barry'sboots

I agree but I think my mother would have picked that team and she knows nothing about football. MON should have been playing this at the back end of last season IMO when necessary and to go 4-4-2 to Anfield (for the 5-0 spanking) was sheer lunacy, especially with Stan and Barry as the CM pairing. He has just done what most of us on the site have been screaming for for ages - played a 4-5-1 and brought in NRC. Does that make us all tactical geniuses? MON's challenge will come in selecting a formation to play lesser teams with a 4-4-2 and revealing his plan B/making substitutions when things are not going so well?

4-4-2 can work equally well if we buy a second striker (possibly Tuncay) who is disciplined enough to drop in when the opposition have the ball as Luke did against Chelski two seasons ago. I think it needs to be mixed up though but I think NRC should play in both formations - our CM desparately needs his energy and drive. He should be skipper for me.

At least, he's picked a team to play the opposition. Maybe if we'd have gone to Anfield last year with a 4-5-1 we wouldn't have been on the end of a spanking. Awesome result. I really hope that this is the start of MON playing the right team in the right formation for the opposition.

I think if we go in with a 4-5-1 we can get a result. Wouldn't be putting money on it though! NRC has to be in there and tasked with doing a job on Stevie G for me. Not much offensively from Mascherano & Lucas. Kuyt and Benayouin aren't that scarey either. Chelski showed last year that if you stop Stevie G you stop Plop!

Are you Steve Sidwell? Never a good look - Claret and Ginger. Die your hair - the kit looks fine. Not a big fan of round necks mind, prefer a V with a collar personally, although I do quite like the new Chelski kit with a zip? On the other hand, I have to say that the new Man U kit with the V on looks naff IMO, and this is a good example of what starts to happen when you mess with kits and try to get creative.

Disagree. NRC has nearly half the votes which looks like he is the stand out candidate to me. Get him in MON.

Landslide. You can see why there were boos and ironic cheers on Saturday. I know MON is the manager but surely 70% of the fans cannot be wrong - or can they?? It is beyond me how NRC didn't even get on the park. I would go as far as to say it is a disgrace after the pre-season that he had. Either MON likes him and should have started with him IMO or he doesn't rate and should have sold him in the summer - I'm sure we could have recouped most of our investment - and replaced him with another DCM that he will use.

This is the speculation I believe. My own personal opinion is that we should be the ones looking at Scott Brown, certainly instead of Jenas, as he is just the type of player that we need. Him and NRC in CM would be really hard to break down and Brown does get forward as well. We would have the most energetic midfield in the premiership and this would give the front four licence to attack. And it certainly sits within MON's comfort zone for transfers!! Oh yes, first time at attempting a poll so forgive me if this goes a bit wrong.

NRC every time. Just like Laursen he puts his body on the line and gives total commitment. He is also the biggest talker that we have and plays slap bang in the position I want to see my captain in - DCM. Yes, he is never going to be Ronaldo or Messi but you need a mix of players in a team and we need what Nigel brings massively at the minute.

Disagree. I think NRC would be a fine captain. Great engine, hard working and leads by example. Also a talker. Many of the qualities that Laursen had?? And he wasn't a great footballer either! IMO not everybody in the midfield needs to be a superstar/footballer - you need someone with an engine who can be disruptive to the opposition. Gattuso is not the greatest footballer but he looks good alongside Pirlo, the playmaker, and has won a world cup medal.

I think both of them are good players but not together at the minute. Cuellar needs to adjust to the Premier League but to do this he needs a partner to lead the line while he can concentrate on getting up to speed. Even Vidic took 6 months and he was slotting alongside the best CB in the Premier League IMHO and into a settled defence. Hangeland looked much better in his second season. Cuellar is being expected to do it alongside Nicky Shorey, possibly the worst LB in the premiership, and Davies, a relatively immature and unexperienced player. I believe that, unless you are coming from Italy, Spain or possibly Germany, the Premier League is a huge step up. Davies reminds me of Dawson at Spurs - looks great alongside an experienced Pro. For Dawson, see King & Woodgate, compared to Davies with Laursen. I think Davies is better - stronger, quicker and better in the air - but he needs help at his age. I don't think CB's mature until their mid 20's. We definitely need an experienced Premier League CB to partner either one of them. Just as important though, IMO, they also need some cover from a DCM. NRC has to play for me. He has the energy, drive and leadership to sit there and stop the other team playing. If his passing is weak then it is down to the other 3 or 4 in the middle to get close enough to pick it up of him. If not NRC then MON needs to get another player who can play that role. This will do three things: 1. Protect the CBs from being overrun. 2. Give us a leader/talker/skipper in there. 3. Allow the full backs to puch on when required. Stan is not that player. He hasn't got the energy or drive to fill that hole.

I am amazed by Villa fans love affair with Petrov. For me, NRC has proved in pre-season what we have missed in the DCM position - it requires an athlete with drive and energy. This is not Stan for me and this was shown in the last 15 games of last year and the first couple of the Peace Cup. For me NRC has to play, particularly if we are looking at a 4-4-2. Other than that hard to disagree with most of the teams, but then our squad + injuries means the teams almost picks itself.

I am amazed witht he love affair the Villa fans now seem to have for Petrov. I think NRC has shown in pre-season (the best we've had for years) how important it is to have a DCM with drive and energy. For me Petrov is not enough of an athlete to play in there and this was demonstrated in the last 15 games of the previous season and the first few games of the Peace Cup. I couldn't disagree with most of the teams (given the size of our squad and injuries it almost picks itself) except for Petrov's inclusion in front of NRC?

This for me.

General Just saw a thread lower down about someone who had a load of old Villa shirts and wondered what to do with them. Someone mentioned Soccer AM collect them once a year and distribute to Africa. I wondered whether it would be possible for the club to do the same - say in the Villa shop for example - to collect old Villa clothing and distribute globally. Not only does this seem a good charitable idea but I think commercially it would get the Villa brand a bit of global exposure? Thanks for everything you and Randy are doing.

I think its a bit unfair to pick this out and point to his experience at Spurs as proof. Bentley has gone to a club where they have a certain tradition of play, which he is aware of as a fan, and has tried to play that way from the start. It hasn't worked and he hasn't had a chance to rectify it really. He does appear to be a bit of a lad but then most footballers are, possibly our Jimmy excepted! I think Bentley was superb at Blackburn and worked very hard there and if MON could get hold of him and instill some discipline we could see a very good player. I would still love to have him. Having said all this, I am a big Jimmy fan and think he was a very good buy.

I think this is a spot on signing. Good lad with great personality (or so it seems from the outside) should fit into the dressing room really well. An excellent replacement for GB in my opinion - 4 to 5 years younger but for the same money. MON will do the same with Downing as he did with Barry (I hope) i.e. bring him inside where he can control the game. He will have some development to do there but he also has a few advantages over Gareth - he is quicker and has a better eye for throughball (if Alves could shoot he would have been at the top of the goal scoring charts last season from Stewie's through balls). Also gives us cover on the left if Ash needs to take a break/injured/suspended or moves over to the right to cover for Jummy. Options at last out wide. Villa legend in the making. 4-1-3-2 for me. ----------------------- Brad ---------------------- Young ------ Davies --- Hangeland ----- Warnock ------------------------ NRC --------------------- Jimmy ------------ Downing --------------- Ash ----------- Gab ------------------- JC ------------

Agree with most of the post but have to disagree with your analysis that the loss of Martin Laursen was the reason for our last third demise. I think the biggest single reason was MON's failure to make substitutions when required and to alter the way we play at times to match up to our opposition. I would pick a few games to comment upon (my view of course): - In the Chelsea game we should have really gone at them for the last half an hour as they managed just to stall the game after scoring and we needed an extra man in midfield to match up to their 4-5-1 BUT I can accept a loss at home to the CL finalists - In the following game, at home to Stoke, MON should have closed the game down by either switching to a 4-5-1 (firming up the tiring middle and pushing the wingers on) or, at a minimum, getting NRC on to break up the opposition game. Ditto West Ham, Man U (a) and Hull (although we did manage to hold on to the latter. - In the Everton and Liverpool game, particularly the latter, to go in with a two man CM of Barry and Stan against their 4-5-1's was just naive IMO Can't remember all of the others, but I think MON has shown himself to be tactically naive in that run. I would like to think he can learn from this but he is so stubborn (like Cloughie his Mentor) that I am not sure that he will!

As a defensive CM Petrov is a better player. But that is easy because Barry cannot play there. I would have NRC in that role every day. I think Capello has Barry in completelly the wrong position. As a more attacking midfielder Barry is streets ahead of Petrov. He reminds me of MacAllister in his pomp with his ability to retain the ball, create space and pick a pass. I think he would be awesome if he were to go to Plop, with Mascherano doing the donkey work (very well) and Gerard in the free role linking with Torres. I believe he would be better than Alonso in that role because he has as good a range of passing but is more mobile and will get forward to create and score more goals. Only area Alonso beats him for me is in long range shooting. I would love to see us play NRC and Barry with a link man to the striker - thought Sidwell would do it but haven't seen any evidence this season. Maybe Defour but I have never seen him play so am not qualified to comment. Barry to really shine needs a good number 10 in front of him. The best performance I have seen from us at VP was the 2-0 destruction of Chelski last season with NRC, Barry and Luke Moore dominating their midfield (Luke dropping in when we lost the ball) and Ash attacking strongly with Gabby playing on the RW but always getting in at the back post. Awesome!

I agree completely with your third point and it is that that causes me to worry. I think our squad is good enough with three or four decent signings - CB, back up RB, two wide players and a fourth striking option - but wonder whether MOn has the tactical nous to fully utilise it.

Complete rubbish ... IMHO. If you want to see a fat arse, look at Stan. That's why Stan can't last for 90 minutes - the main reason we have been so poor in the last 30 mins in recent months. Barry is a class act and drives on when he makes or sees an opening as well as most. Again, IMO, it is Stan that turns back when he has got into a good attacking position becasue he knows he doesn't have the pace/engine to drive on. He regularly creates these openings with a drop of the shoulder which he could pass on to Downing and make him a much better player when he comes to Villa (I hope) next season. Barry's ability to spread the ball is better than anybody on our team. It is Stan that tends to pass sideways most of the time and, frustratingly IMO, rarely rolls the ball in front of the full backs to invite them on and get some momemtum. Shows how subjective football is and how different people see the game!

Sorry, you haven't read my post. I said that he is a link player and can open things up for the front four. I did not compare him to Lampard and Gerard as he is clearly a different type of player to them. I compared him to Pirlo and Alonso who I would class as offensive playmakers - European mould as opposed to the classic no 10's that we tend to call playmakers in this country. He is not a defensive CM. He can be a goal threat - as we saw more last season with NRC behind him which frees him up.

Massive yes. Our best CM by far. Reminds me of Gary McCallister for his ability to make space and pick a pass. He was good again tonight. IMO it is not Barry that causes our last 20 minute panics of the last 5 or 6 games but Stan - he cannot play for 90 minutes but MON cannot seem to see this. Barry is an offensive midfielder and a link player. He needs a partner with an engine (NRC IMO is perfect) to release him to play in Jimmy and Ash or link up with the CFs. He was great last year with NRC behind him but we were unbalanced without a RW. Anyone who thinks that Stan can do everything Barry does is watching a different Villa team to me. Why do you think that Plop and Arsenal were linked with him last summer and Cappello keeps picking him. He has the composure to play international football and keep the ball - Lamps and Gerard do not have this/the patience to be effective in this role - and Barry will look fantastic in Champions League - in a Liverpool side with Mascherano behind him and Gerrard and Torres in front of him - very similar to how Pirlo played for AC/Italy in front of Gattusoa dnmore mobile than Alonso IMO.

Minor point but I have meant to raise it for ages. My season ticket is in the DE Block M1. The urinals that I use have an entry and exit door. I find it a little illogical that the entry doors are by the sinks and therefore people have to come back to wash their hands and then push through the new entrants to exit. Could you change these doors around?

General A quick question on parking at VP. For the past 10-15 years I have always parked just off the road, on the pavement, on the A34 side of VP, along with a number of other fans. Last Sunday, for the first time, I was given a parking ticket. Whilst this was probably, technically, a proper ticket (as I was parked on a pavement) this will seriously cut down the amount of available parking reasonably close to the ground. Do you know if this part of a deliberate policy to have traffic wardens patrolling around VP on matchday. I would think that the local authority would be able to use these employees much more usefully to police activities that are actually causing an annoyance to its employers, the Birmingham residents.