Season 1/5 over, positives so far

[PeterWithesShin]

Positives: Gabby, Bannan, unbeaten in the league, defence looks better, Given, Ireland looks like he may finally give a shit about Aston Villa (well it's it's only taken him just over a year), McLeish is conducting himself well, Petrov looks like he might last closer to 90 mins than an hour.

Negatives: N'Zogbia (so far) Delph still worries me, Bolton, crowds. Only winning 2 out of 7 in the league. Not enough attacking intent yet over all 9 games.

6/10.

[Richie]

Agree with most of the points raised.

However, I'd say the start to the season made by Bannan is a damn sight better than that of Delph.

Too many rash challenges (pen at Everton, booked against Wolves in the first 5 mins) and almost cost us a goal on Saturday with poor pass.

Bannan is hitting goal creating passes and has forced the keeper into a few cracking saves already. I think he could be Sid Mark 2 in a couple of seasons.

I'm afraid I'm still struggling to find positives with Stephen Ireland as well. 

[VillaAlways]

Warnock had his best game for us on Saturday for about 2 years.

Good point.

I thought he played very well on Saturday.

I thought so too.He robbed the Wigan player of the ball with a superb tackle which consequently led to Gabbys goal

[Ryu]

I agree about Warnock. Saturday was the first time I can remember where he didn't make some comically badly timed tackle or attempt at a header at any point. He also won the ball and laid it off to bannan in the build up to Gabby's goal.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

A team that was in very real danger of relegation in April then lost its two star players stands unbeaten in 7th place.
That is progress in anybodys book.

[Concrete John]

Overall I'd give our league start a 7/10.

That's probably about right. 

We'd need to be playing better opposition, or managed to turn one or two draws into wins, to score any higher.

[taylorsworkrate]

Overall I'd give our league start a 7/10.

I'm gonna be stingier and say 6.5

I'd give it a 5.5

There have been some signs of a decent team, especially in the last game and a half.

However our 2 wins have come against very poor teams, and we owe a couple of points to the brilliance of Given.

Some people might use the positive of unbeaten, others will use the negative of only 2 wins in seven.  I suppose you can make a reasonable argument either way.

[eamonn]

1/5 of the way over? 7/38 or 0.18 actually.
Stop wishing your life away Richard.

[TimTheVillain]

Now that we're 14/76'ths of the way into the season, it's fair to say that on the positive side of life, Given is a steal at 3.5, Bannan is looking like a footballer, Gabby is back ( official), Benty will score like he does, Ireland IS interested and has talent and we may just see it, Dunne and Collins, not perfect but almost solid, the bloke in front of me with the silent, smelly farts and attitude hasn't renewed this season.

[supertom]

Everyone's working hard and has responded well to the manager. There's no sense of division in the camp, or unease between management and players as there was last season.

I personally think McLeish has done well so far. We're solid and tough to beat (Carling blip aside). We don't capitulate when we go behind, and though some naysayers may argue some of the draws we got were fortunate, we still pulled those points out of the bag, where last season we'd have rolled over. Like most managers it takes time to really get into full swing with a new team, so there's improvement to come, and I expect it to. We've struggled, even under O Neill, to win enough of those games where we're expected to beat the opposition who aren't as good as we are. You'd say our start has been predominently games we should expect to win given the opposition, except maybe Everton and Fulham on their patch. So a few disappointing draws is nothing new anyway.

We have to see how Eck fares against better oppositon, where O Neill often got a performance and some results for us. If we can get points here and there from the top 6 clubs, and improve our results at Villa Park against the lower half teams, then we'll push for the top 7.
With the players we have, I feel that we should be at least expecting the best of the rest tag. We're in better nick than Arsenal anyway. If they lose Van Persie, they're may even struggle to get top half. He's not adverse to injuries either.
Given and Gabby have been my major highlights though. Plus Irelands attitude. No more moaning or lougnging. He's trying and he's working hard. The form will come soon enough if he gets a run.

[Mr Diggles]

Yes yes, all very interesting and self-congratulatory, but remember that we haven't faced anyone yet we wouldn't normally expect to beat or at least compete with. Look again after December is over.

Although I would like to say Bannan, Given and Gabby have been real boons, and I really like the way McLeish has come across personally. I would just like to see a little more attacking intent.

[Vanilla]

Fans' rating: 6 out of 10.

Owner's rating: 10 out of 10.

[Chris Smith]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

[Risso]

It's been a solid start, with some definite positives, eg the form of Gabby and Bannan, and the fact that we're a lot more defensively sound than we were last season.  We'be beaten two very poor teams, and been "patchy" against others, and hope we don't come too much of a cropper when the run gets a lot tougher in December.

[VillaAlways]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

and the fact that we've just beaten a team that we have failed to beat at home since they,ve been in the PL