Kuwabatake Sanjuro

Johnson and Robinson have turned into quality players and it won't be too long before they are playing in the premier league. Simon Grayson has put together a very good young team on a budget that is only a fraction of what Villa have spent on rubbish in the summer. Can't see us keeping a clean sheet and can't see us scoring more than 1 goal here. Unless of course proper signings are made and in the team.

I'm not going to backtrack much more but after a tough game against Preston next week (a much better team than Villa at the moment) the fixtures are Bristol, Brentford, Forest and Ipswich. Failure to pick up a couple of wins there will leave us in a tough situation. Maybe the thread should be closed until then,

I'd still try him up front ahead of Agbonlahor.

It could be down to the lack of options but the taking 2 or 3 touches and passing sidewards reminds me of what Sylla used to do. Sylla is doing ok for himself still and played a big part in helping us stay up after being signed so I don't mean it as an insult moreso an observation.

You can see that he has potential, if the midfield signings come through and the team starts being able to get a foothold in games he could end up being useful this season while still being a prospect.

Am I the only one worried that the teams recent performance levels would be amongst the worst in the league then?

If Hourihane and Lansbury are signed asap I'd agree but I'm worried if we are stuck with the majority of this dross for the rest of the season.

It may be a slight overreaction but the team just got outclassed by a poor Wolves team, and is in terrible form for a good while. If it wasn't for a few moments of brilliance from Kodjia and Grealish's goal against Wigan then they would have been a lot closer to the bottom. Very lucky win against Burton too, Villa aren't any better than the relegation candidates at the moment. An 11 point cushion might be just enough if new signings don't materialise quickly.

I know there is an 11 point cushion but given how inept performances have been lately and the inability to secure signings I am slightly worried. If Kodjia gets injured at the AFCON then things might go south very quickly.

At least they have been able to keep the score down against the mighty Wolves. Under RDM they would be 3 down by now.

He doesn't do anything any better than Yacouba Sylla did when he was here. Apart from him being somewhat big I don't see the potential unfortunately.

He is old and his legs are gone, terrible signing and he is supposed to be on big money in wages. T

I'd be more worried by relegation given the standard of football played the past month. It is a common theme in Steve Bruce's career that his sides can go on some terrible runs.

Darryl Horgan who was a free transfer and who is only on £6k a week at Preston was supposedly excellent today. It is not as if he wasn't known about or linked to Villa before the window but is another example of ignoring value while vast sums are squandered on average players on massive wages. Being stuck in the championship for a few seasons might teach the club about value for money.

Pretty much no hope now, shocking that no outfield player has been signed by the middle of January while Gestede as limited as he is was sold for about the only month he was needed so we are stuck with a striker who cannot score goals anymore. Shambolic and Lerneresque.

If a team manager in cycling was a known unrepentant doper then it would be safe to assume the team is doping. I don't see why things would be different in football.

On the team shape is there anything to be said for trying Adomah out at RB? ----------------------Johnstone -----------Chester-----------------Baker Adomah-------------Jedinak----------------Amavi ----------Lansbirry------------Hourihane ----------------------Grealish --------------Ayew-------------Kodjia

Forgot him, he didn't really have the stereotypical Cork features though.

Can't remember the last Corkman to play for Villa if ever there was one.

Presumably sarcasm but if not the poor chap only turned 18 last month, give him a chance. Wouldn't have been a bad loan signing for Villa.

Only 1 goal in his last 38 appearances for the club. He did put in a good shift today but he is finished as a good forward.

The collection of pundits has always been pretty terrible on the BBC but a lot of it is down to the scripted/fake tone of the discussion set down by Lineker. Mark Chapman is a far superior host. That being said you will never get an interesting debate with the likes of Shearer and Jenas. Kevin Kilbane is doing a fair bit of radio stuff over here (nightly sportshow) and is an affable character. As a pundit he isn't brilliant but he does offer some good anecdotes from his time as a player. Cesc Fabregas is the player he hates the most due to his gobby nature, the referee Chris Foy was training with Wigan one time and wore a pair of personalised boots with Foyboy wrote on them and Kevin Kilbane has an unhealthy fascination with player with hair transplants.

I didn't think he was too bad today, takes too many touches at times but would be better if surrounded by better players. I liked the ambition of the 45 yard free kick.

Excellent in first half, not excellent in the second. Only him and Grealish wouldn't look out of place in spurs second 11.

He isn't improving at all, defensively or offensively, putting Cissokho back in and having £25m to spend on other areas mightn't be the end of the world. I've been willing to give him time after his injury.