Toussaint

I felt Peraud was scapegoated at Villa, I was at the game and it was clear he was being left completely isolated in 2 v 1 situations, Elyounoussi was awol, there may have been good reason for that, but that’s what needed fixing, not Peraud.

We have been well and truly worked out

Borja had to harden up if he wants to succeed at the top, Kane gets mullered every game and cracks on with it .

I’m thinking Thunderbirds

Have to agree, it's too polarised, two things can be true at once. Success has to be rewarded, equally distributing wealth to poorly run clubs is the opposite of fair in my opinion. Something does need to be done, but complete equalisation isn't the answer for the premier league, or anything else for that matter.

I think referring to them as a “crap team” is fully justified in the context of the bazillions they have spent and where they are. Think about the word “team”, they just aren’t a team, a few honest players in there but mostly prima Donna divas. I think Gary Neville was about to inform us that certain players may have refused to play yesterday, unfortunately the buffoon Micah Richards cut him off before he could expand on what he was hinting at, Ragnick (sp?) alluded to something similar in the post match interview. I think crap “team” is a fair assessment

Anyone watch the post match show? It was refreshing to hear such brutal honesty from Keane and Neville, rare thing in these touchy-feely times. Micah Richards made an absolute tit of himself and Jamie Redknapp was just talking words. Wish I’d had some popcorn to fully enjoy the experience!

Scary times

Re Cash, I think we made him look world class. (I was at the match), I like Elyonoussi but I though he reverted to his worst form yesterday, Peraud was continually left isolated with two on ones, which made him look bad. I don’t know if Elyonoussi was being pulled out of position trying to nullify something Villa were doing, or he was just having a bad day, one thing that was glaring yesterday however was his lack of pace. But it wasn’t just him, several had shockers, but I felt if we could have got to half time at just one nil Ralph could have sorted it, but a two goal deficit made life so much more difficult.

We'll be interested to hear about your encounter with your very first football forum admirer. ;/

I thought the upper west archers section worked best

The first step is admitting your problem, I'm sure all those French people feel safer now

I bumped into him a few weeks back, he still hasn't got over that, I said "one day at a time Poch, one day at a time my son"!

I think they do, it's often months later when you read the court appearances the echo or elsewhere, it comes to light. It is a criminal offence to enter the field of play.

They looked off their faces. I felt sorry for the very small and quite old steward who took the initiative and got a bit of rough treatment as a result. I don't get our stewarding, all the old boys are in the front line while the young fit ones are loitering around the stands. I don't even know what their brief is or what their training is, I suspect very little on either front. I also notice the never enter the field of play either, I assume that's policy? I needs to get sorted or something horrible is going to happen.

I was only talking this season, I’d find winning the FA cup this year and the Europa next acceptable also!

I think your right, you also have to assemble a bloated squad and keep them all happy. I'd still love us to be involved in a European competition, but this season I'll be content just to see us win the FA cup.

The lowest risk would be Stephens, Peraud and Diallo , straight like for like swaps and with Diallo in for Armstrong if he needs a rest. If his strategy is similar to Derby then we won’t get away with it.

I agree I'd like our strongest team fielded, as outside of the current first choice eleven the standard drops considerably, with the only exceptions being Stephens and Peraud, in my opinion. Our midfield has been excellent, inserting Diallo, Redmond or, god forbid, Walcott would weaken it considerably. Of those, Dallo would be the least disruptive. I haven't seen enough of Smallbone to have an opinion either way. To answer your question, some players maybe struggling with knocks or fatigue, other players maybe getting frustrated at lack of game time and Armstrong could probably do with a rest.

In my word association head I think Redmond is more synonymous with treacle than gel.

From Wiki - In all but three of the 29 seasons since its introduction, at least one newly promoted club filled one of the three Premier League relegation places, and in the 1997–98 season all three promoted clubs (Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Crystal Palace) were relegated. The only team feel sorry for is Brentford, Watford are Toxic and both Watford an Norwich knew what was required having only being relegated for one season. I have a soft spot for Norwich, I'd prefer one of the big spenders to get caught out, but I can't see it. Having said all that , there are still between 39 and 45 points up for grabs in the bottom 3, so anything could happen! Anyone from 14th down could get sucked in with a bad run.

My feeling it will be Brentford, they are on a terrible run (Most recent first - L D L L L L L L - last win Villa 2/1/22). Next 3 fixtures, all "6 pointers" Newcastle H, Norwich A, Burnley H. if not them then Leeds, I hope not, I just don't see Everton or Newcastle getting relegated.

Leeds and Brentford are in deep doo doo with Burnley’s little run and games in hand , especially if they hold on to the lead

Pornhub Premium isn’t quite the same as the Athletic

I protest, by my computation we are a solid 49th!