tinker

Without Rooney Man U would have lost, the guy ran the show and it took all of our defenses concentration to keep tags on him, he was playing up front alone and it took 4 defenders to keep him under control (even then he created chances) Sometimes you just have to sit back and admire players like him, even though he plays for the opposition. Watching matches like this as Villa fans is always a nervous affair, years of last minute f**k ups, bad decisions and a whole lot of other crap have made us all very nervous, this is why, IMO, the fans lose patience easily.

Milner was never going to be able to get involved in the game against Spurs, they more or less by passed the middle or kept going down their right side through Bentley, it was very effective and I don't blame Harry for doing it. Milner in the middle is very much a work in progress, he will have great games and bad. To compare him to Huddlestone now is a no no, he has far more experience in the middle. Milner however has got far more to come than Huddlestone has, his work rate is probably twice what Huddlestones is, he can spot a pass (like Huddlestone) and has a reasonable amount of pace. Its of no surprise he has been linked to some of the Sky top 4 and this summer,IMO, we will have a battle to keep him. On the who's got the biggest 'C**K argument, Spurs or Villa, who cares? We have both underachieved and to boast about successes in our past is a bit embarrassing, to us both!

Lennon has been in good form for about a season now, his good form started about this time last year. Not to sure on his assist stats, reckon they will be quite good, one of our 'off form wingers' has also got great stats, he just don't look as specular as Lennon. Against us this season, Bentley was more affective, hitting long balls in, rather than Lennon's way of trying to take on the full back and get to the byline or attack the edge of the box. Guess its all about opinions though.

GlastonSpur, you don't half bring the punters in :wink: . If I was to try and make a fuss on a forum, then I would be you! Cheers. Its also raises the profile of your own team and thats the only reason I can see that you post on here. TBH, if you was a NE team then I would probably not dislike you too much, but you ain't and that typical cocky way about you adds to that feeling. Good luck for the rest of the season, I feel both you and us are gonna need it to finish in the top 4. UTV

Spurs played well and we did ok, our defense is arguable the best in the league atm and thats very important. Crouch and Defoe look bang on form with nearly every Crouch header falling to Defoe. Petrov's injury is troubling and being unlucky with NRC injury could cost us. Delph and Mllner are to light weight atm to play together. We are however 1 point better of home and away compared to last years games against Spurs, and Spurs are 2 points down. If we can get results like this playing badly against an on form Spurs team then things are looking good, we need to hit form in the very near future to stand any chance of breaking into the top 4, Liverpool are now clear favorites IMO.

Looking forward to this one, Spurs should be more tired than us so thats our first advantage. Second, Bale, IMO he is weak in defense, great going forward and given a bit more confidence he may improve. However, even against Leeds, when he was isolated he looked all over the place, against quality wingers, on their game, he could cost Spurs. Spurs however have Defoe on fire and I feel sure he will score at some stage, especially with Collins and Dunne in the middle, perhaps given the chance Davies or Carlos would have been better suited, we will see. All the players, from both teams, have plenty to prove to the press, the fans and the England manager, just hope its a fair game with no bad decisions from the ref. Score 2-2.

Reckon you have hit the nail on the head there,. Excellent performance, Fulham had not been beat at home since September. MOTM, Gabby for the goals, Petrov, Dunne and Young all had great games. We need to go on a run now, reckon we will get something at Spurs but Man U is gonna be tough, we have nothing to be scared of, especially with us hopefully starting to hit some form. UTV

I have a feeling we are going to turn it on today, 3-1 to the Villa.

You forgot the handball in the box, from the Arsenal player, can't remember which one. The ref was very bad tonight, seemed to have an unjustified arrogance about him. He upset Heskey though, Heskey really lost it and seemed to play with more aggression after it, he needs a slap before every game. Well played to them all, Downing missed a couple of sitters but how any games has he been back for? My MOTM........Milner. his work rate was amazing, it reminds me of a couple of other players, Rooney and Tevez and that can't be bad. UTV

Draw

Nice to see Davies back. Sidwell, what can I say I rated him at one time but he did nothing at all for me today, when he won a 50/50 the ball went to the opposition, he can't spot a pass and ain't that good in the air, to me he is dead wood. Delph's goal was the best of the bunch, he does look like he will be a great player and should now be in front of Sidwell. A Young? IMO had a bad game but he scored one and made one? Strange but he gets in so many great positions and either chooses the wrong option or does not get picked out by the player in possession, he played most of the second half on the right in acres of space, but was largely ignored, very strange IMO. We really never got to grip in the middle today, wide wing play was great but second balls were all Brighton's, its starting to worry to me TBH, I can see why Petrov/ NRC are needed. The Fonze played well despite being played in a holding role, ala Heskey, he had a great effort that hit the post and would have been the goal of the game, if.... Turnout was fantastic, from both teams (special mention to the Brighton fans) 40,000, wow. UTV

Milner has only been in the middle for a few games, give him chance and he will become more effective. He wanted the ball far more than he was given it.

It was Chris Boyd

WOW, a top top game that I will remember for the rest of my days. To come back from being 2 goals down and win was an amazing roller coaster journey. MOTM? I can't bring myself to pick one, so I wont. The fans....the scenes after it were quite incredible and the noise generated during the game was probably the loudest I have heard, post seating. Win or lose the final its games like this that make it all worth while, so I for one will bask in the glory for a few more days. UP THE VILLA!

So nervous i can barely type, stomach flipping, got to get there and shout a bit before the nerves will settle. Please score early so I can settle, if we don't I can't see myself lasting the full 90 (or longer) without St Johns been needed (^ or a toilet).........UTV

Everton are looking good now, hit some form and their injured players seem to be close to a return, perfect timing. Really fancy them to go far in the UEFA and push up the league.

The fans were as great as the ref was poor. He had a shocker and Blackburn took advantage of his weakness and unwillingness to make a brave decision. Countless fouls on A Young, the last one was followed up with him being shoved and pushed around in a sort of bullying type manner, disgraceful. The tackle on Downing from McCarthy was an absolute disgrace and he was lucky not to have a broke his leg. Collins took a forearm smash to his head that IMO was deliberate. The return leg will be tough. Blackburn will be very physical and will either bully us off the park or have a player sent off. I also hope we contest Gabby's yellow card. MOTM would be Milner, but Downing was very close and looks to be growing into a fantastic player for us. A Young..........will the real A Young please stand up? If he was half the player we know he can be, the goal would be flying in. He will find form IMO and the quicker he does then the quicker we wil become a top 4 team. UTV PS The fans were unbelievable, watched it on a Arabic channel and the noise they made was....... :notworthy:

Yes, it's called John Carew and to a slightly lesser extent Ashley Young, two players signed in the same window.......... Ashley Young is a winger, and therefore irrelevant to the discussion at hand, and Carew's official cost was £4.5m as well, the same as Harewood. So, signing players between £4.5m and £30m, surely has to be a possibility. Even for somebody with as poor a record of signing strikers like O'Neill. Randy will fund the fee but not the wages. The wages have to provided by the turnover of Villa and without CL money we cannot afford it, yet. This has always been the way and I feel sure I have read and/or heard statements from the club to support this.

Arshavin is a great player and so is Febregas, even an unfit one. We however have Young, Milner, Downing and Gabby( who tore Gallas apart last year) who can all be classed as great players. Carew has caused havoc in Arsenals defense before, so they should all know the score with him. They are worried and they need to be IMO. Our defense needs no introductions.

Nasri got off with his 'stamp' so he can play, quite how I don't know, the guy acted like a complete idiot and deserved a ban. This Arsenal side really are arrogant, they follow their managers lead and swagger about the pitch with no respect at all. see here How the once proud name of Arsenal has been dragged to these levels is beyond me. The press praise their football ability, but seem to ignore the other side to this team that most fans see. Wengers moaning, their diving and petulance, their lack of English players..... I so hope we do them, its good versus bad IMO. I don't care about L Pool, its Arsenal I want, Father F****n Christmas!

For Arsenal to be challenging for the title they need to win this match and we are a powerful team that they usually struggle with (when they are not firing on all cylinders) I watched them against Hull and they struggled, despite the scoreline. I think we will win this one 3-1, unless they get a major break with a poor decision or two thrown in (highly possible with the way Arsenal cheat) Even if we lose both of these matches its not the end of the world, or our challenge on the top 4. We should all learn the lesson from last season, there will be many turns before the season ends, some good and some bad. UTV

MON will leave for an international job as no other would meet the challenge he has at Villa, we are on the bring of greatness and he, IMO, will stay around to bask in that glory This Utd talk is nonsense, they have no money, they are £790m in debt and its costs £60m + a year to service the debt and thats without paying any of the capital off. They will have to renegotiate the loans and this will be difficult and very expensive interest wise. Their debt is rising despite winning the league, last season the champions league and the league. This is no secret amongst the business side of the game, even the clued up Man U fans know the score. They sold or got rid of arguable their best two players last season, Ronaldo and Tevez, ask why? Is it to build a better team? No, its to service debt. They need a whole new midfield and 2-3 world class defenders, plus 2 world class strikers ,that ain't gonna be cheap, Prob £200m +. . UTV.

MON is to clever to go to Man U, they are a club in decline after years of success. They have money trouble and will not be spending anywhere near enough to be able to rebuild the team to heights they have reached. Its a conclusion drawn from the facts given by Man U's actions and their financial situation, which is very real and daunting TBH. He will leave when he has finished the job he has started, when he does it will not be for a job in club football, it will be to manage an international team. Life has many turns and as Celtic fans will testify, MON holds family values above any job and that includes Villa, so this option always has to be considered. All IMHO.

IMO, In many ways this is one of the toughest games for us. We have the shadow of last years defeat and last gasp equalizer. We also have Stokes physical style, they will get amongst us and make us really work for this. Milner has a fresh test in his adopted midfield role and he will get a very thorough physical test. Can see Stoke attracting quite a few bookings in this one and the chances of injuries are going to high for both teams, fingers crossed its not a major player (please not Milner) 2-2 draw with them scoring first and a sending off as well. Just off out the door to put the lottery on. UTV :winkold:

1994