GeordieVillan

Same team as against Sunderland I think. I would keep Bacuna and Lowton at fullbacks, both have been great although playing out of position, and I think we should be going into this game with intention of dominating as far as possible. Also, Bacuna was a major attacking threat against Sunderland, working well with Zog, so we can't break up that combo. Hutton and Cissohko can wait until Man Utd for their return, when we may require a more solid base. If we score first, we will win. If we concede first, we will draw I think. Regardless, I think we will score, which is something I never felt confident about pre-Sherwood. Come on Tim!

The last 2 sets of results have made things quite alot simpler now, if we can beat Swansea. If we win this weekend and other results go our way (Leicester don't beat Spurs, QPR don't beat Everton, Burnley lose to Southampton, Sunderland lose to West Ham, Hull lose to Chelsea), I think we are pretty much safe. We will be on 31 points and be 3 wins clear of QPR and Leicester, 2 wins clear of Burnley and Sunderland, and 1 win clear of Hull - so barring a massive loss of our momentum and big about swing in goal difference, we would need a very poor finish to the season to be dragged back in. And even if we are dragged back in, we would still have the games against QPR and Burnley to have our destiny in our own hands and get to 37 points....

Its just my opinion mate. You think I'm sad for not wanting to enjoy the moment had I been there, I think participating made us look a bit small time - the game (and life) is about opinions, not "posturing". And to be honest, its less about what the neighbours might think than maybe a bit of self-reflection as to how far we have fallen. The crucial thing is though, I agree with you that there has been an over-reaction to the fact it happened at full time with regard to safety issues, the BBC coverage and the wider view of the media etc.

What is that and how is it relevant to Tim Sherwood? Saved us from relegation twice and left us with as a good of a squad that could have been expected given the budget he was afforded, during very difficult times for the club and in a period when any manager would have struggled to do much better. It's relevant to Sherwood because I don't think that just because he's won a few matches it means that Lambert is/was a bad Manager. I agree - I think one of the big things that will have appealed to Sherwood before taking the job is that he looked at the squad Lambert assembled and realised that it should be top half of the league. Thats obviously a very poor reflection on Lambert's ability to motivate and organise his team - but fair play to him for buying some good players.

Absolutely. But the actions of about 100 idiots should not be allowed to sour the enjoyment of a further 32,000. Except that it was, and not just by the media. I, personally, am still angry at certain comments aimed at those who were on the pitch after the final whistle. Comments on this very website that were not challenged nearly enough in my opinion. I personally didn't have a real problem with the pitch invasion at the end of game, as this happens from time to time and its not really a big deal. The only issue I had with it is that I think it made us look a bit small time, as we were going crazy celebrating an FA Cup quarter final win against West Brom like we had won the Champions League Final against Barcelona. Maybe its just indicative of how starved of success we have been, and I was over the moon at the result and performance like everyone else, but I did cringe a bit when watching it. But, everyone is different, maybe I am just boring and I don't see the appeal of it - why should that stop other's from doing it, if it is good natured and in the spirit of celebration rather than hooliganism. Having been at the game at Sunderland on the weekend, I was really glad we were quite high up in the stand (very good view to be fair), as at 4-0 and the Villa fans going mental, I was imagining another celebratory invasion!

Of everyone in our squad, I think Weimann is the one who is going to be the first player ditched by Sherwood. In the games he has featured in since Sherwood has joined, mostly (if not all) sub appearances, he has been very ineffectual. I would also say that he doesn't seem to be on the same wavelength as everyone else, and that the new style is exposing his lack of technical ability. I think under Lambert he kept his place because of his work rate and perceived instinct to be in the right place at the right time, but I don't seem him being any more than a squad player now at best. (I'm even including Gil in this, as I think at some point he will get his chance - he's probably just not up to the speed on play which Sherwood wants at the moment.)

I went the game today as well as the game against Newcastle a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, we played almost as well as against Newcastle but just didn't get the breaks in the first half of that game. Tim has us set up to win games, so we will win some and we will lost some. I will take that over drawing games and losing games!

I love you Tim.

Still confident. Gabby with his new lease of life playing up front on his own with pace supporting him from out wide, as he did during some of his best days under MON.....

I don't really understand this. Because there is different methods and different styles to succeeding. Would you rather win and be successful by - a - playing every game very tight and trying to nick a 1-0 win, by playing counter attacking football and never really trying to take a game by the scruff of the neck and dominating the ball (Lambert style) b - by trying to win every game by scoring more goals than the opposition, going with attacking intent in every game, and playing with an aggression, style and vigour which fills the stadium every week (Sherwood style) Both a and b would be great, but I would much rather want b to be our approach.

I think he will score at least 5-6 goals before the end of the season. He will stay with us for the start of next season and will be amazing in the first half of the season, maybe 12-15 goals, and then we will sell him in January.

When we appointed him I was really excited and I said this could be the appointment we have all been waiting for. Since then, we have won 2 and lost 2 (if you include the Leicester game in the FA Cup). In the 2 we won, we have been worthy winners. In the 2 we have lost, we have probably been worth a point at least. I'm pretty happy with that, and if we win the next 2 games, then I think that represents a very decent start to his reign. I want him to succeed much much more than I wanted Lambert to succeed, and I really wanted to Lambert to do well. If we stay up, I think we are going to have a cracking few years under this guy. I fully expect us to see a return to the times when we used to go and attack the top teams in the league and play like equals. We won't always win, in fact we will most likely lose more than we win, but we will win some, and they won't be smash and grabs, they will be proper football matches, with Villa Park of Villas fans who come to watch us play football and try to win games by attacking. Maybe I am expecting too much, but he's got my hopes up now. In summary, I think I love Tim.

He's been very poor since MON left. He had a bit of good spell when we first started the counter attacking style under Lambert, but then faded again. Sherwood's direct style (sometime long, sometime short, but always quick and direct) should suit both him and Benteke. I expect him to pull up trees before the end of the season otherwise I suspect he won't be here next year. The good thing about Sherwood is that you just know he won't pander to anyone not performing.

I actually think he would be less effective as a number 10 or even at the tip of the diamond, because its more likely he will be crowded out. I think he will have more of an impact from the left hand side where his full back has to decide whether to follow him inside or not. His problem is that I don't think he is ready for the defensive side of the game yet, so I don't think he will play in the league. Saying that though, I don't think Grealish is great defensively, but he got on the other night. He might get a game on Saturday, but then Sinclair is probably ready to come back in, Gabby and Benteke will both want to continue where they left off (and Sherwood will want them to), and Nzog seems to be flavour of the month, so you struggle to see where he's going to fit in. He's probably going to have to come on from the bench and really show something to get a place in the team before the end of this season.

He's worth his place in the team, even if at left back. Like Hutton, he doesn't panic at all when he gets the ball, he actually wants to play. When we have players like this at fullback, it takes some of the pressure off the midfield. He also wants to drive us forward, his first inclination is not always just the easy pass inside to one of the centre mids. Its a shame he's not left footed to be honest.

Who knows what will happen in the Cup on Saturday or against Sunderland the week after, but if we can win both, then it actually then sets us up for a decent finish to the season, with a potential mid-table finish and cup semi final at least. Who would have thought that. However, if we lost the next 2 games, the impact on confidence would be a massive setback. The other thing is, the goal difference in narrowing now aswell, so if Spurs can beat QPR by a couple of goals on the weekend, then that looks like it is going to be less and less of a factor aswell.

Stoke was massive.....and then Newcastle was massive....and now Tuesday is massive! Before the Stoke and Newcastle games, I said that if we lost the game we would be in much worse position in terms of survival. Assuming QPR don't win their game in hand, we are actually in the same position other than we've wasted a couple of "winnable games". As it stands, if we can win on Tuesday then we will be out of the bottom 3, and the pressure will be on QPR and Burnley, and they face Arsenal at home and Liverpool away respectively. Even if we get a draw, we will be out of the bottom 3 on Tuesday evening, and I think the psychological boost of being out of the bottom (assuming Wednesday results go our way) might just kickstart us. Also, Hull play Sunderland on Tuesday, so whatever happens there, we will be in touching distance of one or both of them IF we can win against West Brom. And then we play Sunderland on 14th March.....which becomes the next massive game! So basically, we are by no means out of it yet, and most Newcastle fans I spoke to yesterday were surprised that we were quite decent. One thing is for certain, we actually look like we have goals in us now. We were much better than Newcastle yesterday, particularly first half, and they only had opportunities in the second half when we opened ourselves up. If we can play against West Brom as we did against Newcastle, then I really fancy us.

As someone who was born and raised in Newcastle (I'm a Villa because of family ties).....and someone who is of Indian heritage, we will all be on our guard today!

I'm going today and I'm genuinely shitting my pants. I think if we lose today then we will be struggling to stay up, as we will have lost 2 of our "winnable" remaining games (this and last week against Stoke). However, if I had to pick one team to play against at the minute, it would be Newcastle. They are almost as bad as us, they don't have any clear direction and when you look at their team, its actually very poor. However, they probably think exactly the same about us. I have a sneaky feeling that we might have a convincing win today, maybe 3-0. But then I thought the same last week. I just feel like if we can get the first goal and push on and get a second, then the players will have a level of freedom in their play which Newcastle will not be able to cope with. We need to play how we did in the second half against Leicester, and Newcastle will not be able to handle us. Come on Villa, a win today and things start to look alot healthier!

Yesterday was a big disappointment, as I thought/hoped/felt we would win. But I still think we just need one win in the league to get us going, and there is no reason that won't come against Newcastle, who are also very very poor at the moment. I think he needs to play 3 in midfield, Benteke up front and Gil and Sinclair wide, and get the runners into the box from deep as we did against Leicester in the cup. Unfortunately w only Based on how we, QPR and Burnley are doing, I think we only need 12 points to be safe - if we can't do that, then we deserve to go down. Even if Leicester beat Everton, I think think they will fade away.

Couldn't agree more. We played the entire half with attacking intent, even after scoring the first goal and then second goal (Benteke having that shot in injury time was the wrong thing to do, but at least he had a go and was obviously wanting to score more goals). Long may it continue. If we win 6 and lose 7 of our last 13 games, playing like that, I will be happy!

Where? I may not be following the same things as you! Same here - I can't see it either!

A win was crucial, especially with Tim going into see the team at half time. Hopefully this builds momentum now and we can win 2 or 3 of the next 5 games in the league at least. The back 4 were all solid aside from Hutton's mistake in injury time, as was Given, although he still worries me on crosses. The midfield were all decent, Delph probably the poorest of the lot (for the third game in a row). Cleverly probably had his best game for us, nothing amazing, but not poor. The midfield stopped passing it backwards and sideways in the second half, and Cleverly improved the most as a result. Benteke and Andi were both ok. Nice for Sinclair to get on and get a goal, and Jack got a bit of a runout, although when he has the ball I always get worried that he will give it away in the wrong areas. No amazing performances, just a solid win by the team and the incoming manager!

To be fair, I think his first 6 games (if you include tomorrow) give him a decent stab at having a good start - they are all "winnable", but obviously "there's no easy games". I reckon he probably thinks he thinks he can win the against Leicester and then win 3 of the next 5 league games. I think he has that level of confidence, and I don't think he would have took the job if he felt otherwise. However, if he doesn't get 3 wins from the next 5, then I think we might be in trouble, as the next 7 games before Burnley on the last day look a bit tasty...

If he keeps us up, I will consider him to have done a very good job, and would be happy for him to continue, assuming he's got a decent assistant in place....