Birmingham City-League Cup

Thought i would start the ball rolling.

We beat these and we are Semi Final bound.

For me the big question in spite of all the injuries has to be Gabby, we need him back and fit and on form and i don't think we have another player that wants to perform as much as Gabby does v the Blouses, he really doesn't like them.

Gabby is back, Ireland is out again though, another illness.

Not really the game for Pires, maybe we could go two up top with Delfounso and Gabby.

I think the only thing we have in our favour is the fact Alex McLeish is a negative manager.We've had a good run against the noses but i think this will be their revenge.Best we can hope for is a postponement

I agree QB, hopefully may get a few of our players back if postponed.

Don't agree guys, we need to get this over and done with and we need to get the win, a win here could go a very long way to getting the season back on track, can't think of a better lift for the lads than to beat the Blouses at there's and in the cup.....................................bring on Liverpool, phucking great medicine, don't want this in the background, thats for sure.

We have been struggling a bit, but if our defence can manage to get it together, then we should be able to beat Blues even with the players out.

We will still have Young, Downing and Gabby to cause them problems.

Bollocks to wanting the game called off, looking forward to it but obviously nervious that they might beat us.

Im well fecking chuffed as the missus aunt is up staying with her Mum, whose house is fceking freezing and no sky. My beloved has arranged for us to go round there for dinner this evening

My office is right next to the scum ground all the park around here.. right now its snowing and the roads ad pavements are covered.. the pitch should be fine to play on but depends if its light snow or if it will snow all day..

Looking at this fixture, it is hard to work out who the underdogs are.
Villa with the excuse that half of their team is missing or Birmingham City that have a virgin trophy room.

With United going out the incentives are big for the rest..

Arsenal are clear favourites but if you avoid them a trip to Wembley is on the cards for any of the others..

I think they will be all over us like a cheap suit first 10-15 minutes. If we can ride that start, get hold of the ball, plenty of posession quieten the crowd we have a chance. We need plenty of the ball and composure if we get involved in hoofball and get rushed out of everything, then we are in trouble.

This match depends on whether our lads get bullied out of playing their own game.
Not to confident about getting the result tonight, I believe no matter what team we put out is good enough to win it but feel a few may wilt under the pressure.

Heres hoping!

As you say, with united going out, this has now become a really interesting competition.

Not many will fear playing West Ham in the semi, but I doubt if any want Arsenal.

To be fair, Arsenal & West Ham could draw each other, but both London teams would like to draw the winners of the WBA match for the semi.

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:My office is right next to the scum ground all the park around here.. right now its snowing and the roads ad pavements are covered.. the pitch should be fine to play on but depends if its light snow or if it will snow all day..

Ades, if the areas around the ground are dangerous, dont think they will be able to play the game.

villanfromluton wrote:

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:My office is right next to the scum ground all the park around here.. right now its snowing and the roads ad pavements are covered.. the pitch should be fine to play on but depends if its light snow or if it will snow all day..

Ades, if the areas around the ground are dangerous, dont think they will be able to play the game.

Lutes snowing very very lightly now.. Coventry road and the main A roads from the motorways and Aston are clear.. So the major traffic wont have problems thus far.. Think the game will go ahead if the weather stays roughly the same..

villanfromluton wrote:Im well fecking chuffed as the missus aunt is up staying with her Mum, whose house is fceking freezing and no sky. My beloved has arranged for us to go round there for dinner this evening

What a thing!!! How can you come on here and admit you're a feckin wimp!!!!
You have the audacity to slut off Mark !!!!
I'm very suspicious of finger pointers and in this case my suspicions are correct.
Be a man!!! Tell her you want a blowy before you send her off to dinner with her aunt, ON HER OWN!!!!!
Or is Mark not the only one who is denied his rights?
Then you can tuck into a few pints and a dozen pies (1st half) while your watching the football, in the warm.

Ringo wrote:As you say, with united going out, this has now become a really interesting competition.

Not many will fear playing West Ham in the semi, but I doubt if any want Arsenal.

To be fair, Arsenal & West Ham could draw each other, but both London teams would like to draw the winners of the WBA match for the semi.

Read my previous prediction after West Ham pulled Man Utd out the hat weeks ago, i said you would beat Man Utd and predicted an Aston Villa v West Ham, Semi-Final, so let it be written, so let it be done.

Of course there is the little matter of us beating the Blouses tonight.

Massive game for us, not just the status, not just the local derby, but this is the season for both these sides, mentioned before the recent game v Blues, i hope Houllier doesn't underestimate the significance of this game, doubly so now, IMO we lose this he will struggle to get the Villa fans on side again this season without a dramatic improvement in our league form, comparisons will be made, naturally so, this Cup regardless of how the Sky 4 look at it is the other Premier League's competition, so very important.

Think we need to get at them straight out the blocks, B'ham will try to play this at there pace, they will look for a slow build up negative type of football, probably happy to get the one goal, we must be flashy and imposing IMO, we must dominate and let them know who is in charge, the more they get rattled the better of we will be, assuming Gabby is starting, we must use all our pace and Ash has to put in a good shift and link up with Gabby up front, I would play Gabby on his own up front to start, then maybe change things accordingly. IMO.

Massive huge game, certainly it will be the most important games this season for 1 of the clubs.


Just an add on to this, we win this and we have every possible chance of drawing a club that we should have every chance of beating and then..............WEMBLEY.

jak wrote:

villanfromluton wrote:Im well fecking chuffed as the missus aunt is up staying with her Mum, whose house is fceking freezing and no sky. My beloved has arranged for us to go round there for dinner this evening

What a thing!!! How can you come on here and admit you're a feckin wimp!!!!
You have the audacity to slut off Mark !!!!
I'm very suspicious of finger pointers and in this case my suspicions are correct.
Be a man!!! Tell her you want a blowy before you send her off to dinner with her aunt, ON HER OWN!!!!!
Or is Mark not the only one who is denied his rights?
Then you can tuck into a few pints and a dozen pies (1st half) while your watching the football, in the warm.

You aint seen my missus in a bad mood

Not sure about these comments by Houllier, certainly the nature of the comments aside the timing is piss poor.

From yesterdays Guardian:

Gérard Houllier tells Gabriel Agbonlahor to lay off the weights• The Aston Villa manager fears his striker has become too bulky
• Agbonlahor to return for Carling Cup tie at Birmingham City


Share23 Stuart James guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 November 2010 22.35 GMT Article history
Gabriel Agbonlahor has been told to tone down his trips to the gym by the Aston Villa manager, Gérard Houllier. Photograph: Simon Dawson/Associated Press

Gérard Houllier has told Gabriel Agbonlahor to stop lifting weights to improve his physique because he has become "too stocky". The Aston Villa manager, who has also reminded Agbonlahor that he needs to deliver on the pitch after he was recently rewarded with an improved contract, believes the England striker was much more effective before he started building extra muscle in the gym.

Agbonlahor began to bulk up in the summer before last, when he made a concerted effort to become stronger. He said he wanted to ensure that he could not be "bullied" by central defenders. "I want to be able to hold my own physically against the likes of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry," said the England international at the start of last season.

Martin O'Neill, Villa's manager at the time, was worried that Agbonlahor might lose some of his pace because he had gained so much muscle. Although Agbonlahor said that would not happen, Houllier shares O'Neill's concerns and has told Agbonlahor, who has only recently returned from a groin problem that sidelined him for six weeks, that he needs to forget about weight-training and concentrate on rediscovering his best form.

"[Gabby's] not in the gym now," Houllier said before Villa's Carling Cup quarter-final against Birmingham City at St Andrew's tomorrow night. "When you build up too much it affects your joints and muscle. The fact is, I think he should stop – he's too stocky. The Gabby I saw when I was watching TV in France was different from what I see here. He was thinner, more wiry and wow, quick. Yes, I've told him to lay off the weights. Sometimes they do too much."

Agbonlahor has madeonly nine appearances for Villa this season and completed 90 minutes only once, against Bolton Wanderers in September, mainly because of injuries. He missed Saturday's defeat by Arsenal after struggling with a virus but is expected to return to the starting line-up at St Andrew's, where he has scored the winning goal on his last two visits.

Houllier is hopeful that the 24-year-old can get his season back on track and justify the club's faith in him. "He signed a new contract and the contract is trust. We trust him and he trusts us, so he has to deliver," the Villa manager said. "He's shown that in terms of speed and goalscoring he has qualities of a high level. Some players have improved in terms of games and in training. Unfortunately for him – [with] his injuries – he needs a succession of games."

Whats soo wrong with that.. just telling Gabby that he isnt a lightweight anymore and has enough muscle to deal with prem defenders..

ADRIAN_1976 wrote:Whats soo wrong with that.. just telling Gabby that he isnt a lightweight anymore and has enough muscle to deal with prem defenders..

The problem with it Adrian is that on the one hand Gabby is saying it won't effect his pace, he's saying it helps him cope with the Premier leagues top defenders, aggressive defenders like John Terry who is known to intimidate, so gabby feels more confident with a bit of muscle, confidence is everything with a striker, but forget all that, the overall nature of his comments before such a big game are demanding and derisory albeit subtle, the only thing he should be saying to Gabby at this point is how fantastic he is and how much Villa depend on him to turn up, what does he think this is some shitty Football Manager game, this is where a coded piece of software and reality part company.

Personally i think this close to kick of its negative, and would leave Gabby thinking the manager isn't 100% happy with me, and fancy saying to Gabby you have to prove yourself to the club, ffs the mans a cnut, Gabby is 100% Villa.....more so than any other player in the whole club

He's got a point. Agbonlahor's only asset is his pace, the more muscle he puts on the slower he'll be.

Ezekiel 25:17 wrote:He's got a point. Agbonlahor's only asset is his pace, the more muscle he puts on the slower he'll be.

Ez: technically he's got a point, that's isn't the point, there is a time and place to make such comments and you don't do that before such a crucial game, and not with a striker furthermore the one thing you could never throw at Gabby is, You must prove yourself to the club, the club have trusted you with a new contract, ffs, the man is a prick, Gabby is so much a Villa man it defies words, if Villa where relegated this season Gabby would do his damndest to get the club back up, he is Villa, a massive part of Villa's success over the last 4 seasons is down to Gabby, pure and simple, doesn't matter what any Villa fan thinks, look at us without him in the side, he needs to prove phuk all, now if we need proof laying at anybody doorstep let see Houllier do it tonight, otherwise he can get on the next Brittany ferry out.

Straight up Ez, these blokes need to put there brains in gear before they open there mouths.

Malachite wrote:
Straight up Ez, these blokes need to put there brains in gear before they open there mouths.

MON said the same thing about Gabby when he went on the weights, he said that he didn't want him to go on them anymore. But it's obvious from looking at him that he has carried on using them.

Anyway, he still looked pretty quick to me but Houllier is just saying dont do any more weights? Wheres the issue?

The issue is he should shut his gob and keep his job, its not a question of the rights and wrongs of Gabby bulking up or not, Gabby has been fighting with injuries all season and recently with sickness, Gabby needs to show up tonight, he needs a confidence boost not an appraisal from Gerrard Houllier, as far as Villa are concerned GH has been here 5 minutes, he's a shit and a shave merchant, you don't start making comments like that to the national press right before a game, and such a massive game, consider this, if Houllier is prepared to admit saying this much, what else has he said to the player behind closed doors.

MON may have said that to Gabby, but MON had Gabby ear and his confidence without doubt, and obviously Gabby was not that concerned about MON's comments and neither was MON obviously, because he simply carried on, the player thinking i know whats best for me, GH opens his gob and Gabby stops, think about it.