markavfc40

I think your almost spot on. The three year cycles under Ellis at times started off very brightly - Atkinson finishing 2nd then Leagues cup success, Little, 4th in the league, League Cup win, Gregory 7th then 6th place finishes, O'Leary 6th place finish. We then had slumps, massive in some cases. Mon though has improved season on season, something we have not seen since the days of Saunders. Whether that continues to be the same this season it is far too early to say. What I do know is though is that by getting rid of the manager now will not lead to any sustained success.

Arguably the worst 60 mins of football I've seen under O'Neill ( from 15mins in to around 75 mins ). Totally inept, couldn't retain possession and looked like a bag of nerves at the back. Shorey is simply not good enough and for me Cuellar and Davies will never make a Premiership defensive pairing as neither of them are commanding enough and can't organise those around them. Major action needs taking defensively. I think O'Neill knew that before today and if he didn't he certainly does now. Going forward Ash is turning into a show pony wanting to beat a man two or three times instead of whipping the ball in early. Massive two weeks ahead in terms of bringing 2 or 3 experienced heads in, especially a defensive leader.

Steve you remember when me, you and Rob met down Villa Park for what we hoped would be a mass protest against Doug Ellis. We put the wreath on the gates of VP and you took a photo and sent it to the Evening Mail who printed it? The club was on its knees then. Doug was chairman, O'Leary was about to leave and the squad consisted of piss poor players who had just struggled to finish 16th. The whole club could be summed up by looking at the Holte Pub which was derelict. That was three short years ago mate. That day when me you and Rob stood on Trinity Road taking the picture of that wreath did you really dream that things three years later could have improved so much? If you genuinely do feel as pessimistic as you say you are then I'd say don't bother going any more as if during a game things do go wrong on the pitch and the players are struggling then they will need the crowd behind them to lift them but your natural reaction, given how you feel now, will be to do the opposite and that, as you know, is not how a supporter should feel.

General, what kind of attendance are we expecting on Saturday?

General great to see whats been done with the Holte Suite. I have to agree with Rob ( rjw ) though and suggest that the club looks into how much they are charging for pre game and half time refreshments. On a positive note it is fantastic to once again see the emergence of a number of youngsters and the upcoming season looks as though it could be special if what we've seen pre season is anything to go by.

Observations from today: Delph shone against strong opposition and will fit into the premieship like a hand in a glove. Albrighton will get plenty of game time this season and looks the real deal. Clark is good enough to be our 4th choice centre back. John Carew will have strong competition for a starting berth if Heskey can continue his pre season form. The guy looks lean and mean.

General can you shed any light as to why Mon as yet to comment on our new signing Fabian Delph?

Anyone know if Gabby, Milner and Gardner have flown out to Spain to join up with the rest of the squad given they have been back in training for a few days now? There fitness level should be good anyway given that they didn't finish with the under 21s until the end of June.

The only thing I know about Atlante is that they beat a decent Malaga 3-1 so based on that I'd say we did pretty well tonight given that we had a number of players missing and ended the game with half the team consisting of youngsters.

Villa: Guzan; Lichaj, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey; Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Petrov, Young; Carew, Heskey

Poor performance, especially second half and going forward. Thought we did ok first half, had plenty of possession but created nothing. Didn't really expect much to be honest as Carew, Petrov and Young have only just come back into training and we are still missing Gabby, Milner, Luke Young and Gardner. Given the heat it was a really tough workout for the players so should help with fitness which is what pre season is all about.

General, The kit is absolutely fantastic. A traditional Aston Villa shirt. Who could ask for more? I'm well pleased that the club have done us proud once again with both the home and away shirts.

I think early July then I expect us to make another 3 or 4 signings in quick succession.

I'm 100% behind England. Although as individuals I don't particularly like some of the players once they put on an England shirt they are collectively representing my country and I will get behind them. Watching last years Euro Championships without England just wasn't the same. When we get to next years World Cup I'll do what I always do. Live the dream for a couple of weeks, convince myself we can win it and then reality will bite and we'll get knocked out in the quarters. Its always good while it lasts though and I've had some great days/nights down the boozer watching England in major finals with followers of different clubs all passionately behind England.

Against the best of the best Hattons lifestyle has done him no favours. Blowing up to 14stone in between fights is bound to take its toll in the end. I was really impressed with Pacquiao and he surprised me with his power. Hatton did himself no favours though and it was as if he'd prepared to fight an orthodox fighter instead of the southpaw Pacquiao. Hatton should call it a day now. He as been an excellent fighter, had a great career but come up short against two great fighters and there is no disgrace in that.

Hatton 10stone 12lb on the night. Pacquiao 10stone 8lb. Not the anticipated big weight difference.

Hatton/Pacquiao will enter the ring no earlier than 4am.

Even though Hatton was 140lb ( 10 stone ) at the weight in come the fight he will enter the ring at around 11stone 2lb. Pacquiao on the other hand will weigh no more than around 10stone 7lb. Hatton is naturally by far the bigger and stronger man. This only comes into play though if he can get close enough to Pacquiao to hurt him. He will and take him out in the mid - later rounds.

Spot on. The perfect manager, who doesn't make mistakes, doesn't exist. What I expect from Mon over the coming years is for him to keep improving us and pushing us forward. I also accept though that along the way he will make mistakes and we will have bad results and run of results, has we have recently, but overall I believe he will continue to take us forward.

Glad to see its an overwhelming Yes. I didn't expect anything different as even though on numerous threads on here there are a fair few comments against Mon it is by the same tiny minority. The man has done a remarkable job. Anyone who seriously thought it would be plain sailing all the way is a deluded fool in my opinion. Despite the odd blip, one of which we are in now, overall we have made unbelievable progress and I have seen nothing to suggest that this can not continue over the coming years even though I again accept that there will be more blips along the way. Overall its good to see Mon has the backing and belief of the overwhelming majority of supporters and from the recent comments from the General the backing and belief of the chairman and board.

Absolutely 100% YES. The only managers under threat of the sack if there team are sitting in 5th place go by the names of Ferguson, Benitez, Hiddink and Wenger.

Whatever happens now when they come to Villa Park they will be behind us. They were piss poor today and didn't look up for it.

Maggie Thatcher was an incompetent, arrogant bitch and we are unfortunately even now still paying for many of her failings.

A gauge of confidence? I'm always confident going into any game, especially under Mon, otherwise to be honest with you it would take the gloss off going to the games if I expected a loss, no matter who we play. At the end of the day we area top Premiership Club and before a ball has been kicked then we are certainly god enough to beat anybody. The game may pan out completely differently and after 30 mins I may not be so confident but, like I said previously, before a balls been kicked I believe this group of players we have in claret and blue have done enough to have the fans show belief in them. Anyone who doesn't is way too negative in my opinion.

I think what the Tories have done Ian, by saying **** all, is left the door open for people to come to their own conclusions of what they would or wouldn't do. They could easily nip that in the bud by actually giving an alternative to the action being taken now. They won't though as they know, due to peoples desperation, they are almost guaranteed to be in power come 2010 and the only thing that could probably **** that up is by Cameron and Osbourne engaing their clueless brains and opening there mouths.