il_serpente

Because Fox told him to just bide his time and they'd get rid of Lambert, just don't tell anyone. A couple more losses and he's gone. I'm sure they told Gil and Sinclair the same thing.

Too late. His ship has sailed. I suspect he was never as good as the hype suggested anyway, even before the injuries. The only thing of value I ever saw him do on the pitch for the first team was unleash the shot against Fulham where Weimann put in the rebound to save the season. The rest of his performances could only charitably described as average, let alone the calibre of the new big thing.

You may have made a cross for your own back there, Stephanie. Sadly, that's probably the best cross anyone associated with Villa has made in, say, 6 matches...

Can't get into the team in French 2nd division, but has a chance at Villa? Allow me to be the first to roll out the "How far Villa have fallen" cliche, which would seem pretty apt in this case.

Still would even though she's got three legs. ....and no airbags.

The flesh-colored seat and the way it partially covers her dress make it look like she's spreading her legs and inviting you to have a go, at first glance. Until you notice what would then be her third leg.

If my boss heard me talking like that he'd bench me.

Just found secret film of the squad practicing the new style:

But judging from that YouTube video, Gil's strength seems to be getting things moving quickly on the counter, not picking open the lock of a parked bus.

You're just making that all up. Clearly there are good doctors and bad doctors and we just don't know which is which in this case. Stop making it all complicated and nuanced.

?????

Wish I could be optimistic. If Blackpool have any sense they will have watched other poor teams sit back and let us pass back and forth with no end product and realize even a poor Championship side can also keep us out that way, hoping to nick a goal off a counter or set piece. Delfouneso to score the winner. It's in the stars. Imagine Lambert will let Cleverley rest his foot and try to get minutes for Cole. I expect to see Richardson and Zog get minutes under their belt. Interesting to see if he trusts Herd or Robinson to start. If Lowton doesn't play you know he's really in the doghouse.

Hutton MOTM. The only one of the starters who tried to make things happen in attack and urged the players in front of him to move for him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to convince them. Sanchez was mostly good but was quite bad when he wasn't good. Bacuna and Grealish proved that lambo hasn't been so crazy to leave them out. Thought Cole must have been injured since he hadn't come on. Must be really unfit if it took that long to trust that he would be ab,e to finish the match. Clark and Okore mostly ok, but both left me nervous a couple of times. Front 3: wtf?? Don't recall a single time when one of them had the ball and I felt any sense of excitement or anticipation or hope even. That's a first. 90 minutes none of us will get back. Just glad I didn't pay to squander them.

So Eurosport/Yahoo player ratings gave Sanchez a 6 and N'Zogbia a 7...

There have been plenty of times when he's had good reason to be mad at teammates- he's been in a great position where they could have gotten the ball to him with a relatively straightforward pass and they either made the wrong decision or botched the pass (e.g., Weimann v. Swansea). I've got no problem with him protesting in those situations. He's absolutely right to give them an earful. But the Bacuna and Grealish situations mentioned above are ridiculous. Bacuna put in about the only ball that could evade both keeper and defender. If Benteke had been charging in to be ready for a rebound, deflection or ball that slipped through he would have had a tap-in. Instead, he jumps on Bacuna for not making an impossible pass. Similarly, Grealish did about as well as he could, skipping by 2 defenders and getting a ball in. He might have been able to do better to avoid the keeper, but he sure as hell couldn't be expected to put it where Benteke seemed to think he should. I've seen other, less obvious attacks where he's done the same thing: He might have been in a great position, but even the best player in the world would have trouble seeing him, let alone getting the ball to him, through a crowd of defenders. And he gets mad at his teammate for not pulling off the impossible. It's an unattractive trend.

Perhaps he wasn't being racist at all but just being descriptive. The incident occurred in the box, where it's generally pretty crowded. There were probably a couple of opponents touching him and perhaps he was just trying to make it very clear which c*** he didn't want touching him. Would have been a more convincing defence than claiming not to know the meaning of the word.

It has to be 3/5 at the back. Our only area of quality and relative depth right now is CB. Man U's strength is their attack. It's only logical. Taking advantage of our best available players also counters the best part of their team. Plus, with Hutton out we need the extra help in defense. The big question is whether the wingbacks get pinned back or actually have a chance to get forward. If they're allowed/expected/able to get forward we can't have Gabby, Benteke and Weimann as a front three as that would leave an abundance of width with little crossing ability. Of course, if the wingbacks get pinned back, Gabby and Weimann would end up having to come deep and Benteke would be isolated up front. It settled then, Gabby and Weimann can't both play. Guzan Okore Vlaar Clark Lowton/Bacuna Cissokho Sanchez Grealish Delph Andi/Zog Benteke

Why would we want to disrupt a back four that has played very well as a unit for several games running and seems to have developed an understanding of how to defend together? One contributor to the losing run was that we never had a settled CB pairing after the first few games. It's working now. Don't f**k with it....

Might try to have Okore covering Anichebe as much as possible. I don't see him being bullied. I hope Lambert doesn't throw Vlaar in the lineup. As well as Clark and Okore are playing there's no need to take any chances on rushing Vlaar back too soon and risking aggravating his injury. Hopefully, if he makes the squad it's only as cover in an emergency. Might even be worth turning to Lowton first if Clark or Okore go down and Villa aren't under particularly heavy pressure defensively (I know, I know...When are Villa ever not under intense pressure late in the game unless the game is already lost).

He's a massive upgrade on Bennett and Luna w/ respect to positioning in general and covering opposing wingers and fullbacks breaking forward, but I thought he really struggled on the few occasions Mahrez managed to go at him head on. He got completely turned inside out for the goal and was at least as much at fault as Westwood. I'm not convinced he's better than Bennett in that situation. Certainly not better than Bertrand. I like that he looks to get forward and he keeps getting my hopes up until I'm reminded he has little end product unless the opposition is playing so far off him that he can get in a cross with no pressure and little danger of bouncing it off their first man. His crossing when unchallenged is decent, though. Still, a significant step down from Bertrand going forward.

Clark and Hutton in eurosport's european team of the week.

Mistook him for Ulloa...

That's the biggest pile of rubbish I have seen on this forum. Welcome to the forum! You obviously haven't read many threads yet.

Birmingham Mail survey says 80% of supporters would have him in the starting lineup. Amazing.

I am not your pal, buddy I'm not your