RDM Poll time at 10 played!

[sirlordbaltimore]

And yet nearly all of us were happy with that starting 11.

I wasn't mate. Midfield was/is far too lightweight.

what midfield would you pick out of interest ?

[VILLA MOLE]

And yet nearly all of us were happy with that starting 11.

I wasn't mate. Midfield was/is far too lightweight.

what midfield would you pick out of interest ?

cowans platt mortimer

[Chico Hamilton III]

I think we probably need to accept that the previous owner left us in such an unholy mess that this rebuilding job will take at least two seasons rather than one..

I'm probably being thick here but what I don't understand is that, if we have completely new owners, manager, coaches and pretty much a new first team, what influence can the previous owner/regime/manage/ squad have over the situation we're in at the moment. If we were playing well at the moment would we be crediting Lerner/Garde/Lescott etc?

We've overhauled the club completely so surely the blame for our situation lies with what we are doing wrong at the moment? I'll be honest, it sounds a bit like a convenient excuse. What has the last 5 years got to do with us chucking the ball into the back of our own net in the last 5 minutes of every game?

[Jimbo]

I think we probably need to accept that the previous owner left us in such an unholy mess that this rebuilding job will take at least two seasons rather than one..

I'm probably being thick here but what I don't understand is that, if we have completely new owners, manager, coaches and pretty much a new first team, what influence can the previous owner/regime/manage/ squad have over the situation we're in at the moment. If we were playing well at the moment would we be crediting Lerner/Garde/Lescott etc?

We've overhauled the club completely so surely the blame for our situation lies with what we are doing wrong at the moment? I'll be honest, it sounds a bit like a convenient excuse. What has the last 5 years got to do with us chucking the ball into the back of our own net in the last 5 minutes of every game?

We're almost rebuilding from scratch in every department, so even if you're spending a lot of money on it, it's going to take some time to put right. RDM himself likened it to pulling down and rebuilding a house. It doesn't happen overnight.

I made the point elsewhere, that we're not only battling our own psychological issues, we're fighting against the psychological outlook of every team that thinks we're weak, bottlers, pushovers who will concede if you put them under enough pressure.

The crowd thinks it as well. I was at the Brentford game and the tension was palpable in the last 30 mins, as if everybody knew what was coming, and of course it did. It'll take a few wins to rid the place of that, and then hopefully we can crack on, as teams learn we're not the pushovers we used to be. A lot of games are won and lost - and drawn - in players' heads.

I do wonder, however, about RDM's ability to put the pieces together, but on reflection I think if we don't give him that chance, we'll be setting ourselves back to square one without ever knowing if he could turn it around. Maybe until Christmas is fair as long as we don't go on a losing spree and enter the relegation places?

[Chico Hamilton III]

I think we probably need to accept that the previous owner left us in such an unholy mess that this rebuilding job will take at least two seasons rather than one..

I'm probably being thick here but what I don't understand is that, if we have completely new owners, manager, coaches and pretty much a new first team, what influence can the previous owner/regime/manage/ squad have over the situation we're in at the moment. If we were playing well at the moment would we be crediting Lerner/Garde/Lescott etc?

We've overhauled the club completely so surely the blame for our situation lies with what we are doing wrong at the moment? I'll be honest, it sounds a bit like a convenient excuse. What has the last 5 years got to do with us chucking the ball into the back of our own net in the last 5 minutes of every game?

We're almost rebuilding from scratch in every department, so even if you're spending a lot of money on it, it's going to take some time to put right. RDM himself likened it to pulling down and rebuilding a house. It doesn't happen overnight.

I made the point elsewhere, that we're not only battling our own psychological issues, we're fighting against the psychological outlook of every team that thinks we're weak, bottlers, pushovers who will concede if you put them under enough pressure.

The crowd thinks it as well. I was at the Brentford game and the tension was palpable in the last 30 mins, as if everybody knew what was coming, and of course it did. It'll take a few wins to rid the place of that, and then hopefully we can crack on, as teams learn we're not the pushovers we used to be. A lot of games are won and lost - and drawn - in players' heads.

I do wonder, however, about RDM's ability to put the pieces together, but on reflection I think if we don't give him that chance, we'll be setting ourselves back to square one without ever knowing if he could turn it around. Maybe until Christmas is fair as long as we don't go on a losing spree and enter the relegation places?

I think I understand - but the whole "shitting our pants in the last 10 minutes" thing is something RDM created, not something he inherited. Would this current team be any worse if it was being managed by Garde or Lambert? I'm not sure.

[Jimbo]

To be fair, I can remember us squandering leads in the dying minutes of games for years, even before TPL. It seems a very Villa problem. But not quite on this level, I agree. I think we've got a reputation as bottlers, everyone knows we crack in the dying minutes, and it's really hurting us in this division. Whereas in the PL we were already beaten by half time. 

It's certainly RDM's problem, but as I say, he's still in the process of building a team with the necessary shape and stability to let our £xxmillions strikeforce score enough to put games out of reach. The jury's still out on whether he can do that, but I suspect he might need a little more time. The worry is, if we change now, who is going to come in, and what happens if his team doesn't gel in 11 games?

[Clampy]

I'd be more concerned if we were two goals up and squandering leads. One goal is never enough, not in any game no matter what league you are in.

[PeterWithesShin]

We conceded 12 last season in the last 5 mins, although a fair few were just add on goals as we were already losing.

[Clampy]

We conceded 12 last season in the last 5 mins, although a fair few were just add on goals as we were already losing.

And losing quite heavily too.

[Chico Hamilton III]

So last season we didn't have the habit that we have this season of throwing games away in the last few minutes? We were so shit that we'd given up the ghost in the first half.

[Clampy]

Last season we were just shit full stop.

[achilles]

RDM has to stop shoe-horning players into the starting line up just because they are ‘good’/expensive players and get back to basics and actually put out a TEAM on the pitch.
That means ALL the players working for and with each other, not exactly rocket science!

Therefore the team I suggest is:

                         Gollini

Hutton   Chester      Baker   Cissokho

Adomah   Jedinak   Tshibola   Amavi

                McCormack
      
                   Kodjia

That is a basic 4-4-2 with McCormack dropping off Kodjia. It is a functional side with no airs and graces and players willing to graft in defending and attacking. Ayew on the bench will perhaps help to focus his mind on the team aspect of football and could certainly be an impact sub along with Grealish and Gestede. I would also like to see Lyden on the bench as he needs the experience of being around the first team again. Another thing when the opposition get a corner Kodjia does NOT come back but stays on the halfway line, lets have an outlet for a quick counter attack!

Gollini has to play because we have no viable alternative, good planning!

Elphick has been pretty dreadful the last couple of games and needs a rest, especially as Baker is probably our best out and out defender, although prone to injury and getting himself booked.

Hutton plays because of Bacuna's suspension.

[QuintonVilla]

Who would we have to replace him?
Fat sam? His head will be all over the place, and his football is awful.
Bruce? The fans would never take to him.
Seen some on Twitter saying Sherwood. Eh?

Stick with RDM, the results will come. It's only been 10 games, yes we should obviously have more points but it was always going to be a big rebuilding job. It's not just the personnel but the mindset of everyone at the club needs to changing to a winning mentality. The positive for me is we aren't losing at the moment and apart from Newcastle we haven't really looked like losing any of the drawn games. Lapses in concentration and mistakes have cost us, cut those out and we will be winning games. Win one or two and confidence will come and mistakes will be less likely.

[sirlordbaltimore]

RDM has to stop shoe-horning players into the starting line up just because they are ‘good’/expensive players and get back to basics and actually put out a TEAM on the pitch.
That means ALL the players working for and with each other, not exactly rocket science!

Therefore the team I suggest is:

                         Gollini

Hutton   Chester      Baker   Cissokho

Adomah   Jedinak   Tshibola   Amavi

                McCormack
      
                   Kodjia

That is a basic 4-4-2 with McCormack dropping off Kodjia. It is a functional side with no airs and graces and players willing to graft in defending and attacking. Ayew on the bench will perhaps help to focus his mind on the team aspect of football and could certainly be an impact sub along with Grealish and Gestede. I would also like to see Lyden on the bench as he needs the experience of being around the first team again. Another thing when the opposition get a corner Kodjia does NOT come back but stays on the halfway line, lets have an outlet for a quick counter attack!

Gollini has to play because we have no viable alternative, good planning!

Elphick has been pretty dreadful the last couple of games and needs a rest, especially as Baker is probably our best out and out defender, although prone to injury and getting himself booked.

Hutton plays because of Bacuna's suspension.

I'm all for a McCormack/Kodjia pairing up top

[Jockey Randall]

RDM has to stop shoe-horning players into the starting line up just because they are ‘good’/expensive players and get back to basics and actually put out a TEAM on the pitch.
That means ALL the players working for and with each other, not exactly rocket science!

Therefore the team I suggest is:

                         Gollini

Hutton   Chester      Baker   Cissokho

Adomah   Jedinak   Tshibola   Amavi

                McCormack
      
                   Kodjia

That is a basic 4-4-2 with McCormack dropping off Kodjia. It is a functional side with no airs and graces and players willing to graft in defending and attacking. Ayew on the bench will perhaps help to focus his mind on the team aspect of football and could certainly be an impact sub along with Grealish and Gestede. I would also like to see Lyden on the bench as he needs the experience of being around the first team again. Another thing when the opposition get a corner Kodjia does NOT come back but stays on the halfway line, lets have an outlet for a quick counter attack!

Gollini has to play because we have no viable alternative, good planning!

Elphick has been pretty dreadful the last couple of games and needs a rest, especially as Baker is probably our best out and out defender, although prone to injury and getting himself booked.

Hutton plays because of Bacuna's suspension.

Pretty much how I would go as well apart from I would have Ayew left wing, maybe pushing Amavi to left back but I'm happy with either him or Cissokho back there. I'd make it more of a 4-2-3-1 at home as well.