Ironsid

Guzman all day.

Forest brought on a brick shithouse DM yesterday with about 20 minutes to play. Name of Moussi I believe. Seemed to like a tackle and didn't waste any passes. I know you can't tell much about a player in 20 minutes but does anyone know anything about him?

We need to stay off the telly. Appearances on the box seem to set us up for another unwanted record. Now it's Bale's first premier hat trick. Tell Sky to bugger off.

It matters if they are on the same points as us.

That goal difference could be worth a couple of points to other teams around us at the end of the season.

Not well up on these foreign players but a lot of posters seem to rate a fair number of them. I bow to superior knowledge. However, I'm not a fan of loan players. I don't fancy the idea of giving them Premier experience then sending them back to their own clubs with their value enhanced and leaving us with another gap to fill in the summer. Besides we've got more standing in the game than to rattle the begging bowl at the "big clubs". I don't want us to be beholden to anyone.

Another one who can be a useful asset on the pitch if we have any sort of dominance but not the sort you need in a muck and nettles battle. If he plays we need a brick shithouse holding midfielder to give him a platform to perform. He's one who I would bid a fond farewell to with thanks forth past efforts.

Lescott seems out of favour at the moment. Any value in going for him or would his wages break the structure?

I thought Delaney was too brave for his own good sometimes. Picked up injuries from throwing himself into impossible challenges resulting in lengthy lay offs. Mind you they always seemed to be around Christmas and New Year so perhaps he just fancied a nice little break during the festivities. Allegedly! Good defender though and could do a good job at centre half.

I think Reading is a benchmark game. The bottom half dozen or so clubs are our mini league. We need to start getting maximums against them to put down a marker and instil a bit of fear in them. Sunderland was a great win in the context of this mini league but we can't boost their confidence by failing to beat those around us, especially at home. Not just a win but a convincing one to give our lads a boost.

I like the fact that his first instinct seems to be either to pass the ball forward or carry it to the opposition. A bit light weight in challenges but works hard.

A bit simplistic I know, but I see only two criteria for buying players: a. He's an establishedl player who's better than we've got already and will immediately improve the team. b. He's a young player who will become better than those we have already got. I think we need some from category "a". I'm not a fan of buying players just to bulk up the squad.

A lot of famous names in the 2nd Div... sorry, Championship. Some of them have been there a long time and don't look like coming up anytime soon. Certainly we'd see more Saturday games and the old 3rd and 2nd Division days were mostly exciting but I'd rather given it a miss thanks.

Some more pointless figures. We are scoring at the rate of 0.8 goals per league game and conceding at the rate of 1.8 per game. Extrapolate that over a season and round the figures and we will finish with 30 goals for and 68 against. Goal difference minus 38. However factor in variables such as injuries, refereeing balls ups, new signings loss or improvement in the form of opposition teams, the state of the Footsie and atmospheric pressure and it could all be different.

In terms of improvement, which area do we need to make changes to for an immediate impact in team performance? Do we have the playing resources to do this or have we got to chug along until the window hoping not to lose contact with teams outside the drop zone? Can we improve results by altering our tactics and formations?

Pick up 6 more points before Jan window, splash out on a new centre half, two midfielders and a winger.Watch the performances improve along with confidence and Bob's your uncle ,job's a good 'un. Am I being too hopeful?

How about Diame from West Ham? He looks like the kind of dominant midfielder we need. W.H. Got him on a free from Wigan in the summer and apparently has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if offers of 7million are made. Everton and Fulham are reportedly interested. If those two managers fancy him he can't be too bad.

I'd keep Bent. To be effective he needs to be fit and be given the service to feed off. I don't think either of these factors have coincided this season. As mentioned above, what would the plan be if Benteke, Agbonlahore and Weimann picked up injuries? In the event,unlikely I admit , that they were all injured or banned at the same time who would fill the striking role? I'm one of life's natural pessimists and always think that if something can go wrong eventually it will. Sod's Law!

He'll make mistakes but I thought he did o.k. although tiredness probably lowered his effectiveness in the second half. His instinct seems to be to move forward with the ball and make forward passes. Not a crab in my opinion.

I thought he did o.k. I was impressed in the first half when he stuck to Valencia, harried him and forced him back almost to the halfway line. He's a young kid who will lose concentration and make mistakes from time to time but he needs to be encouraged.

We can't keep a clean sheet so 2-1 to Villa. Benteke and Gabby to score. Do you think I should stick a tenner on it?

Unsure and feeling I should be more positive. There's always a feeling that things will gel in the next few games then reality sets in when I look at the fixture list. On Saturday you could see confidence draining from the team. You look at the bench and wonder who we've got that we can throw on to make a difference. Massive effort needed in the next window. Buying potential is not an option. Proven quality, especially in midfield needed plus a wide player who can fire in the opportunities for Benteke and Bent (if he stays). No point having a penalty area poacher if you don't provide the ammo.

A bare minimum of two proven midfielders needed in the next window. If you're greedy and want to go for a belt and braces approach ask Santa for a quality centre half, a forward to replace the departing Bent and a decent winger to supply the crosses. Lambert's philosophy of buying hungry young players for the future is a sound project but if we want that future to be in the top league then a fairly quick fix seems to be called for. I don't go along with the notion that a year in the Championship would be a good thing. That division is a bar room brawl. There's no guarantee we'd be one of the last men standing at the end of a long, tough season.

I've seen Villa relegated a few times since the mid sixties and I have to say this current team have the air of the drop written all over it. The midfield are ineffectual. They neither create nor score goals. Two quality signings needed to inject some purpose into the team. A wide player wouldn't 'hurt either. Will Randy ante up in the window or forfeit the Premiership riches when we drop? By the time Lambert gets this team together we'll be staring down the barrels of the firing squad. No pun intended.

He'll be a big lad when he grows up.I can imagine what some of these defenders will be thinking when he ambles up to them. They'd better get a good supply of toilet paper into the changing rooms.