Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Villain

Helix wrote: »

aye hes right

as it stands were country miles ahead of the rest of the chasing pack, tho we're still country miles behind united and chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool

Fixed that for you

Helix

i think arsenal are currently suffering for their failure to get someone in to replace flamini, so they are potentially takeable this season, and i think the scouse will fall away dramatically

Savman

Jaysis Helix I was thinking you were far too quiet and uncontroversial lately, but I knew it wasn't far away.

Gabby is rubbish, hmmm......right. Hey y'know what, I couldn't give a toss, if the lad keeps poking them in then that's mighty fine by me.

Helix

i didnt say gabby is rubbish, i said gabby is playing rubbish. theres a difference

id rather have someone who doesnt walk around doing **** all for the majority of the match, and then occasionally scores a goal. for all the talents the guy has he could be a real superstar, but he just doesnt look interested most of the time. hes horrible to watch

he might look great on a highlight reel, but over 90 minutes you get the real picture

Savman

Helix wrote: »

id rather have someone who doesnt walk around doing **** all for the majority of the match, and then occasionally scores a goal.

ROFL! Clearly you have never watched Shearer, Van Nistelrooy, Linekar, or any other striker in action.

Gabby doesn't score, he gets criticized. Gabby scores, he gets criticized. Just can't please some people

Helix

Savman wrote: »

ROFL! Clearly you have never watched Shearer, Van Nistelrooy, Linekar, or any other striker in action.

Gabby doesn't score, he gets criticized. Gabby scores, he gets criticized. Just can't please some people

i only critisize gabby when hes playing ****e

when he plays well ill give him the plaudits he deserves

shearer worked his bollix off for the team all the time. van nistelrooy and lineker scored bags full of goals, more in most given seasons than gabby has managed in his career. theres a world of difference

we cant afford to have a lazy uninterested greedy player whos goal scoring record is alomost 1 in 4

we can most definitely afford to have him when hes playing well tho, because hes quality on those all to rare occasions

invincibleirish

Arsenal H & A between now and the new year, if Villa are serious about being more then top 4 + 1 then we have to show it in those 2 games, they have had several poor results this season which suggests like Helix mentioned they are missing Flamini and vulnerable.

Gabby Agbonlahor: a lot done more to do.

Frisbee

Helix wrote: »

i only critisize gabby when hes playing ****e

when he plays well ill give him the plaudits he deserves

shearer worked his bollix off for the team all the time. van nistelrooy and lineker scored bags full of goals, more in most given seasons than gabby has managed in his career. theres a world of difference

we cant afford to have a lazy uninterested greedy player whos goal scoring record is alomost 1 in 4

we can most definitely afford to have him when hes playing well tho, because hes quality on those all to rare occasions

Arsenal fan but feel I have to step in for Agbonlahor here.
Of course van Nistelropoy and Lineker looked better/managed more goals. They were older, more developed players. Gabby is only 22. Give him a chance

Helix

hes in his 4th season and will make his 100th first team appearance in november. hes come on in a lot of things while hes gone backwards in others. if we had someone who could step in for him i think wed see an immesurable improvement in his form, right now he knows he can play crap and still get picked every week

invincibleirish

Gareth Barry in the Birmingham Post wrote: »

Aston Villa and England midfielder Gareth Barry believes his team are far improved on the side of 12 months ago.

Barry has contributed three goals in three games to help catapult Villa into fourth place, including one during Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers, but says the stars have been Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The 27-year-old is convinced they have finally done enough to finally force their way into the England set-up.

Barry said: “It was a great result against Blackburn Rovers. We knew we didn’t play very well but to come away with the three points is massive for us at this stage.

“That is the difference between Villa now and the team of 12 months ago - if when we don’t play well, we’re still winning games. Blackburn came here and played very well. The fans would have expected us to roll them over with the form we have been in and we probably got away with it a bit.”

Barry is virtually assured of his place in Fabio Capello’s squad to play Germany in a friendly next month but hopes there may be one or two of his Villa team-mates joining him.

He said: “The England friendly is an ideal opportunity for Ashley and Gabby. I am sure they will have been watched again against Rovers. Hopefully, their chance will come; they deserve it.

“It gives you a bit of a buzz when you are playing for your country and things are going so well. That buzz is also back around Villa.”

Reflecting on his next England chance, Barry said: “I was left out of the England squad for four years and you can’t get those years back so you want to play every opportunity now.”

Meanwhile, Barry hopes all his dreams will be fulfilled at Villa Park now that the team has started to excel and play a part in European competition too. He said: “Hopefully with Villa, the Champions League is a realistic aim now.

“It is certainly more realistic than last season when we were probably talking about it. If we keep talking about it, eventually we are going to find ourselves in the run for a top-four place.

“We’ll fancy ourselves but it is a massive step because that top four of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea has been the top four for a long while. The other big clubs have such a big advantage with the players they have got.

“The pundits say if anyone can break into that top four clubs it will be us but they still don’t back us to get it. It would be nice to prove two or three wrong and make it.”

So is the Hastings-born star enjoying his football again even though his possible move to Liverpool which was the talk of the summer was finally scuppered?

He said: “It is probably the wrong thing to say I am enjoying my football again but it’s been good just to get the whole summer episode out of my system and now I am just concentrating on what I am doing and on playing good football.”

http://www.birminghampost.net/midlands-birmingham-sport/west-midlands-sports/aston-villa-fc/2008/10/31/what-a-difference-a-year-makes-for-barry-s-villa-65233-22157569/

interesting last paragraph, he might still be sore, but 3 goals in as many games and his talking up of Ashley & Gabby and Villas CL prospects are all positive signs. Perhaps he realises with the reborn Stan Petrov showing him up that Villa are more then a one trick pony. Anyone wager Arsenal might want him in January or the summer to fill that Flamini shaped hole on their team?

Time Magazine

Number 6 wrote:

It is probably the wrong thing to say I am enjoying my football again

Gobshite. A good player - one of our best - but completely replaceable and as far as I'm concerned can just piss off.

Savman

Don't think he's stupid enough to have meant it in the way it comes across. I couldn't really care less about Barry anymore tbh, he's just an effective squad player that I've no emotional attachment to.

I recognize his ability and importance to our side, but for the first time probably ever I can see life after Gareth Barry not being as bad as initially thought.

wynters

I have to say... I hate this negative attitude towards Gareth Barry.

After that whole summer transfer saga, a lot of what he now says is spun by gutter journos into something which might relay negatively to Villa fans, which a large percentage of 'notoriusly fickle' Villa supporters swallow hook-line-and-sinker. Even when he does an interview trying to sound positive, some fans still try to find the negative in that..... It's pathetic.

Gareth Barry is an Aston Villa player, and should be judged on performances alone. He's put in some brilliant perfomances recently (scoring in the last 3 consecutive games). That NOTW interview aside, I don't think he's done anything overtly unprofessional, but Carew can go to a strip club, which lets his teams-mates and fans down as much as the manager, and it's glossed-over because he's playing well. Barry is performing arguably even more consistently than Carew and STILL gets witch-hunted no matter what he says...

It really is time for Villa fans to draw a line under this... O'Neill is doing everything he can to keep someone he sees as a very important player. If anything, the fact that Barry is an Aston Villa player should be enough for us to show him unconditional support, but the managers efforts and judgement should be reinforcement enough for us all to get behind the player.

I just think it's sad that some fans seem hell-bent on forcing him out of the club...

In the prophetic words of the the Pussycat Dolls "Be careful what you wish for coz you just might get it"

Helix

i like barry, but i dont think he's quite as important as we thought he was any more

Savman

wynters wrote: »

I have to say... I hate this negative attitude towards Gareth Barry.

And similarly, I hate the negative attitude from Gareth Barry. His talking is best done on the pitch, I have absolutely no interest in anything else he has to say. Bridges have been well burned and short of scoring a winner in a cup final, he may never heal those wounds.

Barry is performing arguably even more consistently than Carew and STILL gets witch-hunted no matter what he says...

Witchhunt??!?! ROFL! He waged war with AVFC, Carew went to a tittie bar. HUGE difference.

It really is time for Villa fans to draw a line under this...

We did, the player does not need to do any half hearted interviews and should just keep his mouth shut IMHO.

In the prophetic words of the the Pussycat Dolls "Be careful what you wish for coz you just might get it"

Very true, Barry at Anfield coulda been a real bad move

Helix

stoke 2-1 arsenal

brilliant result for us. with arsenal playing united next, we could be 6 points ahead of them before we play them at the emirates

theyll be without van persie for that match as he was sent off, and walcott left the pitch with his arm in a sling so he could be missing too.

arsenals 2 fixtures after us are city and chelsea, and ours are united (which we'll inevitably get nothing from) and fulham which we should win

theres a very real chance that in 4 games time we've got some serious daylight between us in 4th and arsenal in 5th

Doodee

Helix wrote: »

and fulham which we should win

Don't jinx us!

remember what happened last year!

Helix

yeh last year we collapsed every time we had a chance to make ground on the liverpool and everton

i just think we have a bit more in the bank this time round, and a far stronger squad. monday will be a big test of the players to perform under pressure

mirwillbeback

and if fabregas gets booked against Man U ( 85 % chance of that imo ), he'll be suspended for Villa too.

who knows, can we start to dream?

Savman

Think we should chillax with the wacky forecasts and assumptions about who we may or may not beat.

One Cold Hand

Savman wrote: »

Think we should chillax with the wacky forecasts and assumptions about who we may or may not beat.

I think we'll win the Premiership!

Nah seriously though, happy with how the team is going. A draw tonight and we're 4th, win and we're 3rd. It's all good.

Don't really have a problem with Barry's interview to be honest. I don't really see how that article was negative...he's talking about how well the team is playing and how Gabby and Ashley are doing.

Villain

Tonight could be a real banana skin or it could really push us on, imo our main opposition for 5th was Man City but they are falling away quickly with Everton coming back into play, however if we could win tonight we would be 8 points ahead of Everton in 7th.

invincibleirish

Tonight shall be interesting, for the first time in an age, Villa are being spoken as potential-maybes-perhaps as 4th contenders with Arsenals defeat at Stoke, so this away game has bad result written all over it. Its already been the weekend of the underdog, and with the news Petrov is out are Villa going to come undone?

Helix

since we managed to lose in situations like this all through last season, itll be interesting to see if we've come far enough to be able to win games where we know our main opponents have slipped up

Savman

invincibleirish wrote: »

Tonight shall be interesting, for the first time in an age, Villa are being spoken as potential-maybes-perhaps as 4th contenders with Arsenals defeat at Stoke, so this away game has bad result written all over it.

Have to agree, every time we've been in a similar position we've made a right tits of it so historically speaking this game is usually where we fall back into midtable habits.

If we can steal an unconvincing 1-0, I will be well chuffed.

Raekwon

I'd take a scrapy 1-0 win no problem tonight! Newcastle are muck but sometimes they do well against us, hopefully they will be as poor as ever tonight!

mirwillbeback

Anyone remember the Monday Night Game at St James' from 1996 / 1997 season when we lost 4 - 3 and Yorke got a hat trick. I think it was Draper who got sent off after about 12mins and it was a thriller.
One of the best premier league games ever ( even though we lost )

JPA

VILLA: Friedel; L Young, Cuellar, Laursen, Shorey; Reo-Coker, A Young, Barry, Milner; Agbonlahor, Carew. Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Harewood, Davies, Knight, Salifou, Gardner.

JPA

Just checked the Setanta website and Slavia Prague v Villa is on this Thursday.

Good stuff.

Helix

and people ask why i dont think gabbys as good as the hype? wtf was that miss all about

G

Helix wrote: »

and people ask why i dont think gabbys as good as the hype? wtf was that miss all about

Unbelievable.

Helix

wouldnt be so bad if hed even come close to touching the ball, but that was shambolic

we better not pay for that

JPA

It was a crap miss but it's not an indication of how good he is, is it?

Villain

Simalar to the one Keane missed for Liverpool in the Champions league suppose he's awful too, change the record Helix, MON picks him thats good enough for me.

invincibleirish

Difficult to fathom how he missed it alright, bah!

Helix

Villain wrote: »

Simalar to the one Keane missed for Liverpool in the Champions league suppose he's awful too, change the record Helix, MON picks him thats good enough for me.

keanes goal and performance record speaks for itself

Helix

1-0 newcastle

imagine we had someone like that instead of gabby playing for us

invincibleirish

Bah humbug, great goal by Martins. He's too quick for Stallion Laursen.

invincibleirish

Back to the drawing board. Villa just arent firing, and Marlon is coming on to to save us:rolleyes:

Helix

aye, i dont see the point in bringing harewood on at this stage. he shouldve been on 20 minutes ago.

we've been complete and utter pish tonight, but we've played this bad and managed to get results earlier in the season, i suppose its poetic justice after the blackburn game.

Villain

That's that over brought back down to earth, still we're doing well, fair play to Joe and Newcastle

Helix

Villain wrote: »

That's that over brought back down to earth, still we're doing well, fair play to Joe and Newcastle

same old story tho

we get a chance to actually push forward, and we **** it up

Villain

Well I don't believe we are good enough to challenge the top 4 if we can hold onto 5th I'd be delighted

Helix

we're definitely good enough when our heads are in it

our need for another striker has never been more clear. someone with something about them. it might stop the long high balls to carew and the hit and hopes for gabby to chase

JPA

Helix wrote: »

1-0 newcastle

imagine we had someone like that instead of gabby playing for us

There's not enough rollyeyes in the world for that comment.

We look knackered tonight, we were almost completely out of it, particularly Barry and Carew.

I expect 2 or 3 changes Thursday, if we could rest A. Young that'd be good.

Helix

JPA wrote: »

There's not enough rollyeyes in the world for that comment.

you love defending gabby, tell us all how great he was tonight. that performance was on a par with pretty much every other game hes played for us this season bar a handful

JPA wrote: »

We look knackered tonight, we were almost completely out of it, particularly Barry and Carew.

I expect 2 or 3 changes Thursday, if we could rest A. Young that'd be good.

just coz we were crap doesnt mean we were knackered

we were just crap, plain and simple. we're been crap before, we'll be crap again

why would we rest our best player in a must win european tie?

Savman

I didn't see the game, but hardly a surprising result. We are still 5th level on points with Arsenal so I don't think I'll be jumping on the panic bandwagon just yet.

Helix

Savman wrote: »

I didn't see the game

Savman wrote: »

I don't think I'll be jumping on the panic bandwagon just yet.

these 2 are definitely related

shoutman

Helix, your anti Gaby comments are really getting on my nerves of late. It's like those who said that MON wasn't the right man for the job just because we didn't get off to the best start under him.

No one claims Gaby is a world beater, he is the best we have and is a good player. The rest of the squad aren't taking the piss when saying that himself and Ash Young should be given a call up to the full England team.

The problem with tonight was that our midfield as a unit played very poorly. Petrov's contribution to the team was put in the spotlight tonight as he wasn't playing. Barry had a bit of a nightmare, Reo-Coker did his best while playing in midfield (he isn't nor was he ever a right back) but Reo-Coker only looks good when he is playing in a midfield that is playing well, he is a workhorse who's job is to win the ball and pass it to someone who can spray the passes.

Our two wide men got no where tonight, and praise must be given to Newcastle for stopping the threat.

At half time no one would of said it was unjustified if Villa were two nil up. We had two fantastic chances, Gaby's miss of the ball and Ash Young when he hit it straight at Given.

Second half we just never came out of the dressing room. And once again it showed how little we have coming off the bench, the Hare and Sidwell are not players who will come on and change games.

Not surprised that we lost tonight, Newcastle performed very well and I'm gonna say they will finish top 8 if they continue to perform like tonight.

Roll on Thursday and hopefully the team will group together and get it done against Prague.

Raekwon

Woeful performance and result, I had a feeling Newcastle would do us tonight so I'm not really surprised.

I have to say I was really pissed off when MON took off Shorley, put Luke Young to leftback and Reo-Coker to rightback because as soon he went there we were exposed. For Newcastle’s second goal Jonas Gutierrez went passed Reo-Coker like he wasn't there so it make me wonder why MON didn't move Barry to leftback and leave Luke Young in his natural position.

An all-round disappointing night