Season 1/5 over, positives so far

[Big Dick Edwards]

Positives: a solid defence, Given, Dunne and Warnock in particular. Gabby playing to his max. Unbeaten in the Prem.

Negatives: the midfield. Up until the Wigan game it looked clueless. N'Zogbia.

I'm really not surprised we're unbeaten so far as the fixture list has been particularly kind. It's going to be interesting how we fare against Manchester City, our first real test of the season. A good result there would do wonders for the team's confidence, as well as us fans.

[woody4866]

As my old school reports used to say - "could do better"!

Gabby is superb (thank phuk)
Given is signing of the season pound for pound (being negative but that means he will be off next summer to one of the sky top 4)
Bannan coming along nicely (being negative but that means he will be off the summer after next to one of the sky top 4)
Bent`s doing OK (being negative............. you get the picture?)

[eamonn]

Fans' rating: 6 out of 10.

Owner's rating: 10 out of 10.

Randy?

[eamonn]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

How discouraging when one of the most erudite champions of our team's merits at any given time on H&V, and I mean that with only respect Chris, believes treading water is now the most we can expect. 

[Witton Warrior]

Our position looks to be a true reflection of how we have played.
I want to see how we face up to some of the contenders (Spuds/Arse/City/Manure/Chelsks/Pool) before getting excited

The team appears to be gelling with Warnock and Ireland improving.
Defence has come back from it's sabbatical last season.
Strike force looks great at times - Gabby is scoring some excellent goals and Bent is taking pressure off him

Mc Leish the man I actually like - as a manager he is being cautious but seems to have the feel for the team now and is taking some chances.

[JUAN PABLO]

People say we havent blame the big teams . Nooocastle are 3rd ..   ;-)

[nigel]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

How discouraging when one of the most erudite champions of our team's merits at any given time on H&V, and I mean that with only respect Chris, believes treading water is now the most we can expect. 

Have to go with Chris on this one.
There are no easy games in the Prem these days, I reckon only Man U, Man C & Chelsea are in a position to expect to win all games.
Fulham gave QPR a 6-0 thrashing, some moaned about drawing at Fulham, yet QPR gave us a game. Wigan gave QPR a stuffing too, 4-0.
Swansea beat Stoke who had beaten Liverpool.
Some moan about drawing with Newcastle, they're unbeaten and 3rd.
With the exeption of the top 3 all teams are capable of beating each other.
There's no such thing as an easy game in the Prem, once people realise this they can probably start to enjoy it instead of looking on the downside.

[Brend'Watkins]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

How discouraging when one of the most erudite champions of our team's merits at any given time on H&V, and I mean that with only respect Chris, believes treading water is now the most we can expect. 

Have to go with Chris on this one.
There are no easy games in the Prem these days, I reckon only Man U, Man C & Chelsea are in a position to expect to win all games.
Fulham gave QPR a 6-0 thrashing, some moaned about drawing at Fulham, yet QPR gave us a game. Wigan gave QPR a stuffing too, 4-0.
Swansea beat Stoke who had beaten Liverpool.
Some moan about drawing with Newcastle, they're unbeaten and 3rd.
With the exeption of the top 3 all teams are capable of beating each other.
There's no such thing as an easy game in the Prem, once people realise this they can probably start to enjoy it instead of looking on the downside.

I agree.

I'm sure Man City will feel they will get maximum points from our game but at the same time Chelsea and Man U will be thinking we are one of the clubs where Man City might slip up.  As you say, there are no easy games and we will be bracketed as one of the more difficult ones.  We are hard to beat.

[tom jennings IV]

This season's results vs last season's:
Fulham 0 - 0 Villa, last season 1 - 1
Villa 3 - 1 Blackburn , last season 4 - 1
Villa 0 - 0 Wolves, last season 0 - 1 (the shame)
Everton 2 - 2 Villa, last season 2 - 2
Villa 1 - 1 Newcastle, last season 1 - 0
QPR 1 - 1 Villa, last season n/a
Villa 2 - 0 Wigan, last season 1 -1

So if we discount the QPR game (although away from home last season we lost 2 and drew 1 against the newly promoted teams) we're on 10 points vs 9.

Easy start? Probably, we've got one more point than last year against the same teams though so that can't be anything but positive, especially given the summer we had!

[pauliewalnuts]

There is no such thing as easy points, that is right, but it doesn't change the fact that points are much harder to get against the better teams than they are against the weaker ones.

[darren woolley]

We are still unbeaten which is a positive Gabby and Bannan are playing brilliantly the defence looks solid again Given as got to be signing of the summer let's just keep the positive vibes going I think we will also get better.

[DeKuip]

The big difference from last season is that everyone within the squad does seem to be pulling in the same direction and, although we are clearly lacking a bit of quality in some areas, this team is not going to just roll over and die. We may well end up getting turned over by a very inventive Man City side in the next game, but unlike last season's two trips we won't be beaten before we take the field.
The manager deserves credit for that.

[Chris Smith]

The we haven't played anyone argument is a weak one. At a club we've significantly downsized so are in no position to assume we should pick up points against anyone.

How discouraging when one of the most erudite champions of our team's merits at any given time on H&V, and I mean that with only respect Chris, believes treading water is now the most we can expect. 

That's not quite what I meant, Eamonn. More that that we're not currently among the big spenders so the assumption that points should be guaranteed is a bit presumptuous and that I think we deserve credit for an unbeaten start.

[Concrete John]

There is no such thing as easy points, that is right, but it doesn't change the fact that points are much harder to get against the better teams than they are against the weaker ones.

Very true, but had we been facing the tougher teams early doors and were now in the bottom three, the fact we had easier games to come would not stop the McLeish/board bashing we'd now be seeing.  So, and without getting carried away, I think the fact they have been 'easier' games thus far should not detract from the very positive start we've had. 

[QBVILLA]

The win on Saturday was a massive result.Throughout this thread it has been stated that we're unbeaten.Had the Wigan game ended in a draw i'd have had money on the fact the talk would've been more to do with only one win all season rather than about us being unbeaten.When I looked at the fixture list before the season I thought we should've been unbeaten at this point.I also would've expected wins against Wolves and Newcastle, but I reckon had the Newcastle and Wolves fans been asked if they fancied getting anything at Villa Park they'd have been confident theirselves.So while it hasn't been spectacular, the fact it's been steady has to be viewed as a positive.The only real disappointments for me have been the early cup exit and the form of N'Zogbia, and it's still early days for him.