Biskitt

Demichelis must have some proper naughty photos of Pellegrini to keep getting a run out in this team

I'd be well pissed off if I was Milner or Rodwell and Demichelis was getting in ahead of me in midfield

Swap Wiemann and Nzogbia round and I'd agree

Nzogbia's best assets are his pace, his directness /dribbling and taking shots with his left foot. It makes no sense to play him as a number 10 as he tends to run into traffic and has hasn't got the speed of thought to play that role effectively. I've said it for some time now that his best role would be playing a similar role that Gabby plays when we play 4-3-3 but on the right hand side as a wide forward ( Similar role to what Adam Johnson plays for Sunderland as they are quite similar players IMO ). That way, it gives him more opportunity to get 1v1 against the fullback, more time to cut inside and get shots off and less defensive responsibility, all the things that he is good at! I honestly think he could be a very handy option in that position but he's never been used there by us at all for some reason

For those who like doing an acca, you can get 2.37 on a double chance ( villa draw/win ) on betfair which looks a pretty decent bet to me

Exactly. Looking at some of the business done by teams mid table and below, there's a couple of decent signings but no one that I'd be massively bothered about. Last January, QPR signed Jenas, Townsend, Remy and Samba and still went down. Newcastle signed Debuxhy, Sissoko, Yanga Mbiwa, Gouffran and Haidara and still finished below us! Don't get me wrong, I'm a disappointed that we've not been able to add to the squad ( particularly a midfielder of some sort ) but either Lambert hasn't been able to get who he really wants or Lerner is not making the money available. None of us know what's going on in the background so we can only speculate. As a club, we've been quilty of wasting huge amounts of money on players in the past so I'm happy to be a bit more patient with things nowadays. I think this summers transfer window will tell us a lot more about the direction of the club moving forward. We've got the numbers in the squad now, we've cleared out most of the deadwood, and I would hope that we go out and add 2-3 players of real quality. If not, then I will probably find myself more in agreement with the dissatisfied contingent on here.

Probably Nzogbia having his Achilles checked again, knowing our luck

Goal scoring midfielder sign him up Yes please! 8 in 15 league appearances this season, 12 in 15 last season (according to ESPN, I don't know the numbers off the top of my head) plays in the hole. Utrecht aren't doing too well this season but he is still shining I know that much, he can do this too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovIdG5cD4fs I always get a bit more excited by links in foreign press as they have seemed to be more reliable in previous transfers. Know literally nothing about him but his stats look good and has 2 caps for holland too.

I bet there haven't been too many occasions in the premier league where a player has played as an attacking midfielder and then right back in the same game. I like to see Silva, Hazard or Oscsr have a go at that ! They need to update his position on Fifa to RB/RWB/RM/CM/CAM

I thought it was really odd that Lugano started last night too instead of McAuley, is he injured ? I certainly don't think Benteke would have got as much joy out of McAuley as he's bloody massive!

They just got that Traore geezer from Monaco, maybe he'll start? Not sure how good he is. Martinez has said Traore is 10-14 days away from full fitness so can't see him playing ? I agree with most of the other posters, I'm quietly confident about this game. Firstly because of their injuries to key players but secondly, the way they play with a high line and full backs pushed up. Distin is quick so they can get away with it with him but Jagielka and Alcaraz aren't so we can definitely get at them. Liverpool showed us the blueprint on how to beat them by counter attacking so hope we've taken notice of that. Getting gabby back for this game would be massive!

That's how I see it too. For the peanuts we've paid for him, he's been a good signing and his versatility is a real asset to the squad as well

I see it the same as most on here. He's fine when he's on the ball and a real threat going forward. Unfortunately, off the ball he is very suspect and was constantly caught out of position. I like him as a player but i worry his lack of pace can't make up for his positional errors ( like Kyle Walker etc can ) and I think this will prevent him being a good premier league right back

Grinning like a idiot after that. Football, bloody hell! Delph, Vlaar, Wiemann, Benteke and Bertrand all very good. Lowton good going forward but dodgy defensively. Clark solid(ish) for the most part and Holt put a decent shift in. KEA, Sylla and Bacuna not great though

Gett iinnnnnn

There going to push forward to a 4-2-4 so makes sense to go 5-3-2 IMO

Think KEA is going off, Sylla coming on I think

Such a shame Gabby isn't playing, he'd have torn them a new one down their right hand side

His first touch there was absolutely brilliant to take it away from Reid

Delph you **** ripper !

What a finish by Bacuna to chip the keeper from there

Yes !

Wiemann looks really sharp tonight

Back in the game !

What the **** is going on