Undesirable

I'm not sure why everyone son such a downer about the performance, i thought that in the first half in particular we had some very good moments, we played the ball around well, had loads of possession, plenty of chances to score and looked comfrotable in their half. On the down side the defence looked ropey and the crosses into the box were largely poor. Anyway, 3 points, an away win and we look odds on to finish ahead of Liverpool in 6th spot, happy days. If Man City finish 5th i'll be a relatively happy man come the end of the season.

Pompey have O'Hara, Belhadj, Hreidesson, Rocha, Ben Haim and Dindane all out, some of the most inform, experienced and most talented players in their squad. I have a feeling we are going to walk this. 4-0 Villa

Gabby's one on ones this season have been less than impressive, however he is the best striker at this club, he's our top goalscorer in the league, his goal tally has emproved every season, he runs the channels well, he's strong, he sits on the last man that's why he's always near a defender. I sometimes think his movement could be better but to call him "shit" is just moronic.

Dunne-looked solid, particularly in this first half Downing-Again at times looked very lightweight, he needs to go to the Gabby Agbonlahor school of beefing up. Cuellar-Had some absolutely shocking touches, particularly that header in the first half. Milner-Worked tirelessly again, played some nice stuff but also made one or two wayward passes. Gabby-Came to live in the second after a rather anonymous first half, started to run the channels, worked hard and got a goal. Carew-Should've put that effort away in the first half, otherwise looked lethargic. We need a quality front man to partner Gabby. Petrov-Had a calming effect on the game, picked out some decent passes and looks to be one of the few players we have whose composed on the ball. If we'd taken those 3 chances in the first half it would have been a different result, as it was we were lucky to grab a draw. If we'd turned half the games we've drawn this season into wins we'd be sitting pretty in 4th. We need more killer instinct and i think we'll only get it with a world class striker.

42nd Street 5th Avenue or the newest one Fac251, situated in the the old factory records offices. 42nd Street (especially) and 5th Ave were where I spent the majority of my student life messed up on cheap vodkas and dodgy red bull. Cheers mate, that's the post match entertainment sorted.

We should have a general theme for the entire away support. If there's not a general theme i'm going to go as a pirate or a 1930's US gangster. Should be a good day out. ANyone know of any decent Indie clubs in Manchester?

Unless we go 4-5-1 in this game i can see Everton over running us in midfield. Like us they've got a really good work rate and with the likes of Cahill, Osman, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov, Rodwell, they've got some good quality and hardworking midfielders. If we're going to stick just Milner and Petrov in the middle against 3 of these lot then we're going to be out battled and overrun. I'd go 4-5-1 maybe giving either Petrov or Milner a rest after Saturday. Friedel Luke Young Dunne Cuellar Warnock Downing Delph Petrov Sidwell Ash Young Gabby But i reckon we'll go 4-4-2 and Everton will win this 1-0.

Dirty Pretty Things-Gin n Milk

I don't. I think our players **** hate them. One of our biggest risks is red cards, IMO. I agree. Can see someone (maybe Ash) seeing red for a two footed lunge or something similar. Everyone **** hates Chelsea, we have more reason than most outside of London. It's going to be a battle. C'mon you Villa boys!

If you're looking for a booze in the city centre before the game may i suggest Cafe Rouge in the Mailbox, the combination of early morning beer and the sight of bemused coffee drinkers as you sing "shit on the city" is a priceless one.

I can't imagine that the police will force all the pubs in Aston to close. We were drinking in Aston before the away game and i'm sure the pubs have been open in the past. If they close the pubs all that will happen is that we'll be drinking on the streets which is potentially a far bigger threat to the peace than if we're drinking in the pubs.

:cry: Gutted, looks like it's an FA Cup semi-final instead.

It's nice that Carew's form has picked up at the same time that some of the first team are looking a bit jaded, the man's become a goal machine, what is that now 9 in 8? If he was Wayne Rooney the plaudits would be spunking all over his genius.

Every chance since we became the new Liverpool, we always up our game and work rate against the top 4 teams, we've got results at Stamford Bridge in the past and although Chelsea will be clear favourites i wouldn't completely rule out us taxing something from this game.

There's no place to hide in this one, no inch to be given to the opposition, we need to be at our best from the first to final whistle and take every chance that comes our way otherwise we'll get spanked. I reckon we'll win this 2-1 Villa

It wasn't a bad performance but i'm obviously disappointed we didn't take all three points. Once again we looked brilliant in the opening 10 minutes as we did against Wolves, our passing was slcik and direct and we looked like we were going to score. Carew always looked a threat, Ashley Young looked good on either wing and put some good balls in, Downing closed down the opposition and kept them under pressure. However Milner, Dunne and Petrov looked tired which lead to a couple of mistakes especially from Petrov who had a 5-10 minute spell in the second half when he didn't seem to be able to do anything right! Although 4 points isn't a massive gap i think we've relinqueshed our grip on 4th spot, 2 points against dog heads and Sunderland isn't enough, if we'd been luckier we might have had all 6 points and would be sitting pretty in 4th place now. We just lack that special something, that killer touch, i think if we had that ellusive "20 goal a season striker" and decent back up for Milner we'd be in 4th. We shouldn't forget that the Lerner/O'Neill project is a long term one and that we're improving all the time, getting more difficult to beat and proving more of a challenge to the top clubs in the league. If we finish 7th or 8th this season then it will definately have been a missed opportunity to break into the Sky 4, but with a league cup final and a possible FA Cup final i won't be whinging too much. UTV

Gabby's out. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8578169.stm

Apart from those handful of misanthropic pessimists who take it upon themselves to hurl abuse at Martin and the team with every breath they take!

Exactly. Two changes that seem to be screaming out to most supporters.

No one seemed to want to play in Milner, he was nearly always in space when we broke from the back but for some reason no one would play the ball to him despite him being the most obvious target.

The first 17 minutes we played some lovely, fast flowing, passing football. Then we scored and after that we looked lacklustre and short of ideas. I think we've thrown away our chances of getting 4th spot. Really disappointing. Luke Young needs to be played at right back and Martin needs to show more confidence in Delfouneso, i can't think of a single reason why he wasn't used yesterday.

Spot on. It's one thing taking the piss out of Wolves for not selling out but the reality is that we're getting collectively shafted by those who set ticket prices.

If people are looking for a pub with a good atmosphere i can highly recommend the Greyhound, it's just left out of wembley station and a 5 minute walk around the corner. It was absolutely rocking in there before the League Cup Final.

If John is on form then him and Gabby should tear this Wigan defence assunder. Their most consistent defender is out in the form of Melchiot and they're not the best at the back at the best of times. Come on you Villa boys!

What are the trains looking like for tonight? EDIT: Expensive and inconvenient.