Our Captain

[JJ-AV]

Dunne's a fatty and doesn't deserve to be our captain.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

In my opinion, Petrov has always been shit.

Contratulations, you've more or less admitted you don't actually understand how football works.

Why, because you don't agree? I know plenty of people who do not, and have not, ever rated Petrov. With a more dynamic midfielder instead of him, we could've been looking at higher than 6th places in the last few seasons. Any donkey can pass a ball 2 metres sideways or backwards, even NRC can do that but chooses not to.

Add to this he's incredibly slow and cannot tackle. He was lucky enough to have quality players (Barry, Milner) to play alongisde him to make him look slightly better than he was/is.

Half a season in 4 seasons he's played well. Not good enough. Harewood achieved more than that.

Edit: Having reflected on my initial statement, I don't actually think he's shit. However, I certainly do think he's not good enough for Villa.

[Ian.]

Petrov is a good player, and been bloody good the last couple of years,we would surely miss him if he aint in the team.
He needs to put in a captains performance tomorrow along with the other 10 players and help take the heat off our board and put a smile back on our faces.

[Dave]

In my opinion, Petrov has always been shit.

Contratulations, you've more or less admitted you don't actually understand how football works.

Why, because you don't agree? I know plenty of people who do not, and have not, ever rated Petrov.

I don't agree, but that isn't why you don't understand how football works.

If someone cannot see the job that Petrov does (and this comes with the caveat that I'm perfectly happy to admit that he can't go on for ever and it is time to start thinking about a potential replacement) and has done for the last two seasons then they really don't get the most basic logistics of the game.

[dave.woodhall]

I know that what Petrov does, he has done well for the past couple of years. But it's a bit like using a Ferrari to do a paper round. He was bought to do a lot more than pass ten yards sideways.

[Dave]

I know that what Petrov does, he has done well for the past couple of years. But it's a bit like using a Ferrari to do a paper round. He was bought to do a lot more than pass ten yards sideways.

Barcelona have just spent £18m on a player who does a very similar job, minus the vision and the passing ability. We did buy him to be more attacking, but we bought Gareth Barry to be a left-sided defender, James Milner to be a right-midfielder and Dwight Yorke to be a winger. Just because their best performances for us weren't in the position we thought they would be doesn't mean they weren't valuable.

I really believe that if Petrov were 25 rather than 31 then we would have clubs queuing up for him at the moment.

[dave.woodhall]

I know that what Petrov does, he has done well for the past couple of years. But it's a bit like using a Ferrari to do a paper round. He was bought to do a lot more than pass ten yards sideways.

Barcelona have just spent £18m on a player who does a very similar job, minus the vision and the passing ability. We did buy him to be more attacking, but we bought Gareth Barry to be a left-sided defender, James Milner to be a right-midfielder and Dwight Yorke to be a winger. Just because their best performances for us weren't in the position we thought they would be doesn't mean they weren't valuable.

I really believe that if Petrov were 25 rather than 31 then we would have clubs queuing up for him at the moment.

But he isn't, and we haven't. He's been an okayish defensive midfielder when we bought him to be a matchwinner.

[Dave]

But he isn't, and we haven't. He's been an okayish defensive midfielder when we bought him to be a matchwinner.

As I said, I don't think it matters what we bought him to be. We bought Reo-Coker to be a defensive midfielder and it turned out that an attacking player that we bought for less money was far better at it than he was. So we put Petrov there and bought better players to do the attacking instead.

As for 'okayish', he plays in a position that it's more or less impossible to stand out. As I said in an earlier post, the fact that that we had a very decent defensive record last season in spite of the fact that we had just Petrov doing the job that some teams pick three players to perform suggest that he was doing that job very well.

[dave.woodhall]

But he isn't, and we haven't. He's been an okayish defensive midfielder when we bought him to be a matchwinner.

As I said, I don't think it matters what we bought him to be. We bought Reo-Coker to be a defensive midfielder and it turned out that an attacking player that we bought for less money was far better at it than he was. So we put Petrov there and bought better players to do the attacking instead.

As for 'okayish', he plays in a position that it's more or less impossible to stand out. As I said in an earlier post, the fact that that we had a very decent defensive record last season in spite of the fact that we had just Petrov doing the job that some teams pick three players to perform suggest that he was doing that job very well.

Doing the job of three players? I really don't think so.

[Dave]

But he isn't, and we haven't. He's been an okayish defensive midfielder when we bought him to be a matchwinner.

As I said, I don't think it matters what we bought him to be. We bought Reo-Coker to be a defensive midfielder and it turned out that an attacking player that we bought for less money was far better at it than he was. So we put Petrov there and bought better players to do the attacking instead.

As for 'okayish', he plays in a position that it's more or less impossible to stand out. As I said in an earlier post, the fact that that we had a very decent defensive record last season in spite of the fact that we had just Petrov doing the job that some teams pick three players to perform suggest that he was doing that job very well.

Doing the job of three players? I really don't think so.

On Monday, Man City played De Jong, Barry and Touré in defensive midfield.

Who else do we play in defensive midfield other than Petrov?

[b23]

I loved his goal away at Derby.

Wish i could post it for everyone. 

[BannedUserIAT]

I've had a lot of time for Petrov and can't bring myself to slag him off like many do.

However, he's a MON-man and I do have a concern that he's not mentally what he should be since O'Neill fled.

[phantom limb]

Petrov gets an awful lot of stick considering how good a player he is.

[hipkiss92]

Petrov gets an awful lot of stick considering how good a player he is.

you mean how good a player he used to be. up until about december last year i rated him quite highly too.

[dcdavecollett]

How do 'okayish' midfield players win Player of the Year Awards?