Namaste

Great hold up play and finish by Agbonlahor!

What position will Heitinga play?

Shorey is looking good.

Yep, I agree.

We should've scored then.

We lack so much quality its untrue.

i will judge after 38 games not one thanks!

You sound like O'Neill. Do YOU still need 38 games to judge our very own Curtis Davies?

Ferguson played better than any of our midfielders which was more relevant than what might happen over the course of 38 games.

and barry ferguson? whoever said we should get him should be shot! all our cms are better thanh him when they are on form, we are just low on confidence at the moment. i am concerned about the game at the sty i have to admit

If you look at it objectively Ferguson performed better than any of our midfielders against Wigan. He kept posession of the ball and used it well, I repeat we couldn't have done any worse than have him in our team. I did not say we should have signed him though, so pay attention!

So shoot me now, fool. :winkold:

Agree with the sentiments as above. Why aren't we better prepared General?

Also can you clear up the misunderstanding regarding John Carew; does he have an injury?

Thanks for your time.

Benitez looked good when he came on late in the game at Old Trafford. He will score goals for Blues.

Based on the opening fixtures we (Villa) could've done with Barry Ferguson today who retained and passed the ball better than any of our players against Wigan.

A few have commented on abuse towards the General on this thread. I fail to see it at all apart from a concern over the direction of Aston Villa and criticism of our manager's out-dated style.

No abuse as far as I'm concerned!

General,

We need to buy about 5 players. This will cost about 30/40m. If you buy the right ones.

My advice to you, My advice to Randy. DONT give this money to MON. Stick it out, invest it elsewhere, do whatever, but this man will waste Randy's money.

Upthevilla.

I think O'Neill's wasted about £23million of it on the worst defense Villa has seen in many years.

General,

Can I also ask what the powers at be think about Roberto Martinez who being a Premiership novice completely out-thought O'Neill. Is O'Neill taking accountability for three to four months of relegation football?

Can I also say it's a disgrace to expect Fabian Delph to suddenly jump two leagues and perform at such a young age. This is a sure-fire way to break the confidence of a player so young.

We are hearing many stories circulating of player unrest and I certainly would not blame them if they are questioning the manager's decisions and tactics. Can you shed any light on this General? (ok, maybe you cannot answer this and I expect that but there is something wrong if the players are not performing.)

I voted stay, for now.

But I think if performances are still as poor in a few months O'Neill will be walking. I do not see how he can turn this around unless he signs a quality defender and midfielder.

I really think he has lost the plot big time.

The team is a joke. Stop spending money on pubs, hospitality, mosaics, and steps and buy some decent players, or get a manager that can because i wont pay money to watch that lot any more this season.

‘General’…

I too echo the above sentiments, I want a team to play good football and compete.

Re: Wigan game. 4-0 would not have been a flattering score for them and they would have deserved it!

Our defence today contained two relegated players, an SPL and Championship player. They are substandard and most agree we are still waiting for the alleged potential of Curtis Davies to show. Let me ask you how much you think we would recoup of the transfer fee we paid for him? West Brom must be very thankful for our handout. I also fail to see how signing relegated players is aspiring to greatness we should be signing winners not losers, and this is why we are not competitive yet it does not take a manager to see that.

I do not know what the management and coaches do in training but can you tell them to get some fresh ideas. Our team today had a distinct lack of cohesion and unity to the extent that players continually were pulled out of position and even going for the same ball. A complete shambles.

I know there are still two weeks until the end of the transfer window but O’Neill has waxed lyrical about getting players ‘bedded in’ for many a transfer window yet he does not heed his own advice. Surely it would have been progressive to get in our key players several weeks before the start of the season to avoid handicapping our chances of finishing higher up the league. This transfer window has been another example of O’Neill’s (or someone’s) reluctance to be pro-active. I thought our motto was ‘Prepared’? What happened to that sentiment? What happened to replacing our key players in Barry and Laursen, this is an absolute joke in itself.

35,000 fans in attendance tell a story General in that the fans are not confident, if they were Villa Park would be full. As it stands I had my reservations we would finish top six again but after that shambolic performance today I think we will be lucky to finish mid-table.

A poll was run on this very site just before the match gauging our hopes for the season and 33% of fans were pessimistic and thought we would slip from sixth. They might be correct at the moment because we are standing still.

I do not get to Villa Park much because I live outside of the UK, but on the fare that has been presented over the last three to four months one can see why Villa Park was well short on capacity against Wigan. 2 wins in 17 competitive games General is not good enough and is definitely relegation form, the figures do not lie.

Tide is definitely turning on O’Neill’s popularity General pressure is on.

Friedel - 5 maybe could've done better but not the worst performer.

Beye - 6 Looked alright.

Davies - 2 Woeful. A Championship player at best.

Cuellar - 3 Poor. An SPL defender who struggles with the pace and movement of the PL.

Shorey - 2 Rubbish. And so slow.

Milner - 6 Probably our best player.

Petrov - 6 Some nice touches and bits of skill but there was no movement ahead of him.

Delph - 6 Got potential, but should not of played today as a starter.

Young - 2 Poor again. I'm getting fed up of his greed, and persistent diving. His delivery was also very poor today!

Gabby - 3 Ineffective.

Heskey - 3 Ineffective.

Albrighton - Seemed lively.

Fonzie - Not much chance to shine.

Sidwell - Missed a great chance, that's about it.

O'Neill - 2 Tactics are wrong, lack of cohesion in the team and no direction. Three months later and nothing has changed we still play the same way = 'hoofball'.

This is going to be a long season and I initially though we'd be lucky to get top six again before today's match but now I'd say we look a mid-table team.

Wigan deserved the win and it probably should have been three or four nil to them.

Should've been 2 to Wigan. Davies is awful.

To be honest we look a very average team so far!

getting outclassed by Wigan at home first game of the season does not bode well at all!

It's going to be a long season methinks!

Can't really argue with that, they deserve it.

Heskey chosen in favour of big John.

Mistake.

Rest of the team is spot on.

Not if he scores it won't be.

Distin is by far the best player on that list.

Wheater has potential but so does Curtis Davies (allegedly).

Campbell was once a quality player but has seen better days and Dunne is average at best!

Well the season starts and we have had the task of replacing our two best players - none of them have gotten replacements. We have sold an extra central defender as well, which leaves us with two! I wonder who would play away to Liverpool should one of the guys get injured and MON not bring in a new one.

However, John Carew was great last night and should definetely go ahead of Heskey in the first game and hopefully it will stay that way forever.

He was greatbut played the best part of seventy-five minutes? I think John will be on the bench and come on for Heskey late in the game.

General,

Just a quick word about the Official Website. When you click first team squad there is no mention of Downing, Delph or Beye.

I hope the lads can do us proud on Saturday, a win is imperative as home form will be crucial.

Their team just does not seem to have the character they did under Brucie (who is know widely regarded as the top young English manager ).

As bad as they were, you at least always knew the likes of Savage, Horsfield, Purse gave a shit, and I HATED playing them. This lot don't scare me, they are not nasty enough.

However, the pessimist in me says they will stay up and Wolves, who I'd like to stay up will go down.

I think they'll have more strength than the last season they were up.

Roger Johnson was one of the best defenders in the Championship last season. Their midfield is tight (but unspectacular) and if they can take their hard-to-beat mentality into the Premiership they should stay up.

A big ask of course, but my money is on Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth to finish beneath them.

Can anyone confirm that Beye is injured?

18. Portsmouth

19. Hull

20. Burnley