NeilS

Really? I would have thought and 8-0, followed by a 4-0 and 3-0 deafeats, then quickly followed by defeat at a league 2 team in a cup semi is pretty high up in the list of embarrasing runs a team can have. What player would see those results and think, hey they are going to be a good club to join?

I have lost virtually all faith with PL now. A decent manager would have shored things up after the pummeling at Chelsea, but we followed that with a pasting against Spurs and Wigan and a lucky point at Swansea. The Chelseas result was embarrasing, but would have been soon forgotten if he would have got a reaction from his team over the next few games. The reaction he has got, has been total capitulation. A team with little talent, and no bottle or fight in them. He won't be sacked at the moment, as he deserves a chance to put it right, but my belief is at the lowest it has ever been. I highly doubt there will be any Tranmere style comebacks in the second leg, as this team has about 10% of the talent and fight of that Big Ron team.

To be honest, and I'll probably get shot down for saying this, but I'm not 100% convinced by SI. I think for all the style with Ireland there is little substance. He doesn't get enough goals or assists for my liking, he needs to do more as one of the more senior midfielders in our team.

This is the same conclusion that I find myself coming to. I had high hopes for The Fonz, and this was raised by his early goalscoring exploits for us in Europe and cup matches. But for whatever reason he hasn't kicked onto the next level, and it looks like his time with us is running out as he is falling further down the pecking order. I had hoped that maybe a succesful season long loan may reignite his career here, but he doesn't seem to be doing consistantly enough at Championship level to make Lambert sit up and take notice. Shame really as he looked a good prospect.

I have just done a Google search on Wanyama and Villa, and there is an article on the beeb saying he turned us down to win trophies for Celtic and to play in Europe, as we don't look likely to be doing either anytime soon I would say Villan_007 is correct. We need to find a similar type of player, but I think that particular player is unlikely. Hopefully the new German Scout can help us unearth some similar up and coming players who want to play for us.

I didn't realise that NUFC had such an injury problem, I've just noticed that they're both apparently out until February which will be a big blow for them, especially Cabaye. I guess they'll hope make do for the time being and to pull away when Cabaye comes back into the fold, although there is no guarantee that he'll find form straight away after a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Talking of injuries, we have suffered our fair share this season, I was looking the other week and we had 5 players out. We have rarely had a weekend with a full squad to choose from from memory. If we can improve on this side of things and get a regular-ish (Isay this as PL likes to rotate a bit) starting eleven then hopefully we can gain some consistancy to our form and results.

I was looking at the table last night, and was very suprised to see that Newcastle were only one point above us. I wonder why they are struggluing, is it a case of second season syndrome? Or are some of the players minds elsewhere, or are they suffering as a result of Europa cup exploits? Are Newcastle potential relegation candidates?

I feel optimistic about the long term future under PL, but very unsure about our short term future for this season. I feel that we really could do with a victory against Reading at home. If we don't get that then I think we will be one of the favourites to go down, we have all of the hallmarks of a team that could be relegated. We don't score enough for starters, and we are prone to the odd hammering. 7 points should be the target from the next three games, with 5 a bare minimum requirement. The performances are slightly more encouraging at the moment than the results, but at the end of the season we need points and the valiant performances will be long forgotten if we haven't accumulated enough points. If we can get 7 points from the next three games, then I'll be a bit more optimistic about survival.

I agree with this, England was banned as a country for repeat offences which culminated in the Heysel disaster during the 70's and 80's. This incident isn't the first in Italy by any means, and I think it is about time not just the Rome clubs, but the whole country was banned from European football for a spell of 3-5 years. That might force them to do something about their problem. Of course it won't happen, as the majority of Europe can't stand the English and it will probably be swept under the carpet.

The difference is, Di Matteo manages one of the Top 4 teams, whereas Lambert doesn't. If that penalty had been given against say Man Utd, we wouldn't hear the end of it and the referee and linesman wouldn't be allowed to ref a MAn Utd match again, whereas we have to put up with incompetent officials and take their decisions on the chin time after time mentioning no names (Phil Dowd). On a side note, over the last couple of years we seem to have given away far too many penalties, and rarely seem to get any ourselves. The same goes with Red Cards. I would be interesting to see how the numbers tally up, where is a good site to see these stats?

Did you miss the last round of the League Cup Reading v Arsenal?

You say that no other clubs seem to get this, but wasn't Fellaini quoted about a month ago saying about moving to bigger club, also while on duty for Belgium? So I would say that It probably does happen at those other clubs, but as Villa fans we don't remember it so clearly and painfully as when it happens to us. On your main point, I agree it is frustrating to hear players talk lovingly of other clubs, but we have fallen drastically in the last few years and picking ourselves up again is going to take a little while. We need to use these players like they're using our club for mutual benefit, and if/when they do leave replace them with similar or better quality. I have long given up thinking players will stay and want to help Villa win things, this dates back as far as Dwight Yorke leaving us. We weren't so far behind back then as we are now.

Yeah some try and be matey the so called top players. I remember a report a report from a few years ago from one of our own players (can't remember which one?), that said Graham Poll was all jokey and calling the Chelsea players by their nicknames like Lamps and JT during the match, but on the other hand telling ours to go away if they tried to even talk to him. It should be the same for all players, and none of the refs should ever get so pally with players. Mic the refs up so fans can listen in is the best way forward, the likes of Rooney will have to improve their vocabulary though as 90 mins of Premier League football will have more f'ing and blinding than Platoon. I suppose they could always run a ten second tv delay, and someone could play an amusing sound effect over any bad language.

With optimism rising after a couple of away victories, this ^ result is probably more than likely. It would be typical of us to crash back down with a bump. A lot will depend on the referee, if we have a ref who lets Benteke impose himself then we might make a good game of it, if the ref blows up for a foul evertime Benteke gets within a yard of a Utd defender then I think we'll have a tough time. Does anyone know who the ref is yet? If it is Dowd we can forget it. Blimey I'm pessimistic today.

I can't help but think that if Benteke has the audacity to even win a header against Utd at the weekend, a free kick will be awarded to Man Utd. I can't help but think that if he even breathes on a Utd defender this weekend the referee will be quick to award a free kick. So although I'm hopeful of good things from Benteke in the future, I'm not expecting much this weekend.

I don't see us buying a new LB anytime soon. Bennett will be given a chance to establish himself first imo. He came to us over the summer carrying an injury, and has had a couple of knocks whilst playing for us, so he hasn't really had chance to settle into the team yet or get match sharpness. I would imagine Lambert will give him this season at the bare minimum, and if he still is struggling towards the end of the season then he may start to look elsewhere.

I'm starting to feel this way too. I was optimistic at the start of the season of a mid table finish, but with every passing result I am becoming more and more pessimistic about our chances. I think we are in for another relegation fight this year, and I'm becoming less and less convinced that we'll be safe at the end of the season. I fear we could have put too much onus on young and untried hungry players. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving them a go, but you need to find the right balance between this and experienced pro's who can lead them, we don't seem to have the know how of winning games. We could dearly do with Petrov or someone of similar ilk amongst the team to marshall the players on the pitch. I don't see many PL experienced leaders in our team if I'm honest, and that worries me.

Agree. I was a little sceptical about it beforehand, but it was a good start and it had a few moments that made me chuckle. Hopefully it will continue in the same vein.

I see that OGS is being linked with the Blackburn job on the beeb. Interesting, considering he said he didn't want to uproot his family to manage Villa 6 months ago?

But surely if he scores 30 goals that would suggest that he isn't rubbish? :? I've been disappointed with his progress at VP thus far but I'll reserve judgment until the end of the season when he's had a proper run of games at first team level. So far he's not been afforded that in his career. A few weeks ago many were clamouring for Peter Whittingham to return to VP and he's another who is "unproven" at Premier League level. I agree, with hopefully a good run of games in a team, he'll get some goals and some confidence. Hopefully he'll come back a better player for the experience. If he does then fantastic news, if not then move him on. This is his season to prove himself, and he has to take it.

I think we should try not to get too carried away just yet. It was a good start for Benteke on Saturday, but as others have said let's see how he does over the season before getting too excited. It will be interesting to see how he does up against the likes of Stoke for instance, or one of the top 4 teams. As for missing sitters, I've seen all sorts of sitters missed over the years, as long as he puts his fair share away and contributes to the team the odd missed sitter should be forgiven and not held against him. Even the best make mistakes now and then.

I think we lost our first two games against Sporting and PSV by the odd goal. We have a very tough group this year, and some of our key players from last year aren't playing as often this year, so I think we are going to be up against it to qualify from the group. We're currently 3rd after three games, with the teams above having games in hand.

Looking back at last summers dealings is depressing. I can't say any more about Hutton that hasn't been said before, Given looks like he has left his best days behind him, and N'Zogbia is not looking like good value for money either. And then there is Jenas, which again was a total waste of time and money. Were there any good signings that I've forgotten about? I don't think so, it was all bad business. This summer, although some of the names are not so well known has proven to be far more refreshing in our approach. I'm a lot more optimistic this season.

Is Warnock now in his final year of his contract? If so, I'm guessing that after this season Dunne and Warnock will be gone, and we have cleared pretty much all of the deadwood.

Good news regarding the Fonz's performance for Blackpool. I hope he can build on this and have a really strong season for Blackpool, and come back to Villa ready to challenge for a first team spot. He really needs to net about 20 goals this season if he can. I think this is do or die time for Delfouneso now, he needs to start turning that potential into reality, otherwise he'll just drop down the leagues like a lot of the other youth players over the years. I wonder why a few more of our youngsters didn't have season long loans over the years, the Championship is a definite step up from reserve team football, and is what all of the top teams have done over the years. Have our players not been wanted by these teams, or have we blocked potential loan moves prefering short term loans?