How much more can we bear?...

[JUAN PABLO]

There seems to be a school of thought that although we are mid table we are not far away from a relegation battle. Fair enough but we are not far away from challenging for Europe either. At the moment we are in mid table, which I think is acceptable. If we are in the top six in a few weeks that is fantastic. If we are in a relegation battle then that is a different matter. Don't judge us on speculation, judge us on the facts of our position at the moment.

but I think we will lose more than win , just look at our win record

[JUAN PABLO]

be great to even get Nzogbia back .  any news

Unlikely to be back this season from the sounds of it.

And was ready to be shown the door in July before his injury with Palace most likely to sign him to replace Zaha.

still think his goal against spammers was one of our most important with the Lowton goal and weimann ( fulham one )

[SoccerHQ]

There's a big gap to even 8th now, 8 points I think.

We need to stop the rot in the next 4 games, they're all games where even if we play at 80% we can still get at least draws from them.

I've looked at Swansea who are 1 point clear of us and their next 5 are Everton at home, Chelsea and us away and then the two Manchester clubs so as long as we don't lose to them (which given it's a home game is very possible) I would still expect to be in the top 10 on NYD.

It's going to be that sort of season where thankfully I don't believe we'll be in any sort of relegation battle but we'll be miles away from even 8th place. When you're stuck in a stangnant position for months you can only hope the quality of football improves quickly to make it a little more appealing.

[aj2k77]

There seems to be a school of thought that although we are mid table we are not far away from a relegation battle. Fair enough but we are not far away from challenging for Europe either. At the moment we are in mid table, which I think is acceptable. If we are in the top six in a few weeks that is fantastic. If we are in a relegation battle then that is a different matter. Don't judge us on speculation, judge us on the facts of our position at the moment.

We are 12 points away from Europe and 6 from the bottom 3 so yeah we're miles away from Europe, not that I expect that. Add in 10 pts in our last 10 games including Hull, West Ham, Fulham, Sunderland, Cardiff and West Brom, not exactly hard and we've failed to score in 7 of the 10 games.

[pauliewalnuts]

There seems to be a school of thought that although we are mid table we are not far away from a relegation battle. Fair enough but we are not far away from challenging for Europe either. At the moment we are in mid table, which I think is acceptable. If we are in the top six in a few weeks that is fantastic. If we are in a relegation battle then that is a different matter. Don't judge us on speculation, judge us on the facts of our position at the moment.

We are 12 points away from Europe and 6 from the bottom 3 so yeah we're miles away from Europe, not that I expect that. Add in 10 pts in our last 10 games including Hull, West Ham, Fulham, Sunderland, Cardiff and West Brom, not exactly hard and we've failed to score in 7 of the 10 games.

There's one way to get things back on track and stop all the moaning, and that is to start scoring more goals, and winning more games - especially at home.

The experience of watching us at home the last few years has been about as miserable as it gets in football terms.

[tomd2103]

There's a big gap to even 8th now, 8 points I think.

We need to stop the rot in the next 4 games, they're all games where even if we play at 80% we can still get at least draws from them.

I've looked at Swansea who are 1 point clear of us and their next 5 are Everton at home, Chelsea and us away and then the two Manchester clubs so as long as we don't lose to them (which given it's a home game is very possible) I would still expect to be in the top 10 on NYD.

It's going to be that sort of season where thankfully I don't believe we'll be in any sort of relegation battle but we'll be miles away from even 8th place. When you're stuck in a stangnant position for months you can only hope the quality of football improves quickly to make it a little more appealing.

Without Vlaar, we don't look capable of winning as our defence is all over the place.  Definitely a case of being visited by the ghost of Christmas past, as you only have to look at our results last year in December and January to see where a defence containing Baker, Clark, Herd etc. will take us.  What's that ghost of Christmas past? We'll beat Wigan, we'll beat Southampton, we'll beat Bradford, we'll beat Millwall, we'll beat Newcastle? 

[Ad@m]

There's one way to get things back on track and stop all the moaning, and that is to start scoring more goals, and winning more games - especially at home.

The experience of watching us at home the last few years has been about as miserable as it gets in football terms.

I've just checked the last few years home results - in both of the last two seasons the only teams with worse home records than us were the relegated teams. This season the only team with a worse home record is Sunderland and no team has scored as few goals at home as us.

Do you want another depressing stat? We've won just 11 home games in 2 and a half seasons! Pass the noose would you?!

Our season tickets must be the most expensive by a mile if you go on pounds per win!!

[dave.woodhall]

One of these days when I've nothing better to do I'll work out how many times in the past thirty years our home form has been better than our overall league place.

EDIT: Just done it - five times in the past thirty seasons, and the last time was 2002-03.

[ciggiesnbeer]

One of these days when I've nothing better to do I'll work out how many times in the past thirty years our home form has been better than our overall league place.

EDIT: Just done it - five times in the past thirty seasons, and the last time was 2002-13.

The data backs up my thesis that the clubs biggest problem is the home fans.

We need to buy new ones in the January window.

Lerner has let the problem fester for too long. Its a clear out that's been long coming.

Sorry for those of you who will be moved on to other clubs but its best for all parties that you get more regular support, Aston Villa needs to build a new younger and vibrant fan base in line with our policy.

[Witton Warrior]

One of these days when I've nothing better to do I'll work out how many times in the past thirty years our home form has been better than our overall league place.

EDIT: Just done it - five times in the past thirty seasons, and the last time was 2002-13.

The data backs up my thesis that the clubs biggest problem is the home fans.

We need to buy new ones in the January window.

Lerner has let the problem fester for too long. Its a clear out that's been long coming.

Sorry for those of you who will be moved on to other clubs but its best for all parties that you get more regular support, Aston Villa needs to build a new younger and vibrant fan base in line with our policy.

Where do I sign?

[Matt Collins]

Does anyone care to work out how many goals we've averaged against us without Ron vlaar? I suspect it's over two.

Lambert' comments about him sound ominously similar to last year when he was never reported as being out for a set period but missed a third of the season. If he doesn't come back, or we don't get at least a loan player in, then I can't see us avoiding a relegation scrap again.

The run of fixtures up to Xmas is also crucial. We can stack up the points in theoretically winnable games to pretty much see us safe. A bad run and then we're back into the sort of fixture list we had at the start of the season.

Given we're not scoring goals we could really do with being tight at the back again. I'm mildly concerned at the moment. Nothing a decent win or two wouldn't remedy of course.

[ROBBO]

Did Vlaar have a history of injury problems before coming to Villa? i know he has his detractors but he is the best we've got.

[LeeB]

One of these days when I've nothing better to do I'll work out how many times in the past thirty years our home form has been better than our overall league place.

EDIT: Just done it - five times in the past thirty seasons, and the last time was 2002-13.

The data backs up my thesis that the clubs biggest problem is the home fans.

We need to buy new ones in the January window.

Lerner has let the problem fester for too long. Its a clear out that's been long coming.

Sorry for those of you who will be moved on to other clubs but its best for all parties that you get more regular support, Aston Villa needs to build a new younger and vibrant fan base in line with our policy.

I'm only leaving for a champions league club, and I want my season ticket paid for the next three years.

[not3bad]

Aston Villa needs to build a new younger and vibrant fan base in line with our policy.

I am hungry most of the time, does that help?

[eastie]

Did Vlaar have a history of injury problems before coming to Villa? i know he has his detractors but he is the best we've got.

With the arrival of the new Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk and new centre back partner Kevin Hofland in the season 2007–08, Vlaar was ready to make the next step in his development. However, on 16 September 2007, Vlaar got injured in the Eredivisie away match against Roda JC (1–3).[13] Vlaar needed a surgery on the cruciate ligament and was out for the rest of the season.[14] After the surgery, Vlaar was confronted with an additional setback, as he had a bacterial infection. Vlaar recovered from his injury at the beginning of the 2008–09 season. However, during pre-season, Vlaar got another injury at a medial collateral ligament of his knee. After being sidelined for over a year, Vlaar returned to the training field. After an innocent coming together with Kevin Hofland, Vlaar damaged his cruciate ligament again. It was the same injury he had in the previous season, causing him to miss a complete season again.