Herd and Holman

[supertom]

There are too many players who can be labelled squad players but who are not good enough to hold down a regular 1st team place - especially in midfield we have plenty of players who lack the quality needed to stay in the team , the likes of bannan, kea, Holman, herd, Ireland, can all play ok on their day but none are consistent enough .

I would say westwood and Delph and( hopefully sylla ) will prove good enough but we need a couple of decent midfielders in the summer and to lose some of those who do not have whats required at this level.

Most definitely. Our midfield is incredibly poor overall. There's no strength in depth, and the first choices, as well as Westy and Delph have done at times this season, are mid-table at best.

If Lambert could pull a couple more Benteke type signings out of the back, especially in midfield and defence, it would be great.

[Mister E]

There are too many players who can be labelled squad players but who are not good enough to hold down a regular 1st team place - especially in midfield we have plenty of players who lack the quality needed to stay in the team , the likes of bannan, kea, Holman, herd, Ireland, can all play ok on their day but none are consistent enough .

I would say westwood and Delph and( hopefully sylla ) will prove good enough but we need a couple of decent midfielders in the summer and to lose some of those who do not have whats required at this level.

Most definitely. Our midfield is incredibly poor overall. There's no strength in depth, and the first choices, as well as Westy and Delph have done at times this season, are mid-table at best.

If Lambert could pull a couple more Benteke type signings out of the back, especially in midfield and defence, it would be great.

You both may be right.
What I do know is that until we sort out our defence we will not know how good our midfielders are.
We've had two seasons (perhaps even three) where our MF has been pretty much on the back foot, trying to stem the flow of opposition onslaught and covering for the inadequacies of our defenders (I exaggerate perhaps to make the point).

Lambert / The manager has to target the defence initially in the summer sales and get that right. Then, offload the MF dross (exemplified by Ireland) and being a couple of decent premiership MF.

[neo_Villan]

Holman has done well at times, poor at others. I can't believe anyone thinks herd is good enough.  I imagine he and lichaj will be gone pretty soon

Herd has shown more then Holman ever has. It isn't easy to find a player that can competantly play at RB, CB and CM. He also has the athleticism required in this league. Yes, he may not be good enough to be a regular starter, but he is the sort of player that even the top teams like having in their squads. As for Lichaj, I think he contract is up this summer. I don't think it will be renewed.

[SoccerHQ]

Is Lichaj under 24. Will we get some compensation for him?

He's another one to me who looked good coming in for the odd game but start him 5-6 in a row and teams really start to target him as a weak link. See Chelsea of course and also Wigan at home.

[peter w]

Holman has done well at times, poor at others. I can't believe anyone thinks herd is good enough.  I imagine he and lichaj will be gone pretty soon

Herd has shown more then Holman ever has. It isn't easy to find a player that can competantly play at RB, CB and CM. He also has the athleticism required in this league. Yes, he may not be good enough to be a regular starter, but he is the sort of player that even the top teams like having in their squads. As for Lichaj, I think he contract is up this summer. I don't think it will be renewed.

Agreed. Although, and I was happy with it at the time, we let Gardner go and he does the same job. Only better.

[villan from luton]

Have to disagree that Herd does a better job than Craig Gardner did, both average but Craig had a bit more about him IMHO

[PaulWinch again]

Is Lichaj under 24. Will we get some compensation for him?

He's another one to me who looked good coming in for the odd game but start him 5-6 in a row and teams really start to target him as a weak link. See Chelsea of course and also Wigan at home.

I don't think you get compensation if you just release them.

[gervilla]

Lichaj is the worst footballer in the first team squad at the moment.
The 2 Aussies aint too great either but Herd does have the whole versatility thing going for him. He's reasonable in a few positions.
Holman has a good engine but little else.
All 3 would struggle to get into a top half teams squad, not to mention team.

[tomd2103]

There are too many players who can be labelled squad players but who are not good enough to hold down a regular 1st team place - especially in midfield we have plenty of players who lack the quality needed to stay in the team , the likes of bannan, kea, Holman, herd, Ireland, can all play ok on their day but none are consistent enough .

I would say westwood and Delph and( hopefully sylla ) will prove good enough but we need a couple of decent midfielders in the summer and to lose some of those who do not have whats required at this level.

Most definitely. Our midfield is incredibly poor overall. There's no strength in depth, and the first choices, as well as Westy and Delph have done at times this season, are mid-table at best.

If Lambert could pull a couple more Benteke type signings out of the back, especially in midfield and defence, it would be great.

Obviously if he could find players of Benteke's quality then that would be great, but I would still prefer two more established Premier League players in those positions.  It might be unlikely, but Barry and Lescott would be great signings in those two positions (they would probably be on similar wages to Bent ad Ireland) .   

[Shrek]

Ha ha Barry and Lescott will be on at least double what Bent and Ireland are on.

Problem we have to look at Benteke type signings, because established premier league players are too expensive in cost and wages.

[supertom]

Ha ha Barry and Lescott will be on at least double what Bent and Ireland are on.

Problem we have to look at Benteke type signings, because established premier league players are too expensive in cost and wages.

That's it unfortunately. I do think we need 1-2 experienced players, but for those to be established Prem players who are good enough, reliable enough, will cost more money than Randy is willing to spend.
What we need is another Petrov, someone influential, experienced, and to settle as quickly as Benteke has. So if anyone has a few miracles to spare, throw them this way.

[achilles]

Have to disagree that Herd does a better job than Craig Gardner did, both average but Craig had a bit more about him IMHO

... he takes a mean penalty as well!

[Harbord]

Holman has just been on the radio in Melbourne, the interviewer as asking him why he doesn't get a regular starting lace in the Villa team. They obviously really rate him here.
He just said he didn't know and that he'd been a regular stater before Christmas, but he hadn't asked why he hadn't been picked since

[N'ZMAV]

Is Lichaj under 24. Will we get some compensation for him?

If he ever signs for any one?!

[JUAN PABLO]

Lichaj is the worst footballer in the first team squad at the moment.
The 2 Aussies aint too great either but Herd does have the whole versatility thing going for him. He's reasonable in a few positions.
Holman has a good engine but little else.
All 3 would struggle to get into a top half teams squad, not to mention team.

This is why we are where we are at .

In fact we have looked better since none of them have been near the team.  I would probably keep Herd for the squad but
get rid of the other two to Wolves or some one .