Sgl

I really thought he'd screwed the pooch by talking the ball off jack there, great finish from Gestede to be fair

What fresh hell is this

An early goal followed by several other slightly later goals please lets make this dominance count

Playoffs. its effectively a new team, new back room staff & new manager - I think playoffs is realistic (with time to gel and get our style down as well as disruption in Jan with the African cup of nations, I think champions is optimistic + we are a big name club down here, other clubs will raise their game for us where they might not play at the same level week in week out) for the first time in a long time I'm hoping for exciting attacking football at villa park, I don't know where we will end up but I'm looking forward to enjoying watching us play as opposed to suffering through it.

I couldn't disagree more. Aston Villa is a huge club with a reputation. Just because a player disrespects the fans and the club does not mean we should retaliate in kind, it is below us. Disapproving of and punishing his behaviour is one thing, but we have to have some class while dealing with situations like this.

I remember being really optimistic last summer with all the new players arriving. I think the big difference this year is that everyone coming in has proven themselves at this level and is not untested - and I'm very optimistic because of some of the outs as well. first deadline day in a while where I can't wait to see what happens - Adomah in, Richards out and a replacement on loan maybe?

I'm hoping @villa_southerner Is wrong. Id love to have Ravel here but if he signs today, tomorrow could be boring and I was really looking forward to having some actual hope and excitement on deadline day.

If this game has proved something, it's that Cissokho and Gardner really aren't what we need if we are going to get promoted and that poor Libor just isn't up to standard at all

This is looking more and more like a game where Darren Bent gets the winner

Excellent signing. Really encouraging pattern emerging: assess positions, identify deficiencies, sign proven leader to improve squad quality and mentality. hopefully we make a few more signings this window following that pattern. Welcome Mile!

Basically this. its easy to get excited with lots of comings and goings (although I'm delighted some of last years deadwood is gone). I was excited after last years window and that was a screw up of epic proportions

Regardless of the circumstances, terribly sad. RIP big guy, a villa great.

Scoring two goals in the same half? I need to lie down . . .

And hopefully Ravel would see Villa as a chance to prove a point / rescue his career as far as English football is concerned. Ill take an eccentric talented young man trying to rehabilitate his career over a few of the toxic delusional jackasses in our squad any day

I am a big fan of Ayew based on him looking like one of the few players who tried last year, but, his body language and reaction at Luton once the heads started to drop really worried me. I was pretty happy after the opening game, there were some positive signs of recovery - some decent effort from the squad, but if Ayew is as fragile mentally as he seemed in the week, then I'd rather we cash in now on one of the few big value players we have and replace him with someone who can channel their frustration more productively than using two footed lunges and petulant behaviour. (of course as loads of others have said in this thread, it really depends who we replace him with if he goes)

Well Hello! I've been reading and browsing VT for years but with the Dr, the change to the championship and all the ins and outs happening, i thought i'd finally take the plunge and actually start contributing instead of just reading the forums (and after the debacle in the cup this week, i need to share my despair as a coping mechanism!). I'm Irish, based in the midlands, work in R&D / Academia and I've been a villa fan since God first appeared in the claret and blue. I get over to about three or four home games a year - but i have to admit, my attendance does seem to coincide with defeats. The first villa game i actually attended was an away game at arsenal about a decade ago, (5-0 sadly), and the best experience i had last year as a villa fan was sitting in the stands explaining to my better half why the crowd were waving plastic snakes and hissing when a certain individual appeared in a man city top. I probably skew slightly more positive than the average VT contributor but I've been getting more than my fair share of stick from smug coworkers since the unthinkable was confirmed last May, so I'm not sure how long that will last in the championship.