Leandro Bacuna - Sold

[PaulWinch again]

Bacuna was excellent the other day, but he faced virtually no threat from the opposition. His defence will need work.

[PeterWithesShin]

Lowton seems quite capable at left back too so it might be him or Bennett playing there next season with funds being used on more creative types.

I doubt we'll ever see Bennett in the Villa team again. A Premier League standard player he ain't.

It wasn't long ago that people were saying the same about Baker and Clark. Even Delph had that a couple of years ago.

[paul_e]

Lowton seems quite capable at left back too so it might be him or Bennett playing there next season with funds being used on more creative types.

I doubt we'll ever see Bennett in the Villa team again. A Premier League standard player he ain't.

Bennett never looked like he thought he belonged at this level, when things went for him there were sparks of quality but as soon as he made a mistake his head went.  If Sherwood can get him confident that he's good enough he probably is (if that makes sense).

[Ian.]

I'd like to see Bennett back and given a chance under Sherwood. There was glimpses of a good player there, especially going forward.

[chrisw1]

Crumbs, Bennett was shit.  Sherwood would truly be a miracle worker if he can sort him out.

[john e]

Lowton seems quite capable at left back too so it might be him or Bennett playing there next season with funds being used on more creative types.

I doubt we'll ever see Bennett in the Villa team again. A Premier League standard player he ain't.

It wasn't long ago that people were saying the same about Baker and Clark. Even Delph had that a couple of years ago.

Yep, I said that about all of them,
and Nzogbia who's had two really good games now in the last 4 years

[RussellC]

Crumbs, Bennett was shit.  Sherwood would truly be a miracle worker if he can sort him out.

I fully expect the resurrection of not only Bennett, but of Tonev, Luna, Sylla and Helenius!

[Toronto Villa]

Lowton seems quite capable at left back too so it might be him or Bennett playing there next season with funds being used on more creative types.

I doubt we'll ever see Bennett in the Villa team again. A Premier League standard player he ain't.

It wasn't long ago that people were saying the same about Baker and Clark. Even Delph had that a couple of years ago.

I am almost at a point where I think I need to erase my memory of how our players played under Lambert. The fact that N'Zogbia has come in and looked excellent, as well as Gabby, then pretty much everyone deserves another chance. Maybe even Tonev will get a shot on target.

Ok maybe that's a step too far.

[supertom]

The thing about Tony Moon was, that in the pre-season he looked decent. Then for the first few games (Arsenal in particular) he looked really good. Soon the forward runs began to dwindle (I've no doubt this was down to Lambert) and of course defensively he was incredibly worrying. Particularly that thing he'd do of running backwards with his arms flapping clumsily behind him.

That said there were hints of quality going forward and he's another player that I'd be curious to see what Sherwood could get out of. We'll need to have a good look at both Bennett and Moon again. Cissokho is okay defensively but there's no hiding the fact that he's terrible with the ball at his feet. Luna and Bennett at their best looked comfortable on the ball. Get them confident. Get them attacking they could still work out for us. Lowton has done very well since coming in at left back. A few months ago I thought he was done for at this level. So Sherwood could well get a few others turning their game around.

We'll see. I don't think we actually need to do that much in the summer window now. Make Sinclair and TC permanent. Add 2-3 decent additions and see if we can get something out of 2-3 of bomb-squad 2.

As for Leo Bacuna. The more confident he gets, the better he'll get. I think he's done well defensively in the last two games. In no small part because he's pushed the opposing left back, back and been on the front foot. But going forward he's taking players on and he's running at players with a bit of confidence now. He's looking decent.

[oldhill_avfc]

The thing about Tony Moon was, that in the pre-season he looked decent. Then for the first few games (Arsenal in particular) he looked really good. Soon the forward runs began to dwindle (I've no doubt this was down to Lambert) and of course defensively he was incredibly worrying. Particularly that thing he'd do of running backwards with his arms flapping clumsily behind him.

That said there were hints of quality going forward and he's another player that I'd be curious to see what Sherwood could get out of. We'll need to have a good look at both Bennett and Moon again. Cissokho is okay defensively but there's no hiding the fact that he's terrible with the ball at his feet. Luna and Bennett at their best looked comfortable on the ball. Get them confident. Get them attacking they could still work out for us. Lowton has done very well since coming in at left back. A few months ago I thought he was done for at this level. So Sherwood could well get a few others turning their game around.

We'll see. I don't think we actually need to do that much in the summer window now. Make Sinclair and TC permanent. Add 2-3 decent additions and see if we can get something out of 2-3 of bomb-squad 2.

As for Leo Bacuna. The more confident he gets, the better he'll get. I think he's done well defensively in the last two games. In no small part because he's pushed the opposing left back, back and been on the front foot. But going forward he's taking players on and he's running at players with a bit of confidence now. He's looking decent.

This really is tosh - talk about about a positive spin on things.  I'm surprised you haven't said that we ought to resign Bowery next just to prove Sherwood could get something out of him too.

Luna was hopeless.  Incredibly hopeless in a long line of hopeless full backs.  Bennet wasn't much better.

Lowton was always half decent on the ball and the best of a bad lot but that's not saying anything.  As for the Bacuna/Hutton debate, I'd say neither are good enough for what we hope might be a comfortable mid table side next season.

Hopefully we'll get rid of the lot of them at the end of the season (and yes, I realise Hutton has got a new contract).

[London Villan]

As TS said, he had to teach Bacuna how to play as a full back... which does raise further questions about the previous manager's coaching "talents".

[supertom]

The thing about Tony Moon was, that in the pre-season he looked decent. Then for the first few games (Arsenal in particular) he looked really good. Soon the forward runs began to dwindle (I've no doubt this was down to Lambert) and of course defensively he was incredibly worrying. Particularly that thing he'd do of running backwards with his arms flapping clumsily behind him.

That said there were hints of quality going forward and he's another player that I'd be curious to see what Sherwood could get out of. We'll need to have a good look at both Bennett and Moon again. Cissokho is okay defensively but there's no hiding the fact that he's terrible with the ball at his feet. Luna and Bennett at their best looked comfortable on the ball. Get them confident. Get them attacking they could still work out for us. Lowton has done very well since coming in at left back. A few months ago I thought he was done for at this level. So Sherwood could well get a few others turning their game around.

We'll see. I don't think we actually need to do that much in the summer window now. Make Sinclair and TC permanent. Add 2-3 decent additions and see if we can get something out of 2-3 of bomb-squad 2.

As for Leo Bacuna. The more confident he gets, the better he'll get. I think he's done well defensively in the last two games. In no small part because he's pushed the opposing left back, back and been on the front foot. But going forward he's taking players on and he's running at players with a bit of confidence now. He's looking decent.

This really is tosh - talk about about a positive spin on things.  I'm surprised you haven't said that we ought to resign Bowery next just to prove Sherwood could get something out of him too.

Luna was hopeless.  Incredibly hopeless in a long line of hopeless full backs.  Bennet wasn't much better.

Lowton was always half decent on the ball and the best of a bad lot but that's not saying anything.  As for the Bacuna/Hutton debate, I'd say neither are good enough for what we hope might be a comfortable mid table side next season.

Hopefully we'll get rid of the lot of them at the end of the season (and yes, I realise Hutton has got a new contract).

No I wouldn't go as far as Bowery. Or Tonev, or Sylla.

But I'd still be giving one of Bennett or Luna another chance. They've had their moments. I agree they've been largely poor, but they've also had games where they looked the business. Luna looked a snip for the first few games, then it all went a bit pear shaped.
Again though, TS has done well to get some players playing well. He may do it for 2-3 others, he might not.

We're short of options at left back. Money will be tight, so much depends on the form at the end of this season and into pre-season, though what I will say is that a new first choice Left back is still one of the key signings we need to make. I'm only talking about possibly re-evaluating Luna or Bennett as second or third choice.

As for right back. I think that's the least of our worries. If Hutton, Lowton and Bacuna keep up their form, we've got good enough options for a mid-table side. The fact is we have a mid-table quality squad as it is, it's just our previous manager wasn't getting the best out of the players.

Okay the idea of Moon and Bennett being given another go might seem like overly optimistic tosh, but binning Lowton, Hutton and Bacuna? That's the flip side of the coin and most certainly tosh.

[Jarpie]

Bacuna has always looked IMO that there's a good player in him, he's just been inconsistent and at least at times suspect defensively. I think he'd make a good right midfielder, but he might lack necessary dribbling skills.

[oldhill_avfc]

The thing about Tony Moon was, that in the pre-season he looked decent. Then for the first few games (Arsenal in particular) he looked really good. Soon the forward runs began to dwindle (I've no doubt this was down to Lambert) and of course defensively he was incredibly worrying. Particularly that thing he'd do of running backwards with his arms flapping clumsily behind him.

That said there were hints of quality going forward and he's another player that I'd be curious to see what Sherwood could get out of. We'll need to have a good look at both Bennett and Moon again. Cissokho is okay defensively but there's no hiding the fact that he's terrible with the ball at his feet. Luna and Bennett at their best looked comfortable on the ball. Get them confident. Get them attacking they could still work out for us. Lowton has done very well since coming in at left back. A few months ago I thought he was done for at this level. So Sherwood could well get a few others turning their game around.

We'll see. I don't think we actually need to do that much in the summer window now. Make Sinclair and TC permanent. Add 2-3 decent additions and see if we can get something out of 2-3 of bomb-squad 2.

As for Leo Bacuna. The more confident he gets, the better he'll get. I think he's done well defensively in the last two games. In no small part because he's pushed the opposing left back, back and been on the front foot. But going forward he's taking players on and he's running at players with a bit of confidence now. He's looking decent.

This really is tosh - talk about about a positive spin on things.  I'm surprised you haven't said that we ought to resign Bowery next just to prove Sherwood could get something out of him too.

Luna was hopeless.  Incredibly hopeless in a long line of hopeless full backs.  Bennet wasn't much better.

Lowton was always half decent on the ball and the best of a bad lot but that's not saying anything.  As for the Bacuna/Hutton debate, I'd say neither are good enough for what we hope might be a comfortable mid table side next season.

Hopefully we'll get rid of the lot of them at the end of the season (and yes, I realise Hutton has got a new contract).

No I wouldn't go as far as Bowery. Or Tonev, or Sylla.

But I'd still be giving one of Bennett or Luna another chance. They've had their moments. I agree they've been largely poor, but they've also had games where they looked the business. Luna looked a snip for the first few games, then it all went a bit pear shaped.
Again though, TS has done well to get some players playing well. He may do it for 2-3 others, he might not.

We're short of options at left back. Money will be tight, so much depends on the form at the end of this season and into pre-season, though what I will say is that a new first choice Left back is still one of the key signings we need to make. I'm only talking about possibly re-evaluating Luna or Bennett as second or third choice.

As for right back. I think that's the least of our worries. If Hutton, Lowton and Bacuna keep up their form, we've got good enough options for a mid-table side. The fact is we have a mid-table quality squad as it is, it's just our previous manager wasn't getting the best out of the players.

Okay the idea of Moon and Bennett being given another go might seem like overly optimistic tosh, but binning Lowton, Hutton and Bacuna? That's the flip side of the coin and most certainly tosh.

Hutton has shown some improvement but is still an accident waiting to happen most games.  We've been woeful at full back for the past 3 or more seasons whoever's played, so sorting it out in the summer seems a priority to me.

[oldhill_avfc]

Bacuna has always looked IMO that there's a good player in him, he's just been inconsistent and at least at times suspect defensively. I think he'd make a good right midfielder, but he might lack necessary dribbling skills.

He's a curious mix.  For most of the match he looks like he can't kick a moving ball, then goes on a run and produces a good pass or cross for a goal.

For me that typifies many of the players Lambert bought.  They flatter to deceive in that they produce odd moments but don't do it consistently.   

We simply have to move these players on, no matter of coaching is going to improve them at this stage of their careers.