VillanousOne

Guzan has been great but yesterday he cost us a needless corner and some of his distribution has been poor, I rate Lowton but again of late he has made a fair few errors in possession and not being able to stop anyone from getting crosses in. Westwood has done ok also, but again he's far from perfect - not saying anyone is saying he is. Just saying there are players that people seem to have a lot more patience with and players like Bannan, Ireland, Zog, Bent that people just go over the top about sometimes. We only seem to judge players on how bad they are not on how good they have been, we completely forget any performances that were good. and i don't think Bannan should be starting at all, or even playing asa sub regularly, I think Ireland needs to play more, even if it just means us putting him in the spotlight so we can sell him.

I don't think his corners are any good, something like one in 5 pose a threat. But I do think we are harsh on him. We seem far more forgiving to Lowton, Baker, Guzan, Westwood all of whom have had made bad errors recently. Most seem to dislike and not rate Delph at all - but I think many can see he's looking half decent since given a run in the side (hoping he's no badly injured). Bannan does need a strong ball winner next to him as he is too lightweight to be winning 50/50s and putting tackles in, which brings me to the issue with Bannan..... i don't know his best position.... neither does Lambert. At a guess i'd say behind the strikers, but Lambert has chosen Zog for that. I look at Bannan and Ireland as similar types of players, tidy can pass well and capable of creating through balls, but neither can tackle or do the basics that well. I don't know why Lambert hates Ireland so much as out of the two Ireland tends to have more impact, even if he doesn't do enough. Bannan is one of many players in my opinion that need to operate in a team that is stable and confident, which we are not, which is why we are so screwed at the moment - as ever player on the pitch is hoping that someone else digs them out of trouble rather than them believing they could do it.

we looked so much better with Vlaar in the side but it wasn't enough as our luck and injuries is still a big problem. If Delph is injured and he is the only player who seems capable of tackling and passing forward - then who do we bring on? Bannan? Please god no. Westwood is tidy but he is never going to really stamp his authority on any match. Dunne might help the defence a little on his return, but there is no-one that can patch up our wafer thin midfield.

I thought Bennett did ok today but agree he probably is better as wide midfielder. Lichaj actually did ok also, linked up well with Zog. Delph was playing well till he went off. I thought Lowton, Clark and Guzan seemed to have bad days and we lost shape when Bannan came on. Benteke was unstoppable at times and really knocked down their players like skittles, it's just a shame we don't have someone like that in midfield! Until we have players able to defend crosses down the flanks, and players that can defend corners - we will continue to struggle. I really felt for Gabby and Benteke - they really did a number on their defence only to watch ours crumble and undo all their good work. It must be like baking an elaborate and expensive cake only to watch someone to drop it just before it reaches the table. ok yeah watching the replays Benteke did help murder that cake, but agree he shouldn't be marking from corners in place of other more capable players (if we have any) guess he's there for his height!

also why can't we defend corners or score from them? Neither Westwood or Bannan can take corners, Zog is better but not great. Baker, Clark, Lichaj, Vlaar, Bennett...... in fact the whole team can't defend corners...... it's mindboggling!

Vlaar's return made a difference but it still papers over the fact we lack depth and quality. I am a big fan of Lowton but both he and Bennett are too easy to get past, even if Bennett played better today. We have started to look better in attack but nothing has really changed in terms of spine to the team. We have improved since the Bradford game and were unlucky re Southampton, but it is hard to look anywhere but down at the moment.

can we get Beetlejuice and Candyman playing for us based on that principle

if saints sign him i'd be really annoyed although i think there is more chance of Arsene Wenger having issues with his coat than us signing him

i know, i think there was irony in what i posted too.......... (and i found your posts funny)

Fan hits back at Skeptics By Hugh Gerection Today Villa fan Mazrim posted a highly charged and ironic piece aping other fan's negativity, on popular Villa forum Villa Talk. It is presumed on baseless fact that the fan in question might be indirectly mocking fed up and negative fans by hiding behind hilarious prose. Funny as he thought he was (and indeed was.....) some fans were known to have rolled their eyes and questioned why people can't just respect each others opinions negative or otherwise rather than take the rise and try and put them down (if that indeed was what he was doing).

Sky Sports have linked us to Leeds defender Tom Lees, although we are behind Celtic in the pecking order or so claim this website i've never heard of

fair play, you're right Levy is a mercenary, although every Spurs fan moans about how many players they have on the books that are rubbish or injured, just look at the Bentley thing. I know we have Warnock, Hutton and Makoun but Spurs have there fair share of turkeys, so maybe they could be desperate to sell us one of their overcooked birds.... you never know

so some negative doom mongerer on the web posts an article about us not having relegation terms in key contracts - and everyone is like 'oh shit we're ****.' just like the whole wages thing has run and run without much official evidence for Lerner actually saying to Lambert/McCleish 'hey sell/kill everyone over 30K' not saying that there hasn't been a whole lot of common sense employed but i'm sure if Randy thought his money was spent wisely and with something to show for it - he'd spend it.

Huddlestone would be ok, but can't we just **** sign the guy? Spurs have so far had us pay Jenas wages for being injured and develop Kyle Walker from being average to good, surely we don't owe them anymore favours!!!!

Thanks to OGS we didn't get OGS

we need another Benteke/Ron Vlaar style fan spot

i thought we'd have at least one signing lined up ready for start of Jan, guess plenty of time left.

don't make Trent say it again

nothing to see here, move along

didn't we lose to Ipswich some years back when we had a much better and more stable team, in fact we've been roasted in the cups on many occasions including under MON. Today had banana skin written all over it and we came through it. we certainly don't lack conviction and determination and that lone is worth celebrating

i'm off to buy a Ford Focus

the papers make up plenty of nonsense, but they are (sometimes) closer to the truth than a ten year old anonymously posting on twitter as ITK to get attention. One question no one has answered is why Lambert didn't buy Stephens in the summer? If he went with Westwood instead who did well, why go back in for Stephens? Not saying i don't think we should sign him at all, just saying.

bored of people saying we've signed Stephens, not one actual credible link out there - even the black listed sites haven't linked us to him. It's like the Peter Whittingham thing all over again.

only player we had who could score from corners.

Welcome Chip