jackbauer24

He had an absolutely awful start to his Villa career that was then boosted by Bruce's arrival. He went on to have three or four solid games, largely using his head to win aerial battles. Since December started he's reverted back to his early starts (in fact, they're now looking like good performances in comparison!) and is an absolute liability. He's supposed to be good in the air but he loses a lot of those too, or they're aimless. He's supposed to be our strength in midfield but he gets pushed off the ball easily. He's known to be slow, but I'd say he's easily the slowest player we've had on our pitch in a generation. His passing is absolutely atrocious, in key areas like attack but worse still when defending. Our midfield is a known problem and everyone has their views as to who the biggest culprit is. No one particularly wants any of our midfielders to stay but as it stands, for me, it has to be Westwood, Gardner then Jedinak in priority. Westwood has incredibly rarely put in the howlers of a performance either of the other two have. Gardner offers youth, eagerness if little skill. Jedinak offers nothing. If we can only replace one player in January, it has to be him. I'd hoped after the summer that'd it'd be Westwood we'd be looking to improve on in January but, whatever your view of him, he's still our best midfielder - even if the bar is incredibly low.

He's the only player we have who is of solid Premier League quality. The only one. Doesn't make him a world beater but no-one else in this squad would really challenge him for that accolade. Chester might be wanted by a relegation fighting team for experience, Kodjia maybe as a gamble for a newly promoted side but only Amavi would be wanted by a host of teams in the top division. We'll do welk to keep hold of him in January, we'll do exceptionally well to keep hold of him in the summer if/when we don't get promoted.

The big problem we've got is that we started the season with a bad/ unbalanced squad being badly managed, now we have a bad/ unbalanced squad being well managed. But to make any dent on the playoffs we either need to turn the bad/ unbalanced squad into a good/ balanced one or get Bruce to manage us exceptionally. Otherwise the gap is just too big. We will not go up playing as we are as the results will not be consistent enough. We are currently fighting with one arm tied behind our backs, Bruce is doing a good job keeping us competitive but not an exceptional job in making us play well/ thrash teams. Either the squad needs improving or Bruce needs to hit upon the magic formula. And the most likely way we'll improve is with further investment in January.

Having seen 90% of our games home and away this season, I don't think it'd be unfair to say we're currently outperforming our squad. The midfield is a known issue, the strikers are all too selfish and have about 10% of the skill they think they have, the defence is one Elphick or Hutton away from a catastrophe and Gollini doesn't command his area at all. This squad is really only a bottom half team, and I think over time that's where we'll settle. I'll continue my little game of counting Villa's consecutive passes (with feet). A nursery child could do it; not gone past four yet...

I have never seen Westwood play as badly as Gardner has, I have never seen Gardner play as well as Westwood can. I have never seen Westwood play as badly as Jedinak has, I have seen Jedinak play better than Westwood has very occasionally. And for those reasons, he is the safe choice. Not the exciting choice perhaps, but as it stands he has to be in our first XI as there are no viable alternatives. That may change in January but at the moment he simply has to play. Whether he's good enough or not is irrelevant at the moment, he's the best and/or most consistent player we currently have in that position.

Ultimately great to get the three points. It's all that matters. But we're that breed of fan that doesn't just go home and forget about it til next week. We discuss it, analyse it and look at our strengths and weaknesses. And today there were quite a few weaknesses. Yes, Wigan came for the draw/counter attack but we were severely lacking in ideas and had little strength in midfield. Gardner was appalling, Jedinak was lazy, Ayew offered little and Bruce got pulled in to the easy mistake of just playing all the strikers. As an aside, my view is MoTM goes to the player with the greatest contribution to the match, not one moment in the entire match and therefore Amavi should be miles ahead of the 80minute poor to average Grealish despite his individual wonder goal. But play badly and get three points and it's a great sign. Delighted with the points, horrified by the performance! Fortunately points beat performance every time! Gollini - 6 - Little to do, doesn't command area enough. Hutton - 7 - Solid today, poor in attack as usual but deals with physicality better than any of our players Elphick - 6 - Couple of the usual sliced clearances but good enough for Wigan attacks. Chester - 7 - Mr Dependable, fantastic signing for the club. Amavi - 9 - Outstanding. Defensively much better today and, as always, exciting going forward. We don't go up this year and someone will be in for him. Gardner - 1 - I was trying to decide if 1 was harsh but it really wasn't, can't think of a single decent pass, tackle or shot. Offers absolutely zero. Jedinak - 5 - Another sloppy performance, his distribution is awful. When he's on form he's fantastic but that consistency has gone from his game. Grealish - 7 - and that's extra point for fantastic goal. But the other 80mins offered little. Ayew - 4 - Too selfish without talent to back it up. Should have been off earlier to strengthen midfield. Adomah - 5 - Game largely passed him by, another who needs to add consistency to his game. Kodjia - 6 - Great first half but changes made him ineffectual on the wing. Should be burying his earlier chance though. Subs: Gestede; woeful, Bacuna; no time, McCormack; severely lacking confidence/ spark. Bruce - 5 - It's working but feel that might have been more comfortable with a few tweaks to lineup and subs. Can't see how Gardner gets in over any player in entire squad. Ayew should have been pulled earlier. Stay in touching distance of playoffs and hope for at least two CMs and a striker or that our non AFCON players hit form. But go home with three points and I'm smiling!

I think most of my favourite quotes would be from Homer Simpson; "You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: Never try." "To alcohol! The cause of, and the solution to, all of life's problems" "I believe children are our future. Unless we stop them now" "All my life I've had one dream; to achieve my many goals" And then a few I'm not sure where they come from; "If at first you don't succeed...give up before you make a fool of yourself" "Pain is temporary, losing is forever" "You can't be happy if you've never known sadness" "The past has gone, the future never comes. Live today." And then a few other million quotes from Blackadder, Friends, Monty Python, Red Dwarf, movies and everything else. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had a completely original conversation with anyone. Yes, I'm that guy; Worst. Quote. Ever.

I got a Ditto today. It was a Rattata in a normal place, it just did the 'oh' that eggs do when they hatch after I'd caught it. Maybe caught 20-30 Pidgey/ Rattata since yesterday in hope one would change. My luck was in!

Winners may have to have a certain mindset but Hamilton is just a pr*ck. And there are winners that Brit's like; Ronnie O'Sullivan instantly springs to mind. Many athletes and cyclists too. I don't think to be a winner you HAVE to be a kn*b, although it may often be, or perceived to be, the case.

People may say that Rosberg isn't as good as Hamilton so doesn't deserve it but, working under the ideology, does Hamilton? He's in the best car by far yet has not been able to manage either his temperament, his car or even his commitment as well as others. Rosberg has driven smarter, if not as excitingly/ recklessly. In fact I'd say Hamilton has been lucky to win the Championships he did, Massa deserved it way more and only blatent disregard for his team and teammates (and better reliability) helped him secure his other wins. Why doesn't it 'count' when it's the other way round? He's good at what he does, not great. And put the likes of Max Vestappen, Ricciardo, Vettel or even Alonso in the same car and they'd 'deserve' it more. Button would probably give him a run for his money too! Yesterday's win is lorded around in the press like it was a masterful performance, completely ignoring the fact he was the only one who didn't have to contend with spray: of course he can judge things better! We have never seen him in the likes of a Manor battling, we've seen him scythe through the pack from the back of the grid for a 'marvellous' win, nicely omitting the fact he was at the back due to his own stupidity or infringements and in a car two seconds a lap quicker than anyone else. I'm not going to pretend I like Hamilton, I hate him more than any other sports person. He's been gifted everything from a young age and shown no appreciation to anyone for having such an easy ride; sacking his father, leaving McLaren the second it got rough. He's a pr*ck in the press, is arrogant and has absolutely zero likeability. He's not had to work for anything. Ronaldo is a kn*b too, but you can't deny he's got worldclass ability. But put Hamilton on a level playing field (including not being given preferential treatment from McLaren) and he's probably not even one of the five best drivers in the world - despite bring groomed by Ron Dennis as a kid...

Think we've been lucky with injuries and suspensions so far - losing Elphick and Grealish has made us stronger. Elphick has this leadership thing but isn't performing at all, Baker looked much more assured. Grealish offers little and unbalances the team, we look much better without him.

Should be starting ahead of Gestede, offers a hell of a lot more and it was no coincidence we looked a lot more threatening once he came on. His play to put Ayew through was brilliant. Kodjia, McCormack with Ayew and Adomah in support is the way forward.

I haven't actually written Bruce off at all. I haven't even written off the game. All I've stated is the line up is clearly worse than any before it - 99% would agree as no-one rates either Jedinak or Gardner. They are, at best, in the bottom three players in our squad. In fact, I can't think of a way I could make this team worse, on paper, if I tried.

It's amazing how every manager comes in with such 'an easy fix' and yet each one somehow manages to put out an even worse team! There is no excuse for putting the worst two players in our squad on the pitch at the same time. Jedinak and Gardner are atrocious in already awful midfield, one might be needed due to lack of numbers but both? Tshibola and Westwood are both better than either of them - whatever you think of how bad they are too. Then Hutton but that might be a necessity. Two big men up front so no intention of any skill, just long ball height plan. It just gets worse and worse doesn't it...

I'm seriously getting fed up with Grealish. He's just a boy and clearly not ready for grown up football. He may dance past other skinny, lightweight under 21s but when it comes to competitive football he's a 5 minute a game player. He does nothing but win the occasional foul. The rest of the time he plays the wrong ball, runs down blind alleys, gets dispossessed with ease, points and sulks or has a tantrum when he's been comfortably tackled. Same today (against Wolves), one run and stupid tackle and we win a penalty - rest of the game he offered zero end product, zero composure, zero shots, zero creation. Needs droppingas he's a luxury we can't afford, especially with our midfield. Ayew needs to come in for him. Yes he's selfish too but he's technically better, physically stronger and much more creative and a handful for strikers. This is the Championship, yet our 'prodigy' is hardly taking games by the scruff of the neck and dominating them. Would have swapped him for a number of Wolves players today. Bored of the local boy superstar hype, start performing for whole games anda few in a row and not just relying on a semi final performance from ages ago and the occasional good performance with other children for England.

I thought Gardner was the worst player in our squad, then I saw Jedinak play. Midfield three needs to be Westwood, Tshibola and Gardner without question. Still not strong though is it! There is no combination of two that works, four would mean having too much crap on the field so simply chose the best three of a bad bunch. Personally I'd be playing 4-3-1-2. No point putting on all our best players if they're playing in the wrong position and are worse than the alternative, i.e. our best players are all strikers but we can't play them all so decide on the system that works best and then put the best player for that position in it. Gollini Richards Chester Baker Amavi Gardner Westwood Tshibola Ayew McCormack Kodjia Like it or not, Richards will be better for us than Hutton or Bacuna in that position. Baker is much better than Elphick, despite being average. Amavi needs games and will offer far more than Cissokho. Ayew offers far more consistently than selfish, no end product, lightweight, rely on being fouled Grealish. In a Villa shirt, Grealish does nothing but win occasional fouls then whine the rest of the time when he loses it or is pushed off the ball like a small little boy. But that's for the Grealish thread... Subs Grealish for late spark, Gestede for height/strength when needed, Hutton if we need to close up shop and then any youngster that deserves it.

So, we're eleven games (12 inc cup) in to the season so now might be a good time to assess our transfer window signings. Admittedly it's not been a great start to the season but is tgat due o the signings or the person who signed them? We signed nine players so assess each one and then decide whether it was an overall hit or miss. Elphick - born leader, not born footballer. Poor more often than not. MISS (3 out of 10) Gollini - looked good, looked awful. One for future but shouldn't have been our No.1. MISS (5 out of 10) Tshibola - more time in treatment room than on pitch but looked promising when on. HIT (7 out of 10) McCormack - injured a bit, definitely rusty but often our only creative threat. Slow start but HIT (7 out of 10) Chester - looked ok, outplaying Elphick and settled quickly. HIT (6 out of 10) Jedinak - the new Lescott in terms of performance, sold by team just as his legs/ career had finished. MISS (2 out of 10) De Laet - looked average when playing then unfortunately injured. Not his fault but MISS (can't rate) Kodjia - looked strong, battled well and scored a fantastic goal. HIT (8 out of 10) Adomah - bit early to fully judge but doesn't seem to offer as much as Ayew would in same position. MISS? (5 out of 10) So overall it was a mixed bag in my opinion. However there is no reason that we still shouldn't be doing better than we are, even accommodating the poorer signings listed above. Elphick can be replaced by Baker, Jedinak by the awful Gardner (least he can run) and we're just going to have to ride the Gollini wave (flap?!) as Bunn is even worse. No transfer window is going to be 100% success so I think we did ok but it was always going to prove difficult to arrest the decline and the lack of focus on the midfield has, and will continue yo be, the undoing of us. We'll survive after Xia throws a bit more money at the problem in January but promotion is incredibly unrealistic.

Normally I'm not one to call for such early sackings but we are in a different position this year, we should be expecting not to struggle at the very least. If the likes of Man City, Chelsea etc went 11 games in to the season (12 inc cup) and only had one win then the manager would get the sack. It's unacceptable. I'd be more patient if it was a case of not meeting perhaps unrealistic hopes of automatic promotion but we are struggling against every team after huge investment. Needs to go.

Jedinak is being defended by a few purely because he's not Westwood. Wake up, whatever your view of Westwood is he has out performed Jedinak in every match so far. Jedinak has been atrocious game after game. That doesn't mean I'm writing him off, but his start has been woeful. His pass success rate must be embarrassing, he rarely tackles, runs slower than almost any player I've ever seen in a Villa shirt and, much like Elphick, only seems to get respect because he shouts so much. I said it a few days back, I strongly suspect Jedinak is our new Lescott - sold at exactly the right time as he's finished as a footballer. Obviously he will have a better attitude but that isn't enough. It's a 'no choice' partnership of Westwood and Tshibola in midfield until at least Jan unless he improves drastically.

Elphick is a definite miss as regards transfer window success. He may well be a good professional, a great leader etc but he has been barely above ok throughtout all his games with us. He doesn't think, he tries stupid things, he slashes at the ball loads (wonder what the stat is on his sliced clearances this season) and has looked off the pace. Today was absolutely awful, I mean Curtis Davis 'Pub player' awful. Captain or not, I would be playing Chester (who's settled well) and Baker as first choice. Unfortunately Baker is made of glass.

Outstanding, easily MOTM for me. At one point he was fouled three times in a row and still stayed on his feet to create a chance. Fantastic, signing of summer so far.

It there is still anyone who thinks Westwood should be automatically dropped then they just need to look at the performance of Jedinak today, he was truly awful. In fact Jedinak made me question my stance on him replacing Gardner today! Jedinak plays worse and worse each game. Westwood is what he is and may well be improved on in 2017 but at the moment, like the fact or not, he's still one of our best midfielders. Obviously our midfield is awful so it's not necessarily saying much but he currently has to start.

No two ways about it, today he was outstanding when he came on. Added a drive sorely needed to our midfield and has bundles of skill. Just needs to keep fitness and consistency up.

Well if that's your argument, any player who was there last year and here this year should be sold and we should cheer their departure. So I assume you'll be doing the same with Grealish, Ayew, Gestede, Cissokho? Or, do you treat each player individually and assess their merits? The really bad ones have gone (Lescott etc), the poor ones are on the bench (Hutton) and the ones fine for now are playing (Ayew and Westwood). Both can be improved on though, that's not the debate. For now, he's ok but the priority has shifted so that he is now much closer to being replaced than he was before the summer.

I'm one of those people who likes to see players play in their proper positions, so why are we even debating Westwood being dropped? We need at least two, preferably three true midfielders behind our attacking threesome. So if three, there isn't a single other option but to play Westwood really, Gardner is awful. If taking a risk and going all out attack, you need two players but neither Tshibola or Jedinak have inspired much confidence that they'll be out of the treatment room long enough to threaten the first team. So, again, Westwood has to play regularly. Overall he's still not our worst player by a long shot. A few months ago I stepped in to the normal Westwood bashing and suggested, while no world beater, he was nowhere near a priority to be replaced. I guess the summer window backed up I wasn't alone in that belief. However, he's now fallen well in to that bracket as other areas have been improved first so I expect in 2017 we'll see midfield improvements. Just as any progression dictates, you fix the urgent areas first and leave the other bits alone til you're trying to improve and not just repair. Strikeforce improved, defence improved, midfield is NOW on the list. But I won't cheer when he's gone and don't think he's the worst player in the current squad or historically. I said there were at least 10 players who were worse than him last season and, even after the sales, I'd still prefer to see him in the squad than Richards, Gabby, Gardner, Kozak, Hutton, Cissokho to begin with. He's tarnished by being an almost ever present in one of the worst periods in our history. Yet if several managers have tried to firefight our inevitable decline and still chosen to leave Westwood alone while they fix other areas he must be doing enough/ have the right attitude as a professional footballer to have warranted at least a little more appreciation, even if not a fan of his. First stage was repair so he will stay in the team, next stage will be improvement so he probably won't, but I'll give him a round of applause if I see him playing for the opposition.