Aston Villa v West Ham United Pre-Match Thread

[PaulWinch again]

If Vlaar's out we're in trouble.

[Ron Manager]

The weather tomorrow could be a big factor. Very windy and wet is the current forecast. If Carroll plays that should nullify his heading ability.
Not that I think he will get off. It would create a dangerous precedent if the club succeed in their action.

[supertom]

Whether he plays or not makes little difference to be honest. Andy Carroll is shite. He's most likely to get himself sent off, injured or just toil away all game offering very little. Scoring goals is the least likely thing he'll do. Liverpool and now West Ham have waited years for him to recreate what he did in half a season for Newcastle 4-5 years ago.

With the conditions due and the two teams I see this as being potentially the most godawful match to watch since the creation of football. I do expect us to win though, by the odd goal.

[Simon Ward]

I've never liked Wet Spam!

[not3bad]

Whether he plays or not makes little difference to be honest. Andy Carroll is shite.

Sorry but that's bollocks.  He's the spearhead of the way West Ham play and for Allerdyce he's very effective.  You only had to see what he did for them last week before he got sent off to know that.

[not3bad]

And according to this Vlaar is out:

http://www.teamtalk.com/match/preview/978/9154139/-?

[ozzjim]

Its a strange one for Villa to prepare for too with the uncertainty. If it were any other player they would not have bothered. That's how influential he is. He has bullied us before too. He will have a big influence.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

And according to this Vlaar is out:

http://www.teamtalk.com/match/preview/978/9154139/-?

On the OS say Vlaar is "doubtful" but "Gabby Agbonlahor is hopeful of making a return".

[Clampy]

Whether he plays or not makes little difference to be honest. Andy Carroll is shite.

Sorry but that's bollocks.  He's the spearhead of the way West Ham play and for Allerdyce he's very effective.  You only had to see what he did for them last week before he got sent off to know that.

Got to agree. On his day, he's a very good player.

[pooligan]

If Carroll plays and we have Baker and Clark up against him God help us thats all i can say.

[Witton Warrior]

Whether he plays or not makes little difference to be honest. Andy Carroll is shite.

Sorry but that's bollocks.  He's the spearhead of the way West Ham play and for Allerdyce he's very effective.  You only had to see what he did for them last week before he got sent off to know that.

Got to agree. On his day, he's a very good player.

I think he is what may be considered a "force multiplier" in military terms (shows how I think about Fat sam teams!) in that they are stronger with him as he adds weight to their "tactics"

[DrGonzo]

FA arbitration hearing on Carroll this morning, the FA gets to choose one member, Wet Spam another and the chairman "to be agreed upon".
And some attempt at justification from old Cockhead:

"Gold said: "There is nowhere to go other than to seek some kind of legal redress. It's not ideal – the last thing I want to do is going to some kind of legal issue because I think it is a footballing issue. If we were mid-table we would probably get on with it but we are fighting for our lives to retain our Premiership status and we owe it to our fans, we owe it to ourselves. We are a club that understands there are rules and we abide by them. But you have every commentator and 80% of the media saying it wasn't a sending-off.

"We are upset, we feel we have been badly treated. We are hugely disappointed at the outcome of the process."

Flores, who was caught by Carroll's flailing arm during West Ham's 2-0 win, has claimed there was "aggression" in the challenge. However, Gold is adamant that Webb's decision was incorrect and that the loss of Carroll for three matches could prove critical. "You can see the impact he has on our club," said Gold. " I feel sorry for him as well. He was shrugging the guy off; OK, he has messed his hair up but I don't think you should get sent off for messing somebody's hair up."

The possibility of taking the matter to the high court was suggested, although all Premier League clubs agreed on the disciplinary appeal process at the beginning of the campaign."

From the Grauniad.

Absolute waste of time.

[SoccerHQ]

I dont think Carroll will make much a of a difference to the result either way to be honest.

He's still their biggest goalscoring threat though and Nolan is much better with him upfront so I'd rather we're facing Cole or Borriello. Have a feeling this will be overturned today.

I believe Herd is fit so if Vlaar is out wouldn't shock me if we went with 5 at the back again.

[SoccerHQ]

Whether he plays or not makes little difference to be honest. Andy Carroll is shite.

Sorry but that's bollocks.  He's the spearhead of the way West Ham play and for Allerdyce he's very effective.  You only had to see what he did for them last week before he got sent off to know that.

He's not worth the transfer fees (not his fault) but yeah I'm amazed at people completely writing him off, August 2010 him and Nolan ripped us to shreds at Newcastle so he does have previous against us. Much more confident on the game without him playing.

[ozzjim]

Plus he will be fired up as hell if it gets over turned.