claret75

Weve played much MUCH worse than this in the past 5 years Petrov is absolutely woeful.

Wasn't all that sure about Delph, but though he looked the part Saturday, even if it was against Blackburn.

Makoun could make Villa tick played in the right position, not sure where his best position is though. Saw him play very advanced a couple of times for Lyon and he looked good. Don't see him as a defensive midfielder at all, should be played with Delph as soon as Petrov gets **** in a few games time.

You forgot the manager that bought him subbed him and never picked him again after some poor performances. I really don't think it's as straight forward as Makoun not being good enough though...GH then Mcallister opted for a more experienced CM partnership in Petrov and NRC, which was probably the right thing to do in the circumstances. Playing a yet to settle Makoun would've been a risk at a time we were fighting to stay up. As much as I don't like Petrov or NRC as players I do think it was the right decision to play them. However, Makoun in a better team than the one he walked into will be a much better player.

Umm, maybe a good run of games now that he's had a full preseason behind him? So we can't comment on him until he's had a run of games this season? Does that go for praising him as well? Will you tell people who say he's good and is going to be good to wait till he's had a run of games? I think considering we're supposed to be supporters, we should probably opt for the first approach. Exactly.

I think a lot of people forget that Makoun walked into a very difficult situation at Villa...a struggling team with huge issues, then he gets himself sent off and banned, then the manager that bought him ends up in hospital. He hasn't really had a chance to get started yet.

Your right Blackburn will most likely be bottom 6 but our manager picked 2 lads ahead of Makoun to start and another ahead of him to come on in the centre just as he did last week and yes they did all look very good and will rightly still be ahead of Makoun in the pecking order against Wolves. I'd give him a run out against Hereford though and just hope no one gets stuck in to him. I've don't think it was a bad decision not to start Makoun today, Petrov is needed atm if only for his experience and Delph has energy, would be difficult to find a position for him. I think he'll play more as the season goes on, that's if he doesn't get pissed off with not playing and gets sulky. I think he could be a difference maker for Villa, he just needs to get his foot in the door...I'd like to see him and N'Zogbia exchanging a few passes.

You would my friend be wrong, he was subbed against Newcastle (before he was sent off), then sat on the bench for the next two games (that's Houllier dropping him) then didn't even appear on the bench. I was backing up the previous posters post saying Makoun had missed games under his ban, that's all. So not wrong my friend.

I agree most of the team were poor. I can accept players playing poorly its gutless performances I can't accept and not standing up to be counted and he didn't that day and Karl Henry made him look like a right mug. I stand corrected anyway. It was after the Everton away game and Barcodes at home following the Wolves game he was dropped - Everton where he gave away the dubious pen, and Phil Neville, a make shift centre midfielder got in to him and he couldn't handle it and disappeared. Against Newcastle he was substituted in the 2nd half after again being bullied out of the game and having no influence on it. After that results picked up and he wasn't seen again and hasn't been seen on the pitch again this season and Delph, Stan, and Bannan today, have done very well with out him. I hope he does grow a pair and come good. I have my doubts though. You say he gave away a penalty and then say it was a dubious one...you've got to laugh. I honestly don't know where you get the idea he has no balls from...I think he has plenty of steel about him for a slight guy. You've got to remember that Karl Henry is a tough CM, whereas Makoun relies more on ballplaying...the Wolves game was more physical than usual, the chance were that Henry would dominate the CM in those circumstances. Btw, we played Blackburn today, who will probably be bottom 6 come the end of the season, any of our CM's would've looked good today,

He didn't. He was dropped after the Wolves game when Karl Henry made him look a like a scared child in the play ground about to have his dinner money taken off him by the school bully. After that our results picked up and he wasn't seen again. I hope he does come good but having been at every game he has played for us he gets bullied out of games far too easily and lacks a mental toughness. Lets hope he does adapt to the pace and physicality of this league though. If not then he will be no loss if he does leave as he has and continues to contribute very little. Pretty sure he was sent off for a wreckless challenge and missed the last game because his family were in a car crash. I'm not sure how you can single out Makoun in that Wolves game, i remember you doing it a few times before...he had a bad game, as did most of the team and for me he was one of the only players that actually tried that game.

and? So far that is all that Makoun's done. Three managers have now not picked him, including the bloke that bought him. Did GH carry on picking the team after becoming ill? I think Makoun got sent off in his 2nd or 3rd game, leaving him banned for 3 games. He struggled to get in after that, but he's shown obvious 'class' most of the time he's played, he just needs a good partner. He didn't just play well in that Man U away game, I think it was the best CM performance by a Villa player for a long time. Wish people would give players a chance before jumping on them, he's not long come to English football.

and?

Like against Man U last season when he was probably the best player on the pitch? At Old Trafford? He's barely had a chance to show what he can do and when he has done he's done ok on the whole. The reason he's not getting in the team is because we probably need Petrov atm, due to his experience. We need Delph in there because of his energy, Makoun and Delph have rarely if ever played together, it makes more sense to play Petrov than an untried partnership in CM.

I actually like the Redskins back to the days of Riggins but I thinks they have a tough schedule. The last 5 games especially. I can only see a maximum of 6 wins next season though unfortunately. I hope Shanahan gets the oportunity to build something at FedEx as that team needs some stability. Even if they do only win 6 games, at least Shanahan has tried to build in the right way ie. no big name players on ridiculous wages and relied more on draft and solid players. I think the defence will be a lot stronger this year, they've got rid of Haynesworth and picked up 4 or 5 solid starters. Plus it's now the 2nd year of the 3-4, players are a bit more used to the system and the coaches are a bit more used to the players. Made some solid pickups on offense as well...Helu, Hightower should add to the backfield and Gaffney and Hankerson should improve the WR's. Big questions about the OL and QB though, could be a problem again. One good thing about the players Shanahan's bought in is a lot of them all have a good work ethic and leadership qualities, which is exactly what the team needed. Hail

Redskins are looking better this season, shame they don't have a QB, but all in all looking better. Apparently rookie Jarvis Jenkins is looking a bit of a monster in practice, looking forward to seeing if he can add something to the defence. I think the could do as well as 10-6 but with a problem at QB they could end up 6-10, I think 8-8. Might have a tenner on the Jets as superbowl winners and fancy Green Bay to get there again.

Considering they were playing away at a good side, thought they played well enough and looked ok.

haven't watched the whole game, but i think we look quite solid.

Guess how you build both endurance and maintain strength? By following a program like starting strength! Seriously personal trainers love to get people on machines and doing fancy isolation exercises that people don't need. Before people need to isolate they have to have weak points, to have weak points you have to have strong points. When you're starting out your entire body is a weak point and by the time you get to the stage where you have actual weak points that need training in isolation you've already surpassed 99% of personal trainers. My PT only has me doing one isolation exercise on a machine mate and that's for a specific reason. He doesn't like stack weight machines at all, hence he's given me compound exercises to do.

Sorry but your personal trainer (like most of them) is talking shit. He's just regurgitating from his nvq in personal training which taught him shit. For one machines are a poor substitute for free weights. If you want to go for actual strength then you want to be using free weights. Cable pulls are crap, woodchops are crap. Benchpress, press, deadlifts, squats, rows, power cleans. These will work way more of your body than what you're doing, you'll get far more benefit from them as they're compound lifts that will work your entire body. Seriously, the secret to getting strong is simple: Lift heavy things. Sure if you want to build endurance then you need to lift for more reps, but why the hell do you want to build endurance when you have no strength? Building your endurance when you can't even lift much weight is pointless. Endurance training actually REDUCES your strength unless you're actively training for strength as well. Now I'm not saying you won't get results doing what you are, you will, you'll get results from anything. But you're really not getting the OPTIMAL results that you could be getting in the time you're spending. Yeah ok. Who said I didn't use free weights? I only use 2 machines, one to isolate pecs, for a specific reason and the other for my lats, the rest are good compound exersises. The rev woodchop is done with a med ball, not on a machine. The secret to getting strong quickly may be by lifting heavier things, but the secret to getting strong and staying strong is to do it slowly. Hence strength indurance to begin with. Core strength is also a good way to go. Core strengthening and pilates gives you a strong center that you can build from. I should be a personal trainer myself

Forgot to say, free weights are the way to go, rather than machine weights if you want to work on your all round strength with compound exercises.

I started back at my local gym about 2 months ago, my personal trainer told me there are 4 phases of training and you should start off at the 1st of these for the best results. The 4 phases are: strength endurance, hypertrophy, max strength and extreme power. So for best results in the long term, you should start off with strength endurance, that's if your going for actual strength and not just to look good Strength endurance involves higher reps at a lower weight and at a slower speed, up to 20 as long as your technique stays good. Should take you around 4-6 weeks to get to full reps, then you either move on to the next phase or stay with strength endurance but put the weights up slightly continuing to keep the technique and slow speed. My programs aimed at all round strength, so deadlifts, chest cable fly, single arm cable pull, lunges, reverse woodchop with medicine ball, dumbell overhead push off a swiss ball and pull ups are what I'm doing. 2 sets of each, getting up to 20 reps per set. I've been advised to do from 45 mins to an hour 3 times a week, any more than that and you don't give your muscles enough time to mend and grow inbetween workouts. If you want to do it properly you'll probably need a personal trainer, mines been brilliant tbh.

She knows nothing of the crunch. She's never even been to the crunch. Tbf I am now a firm believer that all women are menthol...tis a fact Its crunch time! Not all women are mental, but the ones ive got with (or not in this case) since the ex have certainly been a bit **** strange. No...they are all doolally tap as my nan says

She knows nothing of the crunch. She's never even been to the crunch. Tbf I am now a firm believer that all women are menthol...tis a fact

I'm actually coming round to the idea of Mcleish being in charge. Didn't like his attitude towards Villa last season and really didn't want him here, but I think he may turn out to be a decent choice. Our defence should be solid as a lot have said and he'll give it his all. It'll be interesting to see how much more attacking he'll be with Villa, there's no way he'll be anywhere near as defensive minded a she was at Blues. He wasn't particularly defensive in Scotland, so I think we'll see a different approach here. Still would've preferred Hughes though.

Try to shag anything that moves, including tramps.