Derby v Villa Friendly

[Somniloquism]

Without Downing and Ash the side will need to get used to each other. It won't happen straight away. N'Zogbia will help a lot when he finally gets up to speed.

He might be the final piece that meshes into the team and we become a decent unit, but if getting up to speed means he doesn't start playing to his full potential until Sept, haggling so much over the million and then having another week from agreement before the actual signing starts to look like poor business.

[monkeyboy]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

[dave.woodhall]

Without Downing and Ash the side will need to get used to each other. It won't happen straight away. N'Zogbia will help a lot when he finally gets up to speed.

He might be the final piece that meshes into the team and we become a decent unit, but if getting up to speed means he doesn't start playing to his full potential until Sept, haggling so much over the million and then having another week from agreement before the actual signing starts to look like poor business.

We didn't 'haggle so much'. We made one offer, it was rejected, made another offer a few days later and he signed within the week. That's how transfers are conducted. 

[Greg N'Ash]

look on the bright side. Usually by this time we're still waiting for our 1st signing let alone worrying whether he'll mesh with the team

[Greg N'Ash]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

[Steve R]

Against Blackburn we played ok , nothing special but well enough , against Chelsea and derby we were poor .

I thought we were pretty much the same in both games. Defence a bit dishevelled, midfield unable to hold the ball and front players feeding off scraps, with the saving grace of one or two creditable individual performances.

The difference was the quality of the opposition.

This will probably be what the coming season will be all about. How bad the other teams are.

[TheSandman]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

Or how to spell his name.

Sometimes he can produce something special if you look at some of the balls he has delivered and the passes he has made. That said so can Bannan or even Ireland. For me he really has to have a good season as he has struggled to get going at Villa. You can only be promising for so long. 

[monkeyboy]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

me too i'm afraid - don't get him or the hype at all :-(

[Greg N'Ash]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

Or how to spell his name.

Sometimes he can produce something special if you look at some of the balls he has delivered and the passes he has made. That said so can Bannan or even Ireland. For me he really has to have a good season as he has struggled to get going at Villa. You can only be promising for so long. 

yep thats not far off my view really. I don't rate him much higher than some of our promising youth midfielders so when you consider how much he cost us.

[Somniloquism]

Without Downing and Ash the side will need to get used to each other. It won't happen straight away. N'Zogbia will help a lot when he finally gets up to speed.

He might be the final piece that meshes into the team and we become a decent unit, but if getting up to speed means he doesn't start playing to his full potential until Sept, haggling so much over the million and then having another week from agreement before the actual signing starts to look like poor business.

We didn't 'haggle so much'. We made one offer, it was rejected, made another offer a few days later and he signed within the week. That's how transfers are conducted.

I will bow to your potential insider knowledge of the inner workings of the deal on how much contact was made between the clubs. All I can say is the press stated on the 15th July that we had put a bid in for him and he officially signed on the 29th July. That is two weeks between the two and potentially 10 days of N'Zog not being in the squad / getting to know his team mates.

[KevinGage]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

Or how to spell his name.

Sometimes he can produce something special if you look at some of the balls he has delivered and the passes he has made. That said so can Bannan or even Ireland. For me he really has to have a good season as he has struggled to get going at Villa. You can only be promising for so long. 

How old is he, 20/21?

I know it seems like he's been around a while, seeing as he started so young at Leeds.
But I don't think we're anywhere near the cut off point just yet.

He should be targeting 10-15 league games this season though -minimum. Obv more if he does well enough to stay in the side.

[Dave Summers]

was delph any use - assume he got a yellow card, pretty much a given - but did he do anything??

i'm guessing not. I know some on here believe he's gonna be a star but i don't 'get' delpth i must say.

Or how to spell his name.

Sometimes he can produce something special if you look at some of the balls he has delivered and the passes he has made. That said so can Bannan or even Ireland. For me he really has to have a good season as he has struggled to get going at Villa. You can only be promising for so long. 

yep thats not far off my view really. I don't rate him much higher than some of our promising youth midfielders so when you consider how much he cost us.

Think he has the potential to be a top quality midfielder, that said was disappointed with his performance vs Chelsea on Saturday.

I have seen enough of him "live" though to think he has something about him,  so count me as one of the believers.   Don't forget also that he has had two serious injuries since he has been here and has hardly played !!.  If he has started 15-20 games that would be about it, is my guess.

So lets give the kid a chance eh?

[tarzansbrother]

Without Downing and Ash the side will need to get used to each other. It won't happen straight away. N'Zogbia will help a lot when he finally gets up to speed.

He might be the final piece that meshes into the team and we become a decent unit, but if getting up to speed means he doesn't start playing to his full potential until Sept, haggling so much over the million and then having another week from agreement before the actual signing starts to look like poor business.

We didn't 'haggle so much'. We made one offer, it was rejected, made another offer a few days later and he signed within the week. That's how transfers are conducted.

I will bow to your potential insider knowledge of the inner workings of the deal on how much contact was made between the clubs. All I can say is the press stated on the 15th July that we had put a bid in for him and he officially signed on the 29th July. That is two weeks between the two and potentially 10 days of N'Zog not being in the squad / getting to know his team mates.

We did very well to get him after 10 days. Wigan did all they could to sell him for more and to a team other than Villa.

[dave.woodhall]

Without Downing and Ash the side will need to get used to each other. It won't happen straight away. N'Zogbia will help a lot when he finally gets up to speed.

He might be the final piece that meshes into the team and we become a decent unit, but if getting up to speed means he doesn't start playing to his full potential until Sept, haggling so much over the million and then having another week from agreement before the actual signing starts to look like poor business.

We didn't 'haggle so much'. We made one offer, it was rejected, made another offer a few days later and he signed within the week. That's how transfers are conducted.

I will bow to your potential insider knowledge of the inner workings of the deal on how much contact was made between the clubs. All I can say is the press stated on the 15th July that we had put a bid in for him and he officially signed on the 29th July. That is two weeks between the two and potentially 10 days of N'Zog not being in the squad / getting to know his team mates.

Even if it was two weeks - and I don't honestly know - that's not a particularly long time for a close season transfer. How long, for example, did the Ashley Young deal drag on for?

[Somniloquism]

look on the bright side. Usually by this time we're still waiting for our 1st signing let alone worrying whether he'll mesh with the team

Yes, going on the one season when we didn't sign anyone in July since Randy took over, (or as I call it, last year), you do have a point.