villanwesty88

Classic response. So no one good has ever come out of Scotland then? I remember a player coming from Hamilton Academical and going to Everton via Wigan and doing quite well...what was his name?

Jack Rodwell has started 34 games and failed to win ANY of them. Astonishing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37817999

I still think he will play a big part for us this season. We are going to have 2 games a week often, suspensions, injuries, loss of form and the African Nations to contend with. It's nice to know we have a little bit of depth in the squad.

Patterson from Hearts as a replacement? Before you say SPL is crap etc etc - I know already know that. But good players do come out of that division and do well in England.

I really want us to have a song like this. Simple but really loud and full of jumping

Two things astonish me here. One that he is still your mate and two that a bluenose has a bag of 50p's they can just throw away.

I was too young to be following football in 96 - I hadn't realised Blues were in the semis - christ it could have been Villa v Blues in the final! A snooker ball? That is absolutely mental. Could easily kill someone!

----------- Gollini, Hutton, Chester, Baker, Amavi Bacuna, Jedinak, Gardner Adomah, Kodija, Ayew Subs Bunn Cissokho Westwood Lyden Green McCormack Gestede

I remember how good he was in that Next Gen series several years ago. Injuries have been a big issue but maybe now he can kick on and reach his potential.

True, but I wish we'd keep them on our books for longer and loan them out. We always seem to release them when they are getting to a good standard. Like Robinson this summer (I know not midfield but just an example) he's playing in the Championship and whilst he wouldn't be first choice here now, why didn't we keep him on and loan him? Worst case we sell with a little bit of income or best case he plays for the first team. Letting them go for free when we cannot be sure how they will turn out bugs me.

We might as well let him go for a month on loan to League 1 or 2.

Agree with previous posts that it is quite incredible that the Play-Off positions are not that far away from us now - just 6 points. I'd be happy with a gradual improvement in form. I'm not expecting us to suddenly win 10 games on the bounce but if we can win 3 or 4 in the next 10 and pick up a few draws we will be within touching distance still. My thinking is that after such a barren run of something like 4 wins in 56 prior to yesterday, it will take a little bit of time to up to the form required to reach the Play-Offs. For now, it's all about being around, or just above, mid-table in January - anything else is a bonus in my eyes.

Massive amounts I said. I mean buying players every single time. Without a few gaps in the squad the youth will never come through. We also tried splashing cash on various players last year and they came with a host of problems - high wages, culture shock, different style of play, homesickness etc - also not being up to the challenge. It's a balance for me but there have to be opportunities and development plans for youth players to get into the first team more.

If we don't change manager every 5 minutes and stop splashing massive amounts of £ then why not? These guys can go and get good loan spells under their belts. The key is not to release them too early.

I think we should look to the academy first. How many talents have we let slip in recent years? I mean even Hogg would be a solid player in our XI and Daniel Johnson.

I don't recall any dreadful challenges or aggression - apart from Grealish v Wolves. I just think there have been a lot of clumsy challenges and the way we have played has meant we have looked tired towards the end of games - perhaps we are collecting most of the yellows then? Would be interesting to know but I can't go and look at the stats right now.

Well done Gary

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Give Pep Guardiola a week with this lot he wouldn't do any better

I think it's Kodj and Adomah wide

that's how i interpreted it too

I think we are playing 3 in the middle at least!!!

I'm convinced in my own mind that our problems this season are mainly down to the fitness of the players. In many games we have played well in spells in then looked like a completely different side later on; running out of steam and looking incredibly lethargic. We've conceded god knows how many late goals too. Take yesterday Vs Wolves and I think that we were extremely lucky to escape with a point - I've read that we failed to register a single shot on target in the second half. Wolves on the other hand had all of the ball and so many opportunities. We failed to close down, press or have any long spells of possession. All I can put it down to is our players are way off of the pace in terms of fitness. Wolves were miles fitter than us in my opinion - they've had Tony Daley as their fitness coach for some time and they looked like they could play another 90 minutes, whereas our players struggle to cope with 45 minutes. I can't get my head around how two professional teams, both with access to incredible facilities, technology and fitness personnel could be so far apart on fitness. My answer is simple; sign up Tony Daley, get the lads in for double training sessions and then on the international break in November get them doing some altitude training. How did it get to this with players being monitored daily? Who was our fitness coach under RDM?

I think we simply have to play 3 central midfielders. Lyden definitely deserves a chance.

Is fitness lacking?