Ciaran Clark - now gone

[supertom]

Clark is playing very well, and I am confident that with the return of one between  Vlaar, Senderos or Baker, he could even be employed as defensive midfielder should Westwood be injuried.

Not sure Archie.  Can't see a reason to split up the Clark and Okore partnership at the moment. 

I wouldn't. I actually think as a unit, Clark and Okore has looked possibly one of our most cohesive partnerships. There's a good balance there. Left foot, right foot. Clark seems to have taken the organisational role. Okore has pace. Both are pretty comfortable coming out with the ball.

[Duncan Shaw]

I agree, Blancmange Ron and co. can go on the bench as far as I'm concerned.  I suspect we won't see Ron in a Villa shirt again now.

[supertom]

I agree, Blancmange Ron and co. can go on the bench as far as I'm concerned.  I suspect we won't see Ron in a Villa shirt again now.

No I don't think so either, short of Clark or Okore getting injured.

[mattjpa]

Through nothing other than bad luck lambert has stumbled upon a very good, assured cb partnership. these are (I imagine) his 4th and 5th choice cb's And have looked really, really good together. But people need to remember just how good Vlaar and Senderos looked together at the start of the campaign. Also, when one of those two went down, Baker also looked immensely composed this season. I don't know whether it's down to maturing as players or the increased competition but for the first time in a couple of seasons I can say I would be gutted to see either clark or baker leave, I think we can now rely on both of them.
My only question over the current two would be against extremes of physical strikers such as Andy Carroll. I would much rather see any of the other 3 deployed to do a job on him.
I don't give him much credit but will give it him when it's due, lambert has given Baker and Clark the experience and game time necessary to develop and has also brought in 3 very good cb's for little outlay.

[dcdavecollett]

I thought Clark and Baker were both finished and would probably be better off leaving in the summer. In my mind, they had never really recovered from the trauma of 18-0.

So much for that theory!

[ozzjim]

That tackle was a perfect repost to the Vardy challenge which the ref had inexplicably let him off with a yellow. Clark was clearly pissed, and saw an opportunity to say " we are not going to be pushed around by you lot" in a fair and fairly conclusive way. He executed it with genuine aggression but controlled it to make sure it did not look wild. Alan Green on the commentary said he saw it coming, winced as he made it, but applauded the quality of a good proper challenge that let the forward know he was in a game.

On a general note, it is very noticable that Clark and Okore, when they have a bit of confidence, actually have the ability to be footballers and not just stoppers. That could come in very handy in the long run. There will always be games that Senderos and Baker will be better suited due to the aerial battle, but to have the option is nice.

These 2 should have secured the spots until something forces a change.

[Lastfootstamper]

Re. the tackle, I was sat above it. First thought was he's not gonna make it, but by the time he arrived, there was only going to be one winner. Hard, took all of the ball, didn't have eyes for anything else. Raises my spirits to see such.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Have always seen Clark as a "proper" footballer - good on the ball - but needs a bit too much time.
He has a pretty calm head and excelled against youngsters when he was a youngster himself.
I just think it's taken him some time to settle in and develop his own game/confidence as a senior. He seems to be relishing the responsibility as "leader" of the back 4 and that puts him in the role where he excelled when younger.
Perhaps he now realises just how good he can be.

[peter w]

Football is a lot to do with luck. Right place at the right time and sometimes adversity falls in your favour. I wonder how much of lambert having being forced to play okore has resulted in him possibly thinking that he can allow Vlaar to leave in January? we have 5 centre-halves all of whom have looked good this season.

[OCD]

One thing to consider is just how defensive our tactics are. It would be interesting so see how our defence looked if we were to go at teams a bit more than what we are.

[WestleyArmsAV]

You can not have it both ways, we have conceded 3 goals in five, one a penalty and another a keeper mistake.  How good is that point and clean sheet now looking at Upton Park.

ILWT

[Archie]

Clark is playing very well, and I am confident that with the return of one between  Vlaar, Senderos or Baker, he could even be employed as defensive midfielder should Westwood be injuried.

Not sure Archie.  Can't see a reason to split up the Clark and Okore partnership at the moment. 

I agree that the couple is playing very well in defence, but the reason that could suggest a change is that without Westwood and Cleverley we are short in defensive midfielders. Do not think that Bacuna and/or Richardson are ok for that role, Bacuna is too attacking-minded and Richardson too naif.

[QBVILLA]

That was a horrendous tackle in my opinion. He clearly went in to hurt the guy and that is something I don't want to see from a Villa player.

Do you honestly believe that Clark intended to hurt his opponent in that challenge? I've not heard that perspective yet.

I do. It was just after Westwood went off and there was absolutely no need to go in like that. What if he'd got sent off? What if that had led to a scuffle where one of our players got sent off? It was a stupid thing to do.

If it was the other way round, I imagine most of us would be furious.

In my opinion it was a great tackle by Clark. Clean, took the ball, feet on the floor. If one ouf our players got tackled like that then I would have no problem whatsoever. For the record, if Konchesky deserved the red card then so did Hutton.

Why? Hutton was fouled and then Konchesky clearly stood-over him and said something derogatory to him. Yes, hutton reacted, but I don't think that a shove has ever merited a straight red-card, yellow maybe.

Konchesky's challenge was arguably not a straight-red, but I always think it's dangerous when somebody slides in towards a stationary player. You're giving them very little chance to take evasive action, and if you miss the ball and catch them (as Konchesky did) you're carrying all of the impact meaning there's a greater chance of them getting injured. The best that Konchesky could hope for there was to concede a throw-in deep into our half. It was a reckless challenge and I'm fairly certain any appeal would be thrown out.

They went brow to brow, followed by Hutton giving him a shove. To be fair to Konchesky Hutton was lying there stricken before jumping to his feet to have a go. So he was feigning injury. Konchesky's challenge was imo worthy of a yellow card at a push. I couldn't give a shit what shirt a player is wearing I can't stand players feigning injury to persuade a referee to give a card out.

[RussellC]

That was a horrendous tackle in my opinion. He clearly went in to hurt the guy and that is something I don't want to see from a Villa player.

Do you honestly believe that Clark intended to hurt his opponent in that challenge? I've not heard that perspective yet.

I do. It was just after Westwood went off and there was absolutely no need to go in like that. What if he'd got sent off? What if that had led to a scuffle where one of our players got sent off? It was a stupid thing to do.

If it was the other way round, I imagine most of us would be furious.

In my opinion it was a great tackle by Clark. Clean, took the ball, feet on the floor. If one ouf our players got tackled like that then I would have no problem whatsoever. For the record, if Konchesky deserved the red card then so did Hutton.

Why? Hutton was fouled and then Konchesky clearly stood-over him and said something derogatory to him. Yes, hutton reacted, but I don't think that a shove has ever merited a straight red-card, yellow maybe.

Konchesky's challenge was arguably not a straight-red, but I always think it's dangerous when somebody slides in towards a stationary player. You're giving them very little chance to take evasive action, and if you miss the ball and catch them (as Konchesky did) you're carrying all of the impact meaning there's a greater chance of them getting injured. The best that Konchesky could hope for there was to concede a throw-in deep into our half. It was a reckless challenge and I'm fairly certain any appeal would be thrown out.

They went brow to brow, followed by Hutton giving him a shove. To be fair to Konchesky Hutton was lying there stricken before jumping to his feet to have a go. So he was feigning injury. Konchesky's challenge was imo worthy of a yellow card at a push. I couldn't give a shit what shirt a player is wearing I can't stand players feigning injury to persuade a referee to give a card out.

As per the Hutton thread, it sounds like you saw a completely different incident to the one that most others did.

[QBVILLA]

You mean the incident which has since seen the red card rescinded? Which part of what I said do you not agree with? Was Hutton not lying prone on the ground before jumping to his feet after whatever Konchesky said? Did they not go brow to brow with Hutton being the one who gave him a shove? For me it was a yellow for the challenge and a yellow for Hutton for the retaliation. Neither deserved a red and judging my the way Hutton sprang to his feet he was feigning injury in the hope of influencing the ref to give Konchesky a card. That along with the waving of imaginary cards is a personal pet hate.