Brumstopdogs

After going to the home leg of the league cup semi final it is clear that they key to winning this game is not giving Blackburn cheap free kicks and corners as they are very good from set pieces. Gabby has worried their defence with their pace previously and hopefully he can do the same.

Certainly seems to be the year for the smaller clubs with Fulham making the Europa final and Spurs getting their 4th top seven finish in 2 decades. Well played Spurs you deserve a crack at the big time. If you fail to win it I will be reminding you that we have won the big one

A win here would give us 6th place which would at least show some stability. If we lose and Liverpool win and we go down to 7th to me that feels a real let down. For the game I'd go for Reo-Coker and drop Downing.

[Everton had no recent european history when they got CL so they weren't seeded and it was done differently then. Mind you Arsenal got Celtic last year and they'd probably beat spurs.

What a joke Warnock was for the first goal. He firstly gives the ball away cheaply then he slips up and then just as Johnson is about to take the ball out of play he brings him down for a penalty! He's one of the players who needs to do better or be replaced IMO

I've had a bet with a Spurs fan that they wouldn't come 1st or 2nd in the main 2 competitions for the last 45 years - it's been a nice little earner!

Warnock has been poor for quite a while and Downing hasn't been pulling up any trees.

Well done to Spurs for finishing above us for the 6th time in 18 premier league seasons.

Definite City win here for me. I think in our last match although we scraped a win it was clear something isn't right with the balance of the team and I expect City to expose that at home. Still keeping fingers crossed though!

Although Modric is a decent player (far from world class) I'm not convinced he's good enough for Man United. Not much of a looker either! http://www.clubdesmonstres.com/ratboy.jpg

Apparently Dowd is the 4th official for our game vs Man City! Good opportunity to give him some stick!!

Great win Villa - that is what really matters in these big derby games! Six wins against the blues on the trot - don't forget to remind them of that at work tomorrow!

Good result Villa! Impressed with our counter attacking and I think at times we kept the ball well which was pleasing! James Milner, I'll have some of what he is eating!

Let's just hope we don't go behind first in this one! Come on Villa a win here and we are in a strong position!

We did do some decent passing moves to be fair with at least a 10 pass move leading up to our first goal!

Went to the game today and here are my ratings! Friedel 8/10 solid performance Cuellar 6.5/10 good defensively, little threat the other way Dunne 8/10 Commanding performance Collins 7/10 Few mistakes Warnock 6/10 One shocking hospital ball could have lead to a goal! Young 8/10 Very impressive - really got forward and created problems Petrov 7/10 Tidy but not spectacular - CM is certainly a position we will need to improve on to get to the next level. Milner 8/10 Always lively and put in a real shift! Downing 6/10 Frustrating when on the right hand side and 100 times out of 100 comes back on his left foot - just so predictable! Carew 7/10 - good goal, poor penalty and otherwise acceptable performance Gabby 6.5/10 - not his best game but created a few chances and should have scored. He's certainly stronger than last season! Great to see the Delf coming on and scoring - hopefully a future Villa legend! Decent result on the whole and 3 points which is key. Well done Villa

I'm expecting to see the same line up that started vs Everton. O'Neill's pet "Heskey" to come on and not score another likely outcome. Probably will be another draw. :cry:

Positives: Didn't lose and came from behind twice More playing time for Del boy Negatives: Cuellar at right back Ashley Young marking Cahill Giving the ball away too easily Not freshening the team up The Big gap behind our centre midfield that gets exposed so easily Can't say I'm thrilled with yet another draw although Everton are a decent team. The midfield mix isn't working IMO.

O'Neill pondering Heskey for Downing sub...

This is a must win game yet we just do the same thing time and time again! Change something!!!

Everton look the more likely scorers!

1 home league win this year and that against Burnley. No chance of winning this one now.

I can't wait to see Heskey coming in after about 75 minutes - guaranteed to secure us a champions league place!

What a load of rubbish. It must be so easy to plot how to defend against Villa - they always do the same thing.

Predictable line up and probably a predictable home performance against a top 8 team. 2-1 win for Everton but would love to see us get the 3 points but don't think we will :cry: