Barry Bannan steps forward ....

[Villanation]

Needs to be kept in the team and have a run of games,along with Petrov has best football brain in the team.

Shame Petrov is too slow to keep up with his brain.

Bannan should be first midfielder on the team sheet.

The lesson of Albrighton last season shows the danger of that attitude. Very good player but don't put oo much on him too soon.

Good point, although Bannan is a different type of character, more considered, however he's still learning his trade.

[kipeye]

I think the analogy to GC stands and it is one I have already expressed.
The main reason he reminded me of Cowans was that a lot of his passing was ahead of his team mates. I remember Gordon having the same problem in the first couple of seasons-he would make the passes only for his team mate not to expect he would be capable of doing this. It eventually changed as they began to anticipate how the ball would be played.

[TimTheVillain]

He reminds me a bit of Archie Gemmell, he too had the heart of a lion as well as being vertically challenged.

[Villanation]

For some reason that I haven't quite worked out, and its naff all to do with the waistline, but Frannie Lee springs to mind.

[Somniloquism]

I think this paragraph was particularly salient.

Perhaps it’s because previously they’ve been far too happy to play the blame game instead. In recent weeks, Villa’s stars have been lining up to criticise Gerard Houllier for all of last season’s ills, conveniently forgetting the parts they had to play in a 2009-10 campaign to forget.

Personally I thought the 10-11 campaign was the one to forget. <wink>

[Somniloquism]

He reminds me a bit of Archie Gemmell, he too had the heart of a lion as well as being vertically challenged.

And Gordon Strachan as well.

[Somniloquism]

Bannan reminds me so much of Gordon Cowans - if he can be half the player he was, he will still be cracking for us.  He is going to be big this season, just hope that does't mean he will be off to Manure at the end of it.

Let's not go over the top. Bannan looks good in patches, but he loses the ball too much for me. This seems to be conveniently ignored by many on here.

I'm sure Sid wasn't the finished article at 20-21 and used to give the ball as well. But I might be wrong as he was before my time at those ages and I only saw him in the second spell with us.

[olaftab]

That's it now...Fergie will be sniffing around Villa park for wee Barry.

[PaulWinch again]

That's it now...Fergie will be sniffing around Villa park for wee Barry.

There's already been rumours of that.

[eamonn]

Meh...I was expecting the bigging-up of Bananaman would lead in to an interview and extensive quotes from the man himself.
Just many more paragraphs with observations most of the balanced posters on here could come out with.

[Eigentor]

Meh...I was expecting the bigging-up of Bananaman would lead in to an interview and extensive quotes from the man himself.
Just many more paragraphs with observations most of the balanced posters on here could come out with.

With all due respect to the balanced posters on here, Kendrick is a little bit closer to the goings-on at Villa Park and his words thus carries a bit more weight. By the way, I think the 'Houllier was a disaster'-brigade should note that the journalists who followed the club closely last season are reluctant to stick the knife in the Frenchman, but feels it's more pertinent to ask what role the players had in last season's downfall. Maybe that's water under the bridge, but as noted in the article, if we hit a bad spell, the players may once more find it convenient to blame the manager. And this season even more people will be prepared to believe them.

[hipkiss92]

He is a good prospect just needs to stay away from the nightlife in Brum.

Shouldn't be a problem - it's all shit since they closed The Ritzy anyway!

He's 21, he should be at  the O2 every friday (though hopefully not, his beautiful passing would probably start going astray on saturdays)

[john e]

He is a good prospect just needs to stay away from the nightlife in Brum.

Shouldn't be a problem - it's all shit since they closed The Ritzy anyway!

He's 21, he should be at  the O2 every friday (though hopefully not, his beautiful passing would probably start going astray on saturdays)

never did George Best any harm

[PeterWithesShin]

Apart from being responsible for his career basically being over by the time he was 28, causing him to steal money to buy alcohol, multiple drink driving offences, liver problems and eventually killing him?

No harm at all! *winky*

[PeterWithesShin]

If we sell Bannan in the next year or so it really would make me wonder what the point is.