It's not Sherwood!

[Mister E]

Is there an alternative to Gabby and Weimann ...

Yes, if he picks gil and sinclair in support of CB and three across the middle (Westwood, Bacuna and Delph to start).
Bring GA on as a sub; give Weimann a rest.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Another good press conference I have to say. I like his directness, honesty and his refusal to patronize fans or players.

[eamonn]

Bacuna scored five goals from full back last season. I would play him, one of Cleverley and Westwood, together with one of the bang out of form Sanchez or Delph in midfield. If you have Gil central, then there is a link to Benteke and a midfield behind that has a little more variety to it.

Pretty sure Bacuna was playing midfield when he scored those goals. Most(? Two anyway) were from free kicks so his position weren't important for those.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Another good press conference I have to say. I like his directness, honesty and his refusal to patronize fans or players.

Didn't he say something like "I've managed one game and we've scored one goal, that's a good ratio"?

[silhillvilla]

Another good press conference I have to say. I like his directness, honesty and his refusal to patronize fans or players.

Is there a transcript ?

[Toronto Villa]

Subscribe to the Villa YouTube channel. There's a couple of minutes of it on there.

WARNING: the word Excellent is nowhere to be found

[Ads]

Bacuna scored five goals from full back last season. I would play him, one of Cleverley and Westwood, together with one of the bang out of form Sanchez or Delph in midfield. If you have Gil central, then there is a link to Benteke and a midfield behind that has a little more variety to it.

Pretty sure Bacuna was playing midfield when he scored those goals. Most(? Two anyway) were from free kicks so his position weren't important for those.

It was a pretty important that he scored those free kicks against Man City and Cardiff. He also scored two from full back against Everton and Norwich. The only outfield goal from midfield was against the Bitters.

He offers a goal threat.

[rob_bridge]

Of course Birmingham is a great place Sil, you know that and I know that but try telling it to the brain dead hordes who think everything of any value in the UK is located inside the M25.

Living in London as soon as somebody knows you are from Birmingham its about 10 seconds before they tell you they hate the Brummie accent.

Before trying to replicate it and mistaking it with a Black Country accent.

They all,  all of them do that. Knobbers.

[supertom]

Bacuna scored five goals from full back last season. I would play him, one of Cleverley and Westwood, together with one of the bang out of form Sanchez or Delph in midfield. If you have Gil central, then there is a link to Benteke and a midfield behind that has a little more variety to it.

Pretty sure Bacuna was playing midfield when he scored those goals. Most(? Two anyway) were from free kicks so his position weren't important for those.

It was a pretty important that he scored those free kicks against Man City and Cardiff. He also scored two from full back against Everton and Norwich. The only outfield goal from midfield was against the Bitters.

He offers a goal threat.

Bacuna is an enigma to me. Sometimes he plays like Weimann and looks like the concept of kicking a round ball around is entirely new to him, and other times he comes out and scores a really quality goal. When he has a bit of confidence in himself and runs at people he's alright, and he does actually look useful when he gets in or around the penalty area. He's shown he's a tidy finisher.

He does of course more than deserve a run in the side right now. Entirely because you'd back him to score a goal over many in the squad.

[OCD]

Another good press conference I have to say. I like his directness, honesty and his refusal to patronize fans or players.

Didn't he say something like "I've managed one game and we've scored one goal, that's a good ratio"?

Probably in response to a question about our strike rate averaging around one in two.

[tomd2103]

Subscribe to the Villa YouTube channel. There's a couple of minutes of it on there.

WARNING: the word Excellent is nowhere to be found

What about the phrase "We go again"?

[ciggiesnbeer]

Another good press conference I have to say. I like his directness, honesty and his refusal to patronize fans or players.

Didn't he say something like "I've managed one game and we've scored one goal, that's a good ratio"?

Probably in response to a question about our strike rate averaging around one in two.

It was. I don't recall him saying it was "good" but someone asked him about the goals to games ratio and he told them his as manager.

You don't gain or lose any points by press conferences but his at least are direct and honest. I like that. I am warming to the bloke I have to say.

[Toronto Villa]

Subscribe to the Villa YouTube channel. There's a couple of minutes of it on there.

WARNING: the word Excellent is nowhere to be found

What about the phrase "We go again"?

Banned by the club or there is a word filter. Trying to figure out which one.

[adrenachrome]

Grauniad

Tim Sherwood open to help to strengthen Aston Villa’s fragile minds

• Welcomes idea of employing psychologist to help players
• Manager says Villa squad has ‘suffered for a long time’
• Sherwood holds one-on-one talks with out-of-form Benteke

Tim Sherwood has admitted that he would be open to the idea of bringing in a sports psychologist to address the chronic lack of confidence in an Aston Villa side that have won only two out of their past 22 league games and lost six in succession. Villa have slumped to second bottom in the table, deepening relegation fears, and the manager is convinced that the underlying problems are in the players’ minds.

Sherwood, whose team visit Newcastle United on Saturday, highlighted the way in which “confidence just sapped from the boys” as soon as Stoke City equalised in their 2-1 win at Villa Park last Saturday. The Villa manager said it was obvious to him that the players have “suffered for a long time” and, alluding to the fragile self-belief within the squad he inherited from Paul Lambert, talked about how there is “something in there which we need to dispel”.

“It’s a psychology job,” Sherwood said. “I really mean it when I say: ‘Don’t be scared to lose.’ Just get out there and give it everything. You leave nothing on the pitch. I don’t think the application was a problem [against Stoke], I thought it was very good. I thought the desire to want to win the game was very good. I thought the hurt in the dressing room afterwards was as bad as mine. But they’re in this position for a reason, and we have to find that reason and try and get it out.

“It’s not lack of quality; the quality is in the group. There is something in there which we need to dispel. And I don’t think there’s any shame in getting it out in the open because they’re going to have to dig deep.

“They have to really have bravery, go and get on the football in the correct areas, keep getting it even if they’re giving it away. And anxiety around the place – let’s not worry about that, let’s have a go. If we’re going to fail, we fail trying and really expressing ourselves.”

Asked if he would look to bring in a sports psychologist or rely on his own powers of motivation to engender a turnaround, Sherwood replied: “If there’s someone out there that I think can help the group, whether that be a coach or a psychologist or whoever it is, we wouldn’t turn it down.”

[adam#1]

Just saw a still shot of him in the press conference. He looks exhausted, but in a committed, roll my sleeves up, we're going to get this done kind of way. He'll fight, if only for his own reputation, but if he introjects that into the players we'll see a transformed squad.