There’s an old saying that states “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. So, with Aston Villa second in the league, does that mean things need to change.

This morning, Christian Benteke arrived back in training. Whilst that doesn’t mean he will be back immediately into the first team, there’s a question as to whether Villa should make a space given they are working as well as they have been.

One argument could be that Villa’s success has been down to their defensive solidity rather than attacking prowess, but there’s a question as to who would give way if the starting XI is to change.

If we play a 4-4-2 diamond like the start of the game against Liverpool, surely it would be Andreas Weimann who would lose his place as Gabby Agbonlahor proved that he can constantly target players with his physical presence. Add in Benteke into the mix, and there would be some power from back to front, especially if Carlos Sanchez can start getting into the team.

Some fans may suggest that playing a physical game is a poor way forwards but, in football terms, winning is what matters, not the style in which a team plays.

Arsene Wenger used to famously rant about Stoke City coming along and roughing his team up, acting as though the Potters should just do the gracious thing – try and play a passing game, fail miserably and give up the points.

The reality is that such a plan would be stupid. Had Villa tried to outclass Liverpool in a like-for-like mentality, the Villans would have fallen by the wayside, ending up with no points instead of three.

Of course, Liverpool fans will be upset with the treatment of Mario Balotelli, but that’s a factor of who you support. Jack Grealish was booted off the ball repeatedly in recent games, and we were incensed, although those tackling our young winger were probably focused on intimidation more than Phillippe Senderos who was trying to provoke Liverpool’s mercurial Italian striker.

Whilst Stoke City, especially during the Tony Pulis era, were almost universally panned for a physically intimidating game plan, few can doubt that such a mentality got them a long way further than before Pulis arrived for his last stint at the Britannia. Call it painful or awful to watch, it was certainly effective, and effective is exactly what Villa needs.

Compare and contrast Wigan Athletic – a team who tried to play football well, but ultimately succumbed to relegation. Whilst Roberto Martinez has gone on to bigger things, it says much about football’s elite when they laud Wigan for playing the right way and losing, than Stoke who often played in a physical manner but took more points.

Why? Obviously the big teams don’t want to drop points, and it is easy to serve up platitudes about the effort and style of your opponent when, ultimately, it is you who comes away with the win.

So, with Villa second in the table – yes, that’s our reality – there’s a real strength to the team that is shining through. Barcelona we may not be, but with a gegenpressing focused, physically powerful game plan in our back pocket, here’s to the continuation of a hard, fast and ruthless Villa run.

One For The Terraces?

One of my favourite songs – could it be one for the Villa faithful?

You know we love you, just wanna see you, Villa-a-a-a-a, knock them right off their feet, hard to beat, hard to be-e-e-eat…

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Matt Turvey
Matt is the owner of, and chief writer for, Aston Villa Life. He is also a columnist for the Wolverhampton Express & Star, appearing in the Kick Off pullout on Saturdays and the Final Whistle pullout the Monday after Aston Villa play, as well as every Thursday as a blogger on their website. He has previously been featured as a writer on Football365 and Life's A Pitch, and was a regular pundit for Sports Tonight TV on Sky.

Comments 265

  2. Graham O'Gara

    Development is what is key to this point. Results come first and if they come then the style of play is secondary…

    There has to be signs that Villa are able to hold on to the ball, the has to be signs that we look to dominate opposition in more than a physical sense. To suddenly expect a switch over night, or to try and do so would be detrimental.

    As long as the ethic of working hard remains, as long as the discipline to do your defensive work stays, as long as the results keep coming confidence in the players will grow. Too many times we’ve had good results, the team looks to have turned a corner and then have become complacent and lackluster in the performances.

    The experience in the team will help that, Keane working with the players and being on the side line with help that and the fans being buoyant will help that.

    We can play like this forever, but what we can do is improve players, improve confidence, make quality additions to the squad and gradually improve the style of play.

    For now competitive, disciplined, physical displays with heart and desire will do.

    Its also nice that our midfield look at the bench and know Sanchez is itching to take their place. Its nice that Benteke is nearly ready and itching to get back in to the team. Its nice the Grealish is sat there ready to come on and continue his developement with a cameo at any time.

    Benteke coming back is only a positive as long as he buys in to the pressing and hard work ethic that goes with the team, his added quality and ability to score from anywhere around the box is only a bonus.

    There is competition for places

  3. Paul Pears

    Excellent leader Matt which is on the button, and great follow up comments GOG.

    It is now really fantastic, and i know many of the fans will now be itching to take on Arsenal on Saturday and get behind the team.. can’t see there being any anti- Lambert banners or shouts.

  4. Frem

    Away games, yes, play defensive and counter. Home games though, we actually need to pass a ball, control the game and break through organised sides. Last seasons home form was because we tried to counter at home. Doesn’t work against teams that don’t attack

    When the beast is back, we would be stupid not to play with width and get the ball into him. He’s one of the best headers of the ball around, no point in playing narrow and not giving him any service

    I wouldn’t have any issue what so ever with Gabby and Wiemann being benched for Benteke. He’s in a different world to those two, so there is no point trying to fit them on in the wings when he’s back just cus Lamberk likes them. Grealish has to be on the wing.

    We have options now though. I think a midfield of Westy Delph and Cleverley will do well, Grealish and Zoggy on the wings, the beast up top. Gabby an impact sub

  5. Matt Turvey

    Paul,

    Completely different note but the reason your Gravatar image next to your name is because either a) your Facebook settings are locked down or b) the link to your photo which was selected (https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/1076465_1102541115_1631765226_q.jpg) simply does not exist.

    Can you try changing it to another known photo and let me know what happens? Sorry getting to the bottom of things has taken so long but trying to fix backlog now I’m off for a week.

  6. Frem

    Wiemann is only useful as a defensive winger. He won’t be any use getting forwards from there

    Look at 99% of his goals and they are poachers goals. He’s a striker who’s wasted on the wing

  7. Graham O'Gara

    I agree Frem, Wiemann is a striker, a striker who will play out of position and work his balls off doing so,.. No he ain’t the best player on the pitch, but he does come in for some unfair criticism at times.

    I’m sure when Grealish is ready he will become a fixture out there, and i’m sure at Home Grealish will become more prominent in the team as will N’Zog.

    However in the next few home games we will see a counter style of football with Arsenal, City and Spurs coming. I no it not want we want to see, but sometimes needs must and all that.

  8. Villalore

    Agree with continuing the current style in the near term as long as it gets up points. Shame about the cup exit, would have allowed us to experiment a bit more. And hoping that someone’s purple patch in terms of goals lasts longer than a month this year.

  9. The Droyd

    Matt – Yes we will find room for Benteke and yes it will probably be at Weimann’s expense. Benteke is the best player at the club but has had a serious injury. Best if he makes a few sub appearances before displacing Weimann.

    Graham – Very good point about Weimann. He is fantastic off the ball. He gets back to help the full back out as does Gabby when he plays wide. This is the value of these guys, especially when we have little possession and play counter attacking football.

    The silkier players like N’Zogbia don’t do this. Yes they are better to watch but it doesn’t make them more effective when we are on the back foot.

    Steamer – Perhaps if we improve on our current position of 2nd and get to top, you would like to organise a “Lambert out” demo?

  10. Mark King

    to be honest first half against hull and 25 mins against liverpool we did take it to them and not in a kick and rush style either, as GOG said with additions and the likes of grealish we will expand on a solid base. what I want to know is what happens if we go behind against the top teams? we haven’t really had to chase a game yet. my hope is we don’t go gung-ho and get ripped apart but apply pressure consistantly while keeping our shape, benteke will be essential for this type of scenario.
    as to who we drop for benteke i’m guessing away it will be 433 with gabby and weimann then westy delph cleverly/richardson and the back four speaks for itself.

    at home against lesser opposition we can go 4132 with tekkers and one of gabby or weimann sanchez sitting and any of grealish nzogbia richardson cleverly delph westwood making up the mid three this could work against better teams too.

  11. Paul Pears

    Sorry Matt

    still no joy. It has been the same since I used the button to remove one, and was having difficulty changing it. It may be that the delete works permanently, and does not allow you to have an Avatar again.

  12. Paul Pears

    Isn’t it so nice that now we can come up with so many good permutations now, whereas last season it was a case of who was fit enough to make up the basic eleven.

  13. Mark King

    one thing I forgot to mention,corners. senderos terrorised the dippers, if the rest can learn from him we should get more joy this season from set peices. imagine benteke, senderos and vlaar at set pieces. both full backs are 6’+ as is sanchez. apart from westwood we are no longer vertically challenged ( sorry b62 at least I didn’t mention dwarfs or midgets this time) all we need is someone with a long throw, someone ring Pullis 🙂

  15. Frem

    Graham- I know he works hard, but so should any football player. Lamberk could play me right mid for nothing and I’d run until I pass out for Villa.

    I think he hates playing there. I really like him as a fox in the box and wish he was played there more often.

  16. Frem

    Random, but Fair play to Hutton. Put in the cold for 2 years and now he’s doing really. Good to have pace and height there, Lowton was good getting forwards but extremely slow

  18. Paul Pears

    Don’t think Lerner will sell now….could become his new baby…..got no wife to p^^s him off….

    He can start to enjoy his footie..maybe he will start to fly over more..as he sees the potential develop…

    Just heard from Monty….she is still struggling….as it is a year today since her Uncle Danny passed away.

    Send her some hugs if you are friends with her on F/B.

  20. Paul Pears

    Remember Mark it is randy that has provided the money to put this squad together…taking into account wages are probably as much a need to fund as transfer fees.

  23. Mark King

    paul p

    I don’t think he’ll stay, if we top the league in jan and he pumps £30mil into a couple of players I might be persuaded but can’t see either scenario happening. we will have an allright season and randy will claim he’s left us rosie which I suppose financially he will have

  25. Frem

    We love you Monty, we do, we love you Monty, we do, we love you Monty, we do, OOOOHHHHH Monty we love you.

    Why would Randy sell when we are about to win the league ? He will be looking at the table thinking ” Feck it, i’m staying for this “

  27. steamer

    Droyd,
    As much chance as finding a bar of soap in a Blues fans bathroom as that.

    Bejeesus, people praising Lerner now, the tw@ who fucked us up in the first place, the Worlds gone doolally, am i the only sane person on this site ?

  29. Frem

    Indeed he shouldn’t be Andrew, but i bet Lanbert still plays him right mid

    Not sure Sanchez needs to start yet. Westy is doing just fine

  31. Frem

    Mark- Yep. Potential owners will look at the table and could be impressed if we can stay top 6 for a bit. Randy might demand a bit more then, he might want to stay. hard to say

  32. steamer

    Strange Matt should mention Stork so often, not so strange that we actually play like they used to, what next cancel the balti pies and order the oat cakes.

    All the very best to Monty on must be an emotional day for her and her kin. XXXX

  34. Frem

    Watched the game again without the nerves of it being live and although we had pretty much nothing of the ball, it’s amazing how much control we in. There didn’t seem to be much panic, they all stuck to there roles. Nice to see a team who know what they are doing for once

  36. runtings

    Monty – big huges coming across the ocean to you Kenny Everett – brother lee love style x

    It’s great that lambert has finally realised that his buying was only taking us down and almost everything he had done at villa was wrong.

    It’s great we are giving ourselves a chance in games because we have men and not boys in defence — well done nathan b btw he has taken some real stick but had his best day ever in a villa shirt so well done him

    What i do not believe is in lambert taking us forward weather he has money or not

    This is due to his style of play as i firmly believe kick and rush counter can only take you so far and if you don’t drill your players in passing and keeping the ball – recieving the ball in tight positions — building attacks from the back — working in triangles to move up the pitch — i can’t see us getting the best out of our lads — MON proved that you can throw money at a team but without the right style of play you will burn out – run out of luck – chase around after a ball that you just can’t keep and lose your top players to clubs that play the type of football that can take you to trophies

    imo of course – i know many will disagree

  37. B6toBrasil

    Monty I hope you get through a tough day OK.

    Frem,yeah I watched a rerun on Fox last night,volume down.Composure came to mind again and again,there was control about our play both in our defending and further up the field.Very little panic hoof ball.

    Steamer
    Rest assured,I would never call you sane,a sentence with Steamer and sane in it has never been uttered nor written in the English language.

  38. Paul Pears

    There was a rumour somewhere that Steamer was really Deadly Doug,, and his comments here were to encourage the fans to fight amongst themselves and hate Lerner and Lambert, then in some future time he be remembered as the great man of Villa….and no-one could follow him……as the club collapsed into chaos….much like Fergie has done at Utd……

    Just a malicious rumour though Steamer…….you just a normal grumpy old man…..

  40. Mark King

    runtingz

    I’m hoping the fact we bought sanchez will lead to a more expansive game. he hasn’t really had the time on the pitch yet to see if he can run a game. I’m hoping he’s not there to pull up the drawbridge when we go one up like arsenal used to do. tekkers will also bring another dimension to the game as he is better than gabby at give and go and general hold up play.

    paul pears

    are you a fast runner or really brave? 😉

  42. Paul Pears

    Always brave Mark

    Last time, it was ST75 threatening me, but I am sure I can take it after all these years…

    I am hoping that steamer will come back with a line worth challenging…anytime to get showered and go find a beer..!!!

  45. Jenny Truman

    Good evening my lovelies.

    FIrst of all big hugs to Monty my only other lady lifer – your Baker boy did you proud Saturday but not sure whether you will go for the big beard look ?????? Its a no from me 🙂

    I have to say – got to agree with runtingz on his analysis of Lambert – and glad I am keeping you amused 🙂

    Reading between the lines – Gabby and Paul MCgrath say its the seniors and whipping the youngsters into place by RK and PL that has made the difference. I felt that PL’s post match verdict on our success being down to the “boys becoming men” was more to validate his young and hungry policy . How many games have they played – are they really boys?. I favour the “experience on the pitch and dressing room ” theory put forward by Gabby and Paul Mcgath. Those so called boys couldn’t muster up any team spirit for the last two seasons and it has taken a character like Sendeross to get their heads all pointing in the right direction instead of in the mirror. I also hear that Keane was on the touch line growling at the midfield to keep the fecking ball (excuse my language).

    An interesting article Matt – who would have thought we would have this dilemma – we thought the most we could hope for was pick a team to hang on by our fingernails. Yes we have to get the results first and foremost. Yes the tactics were right for Saturday and we can expect more of the same on Saturday for Arsenal. No, we don’t want to become another Stoke and we now have the players to it seems to do something decent. I would put Benteke back in ASAP as he is the most exciting player on the pitch. Was it the likes of Weiman who Paul McG was referring to when he said “the youngsters needed slapping down” this morning. His antics towards the fans may suggest this is the case.

    Another Keane classic on the OS last week – Jack Grealish was talking about his first meeting with RK . RK went up to him half way through training and said “are you feeling alright” “yes I’m fine” Jack said. “when are you going to start training then” said Roy. The point is those kids will take it from a bloke who has been at the top like RK and Grealish said he gets on really well with him and that it is amazing having someone of his stature to learn from.

    Me and ST 75 are officially pen pals xxx

  46. steamer

    Runtingz,
    Concur with your thought about managership. disappointing that standards amongst Villans have dropped so much that they’re so happy with a few points after four games and very little good football, even Toon outplayed us and look where they are, must be a generation thing. I must say that English football is dying, if a mediocrity like Rooney can take home £300k a week and captain England then we’re stuffed.

  48. steamer

    Jen,
    Personality thing, something Lambert obviously lacks.
    Another thoughtful post by yourself Jen, very observant about important things that are unnoticed by most fans.

  50. Mark King

    steamer- RE Lambert: what choice do we have we can’t sack him and we are doing ok under him and RK at this point in time. Its football, a game not politics, we are winning points which is the point is it not. has anyone ever told you your impatient? 😉 just wondering. I concur with a lot that you say but what more can we do than win. and stop creeping up to jen 🙂

  51. Frem

    Really like the look of Hull and West Ham line ups/ squad tonight. Some really really good players between them

    Alfitano, Diame, Ben Arfa, Downing, Valencia, Ramirez etc.

    We will have a battle with them for 10th place

  53. Jenny Truman

    Hahaha Mark – who wrote that article Paul Lambert’s agent. 🙂
    The article may point to what is behind our meteoric rise but there is no evidence that these decisions were taken by Lambert. As these changes happened after the sacking of IC and GK I doubt whether Lambert is behind them. Do you really think it was Lambert’s idea to reintroduce the bomb squad or was it, as rumoured, a directive from RL. Was it Lambert’s decision to employ Roy Keane – a higher profile than him – and better with the media too. Was it Lambert’s decision to go for older experienced players who he publicly condemned at the start as being “mercenaries who have got us no where in the past”. What happened to all the “young, hungry, playing with passion” rhetoric we were fed to begin with. These changes are the oppositive of Paul Lambert’s stated philosophy. So yes its the experienced pros and yes its Roy Keane. But more likely a case of Randy Lerner getting on the phone and saying “no more young hungry shit – get the experienced players on the cheap – and get in Roy Keane to sort out the dressing room – something Grant Holt failed to do – and while you are at it bring back the bomb squad who I am paying friggin 200 thousand a week for “. If it is Lambert then fair play to him – but evidence points to the contrary.
    Thank you Steamer 🙂

  54. Frem

    Agree with you as well. I don’t think our so called boys have become men. We’ve just added one in Sendeross as you say. Cissoko is a powerful guy, Hutton ain’t afraid of anyone.

    If we still had Baker, Clark, Lowton, Bennett, Westwood, Wiemann Gabby etc all starting It would be a different story

  57. Jenny Truman

    Don’t worry Mark – I am waiting for a touchline fight between the beards with Roy Keane saying “what are you f***ing looking at – and Lambo offering him outside Jimmie ” The winner gets the manager’s job and my money is on RK.

  58. B6toBrasil

    Anyone got any news on Lowton.?He seems to have formed his own mini bomb squad,in fact a firework squad.Will we be saying goodbye to him in Jan?Is it off the field issues with him?

  60. Jenny Truman

    And Sanchez Frem . THe boys haven’t become men they have been joined by men and that is the difference. That togetherness that Paul Mc talked about and the unselfishness comes from maturity and experience. Imagine how Sterline would be if he didn’t have the likes of Gerard and co keeping him in place.

  63. Jenny Truman

    I thought Lowton was going out on loan – but he shouldn’t despair, Hutton was loaned to Majorca and pass keys taken from him but look where he is now. You couldn’t make this up – Holte End hero 🙂

  64. B6toBrasil

    Hi Jen

    Brasilians love to party,especially if they can get another to pay for it.It sounds like you had a ball.

    Amazing,if someone had told us 2 months ago that Hutton would be in the side and performing well,Keane would be our AM,and the oft ridiculed Senderos would be a lion at the back then I would have thought they had been at the persian rugs.

  65. Mark King

    jen- I don’t claim to have the answers I didn’t write the article and just because I posted it to wind steamer up doesn’t mean I believe it. the evidence you are presenting is circumstantial at best . If Lerners suddenly this genius why hasn’t he sacked Lambert as not fit for purpose and installed RK as boss or pullis or a.n.other? he probably got the nod to use the bomb squad as the wages have lowered and we couldn’t shift them on there wages. Lambert has said plenty of stupid things towing the party line but having a man in charge of your team who makes no decisions has no clue and most of all doesn’t have the respect of RK is stretching it to the extreme and makes Lerner even worse 🙂

  66. Jenny Truman

    Funny you should say that Brasil – in my naivety from my sun lounger on the beach I wondered why there were so many scarves , pots and rugs sellers – yes 90 degrees with Persian rugs on their back . On the last day I found out from our Mexican friends the rugs were just a cover for the obvious , Duhhhh

  67. steamer

    that’s ruined the chance of making a few bob – its OK Mark you’ve still got my £20.

    B6B,
    Lowton moved back to Sheffield and Lambert had a sulk.

    I would say Lerner told PL to get the bomb squad playing because its the only way to sell them by displaying their talents. Only a fool would stop them playing, step up Paul Lambert.
    Seems to be a bit of confidence about off field matters now that Chubby’s departed, grade a idiot there, Fox seems to know how to run a footy club and hopefully when Lerner buggers off, Lambert will be booted and we can get a proper manager in. Still a lot of ££££ on Jeergan the Jeerman.

  70. Mark King

    steamer- i’ve put it in a trust fund for your education 😉
    this bomb squad costing close to £200,000 in wages included the unruly hutton who stunk the place out, nzogbia who was injured, bent who was tried as captain but couldn’t do what Lambert was asking enter benteke, and Given who is defo past his best and not as good as Guzan IMO . we can argue this for ever but its all about the wages

  71. Jenny Truman

    Mark – maybe because he wants only to keep in the prem . How many managers would accept a position where the club is up for sale – no ambition other than to retain premiership status What is more attractive to new owner – manager with 1 yr left on contract or new mgr with 4 to pay off ? Why go through the aggro of changing managers . RL put in a policy of make do and mend – ie use bomb squad , no transfer fees but get the team into shape with older heads . The ultimate irony is that this thrift policy is giving greater rewards than ever before . It’s the stuff of dreams 🙂

  72. Mark King

    jen- I know its a source of endless wind ups for me you have to take joy where you find it 🙂 If lerner wanted to stay in the prem would you trust Lambert with two close misses and RK who’s managerial career hardly inspires?

    from wiki
    “The lowest point of their next season came at Goodison Park, where they were beaten 7–1 by Everton, which Keane described as “one of the lowest points” of his career. However in the second half of the season the team’s form was much improved (especially at home) and survival in the division was guaranteed with two games to go with a home win against Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, Keane carried on his trend of buying ex-Manchester United players with the addition of Kieran Richardson, Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham, and Phil Bardsley. He has also continued his strict disciplinary policy by putting Liam Miller (one of Sunderland’s apparently more consistent players) on the transfer list for being regularly late for training and other team meetings.

    The beginning of the 2008–09 season would prove to be tumultuous. In September 2008 Keane became embroiled in a row with FIFA Vice President Jack Warner over the withdrawal of Dwight Yorke from the Trinidad and Tobago national team. Warner accused Keane of being disrespectful towards small countries.[88] Keane responded by calling Warner “a clown” and insisted that Yorke was retired from international football.[89] That same month Keane experienced “one of the worst and longest nights” of his career when Sunderland had to come from 2–0 down at home in a League Cup tie against Northampton. The game ended 2–2, with Sunderland progressing narrowly on penalties.[90]

    Despite some positive performances, including the historic 2–1 home victory against local rivals Newcastle United on 25 October (the first time the club had accomplished this in 28 years),[91] as well as good showings by recent signings like Djibril Cissé and Anton Ferdinand, the team’s general form remained inconsistent. By the end of November, Sunderland were 18th in the Premier League, having lost five of their six previous games. Keane stood down as manager on 4 December after bringing doubt on his own future with comments made in the wake of the 4–1 home defeat by Bolton the previous weekend.[92] Keane’s harsh management style was not appreciated by the Sunderland players, who were reported to have celebrated when they heard he had resigned.”

  74. steamers75

    pp
    l never threatened you , l just said if you got anything to say about me ,say it to my face , whats threatening about that ..

    l think your getting me mixed up with washy washy on TVB who claimed to be a steamer , with a baseball bat ,

  75. Mark King

    yes but to be fair wasn’t it after hutton launched sterling with one of his signature tackles 🙂 senderos is a marked man he’s been caught three times on tele tripping and kicking, made team of the week though watch him get booked/sent off once the refs ear-mark him

  76. Jenny Truman

    Haha Mark . Very good . But Wiki is hardly gospel is it ? Yes he would . This is the man who employed Alex McLeish , because employing a rival manager would be seen as a coup ! Of I were in RLs position selling the club I would risk keeping on PL. He needed to replace the dreadful duo so he chooses RK (this time ignoring SAFs advice 🙂 ) there’s problems in dressing room that Holt can’t solve so he picks a disciplinarian but most importantly someone they’d listen to and look up to . Makes perfect sense to me . 🙂 🙂

  78. Mark King

    jen- does RK have a home in America because that’s the only way he’d meet Lerner, RK knows Lambert through celtic connections, lerner knows mickey mouse and donald duck

  79. steamers75

    Jenny

    Faber & Faber ,my dads solicitors
    and looked after me 4 times lol .
    mind you the once l was on crutches vs blues ………………… remember the van steamer ????

  80. Jenny Truman

    Mark – no he doesn’t but then neither did Alex McLeish 🙂

    Good God ST 75 – Roger Faber used to foot the bill for many a drinking session in the Grand Hotel on a Friday night when I worked in town . An eye for the ladies and a real character . (I think it was Rodger ) good times 🙂

  81. Jenny Truman

    I wonder who attracted Cleverley and co to AV . Was it PL or RK ? Some thought PL was lucky to retain his job after his assistants of 8 years were dismissed for alleged bullying behaviour. His choice and management of staff was found to be lacking in that instance . Would the club trust him to pick his assistant after this high profile problem. Remember all the bull shit statements that RL put out . No – I think the appointment was taken out of Lambert’s hands.

  82. Jenny Truman

    Back to Gabby’s squaring up Mark – yes it was after Hutton’s tackle – which was a tad bizarre seeing as Hutton was in the wrong – that’s our gabby for you 🙂
    As for Sendross – yep on every replay in the land which was rather unfortunate.
    Hull and West Ham was a decent game after all .

  83. Mark King

    jen- if you want my honest opinion I think we can thank MON for RK. he knows both RK and Lambert and they talk, its the only sensible answer.whether Lambert broached it with MON/RK or the other way around who knows but Lerner? not on your nelly. Lerner does trust Lambert that much is plain.
    as for players I think its a bit of all the staff, the defensive coach is ex arsenal as is senderos, Keane knows Richardson and probably cleverly, Cole on the open market as he had no club, Sanchez and cissy are the only ones with no connections I know of

  84. Frem

    Hull and WH have some new good players. annoying and a bit worrying.

    Mark- 34 Mill on those two. Thats depressing. 20 on Reo and Davies, even more so. 6 on Heskey and Bennett, 7 on Kosak etc etc

    God this club has wasted so much money. Randy put more than enough in, just a shame twats were spending it

  88. Mark King

    frem- those sums are nothing today, Swansea’s team cost £53 mil. I agree on cole, I think he was a cheap idea that may be discarded shit happens. I hope Sanchez as an anchor to help us get forward doesn’t find himself out in the cold because of the success of the system at the moment.

  89. Jenny Truman

    You two still here 🙂
    Mark – I can see the MON connection and that’s a good point , but that bullying thing was all over the media and the club went into over drive in getting statements out and placating players by appointing Given and Sid. RL was trying to sell club . It was RL who made the announcement and played the big “I have spoken – the show will go on ” role . I find it hard to believe RL didn’t ask PL what the F is gojng on with your staff (and close friends), that bullying slur is a big no no. But go and appoint who you like. American companies detest bad publicity – are more sensitive than their English counterparts in this regard . Dagleish’s days were over when he sullied brand Liverpool by his stupid support Suarez t shirt . Brand is everything to the Americans so the IC affair which PL has to take responsibility for was a big blow to RL – who is trying to sell the company – if rumours to be believed to Americans , maybe it will he in the next Roy Keane autobiography 🙂

  90. Frem

    But swansea have a bloody side Mark for a whole squad. we spend that much on a few shite individuals

    Can’t see Sanchez getting game time any time soon as long as we carry on like we are. Lamberk won’t drop Westy anytime soon I don’t think

  92. Frem

    Jenny- As usual, the press didn’t question Lamberk one bit o his close friends who also bullied people at Wycome. They didn’t question Lamberk on a history makes for 12 home defeats, they didn’t question him on losing 8 of or last 10 games. The man has got away with murder

  93. Mark King

    its taken them 12 years to ingrain their system and build up frem.
    Lerner got burned by MON, RK’s connected to MON and has a shite record in management it has to be a buddys thing between the three to suit mutual interests, who else would take such a short term contract with Lambert on the way out? A man with two jobs and a mutual friend that’s who.

  94. B6toBrasil

    Frem

    That`s not just Villa,the Press never ask “hard” questions.The media is a back slapping boys drinking club,very few journalists ask “difficult” questions.If they do they are expelled from press conferences.The press generally only attack soft ,targets,people who can`t fight back.
    Look at the “Arry 4 England campaign” which as run by his friends in the meeeejjjjaaaahh.

    As a result,you don`t get questions like
    “What about that 2 footed tackle by Keane Sir Alex?”

    Instead you get “Are you pleased with that 3 nil home win Sir Alex?”

  95. Jenny Truman

    Or a man wanting to get back into prem league management ? Was knife being poised at the ready ? MON throws both our theories Mark. MON Is the last person RL would ask for advice given he had to pay him for the pleasure of walking out and leaving us in the Shyte , It’s a strange one but no stranger than us spending the least in the prem and going from 15th to 2nd . Five live just announced “Benteke back in training “. Forget second we are going to win the league !

  96. Frem

    True Brasil. Kendrick and Taylor got kicked out there roles in the summer for basically saying lamberk has failed. they were right,and it was wrong of the club to punish them or it

  98. Paul Pears

    Frem

    I thought the days of Vinyl and the needle getting stuck were over, but it seems not.

    Glad to see you are alive ST75….I only like winding you up cos you stole Jen…. good luck…I now have my Sue in Bristol…and we are off on hols soon..!!!

    Loved my G&T , followed by a nice Riocha with rib-eye steak followed by Spar trifle, then blue stilton and crackers washed down with a drop of Cockburns port…life gets better all the time…My medium says I have just come out of 7yrs bad luck…so anything is possible now..Come on Villa…the pundits are not even mentioning us, or our 20 goal a season Benteke the Beast….I am getting a good feeling about Saturday..!!…Looking forward to some San Miguel’s in the Lion’s club…

    Champions league next season….

  99. Paul Pears

    Remember if we continue to win, then only Chelsea stand between us and the top…..come on you Blue Boys, only two weeks to go……more than our wildest dreams at the beginning of the season….have faith everyone…

  100. Frem

    PP- Pundits won’t ever give us credit. They go on about Sturridge being out, no mention Vlaar was out for us though

    Can’t wait to see the beast come of the bench, hopefully on Saturday and he will score the winner. The Holte will be rocking when he comes on

  102. Paul Pears

    come and share a beer on Saturday Frem.

    I will be in the Lion’s club. If you are not a member or season ticket holder, let me know and i will meet you and you can come in with me…and hopefully meet some of the legends..

  104. Trinity

    Hello Matt, you’ve written a good leader.

    Droyd

    Agree Benteke should be eased back to fitness as a sub. What an impact sub! He’ll be raring to have a go.

    Jenny

    Did see a Lambert speech a few weeks a go, where he said the only real youngster in the playing squad at the moment is JG. The rest ave been round a bit.

    Should be an interesting weekend coming up. Can Villa win again? I’d be happy with a solid draw, but if they do win again, VP will start filling up again. It might start getting noisy again. VP does need to get its mojo back. It’ll take many Villa wins at VP before that happens.

  105. Jenny Truman

    Morning all . The euphoria continues . The best part of it is our position makes no sense at all 🙂 if this is how we feel imagine the buzz and motivation at BMH !! Although RK and PL will be telling them to focus on the next game – deep inside they are thinking – no fear of being bottom / we can do this – unbeaten – and Teckers is comjng back . I look forward to seeing them come out on Saturday will heads held high. If Chelsea lose and we beat Arsenal we could be top of the league ! Stranger things have happened . I anticipate a much fuller VP on Saturday – villa fans are seeing something we haven’t seen for two seasons : fight and pride back . If it wasn’t my daughters birthday weekend I would be there to cheer our team of the unwanted and freebies . It makes it so much better !! Enjoy it while we can – could be a different story this time next week 🙂 🙂 🙂

  106. Mark King

    jen- you’ve answered your own question, lerner didn’t ask MON about RK Lambert did, that’s what I’m getting at, they are friends from Celtic remember. Plus RK is not a first choice candidate for manager look at his record vs Lamberts let alone a 100 others

  110. runtings

    it was very interestibg watching west spam and hull last night

    Hull proberbly have a slightly better sqaud for me – what was noticable is that west ham refuse to hoof and passed from the back and built there attacks throughout the game -Hull were a lot more direct which lead to giving away possession on many occassions
    #
    Big sam listened to what the west ham fans were damanding – can’t believe i am saying this but same will do really well this season playing that type of game
    Hull will do well as they have some really good players but they will drop a lot of point because they surrender possession far too easy

    sound familar

  111. Mark King

    physical burnout is the main threat to us maintaining this style of play, we have to develop are game or rotate players week in week out, midfield especially. Lads like Okore need bringing up to speed

  112. Jenny Truman

    You’re ignoring the fact PL was responsible for the goings on at BMH – as he employed IC and GK and as manager , the buck stopped with him . Also , when RK was appointed , no mention was made by PL of even knowing him- in fact the opposite . RK is trying to get back into prem management hence stopping his tv punditry for the WC and accepting vila job : do you not think that given we were fighting relegation , PL had seemingly lost control of the dressing room , his assistant was dismissed under a big cloud , that at the back of the club’s mind was ‘appoint a strong candidate who could step up if required ‘ ? Was it also ‘save a few bob on a part timer ‘. RK
    has made his managerial mistakes and time will tell if he’s learned from them. This role will decide whether he has a future as a manager as I can’t see him wanting to remain anyone’s assistant for long . Like many of our past appointments / his appointment was a bolt from the blue and unexpected . Who knows who was behind it !! .

  113. Jenny Truman

    Runtingz – didn’t PL say possession is over rated after the Southampton game 🙂 In fairness , RK was shouting at them to keep possession on Saturday . We have better candidates than last season for keeping the ball . Here’s hoping ! 🙂

  114. runtings

    I the RK was deffo randy’s idea along with the bomb sqaud return
    something had to be done after last season the club was falling apart and i guess most player would have been unhappy with the treatment they recieved from PL’s bully boy assistance

    PL has not suddenly become a top manager overnight but i think with the realising that sub standard or not ready kids wont cut it he has opted for experience and is benifiting from that— i do think he has gone a bit over board with cole signing but overall he has done well in replacing the kids

    There is no way in hell Randy would sack PL as its all about the money — it is the only time i can remember that someone has performed like they have at villa and kept there job and this is purely down to curcumstance –

    Mark you are right in that phyical burnout is part and parcel of the kick and rush game

  115. Mark King

    jen- not true Lambert said they already knew each other through celtic and general football circles if I remember right. the fact we now seem to have team spirit says if there was any animosity its past, your saying he’s guilty by association but had very little to do with day to day goings on, can’t have it both ways. I have seen enough small Hitlers that present different faces to different people in my time Jen.
    the very thought that we would just keep Lambert because he’s crap and all the players hate him and I don’t want to pay him off is ridiculous IMO. if he was guilty he could have been fired for the same offence, he wasn’t therefore it was less to do with him than the other pair again IMO. Didn’t the senior players approach him with the complaint? why not go straight to the top? if he is guilty the fault lies with Lerner for not getting rid surely?
    also isn’t it a bit rich to say RK’s a strong candidate because what? he has an unblemished record better than Lamberts? and apparently RK can learn from his mistakes but Lambert can’t? isn’t that a little unfair? to be able to learn from the mistakes isn’t it better done by the man who made them? of course finance came into it and the fact its a short term contract that suited both parties.
    I think people are letting sentiment cloud their view of Lambert, understandable but not entirely accurate on every count.
    I’m not saying he’s the greatest or even I rate him highly but I do think he’s been dealt a bad hand and survived. sir alex came through a rough patch to make man utd what they are, brendan rodgers is getting stick from the liverpool fans is it fair not really, fans are impatient and have a distorted view of where they think their club should be

  116. The Droyd

    So much speculation here about what went on at Bodymoor Heath with IC and GK.

    1) None of us know the truth about what actually happened. Anything said on this site about that is pure speculation. Both have been dismissed because the manager didn’t want them anymore and will have signed agreements not to disclose what actually happened.

    2) Who gives a shit about any of this and why? This matter is closed and because we don’t know what exactly happened, I have no idea how anyone can come to the conclusion that this makes PL a bad manager. Brian Clough fell out spectacularly with his backroom team. It didn’t make him a bad manager.

    3) It is really tedious and irrelevant to this season. Can we move on from this irrelevance?

  117. Mark King

    As further evidence mullud witness Lambert at Norwich where he had a mix of youth and experiance. he’s simply been asked to keep us up and cut the wage bill

  119. Mark King

    runtingz- maybe the bomb squad mate but RK, how would lerner come to this revelation to approach a man already in a job? the connection is MON and Lambert knows MON well.

  120. Jenny Truman

    Droyd – don’t read it then . We have banter and conversation on here and if it too puerile and down market for you there are always other sites you can go on where I am sure your erudite views will be welcome. So far you have patronised Frem and others including me . We read your views so stop being a spoilt brat and tolerate others as we tolerate you. Get off your soap box and recognise this is just light hearted banter. We are not writing for the Telegraph , we are simple folk chatting about our club . I’m working now so that is the end of it as far as I’m concerned .

  122. Roderick Seel (Sam)

    One major stat i read over the weekend, and forgive me if this has already been mentioned, is we have more points in the league than we have had shots on goal this season. Now i may be being a little simplistic here but right there is a massive reason to get the Beast back in ASAP.

    As an experiment i would like to see Bent and Tekkers play up front for a couple of games, if they could work out their positioning, that could be devastating!

    For me, nothing has changed, we need a new manager, sooner or later RK will implode, and the owner is a noob with no knowledge of sport let alone football. Dress it anyway you like, so far we have been lucky, lets hope our luck holds till we get a decent points tally.

  123. Mark King

    rod- 67% shots to goals even weirder for a team that can’t hit a barn door, bare in mind Liverpool only had one shot on goal, posts and bar don’t count, we hit them twice against hull. And it is only 4 games with no real goal threat.
    I agree it will be all change when we sell so might as well enjoy if Lambert and RK turn out to be the messiahs happy days if not on to the next

  124. steamers75

    FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG HELL , there is a god ………………

    after McGrath that is !

    cant wait to see the censor on that )))))

    runtins if i do get to london could we go to that Jazzcafe in camden ,you share on F/B

    frem is your email working , holding this fuseboard job ,

  125. steamer

    Mark,
    Are you seriously attempting to tell us that after employing IC & GK at FOUR clubs Lambert didn’t know what they were up to ? The lad at Colchester was damning in his comments and not just the players. Don’t forget Chubby was his immediate superior, not exactly a dominant personalitty or well versed in football culture. Lamberts not only guilty by association but guilty full stop, hopefully the new owners will clear this scum out of VP. Don’t forget Flabby had to get between IC and Sid because of IC’s thuggish nature.

  126. steamer

    Lambert reminds me of the wimpy kid at school who hangs around with the school bully to protect him because no-one likes him and he’s crepe at everything. Strange that Lerner reminds me of the school idiot too, time to change schools.

    Mark,
    Its not just that PL’s crepe and employs peasants and is a p-poor excuse of a manager and human being, as Runtingz points out, his entire football philosophy is embarrassing, Naarwich played the most long balls under PL and were succeeded by ?? oh that’s who, AVFC, he just doesn’t have anything to offer the club, ffs even Livingstone booted him.

  128. Mark King

    steamer- anything is possible but very unlikely, are you telling me Lerner doesn’t know that and kept him on for what his sparkling conversation? or ability to save him money? chubby implemented the financials with Lerner so gave Lambert his framework in which to work.
    You don’t have to be liked to be a manager, but he has defended some utter shite from some players Bennett etc. as all managers do. so maybe they have some allegiance with him and just didn’t like the other two, he did bring them here and employ them
    Anyone on here not worked with people/managers who have used bullying or favouritism to get what they want because they are under pressure and are willing to do it. some people crawl up the bosses arse, some don’t like authority of any kind, rarely is the world perfect. I find it strange that we are up in arms because a trainer was a bit sadistic and yet bombing women and kids is turned a blind eye too on the news because it is almost a daily occurrence neither is tolerable but in the scheme of things one is trivial.
    Does anyone think that this doesn’t happen at other clubs? it happens a lot at pub level let alone professional. Abramovich is Mafia, they have a saying in Russia its “don’t ask me how I made my first million”. man city’s bosses keep there people subjugated and put the profits into a football club. someone was bullied call the police 🙂

  129. runtings

    bye Droyd 🙂

    Mark – yes i guess no one knows the exact fact re the appointments ect – one thing for sure is that something drastic had to happen and thankfully it did

  130. B62 Villa

    Morning,
    Seems the decent start, maybe papering over a few cracks, firstly the negatives
    1) It doesn’t seem there is any takeover coming anytime soon.
    2) We are playing more like Stoke City, than Stoke City.
    3) Lambert and Lerner are still here.
    4) We massively lack width and creativity, and could do with a bit more quality in certain areas
    5) VP is half empty for home games.
    6) More points than shots on target is a long term worry
    7) Lamberts inability to evolve tactically

    Now for the positives
    1) 2nd Place and 10 points from 12, a massive improvement and good return.
    2) we look more solid and organised
    3)the players are showing some unity and togetherness
    4) Culverhouse and Carsa are long gone
    5) we are up for sale
    6) Tekkers is back in training
    7) Jack Grealish
    8) The Aston Tavern
    Monty
    Take care mate in these hard times, you will come back stronger I’m sure.

  131. John Lerwill

    Olmecs

    New series on BBC4 started last night about South American ancient civilisations and the first topic was about the ball-game loving Olmecs. Yes, they made rubber balls and decided to solve political and human arguments by playing a ball-game instead of going to war!! Great people!

    But if you want to read a primer about another ball-playing entity (the Villa) just click here to see about ordering your copy! 🙂

  132. runtings

    st75 deffo up for that mate – anything that involes music and i am there — if you get a date in advance for your visit let me know so i can check what good stuff is on around that time

  135. Mark King

    For all those who think Lifes easy and success guaranteed

    “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
    ― Thomas A. Edison
    Inventor of the light bulb amongst other trivial things

  137. John Lerwill

    Well, they were plugging the Olmecs as being good guys, Mark. They also seem to have been the first culture in S.A. to build a pyramid. Fascinating people – they suddenly came almost out of nowhere and (according to their images) looked almost negroid.

    Yes, I think you’re right about some other S.A. culture … things seem to have got dirty after the Olmecs (first millennium AD).

  138. steamers75

    Jenny
    your going to lose quite a few friends on here with your flippant use of the words “simple folk” in your bollicking of droyd , l can tell you some on here have got degrees in being simple and a few others are really really working hard in achieving theirs , so i think a curt appology is needed , l know mark is retaking his test for the 4th time, even with the extra coaching off ,sww,steamer ,pp .prox and brasil he’s still struggling with it , but l got to take my hat off to him “He’s a trier” and god loves a trier !!, lv even sent him a copy of” simpletons for Dummies ,” waste of money that was !
    he doesnt even know Edison invented the Lighthouse …….duh !

    B62 , hows the wife and the likkle bump mate ,

  139. Paul Pears

    Droyd

    you are one of the few with the logical business approach to matters..we need to retain a balanced forum….and I am sure Jen loves you really…..as she does everyone else…just she loves ST75 more..!!!

  140. Mark King

    St75- i resemble that remark, and if i wasnt up in these clouds talking to fairies id give a shit

    Jl- the history of our distant past fasinates me. for instance the thought world travel only started recently is rubbish whole areas have come and gone under the sea along with entire cultures. I believe mankind and civilizations are cyclical like most of nature and there is plenty of proof buried to back up myths and legends.
    For instance steamer says he has the reciept for the only round st75 has ever bought its in hyraglyphics and says I.O.U. £20

  142. John Lerwill

    Paul,

    I’ve been in business for years but still state that what is important about running a sports club is keeping the fans happy.

    Have we been happy this past 4 – or certainly 3 – years? The pain of 3 years doesn’t just go away, though you may gradually find a way of putting it aside if the tide has turned for good. But we don’t know about that just yet. All we can do is give ’em a chance.

    Meanwhile, chatting about the Olmecs etc fills a gap! 😉

  143. Trinity

    I’m thinking about spending a year in Hamburg to do the sausagemeister course, be nice to set up a small sausage making businss back home one day. The course would also afford the chance to see a lot of Villa’s home games in the weekends. It’s a cheap flight from Hamburg to Brum. There’d be some decent local footy on offer too.

  144. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    The stories of Atlantis and Mu (Lemuria?) pervade … and there seems to be strong evidence that the cultures of those lost continents migrated in time to save their knowledge in places like Egypt, Tibet and Japan. I once knew a Brummie who became a Tibetan monk 50 years ago. I’d love to know what happened to him.

    That the Basques of Spain and the Aztec descendants are said to have a linked DNA is quite interesting.

  145. Mark King

    Jl- have you seen the evidence for a vast chain of sunken islands right across the pacific with buildings on them? Quite possibly atlantis as the greeks intimated it lay to the east not in the med or atlantic?
    My favourite is the ancient map the chinese used to create their own maps. It shows antartica as two islands covered in trees with a river. A fact we only discovered with modern technology. Who drew that map.
    Also the whole world has flood stories not just the bible

  146. John Lerwill

    Whoa … ! 😉

    PLato said Atlantis was beyond the “Pillars of Hercules” … which means in the Atlantic. In fact there have been findings around Cuba and Bimini that seem to support that view even further.

    The finds you mention in the Pacific are likely to be connected to Mu (Lemuria).

    There were two great continents, it is said, but Mu apparently went under before Atlantis.

  147. Mark King

    Jl- i also saw something that identified the pillars of hercules being in an area east of the middle east and not in the atlantic as first thought cant remember the name of the location will try and dig it up. As in all subjects there are differing opinons

  148. Paul Pears

    JL

    “keeping the fans happy is what is important” do you mean like Leeds Utd, Portsmouth and Rangers did????

    It is only right in the same way as retail businesses says “the customer is always right”….no different to a woman….let her believe that she is right….

    No good having a club that is insolvent, and then letting it disappear into the depths of wilderness.

    Like everyone else, i am not happy with what has happened to date, but it is history…and exactly that..it will not change, but at last the future looks a whole lot brighter, and financially Villa is a lot leaner and fitter. It can now survive for the foreseeable future.

  149. Frem

    St75- Is that job in Henley ?

    Runtings- West Ham and Hull will do fine this season. They both have very good squads. I wonder if we can go all season playing the way we are without being figured out. I hope Lamberk has a plan B this season unlike last season which was just 433 game after game after game. Didn’t change anything from home to away games

    I see Everton are getting a new 50 thousand seater stadium. Spurs moving as well.we We are falling behind even more. We need those new owners in, get the fans turning up and knock down the North Stand

    PP- do you ever go in the Holte pub ?

  150. Paul Pears

    In business terms, Lambert has met the parameters set down by Lerner over the last two years, even if part was just by the skin of his teeth. It does not change the fact that he succeeded.

    He cut the wage bill and running costs of the club, and he retained Villa’s status a s a Premiership club, and for this in industry he would be well rewarded.

    In the 1970’s I was employed by West Midlands Gas, and Jim Mchugh was the Director of Engineering responsible for the supply of gas to the region. He cut gas stocks to an absolute minimum, saving the region thousands of pounds, now if we had run out of gas he would lost his job, but because he succeeded, he became the Director of Engineering for British Gas responsible for the whole country. Business is all about success, and who can deny that Lambert is succeeding, with Villa now in second place, something not one of us here would have ever believed possible at the start of this season.

    If we take a business view, it is time we started to congratulate Lambert, and also RK, and maybe they will develop into the next Clough and Taylor, and we will not want them being recruited by the moneybags elsewhere.

  151. Paul Pears

    Haven’t been in there yet Frem.
    sometimes go in the Holte Suite for San Miguel, but am happy to meet somewhere round there. will send you a msg with my mobile no.

  152. Mark King

    Paul P
    To early IMO to be calling Lambert a footballing success if indeed the worst is over, I agree that no matter how unpalatable for the fans he has done as asked by Lerner and that is why he is still in charge despite some desperate moments, Logically I can see it no other way.

  153. steamer

    PP
    “keeping the fans happy is what is important” do you mean like Leeds Utd, Portsmouth and Rangers did???? Jon meant the fans of Bradford City, Southampton and CeltIc.
    Didn’t the wage bill go up last season ?
    Its not how much we’ve spent its HOW its been spent, looking at the Browns and then Villa its obvious that Lerner’s delegation skills are crepe,liking someone is not a reason for giving them jobs with responsibilities for big £££££££££££££££££. With the losses on Lambert’s signings when we shift them and the loss of revenue from the missing fans then i don’t think you can call Lerner, Chubby & Lambert’s fiscal skills successful.

  154. Frem

    PP- we are 4 games in. You can’t call Lamberk a success yet. We are already out the cup

    Let’s see where we are in 34 games time. Let’s see if his tactics change from away games to home games. Let’s see if we can beat teams like Burnley, Stoke, etc at VP this time around unlike last season

  155. steamer

    Mark King, logic ?

    Droyd
    At least stay until after the next general election.
    C’mon mate, you give out the welly too, AVL’s getting it’s edge back now with the sensible lefties, Moi, S75, Jen, Runner, Frem, B6B, B62, and SWV talking constructively while the loony right, yourself, PP and Mark have yet to be convinced of our wisdom.

    B62,
    How long to go mate ?

  156. bibulus

    Good balanced point well made Mark!
    Its great to have some points but the table dont count until Christmas unless they have gone and changed the season without telling anyone there is a long way to go. Still happy to see a better vibe from VP so far this season and hope it continues. We all know bigger changes are needed – good to see an early change is the villa picking up points and playing better football.
    UTV!

  157. Mark King

    JL
    this is what I was referring to and buildings etc have been found 200-300 ft down and more denoting a disaster of some sort.

    “The late Arysio dos Santos claims[320] claimed that “there was only one real pair of pillars: the ones that flank Sunda Strait in Indonesia”, in keeping with his Indonesian location for Atlantis. However, he does list (p.130) nine sites designated by ancient authorities as having been locations of ‘Pillars’, reinforcing the idea that the term was not exclusively applied to just one site.”

    this site shows how argued a point there location is but there are indeed buildings 2000 ft down off the coast of Florida I believe, located by subs made from huge blocks of stone but little talked about. it seems to indicate a world wide cataclysm

    http://atlantipedia.ie/samples/pillars-of-heracles/

    heres a whole can of worms for you

  158. Mark King

    steamer- you wound me sir,
    take the bombs squads wages out as they were unused except given in a coaching role. it comes to £185,000 a week of wages to 5 players not playing or paid for partially by loans. £377,000 a week on the rest of the squad so a third of wages roughly waisted. yes we were up 2m but we didn’t make massive losses as previous years.
    if lerners plan hadn’t succeeded probably we would be playing leeds, porstmouth etc. the onus was on shifting 40,00 plus earners which we had plenty of, why would we release so many for nowt if we were not desperate to lower the wages

    forget the little fish sell, delph westwood tekkers vlaar guzan what are they worth now?

  162. runtings

    Mark it’s very odd all these contracts being handed out isnt it

    On the other hand it would be silly to let your first teamers run out the final year of there contract especially if no sale has been agreed

  163. Mark King

    runtingz- very likely or put it like this, players are a major part of the value of the club and a potential buyer won’t want to see his new toy essentially asset stripped next year as they all leave on frees

  164. southwestvillan

    Once more into the breech dear comrades, or as Captain Blackadder once said ” The bombings stopped because our generals feel it is rather sporting to let the Germans kill us”.

    Yes I agree the results have improved but the football has not got any better, we seem to be playing the same game as we did last season except we have some more experienced players to carry out the instructions.

    Both home games we have failed to attain 50% possession with figures of 40% and 45% against Newcastle and Hull, our two away games have been 38% against Stoke culminating in 26% against Liverpool.

    I think that speaks volumes for the way we are setting the team up it is not pretty to watch and I pity anyone with a season ticket, if you are happy just to see the team gain points without a shred of entertainment then I think you may be in for a long season.

    I can honestly say even with Benteke back in the side that the tactics will not change although we may see more of the ball if it sticks up front instead of coming back every 15 seconds, one thing for sure is our defenders are in for some overtime.

    The only moment I was entertained was when Sendeross kicked Balotelli now that I would have paid good money to watch, just to see the look on his boat when he got up, priceless.

    Just one final comment and question has anyone seen Joe Cole, is he like that part at the back of the knee which nobody knows the name of and serves no purpose in life whatsoever.

    UTV

  165. John Lerwill

    Paul: No good having a club that is insolvent, and then letting it disappear into the depths of wilderness.

    I think that goes without saying, mate! 🙂 I was not purporting that at all … that scenario is not at all what I intended to infer.

  166. Mark King

    SWV- your right on the quality but I have noticed a trend, possession does not equal win. spurs v liverpool 60% v 40% liverpool win 3-0 have 18 shots on goal to spurs 8.
    on one weekend I think 6 games went the way of less possession.

    as for the benteke theory I think it will against the lower teams not so top teams as it makes sense. saying that we gave as good as we got for the first 25 then changed it as liverpool tried change and react. at least its nice to not shit yourself pre-match

  167. John Lerwill

    Mark

    The term “Pillars of Hercules” was actually ascribed to the Straights of Gibralter in Plato’s time, and if you really dig deeply into what happened in Egypt around 10,000 BC it is clear that something special did occur originating from the west and the traditions of which have been carried by hidden societies ever since. And you also have the DNA connection between Europe and Meso-America, explained by survivors of the Atlantis deluge reaching both sides of the Atlantic.

    In point of fact, there has been an interesting mitrochondrial DNA find that there is a European link with a North American tribe that goes back even way beyond 10,000 BC, that would be explained by travel via Atlantis to North America.

    The Pacific findings are almost without doubt related to the continent of Mu.

    We must keep our minds open to the existence of TWO ancient continents, not one. Apart from traditions handed down, Edgar Cayce has interesting things to say on this topic.

  168. Frem

    What a bizzar club. He was out in the cold for years, now he’s signed a new 3 year contact

    Still no Delph Vlaar or Grealish though which is worrying.

  169. steamers75

    yes Frem, Henley in arden . might tun into a big job…………….
    l used to watch man from Alantis , thought it was made up though ,

    frem good pub before game Sacred Hearts club,

  172. proxopera

    John ,
    I’m not laughing , but you are clearly an educated man and that is why referencing Cayce as an authority on anything except how to charismatically hoodwink large swathes of people puzzles me . I put him in the same category as gillian mckeith , that guy who started the mormons , the guy who started the jehovah witnesses , eileen drury , the moving statues epidemic in 80’s ireland and the scouse bloke on sky who talks to dead people.

  174. John Lerwill

    Prox,

    I only stated that Cayce had some interesting (and corresponding) things to say about Atlantis.

    In fact, though, I’m not so sure he was the charlatan that people say he was. He stated many many things that have found to be kosher. e.g. his prediction of the invention of a “death ray” in 1958. The ‘laser’ was first developed then, and it is has been worked on to be used as a ‘death ray’.

    In terms of his views on Christianity and Hindu teachings, I find huge conformity with what Vedanta says.

  175. Mark King

    prox- from what I have heard of cayce most of his work was done diagnosing peoples ailments whilst In a trance at which he was incredibly accurate. you clearly don’t ascribe to quantum physics theory then? which goes a long way to explain such phenomenon with field theory Einstein will be pleased. cayce was a long way away from “ooh it feels cold in here its a ghost”, and “does the name edna mean anything to anybody on the site?” 😉

  179. Mark King

    JL- wasn’t he studied scientifically ? and this led to such things as remote viewing in the military, which purportedly was used in the gulf war to find the mobile missile sights when all else failed. Its a shame cayce didn’t see lerner coming 😉

  181. proxopera

    Nice try lads but I’d need a little more convincing than his prediction of a ‘death ray ‘ . Nostradumus was supposed to have predicted hitler , thatcher and the atomic bomb , though not necessarily in that order. As for your point Mark , not believing a mysticist and therefore not ascribing to quantum physics is a bit of a leap in logic now is’nt it.
    Come on , you can do better than that. He might be interesting but he’s hardly any more genuine than keith barry or any of the psychic entertainers.

  182. proxopera

    Mark ,
    the key word in your statement is ‘purpotedly’ , was the allies search for wmd’s based on the results of this highly accurate remote viewing? oops. Bin laden was hiding in a b&b in pakistan for years , funny how none of them picked up on that one.

  187. Mark King

    prox – not if you understand it, pick up a copy of the field by lynne mctaggart . I only said purportedly as I wasn’t there but I have listened to several people talk on the subject who are ex military and were involved and still run companies to this day offering the same service to high end clients and companies who want the inside info. Maybe Bin laden was dead long ago or wanted to keep the bogie man alive and funny how they buried a muslim at sea. it strikes me you have a mind like a steel trap, shut tight 😉

  188. Jenny Truman

    Good evening lifers,

    First of all – apologies for including you all in the “simple folk” description – you have a long way to go as ST 75 said 🙂

    PP – Of course all ideas are welcome – that is the point of my response to Droyd – who on the last two posts has berated me and others for our simplistic drivel or words to that effect. He is not putting an idea forward or even disagreeing, he is saying we shouldn’t be posting about it. Don’t call me stupid haha So much for individual freedom eh 🙂

    Moving on and off topic. John L – you said that your cats were being bullied . I hate to tell you this but cats do actually suffer from stress for this very reason. THere has been a study into this and it is featured in a tv programme on BBC called Cat Wars and is on Monday September 22nd BBC1 not sure of the time.

    To continue with the policitical theme, author Alan Bennett said recently “you can’t call yourself a Christian and not believe in a socialist philosophy.” Breaking two rules there “never discuss policitics and never discuss religion”. But I kinda think he has got a point.

    Steamer – so was Harry H Corbett and Sooty and Sweep 🙂

  189. steamer

    John,
    The death ray was invented before 1958, i saw Ming the Merciless use one in Flash Gordon in 195mind yer own biz.

    David Nixon was a slightly better magician than Tommy Cooper who was a slightly better football manager than Paul Lambert, glass, bottle,bottle, glass.

  190. proxopera

    Lynne Mctaggart ?? now i know you’re winding me up Mark . Some day we’ll have a drink and chat about this , but i’ll have to drop down to alum rock for some supplies first. As for bin laden , of course he was caught a few years ago and buried at sea , hollywood made a movie about it , they would’nt lie , would they ??? Its ok to have an open mind but you need some kind of firewall .

  194. steamer

    Mark talking about Hyroglyphics earlier reminded me of when the two Ronnies discovered an ancient Egyptian caff, Corbett asked him how he knew and Barker pointed out M & X ( Ham & Eggs ) must youtube that to see if i got it right.

  197. John Lerwill

    Jenny,

    Thanks a bundle for the pointer about ‘Cat Wars’. We’ll definitely look out for it.

    About the Alan Bennett quote. The American political philosopher and Christian Jim Wallis similarly wrote: “Your political viewpoint is your spirituality demonstrated.”

  198. Mark King

    prox- that goes for all sources of info as there’s no way government or the media would ever put out conflicting claims to muddy the waters that would be like lying wouldn’t it and they wouldn’t do that

  204. Jenny Truman

    Keep em coming John 🙂

    I met Ronnie Corbett recently in H A Rods – his wife lovely asked my daughter to model a necklace she wanted to buy for her grandaughter. He shuffled away in embarrassment

  206. John Lerwill

    My wife had an encounter with the little Ronnie once.

    She was going across a zebra crossing and who stopped for her but the little man driving a Jaguar, and sitting on about 3 cushions to see over the bonnet!

  209. Jenny Truman

    Four candles brilliant 🙂

    John – yes excellent quote that too. My daughter was doing “An Inspector Calls” for GCSE so I read it with her. (and watched the DVD) I loved it. As you probably know Priestly was a socialist in the 1940s and his writing reflects this. On Radio 4 Extra they are having a JB Priestley week and as it is some sort of anniversary of his (birth/death I dont know) You can get three of his 90 min plays on BBC Radio I player – now there is something to listen to when calming your cats .

  210. steamer

    Corbett was funny in his own right but Barker was something else. Although i don’t support the honours system the likes of Barker, Eric Sykes etc deserved knighthoods more than the likes of Mick Jagger and the soon to be Sir David Beckham.

  212. Jenny Truman

    Quite a few comedians are miserable aren’t they. Tony Hancock – my favourite – Hancocks Half Hour – Saw a rather damning drama doc on Tommy Cooper which was sad and then Lenny Bruce – Irish Dave Whatsisname drank himself to death – all brilliant but tortured geniuses. Pete and Dud – similar .

  218. Mark King

    jen- its bro love at least on Lamberts part, mine would be like that if I grew one. maybe they are going to form a zz top tribute band with baker for the end of season party? although Lambert might look like seasick Steve by then.

  220. steamer

    Ron,
    Fair dooths ( sorry Freddie ‘Parrot Face’ Davies ) Mutton has done really well, iv’e given him some mild criticism but he’s turned it around, well done.

  223. Jenny Truman

    THats him Steamer – Dave Allen – reminds me of winter evenings as a kid watching telly with my Dad – who loved him and also loved whiskey . HIs half thumb used to fascinate me.
    No – not heard of Bill Hicks Steamer.

    Hutton – Ronnie I bet Hutton didn;t either – I remember his wife tweeting two seasons ago she was really upset because AV wouldn’t tell him if he was wanted and she had to find schools for the kids. What next – get back Stephen Warnock 🙂

  224. steamers75

    jenny cant believe he brought up sooty and sweep ,
    was at a sports quiz a few years ago and my question was to the nearest £ what was the most expensive racing pigeon, now my uncle was a pigeon fancier so l knew it was around the 40 grand mark , and were on our way to a crate of wine and steamer gets asked “name a very famous prolific duo with the initials S a S “, without hesitation we were all rubbing our hands together thinking of the wine and he came out with “Sooty and sweep” the place went into uproar and the quiz went downhill from there , the compare started on the wine himself . l think even SWW was there , its even Ridgemere social folklore now ,

  229. Mark King

    was looking at the video for this years team photo, they all turned around and they all had number 4 on their shirts except guzan and Given who had 1 and bent who had 67

  233. proxopera

    steamer ,
    great clip with the fork handles except he actually only gave him one handle so it kinda undermines the joke a bit . As you can see i’ve a very pedantic mind but mark and john are helping me with it . Forgot your Mrs is one of us Mark. Its a nice part of the country right enough , bleak in winter though.

  235. proxopera

    s75 ;
    Hows the stout going down ? FYI I’ve just found out that the same beer is bottled for aldi and sold under the name “o’sheas” , half the price as well.

  237. John Lerwill

    Jenny,

    JP has an ability to calm cats?! Wow, what a thought!

    But please don’t talk more to me about cats just now – we moved house 3 weeks ago and this 4 have only just come out of their sulks since moving … and just now I learnt we also have to act as nursemaids to our son’s cat for a year … it’s too complicated to explain why but is tied in with they living in a first floor flat etc etc

    I thought that when you get to a certain age that growing a set of whiskers becomes acceptable, but I’m in danger of growing cat’s whiskers!! 🙂

  238. Jenny Truman

    Well yes – thank you for thinking of me Prox – all credit to you – it was Sunday I looked it up – I will ask my girls how I watch it on i player – not sure if they do one for channel four – the luddite strikes again 🙂

    Steamer – just watched the Bill Hicks vid at half time – hilarious – Hunging down BIlly Rae Cyrus and “Weve got Hendrick on Harp”. 🙂

    John – you must be v patient !

    Well well. Arsenal are looking pretty ropy – nothing our friends reunited can’t cope with 🙂 🙂

  239. Jenny Truman

    Friends of mine had that very same cassette Steamer – and yes we used to play it in secret like it we were committing a big crime haha Pete and Dud – but best sketch on tv was those two at the museum –

  244. Mark King

    prox- they kill you with kindness, queing up to buy you a drink after you’ve had a afternoon and evening on it and they rack up at 10pm. no doesn’t seem to be in their vocabulary

  245. rogermuffin

    Evening all!

    its taking me hours to catch up on old your comments.

    Some funny stuff.

    Ronnie barker bill hicks very funny dudes.

    JOhn stewart Stephen Colbert or Craig ferguson anyone? , they have the funniest/ cleverest shows on us TV at the moment. Not he most popular – but the thinking mans comic.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxp4XXEX4Yw

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcJgiYqWGY

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEWBBhW3BTs

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj9o5C9ToGQ

    JOhn – Mark Prox – Graham Hancock your man

    for ancient civilizations

  246. rogermuffin

    Evening all!

    its taking me hours to catch up on old your comments.

    Some funny stuff.

    Ronnie barker bill hicks very funny dudes.

    JOhn stewart Stephen Colbert or Craig ferguson anyone? , they have the funniest/ cleverest shows on us TV at the moment. Not he most popular – but the thinking mans comic.

    They’ll all on you tube i tried to stick the links up but cant for some reason

    JOhn – Mark Prox – Graham Hancock;s your man

    for ancient civilizations

  248. steamers75

    Prox. thanks mate , will find the nearest aldi tomorrow , easier than trying to find the nearest M&S,
    best lock in , was Fitzgeralds in Dublin , shutters came down and the gaffer set the alarm clock for 4am , no one left before then , few mates are on about a fishing trip , l think lm going , cant fish for my life but they reckon the boozers are brilliant , think its Northern Ireland , ,

    well lm off to bed , l cant believe what lv let myself get talked into tomorrow for my nephew , just got this feeling my legs are going to be where my arms are and vice versa , think i’ll need some of prox’s beer tomorrow afternoon ,

  249. Mark King

    roger m- yes mate have listened to a lot of talk shows featuring G.Handcock very switched on fella

    st75- good luck mate, I take it your the rag doll for groundwork 🙂 , ditto roger M

  253. steamer

    Sorry to carry on ( geddit ) the comedy theme but remember this one ? in my opinion this man wasa true genius –

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TtZgs8k8dU

    Jen,
    Pete & Dud were brilliant, saw them on Parky once and they ad-libbed their way through the whole show, the must have been psychic, just built sketches from the most innocuous word, British comedy at its finest alongside Milligan and the Bonzo’s.

  254. John Lerwill

    Roger: JOhn – Mark Prox – Graham Hancock;s your man for ancient civilizations

    Well, he’s ONE of the men on the subject (Robert Bauval and Stephen Oppenheimer are probably the best of the others) but older readers will probably remember von Daniken and Velikovsky as early prompters on celestial and strange things. Both wrote profusely. Zecharaiah Sitchin and Alan Alford are others and there are quite a few that you could add to the list.

    And has anyone encountered the musings of that old Coventry City goalkeeper – David Icke?!

  255. John Lerwill

    Serious Cosmology

    I thought I’d add a word about the work of the Egyptologist – Dr. Carmen Boulter. Look her up on Youtube … she has some fascinating videos about Ancient Egypt.

    On the subject of Mu (Lemuria), the work of James Churchward in the early 20th c. deserves attention i.m.o.

  256. Roderick Seel (Sam)

    Right first off…

    Didn’t the Mayans or the Aztecs play footy with the head of the defeated leaders, they would decapitate them then kick their heads around a type of colosseum? i believe this was before the balls of gum and the earliest recorded type of football?

    Sooo… let me catch up on Villa Life…

    Xena (Jen), Gives Droyd a verbal bashing, but as far as any bloke is concerned, a life without a woman telling you what to do is, quite frankly a little odd. For what its worth though i kind of agree with Droyd.

    With regard to mind altering drugs and getting in touch with the Eyougha or eywa or mother earth, (whatever…), watch the film about that blue bird running through the woods and fighting off the evil spirit, Avatar. I felt like i was on drugs after sitting through that!

    Aliens, Gods, Spirits, Mysteries, am i a figment of my own imagination?
    Then there is classic comedy, Ronnies, Pete and Dud, Hancock, WTF…….

    Pete: I think Ladies having all these many and varied erogenous zones about their person, i think the least they can do is label them.

    Dud: Yeah

    Pete: You know label them in order of preference.

    Dud: Yeah.

    Pete: Then at least you could be certain of starting off on the right foot.

    Dud: Thats a daft place to start

    Classic!

    Anyway i digress, wheres the Football debate gone?

  257. B62 Villa

    Steamer/St75
    All good with the bump, Oct 13 is the due date.
    I’m off to Scotland (Edinburgh and outer Hebrides)next week with work, should be interesting depending on how they vote
    As I know how fond of the English they are up there!!!
    Either way I see it as some sort of humanitarian visit to the third world 😉 looking forward to a decent night out in Edinburgh, any recommended boozers????
    I spat my tea when I read the Sooty and Sweep dit,

  258. runtings

    Les Dawson was a real talent for me –
    Gooners seem there for the taking if we keep our disopline and can get a goal i fancy us to pull of another shock result

    Jen – you will always be welcome to party with me – maybe i can find a way of getting some music to you
    bit out of my depth with some of yesterdays posts -some funny post from thou – prox 🙂

  259. John Lerwill

    Roderick

    The Olmecs were apparently the first to utilise *rubber* balls and never went in for the decapitated head routine – they were before the Mayans and therefore *that* appears to have been the earliest ball game according to latest findings.

  261. Mark King

    Rod- your best mate droyd killed it when he said its all drivel
    Love it when people have a little chuckle at shall we say the out of box stuff at least it broadens peoples horizon i suppose. I try to explain ideas and theories to people only to get ridicule, then they see it on the tele and suddenly its real priceless. Rather than be open minded and actually study the subject most people delve into their belief system and deliver a damning verdict from there.

    Discuss. 🙂

  264. John Lerwill

    Was Helenius a mere short-term pawn in Lambert’s long game?

    This article puts forward an interesting notion on why Helenius was bought.

    If this is true, then added to what happened in creating a bomb squad, it seems to indicate some further crass usage of players to manipulate a situation.

    Yes, players have been getting too much of their own way these last 20 years or so, but is this the right way to interfere with a sportsman’s short career?

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