Not being a massive fan of international breaks, we’ve had a week off from Aston Villa. In recent years, such a break would be welcomed, but Villa’s unbeaten start has led to increased optimism.
Quite how that optimism might fare after the next five games is another thing – playing five of the top teams in the league will be a real challenge.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we should be hopelessly pessimistic either. Villa, whilst being residents of the wrong end of the table for a while, have the potential to do better than recent times. No, that doesn’t mean there’s an expectation we’re going to challenge at the top – time has taught me to be cautious about Villa – but we can get to mid-table.
All that said, the truth is mid-table is likely going to be very tight come the end of the season, so finishing tenth might only be a win different to finishing 15th. That kind of small margin of difference may well make getting to tenth sound little different to a lower placing, but finishing higher in the league is, if you pardon the obviousness of the statement, finishing higher in the league.
Whether you get to mid-table by a point, ten points, or fifteenth, mid-table is what it is. Finishing ninth under Gerard Houllier was seen as successful and, in a way, it was. That it cost £24m on Darren Bent and that Villa were only safe in the last two games can be looked at as relevant or not – what has mattered since then is that ninth has been a distant dream.
Moving forwards, it will be interesting to see how the club can move on this season. Maybe they can do better than the last few seasons, even if that seems like no real big target. Maybe they can even cause some upsets – ideally against the next few opponents.
So, as we face down another week, there’s a chance we could build on last season’s result at Anfield and steal the points. Can Villa do it? Or will we be looking at a gloomy month ahead?
The Author
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 164
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Hello Matt. Any points from the next few games will be seen as a bonus but the games will still give us some idea of whether we have made any real progress or whether we’re still mug supporters clutching at straws. If we roll over and are on the end of a couple of thumpings that will tell us one thing. If instead what has looked so far this season like a better defensive unit survives and we do pick up a point or two then maybe there could be grounds for cautious optimism. I think it’s too early to tell but it will be interesting.
Really i suppose we have done our job beating stoke & hull and should approach these games in confidence with no pressure.
I fancy us upsetting a few but would not be shocked to have 0 points on the board after the 5 games….it’s a insane sequence of fixtures.
My only aim is to survive this season and if we can do that by consistently being 6 or 7 points away from the bottom 3 ill be able to sleep more easy.
Good morning all.
Last year we beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City and drew against Liverpool even though we should of won that one as well. This year we have a stronger Defence and midfield. Our attack is at present our weakness but against these sides we stand a chance with our counter attacking. Weimann does have a good shot on him and when Gabby is on form he too is a great threat.
As mentioned there is little difference between 8th and 18th and I am happy that just after three games we are less than a sixth away from premiership safety and this is without our star striker so once he is back and is form is also back then I think we will be safe this year.
There is such a large divide between the top six and the rest that I wish there was a European super league. With the top Four immediately going into it and a chance of a couple more going up the following season as long as it is the bottom teams that get relegated regardless of what country they are from. A play off style competition for the other league winners to choose who will get promoted into the super league. This way a feel that not only us but the rest of the league would have a fairer chance of winning it.
What might work in our favour is the pool game comes after international break and alsoi think next midweek is champions league sandwiched bewtween pool and arsenal matches.
The only time is Lamberts two long dire seasons iv’e actually watched us and thought ” Fair play” was away against Pool for the first 45 mins. I think they have a couple of injuries as well, so you never know.
10th should be easy really. We have a manager going into his 3rd season with the same club. The standard in this league from 8th downwards is pretty poor. if he cant get 10th then there something wrong .( Well, we all know there is something drastically wrong with Lamberk) We should have got it last season really, well, that was the target at least before the season starred then it ended up being the worst season in history
International break- I’ll only watch England id delph is starting. If not, couldn’t care less about England. I actually watched Northern Ireland and Scotland yesterday put in really good performances. I get more passionate about those two for some reason. I suppose its because there always the under dogs. England are just a bunch of overpaid, over rated big headed useless twats. Hate the international break because it always seems to happen after we win a game
Grealish, delph and Vlaar all have less than 12 months left on there contract. Thankfully so do Lamberk and Gabby and Gabby though. First 3 we have to sign up, the other two, time to say Goodbye
Express: Fabian Delph is expected be a surprise replacement for injured Liverpool star Jordan Henderson when England take on Switzerland this evening. Delph came off the bench to make his debut in the 1-0 win over Norway last week but could now play from the start against the Swiss. Henderson left training with an apparent problem with his right ankle, but, after initial assessment by England medical staff, was able to leave the pitch unaided. There has been some suggestion that Manchester City midfielder James Milner would step into the void given his international experience.
I think we will be OK this year and have a better season.
When we get Benteke back in the team he will resolve our attacking issues. He is our talisman and will come back with a point to prove.
The defence looks rock solid, experienced with pace. I love what Senderos is saying about being at Villa. We all had reservations about Senderos/Cissokho/Hutton but they have all been fantastic so far. Again all with a point to provde – and I think that will make a huge difference this season.
And we have better midfield players this season, Delp/Cleverley/Sanchez?NZogbia all international players.
UTV.
I keep forgetting we have Cleverly now…..hope thats not the case when watching a game!
Mr Fox has his first job in tying Vlaar, Delph and grealish down.
I really do hope I’m not suffering from false optimism based on the points tally from the first three games, does our one league goal conceded hide the fact that we haven’t played against difficult forwards/attacking play or that we have shored up the back and can use it as a basis for counter-attacking football (apart from at home, Lambert please).
Watching the Stoke and Hull games suggests both are pretty toothless upfront and will struggle which if you include West Brom and Burnley ensures we have the requisite numbers of teams worse than us to survive a further season.
Very happy with the midfield and the competition for places that Cleverley and Sanchez provide so our back four will be better protected this season, as previously stated the worry has switched to upfront, will we get first season Benteke back and scare defences or at least give them something to think about, fingers crossed we do.
We definitely have the expanded squad and strengthed bench to ensure we are top half, there is nothing to fear from Man U’s 7th place last year down and even Everton haven’t significantly progressed their squad in the summer. City and Chelsea are the big fears as both those teams could pick us apart but Arsenal (defence) and Liverpool (midfield) are very pedestrian in certain positions.
UTV
I think we will be OK this year and have a better season.
It cant be any worse Richard
Wonder how Cleverley will fit in ? he will defo start against Pool. Think him and delph could be a good box to box partnership
Think we will see a diamond formation back now. NO WINGERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
———————–Guzan——————-
Hutton——Vlaar—–Dross——Sissy
——————-Sanchez—————-
———–Clev—————–Delph—
——————-Zoggy——————
————Gabby——Weimann——-
Don’t think I want to play those 2 up top, we just all know Lambert will
Thats the formation we played at Pool last season. Delph and Clev have the legs to cover the ground, Zoggy has been crap on the right so far so a number 10 role might do him good
Gabby needs to get in behind and nothing else. wiemann is a poacher and nothing else so stop playing him on the fecking wing Lamberk
Frem the only reason weimann is played on the wing and gabby is even in the side is because of the defensive cover they bring-they will double up and track back. The fact they couldn’t hit a barn door is immaterial with this manager. The primary aim of an attacking player as far as PL is concerned is as auxiliary defenders!
nice to see some optimism on here. looking forward to Saturday’s game, and when you look at our team, players who will be on the bench, would have been players we wanted in the team. I.e Okore, Grealish and possibly Benteke.
Frem
I get the feeling by Saturday you will be in a fully positive mood…!!!
PP- Nice to see Benteke and Okore will be back soon. If we can just get a good manager, there could be some real potential in this side
Dipesh- Exactly. we have the most anti football manager around. even our attacking players are picked more on there defensive ability’s then attacking ones. Hes an utter knob
hello folks,
I think like GOG that I almost don’t want to be overly optimistic until I see us against better opposition. looking at things logically though you have to say we did ok against the top teams whether we got battered or hit them on the break we got some very unexpected results, in the case of arsenal and poo we deserved it against chelsea we should of got 4 points city not so good but a wins a win.
this season we look stronger defensively and look more organised overall. the players coming in are taller as well which is a bonus. midfield we have two players Sanchez and cleverly one known for defensive play and organisation the other work rate and ball retention, both lacking in last years midfield sadly along with creativity. delph looks to be switching up a gear and westwood too.
I would not be surprised to see us with 5 in midfield, sanchez and delph with westwood cleverly and richardson in font of them, gabby the lone striker. but I’m hoping we are a bit more adventurous than that and maybe have that in the locker if we get into the lead and need to batten the hatches.
considering how dire and clueless we looked against average opposition that sat back and countered us last season, I think we will see a better points return against that style of play. whether we are sacrificing our counter attack threat for stability we will soon find out as that’s what won us a quarter of our points last year against these very teams.
my only worry is the better style of play we saw against hull was because they were tired/crap I hope not.
frem
Its well known you don’t rate Lambert, therefore how come you think his team will be world beaters under someone else? he had a hand in picking them all you would presume, so he can’t be that useless?
I’m interested to know what would you do with this team that Lamberts hasn’t? given he is watching them 7 days a week. I know what I’d like to see but whether they are capable I’m not sure.
Looking forward to the week end. Been quite busy in the yard.
And a little humour 🙂
One day a housework-challenged husband decided to wash his Sweatshirt.
Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted out, ‘What setting do I use on the washing machine?’
‘It depends,’ His wife replied. ‘What does it say on your shirt?’
He yelled back, ‘ MANCHESTER UNITED ‘!
And they say blondes are dumb….
Ian
whats a washing machine?
Nice one Ian, need all the chuckles we can get over the next few weeks.
Liked the observation by Dipesh about auxillary defenders.very true.
Frem,
Can’t see Lambert dropping Westwood for Zog, ability wise Zog loses him but Lambert loves his square passes that don’t do anything.
when you look at liverpools attacking options and look at joe cole on our bench you have to laugh
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fcs-top-six-options-7737396?
steamer
he will probably go with the hull side, can’t see cleverly starting, with an outside chance of Sanchez getting in. as to who’s dropped, Delph might be tired if he plays tonight but will play if not. could go 442 gabby and nzog up top
delph left sanchez and westwood in the middle and richardson out wide, is’nt it nice to have so many options? 🙂
Mark- I dont think he watches them 7 days a week, I don’t think he does anything football related all week
World beaters? Haha. You dont have to be world beaters to get 10th place Mark. Thats how far we have fallen, thats how low standards are now that 10th is seen as a real achievement by some. That is what we should be aiming for, and dont think for a second I think we should get it because we have a good manager, I think we should get it because we have players with two arms and legs like everyone else in this league.
Any good manager can do anything with a bunch of decent players. do we have that ? Yes, just about. Do we have an awful tactician in charge ? Yes. Look at diego simeone at Atlectico. There wage bill is less then ours. Hes just a phenomenal manager who could get these bunch of players 6th place probably. he Could get any team from out side the big 6 or 7 6th place probably
You don’t have to have world beaters as players, just a good manager who knows what he is on about
Steamer- You are right. No Chance Westy will be dropped.
Lets hope this take over happens, we have a lot of £££££ and a top manager to go with it
Frem – it could be worse – we could have been relegated and that would have been a catastrophe.
frem
there are plenty of better managers than Lambert that’s a given but its still his side they would have to pick from. yes most right minded people would take 10th in preference to the last 4 seasons relegation dodging, just as they would take any position above that as a miracle considering what the club has been through. indeed who among us was thinking after the sale and limited funds we would be taking the world on? nobody is my guess.
If the team play better football as they appear to be trying and get results doing so, will you give Lambert the credit or will you insist its someone else’s work? I’m not having a go just interested in your view and if you’d change your opinion if things improve on the pitch?
Congrats to Fabien Delph!!
Richard- last season was catastrophic. It’s a disgrace that the manager is still in a job after that embarrassment. As Villa manager, he should have been sacked a thousand times over. I’ll never forgive him for last season, what ever he does in the next few months of his contact of he lasts that long.
Relegation last season would have simply been deserved, nothing else. It felt like we cheated in staying up. We lost 8 of our last 10 games, lost 12 home games, played the most amount of long balls, Stoke scored 4 away goals etc etc. the list is endless. He’s a disgrace of a manager to this club
People mKe it he’s has it hard. Lol. He’s had 50 million to spend at this club. He has no pressure from the board and still failed. He hasn’t had it hard. He’s been lucky
Good luck Delph. Please don’t get injured and hurry up and sign a new long term contact please
Merse on the Villa:
when Graham Taylor allowed him to leave to join Portsmouth in August 2002 it was a much of a wrench for Merson himself as it was for the Villa Park faithful.
“I absolutely loved it at Villa,” said Merson. “It was the best part of my career, no doubt. I adored my football at Villa.
“When I left, I was devastated. It was the only time I ever cried when I left a football club.
“I was so, so gutted because I loved the club and loved playing for the club. It’s a real good club.
“There was always something happening at Villa. It was lively. It was good.
“You talk about sleeping giants and Villa is up there. It’s huge.
“I absolutely loved every bit of my time there.”
Yes Mark,
Read that Liverpool options article and crikey they’ve got some attacking threats it does humble you as a Villa fan.
We have Benteke and Libor coming back but nothing like the options they have…:(
UTV
evening all!
delph on a yellow, thats looks like hw wont be trying to hard for th rest ofhr game now.
Or will he get sent off and lose his head for us ?
oh well at least cleveerly goo step in.
or jg
he wont be trying to hard for the rest of the game now – i meant
this almost looks like a villa game – from last year .
if you change the strips
Matt,
have to agree with the jist of your piece – these next several games – we could be laughing or crying by the end of them – & / or during.
based on the last 2 seasons results against these teams – if the form / results is similar we could still be in the top 5/6.
next 7 games
best case 7 clean sheets and we win them all.
worst case we get tonked in all of them.
based the law of averages
we should win 3 lose 3 and draw one.
so 10 points.
these scummers playing for england are doing these best again to ignore delph,
maybe they are waiting for him to go looking for the ball and pick up another card .
arses, rooney as usual you crap.
ha! but also true
http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/08/when-did-aston-villas-alan-hutton-turn-into-the-claret-and-blue-cafu-4860397/?
Rog,
Joe Cole was the worst when playing for England, never passed the ball to Barry at all, Barry was 1m times better than him yet the papers were full of the useless tw@ and when he’s permanently injured, crap and finished, we sign him, sums up the dickhead we have as manager.
Frem,
Have you considered taking a break from Villa for a while? I think you’d enjoy life more
Milner, Young, Downing. None of them playing for England. Are they all injured?
I have a feeling they’d all be enjoying their football more (and playing more of it) if they’d stayed at Villa.
Take Note Fabian
wilshere needs a boot up the arse.
frem
shouldn’t hate someone for being crap/lucky at their job, £50 mil is nothing in three seasons and 5 windows. what is it 17+ players? 2.5m apiece. houllier 24m on bent 32mil in one season on three players, mcleish £17500 0n 3 players. he’d have to spend 70m next season to equal mons 27 players at 120m 😉
r0bbo,
yes exactly , Young, Downing, not exactly going any where after they left us, at least the gots plenty of dosh for their hoes!
milner & barry at least won something.
i always had a feeling barry was the only that really wanted to go. the rest – i don’t think they really did , learner had to balance he books and did a doug from 83-85.
Steamer, oh yeah forgot about barry playing for england, when gregory was still manager was it?
i think keegan was the england manager then.
he was one talented bo back,. then sven the bald eagle came i nand dropped him because we weren top 4 or some other shizzle excuse
i remember having the brilliant idea that ginola ( as he was there for a bit) should have buddied up with him and become his mentor, i hod no way of letting gregory know this of course
Mark,
you hit the nail on the head there.
50 mil in 3 seasons is nothing these days, and at least we are still in the premier league. yes we have been mostly cack for the last few years – with a few exceptions
– the end of lambo’s 1st season – the wins last year against le arse, chavski, and mank shity
but i started to support villa properly when we were last in the second div and i can remeber some real cack.
had to read about it though as no tinternet in them days.
wilshere off, wot a waste he seems to be
2 ex villa players on the pitch with one current one. and the were all at vp at the same time
Maybe delph will get a touch now. lol
🙂
🙂
no way, is the old boy actually going to make football better now ?
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/09/08/sepp-blatter-football-to-trial-tv-referral-system-from-2015/?
Just out of interest, where does the £50m spend come from. I make it around £40m.
When you consider how many players needed to be replaced it is absolutely paltry. Lambert has made some poor buys in terms of quality but not in terms of value.
did any one else see this b4 the match – lolz galore!
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/09/08/video-adrian-chiles-and-the-rest-of-the-itv-football-team-hilariously-soaked-by-sprinklers-ahead-of-switzerland-vs-england/
this is hilarious
martin o neil putting getting angry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G1Xe5vsAPU
they’ve only won it!
Hmm!
should i put welbeck in my fantasy football team?
roger- 🙂
robbo- think its £48 but as some fee’s are undisclosed and tekkers listed by some as £10m its probably less. if you take in the out going which wasn’t much and the players that were given away to clear wages the whole thing was a mess. but the prices in the prem and football in general have sky-rocketed in the last 3 seasons world records being broken and average players for £20m plus
40-50m is a couple of players to manure liverpoo etc
thought delph did ok but find it hard to describe his style
he just isn’t an international style footballer for me but also has something different to the usual tippy tappy brigrade. Roy needs to get Grealish in the squad pronto if he knows what he’s doing
In gay Paris and listening to what zee franch have to say about Delph’s performance and they’re well impressed using the term ‘box to box midfielder’; was working but sounds like the lad’s given a good account of himself. Just hope we hold on to him now… how does Leighton Baines stay in the England team after that dreadful world cup showing and Wiltshire oh dear need I say more!??!?!
Wilshire wouldn’t get in the Villa team.
Theres only one trial Blatter should be involved with
Rog,
Milner didn’t want to go, Lerner wanted the ££ and MON wanted it too, he wanted Ireland and Robbie Keane but Lerner got his way and MON walked, the ££ went to ……….
Woy full of praise for Delph, and many others saying he was MOM.
He certainly acquitted himself well, as did Danny Welbeck. Nice to see gary Cahill and James Miklner both playing their parts and having a good match. Sterling good, but thank goodness Lambert came on, who is not a greedy player, to make the telling pass for Welbeck’s second.
Delph completed ALL 26 of his first half passes.
B6B and someone who shall remain anonymous always said he’d make the England team, doesn’t look like we’ll get a fee for him though.
Mark,
For Leeds Delph was allowed to attack, to make lots of runs, not as a playmaker or anchor, something Lambert doesn’t allow, i’d describe him as Platt without Cowans.
Mark, the value of player purchases depends on who you listen to. It seems that the value of a number of players has been significantly overstated overstated
steamer
delph may improve but his decisions around the box need work. he’s got good work rate and turn of speed and can be unpredictable but final passes and shots need work big time. he’s no platt, finishings and runs not in the same class for me
oh dear looks like he might be asked to join the other 26 young players Chelsea have out on loan
http://www.footballfancast.com/football-news/chelsea-looking-to-the-future-with-potential-move-for-aston-villa-wonderkid?
speaking of loans
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-fringe-players-likely-7739055?
steamer
Delph has a bad habit of going into a tackle with the wrong foot that’s why he seems so late instead of swinging the foot around and into the front of the ball he goes with the rear leg and scissors the players legs really crap technique. strange too as he is a lefty and lunges in with his right, maybe protecting his knee that he injured?
Well done Fabian Delph – very well played – so nice to see a villa player once again in the national team — F–k off Chelski
Congrats to Delph. Played his normal game…booking included!
I too think he is not ready for int football just yet.
Final ball/shot/decision making needs working on but is turning out to be a very good player. He has great pace and can glide around a player. Keeps the ball well.
Haha Grealish to chelsea….only if grealish is mental.
Todays papers illustrate why they are held in contempt, Wilshire got 8 out of 10 and a MotM award by John Cross who basically knows F-all about the game except Laaadaaan rules, he also got top marks in another London rag while Delph got a 5. they also assume JW was removed because the poor lamb was tired and not because for the umpteenth time he was crepe.
Don’t think Grealish will go to Chelski but if we keep pissing him about he’ll go somewhere. £5,000 per week ? Lamberts taking the P.
Consistency is the key to this season. Last season the highs were great but few and far between, the lows were extreme in some cases and far to regular. We struggled to build confidence in the squad when we did play well. I watched the same team play appallingly against Swansea at home, the week afer smashing Chelsea away. Doesn’t make sense.
Hutton, Senderos and Cissoko have started well, but I need to see them at this level on the 38th game as well as in the 1st three.
I think the addition of Cleverly actually creates a good problem. People are fretting about who they’d start with and who’d they drop, but maybe we actually are starting to have a bench that we can bring on players to make an impact in a game (rather than replacing tired legs). Start with whatever 4 in midfield you like, then bring on someone to stretch or change the game depending on how it’s going. Isn’t that what managers are supposed to able to do with their squad? Isn’t that we saw with Lambert early on, changing players and formations, but sadly with players unable to adapt.
We are harder to beat, but against better oppositionm and with attacking options, then I think we’ll struggle to score. I suspect we’ll see a few 0 – 0 over the coming weeks.
supebox
I hope that’s the worst we will see
Is 5 points too much to ask for over the next 5 games? Without spending stupid money Villa have put a good team together. And top ten is nothing to sneeze at. We are going to see some good games-starting this Saturday.
Washing machine? Never heard of them. We do our laundry at the lake edge every Thursday.
A look at the NFL. Nice bunch of guys.
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/09/08/nfl-cant-buy-its-way-out-of-ray-rice-debacle/
My current best villa team
Guzan
Hutton Vlaar Senderous Cissokho
Cleverly Sanchez Delph
Nzog Tekkers Gabby
Subs
Given
Okore
westwood
Weimann
Grealish
Kozac
That should strongly push for mid table and stay out of harms way of the bottom 3 most of season
ian
I suppose they must dry fast as you run from the bears 🙂
Ha! You laugh! Plenty of bears here. The air horns were going off all summer as bears encroached on peoples property. They don’t like the noise. Had one rifle the garbage as I was getting it ready to go to the dump.
Andrew, that does sound like a good lineup. If Nzog and Gabby step it up a notch look out. 🙂
Guzan
Mutton
Vlaar
Sendeross
Cissoko
Grealish
Sanchez
Delph
Zog
Teks
Bent
Subs
Given
Bacuna
Okore
Kojak
Clark
Milner.. Downing.. Young..
All left Villa to improve and all are do not play regular first team football..
There in a nut shell is what is wrong with the English game and the reason the international team are shite..
Sky’s money has destroyed football.. players going to the Sky 4 clubs for big wage packets.. playing a hand full of games and then just making up the home grown quotas..
You look at Milner.. we signed him as a winger and then made him into a CM.. now is there anyone on here who thinks it is far fetched of me to say that IF he played week in week out in a CM role that Milner would score 15 goals a season..
The guy wasted his talent.. you miss your peak years sitting on your back side.. what is the point except the old nemesis of all humans ‘the lure of money’..
There are a number of people in that boat.. it is a shame really.. money rules football now.. it is why i want a mega rich owner if possible.. if you can’t beat them then join ’em…
lionheart
I suppose they thought they were good enough to get in the side at the time, certainly Ashley young was flying for us and got into the England team so he backed himself to do well, only natural really. you might think after 2-3 seasons of mediocrity they would go elsewhere but one thing for sure all except downing has a league medal.
http://www.givemesport.com/502472-jack-grealish-offered-new-fouryear-deal-by-aston-villa?autoplay=on
lionheart agree totally
the grass is far from greener on the otherside most of the time -only cahill and yorke have left villa and played week in and out in the gord knows how many years
its a shame about dan crowley leaving , he has just as much talent as grealish but how long before aresenal play him and will it effect his development ?
Mark 0- no point suggesting to Frem to tae a break from villa = it’s part of his dna mate involving travelling about and watch a pile of you know what on a regular
better times hopefully
Mark,
This overblown crap about grealish really annoys me, that journo must be an intern or a volunteer , he couldn’t possibly be paid for this shit , could he? JG does look like he could be a decent player but ‘wonderkid’….really? Some villa fans did the same with okore for the last year, in absentia he became the new mcgrath ! Now he may turn out that way but he has’ nt really kicked a ball in anger for villa yet just like JG so why the hype.
prox
because its the way of the world, how else do they get people to watch big brother FFS. Okore did look a prospect though and from what I have seen of JG he has something the rest of our team at least lack, a brain and quick feet
I agree Prox….im just going to wait and see how Grealish turns out.
I got my fingers burnt beliving the hype about bannan, fonz, gardner.
Far too much excitement about someone who has done nothing yet. If he is THAT good im expecting a Beckham/Rooney moment to get his career off and running.
Mark,
You’re right on big brother, l landed on it last night while searching for something decent to watch and the thought occurred to me that maybe those isis fucktards are right , maybe the west should be exterminated…
And then I landed on family guy and critical equilibrium was restored.
Prox — if you can’t get excited about a kid with the potentail of young jack then things are bad — imo he is the most exciting talent in many a year at villa park – i want to see skioll,flair/control and creativity – jack has all these things — he has the makings of all the attacking things i love about football and is far from a run of the mill player for his age.
The key thing now is weather he can develop and fullfill his massive potentail — imo of course
prox
shame that we have to hide reality behind a cartoon 🙂
grealish is a good 2-3 years away from physical maturity, Rooney was a man at 16 grealish still looks boyish but has massive talent. Gardner shame about the injuries as I guess we will never see what could have been.
Runtz,
I havent seen jack play yet and you are generally not effusive about players so I’ll gladly accept your opinion on his potential but lets see how he goes for the season before we start putting tags like wonderkid on him. Im quite a positive bloke but I do like to see evidence to support big claims. DE OMNIBUS QUE DUBITANDUM.
yes fairplay and very wise Prox — it takes a lot before i start banging a drum about players but i think jack is deffo a special out of the ordinary talent of the likes i didnt really ever see in gardener ——- arsenal robbed dan crowley from us – he is also a speacial talent -they tried to take jack too but he said no—it seems he has a lot of love for the villa
Runtz,
I look forward to the day of reckoning when you land a humongous fugging I told you so on me re young jack grealish
Prox not at all – and if you havent seen him i can understand the caution
here is a taster of him on loan last season
http://www.punditarena.com/football/bbarry/jack-grealish-unjustified-hype/
Prox,
DE OMNIBUS QUE DUBITANDUM not interested, he was crepe at the WC.
Mark,
he may not be big physically but look at his calf muscles, he’s tough enough and with his talent i find it amazing that Lambert uses the ‘young lad’ excuse not to play him, after all most of the team haven’t a tenth of his ability, are we going to label him another Fonz, BB or GG who never really had a chance at the correct times in their career or are we going to let his huge talent flourish ? i think i know the answer to that question, even the pragmatic Ron Saunders gave Cowans, Shaw and Gidman a go.
I saw an intesting inteview with a lot of the German world cup winning lads and they all said they were playing first team football by at least 18yrs old
The national team was completly stripped of older players and even England beat the new young side – now with an avarage age of between 22 and 25 they won a world cup and are set more more greatness in the coming years
i agree Steamer give the best of our kids a chance – no pain no gain
prox
watch this, I see a young Brian little or even george best in this lad . watch his dribble for the first goal, its not a one off like barnes against Brazil its a feature of his game. hull hacked him 5 times in ten mins 3 resulted in cards. his close control is the best I have seen in years, erm since Brian little in fact 🙂
http://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2014/6/1/5770052/aston-villa-jack-grealish-goal-video-hong-kong
steamer
I would start him, its only Lamberts caution and defending from the front that prevents his inclusion. he is the perfect outlet if you want a free kick, that’s my only worry he gets hacked to bits. physically he can take it but you can tell he is still a lad, when he matures he will be some player as long as he doesn’t follow gabbys diet.
Mark – i saw these goal in the summer – if that’s not class i don’t know what is
To be fair Grealish is having a fair bit of time on the pitch so far….Id be saying to hime every time i bring him on with 25mins to go, ‘make me not able to drop you’.
andrew
and then drop him? 😉
Andrew, with the aside “I will anyway, no matter what you do.”
Mark, what a great understanding you have of Lamberts psyche, i was going to say personality but i haven’t detected one yet.
Don’t think i didn’t notice you talking about loans on Monday, £20 not enough then ?
For once I agree with proxopera. Fans get too excited about young players coming through the academy. More often than not they end up being huge disappointments.
I want to see a lot more of Grealish before I become the slightest bit excited.
Far, far more concerned about Gabby, Vlaar and Delph signing new deals.
For those that like to spread the myth that Gabby isn’t fast anymore – he has been confirmed by SkySports News as the 2nd fastest player in the Premiership last season after Mohamed Saleh.
Gabby has just signed a new 4 year deal. Fantastic news!
Delph and Vlaar to go. Would make it a top summer for us if we can get those two done.
Always an honour Droyd, but should you not be off blackmailing some treacherous scots somewhere along with the rest of the dark lords minions. Voting day is getting close now. Can lambert be deported if the vote goes the right way?
Gabby’s signed a new contract.. Frem will be doing cart wheels lol
droyd
this is this season and he’s visibly slower, being like lightening for 2 matches and crippled for 36 doesn’t cut it 😉
steamer
you gave me £20 and said see if you can find a suitable present for st75, Ann summers were out of gimp masks so I couldn’t
prox/droyd
Ronaldo was a flash wanker when he first got noticed didn’t stop him now did it
Doesn’t count if his in a Porche. I don’t believe Flabby’s the 2nd fastest, sure it didn’t say fattest ? Walcott was saying Arsenals front 3 are lightning and i remember him being time as faster than the leech.
FOUR more years of this clown impersonating a footballer, no wonder his pissing himself laughing he’s just mugged us for another fortune for doing f-all.
Now, who would you select out of Grealish and Flabby ? no contest for anyone with any sense.
Who would –
score most goals
make most goals
give away least free kicks
get less bookings
put in more and better crosses
in general, just be an asset not a handicap.
And i bet they’ve given him a testimonial too.
steamer
how dare you insult a club legend just look at the praise coming in for him
“Wrongly reported as a four-year deal in the press, the contract is actually a four-decade extension to the rolling contract the Villa striker has been on since he signed for the club in 1874.”
Evening all!
just came across this.
Totally out of order I hop it doesn’t mess him up to much
dumbass cockerknee manks!
http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/10/tom-cleverley-hosts-friendly-twitter-qa-gets-brutally-abused-by-fans-4863819/?
a bit off track this one but
also star wars fans out there , & dont wet yourselves but the millienum falcon has been spotted
http://www.mania.com/millennium-falcon-xwing-spotted_article_140463.html
Typical gabby, reading his comments on signing new deal…..’im over the moon’. Sub standard football talk.
For someone who is apparently a club legend i expect him to talk about what a honour it is to put on the shirt and what a fantastic club villa is. I expected something classy.
Delph and grealish to be signed up next. I cant see vlaar staying sadly. Think he will get one last pay day and big move…..fair enough.
Andrew, Gabby also said: “I have never thought of leaving Aston Villa and the thought of pulling on a different shirt doesn’t feel right.”
that’s a bit better than teh ‘over the moon’ one isn’t it?
Now gabbys signed on for the rest of his career maybe he will finally start to bang some goals in
Prox – I have had plenty to say on Twitter about the Scottish Independence. I hope they get their Socialist Utopia as that will rid Westminster of 56 out of 57 leftist Scottish constituent MPs
If they do get independence they will be importing Whisky within 30 years.
Venezuela is rich in natural resources, has applied Socialism and is now screwed. Scotland will follow that path if they get independence.
runtings
6 hours ago
I saw an intesting inteview with a lot of the German world cup winning lads and they all said they were playing first team football by at least 18yrs old
The national team was completly stripped of older players and even England beat the new young side – now with an avarage age of between 22 and 25 they won a world cup and are set more more greatness in the coming years
i agree Steamer give the best of our kids a chance – no pain no gain
i also read of head something about this, apparently in germany they have this old fashioned notion that the national team is more important than club football so all the clubs buy in to the idea of playing any and all good players at a young age/ asap , and they actually think the fans are important and charge them bugger all to get in games. _ althought its ends up benefiting bayern abit too much – but they all still do it any way
sadly i can’t see it happening here
Mark, great share on the grealish goals – i am going to bookmark it & add it into my youtube playlist along with some of the other villa gems on this like this one :-
did anone on this go to this game ? it was a while ago but it we were a top team in those days
cant believe the tans on ours boys . gibbo was well good !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbTbFaKFtiY&list=PL99KryDXjKS5nR14tQUHFxjthwVndx4fp&index=21
i found this and alot of other classice performances
youtube is amazing
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2194193-did-aston-villa-star-jack-grealish-troll-yaya-toure-on-his-birthday?
Gwon maay son!
HA!
Martin Laursen what a giant of defender he was . Such a shame his injury ended his career.
He is impressed with our start to season as well.
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/BlogsEntry/0,,10265~4132320,00.html
roger
those twitter remarks just go to show what a bunch of cowards we have in this world. I hope he becomes a great player for us and fuck them all. I would like them all to put themselves in their work place up for public viewing as they are all so great at what they do apparently. morons doesn’t begin to express what they are.
Hello lifers 🙂 So I return and we are THIRD . Can this be true ?! Champions League for us now .! Yes I’m suffering from jet lag after an amazing holiday and Mexico was fantastic and the people even more so but AVs position has helped my post holiday blues no end .
Delighted the old pros are performing ok . Delph did us proud in the week and even got voted MOTM by a few of the hacks . With Roy Keane’s win too , we must be raring to go for the pool game . We have a new CEO so who knows ?! .
Should v said “who knows what this season holds”. I’m happy with the added experience to the team and just maybe there has been a Keane affect – with players saying it’s great working with him . Three clean sheets – what’s going on?! Met a Celtic fan on hols who asked me “what’s this Tonev like then as he’s coming to us on loan “. Hahaha.
Droyd ,
TBH , I have’nt really followed it that much , I cant see much point in it but then I’m not Scottish. I see some of the big international employers in Scotland are saying they’ll move south in the case of independence.. do i detect a machiavellian tory hand ??
Also , it takes us 800 years to get you lot to jog on and the scots put their hand up once and you allow them a vote to make up their own mind.!!! Then again they do have the majority of your nuclear arsenal in the clyde dont they ? As things turned out , probably best that you did’nt trust us with any large explosives.!! Interesting times ahead.
Nice to see you back Jen. Glad you had a great time. My neices were out there a few years ago and loved it.
Things are almost positive here now with the good start that we have had, and especially how hutton has performed and been the fans MOM on several occasions.
Rog,
That 3-0 versus Untied was what i was talking about last week, we EXPECTED to hammer them, 3-0 flattered them, look at us now, can’t even get close to them when they put out weakened teams. Great game though, bit too easy.
Mark,
I doubt if everyone is wrong about Cleverley, he really is crepe.
Welcome back Jen, glad you had a good time, S75’s been even more miserable since you’ve been away.
Droyd,
Ven has only been struggling because the USA has tightened the screw, Hugo Chavez was a true hero and a wonderful leader, the only leaders worth having are Putin and Raul Castro, the others are all low intellect gutless lackey’s. Obama ? thick, ignorant and stupid.
steamer
not saying they are wrong in there opinion of his ability, we have that pleasure yet to come, I thought the same about cissy and senderos and they have done well. its just the whole need to put someone down publicly that gets up my nose.
hi jen sounds like mexico is worth a visit
hi Steamer
Glad you are on form, but you must miss your old drinking pal Red Robbo….
Will you be able to stand the pain if Villa do something crazy, like winning at Anfield again, except that last time , they could not cope afterwards, and got hammered in every game.
I would have enjoyed a drink with Casto mind you,. Always fancied a trip to Cuba after the Auf Weidersein boys went out there..!!
PP,
Never been but know loads who have and never heard a bad word said about it.
Can just imagine Mark “Senor, can you lend me 20 pesos.”
Robbo was a bit too moderate, bit like RoBBo on AVL.
http://www.myoldmansaid.com/aston-villas-mystery-striker-sun-strikes-carlos-sanchez-grealish/
Typical crepe laandaan journos absolutely clueless, in fact got a text from a bloke who actually reads this rag and a Villa fan aswell , but he told me yesterday Steve Howard and Ian Wright wrote pieces in yesterdays Stun about the England win against the mighty Swiss and he said every player got a mention in the articles except Delph, fucking load of cockney knobheads.
UTV
steamer
por favor steamer, por favor, never forget your P’s and Q’s
anyway fancy putting £20 towards this new charity I haven’t thought of yet? it might be a start the revolution fund yet.
rogermuffin – there is no excuse for not playing young talent early just because it’s the premier lge — the germans do it and there teams are still better than ours at club level
welcome back Jen – i can’t wait to see what my prezzie is 🙂 — we might start seeing a bit more of st75 now that your home Jen
if anyone has entered the sun dreamteam this year you would have had to give your card details — you will now be charged £7.99 per month unless you go to there site and cancel your membership in the my account section — you will still keep your team but also you cash aswell —-cheeky beggers they must be making a mint with this scam
last thing on this — Germans have 60% home grown players playing in there top flight — we have 60% forign
Think iv’e already donated to that.
Agree Runtingz, we’ve been guilty of that for years and a lot of talent has been wasted.
The dogwalkers couldn’t believe that Flabby got a new contract, they expected him to get a free,either he’s a cleverer negotiator than he looks or Lamberts a knob, i’ll go to the second option.
steamer- you like a quote who’s is this
“yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I’m changing me.”
Villa u21 v arsenal on sky 2
Gordon cowans son plays for us. Be sweet if he came good!
Mark,
I would guess Fidel.
Here’s one for you “I want to get Aston Villa in the top half where they belong.”
Answer – A clueless knob who hasn’t a scooby what Aston Villa is all about and has an overrated opinion of his own ( lack of ) ability. Top half arf arf, piss off.
steamer- heres another by Rumi
“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.”
sound s like villa 🙂
Blimey Steamer……that’s the first time i’ve been likened to red robbo!
Glad you boys are all on form….catching up here is one of my few enjoyments at the moment, while working hard for the taxman.
Back to normal next week and a bit more time…and footie this w/e….things are looking up….
Tom Cleverley put to the slaughter the other night then. AVFC never learn…. twittter…twitter…
When people see bullying they immediately condemn it. schools are rife with it as we all know from our own time there and yes its part of the process of growing up. bullies in my opinion usually have worse esteem issues than the bullied. there’s nothing wrong with well presented constructive criticism but everything wrong with spleen venting at a sitting target.
http://www.manchesterunited.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=370207
I agree with you Mark
I have seen it so many times in life, and hopefully people eventually rise above it. It is interesting when you hear from many stars how they were bullied in their younger days, maybe because they were a little bit different because of their talents. I was disappointed in the way a proportion of Villa fans were over the top with Joe Bennett, but let us hope that eventually he will come out a stronger player for it, and the additional determination succeeds. I do hope that we all give Cleverley our backing and encourage him, as he could be a great asset for Villa before his loan period is over.
Steamer, our former local vicar had a cycling holiday in Cuba and he was very positive about it.
that’s a thought anyone hear anything about bennett and gardner at Brighton?
http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/article/bennett-and-gardner-podcast-1908268.aspx
Welcome back Jenny. Hope you are well and had a great time. ST75 has missed you
——–Guzan———-
Hutton–Vlaar—Dross—-Sissy
—————Westy—————
——–Delph—–rich———-
————–Clev——————-
———-Shabby—-Wiemann——–
That would maybe be what i’d like to see. We played a diamond there last season and did well. Delph, Westy or richardson don’t deserve to be dropped and Cleverley will start for sure. fit them all in
UTV
What are we really expecting tomorrow and next 4 games. I think we should express are feelings now. Instead of it going into meltdown on here if we loose the games?
Frem
Id put Sanchez in for Westwood…he doesnt offer much in that role.
Andrew- we could be truly fucked come the end of our next 5 games, like rock bottom and the goal difference being -20 and the confidence in the players shattered
I’d like to think we will get 4 points min. We do always pull of an upset or two in a season and it has to happen. I think if we can end up on 10/11 points after the run is over, we might just be out the relegation zone
if we win all 5, we will be top of the league though 🙂
Feeling a lot more optimistic about the run of games than when the fixtures first came out
We are deffo in the best shape under lambert since he came in — the defence are no mugs so if we can get a goal or two we could get a few results – hope rather than expectation thou
The lads should hopefully just go for it as no one will expect anything much of villa — can’t wait for the game – bring on the reds
how refeshing from Grealish http://www.givemesport.com/503048-jack-grealish-wants-aston-villa-stay?autoplay=on
frem
westy doesn’t deserve to be dropped, bloody hell mate have you been meditating ? 😉
really don’t know what to expect, we have been awful after a rest but this isn’t the same team or I suppose same management team. heart is saying we grab a win 0-1 head is saying a draw at best. the previous games against liverpool have been open affairs but I don’t expect that this time. liverpool can be got at with pace as they play the counter attack well themselves with stirling a threat particularly, add the rest of the attack and I think we will be busy.
nice to hear
http://www.givemesport.com/503048-jack-grealish-wants-aston-villa-stay?autoplay=on
The Pool match plays at 2 am here, so I may not watch it.
Runtingz is right, nobody is expecting Villa to win.
It’ll be interesting to see if they go on the attack, or just park the bus. Pool will definitely play to win, which should open things up, so me thinks Villa will attack win or lose too. “We will be busy”.
just heard the predictions on talkshite and they all see a pool win ranging from 3-0 to 2-1 being the best we could hope for, right lads go out and thump the red twats
Evening lovely lifers.
I can recommend Mexico Mark – the only place I have remotely felt like booking up to go again as soon as I got back. I am saving already for the next time. The girls broke a few hearts and we may possibly have a couple of Mexican boys staying at Christmas – lets hope the ardour cools !!! Music and happiness – a vibrant place with idyllic beaches.
Runtingz – I have a special present for you of course 🙂
ST 75 – where are you my little choux fleur ??????
Frem – thankyou – you would love it here too.
Paul P – definately looking happier chappies on here.
Steamer – where is your little friend ST75 ????
Have good feelings for tomorrow. Lets face it, we do better against good teams, are happier playing away and our unbeaten form and Delphi playing for ENgland I can imagine a great vibe in the camp. We are the underdogs so the pressure is on the pool. Just need to wind Balotelli up and get him sent off and we are home and dry (almost). I can imagine Roy Keane having a burning desire to thump the red b*******s too and will be firing up our lads. Incidentally, am hearing Keane’s name mentioned far more than Lamberts by the press lately.
I agree Paul – don’t know who set up the ridiculous Q and A session – maybe the same person who sent Bennett to the lions den last season. It really is horrible and I feel sorry for Cleverley after the negativity he got at Untied. I really hope he can prove them all wrong.
Prediction for tomorrow 2 -0 to us .
PS ST 75 xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Looking at their team on paper vs ours and they may have some good individual skill in places but our team looks solid like a proper unit that may be starting to gel; hard to not feel optimistic at the moment as there is presently a real feel good feeling around the camp. COYVB!
great to have you back Jen.
I hope your prediction is right,as it would really make my day, as I am surrounded by ‘pool fans.
looking forward to being at the Arsenal game. anyone else going??
Cheers Paul . Watching my first villa game of the season today – great it’s on tv – can’t wait !
Are you travelling up to AnfIeld Frem ?
Morning St 75 xx
Hope westwood is dropped in favour of cleverly. he is truly average and does not have the presence, lungs guile or courage to be anything but a mediocre player. Still can’t understand the optimism amongst fans-so far we have witnessed one shocking performance (orient), one poor performance(newcastle), one average performance (stoke) and 45 mins of good attacking play(Hull). Is that anything to get excited about? PL has set the bar so low that anything marginally better than mediocrity is seen as progress. Not so long ago wins against the likes of stoke and hull were simply viewed as another day at the office by the fans but now some seem to equate this with the rebirth of Villa????
I hear what you say Dipesh – we mustn’t get carried away – it helps not having seen us play this season like me 🙂
dipesh
we have to start somewhere as we are not the team that once routinely beat the lower clubs at this moment, in fact the prem is a different animal these days with small clubs giving good accounts of themselves every weekend. would you rather see us go the other way?