Hello and welcome to this Aston Villa webchat. Gregg Evans is standing in for Mat Kendrick today as Mat has jetted off on holiday. We'll put through your questions one at a time. So, who wants to start us off?
by Birmingham Mail2/18/2013 12:05:34 PM
3rd & 7 37yd
3rd & 7 37yd
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Hello
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:05:36 PM
Hi Gregg I think we will stay up this season but what worries me is next season are we going to go thru the same again? Mr Lerner seems to be unwilling to spend much more on needed players what motivation do us season ticket holders have to renew our tickets?
by stroudvilladan2/18/2013 12:05:41 PM
Hi stroudvilladan. The most important concern at the moment is getting over the line this year and staying in the Premier League. There's not been a lot to cheer about this season and more investment in the squad would have helped. But Lerner has spent a fair bit of money (albeit not the amount that fans would have hoped for) to try and get things going in the right direction. One can only hope that this season's struggles will highlight the need to increase that spending next year, should Villa survive.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:11:34 PM
while i appreciate ffp coming into effect surely with nearly all our experienced high earners gone the wage budget is under control and we could of at least got couple of experienced championship defenders i.e. scott dann curtis davies david wheater etc to shore up our leaky defence is randy preparing to sell the club and will we please bring back steve stride to replace paul faulkner
by robert william nelmes2/18/2013 12:11:44 PM
Does Mat get even more holidays than a school teacher?
by Dek2/18/2013 12:12:31 PM
Dek - it seems these football writers have it easy. Holidays, getting paid for watching the football, their own internet tv shows. It sounds tough, hey?
by Birmingham Mail2/18/2013 12:13:42 PM
FFP shouldn't be a concern for Villa now. Lambert raided the Championship for defenders who he thought would be better long-term options (Bennett, Lowton) rather than more experienced stoppers.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:14:21 PM
We've got it easy. Steve keeps us all in check.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:15:13 PM
how long before the new boys are fit enough to start
by John M2/18/2013 12:15:36 PM
John M - Sylla has been making his mark in training. He has impressed Lambert a lot. Dawkins is also showing plenty of energy and enthusiasm. Both appear to be fit enough to start now. It's just down to Lambert to decide what particular games they could make a difference in.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:17:46 PM
hi gregg i realise ffp coming in but surely with how many high earners have gone and very few left the wage budget should be easily under control and it is plain to see we needed experience in defence so being realistic scott dann curtis davies david wheater from championship but with prem experience would be options surely we could manage that at least? also would love villa to bring steve stride back to replace paul faulkner any chance of that happening?
by Robert William Nelmes2/18/2013 12:18:41 PM
Hello Greggo,
With the villa now the real form side in the midlands, after the West Ham game & Albion's lucky performance against an under par Liverpool team, do you think Villa will get a result against Arsenal this weekend & can we see WBA slipping into the relegation zone where they belong?
by Mike19802/18/2013 12:19:01 PM
Robert - Lambert chose Ron Vlaar as his experienced signing and felt that he had enough with Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark alongside him. I don't think Villa expected Richard Dunne to be out for so long either. Looking back, it probably would have been beneficial to get an experienced defender in but they'll have to make do with what they've got now. As for Stride replacing Faulkner, I've not heard about any plans. These are potential talking points (for fans) in the summer when Villa know where they are at.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:23:25 PM
EVERYONE who plays Wigan away last goes down :(
by Dek2/18/2013 12:24:08 PM
Mike - Arsene Wenger is under a lot of pressure given the Blackburn defeat this weekend so if Villa were to take the lead it could be a very interesting game at the Emirates. The fans are turning on their team (or more so manager) given the lack of trophies over the past decade. I still see Villa struggling though. In my opinion a draw is the best they can hope for, and that would be a very decent result. The Albion webchat is on Wednesday if you want to talk about the highest-ranked team in the Midlands.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:26:39 PM
Hi Gregg, do you think the West Ham game marks a turning point for the rest of the season? Do you think we'll just about scrape survival?
by Lewis2/18/2013 12:27:40 PM
Hi Lewis. For Villa's sake, let's hope so. Personally, I think West Ham were very poor, and had Villa not seen them off, they would have been in serious trouble. It's been proven over the course of the season that Villa tend to follow up a positive result with another. Lambert reckons they need five more wins to be safe. If they can get anything out of the next two games then they will be on track to mount a serious survival challenge.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:31:05 PM
Hearing Simon Grayson's got the Preston job. wish him well.
by Dek2/18/2013 12:31:40 PM
vlaar has few holland caps but has to get used to the pace and power of the prem and clark and baker though good players have very little experience but if we come through this and survive i do believe we will be better for it next season and will be forever villa whatever league we in but steve stride is mr aston villa and would never have allowed martin to run up such huge transfer fees and wages in first place so we wouldn't be in this mess now
by Robert William Nelmes2/18/2013 12:31:44 PM
Valid points on the defence Robert
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:34:21 PM
Oh, and another one I just thought of - can you see Christian Benteke staying beyond the summer?
by Lewis2/18/2013 12:34:31 PM
Villa fans. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts about Stephen Ireland. What do you make of his time at Villa and his failure to impress successive managers?
do you think Benteke's agent talking transfers will unsettle the player
by rumdeal2/18/2013 12:37:26 PM
Benteke has been a real star since signing this summer. They will have a fight on their hands to keep him regardless of what division they are in next season. If Villa are relegated there's no chance of them keeping hold of him. If they stay up, they will fight to keep him at the club. But if a big-name club offers big bucks he'll more than likely be off.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:37:34 PM
ireland has failed to impress managers because he is lazy a wasted talent and still thinks hes the player from man city 5 years ago
by bob2/18/2013 12:40:43 PM
rumdeal - His agent's quotes won't unsettle the player. Benteke remains committed to the Villa cause. His main priority is performing well for Villa and scoring the goals that will keep them up. He's been with the same agent for over a decade, and they obviously talk regularly about the future. Can't see it having any effect on his performances just because it has been reported in the press.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:40:48 PM
What is it about Bannan & Delph that PL seems to love so much? Is it something that we cannot see? The team that we started against Everton was in my opinion our strongest of the season so far. Baker at LB, El Ahmadi in CM (who is not all that, but better than BB & FD) put Dawkins into that 11 or available on the bench and I think we have a decent chance of staying up, but goes on injuries I suppose. I heard Rohan Ricketts on TS the other day really bigging up SD so I think he could do a job for us!!
by Mike19802/18/2013 12:40:51 PM
Lambert sees the players on a daily basis so he knows what they can produce. He picks the team which he feels can win the match and more often than not this season that has included Bannan and/or Delph. El Ahmadi will not come back into his thinking for Saturday's game after missing West Ham with a virus. Dawkins has also impressed in training and comes with a good reputation. He's quite an exciting prospect so we'll see how he gets on in the last 12 games. Bowery didn't influence the game at all against West Ham so I expect either Agbonlahor or Dawkins to come in. We'll see...
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:45:20 PM
Ok last question folks ...
by Birmingham Mail2/18/2013 12:46:14 PM
thanks gregg though we could do with a creative midfielder who can score few goals maybe a winger to supplement n'zogbia on opposite wing but the main problem to sort out is the defence we ok up top and goalkeeper and midfield ok for survival as we playing some great stuff at times but have trouble keeping clean sheets but we need to decide our best formation/tactics stick with it and just tweak the line up depending on form to give the youngsters time to get to know each others game and develop team bonding/spirit and learn the way to play rather than chopping and changing every week and don't know wether they coming or going
by Robert William Nelmes2/18/2013 12:46:21 PM
any update on weimanns contract?
by John M2/18/2013 12:46:23 PM
Nothing new John.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:47:28 PM
Weimann got another year left on current deal anyway.
by Gregg Evans2/18/2013 12:48:08 PM
That's it for today folks. Gregg will be back again next week to answer more of your questions. Let's hope Villa continue to pull a few more results out of the bag.
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