Magnificent Aston Villa v West Ham Pre-Match Thread

[LukeJames]

2-0 Grealish, Benteke.

[Tony Erdington]

Fat Sam will park the bus and double up on Benteke, creating space for Jack, Delph and Charlie to score. 3-1 Villa, with the threat of relegation becoming a distant ship's smoke on the horizon. Please.

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

Let's hope come 5pm we've comfortably won.

*applause*

...Followed by Tim giving us a rendition of the greatest guitar solo ever.....

and me having a couple or three beers in Erdington (tbf that's going to happen any way, me having beers) did I mention I was going to Wembley.

[SoccerHQ]

They only scored once v a Burnley team playing with 10 men for an hour and didn't score at all v QPR so I'd be disappointed if we ship 2 again.

Main threat will be from set plays as Big Sam will target Given no question particularly that cnut Nolan who always seems to score v us every season.

They also have a physical midfield in Song, Kouyate and Noble which is the type we tend to struggle against. Think Grealish's ankles will get something attention in this one!

On the plus side Benteke in this form gives any defence in the world a tough game and West Ham have been playing an 18 year old alongside Collins in the last few games, Reece Burke.

Could be 1-1 but I'll go for 2-1 win and with Sunderland losing to Everton, all but safe.

[PeterWithesShin]

I always thought that about Nolan so I decided to be a sad git and see just how often he does score against us. He's scored in 3 of his last 14 games against us going back to 2005, two of them were 2 goal games though. I got bored so he may smacked a load in before that! Funny how most of us would have Nolan as scoring against us on a regular basis when in reality, he doesn't.

[ozzjim]

Draw. We don't back up good results, so I am going draw.

[ozzjim]

They only scored once v a Burnley team playing with 10 men for an hour and didn't score at all v QPR so I'd be disappointed if we ship 2 again.

Main threat will be from set plays as Big Sam will target Given no question particularly that cnut Nolan who always seems to score v us every season.

They also have a physical midfield in Song, Kouyate and Noble which is the type we tend to struggle against. Think Grealish's ankles will get something attention in this one!

On the plus side Benteke in this form gives any defence in the world a tough game and West Ham have been playing an 18 year old alongside Collins in the last few games, Reece Burke.

Could be 1-1 but I'll go for 2-1 win and with Sunderland losing to Everton, all but safe.

Given should not be in the side against a Sam team. Should be Guzan. And Senderos if fully fit alongside Vlaar for the inevitable high ball.

[Gregorys Boy]

West Ham are in awful form and could only just scrap a win against Burnley.  We are much stronger at home since Sherwood took over and have managed to string two very good performances together so should be very confident. I think the manager will be drilling it into them the importance of making sure of safety as so as possible and to eliminate any lingering doubts of the going down dragging on.  2-0 Villa.  Will also go Grealish and Benteke.

[pbavfckuwait]

Someone mentioned WHU had midfield, they can be no worse than the cheating Scouse bastards last week, but I predicted Villa to do things the Villa way, beat Everton and we will probably drop 2 points to these tossers.

[OzVilla]

Everything points to a Villa win.

Playing well, scoring goals with real attacking intent and a Manager that quickly proving his doubters wrong with his astute tactical decisions and motivation of underperforming players. 

All against a team that looks to have mentally clocked off against an unimaginative Manager whose teams are predictable in their approach.

We won't win. 2-2.

[simon ward 50]

Forget the drum

The Everton game was the first time that I heard the drum.

Its really annoying and has to go.

We couldn't hear the drum in the North Stand!

[ChicagoLion]

Forget the drum

The Everton game was the first time that I heard the drum.

Its really annoying and has to go.

Surprised that nobody has had a quiet word with the Drum Man like " If I hear that fkin thing again you will be wearing it"

We couldn't hear the drum in the North Stand!

[Clampy]

Everything points to a Villa win.

Playing well, scoring goals with real attacking intent and a Manager that quickly proving his doubters wrong with his astute tactical decisions and motivation of underperforming players. 

All against a team that looks to have mentally clocked off against an unimaginative Manager whose teams are predictable in their approach.

We won't win. 2-2.

That's my worry to. There's nothing wrong with being confident obviously but I hope we're not too overconfident.

[gervilla]

We stuffed them at this stage in 1987. Same result. 4-0 to Villa.

                                                           
My 2nd trip to Villa Park was that day.
Glorious result for a very happy 11 year old me.

[1_Pablo_Angel]

Loving the references in here chaps.

[PeterWithesShin]

Tim Sherwood has confirmed that Gabby Agbonlahor is available for selection this weekend against West Ham.

Agbonlahor missed the matches against Liverpool and Everton due to a hamstring injury picked up on the eve of the FA Cup semi-final.

But Agbonlahor, who enjoyed light training last week in the run-up to the Toffees match, is now working full-time with the first team as they gear up for the Hammers clash.

Sherwood revealed Agbonlahor would see action on Saturday but refused to say whether the long-serving striker would be in his starting XI.

He said: "Gabby is back in training. He will be available for selection. That's a plus for us.

"There are no other worries. We are as healthy as we have been.

"Gabby will get some game-time. Whether it is from the start remains to be seen. But he will get game-time on Saturday.

"His return puts us in good stead for the remaining matches.

"The team is not picked yet. Everyone still has an opportunity.

"It's not only picked on what they have done in previous game, it's also picked on what they have done during the week. They are always on trial.

"Everyone gets judged on a level playing field and the boys who have the shirt at the moment are in possession.

"It's up to the other boys to wrestle them off them.

"No-one is automatic. There is not a player here who is automatic first choice. They are know that - and respect that."

Sherwood also revealed that Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker remain absent for the weekend clash.

But the boss is happy that the injury situation is not as clinical as it has been previously.

He added: "We are still struggling at centre-half with Ciaran and Nathan still missing but we seem to be getting bodies back.

"Obviously Alan got game-time in the last game. It's good to have him back. There's Scott too.

"These guys are all back in the squad now. We're looking healthier but as I said, in the centre of defence, there are only three.

"But we will just get on with it. We soldiered on with it before for a period of time and we now have three more games to go and then a cup final.

"But it's encouraging that we have more lads out there on the training field."