The question of whether it was the right decision for other Villa fans, will only be truely answered at the end of the season, so lets give our fantastic team and manager all the support they need to push us over the finishing line to that magical fourth place!