DamsonwoodVillan

It's a Lambert-style signing so I would say go for it at that price. Can't see him making an impact at all this season though with Benteke and Weimann playing so well, and Gabby looking a bit more up for it. I don't think Bent fits into the way Lambert wants to play and we'll never see his heights of the Houllier season again. If it's a striker we're going after though I would prefer a young goalscorer that it has already been proven can get goals at a high level, e.g Finnbogason or Aubameyang.

Just love the kid. Really hope he grows to be really happy at Villa and doesn't become a Young/Downing winging type. For that we need some relative success in next couple of seasons. The Capital One Cup would just be amazing for us this year, particularly for bringing this group of young players into a strong enthusiastic unit, and being able to add to them. Think he could be a Villa great. Should get the number 9 shirt next year.

I think bringing in 30 year olds on big wages could be damaging to some of our players, particularly if they've played well thus far. I think Lambert has started a culture of hungry players looking to gel as a young unit and drive us on, and he needs to continue that approach. The squad currently (assuming the 3-5-2 system is long term) is: Guzan Given Lowton Lichaj Bennett Stevens Vlaar Clark Baker Herd Dunne Bannan Westwood Holman Ireland Delph N'Zogbia El-Ahmadi Bent Agbonlahor Benteke Weimann.. As long as the form continued to be decent, the only players I'd be looking to add to/possibly replace would be the ones in bold. And I certainly wouldn't be looking at players of similar age and wages to those ones.

People will always create a problem when there isn't one!! It's great to have 2 Premier League quality keepers. To be honest I think I'd prefer Guzan to be playing. Purely because he's been good for us and I only want the relationship between him and the young players at the back to keep getting better and keep getting to know each other ready for the years ahead. Given is a great player to come in for cup games and as back up though. Would you drop Guzan in favour of Given to play at Wembley if we made it to the Cup Final?

I wouldn't want him to come straight back in as I think Lichaj played really well against Stoke and Pool and deserves his place. If this back 3/5 system is long term for us then the wing backs are so important. They hold the key to our strength at the back against opposition wide players, and they also have to offer an attacking threat as well. Alan Wright, Gary Charles and Mark Delaney I felt were all good examples of decent all rounders you need wing backs to be. I do fancy Lowton is good enough to do it. I'm yet to decide on Bennett or Stevens because of their lack of games. Lichaj I think will end up being a decent deputy for Lowton. If Bennett or Stevens could step up and be good Premier League players, we could be half way to having a heck of a decent team next season.

Holman caused Pool a lot of problems on Saturday and the 3rd goal was a great bit of counter-attacking play from him. Unless Ireland or N-Zogbia do something really special when they get a chance, for me Holman is an important name in our starting 11. The 3-5-2 formation I think we have players that do suit it, with Holman Zog and Ireland certainly being good examples.

Good shout Demitri. When Vlaar comes back I suppose if they're going with him as club captain then he will just get back into the side, but I would definitely drop one of the other 2 and not Baker. Baker has looked calm, strong and very good in the air. I fancy he could develop into an attacking threat as well from set-pieces. In my opinion the back 3 for the second half of the season should be Clark in the centre with Vlaar to the right of him and Baker to the left. Herd and Dunne are then good options as cover, and Herd could of course challenge for a midfield spot also.

Ireland had one really top performance last year - Chelsea away on NYE. He has to step up to the plate with a consistent amount of assists, key passes and goals this season, to be viewed as a successful season for him. Hopefully PL has the management skill to channel his attitude and find his form on the pitch. Completely agree VillaChris Ireland's value to the team comes in his ability to keep us moving. Much like KEA, and Delph should be doing this also.

If we are to succeed going down this young and hungry players route, then players like Clark have to come to the fore this season. Like others have said, he is technically quite good with the ball on the deck, and is a threat in the opposition box from set pieces, but gets caught out to many times in his own area for my liking. Also, to be as lightweight as Clark is as a CB, I've always thought you'd have to be lightning quick, which Clark isn't. Give this new unit of Guzan/Given with Lowton Vlaar Clark and Bennett 6-8 matches to find a rhythm. If we're in the bottom 3 at that point then we'll know the unit is not strong enough.

He's recovered his position with me to a degree with the appointment of PL. But I'll reserve judgement until I've seen exactly how much backing they've given Lambert on September 1st.

Totally agree, the mood at Villa Park last year was hardly ever one of expectation! The draw with Spurs at home, with the surprise and relief attached to the result, was possibly one of my home highlights! Looking forward to seeing players with a bit of fire in their bellies next season.

No employer can stop any employee from leaving, that's just a fact of life in the UK!! Norwich have taken this stance though so they have to stick to it, in my opinion they've made this situation for themselves. And now they have to see it through in this way. If Villa had poached Lambert illegally, surely compensation would've had to be paid before we could legally announce him as our manager??

I like the idea of Diame, but it is just an idea. The reality I suspect would be that he wouldn't really work in there with someone like Ireland, it wouldn't be strong/balanced enough. Good option on a free though, it would be just our luck that we were pipped by Newcastle for him, and he was amazing for them ala Tiote, Ba, Ben Arfa.

I thought Lambert handled the question of a hope for next season well when they put it to him. He did say that within himself he has an idea of what he'd like to achieve, but he wouldn't share it. He certainly seems like a keen student of the game, and a person who will look deep into what needs to be done all over the pitch to beat a particular opponent. With sensible backing I definitely think Lambert could get us challenging, at least for a big part of next season, with Everton, Newcastle and possibly Liverpool. My main hope for his whole reign is to finally win something, most likely the Carling Cup. There's no reason why we can't get close to doing that next season.

Awesome. Great to see him looking well.

I was really pleased with PL and PF in the conference actually. Simple and to the point. Decent answers. Said the right things about getting the fans on board, and needing the fans to support the journey. I don't think speaking to the media is really Lambert's forte, so I think we need to hold off any dreary/boring gags, or genuine frustration about it!! and just look at what he does on the pitch. Speaking to my mate about it after watching it together he said Villa fans are probably the most impatient he knows, I said the guy needs to be given time and 100% backing. No matter who the first signings are or indeed how well we do in the first 5 games..

Guys - I am merely asking a question here, not meaning to be shot down.. What evidence do we have that Solskjaer will have this attacking brand of football, good influence on the senior players, big improvements over time that everyone on this site seems to be raving about?? I accept he's won the Norwegian league but what details are we aware of, to qualify us to say that he will make these kind of steps forward for us? I kind of fear that fans have just jumped on this frenzy of OGS' possible appointment, purely because he's young and he's a big name... There is no hard evidence in my mind that we will have this magical impact many are predicting, to appoint OGS would be a HUGE risk by the board. Don't get me wrong, I loved the kid as a player, and if he came in I'd back him all the way 100%. But does anyone else feel that we've kind of adopted this "Solskjaer or nobody" attitude now, and decent names such as Lambert et al are no longer seen as good enough?!!

Trying to be as factual as I can... Don't want McLeish next season. He's failed to get the best out of this squad, the football is dreadful, as well as results being down the pan. What I thought would happen: he'd mould us into a Gregory era-like tough nut of a team and plonk us somewhere in mid-table, that's why I didn't want him! What has happened: to be fair the team has been destroyed by key injuries since December/January but the football he's got us playing is backward and old fashioned, we never keep the ball for long periods and never look capable of scoring more than once. The team has failed miserably at defending set pieces and results have almost led us to the trap door. High points of the season: beating Chelsea on NYE where Ireland finally showed some class. Another was possibly coming back from 2-0 down at home to draw with QPR where at least we showed some spirit. Apart from that?? Absolutely miserable... What kind of team did McLeish inherit? In my opinion a squad of good players and one that was capable of good football. We had struggled for much of the previous season but had found some form when Bent arrived and we finished 9th. I was no great fan of Houllier, but at least he encouraged a positive possession game, a more attractive brand than under MON. In the summer... I thought £20 mill for Downing, replacing him with £9.5 mill N'Zogbia was good business. £10 mill profit with a high quality replacement - Zog has gone from bad to worst at times this year. (McLeish fail). £17 mill again a good price for Young, tried to replace him with Albrighton who'd shown potential in early part of 2011 - Albrighton has been out of position, desperately out of form and confidence this year. (McLeish fail). I liked Luke Young and £2.5 mill for him I felt was cheap from QPR - replaced him with Hutton, who for me has been a truly low factor of this campaign. (McLeish fail). Friedel had every right to one last big contract at Spurs and we found a good replacement in Given, so no complaints there. The last 2 to mention I guess are Reo-Coker and Carew leaving for free, both players who I felt at the top of their game were really good solid players for this club. I know people will turn around and say 'McLeish was told to cut the wages', but the fact is the aforementioned were decent players who have only been replaced IN THE FIRST 11 by names such as Weimann, Heskey, Clark and Herd. In my opinion no where near the standard required to make us a good Premier League outfit. Sorry to be long winded just tried to be as matter of fact and explore as much evidence as possible. The playing staff is not what it was, that's a given, but McLeish has done nothing to turn the tide or inject any hope or positivity. A dreadful dreadful managerial appointment, and an equally bad season.

I was also in the 'give the guy a chance' camp back in August. I actually thought he'd be a bit like Gregory - turn us into a tough old boot of a team, strong at home, decent win % etc. Yes it's all gone wrong and yes he has to go, but as I said in another thread, the players have just not performed this year. The main reasons he has to leave are the atmosphere at the club now in my opinion. I think once you've lost the home crowd and the views of the local press your situation is un-recoverable. If (for some unearthly reason!) he was still here this August, even if our start was decent I don't think he's capable now of getting everyone from the board to the fans pulling in the same direction. I've got no hatred for the guy, he's come in and given it a go but I think he's using a system that doesnt suit our personnel, and he's got big calls wrong like selections/substitutions in too many big games. For the good of the club we need a fresh start - but that involves whoever the new guy is coming in and having more of a chance financially than AM did. Like Merson said on Soccer Saturday just gone, to get back to where we were an injection of about "£200 million" is needed!!

Thought it was ridiculous of DOL to publicly comment that O'Neill had never achieved better than he had as Villa manager. Fair enough we only finished as high as 6th under MON which only matched what DOL did, but I think the way we improved overall as a club in that time and the consistency shown far outweighs what "success" O'Leary achieved. I actually thought back in summer that next to other names being banded around as realistic contenders for us, McLeish wasn't the worst appointment. What's really disappointed me is how badly we've played all year with the decent quality we do have. How much of it is McLeish's negative style, poor substitutions, tactics etc I'm not sure - but the group of players you may label as our 'big players' (Bent, Agbonlahor, N'Zogbia, Ireland, Dunne, even Given) I think have performed actually pretty poorly so far this season. Petrov is the only senior player I would honestly say has had a consistently good season. I've backed McLeish's enthusiasm for blooding the young lads as long as they're good enough (questionable?), but I think McLeish can be forgiven in as far as the players just haven't performed well enough. Just my opinion. If next year the form of the players is a bit more realistic, then we might see a more true reflection on just how bad his management skills are??

Ah Puss don't talk too soon. I won't be breathing any easier unless we take all 3 points from Bolton next week. We've got tough tough fixtures ourselves after that one. I agree we were very fortunate to win in the 93rd against Fulham, but dare I say we were due a bit of luck. It kind of counts for nothing though if Bolton come and turn us over. A lot of people calling for Weimann to start the next one. I'd probably be tempted to go with.. Given Hutton Cuellar Collins Warnock Albrighton Herd Petrov N'Zogbia Ireland Agobonlahor again just to try and find a bit of rhythm and consistently, but definitely bring Weimann on earlier this time if we're in a 0-0 or worse situation.

A nice article and I agree with a lot of points, I just think you've missed a big trick in not mentioning the John Gregory era at all when you outline the club's big turning points over the years. I thought at more than one point over that time, that we could really go some way to joining the domestic elite, if we only had taken a bit more of a chance at the time. For that, I suppose I'll always blame Ellis. I actually think this has been a heck of a strange season for Villa. You can see it in the way the players, coaching staff, and indeed the fans, are. I do totally agree with you that, with Houllier, the football was improved and you can't legislate for the circumstances in which he walked away. Then, out of the realistic candidates talked about in the following weeks, I suppose McLeish seemed at least on a par with the likes of Coyle, Martinez, Curbishley etc. This season all the change I think has just taken a bit more out of us than we all gave credit for back in August. We lost 3 very good players in Friedel, Young and Downing, and we have to realise that Petrov and Dunne are year older and closer to retirement. Like most, I thought N'Zogbia was an exciting signing, and maybe naively, I honestly thought he would soften the blow of Downing leaving - certainly more than he has done this season anyway. Think that Bent, Agbonlahor, Ireland, N'Zogbia, even Given - all these names you may have highlighted as being our 'big' players in the team - have been disappointing this season. So many off-colour performances, and failing to make a difference in tight games. Added to this the seeming non-existence of people like Delph and Makoun, 2 other players that I thought would go on to be really important to us. The point of my post I guess is to say that if we had just a bit more rub of the green, and big players finding more form next year, there's no reason why we can't be much more of a premier league force next season. I don't think McLeish is totally clueless, if a bit too negative. He can be forgiven in thinking the players, maybe with the exception of Petrov, have let him down a wee bit this year. Just my opinion anyway. I echo someone else's post also that out of all those big earners that will prob leave - Warnock, Heskey, Collins, - we wouldn't miss any of them too much, and some younger blood with more form may just kick us on. I'm going to judge this time next year, then again I guess power of the majority may topple that concept way before then..

Either Sven or Steve McLaren is the best we could attract

David Moyes would be my first choice as a talented young British manager, but I would be happy with any of Hughes, Jol, Ancelotti or Benitez. I wouldn't want an outside bet like Deschamps or Bradley, I'd prefer a solid appointment with plenty of English Premier League and transfer market experience. Although I always liked O'Neill as manager, his policy of marginalising the fringe players and slow movement in the market frustrated me like so many others. Houllier certainly had better contacts in the market, and whilst we tried to play good football under Gerard, all season I felt we were getting some basics of set piece attacking and defending, amongst other things, wrong. The new manager has got to be someone who can work with the market and put his stamp on the squad quickly. The fans will want an immediate improvement on 9th, of course no mean feat in the PL of today. I wonder what this week will mean for Young/Downing? Will the club just be reluctant to talk to potential buyers without a manager in place?