NeilS

I like N'Zogbia. Would be a good signing. But if you went to Wigan now and offered a straight swap, Young for N'Zogbia, players both happy with the move, Dave Whelan and Roberto Martinez would have your arm off. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in cloud cuckoo land.

And that tells you everything you need to know.

I'm a Wigan fan and a straight swap deal between Young and N'Zogbia would be much better for Villa.

N'Zogbia, scores more goals, creates more goals, better set pieces, better at dribbling and has better touch, best of both in the league statistically and is younger than Young and is on a much lower wage.

N'Zogbia is also far more consistent. Best winger in the league, better player then Antonio Valencia, who we sold to Manchester United for 17m, 2 seasons ago.

Which is why Charles N'Zogbia is heading to Manchester United for 12m, all but agreed. Should be sorted late June when everyone returns from holiday.

:shock:

I guess Wikipedia has got it wrong then as N'Zog has 27 career goals from 246 apps, whereas Young has 62 career goals from 297 apps. Also from memory Young was second only to Fabregas for assists in his first 3 seasons with us, he regulary has double figures on assists, even this season when he hasn't been on top form he has managed 12 assists. I can't find assists for N'Zog, but if as you said previously your problem is goalscoring, then I can assume that he can't have that many.

I can't see them coming back for many years to come.

Here's hoping.

Owen Coyle please

He looked promising early on in the season, but the capitulation in the semi final against Stoke and the loss of form in the Premiership have raised question marks over him for now. I'd like to see how he does over the next couple of seasons before deciding if he is ready for a top job.

Considering the talent at his disposal I think you can allow for a little time when things don't quite go right. He has spent his money wisely too. The only thing that would bother me is people think he plays slick one touch passing - which his team do on occasions but they still rely on long ball which would not suit Bent.

I still think it is a season too early to consider him for the post of Villa manager. He has done very well for Bolton and made some excellent loan signings (Sturridge/Wilshire). I would still like to see how he is going to build his team and progress from here, as the next step his team need to make will be the hardest yet.

Also, what worries me is that even though Bolton seem to have had a good season, they still remain only 1 point above us after a nightmare season.

Owen Coyle please

He looked promising early on in the season, but the capitulation in the semi final against Stoke and the loss of form in the Premiership have raised question marks over him for now. I'd like to see how he does over the next couple of seasons before deciding if he is ready for a top job.

Here is one my Dad text to me:-

Whilst celebrating Arsenal's victory over Man utd at the weekend, it was perhaps a little unwise of Bin Laden to rush out into his back garden shouting.... COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!!

Next season is make or break for Delph. He needs to sort his fitness out and start producing on a consistent basis. If he can't then it's curtains. As for BB, can never see him him cutting it for us. Will be sold to a bottom half/championship side. Despite what people say, there is no place for a midfielder of his stature in the PL and he far too wasteful with the ball.

I agree, it is time he started showing his promise on a consistant basis at the top level. I think he is highly rated by the management, and he'll get a chance in pre season and early next season to stake his claim in his preferred CM slot. It will be up to him to take his chance.

I would like to see a younger Viera sized DM next to him, as I feel we're a little short on brute strength and heading ability in CM, and we could do with some extra height for set pieces. Perhaps that is why we're linked with Mariga from Inter.

Wouldn't that mean losing your CM pairing for the next two Januarys with the African Nations Cup??

I guess so, you're right that would be a bit rubbish. Perhaps we'll go for somone similar but probably European. I don't mind where they're from, as long as they can add some steel and height to the midfield and can fit in with the pass and move style we're trying to adopt.

I still like Makoun, good player. Still some basic stray passes that need cutting out but always still shows his class. The key with him is though is other players movement. As long as players keep moving for him, then he'll be very good and that's the sort of football we want to be playing anyway. There is no point of giving him the ball and then standing still. Hopefully defensively he improves.

That pretty much sums up my hopes for him, he looks a tidy little player. If we can get like minded players around him then he'll start to look better. I would say we'll see him at his best next season. It is not easy to come into a squad half way through a season, especialy one as bad as we're having.

I would like to see a younger Viera sized DM next to him, as I feel we're a little short on brute strength and heading ability in CM, and we could do with some extra height for set pieces. Perhaps that is why we're linked with Mariga from Inter.

Sven always makes you hard to beat, which is a good place to start with a team. I always thought he was harshly treated by the british press over his record with the England team. The managers who have followed in his footsteps have shown that maybe he wasn't as bad as he was made out to be. I think he would be an ok and gettable appointment for the club, although that ship may have sailed if we rejected him before when Houllier was appointed.

Yes your right the dutch league!! My bad. Although its no shite league when were considering Martin Jol on here is it? (Not aimed at you)

Thats fair enough if thats not what you were getting at, but I do get the general feeling, we are way to choosey.

Sam Allardyce, for example, would keep us up - That I have no doubt!!! But yet some people are worried about the football he plays. Well it cant get any worse, and Il take it over the championship anyday.

I agree, Allardyce would more than likely organise us and keep us up, he would be an excellent short term appointment. I would think he would get us back to a regular 6-8 finish every season, whether that would be good enough for us Villa fans is another question.

Steve McLaren!!!!!! The man was sacked from his last job with Wolfsburg for having them down the bottom of the table in a relegation battle. The Middlebrough fans were throwing their season ticket books at him after we drubbed them 4-0 at home under DOL. He is no better than what we currently have. The man would make us a laughing stock.

Name me one better and dont say Moyes or Coyle or Lambert because they're not coming.

You have to put yourself in the shoes of the board.

This

Sometimes I do wonder about Villa fans. They focus on the negatives of the manager rather than the positives. They also come across like we have a god given right for a top manager, when we clearly dont.

No no please not Sam Allardyce he plays crap football. Hel fit in bloody well then with this shower of shit!!!!!

No not Steve McLaren he got sacked from Wolfsburg. Yeah, he also won the league with them and got MIddlesbrough - Thats Middles 'fookin' brough to the UEFA cup final.

When are people going to clickl on (and I get slated everytime I say it), we are not that bigger club at all

I'm not saying we're a massive club and we'll go out and get Mourinho or someone of similar ilk. What I'm saying is that McLaren is no better than what we currently have, and by getting him in would not improve us. I would rather stick with Houllier for now, and give him the summer to rebuild with his players, than to dump him now for McLaren.

I don't recall McLaren winning the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg, maybe you're thinking of the Dutch league, which lets be honest is no way comparable to the quality of the Bundesliga or The Premiership. I think the negatives for McLaren far outweigh the positives in my opinion.

Steve McLaren!!!!!! The man was sacked from his last job with Wolfsburg for having them down the bottom of the table in a relegation battle. The Middlebrough fans were throwing their season ticket books at him after we drubbed them 4-0 at home under DOL. He is no better than what we currently have. The man would make us a laughing stock.

The question is, will their ageing and smallish squad be able to cope with all of the extra Uefa games. These days you need a Champions League sized squad to compete in the competition.

I was thinking about that while watching him last night. I think with Bannan you nearly need to give him a free roaming role in the middle. Give him no positional responsibility and let him use his creativity and vision to open up the opposition. Let him pop up wherever he chooses.

So he would be best playing in the hole behind the striker, a ready made replacement for Ashley Young next season. Hopefully he'll be up to the job after a solid season this year.

I was willing to give Houllier time, but that is fast running out for me. What worries me is our inability to see a game out to the end, how many times have we conceded late goals this season? We have won three league games that I remember. A late narrow win against Wolves, a late narrow win against a much changed Blackpool, and a narrow win against WBA that we almost threw away at the death. None of the wins have been convincing, and there have been many more dreadful abject performances. Look at our goal difference, it is one of a relegation team. We are currently the worst team in the Premiership on current form, and I see no way of Houllier turning it around. If I was in charge of Villa then my finger would be twitching on the trigger.

My first live game for a while courtesy of some complimentry tickets from a works supplier, and a welcome result at the end of the day. Came away from the ground happy, even after a nervous final few minutes. A few things I noticed from the game:-

We look very nervy in defence, especially at set plays. I think this is partly down to the fact that we have a smallish team. If you took Heskey, Carlos and Collins out of the mix on saturday we're not a big team. Our central midfield was short on height, our fullbacks aren't the strongest in the air. This can be a major issue against big and powerful opposition.

Hogg played with some bite and energy in midfield, though his positioning and tracking play sometimes let him down. One example being early in the first half a throughball into our penalty box left a player with a free run on our defence. Collins gave him a rocket for that. We need to look at addressing the midfield hole if we're going to stop leaking goals regularly. We got away with it a little on Saturday.

I was impressed with Lichaj. He looked strong and tackled well. He was fast, and got up and down the wing very well. Nice long throw, to add an extra weapon to our attack. He did get caught out a couple of times, probably due to inexperience. Hopefully he'll learn when to nip in, and when to stand his ground as he gains playing time.

Cueller was solid throughout, until one mistake almost let them in. The resulting corner did lead to their goal, which was disappointing.

I thought we dropped way too deep after conceding. We let them come at us, when a bit of pressure on the ball further up the pitch would have probably been a better plan. We seemed to do this after a rocket from Gary McAllister on the touchline.

The atmosphere from the Holte end was superb, my friend from work who supports Man Utd said it was so much louder that OT. He was impressed. Well done to the Holte End. Unfortunately I couldn't turn him from the dark side, and he still supports Man Utd.

A must win game, no doubts about this. We are next to useless away from home this season, so we must pick up maximum points against the lower teams at home. A win might give the team some confidence after some dreadful results, and keep our head above water until we get to January and can add some re-inforcements.

I'm coming up to this game, I don't get to many games these days due to family commitments and lack of money, but I've been given a couple of tickets for this game from a supplier at work. I was looking forward to it a couple of weeks back, but I must admit that has been dampened in recent weeks. I hope to see a victory, and hope to bring good luck with me. Well I can hope.

I'm extremely excited, I've just booked my next holiday on a brand new cruise ship called the Titanic.

My reaction is one of relief. I am not too bothered how we got the result, the important thing is the boost in confidence gained from the win. When you're on a winless run, then to break that run is the important thing, then hope to build from there. The performances and results will improve with confidence.

From my view of the MotD highlights. Delf took his goal superbly, and the shape and timing of his run was superb and belies his years. Ashley Young looked very lively, being involved with the first two goals and the unfairly disallowed goal. The Defence were caught out a few too many times for my liking. I would like to see Dunne and Cueller in the middle. Dunne wins over Collins due to the fact I think a Collins/Culler partnership would be too slow.

Overall though, I'm pleased as I feared the worst when I saw the HT score and we'd been pegged back to 1-1.

A win on any kind and it will at least (or should) put us top half, and only a matter of goals from the Top 8 - which, lets face it, is the minimum we should be looking at.

Anything other than a win and we really will be looking at a lower half / relegation battle.

Jesus this is one important game.

Lose it and we're in a relegation battle?

Ridiculous.

On one match alone I agree, but I would say confidence in the team must be getting pretty low now after a few bad results. We've seen before how fragile our teams confidence can be. Lose this game, then we're up against it and looking to get something substantial from the next few games and they're a tough set of fixtures. Lose those, and we do find ourselves sitting very uncomfortably as we approach Christmas. When you're down there it all becomes very tense, and with the youngsters having to learn at the wrong end of the table.

A must win game, we need the win to boost our confidence and points levels before a tough run of matches.

However, I think it'll be a close game with the odd goal in it.

I have no idea what Spurs fans have to boo about tbh. First season in the champions league and they will probably finish top of the group. They are expecting a title challenge I imagine, its the only reason they can whinge, considering they have played some of the top teams already.

To be fair success breeds higher expectations, we have seen similar things here when we don't beat a team that we all think we should be beating.

I was talking to a friend who supports Spurs at the weekend, and he summed it up by saying he was gutted at losing to Bolton, as after they beat Inter he thought they were invincible. I think it was said a little tongue in cheek, but probably has a hint of truth in there somewhere.

Just come back into my home, turn on TV....and equalizer. Straight a **** way.

This happened to me as well. Flicked on Sky Sports News thinking the game must have finished, and Jeff Stelling was saying the dreaded words. "Villa looking so much in control for most of the game, but there has been a late twist. Gutted. :cry:

Our season is hanging in the balance at the moment, if we can't gain some momentum soon then we can write this season off. The one thing that concerns me is our lack of options up front. Even if fully fit our front line (with the exception of Gabby) doesn't strike fear into the opposition. This need addressing urgently.

Haven't voted. Can't vote either yes or no TBH.

He hasn't ripped up trees, nor failed badly (this month).

I am prepared to give him plenty of time, due to the circs he took over in.

My jury will not be returning on The Hou for a good while.

This sums up my feeling as well. Can't really blame him for the squad and situation he has inherited. Our problems are mostly down to the lack of decent striker options. Gabby being injured, Heskey not really prolific goalscorer and Carew not on form. The only strange thing is the lack of Delfouneso, but I think that is more to do with the Fonz than GH.

Has Glaston not been on since?

Classic head under a rock till you win syndrome again then!

Not that I've seen.

That is nothing though, the season under Ramos when they nearly went down he vanished for about 3 months.

It's classic Spurs fan behaviour. I used to get no end of grief during the mid to late 80's from my Spurs supporting school friends. They went very quiet in the early 90's when we gave them a few 5 goal poundings. One even disowned Spurs and said he no longer supported them after the 5-2 win at WHL. That is why I hate Spurs with such a passion. Most Spurs fans are quiet most of the time, but a slight hint of success and they're the cockiest bunch you'll ever find!

Have you read the posts by Villa fans in this thread? All the reasons the Villa fans cite for hating Spurs fans are constantly on display by the Villa posters in this thread. I'm not saying it's all those posting here, but for every Glaston, there are 20 Villa contributors to this thread that are just as bad and often worse. I stuck up for Glaston a while ago and do feel he's not treated particuarly fairly, but at the same time, I don't think he's done himself any fabours in with his repsonses in the last few months. But it's a bit mental to call Spurs fans "the cockiest bunch you'll ever find" when you post at Villatalk. I'm not saying all Villa fans are cocky, but this certianly isn't the ideal forum in which to accuse another fan base of being so. It' like the KKK accusing the Nazi's of racism.

I can only go on my own memories, and sadly Spurs fans have been the cockiest around in my living memory, maybe it is just the area of the country I live in?

Yes you'll find cocky Villa fans on here, because it is a Villa fans website so strangely enough we'll outnumber Spurs fans on here. You'll also find lots of Villa fans on here who are far from cocky, and talk about Villa's hopes in a very realistic way.