tinker

We will go back to a 4-4-2 formation now we have new defensive options? I have a feeling we will. :notsure:

I agree, but not from the start and to be honest I reckon it would be either NRC or Sidwell who would make way

Ps Sidwell, got into scoring positions quite a lot, missed them but still got there and thats why I think he stayed on.

4-5-1, against Fulham, at home! Looks like MON has took some tips from of here! Midfield dominated play yet again and Fulham had nowhere to go with Shorey and Beye being solid. Defense played very well and I can now see why Zat was sold, he is no better than Clark in fact Clark should have scored with his free header. Gabby played very well IMO, ran for lost causes and really played the channels well, unlucky not to get the first goal but he pressured the defender into a mistake for it so thats good enough, his goal was typical Gabby, power and pace and thats what big central defenders hate. Well played Villa, impressive, 6 points from 3 games against difficult opposition. Who's next? UTV

my pick; Brad, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Milner, Young, Gabby, Carew UTV

The defense held firm and IMO found some confidence as the game went on. Beye kept the ball well and was strong in the tackle, impressive for his second game. Davies and Carlos got more involved as of late and battled at every opportunity. Shorey, well thats why he was brought IMO, very good in possession, loves to run with the ball and passes very well. His defensive display was better. I especially liked the fact he seem to stay with his man more , 9/10 times he didn't challenge, just ran in his way, none of that giving up bollox we have seen in the past, well played. Brad what a performance save after save, strong with decent distribution. OUR midfield was superb, NRC put in the type of performance that was last seen at Villa when Boateng was here. Sidwell also gave us great movement, Petrov played his usual game, well played. Milner seemed to be roaming around more and was on the left and the right side a few times. A Young had a quiet game by his standards, but kept Johnson quiet. Gabby, unsung hero IMO. The amount of work he put in was unbelievable ran and ran. He make a big difference to games because of his pace. L Pool had to keep deep and double up on him, this stretched the game and kept the pressure of us. You do not get this with Heskey or Carew. Infact its hard to think of another player who has these attributes, Drogba can play it and so can Anelka. MOTM Got to be NRC with Brad closely behind. More importantly for me though is the fact that all the players played at or close to their personnel best (bar A Young). UTV PS I Agree, its a nice top, L Pool must hate the site of white shirts

Think a 4-4-2 with NRC and Sidwell in the middle may well work at home, Petrov would be the problem. Heskey and Gabby do not seem to be getting close to each other or work well together. We could play a 4-4-1-1 system with perhaps Delph behind Gabby or Carew or even Gabby behind Carew. 4-5-1 IMO Its not going to work when teams come to defend.

The football has not changed, its some of the fans.

You could say that but you could also argue that until this season is over nothing has been proven and we should be the first to realize that. Overall I think our performance was better than against Wigan, I did to be honest expect Rapid to score more a lot more. For the argument against MON to be taken seriously it has to be reasoned and built on fact not hearsay and a mix of stats that suit the argument. All us fans want the best for Villa, so when and if the time is right we will all know when and if its time for him to go. For the time being we all need to realize that Villa need us all NOW, we need to stand and cheer and shout for Villa at home(villa park!), even when things are going badly, "MON claret and blue army, MON claret and blue army, MON claret and blue army...." show him and the team we have faith (despite your real feelings) even if we are 3-0 down. IMO Its this type of event that will turn our season and what have we got to loose? UTV PS it would make me feel so proud to be a Villa fan, again.

Reckon its funny enough to change my signature, if only I had wrote it.

Sorry about that. The argument still stands though if we could only draw at home then how would we have won away? The argument doesn't stand at all, football doesn't work like that does it? We'd have won away by scoring more goals against them. Just to totally stamp on the corpse of your argument: Arsenal home - drew. Arsenal away - win And to take that corpse and bury it once and for all: May I also throw in the fact that we were stronger away from home last season than at home. Think it was the manner in which they played at villa park that was the real concern and the distance and conditions of the weather and the pitch in Moscow. Its was what I would say a considered risk (or gamble) ultimately the decision was wrong though and as Risso pointed out football does not always work that way (reference home and away) and thank god for that. UTV

Sorry about that. The argument still stands though if we could only draw at home then how would we have won away? (ignoring our superb away form up to that point in the season)

We played the full team in the first leg at home and lost, stands to reason we would have with the same team away as well, especially in Moscow.

Chelsea would have become the next Leeds if Abramovich did not buy them. Chelsea spent alot of money under Ken Bates to win those FA cups, but I would still not regard them as being a large club at that time. The "much bigger following" is that now or before the money Abramovich spent? and how do you gauge the larger following, attendances?.

Sounds a bit like Chelsea before mourihno

Hopefully this one, but in all honesty with Doug Ellis at the helm we never really had a chance to build up enough hate. Did the fans want Ron Saunders to go? The number voting for MON to stay, we do have faith, just hope the figures do not change after Thursday . UTV :winkold:

Interesting method of motivation, think it may work well in NRC case.

NRC, MON seems to agree after the peace cup, thought he was our captain for it?

Forget it, Randy will not sack MON. Check out what happened at his American football team, it took years. If MON leaves it will because he walks out on us and it will be at least at the end of this season, all IMO.

The majority want MON to stay, that debate is over, he stays. The problem I think we all see is that we do have some great players, why are they not performing They start to panic far to easily and then the hoof ball comes into play. IMO opinion some think has gone missing, perhaps its confidence? When will he play 4-5-1? We need to go back to basics, not loosing. The next 4 games could easily see us with out a win, just hope we start to stop loosing before the pressure really starts to build.

Leaving NRC out was his biggest mistake today, why did he do it?

Fits in well with the last 20 years!

What has RL done to make us blame him? Its tactics that are the problem IMO.

Not to sure his buys have been that bad to be honest, think who he has sold is more of a problem. MON problem seems to stem from stubbornness, it would be interesting to know how he is regarded by the people who know him "Is he stubborn?" We have two away games up next, will he revert to a 4-5-1 formation or stick with gabby and Heskey up front? It seems obvious to me that Sidwell and NRC are needed in the middle, will he see it? The defense is being over run because the midfielder's are not tracking back. We need to get back to walking then we can start to run, lets not loose rather than going all out for a win. I have voted stay and I think he will for at least this season, if its a bad one then I think he is the sort to offer RL his resignation. At this time though we should take a look at Newcastle to remind us what happens when the fans have to much say in the way a club is run.