Where will we finish?

[PaulWinch again]

Shite Dork takes a dim view of our prospects, and he is probably right:

“Villa set for bottom half finish”
Dwight Yorke is worried about Aston Villa
By Brian Lofrumento | 11th August 2011


Former Manchester United and Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke has expressed concern for the Villans, suggesting that a top half finish is out of their reach this season. The Villans have sold star players Ashley Young and Stewart Downing this summer, along with the loss of American goalkeeper Brad Friedel to Tottenham.

“Whether Villa can go on and finish in the top half will be a real challenge for me,” Yorke told English newspaper The Independent. ”Europe is not a possibility. They have let their vital players leave the club and it is difficult to recover from that when you are a club of Villa’s standing.

“When you look at the players they have let go, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, these are key players to Villa, and the players they have brought in, no disrespect to them, you can’t see them improving Villa too much. If they finish in the top half of the Premier League it will be a great achievement. I don’t like what I’m seeing and I think it will be very disturbing to the fans.”

Despite the sales, Villa fans can look forward to seeing new signings Charles N’Zogbia and Shay Given in action, both of which have impressed in the Premier League.

Premiership Talk

Think he's being very gracious in saying he can't see the new players improving us to much.

He's probably about right, but I think the two we've brought in are good.

[Concrete John]

Anyone got any further or revised thoughts on this after the weekend's games.  And not just ours, but also what we saw from the other sides?

I think there'll be a pack of clubs like us trying to stay ahead of each other and maybe grab a Europa place.  Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea WILL finish 1st to 3rd in whatever order and one of Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs will get 4th.  I have a suspicion Spurs will struggle by their recent standards and may be catchable by the leaders of the pack we'll be in.

Our advantage in trying to be leaders of that pack is Darren Bent.  Nobody else has a goal scorer as potent, so get the best out of him and we'll be 7th or 8th, IMO.  If we're going to maybe even pinch 6th from Spurs, then what we'll also need is top seasons out of our offensive midfield players, such and Albrighton and Ireland.

[CJ]

After the weekend I'm afraid I don't share your optimism John M'Zog. We looked better organised defensively and we do indeed have a top quality goal scorer. What worried me was the bits in between and a really worrying lack of creativity and service to DB.

Looking at other games I think the top 3 will be Manu, Citeh, Chelsea (in that order), followed by Arsenal/Spurs/Liverpool (not necessarily in that order) to complete the top 6. I thought 5 teams will be relegation fodder - Wigan, Norwich, QPR, Blackburn and Newcastle. Haven't seen Swansea yet but by all accounts they play decent football so could well stay up.

So that leaves us 'battling' with the likes of Everton/Fulham/Albion and others for mid table mediocrity. My original prediction was 10th and didn't see anything at the weekend to improve on that.

Think we'll do well in the cups though

[Chris Smith]

It will take a lot more thN game to make sense of anything in this league beyond the obvious that Manu and Chelsea will be competing for the title.

[Irish villain]

Well I'm more optimisitc after Saturday. I think we're as anybody in that big 'chasing pack'. If we remain solid at the back  and play with a bit more creativity at home we could be closer to 7th than 12th.

[Concrete John]

Well I'm more optimisitc after Saturday. I think we're as anybody in that big 'chasing pack'. If we remain solid at the back  and play with a bit more creativity at home we could be closer to 7th than 12th.

Pretty much how I see it!

That's why I think a strong defensive midfielder would improve us so much, as it would give us the security to play more attacking players ahead of him, such as Ireland and Bannan.  That well marshalled defence, with Shay given behind it, and say Scott Parker infront of it, and the other 4 players could concentrate on getting the ball to Bent much more than they would need to worry about going the other way.

[Billy Walker]

I believe there's not a lot in it from fourth spot down to mid table.  The gap is definitely closing between the likes of Arsenal and the likes of Stoke and for that reason I reckon we are in for a very interesting season where many teams will be nicking points from each other.  Villa are more than good enough for a top half finish at the very least.

[LeeB]

Between 10th and 11th.

[Big Dick Edwards]

It may not be pretty this season but if we're tight at the back and keep Bent fit we're going to win more games than we lose.
Despite selling two of our best players in the summer, I still think we have the personnel in the squad to better last season's final placing. Whether  McLeish picks the best balanced team from that squad remains to be seen. I'm not  convinced by the midfield/forward selection he seems to have settled on since pre-season.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Between 10th and 11th.

10 and a halfth?

[Merv]

Opening day is wildly unpredictable and it takes a few weeks for things to settle down. Happy with an away point, a bit disappointed (but not surprised) by the team selection. Not really revising my prediction of 11th. Have a feeling that Bolton and WBA will steal a march on us with a bit more of a positive approach. But let's see where we are in a month.

[Legion]

8th. Always 8th.

[Holtenderinthesky]

I'd be very surprised if we finish above Bolton that's for sure.  They could be the surprise package this year if they can keep hold of Cahill.

[Irish villain]

Ah, Cahill. If only we'd never have....oh I won't bother. :-(

[DeKuip]

Where will we finish?

Norwich

Do I win a prize?