John

Please excuse my belated player ratings from Saturday’s game which are posted so late due to the sad demise of my old PC. Villa sent West Ham home with their third successive league defeat and our impressive league form continues largely unchecked. We produced a good first half and although West Ham had much of the second we managed to hold onto a goal lead much more comfortable than we had a 3-goal one in mid-week. Although our stay in fifth place will only be fleeting most of the teams up until today have played the same number of games as us so it is not a false position. Nice to see a 40,000 crowd but it was not so nice to see the reception given to our 78th minute substitute. This was not spitting Savo coming on or Steve Hodge or a badge kissing Dwight Yorke. This was a current Villa player who Martin chose to bring into the fray with Gardner tiring and to boo him questions Martin’s decision and only helps the opposition. All Petrov is guilty of is not looking like the player we had thought we had signed from Celtic this time last year. He came to us with a big reputation and looked to be money well spent during his early games last season. But, since then his form has been disappointing not just to us, but no doubt to him and to the manager that brought him here. Some might question whether he can cut it in this league which is clearly more demanding than the one he came from. The jury is still out on that, although he is an established international and might reasonably have been expected to settle in a little faster as a result than our other Celtic import. Homesickness is also not the same problem for Stiliyan as it is for a Scotsman who journeys down south; his words show nothing other than a commitment to succeed in a Villa shirt. What I would suggest is that we need is to show the same encouragement to both of these Celtic imports, who have for differing reasons found difficulty in making the change from the green hoops to the claret and blue shirts. My player ratings from a game that took us into the top 5 albeit only for 24 hours are: Scott Carson - 6 – Little to do but what he had to deal with he dealt with well, such as on 55 minutes when he stopped a close range Cole effort, when an equalizer had looked likely if anyone other than Cole had been on the end of it. Olof Mellberg – 6 – Found his makeshift role more difficult today and Etherington had him for pace more than once. A dodgy header back to Carson on 37 minutes might have caused problems but he was first to get to the loose ball to clear the danger. Zat Knight – 6 – Solid enough and works well alongside Laursen. Might have done better on 85 minutes with a free header from close range that was guided straight into Green’s hands. Martin Laursen – 8 – MOTM – Another tremendous display and a passable John Wile/Terry Butcher impersonation when he came back on after injury with a bandaged head. Wilfred Bouma – 7 – So solid again. Craig Gardner – 7 – Another goal from a free kick on 24 minutes when his shot from the edge of the box was deflected past Green and into the corner of the net by Gabbidon. Nice to see us making these free kicks pay at long last. Looked very effective in the first half. Nigel Reo-Coker – 7 – Our strongest influence in the middle yesterday and hit a decent effort on 11 minutes that Green stopped. Managed to stay focused and avoided getting involved in the squabbles that his former team and particularly Bowyer tried to tempt him into. Gareth Barry – 6 – Not quite as effective as of late and that will no doubt have been noted by the watching England manager who must be desperate for a reason to not start him. Ashley Young – 8 – Must have impressed the watching England boss. Our main threat up front by some distance hits such inviting crosses. Luke Moore – 5 – We know he has ability, he knows it and so does Martin. But, it has to be worked at and shown on a regular basis to hold onto the shirt even when competition for it is limited. Badly needs a goal or two to up his confidence level. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Hit a shot at Green’s legs on 84 minutes but was pretty well handled by their central defence. Substitutes: Shaun Maloney - 7 - Replaced Luke on 66 minutes and played his part in eating the minutes up in that corner as the game just drifted away from Curbs and his Eastenders. Made his usual good contribution when coming off the bench and may now be worth a start. Stiliyan Petrov – 6 – Did nothing wrong after he replaced Gardner on 78 minutes. Up the Villa! John Lewis

So, what had seemed to represent potentially our easiest route into Europe has now gone west and the trophy will no doubt again be left to the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool’s fringe players to fight for down Wembley Way! Although Bouma and Carew’s absence were enforced, Carson, Laursen, Young and Moore’s additional absence, along with Barry’s change of role (where I think many of us had expected that Stephen O’Halloran would have been given an outing) proved too much change for us to cope with last night. Have we become blasé about this trophy in the way that many teams have who see this competition as just a distraction these days? Or, did Martin and many of us (myself included), think that we had already reached the point where we were good enough to be able to make widespread changes, give fringe players the chance to stake a claim for a first team berth and still sweep aside the challenge of a former bogey side who now managed by Megson were likely to have been as fired up for this game against us as they were when they faced us in the past when then managed by our present manager? OK Leicester are not as good a team as they were in the past but the cup is a great leveller and this time we did a little too much to help make the opportunity for this giant killing happen. I suspect this defeat will be harder for us to take than will Manchester United’s, after all they have bigger fish to fry and we do not. I think this game probably turned on pushing Barry back from the role in which he has proved to be so effective for us and England this season and in resting both Moore and Young, on a night when we were already going to miss the sort of problems that Big John would cause Leicester’s defence. It was also influenced by our substitutions being made after they had scored a goal in what became increasingly likely to be a game that would be decided by the team that scored first, if not by penalties. The substitutions when they did come gave us some urgency and made us look like scoring where before that we seldom did. So, it could also be argued that if Leicester had scored earlier then we would have been forced to make our changes earlier and this would have brought an equaliser that we were unable to fashion in the just over twenty minutes of play that was left to us after their goal last night. But, it could also be said that we are at risk of becoming an inconsistent team who follow a good win with a disappointing defeat, as was the case after our win at home to Chelsea and now Everton. What is for sure is that last night represented a reminder of the bad old days that we don’t want to see too often, fortress Villa Park was breached last night and it was not pretty! My player ratings from a game that is best forgotten and during which our ground staff may have soon wished they had eased off with the sprinklers a little are: Stuart Taylor - 5 – Very little to do but his kicking looked unsteady more than once. Olof Mellberg – 6 – Worked hard but might have done better with their goal. Zat Knight – 6 – A steady enough performance. Curtis Davies – 6 – Did not always look as comfortable as might have been anticipated, although it is early days. Will have far better games than this debut! Gareth Barry – 7 – MOTM – The one player to rise above the average last night but we missed his regular inspiration further up the field by pushing him back to cover for Bouma’s absence. Shaun Maloney – 6 – When he found his feet produced some decent forward movement and was unlucky to see a good effort go over the bar for a corner after a splendid one two with Petrov. But, Shaun has show a bit more when given opportunities like this previously this season and this display is unlikely to force Martin to look again at changing his normal starting XI. Nigel Reo-Coker – 6 – Solid but might have been expected to step up to have had a greater influence in the middle in Gareth’s absence. Stiliyan Petrov – 5 – Hit a decent free kick on 85 minutes that their keeper saved well. But, we need to see more than he has showed over the past year and last night. I would have liked to have seen more signs in his performance that being out of the side is hurting. Isaiah Osborne – 5 – Disappointing, has reached the point where he needs to show more signs of fulfilling his promise when given first team opportunities like this. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – A couple of late efforts and had a decent strike tipped over on 21 minutes but struggled to show his best last night as did the team as a whole. Gabby might reasonably been expected to have proved to be more of a handful for the Leicester defence than proved to be the case. Marlon Harewood – 6 – Did what could reasonably be expected of a squad player but less than we would have expected from Big John, another striker who might have been expected to offer more of a threat to their defence. Substitutes: Ashley Young - 6 - Replaced Osborne on 70 minutes. Looked sharp and hit a couple of good crosses, he seemed most likely to bring us back into it but needed longer to make it happen. Luke Moore – 5 – Replaced Marlon on 75 minutes and made little impression. Patrik Berger– 6 – A welcome return, showed some urgency that had been lacking when coming on for Curtis on 79 minutes. Up the Villa! John Lewis

What a sad and long journey back to the pleasantries of Liverpool this must have been for those Evertonian’s no wonder so many of them decided to set off early! Gabby earned a yellow card today for his goal celebrations in front of The Holte End. If players were booked for this back when Andy Gray was doing the same in the 70s he would have spent most of his time suspended. Haven’t referees got better things to be doing these days and is it not time that players were allowed to celebrate scoring goals in front of their own fans, as this is punished where the hand to the ear of players who score in front of opposition fans is not? Perhaps this was not quite as impressive a performance as was our thrilling defeat of Chelsea three weeks ago but this was a big improvement on our display at Manchester City last week. I think most of us would have been happy with 6 points from 9 from these three games and 2 wins brings more points than 3 draws. So although we might lose the odd game that we drew last season if we convert more of last season’s draws into wins then we should end the season in the top half and that would be the sort of improvement we should realistically be looking for this season. Everton are a tight ship and won’t concede two or more goals too often this season. They would have been happy with a point today but once we scored they looked to be out of ideas and Gabby’s well taken second finished the game as a contest. This fixture is the most played in the top division and after today’s win we have won 70 times as have Everton, we have scored 284 goals as have they. But, where they had mostly looked to be the side on the up in recent seasons and we had seemed to be treading water at best we are now looking to challenge for their European place next season and to overtake them in the way the likes of Chelsea have us in the past and it might just have started today when we leapt above them in the league with what ended up a comfortable enough win. Going to Villa Park is fast becoming something to look forward to once again. Where we were going to games in the past because that’s just what we do, we are now beginning to look forward to games with a passion that has not been seen at Villa Park for many a year. This really is the green shoots of recovery folks! We are playing it tight at the back, we are solid in the middle and we are creating chances. Villa Park is fast becoming a ground that other teams will see as a fortress and that we will walk away from with smiles on our faces after 90 minutes more often than not! My player ratings from a game that took us back into the top half of the table and back above the team from the dark side of the city are: Scott Carson - 7 – Got down well to prevent a late consolation goal on 89 minutes and when tested looked very solid. Olof Mellberg – 7 – I know he’s probably not, but his performance today suggested he was beginning to enjoy his new role or is it the glimpses of the bright future at the club he has graced over the years and the opportunity to play any part in this that is enthusing him? He even found the time to have a crack at goal that went wide on 58 minutes. Zat Knight – 7 – Literally dwarfed that blue nose Johnson who got no change from either of our central defenders today. The fact that he’s keeping out a player like Curtis Davies says it all and it proves that if you continue to do the business Martin will keep playing you. Martin Laursen – 8 – Won everything in the air as he always does and has become an impenetrable wall for opposition strikers. Well worth another contract! Wilfred Bouma – 7 – Solid and is an increasingly important cog in our defensive machine. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 – Got on the end of a through ball and applied a sweet instinctive finish to claim all 3 points on 62 minutes, more involved than of late and enjoyed performing in the centre in the second half. Gareth Barry – 9 – MOTM – We always knew he was an England player and now everyone else has joined his fan club his confidence has risen to the extent that we now have a Gerrard like midfield general. He was immense today. Nigel Reo-Coker – 7 – Played the holding role today and his industrious efforts did much to counter what is a strong Everton midfield and to help us to a well deserved win. Ashley Young – 7 – More effective in the second half when he got used to the weight of numbers that Everton were putting in front of him. Loves to take on players and hits a nice cross as he demonstrated with a superb run and cross on 72 minutes that Luke was not able to reach to get the touch that was needed to make it three. Luke Moore – 6 –Replaced by Marlon on 80 minutes and I think he needs to realise that he has to show more of what we know he is capable of to hold onto his place. John Carew – 7 – He does score goals after all then! Big John applied a super finish to beat their keeper on 13 minutes and scored the all important first goal today. John is a great target man who will in a full season get 10 – 15 goals and who through his hard work makes opportunities for others who may be more prolific but who need the service that he provides to show it. John needed this goal and I hope that the injury that led to a 53rd minute substitution does not keep him out for too long as we would miss what he gives us more than many might suspect. Substitutes: Craig Gardner - 6 - Replaced Big John with more than half an hour left. Did a reasonable job and will be looking forward to the opportunity that a cup game at home to Leicester should provide for a full 90 minute outing in our midfield. Marlon Harewood – 6 – Did well to get his head to a Young cross on 89 minutes but was wide with his effort. Must have been disappointed to not get the call when Big John came off and let’s hope he has 90 minutes to show Martin that he can fill in for the big man. Up the Villa! John Lewis

Chelsea remain winless against us at Villa Park this Millennium and did anyone else enjoy seeing Roman trying to sneak out before the end but being unable to avoid shaking the outstretched hand of our smirking former chairman? As Martin promised we did not cower or surrender meekly today. We worked very hard and although Chelsea had a lot of possession our defence remained resolute. The statistics that matter are that we scored two goals and they scored none. This result shows how far we have come already and for once we did not try to sit on a lead but went for the second and got it! Yes, we have beaten one of the top four at long last and we did not sneak the win there was two goals between the sides at the finish despite the referee who saw fir to book Gabby when he commented on Carew’s booking but was happy to take heated advice from Terry throughout without showing a card to him. My player ratings from a game after which Roman might just have needed a Vodka or three are: Scott Carson - 6 – Might need to consider whether catching instead of punching might sometimes be the better option and at times looked less commanding than would be expected but at the end of the day Scott is able to point to another clean sheet. Olof Mellberg – 7 – Did well in a role that he would no doubt not choose to fill. Zat Knight – 7 – Got his second goal for Villa in two matches winning a header from a corner on 47 minutes and looked solid on his debut at the back. Martin Laursen – 8 – Won everything in the air as usual and had Drogba in his pocket most of the time and on the one occasion he was left for dead by him on 58 minutes Olof was on hand to tidy up. Wilfred Bouma – 7 – A solid performance against SWP. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 7 – Did some good work at the back and got into the game more as the game wore on capping this off by applying a crisp finish to a great cross from Young on 88 minutes. Might have done better on the stroke of half time when he failed to connect with an inviting cross. Gareth Barry – 7 – Became more prominent as the game wore on and worked well with NRC to give us a hard running central midfield. Luke Moore – 7 – Turned well on 6 minutes to force a good stop by their keeper and gave a good performance against strong opponents today. Nigel Reo-Coker – 9 – MOTM – A hard running and whole hearted performance. Seems to be enjoying life at Villa Park and showed some good pace against Ashley Cole. Ashley Young – 8 – Our main threat and did so well with that flick, run and cross to set up our second. Martin spent our money well and he deserves a run out against Israel but I doubt the manager has the bottle to try him out. Hit a terrific shot from a wide position that forced a finger tip and the corner that resulted in our opening goal. John Carew – 7 – Worked very hard and had no help from the referee throughout. Substitutes: Stiliyan Petrov - 6 - Replaced John on 79 minutes and picked up the pace of the game pretty well. Up the Villa and bring on Sven’s boys! John Lewis

Might this just show that we have a capable scouting network that have unearthed a gem that other clubs might regret not having checked out themselves in a season or two? Arsenal have done it in the past as we did with a certain player that went on to sign for Manchester United. I would guess he did not cost Curtis money and we have given him a season to show he has what it takes. Martin might even have noticed himself when he was at The World Cup. He looks half decent on the You Tube clip but most players do now he has the opportunity to look good in our shirt. Welcome to Villa Park Moustapha!

Thanks Bicks sorry I posted this in the wrong spot.

A good attendance, a good win - bring on Chelsea! This was a very important 3 points that puts us in mid-table and leaves Manchester United needing to win today to retain their one point lead over us (although we do have a game in hand)! I thought we did well to comeback from a goal down again after Dempsey had slotted home after being left unmarked in the area by ball watching defenders. Fulham were less effective as the game wore and we created enough opportunities to have won at a canter, which is why a lot of us still think we need a fifth striker. Bouma’s injury brought about the substitution that gave us our winner, but injuries also expose the lack of depth in our squad, as does the absence of a right back and lets hope these and other things can be rectified in the coming week. Nice to see Martin being so involved as to have to spend the second half in the stands. Clearly Bennett played 2 minutes less than he should at the end of the first half (injuries both inside the 45 minutes and in injury time count by the way ref), he should also have played advantage rather than blew his whistle in his haste to get Baird off the pitch and that hasty decision might well have cost us the win. Not a good game for the ref overall then and any repercussions from yesterday should be his to face other than Martin’s. My player ratings from a game after which we had climbed into the top half of the league are: Scott Carson - 6 – Pulled off a great stop on 86 minutes getting down on his line to stop a goal bound header that would have given Fulham a result that they did not deserve. Not much else to do other than on 5 minutes when he was left with little chance by his defenders. Craig Gardner – 6 – Doing as well as can be expected playing out of position, Craig must be hoping that signing comes next week so he can return to boost our midfield options. Olof Mellberg – 6 – Not at his best today. Martin Laursen – 7 – Won everything in the air as we have come to expect but distribution was occasionally less effective. Wilfred Bouma – 6 – Can do better but he was solid enough. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Put a good opportunity wide on 35 minutes when put under pressure by a defender. Not at his best today needs to be more involved. Gareth Barry – 7 – More prominent in the second half and some immaculate passes from distance. Stiliyan Petrov – 5 – Substituted at half time after a half in which he had failed to make any impression again. The time has come for him to show us what he showed in the early games of last season on a consistent basis or was that a flash in the pan and what we have had since is what we should now expect? Nigel Reo-Coker – 7 – Bossed the midfield and demanded more from his team mates, looks a great signing. Ashley Young – 8 – MOTM – A constant threat to Fulham from wide positions. Ran at defenders all day and they had no answer to him. Capped a fine display with his equaliser on 50 minutes cutting inside and hitting the ball past Keller into the far corner of the net. John Carew – 7 – Unlucky to see a header hit the woodwork on the stroke of half time but should have done better on 25 minutes when the ball was taken from his feet when he was about to pull the trigger after having been put clear and then 7 minutes later when he hit a weak shot at the keeper, seemed short of pace at times today. Substitutes: Luke Moore - 7 - Replaced Petrov for the second half and played like he had a point to prove to the manager. Keller pulled off a great finger tip save to deny him on 58 minutes and hit a good shot after a great turn on 46 minutes that went just wide. Marlon Harewood – 6 – Replaced Carew on 78 minutes to offer strength up front but had limited opportunity in the time available to stake a claim for a starting role. Shaun Maloney – 7 - Replaced the injured Bouma on 83 minutes, if it had been a tactical rather than an injury substitution it would have been hailed as a master stroke because in the first minute of injury time he had the cool head to slot the ball past their keeper to give us a much needed and deserved victory. Up the Villa! John Lewis

NEITS said: I don't think that "challenging ManU day in and day out" is the same as the UEFA Cup being achievable in season 2 or 3 NEITS. We are aiming to improve each season. 10 - 7 would represent that in this year 2 and that might just give us UEFA Cup qualification, further progress in year 3 surely would give us that qualification and by the end of year 5 we would hope to be "challenging ManU day in and day out". It won't be easy and there will be times when the task looks more than we can manage but I trust Martin, Randy and the staff at B6 to get us back up where we belong, we just need to hold our nerve and enjoy the white knuckle ride! :winkold:

Well said 306. Not every signing will be in the superstar or NRC category. We will buy the odd player like Harewood who will not put bums on seats or excite but who will improve the squad, do a decent job when needed (in Marlon's case on those occasions Big John is out or rested). Marlon and John would not very often start a game as our two strikers and if we now add a player like Defoe to the striking options then I think few would complain about Marlon's name being added to the squad. In Martin & Randy I still trust. :notworthy:

Juninho & Ravenelli did not join them because of our former chairman though tricella. Sidwell went for money and to play for Chelsea reserves and Distin just went to the highest bidders. We want players who are good, want to play football for us and our manager and who still have ambition. Those two are no great loss but NRC would be.

Boro managed to sign high profile players in the past and you don't get a football club much less tempting for a foreign player than them. Give them and the club they play for enough money and they will come.

And Troglodyte he would most likely prefer to sign for Spurs! :oops:

My concern as well TLR but surely West Ham would not try to start a bidding war with their reputation on the transfer market? :winkold: Nakamura from Celtic & Boruc? Is this part of a cunning plan for Celtic to get into the Premier League through the back door? But, if Martin wants him and there is something to this one, then I'm happy to back his judgement on this one and on any other.

The difference with these 4 teams Amo is that West Ham, Portsmouth and Newcastle have won things in the past and might one day win something again. The other team never has and never will.

The first time that could be claimed since those loan deals made the news Tricella. :winkold: Is anyone else sick to the teeth of West Ham who should have been relegated buying players like they have just stolen someone's credit card and raising the bar on all transfer fees and wages? They could be another Leeds, but they should already be half way there if the powers that be had any nerve. I also think this NRC deal needs to be done and dusted before the U21 tournament starts. If he wants to come he will come this week, if he does not he will drag it out waiting for someone else to bite and I don't expect MON to wait for him whilst other targets get signed by others. As far as Koumas is concerned he is good going forward but will not track back. This sounds like the player trying to tempt us to come in for him but if MON wants him then I back his judgement.

I wonder whether Jake Findlay might have fancied a game as he is a local Streetly driving instructor?

Must have been thinking of us back then as well then! :winkold:

ne (non) plus ultra: Nothing further; the uttermost point; perfection.

Talk Sport claim Barton to Newcastle is dependant on Parker to West Ham. If that is right, where does that leave NRC to us (part of a treble or not)?

A group of us were in Amsterdam & Rotterdam last weekend (25 years to the day) and watched the Ajax v AZ game. I mentioned Klaas-Jan Huntelaar & Wesley Sneijder to a couple of their fans in a bar. They seemed to think Wes was a done deal to Valencia but I mentioned that as far as I knew they had yet to agree a price. As far as Huntelaar was concerned they seemed to think he was destined for a big foreign club. When I suggested that we could be that big club it was clear that news of Randy's revolution had yet to hit Amsterdam. Time for a quick 20m bid for the pair to show that we are now players at the top end of the market, after all if you don't ask you don't get? :winkold:

...is being delayed by them.

NRC's agent seems to be keeping his players options open when he talks of our interest. I suspect that NRC might prefer to hang on to see whether anyone else comes in for him. I don't want to see us missing out on players because a deal for Parker does not come off or someone comes in for NRC in 2 weeks time. How about telling West Ham that we will match their bid for Parker, if any early outcome to our interest in NRC?

No, but we were looking to take him on as a ball boy!

I can't see why we are even looking at the possibility of Luke and Gabby going on this thread. I doubt if they would like to think we were even considering the prospect. Who knows whether Charlton would want Luke or that Luke would want to go? My guess is that Charlton will sell Bent to the highest bidder and hope that is not their former manager and then buy someone of their own choice. If Luke does move it should be on loan for a few months in the knowledge that he will come back rather than be sold, if he was sold it would not be to someone in the league below - he is better than that. Fergie might like the look of Gabby but this is no longer the former chairman he is dealing with and I suspect at the end of next season Gabby might think his ambitions can be achieved here and he is young enough to wait. This chap on the icbrum forum may have a track record Gabby but he's not saying too much yet is he? Sounds a bit like me saying expect 4 new signings before the new season starts for a total of £20m plus, I suspect the bookies would give us both odds on.

Just heard Craig Bellamy on SKY Sports. Did anyone else catch him? I read it that he seems resigned to leaving but it is clear he is reluctant to do so and the mention of playing for clubs before whose ambition was to qualify for the CL and to now playing for one that has ambition to win it suggests that he might see a move to us as a step backwards as did Stanley Victor and Baros in the past, with not the best end results for us. I may be reading it wrong and I guess he has no choice but to boost Liverpool at this point, but I'm still more than a bit concerned about the prospect of us signing him. But, in Martin I trust.