John

"The player Lambert asked about loaning was Zaha, but apparently salary was insane!" - "Wouldn't surprise me... He will be on 30k+ at United without doing a great deal in comparison to others who have done more in the Championship!" I would be shocked if he was not on 30K+ where he is Mattyp-avfc given the fee paid for him and where he is now playing. If we cannot pay the wages the likes of Zaha command like we could not pay what Barry wanted in the summer and consider PL wages "insane" foreveryoung then I am at a loss to know who we think we can get that will make a difference on less than 30k a week.

Unbeaten this year & 3 vital points. Its a Happy New Year folks!

It is a catchy line though rjw63... But I prefer this one from Sir Ron which worked more often than not, "With 110% from each and every one of the players and your usual tremendous vocal backing, I am confident we can get the right result".

Maloney was homesick the last time he played here so I doubt he would want to move much further south than Wigan. Will Wayne Routledge be the next ex-player to get a mention?

I would guess at £64m for the lot Con. But if you can get anywhere near £111m for them then the club needs to get you involved in any deals for players leaving B6 from now onwards.

Thanks for those stats again BOF. We are still a point ahead of our results from last season I see. Thanks also villa-revolution. Your comments above are very much ones that I agree with. I also hope we will see Vlaar & Benteke back for the next game because each game gets more vital as the season continues and this represents the game we are most likely to get something from until the end of next month but I doubt a 3-day gap will see them both available.

"I keep reading this but what's it based on? Are we basing it on benteke bringing in a huge fee?" Yes in the main Big-John-10. I suggested if all of Lambert's signings were sold we would get back more than we had paid for them in total. I would guess Benteke would produce £20m - £25m on his own and that Guzan, Vlaar, Lowton, Kozak, Westwood & Bacuna might bring in say another £17m so this would be around what we paid in total without taking into account some loose change for the others.

The Times today suggests our spending power is "limited - £5m" and our window targets are Danilo D'Ambrosio (Torino), Simeon Slavchev (Litex Lovech), Kevin De Bruyne & John Guidetti.

If all of the players that Lambert has signed were now sold we would get more in for them than we paid in total. Given this, I think he has done as well as could be expected with what money he was given whilst at the same time being charged with getting other high earners to leave and keeping the club in the top flight with something near a squad of players to select from. We are taking a huge gamble that players we pay low fees for and that are prepared to join us on low wages for our league will become regular first team starters. It has worked with some, could do with others and it seems will not with others but it seems our football club is no longer prepared to pay big fees or wages so you tend to get what you pay for in most cases. Some will do a lot better than could have been expected (Benteke & Guzan), others will do a bit more than could have been expected or will not maintain first season promise long term and others will do no better or prove less effective than their fees suggested they might. Not a lot of managers would be happy to work under these conditions and as fans we would want the quick fix that our owner is not prepared to meet the cost of giving us. So I do rate some signings very highly, some less so and the jury is still out with some of our buys. But I think we would struggle to find many managers who would have done much better with the cash made available and the constraints he has been working under.

"some of the above were probably only on 10k a week". Some may have also been on less than that I suspect AshVilla.

Do you mean first league goal in the first half? I did LatestConfirmedIn.

Anything more than 2 points would be a bonus.

I guess we increased wages for Benteke and Weimann to ensure they stayed at the club rather than risk losing the players that did much to keep us up last season Villan4Life. In the case of the contracts of others I guess that may have happened because those they signed on first coming to the club were low on the basis that if they showed they were worth more they would get it.I doubt that those increases would be big cash as well as percentage wise.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Swans tame a docile Lion!

The first league goal we have scored in the first half at Villa Park this season did somehow give us our first point in five games despite the Swans having enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession. On the positive side we put an end to a 4 game run of defeats yesterday, scored a goal and held onto a point rather than gave one away as we had done just 48 short hours earlier. But, it has been a long time since Villa Park was considered a fortress by our visitors. It has become a ground that teams just love to come to and a ground at which teams who are on a bad run have a real opportunity to get a positive result. We have sadly grown accustomed to defeats at Villa Park having now won just 11 of our last 48 home league games. But to be outplayed by a team that are just a point above us despite having gone an early goal in front to the extent that they claimed 73% of the possession away from home represents a new and an unacceptable low. Following a bright enough start we scored a rare goal at Villa Park and this lifted our spirits no end. This might have been expected to lift confidence on the pitch as well as off it. But instead of going again with a view to ensuring a win we took our foot of the pedal, surrendered the initiative along with the midfield and it was no shock when they equalised on 36 minutes. Our goal and the lead up to it was as good as it got. Following that it was one way traffic and we were outplayed, out passed and gave a passable imitation of an away team with their backs to the wall. After going ahead we too readily dropped back and defended far too deep giving Swansea the space to play in front of us and our wayward passes and balls out of defence led to us surrendering possession far too often. We moved our defensive line further forward and did press our visitors when they had the ball in the second half but they did have an awful lot of the ball yesterday. Generally our players seemed to put in a bigger shift than they had done 48 hours earlier. But hard work alone will not win enough games in this league and we struggled to put a couple of passes together yesterday let alone to create scoring opportunities during the 87 minutes we played after going a goal up. We were fortunate to get a point yesterday from a game that Swansea controlled without turning their possession into more than one goal due to their own lack of a cutting edge. But the gulf in class between the two teams was shown to be nearer a chasm than the one point difference that the league table still shows between us today. This point has left us on 20 points. The same number of points from the second half of the season or perhaps another six wins should be enough to secure our top flight status for another season. But on current form it is difficult to see where those wins or another 18 points will come from or what the end goal of the mystery project that we are apparently 18 months into is. My player ratings from a game that has left us 4 points clear of the relegation places and half way to safety are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Brad gathered a Hernandez shot at the second attempt on 17 minutes and was relieved to see a headed corner from the unmarked Davies bounce over the bar 3 minutes later. He was beaten at his far post for their equalizer having rushed from front to far post in chase of a floating cross from Hernandez that found Lamah’s head and entered the net off his arm. He also comfortably helped a De Guzman free kick over the bar on 52 minutes. Matt Lowton – 5 – A slight improvement on his previous performance for me but he needs to build on this to get somewhere near to the player he had looked at this stage of last season. Ciaran Clark – 6 – A good solid display yesterday. His absence to add to that of our captain will make our next game a tougher game than it was already going to be for our short of numbers defence. Nathan Baker – 5 – He tends to look uncomfortable and hurried when put under pressure. This is likely to be very much the situation we will face at Sunderland. Antonio Lunar - 4 – Looked better when getting forward than he did more often than not when defending. Hit a very poor attempted clearance to De Guzman on the edge of the box whose shot flew just wide on 35 minutes and was brushed off by Lamah in the build up to his goal a minute later which left him in space at the far post to meet the inviting cross. Leandro Bacuna – 5 – Leo came off with 20 minutes to play having just been booked for El Ahmadi which suggested we were content to keep the point we had rather than to push for all three. Fabian Delph - 6 – Kept busy and tried to disrupt the visitors passing game as best he was able. Hit a shot with some power on 90 minutes but although on target it was straight at the keeper so did not trouble him. Ashley Westwood – 5 – His return was a positive but he has had much more effective displays than this for us and he needs to try to make a bigger impression on our midfield although given like others his confidence level is so low I can understand why it may prove difficult to put a head above the parapet. Aleksandar Tonev – 4 – A surprising starter but his substitution was much less unexpected after 61 minutes. A bright first few minutes and a good early cross but he was oh so quiet after that. Andreas Weimann – 4 – Faded after a pretty bright start which had included his crucial part in our goal. Like Villa he seems to be missing Benteke but he does need to step up more than he has done to date during his striking partner’s absence. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – MOTM – Opened the scoring on 7 minutes when Weimann played a lovely ball past 2 defenders to leave him with just the keeper to beat after timing his run splendidly and he beat Tremmel nicely with a shot that nestled into the corner of the net. He also won a couple of balls in the air which was a little surprising and hit a late shot into the side netting which was not given the angle had been so tight. Substitutes: Libor Kozak – 5 - Replaced Tonev on 61 minutes and offered us someone to hoof the ball up to. Given we are so short of a goal threat the decision to leave him among the forwards who were sitting on the bench at the start of the game looked questionable but he did little to show Lambo that he had been wrong to leave him out although Messi himself would struggle to score regularly from the service we are giving our forwards at the moment. Karim El Ahmadi – 4 - Replaced Bacuna on 70 minutes but made no positive impression on the game following his introduction. Marc Albrighton – 6 - Replaced Weimann on 79 minutes. I struggle to see why he did not start given his recent performance level and can only assume it was because it was not felt he was up to playing twice in 48 hours. When he did come on he produced a good work rate and looked keen to try to make a difference. Up the Villa and a Happier New Year to all readers! John Lewis

Yes rjw63 the bad times outweigh the good ones over the years and he have overdone the stuffing too often. The best one I recall was 89/90 with home wins over Manchester United on 26/12 (3-0), Arsenal on 30/12 (2-1) & an away win at Chelsea 1/1 (3-0). Although our 4-1 Boxing Day home win against West Ham on Dennis Mortimer's debut in 75 was a game that will always stand out for me. Thanks for the comment av1 and we now have the opportunity to go again after our point today villa-revolution.

You got in before my correction P3te.

"which would value the club at £82.6m back then" - correction this should have been the shares he sold him rather than the value of the club as a whole.

£250m?? If that is anywhere near what Randy would want to make from a sale then we are as likely to be sold as Small Heath are given neither he nor Carson Yeung can expect to get all of their investment back. By the way our former owner also said he sold to Randy for £62.6m on the understanding he would make £20m available to MON for players which would value the club at £82.6m back then. £250m would leave little provision for squad building unless any new owner/organisation was mega rich in a much bigger way than Randy was back when he became custodian of our football club and offered us that bright future.

"We go again (hopefully.)" - Yes we do Villa-revolution. It is either a good thing that we do so in 48 hours because it offers an opportunity to prove we can put things right without delay or a bad thing if the hangover from this performance is still with us. We will soon know which it is... "Generous ratings if you ask me." - It is the time of the year to be generous dudevillaisnice and let us hope Randy feels the same way when he looks at what we can do to try to put things right next month!

Source: Player Match Ratings: Another Christmas Turkey!

This was the nightmare after Christmas for us and rarely can so many fans have paid so much for so little entertainment at Villa Park. So for a second year Christmas has brought us nothing to cheer and we have instead faced a run of seasonal defeats. This sad defeat like the one at Fulham that started our current 4 game run of defeats must now be seen as a lost six pointer. For me this was a must win game which turned into a game of frustration. Palace came hoping for a point and left with all three. This is far from unusual for visitors to Villa Park given 6 of our 9 home games this season have now ended in defeat. But this was not Manchester United, Spurs or Liverpool we were facing it was a team that started the game in the bottom three and six points below us although that all changed yesterday. To have drawn would have been bad enough and for me we seemed far too ready to accept a point during a game that we never really looked likely to win. But to lose to a late goal with our defenders nowhere to be seen was as unpalatable as was the fact that on the balance of play Palace was the better of two poor sides. This was a game we were looking for a win from that would leave us 9 points clear of the bottom dwellers and looking to clinch our safety sooner rather than later this time around. But another defeat has left us lacking in confidence and looking over our shoulders as we prepare to face the second half of a season. This is becoming an all too familiar situation for a club of our stature to face season in and season out. With the players who did much to secure our safety last season either missing games through injury in the case of Vlaar and Benteke or misfiring in the case of Weimann, Gabby and Benteke I have to wonder where the improvement will come from this season if it is not to come from these same sources. We lack the guile, will and confidence to impose our game on opponents and to take the game to them at Villa Park. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that we have yet to score a first half league goal at home this season. So clubs gather confidence from going into the break either in front or on level terms and in the knowledge that one goal may well prove enough given our obvious difficulty in finding the back of the net. So it proved yesterday. Both teams produced a woeful first half during which we created nothing until a header from an Albrighton corner was helped over the bar by Mariappa with the last touch of the half. We did not do much better in the second half and the better of what chances there were fell to the visitors. Given it was predictable that we would need to take the game to our opponents yesterday it seemed baffling to me that we could find no place for Bacuna in our midfield and that Gary Gardner would remain sitting on our bench with Bannan (for some reason booed by some) enjoying his return to Villa Park so clearly and with us in need of some craft in a midfield that lacked any spark. My player ratings from a game that has left us sitting uncomfortably just three points clear of the relegation places are: Brad Guzan – 7 – MOTM – Pushed away a shot from Puncheon on 48 minutes following a Luna error which had left Bolasie free in a good wide position and then denied the same player 16 minutes later by blocking his on target shot. His best stop was sandwiched between these two when he did so well to get a hand to a Bannan shot from the edge of the box on 55 minutes which deflected the ball onto the post. Matt Lowton – 4 – Still some way off what he showed us last season. Ciaran Clark – 4 – The best of our defenders yesterday although that is not saying a great deal given the likes of Swansea will offer a tougher test than they faced yesterday. I am at a loss to know why he had pushed so far forward when they claimed their late winner. Nathan Baker – 3 – Attracted to the ball on the half way line in the build up to their winner, gathered another booking and looked short on composure when tested. Antonio Lunar - 3 – Substituted on 67 minutes having been given a disappointingly torrid afternoon by Bolasie prior to that. Karim El Ahmadi – 4 – Put his foot in now and again but he was most unlikely to produce the defence splitting passes we were looking for yesterday and it was more than a little surprising that he was still on the field at the end. Fabian Delph - 5 – The best of our inept midfield yesterday. Fabian demonstrated the exasperation we were all feeling with the level of performance of his team mates when bouncing the ball several feet in the air in frustration late in the second half. But he allowed Gayle the space and the time to hit their stoppage time winner from the edge of the box after being inexplicably left as our only defender. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 3 – Gabby produced a strong run into the box on 58 minutes which ended with a tame shot into the clutches of Speroni at the near post. But, I hoped and expected to see much more from him than he showed during this game. Marc Albrighton – 5 – That he again earned the accolade of being our most effective outfield player says as much about him on his return from a loan spell at Wigan as it does for the contribution or lack of it of the players who lined up alongside him. Andreas Weimann – 3 – Found inside the box by a good ball from Delph on 54 minutes but his first time volley was easily gathered by Speroni. He was also found inside the box on the hour after Lowton pulled the ball back to him having himself been found by a splendid ball between two defenders by Albrighton but Andi got under the ball and hit it well over. Looks a shadow of the player he was last season when he had worked so well with Benteke. Libor Kozak – 3 – Gave what was largely an unrecognisable impersonation of an international forward yesterday which was very disappointing given he could reasonably have been expected to kick on using the confidence that scoring goals for us this month should have given him. Sure he did lack service but that is what strikers at our club have grown to expect now and more than this is expected from him. Substitutes: Leandro Bacuna – 5 - Replaced Luna on 67 minutes but failed to make a telling contribution to a game he really should have started in midfield. Jordan Bowery – Replaced Kozak on 76 minutes which demonstrated the paucity of options on our bench and how highly Helenius appears to be rated. He did get a late 89th minute header to a ball from Lowton on target that Speroni tipped over the bar but did not merit a rating during what time he had. Aleksandar Tonev – Replaced Weimann on 87 minutes and was not on long enough to earn a rating or to hit one of those atomic strikes that we were promised but which have yet to materialise. Up the Villa and a Happy New Year to all readers! John Lewis

"It could well be PL gets 35-40m in the summer on players that together will take us to the next step". It could also be that he gets less than we get from players we sell which I think is sadly where my money would be VillakevBromsgrove. If the players are there during this window we should try to get them in now in the way other clubs will do or we should try to get a couple in on loan possibly with a view to buy to give us a lift now. But I accept that neither seem likely to happen as this would see money taken away from the balance sheet to invest into the playing side.

I was rather hoping for a little more than possibly one loan signing HH. Other teams will spend in the window to try to be sure they stay up and whilst we have the points advantage at present we have 2 home games that we now need to get 4 points from as a minimum to keep that gap as it is. I think the bomb squad arguement has to stop soon because most of them have gone now. We need to make an investment in our squad over the next 2 windows rather than again aim to spend peanuts on a high risk low fee transfer policy to attract fans to matches in the numbers the club budgets for and to do something other than flirt with the relegation zone this season and next. A central defender, a holding player in the middle and one that can create something would do for me. If say 2 have to be quality players brought in on loan then so be it but 1 player is not going to fix things given our form at home and now away.

Blatent hand ball to get the ball under control and how Crouch enjoyed it. So much for not celebrating against a former team but I guess he has had a few and needs all the help he can get from his hand and the ref to get on the score sheet. We need a second now because we rely on our away form and 2 away defeats on the bounce would be a big blow.