Aston Villa v Q.P.R. Pre-Match Thread

[JUAN PABLO]

Cisse can play for QPR tomorrow according to his latest Twitter post

foook , I thought we sold him to Liverpool for £20 million .

[JUAN PABLO]

So Sissy and Zamora up front for QPR  ( zamora  90,000   a week  )    ffs

[Surrey Villain]

So Sissy and Zamora up front for QPR  ( zamora  90,000   a week  )    ffs

They'll have practically a new team by the end of the day!  Maybe they'll play like they have never met before - just like us!

[Matt C]

Samir Carruthers in the first team squad tomorrow.

[JJ-AV]

Really difficult call.

I think we'll be more of the same, so depends how QPR turn up.

If their new boys all play, who knows what'll happen? If he doesn't put them straight in then I can't see us losing.

2-2, with one goal being a set piece for them.

[Hoppo]

Yes.. Carruthers in the squad just seen his tweet. He is overjoyed! This is all I want for the rest of the season. We know were going nowhere till these over paid over rated parasites are off the wage bill. Bring on the kids!

[cheltenhamlion]

Villa win. 2-1.

[Dave Cooper please]

Chuffed for Carruthers, always looked decent on the few times I've seen him.

[Hoppo]

Hi Dave. He tweeted something about 'dreams can come true'. We nicked him off Arsenal so he plays the game the right way.

[Monty]

Yes.. Carruthes in the squad just seen his tweet. He is overjoyed! This is all I want for the rest of the season. We know were going nowhere till these over paid over rated parasites are off the wage bill. Bring on the kids!

I completely agree. From the moment Bannan used his first piece of possession to ping a beauty through to Ireland the kids made us look a different outfit on Sunday. They didn't have enough time to make a profound impact, but we looked better and sharper. Much as I like people like Petrov, their time as a first team regular must surely be coming to an end, and the kids have got to step up if we're going to be more exciting as a team. Not more successful, necessarily, just more exciting.

[Matt Collins]

Not feeling too optimistic on this one. I reckon a low key draw

I'm not sure petrov and Clark is well suited to these sorts of home games. A brave option would be to pair Ireland with one of them, and presumably gabby and cnz wide. I don't think we're good enough to do that though.

Gardner would add more energy and ball winning ability. That would mean Ireland wide again and presumably gabby over cnz.

Would ideally want to get cnz in the side but I'd probably leave him as a sub.

So I reckon

Given - Hutton, dunne, Clark, warnock - petrov, Gardner - Ireland, keane, gabby - bent

Guzan, cuellar, baker, bannan, cnz, heskey, weimann

[Hoppo]

Monty your on my wavelength..

[Sister of Top Cat]

It'll be cold.  I  hate being cold.  I'll be miserable.

[KevinGage]

If they (QPR)  turn in an OK ish 6 or 7/10 performance and defend reasonably well, I think they'll win.

But them having a load of new signings on the books can go one of two ways, they might be buzzing and looking to make an impression.  Or they might struggle to gel and find cohesion.

In which case, both defences might be as bad as each other and we might see a high scoring draw.

Don't think we will though.

0-1 to them, shades of Man Citeh at home in DOL's last season. 

[ozzjim]

I think it is really tough for McLeish to get the balance of our side right in fairness to him, mainly due to having the previous regimes crap and then the Houllier buys which as good as they were, were not fitting to his style.

But there are fundamentals which sit in place. Given, Dunne, Petrov, Bent basically run through the core of the side. For me, home against a side who will defend well, Keane is a must having seen him play twice now. He looks up, finds space and leads well. I wish he was here longer.

So Keane plays. Then it is filling in around them, and for many positions it is either a case of shoe-horning square pegs into round holes, or upsetting fans favourites, or both. And it is a really tough thing to get right. At home, we have to get on the front foot though.

My side would be

Given

Hutton (until Lichaj is ready to play games)
Cuellar
Dunne
NZogbia

Petrov
Clark
Ireland
Keane
Gardner

Bent

The three behind Bent can interchange between being wide without the ball and coming narrow with it, but the idea is that Hutton and NZogbia would give you a lot of attacking width from full back.

Worth a punt, we have lost how many at home.