MrWeedMcGrass

The highest pass completion rate in the team , was every where on the pitch , got an indirect assist for our goal and yet he is deemed to be shite. Think I need to visit an Optometrist soon.

Anyway here are his chalkboards.

Three interceptions in key areas too.

Thought Mkoun looked distinctly average to me. I thought he was to have this great engine - seemed to be walking half the time tonight. lots of 4 yard passes most seemed to go sideways.

MOTM Ashley Young - quite easily - looked like what he is - a class player - hope for a miracle and he stays.

Still think we build up to slowly - which wastes the paces of Gabby and Bent.

2 wins on the trott which gives us some breathing space.

Sorry don't agree on Makoun... I thought he looked very tidy... very quick and decisive with his passing...doesnt need to run all over the place because he does what he does efficiently. It was his debut for god sake..... give him a chance! Bent made some great runs and would have been dissappointed alot of them weren't picked up. We should have been at least 3 up by half time. We had some very flowing moves at times.

This, and also sideways passing isn't a bad thing. It allows you to retain possession and wait for space to play a ball forward into instead of the aimless hoofing we resort to at times which just gives the ball away and leads to us being put under pressure again.

In fact it's just what we needed to take the pressure off towards the end of that match.

Its the continental way of playing , not wasting passes and keeping possession until spaces are created. He probably doesn't understand that though , considering he has been on Houllier's back since the day he arrived and probably still thinks that MoN's teams played scintillating 'passing' football.

Why make short 5 yard passes when you can hoof it long?

Why the hell does he have a "2" in his name?

No preseason , a squad that is the very definition of mediocrity with over the hill players on massive wages , no chance to bring his own players till now , a squad that believes that the panacea for glory is to treat the football like a hot potato and hoof it as fast as you can say hoof , media fuckups of his own doing.

Oh yeah , he has had a hard time here but **** it , the season started with that comeback against CSKA London. He hasn't won all those trophies by accident , he is a tough cookie. Time to look ahead.

He completed more passes than any of our midfielders , always tried to pass it forward and made 6 interceptions. How did he look bad in CM? I must've been watching a different game.

Maybe you were just watching more closely. Although if you noticed James Milner on the pitch it must have been a replay of last year's game.

He looked decent to me , played some nice passes , put himself about. Looking at his Chalkboard just affirms that.

Just wondering if we could re-start the poll?" I'd be interested to see how that percentage has changed now.

No point in doing that mate, fans are fickle entities. It will keep swinging with each result. An end of the season poll would be more reflective I believe.

He completed more passes than any of our midfielders , always tried to pass it forward and made 6 interceptions. How did he look bad in CM? I must've been watching a different game.

I never ever saw the point of sacking a coach mid-season , not unless the threat of relegation is real(which it was for a while to be fair to the 'sack him' brigade). He is one of those managers who takes time to get his ideas and working methods across to the players and get them playing the way he wants so the results and I am pleased to see that we are finally beginning to see it. Starting from Chelski , I see a more determined and dogged team that is prepared to fight for dear life and give as good as they get.

Pretty football can always come later once we are solid as a defensive unit.

A CB and a GK is still needed though and I am certain GH will delve into the market for reinforcements again.

And yeah , Bent was exactly what we needed , a finisher who can put away the shit load of chances we create most matches. We haven't been exactly stingy in creating opportunities and I am certain if we had a good finisher like Bent in the first half of the season , we would be much higher up the table.

A UEFA cup place will be a tough ask but we can definitely finish in the top half this season and build on it. A cup win would be awesomeness itself.

Don't give a flying f about the football we played today to be honest. It was dire to watch but i'll take the three points , thank you. Our battle worn heroes need a well deserved rest after some epic defending.

That was 150 Million worth of players on the pitch for Citeh btw.

and

Merry Christmas Rob

Hello and welcome from everyone's favourite Liverpool forum RAWK./b]

Really? Possibly the shittiest forum on the interwebs with the maximum proportion of clearings in the woods and wums and power tripping word removed mods.

Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way , we can do the questions..

Villa find themselves in 13th place in the Premiership. What do you think is a realistic target for Houllier in his first season.

Ans) 7-8th is easily doable and I don't think we are going to finish any lower than that.

How do you feel Gerard Houllier has settled and what do you hope from him as a manager

Ans) He is changing the complete setup from inside out so it is not a huge surprise that he hasn't settled as well. To dismantle the 'direct , long ball' mentality that is ingrained into our players will take a lot of time.

Do you feel that Houllier can get the best out of Emile Heskey

Ans) Yeah , I think Heskey loves playing under Gerard and would have done very well if not for his injuries.

After Citeh came in and took two of your better young players what do you think needs doing to replace them. Is youth development an option or is the only way the transfer window

Ans) Since our youth setup actually produces players for the first team and good ones at that(Unlike yours ) , ideally it would be a mixture of youth and good sensible transfer policy. We can get away with investing relatively less due to the quality of our youth players.

Do you feel that Robert Pires is an inspired signing or do you feel he is ‘over the hill’

Ans) He was signed not just for the first team but to guide and take our younger players under his wing and pass on his experience which is considerable. It's a win win situation for us as far as I am concerned. The likes of Albrighton can only benefit from such an association.

Liverpool have a bit of “history” with regards to American owners. Villa have had Randy Lerner in since 2006. What positives and negatives do you feel he brings to the club.

Ans) The only thing in common between your ex owners and Randy is nationality. Randy has been fantastic till now to be honest.

feel Villa fans are very lucky to be able to have contact and information from The General. How important for supporter/club development do you feel this has been and do you think it should be encouraged across other clubs

Ans) Don't have an opinion on this either way.

I question the logic of having ANYONE from the club on RAWK though. :winkold:

How do you feel Roy Hodgson has done since taking the Liverpool job

Ans) reasonable job under the circumstances , I doubt anyone could have done better with the shite you have in your squad. I mean if Dirk **** Kuyt still gets to play in the first team , there are serious problems there and Roy will have done well to get you finishing in the top half of the table and a Europa run.

Other than Gerrard or Torres who would you take from the Liverpool squad and why?

Ans) I personally would take only Reina , Torres and Lucas Leyva. With all our players fit , I wouldn't take anybody else, not even hollywood gerrard.

Last season we had two good games together with Villa winning at Anfield and Liverpool winning at Villa Park. Both games had “talking points” in them and I feel this is always the way with our encounters. What do you expect from this game

Ans) I honestly think we will win this game , Liverpools passing approach suits us as opposed to facing the Blackburns and Birminghams of this league. There will be football from both sides but ours should prevail.

And finally what would you predict as a final score for our game?

2-3 To Villa with Mon Houl leaving victorious.

Apologies if this interview has been posted elsewhere already.

Stv Interview

Gary McAllister believes Barry Bannan’s emergence couldn’t have been better timed. The young midfielder, who made his Scotland debut on Tuesday, capped off a memorable week by signing a new long-term deal with Aston Villa on Friday.

At just 20, Bannan has rose from relative obscurity to burst into Gerard Houllier’s first team, earning an international call-up as a result and impressing against the Faroe Islands in a central midfield role.

A diminutive figure at just 5ft 7in, Bannan may have fallen by the wayside in the past because of his height. But McAllister, a coach of the Airdrie-born player at Villa Park, says the impact Spain’s all-conquering squad have had on the game has changed attitudes in Bannan’s favour.

“I think in the last four to five years, Spain have emerged as a national team with Barcelona’s style of football,” McAllister said in an exclusive interview for STV Sports Centre. “The personnel within those two great sides are guys of similar build to Barry Bannan.

“I think the fact that they have won European championships, Champions League and World Cups maybe just opened people’s eyes to that you don’t have to be six foot and be able to run 100 metres in 10 seconds to be a good footballer.

“He is a smashing technician. He wants to train, he loves training and is a genuine, old fashioned, gallus Scottish player.

“I think youth gives you that fearless attitude - the bigger the better. Against Manchester United the other weekend he looked as if he had been in that type of company all his life.”

“Similar to Charlie Adam, who took the Championship by storm, he is holding his own and more in the Premier League. [They are] two footballers I think we saw a lot of a few years ago in Scotland. Guys who can manipulate the ball, see a pass and can have a crack at goal.”

As the former captain of the Scottish national side, McAllister had a fine career in the game, leading Liverpool to UEFA Cup success as a 35-year-old to great acclaim.

His role at Villa under Houllier is now very much about bringing on the stars of tomorrow and McAllister says the likes of Bannan can only benefit from what he learned during his career.

“That’s my job,” he said. “I am not going to sit here and say I am this wonderful coach who is going to come up with amazing, unique ideas. What I want to do with all the midfielders here, as that’s where I played, is just pass on experience. “

Great stuff from Gary Mac, there is so much Bannan can learn from the likes of Gary and Gordon.

Glad he sees and recognises the potential of the lil fella.

When they have the ball , yes. When we have it , we'll try to keep it on the ground as much as possible(well I hope so). You can't beat Blackburn at their own game.

Don't play him against the likes of Stoke and Blackburn , simples.

Interesting as he's probably nailed on for a start on Sunday against Blackburn. It will be interesting to see how he gets on?

Up to our defence to win the ball higher up the pitch and give to the likes of Bannan.

I would still have him in a 3 man midfield , even against long ball teams.

Depends on the ref too. We'll find out against Blackburn. His low centre of Gravity and ball shielding skills might actually help us win a lot of fouls.

Height is never an issue for technically gifted footballers , especially if you play in the continent where the ball more often than not stays on the ground. It's not even a major handicap in the PL these days if your defence is good and the player know their roles, like we did against the Mancs , unless you are playing 3 or 4 of the teams we tend to categorise as being overly physical and relying on a long ball style.

Don't play him against the likes of Stoke and Blackburn , simples.

Joke of a referee.

I just can't believe man u finished that game with 11 men. It's a joke.

The outright bias of not booking vidic for doing EXACTLY the same as young did is just too blatant. Pushed into the crowd my **** arse. Biased clearing in the woods of a referee.

Who do you complain to though? When the whole **** system is bent. It's blatant and it's been going on for YEARS now. Mike Dean , Howard Webb and countless other bellends who have taken an oath to serve their puerile masters.

Cant believe Skysports gave downing a mark of 7.

Were they watching?

They wanted to own Man Yoo , remember?

Bannan in a midfield 3 with a holding player to watch his ass like Gattuso did for Pirlo. He will be our Pirlo.

Attempted some LOVELY through balls today.

That through ball for Downing in the first half between the full back and center back was simply world class.

Deserved a goal that. Lovely ball.

Bannan in a midfield 3 with a holding player to watch his ass like Gattuso did for Pirlo. He will be our Pirlo.

Attempted some LOVELY through balls today.

Man Yoo should actually pay 10% of their revenue to the refs at the end of the season.

Not surprising considering how Sky wanted to actually own Man poo in the past.

The Ref's Man U bias cannot be emphasised enough. It is getting to ridiculous proportions.

Remember the injuries we had? Brave performance , I cannot but reiterate. If football was like boxing , we would have won this.

Not fair , we battered them . Another day we could've won 5-2 or something.

Proud of the lads. The youngsters , everything. Football is not fair, We deserved to win it. We hit the bar twice wityhin 5 minutes , battered them all second half.

BRAVE.

**** UOU MANC MADADCHODS TAke that>....