Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[levico]

Our top 10 days are long gone under the current ownership.

Are you for real?

If you mean do I live in the real world then yes!

[Shrek]

How is fonz being seen as a plus today?
I like the lad but he doesn't look like he can hit a barn door in all fairness!

I like Hogg but we've dropped him into a really unfair position too soon

Lichaj deserves credit for a good game today

I'm sorry mate but Delfouneso was a massive plus today.

He was our only player who could dribble with the ball past someone today, the only thing he didn't do was score against a solid spurs side, yes they had 10 men but they still played as a team and crowded out our front men.

Delfouneso is going to be a top player!

[olaftab]

I am ready to accept that we may not qualify for Europe this year through our League position.

[dave.woodhall]

Our top 10 days are long gone under the current ownership.

Are you for real?

If you mean do I live in the real world then yes!

The 'real world' being a place where Randy Lerner can be criticised for not spending?

[WikiVilla]

I really hope fonz makes it

[dave.woodhall]

I really hope fonz makes it

I'm not sure about him, but the big plus in the past couple of weeks has been Lichaj so who knows?

[PaulWinch again]

Lichaj was very good today and showed a good turn of pace as well. As I said earlier I was impressed by Delph, because he has been out a long time and he showed an eye for a pass that a lot of our players lack.

[ozzjim]

The fonz is a better finisher than most that we have, but he needs a Heskey not a Gabby to play off. Gabby is fine on his own like against United, but ask him to play with someone alongside him up top and he never looks comfortable.

Delph needs games, and the only way to get them is to play. He did ok for me first game back. These 3 games are more or less bonus points if we get any with the confidence we have not got and the players coming back from injury, and had we got the Heskey pen today may have gone differently. It didn't, VDV was supreme and Spurs for me will always be crooked for the way they got him for 10 million less than he was about to sign for Bayern for!

They are though, 5 years down the line of serious investment in young players with potential; if it is our model for the next 5 then it is the way to go. It is a bumpy road but it is the only way without the riches of City.

[levico]

Our top 10 days are long gone under the current ownership.

Are you for real?

If you mean do I live in the real world then yes!

The 'real world' being a place where Randy Lerner can be criticised for not spending?

I'm not criticising - he has spent (largely wasted by MON) and now he can't - not his fault, just the way things are.

[dave.woodhall]

Our top 10 days are long gone under the current ownership.

Are you for real?

If you mean do I live in the real world then yes!

The 'real world' being a place where Randy Lerner can be criticised for not spending?

I'm not criticising - he has spent (largely wasted by MON) and now he can't - not his fault, just the way things are.

That's fair enough, but there's no way we're limited to finishing outside the top ten.

[TheSandman]

I'm not criticising - he has spent (largely wasted by MON) and now he can't - not his fault, just the way things are.

Based on?

Was our lack of spending in Summer down to MoN's procrastinating or lack of energy for the job OR is it down to what you claim? Does anybody outside of Villa truly know? All it is based on is hearsay and guesswork. If we fail to spend on players in January (which we desperately need) then I'll agree. Now, I'm not so sure and based on the evidence I don't think anyone outside the Villa is.

[dave.woodhall]

Someone answer me this - who was the last better signing than Van Der Vaart?

[adam#1]

Look, time for the board to man up and realise they've made a mistake with Houllier. This team lacks passion under him, and the senior players look like they don't want to play for him - which is why he sticks with impressionable youngsters, who'd work hard even if I was the manager. The team reminds me of GT mk2, DOL teams etc. There has been no "new manager bounce", no surge in energy, just a collapsing defence which had previously been one of the best in the league, repeated media stories about squad infighting and upset, team tactics and selection that look plain strange when you're trying to balance the ship (tonight being rime example of that by playing a 19yr old relative rookie who's been out for 9 months as a starter against a team pushing hard in the champions league), and supporters clearly unhappy after a really short space of time.

Its all very well arguing that it was his team that won the champions league at Liverpool (even though he wasn't managing them) but if you want to play that analogy, he's now managing a team that finished 6th two seasons running, with two recent Wembley appearances and he's guiding them into a relegation dogfight. There is little point in allowing him to spend what little money the club clearly doesn't have to spend this January (hence the repeated rhetoric at the moment about how much Lerner has invested - its so cynical to harp on about what you've done so far, when you know you're about to pull the rug from underneath and stop doing the same level of investment), because our resources are scarce and need to be spent wisely (you know the money from the sale of milner and young - which will net us about £25m profit and allow £10m to be spent on transfer fees). Sack now, get Jol in and get us going again. Otherwise, we will most definetely be in those clubs facing a relegation fight.

[Ads]

Someone answer me this - who was the last better signing than Van Der Vaart?

The hateful shit needs a good kicking though. That's the second time he's ran over to us giving it large.

[ktvillan]

The fonz is a better finisher than most that we have, but he needs a Heskey not a Gabby to play off.

I think Delfouneso would do well as the second striker "in the hole" where Ash has been trying to play with mixed results.  I'd like to see him paired with Heskey at some stage.  His movement is really good, way better than Gabby's, and I think he and Heskey could link up well.