booklet

I have it on good authority from a source with close connections to the club, whom I trust, that 2 premiership clubs, believed to be Newcastle and Sunderland, have both put in bids for Snodgrass and Fer in the region of 12 million. Do you think we should sell at that price?

Olsson is the only player to have been consistently good throughout the season. Ruddy second because he hasn''t made many mistakes. Third place...pick the name from a hat. As for Snodgrass, I''ve always been mystified by his popularity. He is not a bad player, but his limitations on the right should be there for all to see. No pace, no right foot, prevents Redmond and last season Bennett from playing there forcing them out of position, arrogant attitude, always falling over ...etc.. We all have our favourites and it''s frustrating when managers love a certain player who you either can''t stand or just find thoroughly average. This would now apply to Steven Whittaker, who Adams likes and I think is one of the worst full backs we''ve ever had.

If not Lambert then who would you pick?

Regardless of which division we are in next season would you be open to a Lambert return? I think it is likely that Villa will get rid of him at the end of the season and that his stock would have been damaged a bit by two fairly poor seasons. We would need to rebuild and so would he. Do you think he''d come back?

1. Totally agree. This has been true for more or less his entire reign. It doesn''t matter how much money you spend and who you bring in, if the manager won''t change his tactics then the result is going to be the same. Away from home we have been a total embarrassment under Hughton and I don''t think that will change any time soon. 2. I agree that Garrido is suspect and should be replaced by Olson. I like Johnson but, like Tettey he has limitations. You can''t play these two together, atleast not against poorer sides like Hull where you will get more of the ball and therefore need a player in the middle who can pass the ball. Completely disagree on Turner. After a terrible start he has become one of the first names on the teamsheet for me. He doesn''t rate Fox, so may as well get rid. 3. Agree. 11th flattered us massively. He sets up away from home for a 0-0, regardless of who we are playing. Don''t think we would have failed to score today under Lambert. 1 upfront, never threw men forward. If today is anything to go by, we will have to get a lot of points at home. 4. It''s going to be tough for Hooper or RVW up there. Zero service. Redmond has looked lively but always looks to come inside. Same problem with Snodgrass, who I believe is wildly overrated. Lacks pace, doesn''t get to the byline and attempts to fall over constantly. 5. This is because he always sets up to not lose. Look back at his time here and look at how many games we have lost 1-0 away from home against garbage and drawn 0-0. He is tactically beyond clueless. 6. Hoolahan last week was woeful. Total passenger and didn''t make life difficult for Fellani at all. However, I do agree that he is often necessary to have on because he can create chances. I would start him sometimes and bring him on as an impact player sometimes. at 31 his days are numbered. People are saying you can''t get so negative after 2 matches, but the same problems exist as last season. We are putting way too much pressure on our home form. The board have backed themselves into a corner. You can''t give a bloke 25m to spend and then sack him after a few matches, but the football is so boring and ineffective I''m not sure how much longer we persist with him. Even his biggest defender would have to admit today against Hull was a pathetic embarrassment.

Why do people feel the need to be so aggressive and say that anyone who want Hughton gone is an idiot, clueless etc?? Both opinions are perfectly valid. I''ll admit I am not a Hughton fan. Prior to the West Brom game we had been very poor in the majority of the previous 19 games. This is indisputable. However, against West Brom, in a game that mattered, we were excellent. Yes WBA were a mess, but we played positive, direct football and looked like a completely different team. Our home form though had been consistent and that wasn''t the problem. Our away form has been awful. Today, it wasn''t just the way we played, but the level of ambition we showed. It was hard to believe that this was the same side who had 2 points from their previous 9 away games.The same side who couldn''t muster an effort on target against Man U, Wigan and Stoke We deserved to win and could have had more goals. If we showed this level of intent in more games and our midfield got forward as often then I would be delighted. Like most Hughton detractors i am not going to be convinced after 2 good perfomances, especially when the sides we played weren''t really up for the games, but the signs were very encouraging. I wouldn''t sack Hughton (Previously I had wanted to, but still thought you couldn''t get rid of him if he achieved his goal, which was to stay up), since how do you sack a guy who finishes 11th? but surely Mcnally and Co have to sit down with him and ask where the hell performances like that have been. Great end to what is ultimately a successful season. Lets hope next season sees some more watchable and ambitious football.

I think he took him off because he was tired. There was a ball forward that he din''t chase and he immediately got Bennett on. I couldn''t understand the booing when Hoolahan went off. He had an extremely poor game and looked like a player totally drained of confidence. Of all the times the fans shout "you don''t know what you''re doing", i was amazed this was the time they chose. He gives opportunities for this constantly, but this was a rare occasion where he got his sub call right and he got berated! The Jackson sub was a typical Hughton sub. too little too late.

Agree that sacking him now is pointless. We just have to hope a combination of other results going our way and perhaps WBA phoning in their performance next week will see us safe. Whatever happens he needs to go. He''s done his best to take us down. He may still achieve that, but if he doesn''t then we can''t let him have 20m quid in the summer and give him another go at sending us down.

One of them is a winner, the other one is Chris Hughton.

Couldn''t disagree more. His current employer is Aston Villa and he has every right to celebrate when they score. There was nothing over the top about it at all. He was the best manager we''ve ever had. Ferguson and Mourinho...class? Ferguson is a great manager, but a total whiner when things go against him and you say that Lambert is in it for himself, well what''s wrong with that? Do you thin Mourinho a.k.a The Special One is in football for purely noble reasons. Lambert = legend. Hughton = Nice bloke, but clueless clown.

I think so. I don''t see Newcastle,Sunderland and Newcastle all getting to 41 points. If we beat WBA we''ll stay up. A draw will be touch and go. 39 points i think will be what 17th and 18th finish on, so it would come down to goal difference and then goals scored (we have scored less than Wigan and Newcastle I believe).

Good post. 1) Agree. He keeps saying we haven''t got the fire power upfront. Well, as you say, why get rid of Vaughan, get in a 19 year old and thats it. Kamara has done okay, but he''s not a permanent solution. 2)Agree. Considering how few goals we''ve managed this season it seems inexplicable how he hasn''t played more. Again, he isn''t premiership quality, but he works hard and if what your playing isn''t getting goals then why not change it. 3) Agree. Elliott Bennett is one of my favourite players and I am so disappointed that he has played so little. He was excellent against Swansea and Reading and then dropped. Makes no sense at all. He is still remarkably fit and to me he is better than Snodgrass. 4)Agree. This is probably the best example of how clueless he is. If with 30 minutes to go other sides are making subs, then they have players on the pitch who have fresh legs and you don''t. Also, how do you expect subs to have an impact if you don''t give them enough time. 5)Agree. I loathe his away style. This is the sort of rubbish we had under Worthington in the Prem and that yielded 7 points from 19 games. Negative football usually gets what it deserves. 6)Agree. Him and Hoolahan have looked much worse this season. This is due to them being entirely isolated. The fans give Holt a hard time, and he has had a poor season, but how many chances does he get per game? 7)Agree. talk about panic buy. I didn''t blame him for selling Morison. I would have kept him, but the fans practically hounded him out. He scored 10 goals last season, some important ones at that, barely got a kick this year and the fans were all over him. I know his body language was often frustrating, but I would have liked to have seen him ad Holt up there.As for Becchio, he looked poor in his only game, but how can you judge based on that? Buy him and don''t even put him on the bench. Pure genius. 8)Agree. Poor keeper. Why bother when you had Rudd and Steer? 9)Agre. The "Little Old Norwich" crap is a joke. Keeping talking up the opposition, even though this is the weakest Premiership for years. He doesn''t think we belong here. Little Old Norwich will end up in the Little Old Championship and then what. He will seay how much quality Bournemouth have? 10) Agree. I''m not in the "I love David Fox Club", but he should have played far more than he has. He has looked very rusty and unfit due to lack of games, which in turn demonstrates, to me, how impressive Elliott Bennett has been. 11)Agree. Total and utter embarrassment. 12) Agree. At home to Newcastle,who were off the scale abysmal, home to Fulham, off the scale unambitious, we made no effort to win the games. Talk about weak management. After the Fulham game, i think, he stated that he''d taken a risk bringing on Kamara with 3 minutes to go. Just feeble. 13) Agree. His post match interviews are infuriating. Constantly praising the opposition, saying how we looked good for a draw, not mentioning at Stoke and Wigan that we failed to have a shot on target. Even yesterday against Villa he thinks we were the better side. What chances did we create? I should have just written agree with the whole post. How people continue to defend him is beyond me. Blindly praising and supporting the manager doesn''t make you more of a fan. I think we will draw with WBA next week. Lets just hope and pray that 29 points is enough. I don''t think it will be and fear we may be toast on goal difference. From where we were after 17 games it is a joke. 1994-95 all over again. Like you I could rant for hours. Lets wait and see what happens next week, but he has to go regardless.

Hoolahan looked like a lost little boy today. It was sad to watch. He lacked confidence and looked completely uninterested. He had what I always call a "Hoolahan game", meaning he runs around with his head down, gives the ball away and achieves less than nothing. A total passenger. He can be great at times, but he has so many poor games and with how deep the rest of the midfield sits, he often has little support. I feel sorry for him when that happens, but next week i would go 4-4-2, leave him out, and perhaps bring him on as an impact player. I know we all see the game differently, but i think he works well in the diamond and not a lot else. Next week I''d like to see Tettey, E.Bennett and maybe Becchio start (would have said Kamara, but he''s gone) and leave out Snodgrass, Howson and Hoolahan. I know this leaves me in the minority and it won''t happen, but we''re not creating chances at the moment and a few changes in personnel and in tactics (I know there is no chance of this) might do it. I just can''t believe we are where we are and I suspect he will start with the same side he played today because according to him "We were the better side". How many chances from open play? How many times to the byline? I fear Long and Lakaku are going to tear us to shreds.

Agree with most of the report. I totally disagree on the Hoolahan comment. I thought he had a desperately poor game, posed no threat and should have gone off sooner. The booing, to me, was beyond absurd. Kamara came on and immediately looked more dangerous. Not playing 2 up top at home is too negative for me. Hughton''s post match interviews are infuriating. He says that when you get back in the game, you should make sure you don''t lose. Well....what about trying to win. After the Everton game he said the players wanted it, not him, but he learnt nothing from that game. Today, the only time Villa looked uncomfortable was for the few minutes after we scored. They are a young side and we should have bombarded them with pressure and really gone for it. We didn''t. Hughton doesn''t get it and I fear we are going to pay a very heavy price for his unremittingly clueless "management".

Yet again we were just very ordinary. We worked hard, but looked clueless going forward. Hoolahan had a dire afternoon. He looked like a player with no confidence and gave the ball away constantly. Should have started 4-4-2 for me and why Elliott Bennett doesn''t play is beyond me, but I guess I have to make my peace that everyone seems to be in love with Snodgrass. Overall 2-1 Villa was about right. They had two excellent chances at 1-0 and they looked dangerous going forward. Agbonlahor is inconsistent, but today he was superb. Just shows how much pace can do, something our side is entirely lacking. I don''t think we''ll survive on 38 points, we will lose at Man City, so we have to get something against WBA. The fact that Hughton has allowed it to get to this point from where we were after 17 games is ridiculous. The Hughton apologists must be tiring of defending him. His style is what I think of as non-football, non- tactics and non-management. Just pick a side that is "hard to beat", cross you arms, never change it and hope for the best. Whatever happens over the next two games I think he should be sacked. 2 wins in 20 games, negative football throughout is simply not good enough. He then comes out on the radio and talks his usual rubbish, which just shows that he will never change his style. Our best hope now is to pray that Wigan or Newcastle capitulate.