villaglint

If ever people wonder about Keanes influence you only have to look at that tackle two mins after Sterling came on and Senderos kicking Balotelli throughout the game

When he did that challenge against Long I hated him because it showed him to be the thug he is but when he nearly sliced Sterling in half yesterday I was cheering him on and loving him for it. And they call us fickle...

Basically won us 6 points in the last two games

Absolutley superb!!! Few beers to celebrate me thinks

Never seen him play a full match but probably worth remembering he is 17 so four years younger than most on display. Was there anyone who did look decent Jonno?

I love the Gym End of anecdote

You sound like TBAR Trent

For those saying Liverpool have an eye on CL whilst true I think Rodgers will be taking this game very seriously after the last two years. I think Balotelli and Gabby will also be bang up for it so should be a good game.

Rooney still starts for me, think he is still one of our best players. Yes he has poor games as does everyone. Difference is he also has good games and people these days say he played crap when what they mean is the team played crap. With regards to Wilshere I think he is a talented player in the same way I think Delph is a talented player. I'd agree Wilshere is living off reputation more than anything at the moment. One of those who looks to have regressed since coming on to the scene but that is a standard storey and there is still time for him to develop as a player. He is definitely not a sitting midfielder and I'd assume he and Delph will be competing for the same spot of the next year or two if we continue in this formation.

Agree that Wilshere was pants but it's not a position he's ever played before so I won't crucify him too much. That said though it was an experiment that didn't quite work in my eyes, be interesting to see whether Woy perseveres with it. More to the point though there is a spot as DM in England just waiting for someone to emerge in the next two years and make it there own. If I was someone like Westwood I'd be seeing that as a real opportunity and I'm sure there are a number of other players out there thinking the same.

Apparently Wilshere is sitting, interesting experiment but shows how weak we are in this area. Wilshere should keep us ticking reasonably well but he is no kind of defensive presence at all At least it will allow Delph to play his normal game

Playing in middle with Henderson and Wilshere difficult to see who is going to sit there. It feels like a very Woy decision to finally call Fab up and then play him DM

Is it actually confirmed we have a agreed a fee then? Think I missed that.

To be fair though if we have a decent few months and Cleverly is a significant part of that then the difference between ourselves and Everton is unlikely to be all that great. Say we were 9th, Everton 7th and Cleverly is in form, back in England squad and being lauded. Would he want to stay where things were going well or move to Everton and compete with Ross Barkley for a place in the team?

Didnt see the game but from highlights of few Everton games I've seen looks like McGeady has had a reasonable start to the season

He'll do for me, where do I sign?

I don't think he earns that much but I agree with the general point. Unfortunately this kind of attitude is rife throughout football. Money killed football some time ago

U21 or no that is a goal that features two rabona's by the same player the second of which being absolutely fantastic. Who is that kid? edit - OK scratch that its Alex Song - respect for the tekkers clearly having fun playing with the kids!

Just to add a bit of balance to this I think the point is to have different weapons in your attack rather than just ignoring one altogether. For instance it would seem to me stupid to say to our players "never play the ball long to Benteke" when one his greatest strengths as a player is to take a long ball on his chest with excellent control and then bring others in to play. We are then ahead of the game and can use Gabbys pace and Andi's movement to really hurt teams. We did this a lot at the end of 12/13 and to a certain extent at the beginning of last season before his injury. What we don't want to do though which we then did for virtually the entirety of last season is rely on that as our only route to goal. Reason being obvious that opposing teams stick a player directly in front of Benteke and behind him and drown him out altogether. Now we have the midfielders and defenders to play a more controlled passing game it will leave teams with the option of pressing our midfield which will give Benteke and others the space to do what they do best. Or they can double up on Tekkers which will give more space for the midfield to build the play and hopefully create chances.

Yes really is very good ! I have to ask though what are you doing watching West Ham U21s I some times feel like a saddo watching our U21s let alone other teams.

Did he get a new contract under McLeish? He has done very well to be paid by a Premier League club for this long

I have seen Jack play a lot over the years and I think burning out is definitely an issue to think about. As it is with an kid of his age, very few come in and just play every game, most dip in and out first year or two. Only exceptions I can think of are genetic freaks like Rooney and Shaw who were "men" ahead of their age. Jack believe it or not can be pretty anonymous in some games when the defender gets his measure and his lack of strength exposes itself. I have seen him have the odd game in youth football where he barely got a kick. Right now he is match fit, confident and loving life. Without doubt he is ready to start games and I think in the not too distant he will. However it wouldn't surprise me to see him have five great games and then start to drop his levels for a few games. Same thing happened to Sterling in his first year and look at him now. I think Lambert has it just about right at the moment, he knows he has a talent on his hands which he acquired for nowt. He is trying to manage Jack to give him every chance to learn the league whilst also building the fitness and strength levels required for this level of football.

I thought he was dead and buried after the last game of season. It looked like he and players thought that too. So I'm happy to hold my hands up and say congrats to him on what has been a positive summer in very difficult circumstances. No doubt it is still going to be a long tough season and I am sure at a few points we will still be looking over our shoulder. But right now I am optimistic that this season will be better than the last and bearing in mind the context of our chairman I would very happily take that right now.

Sorry to burst the bubble Aussie brethern but I've seen him play about 4 times and based on those appearances I don't think he will ever make the Villa 1st 11.

I still think our attacking options are a little bit on the light side until we get Benteke and to a lesser extent Kozak back. I know Weimann and Gabby did well in the last game but we all know that as long as a team sets up properly against them (ie gives them no space) then they struggle to carve out chances for themselves. N'Zog I think is still a good few games away from being properly sharp and ready to be a big threat. What I will say is the major upgrade we've made to our midfield this summer should mean we are better able to control games and create proper guilt edged chances (remember those?). I think Gabby, Weimann, N'Zogbia and Bent are all reasonably proficient finishers so should hopefully benefit from having to be in the right place and finish rather than create the whole chance and finish which is what they've been asked to do for a good long while now.