villaglint

All Hail king Gary !

I heard him speak for the first time on AVTV the other day and what a pleasure it was - a great brummy accent on a kid who sounds like he has his head really screwed on.

Talking about how he idolises Lampard and Gerrard and tries to emulate their play. That was enough to get me wildly optimistic about the player he could become.

No doubt my bubble will be burst but what use is football if not to ride the great waves of emotion.

Also he only played an hour - commentators thought this was a sign he would start at weekend.

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I think its a fairly balanced decision - would be very exciting if he did start - just saying if I was picking team I would go with caution and have him raring to go in a game where he can have a solid impact.

I have really been back and forth on this one.

On the one hand picking him would be a very positive sign from Eck saying we are looking to get a result here not just poking our arses in the air and hoping for the best a la Spurs away.

Ultimately though I am siding with the fear of hurting his confidence. Up against Barry, Milner/de Jong, Silva it could be a real lesson as they wont get much back tracking from Keane. I think confidence can be incredibly fragile with certain players. Look at Albrighton last season started on fire then barely looked Championship by the end. Taken him a year to get it back, Ireland another example.

Very hopeful Gardner will have character to be mentally stronger than that but who can know at this stage.

Overall I feel the prospect of GG having a stormer and us winning 2-0 convincingly is less likely than us getting beaten 2-0 convincingly and GG being taken backwards a step.

I would keep Clark there for this game, he's letting nobody down at moment even if he's not setting the world alight. Would then start Gardner in next game because he is the future of our CM not Clark.

Definitely with BOF on this one. It keeps getting mentioned that Wolves tore us apart but all of there play came down flanks. Clark and Gabby were woeful that day in 1st half and Albrighton/Hutton not much better on other side.

Frimpong did have a good game but he only got though centre once - when he lobbed it over Petrov to get through.

Fact is that Gardner can tackle as well as Clark, he is more mobile than Clark, can pass better than Clark and offer us something in an attacking sense. He looks like he always wants the ball which youngsters starting in Prem rarely do. Only difference is Clark has 10 games more experience. Big woop.

No brainer for me and he and Stan can play there together - both good enough to get forward and back.

That said I wouldn't start him against City ;-

Just scored another for the reserves

In the past I have been critical of Petrov and I actually thought he had had it. No doubt when surrounded by Young, Milner and Downing he looked the weak link.

However this season you cannot be critical he has consistently been our best midfielder. One of the few who can find a man from 5 yards. Also been getting forward well and creating some chances/getting the odd goal.

Obviously he is not playing the holding role this season which is why we are seeing him play his more natural game.

Dont get me wrong he is no world beater and not good enough to get us where we all want to be. But he has done us proud this season no doubt.

Agreed it is unrealistic to expect that we wont have any crosses into the box during a game. It was how we dealt with the cross that was the issue.

Don't know why AM went so mental over it. Can only think he is really feeling the frustration of having a crap set of defenders but not being able to drop them because he has no adequate cover.

That said Ireland has been stupid to react in the way he did and done himself and us no favours.

Black mark against AM and SI for me

It really is a no brainer to get this kid into the team asap (agreed not against City)

Clark is in the team because he can pass (ish) and can tackle. Looks like Gardner can do both of those and more.

Usually in this situation Gardner would be kept out of the team because "he doesnt have prem experience". But in this case Clark has probably played 10 games in CM so doesnt even have the experience himself. Forget the fact that he's learning a new position while Gardner has played there all his life.

Think he and Petrov could be very good for us. Hope to god we can somehow keep Keane and then who knows maybe we will score as many as we concede

Think he is doing OK - makes very few mistakes - good tackling and generally tidy in possession however he is not a midfielder in my eyes.

Doesn't have the speed of mind - AM talked about us being pedestrian in 1st half - that could be said for a lot of our recent games and I think part of that is Clark looking to play safe all the time rather than having confidence to go for early (sometimes one touch) pass.

Maybe with more games/experience he could get there - he was excellent against Fulham away last year with Bannan and I really thought he had potential to be another Barry (Gareth) so we'll see.

Played well again when he came on - said a while ago and I would like to see him in this team.

I know it would be a risk defensively but I would play instead of Clark who is too slow of mind to play in midfield.

With Bannan, Ireland, Keane, Petrov, NZog I think we could start to boss teams possession wise which might override the drop we would have defensively by having the wee man in place of Clark.

Another good performance from SI last night. Never thought he would work out playing wide of a three but he links up so well with Keane, bent and Zog that it really worked.

So nice to have a few players in team who can string a few passes together.

Best performance for us last night in 2nd half - been getting better for a while.

On form he is a far more of a threat than Albrighton but both have their moments and are valued members of squad.

I doubt think anyone can really believe he did it deliberately. But I completely understand where your coming from because he is doing these things so often that it kind of looks like he is doing it deliberately.

It is a massive own goal maybe from Faulkner/Randy maybe from AM that we didn't get cover for this position in summer. After his alleged comments last year and the similar hole he put us in we should not have left ourselves so exposed again.

Every other player in squad has cover for their position - why not Warnock?

Fair enough Clark hasn't got legs to play there as proved against Wolves. If Stevens isnt ready then what about Baker thought he had promise there last year.

The key for me is getting the right blend to play alongside the youth.

Playing Delph or GG alongside Stan in a two man CM just doesn't work. We have had numerous examples of this - Wigan in Delph's first season. the start of this season and Wolves away where Stan and GG just couldn't get a grip on the game until Frimpong went off and they went down to 10 men.

I agree we need to get the blend right but I don't agree that Petrov & GG can't play together. Maybe they can't play together if you also have many other youth players in and around them i.e. the blend is wrong. But given that Gardner could be the only youth in the side then I think he can (and maybe should) play alongside Petrov.

Granted Frimpong played very well in that game but it wasn't centre mid where we were losing the battle. It was Kightly and Jarvis tearing us apart down the flanks.

A below par Gabby and our poor fullbacks led to that 1st half.

Just looking at Sun Fantasy League transfers and noticed Hutton is on -5 points for the season. Quite an impressive tally considering he has been virtually ever present.

Never realised the scoring system so accurately represents a players worth.

Biggest issue all season is obviously our attrocious defending but that might be helped if we kept possession of the ball better. Our passing is so bad it beggars belief - reminds of the O'Leary days.

Yesterday after about ten minutes I said to myself "come on villa lets just put 5 passes together". I started to count and it was one of the most depressing things I could have done because it suddenly became clear exactly how bad we were. In the first half we put five passes together twice, one of which led to the second goal. Most of the time it was 1,2 give it away.

Clark, Petrov, Ireland and Keane are all comfortable on the ball so I am at a loss to explain why it was so difficult to do such basic stuff. Its harsh to blame AM for a player being so inept but ultimately he is responsible for motivating them and getting them to play.

Painful stuff to watch and I'm not even talking about the defending!

Just watched the highlights - real heart breaker - deserved more.

Have to say every time I have watched Daniel Johnson play he has impressed me. Long way to go from youth to senior level. As much about mentality as ability. But my fingers are crossed for him.

I agree - there is no reason to be gushing over him at this point. Not seen him do anything yet that Craig cant do.

i.e tackle well, pass well strike the ball nicely.

He does look a little more leggy, bit taller and a bit more running power so hopefully he can turn into a better player.

Time will tell

The one thing you can say for Mr Gardner senior is that he taught his sons how to kick a football!

Was pleased with his start - long way for him to go but plenty of promise.

Looks solid player with ability to hold ball and find a pass as well as get into the box and try and get a goal.

I have wanted Clark to get a chance in CM for a while now - ever since he and Bannan played so well at Fulham last year I thought this could be his best position.

Having watched him closely over the last few games - he hasn't done too bad but I'm not sure the 1st eleven is our best available. This actually goes for Herd too.

I'm not sure either are comfortable enough on the ball for us to keep position/build the play through midfield. That's why sometimes we look like a championship side because we cant string 10 passes together. At start of season it was Delph and his wayward passing most recently it has been Herd and Clark too afraid to make a mistake.

Whenever Clark gets it he is looking for the easy ball which is great but it does mean we are struggling to link midfield to attack. Ireland for instance barely received a pass in 1st half because it was never coming from Clark or Petrov it was always coming from defence.

Compare our midfield to any decent side and their midfield are continually receiving the ball in tight situation but finding a progressive pass.

I would put Petrov back in the defensive midfield role. For sure he has been much better this season with a bit more freedom however I think we need his experience in that role now. I would then put Bannan/Delph or Gardner where Petrov is playing now. Whoever can make a pass most consistently. Probably Bannan at this stage.

Having Bannan and Ireland together would mean more good ball for Gabby and Albrighton/NZog and hopefully therefore more good ball for Bent.

Obviously Ireland and Bannan not the most solid defensively but surely between them and Petrov they can make a tackle.

Agree they is a good player in there - in his first season it was a joy to have a proper full back who was solid in defense and attack.

However he has had so many terrible performances over the last two years that we cant continue forever. He was rightly dropped last year and needs to be again.

I know this is a recipe for disaster but while we are scrabbling about for replacements has anyone mentioned N'Zogbia - played there for Newcastle. Been playing well recently, would be a good way to get him in team. Would add lots going forward.

Obviously not the greatest defensively but is it possible for him to be more of a liability than Warnock? I don't think so.

Biggest issue at the club is lack of competition for places.

Warnock has a string of poor games but is never in any danger of losing his place. Same goes for Collins.

Be interesting to see how AMC he works Bent back into the team....

Zog and Albighton have been good on the wing in a 4-3-3

Gabby has been quality this season on the left of a 4-3-3

Bent plays up top on his own.

Who gets dropped? Or 4-4-2? wit Petrov and Clarke/Herd CM?

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Yeah I agree we have got a bit of a selection dilemma which is good but I also think part of our problem is we haven't known our best team since start of season.

Zog and Albrighton have done enough to keep their places for sure.

I think we need Bannan in there because we dont seem to be able to string two passes together without him or someone like Ireland in there.

Gabby has been our best player without a doubt so he is either pushing out Bent? or Zog/Albrighton? or possibly Ireland/Bannan from last nights shape.

Very tricky.

I would go with the following (when all fit) and try to stick with it as much as possible.

--------------Given---------------

Herd -- Cuellar -- Dunne -- Warnock

------ Petrov ------Bannan --------------

Albrighton ---- Gabby-------N'Zogbia

---------------Bent-----------------------

I'd feel a lot more comfortable with another genuine midfielder in there but I don't see how we can do it and keep the top four on pitch

Hard to disagree with anyone on here both positive and negative.

I did think that was the best he has played for us last night. I think we don't have any choice but to persevere with him.

One thing he does better than anyone else is arrive late in box - trouble is right now its a millisecond too late. That could easily change with match sharpness/fitness and then he could turn into the asset he is supposed to be.

It was his best performance for the club by a mile so he should be applauded for that.

His suspension is no bad thing if Herd is fit to replace him.

If Herd does well it might keep Hutton out for a while or at least give him some meaningful competition.

Also if we have Herd at Full back and Clark in DM then it may add some aerial ability to try and stop these f***ing corners.