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Leo
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The negativity surrounding us at the moment is pathetic! This is the most exciting season for us Villa fans in years and a loss at Fulham doesn't change that! Yeah, it was annoying, it was frustrating and I would have loved us to beat them and be up there fighting for the champions league spot, but look at the other clubs we were on par with not so long ago. Who would swap what we have now for Newcastle, Boro or Bolton? Times are still good at Villa and will only get better! Reaching the Champions League this season would kill us, the squad is far too small for it and would be even if MON brought in 6 new players in the summer. Getting a UEFA cup spot this year would be a great achievement but we have a better chance of doing that without the negativity! |
steve m
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Can anyone after yesterday's game seriously conisider Mahoney to be anymore than a squad player. Awfull. Unfortunately so was Barry. I have to agree that Young is one of the best signings over the last few seasons... other than the Blues signing Ridgewell and then scoring for us!!  |
Villain of the North
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How is it drivel? He didn't say there was no other better player in the league, but given the last 12 months of transfers i think he certainly has a case to prove that ashley young is up there in the most effective successes... I don't see how any of the article, written while the team is on a bit of a downer after losing a match can be construed as on a high horse. |
AK28
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I agree with you Lasgidis on Young. While he is definately our best signing over the last few years he not get into any of the top 3 teams at the moment. |
taglor
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I would have to disagree and say Berbatov has been the best signing of the last 2 years. If MON is waiting for quality how do you explain coker,harewood,maloney,petrov,kinght? |
mcgurt12345
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Here taglor, why dont you stick your player bashing where the sun dont shine, how can you give abuse to big marlon, that boy has the heart of a lion and to me was one of the few to come out of the game with a good performance, young is one the best signings but stan petrov surely must be one of the worst, he just looks so slow and lethargic, can you imagine if stan started scoring the way he did in the SPL. Again it just shows that the scottish league is a micky mouse league at best. |
Swissvillan
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It's always disappointing losing against a side struggling in the bottom 3 but I do think it shows just how much expectations have risen these last 12 months. On the other hand the real test will be if we can put this behind us and bounce back with a good performance and win next Saturday, we don't want to start going on a bad run, especially against teams scrapping against relegation. This is 2 games in a row where 3 points would have taken us 4th and I worry about us being seen as bottlers and how that effects us psychologically. On the transfer thing I think MON got it right and Routledge has until the end of the season to show what he can do, a UEFA cup spot means that we must strengthen in the summer though. |
eoin1981
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Doc, You are glass half full fan!! Fact 1 - they always hit too many long balls at Carew. I know our corners/free kicks were crap but we did score from one!! I also think that its a major shortcoming that if we aren't a threat from a set piece then we aren't a threat at all. Hence, why Gabby has been so quiet recently. Fact 3 and 6 - o'neill's young and english criteria - there must be 20 million young people in england. Why dont we just buy quality players. I am not english and frankly I dont care where the players come from. Do Arsenal stop supporting their players because they are from all over the globe?? My big issue is with fact 4 - he will only buy quality and is prepared to wait for it.......Some of his signings are nowhere near the desired 'quality' now matter how claret and blue tinted your specs are. He has been here for two years - how long exactly does he plan to wait???? Is he waiting for Ronaldinho and Kaka to profess a devout love for aston villa, sign for us on bosmans, and accept wages in peanut form?? The nature of the league now is that due to the money in football - the top four are always going to be up there. There are then about 8-10 clubs striving to break their stranglehold. To break into the top 4 you need the right players. To attract the players you need to show ambition and to be in europe. This season, following an excellent start, presented an outstanding chance for villa to jump a few rungs on the ladder. I fear that the boat has sailed due to our transfer dealings and lack of ambition shown. 'Project Villa Revival' is going really well but to stand still is to drift backwards. As villa improve so do other teams. Portsmouth, spurs, everton, blackburn, west ham, newcastle, man city and even sunderland all have there own revival projects, at different stages addmittedly, with most having the necessary finances to demand success. As for Ashley Young - we can all agree that he has been a great signing but as to who is the 'best' signing - thats an argument nobody can win. For me, value for money speaking, I would probably say Santa Cruz. |
legend
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Alladyce was on sky the weekend suggesting it is not realistic to turn a club around in a short space of time by buying top players. He reminded everyone that O'Neills record was lost 12? at the start of his reign. He thinks you have to have a long term plan. Villa have gone off the boil - O'Neill knows it and will work to get the team back on track for the final push. This Villa team does not give up - does not know when they are beat. If O'Neill senses that mentality creeping in he will sort it out. All this player/ transfer crap is rubbish. We are nearly full every week because of the type of football we are playing. I am disappointed about the Blackburn/Fulham games and am battling with the fact we were mid table forcing our way up and are now expecting to break into the top 4. Let's be realistic but also proud of what we are achieving, which is what the Doc is trying to be. |
Jimmy Villain
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"Anyone questioning MON's ability in the transfer market would do well to remember that. Young is THE top signing of any manager in the last two seasons." Adebeyor cost Arsenal around 3 million, Ashley Young cost almost 3 times that amount. Please stick to "THE FACTS" because your above claim is rubbish. Ashley Young is the best player in an average Aston Villa team, but lets face it with players like Reo Coker, Petrov, Maloney, Gardner and Harewood, the average pub team player would be considered a good player. |
Jimmy Villain
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"Fact 4: Martin O'Neill himself regrets being unable to strengthen the quality of the squad during the January window but is determined that he will not bulk the squad out with average players. He is intent on only signing quality, and is prepared to wait for it." Jermain Defoe went to Pompey, i'd have chipped in myself to have him at Villa park, when you see good players like that end up at a team further down the table you have to question the managers pulling power. After that display yesterday I cannot help but wonder why we can't pull off deals like this… Doc maybe you should read through your above post and ask yourself if you really believe it or are you just babbling with rose tinted glasses on and a 6 pack of stella. |
AK28
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Legend id agree with you if it was'nt for the fact that it is now obvious that MON is totally out of touch when it comes to the transfer market. 8months and he still has'nt founf a RB. He would'nt pay the wages for Diarra and would go all out to get Defoe. When the summer market opens up again just wait and see o'Neill crap. While Spurs, Pompy and Man City try their best to bring in the best talent from all over the world MON will be looking at the English players who can't get on the above mentioned teams. I really believe that MON has left us down big time because Liverpool could not be as bad next season and Spurs with the quality they have bought will leave us trailing behind. |
Blitz
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Another issue with Fact 4- If he is intent on bringing in quality- why Routledge was brought in i have no idea. Smacks a little of desperation as other signings werent coming (if any, apart from the American keeper). Ashley Young, Reo Coker, Maloney and other MON signings have shown that they do have the quality at their previous clubs. Routledge went on loan to fulham and portsmouth and they saw nothing to get them to part with money. Also i hear that Routledge has only been given an 18 month contract? To prove himself or something? |
Danny the lion
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I would like to thank the optimists and the 'real' supporters for their dedication to the club. The Fulham game on Sunday was the first time i have ever seen Aston Villa away from the comfort of a bar stool. Losing is disapointing but we did it collectively and nobody can say we didn't have heart. The songs that the fans were singing sent out a message of passion and unity that transcends a result. I have concluded that any person on here that spouts rubbish and criticism of the players is not actually a fan, because the away crowd, the followers, applauded every player, especially Harewood. Yes, it hurts to lose, but somebody has to and i do believe that Bullards emotional return and his 'one-man rescue' operation to bring a bit of soul back into the cottage and keep them in the league they love is worth far more than our greedy little pessimistic bloggers getting yet another away victory that they would have probably seen as a 'given'anyway. There is so much to say but i suppose there is one thing that needs saying. There are people that use this blog who are accused of being optimists. Last year perhaps those accusations were accurate and valid. Now however you must consider them realists, their capacity for faith and belief is not foolish, their pride is not misplaced and they are never speculative. They simply see what i see and what damien has seen and what the Doc has seen. Battles at Anfeild, Battles at Stamford bridge, spirit at Goodison, scalps of giants, pin point passes, actual human flight (Laursen) and Sixth in one of the toughest leagues in the world. Nobody should be arguing with that. |
jamtomorrow
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...were quitye telling after the game. it's the first time i haven;t heard 'delighted with their effort'... or suchlike. i got the feeling the team would be getting a rollocking last night, so we should see them back to their best on saturday against newcastle. |
VillaPD
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AK28, is there any indication at all that we ever went in for Diarra and wouldnt pay his wages? and lets just say that was the case, do you really want a player who in the press conference announcing his signing says he wants to start playing football so he can attract a top team to come in for him? i personally dont want that kind of player. |
jamtomorrow
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Sorry for the lack of grammar in my last post... what i meant to say was: MON's has been full of praise for the team in almost every post-match interview that I have seen over the last 6 months. last night was the first time he said (that I can remember) that we were not up to the job, and 'didn't turn up'. In short, I expect a reaction. I remember him doing a similar thing with Leicester when they failed to show up and produce... with great results. It's a real pity about the small squad though... he's only got himself to blame. |
AK28
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VillaPD MON himself said that he met with his agent and could'nt agree terms i.e. wages. As for what he said about moving to a top team, in order to that his perforamnces on the pitch would have to show that he was good enough which would lead to the guy giving everything so i would have no worrys about signing him. By the way he was man of the match againest Chelsea on Sat. |
sam_villa 1
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wtf is whith everyone slating maloney. a couple of weeks ago we were all crying out for him to get his chance, he got it against chelsea and took it brilliantly. so why the f*ck does everyone get on his back when he has a bad game when so did every other villa player in the squad except harewood who was by far the best villa player out on that pitch. |
brett
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arent pompey paying diarra around 50k a week? add to this the fact that he's played for 2 prem teams so far and moaned like mad at both of them - we could have done better, unfortunately we didnt as for defoe he's pretty much the same, vastly overpaid and can spend many a game completely not involved, plus at pompey he hasnt really left the london scene has he? he'd of never joined us |
PJ
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@ AK28 - MON did say Diarra wanted too much with regard to his wage demands, correct. But in his next breath he said he would only pay that amount of money for somebody who was really top quality. This is the point AK28 - he wouldn't pay the wages becuase he didn't think he was worth it. That's perfectly legitimate and we can't comment on that if we don't know what his wage demands were. If you were a manager in any industry you would know that you pay the right wages for the right quality. If you pay silly wages which is over and above everybody else at the club, then you risk morale by upsetting every other player. If the player is better than all the rest, fair enough. If he's not, you've got a problem. It's far more complicated than you make out. |
AK28
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That smacks of a lack ambition to me. 4th spot there for taking and we won't pay £50k a week. That is why we will never challege the big 4. Its time we copped ourselves on and realise that in order to compete you have to pay the big money, both in transfer fees and wages. |
PJ
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AK28 - why is it a lack of ambition if you don't think the player is worth that much? On the contrary, I think it spells out that MON wants better than that - and is willing to pay for it when it becomes available. Our boss sits with the greats - Sir Alex and Mr Wenger who both say that trying to buy quality in the transfer window is very difficult. Maybe that's why they didn't bother. |
kohoutek
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As I watched the Fulham game, I thought, "Here it comes, the whingers are going to be ecstatic." I imagine Defoe's Redknapp connection played some part in that signing (read Defoe's comments). As for Diarra, as other have noted, signing a petulant want-away to top wages over other hard-working players is not the way to keep faith with the rest of the squad. Sure, if it were Kaka, or Ronaldo, you pay whatever, and the players will still be delighted. But it wasn't. If managing were simply about spending money, others would've broken the stranglehold by now. It's nowhere near that simple. MON did have to buy some better squad players to replace the ones he let go. Petrov has been the only real disappointment, and that was a player MON knew. Which goes to show that past performance in another league is not a guarantee of future results in the EPL. Yes, Wenger and SAF have been brilliant at finding talent. That's why the clubs are perennials, along with big bank accounts. No one else has duplicated that success, obviously. |
Jeremiah
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I agree with most of what the Doc said. As for people who question the comment about whether Young is the best buy of the last two years, you could certainly make an argument for Santa Cruz or Berbatov, though Blackburn is roughly in the same position as they were last year, and Spurs are worse, and you could argue that Anelka was a big one for Bolton. There are a few others as well, I'm sure, (Carlos Tevez, Anderson, etc...) but you'd have to include Young on that list - I think anyone would. And I think any of the Top 4 teams would be overjoyed to have him, but they'd know they'd have to pay 20M for him at this point. As for all the talk about Defoe and Diarra, I don't think Defoe wants to come here, or we would've signed him, and Diarra is not at all the kind of player I want to see at the club. Pompey buys mercenaries; let them buy them. |
theprimeminister
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Fact 1: I would say is more your oppinion Fact 2: Is fair comment Fact 3: Is again your oppinion and one most people have argued against(I'd prefer 3 Adebayors over 1 Young) Fact 4: He could of tried harder to strengthen the quality by aproaching Defoe which he says he didn't. Fact 5: If we maintain our current form??? we've won 3 in our last 12 against Reading, Wigan and Spurs. Fact 6: We had 4 in the squad against Czech republic when Merson, Dublin, Hendrie and Southgate were called up. wouldn't say it guarentees success Fact 7: Fair point not gone over 40k since 1952. Spurs also bagged 4 against us I wouldnt recall that as a good game for Villa. |
taglor
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I'm actuallt quite glad to see the injury thing biting MON on the ass, especially after al the spiel we ere given ages ago, now people are finally seeing the shortcomings. We are the paying fans and we deserve a player to get excited about, that player is not and never will be harewood,coker,maloney,petrov,carson,routledge,knight,d avies, jeez our most consistent are from the old guard and o dreary mellberg,laursen,barry,gabby, what has MON added? |
Kieran McGrath
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i think we would of won if we still had some of our honest bunch of lads at the club LOL forget the game now, wipe the slate clean and look towards the newcastle game, 3 points against the geordie p**stramps. get behind oneill he knows what hes doing........i think UTV |
nan was a fan
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Big 4 teams do not sign players who lack commitment to a shared cause. Big 4 teams do not sign players who due to over infalted egos or sub-normal IQ cannot be tamed. I will be very suprised if any of the players listed above as ideal Villa signings (missed) turn out to be long term successes for their clubs. I will also be suprised if their contributions help those clubs finsh above us this season or next. Need more Danny the lion posts. Some of you boys need some happy pills. |
taglor
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Arrlui, problem is any highlights on youtube can be edited to make even carlton palmer look amazing  |
Kieran McGrath
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i hope we never sign guzan he can't catch anything, if we are after a keeper sign ben foster from united or carson permanantly but dont pay 10mil for him and for upfront maybe crouch and david villa (but that would be asking alot) but who cares about transfers we still have 6 months b4 we can buy any1 else |
nan was a fan
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Is it a coincidence that some of the negative posters on this site get more and more angry every time Blues take a step closer to their natural league? |
parker
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ye disapointing result against fulham. i think MON has let us down in the transfer window. he should have brought class instead of routledge  p.s do you have to be a season ticket holder to book away tickets? |
taglor
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That's really funny nan was a fan, anyone who questions MON, who is just a man not a god, is definately a blues fan. Actually I've never understood the rivalry as I left brum 16 years ago and would prefer to see brum teams doing well rather than northern or london. |
Villain of the North
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Taglor, you really aren't a villa fan are you? I mean, glad that something isn't working out for a current manager who has got us to 6th in the league is appalling. You lot spouting this negative nonsense should be seriously looking at yourselves, not commanding everyone else to. While there is some truth in the points you make, the lack of support is a real shame from you. |
remolds
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Do we write something in to all of our outcasts contracts where as they must be made captain of their new team and must score the manditory own goal. Crap performance but as they say win some loose some. crowd OUTSTANDING, AGAIN. Come on you villa boys |
mylesmorris1
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will all you pessimistic fools just shut up do you really want us to be back where we were under O Leary cause it sure sounds like it to me were 6th in the league and moving forward as for Defoe if he is really that good why didnt any of the teams above us try and buy him (because he is not good enough thats why)and diarra why did chelsea and arsenal both sell him on when is is supposed to be such a great player. MON is a great manager and knows what he is doing just give him a chance great things dont happen over night |
steve m
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Taglor... since when did o'leary add Agbonlahor. I seem to recall Mon was the man who brought him through. You no almost nothing about villa as all you are interested in is telling everybody how bad they are. |
steve m
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And you must be the first 'villa fan' i have ever heard saying they are glad we are hitting problems!! Unbelievable. Go and support the Blues - you would have a field day there with all the complaining you would be able to do. |
nan was a fan
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Taglor, repent, it's not too late. Your sins can be forgiven. Move away from the dark side. Worship the MON. Take ownership of the 5 year plan. Wake up smiling, whistle on your way into work. We are all MON's children living in the promised land. |
taglor
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lmao, all wound up like a clockwork mouse doo daadoodaa, it's only an opinion just ignore it, don't let it make you upset. So you didn't ever criticise DOL then? and if you did how would that be different to me criticising MON? Maybe we just have a difference of opinion and It's just that I think MON is a good manager not a bad one it's just that I don't think the sun shines out of his backside and he is some sort of immortal. I would love someone like capello, ramos, wenger, with an international knowledge of football. I just don't understand this young english player mentality, if you are good at football it doesn't matter what nationality you are. It is widely known that our youth system is far behind europe, just look at the young french players coming through from their academie. I completely respect your opinions, I guess I just believed Villa were headed in a different direction when Randy took over. We are a good team and I think we play well, but I can't say that it's the most exciting team in the premiership and because I love Villa I want them to be. Anyway blah blah blah what does it matter it's just a bunch of men kicking a ball, I look after elderly, dying and ill people every day and that is why I see how much footballers are paid to entertain and expect it, it's just kids stuff. |
Az_
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I'd say Young is ONE of the best young signings in the last 2 years, certainly the best English one anyway. I disagree with anyone who thinks the top 3 wouldn't be interested in him and personally think he would fit Arsenal's style of play perfectly. |
bonyfromtrapdoor
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any player can look good in the arsenal team even the legend that is carlton palmer! |
nan was a fan
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Taglor. Glad to hear you agree football is just a bit of fun in the context of our 'real world' concerns. That is why I am amused when people get over excited about it. I'm just a bit bored of the MON is a God, he is the devil division on this site. |
Sasa
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Young is handy but he was £9.5 mill. You expect top class for that when you think Henry was £10 mill, Ronaldo £12.5 mill. I'm not saying he should be this good but answer this is he better than a young Damien Duff at Blackburn? Robert Pires at Arsenal? Harry Kewell at Leeds? Kanchelskis at Man U and Everton? These wingers scored way more. He's not better than Joe Cole or SWP. I'd put him in Bentley's catergory ie slightly better than Pennant. |
mylesmorris1
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@steve m im afraid to say taglor right that o leary brought through agbonlahor. Gabby scored on his debut against everton when we lost 4-1. |
taglor
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OK lets be positive, well done to the reserves for crushing derby 6-0 and good to see Routledge playing well, I heard a rumour Salifou played, maybe he is real after all? |
taglor
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On the other hand..... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/h...26516.stm wtf! bit late isn't it? at least MON admits it |
Kieran McGrath
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=nRf...re=related i want to have sex with ashley young |
nhuggy
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"Best signing by anyone in the last 2 years"? Elano, Martin Petrov, Santa Cruz, Bentley, Vidic, Hleb, Rosicky, Jones. All a lot cheaper too! What about the worst signings in the last 2 years then? Stilyan Petrov, Harewood, Reo Coker, Zat Knight, Routledge? MON is a great motivator and man manager but his signings are generally rubbish, and you are deluded. |
theprimeminister
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Steve M "Taglor... since when did o'leary add Agbonlahor. I seem to recall Mon was the man who brought him through." The only youth player MON has brought through has been Osbourne, he has two loan players in Davies and Carson. That leaves his signings as Young 8-9.75m. NRC 8.5m Zat Knight 3.5m Petrov 6.5-8m Carew Swap Harewood 4m Maloney 1m Routledge 1.5m Salifou ??? |
Leroy
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The fact is, that if we miss out on europe this season it will be because of squad size. Wether that comes down to injury, fatigue or complacency. Obviously if a team qualifies they recieve a percentage of the broadcasting money plus prize money, so my question is, if we are on the cusp of qualifying wouldnt it be a worth while "investment" buying a couple of players (or loaning yet again) to ensure this? I still cannot believe we didnt add to our squad. I pray to god that we qualify beacause then we will be forced to add more players (hopefully of some quality) or will the waiting continue even then? |
Pgough
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Our next five games Newcastle home - must win Reading away - must win Arsenal away - draw Middlesbrough home - must win Portsmouth away - draw We need 10 points from those games. So you all can see that if we win the two home games and pick up 4 points in the three away then we will be ok. |
richie p
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its funny to see some of you bitchin about the villa, it seems whatever the club does its still not good enough. some people are saying weve made crap signings but those signings have all helped to the cause and we are in 6th challenging for a european spot, thats a vast improvement on last year when we were in the bottom half of the table with the likes of fulham n boro, weve improved loads on last year and you cant just change a team finishing in 15th to a team thats tittle challenging over night like some of you expect them to, things take time and i think were headin in the rite direction. i bet at the start of the season if someone asked you 6months into the season and ur 6th would you be happy? u would of snatched there hand off at that offer. |
Damian
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but i think what richie p is saying is, we're 6th and there is little point getting too negative while we still are 6th - if come the end of the season we're 9th or wherever then, sure feel a bit upset and vent your frustration .. but we are 6th - and like he said, if we were offered this at the start of the season we'd have all taken it .. 3 points this weekend and liverpool, man city and blackburn all looking like they could drop points - we could all be very happy  whats going on by the way - i'm mr negative |
richie p
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@ sasa. i know mate but im just sayin weve improved greatly on last season already and it seems thats not good enough for some people |
taglor
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Thanks for backing up my gabby point guys. OK, transfers over and it was appalling, I will try and get on with it and just see how it leaves us come the end of season, then we will know. Until then UTV |
Jimmy Villain
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where is salifou? I have heard Adebeyor describe this kid as having skills like Zidanne, I haven't even seen him on the bench… |
tonebone
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Richie - i think 6th is good enough this season for everyone. Thats not what a lot of people are annoyed about tho. We have now had a few injuries and the squad needs rotating. We cannot compete with the teams around us unless our first 11 is fit. Thats why we wont end up in 6th. I am not happy with the fact that having got in such a good postion we havent capitalised on it, signed a few players to make sure we can cope for the remainder of the season. At one point this season spurs had 5 defenders out (imagine if that were us - we only have 5 defenders) west ham had 6 midfielders out at one time (again what would we do??? I dont get puttign a club in that situation. tHE FACT MON has will lead to us slipping down the table and finishing 9th i predict. We will have to be v lucky not to!! |
Sasa
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Richie I take your point, I'm at work so couldn't expand on my response, but Tonebone explained what I was thinking. Like under Gregory we were top on New Years day but every Villa fan knew what would happen because the squad was strengthened. We should have got 4th at least that season. It makes it more heart-breaking when you know the opportunity was there yet we blow it time and time again. Whereas if you're 14th and make a late push and finish 7th and get thru to UEFA via the backdoor it's more satisfying like we did under Gregory when we won 9 out of the last 11. I didn't like Gregory by the way. |
richie p
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good point tonebone and sasa, i see where your both coming from. i am disapointed as everyone else we didnt get more people in at the transfer window and like you say any injuries we wont be able to cope because our squad is so small but with luck we wont have any major injuries, we havent had any major ones for the first 6 months and there is only 3 months left. im sure mon knows what he is doin thats why is in in charge and were on our computers sharing our opinions but we seem to be blaming MON for not buying players but just think if Mon and lerner never took over 2 years ago we would be no where like we are now we will prob be fighting relegation. |