DamsonwoodVillan

So many comments about playing well at the moment. Doesn't that scare you?!! Playing well and still not getting anything! The Arsenal game when Weimann scored we looked like we could go on and win it, but as usual we retracted and tried to defend from our 18 yard line and bottled it once again. I don't know what to expect tomorrow night but if it's a pasting then that could really set us back for the next 2 games. We have to take 4 points from the next 3 matches, that is minimum...

Yes in theory if we stayed up we'd be ok, but it's always in context of what the other 19 clubs are doing. If it's Cardiff, and other clubs of that kind of infrastructure that come up, then they have the potential to be competitive. If we stay up then it's almost certain that Reading and Wigan will drop. 2 clubs with a very small fanbase and no real aspiration to ever compete in this league. We really need QPR to drop, otherwise I think they have the money and potential to march over the hill from us next year. If Villa are in the Premiership next season then Lambert needs to be able keep players like Benteke and Weimann and also be given a high budget in fees in wages to go and make us a competitive top 10 side again. Can anybody honestly see Lerner changing his policy yet again and opting to do this?!!

I meant more the down feeling and psychology surrounding the club was a state when MON left just before the start of the season. Lerner had clearly decided in that Spring and Summer that he wanted to change the policy/direction that had led us to relative success on the pitch for 2 and half seasons or so. Yes we'd had a good season on paper, but the down feeling was well and truly kicking in after the Chelsea semi final, that our challenge to the big boys was coming to an end and they were marching on over the hill away from us again. Lerner had a change of heart around this time, just when he realised how much it would cost to stay on the heels of Spurs/Man City/Arsenal/Chelsea, and consequently that was also the time that MON chose to leave. So yes, I would argue, in spite of the fact we'd done well on the pitch the previous season, psychologically we were in a state when GH took over. Our current squad would be classed as what it is... Young, cheap and bottom 5 potential. If we manage to stay up and then in the summer let go of Given, Bent, Dunne, Petrov and Ireland, and get a good price for Benteke, then that would be the ideal scenario for Lerner to sell and leave the club. Which is what I have a feeling will happen.

Wilshere is quality he's been unlucky with injuries so far at Arsenal. I think him and Cleverly and Sterling could become a very good midfield with England. Back on to Weimann I think he has been our shining light at times this season and I would seriously want to lay in to our club if he were allowed to leave. Lerner may think Weimann and Benteke are the 2 players he can use to sell and balance the books if relegation is confirmed... and then he can sell up. Disgusting.

I'm not sure how I feel about him at all any more. I still like the bloke and I so want him to do well, and I do think he had a refreshing idea for the club when he took over. But I just cannot get over how badly it has gone for him overall. Our constant habit of conceding really poor goals has made us a laughing stock of a team this season, and I really hope it doesn't happen again tomorrow night. Like others I think he has made strange selections and tactical changes in games, and he clearly can't get the best out of our top earner players. Part of me thinks though maybe we actually needed a ruthless character of a manager with a firm knowledge of the game, who could stand up to people like Lerner and Faulkner and say "no actually this is wrong", but clealry PL has been Lerner's yes man. Not sure what to say about him, I only pray that something clicks for him in the run-in and we stay up. If he were to be sacked my hope would be to have more of a character take over... Someone like Di Canio or Poyet. But what evidence is there to say that they would do any better?

Well I know I'm in a minority but I do think that the club would have turned a bit of a corner under Houllier had his health not let him down. Like others have said the club that GH took over was in a state and I do think he had a rocky time, but I think he could have slowly slowly turned us into a good team with his knowledge and approach. But... what is the point in debating MON, Houllier? And although McLeish is obviously more recent, there isn't really a point to debating him either. I argued the same about this time last year that the problem may not be so much the manager, but that the players just have not performed at all and really let the club down, and I would say the same again this year to an extent. Now this may be down to bad management, bad signings, bad tactics etc etc but at the end of the day the players are the ones out on the pitch trying to win the game. A team containing Guzan, Benteke, Bent, Agbonlahor, Ireland, N'Zogbia et al should be capable of getting more points, particularly as the Premiership is not at its strongest point in terms of teams' strength in depth. The players (I mean our recognised, big players) have been dreadful at times this season.

We can say that it was a decent performance, but I thought Arsenal were dreadful by their standards and we were so flat in the second half. Guzan was my man of the match. Weimann was industrious and dangerous. It's ok to play well in these games (and take nothing!) but it HEAPS the pressure on the games against Reading and QPR. Our only hope is to go on a run of 5 or 6 unbeaten and I just can't see where that run is coming from at the moment.

It's so depressing talking all hypothetical if we were to go down. Maybe end of March/mid April is the time to talk about it, I think this thread is a bit premature. If we were to go down I have faith we would have the staff and infrastructure to mount a serious challenge to win the Championship. It's all about good management and having the balls to win mid-week at places like Barnsley.

Guzan Lowton Vlaar Clark Baker Sylla El-Ahmadi Weimann N'Zogbia Agbonlahor Benteke Hope we're up for putting them under some pressure and making the crowd get on their backs. I think we'll put up a good show but just come up short. 2-1 to Arsenal

Agreed on the corners issue. It was gut wrenching to see Everton's equaliser go in, but I think it was the 15th corner we had conceded in the game! In the West Brom game I think the Baggies had already had about 10 corners before the one for their second goal. Simply by law of averages if you give teams that many corners then 1 or 2 of them will end up as a good chance to score.

Mat Kendrick's article in the Mail looking at Villa's relegation effort seems to be very very critical of Lambert. He writes that although Villa had a horrendous 2nd half of last season, McLeish's first half of the season was fairly solid! I reckon Lambert may be doomed as far as the local press goes now. I'm still behind him but cannot believe how badly it has gone during his time here after he came with such a good reputation and recent track record.

What's killing us is all the other teams getting results as we struggle in every game to get anything. I actually think the drop-line will be 38 or 39 points this year. Winning on Sunday is a must just to keep our names in the hat over the next couple of weekends.

Guzan Lowton Vlaar Baker Lichaj Sylla Dawkins El-Ahmadi Westwood N'Zogbia Benteke Think we'll go 2-0 up, but will end up with a 2-2 draw or 2-3 defeat.

We need to score more goals than the opposition

Crikey, so much bashing of MON's era. At the end of the day, most Villa fans would give anything to have a team like the one Martin had stepping out at Goodison today. Randy should've realised you have to pay out and continue to pay out to achieve success in football, only a tiny minority of clubs in this country, or in Europe, are successful on the pitch and operate at decent financial statistics. Birmingham in 2011 achieved success on the pitch winning a trophy, if they'd managed to stay up who's to say they wouldn't be a really good side now if they had continued to pay out for good players? Think of the money Liverpool and Arsenal have outlayed and achieved relatively little in the past 6 or so seasons. Man City, Man Utd, Spurs and Chelsea are having to spend huge all the time just to try and stay where they are. Villa gambled by spending big and it didn't work for MON's "successful" 2 seasons at the club. Randy was still prepared to back Houllier in the market, and I'm one of those who do believe that Houllier would have been able to build something successful if he had been here at the right time of his career/life. Since then McLeish took over and Randy had lost faith with the idea that managers are long term and trust-worthy, in my humble opinion. Lambert has come in and sold some sort of dream to him that he is a good enough young manager to overhaul a squad of highly paid under-achievers and do better with a young and hungry bunch. And I hope Lambert is good enough over the next 14 games, I really really hope he is.

Guzan Lowton Vlaar Clark Baker Sylla N'Zogbia Westwood Bannan Agbonlahor Benteke Hoping we can stay strong here. Need a 90 minute performance. Won't get one :-( Everton to win 3-0

I was one of the happiest Villa fans around the day Lambert was appointed. In spite of the financial constraints the club now want to work by, I thought he would bring a certain solidity and energy to our game that was missing in the McLeish season. I accept he hasn't done that. All I'll say in his defence is you could have spent £50-100 million on that squad last summer and it wouldn't have automatically transformed us back into a winning side challenging with Spurs and Everton again. That's how the poor the situation was when he took over. Lambert's biggest mistakes have been the faith that he has put in his young and hungry approach. I honestly believe he thought that players like Benteke, Delph, Bannan, Clark, Westwood, Bennett and others would make the step up if they gelled and played with energy together. I also think he really rated Bent, N'Zogbia, Ireland, Agbonlahor, Vlaar and Given as very decent players, who could ensure our safety and guide these younger guys into the fold without too much need to break the bank too hard. The whole thing has become a nightmare for him. A lot due to our softness from set plays, lack of gusto when we go a goal down, and lack of bottle when we go a goal up! I said this last season, but the players have been awful for Lambert, possibly more so than they were for McLeish. I'm not sure what to suggest as a solution now for survival. I would personally bring Given and Bent back into Premier League games purely from a PL appearances point of view, and hope that Dunne can very quickly form a good partnership with Vlaar. We probably need 22 points from 15 games when you consider how decent Newcastle, Wigan and QPR look. If we do survive, which I don't think we will, then Randy will then have to start all over again with his vision and investment for the club. Will he still be up for it? If we go down, then regardless of who we lose/hang on to, Randy should keep faith in Lambert and just bite the bullet and back him to the hilt to get us back up.

Was gutted when N'Zogbia went off. He had been playing so well. Think West Brom were relieved to see him go off. They stepped up from that point because they knew our main threat had gone.

Each day seems to pass by very quietly at the moment. Don't know if that's a good sign or what. Mat Kendrick from the Mail said in today's video report that the only interest he is aware of is Sissoko from Toulouse but there has been no firm offer. Already at the half way point of the window. Already they'd be unlikely to make an impact on the West Brom or Bradford games. If we are going to do business, how late do they want to leave it?

So that the tickets sell out.

The defence is really frail and we are licking our wounds. We just have to try and out-score them at all costs. People are saying 0-0 and horror show... I fancy this could actually be a 3-2 or 4-3 type of game. I'll say 3-3 draw, Southampton to get a 94th minute equaliser.

The sort of big game I've been waiting for since the Carling Cup Final and Man City away under O'Neill. I hope I'm wrong but I think Lambert may revert to the back 3 system for this to keep it tight and hit them on the break. I strongly suspect the line-up will be something like... Given Herd Clark Baker Lowton Holman Delph Bannan Bennett Weimann Benteke If that team held strong in the first half I'd expect us to have too much for them as the game went on. Think it could lose nerve and struggle badly to get back into it if we conceded an early goal though. Think it will turn out to be a very very tough night for us. 1-1 draw. (I'd like the team to be 442: Guzan, Lowton, Clark, Baker, Bennett, N'Zogbia, Delph, Bannan, Holman, Weimann, Benteke)

I would rate him as our best player this season. Definitely a prolific scorer if we could get a good enough supply to him. Think we will have trouble hanging on to him in next 18 months or so.

Definitely a centre back and a midfielder. At left back I'm not sure. I think Bennett and Stevens are both decent young players. Bennett hasn't had the same type of impact Lowton has had on the other side though. Possibly worth it if we could lure a quality one in for a decent price and wages.

We'll have to break the bank for either player. Hull and Charlton will not want to sell at this point in the season. Assuming we get both/either of them there's a lot of pressure to come in to the club as a big money January signing and make a difference for us. If we signed them I think we'd have to wait til next season before we see the best of them.