Something special Going on

[hawkeye]

i agree dante and would also say that at some point we have to draw a line in the sand and not allow the richer clubs to buy off our opportunity

[timeoutbigbar]

I get the feeling people who have progressed through our youth academy since the ages of 10-11 will have a fair bit of loyalty to the club who gave them their chance.  Milner moved on, having given the fans the impression he would be here for a while, but i don't know why we thought he would be loyal, left leeds then left newcastle..With our own youth i wouldn't be quite so worried.

[SoccerHQ]

I think we'll all be pleasantly surprise how much Houllier gets to spend in January.

Believe it or not, decent players do move in that window.

[Colhint]

2 things, xavi and iniesta have played together for the best part of 10 years together, they know what the other will do.
secondly I was getting fed up listening about Wilshire, Ramsey, Rodwell, Henderson, Wellbeck, Martins, machieda and the likes and knowing our youngsters were really good but geeting no mention.

I think Barrys game for scotland could be massive for him if he does really well.

[hawkeye]

I think we'll all be pleasantly surprise how much Houllier gets to spend in January.

Believe it or not, decent players do move in that window.

i cant see us doing much business in January, there is an obvious need to thin some deadwood which wont happen until the summer, our squad looks threadbare because of injurys, it wont look that way in a couple of months

[KevinGage]

I get the feeling people who have progressed through our youth academy since the ages of 10-11 will have a fair bit of loyalty to the club who gave them their chance.  Milner moved on, having given the fans the impression he would be here for a while, but i don't know why we thought he would be loyal, left leeds then left newcastle..With our own youth i wouldn't be quite so worried.

The Mail reporter on that Q&A session a few weeks back was at pains to point out how desperate the likes of Albrighton and Bannan were to play for the club and how keen they were to make an impression.

May have been stating the obvious but you can take it for granted at times and assume that all players at the club at any one time should want to play for us. I'm not sure it's always the case. Ok, the likes of Sidwell and Davies probably do want to play. But if it isn't with us I don't think they'd have too much hesitation going elsewhere. Should other clubs even want them, of course.

Players who come through the ranks probably have more of a 'feel' for the club, for want of a better word. They've  been here for so long that they probably see Sid and co as surrogate parents at this stage. Whereas for other senior players we're possibly just one of many stopping off points in their careers.

[timeoutbigbar]

I get the feeling people who have progressed through our youth academy since the ages of 10-11 will have a fair bit of loyalty to the club who gave them their chance.  Milner moved on, having given the fans the impression he would be here for a while, but i don't know why we thought he would be loyal, left leeds then left newcastle..With our own youth i wouldn't be quite so worried.

The Mail reporter on that Q&A session a few weeks back was at pains to point out how desperate the likes of Albrighton and Bannan were to play for the club and how keen they were to make an impression.

May have been stating the obvious but you can take it for granted at times and assume that all players at the club at any one time should want to play for us. I'm not sure it's always the case. Ok, the likes of Sidwell and Davies probably do want to play. But if it isn't with us I don't think they'd have too much hesitation going elsewhere. Should other clubs even want them, of course.

Players who come through the ranks probably have more of a 'feel' for the club, for want of a better word. They've  been here for so long that they probably see Sid and co as surrogate parents at this stage. Whereas for other senior players we're possibly just one of many stopping off points in their careers.

Indeed, exactly my point, and i certainly hope so

[Dante Lavelli]

xavi and iniesta have played together for the best part of 10 years together, they know what the other will do.

Germany have recently promoted their younger players in groups as well because of the "telepathic" benrfit you mention above .  In fact klinnsman pretty much went as far as to say that it was now their policy to do this.  Talent is obviously the single biggest factor in how good a player/team is, however there is a degree of logic to promoting Albrighton/Bannan/The Fonz/Clark over the same period.

The Man U "you'll never win anything with kids" team and the leeds team of Bowyer/Woodgate/McPhail/Milner etc also spring to mind.

[timeoutbigbar]

It is a good policy to promote younger players at a similar time, as it carries on a sense of togetherness with the youth which gives them confidence.   Im sure the fact that Marc, Barry, Cieran and Jon all know each others game fairly well helped a great deal when going into the game last Saturday

[oldtimernow]

thing is as I see it, this crop of youngsters have been Villa for a few years now and Villa means something to them.

The older expensive johnnies dont have it in their DNA/blood to really care as say we do.

Stick with them and enjoy the ride, even when the going gets tough....we are Villa

[sfx412]

I can't see that any player be he good enough would not swap for a club who pays daft wages and  a  better chance to win things.
I'd be very surprised if GH didn't swap out the kids for experienced players either, when fit.
The kids have done well in several games, I doubt they are able to maintain it for a season, half a season even.
I have not seen any move to suggest that the edict that players on high wages doing nothing need to be moved to reduce the wage bill will be dropped, the use of Kids does help here of course.
At the moment we have several of Mons buys, including Ireland offering little of what they should be and a  draw against Utd great though it was, does not change that.
Its a great option to have, the way they have stepped up, their performances have been one of the few bright points this season, and it fits with the points made pre Mons exit by General K, but out short term success will only be helped by their involvement it will not be the basis of our short term future.
I'd love it to be so mind.
I do feel GH will be better in the market, or shall I say more in line with Randy's desires, but there remain doubts on his ability in the market based on his past jobs.

[Concrete John]

The Man U "you'll never win anything with kids" team and the leeds team of Bowyer/Woodgate/McPhail/Milner etc also spring to mind.

Bowyer was a signing from Charlton as opposed to a youth product.

But I agree with the principal that having a few coming through together helps.  For instance Bannan's ball for Marc's goal at Fulham is a sign of how well they know eachother's games.

[Walmley_Villa]

It feels like we finally shook off the O'Neil hangover on Saturday. The team and crowd rose to the occassion in the second half and despite the result I left the ground buzzing.

Only things we need to do now is to reintroduce "We love you Villa we do", "VILLA, VILLA, Villa, Villa........." at corners (sung very fast) and Der Der Der Der, Der Der Der Der, Der Der Der Der Der Der Der Der...." at the start of When the Villa go marching in... and of the course the "Bells are Ringing" and it will be just like the old days!!!

[JJ-AV]

I'm the most excited about our future since we beat Blackburn away to go third in Feb 2009.

We've some lovely footballers in Bannan, Downing, Ashley, Ireland and Petrov alongside the directness of Gabby and Albrighton and the promise of Clark and Delfouneso as well.

We're playing some decent stuff, looking to keep the ball and boss sides. We might not be more effective points wise but it'll be better to watch and it'll be very interesting to see how the kids grow over the next 3-4 years.

[Dr Butler]

I'm the most excited about our future since we beat Blackburn away to go third in Feb 2009.

We've some lovely footballers in Bannan, Downing, Ashley, Ireland and Petrov alongside the directness of Gabby and Albrighton and the promise of Clark and Delfouneso as well.

We're playing some decent stuff, looking to keep the ball and boss sides. We might not be more effective points wise but it'll be better to watch and it'll be very interesting to see how the kids grow over the next 3-4 years.

thats how I see it, we will probably have a few blips along the way(especially against more physical teams) but we shall soon see the benefit of these superb young players being together whilst learning their football trade.

UTV
The Doc