What is the excuse for the past 30 matches and what were your excuses at Leeds for always finishing in a worse position?

David O'Leary said "There have been rumours and talk and they were there again yesterday (Monday) when we got on the team coach. I do not have a clue what is happening and no-one has spoken to me about it. You can only hope something either does happen or it doesn't, then we can get on and start concentrating on the football side because it gives people a chance to look for excuses very easily."

You've looked for it and you've found it. All I will say is that you should start to concentrate on the football side of things when the season starts not a quarter of the way through.

Would the manager please keep his gob shut - he's making Aston Villa the laughing stock of the Premiership with him forever going on like this.

Look at Stuart Pearce last night, communicating with his players and sending fresh impetus to them. He showed passion and understanding last night and more importantly his team showed that they listened and responded to him.

Look at what Martin Jol has done at Spurs and even Paul Jewell at Wigan, although I think they will stumble soon I fully expect them to survive in the Premiership if he gets funding in January.

What I'm trying to say is, what has David O'Leary ever done as a manager? I really don't know. We need to get Kevin MacDonald in on a temporary with Gordon Cowans.

All the players respect these two men and they are winners who know what each player can offer and what each player can bring to a match.

If we wait too much longer we will be in serious trouble.