Aston Villa Thread

I must admit I had them tipped for relegation before Martin O'Neal came in but they've looked great in their first two games, looks like Martins finally got them playing with the right attitude, I think they can definately finish top 10, if they continue they could be pushing for a European place

Im going to predict they finish 8th.

8th or 9th, they weren´t relegation fodder with their players just their manager, so now with somebody who is notorious in england for being difficult to beat they should finish mid-table, but i still think they lack real quality, and would think that

chelsea, man utd, liverpool, arsenal, spurs, newcastle, poss bolton, west ham, blackburn, everton may all be better

Do you think Whittingham will start getting more matches this year? He always impresses in the under 21s yet doesnt seem to play that much for Villa.

i'm saying 10th, but that could be upped depending on signings. more than happy with 4pts out of the first 2 games.

whittingham may play a bit - again it could depend on signings. he came off the bench yesterday, which shows o'neill is at least considering him. this will probably be a make or break season for him after only being a fringe player last couple of years.

Between 8th and 15th..

12th spot.

No way will they end up in left table at the end of the season. Unless they buy really big come january.

Not with the top4, Spurs, toon, Blackburn, bolton, portsmouth, west ham and Citeh to contend with.

Plus Wigan, boro, everton aren't completely finished off yet. and I reckon one of the promoted teams to do quite well at midtable. None will do a Sunderland.

AV still lacks quality, and it still remains to be seen how they'll deal with dissapointing results.

Charlton are going to struggle this year.

7th IMO.

Very impressiv against us anyhow

midtable

about 10th id say.

I would go for 10th position , it will also depend on who they will bring in Jan.

12th

tbh i think it is near impossible to know who will finish between 5th and 20th its very very open.

Dont be silly everyone, come on its the Villa...every manager gets a honeymoon period and they have 1 week to bring in player...ha! 16th!

Villa will finish 15th.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/5295522.stm

Can they accommodate both Petrov and Davis?

Seems a bizarre transfer if you ask me!

Its bollocks.

Its the one position they shouldn't be strengthening.

Davis is ace.

Yeh my views exactly.

Where would you strengthen?

Left wing for me, Whittingham is ok but nothing special - they could also do with a 15 a season man

It amazes me how many people think that someone O'Neill has turned dross into European contenders. He gets so much praise for 2 wins and a draw, but O'Leary is thought of as a failure, despite getting them to 6th in his first season - missing out on europe only thanks to Boro's carling cup win - and he only bought Gavin McCann and Sorenson for about £3.5 million.

The only difference is that O'Neill wil get backing from the board at the end of the season.

thing is obispo to finish between 8th and 15th doesn´t take that much really and o´neill is a good organiser and good at making his team difficult to beat so really imho there isn´t that much between peoples predictions, and a manager may be the difference the players are generally all of relatively similar quality

Tweedledum wrote:
they could also do with a 15 a season man

@ obispo

It was O'learys second season that everyone was critical of - they played some awful football

If they bring in a decent striker , i can see them finishing 5th. I am not saying this because of the hype surrounding them at the moment but because of how impressed i am about their organisation. They work very hard for each other, close down opponents fast, leave very little space between the lines and they have a lot pace upfront which makes them dangerous on the break.

Obispo wrote:It amazes me how many people think that someone O'Neill has turned dross into European contenders. He gets so much praise for 2 wins and a draw, but O'Leary is thought of as a failure, despite getting them to 6th in his first season - missing out on europe only thanks to Boro's carling cup win - and he only bought Gavin McCann and Sorenson for about £3.5 million.

The only difference is that O'Neill wil get backing from the board at the end of the season.

With O'Leary, the money faucet was shut a long time coming.

Also Agbonlahor looks a fantastic prospect - hes not scared to try stuff out

Hi

I was very impressed by Agbonlahor against Newcastle. Hopefully, he’ll thrive under O’Neill.

Interestingly, I see O’Neill has offered Agathe a trial at the club. Agathe, like Agbonlahor, also plays on the right-hand side. O’Neill once said that he was routinely surprised by Agathe’s performances on the pitch, as he considered him to be the poorest performer in training at Celtic. O’Neill once quipped – following his good performances against Juventus, Porto and Rosenborg in the Champions League – that Agathe was worth £29 Million pounds.

I’ve always liked Agathe: he is athletic, thrives in big European games and is an adequate defensive player; he also cuts inside effectively. I believe he was consistently criticised for his inability to cross the ball, though – a major weakness for a winger or wing-back.

Regarding Petrov, I’ve always expected more from him, perhaps unfairly. I’ve seen him play very well for Celtic many times; but more often than not, I’ve been underwhelmed by his contributions on the pitch.

Agbonlaghor is actually a support striker or at least has been for the reserves.

Last season he played as a left winger and this season he has played as a right winger - so far IMO his most impressive position.

I think I'm about to majorly overhype him but he reminds me of a young Kaka

Hi Tweedledum,

That’s interesting, I was unaware he was so versatile.

If they sign Agathe, they could play Agbonlahor on the left, Agathe on the right, and have two very fast wingers.

Thanks

@ the bulk

You seem to be a big Agathe fan

Are you Scottish?