It's not Sherwood!

[KRS]

It's hard to point to the finger of blame at Sherwood for yesterdays performance and result...perhaps the only thing he can be criticised for is the high line that Koeman admitted to have targeted and exposed; however when you set up a team like that, you are relying on your players to put in a shift with hard work and intelligence.

For whatever reason, the players were way off pace, lacklustre and seemingly devoid of energy yesterday. If you count Hutton leaving Mane in acres of space for the 3rd, then the first 3 goals were defensive mistakes and left everyone shellshocked and stunned...it was uncharacteristic and unexpected.

At the end of the day, if more than just a few players aren't doing their jobs on the pitch (in our case yesterday it was the whole back 4 and goalkeeper) then the outcome will be the same whatever tactics or systems a manager employs.

[SoccerHQ]

I wonder what kind of transfer budget Sherwood will get in the summer. I can't see him coming here if he knew he'd be spending £9m or so Lambert got last year.
£25m+ and he could turn us into a top 8 team again.

Hopefully he will get a proper amount to spend to get us competitive. I guess that may depend on if we are taken over (which I think we will be, but that's another matter).

But if he does get a token £10 million, then I would rather him spend it on one or two quality players at centre half and central midfield, especially if we can keep Benteke and Cleverely.

For too long we have shed quality and tried to replace with volume. The better sides have better players. We need more quality and Sherwood has earnt the right to bring better players in.

The fact we had scored 12 in 25 and were second bottom when he came in shows what a remarkable job he's done. Getting the midfield to pass and move is a miracle too.

Lerner is apparently demanding any prospective new owners pledge a 30m spending amount to the manager so I'd like to see him back that up and give Sherwood that amount if he's till owner during the summer.

More likely he'll get most of the transfer fee for Benteke.

[Matt Collins]

Where's that £30m story come from? Seems a bit odd. Wouldn't it just get discounted off the asking price? Why would he do it?

[Tuscans]

I love Tim, he's polar opposites to what we've had here in the past....the O'Leary, McLeish, Houlier, Lambert...so on and so on.

I think his personality represents his team and I'll be glued to every online sports site to find out the ins and outs at Villa this summer.

I only have one small worry though and it was evident at St Marys yesterday, the high line. I watched Spurs a couple of times under Sherwood and he pushed his full backs very high and left his centre backs touching the halfway line in almost every match, no matter the result. Liverpool tonking them springs to mind, although Liverpool smashed a few that season.

You can have all the strength, speed and aggression in the world to be a defender but for me intelligence, awareness, composure and organisation are key. I think he found out yesterday that most of the four if not all lack a lot of these qualities.

I'm sure Tim has pin pointed left back and centre back as areas of priority. It took Lambert 3-4 stabs at sorting out the left and he still failed every time. Clark will be one of the first names on the team sheet for me, its who partners him is the question and that's looking more like Baker. Vlaar is going to go and possibly that could be a good thing the way he's playing, Okore isn't good enough for me at this level and I'm sure Senderos will only be a squad member.

[peter w]

the big issue I had /have with the defending, set aside the cataclysmic mind fucks yesterday, is that we at times defend like 5 years-old running after the ball at school. we did at against QPR, for the penalty against Everton, v Liverpool in the semi, yesterday...once the ball drops and the slightest bit of unease is felt 2, 3 or 4 players run towards the ball hacking away until someone makes contact. There's no calm, no pressure, clearly no-one talking or taking control of the situation. I'd even go as far as saying a Dawson or a Turner would instantly make us better in that regard. (is Turner still playing? I dunno)

[dekko]

I have a feeling that won't be the last time we're on the receiving end of an absolute spanking under Sherwood.

The Spurs fans that didn't like him would point to his insistence on playing a high line and super attacking style even when it isn't appropriate, and some people suggested that while he is very good at setting teams up he isn't so great at reacting during the game.  I think all those flaws were on display yesterday.

That said I can't really criticise him too much for playing the system we did, because its been super effective for the last couple of months.  Also, it isn't Sherwood's fault that all of the defence decided to have a nightmare game all at the same time, nor can you blame him for the horrible luck where all the rebounds and blocked shots fell into the path of a Southampton player.

[Mister E]

I'm sure Tim has pin pointed left back and centre back as areas of priority. It took Lambert 3-4 stabs at sorting out the left and he still failed every time. Clark will be one of the first names on the team sheet for me, its who partners him is the question and that's looking more like Baker. Vlaar is going to go and possibly that could be a good thing the way he's playing, Okore isn't good enough for me at this level and I'm sure Senderos will only be a squad member.

Not sure Baker is a first-pick.
I wonder whether Sanchez would be a better CB than CMF. He has mobility and can read the game. He can head the ball and would be playing the game in front of himself, so less likely to be giving those crazy edge-of-the-box free kicks.
We certainly need an experienced and reliable CB.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I'm sure Tim has pin pointed left back and centre back as areas of priority. It took Lambert 3-4 stabs at sorting out the left and he still failed every time. Clark will be one of the first names on the team sheet for me, its who partners him is the question and that's looking more like Baker. Vlaar is going to go and possibly that could be a good thing the way he's playing, Okore isn't good enough for me at this level and I'm sure Senderos will only be a squad member.

Not sure Baker is a first-pick.
I wonder whether Sanchez would be a better CB than CMF. He has mobility and can read the game. He can head the ball and would be playing the game in front of himself, so less likely to be giving those crazy edge-of-the-box free kicks.
We certainly need an experienced and reliable CB.

Exactly my thoughts Mr E.
I wonder if Sanchez might not be a better CB than CM....Clark would be the first name on my defensive team sheet...and fill in with FBs to do the job Sherwood wants...at least a left back needed. Still think we need a strong CMF if Cleverley stays, but actually think we're ok up front if CB stays and with Libor coming back.
3/4 good buys will improve us enormously.

Actually looking forward to 2015/16.
UTV

[Matt Collins]

If benteke stays I still think we need a replacement for weimann. Someone who can play with a big man, preferably someone quick and who can score a few. Someone like Wilson at Man U (is that the right name?)

If benteke goes I think we need two new fwds because they are big shoes to fill

Either way an attacking right sided creative player would be v welcome. An upgrade on nzogbia

[Toronto Villa]

If Benteke goes we'll likely need to play another way. Trying to replace will be impossible so we may as well get forwards in that will take advantage of the great movement we now have in our midfield. We don't have to have a big man, and if we need to vary it up we already have Kozak on the books and maybe even Helenius. I'd sooner we get an all round type of forward who's sharp in the box.

[Malandro]

Let's get dope testing for posters.


Sanchez at centre back... That is very scary

[old man villa fan]

To concede three quick goals as we did yesterday, normally teams would look to go into damage limitation mode.  In our situation this was not possible as we were looking to get something out of the game.  We continued to push up and gambled everything but the individual errors continued.

If we are going to play a high line, you need at least one of your central defenders and one of your fullbacks to have real pace.  We do not have any defenders with pace.  If you look at Rio Ferdinand, he was not much of a defender but continually got himself and United out of trouble with his pace (which made him look better than he was).  Another was Des Walker.

[pauliewalnuts]

Let's get dope testing for posters.

Sanchez at centre back... That is very scary

Hasn't he put in a shift there before for us?

Although I might be imagining it.

[pauliewalnuts]

If we are going to play a high line, you need at least one of your central defenders and one of your fullbacks to have real pace.  We do not have any defenders with pace.  If you look at Rio Ferdinand, he was not much of a defender but continually got himself and United out of trouble with his pace (which made him look better than he was).  Another was Des Walker.

Des Walker is one of my favourite defenders ever. I wish he'd played for us. Great player.

re the high line, watching us yesterday reminded me of a spell of three or four consecutive seasons when Bolton came to our place and played a stupidly high line. The pace we had up front meant we murdered them, four goals every time almost.

It was a bizarre tactic they seemed to cling onto even when they changed their manager, against us. We'd have a field day against it, then next season, they'd come back and do the same again.

[brian green]

I would like to volunteer for dope testing Captain Mainwaring.