avfc1982am

I'm really not expecting drastic changes to the team straight away and would expect him to gradually let players play themselves out of the team. I think he will want them all(players) to believe they are part of his plans in order to get them onside. Coming in and just ousting the most the british players is not probably the wisest thing to do straight away, although I am sure most of us would love it, it would probably split the camp even further than it may already have been. I would love him to get Gana, Ayew, Amavi, Gil(should of put his name first), and Traore in the starting line up from the off but just can't see it happening.

what's he said Something along the lines of when Allardyce went into Sunderland he'd be looking at Defoe, Fletcher, Larsson and Catermole and thinking 'I've got something here'. What does Garde have to look at? Not much. Yeh, proper tit! I would take our squad over theirs every day of the week.

4pts from safety is a mile to you? Blimey. Whatever you want to call it is up to you I suppose. You could only say we are "4 points from safety" if we were about 2 or 3 games away from the end of the season. I can assure you that getting four more points will not make us "safe". Although I recognise that blind optimism is the current theme on here.. Personally I don't think it's blind optimism. To make up 4 points on those around us and kick on with a possible 81 points still left to play for isn't an impossible task at the moment, far from it. Maybe it will be 7 points after the weekend, who knows. Maybe Garde doesn't get us winning straight away, or maybe not at all?! The bottom line is I think most chose to be upbeat about the situation and have belief rather than cry, moan or accept championship football before it's a mathematical certainty. I know that's exactly how I feel about it and tie that in with the fact that I believe we have enough quality in the squad to stay up with the right guidance, maybe those writing us of already are the ones that are blind?!

The difference is though that the manager doesn't have to run around the pitch. Fair enough his experience was a while ago but from my own experiences much of todays league including power, strength, pace etc has always been a trait of the league. IMO of course.

You might have been proved wrong. Not all of us have been.

Every manager presents a risk coming into an unstable situation and only time will tell if the risk was worth taking. For what it's worth Mcleish was a monster risk especially after taking the shit down the season before which was the main reason I was disgusted at the club for hiring him. Just to reiterate absolutely disgusted! I was also massively underwhelmed with the Lambert appointment also and was at the Norwich game when the fans started singing his name and to be honest I felt slightly embarrassed even though I was pissed at the time and had a fantastic day. But I never believed he could manage a club our size or as transpired, deal with the ego's within the club at the time and strip the squad maintaining good football keeping things balanced. The Bent debacle and Culverhouse and what's his face sagas confirming this imo. Although I think having an idiot like Faulkner running the ship assisted in breaking Lambert to a degree even if he didn't help himself. Sherwood I felt although inexperienced brought an upbeat attitude which was exactly what was needed at a time when we were at our lowest. I was never truly convinced about Sherwood as a tactician or as someone who could push us on, but I hoped he could and thought he deserved a chance to try- especially after believing he was responsible for our summer signings. The unravelling of his position came quick through contradiction, uncertainty and finally erratic decision making proving the job was beyond his current skill set. As for our new manager. As with most of us I don't know much about him other than he has a decent pedigree in top flight football. Has managed at one of Frances top clubs at a time when they were cost cutting regularly and managed to maintain their status. He appears calm, measured and from reports, tactically on his game, something which I feel all 3 of our previous managers lacked. For me tactical nous is where it is at in the modern game as the margins in top flight football are minimal at best. It's like chess on grass! Now only time will tell if Garde is the real deal and cannot only keep us up but transform the club on the pitch in the long term. One thing I can say though is that there is something about him that makes me personally feel we are in good hands finally. Can't quite put my finger on it but the guy oozes class, he appears measured and calm and has no doubt learnt much from 2 of the best managers that have graced our league, at different times certainly but both Wenger and Houllier aren't mugs. I also think Tom Fox is seriously putting his own reputation massively on the line as this appointment will most definitely be all his due to the French influx and Arsenal connection. For that reason I think Remi will get everything he needs to succeed come January if we need additions to the squad. Anyway I just have a good feeling about Remi and hope he can confirm my own confidence in his ability to turn us round with what I believe is a decent squad.

I'm far more confident with this appointment than the last 3 managers.

I think Gil needs to be down the centre with licence to roam Geordie. He is the one player we have totally composed when in possession of the ball and therefore needs to be where he can influence the game most. The calmness in tight areas he has will be priceless if used correctly. With regards to Adama though, I think it's the same as with other players like Veretout and Ayew until recently. Unless they get decent game time they will struggle and adapting will take much longer. I agree with your attack as I would definitely like to see us with those 3 behind Ayew against city. Kompany and Co will just push on against Gestede as his pace is of no real concern. However put pace against them with Gil sliding balls down the channels and we may cause them real problems.

I wonder why people still think that..... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3124002/Aston-Villa-starlet-Jack-Grealish-pictured-sprawled-road-holiday-Tenerife.html Last year Nicholas Bendtner got drunk and rubbed his cock against a taxi. During the season. He was 26 at the time. He must have been really drunk to mistake a taxi for a woman?!

I believe that due to his links with Arsenal being very much active, and as with most people in positions of responsibility you will first and foremost trust those you know for advice. I think this appointment has been in the pipeline for quite a while and only the fact that Sherwood deserved time after last season has it taken so long to realise. Personally I think he was always first choice to replace Lambert. I think the fact that he was on a sabbatical though when Lambert was sacked changed the plan as it were. It would not surprise me in the slightest if Moyes, Rogers or anyone else were not approached at all and to be honest I'm fine with that. There is something quite exciting about stepping into the unknown with a manager so highly regarded by those that know him, even knowing so little myself. I am far more upbeat with the appointment of Garde than I would've been with Fat Sam, Pulis, Rogers or Moyes to be honest. Maybe because you know what you will get and it isn't necessarily entertaining with the british managers. For years we have had bang average and limited managers and having someone who nobody knows the ceiling of their abilities is in itself a fresh start. I think if fans are patient, support this dude to the max, encourage the players even when mistakes are made we may just have got the main ingredient to start moving Aston Villa forward again.

I don't think Richardson went beyond him once, so many times in the second half he'd have the ball and you could tell he was wondering where the **** his support was. This, a million times over, is our biggest problem generally. There is never any support for these guys when they do manage to break the lines. They are average, occasionally below average premier league players and we are asking them to perform like stars. Where's the **** support? I shout myself horse with that line every week. I understand that high quality movement is not in everybody's locker, but surely just running towards the ball, or overlapping, isn't beyond even the most basic of footballers at this level? Totally agree with these last 2 posts. The lack of movement has for too long been a massive problem. Every game is the same these days, the lack of movement in support of teammates is quite frightening at times. Just off the top of my head though I can remember the stoke game and Ayew received the ball from Hutton on the half way got surrounded and Hutton had turned his back on the play to get back in defence. He then got shouted at by quite a few in the crowd before turning back and realising his error. It was crazy moment but epitomised our ability to just switch off which has been all to frequent in recent years.

Personally the whole debate over the captaincy is in it's entirety, nonsense! Bar Gana all the other French lads are I believe under 24, only Ayew can speak clear English, and non have played premiership football previously or lived here for more than 5 min. The mind boggles at some of the comments on here at times. Richards is the only clear candidate at the moment. Not Clark, Lescott, Richardson, Westwood or Gabby or any of the new players are better options. And on top of that he is out of the senior players the only one that should be starting at the moment. He has led by example this season and been very good for us and done absolutely nothing to warrant losing his captaincy.

So you want to give the captaincy to someone who hasn't learnt English yet or a 22 year old? Well thought out!

That's his 12 pack mate! Can't you see his stomach is henched ?!

Micah Richards should remain as captain as changing now would be counter productive imo. Who else would you trust?

Richards, Okore, Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Gil, Grealish, Ayew, Traore, Sinclair, Gestede... If he get's these playing anywhere near their potential and can get a consistent tune from one or two others I have no doubt in my mind we have more than enough to get above the likes of Bournemouth, Newcastle, Sunderland, Norwich, Watford. Not an impossible job by any stretch and with the right starting line up and tactical substitutions when required we will be more than competitive. I believe we do have the makings of an exciting squad and have several players who have the ability to change a game, far more than last year imo. I also don't believe we are as far off with the current personnel as many think in sorting this mess out. All the players need is good direction and faith in their abilities and we can definitely turn this around. Any good manager worth their salt would look at our situation and the squad and think they can enhance their reputation here. Although the last couple of games have been comfortable for the opposition we have been tactically inept and given away the advantage before a ball has even been kicked imo which hasn't helped. It's like starting a goal down. I am also glad we have chosen to go down the foreign manager route for a change as the lack of tactical awareness from our last few british managers has imo massively contributed to our demise. The whole 'needing a british manager with prem experience' is overrated anyway. It's like many people think only british managers are capable of turning a team around when crap, when the reality is most are not currently capable of commanding top jobs and therefore spend the majority of time at clubs further to the foot of the table anyway. It's more about familiarity and not necessarily capability. It doesn't matter to me what nationality or how much premier league experience a manager has, the only thing I am interested in is whether or not they are switched on tactically and managing my team correctly. It really is that simple. As for the fans we all need to get behind the new manager and the team as all is not lost, far from it!

Had he been playing last night Spurs wouldn't have scored their first goal. No way is he getting bullied by Dembele the way Clark did.

What...? Me?! Especially you!!

I honestly think people need to stop worrying so much. If we are 8 points from safety come the new year then yes worry. But at the moment I think everyone just now needs to get behind the new manager and players and become the 12 man again down Villa Park starting next Sunday against city. The fans need to show as much fight as the players now instead of the alternative, crying and moaning for another 6-7 months. YES YOU!!!

It is nightmarish how often he can give the ball away at times by pondering too long. However works his nuts off every game he plays and never swerves a challenge. Thought tonight was a prime example of this and although he can lapse I think we will really need him to stay up. If he plays the DM role continually under good instruction I personally feel he will provide our CB's with good cover. As with a lot of the players I think they need consistent games. Playing every couple of weeks is no good for players that need to build sharpness.

I think he needs to be dropped due to his lazy attitude not because he's up his own arse. Too often tonight he wandered around while the game passed him by and when he did have the ball he either held it to long or gave it away. Shouldn't be in front of Gil anyway in the 10 role, if anything he needs to be out wide left where he has room to run into.

I agree with those that think he needs to be dropped. He isn't a baby anymore and imo needs to start producing what he is capable of on a regular basis or sit on the bench. He has been a passenger since the Leicester game at a time when we cannot carry anyone. I see players his age and younger in the premiership and think he needs to take a leaf out of their books as his body language at times is atrocious. Personally I think he needs to be brought back down to earth and as quickly as possible.

I hope all those that wrote him off at the beginning of the season as being shit are eating some humble pie?! The boy is a player. Strong on the ball, turns well, good feet and wants to go forward all the time. Great signing I think and will be one of the players we need over the next couple of months as he has fight in him. Needs to be up top all the time now.

His biggest mistake tonight was thinking he could rely on our home grown players who for the most part let him down as they have done on many occasion stealing a living at the villa.

If he plays every week we have a chance of staying up, if not we go down imo.