Scott Sinclair - now gone

[Dante Lavelli]

The main problem - I see - of Sinclair playing as a striker is whether he can play with his back to goal i.e. as a pivot to hold up play and an 'out' ball.
That said, Sinclair / Grealish / Gil / Adama could be a very fluid front four, forcing us to play passing football rather than using the 'out' ball/hoof too often.

[Toronto Villa]

I would play Sinclair up front against Leicester and any games in the future we might have vs Derby so we can say he smashed to pieces the entire eastern part of the Midlands.

[Pat McMahon]

Unfairly derided by some, but I think he's a good player and he simply has to start instead of Gabby. What more can you do than score a hat trick.

Score 4?

[PeterWithesShin]

Unfairly derided by some, but I think he's a good player and he simply has to start instead of Gabby. What more can you do than score a hat trick.

Score 4?

When he missed a good chance to get his 4th, we started wondering when was the last time a Villa player scored 4 in a game. None of us could think of one since Stainrod at Exeter.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'm not a fan but he does seem to have a habit of getting himself in the right place to score, even if they are just tap-ins and right now we're desperate for somebody, anybody to put the ball in the back of the net. My main problem with Sinclair is I don't see him as a winger, certainly not the winger that's hugging the line as he did against Man Utd. In that role he's completely ineffective. Last night again he never made a single cross, that's all 3 games he's played in this season. Strange type of winger.

The big question for me is if he isn't a winger then where do you play him. I could see him as part of a front two, even a three if he plays much more narrow but then you have to start sacrificing others (at least one, maybe two of Traore, Gil or Grealish). As others have mentioned, I don't see him leading the line and I think the whole concept of hoofing it up to Gestede for a flick on for Sinclair, Gabby or Ayew is a pointless exercise.

So what's the solution. Anybody?

[cdbearsfan]

Unfairly derided by some, but I think he's a good player and he simply has to start instead of Gabby. What more can you do than score a hat trick.

Score 4?

When he missed a good chance to get his 4th, we started wondering when was the last time a Villa player scored 4 in a game. None of us could think of one since Stainrod at Exeter.

Platt against Ipswich. Won 6-2. Yorke scored a hat-trick and had a perfectly good fourth disallowed against Newcastle.

[Matt Collins]

He's a decent finisher and gets in good positions but that's a mile away from being a good centre forward. No better example of that than the decline of Michael Owen. He was sensational at the former and increasingly average at the latter.

[Percy McCarthy]

He's a decent finisher and gets in good positions but that's a mile away from being a good centre forward. No better example of that than the decline of Michael Owen. He was sensational at the former and increasingly average at the latter.

So he's like a fully fit Michael Owen?

Get rid NOW!

[Matt Collins]

No. He's nowhere near as good. He's not as good a finisher and he's less proven in terms of general play. So if the game has evolved to the extent that you never see Owen type strikers I can't see it working for Sinclair. Maybe as part of a two. Maybe.

[silhillvilla]

I think he's a very decent player. I like him.

[maidstonevillain]

Unfairly derided by some, but I think he's a good player and he simply has to start instead of Gabby. What more can you do than score a hat trick.

Score 4?

When he missed a good chance to get his 4th, we started wondering when was the last time a Villa player scored 4 in a game. None of us could think of one since Stainrod at Exeter.

Chris Nicholl is the last one I can remember.

[PeterWithesShin]

Platt against Ipswich.

Ta muchly.

[Rudy65]

I'm not a fan but he does seem to have a habit of getting himself in the right place to score, even if they are just tap-ins and right now we're desperate for somebody, anybody to put the ball in the back of the net. My main problem with Sinclair is I don't see him as a winger, certainly not the winger that's hugging the line as he did against Man Utd. In that role he's completely ineffective. Last night again he never made a single cross, that's all 3 games he's played in this season. Strange type of winger.

The big question for me is if he isn't a winger then where do you play him. I could see him as part of a front two, even a three if he plays much more narrow but then you have to start sacrificing others (at least one, maybe two of Traore, Gil or Grealish). As others have mentioned, I don't see him leading the line and I think the whole concept of hoofing it up to Gestede for a flick on for Sinclair, Gabby or Ayew is a pointless exercise.

So what's the solution. Anybody?

Easy. Playing off a CF. He isnt a winger

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'm not a fan but he does seem to have a habit of getting himself in the right place to score, even if they are just tap-ins and right now we're desperate for somebody, anybody to put the ball in the back of the net. My main problem with Sinclair is I don't see him as a winger, certainly not the winger that's hugging the line as he did against Man Utd. In that role he's completely ineffective. Last night again he never made a single cross, that's all 3 games he's played in this season. Strange type of winger.

The big question for me is if he isn't a winger then where do you play him. I could see him as part of a front two, even a three if he plays much more narrow but then you have to start sacrificing others (at least one, maybe two of Traore, Gil or Grealish). As others have mentioned, I don't see him leading the line and I think the whole concept of hoofing it up to Gestede for a flick on for Sinclair, Gabby or Ayew is a pointless exercise.

So what's the solution. Anybody?

Easy. Playing off a CF. He isnt a winger

I think he deserves a go, at least against Sunderland. The question then is who do we drop? Oh and who does he play alongside?

[not3bad]

Sinclair was our best player against Man U, we lost any momentum we had when he went off, and he did well again last night. This could be his year I reckon.