Southampton v Paul Lambert's Aston Villa post match thread

[Malandro]

match thread? Who gives a shit!

[Reuben]

As first posts go, that's pretty insightful...

May the second post be the same in a couple of week's time

[rafter]

Thank you very much Top Deck, I was just testing.

[Monty]

Oddly, today is the best day of our league season. That's very Villa.

[john2710]

Sherwood will, hopefully, have learnt a lot from today.

That's the type of performance we are capable of & all too often.

[clash city rocker]

At least Sherwood will be able to reflect on today's performance with a clearer mind now.

[PaulTheVillan]

We can almost write today off and think about the bigger picture.

New keeper and centre  back are a must IMO.

[djbone]

Our first game of the season. Last went to St Mary's for the 4-1 three years ago. Will not be returning in a hurry. Bloody great laugh though, and now Spuds have made it meaningless.

[mr underhill]

a salutary reminder today of how shit we can be and how much needs to be done in the summer. Interesting few months ahead; in the interim, please finish on  a high Villa, with wins against Burnley and Arsenal.

[Tuscans]

Great to eventually be safe.

One thing that worries me though is if we defend like that on the 30th then Arsenal can do exactly what the Saints done today and some.

[Tuscans]

We can almost write today off and think about the bigger picture.

New keeper and centre  back are a must IMO.

I'm easily adding 2 full backs being just as important.

[walsall villain]

So out of recent character, perhaps the players are subconsciously holding back with Wembley looming.

[supertom]

I think today showed that any desire we might have had to keep Vlaar on the books should be gone. He's all too often been a liability and he'll only get worse. On a good day he is a quality player, but he has too many bad days for us to offer him any sort of sentimentality. A new signing to partner Clark is an absolute must.
Full-back needs sorting too. And yes, I think a keeper should be on the horizon too. I do think Guzan can still do the job, but I want someone decent, and younger who will really push him all the way. Given can stay on as 3rd choice for his final year of go and have a year or two in the championship.

[Villafirst]

Still think Okore will come good. He's still very young - a lot of potential. Today was just one of those days that happen in football.....

[SoccerHQ]

Agree with that Tom.

I also think we need more variety in midfield. The three in there have been brilliant in recent weeks but they didn't turn up today so the problem with high intensity pressing game is it's impossible to do that for 38 games and today was one of those so I'd rest the midfield next week to give them a proper breather before the final.

We still need more creativity in there I think and we certainly shouldn't be getting rid of Gil without having a look how he does in this formation.