Aston Villa v Tesco Bags Post-Match Thread

[barrysleftfoot]

  Bannan always tries a positive pass.Did a fantastic pass to Petrov in the 1st half, who was on the edge of the area.A better touch would have took him through on goal.We need Petrov and N'Zog to be as positive as Bannan.We miss him when hes not on the pitch.

  Tbh if i was Mcleish i would let Petrov , Heskey , Cuellar and Beye go in Jan, just pay them off, and try Herd , Jenas, Delph, Gardener in midfield.

 Petrovs lack of energy is quite embarassing.

 Mind you when we was 1-0 up, with 11 men, i could'nt see us not winning tbh, but down to 10 men, i could'nt see us drawing.

[Eigentor]

Tbh if i was Mcleish i would let Petrov , Heskey , Cuellar and Beye go in Jan, just pay them off, and try Herd , Jenas, Delph, Gardener in midfield.

I'm not sure if making our squad thinner is the best of ideas. Like it or loathe it but we are reliant on average players like Petrov and Cuellar, because it's too risky to gamble on youngsters.

Re Heskey: I agree that he is not worth the 55k or whatever he's on, but he's not completely useless: if someone can convince him that forwards should at least occasionally try to get into the box, he can actually be a presence if we manage to get a cross in; secondly, if we're defending a lead he can do a job defensively on either the wings as both uor first-choice full backs are potential liabilities. A central midfielders he's not, though.

[john2710]

Petrov needing replacing 2 years ago, instead it's those around him who have gone (Barry, Milner, Downing, Young, Reo Coker) and they've all been replaced by lesser players. I can't complain about his efforts, he just doesn't have the legs for it.

Bannan is good with the ball but limited without it, he needs players around him to win the ball & give it to him, sadly we don't have that player.

[WA Villan]

Seems to me a lot of the spirit and soul has left the club. The team has been hijacked by mediocrity, You can't just kick a ball about, you need to bring something else with you. We lack that character and that sense of purpose that any player who plays for Villa should have. What we do have is overpaid, comfortable with where there at average footballers, who should hang their heads when they pick up their wages. What we need is a bit of hunger.

[Greg N'Ash]

Trouble is with the financial problems we let go of the players with spirit and ambition. and we're left with kids and the ones we couldn't give away. mebbe AM will have a scout round the championship and pick up a few players who have some hunger about them on the cheap. People like Petrov with the best will in the world are coming to the end of their careers - a lot of the others know they'll never get a contract elsewhere like their Villa one so will quite happily stay put come what may. GH tried to move them on and failed so i don't fancy AM's chances

[TheTimVilla]

On the setanta feed yesterday, Pat Nevin said that Herd didn't argue so he must have been guilty. Case closed.

Because arguing would make the ref change his mind.

[barrysleftfoot]

 Eign, when Herd went off we had no pace, energy, commitment in the centre of the park.

 I went with my Albion supporting cousin, before Heskey came on i said they were winning every header, maybe thats why he brought Heskey on, but with Heskey and Petrov in the middle of the park it looked like a veterans league.

 I would get rid, Herd has shown enough to suggest that he can perform at this level, Delph is at a crossroads, Jenas, who knows, and Gardener, all potential.But i would pick every one ahead of Petrov and Heskey.

 I can't blame Heskey or Petrov, but their time has come and gone, time to get some youthful exburence in the team, and before we go on about experience in the team, where was the leadership on the pitch yday?

[Tony]

I can't blame Heskey or Petrov, but their time has come and gone, time to get some youthful exburence in the team, and before we go on about experience in the team, where was the leadership on the pitch yday?

Exactly, where was the leadership? We have lacked it for a while.

[Greg N'Ash]

Heskey coming on was odd. You have to wonder what's ireland done to get passed over for a clapped out forward - i mean ireland's been average but still...Ivanhoe? Mind you the whole bench is hardly burting with alternatives. Delfouneso.. is he ever gonna get a run or will he be quietly let go next summer?

[SamTheMouse]

There's nothing wrong with Petrov, and even Heskey could do a decent enough job for us. The problem is what they're being asked to do. Petrov is not a defensive mid. Never has been. The times he's looked decent to me, are when he's been given licence to get forward and make runs into the opposition box. Every time he does it, we create chances. Sadly, I've only seen it happen about 2 or 3 times in recent years. We need a defensive mid, a specialist, an athlete. Clark will do in a pinch.

And Heskey could have been effective yesterday, if only he'd been played in his proper sodding position. Instead, McTwat sends him on in midfield (words fail tbh), where he can only watch as Collins boots the ball two hundred feet over his head up to Bent, who promptly gets beaten in the air/loses it with the touch of a baby elephant.

If even an everyday joe like me can see that Heskey should have been stuck up right next to Bent to get any value out of him, then why the hell are we paying hundreds of thousands to that useless dickhead to pick the team?

[Clampy]

Heskey coming on was odd. You have to wonder what's ireland done to get passed over for a clapped out forward - i mean ireland's been average but still...Ivanhoe? Mind you the whole bench is hardly burting with alternatives. Delfouneso.. is he ever gonna get a run or will he be quietly let go next summer?

I think he's inujured at the moment.

[Dave]

Heskey coming on was odd. You have to wonder what's ireland done to get passed over for a clapped out forward - i mean ireland's been average but still...Ivanhoe? Mind you the whole bench is hardly burting with alternatives. Delfouneso.. is he ever gonna get a run or will he be quietly let go next summer?

I presume the logic is that our best opportunity was likely to come from a set-piece lumped into their box. Combined with the poor defending from their corners a big lump might have been useful. Flawed logic on the manager's park with Clark was the obvious choice to come on instead, particularly in light the goals he scored last season from set-pieces.

Delfouneso is injured, so I'm not sure what relevance he has to yesterday.

[TheTimVilla]

Heskey coming on was odd. You have to wonder what's ireland done to get passed over for a clapped out forward - i mean ireland's been average but still...Ivanhoe? Mind you the whole bench is hardly burting with alternatives. Delfouneso.. is he ever gonna get a run or will he be quietly let go next summer?

And where's Weimann? Why did we recall him from his loan if he's not even in the squad?

[Vanilla]

It is even more soul destroying to see the potential future stars, who were 'bigged up' over the last two seasons; Bannan, Albrighton, Delph, Fonz, now being completely ripped apart on these pages.

Soul destroying on two fronts 1. I feel these criticisms could be right 2. These are going to have to be our players for the foreseeable future, as the our transfer policy is to wait for them to perform as we need to try and get decent sell on prices for them. 

[PeterWithesShin]

If Delfouneso is injured why was he on the bench yesterday?