We Simply Weren't Good Enough Cries Manager

Is that the royal we Martin? Have a look in the mirror to see our main problem

thats because he hasnt spent any real money in todays transfer market biggest signing 6mill from leeds come on. i think he doesnt have a clue what to do at home he just likes to play away from home fans arent gonna keep paying money to watch villa if were gonna keep playing s*** at home

Bah ! Weakened team, smaller squad...Heskey as main striker....sold our best players....what did we really expect ?

I woke up this morning not looking forward to a new season for the first time in my life, I expected us to be poor today and yet I still ended up shocked at how bad we were, that is a fair old achievment, and the Carew situation could develope into a disaster

has he lost the dressing room? a lot of unhappy faces today... strange seeing Cuellar coming off laughing his head off with a Wigan player mind you, he should be ashamed after the performance he put in! MON looks like a spent force to me, this is his 4th season, not his 1st, not that his 1st was very good.

James Milner at right back...it was laughable wasn't it? England's best winger on Wednesday gets put to right back because MON brought on a...winger.

Go Mr O'Neill. You are tactically inept.

Things could be worse though...we could all be Everton fans !

I can assure you, sitting through a 6-1 home drubbing at the hands of an average Arsenal side, we are in a much, much worse position than you. The fact we have 14 senior players means we're stuck with that useless set of ***** that played today.

At last the blind faithful are seeing the light that MON is *****e. I have been knocked on this site for saying in the past that he is not the great manager you all think he is. I hope the Ulster man's days are numbered. TTFN Mr tacticaly inept O'Neill. We could have lost by 5 or 6 today. I hope JC is not a fall guy for speaking out. I assume NRC is also not too happy tonight.

Has O`Neill managed to achieve with funding what O`Leary achieved without any money? Actually when O`Neill arrived I believe we had Mellberg, Laursen, Hughes, Cahill and Ridgewell. Today the only centre backs in the squad are Davies and Cuellar. Sorry but thats not progress. The Bright Future is looking a bit darker at the moment.

Has O`Neill managed to achieve with funding what O`Leary achieved without any money? Actually when O`Neill arrived I believe we had Mellberg, Laursen, Hughes, Cahill and Ridgewell. Today the only centre backs in the squad are Davies and Cuellar. Sorry but thats not progress. The Bright Future is looking a bit darker at the moment.

Roy Hodgson (apologies to Fulham supporters) anyone?

Don't be silly DS Stoke don't lose at home, we'll never catch them now.

IM sorry but everything said before Icant disagree with MO'N has not a clue , even if we have no money , 10 m Davies 8.5 Reo coco the clown 7.5 Cuellar.7m Petrov , he fell over Carew , sorry the ***** falls on the manager.

oi u lot, yes we were crap but come on mon has done a god job from the day he joined right up untill the morning he sold zat. everton 6-1 battering and signed noone, well then thats 2 managers that will be out of a job tomorrow then, NOT.

Dear Dr. Thanks for your platitudes. One game gone in the PL. Looking at trends that is 8 points in 14 PL games. If we do not improve on that quick, look forward to a competetive league next season as we will be in the the Pepsi Max league next season

dead soul ,what about the" 16th to 6th in 3 seasons" trend.

the quote " we looked tired...." gets me. its the first game of the season ffs!!!

Things like this happen, you have not suddenly become a bad side. Back your manager and your team, they deserve your support. First games of the season mean nothing, there is still another 37 to go.

What is Mons problem with spending money on a decent defence

Simply nowhere near good enough Martin. The very same problems that were evident to all in the latter stages of last season, have not gone away (how the hell could they, why should they?), and we were outplayed, out-thought, and outclassed by a far superior looking Wigan team. The only injustice on the day was that The Latics didn't win by three or four, their play over the ninety minutes certainly deserved such. Buzz Lightyear, yes sir, to some degree I hear what you're saying, but sorry, no, that doesn't completely wash with me. After a performance like that, when over the ninety minutes plus your failings are highlighted for all to see, the excuse that there's thirty seven games left, get over it, doesn't hold water. One game suddenly becomes three, becomes ten, and before you know it, you're in trouble. There are inadequacies there that need immediately addressing, have needed addressing all summer long, and threaten to blow-up our chances for a successful season unless the squad is strengthened. Quality players for key positions, simply have to be brought into the club, before the summer window slams shut. Jeez, I could write a book on the topic, but I'll spare you all my ramblings and spoutings, but end by saying that all this hot-air about us being a club on the move, the future being claret and blue, means absolutely nothing to me, nor I suspect to thousands of others, if the club continue to balk at paying the money needed to bring quality talent into the club. Do what needs to be done Martin. There can be no excuses for another season of competing on four fronts, with a totally inadequate squad, short on both numbers and quality.

lol love it! Where is Villan444???

BOUMA! BOUMA! BOUMA! BOUMA!

Buzz Lightyear, you are right, we have not suddenly become a bad side, we have been one for at least a year now. MON's strong suit as a manager is his motivational abilities, he was able to get the team playing beyond themselves but as a tactician and as a wheeler-dealer in the transfer market he's poor. He no longer seems able to motivate the team so what does that leave him with. The answer.......nothing!

MON's pigheaded stubborness is what gets me. Heskey did a job 5 years ago in a league with much less quality. The only oldboy that he has brought in who worked out was Stan and that took 2 years. Times have moved on and he hasn't. As people have already said, it now looks like O'Leary's third year when he had lost the dressing room. Same old excuses are wearing very thin and you can't use one excuse about small squad and then not do anything about it when you get the chance. The squad is poor, small, inexperienced and excuse ridden. At least we get to see Spuz lose today by hopefully more than 2 goals which will put them below us ;-D

Agree entirely Dead Souls, Hodgson for Villa!!!

yeah its a blatant slap in the face yesterdays effort. problems have not been resolved. replacements not found. the negativity that began when we went 4-4-2 is very much still there. MON is doing nothing about it......

Nope, Hodgson's not good enough. There is only one man for Villa...Mr Steve Clarke. Don't laugh...go away and look him up.

what gets me is that we signed stewart downing for 12m, who is injured, and he then says he thinks he can compete with barry for englands central midfield berth...thats when i realised he is actually mad.

Steve Clarke is a great coach, but we also need someone able to bring in proven big names and be able to deal with them, Big Ron had this touch, because of his charisma and personality, and realisation that a few 'stars' will fill the stadium and bring a feel good factor, players like Barry would want to stay and playes like Sneijder would want to join. The excitement of a new season was missing yesterday, the stadium should have been bursting with fans wanting to glimpse the new stars.

I do not want to go over statistics that I have aired on many occasions in too much detail, but here are the basics. Last season we played 13 games with a 4-5-1 (4-3-3, call it what you want formation). Very simply we had Petrov as the anchor man of a 3 man midfield, protecting the back 4. We had two midfielders, usually Sidwell and Barry, who go up and down and provided the link to the two wide players Young and Milner. Gabby was then left to spearhead the attack. This was a one man attack if the formation is considered 4 -5-1 or a three man attack if it is considered a 4-3-3. I don't care what it is called though, but I do recognise that it worked. Those 13 games yielded 9 victories, 3 draws and 1 defeat (Boro at home when Sidwell gave away the goal in the last minute). The 13 games in this formation yielded 30 points, a higher points per game ratio than Manure won the league with. The other 25 games produced 32 points, not much more than relegation form. The 13 games in which we outperformed everybody included games against Arsenal (twice), West Ham, Manure, Fulham, Wigan (we won 4 - 0). I highlight this just to show it wasn't against teams at the bottom of the table. The other main formation used was 4 -4- 2. For this the middle 4 being Barry, Petrov, Milner and Young. These are 4 excellent footballers, but having two wide men who hug the touchlines leaves to much space for the other two players to cover in the middle of the park. It also meant the triangle of players (full back, midfielder, wide man) disappered meaning that Milner and Young lost there link player and became even less effective. This meant we never gave back four the protection that it was given in the succesful 4-5-1 formation. But here is the double whammy. We lost Laursen, and then gave the weakened defence less cover by taking Petrov out of his holding role in which he excelled. The result was that we never controlled games and teams seemed to run straight through us and the inefficiences of Cuellar, Davies and Knight were magnified. So why a formation that didn't work when it contained 4 excellent players should work when you take the biggest part (Barry) out of it, should work when he is replaced with a youngster with no experience, is an astounding decision for M'ON to make. Very simply, because Milner and Young hug the touchlines they can only work as part of a 5 man midfield (4-5-1) or as part of a 3 man attack (4-3-3). They simply can not work, as has now been proved in almost 30 games, as part of a 4-4-2 formation. There are other smaller issues, but this is the key area that has to be addressed. A formation of 4-4-2 can work as long as you do not have the width the current system has. Personally I would go with 4-3-3 at the moment. This would be a front three of Gabi and Milner supporting JC. With Milner and Gabi being given the role of making 4-3-3- a 4-5-1 as and when necessary. I would give Young a 'rest' until he learns not to dive and fall over everytime somebody looks at him. The middle three should be Petrov, Sidwell and Okey Cokey with Delph getting his chance as and when injury or suspension dictates. As sure as eggs are eggs, if we persist with playing Milner and Young as part of a 4 man midfield we will struggle against average teams and be absolutely battered by the good ones. The Murderpool game last season was the perfect example. They played with 1 striker and scored 5. We played with 2 and scored errr . . . . . . 0. Believe me folks, everything is about who controls the game and the current system means it can never be us. I can unhappily predict that we will lose at Murderpool next week if we start with a 4 man midfield that has Young and Milner as wide men. We may lose if we play a 5 man midfield, but we will give them a game.

We will play 4-4-2 gauranteed, this is to accomodate Heskey, I agree with everything you have said but we will play 4-4-2 which is why all my faith has gone in MON

Glenside, you are right in everything tha you say except that i would like to add that I bet a pound to a penny that a different manager could get more out of this squad than O'Neill now can after he has seemingly lost the ability to motivate the players properly (for several discussable reasons).

Voiceoftheholte, great post. sums up what all the fans know but MON won't accept

Heskey is @@@@

"At least we get to see Spuz lose today by hopefully more than 2 goals which will put them below us " you look really silly now Villan444

Unlucky Villain 444, you should probably get a nice bottle of wine in fella, because you'll need to drown out the bitter taste of your own words when you eat them!

Villan of the North - really agree with you there!! 4-5-1 for definite, but I would not drop Young, certainly not when Gabby is kept in!! Sidwell, Reo-Coker and Petrov in the middle with Delph to come on if it isnt working; Milner and Young wide and Gabby/Albrighton to come on if not working; Carew up front with Heskey, The Fonz and Gabby as alternatives.

deano - i think ashley shud trying staying on his feet!!!! b4 we even play him.

LOL, good to see the Spurs fans are still reading our site religiously. I'm just as happy to see Liverpool lose really so it was a win/win situation. Well played though...

Lol Villan444 was it not ye who was singing the praises of MON only two weeks ago??? U are a real chomp!