DamsonwoodVillan

For Villa - as we are now - Bannan has done well this season in my opinion. My earlier post was to say I don't dismiss him as a bad player, far from it, but I don't think he will reach a level in his game to sustain his being in the team if we do go on to being a higher premier league club again next season. I think to be as small as Bannan is you have either have to have fantastic ball skills or you need to be lighting quick. Bannan possesses neither. I agree he is a deep lying creative player who can hit the occasional Champagne 50 yard crossfield pass, and he has a decent dead-ball game, but I think he gets found out whenever we play a top half side.

Bent, Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann is the best unit we've had since Yorke, Savo, Stan. I'll be literally gutted if Bent leaves. We need to add to this kind of quality in other areas. A defence of Lowton, Vlaar and Bennett could be good if we had one more quality centre half. It's the midfield that needs looking at desperately. I think Westwood needs a blood and thunder, crunching, effective partner in there with him. Holman and N'zogbia I believe are decent options but we need some top quality creative wide players.

When we first signed him, a lot like Ireland, I was really excited by the prospect of seeing him in Claret and Blue. His form and contribution since he joined leave a lot of us labelling him a waste of space! I concur he did well today and should get a look in the Bradford and Southampton games. It's probably a make or break 4 or 5 months for him now.

I just hope he doesn't put Herd back into defence and revert to that back 3 system. Did ok at Liverpool granted but I think we need to be flexible and energetic against Bradford. It will prob be Given, Lowton, Clark, Baker, Bennett, Holman, Herd, Delph, Bannan, Weimann, Benteke. Lambert chops and changes all the time which I think is a good thing. I know he will recognise the three coming back in today did him a good job though.

Still think Bent has the quality to win the shirt back. But fair play to Lambert for picking Weimann and Benteke. Lambert has managed this situation quite well for me. Our 4 top scorers are these aforementioned 3 plus Agbonlahor. In all competitions Benteke has 9, Weimann 7, Bent and Agbonlahor 4 a-piece. I know those figures are in no way amazing, but factor in injuries etc I think Lambert has control of the striker situation quite nicely. If only we had the quality elsewhere in the team to turn this into a decent winning formula.

No stats really and I've been quite pleased with how he's played this season. But I just feel Bannan has already been here a while and will always struggle to stamp his name on the first team sheet. He'll move on if players like Stephens come in and find themselves ahead of him.

Team for Tuesday: Given Lowton Clark Baker Bennett Weimann Westwood Bannan Holman Benteke Bent ?? I thought Lambert made a few changes and got it right today. Was pleased that it worked out for him today to be fair, because he hasn't had the best of luck along the way I don't think. I expect us to be strong on Tuesday after that performance and players coming back into the fold. I hope he plays Benteke and Bent together. N'Zogbia and Agbonlahor could really change things for us if need be.

I think Bannan falls into that category of lads in and around our first team that are quite well LIKED by the fans, and well liked in the dressing room, but have no real genuine quality that will take us forward in the long term. Chris Herd I believe you could put in that category as well. And probably Clark and Lichaj. I think he will soon find himself out for good when Westwood settles down and if anyone else comes in. He definitely will if (as I still hope) El-Ahmadi starts to pick up a bit.

Thought Bowery looked really quick which is a pleasant surprise - expected him to be a bit of a plodder? Gabby definitely made a difference when he came on. Was chuffed to see N'Zogbia and Delph have decent games. We really really need Vlaar and Lowton in our semi final 2nd leg team assuming we're still in with a shout at that point!

Very unlucky not to score. Was a constant threat. Could be a handful on his day if he had the confidence for the Premier League.

No I wouldn't have Cole or Chamakh but it just irritates you when other clubs seem to be moving quicker. No doubt West Ham will be guaranteed safety far earlier than us this season.

Bit of a frustrating couple of days really with clubs like Newcastle and West Ham (clubs we ought to be competing with) making deals already. What date in Jan do you think our first signing will come in? I reckon it could be a bit of a wait yet and our first one will come in on the 11th.

I reckon 11th on about 50 points

Think that once he gets a run of games he will be good for us. He's been unlucky so far.

Think this guy should be talked about as a future captain/big player for us. He's been a major factor in Bannan's recent form, and our upturn as a whole.

If Ron is to proceed as club captain I think we'll find he will be straight back in.

Having a choice of formations is certainly fine by me. If we could just score goals at home with the 3-5-2 though I think it could make us a very solid side over 2nd half of the season.

Low point of last couple of years for me would be losing the SHA away cup game and then them going on to win it. Thought we played quite well that night in a time of really crap football and off-field problems under Houllier, before we picked up really late on in that season. The Tranmere semi-final still stays with me as prob the most special memory of any match I've been to. When K.Richardson blazed over we were down and out, then when Daley slotted home without a care in the world and Bosnich blocked the next one we were in dreamland!

Who was the ref of the Stoke game?? If Clark does a repeat of that tackle on the half way line against Stoke this Sunday I could see Dowd giving him marching orders for that. Benteke will also have to be careful with his aggression going for the headers. The bad feeling I have about Chelsea is we'll prob play really well but the game will be changed/decided by a controversial decision in their favour..

Possibly Forrester and Stephens are Lambert's idea of young hungry and cheap, to replace N'Zogbia and Ireland??

Don't think we'll get Stephens, sounds in the press like they will fight tooth and nail to keep him. Only way is if Stephens forces a move I reckon. If we did get him, and James Chester from Hull, I reckon that would spell the end for Dunne and Ireland, and maybe N'Zogbia too.

The 3-5-2 also helps us with defending and attacking set pieces. I'm thinking of options like Vlaar, Clark, Baker, Herd and Benteke always being present for all our corners or free kicks, attacking or defending. Agbonlahor and Weimann are no mugs in the air either. What we have now is every bit as good as the Laursen days under MON, and it rivals any strength teams like Stoke and Allardyce's Bolton have had in the past. If we stick with this system I expect us to definitely stick a few more in the net from dead balls this season. A couple of those aforementioned guys just need to knock one in off the knee or something to really get us going.

I think the back 3 system does actually suit the players we've got at the moment. As has already been said it takes a bit of pressure defensively off some of the likes of Lichaj and Herd and Lowton. It definitely suits all of Herd, Clark and Baker, who from looking vulnerable and error prone last season, all look very decent players right now! I also think it suits midfielders like Bannan and Holman, who benefit from the security of extra players in there with them. The drawbacks of the system are your wing-backs need to be effective at both ends of the pitch and just need to be all round very efficient players, I don't feel qualified to judge our options here as good enough yet. Also it's a bit inflexible, and all defending teams need to do really to stop you from being dangerous at their end is to pin back your wing-backs and play high up the pitch. On Saturday it worked because we got the first goal and they had to leave space behind as they chased the game. The Fulhams, West Hams and Newcastles of this world will be well capable of coming to VP and getting a result with the current system. I guess my point is its important to have a back 4 system ready straight away if needed.

Reading are gone now as far as I'm concerned. I still think Southampton will start to crack a bit in the new year with the unforgiving schedule and standard, they'll be down there. I think QPR are capable of putting a run together but I don't think they're as strong as us, meaning they're not as capable to get big results out of away games and tough home games. With the players we have I also fully expect us to be able to claw our way above all of Sunderland, Wigan and even Newcastle. We've got the potential to do it and finish mid table. A lot will depend on what happens between now and Jan 31st. If we add to the quality whilst keeping everyone hungry and on the ball we'll be absolutely fine. We must NOT let the Chelsea and Spurs games knock all of the stuffing out and leave us feeling at square one again.. Then we'd struggle in the Wigan game and the snowball would continue well on. It's great that we've put a little run together but the next 2 I think are pretty key.

The last 2 matches have shown that Weimann can be a great goalscorer if he gets a sniff in the penalty area. I genuinely think Benteke and Weimann could be dynamite for us. Benteke the strong, powerful, good in the air one, who can finish himself and create space for the other bloke. Weimann the fast, energetic fox in the box who could be a prolific finisher. There's nothing much wrong with the 4 of Benteke, Weimann, Agbonlahor and Bent in my view, they just need the right service. Holman, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Bannan, and Bennett and Lowton, all have to carry that torch for us.