Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: peter w on March 16, 2014, 08:46:51 PM
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Not a new thread but I can't find his existing one.
Fair play, he was excellent yesterday, and really doesn't deserve to be dropped. Or, will Lambert keep that one in the bank? You know, when he gets his chance again he has to show that level of performance consistently to keep the shirt.
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Bennett is not a bad player and he settled down towards the end of last season into a decent spell of form - certainly would prefer him as back up to Bertrand rather than luna.
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I think he has a very good left and I can imagine him as a more attacking player.
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Easily his best game for us. There's a player there and fair play to him for not letting his head drop and pushing on.
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I like him. One to persevere with, for me. Quick feet, we need more players like that. Seems to have taken in lessons from coaching, judging from yesterday. Whether or not his future is at full back, only time will tell. Would be disappointed to not see him get a start against Stoke, he certainly earned it.
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His hair is also much better now.
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His hair is also much better now.
I think he should use his new found position of strength to have a word with Baker about his beard.
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Let's hope he can keep it going. He looked like he had found his feet early on last season then had that injury away at spurs and never really recovered his form.
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I like Baker's beard as it makes him look more Viking like. Looked a bit stringy and bird's nesty yesterday, though.
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Think Bennett has done enough to earn a start against Stoke.
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Let's hope he can keep it going. He looked like he had found his feet early on last season then had that injury away at spurs and never really recovered his form.
Really? I thought he struggled early season for fitness and consistency but had a very strong finish to the season .
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I think like a lot of players they realise they've got to take their chances with Lambert. He's generally got two players for every position. Bennett's injury was unfortunate in as much as he'd finished last season positively, and suddenly he had Luna in the side for the first half of this, and unable to really push Tony to regain his place. Of course Bertrand has also come in.
Have to say Bennetts done okay when he's come into the side since returning from injury and he stepped in very ably yesterday. Well done to him. He has to keep it up. You only need look at the bomb squad, or probably more so Lowton. Lowton made a big impression last season, but he didn't keep it up and he's seemingly fallen out of favour.
Bennett, Baker, KEA are all players which have had their quality questioned by the fans, but of late they seemed to be knuckling down, doing well and improving. They have to keep it up.
Even if we were to sign Bertrand too (which I hope we do), there's no reason why Bennett and Bertrand can't both play as and when called upon. One playing left wing ahead of the other. Both players have played full back and wide midfield too.
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Bennett has shown previously that he has ability, he just got a bit out of his depth and the booing certainly won't have helped his confidence. I like him and it will be nice to see him develop with the squad.
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The advantage of playing well and winning is that it strengthens the manager's hand with players on the fringes of the squad. They have to be that much keener to get involved and get back in the team.
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I think yesterday showed why Lambert has been bringing him on for 20 minutes or so in recent weeks, he clearly had in mind that he would need him for yesterday. Fair play to him for his display, he's always been decent on the ball but he looked very sound defensively too.
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It's also possible that he's watched Bertrand and learnt from him. Bertrand as first choice and an improving Bennett as a back up isn't too shabby. Sorry Tony
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We seem far too quick to write players off if they take time to adjust. It might prove to be a career game for Bennett but it shows there is potentially a player there, especially for what he cost. KEA has shown he can be an asset recently, as has Baker. As mentioned by Tom above, players some would have had out the club. Vlaar was written off by some last season, Delph was as well. One ex poster called Delph the worst payer to ever wear a Villa shirt.
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You could see in his general body language he was more focused and was anticipating his best position more. Played well ......
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I like him and was gutted he got injured. He ended last season strong like many other of the new signings.
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We seem far too quick to write players off if they take time to adjust. It might prove to be a career game for Bennett but it shows there is potentially a player there, especially for what he cost. KEA has shown he can be an asset recently, as has Baker. As mentioned by Tom above, players some would have had out the club. Vlaar was written off by some last season, Delph was as well. One ex poster called Delph the worst payer to ever wear a Villa shirt.
I'd agree in general, but I do think Bennett was consistently terrible last year.
Maybe in Bennett's case what he needed was a spell out of the side, rather than being chucked in week after week as he was last year. If that's the case and yesterday's performance is a sign of that, then that's brilliant, but it does make me wonder how many of the other young players we almost burned out mentally last season.
I thought that was our major mistake last season. Not so much buying too many young, unproven players, but relying on too many of them at the same time. I'd hate for us to miss out on gems because of that.
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Agreed Paulie, it's very similar to the situation with Clark and Baker. They had periods of being diabolical last year, but there was little opportunity to give them a break. Unfortunately Okore's injury this year added to that. I'm glad they are all showing glimpses of improvement of late. It'd be good to see them all do well.
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He is useless as well as Hopeless.....do any of you not remember his contribution at St James Park....he gives me the shit's every time he plays.
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He is useless as well as Hopeless.....do any of you not remember his contribution at St James Park....he gives me the shit's every time he plays.
There's always one. And tonight it's you.
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He is useless as well as Hopeless.....do any of you not remember his contribution at St James Park....he gives me the shit's every time he plays.
There's always one. And tonight it's you.
Can't tackle, Can't pass, Can't shoot....need i say much more...........
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He had shown glimpses of being a decent footballer but he put it all together on Saturday. He has got quick feet, a turn of pace and decent first touch. It was always about composure, positioning etc and he showed he had all that.
I thought his performance was fantastic.
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He is useless as well as Hopeless.....do any of you not remember his contribution at St James Park....he gives me the shit's every time he plays.
There's always one. And tonight it's you.
Can't tackle, Can't pass, Can't shoot....need i say much more...........
You could say "I didnt see the game" that would make some sense.
From Opta
Joe Bennett
Tackles 2/2
Interceptions 3 - Highest of any defender
Clearances 4/4
Passes 19/24 (79%) - Highest of any defender
Fouls 1 (joint least with Ron)
Ignoring the stats , just watching the game he played very well. Arguably we were fortunate in that Chelsea for some reason targeted Bacuna instead of Bennett but the lad had a good game against arguably the best attacking 3 midfielders in the league.
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That's you told son.
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Bennett did well. A more mature performance. He will find it a struggle to get back in the side since Bertrand was bought in, but he'll get better and we'll need him at times. He will improve.
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Last year he was good with the ball at his feet, and not much chop without it. He was too slight and easily held off by the opposition which made him foul to often. He looks like he has worked on his core strength while injured and that has allowed him to be more confident, and while he is still just as slight he is harder to move at the hips and as a consequence doesn't have to be as rash.
I think he has all the makings of a modern attacking full back, it's up to him now to show some consistency while continuing to improve. Definitely not a write-off.
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Bennett playing consistently well would mean we wouldn't need to waste money on Bertand.
If we're going to buy some new players, Bennett playing well means we can target players in more needed areas.
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I thought he was excellent. I don't remember a single poor pass, he didn't put a foot wrong defensively and you can see he is trying to get forward when given the chance. I think it's tough to be a full-back in our system because we don't play with much width beyond the back four so there isn't an easy out ball and often there is a lack of protection. I give him credit for never hiding when things are going wrong and his general approach suggests he is desperate to succeed.
One of my favourite moments on Saturday was his standing ovation upon being substituted. Hopefully that will give him a massive boost.
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I like Baker's beard as it makes him look more Viking like. Looked a bit stringy and bird's nesty yesterday, though.
Very Mellberg-esque I thought :)
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Played very well.
I was a bit worried when i saw his name in the starting line up as he can be prone to rash challenges.
he put in a very good performance on Saturday.
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From day one, although he struggled (to put it mildly) to settle, I always thought there was a player there.
There were a couple of times on Saturday where he did a bit of fancy footwork. It seemed to go unnoticed, but had he been wearing blue I'm sure it would have been highlighted on MotD.
There were a couple in front of me moaning about him, "Don't know where Willian is" "What's he doing now" etc. I sat and just watched him for 2 or 3 minutes, He knew exactly where Willian was, and positionally I thought he was excellent.
He started a couple of great attacks, I pointed out to them, in front, who had started the move. Reply was ........... silence!! ::)
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Brilliant game, if he can play like that against chelsea, there is a very good player in there, just needs to consistenly perform like that and we dont need a higher priced Bertrand! I thought Bertrand has been great, but on this I would start Bennett first against Stoke, he deserves the chance
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Bennett playing consistently well would mean we wouldn't need to waste money on Bertand.
If we're going to buy some new players, Bennett playing well means we can target players in more needed areas.
I'd like to see Bertrand come in but of course depending on the fee - I think the need for more quality in midfield is the main priority , I felt Bennett did well last season once he had found fitness and form and also have been delighted with the recent form of baker and kea who have both improved a lot - i had given up on kea but he seems to be finally finding that consistency needed at this level - well done to him.
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From day one, although he struggled (to put it mildly) to settle, I always thought there was a player there.
There were a couple of times on Saturday where he did a bit of fancy footwork. It seemed to go unnoticed, but had he been wearing blue I'm sure it would have been highlighted on MotD.
There were a couple in front of me moaning about him, "Don't know where Willian is" "What's he doing now" etc. I sat and just watched him for 2 or 3 minutes, He knew exactly where Willian was, and positionally I thought he was excellent.
He started a couple of great attacks, I pointed out to them, in front, who had started the move. Reply was ........... silence!! ::)
If you'd said behind you,I'd have thought that could have been us! (no-one sits behind us). Early in the game I thought he was leaving player unmarked all the time, and we were laughing that he seemed to be skipping around in his own little world! However, that did lead to me watching him more closely, and I thought he had a great game in the end, getting better and better the longer it went on.
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Towards the start of the game the commentator said Bennett will have been surprised to find he was up against Hazard. I doubt it was a surprise to any Villa fan as it seemed an obvious tactic for Chelsea to target that side of the pitch. It didn't work though and he didn't get that much joy when he moved over to the other side either.
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Bennett is very much a confidence player, when he looked poor last season was when someone made a mug of him early in the game. After that you could see the nerves and he'd end up trying too hard and making mistakes, which just made him worse.
If we can get his self-confidence up and get him believing he is a premier league player by right he'll be fine. I'm not willing to totally write off Luna yet either, his problems have all been down to his positioning, a period out of the squad working on it in training could be enough to turn him around, he's certainly not poor enough that I'd be looking to get rid immediately.
As they've been mentioned I've been really impressed by Baker in the last few weeks, he's reading the play better and doesn't look out of his depth now, his yellow card shows he's still very raw though, it was a touch harsh but he didn't need to go for that ball and really didn't have any chance of getting it. KEA has turned it around a lot but I still think he doesn't make himself available for the ball well enough and some of his decision making is still really poor (shooting instead of moving it to Bacuna for example). For me he's a very useful player when we're playing with 40% possession, he'll break forward, he'll press the ball and generally he'll annoy the crap out the opposition midfield. Where he struggles is when we're trying to hold on to the ball and work openings, for me he's still the weakest of the 3 in the centre.
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He did very well, however if we get the chance to sign Bertrand we should definately do it. The lad did himself a world of good, A side note for Nathan Baker as well, He's looked very solid the last few games up alongside Vlaar
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
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Got to agree about the confidence thing with Bennett and I think it's one thing that might hold him back from being a premiership regular. Maybe he'll get better as he gets older but if i'm being honest i'm still not totally convinced.
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I'd rather have Bennett in the side than Luna.
He looks very nervous at times, a few good games under his belt and I think we'll see he could be a decent left back.
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I was worried with his name on the team sheet, but as others have said his positioning was a lot better, his passing more accurate and he made a really important covering block in the first half to cut out a Chelsea chance. Great performance.
A statement for Bennett and the team would be "more of the same please".
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Best situation would be to have both Bertrand and Bennett to rotate them both, as young players naturally needs games off occasionally to recover physically and mentally from games.
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Best situation would be to have both Bertrand and Bennett to rotate them both, as young players naturally needs games off occasionally to recover physically and mentally from games.
I'm not too keen on rotating players in that way, whoever is in possession of the shirt keeps it as long as they perform well for me.
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well Middlesborough fans I knew said to me you have got a cracking player there
maybe he got a bit 'Ive made it syndrome' before he actually did anything . He looked pretty solid yesterday . Bertrand and Bennett would be two good players at left back as I could see him playing left midfield at times maybe.
I think Luna might have a problem getting into the team now , but Bennett could turn into a good player for us as their is potential
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
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I've always regarded Bennett as a really good footballer in possession, less good as a defender -perhaps he's learning.
Of all Lambert's signings, he is the most inconsistent of them all.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
Luna was tweeting photos of himself with his family in Spain yesterday.
Is he injured?
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The issue with signing young players like him isn't so much that they're not showing enough, in my opinion, it's that too often they get asked to do too much, too soon.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The same goes for Luna as well. It might be next season before we see the best of him.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The same goes for Luna as well. It might be next season before we see the best of him.
The thing is though if we do sign Bertrand and keep Bennett as back up do we really need three left backs ?
Of those 3 I think luna would be the most dispensable.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The same goes for Luna as well. It might be next season before we see the best of him.
The thing is though if we do sign Bertrand and keep Bennett as back up do we really need three left backs ?
Of those 3 I think luna would be the most dispensable.
I can see Bertrand being back here on loan next season, I can't see Chelsea selling him just yet. If that's the case, then Lambert obviously has a choice to make. I just think Luna deserves another season here before we write him off.
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
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Bennett played well on Saturday. I think it helps having Delph as the nearest midfielder to him. I've noticed Delph and Bertrand seem to be forming a nice partnership down the left.
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The issue with signing young players like him isn't so much that they're not showing enough, in my opinion, it's that too often they get asked to do too much, too soon.
With both Tonev and Helenius, there was something in the highlight reels where they both showed they have skills, (albeit in lower league levels). However, as proven with better players then them, sometimes the pace and physicality of the English game takes some getting used to and some players can't get used to it.
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Bennett played well on Saturday. I think it helps having Delph as the nearest midfielder to him. I've noticed Delph and Bertrand seem to be forming a nice partnership down the left.
Delph always seems to help out more on his wing then Kea / Sylla do on the right. The left also has Gabby helping more then Weimann does as well. But Bennett played well and also covered the CB's really well when a midfield runner tried getting through.
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
I'd be very surprised if Chelsea wanted as little as £5m for him.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
I don't think tonev has been written off yet , lambert was saying last week how he needs to be given time to find his feet .
And he's right.
I am not going to argue that Tonev hasn't looked out of his depth - he has - but I don't see the point in writing him off already. He deserves at least another season.
The issue with signing young players like him isn't so much that they're not showing enough, in my opinion, it's that too often they get asked to do too much, too soon.
With both Tonev and Helenius, there was something in the highlight reels where they both showed they have skills, (albeit in lower league levels). However, as proven with better players then them, sometimes the pace and physicality of the English game takes some getting used to and some players can't get used to it.
The writing off of Helenius seems nuts.
Has barely had a chance, yet has scored for us.
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In the brief glimpses of Helenius I've seen he has a good touch and uses the ball well. Definitely a potential 'No. 10'.
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Best situation would be to have both Bertrand and Bennett to rotate them both, as young players naturally needs games off occasionally to recover physically and mentally from games.
I'm not too keen on rotating players in that way, whoever is in possession of the shirt keeps it as long as they perform well for me.
Agree, eastie. The defence shouldn't be messed about with too much.
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Where is Luna? Has he been given time off? Did he even make the squad the weekend?
Neither Luna or Tonev have made the squad for a while now. Leads me to suspect that Lambert has made his mind up about them and Bowery.
Luna was tweeting photos of himself with his family in Spain yesterday.
Is he injured?
Yeah that's what I saw, that's why I asked?
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
Plus, there'd be his wages to consider- imagine he'd be on a few quid at Chelsea?
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
I honestly haven't been that impressed with Walker at Tottenham.
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
was very impressed with him whilst he was at villa and he seemed to do well when he first went back to spuds. Haven't seen that much of him recently, admittedly.
I honestly haven't been that impressed with Walker at Tottenham.
sorry fkd that quote up- was replying to the quote above
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
was very impressed with him whilst he was at villa and he seemed to do well when he first went back to spuds. Haven't seen that much of him recently, admittedly.
I honestly haven't been that impressed with Walker at Tottenham.
Walker was decent at Villa, and I would have liked him to have stayed here, but I think he's gone backwards at Tottenham. Seemed to get used to the team getting bailed out every week by another Bale masterclass.
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
was very impressed with him whilst he was at villa and he seemed to do well when he first went back to spuds. Haven't seen that much of him recently, admittedly.
I honestly haven't been that impressed with Walker at Tottenham.
Walker was decent at Villa, and I would have liked him to have stayed here, but I think he's gone backwards at Tottenham. Seemed to get used to the team getting bailed out every week by another Bale masterclass.
spurs did and do still have a very handy side. You could argue that it was because they had quality like walker at the back that allowed bale to do his stuff? Probably not worth debating too much, as the thread's on Bennett! Top game on Saturday and hope he has a few more like that to the end of the season
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Interesting clampy, i wouldn't mind keeping Bertrand another season on loan and spending the transfer money elsewhere in all honesty.
By which time I'd guess Bertrand's contract could be getting quite low resulting in a cheaper price if we were to buy him.
On the flip side, good form would bring him to the attention of liverpool (who were linked before we got him) and others. We would be powerless to control the sale and obviously get no fee.
Fingers crossed we can afford the £5m or so to get him plus have money spare (and some) to improve the midfield.
the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
Plus, there'd be his wages to consider- imagine he'd be on a few quid at Chelsea?
Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
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Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
Yep.
It's been pretty much universally agreed we need quality over quantity this summer, so that means upping our game financially as well.
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It doesn't always work out of course, but if you're spending say £24 million on 8 players compared to the same on 3 players, then the difference in quality and what you might expect those players to produce should be significant.
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It doesn't always work out of course, but if you're spending say £24 million on 8 players compared to the same on 3 players, then the difference in quality and what you might expect those players to produce should be significant.
which I think is the direction we will go in. The current crop are developing. Some will naturally get sold, others will be a given a bit more time to come through. But most of these players will be a year older and wiser and if you then add some genuine ready made talent it will not only help us as a club to push on faster but help those at the club already develop and improve. We don't need a load of help to make the jump to Newcastle/Southampton in 8th or 9th in my opinion, but with some key additions there is no reason why we couldn't be challenging in the 6th/7th spot with Everton/Spurs/Man U. Every year needs to see us push on and this year is better than the last. When we seth our goals at the start of the season most people said mid table would a solid next step. Next year we're going to want a bit more, and 7th/8th and a good run at the cups, a spot in the Europa shouldn't be asking too much. If we add any kind of consistency at Villa Park those goals are very achievable.
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Europa League is the last place we need to be. The volume of games in that competition is ridiculous, and playing Thurs/Sun/Thurs is going to run our squad ragged.
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I would agree about not wanting to be in the Europa League in its current format. An abomination of a competition. What mystifies me is how Portuguese teams always manage to do so well in it.
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It's highly unlikely we'll manage to eventually get to the CL, if that's the ultimate goal, without a season or three stopping off in the Europa. It's a necessary evil.
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the problem is (as always with loans) if Bertrand finishes the season well for us Chelsea will realise his worth to us and the price to us to pay for a permanent move will reflect that. Either we'll pay it like we did to newcastle with Milner, or he'll go back like walker did to spurs. Can't see him being allowed to play for us on loan again next season, unfortunately. It will be pay the money or he's coming back to us. I've been impressed with him, but would be hesitant to pay stupid money which is likely what they'll be asking.
Plus, there'd be his wages to consider- imagine he'd be on a few quid at Chelsea?
Pendant alert. We paid £4 mil for Milner after the loan but Newcastle bottled it last minute and decided to keep him. We then had to pay £12mil two years later when he had started playing to his full potential for them.
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I would agree about not wanting to be in the Europa League in its current format. An abomination of a competition. What mystifies me is how Portuguese teams always manage to do so well in it.
Do they have less domestic games to play?
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Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
Indeed and we might as well do it where we *know* the player will integrate and perform to the required level - i.e. Bertrand - after effectively a 5 month trial. It's a pretty risk adverse transfer assumming Chelsea do not ask stupid money.
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Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
Indeed and we might as well do it where we *know* the player will integrate and perform to the required level - i.e. Bertrand - after effectively a 5 month trial. It's a pretty risk adverse transfer assumming Chelsea do not ask stupid money.
According to Pat Murphy an option to buy for a set fee was included in the loan arrangement with Bertrand.
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I would agree about not wanting to be in the Europa League in its current format. An abomination of a competition. What mystifies me is how Portuguese teams always manage to do so well in it.
16 team league with a so-so cup compeition so their first team will play 30-32 domestic games as opposed to the 40-45 that is common in England. with international breaks, etc it's pretty common for and English side in European competition to play midweek virtually every week for the season. Take Ashley Williams for example, if he stays fit and ban free he'll have played 47 games this season and that's not unusual for an important player in an English side in the europa.
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It's highly unlikely we'll manage to eventually get to the CL, if that's the ultimate goal, without a season or three stopping off in the Europa. It's a necessary evil.
Unfortunately yes. It's an awful competition in its current format but we're not making a jump from 10th to 4th in the next couple of seasons.
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Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
Indeed and we might as well do it where we *know* the player will integrate and perform to the required level - i.e. Bertrand - after effectively a 5 month trial. It's a pretty risk adverse transfer assumming Chelsea do not ask stupid money.
According to Pat Murphy an option to buy for a set fee was included in the loan arrangement with Bertrand.
Interesting, I'd imagine it might sound quite high in the sense that the loan fee could be included in the final transfer free. Try now, pay later etc.
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Ultimately, we're going to find ourselves having to pay the going rate for good players
Indeed and we might as well do it where we *know* the player will integrate and perform to the required level - i.e. Bertrand - after effectively a 5 month trial. It's a pretty risk adverse transfer assumming Chelsea do not ask stupid money.
According to Pat Murphy an option to buy for a set fee was included in the loan arrangement with Bertrand.
If that is true, I wonder if Chelsea have already done a deal for Luke Shaw?
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The guy on sky commentating said he didn't think Chelsea were willing to part with Bertrand on a permanent deal as they rate him highly so its interesting if pat murphy has said that.
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Mourinho gave that line about Bertrand as a wind up, he's a piss taker.
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The guy on sky commentating said he didn't think Chelsea were willing to part with Bertrand on a permanent deal as they rate him highly so its interesting if pat murphy has said that.
I severely doubt Chelsea rate him that highly, if that were the case he'd be playing now. I really hope he ends up at Villa.
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Like I said the other day, I reckon he'll end up back on here on loan.
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I doubt that, I'd have thought we sign him permanently.
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I doubt that, I'd have thought we sign him permanently.
I hope we do but Chelsea do like to loan out their players, haven't they got about 197 out on loan or something?
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I doubt that, I'd have thought we sign him permanently.
I hope we do but Chelsea do like to loan out their players, haven't they got about 197 out on loan or something?
They have but not many players make it through their system and have stayed with their first team. It would be a far more Chelsea like statement to buy another LB for £25m, who may not be better than play one of their own. I think a deal will completed in the summer otherwise why go to lengths of adding such a clause?
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Asked pat murphy the question as to whether villa have agreed a fee or option for Bertrand and his reply was -
@patmurphybbc: As I understand it,Mark,that has still to be discussed - but will find out when I can & tweet the info
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It was during his reporting from the West Brom game, to quote my own post from the time:
Mark Chapman asked "do you know if there is an option for Villa to buy him when the loan runs out" and Murphy replied "there is, and based on an interview that I did with the player last week he's very open to joining permanently". Then a load of stuff about how he's a sensible bloke, knows about Villa's history, doesn't seem to someone who has just turned up and doesn't really care...
So he was either confused back then or has forgotten about it.
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Cheers Dave ,will see what he finds out - seems he's forgotten about it but I do hope we have 1st option,.
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Think if there is a "buying out" clause around 5m it would make a lot of financial sense. Bennett has the rest of the season to prove he can do a job when needed and Luna will compete for second place. Both at very low financial outlay .....
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After a superb performance last week I reckon Bennett has every right to be a bit pissed off at being left out this week at the expense of a player on loan.
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After a superb performance last week I reckon Bennett has every right to be a bit pissed off at being left out this week at the expense of a player on loan.
In essence I agree, but, in fairness he's coming back from a pretty substantial injury and hasn't had much game time.
There was no choice v Chelsea.
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If you play well enough you should retain your place and I think Bennett did against Chelsea. Of course you never know what kind of agreements go on behind the scenes with the lending club ("If he's fit, he plays" etc)
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Thing is if the rest of our defenders were getting out muscled easily then Bennett would have been in the same boat... I still shudder at the thought of those 4th division players pushing him out of the way vs Bradford...
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As well as he played against Chelsea, I think he'd have had a stinker yesterday. The whole side pretty much let us down. Even Vlaar had a bit of a stinker. When Bennett is bad, he's very bad, so who knows, it could have been even worse. Odemwingie might have had even more of a field day.
That said, imagine Luna in yesterdays game. Feckin hell, it doesn't bare thinking about.
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As well as he played against Chelsea, I think he'd have had a stinker yesterday. The whole side pretty much let us down. Even Vlaar had a bit of a stinker. When Bennett is bad, he's very bad, so who knows, it could have been even worse. Odemwingie might have had even more of a field day.
That said, imagine Luna in yesterdays game. Feckin hell, it doesn't bare thinking about.
Against Chelsea it was hard to single anyone one out, they all played their part. I don't think they even announced a MOTM yesterday, they were all that piss poor.
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Delph maybe was the best of a bad bunch?
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Delph maybe was the best of a bad bunch?
Possibly. Only he, Benteke and Albrighton really seemed to show any effort. The rest looked like they couldn't really be bothered which is a worry. It's like they just pulled out the deck chairs after we went 1-0 up.
Albrighton I thought, effort aside was also the only player who showed any urgency to try and create something. But for all his endeavour, the lad's not quite good enough unfortunately.
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The club showed just how out of touch they are with the fans, today, they posted a question and answer post on Facebook with JB on Facebook, it was just full of abuse, working on the assumption that he will see it, what is the point in subjecting him to that?.
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The club showed just how out of touch they are with the fans, today, they posted a question and answer post on Facebook with JB on Facebook, it was just full of abuse, working on the assumption that he will see it, what is the point in subjecting him to that?.
I'm not keen on these Q&A things on twitter/facebook etc. For a new signing that's just joined, then fine. It's open to abuse when the team are not doing well. You only have to look at some of the facebook comments when the club post some off the field news.
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The club showed just how out of touch they are with the fans, today, they posted a question and answer post on Facebook with JB on Facebook, it was just full of abuse, working on the assumption that he will see it, what is the point in subjecting him to that?.
Yep, clubs fault there are twats on the internet. Sack the board.
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The club showed just how out of touch they are with the fans, today, they posted a question and answer post on Facebook with JB on Facebook, it was just full of abuse, working on the assumption that he will see it, what is the point in subjecting him to that?.
Its not just AVFC . Amazon , Barclays and Tesco do it and you want to see the abuse they get . Rightly so too :)
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
and exactly the same as if Paul Faulkner decided to give another interview. A percentage of ours and every clubs fans will always make complete wankers of themselves in the name of passion and support. They don't actually want an answer or any kind of considered dicussion they just want an opportunity to sling mud.
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#askbennett (http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/joe-bennetts-twitter-qa-backfires-6936929)
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
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I thought the kid was outstanding against Chelsea, but against Fulham he was like the rest of them poor.
I really don't understand what the club are trying to achieve.
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Grant Holt did a twitter Q&A a couple of weeks ago and one of the questions was "how many pies do you eat in an hour?".
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Grant Holt did a twitter Q&A a couple of weeks ago and one of the questions was "how many pies do you eat in an hour?".
Finally, a sensible question.
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It was a little bit stupid, coming from people (or person, as the case my be) who are social media professionals.
Anyone who has ever seen a football club do one of these things in the past - and there have been plenty - will have noticed that they turn into feeding frenzies where people line up to take the piss. It has happened plenty of times, and anyone with half a handle on what they're doing in that role wouldn't have gone near anything like this.
I recall the one Liverpool did with Downing. It was absolute comedy cold. It is asking for trouble.
Nothing to do with football brains needed behind the scenes or anything like that, but something which most people with a decent handle on social media wouldn't have gone near with a barge pole.
There's no point banging on about how our fans are wankers or anything like that, that's totally missing the point. The point is that, in running and publicising something like this, the club provided a focal point for people to take the piss, and for the target to see it all.
Mistake.
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
and exactly the same as if Paul Faulkner decided to give another interview. A percentage of ours and every clubs fans will always make complete wankers of themselves in the name of passion and support. They don't actually want an answer or any kind of considered dicussion they just want an opportunity to sling mud.
With all due respect, it is nothing like that at all. An interview is a one way thing.
For starters, there's nothing to say these were mostly Villa fans getting stuck in. Can you imagine a Small Heath player doing this and someone posting a link here? What do you think the reaction would be?
It's not about giving them stick for doing it, and giving them stick if they don't do this sort of thing, it's about failing to spot the glaring problem with things like this.
On a different note, i was thinking earlier, who remembers that time they stuck that twitter panel on the home page of the OS, which displayed every tweet with a certain hashtag? They forgot to think about censoring them, so there was brief chaos as people started tweeting anti McLeish stuff and seeing it on the home page. That was a cock up, too.
EDIT here's what happened when Liverpool did it with Downing:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-winger-stewart-downing-gets-1751490
I liked this one:
@arpan_manutd Do you know any footballer (except you) who is neither footed?
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The Downing one was brilliant. I liked 'if you were a footballer, what would your prefered position be?'.
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The Downing one was brilliant. I liked 'if you were a footballer, what would your prefered position be?'.
See also:
@BillHansen28 So you left Aston Villa for Champions League football. How's that working out for you?
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
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The Downing one was brilliant. I liked 'if you were a footballer, what would your prefered position be?'.
I remember that one. I recall giggling at the office as I read it and getting funny looks.
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Personally agree that it seems out of touch by the club. Always see things like this popping up on the newsnow feed. You know the sort of thing, we have just lost 3-1 at home to yet-another-somebody-else-we-should-be-spanking-at-home, you're seething and scanning the list of articles for anger, bile, grovelling apologies and even sackings, and you see that the official site is peddling some sort of 'Yacouba Sylla Talks to AVTV: My top ten cottage pie recipes' or whatever, and you just think grrrrrr f*ck off!
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The Club's Facebook page has been filled with abuse for a long time. I wonder why they bother.
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
He did. One little mistake after starting well and the booing started. Never mind the good start, let's just boo the one bad touch and get on his back so he'll lose what little confidence he has.
I find Villa fans at Villa Park quite annoying. More annoying as each match goes by.
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
He did. One little mistake after starting well and the booing started. Never mind the good start, let's just boo the one bad touch and get on his back so he'll lose what little confidence he has.
I find Villa fans at Villa Park quite annoying. More annoying as each match goes by.
What a dreadful generalisation.
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It was a little bit stupid, coming from people (or person, as the case my be) who are social media professionals.
I suppose on the flip side, if said "social media professionals" aren't organising things like this then there's not really a lot of point in them being there.
If they are in-house then I'm guessing they're not just given a few weeks off whenever we turn to shit, if they are external and have been brought in to try and promote the club online then goodness only knows what they could have done that wasn't going to provoke this reaction.
But I'm sure that being paid and getting this reaction is better for them than not taking the job in the first place.
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
and exactly the same as if Paul Faulkner decided to give another interview. A percentage of ours and every clubs fans will always make complete wankers of themselves in the name of passion and support. They don't actually want an answer or any kind of considered dicussion they just want an opportunity to sling mud.
With all due respect, it is nothing like that at all. An interview is a one way thing.
For starters, there's nothing to say these were mostly Villa fans getting stuck in. Can you imagine a Small Heath player doing this and someone posting a link here? What do you think the reaction would be?
It's not about giving them stick for doing it, and giving them stick if they don't do this sort of thing, it's about failing to spot the glaring problem with things like this.
On a different note, i was thinking earlier, who remembers that time they stuck that twitter panel on the home page of the OS, which displayed every tweet with a certain hashtag? They forgot to think about censoring them, so there was brief chaos as people started tweeting anti McLeish stuff and seeing it on the home page. That was a cock up, too.
EDIT here's what happened when Liverpool did it with Downing:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-winger-stewart-downing-gets-1751490
I liked this one:
@arpan_manutd Do you know any footballer (except you) who is neither footed?
Bang on. As has been said before, there aren't many brain cells bouncing off each other in B6 at the moment.
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Another stupid decision from the club. It's getting boring now.
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Next week read Paul Lamberts 5 favourite home defeats by more than 2 goals.
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
He did. One little mistake after starting well and the booing started. Never mind the good start, let's just boo the one bad touch and get on his back so he'll lose what little confidence he has.
I find Villa fans at Villa Park quite annoying. More annoying as each match goes by.
If he can't handle it, he can't handle being a Premiership footballer.
Not that I'm a fan of just booing every mistake. Some will do that, a minority. However there are mistakes and there are absolute howlers. A simple 10 yard pass that you give straight to the opposition, who can then break on you at pace, is a howler. It didn't surprise me he got booed after that.
That his game fell apart after that is not the fans fault, it's Joe Bennett's fault. Just the same as we can't really take credit if we give him a raptuous round of applause for a tackle, and then 30 seconds later he spanks a 30 yarder in the top corner...well, okay, some of us might try and take some credit! ha ha.
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Just looked at the StevieG thread. There are some crackers on there:
#AskStevieG Ryan Gigg's wife divorced him & took half of everything. How do you feel about her having 6 more Premier League medals than you?
Manchester, Madrid or Milan...in which city do you hope to assault your next DJ? #AskStevieG
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That Ryan Giggs quip is very good!
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I've only just read all the Joe Bennett stuff. It isn't particularly pleasant to read, however one did make me smile. "On average, how long does it take you to pick yourself up and go again?"
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I've only just read all the Joe Bennett stuff. It isn't particularly pleasant to read, however one did make me smile. "On average, how long does it take you to pick yourself up and go again?"
I really did LOL!
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Joe Bennett Fives from his insightful interview for those too busy to put time into looking for the essence of the man:
Hair: "I just gel it back before games. What's with the obsession with my hair?"
First Album: 'Justified' by Justin Timberlake. "It's a great album, with loads of catchy tunes. He's got good moves too - he can dance a bit."
Best Player Played With: Brett Holman....nah, not really. Gaizka Mendieta
Favourite Actor: "I have two favourite actors - Leonardo Di Caprio and Denzel Washington. I only found out after the Oscars that Leonardo has never won one. I couldn't believe it - he's a top, top actor and has done some quality films."
Favourite Film: Inside Man
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The #askHarry was one of the funniest things I've ever read on Twitter.
Villa fans always need a scapegoat, even when we're doing well. It's just unfortunate that Joe Bennett fills that role at the moment.
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
He did. One little mistake after starting well and the booing started. Never mind the good start, let's just boo the one bad touch and get on his back so he'll lose what little confidence he has.
I find Villa fans at Villa Park quite annoying. More annoying as each match goes by.
What a dreadful generalisation.
Like this! I make one point about Villa fans, miss out the word 'some' and get (metaphorically) booed and attacked.
Clearly I didn't mean every single Villa fan...my confidence has now gone.
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Very naive to do such a thing after 3 straight wins. Not only that, to ask a player who has been largely derided since he joined. Bennett himself had an awful game on saturday too. The whole team performance was abject, and he was particularly at fault during the game, making unforced errors. If you're absolutely gonna have to do something this stupid and get a player to answer fans questions, you pick a senior player like Vlaar, our club captain, or a player who's popular.
Lets face it, this is the internet. You take to twitter and there's always gonna be a few wind up merchants and others just releasing pent up emotion behind the safety of their PC monitor.
The way this clubs going, maybe we should cover the whole of Villa Park in a fucking circus tent, and change Randy's official title to ringmaster.
I don't agree with the personal abuse of Bennett. It's not particularly nice. It's not his fault he's being played well above his level. He's not, and never will be a Premier League player. The club essentially threw him to the Lions. What else did they think would happen after 2 seasons of mediocrity (mediocre might even be a generous description), and 3 abject defeats on the spin? Bennett himself is also something of a poster child for Lamberts misfires in the transfer market.
I actually thought he started the game pretty well, but then made one poor pass which nearly cost a goal and you could just see the confidence evaporate from him.
He did. One little mistake after starting well and the booing started. Never mind the good start, let's just boo the one bad touch and get on his back so he'll lose what little confidence he has.
I find Villa fans at Villa Park quite annoying. More annoying as each match goes by.
What a dreadful generalisation.
Like this! I make one point about Villa fans, miss out the word 'some' and get (metaphorically) booed and attacked.
Clearly I didn't mean every single Villa fan...my confidence has now gone.
Keep signing up 1st division posters and eventually we'll become a 1st division forum.
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To be honest - I don't think it was that bad. A few people had some direct digs, but when you put it in the context of this kind of Q&A with any footballer,like we have here, we see that this is just the nature of the format.
Does anyone think that Joe Bennett turned up for his Q&A under the misapprehension that all Villa fans adored him and that he wouldn't get a bit of stick? Do we think he has gone away newly devastated that some people have taken the opportunity to tell him directly on facebook that they think he's a bit shit! I think it is probably far harder to take that when it is yelled directly in your face just after you've put the ball out for a throw in, so I can't imagine he was left in a state of shock.
If I was him I'd be far more embarrassed by the 'fans made fun of him' headlines than the actual daft questions. It's that that makes him sound like a humourless wimp.
I am totally sure he knew what he was letting himself in for, and quite probably enjoyed answering questions from the fans who seem to like him (and his hair)
I also don't think it's terrible PR for the club to show that players are prepared to do this, rather than hide away and refuse to speak to anyone when the going gets tough.
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The two main problems with it were the timing and the paper jumping on it as though this was the voice of the fans speaking.
If I thought that the consensus of opinion of the British public was what I read on Facebook and Twitter, I would top myself.
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
I'm not sure about this. I wonder what the club PR/Marketing/corporate comms ( whatever wanky name they give themelves) were thinking when they approved this. They must have seen the sort of abuse Redknapp and Downing received recently. Piss poor decision in my opinion. And it cetainly doesn't compensate for the club's previous closed door policy when it comes to journalists. If the only news we ever get from the club is official feel-good mush when it's clear to all that we're in a shit state, is it any surprise that when fans are given access to a player they take the piss and tell him what they think. It's liberating.
I thought some of the comments were hilarious as well.
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99% of stuff the Club do at the minute is shit. It's a farce these days. Bring back Doug, all is forgiven.
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It was a little bit stupid, coming from people (or person, as the case my be) who are social media professionals.
I suppose on the flip side, if said "social media professionals" aren't organising things like this then there's not really a lot of point in them being there.
If they are in-house then I'm guessing they're not just given a few weeks off whenever we turn to shit, if they are external and have been brought in to try and promote the club online then goodness only knows what they could have done that wasn't going to provoke this reaction.
They do plenty of stuff in social media that doesn't provoke this reaction - not just twitter and facebook, see the various articles about them promoting the club on that chinese twitter thingy.
Ultimately, this was a massive own goal, which anyone who has ever seen one of these #askfootballperson would have told them would happen.
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He was a strange player to pick... surely they must be aware of how his form has been and the general opinion of him? There are plenty of other candidates available if they wanted to do this Okore? Benteke? Kozak? all would have a much more positive reaction.
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He was a strange player to pick... surely they must be aware of how his form has been and the general opinion of him? There are plenty of other candidates available if they wanted to do this Okore? Benteke? Kozak? all would have a much more positive reaction.
My thoughts too. Maybe they were going with the in at the deep end approach.
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A better case of damned if they do you couldn't hope to find.
I'm not sure about this. I wonder what the club PR/Marketing/corporate comms ( whatever wanky name they give themelves) were thinking when they approved this. They must have seen the sort of abuse Redknapp and Downing received recently. Piss poor decision in my opinion. And it cetainly doesn't compensate for the club's previous closed door policy when it comes to journalists. If the only news we ever get from the club is official feel-good mush when it's clear to all that we're in a shit state, is it any surprise that when fans are given access to a player they take the piss and tell him what they think. It's liberating.
I thought some of the comments were hilarious as well.
It is not like they have decided, we have just had a loss, lets put Bennett on this. It is a regular thing and happened to be Bennett this time and happened to have been posted on here for us to comment on. Anyone Facebook savvy enough to get the others up and review those comments.
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@B31villa What a daft idea by @AVFCOfficial to #askbennett! Especially after such a shocking season. #avfc
@BakesAvfc #askbennett is hilarious!!!!
@Teago_AVFC hi joe how do you feel about being called a pro footballer when you have the ability of Johnny Vegas after 10pints #askbennett
@gunsforhire76 Do you think your 1 good performance vs Chelsea in nearly 2 seasons at the club means your in the same league as J Lloyd Samuel? #askbennett
@FazAVFC #AskBennett what do you want to be when you grow up?
@BradEllimannn Would you prefer to own a cat that barked or a dog that meowed? #AskBennett
@jammietallent #AskBennett feel sorry for the lad! Sacrificial lamb for Lerner and Lambert! #Lernerout #Lambertout
@MattBowditch7 #AskBennett are you better than Messi?
@Masters_JamesD Think somebody at Aston Villa probably should have thought a bit harder before inviting the #AskBennett twitter chat. Poor Joe.... #avfc
@w1lko_86 Instead of #AskBennett and ruining Joe Bennett’s confidence even more how about #AskLambert , #AskFaulkner or #AskLerner #AVFC @AVFCOfficial
@premtravel_avfc PR Disaster #avfc #askbennett
@gunsforhire76 If Gabby is running at you with the ball do you bother to try and tackle him or wait till he runs it out of play and falls over? #askbennett
@wilch4 Don’t know who’s worse with this #askbennett....the people taking the extreme moral high ground or the ridiculously unfunny people #zzz
@JGoodby Abusing a player is the lowest of the low. Hiding behind your twitter accounts. Shameful tbh. And YES I go to all games. #askbennett
@Collins_AVFC Looking through the #askbennett hashtag I now understand why he left twitter
@Mos_sy Oh dear #askbennett is going to be a bloodbath! #avfc
@TrendsBrum #askbennett is now trending in #Birmingham http://trendsmap.com/gb/birmingham
@premtravel_avfc I have seen some very funny comments on #askbennett but can the person who thought this was a good idea please own up #avfc #embarrassing
@kevinhughes348 Thought I was fan of club fans supported through thick & thin. Then read some pathetic tweets on Villa’s #AskBennett & it makes me sick.
@Jasto_avfc #AskBennett are you 100% sure you’re not right footed?
@Adrian_Siggins The #AskBennett wasn’t the best idea by #avfc considering how the fans feel about the guy.
@Uber_Lowey: #askbennett would you rather be attacked by 1 horse sized duck or a 10 duck sized horses?
@craigwill85 Resisting the urge to take the bait to #AskBennett what were @AVFCOfficial thinking!! Some hilarious ones coming in though!
@NoelM1986 #AskBennett do you think the club signing Ryan Bertrand permanently will limit your playing opportunities next year?
@KaneAvfc What matters more your hair or dog? #AskBennett
@DEANOFIELD Do you get angry with fans getting your name wrong during the game. I often hear Gordon Bennett after you have touched the ball #askbennett
@J_M_Holt Another PR disaster by @AVFCOfficial with #AskBennett. Which bright spark at B6 thought that one up. PR as clueless as the Manager. #AVFC
@PaulLovesBeer #AskBennett Will there be an open top bus parade for the 1 point of progress made?
@ThatAnt_ #AskBennett On average how long does it take you to pick yourself up and go again?
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Uber_Lowey raises an interesting point. A conundrum make no mistake.
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"If Gabby is running at you with the ball do you bother to try and tackle him or wait till he runs it out of play and falls over?"
Possibly my favourite. Lol.
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Don't know why they keep pushing Bennett forward for interviews. It's like they're punishing him for being so shit.
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People are ever so brave on Facebook and Twitter and the like...
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Just read about It in the sun absolute fucking disgrace have we really stooped to small Heath level.
Possibly the same prats that cheered him during the chelski game when he had an excellent game. I'm sure none of our players go out to have a bad game but sometimes they seem afraid to have the ball and Bennett is one of them.
I have said on other threads that at certain times the supporters at home make the players afraid to make a mistake. How can he be a good player against Chelsea not giving Eden hazard an inch then so many days later being slaughtered on the internet don't take much working out does it.
We Are aston villa football club we are above all that
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Many years ago we had a left back called john Robson and know matter what he did he was the boo boy of the villa park crowd. If the hot dogs were cold it was his fault.if you got to the ground late it was his fault to, you get my drift.
Then one night game and I'm sure someone can recall it andy gray wasn't playing so we couldn't sing the "oh andy oh andy your the greatest the Holte end say".
So we started singing that song but putting his name in, and he had a superb game which he usually did anyway ,to be named in Alex cropleys best 11 you can't be a bad player can you. And from that night he was cheered every time he touched the ball.
Just shows what a bit of support can do for a player.
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I remember John Robson. Really liked him.
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Uber_Lowey raises an interesting point. A conundrum make no mistake.
I think Springsteen has answered that as well as anyone could.