GeordieVillan

This. He's carried us at times but we need to build for life without him. What if he gets injured and we don't have as we did for much of the last 2 seasons. If we have any money, lets buy Austin - I don't see any of the big boys going for him. If we then sell Benteke, at least we already have someone ready to take up the mantle.

Exactly. It always happens. Yes N'Zogbia was awful, but so was Delph, Cleverly, Grealish, etc. N'Zogbia actually made a great run which if Hutton saw would have resulted in a break away. This. Our entire midfield were very poor today. Delph and Grealish looked slow and off the pace. Cleverly reverted back to the player he was earlier in the season. The only one who comes out of the game with any credit is Richardson, who has shown in the last couple of months that he can play a part moving forward, even if only as a backup.

On the second goal, it was a great strike. But, I think a bigger goalkeeper might have had a better chance of saving it. Given is very short for a goalkeeper, and sometimes this counts against him. Regardless, he made some good saves today and he is not really culpable for the result. I don't expect him or Guzan to be first choice next season.

Not sure what has happened since the Southampton game, other than maybe our fragile confidence took a beating. The players reverted to Lambert style - Benteke isolated and our play was slow one dimensional. The last 3 performances have been so so different from the dynamic play we have seem in the games previous, and I can't believe that the manager has instructed that change of style. Maybe the long season of struggle has caught up with the players. Noticeable, Delph and Cleverly havn't been driving into the box as they were before Saints away. In hindsight, perhaps he should have started with Gabby, as he seemed have an injection of pace when he came on. But when he picked the team, I thought he'd made the right selections, even by including by Hutton and being slightly more conservative. I don't blame Tim, he went with the right intentions - of trying to take the game to Arsenal, but we were caught horribly short, and this is definitely worse than our 2 previous cup final defeats. Despite this though, I still think the future is bright under Tim - a smash and grab victory today (or a victory similar to the semi-final) might have papered over some cracks and let to under investment in the Summer. I don't think Tim is now in any doubt as to the task in front of him and the changes required. As he has said previously, we are a horribly unbalanced squad. From today's team, I suspect Tim will keep looking to keep Benteke, Delph, Cleverly, Grealish (and Gabby and Sinclair from the subs). Add to that Clark and Baker. Everyone else I think is up for grabs. Richardson probably had his best game for us, but I suspect that Tim has been playing midfielders at fullback out of necessity rather than desire, and I would be surprised if he continued with it next season, regardless of Bacuna's attacking contribution. Fair play to him - he handled his post match interview well again. Regardless of his managerial skills, he is still very much a likeable manager, and that will stand him in good stead for the obvious rollercoaster ahead. Keep the faith Tim, you've earned yourself a summer and at least until Xmas to show us what you can do.

A bad start to the day but its turned out alright! Tim has done his job and kept us up - a job which many people didn't think he would be capable of. Ignoring today's result and performance, he's given the club a new enthusiasm and vigour, and he's made us more entertaining to watch. He's also improved the form at Villa Park, and that was massively important. A win against Burnley will give us some confidence for the cup final, and we go into that game with no expectation, as we did against Liverpool. His big decision now is Given or Guzan.

Can you give a brief recap? They almost never show post-match interviews here. First half was the only bad performance since he has taken over One bad 45 mins in the last couple of months isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but it was very poor He doesn't need to tell the players they were poor today, they know themselves We need to win next and need to win the cup final We feel sorry for the fans and have let them down today It is not just the defence to blame, the blame is shared between all the players and the manager - we are in this together. (not word for word)

I don't blame the manager today - the players weren't at the races. Sloppy, lazy and slow, and full of mistakes all over the field. Hopefully just tiredness from previous weeks where they havn't given a bad performance in a long time. Hull lose today, and this could be the result that wakes us up and gets us ready for the cup final.

The tactics were the same as previous games - the players have been playing out of their skins for the last 10 games, but today they looked tired and jaded. It was the players today, not the manager. Vlaar and Okore were terrible, they got bullied and look like amateurs. The midfield were sloppy and looked slow. Benteke didn't get involved in the game as he has previously. Going forward, we were just lumping it long to Benteke - none of the incisive passing from previous weeks. We slipped back into Lambert style, sideways passing, no movement. Hopefully Hull lose today and then it doesn't matter. Tim can then give everyone a free run at Burnley with no pressure, and he could literally pick any combination of players - today's game means no-one has a guaranteed place in the team (other than Benteke). Just saw Tim's interview on BT Sport - I think he handled it very well.

No way were West Brom out of it. If they lose today, and then against Newcastle next week, other results could pull them back into it.

Chris Brunt. This relegation battle is unreal. Come on United.

To be fair, we were a very good team under MON. Regardless of "style". We were a team that was never going any higher than it was because of management. Simple as that. Give me the kind of football we're seeing now with an unknown finishing position over MON football and 6th every season any day. One has a very clear ceiling, the other doesn't I know what you mean, and agree to an extent. While we were very direct under MON (and still entertaining), Sherwood has us mixing our play alot more - direct, passing through the middle, on the wings - and its great to watch. I just think that we, like most football fans, are unrealistic. We had it great under MON, and we wanted more. Look at Newcastle and Pardew - they wanted him out so badly, and now look whats happened. We've had bad times in recent years, but I have great memories of the MON years. Sherwood has us playing very well, but assuming we stay up, people's expectations next year should take into account how we have done in the past 5 years!

If he signs a new contract, it will be a massive statement for us. He could easily go play (be back up at least) for a top team inc. Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea. If we can keep him, and Cleverly, and Benteke (for one more year at least), and having already kept Delph, it will show the players believe we are going in the right direction.

I like that he's a Villa lad. It gives me confidence that if/when he realises his potential, that we will to spend a decent period of time playing for us, even if the big boys come calling.

To be fair, we were a very good team under MON. Regardless of "style".

In contrast to some, I quite like that he doesn't shut up shop when we take the lead, he tries to keep us on the front foot, and tries not to surrender territory. I think he recognises that when we sit back, we cannot defend, so we might as well keep attacking and keep the opposition busy. No complaints from me on his tactics. If you look at the goals from last week - Guzan gift, direct free kick, error defending a corner. And the the goals today - penalty, and a corner when we should have been given a free kick. We are not really conceding many goals in "open play". Even the goal against Liverpool was a bit of a farce - we had 3 opportunities to clear it. Can I also just highlight that we finally look like a danger from set pieces again. We used to be great at scoring from corners and free kicks, but since MON left, we totally lost it. Finally we now seem to know how to deliver the ball, and also how to then keep the ball live in the danger area. Its such a massive part of the game, that we have been very poor at for about 5 years. Well done Tim. Keep it up.

What I loved about the goal was that - when you watched it live, the camera caught his run perfectly and also Bacuna on the ball in the same frame, and I screamed "play him behind Bacuna", and thats exactly what he did.

He is so important to us. He will stay at least one more year, possibly well beyond that. If we can keep him, Cleverly and Grealish together, we could have a fantastic few years ahead of us.

Great performance and result. Everyone played well. Richardson has been criticised in previous weeks, but fair play - he didn't make any obvious errors today. We do look open at the back, but I don't think thats down to the players. We are playing such an attacking style, that we are going to concede goals and give chances away. We are playing two wingers at full back! Last week we lost 3-2 but could easily have won or drawn. This week we won 3-2. We aren't drawing many games, because we are trying to win every game. A win and a defeat is better than 2 draws. Keep it up Tim.

Our win today is big, but Sunderland's is even bigger. That has moved them within touching distance of everyone. West Brom have been pulled back into it as well. Every week we say we need one more win, but really it keeps changing as the other teams around us keep winning. We still need one more win at least. It could actually be 40 points is required this season.

As things stand (if we hold on), we will probably still need one more win to be sure, especially so if Sunderland nick a win. Its very tight and tense down there! Burnley and QPR are done for pretty much by full time today.

Fair play to Leicester. They have had a cup final for the last 6 games, and they have won 5 and only lost to the champions elect. They could easily win 5-0 or 6-0 today, and that will batter Newcastle GD. If we win today, I can't see Newcastle over-taking us. We could with Sunderland failing to win as well, just to give us some breathing space.

This scoreline for Leicester makes it even more important that we win. Newcastle will be right in the mix if we win, regardless of the Sunderland result, and we will have momentum again. Our game and the Sunderand game is massive. If we lose today, I think we will be in this until the final day of the season.

I don't think you can call Delph and Cleverly defensive midfielders under Sherwood. I think both, especially Delph will play quite far forward today.

I think the last two team selections should shut up the "Sherwood only plays old fashioned 442" brigade - seems like he picks a team to suit the game. Potentially a good team selection, Sanchez and Westwood holding in midfield should free up the fullbacks to provide the width (as previously), and also allow Delph and Cleverly to get forward past Benteke. We don't seem to have goals in the team other than Benteke though. Very nervous about this game. We actually need to win. I'm sure the players will be seeing the scores/results elsewhere and that will be piling on the pressure.

A win for Sunderland would be the icing on the shittest cake ever. If QPR don't win, the Austin penalty miss could be massive.