mikeyp102

Big Phil was ace at Chelsea wasn't he? Capella really Loved working in England didn't he? How much of the language did he learn? Van gaal who is being linked to Liverpool? One we couldnt afford them and two just because they are big names doesn't necessarily mean they would be good.....they may very well do a job, but I would be very surprised if they would be interested in coming (not that I think mc will be sacked).

Great quiz thanks

Why did downing deserve it any more than anyone else? Wouldn't you want to leave if mc was going to be your boss?

i dont think our style of play is value for money at any price. I know what you're saying, but if I didn't go to the games I would still watch in the pub....I would then in all likelihood get very drunk because of the results, spending more money in the process. I drive to most home games and meet up with mates who dont live newrby, so for me it is still more value going to games than not.

Going to football on a Saturday is what I enjoy.... Spending 295 over 9 is a bargain in prem or championship

Really? Good teams with bad managers..... West Ham, Liverpool, Chelsea,. Bad teams with good managers......QPR, WBA, Swansea, Norwich Don't really understand these...by what stretch of the imagination are West Ham a good team? And how are Swansea and Norwich bad teams? Ok they may not have star performers, but together they perform well, infact Swansea are widely acclaimed as playing fantastic football so I would say they are a good team.

I put this on thread earlier but doesn't seem to have been picked up....could someone who has watched reserves confirm whether bb, gg and herd played together and if so what roles/positions did they undertake?

Liverpool away was by far the most diabolical performance ever by a Villa team followed by City away. Only 2 games i ever turned off at half time Agreed - it's also easy to forget that Liverpool were going through a really bad spell, far worse than what they're in now and we gifted them a game. Aren't Liverpool on their worst run in 50 yrs? Spurs away this season? Utd at home? Liverpool at home? All games the opposition won without getting out of first gear as we had already given up. Then the Swansea at home game? Last yr was bad, but no where near as bad as this year.

At £295 couldnt resist renewing...

Anyone who has watched Youth/reserve football. Can you confirm whether Bannan Herd and Gardner played together and if so in what positions?

What a strike..

Flying winger eh....wonderful...thanks

Haven't seen the last 2 games, could someone please explain the formation? Is Warnock playing in midfield or a 5 man defence(if that is the case who plays where?) How is he performing? (and before anyone says I should go to games, I am a season ticket holder just couldnt make today due to family commitments)

Good post. I find it laughable that Gabby has all these problems with the managers. The only thing that I remember Hou did was to get gabby on the wing and said to him that he had bulked up too much and that he needed to lose weight. Gabby moaned about this and said he knew his body best. Funnily enough come the start of this season he had lost some weight and started brightly....he really is not the brightest spark is he

I think McLeish is a truelly awful manager, but I cannot see any benefit to sacking him at this stage of the season (at the of the season, Great get rid. Having seen how long it took the board to replace MON and Houllier, does it really seem likely that if he was sacked now anyone would be lined up to replace him? Someone like KMac may set up like last time, and althought he encouraged teams to attack, at the back we were terrible. Look at Wolves for example, if they were going to sack Mad Mick they should've done early January, so that the new manager wouldve had time to bring in a couple of loans/signings (which MM did) of there own, and would've more likely been able to attract a new manager. As they didn't they were left with someone "from within" to take over. Therefore it is the same old ideas in coaching etc .

Had a good game, looked livley and in control of the ball when he had it.. Always looking for a pass and wanting the ball. Beat his a few times with a good bit of skill. I would say though that it is obvious he is not a winger, need to see him in the middle where he will get more of the ball and not have to rely on pace to go past someone... One thing is the lack of experience showed for Chelsea's fourth...he shouldve kicked Sturridge up in the air to stop progressing, take a booking for the good of the team...Mr Barry was excellent at doing that.

Very impressed with the players who have came through the ranks yesterday...I know some only played because of injuries but it is a good tribute to the club to see so many starting and so many more on the bench

Did well yesterday...only a fool would drop him after that performance....oh wait..

Too be honest this thread could be filled with loads...certain positions never really fill fans with excitement unless they are exceptional talents. Holding midfielders due to their nature of play will not be seen as exciting signings, same could go with full backs. On the flip side strikers and wingers will generate excitement as they are more likely to be match winners. I do remember a certain midfielder signing for a low fee from Sheffield wednesday, I had never heard of him and instantly thought hmmm..............that midfielder was a certain Mr Ian Taylor and he was one of my favourite players, so initial excitement doesn't always mean anything

So shocked by this news.... Best of wishes to Stan and his family

I was talking to my mate at work this morning. He joked as to whether we shall get an end of season letter as we did mid season....if we do wouldn't be surprised if it was along the lines of... The season has its ups and downs and the loss of Bent really impacted the season just as we were gaining momentum to challenge for the top 6....he still feels that the team has done well and that we are creating numerous chances and it’s just unlucky we haven’t won more. What people have to remember is that he is setting his teams up to play free flowing football but the players just haven’t responded. People only have to look at his recent success at his previous employers to see that it is a complete myth that he sets teams defensively.

I did the 4 month last yr and have used the 9 month this year. Don't panic, I have had the same and it all works out fine. You'll hear from the club at a later date re confirmation of seat etc. Yes you still get the benefits of previous booking history.

I was going to say Nillis, remember seeing all these interviews how he was a great creator and thought he was going to set the world alight for us...maybe he would've that goal was something special. Collymore would be up there as would Bent, both proven goalscorers that the team needed. Agree with the previous about Balaban, came with such a high reputation and we apparently beat Spanish sides to his signature..too be honest he may have been good, never had the opportunity, but then I suppose it was more than one manager who digarded him so he can't have impressed in training. Further left field, I remember when Mark Draper signed thinking that he'd had a cracking season for Leicester and that he would star for us.

If you believe there were lots of managers that could come in and do better than O'Neill then you are deluded. Name me one manager who you guarantee would have done better, that is a realistic appointment, and I will back down but personally I think when you take charge of a club that is lightyears away from the established top four and you get as close as he did you can be pretty happy with what you've done but regret never having the chance to complete the job. He signed bad players but he signed some bloody good ones too. And as I've mentioned before, the January transfer window is not an easy time to sign a striker. Look how much we had to pay for Bent? And that was a panic buy! O'Neill desperately wanted a striker but chose to bolster his defence and midfield first, sounds a sensible approach to me. It's not like our strikers have been getting much service this season is it! You can also bang on about the squad left by O'Neill, has it not occurred to you that he would have continued to make changes? He was in charge for less than five years, if you expected more success in that time, bearing in mind what a mess we'd been in under O'Leary then you are clueless. You write that shit and call me clueless? He could have bought Bent but allowed him to go to **** Sunderland cheaply because he wouldn't know a striker if he fell over one. You say he sensibly built from the back? He replaced the entire defence he himself had just bought with money that could have been used elsewhere on, oh let's say, the striker we desperately needed? January is only a bad time to buy if you're Martin O'Neill and only shop in the UK. Or if, for an example, you haven't bought properly in the summer because you've just bought an entire defence again (at the last minute of course), plus the odd shite midfielder and forgot to buy that striker we desperately needed, so wait until January and still get it massively wrong. Not a **** clue. I personally couldnt care less if you "back down" or not but it's pointless talking managers because you would only say "we wouldn't have got him" or whatever. But I do not agree, nor will I ever, that Martin O'Neill was the best man for the job or the most capable. If you'd gone to a lot of the best managers with a billionaire ready to plough tens of millions into a project you honestly think they wouldn't be interested? But Randy had to work with him as he'd just been appointed (no doubt with Randys blessing). And please spare me from the great squad buiding work of O'Neill from the dark days of O'Leary (who was a clearing in the woods). As if splashing millions on players is a difficult task. He still inherited some of the best players from O'Leary and managed to do no better in the league (6th). Big **** deal. The truth is that due to his lack of foresight in buying a defence (he bought Shorey on Sidwell's advice for **** sake!), his inability to buy a striker even though lavished with a huge transfer budget and his uk only myopia in the transfer meant that, unfortuantely for us, he was not the ideal person to be spending the money we had. Money that if better used, would have put us in a very strong position then and now. Yes, he bought some good players. It's not really that hard. Good players tend to be quite obviously good. But he also: - Spent £5m on the hopeless Sidwell and gave him £50k p/w - Heskey for £4m on £60k p/w :shock: - Beye on 40k p/w - Bought Marlon Harewood - Bought Shorey on a recommendation of a player he hardly used. - Sold Cahill and bought Davies at twice the price. - Bought a winger with a broken leg when we needed a striker. - Left everything to the last minute. - Could rarely win a game after February. This is really the best we could have hoped for at Aston Villa? I think my expectations are higher. 2 Great Posts Mazrim

These are my thoughts as well. He should win player of the season, just for his general consistency (always around the 7/10 mark). Saturday was possibly the first time I have seen him put in a really bad shift (which if mentioned above he was injured then understandable). Was so surprised to see Herd come off from holding midfield and Gardner put into that role. In my eyes it would have been better leaving Herd on, Gardner as the advanced midfielder and Petrov to go off. It even looked as if Petrov thought it would be him going off. Started to move towards the dugout when the board was produced, only to then see Herd's number appear.