Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic Pre-Match Thread

[villan from luton]

We have been paying him enough since the day he came here, hasnt worked so far too many times. I was a massive fan of him and was looking forward to seeing him in a Villa shirt, but has been a massive let down. I think he has a manager here who would love a flair player like him, but he has to work as well for the team

[OzVilla]

Given our current injury plight I think leaving Ireland out is madness; we need experience and despite his faults he at least has that

He can also pick a pass out and looks a more viable option behind Benteke than Bowery, Albrighton, Carruthers etc

He certainly can pick out a pass, but lets be honest, how many have we seen in his time at Villa? The guy has been a liability, even more so given the talent he undoubtedly has

Agree he has not exactly earned his money thus far but given the piss poor squad we have available to pick from he surely has to be worth a spot above those named previously

We are paying him enough!

Agreed, Ireland has to play if that's our line up or we may as well give him a free transfer in January to shove him in with the stiffs again.

He's no where near as talented as some would believe and his attitude is amongst the worst i've seen there, Alpay, Paul Mortimer, Steve Hodge you name it, but we're beyond the barest of bones right now.

Prediction - a dull 0-0 with two teams desperate not to lose and poor enough not to be able to win.

[ROBBO]

Ireland typifies the good player who believes he is better than us therefore doesn't put in, he has al ot of talent but never seen much of it in a Villa shirt. For the most they are overpaid and see out their contracts because no other club is silly enough to p0ay that kind of money. Who else will pay Ireland 60.000 a week? and thats our problem because to get good players to drop down and play for us we have to pay over the odds.

[VillaAlways]

Have a horrible feeling about today This teams confidence looks shot to me and the potential line up frightens me I can see us losing 0-3 .And to cap it all the weather is atrocious

Obviously would love to be proven wrong

[brian green]

It is the game which will shape the future of the club for a long time to come.   It will. rightly or wrongly, be the game which shows whether our young team was broken by the Chelsea result or knocked back to come again stronger than before.

I am totally in favour of the ethos of youth, enthusiasm and team spirit over age, experience and past record players brought in at any price and on whatever length of contract they demand but today is crunch day.

I can't speak for anybody else and would never presume to do so but my take on our present situation is that if we get relegated playing or trying to play attractive, passing football I shall be buying my season ticket as normal and supporting them home and away in the Championship.   If they get relegated playing stupefyingly boring percentage football by overpaid has-beens I shall not.

[Mister E]

It is the game which will shape the future of the club for a long time to come.   It will. rightly or wrongly, be the game which shows whether our young team was broken by the Chelsea result or knocked back to come again stronger than before.

I am totally in favour of the ethos of youth, enthusiasm and team spirit over age, experience and past record players brought in at any price and on whatever length of contract they demand but today is crunch day.

I can't speak for anybody else and would never presume to do so but my take on our present situation is that if we get relegated playing or trying to play attractive, passing football I shall be buying my season ticket as normal and supporting them home and away in the Championship.   If they get relegated playing stupefyingly boring percentage football by overpaid has-beens I shall not.

Exactly my view too, Brian; both on the squad ethos and my response to next season.

I said somewhere else that I see today's game as pivotal: can this depleted squad show the character, grit and flair to bounce back or was SB the start of a season's terminal decline?

time for Lambert to step up to the plate, make the right selections and get the tactics right (which certainly at SB he screwed up).

Here's a journo who thinks Lambert's overall apporach will win through -You can win with youngsters

[ozzjim]

Ireland needs more responsibility on his shoulders I think, that way he can't get away with some of the more frustrating aspects of his game. If he plays, he needs to play in one of the wide roles in a 3 in a 4-4-2, although I can see is going 3-5-2 with Lowton and Williams in the back 3 and Bennett left, Lichaz right. Herd had been very poor 2 games in a row and needs to come out of the firing line.

I would play Bowery.

[claret and blue blood]

Can we field 18 fit players? This seems to be the worst injury crisis I can remember.

[PaulWinch again]

It is the game which will shape the future of the club for a long time to come.   It will. rightly or wrongly, be the game which shows whether our young team was broken by the Chelsea result or knocked back to come again stronger than before.

I am totally in favour of the ethos of youth, enthusiasm and team spirit over age, experience and past record players brought in at any price and on whatever length of contract they demand but today is crunch day.

I can't speak for anybody else and would never presume to do so but my take on our present situation is that if we get relegated playing or trying to play attractive, passing football I shall be buying my season ticket as normal and supporting them home and away in the Championship.   If they get relegated playing stupefyingly boring percentage football by overpaid has-beens I shall not.

Very fair view Brian, I'm with you on that. Hopefully it won't come to that and I don't think it will provided we address our issues in January, but entertainment is vital for the fans.

[OzVilla]

It is the game which will shape the future of the club for a long time to come.   It will. rightly or wrongly, be the game which shows whether our young team was broken by the Chelsea result or knocked back to come again stronger than before.

It's the January transfer window that will make or break the season not todays result.  Win and we get a little more breathing space, lose and we are right back in it.

Either way, if we don't strengthen in January with the right recruitments then we'll be in trouble. 

[brian green]

Yes I also think that entertainment is vital.   That last ten minutes when we got behind the team against Tottenham showed that the fans want to be supportive and the manager must respond to that vote of confidence.   After all, his future as a rising star in club management is also at a crossroads today.

They must not revert to lumping the ball upfield for CB to get on the end of, especially in these high winds.   Ball down to feet and the simple out ball, mark tight and work hard that is all I ask.   That and no stupid cards.

[saunders_heroes]

Nothing less than 3 points today will do. That will give us breathing space till the transfer window opens. Lerner hopefully will have come to his senses and signs some PL players, starting with a real defender like Lescott.

[brian green]

I agree that acquisitions in the January window are extremely important.   I only hope our cheque book is more likely to come out at the Africa Cup of Nations than a Burns Night Supper in Glasgow.

[onje_villa]

Am thinking of rashly driving to Brum for the game, God knows why the weather's so bad here but sort of feel like I should be there to support the lads.
Where's the best place to sit in the Holte as I've always been Witton/Trinity? Am looking for a bit of atmosphere for once!

Also looks like you can't get tickets online as it's too late, how much time do I need to give myself to queue up for a ticket? Any news on how many have been sold? Cheers!

[cheltenhamlion]

Plenty of tickets available. Stroll up to the Holte End ticket office and buy one before the game.