Hands up - players you've wrongly written off

[silhillvilla]

Don't think hutton was ever that bad , he was just left exposed over and over again.

[Matt C]

Most of the current squad thanks to Lambert's illusionary abilities.

[Matt Collins]

Has to be Delph. But as others have said it's not that the criticism was undue. Some players have literally transformed from very poor at this level to being one of the best. Huge credit to Delph for that.

I have to say Delph still has the look of a disaster waiting to happen, his touch can be so poor and he never really looks to have the ball in control but he just plays his own way, maybe that is what other teams are finding hard about playing him, the only other player he's similar too is Yaya (different level obviously). His energy and commitment though are fantastic and he is the driving force behind the team and quite rightly captain.

He was a kid who kept on getting injuries. And he always had the quick feet of someone who might be excellent. Of all our current players I think he was the most unjustly written off by several people as being not just not ready, or not good enough at this level, but fundamentally crap.

[aj2k77]

Bacuna and Clark. Clark I said would make a championship player at best and Bacuna was worth £1m max.

In my defence I said Hutton was our best fullback and got pelters for it, so

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Cleverley and N'Zogbia.

Same here. Cleverly has really made me eat humble pie. N'Zogbia I still don't believe in. Just because he was absolute crap and now puts a shift in doesn't convince me he's good enough for us. I'd be more than happy if we can get rid of him in the summer. Four seasons and you can count his good games on your thumbs.

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

Maybe Westwood out of the current team, had started to lose complete faith in N'zogbia having any ability other than running down blind alleys too

I was always convinced we had a top 10-12 minimum team that just wasn't performing

I was wrong about Lambert though, i was utterly convinced he was going to be a top class manager, and up until like a month or two before he left i still thought he'd turn it round

[silhillvilla]

Eamonn Deacy. Made himself into a decent player in the end through sheer hard work, guts and determination.

[PeterWithesShin]

No wonder we've struggled this season with all these 50 and 60 year olds in the squad.

[not3bad]

Has to be Delph. But as others have said it's not that the criticism was undue. Some players have literally transformed from very poor at this level to being one of the best. Huge credit to Delph for that.

I have to say Delph still has the look of a disaster waiting to happen, his touch can be so poor and he never really looks to have the ball in control but he just plays his own way, maybe that is what other teams are finding hard about playing him, the only other player he's similar too is Yaya (different level obviously). His energy and commitment though are fantastic and he is the driving force behind the team and quite rightly captain.

He was a kid who kept on getting injuries. And he always had the quick feet of someone who might be excellent. Of all our current players I think he was the most unjustly written off by several people as being not just not ready, or not good enough at this level, but fundamentally crap.

Being played out of position also held back Delph and affected his confidence. I always knew he had it in him though as in his first appearences for Villa he was excellent. The game where he started to turn it around was the win over Norwich in the league cup during Lambert's first season.

[McGraths Dry Cleaning]

Hutton in particular after he got sent off against Arsenal for a stupid late tackle - really annoyed me. As someone quipped on here when he returned to the team "if McGrath is God then Hutton is Lazarus"

[ktvillan]

Fred Turnbull, John Robson and Ken McNaught were all players who turned round a lot of fans after bad starts.  I didn't think much of Platt or Yorke when they first arrived here but they weren't terrible either.   Guzan looked hopeless and clueless in an FA cup tie with Blackburn a few years back and a few other games too.   I've always rated Delph, he always showed glimpses of good technique, he just wasn't channelling his ability correctly, and played under some shite managers, often out of position.  I'm not surprised at all that he has come good.  I'm afraid I'm still far from convinced by either Clark or Baker.   I still think Weimann may have something to offer if he can learn to be more composed.

[Damo70]

Fred Turnbull, John Robson and Ken McNaught were all players who turned round a lot of fans after bad starts.  I didn't think much of Platt or Yorke when they first arrived here but they weren't terrible either.   Guzan looked hopeless and clueless in an FA cup tie with Blackburn a few years back and a few other games too.   I've always rated Delph, he always showed glimpses of good technique, he just wasn't channelling his ability correctly, and played under some shite managers, often out of position.  I'm not surprised at all that he has come good.  I'm afraid I'm still far from convinced by either Clark or Baker.   I still think Weimann may have something to offer if he can learn to be more composed.

I rated Platt right from his debut at Blackburn. Yorke not so much, but to be fair he spent his first year or two being a sub or short term stand in.

[ChicagoLion]

I did not think Delph would be good enough, Clarke has also proved better than I thought, I never wanted to se Nzog in a Villa shirt.
I still don't think Weiman is good enough.

[Marton]

Clark and Baker. They looked awkward and clueless for years....
...but then Villa has been defending since MON left so with LOTS of practice they finally caught on (Clark over Baker though).

Still written off Westwood as a creative midfielder...he had promise but Lambert just killed it with 2 years of that sideways-possession drill.
TS used him smartly as a defensive midfielder though. Takes a lot of pressure off defence. But creative...nope!

Weimann and Lowton still written off. Richardsson too.

Always been a Bacuna Supporter...he sure has a fair share of mistakes but always been able to provide crosses to Benteke as a targetman.

[cdward]

Petrov for me, finally showed his true class, but only after being dropped because the fans were screaming for it. Glad to be proved wrong.
Of the current crop N'Zogbia, i thought he would never break a sweat for us again, still not a massive fan, but he is winning me round. He is due a goal, so Charles, score the winner in the cup final and my climb down will be complete.