Wezbid

Giving them more respect than they deserve, they've played some nice enough stuff since we've not got in their faces. I wouldn't describe them as awful at all but we could put a few more past them if we actually press them and don't camp out in our own half.

They're not great but absolute dogshit is over the top. They're hardly whipping boys.

I said the team is balanced. 2 up top, 2 proper wingers, 2 central midfielders, 2 full backs, 2 centre backs. We're giving them too much respect but the players and formation is a better balance than previously.

Liking the line-up, nice and balanced. Snodgrass roaming centrally whilst also providing width. Stick with this line-up consistently and we should pick up points.

He's put out a balanced side with most of our best players. Stick with this and he'll probably get results and keep his job, it's not rocket science.

If he had, I'm sure he'd have let everyone know about it.

He might have his issues but I don't see him as the spawn of Satan, either. We're desperate for goals and we can't even stick him in the bench. A guy banging in 25 plus a season with his 'issues and baggage'.

Love a double post.

There was a guy who was at Watford who said selling clubs were peed off if clubs bid for their players without tapping them up first. They would much rather other clubs sound out their target and get a feel for if there was interest in a move (plenty don't want to move). Clubs would rather their player be tapped up through agents than a public approach or doing it via the correct channels and causing more unrest than simply asking an agent if they'd be interested. It makes sense to me. In this day and age I would think every single manager would expect their club to put the feelers out about a replacement if they aren't up to scratch. Managers and clubs do it with nearly all players.

Pouble Dost.

Answering questions with questions, very little substance. Is there a minimum price the club would have to charge season ticket holders for AVTV for example or is it just lumping the blame with the EFL? Discount at the club shop, items are insanely over-priced on what they cost to make. If the club lose money by not selling at full price then something is wrong. It's asking for a lump sum of money from the fan on blind faith with little reward for that loyalty. Villa Park doesn't sell out, more and more people will start to pick and choose their games if there's little benefit to stumping up all at once. It smacks of taking people's loyalty for granted and this is after some of the worst years for fans for decades. People can read through the jargon and bull these days. I appreciate these meetings but everytime I'm left underwhelmed after reading. Nothing really seems to be progress.

Sickening.

I've gone full circle and want super Olof again. It's a risk but all appointments are, Bruce on paper looked like a sure thing with his history.

I blame wine and auto-correct.

In regards to attendances and lowering numbers if the amount of money in the game helped subsidise affordable entry fees then the ground would be rammed for league games. Attendance income is a drop in the ocean to clubs but the prices charged are an ocean in a drop on people's income. I applaud those who go no matter what but the cost in attending matches just doesn't match with people's incomes. I'm a delivery driver for a supermarket and earn about £11k a year, busting my ass. Football is a luxury I can't justify. It's not about being a glory hunter, it's about justifying the expenditure. The lines of Bradford had it right with their bargain season tickets.

Haha, remember one of the goals against Wigan when people were asking who played a magnificent 70 yard pass to set up the assist, ready to heap praise in them. Then the answer was Gardner and nobody responded or said just what quality it actually was. That in a nut-shell defines a lot of what I read on here. I don't think he's good enough for a team expected to push for a title and then consolidate in the Prem. The large/long new deal was stupid. 2/3 years I could sort of understand but Bruce barely played him after he signed the new deal. We'd have saved more not offering a long deal and letting him go for a fair price. None of this is Gardner's fault however and there was a promising player in there, Forest fans rate him from what I've read. He's not deserving of some of the comments on here. Have some grace about yourselves. He's a solid Championship midfielder, it may not be good enough for what we require but it's not deserving if some of the tripe offered his way either. Without the injuries and therfore no consistency of football over the important years of his development we may have had the player we hoped. It wasn't to be. All the best Gardner from me.

Yorke seems like Collymore to me, they both care but they have a hugely inflated ego and expect an influence they don't warrant. It's all about themselves first and foremost, the club trailing far behind in priorities, despite the 'passion'.

Absolutely. It's just an easy jibe to throw his way. He has his limitations these days but I can't grasp some of the stuff I'm reading in here. It reads like stuff pre-prepared, ready to trot out regardless of what he does. An injury is ample opportunity for some to stick the knife in and then others to twist it.

Good squad player at the very least. He didn't show his Bournemouth side often enough last year but I just can't accept that he's rubbish that needs shifting. We're far more heavily stocked in other positions. Elphick as a stand in is bloody good cover imo.

Vermaelen?! What the actual fook? Not a chance.

Despite my unhealthy love for Mellberg, Jokanovic just makes complete sense, doesn't it?

Probably because we're not set up to do so, more than a lack of players who can score. Pointless signing goalscorers if we're not set up right. Hogan can and will score but not by by-passing the midfield and going 3 at the back. Build attacks in the deck and attack as a unit with cohesion and purpose and the lines of Hourihane, Green, Hogan, Davies, Lansbury, Snodgrass, Adomah and Onomah will bag goals. Players miss chances, the best in the game miss more chances than they'll put away (Aguero misses many for example). The key is to keep creating rather than hoping for a high percentage of goals to chances ratio.

It'll never catch on.

He doesn't know his first choice 11 or formation. It's just continuous chopping and changing. Injuries or no injuries most teams have a settled formation players are comfortable in and which brings out their qualities and those of their team-mates. I like managers to have time to work for stability and consistency but I could be in charge from tomorrow and offer more. What makes it worse is that the pressure was taken off him via playing a team that works and formation that works yet completely ditched it at the first opportunity. Villa talk doesn't speak for everybody but most fans seem to struggle with the logic behind his teams these days. When he first took over he found success playing players in their more comfortable positions too then started chopping and changing. 99.9% of us couldn't coach these guys but we could provide some consistency and playing players where they are suited. Samba over Bree or RDL is just mind-blowing. Teams should be fearing us, not because of the size of the club or the name but because we have proven quality players. They are being wasted and it's a travesty. I backed his appointment and tried to justify certain things but it's just enough now. On the plus side, he's got a good eye for a player. Any progressive, attack minded manager coming in won't believe his luck.

Have to agree. Playing that card when most managers would kill for a budget to bring in Snodgrass for a season, alone, never mind all the other players over the last 10 months. The budget excuse can wash in the Prem but not after the freedom he's had to bring in so many players. No wonder Xia is starting to get a bit snippy when he's still going on about balancing the books after bringing in Snodgrass. The books are far from balanced, he's been allowed to bring in loads of players whilst we've barely got rid of the bigger names/wages (not his fault but it hasn't stopped Tony letting him bring in players).