Yesterday confirmed what we feared but we simply are not good enough at killing off teams. For the record I thought we played well until their goal and if that useless lump Carew had scored when close in then maybe the game would have been different. What the game did confirm to me was we have loads of fighting spirit and as we saw at the end all the players and especially Young and Milner looked distraught.
We kept the ball on the floor very well but the lack of movement from the front two and especially the lump Carew was clear for all to see in the Holte End and this is the problem I see for MON to resolve. For me it is not about a PLAN A or a PLAN B but the personnel we have up front. With a player full of movement it allows for so many other options than we currently have. Gabby I have always rated but he was too static yesterday and yet scored a good header, Carew, was well just hopeless and maybe after the criticism after Saturday MON thought best not to bring on Heskey.
So the questions that have to be asked are
1) Do we have the cash to supplement the existing squad or do we need sell ?
2) Is there a player out there that can add movement, skill and goals and is affordable and will come to Villa
3) Who will leave the club in the summer be it the manager or a number of players ?
For me it is clear who should leave
Carew
Heskey
NRC or Sidwell
Beye or Young
Cuellar or Davies
Salifou
Harewood
Who we can get, really I have no idea on that, who I would want, I am not sure. I have always wanted someone like Robbie Keane ha has the attributes of being a goalscorer and would add movement but at 29 is the hunger and desire there anymore to succeed at the top level ?
Time will tell of course and it will be interesting to see what happens in the summer, as usual.
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You could also mention the likes of
Issiah osbourne,Nicky Shorey or Wilfred Bouma.
None of whom i feel will be able to contribute anything at the level we are looking to attain.
Would not look to lose Cuellar or Davies though , they are both i feel able to contribute to the team.
Still feel both are better long term than James Collins
who is too similar in style in my opinion to R Dunne.
Carew and NRC will not. You may see Heskey and harewood go ! He wont sell Cuellar and he May sell Davis with Bouma coming back
And to replace heskey you may see him try and buy R.Keane
we can sell Davies or cuellar because Clark has to be given a chance
opps Paul, knew I forgot some but over Carew it is his last year f his contract he has to be sold in the summer or given a new more expensive last contract, I suspect some foreign teams would offer that.
Pointless selling cuellar or davies io, both are good enough for the premier league and we wouldn’t be able to bring in better for the bench. Another skillful midefielder to bring on / in and two top quality strikers would be top of my list
Carew needs to go… Gabby cant play with either him or Heskey, who even when everyone slates him we have actually played better when Heskey has started ahead of Carew. We either need to go 4-5-1 or buy someone like Bent who can hold the ball and score 20 a season. No need to get rid of Davies as he dunne and cuellar are our best CB. Collins isnt good enough. Would be upset to see Beye go as he hasnt been given a real chance he was man of the match against Hull and then MoN doesnt give him another chance! Keep NRC let Sidwell go. Please not Robbie Keane hes at Celtic for a reason!
Imo Clark should be loaned out for a season long loan to a championship side to give him experience
whilst at the same time it would allow us to see his progress and whether he would make the premiership grade.If someone came in with Good Money for Carew then let him go -he is not going to get any better at his age and we would have no resale value.Give Heskey away or part ex with Wigan for Rodellaga or NZogbia.(think they would like him back!)
agree Rob, I have often advocated 4-5-1 with Gabby as the figure head, supported by the likes of Young, Milner and Downing
Problem is in any partnership up front you need one to fall back in midfield and Heskey can do that (hence the low number of goals) but Carew and Gabby are both bloody hopeless at it
Don’t necessarily think we should be tripping over ourselves to let ANYONE go without getting more and better in first. If our late season slumps are purely down to fatigue then that’d be mental thing to do.
Assuming we make it into Europe in one form or another, we know MON takes cups very seriously so we need all the centre-backs we already have plus reinforcement in nearly every other position barring on the wing.
If there not good enough to challenge for a place in the team now then let them go. It is pointless having
overpaid players who are not used because the manager does not think they are good enough -may as well bring some of the young reserves through.
I agree we dont want to just get rid of players willy nilly
but i would be happy to let for example 7 players go who are on the periphary if it meant bringing in 3or4 quality players who would actually challenge for a place in the 1st eleven.
Agree about the very static front two. I havent been to many games BUT the 5 I have been to, both Gabby and Carew made no runs for the midfield to use to create the telling pass. Its impossible for the midfield to create if the front 2 are immobile.
From being the best counter attacking team in the Premier we now couldnt counter attack against Hull City.
imo…. Out…. Heskey,Sidwell,Beye,Carew. In… Bent, O’hara, Ireland. Give Delph, Delfouneso, Albrighton, L Young more time in the 1st Team i.e. Cup games. O’neil is great but he needs to have more faith in the second string players they have won the league 3 years on the trot. Ferguson did it at Utd im not sayin our boys r as good as a young Becks, Scholes, Giggs etc. But if he dont try them we’ll never now.
I think that we’re in for a summer of massive change at Brummagem B6 Ian, probably some we’re hoping for, plus I would expect, some we’re not.
We’ve been found wanting again, and that isn’t what we the supporters, the ownner, or MON and his staff want.
Some huge decisions have to be made by the Villa Park hierarchy, because we very definitely currently sit at the crossroads.
problem is Glen is the money, it is as simple as that in terms of wages and Randy’s own expenditure we have gone as far as we could.
The thing that messed this up the plans were Man City and when I look at the annual report I do not wish us to spend any further more on wages so cutbacks ARE required to push further and trust the kids as Grewy said
The thing is our reserves arent quite simply good enough for the prem yet… Clark needs to be loaned out as does Delfouneso. We cant just keep saying play the youngsters theyve won the league 3 years on the trot, but if you look at the quality of the teams they are facing the standard of reserve football has certainly dropped!
OUT
Sidwell
Beye
Harewood
Heskey
IN
Keane
Dempsey
Bent
Sorted
I agree, I think we need a big shake up at the end of the year, most of the players mentioned above I’d happily see out as long as we bring in some decent 1st team players.
I honestly think we have always struggled since the days of George Boateng sitting in front of our back four. If you look at all the top teams in the league, they have a tough defensive mid with decent distribution & that can contribute to the goals (Essien/Mikel/Song). We don’t have this & so our back line is always under fire straight away. Not sure who would be available this summer to fill that gap.
That would then allow us to play 3 infront of him, Young, Petrov & Milner. For me, Downing has not performed & has been a total waste of money. He doesn’t go past players which he should do with his speed/potential. He seems to turn back or lay it off confronted..this is no good to us!
If I was to buy a front man, its got to be Darren Bent. A quick, strong lad who has got the finish that the others don’t. Not only that, but he’s a clever player, I watched Sunderland come to Villa couple of weeks back & his movement off the ball is smart & efficient. Plus, he could play with either Gab of Carew. For me, he would be the difference between us finishing 4th & wherever we will this year.
In
Robbie keane
Kevin Davies
Charles N’zogbia
Out
Sidwell
Harewood
Beye
Heskey
Ashley Young
Nicky Shorey
Young to go ??
In
Bent
Ireland
O’hara
Noble
Out
Heskey
Harewood
Sidwell
Salifou
Ryan are you mad??! Ashley Young is our best player!
James i totally agree with you on that point Petrov is not good enough to sit in the back four. Its a fact that MoN needs to go out and buy a CDM. All the other teams around us like Everton, Man City and Spurs have Heitinga, De Jong, Palacios and even Fulham have one: Etuhu. The thing is Reo-Coker is traditionally this type of player but O’Neil favours him in a more forward position when he does play?!
We wont be able to sign Bent hes going to stay at Sunderland at least for one more season. We have to go abroad (which MoN wont do)and sign a top class striker like a Rooney or Defoe who can play of Heskey because Gabby just doesnt seem to be able to!