DamsonwoodVillan

I'd be tempted to go with the same starting line up. Don't fix what ain't broke. Lambert will freshen it up a bit no doubt though. Just hope if it's a mystifying choice like the Bowery choice vs Stoke, that it works out like Bowery did vs Stoke Since half time in their game with QPR Fulham have looked ordinary imo. Berbatov obviously the danger man and they have a good keeper. I think they will miss Sidwell. I really really hope they see it as pretty meaningless with them where they are. Gabby and Weimann need to bring their A-game to this, if they do I'm confident we'll do it. 3-1

Away from the arguments over how many points it will take.. Paul Lambert has shown guts in the QPR and Stoke games to set us up to play with attacking impetus. I am so pleased that the corner looks to be turning for him. But the real tests of his ability could come now in the Fulham and Sunderland games. He hasn't been able to get consistently good performances at home yet, particularly in games we've gone into feeling good about.

I still have a lot of faith that Delph will be a very good player for us. Stoke struggled to play the ball through him, and he also seemed to have the time to find a man on Saturday, which is the sign of a decent midfielder. I think as the team develops more and more in the Lambert mould next season, Delph will still be holding his own in the first 11.

I said last week that the Stoke game would be a better bet for a win than the Fulham game. Now that we have beaten Stoke I just hope my initial worries about Fulham turn out to be off target. Fulham undoubtedly have more quality than Stoke, but with them safe and cemented in mid table to the end of the season it's actually the sort of game that any threatened team would be looking to win.

The best table we can hope for after the weekend. 14. Villa 36 15. Norwich 35 16. Stoke 34 17. Wigan 31 18. Sunderland 31 19. QPR 24 20. Reading 23 Certainly not a fantasy when you look at the fixtures. We've put ourselves in a position now where this coming game could be the key game to our survival. I think if we manage to get to this position then it could give us a big psychological edge on some of the other sides. Having said that it could just be necessary to get there with Man Utd and a fired up Sunderland coming up next.

The chances of getting 3 points are much better in this game than they are in Fulham at home in my view. A draw would be a disappointment for me given Stoke's current plight. A loss, and positive results for Wigan and Sunderland, could be very ominous indeed. --------------- Guzan ------------------ Lowton Vlaar Clark Baker --------------- Sylla -------------------- --- Westwood Delph -------------- Weimann ---------------- Agbonlahor -------------- Benteke ----------------- I'll go with my heart and say a HARD fought scrap of a 1-2 win! Come on Villa!!!!!

£325 in Upper Holte isn't bad in the Championship to be honest. You can certainly pay more than that at certain Championship grounds. I believe a season ticket at Cardiff can cost well upwards of £400. When I was a uni student we used to attend the odd Nottingham Forest home game when they were in League One, and their prices could be £28-30 easily!

I've just never rated the kid. Very lightweight and doesn't win enough headers and tackles for a centre back. And to be as lightweight as he is at this level, you have to compensate for it with good pace. Clark doesn't have this either. Like someone else said, young yes but he isn't a teenager any more. I just hope we buy a complete new defence for next year, regardless of the league we're in.

This weekend could see the bottom 5 or 6 start to take shape a bit. You have to fancy Chelsea at home to beat Sunderland, but there again I wouldn't be surprised with a new manager style freak result. DRAW. On current form Southampton should beat Reading, but again I can see a draw in Adkins' first home game. DRAW. I actually think QPR will win at Wigan to still give them a lifeline. QPR WIN. Everyone seems to be saying that our Stoke game is not a definer, just a 'must not lose' fixture. Presumably the feeling being 'let's get a point out of this and then we absolutely have to beat Fulham at home'. I would say this is the far more likely game to get a result. We have to look at this one as the one to win. I'll go with my heart. VILLA WIN. That would leave the table Villa on 33 Sunderland on 32 Wigan on 30 QPR on 26 Reading on 24

Tranmere 3-1 at home with pens 1994, no doubt in my mind. Everton away 2-1 in the FA Cup in 2000 securing Wembley was a special away trip as well.

Top post from Sharky. We went from having decent enough league finishes with 2 different styles of play under O'Neill and Houllier, to being brought to the point of ruin in McLeish's year. I think the financial plan Lerner has gone for in the last 18 months has been dicey from a football point of view, frustrating and disheartening for the fans, and downright dangerous in terms of relegation. But if we do stay up this year and then manage to get rid of Bent, Hutton, Dunne, Makoun and Ireland permanently for a decent enough return, then his approach will have worked. If that scenario does come to reality, I would be really positive for next season.

At the start of the season just after Lambert was appointed I remember there being a thread on here asking posters what they thought would be a successful season this year. Now I remember A LOT of posters putting on to it they thought that avoiding relegation should be viewed as a success. I personally expected a bit more than that and I said 13th. I was so badly hurt by the Bradford tie, I'll never get over it until we eventually achieve some kind of cup success again. But, the Bradford fiasco aside (I wasn't bothered by the Millwall game because it had become all about our league form by then), if we do finish in that 13th, 14th, 15th bracket then surely that has to be viewed as successful?? The amount of money that the club has recouped from letting go of some of our big wage players for decent enough fees and replacing them with young and cheap. If we stay up with that kind of financial policy over the last year and a half, sorry but I will definitely be well happy with that. It would give us an encouraging platform for the next Premier League season as well.

Come on Norwich and Newcastle today!! Apart from Gerrard, Suarez, Reina, Enrique, Johnson, Downing and Sturridge, there is no reason why we can't get something out of the Liverpool game. Like someone said the next 2 PL matchdays could be quite telling. If after the Stoke game we're up to say... 34 points - I rather think that would see us finish in that big clutch of lower mid table sides. 33 points - in a very decent position. 32 points - surely safe with 5 winnable games still left. Less than 32 points - possibly right back in the mire with Wigan and QPR having closed the gap again.

The table certainly makes for better reading. I think after Wigan have played their 2 games in hand I think the gap between us in 17th and them in 18th will be 3 points. If we can grind a point out of the Liverpool game then I think that will put Southampton and Sunderland bang in trouble. We then have a few winnable games at home. I'll talk plainly. If we don't stay up from this position we're in tonight, we will have deserved to go down.

The lads have now recovered the situation sufficiently to give us a position where it is ours to lose from here on in. 7 points on Reading and QPR, and realistically about 3 points on Wigan going into the final 8 games. It's in our hands now undoubtedly. Whether you've had faith in Lambert from the start or whether you think he's useless, we now have 8 games where I think it will give us a very clear indication of how well he can manage a situation. I say back him and the team to the death in these last 8 games, if after those games we've thrown it away whip him then.

Did ok but for me he's the one I'd drop to get N'Zogbia back in to the starting 11. Those who are saying brilliant/excellent I think are a bit rose-tinted. Bannan was out of position for the Taarabt 2nd half run and chance that was eventually blocked, and in no man's land for their chance right at the death. Picky I know but had either of those gone in I think Bannan would be taking a pasting on here tonight.

I think Gabby is a man we need as things currently stand. Although he can really frustrate me for over half the season, he is a player who does tend to turn up in these big games. Maybe not so much individually, but I think he is important to the overall effectiveness of the unit with Benteke, Weimann and N'Zogbia. His goal return from a wide left position or wherever he is isn't catastrophic as far as I'm concerned, and he's had a better portion of games this season (Man City away in cup, West Brom away, Norwich away in cup, Reading away, today) where he's been a real thorn in the side of the opposition. Thinking ahead to next year assuming we can stay up, if we were somehow to keep hold of Benteke and let Bent go I certainly wouldn't be letting Gabby go as well. He is the best option we have to come in to that lone striker role supposing Benteke was injured/suspended. Gabby and the other 3 mentioned are a decent unit, we badly need another top quality winger though.

Completely on the fence with this one. Think we will get our noses in front but they will cancel us out. 1-1

I thought he put himself about well and played it simple nicely. He has the ability to hit a ball and he was so unlucky not to score a Scholes-like belter from the edge of the D in the second half. We haven't had a player like him for a while and I think he can do well. Could be a really valuable asset against Park et al next week.

Was pleased for Bannan to have a decent game yesterday and was unlucky with the one that hit the post - although we should prob be more thankful that Gabby is in the goals again just at the right time. I have to say though N'Zogbia did well for me when he replaced Bannan and I would definitely be picking Charles for the big one next week. Benteke, Gabby, Weimann and Zog are a dangerous unit, we need them all playing next week. Westwood and Sylla I think can cope.

We simply must not lose. I've thought all season that QPR would get a run together sooner or later and it's coming at a horrible time for us. Wigan also look like they're coming into form just at the wrong time. Harry has already started the mind games by saying the pressure's on us. That's true, but our pressure is we must not lose. A draw wouldn't be catastrophic for either team but if we hold on to our 4 point gap over them that could be significant to us. If we could just open the gap up to 7 points I think that psychologically that could do an awful lot for us. I'll look at how the week goes before I set a prediction but it is a game we simply cannot afford to lose. Guzan Lowton Vlaar Clark Baker Weimann Westwood Sylla Agbonlahor N'Zogbia Benteke

The club have got to do everything possible to put bums on seats for this. A crowd of 40,000 plus could make the difference for us. A disappointing attendance could play into QPR's hands.

Think this will be a very unpleasant game to experience, and hell for the travelling supporters. 1-1 draw, Reading to get a goal after 80 mins.

I'm resigned to getting nothing from this game but please please don't let it be another Chelsea. Another result like that would have a knock on effect to the next 2 games - which will probably decide our season. 1 - 3

Ok, possibly I can't defend Houllier over the bad psychology surrounding the club at the time. I admit he had a crap first 6 months and beyond even after signing Bent, before we went on a decent run in the Spring and finished in the top half. My point was I had a feeling Houllier was slowly re-shaping the team and we would get better. Just a feeling. Who knows what would have happened if Houllier had had a couple more transfer windows, and seasons? It's all completely academic now! I don't think Faulkner's appointment has had any impact on the club really. What Lerner says goes. Regardless of the apparent 'shambles' of the O'Neill era. Lerner had faith that MON would deliver Champions League football and trophies. MON bought some good players/some that didn't work out and we made a couple of big cup games and made some progress in the league and in Europe. I don't think he made the best tactical and man-management decisions and ultimately he didn't achieve the dream targets. I think I go with what somebody said in another thread, with MON what we achieved was probably about right overall. Faulkner I can't see has made any big contribution really. I have a feeling he probably had a say in McLeish leaving thank goodness, but that's about it. He'll leave whenever Lerner sells and I don't think anyone will notice he's gone.