villaglint

Tragic news Puts our season into perspective I think One thing I'll say is that the man is a hell of a fighter which will stand him in good sted

I think they were relying on big things from Delph this year. How else can you justify the lack of depth in CM this year? However it has not gone well for Fabian and as lots have suggested the jury is very much out on whether it ever will. For my part I had high hopes for him when he signed now with injuries and poor form my hopes are rapidly diminishing. My view is that if he makes it now it will be a big bonus because I don't have the expectations I once did.

Paying for potential, innit. He did quite well on loan at Tom Tomsk, has recently made the step up from the Russia U-21's to the full national side and he's not really spearheading the attack anyway. Spartak either use him just off Welliton's shoulder or as an attacking midfielder behind a front three of Ari, Welliton and Emenike. A target man who plays as an attacking midfielder ? Sounds an odd blend

Ok happy to agree to disagree - not a big issue. Also happy to agree that Hutton and Given are also at fault. But in my eyes it ends up with Stan being the only man who can put in a challenge on Gibbs and he is left flat footed. His effort at trying to stop the shot is disappointing to me and was symptomatic of the rest of his performance. Stan probably has more heart than the rest of them combined which is why it concerns me to see him playing like that. Actually it concerns me to see any Villa player playing like that. And I'm not trying to make a scapegoat of him either - most of the team were all over the place - this is just one chance that led to a goal but their running off the ball had our entire midfield and defence in ribbons.

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. Hutton was the man marking Gibbs, he then lost Gibbs and Gibbs ran into our box and scored. Given should have saved it, but Gibbs was being tracked by Hutton and then he let him go. So Petrov gets a pass on that particular gripe although I though he was poor in the game. Nope sorry - watch it again and look at the effort Stan puts in to stop Gibbs getting his shot in - non existent. He did that quite a few times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdJNRxiYHKs As I said overall I am a Stan fan. However it makes me angry that he has been allowed to play this shit. If he was injured then I feel sorry for him. But does that mean that Eck would rather play a clearly injured player than have two kids in centre of park? Surely this is taking the austerity too far?

So he went with Emile after all - not sure it was Ecks proudest moment. Anyway thought Weimann looked good again when he came on - deserves a start and a run of games before Bent comes back.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Petrov's performance on Saturday. Let me start by saying that broadly this season he has been one of our better players (admittedly not sayin much). He is experience is essential to our midfield and we miss him when he's not there. However his performance was really really bad on Sat. On at least 5 occasions I say him walking back towards our goal as the Arsenal midfield streamed past him. He was also walking when Gibbs got in for the first goal. For a centre mid that is inexcusable - Now Father Abraham said he saw him limping heavily after the game which would explain the performance but the fact is if he was injured what the **** was he doing on the pitch.

The arsenal game was the very essence of where Marc is right now. As others have said at least he got himself involved whereas Gabby was largely anonymous. We works really hard and gets himself into good situation which is why some have said he was our only threat and in some ways they are right to do so. Problem is though his quality when he gets himself into good situations is really not there. He looks like a kid who is playing above his standard. I think he is useful cover but if he's our starter we are in a world of trouble. Part of the reason we cant string five passes together is that we have Marc and Gabby on wing who are both headless chickens neither has the game intelligence to know when to attack the defender and when to keep ball.

I have tried and tried to not immediately slag Eck off but it is really difficult to do. My biggest gripe amongst many is that he seems to think we are incapable of getting a result against about half the teams in the league. Then we are in such bad form with so much pressure on getting results in the other games sometimes/often it doesn't happen. Eck for me is a bit like the signing of Heskey - you know it aint going to turn out well but you just have to sit and watch the fat arse for the remainder of his contract. Maybe Utd will take him as Sir Alex's successor after all he is the obvious choice. Our squad club is in a broadly equivalent situation to Everton but do you think they ever go into a game against the big boys thinking they cant get a result. Obviously Moyes is a much better manager but you dont have to be Mourinho to at least get your team to have a go.

Money or not this is embarrassing

I'll go for the following team - assuming Zog and Hutton are injured. -----Given------ Lichaj Collins Cuellar Warnock ----Herd-----Petrov Albrighton --SI-----Gabby --------Weimann---------- I hate to be negative when it comes to looking forward to a footy match so I'm going for a mighty Villa win of 1-0 with a 70th minute headed winner from the Weimann. And then to everyone;s surprise (including Arsenals) we manage to defend well to the final whistle.

Why does Gabby have to go wide ? cant we play with 2 strikers for crying out loud. Yeah I did think about that. However Arsenal will certainly play 4-3-3 so we will be out gunned in centre of park if we go 4-4-2. Its likely we will struggle to keep possession as it is so I dont see a benefit in making it more difficult. Also 4-4-2 would mean playing Ireland on wing - again not sure this will be beneficial.

Well if NZogbia is out then surely Gabby must go wide and the Weimann will get his chance. Or does Eck start Emile and risk chants of "you don't know what your doing" from 1st whistle!

Shame - sounds like the kid is doing all he can to through away the glimmer of a chance he has. For me he's got great ability but so do 1000's of kids - still a million miles away from being a proper player. Cant blame him because god knows I was doing the same at his age. But if you want to be a really top player you have to make sacrifices and be truly focused on what is a short career Sounds like Baz might not be up for that.

Was wondering when this thread would perk your interest Gazton - Obvious question I suppose -- Do you know anything of this supposed "done deal" to play in the Soccer Leagues ?

This Except Zog and Gabby on opposite wings - both are happier/more dangerous cutting in. Also if Petrov had so much as a long toe nail I would put Gardner in. Petrov in no way deserves to be dropped but we are safe now so the more game time we can get into the kids who make up our future 1st team the better.

This Except Zog and Gabby on opposite wings - both are happier/more dangerous cutting in. Also if Petrov had so much as a long toe nail I would put Gardner in. Petrov in no way deserves to be dropped but we are safe now so the more game time we can get into the kids who make up our future 1st team the better.

To try and keep balanced about this - my current take Pro's - Seems to have got the defending at set pieces issue sorted out. Its been quite a few weeks now since we conceded a corner which is a welcome relief after conceding in same way every week for previous 18 months. - Also seems to have landed upon a better defensive organisation. Maybe more luck than anything here. But the tranquilliser he's giving Warnock seems to have done the trick the last few weeks and even Hutton has managed some "ok" performances which is a major plus. Even Collins has decided to keep the ball a little better. Cons - I am a bit worried about his slowness in thought when it comes to tactics. In quite a few of our recent games we have been pretty good in first half and then pretty clueless again in second half. Each time the opposing team just gets tighter on Ireland or Keane and cuts off the supply line. We don't seem to have a plan B for what is becoming an increasingly obvious response. - Subbing - I don't see Heskey as a match winner and if I'm trying to score a goal I think Zog has a better chance than Albrighton right now

Very happy watching again - they really do play some nice stuff at times. Bannan - excellent again - his best position really is CM isn't it. Spraying passes and dictating the tempo of the game. Yes in PL he will be a midget against the likes of de Jong and Toure. For a long while I've struggled with where he can fit into the first team. But now I'm sure if he's going to play and we want to see the best of him it has to be CM. D Johnson - If this kid could shoot he would be a hell of player. Mobility and power is really top drawer and his football brain is excellent also. Always seems to pick right pass, rarely gives it away and seems to find space well. Samir Carruthers - I think it is too soon for him in first team and it will be interesting to see whether he can cope with physical aspect when he does step up. He does however have great talent, arguably more than the rest of them - seems to create a chance every time he gets a bit of space, links up with Baz very well. Andy Weimann - ready for first team right now in my opinion I would start him against Bolton in place of Albrighton and play Gabby out wide. Led the line very well again, two terrific finishes. N Baker - also ready for first team in my opinion - don't think he would let anyone down when required and I think once he gets the experience which is so necessary for PL CB's he could be a great player. C Cameron - Two fantastic crosses for two goals - nice to see a left footer on left wing able to beat his man on outside. Reminded me a bit of Scott Sinclair in way he runs. In terms of physicality he will run into same problems Albrighton has so it will be down to whether he is able to adapt to get over that.

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Lovely cross by Cameron, Andy there again great finish

I think they'll offer him a contract as I think Eck is starting to see the man brings a lot of value. Very versatile Very consistent Pretty good a what he does However I think they'll offer him less than what he's on because A - we're skint and because B - I think they feel they overpaid in 1st place and C - I don't think they see him as a nailed on 1st team. Certainly a big part of 1st team squad but I don't think he is guaranteed a start in way Dunne is. (For what its worth he would always be starting for me ahead of Collins) Pay cut will give Carlos pause for thought - his agent will snuff his nose around to see what else is around and come back suggesting that it is probably market value and Carlos will sign.

Just watched highlights on AVTV Even better than I remembered - passing for 2nd goal is very very good. Didnt realise until I watched it back how well and often Bannan, Gardner and Caurrthers were linking up. Seem to all complement each other well. Obviously wont get that space in Prem but has to bode well that they know each others games so well.

Agree with your comments on Marc but not the comparison to Milner. Jimmy was made of stone - always was which is why he never had pace to be much of an effective winger. Marc is made of polystyrene. Even if he bulked up doesn't have other facets to his game to make it in CM for me. i.e his passing and awareness isnt good enough.

I think it would be useful to get him on bench and maybe a few sub appearances - next season a loan would be good option I think