Aston Villa choked: Media view on Fulham

damian, are you on drugs pal, MON has and is doing an awesome job, would you rather have odreary back??

why the hell do you fickle so called villa fans even bother going to watch! You may as well stay at home and let real supportive fans go instead.

MON knows we need to get more firepower and im sure he will in jan. So get off your soapbox and support the villa!!!!

4th. More points than at this stage last season! Better squad generally than last season!!! Drew against FULHAM!!!!!!

Obviously bottled it, what other top four team might drop points to lower opposistion at home. It NEVER happens. Never ever...

My problem with all this self flagelation, and piling it on from the media too, is that it ignores the obvious improvement Villa have made over the last year or two.

No doubt the chicken-lickens will all come on and try to convince us that a dropped point against Fulham means we are heading for relegation and ultimately for administration.

But come on, you sound like Man U fans and that is the worst thing I could possibly say.

Has Taglor kidnapped Damian and taken over the blog?

its more a case of Arsenal throwing away 4th spot rathyer than Villa (or whoever)winning it. Simple as that

we weren't poor yesterday, damian/taglor.

Damian by your reasoning it is pointless to even have the word "formation" in the football dictionary. During the course of the game it will be 3-5-2, 8-1-1 oh and 9-1-0 for corners!

The reason a formation is mentioned is because it is HOW A TEAM IS PUT OUT TO PLAY.

Yesterday we had countless heading opportunities going to midfield player. Why? Because we only had one striker on the pitch. Yesterday we played 4-5-1 which essentially means we played one striker and a lot of midfielders. On the converse, when Man U play 4-3-3 they play a lot of strikers.

Why? Because formation dictates where your players are on the pitch and what is their primary role on it. Three strikers pushed up the field create an entirely different dynamic to a lone striker.

I'm not having a moan. I'm glad we are keeping clean sheets and we will need the formation again next week against Everton. I'm just getting tired of your flexible formation nonsense.

So does that mean Damian is not a Villa supporter? Does that mean he is fickle?

Im getting fed up with anyone who believes that because they post something positive, they are the only Villa supporters. I think that if you just accept it as a loss (or draw in this case) and move on YOU are the ones who are fickle. Showing your emotion good or bad doesnt mean dick....we all support Villa so pack up your useless fickle comments and realize this.

About the game, Ash Young was the only one who was going to make it happen for us. I would have given him MOM also.

Friedel - A couple of nice saves, not really tested though 6
Laursen - Solid but not his imposing self 6
Davies - As above 6
L Young - Average game, ran hard didnt falter 6
Cueller - As above 6
Milner - Couple of good balls in, but didnt beat his man much or show much attack 5
Sidwell - Non existent i felt, missed a couple of great chances (thats the only times i remember him on the pitch) 4
Barry - As above 5
A Young - Quality service from free kicks, setting up chances that were not taken and a couple of decent attempts himself 7 MOM
Petrov - Consistent as always, nothing special did his job 6
Agbonlahor - Always looks like he could slip behind the defence and take off, but didnt time his run a couple of times and seemed rather frustrated all match (same as us really) 6

MON - Didnt change anything tactically despite limited chances and probably played the wrong formation in hindsight. Should have at least had Gardener or the Hare on for some energy if nothing else. 5

See my comment on last blog
but here we go all we were missing yesterday was someone in the box like owen or the ajax fwd whose name escapes me to be on the end of crosses to finish them
the groud being covered for sid and barry to get on the end of thos bullet crosses from ashley is imense and no time to set yourself up to head home
goals will always come with this side but we need as everybody knows a good class finisher upfront that will get you 20-30 goals a season
chelski to beat arsenal
city to beat utd
every villa fans dream but this season is full of shocks so i wait with anticipoation of results
and of course the draw for the fa cup
got to be man utd again?

up the villa

we didnt play that badly really. just missed our chances. it wont be long before we start winning these games and then we'll start making real progress. UTV

Leroy, agree with you we're all allowed to voice our own views. If we all agreed with each other and said the same thing this blog would be boring and nobody would bother viewing it. Having said that......I didn't see Barry's performance in the same way as you. e worked hard, always tried to quickly move the ball and made some great incisive passes. I've seen a number of other people make him our 'man of the match'.....As I said..we all see and say things diffrently.

I been saying all week we should have played 442 with Harewood. It would nave been lucky to win 1 nil with 451. So thats 2 points dropped. Hope Chelsea beat Arsenal. Dam it though you have to beat the likes of Fulham at home.

Damien, we never played 4-3-3 at all yesterday that may have been the plan but it never happend.Young and Milner never got up to support Gabby instead that was left to Barry to do.When every one could see it wasnt going to happen with the players we had on the the pitch and it needed changing why oh why didnt MON do it?????.Young as MOTM your having a laugh arent you? he was woeful he wasted set peice after set peice and had the cheek to blame players not running in.We have never been able to break teams down at VP when the oposition pack the midfield and we dont have the players or the manager to sus out how to do it.

fulham played 4-4-2 when in possesion and 6-3-1 when defending so it was always going to be hard breaking them down, with mon also knowing it was calling out for height up front as shwarzer was more lucky than good,then he still refused to use marewood which tells me the bloke is finished at villa whoop whoop

The plan yesterday was for Barry to get into the box as often as possible. He did that well but missed all his chances. I think Martin should have changed things after an hour but he decided to hope that it would eventually work.

Damian, are you off your head?
How can you say O'Neill is running out of chances, he is the best thing that has happened to this club, and so is Lerner.
So unless you start sounding positive then we might just end up the creek without a paddle.
Arsenal will be lucky to get a point from Chelski so we will be 4th.
We are better than we were last year so we are improving, thats all you can ask.

Reply to robbo:

Leroy, agree with you we're all allowed to voice our own views. If we all agreed with each other and said the same thing this blog would be boring and nobody would bother viewing it. Having said that......I didn't see Barry's performance in the same way as you. e worked hard, always tried to quickly...

Fair play. I am Barrys harshest critic so maybe that has something to do with it...Young was heads and shoulders above any others out on the pitch yesterday. He swung in some great balls (not Gabby style!!) and looked threatening. Yes he gives it away sometimes but who doesnt? Again, fair play and i appreciate your comments

Damian,

First off we didn't loose like you state in your post, it could actually be a point gained if results go our way today.

Secondly, you are sounding very fickle and you deserve a slating on here today.

I will agree we did not play our best and could have done better. However, I watched it again last night on MOTD and we had some really excellent chances of which if one had gone in would have changed the game. Most of them headers, which if fit, I am sure big John would have put away.

I do disagree with the formation at home tho, 4-5-1 works away but not against the lesser sides at Villa Park.

I often respect your thoughts and views Damian, but this weeken you have stepped over the mark and into Taglor teritory!!

Gutted about the outcome due to the sheer amount of chances we had and their suspect keeper.

"DeGough" got it right, should of played Harewood. A lot of people will disagree i presume, but it's simple, if it's not working, change it. And the facts speak for themselves, 1 shot on target all game against an average side at best.

As for Harewood, he tries hard and does pinch the odd goal and while he's here he's getting paid, so why not give him a go??

Playing 1 up front at home is negative whichever way you look at it, just hope it improves.

Just as well i've got the Hamburg trip coming up!

And i would say i'm looking forward to the F.A. Cup draw, but Man Utd isn't exactly the draw i want

100% agree ronvilla, Damian what are you on about? So we drew at home, against a side we should have beaten based on the chances we had. How the hell can you say Oneill and Lerner r running out of chances - its ridiculous frankly. We are 4th in the league and before oneill arrived we had just escaped relegation. OMG you seriously need some perspective and need to start being grateful for the great attacking football we play and our superb league position - some of you are idiots

I watched the game. Totally underlines for me the personnel problems up front. At 75mins MON had no-one he could bring from the bench and he knew it. After our high scoring start to the season and the end of last season, I've never seen a match where goals looked so out of reach.

To get the best out of him, Gabby needs another striker to play off. The lack of JC in the squad is bad news for us.

RonVilla - I think you are spot on about formations but given the squad, I think MON has no choice at the moment.

I also agree with Damian that at the moment, Arsenal have handed us 4th, rather than us earning it and our style of play is becoming predictable. But whichever way you look at it, we are 4th and that's a great achievement.

Let's hope we're still there at Xmas and MON does some business in Jan.

Sorry to say I doubt it at the moment tho'.

UTV.

Well it just goes to prove Damian that if you do drugs when you are angry or depressed you just wake up the next day in a bitchin mood!

No champions league this time round.
MON should now realise that we need 2 quality forwards early on in the transfer window so that we can consolidate a UEFA cup position for next term.
We do not have the strength in depth of the big 4 and the proof is in the reluctance of MON to use any of the fringe players.
The only way any of the young talent we have coming through will gain any experience is for them to go out on loan as they will get very little opportunity at Villa Park.
We are moving forward, but I would like to think that our bright future is not playing with a solitary striker against the likes of Fulham.Lets dig in between now and January and push on for another top 6 finish and good runs in both cups.

Is Damian turning into Taglor? This article's embarrassing.

Don't know about you lot, but I'm sticking with MON and the club: fickle's not the word for some people on here..prawn eaters? Shallow? You decide.

Either way, this moaning's very, very tedious.

Get over yourself and support the club you wimps, there's absolutely no reason for all this unrest.

UTV

Damian explain yourself or I'm stopping reading.

I think Damian has been quite clever actually using controversy to create comment. He knows that the Taglor's of this world will be itching to add their ignominious ramblings of discontent, and he's beaten them to the punch!
Fair play Damo....But MON, come on mate, some things you don't do, and slagging the boss is one.
There will be changes in Jan, of that i'm sure.....Is JC really injured tho, or as some say, has he had enough and wants away??
Yesterday we were poor, but only poor in finishing, Half way through the first half i was expecting a hatfull. I thought we were in control of the game and just the finish let us down. 2 points dropped and i'm dissapointed.......but not fu&&in suicidal!!!

Monkeywrench, Ghosthunter, Sam and other rational individuals. It is time for some orchestrated action to stop this nonsense.
A protest but how?

I sincerely hope that MoN has recognised the mistakes he's made and does something about it in January. I think it's possible that, provided we get in a couple of strikers and a wide player to share the burden with Ash and Milner, we can still finish in the top 4. Should we spend £25m or so and get the right players, I would actually go as far to say that we will finish top 4. There is the opportunity for MoN to partially redeem himself.

But it is dependent on us performing better in this month's fixtures, because these past five games, with the exception of Arsenal where we played quite well, we've not been good enough - and yes, that means we weren't good enough against Man Utd either. That we haven't played well enough is MoN's responsibility. That our chances could be scuppered due to injury is also MoN's responsibility.

For a team aspiring to finish in the top 4, two strikers is barely half the number required. If we don't finish top 4, the reason will be lack of strikers. It's MoN's responsibility to assemble the squad, and he is therefore to blame if it is proven that the squad he has isn't strong enough.

I am not fickle, as I have suspected that MoN didn't reinforce as he should have done this summer. However, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see how things panned out (for example, assuming that Harewood would get playing time, therefore deepening the suqad). It is clear that, given some of the players are strictly seen as backup by Mon, that we are short of players. This is MoN's fault. He's made a big error, and I'm judging him for it. This is entirely rational. But if he rectifies the mistake, we should be alright, and I for one will be satsified.

can we all vot damo out of office
peoples sanity party unite

i propose na as president
oops maybe i cannot vote cause i live in paris ha ha

is taglor really damo in disguise

Let's get some perspective please, yes we should have got 3 points yesterday and Sidwell had a shit game but Liverpool couldn't break down Fulham at Anfield last week also.

The way I see it is that - over the course of a season - a club will have highs and lows: why on Earth some on here expect a run of perfect performances no-matter-what is beyond me.

Had we come away from The Emirates with a point and won the Fulham game, this same people spinning their rags on here would have probably be much less annoyed with the situation.

Nan_Was_a_Fan, I'm as baffled by the outrage caused by yesterday's result as you are and suspect that these same people spewing bile right now will gladly jump on the bandwagon once again should we get 3 points at Everton.

I really can't think of an effective way to change people's minds on here, some will moan even if we managed to qualify for the Champions League anyway: look at the Taglor's of this world.

So I'm just gonna continue to have faith, others can continue to leave Villa Park 5 minutes from the end in disgust or boo a player at any given opportunity: they probably deserve the inner torture they put themselves through on a regular basis anyway.

UP THE VILLA.

Harewood is clearly going in January coz its clear that MON has absolutely no faith in him. he should have at least got a game yesterday. personally i think he should have started coz we needed at least two strikers and fulhams back four isnt that good so im sure he could have coped.

LINK

i agree with charlie.

i enjoy this blog and the range of views and like most was extremely frustrated by yesterday's results. but we did create some great chances yesterdaty and on another day would have put at least one in - it was just one of those days.

to claim o'neill is running out of chances and not doing a good job is frankly ludicrous. for so long i have wanted to see a vila side go and give it a real go against the sky 4. the last 2 games v utd and arsenal has shown the progress we have made. can people not remember the time when we had absolutely no hope of every getting anything against the sky 4?! we are not the finished articles and are certainly a high quality striker short (ashton for me in the tranfer window) but this is a massively improved vila side and a better team than anything since BFR's team that finished second. some times, i think we take for granted how lucky we are to have mon who has produce the best villa side of the last 15 years.

ncav I agree with you. Well said. But Ashton for me is injured too much, same as Owen. The realistic target should be Kevin Doyle plus one more but can't decide who of those that would come to VP.
To suggest MON should go of course is total nonsense.
Lets hope we can stay in contention for 4th.

So people are starting to questions Martin O'Neill already now? And I thought that it was us (the top 4, so called "big team" supporters) that were short-sighted and fickle...

You are very close to becoming a big team, and what is most importantly - you are on the right track. But - still not there. What you need are some players that are winners. That have played some big games, and had some big victories, won some trophies. You already brought in several players last transfer window, more would not have done any good.

So you just need to wait a bit, and enjoy where your manager has taken you.

ncav: the comment about MON running out of chances was almost comedy award stuff.

I've seen women on the blob rationalise more than some on here.

I still remember the booing from some twerps when Shorey was subbed vs Middlesbrough (because of his error when we conceded a goal): it's the way it goes and reflects society. Some understand, (too) many others mouth-breathe.

Bless 'em.

UTV

totally agree with you monkeywrench and ncav, im glad you guys see sense. Also think charlie's summary on soccer saturday was spot on - the running from midfield was superb and another day we could have had 4, we missed carew but the team still played well, just lacked a finish

I don't advocate swearing on the front page. However today I just can't believe what the fuck I have just read.

Some of us from the forum were at this match. From where I was at I thought we played a decent game on the whole. Especially in the second half. On another day we would have had 3 goals with that performance. Fulham never looked like scoring at all and in the second half it was all one way traffic towrads the Holte End.

So shut the fuck up your moaners. It's 90 minutes out of a season. Do you really think this Villa team is going to play like Man Utd every game. Get your heads out of your arse. We are not at that level yet. Measure your expectations by current reality. When we do have such high class players then I would expect a slating of the team, but at this stage we are doing fine.

I'll just add. I ain't no sheep and I'll give my crtical opinion when required, but stating MON has run out of chances it way, way, way bang out of order. Two and a half years ago we could have got a 'run of the mill' manager, but we got MON. It takes longer than 3 years to have a first class team.

Get a bloody life you moaners...

frankly i find it embarrasing that someone from another club has to come on here and ask people to see sense - are we the new spurs fans?! how many other supporters from other clubs would give their right nut to be where we are?! the villa are a club on the up - we have beaten arsenal away, ajax at home, given utd a game (something i cant remember for a long long time) and liverpool came to VP and played for a draw! massive improvements.

lets hope chelsea do us a favour; city, spurs and everton all draw; we dont draw utd at 2.30 today.

de gough, i agree with your concerns about ashton's injury record but is woen's any better? when he is fit he scores goals and with west ham's league position and financial problems, he seems like a decent bet. i cant see us signing van huntlaar. mon clearly doesnt rate harewood so we need further options on the bench in the forward dept as he who is bigger than me and you clearly picks up knocks .

We didn't choke as the media suggest. Choking is when you play badly and are hanging on for a result you know you should get. We were just unfortunate that none of those 4 glorious chances went in. If we choked, we wouldn't of created any chances and Fulham would have dominated the game. I don't think they did!

Original post is garbage, since MON & RL came in we've had nothing but improvement, month on month, year after year - on AND off the field. What more do you want?

Thank god most the posts are positive!

We drew against a Fulham side who set out for a draw - just like they did against Liverpool last week. A few years back Fulham would have been looking for three points at VP - now they see it as a GREAT result. That shows you how we've come on ffs!

We should have won 1 or 2 nill, missed 3 GREAT headed chances and these comments by Hodgson say it all, note he says they were under MORE pressure than at Liverpool (If you remember they could have WON that game!)

"We were under siege in the second-half, the most under-seige we have been for a while,"

"We knew Villa were going to come out and throw everything at us. If we are talking about chances created then we have to say they deserved to win."

every team has its bad days...we played well (not amazingly but we deserved the 3 points) and we just missed the chances that came our way. Loving the way that we're playing this season and I hope that we can carry on this way. Fair play to fulham in this game as well...they really gave 110%.

Woulfeman Your Talkin Rubbish Liverpool Drew With Them At Anfield Last Week So Shutup And Get Facts Ryt. Wer In Top 4 And Hav Beat Arsenal Drew Wiv Man Utd, Rely Wt More Wud We Want At The Mo. Yes Another Striker Aa Quality One To But Lets Wait Til Jan And This Will Al Be Goood And Sorted.

Disagree with comments on formation.
We played 4-5-1. It doesn' matter that your midfield players were more attacking, they are still midfield players.
As for reaction to Damians blog, once again any criticism of the sacred cow that is Martin O neill, is met with hostility.
I agree that we have improved enormously but we are basically a counter attacking side.We need some guile and craft to our play,particularly at home.I don't think the current coaching staff have it in them to be honest so they need to be changed.
O'neill didn't get the England job because the FA thought his backroom team weren't good enough...I suspect they had a point.

I was at the game as usual and see it like this.....

It wasn't a problem with the formation, effort or the line-up of the team. We were never going to lose yesterday, we just couldn't get it in the back of the net, but we did have the chances.

The problem is the fact O'neill seems to forget the substitutes sitting behind him. I don't know how it made you feel yesterday, but I was livid. Sidwell wasn't reallyin the game from the start and Milner's final ball was shocking...again. Therefore, if

....MON would have had any sense, he would have substituted them.The only reason he didn't was because Shorey was already sitting on the bench, therefore no need to (in his head) bring on new players and change the whole team around.

We weren't going to score if we had played all night. Bringing on fresh legs and/or changing the formation and tactics would have turned the game, most likely in our favor. That is what really pisses me off with MON.

Damian, don't fall into that trap of being completely negative when we lose and totally positive when we win. It's something that all Newcastle fans etc do and its something that other fans accuse us lot of doing (and not without merit to be honest). Just stay positive I'm sure we'll pick up results again soon and be challenging for that 4/5th spot. Bottom half is just ridiculous.

Reply to phaedrus:

Disagree with comments on formation.
We played 4-5-1. It doesn' matter that your midfield players were more attacking, they are still midfield players.
As for reaction to Damians blog, once again any criticism of the sacred cow that is Martin O neill, is met with hostility.
I...

Nicely put mate. Good comment. Unfortunately you must understand this kind of comment means you are not as good a supporter as all the others who bandy around the stereotypical lines like "last year we have finished 6th we are currently 4th", "we are improving that is all you can ask for", "shut up moaners".....maybe the barn gates have been left open and a few sheep have gotten loose?! Haha, couldnt help it!!!

Come on Damian.

Your time is up.

Let's hear it.

I don't see that MON is held out as a "sacred cow" by the loyal supporters on this site. He is simply respected and the club supported. I don't see much in the way of reaction to Damian's comments to MON I just see a lot of justifiable criticism of the bollocks he has been spoting recently particularly today.

phaedrus: your comments on the FA not giving the job to MON are laughable. Try a comedy blog. The job was given to Steve McLaren, which says all there is to say on the FA's ability in terms of picking a football manager. And the fact you chose that as an example shows how desperate you are to find a reason to complaint.

Leroy: you're a professional moaner, in the Taglor mould. Your comments are predictable and repetitive. Being negative does not make you an individual, as much as having a brighter view on things does not make us sheep. But I guess that's a concept you wouldn't consider, busy as you are scrapping for something to whinge about.

Reply to Monkeywrench:

phaedrus: your comments on the FA not giving the job to MON are laughable. Try a comedy blog. The job was given to Steve McLaren, which says all there is to say on the FA's ability in terms of picking a football manager. And the fact you chose that as an example shows how desperate you are to find a...

But your whinging about us moaners.....

Monkey wrench, I agree about the FA.They are bloody useless.The point is, they preferred to give the job to Mclaren largely due to their opinion of O,Neills backroom team.
As for my other point about anyone critising O'neill being subject to hostility ?.....I think you pretty much prove that.

Leroy: I'm still waiting for that intelligent and logical comment mate..

People Keep Talking about us being a few players short.
What scares me is that Mon has been looking for players for long enough.
His Responce £ms on Milner Harwood Sidwell Shorey.
Thease are not top 4 players

Sorry to throw a spanner in the works, but I thought that the job went to McLaren because the FA didn't want to pay the ridiculous contracts of Sven's back room staff. i.e. Clemence et al becuase O'Niell wanted his own back room staff.

Well said Ghosthunter.

Aston Villa were really unlucky yesterday. Fulham played quite well and fought really hard. I really think it will be a great season with a 6th place finish. The team has come so far under the reign of MON. Who knows, with a little more luck and one or two wise transfers we might one day be challenging for the league.

Is that ok mate? Do me a favour, everytime there is a new post by Damian, be sure to leave some guide lines at the top that i should follow about each post. That way i can please you each time because that is really important to me and i think it will be for the better of everyone on this blog. That way it can just be a happy wonderful place just like in real life, when everything goes your way and everyone lives forever

phaedrus: the so-called hostility you keep mentioning is in fact a different opinion from yours. There's however a clear sense of irony and derision on your part in suggesting that people with a brighter view than yours are all uncapable to accept that MON may make mistakes.

That remains your opinion and in the previous post you had a reaction to it. Not hostility, just a reaction.

I still maintain that supporters voicing unrest at this particular time of the year, considering where we are in terms of position in the league, quality of the squad and future potential, either are fickle.

This is of course my opinion and I understand we'll never come to an agreement on the subject.

All I know is that - should we miraculously achieve something special by the end of the season - I'll be able to look back safe in the knowledge I didn't spend most of my time jumping on and off the bandwagon.

Point proven Leroy. At least by leaving Villa Park 10 minutes from the end you'll avoid the traffic.

Real life requires perspective and an understanding of grey areas Leroy.

The blog it seems does not. It only functions in black and white where perspective is irrelevant as we analyse the here and now.

I still fail to see who you MOn knockers are holding up as the example of successful Prem management in terms of breaking the Top 4.

I believe it used to be Ramos.

Reply to Monkeywrench:

Point proven Leroy. At least by leaving Villa Park 10 minutes from the end you'll avoid the traffic.

Your point is, and please correct me if im wrong, that you and anyone who posts "positive" remarks in this blog are better fans of Aston Villa than me or others who leave negative posts...

Leroy - Exactly! Well done.

No I think his point was that people who post their considered opinions are better fans than those who are angry or provocative and post bollocks.

OK Monkywrench, no hostility then, you are just brighter than me. A Tad more arrogant as well perhaps ?
Clearly we won't agree and I don't want to et in to a slagging match.
Ultimately, All of us want the same thing, I assume, and that is to break in to the top 4 and take it from there.My very real concern is that due to the huge strides O'neill has made we all assume he will carry on making similar strides despite the evidence of what we see in front of us.The next leap forward is far bigger than those we have already taken and we should,if we are serious,be preparing for it.That may mean making some hard decisions and MON needs to make them

phaedrus: when I say "people with a brighter view", I mean fans who see things in a more positive light, not more intelligent fans.

Sigh.

Leroy: yes, people prepared to show more patience and support the club when things are hardly falling apart are better fans.

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

No I think his point was that people who post their considered opinions are better fans than those who are angry or provocative and post bollocks.

Comment number 7 mate. If you think its bollocks fair play, but its considered and its my point of view. Im the only one who left player ratings today and noone really slagged them off except one post who thought Ash Young didnt deserve MOM. I think it had to be Ash personally. I am a Villa supporter and this is how i choose to use this blog. If i use emotion, postive or negative and that offends anyone feel free to ignore my post. But i like the fact that we can have a debate on here. This blog would be boring otherwise....i think most of you lads can atleast agree with that

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

Damian explain yourself or I'm stopping reading.

Damian is away at his in-laws today so don't think you'll get a response til tomorrow Nan.

Reply to Monkeywrench:

phaedrus: when I say "people with a brighter view", I mean fans who see things in a more positive light, not more intelligent fans.

Sigh.

Leroy: yes, people prepared to show more patience and support the club when things are hardly falling apart are better fans.

Well im not sure which post gave you the impression that i dont have patience and im especially interested in knowing which post gave you the impression that i dont support the club.....My only knock on MON was that he didnt change things up...something just about everyone has mentioned today...

Leroy.

Post 7 was fair enough mate.

It was some of the later crap, maybe not yours that was of interest to me.

There's been plenty of crap going today, started off in style by Damian.

Imagine if we lose at Everton or dare dropping to 5th/6th position for a few games..stick your umbrellas out lads, the menstrual floodgates would open wide.

Reply to Monkeywrench:

There's been plenty of crap going today, started off in style by Damian.

Imagine if we lose at Everton or dare dropping to 5th/6th position for a few games..stick your umbrellas out lads, the menstrual floodgates would open wide.

Still waiting for your carefully considered reply mate. Or is it that you couldnt actually find anything that supported your claim?

I've scanned and checked and it wasn't you that was posting crap Leroy. Apologies.

However you do appear to be defending those who think that MON is getting things wrong. Before you claim 'well he is.' So is Bentitez, Scolari, Ferguson and Wenger but I'm pretty sure the rational supporters of those particular clubs are not suggesting that these men are running out of chances.

Its fine mate. I dont necessarily believe that MON is getting things wrong. Well obviously i feel his subs policy and transfer policy are questionable, but he has got the results thus far. I think many would be more forgiving if he even just gave the impression of trying something new. He did not make a sub to change it up, or even try a different formation. He has been guilty of that a few times now and i believe it has cost us points this season. That would be my only gripe with MON

Leroy, I agree with that. I think between us we've found the grey area.

Don't forget me, i'm on board. Will be interesting to hear Damian's response after he's finished entertaining the in-laws!

if u play a counter attack system even against shit teams - which we do, and u play a 4-5-1, then u do only have one up front. how could u possibly get 3 up front wen yr front man is one of the fastest in the league. it is a 4-5-1, it is not a 4-3-3

a pet hate, in done now. please though no more of this sillyness

if u play a counter attack system even against shit teams - which we do, and u play a 4-5-1, then u do only have one up front. how could u possibly get 3 up front wen yr front man is one of the fastest in the league. it is a 4-5-1, it is not a 4-3-3

a pet hate, in done now. please though no more of this sillyness

I have to agree with most of the positive posters here; after the football Villa has played this season, and where we currently sit on the table, it's ludicrous to call out MoN like this. I definitely think there are questions to be asked - why no substitutions when both the game and the opposing team's playing style cried out for a second striker; why the blind belief in that the same style of play that stifled Arsenal and United would work just as well against vastly different opposition - but the gaffer has also more than earned the trust of the fans over the course of his tenure.

RSamVillafan: I don't think Carew is going anywhere, at least not of his own accord. His statements to the press has never been anything but gushing in his praise for the club.

all of u people slaggin off O'Neill should be ashamed of yourselves! We are in the best position we have been in about ten years, the average age of our team is very young, there is no longer any dead wood left in the team since MON got rid of Sorensen,berger etc.... and for the first time in i dont know how long we have 1-4 players consistently in the england squad. Oh and i almost forgot we are in touching distance of Man utd and Arsenal!!! It sounds like a lot of fans on this site havent ever played football at a decent level and think that it is easy to manage a football team. I am as disappointed as anyone that we couldnt take advantage of the fulham game yest, but we wont turn into a top 4 team overnight. Im sure ull all turn around and say, its been two years, but look where we have come from! Unless u spend like chelsea it is a long process and can be frustrating at times. I wouldnt swap MON for anyone, and will stand by him no matter what. yes maybe we could have played two up front yesterday, but if he had have started Harewood, half of u would have slated that decision too if we didnt win. Do some of you want Taylor or O'Leary back in charge?! so fickle its unbelievable. Its going to be a long and exciting season so just sit back and appreciate that we have our strongest manager, chairman, and squad in years. I admit we need another striker but at least we've stopped letting goals in! Lets hope for Huntelaar in Jan

MON fuct it yesterday. 5 in midfield at home against Fulham - plain dumb. By half time it was obvious it wasn't working and he needed to make a change, but he didn't (a crucial error). We were crap yesterday and those of you saying we didn't play bad we just 'didn't take our chances' are inbred retards - we were a bag of shite for 90 minutes. Where was the hunger - we were playing FOR THIRD PLACE. Fulham, Sunderland and Newcastle proved one thing - we're the best of the rest and not good enough for Champions League. It was textbook Villa for me; put youself within spitting distance and don't bother with the final yard to better yourselves in the table.

I for one am disappointed with yesterday’s result but not greatly surprised. Fulham are becoming a well organised unit and other teams have and will find them very difficult to break down this season. I had a bet with my mate before the season started that Fulham may be the surprise package this time out and so far they seem to be delivering and they still have a game in hand, albeit against Man U at Old Trafford. Newcastle and Middlesbrough were the real wounding results.

To say we should be beating certain teams is bollocks, this is football and as we all know anyone can beat anyone on their day. Just look at the crap Lawro writes every week in his predictions if you need any justification.

I was at the game yesterday and felt that we did not play badly. Yes, we missed Carew and I agree that playing the lone striker at home does have it’s implications, but we were not embarrassed by our performance and as for saying we bottled it, this again in my opinion is bollocks. Damian has the right to say what he wants and I feel that the original post was deliberately contentious in order to provoke debate and also to express his anger at the dropped points. Having a pop at MON and Randy is simply ridiculous. Every Villa fan knows that this is the best it has ever been and I would be deeply saddened if either of them left our glorious club. This is a blog after all and in my opinion the best one going. OK, so we slipped up yesterday and we will do again along with all the other clubs whose fans expect a win every week. I would hate to be a Man U or Chelsea fan as the expectation is so high it must be crippling when they lose or draw.

Villa are improving under this current regime and will get stronger with further quality striking additions and with each match that they play together. Please stop the moaning and get behind our team. I have said it before and I will say it again. It is great to be a Villa fan now after all those miserable years.

I'm relatively new to this blog but being born in Sutton Coldfield have been a Villa fan for 30 odd years. I have never sensed so much excitement and enthusiasm about our club - not since '81, '82 anyway.
One thing I have picked up on this site, though, is Damien you can be such a SOOK sometimes. Am I mistaken? When was the last time we were this high in the league? When was the last time we had a team with so many internationals? When was the last time we were even mentioned in the same group as the top four? And when was the last time we had a squad with so much youth, experience, and promise? We actually have players who want to play for this club for a change. Oh, and aren't we about to progress into the next stage of the UEFA Cup?
Mate, do you just need something to bitch about every now and then? You've been on Milner's back since the day we signed him and look at him now!You don't seem to WANT to be happy!
I don't know how long you've been a Villa fan for, but you should be used to these sort of results. If you don't like it - go find another club to bitch about.
Til then, get off your high horse, settle in for the ride, and enjoy what's happening at our beloved club - you just never know. Not with Villa anyway...

i've read this blog for a while but never posted, until now.
I'm not too sure if you're being 100% genuine with your piece or you're just trying to provoke debate.

i've been a villa fan since 89 and i must admit it's been a long time since i've been this excited about villa. Martin O'Neill is the principle reason we are doing so well. To criticise him at this moment is comparable to treason. He has improved the team immensley. Last season was great but to improve on it again is a fantastic achievement and I have no doubt he will continue to improve the team. He is that good a manager. All the players seem to deeply respect him and he has a great capacity of improving any type of player that arrives at the club, if they are willing.

I must admit that his style of play is not to everyone's liking. At times it's very frustrating, but when it clicks it's breathtaking to watch. He can be very defensive at times (but what great manager isn't?), and often relies on counterattacking football a bit too much, but he has instilled a fantastic work ethic and created a solid team structure, that is organisationally sound, particularly defensively. The pace in the team is a sight to behold.

The criticism of Milner is unwarranted. Time should be given to the young lad. With each game he is repaying O'neill's faith in him. Petrov has shown great character in rediscovering his form. Davies is just supreme. Laursen should be called Lazarus, he is immense. Ashley has the world at his feet and Agbon is only beginning to show what he can do. Most of O'Neill's signings have been fantastic, Sidwell, Cuellar, Shorey and Young have all improved the team.

That draw against Fulham was for me the biggest disappointment of the season so far. I would put it down to the players choking it. But I don't blame them, they are in uncharted waters afterall. And that is a testament to the success Martin O'Neill has brought to the club. And I firmly believe the best is yet to come!

Damian, it is evident that you are suffering from sunlight deprivation, it's making you depressed, buy a sunlamp and look on the bright side. Villa were awaesome yesterday, we ought to have buried Fulham in the first half. The second half was so full of Villa attacks that Fulham relied on immense good fortune to hold out. Any other day, against any other team, play like that would have assured us all three points and a glut of goals. Lighten up fella, Villa were massive, Fulham were lucky, let's live with it.

Anyhow guys, all the negativity surrounding damians comments will cease to exist when we beat zilina and everton comfortably and buy a couple of top draw forwards in jan.

CL here we come and villa forever!!!!!!

The most cliched but truest saying in football is that the league table does not lie. We are 5th in the Premier League and top of our UEFA Cup group. Is that so bad?
I hate to say it, but many of us are starting to sound like Newcastle fans. We don't have a god-given right to be above Everton, Spurs, Manchester City or West Ham. But we are.
Or would you rather be in their or the Toon's shoes?