jackbauer24

I'm beginning to **** hate Chelsea. Their pure goal this season seems to be to put us in the crap whatever the cost. We are just not getting any luck, every hard fought victory on a Saturday is followed by an outrageous result on the Sunday. We are going to struggle to pull clear.

The season ticket prices are due this week according to the advertising around Villa Park on Sunday. I think it said info 5th April and on sale 8th April. There is no way there will be a decrease in prices but it'll be interesting to see how they are priced and if there are any perks for renewing whilst still unsure of the division we're playing in next year.

I think a good 60% of Season Ticket holders would renew regardless, but what about the cost? Does quantity of matches in the Championship off-set the higher quality in the Premier League? Would it gall you to pay more next year having been relegated this year?

I saw on the advertising boards at Villa Park that Season Ticket info will be revealed this week and that they go on sale soon too. It's a difficult one to sell at the moment, not knowing what division we'll be in and the obvious affect that will have on the management set up and the squad. How can you price it; quality/quantity of matches? Who will renew automatically? Who will wait to see what happens this year first? What will your response be to a price rise? Any other thoughts? Seems a strange time to start selling these considering our current situation - maybe they'll have a price freeze til the end of April for those willing to gamble on Premier League safety? Me, personally I'm renewing immediately. Not because of the players, the future or anything like that. I just like my seats and I'm not giving them up whatever division we're in!!

I flit between depression and optimism regarding our relegation prospects. On the one hand, results seem to always go against us and whatever we do we seem to get pulled back in to the relegation zone. Our form is improving but only against the two worst teams in the division and we're only ever one early bounce of the ball from getting a kicking by any team that fancies it. On the other, even with a loss tomorrow there are SEVEN teams separated by four points. That's close by anyone's standards. Our goal difference is the worst in the division but no longer hugely worse than anyone else. A win or draw tomorrow puts us in an ok position. Realistically it's Reading, QPR, Us, Wigan, Sunderland and Norwich that will be candidates for the last three places. You have to feel Newcastle and Southampton will have enough to pull way enough. As I see it, it's between us and Sunderland which makes that game in a month HUGE. A QPR loss/draw tomorrow would hopefully put to bed any fear we still have of an epic comeback from them and Reading look doomed already. Can't see a win tomorrow, would be ecstatic with a draw and it keeps us in the fight.

Epic game. Tension, mistakes, goals; shattered!! Guzan 9 - Truly world-class saves in first half. Has been a real positive this season. Baker 5 - Funny hearing Lambert shouting at him just to carry the f*ck on!! Culverhouse was not exactly sympathetic either!! Vlaar 7 - Rock. Works hard but with minimal fuss. Clark 6 - Some lazy clearances (anywhere will do) but made few mistakes Lowton 6 - Looks composed, stronger on the front foot than defending Westwood 7 - A young Ian Taylor? Keeps game ticking over, simple passes and often ignored come full-time. Just needs to be a Villa fan... Bannan 4 - Not good enough. Might as well give them a goal kick when he takes a corner of free-kick. Useless. Sylla 6 - A poor man's Reo-Coker. Going to get more red cards than goals for Villa!! Gabby 8 - Crucial goal, always full of running but lacked final pass Benteke 7 - Yes he's scored a ton of goals but I don't think we'll miss him THAT much - slightly over-rated even?! Weimann 10 - Individual performance of the season. Chased everything, great finish, great assist, good defending. Epic. Subs: Bennett 3 - Not good enough, even for the Championship. Not just because of the goal - he looks weak, lost and lacks basic skill. Nzogbia 8 - Swung the momentum in our favour, looks threatening going forward and forms a good partnership with Lowton/Weimann Bowery 5 - odd substitution, but didn't do much right or wrong!

Anyone ever done any foreign races? Been to Silverstone a couple of time (3 day camping/general admission) and they were epic weekends but beginning to think it's getting too expensive (well more than normal!) and am looking at a race abroad. Over the years my Uni mates have all drifted away and had families etc so am thinking of introducing the girlfriend to the experience that is an F1 weekend. The noise is incredible. Hungary is the strongest possibility due to my availability through work and general admission there is less than half the cost it is in this country. I haven't looked at camping/ hotels yet but, having been to Budapest before, I know that it's not an overly expensive country in the main. Whilst the overall cost may be more I am wondering whether it'd be better value for money.

Relegation run-in: Although not as easy as 'on paper the result will be' to predict, it is useful to now what the run in is for each team to the remainder of the season. As it stands: Aston Villa will play teams that average 11th in the league (2 of top 6) QPR will play teams that average 12th in the league (2 of top 6) Wigan will play teams that average 11th in the league (2 of top 6) (ignoring Man City game in hand and being optimistic and saying they'll lose it) Reading will play teams that average 10th in the league (3 of top 6) Southampton will play teams that average 10th in the league (2 of top 6) So you could argue there is not much in it. QPR have the nicest run in and, with the cash they have spent and Harry in charge, I fancy them to survive. Reading look in big trouble. Southampton have got a very good chance of being pulled into it. Which leaves us and Wigan fighting for the final relegation spot. Final day decider anyone?! Unfortunately, I still think we're going to fall just short.

HUGE win. But only half time, we need a minimum of 4 points from these two games (Reading/QPR). It's going to be so so tight, it's between us, QPR, Wigan, Southampton and possibly Sunderland for the remaining two places. You have to think Reading are done for as they've lost big games against relegation rivals and have some tricky fixtures coming up. I also personally think QPR might yet pull off the great escape. To me eyes, it's actually as simple as us or Wigan down. Back to today, Guzan easily man of the match. One silly error for that corner but other than that he kept us in it at times. Benteke good but irritates me how easily he can misplace passes or seemingly stop his runs - he only really attacks aerial balls. But, like I said, only half time...

Same old, same old. It's slightly boring by how predictable it's getting - only twist to the tale was a good Weimann goal. I was hardly biting my nails hoping we'd hold on, it was obvious what was coming. We can't cope with pressure, simple as that. And that means we're doomed for the drop. Arsenal started strongly after their poor week, we caved. Arsenal came back after conceding, we caved. Hardly the first time. Did anyone really think that Villa could hold on for a point?! Arsenal just needed to carry on going and it was a foregone conclusion. Yes, we were always unlikely to get anything from this game but it's the manner of all these defeats and draws which leads me to believe we simply don't have the fight in us to stay up. The quality of the team is average at best anyway, but with no bottle we stand no chance. Baker, Clark, Bennett and Delph simply panic at the first sign of pressure. Guzan - played well, solid as usual 8 Lowton - I think this guy is quite good and doesn't look out of place in the Premiership 7 Bennett - I think this guy is shit and would look out of place in the Championship 2 Baker/ Clark - much of a muchness, both throw their bodies at everything, both panic and both are average at best. 5 Delph - a liability, always more likely to get sent off that make an assist, or pass for that matter 4 Westwood - keeps things simple, solid lower Premiership player 6 N'Zogbia - blows hot or cold. Today cold. 5 Weimann - promising, good goal, runs well. MOTM today. 8 Agbonlahor - lost pace, lost strength but keeps going. 5 Benteke - off the pace today, head already left? 5 Dawkins/ El Ahmadi - hardly noticed them such was the desire to just boot the ball away anywhere. 5 Lambert - probably best tactic to just try and outscore Arsenal, no point with our defence of just trying to keep it tight. However, substitutions were pointless as didn't strengthen attack or defence. Arguably weakened both. And why get two players in January that aren't going to benefit the team immediately - you pay over the odds for players then so might as well make them have an instant impact. 5 So another weekend passes with the same old story, little chance of change and I'm almost at the point of shrugging my shoulders, taking it as routine and getting on with some work without a seconds thought. When I'm doing that at home games I'll know we're screwed.

And for confirmation: Wins Gained from losing position 0 Draws gained from a losing position 2 THE WORST TEAM IN THE DIVISION Wins Draws from winning position 6 (joint worst in league) Losses from winning position 2 (not that bad to be fair) THE SEVENTEENTH WORST TEAM IN THE DIVISION Goals scored 23 (19th in the league) Goals conceded 49 (worst in the league) What, of any of these particularly biased stats to prove a point (!), indicate we're good enough to get out of the relegation zone?

The main issue is we keep losing leads. It wouldn't be half as bad if all those draws had been achieved by us fighting back in to it. That would boost morale and have a greater effect on the team even though our points would be the same. We are a soft touch. If we go behind we don't get anything out of the game, if we go ahead we have backs to the walls and always crumble. This team does not have the physical or mental strength to survive in this league. We're down because if a team comes at us we roll over. How many goals have we seen in the last ten minutes and how many of us are really shocked that when it went 3-2 today we were going to throw it away again? It's a repeating record. How many points have we gained from losing positions, how many points have we lost from winning positions? I think both statistics would be the worst in the league. We'll go down without a fight and, like many others on here, I believe it's just a matter of whether we're bottom or 18th.

Our current wages may be higher than some teams above us but the players we are aiming to use over the coming seasons (and even this season) are a lot less than the teams above and below us. Guzan, Lowton, Baker, Clark, Bennett, Al Ahmadi, Sylla, Weimann, Bannan, Albrighton, Bowery, Westwood and others will be on a lot less than the players that will be leaving this club at the end of the season. Our average wage was overly high, but we have swung too rapidly in the other direction and now can't compete with any Premier League teams on wages. I would be surprised if any of our newer signings (perhaps other than Vlaar) were on over £20/25k a week. Stupid money yes, but very cheap in Premier League terms. But I agree, Money doesn't equate to success (in either direction) but there is certainly a strong correlation and we can't afford to compete at the moment. How else can we not compete with the "likes of Newcastle and Stoke"?

Forgetting the how we got here story, the situation is we can't afford to compete. Rightly, or wrongly, you have to be able to pay the astronomical wages that players get in the richest league in the world. For whatever reason we can no longer do that. It doesn't matter if your name is Aston Villa, Wigan, Bradford City or Manchester City - if you can't pay the going rate you get worse players. We can no longer afford to play in this division - in poker terms we can't afford the 'buy in' to play and therefore we also will not be eligible for the big prizes. The case of the matter is we obviously can't afford Premier League wages and I'm not overly fussed whether we survive by the skins of our teeth this season or not, it's coming eventually unless we have more investment. There's no point arguing whether we should pay this amount or that amount if the simple fact of the matter is we have no money. We can't afford to play this game at the moment.

We are 19th on the last 6 form guide. (Norwich 20th) We are 19th on the last 6 home games form guide (Wigan 20th) We are 12th on the last 6 away games form guide. We have got 2 points from the last 6 games whilst our nearest rivals have: Reading 10pts Southampton 8pts QPR 4pts Newcastle 4pts Wigan 4pts So some are in good form, others are attempting to strengthen their teams. Norwich are the only team to be doing worse than us in the league on current form, yet they are 6 points and 10 goal difference better than us. We're down, we might be lucky and not be bottom but that's the only 'if' now. We're definitely down.

Just to add to the conspiracy theories... I very much doubt they were 'free' flags at all. The programme was an extra £2 and I doubt it cost much more to produce a 'flappy' cover so I think most people paid for the flag actually!! I was definitely within throwing distance of Lambert (and I was tempted) but I know who I really want to throw it at is a few thousand miles away. And my god did the email thanking us for our support last night really p*ss me off!

I happened to click on the first page of this thread by mistake and thought 'how things change'. A majority of the campaign without Vlaar, Bent or Given, no money pumped in in January and everyone questioning Lambert. I also never understand why people vote 'Unsure' - just make up your mind before voting!!

Nah, this will be on. It's not going to be as bad as it was Friday and matches still went ahead on Saturday. The area will have been cleared and the under soil heating will have done a job. This is on. As to the match, I have been given no reason whatsoever to think that we will turn this round and get to the final. None. So why the hell am I a little bit excited about this match?! It's going to go one of two extreme ways - we're all going to be incredibly angry and calling for everyone's head or it's going to go down in folklore like Tranmere/ Blackburn. I wasn't when I bought the tickets, but now I'm beginning to look forward to it.

You got the feeling that WBA almost knew it would be easy to beat us. In fact they were over-confident and that's what let us escape with a draw. We should all be bloody ecstatic! Once they stepped it up, like we all knew they would in the second half, it was always going to be a case of when, not if, they scored. That took less than five minutes and then it was inevitable it was going to be all WBA in the second half. The possession statistics in the second half would be embarrassing. From the 50th minute we were hanging on for any points and were lucky to leave with one. As for it's reflection on our league survival battle and any positives; we are bobbing around the trapdoor and will remain there until we add some steel to our midfield. If we don't do that we will spend the remainder of the season between 19th and 17th. Unfortunately I think we're going to come up just short and finally say goodbye to the Premier League. However, positives - Vlaar gives the side more confidence, and the fans, NZogbia looks like he might be up for the fight and Benteke can always score a blinder. This has kept us in the fight. Newcastle is far more important. Lose and we're down. I would have happily lost this game if we could have drawn with Southampton - it's far more important to be taking points off your rivals. We'll probably be out of both cups by the time we play our next league match so we'll have no distractions to try and scrape over the line. But I'm not optimistic.

I think it is a fair question. Most people on these boards are not going to remember what happened 25 years ago all that clearly, if at all. Personally I ask my self a number of questions about MY time supporting Villa (pretty much just Premiership): Who's the worst manager we've had? Mcleish (Lerner) Who's the best manager we've had? Little (Ellis) What's the worst Premier League season we've had? Last year - to be beaten this year (Lerner) What's the best Premuer League season we've had? 96, top 4, cup and a semi (Ellis) What's my favourite experiences? 94/96 League Cups, Top of the league til Xmas (unbeaten run) and European nights (Ellis) What's my worst experiences? Losses to Blues and Bradford!! On the face of it, it has to be the theoretical idea of Ellis back BUT I wouldn't say I would support that either!! We're all quick to criticise, but the game changes, no-one WANTS to do badly and no one os perfect. Ellis loves Villa, Lerner loves profit (which requires a succesful team) but neither of them are capable of achieving their dream. We need to be sold to someone who is capable, and capable does not mean just rich - look at the likes of Everton and Arsenal who have never spent huge sums. We don't have, and never have had, the best management and we are ripe for good sensible investment. The midlands is devoid of succesful team, we have a large fan base and a world class stadium - we could be massive. As it is we're probably one of the smallest clubs in the league at the moment in regards current XI household names, salary, ground attendance precentages, etc etc. We're almost certainly down. But the blame lies at a multitude of people's feet, Ellis and Lerner are just two.

It always amazes me how so many people can look at the same picture and see different things. No-one is 'wrong' and it their right to believe as they do. Me, I fall on the pessimistic side of the fence. But then I only come on here when I want to vent anyway - if things are going well then I'm as happy and carry on with life. If it's depressing then I spout off on VillaTalk rather than at my girlfriend! Same way as you don't talk about your health or money unless there is a problem that needs addressing. And Villa, in my eyes, have a big problem at the moment. We have to be considered Relegation candidates. We've been close two years running and haven't added any proven quality - we've removed some waste and taken gambles on young players. But if desire was all you needed then you could pick 11 guys from VillaTalk and we'd be ok. Our keeper is losing form for whatever reason. Our defence was a shambles but is now unknown. Although I think we're all disappointed Cuellar left and I find it amusing everyone is hoping for a quick return for Dunne when most have been screaming for him to be sold. Our midfield is almost unchanged - Petrov hopefully replaced by El Ahmadi but the rest are very young or injured. The strikeforce is much the same, Bent a hope as long as he gets service and remains fit. Gabby constantly battling injuries and Delf replaced by another untested youngster. Add Benteke and reports range from promising to petulant and clinical to a (rather amusingly read) 'less graceful version of Heskey'! We have a much better manager but we still need players with quality. And every time people say look what he did at Norwich with lower league players all I actually hear is "we're a small club and just happy to be in the Premiership". We are, as it stands, no different than Reading, Swansea and Southampton - except their on a crest of a wave and we're in a two year downward spiral. How we have dropped so quickly is amazing and frankly I don't care how it happened - that's the past. No point wasting time trying to attribute blame. But, as for relegation, I think we have to be considered one of the worst 5 teams in the league and, as such, injuries and luck will play a huge part as to whether we survive this season. Will we be relegated? I don't know. Is it laughable to suggest as much, no way. Relegation is definitely more likely than a top half finish.

I think most would agree that if all these signings turn out to be Premiership standard we'd be shocked - so there is an element of a gamble in there. More so than a Premiership/Top League player to us transfer. I'm very concerned that these aren't players for 'now' anyway and that's what we actually needed. Not that I agree with it, or even like it, but we have to face up to the fact that football has changed since the days of Saunders! Teams will never ever be successful again until their is major investment. Ok, you will get the occasional plucky team over performing for a year or the occasional diamond in the rough in a lower division being snapped up but even the Manchester United's of this world can no longer wait for youth to gain experience to feature in their team. They buy the best of everyone else's youth (and some of the prices for 17 year olds is ridiculous) and supplement it with massive moves for other players. Their younger players are sent off to lower teams and 'tested' there - see Kyle Walker. What concerns me is we have now fallen to such a degree, in this finance driven game we all love, that we have to scrape around in League 1 for possible diamonds. Not saying they won't work out but I doubt there is many a fan out there who wouldn't have liked any one of Adam, Benayoun, Carroll, Berbatov, Jarvis or Johnson? All purchased by what used to be smaller teams than ourselves. And all of which would have (more likely) improved a current team immediately. I know people are looking for the positivity and citing things like team spirit and desire to wear the Claret and Blue shirt, but let's be honest - good players don't give a crap and will play well if surrounded by other good players and earning the money they want. If it was all about team spirit and dying for the cause then we might as well choose 11 mates out the Holte End. I don't agree with it but to survive in this League you need investment in proven quality and that costs money and wages. We haven't done this, we've taken a gamble that I really hope pays off. I'm not having a go at any of them - but it has to be recognised as a gamble and, as such, a gamble with our Premier League existence. Whether that is Lerner or Lambert's gamble I don't care - it's Aston Villa's future I care about. Do I agree with money being the be all and end all? No - no-one likes it but it's the way it is until something (and certainly not FFP) changes it. That will just mean the current rich clubs stay rich as they can buy the better players forever. I have no issues with Lambert, I have few with Lerner but to be 'happy' with the transfers is asking a lot. I'll just say I want to be 'hopeful' for now.

Agree. Don't get me wrong, experience in the Premier League is not ALL important (otherwise I might sound like a Board member looking for a new manager....!) but in a squad I think most would recognise it's important to have a balance. We could well drop Given after his clanger today, Bent could get an injury; in that case we'd nearly have less than a seasons experience (11x39) between the whole squad!! It's just shows how weak we are I think. We need some experienced players in. In fact, if I could choose one player to join us at the moment it would be Robbie Keane realistically. Bring him back, even on loan again, and get that missing link and add much needed experience. Whatever we think of Bent, we all know he's not really a 'leader' for what is looking like a long campaign.

I know it's very bad form to effectively bump your own thread but my point on experience is being mentioned by a few. If we take today's opponents, but stick to the same criteria, that stats read as: Villa (current): Given 407, Vlaar 1, Clarke 21, Baker 8, Lowton 1, El Ahmadi 1, N'Zogbia 202, Bannan 13, Herd 6, Bent 209, Delfouneso 24 (subs: Weimann 2, Lichaj 5, Holman 1) Total 893 (901) Everton (to end of 11/12): Howard 231, Baines 200, Jagielka 151, Distin 350, Neville 460, Gibson 30, Osman 218, Pienaar 112, Fellaini 73, Jelavic 0, Naismith 0 (subs: Mirallas 0, Heitinga 58, Coleman 37) Total 1825 (1920) The gap got bigger... and so did the scoreline. It really is telling how weak we are in terms of experience. Do you ever go with kids when you're in a scrap or do you go with more experience? Weird to be saying this, but we need Dunne, Warnock and Gabby back quickly. Old heads are better than over-rated kids.

I said before the season, whilst the benefits of getting rid of AMC were obvious they were only part of the problem - the squad has been butchered by cost-cutting and sales. We are now left with kids, most of which would never play at this level if it weren't for desperation. Lerner has made a huge mistake hiring Lambert - AMC was the only thing keeping the crowd off his back, now we will all be looking at what he has done to our club. He planned to be out of it by now. He bought Villa cheap (look how much we sold for compared to other teams) and then invested in the business and infrastructure like most new buyers would. He made us look all pretty and sellable frankly - but then the world markets crashed and football becomes a luxury. Suddenly there is no-one he can sell to. So sell all the fancy furniture, cut costs to a minimum, stick tenants in (AMC) and hope they don't wreck it (relegation) until either the market picks up again and he can sell or he cuts his losses after the floor has fallen through. Unfortunately relegation looks a hell of a lot more likely than finding a new buyer at the moment. I will enjoy my season ticket in our last year as a Premiership club for the foreseeable future. We will buy a few cheapass players next week to paper over the cracks but the damages to the foundations was done a long time ago and we now don't have the money (or will?) to make the necessary repairs.