Petrov

[eamonn]

I like Herd but passing-wise he's even more conservative than Stan.

I look at Newcastle's midfielders of Ben Arfa, Tiote (injured at the moment) and Cabaye, how much they cost, see how many points ahead of us they are and it makes me want to weep.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I like Herd but passing-wise he's even more conservative than Stan.

I think it's because he's a junior member of the squad, when the senior Dunne or Collins shout for the ball, he gives it to them instead of telling them to do one. He'll learn.

[Matt C]

Herd has done pretty well I reckon. In terms of his passing he's pretty conservative but that just strikes me as a player petrified of making a mistake.

[UsualSuspect]

The future of our central midfield has got to be bannan, jenas and herd/clark. Delph isn't good enough

If petrov had played yesterday he would have made no difference whatsover.

We need to be giving our not so young youngsters game time, not floundering along with the likes of heskey and petrov

[Phil from the upper holte]

Players revolt? Revolting more like, I'm sure I could teach Mcshit a thing or two about tactics and no they aint mints

[olaftab]

A future midfield fills me with hope.

Carruthers Herd  Gardner Bannan.

May be Albrighton  ilo of Carruthers if he wakes up and smells the onions!

[Summers]

That midfield fills me with worry.

[frank]

Herd played very well today I thought in the Stan role.

Yes, I've been quite impressed by him. Slightly concerned that he's a bit full-blooded at times and will pick up lots of cards, but he'll learn to be a bit more savvy about that with experience.

During our good spell in the 2nd half yesterday, I was thinking that Herd was probably my man of the match (and then I decided that we didn't really have a man of the match). He certainly would have been if the header had gone in. I don't think Stan would have got into that position. Like you, I'm a bit concerned about his aggressive tackling. He does tend to go in with both feet and against West Brom he probably should have been booked before the red-that-wasn't. One of his strong points is his anticipation: he breaks up a lot of opposition moves. On the negative side, he doesn't (yet) produce the defence-splitting pass. But there's a lot of promise there.

[SoccerHQ]

Herd played very well today I thought in the Stan role.

Yes, I've been quite impressed by him. Slightly concerned that he's a bit full-blooded at times and will pick up lots of cards, but he'll learn to be a bit more savvy about that with experience.

I'm always wary of bigging up these defensive midfield types as Hoggy was being hyped last year by some and is now in the championship but Herd looks to have a little more about him as I thought his passing was decent in the second half.

[SoccerHQ]

I like Herd but passing-wise he's even more conservative than Stan.

I look at Newcastle's midfielders of Ben Arfa, Tiote (injured at the moment) and Cabaye, how much they cost, see how many points ahead of us they are and it makes me want to weep.

Well we did sign one from France. Maybe with a bit more patience Makoun could've been our Tiote or Cabaye as Cabaye's first decent game was against us and that was in mid September.

[PaulWinch again]

I still think it was insane to ship out Makoun, even more so in light of the midfield we've been playing of late.

[UsualSuspect]

I still think it was insane to ship out Makoun, even more so in light of the midfield we've been playing of late.

has makoun been playing in greece?

[PaulWinch again]

I don't know, but whether he has or hasn't he wasn't given a fair chance at Villa.

[john e]

because Macoun and BB are not the type of players that Mcliesh wants, he played Hutton and Heskey in midfield remember because whether we like it or not, they are the type of players he prefers

as for Petrov, i think he's the most underated player at Villa, we do miss him when he doesnt play

[Neil Hawkes]

I believe Petrovs replacement is currently gaining match fitness at Coventry.