villaglint

I am always optimistic going into a new season but I have big worries this time round. It is going to be another really tough slog of season and it will be a throw of the dice where we end up. Usually my optimism is quickly proved to be misplaced so fingers crossed my worries are misplaced this time round too.

I don't get it...

If he does go it won't be the biggest loss as others have said no point having 3 players challenging for RB and clearly Hutton and Bacuna are ahead in Lamberts mind. I will look back on that Sunderland game with fondness and regret. One of the best games I've seen from a Villa full back in many a year. Such a shame he never kicked on from that and in fact went significantly backwards. Bigger shame is that he will have those same regrets x100 if he never makes it back to the Prem

Well I thought he was pretty crap that season and not a scapegoat at all. However Lowton went backwards big time last year and Hutton looks very motivated which is good to see.

Another point to make is that when it comes to being difficult to get off the ball or holding the ball up strength is by no means the be all and end all. The likes of Silva and Pirlo are almost impossible to dispossess because they always have the ball where they want it and there body between ball and defender. Someone like Gabby is strong as an Ox but regularly loses the ball cheaply because his technique lets him down.

He was also injured for the vast majority of last season!

I think £28m in modern day is correct money for Lukaku. He's not finished article but he's a threat to most teams and still has potential to improve and deliver over a number of years. Bigger thing for Everton is that they actually managed to sign somebody at that price. Great news for them that they had the money but even better that they managed to attract him permanently as he'll have had plenty of offers.

FWIW my view on game last night Guzan - Was pretty good except for his rick in second half. Had a lot to do and score line could have been a lot worse were it not for him. Lowton - Wasn't awful but continued last seasons habit of diving in and getting beaten very easily. Strange to say but Hutton looking clearly ahead of him right now. Herd - Already said in the other thread but I really dont rate this guy and have no idea what he is doing at the club. As a utility man he is Championship level in a range of positions. As a CB he is probably League One level. Donacien - Looked terrible in first half - obviously not used to playing on left side of CB pairing so that was a good learning experience for him. He and Bennett looked very weak on that side of defence. In second half he looked much better alongside Okore. Has electric pace and definitely has assets to be a good player. Seems to lack authority at he moment and I can see why he is a distance from first team right now. Still has time though so we will see. Bennett - Looked really crap as he has done in 90% of the games he;s had for us. Richardson has played most of games for us in pre season in midfield but surely surely he has come in to play LB. If Bennett is our first choice LB we are going to concede a lot of goals next year. This kid has had two years now and while he does have nice feet going forward I am struggling to see that he will make it as a Premier League player. D Johnson - Inconsistent - Only word to describe him - did some nice things and plenty of bad things. A long long way from being ready for first team. Desperately needs to play a season of mens football next year. Needs a loan with a club who is going to play him every game. When Greg Dyke made his proposals about B league he was talking specifically about people like Johnson. Def got talent but find their development halted in gap between u21 and first team. Gardener - Big season for Gary and he did OK in this game without ever really imposing himself on it. Some good range of passing but never really bossed it. The conundrum with Gary is this. He gets played a lot in deeper Westwood role because he has decent passing and is big gets stuck in etc. However his biggest asset is that he arrives in box gets goals and has a lethal shot from around edge of box. He doesn't really get to use that asset in Westwood role. However I'm not sure he has good enough skill/technique to play more advanced. Carruthers - As with Johnson inconsistent but I'm putting that down to rustiness after long injury. I think he is well ahead of Johnson is pecking order and has chance to be a first team player this year but needs to prove it sooner rather than later. Burke - Amazed he still only 20 - nonetheless this kid looks good enough when playing in U21s but massively out of his depth every time I've seen him play at first team level. Will do well to have a career in Championship in my opinion. Tonev - As with Bennett has talent but only ever see it in glimpses and 90% of performances are pretty awful. Robinson - This kid has a bit of talent but a shed load of guts and determination to go with it. Everything that people like Delfouneso and Burke are missing. He has a long long way to before he makes it in Premier League but if he does it will be an achievement carved with raw desire. A lot to like about this kid again loan would be good for him this year. Subs Bacuna - Did OK looked a lot more solid than Lowton and got forward reasonably well. Okore - We looked a lot more solid with him in team. Very composed on ball (sometimes too much) feel he may have a rick or two in him as he learns how cut throat the Prem can be but ultimately looks a very talented player and head and shoulders above Clark and Baker. Stevens - Did well to be honest much better than Bennett last night in every aspect of game. El Ahmadi - Did OK - replaced Gardner and played deeper role in central 3. One thing I noticed is that he is good and pressing but pretty pants at straight forward tackling. Got done a number of times by League 1 players. Grealish - Looked very good to be honest. Kept the ball well, always wanted it and was able to slice through their lines with good running and give and goes. He is ready now and it is a big moment for him. Yes he is slight and will get smashed plenty of times but in general his technique and intelligence means he keeps the ball better than our more senior pros. He is one of very few glimmers of excitement for us right now. N'Zogbia - Very good news to have this guy back. He is inconsistent but a significant threat to most sides he will face. Hopefully between him, Grealish and Joe Cole we will be a lot less reliant on Gabby and Weimann next year.

We played Gardner, Johnson and Carruthers centrally with Gardner slightly deeper in the Westwood role. So he was centre midfield but slightly more advanced - box to box I guess. I think that is the right position for him he is just a little off the pace at the moment but that'll come. His problem though is it needs to come quick because he needs to be impressing to get himself ahead in the pecking order to get starts/sub appearances in Premier League.

Con - I have to applaud your consistency here

Yeah I watched the game and thought he still looked rusty as hell. Gave the ball away a fair bit and didn't really do anything particularly great when he didn't give it away. That said he is coming back from a major injury and I wouldn't expect anything else at this point. I still hope that he can stay with the first team this year because I think he has the potential to make it in the Prem.

Was also very impressed by him last night. The only logic to letting Albrighton go for free is that they felt Jack was ready and a better bet for the future. In my eyes he is ready now and I see him getting plenty of first team action this year. Streets ahead of Tonev

Yeah it amazes me he is still at the club. Will do well to have a career in the championship when he leaves here.

Any ideas how you change video quality on YouTube for iPad ? I'm watching it on potato vision only option I can see is auto

While we are on the topic of Koreans and with a couple of avid Korean fans on the thread. What ever happened to Lee Cheung-Yong at Bolton? He obviously got injured but looks like he's played plenty of games in the last couple of years. Surprised nobody from the Prem has picked him up, I thought he looked really decent before his injury. No idea what he has been like the last couple of years but from Wiki it looks like he was scored a few goals and got some assists. Also still making the international team as well. Possible cheap option for us and a new Korean mafia at villa park

Yeah I don't remember it being massively dangerous at all, there are loads of people around so sure you can tag a long if your that worried. Negombo is fun there's a restaurant there called Lords on main strip which is really nice

Def do Sigiriya it was the highlight of our trip when we went. Four of our group missed out through illness (bum bum) and they really missed out. Must have been a mega place to live. Easy peasy to get up

No. There always seems to be these nonsense theories like this flying around like Kaka joined Madrid instead of Barca because his boots are sponsored by Addidas and Addidas didn't want him wearing a Nike shirt. Not far away from the first billion pound Kit deal so. It must be nice to support a club that has money, in fact it's pretty much pointless to support a club that doesn't. Well when the deal was announced the secret footballer wrote an article saying it was so inflated because Nike were subsidising it. Obviously not gospel but there you go

Didnt Nike just subsidise the ridiculous Rooney deal to make sure they had him for club and country?

Question about Gotze. Obviously a great goal last night. He will get all the plaudits now and rightly so but they way they talk about him as boy wonder, miracle boy. I'm not sure it sits right with me. I thought he looked quality at Dortmund in a team and system that really seemed to be suited to him. But I've seen him play maybe 15 times for Munich and Germany in the last year and always been a bit underwhelmed. Seems to always do the simple thing and never really threaten or impose himself on games. Boy wonder seems like a massive massive over statement to me. Am I missing something?

1.5m was a typo apparently and probably more like twice that. Still great business if it comes off. Very strange feeling to attach happiness and Villa in my brain...been a while. I just know that this will build and after some OK pre season performances I'll be uber optimistic by the time the season starts. Can't wait for the soul crushing 3-0 loss in my first home game of the season!!

I'd be pretty surprised if you weren't already seeing the results. If your burning approx 600 calories a day on the bike then you're at a net calorie intake of 700-1100 which should get you pretty quick results especially if you started off with a "bit of timber"

Flat track bully... Well we were horrendous against the so called "flat track" teams last year, only turned up against decent sides. So he should even us out nicely. My feeling on this is the same as Senderos and Cole..ughh...wow these are heady days. He might be an improvement he might not, at least he's experienced so shouldn't make some of the numbskull mistakes some of our players do. Until Lerner goes this is life. Anyone know of any other experienced LB going for free?

When supporting Villa you have a choice between wallowing in the depressathon that is our reality or indulging in the wild post rationalisation that manufactures hope from no where and allows it all to become that little bit more bearable. I prefer to to spend my time as much in the latter as possible. So this statement to me reads as clear as day. He didn't want to spend money on the side if we were going to get bought. He set a deadline of pre season, now that point has passed he will give Lambert the usual 20 million (not sure which currency...) to help us maintain our league status. Buckle up people Belhanda's on his way!

Congratulations ! Buckle up for the ride of a lifetime