The secret of our 'success'

[DeKuip]

Just on Sky that we are going to make Downing the highest player at the Club so we can keep him.

That could just mean that we're getting rid of all the taller players!

[kipeye]

If he had been sent off for that challenge (as he should have been, if we're being honest

He got in-between the player and the ball who then kicked into him. Sometimes they're given, sometimes they're not and (for once) the decision went our way. It was not the clear cut penalty some have suggested.

This must be the first time I have agreed with Chris (!) -I have watched the tackle over a few times and am convinced it wasn't a foul as Dunne made no contact with the man -he was indeed kicked by the forward and simply put his body between man and ball.

[CJ]

Had my hair cut today and the barber is an Arsenal fan (bit dangerous - Arsenal fan approaches Villa fan with sharp implements after suffering home defeat. Anyway once the bleeding had stopped...) He didn't think it was a penalty either - thought it should have been a foul on Dunne. To stay on the right side of his razor I conceded that I thought their disallowed goal should have stood.

[Percy McCarthy]

If he had been sent off for that challenge (as he should have been, if we're being honest

He got in-between the player and the ball who then kicked into him. Sometimes they're given, sometimes they're not and (for once) the decision went our way. It was not the clear cut penalty some have suggested.

This must be the first time I have agreed with Chris (!) -I have watched the tackle over a few times and am convinced it wasn't a foul as Dunne made no contact with the man -he was indeed kicked by the forward and simply put his body between man and ball.

Had my hair cut today and the barber is an Arsenal fan (bit dangerous - Arsenal fan approaches Villa fan with sharp implements after suffering home defeat. Anyway once the bleeding had stopped...) He didn't think it was a penalty either - thought it should have been a foul on Dunne. To stay on the right side of his razor I conceded that I thought their disallowed goal should have stood.

I agree with all of the above.

[eastie]

The main reason we are safe quite simply is Darren bent- without him we would be down.

Dunne has been hit and miss all season and is lucky to be in the team, the return of Luke young at full back has been more of an impact on our defensive improvement- I'm not slagging off dunne but I don't believe he deserves singling out for praise.

[KevinGage]

I think Smudger has called it right TBH.

We've benefited from most of our senior players pulling their finger out recently - and Dunne is as deserving of praise as any of them. He's looked it better shape too, which probably helps.

When he doesn't have the spare tyre he can be surprisingly quick over short distances.

Still want him gone in the summer mind. Too much shit has gone on this season and -as we've seen- if he isn't in good shape or motivated, he's no use to us. We can't chance a recurrence.

[damon loves JT]

I know it is all a massive relief, but I think we are going to be in trouble if we imagine everything will be OK just because we've avoided relegation.

There will have to be some harsh choices made this summer. Meaning: players and staff we like, will have to go.

[Bosco81]

Haven't you heard we are practising defending set pieces in the summer, all our problems will be over.

[Greg N'Ash]

Dunne should not be in the team ahead of cuellar,and his displays leave a lot to be desired- I certainly wouldn't single him out for praise just because he has started to do what he is paid ludicrous wages to do.

Aye. still looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Only the ref saved him against Arsenal

[olaftab]

No, it's definitely Roeder. I think he should be given a crack at the manager's job.

Yes at West Ham.

[brontebilly]

I knew it wouldn't be accepted on here as many of you have painted yourselves into a corner with your opinions on Dunne. However, we've gone back to defending properly in recent months and stopped being such a soft touch at set piececs, much of that is down to him. I'm not trying to claim that he's been fantastic but he helped stabilise the side when things were threatening to go completely tits up.

When he's not there, Bolton away for example, we see the difference.

I don't expect him to be here next season and his early season displays were
rubbish but you're letting emotion cloud your judgement if you fail to see how his improvement has coincided with the upturn in results.

Big time Dunne was superb against Wigan when Walker and Collins were hopeless. He won everything in the air and made a load of critical blocks. The backpass was his only mistake I think. He is still the best central defender at the club.

Cuellar gets better each game he doesn't play it seems. Although given a chance at home to Wolves he was poor.
Luke Young has been an improvement and Reo Coker is playing well. Young is much better outside and Bent is on fire. We have also had a easier run of fixtures.

[Matt Collins]

Dunne has always had shoddy spells throughout his career but come back strong again. If he canregain the form of the year before he'd be better than anyone we're likely to sign. I like cuellar but he does seem to have taken on mystical qualities. His only real run atcentre back was with Davies and they were both rubbish, tho I'm sure he'd be better with others.

The shift in formation, return of petrov, and, sorry to say it, general return of experienced players at the expense of our youngsters have been the most significant factors.

I thought roeder was just doing scouting?

[Caiphus]

Dunne has always had shoddy spells throughout his career but come back strong again. If he canregain the form of the year before he'd be better than anyone we're likely to sign. I like cuellar but he does seem to have taken on mystical qualities. His only real run atcentre back was with Davies and they were both rubbish, tho I'm sure he'd be better with others.

The shift in formation, return of petrov, and, sorry to say it, general return of experienced players at the expense of our youngsters have been the most significant factors.

I thought roeder was just doing scouting?

Scouting and being a cancer on the club according to some overly melodramatic sounds made around here after his appointment.  He's obviously destroyed our club culture.

[ozzjim]

I knew it wouldn't be accepted on here as many of you have painted yourselves into a corner with your opinions on Dunne. However, we've gone back to defending properly in recent months and stopped being such a soft touch at set piececs, much of that is down to him. I'm not trying to claim that he's been fantastic but he helped stabilise the side when things were threatening to go completely tits up.

When he's not there, Bolton away for example, we see the difference.

I don't expect him to be here next season and his early season displays were rubbish but you're letting emotion cloud your judgement if you fail to see how his improvement has coincided with the upturn in results.

I think much is to do with his organization of the players at corners. He has been noticable in that he has been leading the back 4 a lot more. Performance wise he has still been poor though IMO. Collins has been very impressive in a couple of those games, and Young at left back has given us some real stability. Even in the 1-0 over Newcastle my wife who was coming to a game for the first time in 12 months, asked if they were trying to form a new comedy act, but also noticed that every time Collins does something good Dunne pats him on the arse.

[pauliewalnuts]

I know it is all a massive relief, but I think we are going to be in trouble if we imagine everything will be OK just because we've avoided relegation.

There will have to be some harsh choices made this summer. Meaning: players and staff we like, will have to go.

Absolutely agree. Dunne has improved from his previous performance level of late, but he has still given us us almost an entire season of shitness.

Him and Collins have been the leaders of the"couldn't give a fuck" brigade all season. We can't risk that happening again.