jackbauer24

People have a go at our defence but it has improved on last year

Has it? Doesn't seem to have changed to me.

Yes, last year our defence was appalling with Collins and Dunne for 'internal' reasons but it's fair to say both are a lot better this year than last, Dunne especially. Warnock is also back in the team. If we hadn't let go of L Young and brought in Hutton it'd be WAY better.

It's too simple to blame the defence for everything (although they have blame don't get me wrong) but the difference is they are having to stand much longer periods of attack from the opposition because our midfield can't hold the ball, defend and offer no outlet. Relentless pressure will get to the best defences.

Our defence isn't great yet (HUTTON!!) but it definitely is better than last year.

If we carry on like this I expect we'll concede just as many if not more than last season. I really don't see how you can think the defence has improved?

Are we getting crossed wires? When I talk about defence I talk about the four at the back, as a TEAM our defence is currently worse I'll agree.

What I'm saying is that whilst our back three (HUTTON!) have improved our midfield has dropped so significantly that it makes the TEAM worse defensively.

You're probably right - we will probably let in more this season, purely because there is no outlet and teams can attack us at will because our midfield is hopeless.

People have a go at our defence but it has improved on last year

Has it? Doesn't seem to have changed to me.

Yes, last year our defence was appalling with Collins and Dunne for 'internal' reasons but it's fair to say both are a lot better this year than last, Dunne especially. Warnock is also back in the team. If we hadn't let go of L Young and brought in Hutton it'd be WAY better.

It's too simple to blame the defence for everything (although they have blame don't get me wrong) but the difference is they are having to stand much longer periods of attack from the opposition because our midfield can't hold the ball, defend and offer no outlet. Relentless pressure will get to the best defences.

Our defence isn't great yet (HUTTON!!) but it definitely is better than last year.

Given - 8 - solid, saved good free kick.

Hutton - 2 - would prefer Beye there

Collins - 6 - Great, then useless, no consistency

Dunne - 7 - Will do a job and scored

Warnock - 8 - Playing well, seems back to form

N'Zogbia - 6 - Best game but still no end product and gets pushed off the ball

Heskey - 3 - What is the point, he must have something he blackmails managers with

Herd - 5 - A warrior, but 50% will be great tackles and the rest will be sending offs!

Petrov - 7 - Fantastic finish, but far too defensive

Gabby - 9 - MOTM easily, works hard, chased and interlinked well

Bent - 7 - Either formations not suiting him or seriously off boil

Subs - not on long enough.

McLeish - he is turning us into Bloose; aggressive, long ball and no ideas.

We need to drop our 'h's' - Heskey should never be allowed near Villa Park again. Didn't see a single thing he did well, but on saying that I'd still say he wasn't the worst player on the pitch; Hutton is, well there are no words. Cuellar should be in. Or Clark. Or Beye. Or just play with 10 men - be safer! McLeish persevering because he's wasted a ton of cash on him. Herd, harsh to say drop him but he's not quite ready and I think we have better options available, be they Ireland, Albrighton or Bannan when back.

We ARE relegation candidates. We scraped through last year by having a quality squad that underperformed. Well we're still under performing and now we don't have a quality squad to fall back on. What an easy start we've had and we've won 2 games... I don't know how anyone can question this statement.

Our best first XI is Given, Cuelllar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, N'Zogbia, Ireland, Bannan/Albrighton, Gabby and Bent. That's a top 10 team when managed WELL and on form and nothing better. As it stands we're a BOTTOM 6 team and come January....

People have a go at our defence but it has improved on last year (Hutton aside) but the difference is there is no midfield now, no outlet, no quality and often no tracking back.

Unless something major changes I honestly can't see better than a 15th place finish and that's having watched 10 games and seen those around us. 80% of our games have been against teams below us. In the next 10 games we play 60% of those that are currently above us.

Given: 7, Did everything he had to do - no mistakes.

Hutton: 3, Bloody awful, especially when you see L Young playing for the opposition being a million times better in defence and attack.

.

Warnock: 6, Solid, can be spectacular, can be liability but today just solid.

Dunne: 7, Unlucky for own goal, but did most things well.

Collins: 5, Needs dropping for Cuellar or Clark ASAP.

Petrov: 6, Tries very hard and makes few mistakes, limited going (or even passing) forward but acts like a Captain.

Delph: 4, Useless, yet to see the point of him other than to destroy our fair play chances!

Bannan: 5, Run, twizzle, run, twizzle, lose the ball. Too much messing about, no final product. Good penalty though.

Ireland: 7, His best game for Villa possibly. No major mistakes, bit more effort today but still need more out of him. Perhaps more starts and played in a more forward position.

N'Zogbia: 3, Does this guy know how to play football?! I've yet to even see him collect a ball, never mind do anything with it. No effort and no skill. Needs a kick up the backside or his career at Villa is over before its even started.

Agbonlahor: 7, Once again ran his arse off but getting very little service. Too much of a gap between him and out 'midfield'!

Albrighton: 5, Everyone raves about our youngsters but all I see is kids that run hard into pointless space and have no eye for a pass or a finish. Albrighton, Bannan, Delfounso - sorry, just because they're our products doesn't mean they're good and they'll end up going the same way as Stephen Davis - being a big fish in a small Scottish pond!

Weimann: 5, Not long enough to judge but surely a sign that (correctly) Delfounso isn't seen as good enough by McLeish.

It's clear from these ratings that our midfield is greatly lacking, needs a big overhaul asap, January transfer window can't come quick enough. As it stands we are desperate for Jenas to get fit and hope he is 2000 times better than McLeish's other signings (he's a loan so bound to be!!) and drop the youngsters to the bench. Start Petrov, Ireland and Jenas and then make the others fight for the final spot (quite happy for that to be literal...)

You can't lose experience and quality in A.Young, Downing and NRC and replace it with 'kids' that simply aren't good enough despite the emotional bond of them being home grown.

Oh and quick P.S.;

Most of the fans on this board have a job, I do too. In fact I am actually on holiday in the middle of the Czech Republic typing away on a dodgy hotel wifi connection and I can get on here more than a prescribed once a week.

You see, all us fans can. It's not hard. Once a week is a 'job' or, if you will, a PR commitment. We all care enough to find time,even if it be 5 mins in a foreign country to talk/ discuss/ worry about Aston Villa and we're not privy to 1% of the information you are.

I get so angry at PR. I don't even care whether facts are a little depressing, or realities need to be faced; it's when companies (and individuals General) start trying to talk rubbish to their consumers that gets me very irritated. I'm not speaking for everyone, but I imagine I'm also not alone in these views.

General,

Please clarify for me, in very simple terms if need be, how exactly you feel the Villa board have 'backed' our new new manager.

I understand there are numerous ways one could quantify 'backing' but none of them stand up to scrutiny on this occasion.

You may argue we've spent loads - well we haven't, we've not spent a penny on transfers this season (I won't even go into previous ones)

You may argue we've improved the squad - well we haven't, we are lost a considerable number of 'starts' compared to last season (NRC, Young, Downing, Friedel amongst our top appearances)

You may argue we've improved the first XI - Friedel/ Given; perhaps, but N'Zogbia is probably not as good as either of Young or Downing (definitely Young) but certainly not better than both)

So how exactly do you quantify that he's been 'backed'? Please don't say we've 'bought two good players' because that only counts if you haven't sold your two BEST players for a ton of cash. No manager would have taken on the job without the belief that they could at least buy two players given all the departures. In fact, a goalkeeper HAD to be bought. So you've only 'treated' us to one player really at approximately a third of the cost in transfer fees of the two main departures and I'd guess a much higher percentage of wages.

I try to be civil and reasonable but some of the PR coming from your end is infuriating. We'd much prefer to hear "we'd LIKE to back him, but we can't this year" or some REAL information with maybe light at the end of the tunnel but you will never win trust with truly angering, and clearly rubbish PR, statements full of too much unrealistic positivity.

At least you've re-aligned your predictions for next year to 5th to 9th. Unfortunately I feel you've also missed the 1 on the start of both on those numbers....

Cheers for all the advice. Have all the car stuff and have it all stored in the correct places. It's only when travelling you suddenly realise that perhaps we don't live in the nanny state we thought we did - why the hell do I really need a complete set of spare bulbs in the car?!

I'm sure we'll be relatively fine, have done a fair bit of research as to the local driving laws etc. Have got insurance sorted and they have sent Green Card for all the appropriate countries. Just found out that Croatia are being a bit of a pain over UK licences and it's now recommended that we get International Driving Permits.

I'm always pretty aware of what's going on around me so know how to avoid the likes of pickpocketers etc etc, it's just the advice about being careful of people slashing your tyres at borders so they can rob you down the road that has me concerned!!

Was fine about it all til I started just doing a little bit of due diligence and researching on the internet - but I suppose that's the nature of the net; only the bad stuff gets highlighted!

Once again, thanks for the help - if I survive I'll give an update on my return and tell any future people what to be aware of!

Well that's all very reassuring :s !

We're only stopping in each place one night (bar Budapest where we have a two night stay) and primarily campsites. We're trying to have as little cash on us as possible anyway. I drive a fairly new Honda Civic too that I was hoping to remain intact for the journey... We only touch the very top of Italy (Udine) before beginning back north through the Alps (which I'm looking forward to the most). Got a Caxton card which is free withdrawals abroad so planning on just getting out what we need when we need it and paying for practically everything in cash - the campsites require cash anyway.

Only the hotels are paid for, so I can be fairly flexible - best bet is to drive on if I don't trust it I suppose; although I've reserved only campsites I've found on the net so bit more trustworthy you would hope.

Not overly bothered about tolls/ costs - factored in and alternatives when appropriate are sorted. Got all car legal requirements other than the vignettes which we can get at the border. Should remember to drive on the right quickly enough too!

Just general safety/ dealing with dodgy police worries me slightly - especially considering it's just me and the gf. Not done loads of travelling abroad, especially driving but fancied a proper road trip and thought why not go the whole hog! I certainly don't have a ton of money to throw away on bribes!!

Getting all paranoid now!

On the 1st of August I leave Britain for a 23 day trip around Europe in my car.

I'll be travelling through Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Rep, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. Approximately 2500mile round journey.

Camp sites (and about 6 hotels) all booked/ reserved. Car stuff sorted and route planned (Sat Nav with print out route for backup).

Any advice on driving/ keeping safe/ being aware of... in Europe and particularly the more Eastern countries?

Reading up on the internet, I'm getting a little concerned I'm going to be pick-pocketed, overcharged, robbed, car-jacked, targeted for being foreign and treated badly by the authorities! And that doesn't include me breaking a million different road rules in each country.

Any reassuring words?!

Obviously this will need a poll adding to it by mods or whomever.

I think it's a reasonable thread to suggest, just looking at the General thread seems to point to very mixed views at best.

I'm not making a positive or negative stand point in this thread it just seems there is now the same need for this as there is for the Manager rating thread.

Is the General's thread the tip of the iceberg or the vocal minority? It's not a IN or OUT thread it's approval only.

Whilst I have been a big critic of the club on numerous occasions within the last few months, in this instance I feel you have little blame.

Downing is a disgrace for leaving a club the second he can, when we bought him it was a considerable risk and whilst I'm not stupid enough to think loyalty exists anymore - human decency would should have dictated at least another year from him. £20m(ish) in the bank for a player who handed his notice in - fair enough; that's life and no real blame can be contributed to the board.

However, as a number of papers have already highlighted, this deal puts Villa in a terrible light and means we must now move incredibly quickly to convince fans, pundits and most importantly future and current players that ambition still exists at our club.

Do you really think that we look like a club with ambition now? Whether you say we are or not, surely you can admit that we at least LOOK weak at the moment and on a downward slide. We are not a company you would put money on at the moment.

I feel the players must know we have accepted survival (financially) is the main target in the short term and wish the Board could be a little bit more honest with us. Even massive clubs admit times when they have to scale back investment.

Whilst I may get vilified for this, I actually don't see a purpose on you being on these boards in such a 'public' way through questions and answers.

You may well be a nice enough man, you may have the best intentions but the current method of communication just leads to ridiculous expectations and predictable responses. Whether through wish or requirement you can never give us answers to questions we really want to know from the Board.

Transfers - no go.

Business dealings - no go.

Managers - no go.

Team spirit - no go.

Club merchandise - yes... or just phone the shop.

And frankly, Nicky Keys would be of better use on here for these kinds of things.

You can only give, whether intended or not, very PR responses. You can tell us nothing that we couldn't find from other sources inside the club. You can never come on here and admit that (for example) that Downing is likely to leave or that we have to scale back investment - it's impossible to be so honest as the public face of Aston Villa.

So yes, I think it is a waste of our, and your, time being on here.

The plummeting trust in the board is not what inspires this post but just a pragmatic response to the realism of posting on a public forum and has been my view for a while.

Use this board for announcements by all means but Questions and Answers simply is not viable.

General,

It's hard to put exact figures on today's protest attendance but it must be around 500 at a guess. That is with about 24hrs notice. Do you know how hard it is to get 500 people anywhere with such short notice?

I'm very impressed with that turnout considering the timeline involved. Can you really imagine the amount of people who will be protesting against YOU AND THE BOARD in a month or so time when it's more organised and on a match day.

I sincerely hope you've got sponsorship sorted as no company is going to want to be associated with the amount of negative press you are all going to get until McLeish is fired and probably you lot have followed him out the door.

You've shown in one stroke you have no respect for the fans and don't understand the game at all. I eagerly await your pointless rhetoric response which further shows you have lost all touch with 99% of the supporters.

At least be honest and admit you've given up and it's all about the money.

If this goes through you will be the least popular Board in the clubs history. What do you expect? Keep selling the best players, mess up all sponsorship and shirt deals and then hire a manager who is not only useless (TWO relegations) but from our arch rivals and then you respond to criticism with effectively "we don't care as you're not important as we are".

DOUG ELLIS brought us the League Cup in 94 and 96.

RANDY LERNER has brought us nothing but 'nearly' and now McLeish.

How have you managed to become less popular than Ellis, despite all his faults, in such a short time? This isn't going to go away, however much time you give it.

MISTAKES ARE ONE THING. CONTEMPT IS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY.

Every single one of the people above and below this post will support Villa until their dying day.

However, I think you will quickly get the impression that the Board have lost 60% of fans just for interviewing 'him' and will lose the next 30% when you inevitably appoint him (we know you plan to based on your defence the other night) 10% may just get on with things and put on a brave face despite not being happy.

You are part of the board and WILL be held responsible for this decision so if you appoint him PLEASE leave these boards and all other boards you are signed up to. We don't want to listen to someone who clearly doesn't give a cr*p about us. For the first time you are up there with the Glazers and Gillets in showing you have no understanding of the British game and British fans. This is a proper sport that has been going for over a hundred years and fifty years and not some sport that was made for TV like the Americans. We don't have franchises, we don't move (see Milton Keynes Dons) and we understand real passion, emotion and rivalries. You will be revealed for being nothing more than a PR outlet for the club. YOU ARE NOT A REAL FAN - UNLESS YOU'RE SUGGESTING YOU'RE IN THE 1% WHO ARE PUTTING ON A BRAVE FACE (AND EVEN THEN DON'T REALLY LIKE THIS SITUATION)

We are collectively disgusted at this turn of events, from seasoned supporters to new additions. This is WORSE than anything Doug Ellis ever did. I can guarantee the Board will be hounded out if this goes further than an interview - it's going to take some repairs as it is.

With the WORST manager you could choose as far as the fans are concerned, no sponsors, no players and no shirt you must be considered the WORST board in the country at the current time. It can only be described as inept. Calls to sell up will come thick and fast unless you're willing to spend £500m this year AND McLeish reveals a Aston Villa tattoo in the midst of a 20 game unbeaten run.

You say you asked for experts opinions, best fits etc etc but, whilst we understand you can't choose based on fan favourites, to say you basically don't care if we don't like him is the biggest slap in the face many fans will ever have experienced. There is a case for disregarding some fan displeasure (we can be over sensitive or protective or even deluded occasionally) but the fans DO know more than any 'experts' you have at the club when they, in a collective voice, say NO!

OR by you're saying you understand but he's best available (with two relegations) just shows how low we have sunk and is ultimately your responsibility too.

I DIDN'T THINK YOU/ THE BOARD WE'RE THIS STUPID. Desperation is no excuse.

You ask for 'patience' as if we're being unreasonable?

It doesn't help when coupled with waiting for new sponsors (still no word), waiting for new shirt (still no word and past history) and having to wait two months even when Houllier took over. We do a lot of waiting General and I don't appreciate the suggestion we're being impatient.

How many teams in the Premiership are without sponsors?

How many teams in the Premiership are without a manager?

How many teams in the Premiership are without a bloomin shirt?

If you want us to give the board time then give us something else to focus on. New shirt, sponsors etc - show us SOMETHING is happening at our club. It is more than reasonable to accuse the club of dithering when we've known we wouldn't have sponsors for FOUR months, a manager for at least TWO months and waited for last seasons shirt for about SIX months.

Show me one other team ALL this happens to and then perhaps you can infer that we're being 'impatient' rather than displaying an overall ineptness over the last 12 months.

Despite the hysteria over this, that and the other (And I'm just as equally guilty as anyone else I admit!) one poster on another thread (I forget which) did raise a sensible query:

Do you think Mr. Lerner can afford to suitably support both Aston Villa and the Cleveland Browns? Probably not worded the best as you're hardly going to say 'no'! But it's more an issue of, despite all the good Randy has done for both clubs, would he not be better serving one club and giving them all his time (and investment) rather than trying to split resources between the two?

Is it better to have one world beater than two mediocre teams? I must admit I'm not overly aware of American Football and it's requirement but I think it's a legitimate question to ask. Most people would prefer one good car rather than two bangers!

I imagine it's a question that's almost impossible to answer (especially on an open forum) but it must be a question that has to be asked in a time when, especially in British football, it's the pound (dollar?!) that does the talking unfortunately.

It annoys me when all these people say we need to be patient. "oh, Houllier's only been gone a few days".

Now in the case of MON, fair enough, it needed time. But in this case when, at the very least, we've had a good idea that Houllier would be leaving most big companies would have a very good idea of the list of replacements ready should that situation arise. It just makes sense. I'd hate to think Villa didn't even plan for a very likely set of circumstances.

So really, most of the research, short-listing and due diligence (for want of a better word) should have been done BEFORE Houllier left. It is perfectly reasonable to do in the circumstances and could easily have been thrown away should Houllier have remained.

So considering that now should be done, the actual process of getting the man in should be day to day until we find someone who wants to take this collapsing team on and then a week maybe to dot i and cross t's extra.

Under that time scale it should be all done and dusted THIS week. What could possibly take longer than that? Talk of it taking to end of June is ridiculous. We've all had a pretty good idea Houllier was leaving since April - those at the club probably had an even better idea and should at least have planned for a 'worst case scenario'.

How can it take a team over 2 months to find a new manager if this speculation of it taking a couple more weeks be true? Time will be a killer on this one and make fans, sponsors, ticket sales and players very nervous about the future.

How can a team that has THREE England internationals, all of whom have scored crucial goals or got Man of the Match awards in recent games and be being chased by Champions League clubs be struggling to hold on to them?

Most teams would kill to have one INTERNATIONAL stars in their team, yet we look like a team who are becoming nothing more than a feeder club.

Have Villa settled for also rans? A REAL statement of intent would be getting a manager in who excites the fans and keep the three players and supplement them with just ONE good signing in defence and a keeper.

Total spend this year needs to be no more than £10/15m really.

A statement we want the best does not need to come through buying hundreds of millions pounds worth of players, but also of keeping them when they hit the headlines.

Barry gone for Champions League (succeeded)

Milner gone for Champions League (succeeded)

Young 95% gone for Champions League to United (guaranteed Champions League)

Downing 50% gone for Champions League.

Bent (already rumours unhappy at prospective moves for pair above)

Maybe, just maybe, if we'd spend ONE year keeping players rather than selling them WE'D be Champions League.

I think if Villa came out and said they'd 'risk' not getting a fee for Young/ Downing but that'd mean no major signings most fans would be more than happy.

We are currently giving the impression we're a small time selling club, actions speak louder than words.

I don't expect you to agree we've settled, it's not good business to admit it, but Villa are giving that impression to the world with their actions at the moment. Bent was great, but I wonder if that was more an investment to keeping in the Premiership rather than threatening the top 4. And let's face it, without Bent we would have gone down.

Selling Young and Downing this year will be the biggest sign ever that we are really just happy to be in this division and will never push for more.

Can someone sum up the last few hours? I've been out and there has been 30 odd pages since!

If Ancelotti is appointed, Kleenex shares in Birmingham will sky rocket over night

Genuinely? Well if we're really honest it can be summed up as this:

Nothing has happened at Villa. People suggest x and y. Nothing has happened at Villa. People suggest we're doing this and that. Hughes resigns at Fulham. People assume this and that. Nothing happens at Villa. People decide Hughes isn't now coming. Nothing happens at Villa. We all press F5 on the computer 20 times a minute.... nothing happens at Villa!

Ok, so let's pretend that Ancelotti either doesn't want to come, we can't afford him etc and Villa have done all they can to get him but it's simply not going to happen - who do you want then?

It's like saying you've won a car: it's either a Ferrari or a Honda Civic Type R.... your mind dreams of the Ferrari for ages but when you get given the Civic, despite the tinge of disappointment you realise you've got a great car.

At least we got rid of the Robin Reliant...

May they begin;

That is so clearly fake.... we're not sponsored by FxPro anymore!! Now if it had a biscuit company on it...

I don't think we'll get Ancelotti for a second, even though he'd be met with a larger amount of excitement than when MON joined.

However, people go on about the money he may cost - surely we're still in quite a strong position; no new sponsors have been lined up and who the manager is (and the amount of coverage they'll get, and from which countries) surely is part of the negotiation tool. You might be able to squeeze some more cash out of a potential sponsor if they knew their name was going to splashed everywhere for a while.

Ancelotti would be amazing. There is no doubting that. I think we're all really expecting it to be Hughes at the end of the day, and that wouldn't be bad.

Whilst I would expect (and hope) that fan input does not dictate managerial appointments, I'd love to know if it is considered at all.

Do the board completely ignore fans wish (and nightmare) lists or is some attention paid to them?

I'm trying not to name names but I'm going to fail; if you believed McClaren was the best man for the job would you dismiss the 99% of Villa fans who couldn't think of anything worse? Similarly, would you select from say the top three the Villa fans are interested in, or interview someone who the fans had brought to your attentions?

I do think some note should be taken on fans wishes when it comes to appointments, the weight of which I'm not sure however. But positivity brings money and surely that has to equal a bit of listening to the fans.

It's going to be Hughes, isn't it.

Can someone who's voted for him please sell him to me because I'm feeling totally underwhelmed by the prospect of him being our next manager.

I'll attempt to!

Hughes should be available for free so not effect our budget. He is a winner. Has experience with loads of money at Man City and also a shoestring at Fulham.

He could (although it doesn't always work like this) bring Ireland back into the fold and make him great again.

He might be able to get Given to join us.

He's young and can start a possible legacy. He saw a great manager work and you'd hope some of that rubbed off on him.

He's NOT the finished article but he has a lot going for him.

1) We should never base the managers job on penny pinching.

2) I do not want Ireland back in the fold, this is the guy who "gave up" on this club which is a disgrace.

3) Given? After the comment you made about Hughes on a budget, where do we win by giving a massive last pay day to a goalkeeper when we can go get somebody who can stay in goal for 10 years?

4) Roy Keane watched a great man too.

I said I'd try, I didn't say they'd be the best reasons!!

I think a on-fire Ireland should not be sniffed at however and Given is one of only two or three decent keepers available to replace the outgoing Friedel.

But more to the point, I was trying to point out that most managers out there would have 'upsides'. Bar McCLaren....