Jon

i'm still some way down on this, sadly

of the "regulars", i think it's 6.

Risso, Bicks, Al, Pete Bland and Ian(drat) and Ian Robbo.

som mostly the north west "massive"

and then there was last year's excellent 4-0 win. Luke Moore's hat-trick was punctuated by a goal from Kevin Phillips, a Boro fan stalked the touchline and launched his season ticket into the dugout, and Lee Cattermole cried. Cracking day.

You CANT score goals unless you have a midfield and team behind you to deliver the goods.

whilst i appreciate the point, i think you need to try telling that to Darren Bent, as he doesn't seem to understand this .....

On the flip side of this "JPA needs to play with superb & in form players at their peak to bring the best out of him" argument, cannot one also venture the argument that surely a player of his talents should be expected to shine head and shoulders above his team mates if those team mates are, for want of a better word, rubbish?

Because he doesn't, and rarely has.

Even when we've had bad seasons, the players I can think that were standing out were Ollie and Barry.

The argument that player X can/will only come good when played in a team full of superstars seems a rather weak one IMO.

maybe not Bri.

Not sure Delaney can either then TBH.

Played for England more times than Barry though :wink:

well yes, then the Stan reference is somewhat baffling, i'll agree.

One coule also argue though that Dazz Vass was at his peak whilst he was with us & playing with JPA. He's certainly not attained the same level of performance since.

TBH that was when both they and us were doing well, when JPA & Dazz we're firing well together up front.

"shame there were no great players at Villa at his peak " - WHAT !!!!!

Paul Merson, Gareth Barry, Dion Dublin, Steve Staunton, Mark Delaney, Nobby Solano

and others

none of these could create chances for strikers could they !!!!

Im not gonna go into a debate regarding the accuracy of this statement, even though its flawed. But the part in bold is brilliant

His last years at Villa, which you are refering to, was **** disgraceful IMO. Jesus christ ive never seen a worse left back at Villa ever. Samuel looks world class compared.

why must the poster be referring to his 2nd spell at Villa, Tarj?

Maybe he was referring to his 1st spell, when he was indeed excellent for us and was in his prime.

Great player in his prime, Stan Staunton.

Neither. Good bloke, good striker at times, not so at others and should've gone last summer really.

well that's what i would've voted for too.

except for some reason it wasn't an option. :?

apparently we have to either treat him as some sort of god or think he's the devil incarnate.

a halfway house would be nice ......

Hero as a person.

Flop as a player. One good season isn't enough.

I genuinely don't understand how 71% can say he's a Villa hero.

Maybe they understand it was more than one good season!

yes, it was 2 out of nearly 6 i think, Al?

The season during which JG left and GT took over - good season.

DOL's 1st season - good season.

The rest have been distinctly average - to the point where in those other seasons he hasn't always been seen as a regular starter in the 1st 11.

a combination of injuries/poor form/managerial changes/different tactics/lack of pace have all done for him, IMO.

based purely on footballing contribution for the £9.5m invested, i had to say flop.

Thats ofc ignoring his injuries, tactics and his good seasons. Then yes, he would have been a flop

how does "footballing contribution" ignore his good seasons? :?

IMO, weighing the "good seasons" with the bad ones (due to injury, poor form or not being selected) then i don't think he's been particularly good Value for money.

Better Tarj?

One of the nicest looking men I have ever seen, he has gorgeous eyes If he goes what have the ladies left to look at.

Berger?

Beyond settling in and before his injury which has clearly lost him a yard of pace: hero, during settling in and after his injury: flop. People will say we never saw the best of Juan but during the period when he was good he was amazing and scored goals off little or no service.

roughly my POV too Richard .....

based purely on footballing contribution for the £9.5m invested, i had to say flop.

he has not justified that price tag, even though i think he has a good degree of talent

As a person, a great guy, and he's gone through a lot for the villa cause.

Contribution on the pitch has not, overall IMO, been significant enough to label him a hero though.

Surprised Moore hasn't got one single vote... Gabby for me.

If he'd not been out injured for most of the campaign, he may have been an option.

But he was, so i can't think of a valid reason for anyone to vote moore over gabby or Gazza :?

Captain Marvel for me.

I think this one will be a white wash, as only 1 has played regularly...

er No Cahill has played almost as much as Gabby - 21 apps

he's also played more consistantly imo

yes - a toss up between these 2 IMO.

I voted for gazza though.

For me, Gabby had a decent start to the season, and has shown signs of form the last 3 games or so.

In the middle he was very average.

Gazza for me has been consistently good, with the odd mishap and the odd superb game thrown in.

So he'd take it for me.

Boomer by a country mile.

offered very little last season due to injuries and settling in.

Started very tentatively this season but is now looking a very decent left back.

Ridger has not played enough for me to win this - he's only played a handful of games

I think the point that the initial poster is trying to make is that whilst you don't have to support the club closest to where you grew up as the crow flies, to support a club (in this case Man U) simply because they are a) famous with lots of media attention and pretty darn good and win trophies is maybe a little "fickle" for want of another word.

My mate is a Liverpool fan (although almost never goes to the games). Currently lives in Macclesfield. Born & brought up in Wolverhampton. Aged 34. Liverpool were the best team in the 70s & 80s. I see a connection.

it's why we as outsiders see many Man U fans as Gloryhunters from London. People support them becuase they're successfull. I don't rate these sorts of fans as highly as someone who follows stockport county for example.

where was Ozzy?

Injured?

Why does everyone think the media is against us? If it's not Gale, it's Lawro and if it's not Lawro it's Le Tiss. In my experience the media (and most supporters of other clubs) are completely indifferent to the Villa. Most can't be bothered enough to dislike us. Chill out peeps when we storm into the top 5 then they'll have enough reasons to dislike us.

exactly. some poeple need to get over themselves. Don't be so precious.

thought he gave a reasonable assessment of what was going on.

he had no bias one way or the other as he's not a Evernot fan either. he's an 'Ammer.

Reid gave a decent analysis and quite a fair one despite being an ex Evernot player.

so i think we'd all like to see Gardner and Moore in the 16 at least against Blackburn.

Anyone willing to bet that our esteemed manager will select them?

Me neither ..... :evil:

Hopefully, Moore putting a fair amount of effort into last night's game might have cauight the eye of MON, if that's what he was after. Hopefully ....

sorry.

couldn't resist the open goal you laid on there OF.

Had DOL been in charge, we would have lost 3-0 and Barry wouldn't have been on the pitch.

What absolute rubbish.

exactly OF.

would have been more like 4 or 5 nil .......

We made Everton look like Man Utd.

In the first half yes we did. In the second half i'd say we we looked more like Man Utd. Big turnaround, and part of the fighting spirit factor which we seem to have this season which was conspicuous by its absence last season.

MON needs to answer some serious questions, disgraceful team selection today.

that i will agree with.

for the life of me i cannot fathom why Moore is not at the very least on the bench as an option.

Unless MON's fabled man management skills have come unstuck with this player.

what has Ridge done wrong to not even warrant a place on the bench. He started this season superbly.

Anyway, the results have gone down the pan, but at least it's not been without a fight. Which is more than I can say for last season.

Better.

pretty much where i'm coming from too Dave.

we've had more fight this season, and also i can recall several games where we've played really well and not got anything out of it.

we've hit rather a bad slump and confidence has obviously been affected.

i think it's been a poor season, but at least i can see the effort that is being put in. Simply didn't happen during much of last season.