Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: TimTheVillain on February 02, 2011, 09:46:46 AM
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I have been a fan of his when all around me were dissing him and he has great ability, and had a superb season 2008/9.
Last season he was OK, not great.
This season he can't last a whole game and it will be his last at Villa I think.
Last night at ManUre he was awful - slow, laboured and ineffective.
Then, to cap it all he was petulant when taken off.
I can't defend him any more, he is on his last legs at VP and after last nights showing, I am less bothered than I would have been.
Fabian Delph's place ( when fit) must be a shoe in now in my opinion.
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He probably knows better than anyone that his time has come. He would be better dropping down a division it may allow him a few more years.
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If he's happy to stay and play 25 games a season I would keep him, because for all his lack of pace he is still a class act, which is hard to replace.
I like the look of Bradley, Makoun, Delph and Bannan, but I wouldn't start replacing the quality of Petrov just yet without knowing these 4 can take over.
The next 4 months will tell us a lot.
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He's probably waiting for MON to rock up somewhere.
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i dont think he is any different now, to when he first started... he has always had the pace and mobility of a tree, and he has always passed the ball backwards and sidewards and slowed down our attacks...
i have NEVER rated him, and while he is neat and tidy on the ball, he is a liabiity in our team, and always has been apart from an improvement from his awfulness for about 6 months that made him less shit...
he should leave and go to spain or italy, where the game is played at a snails pace, and he might fit in there...
i cant wait for him to leave...
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I'd be happy to keep him as a squad player as his experience is invaluable, but I can't see him putting up with that, so I think he'll be off in the Summer.
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Crab-like ineffective passing. No stamina. No mobility.
Get rid at the first opportunity.
A model pro but a player we should no longer have any use for.
NRC is of more use but he will also be off in the summer. Better players are arriving and have arrived and his apparent wage demands are inappropriate so thanks guys and good luck.
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Apart from his glorious debut at west ham he has rarely hit those heights again , one good season in 4 years and it's time for a change.
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I'd be happy to keep him as a squad player as his experience is invaluable, but I can't see him putting up with that, so I think he'll be off in the Summer.
I agree with Rip Van Bentfletch.
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He has his qualities but for the way we're going and want to play he is too ponderous.
His time has come.
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Petrov should be dropped and used for the last 20 mins of games I needed.
Then I sell in the summer.
Cheeky bastard thinking he is too good to get subbed.
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I am excited by Gardner, Delph, Bannan, and Bradley being brought into the team so i would say thanks for everything and let him go in the summer.
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I'd be happy to keep him as a squad player as his experience is invaluable, but I can't see him putting up with that, so I think he'll be off in the Summer.
I agree with Rip Van Bentfletch.
So do I, By the way Fletch a quality porn name that you got there
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Technically gifted player who never played in the advanced midfield position where he made his name.
He had the hounour of being Aston Villa's captain and never let the side down in terms of effort and commitment. He gave us his prime years as a footballer.
If he goes, I for one, wish him the best as I think he could still do a good job for a Premier League club for a couple of years.
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Petrov has a contract until June 2013. He's going to be expensive to move on.
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Surely we could have sent him back to Celtic on loan? His time has gone, along with his legs and the fan's patience. We'll always have that 50 yard wonder goal though.
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Even if we did send him up to Celtic on loan for the next two years, it would probably cost us £4m in wages to play him there, assuming Celtic agreed to pay him £20k a week. We were bloody stupid to give him such a long extension on his contract.
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Even if we did send him up to Celtic on loan for the next two years, it would probably cost us £4m in wages to play him there, assuming Celtic agreed to pay him £20k a week. We were bloody stupid to give him such a long extension on his contract.
Spot on
All this bollocks about bringing him on for the last 20 mins of games.
To do what exactly?
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Even if we did send him up to Celtic on loan for the next two years, it would probably cost us £4m in wages to play him there, assuming Celtic agreed to pay him £20k a week. We were bloody stupid to give him such a long extension on his contract.
Spot on
All this bollocks about bringing him on for the last 20 mins of games.
To do what exactly?
Keep the Ball, he's not much use as a sub if we're chasing the game but if we're 1 up he'd be useful to bring on to retain possession.
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Even if we did send him up to Celtic on loan for the next two years, it would probably cost us £4m in wages to play him there, assuming Celtic agreed to pay him £20k a week. We were bloody stupid to give him such a long extension on his contract.
Spot on
All this bollocks about bringing him on for the last 20 mins of games.
To do what exactly?
Keep the Ball, he's not much use as a sub if we're chasing the game but if we're 1 up he'd be useful to bring on to retain possession.
keep the ball?
have I missed something?
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keep the ball?
have I missed something?
It would appear so.
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Yep - petrol keeps possession better than anyone else in our squad in my opinion. He might be slow and lack stamina but keeping things ticking over is his main asset.
Was very impressed by Makoun on that front yesterday. He could be the complete player for us. Let's hope so.
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i would rather bring a shopping trolley/traffic bollard on for 20 mins than bring petrov on.
He cant keep hold of the ball in the first 20 mins of a game never mind the last 20
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Each to their own I suppose.
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This reminds me of when we sold Townsend to Boro. The right time to sell a decent pro on the decline.
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This reminds me of when we sold Townsend to Boro. The right time to sell a decent pro on the decline.
Spot on, but Townsend was alot better!
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Selling them is fine as long as you're confident you've got the right players to replace them.
I don't think we replaced Townsend, and we might need to wait until the end of the season to see what this new breed are like.
Brian Little got £500K for Townsend and then Gregory blew £4.5M on Alan Thompson.
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To be fair, I'd been wanting us to sign Thompson for ages.
And Curcic.... and Collymore....
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Me too, that's why we're better of waiting to see how the new boys perform before we have a car boot sale of knackered old midfielders.
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To be fair, I'd been wanting us to sign Thompson for ages.
And Curcic.... and Collymore....
Now Curcic. That was a player .....
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Did we not get a couple of million for Andy T? I thought it was Albion who bought him cheap when he was no longer capable of movement.
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Think he signed his own release forms with his petulant little act last night. GH was not at all impressed, and lets face it, those who have crossed him so far have found it a cold and lonely place. I also think that we will sign at least 1 more central midfielder come the summer, so it won't matter a jot.
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I might have missed something, but was this dreadful act of petulance anything more than a shake of the head when he saw he was being substituted?
Could that not easily be shaking his head at:
"Damn, we might well lose this in spite of playing alright"
"Damn, I've been pretty rubbish tonight"
"Damn, I think I've left the gas on"
"Damn, it's a shame I didn't pick Vidic up when that cross came in"
I certainly didn't see him throw his shirt on the floor and slap Houllier across the chops.
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All possibilities Dave, apart from the gas one - Stan prefers oil, but GHou mentioned in a post-match interview when asked about Petrov's reaction that players should leave their egos at the door and realise it's a team game.
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I might have missed something, but was this dreadful act of petulance anything more than a shake of the head when he saw he was being substituted?
Could that not easily be shaking his head at:
"Damn, we might well lose this in spite of playing alright"
"Damn, I've been pretty rubbish tonight"
"Damn, I think I've left the gas on"
"Damn, it's a shame I didn't pick Vidic up when that cross came in"
I certainly didn't see him throw his shirt on the floor and slap Houllier across the chops.
He looked pretty hacked off at the bench then stood and did his head shake in disbelief. Likewise, I think it is a storm in a teacup, but the manager saw enough to comment on it, and we are well aware of GH not taking any form of dissent.
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Young and Downing were worse yesterday in my opinion but still not Petrovs best day at the office.
He does keep possession really well and keep us ticking over. You might think this is a prerequisite for a professional footballer but very few of our players have been able to manage this for several years.
In the recent blose game for example, his calm measured passing gave us the platform of possession for our most dangerous spells of the game. I was watching the pressure causing panic and mistakes throughout the team, but I knew when he got the ball it would stick and we could build again.
None of this is spectacular and goes unnoticed or unappreciated but it's essential. Problem for him is his legs have gone. Also, admittedly based on very little football it looks like macoun can do ticking over and calm posession under pressure but at a quicker tempo and with greater energy.
I would imagine stan can see this for himself and some of the frustration he showed when taken off reflected this.
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Young and Downing combined to set Bent up for our goal and Petrov did nothing but mill about and pass sideways so I don't see how Downing and Young were worse.
We would have been much better off with Bannan or Delph's forward passing rather than ticking over sideways passing that doesnt go anywhere. Dont mean to hammer Stan but my god he is frustratingly limited and ineffective.
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Fair enough Young and Downing combined for the goal but i can't have been the only one who was frustrated by the number of moves that broke down with them in promising positions. Maybe that frustration has blinded me to some of their better moments.
I agree about Bannan i think he's great. He gave the ball away and put it in to touch quite often against blackburn at the weekend though. This is obviously because Bannan tries more ambitious passes, which don't come off as often.
I don't think Petrov is incapable of playing these types of passes, in fact i know he can because i've seen it. So i don't agree with you that he's limited, but i think we now have midfielders who can be more effective.
Reo Coker is another player whose attributes should be the starting point for all Professional footballers, namely energy, and a willingness to put a foot in when the opposition have the ball. In the game at the weekend though it was only Nigel who did this so it seems it isn't part of everyones game at all.
I know in theory Bradley, Makoun, Delph are all players who combine Petrov and Reo Cokers elements and that's definitely the way we need to go to progress, but until we actually see that they can do these jobs it's too soon to cast aside players who we know can.
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His debut was superb, and every now and then he does something that shows he is a top class player
Not often enough though
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Young and Downing combined to set Bent up for our goal and Petrov did nothing but mill about and pass sideways so I don't see how Downing and Young were worse.
We would have been much better off with Bannan or Delph's forward passing rather than ticking over sideways passing that doesnt go anywhere. Dont mean to hammer Stan but my god he is frustratingly limited and ineffective.
I've never been a great fan of Stan, I just never really got what he is supposed to offer, and I think your description there sums upmost of his time with us. Yes he keeps possesion well, if you count turning around and passing it to the full back who then invariably hoofs it forward, but mainly in areas where it does little harm to the opposition. Far too often his cautiousness undermined our fast counter attacking approach under O'Neill. Sad really because when he did occasionally play as a more advanced midfielder or have an attack of adventurousness he showed signs of a fair bit of creativity. It seems like Delph or Bannan play more forward passes in a few games than Stan does in half a season, and with players like those, Makoun, and possibly Bradley available I don't think we'll miss Stan.
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I'd be happy to keep him as a squad player as his experience is invaluable, but I can't see him putting up with that, so I think he'll be off in the Summer.
I agree with Rip Van Bentfletch.
I agree with Bentflaps and Broombent.
Blackpool, Stoke or one of the newly promoted sides perhaps.
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I also have never been a big fan of Petrovs, and his preference for a sideways or back pass is so frustrating at times, however when he was out injured i found myself wishing he was in there.
He has a knack of slowing down the play and frustrates the opposition by getting them to commit niggly fouls on him, he has a great skill of falling over an oppositions leg, and earning free kicks. I wouldn't rush to replace him, but rather blend the other players in.
A players petulance at being substituted is often regarded as a positive by some managers, in that the player really wants to play, and is either frustrated at himself or the situation of being substituted. In fairness you could never accuse Petrov of being lazy, and how on earth can one man sweat so much!!, he must lose about 5 litres per game, he is like a one man sprinkler system.
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Re. the sweating - he's Lee Evans on a football pitch !!
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The future as I see it for Petrov is this:
1. He leaves Villa in the summer - he's 31-32 so I think we could £2m for him.
2. He's a very occasional starter in the PL, more so in the cups, but I think his role would be coming on for the last 25 mins; I could actually see him playing further forward, being used in more of a creative role than his current one. He's never quite looked right doing that for us.
We've got Makoun, and I think we'll make Bradley permanent in the summer, unless he stinks the place out the next few months. Add Delph, Bannan, Hogg, Gary Gardner - and I think we'll also sign another potential CM starter in the summer - and Petrov and NRC* will be phased out.
*I'd rather keep NRC than Petrov but given his contract situation can't see that happening now.
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Agree, but I haven't seen enough of Hogg to make a true assessment.
It may be worth another thread, but is he that good ??
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Thought he was very good against Man City, intelligent use of the ball, retained possession well, and drew fouls to take the pressure off. One of the few players we have had in recent years able to do this unspectacular but important work.
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Petrov is useful when we are in front, like against Man City. Then he can play his game, keep possession, pass the ball to the closest team-mate or trip over and win free kicks.
However, when we are throwing men forward in search of a goal, and the other team is counter-attacking, he is a liability, simply because he is so unbelivably slow that not any amount of good positioning and tactical sense can make up for it. That was the situation against Man Utd, and GH was right to sub him.
His comments about Petrov shaking his head when subbed was, I think, more of a warning from GH than a hint that he will be shipped out a la Carew and Ireland.
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What apt title thread as stan is such a mixture!
My observation of petrov is thus:
Stan likes to play safe and often plays backwards too .. so frustrating!
Not forward thinking enuff.
He has a distinct lack of off ball movement.
Being in space after passing or to receive a pass. not great.
Movement and forrays in to the fina third. negligible
Yes he is club captain and experienced and being respected by the villa players must be kept in and around team during transistional phase.
Yes Petrov is very skillful & technically sound on the ball(seen him flick the ball over players and nutmeg people with ease)
Being assured in his abilities on the ball he can insist on running the ball out of our own penalty area though !
Shooting however is either weak or wayward. Apart from the ah mazing world class finish against derby!!
In central midfield he seems to win alot of fouls as he never truly breaks free from a oppostion player and gets dragged down or falls over (sometimes embrassingly). kinda similar to some of his attempted tackles
So for villa to move on he needs to be slowly phased out. I think this is what gh is trying to do. maybe come the summer captain stan will look for pastures new .
IMHO he would be a master in MLS.
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If the man could trap a ball effectively he would buy himself that half second his pace probably dictates he needs these days. But he can't, and he's not doing the job we need him to do, so it should be bye-bye Mr Petrov.
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If the man could trap a ball effectively he would buy himself that half second his pace probably dictates he needs these days. But he can't, and he's not doing the job we need him to do, so it should be bye-bye Mr Petrov.
Agree, it takes him ages to get control of the ball.
Highly gifted a player that he is, we need more from a MF player now.
Can't wait for Delph to return.
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Thought he was very good against Man City, intelligent use of the ball, retained possession well, and drew fouls to take the pressure off. One of the few players we have had in recent years able to do this unspectacular but important work.
I must've been watching a different game!
He looked like a pub player - I've never seen a Villa player so far off the pace of the game. Some of his desperate tackles were embarrassing and I think GH subbed him out of sympathy!
Today was almost as bad. Again, desperately slow, on and off the ball.
He's been a good servant to the club despite his slow start. Indeed, for one season he was the best player at the club but his time has passed and he needs to make way for the kids, especially now Makoun is in place to provide some steel in the middle of the park.
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He's fucking woeful. Houllier has signed some decent players but i'd still have a clearout in the summer, Friedel, Young, Gabby, Petrov, there must be better out there because they're all poor imo.
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I'd put Petrov with Warnock and Beye, he was shit today and was at fault for their equaliser because he is too slow.
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Petrov is ok to bring on with 20 minutes left if protecting a lead , but he can't last a full game and surely Bradley must replace him next week.
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His legs looked like they had gone today, Makoun needed someone creative (bannan) next to me to get the service up to the front. I like Stan but we need to move him on now.
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Petrov really looked like he'd lost it today. He's starting to make Gareth Barry look pacy
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He's probably waiting for MON to rock up somewhere.
Gibraltar would be fine with me.
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GH on Petrovs future.Wonder if he'll be happy being a bit part player ?
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/02/21/aston-villa-gerard-houllier-reveals-future-for-stiliyan-petrov-as-aston-villa-97319-28204674/http://
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GH on Petrovs future.Wonder if he'll be happy being a bit part player ?
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/02/21/aston-villa-gerard-houllier-reveals-future-for-stiliyan-petrov-as-aston-villa-97319-28204674/http://
I think stan won't be happy with a spot on the bench, he'll be off in the summer!
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GH on Petrovs future.Wonder if he'll be happy being a bit part player ?
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/02/21/aston-villa-gerard-houllier-reveals-future-for-stiliyan-petrov-as-aston-villa-97319-28204674/http://
I think stan won't be happy with a spot on the bench, he'll be off in the summer!
I think he's unlikely to be paid as much as we're paying him if he were to move.
And he'll be happy to be club captain and play a couple of dozen games next season.
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i am generally reassured by Petrov being on the pitch, but as the game wears on i get less and less comfortable, GH has not founfd the right centre midfield combination yet which is a worry
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Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.
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Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.
He's been with us for five years and has had one below-average season.
Everything else has been perfectly good.
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At the height of MON's reign, Petrov was a joy to watch week in week out, his composure and the way he made time with the ball was excellent
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As he gets older he is always likely to end up lacking mobility. He's our very own Bulgarian Xavi, but in the same way that we aren't quite Barca, neither is he. He does a job, and he won't start every game, but he does still have something to give imo.
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Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.
Agree 100%.
That season was very good but the rest has been average at best. Now he's just a passenger.
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Can't believe he was given a career-ending contract under O'Neill on the back of one good season.
He's been with us for five years and has had one below-average season.
Everything else has been perfectly good.
Four and a half years, and this season, injuries aside, he's been average. In fact he's generally been ok. Maintains possession, decent touch, great at drawing fouls etc. But his lack of pace and energy late in games really hampers us at times. And for a player with a knack for scoring consistently earlier in his career you'd think he would be somewhat adept in the role of a midfielder arriving late into the box to score. But he doesn't, and when he does shoot, invariably it's wayward.
I just think back to his debut or even his goal against Sheff Utd in the cup last month and think of the player he could have been for us.
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I thought he was pretty good last season, taking over the Barry role well and combining nicely with Milner.
However this season even before the injury he didn't look right.
Still good for the odd game as against Man. City he was excellent but next season I expect Makoun, Bradley, hopefully Delph and maybe somebody else we sign to be ahead of him in the pecking order.