WorldClass

Dunne and Cuellar.

Bannan reminds me an awful lot pf Peter Beardsley. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he will be as good. He height I don't think is too much of an issue, he'll need to build up is strength but he's a young lad let him finish growing first. Great Tekkers though!

dogg.... Hmmm ok he wasn't match fit or match sharp

dude, apparently Delfouneso's attitude has been called in to question of late, he's gewtting a bit to big for his boots. I think when MoN left and given the general concensus that Heskey was rubbish, Gabby was injured and Carew was off he thought he would get some games early in the season. He was on the bench for the first game, but he didn't get on, from then onwards Wiemann started getting on the bench, who has since been unluckily injured as when I've seen him his movement is terrific and playing ahead of Young could cause huge problems. Why do we needs a "BIG LUMP" if we're going to try and play proper football? Delfouneso has everything, but he isn;t an outstanding player yet, patience young man, learn from you fellow pro's and when you get your chance take it... as Albrighton has.

I agree with you Rob, Albrighton has done nothing wrong, performed well and deserves him place, but once he need a rest, Ireland will be straight in and hopefully by that time will have built up a bit of match fitness and sharpness. I expect to see Ireland given a role in the cup games.

cause he was fat when he joined, and suddenly ReoCoker has found a bit of form, and We need ReoCoker to cover for Petrov who is in terms of the team a dead weight. Ireland will need to show a certain amount of fight and willingness to get involved in a Midfield fight if he wants to get picked. Ashley Young seems to have cemmented Irelands favoured role.

Johnno... yes Johnson play an expansive game, but he still works hard and tried to win the ball back. Downing once he loses the ball has the initial reaction of looking at the ref, then putting his hands on his hip, then standing a staring at the ref..... all the while the other player is 40 yards away running at Warnock who is trying to cover two players.... That was the point I;m trying to make. Johnson may not of had such a big impact at Villa, but at least we could have depended on him. By all accounts a move to City hasn't done the young man any favours with Mancini making comments accidentally about his off the feild activities. Lim, I agree I think Collins was brought in to do a job on Crouch and failed miserably. For me Cuellar although a bit shorter is better in the air by a long way. He is also more dependable and reads the game far, far better. I don't know how Dunne and Cuellar would work as both like to lead the defence and hold the line. With Collins I just whince every time the ball is hoisted towards him, and given his size that shouldn't be the case.... He's been at Fault more than any defender this season IMO.

There's nothing wrong with thinking your a good player. Most good player have high opinions of them selves on the pitch. But the real difference is their attitude toward developing as a player, look at someone like Gabby, who isn't blessed with amazing skills, his main attribute was blistering pace, but he's trained hard and have developed lots as a player in the last 3 or so seasons... Delfouneso perhaps needs to prove he's worth a chance by getting his head down, but then he also needs to be given a chance when he's done well.... He did phenominally well in the reserves for MoN but MoN just refused to give him that little bit of pitch time to keep him moving in the right direction. Of course a player will get fustrated and demorlised when he see's out of form players like Carew and Heskey coming on ahead of him when he's done nothing but score goals when he's played in the reserves, international level and in hios few appearances for the first team...

Shillz, I agree but at least Delfouneso would put in a shift for us, Carew maybe have the ability to hold the ball up, but rarely is he showing it at the moment, and he hardly got a sweat up against Spurs.

Stu... I think for Villa to sign a player like VDV we'll have to sign them young and take a chance. When MoN signs Downing we had first refusal on Adam Johnson... he refused to the chance to sign him for £6m... in step City. Right there was the kind of singing that would have made all the difference. It all got a bit depressing when we where linked to the same players every summer... Keane, Parker and Doyle... Houllier will surely know of some young kids that he can snap up and turn Villa in to a young dynamic force in the Prem, the thing is we will need to taste success or these players will smell the cash at city and be off... Spurs too will face the same problem if they don't repeat last years CL place.

Stu... its a question of Eggs and Chickens though, which came first?

Phum... I've was a big admirer of VDV on the 606 board, even when we where looking at Sniedjer I wanted VDV. Brilliant player. However he would never have come to Villa, he has always maintained he wouldn't leave Real for a team without Champion League football and he was effectively forced out of Madrid by Mourinho, you can still see his finger nail marks on the tarmac out side as Jose put him in his car and sent him packing. Phum, its the same when we almost sign Bergkamp, Ellise refused to pay Dennis's wages, but Arsenal offered him less and he signed... why? pressumably location, people seem to forget it, even though bodymore is in great surroundings, Villa park and Birmingham has a certain stigma.

Couldn't agree more chris, Downing shows no apitite for the dirty side of the game, almost as if he thinks he's above it... well I've news for him, he ain't good enough to be considered a "luxury player". If A.Young was slightly lazy I could forgive him... but he isn't he works incredibly hard and thats what our LW is missing and maybe why Warnock looks to shakey this season. Carew too needs a rocket, lazy yesterday and very, very greedy. Two or three time going for the spectacular when a little bit of awareness would have seen players in on goal... I think that is what Houllier was refering to in his interview.

Demitri... Young was booked for saying the F word when he was fouled and it wasn't given. VDV had a foul mouthed rant at the ref 3 or 4 times and got nothing... Home advantage???? Dude, I have a mate in the media who and works for a pretty high profile news agency, the way he understands it Houllier has money to spend in January. I suppose it depend who's availble, we have limited funds so we can't afford to buy stop gaps however haviung said that if Houllier doesn't know of a few diamonds from the last 3 years spendng all his time travelling the world watching youths and visiting training accademies than I don't know who would... Having said that, I watch the Villa reserves as often as I can, and Gary Gardner last season really, really impressed me. I see no reason why Gary couldn't come in and do a job, he has real energy, isn't affraid of getting stuck in but has real quality on the ball... who knows

The gap wouldn't have been the problem, It was Collins's in ability to take on Crouch in the air. The only reason I can see why Collins was picked was because of the threat of Crouch in the air and once again he proved to me that although he has a big lad he is slightly better than hopeless in the air. Seriously his positional sense and timing are seriously being calling in to question. Watch how often he misjudges a bouncing ball... its a real worry. Dunne and Cuellar would be far more commanding and dominant IMO. Petrov, is someone I refuse to mention in posts. For me he is a liability off the ball, he tackling isn't great, his doesn't have the pace or power to bully teams and still doesn't seem to understand what positions a DM should be taking up. I appreciate his ability on the ball, but his passing whilst accurate has become nothing short of negative. If we could get a player like Witsel or Flamini in to play along side ReoCoker in January then a whole new dimension can come in to play. Having said that chris, honestly could you have seen Palacios putting away any of those chances? Even Huddlestone or Jenas? VDV was the difference, I'm not saying he won it on his own, but without VDV I think the result would have been different. Mind you if you've read Mr Kend®icks Birmingham Mail report you'd have thought Villa didn;t get a kick of the ball.

Lots of positive to be taken from this weekends game away to Spurs even though it ended in eventual lose. There was an obvious difference in the two teams and that difference was one Rafael Van Der Vaart. Heskey once again showed he is brimming with confidence and made a big contribution, however once again he showed his tendancy to limp off after a slight knock. You'd have thought given recent performances and reviews the lad would have wanted to run off a dead leg. It a shame Gabby wasn't fit as he would have been far more effective than Mr DEmotivator John Carew, who now seems to just amble around Villa park and yet still get his name chanted. Villa first half performance was futher highlighted by the fact Old saggyface 'Arry had to go 5 across the middle of the park to get hold of the game again. Not many team will force Spurs in to packing their midfield at Home this season. Credit where credit is due to Houllier, we had a right go at Spurs and Ashley Young is growing into his freerole behind the striker. I was disappointed that Dunne and Collins got the nod again, Collins for all his size is terrible in the air, he doesn't jump well and mistimes it most of the time. For me Cuellar has a good leap and is far better and more consistant in the air. I don't know what Dunne is supposed to to when his 6ft 4" defensive partner can't win a header cleanly, Dunne is constantly mopping up and having to react to Collins losing a header or Collins himself misheading the ball in to dangerous areas. Warnock to should be looking over his shoulder, in a team that play kick and rush Warnock busy style looks good, however in a more compact team moving forward and back as one he looks as though he loses his positioning and concentration. He isn't helped by the fact Downing seems to only track his fullback 50% of the time, where as Albrighton doesn't stop running, a fact shown in the recent game against Stoke, where Downing and Albrighton swap after half time and Suddenly L.Young found himself facing two men as Downing stood for most of the game watching runner go by without an effort to chase back. Anywho, having said that at least he looks a threat with the ball... so a 50% improvement on last season... Overall though we performed well and would beat most team in the league with that kind of perfromance, not bad for a team that was tipped for a potential relegation struggle... :? Ahem Liverpool.... As I suggested though VDV was the difference, what a player and what class he showed on the second goal, the two touches to score where are the highest quality and showed amazing awareness. Things are definately on the up at Villa, if Houllier continues with this style of football it'll be a pleasure to watch Villa again, even at a=our most successful points under MoN the football was painful on the eye... and the neck... HOOOOOF. So lets take the many positive from this game, Houllier will spend in January and it looks like MoN will try and take Petrov off our hands as he'll be at Liverpool by then... We don't need a lot, we have a lot of quality, maybe a bit more dynamism in the middle, a striker how can bring people in to the game AND knows where the goal is and and defender... Essien, Drogba and Agger.... maybe?