gilbertoAVFC

In all fairness they looked absolutely gutted when that goal went in. Yer well they have to do that and do the good old clap to the fans its a hard life getting paid millions of years doing that isnt it? But hey soldiers have the easy life of being shot at for £16,000 a year im sorry ive been mean to the players how dare I. Effort isn't the problem is it? It's ability and tactics. They clearly care. Moronic to bring **** soldiers' wages into it.

Oh dear!! Worst post in VT history.

Jesus, give the guy a break. One bad game in the same game as several other poor performances is no crime. Some always look for a scapegoat even when things are going well.

Work to be done: yes. Great result given how we played: yes.

Form is temporary, class is permanent..... ... unfortunately, Collins has none. The last 1 and a half seasons is testament to that. Eh? Clearly not, as he has been outstanding, thus completely nullifying your argument that he is poor. You don't get lucky in the Prem, you will be exposed if you aren't good enough. Also, you seem to be suggesting that he was good in his first season.

Dumbo Collins? He's been excellent thus far this season. You come across as the type of fan who won't let go of grudges in practically all of your posts.

Brilliant. That was the period MON played Ash in the hole with...: Barry-Stan-NRC ...behind. Played some top quality football during that period. Put five past Bolton and Blues, six against Derby and two against Everton I recall.

http://www.goalvideoz.com/watch/7503-Aston%20Villa%20vs%20Arsenal%202-2%20Goal%20By%20Zat%20Knight/

What an atmosphere: I'd say Reading away was pretty special too, maybe I'm biased though because I was there.

Not very professional stating publicly that him and Collins are the "main men" - squad chats are private. Great hope for Cuellar eh.

Wow that squirtyflower bloke is an utter moron. Cheers for the link Citizen.

He most certainly ain't going to get as much as he does here if he did leave next summer. He'll be twenty-eight by then, who is going to pay more than £15m on top of the wages he earns at Villa (about 75k I seem to recall somewhere)? Anzhi? Malaga? PSG? By next summer they'll have bigger fish to fry. No one in the Prem would want him for that amount that's for sure. Those that could afford him wouldn't need him.

Ah you're right. So many good moments during the first half of that season: - Everton away. - Ajax at home. - Zat Knight vs Arsenal. I never get bored of watching the videos of them. Zat Knight's can be found somewhere I think - not on YouTube though. Lucky enough to have been at all three too!

I seem to remember that it was all going very swimmingly and then THAT Stoke (possibly the worst I've ever felt because you could see it was coming even at 2-0 up) game happened and then THAT game in Moscow happened. Just no recovery from that.

The article is superb and I think it represents a lot of Spurs fans' viewpoints on Redknapp. He is the best example I can think of in football that displays just how powerful the media are. He is somehow still favourite for the England job and though he can't be much worse than Capello, he's not exactly the type of manager you would want responsible for a long-term project. If he was somebody like Gary Megson, he'd be in jail by now I'm sure of it.

Redknapp's post-match comments playing 'The Modric card' for the defeat is utter bollocks. My Dad is a season ticket holder at WHL and said Modric was the best player on the pitch for the first twenty mins. You don't just suddenly change your "frame of mind" as he constantly refers to it as midway through a game. City outplayed Spurs, simple as. Modric had pretty much accepted he'll stay the week building up to the City game but if there are murmurs about him wanting to change his mind after that debacle who can blame him?

The Doyle point mentioned earlier in the thread is spot-on. Kevin Doyle gave Dunne and Collins a nightmare last season and the season before - on Saturday he was completely ineffective. Maybe not back to his best, but who can complain about one goal conceded from three games. Of course our attacking is perhaps suffering, but you need to use a solid defence as a platform to work on that, which is what we'll do - especially when N'Zog gets fit and develops more of an understanding with Bent & Co.

I do despair sometimes. I don't think we played well particularly, nor did we play poorly, but why are Villa fans so prone to knee-jerk reaction? One should consider that Alex McLeish is still getting to grips with this squad and it will take time to start playing good football - not that that's really an issue of mine, though I understand those who want it. It's a different system with different individuals and they will take time to gel. The best way to ensure you do start winning matches regularly is to have a strong understanding at the back, and build on that. I have noticed how much we have improved in our marking and covering - last season the likes of Collins were all over the place. Another thing, and though it shouldn't play a part, it probably does: those who want McLeish to go gung-ho in an attacking sense straight away are the same people who will be screaming for his head when we concede too many goals and lose matches. Give the guy a break, five points is a reasonable return from three games when they are your FIRST three. We will get better, and that will happen with time and patience, especially from the fans. The poison atmosphere that Houllier had to endure in some games did nothing to help us whatsoever, and if that is recreated this season the same will occur. This was a game against a side full of confidence that have been playing together, for the most part, for a number of seasons. The football and results will improve naturally, and they are hardly going badly. Instead of this half-empty culture that reigns supreme amongst us Villa fans why don't we look at things a bit more rationally and balanced?

Great post, I totally agree. x2

Good to see he's starting to win people over and is now making more of an impact.

Why is there no MOTM poll?

Haha, why are you always so negative? It's a bloody friendly and he wanted to try his luck! Don't cry about it.

Ireland's off-the-ball movement is superb. His tracking back has also been excellent from what I've seen. He is certainly trying for us out there, got to give him that.

I find it impossible to see how weed won't be legal in the UK within the next thirty years MAX. I honestly don't know of anybody my age who is against its use. Pretty much all my friends have tried weed, and if any of them haven't, they still see no problem in it being legalised. I suppose the problem with it is is social acceptance. Alcohol is far more harmful and costs the taxpayer possibly billions more a year, yet because it has been around in Britain for so many centuries most people of the older generation would think you're going crazy if you told them that weed is less damaging. The same generation also don't really fit alcohol into the taboo category of "recreational drug", whereas they would do for cannabis - booze is kind of an entity, whereas many people fit weed in with coke, heroin, etc. As the younger generations take up the seats on commitees and in the Commons, I'm certain that there will be little dispute as to whether weed should be legalised. Social acceptance is without a doubt the primary reason it isn't already.

Chelsea in 08-09 pre-season: WLLLL Won the league and won their first six games in the PL.