I agree totally Kevin, this year we were never gona take the league by storm. Honestly, did we expect to take 3 points off Man U?? 1 would have been great, but we need some perspective.

I would like to add we are playing better football this year, however we knew what season we were in for before the start of the season. I.e still several players short, not only back up, but first eleven.

Do i want a Man City 'lets go spend spend spend?', answer NOPE. We spent a few bob, but we still have significant funds for Jan and next summer. Which the teams round us that have spent big may not have.

West ham and Man City have spent money, but out of all of their signings (before we saw them play) would you have actually wanted at VP?? I had not heard of half of the new Man City players til they signed for them, and west Ham, what a shocking bunch of sick notes they brought.

Close to Europe would be a good season, if we can nick a Uefa place then fantastic, lets just not get too carried away and expect too much too soon.

UTV

I agree with what your saying but the our first 11 is pretty good and alot of people outside the club have been singing our praises. What we have over Portsmouth is the age of our squad. We have mostly young players. I would say Blackburn's squad is better than ours but not by miles and it is not out of reach. I disagree with you saying Newcastle are better. They have spent alot of money over the last 3/4 seasons and not many of their signings have come off. They are equal on points with their game to play tonight but they havent played many of the top teams (Arsenal)We have played 3 of the top 4 already plus Man City who look to be good this season (they have played City aswell) Does anyone really think MIchael Owen is still worth £17M? I dont because he doesnt play enough. The key thing that lets us down is that we dont have a big enough squad. If we can manage until January and then bring some better players in we should be there or there abouts.

I think Europe is where we can finish if we get some quality in in January.

I hope DOL doesnt take over at Bolton before our game there because knowing us we will lose to them because they will be on a high from the new manager spell.

Im sorry but i dont agree that our season is over and this is where we'll finish as i tink we are much capable of doin better.ya blackburn portmouth are after a great start but is there really a great deal between them and us?i dont think so.. ya we need handfull of new quality signings in january but o neill is really hungry and want to bring success to this club more than any manager we've had in last few seasons as he is a top manager.. i never taught that this season we'd challange top 4 but certainly top 6 finish is in our reach.i think we are as good as blackburn pompey everton man city and newcastle so why not? i know we shouldnt expect to much but we also shouldnt come up with excuses for another mid table finish,we are way better than dat!..r is it just me?

i think nrc and carson only get a 1 match ban

LINK quote-

Sendings off
For second bookable offence or for serious professional foul relating to a goalscoring opportunity, 1 match ban.
For foul and abusive language, 2 match ban.
For violent conduct or serious foul play, 3 match ban.
Players sent off for second time in season, extra 1 match ban.
Players sent off for third time in season, extra 2 match ban.

i also think that blackburn and portsmouth do not hav a better team then us. player for player, we are better then them. i think we r a work in progress. a few more signings n i think we can challenge the top 4 each time we play. im glad we not gone out an splashed the cash jus cos its there, we have a quality core at the club an the team/squad can be built around these guys.
wot we need is consistency. week in n out, we need to put in the performances, an more often then not we will win/draw depending on how lady luck treats us. we can beat any of the teams in the premiership, bar arsenal n manure. we shud aim for top 6, why can we not achieve this? it only takes a decent run, n for others to hav a stumbling period around us, n who knows wot can happen? im still positive despite las saturday.

Kevin, good article. What I'm really pleased about is how MON is building a team for the next five years rather than trying to buy instant succes. How many years will the Wham or the ManCity journeymen be around. He has cleared out the players that arn't going to fulfill his vision and in each transfer window we will see a couple of really good players come in. Between now and five years hence we will see Villa established as a recognised top team while some current also rans will have faded. It was sickening being at Villa Park listening to the manu fans taunting us but the future will get better and better. We must keep MON.

iv been watching the new villa midfielder Salifou playing tnite in the reserves and to be honest he looks quite sharp, good movement and good play making, i know its reserves but still, from wat iv seen he looks like a player with potential

Lol Harewood scored a hat trick for the reserves against chelsea tonight! Maybe we shouldn't write him off just yet...

You lot still posting messages on here?? Get a life, and a new hobby, the Villa aint going no-wer.....get used to it.

Get a better hobby than attempting to annoy Villa fans, Steve.

Salifou and Stieber Look like they are going to be great players for villa !!!

We will finish between 9th, where we are now and 12th. All the teams above us have better first teams and greater depth to their squads so will finish above us. I expect a couple more teams could go past us as we pick up injuries/suspsensions. Eg at the moment, mellberg, carew, NRC and Carson out. Not a lot left to choose from.
I wish people on here would stop saying becasue of our young team give it time. Oneil has been there over a year now and the team is not that young. Every team has young players. When we played spurs there average age was younger than ours and that is the same for a quite few clubs - Man Utd as well!! The players and Oneil should be producing now. Not in 5 years becasue by then we will have one of the oldest squads!

Listen to yourself alwaysvilla.....Checking up on websites to see how long 2 of your 'AVERAGE' villa players are banned for, things really are that bad huh?

Do you think Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal and even Newcastle, Tottenham worry about missing 2 players? I think not, END OF STORY MY LERNIED FRIEND