By the way Fred, thanks for doing us a favour against Burnley - I spent most of yesterday taking part in the traditional Sunderland fans' pastime of praying for the teams below us to lose. Much appreciated!

No problem! I actually attended the game, my third of the season (others being 5-1 Bolton, 2-0 at Fulham - that's a 100% record!). Bizarre game and despite showing a bit of craft, Burnley must be nailed on for relegation given their away form. I imagine Sunderland will be okay, though it is a hideous run of form that they're on. Wolves, Wigan or Bolton for the final relegation spot, I'd say.

What's up with Villa's inferior league form after Christmas Fred? This is the second season running that this has happened to them!

Do they just run out of gas?

What's up with Villa's inferior league form after Christmas Fred? This is the second season running that this has happened to them!

Do they just run out of gas?

We had two bad results over Christmas - one a fairly comprehensive whoopin' by Arsenal, the other a very unfortunate stoppage time defeat to Liverpool. Aside from that, I'm not really sure what inferior form you speak of, old friend. I mean, we dropped two points home against West Ham last month but apart from that; home draws against Arsenal and Man Utd, a point at Spurs, plus a good win at Fulham and then yesterday's win. All whilst still chugging along in the cups. Solid and unspectacular for sure, but hardly comparable to last season's sad decline. At least...so far!

What's up with Villa's inferior league form after Christmas Fred? This is the second season running that this has happened to them!

Do they just run out of gas?

We had two bad results over Christmas - one a fairly comprehensive whoopin' by Arsenal, the other a very unfortunate stoppage time defeat to Liverpool. Aside from that, I'm not really sure what inferior form you speak of, old friend. I mean, we dropped two points home against West Ham last month but apart from that; home draws against Arsenal and Man Utd, a point at Spurs, plus a good win at Fulham and then yesterday's win. All whilst still chugging along in the cups. Solid and unspectacular for sure, but hardly comparable to last season's sad decline. At least...so far!

But how did Spuds manage to sneak ahead of you?

But how did Spuds manage to sneak ahead of you?

Well its only one point and we have a game in hand. Generally speaking, we've had tougher fixtures than they have lately.

Rooney...

I imagine Sunderland will be okay, though it is a hideous run of form that they're on. Wolves, Wigan or Bolton for the final relegation spot, I'd say.

After managing a grand total of two league wins between January and May of 2009, we only stayed up last season by living off other clubs' misfortune. So it's no real surprise that we've been mostly crap again this year. Some very good results early on raised expectations but to me, finishing in lower mid-table obscurity would represent progress. I'm just praying that we're not panicking again come May. Apart from the thrashing we'll no doubt get at Villa Park, there are four winnable home games coming up. If the players can't pull themselves together for those, then, well - you know the rest!

I still don't feel like I have a sense of Steve Bruce as a manager. To put it even more simply, what is the "Steve Bruce brand of football"? When we played Sunderland earlier in the season the central midfielders just seemed to hoof shots from 35 yards, over and over and over again, all of which ended in the car park or thereabouts. All that money you seemed to spend in the summer, were they "his" signings? Inquiring minds must know!

I think that's exactly the problem. He talks a very good game but from what I've seen, he hasn't really imposed any sort of style or mentality on the team. When he took over, I expected motivation to be his strong point (having turned faltering players like Kirkland and Bramble into decent performers for Wigan) but after making excellent starts, Cattermole, Cana and Turner seem to have gone backwards. Perhaps the many years we've spent making drastic changes to the squad is catching up with us and making it impossible for the team to gel properly. Bruce has probably played his part in that as well, since there's been all manner of chopping and changing again this season (especially at the back). He'll take Richardson or Ferdinand and use them in four different positions in as many weeks, but seems reluctant to try Malbranque anywhere but on the right, despite him looking quite versatile for Spurs and Fulham. I get the feeling that no-one knows where they're supposed to be playing from week to week.

Still, I'm clinging on to the hope that we can scrap for the points we need in the upcoming home games. <_<

So who made the summer signings?

Hard to say for sure, though I imagine they were almost all Bruce signings. The Cana deal took everyone by surprise but he was made captain within a few weeks of joining. The rest seemed to be very much Bruce's style. Cattermole served him well at Wigan and he raved to the press about Bent, Mensah, Turner and Campbell. We even got the obligatory obscure South American player in Da Silva.

Anyway Fred, hope you enjoy tomorrow's final. Best of luck to Villa!

Hard to say for sure, though I imagine they were almost all Bruce signings. The Cana deal took everyone by surprise but he was made captain within a few weeks of joining. The rest seemed to be very much Bruce's style. Cattermole served him well at Wigan and he raved to the press about Bent, Mensah, Turner and Campbell. We even got the obligatory obscure South American player in Da Silva.

I remember seeing Cana and thinking "who the heck?" Then I saw the armband and I was all "zwah?" Then he got sent off. True story.

I only recall Cattermole because when he was at Boro he "famously" cried when he received a booking against us in a 0-4 defeat.

Wow, depressed-looking Asian dude x9.

Sorry about the Carling cup result Fred. I can't believe Vidic was allowed to remain on the pitch...

Let's not forget that Schalke also beat Dortmund this weekend. AHHHHHHHH

Thanks SS. I would have posted more of the Chinese guy looking sad but I think that'd have just been unpleasant spamming. Look, we played pretty well and so did they. On the day their wingers were much better than ours and if you take Rooney out of the mix, it was Park and Valencia that were their main men, with Berbatov assisting. We were quite tentative going forward but I felt it was actually our normally solid defense that let us down. Collins and Cuellar didn't have good games at all, while Dunne was very unfortunate to make a mistake, seemingly redeem himself, only to then have Michael Owen standing there to score the easy goal.

Obviously the decision to not send off Vidic was lunacy, especially as Dowd was throwing around the cards minutes later, mostly at our expense.

I'm very, very sad about this but there's still a lot to play for this season! As Bon Jovi taught us all, keep the faith!

I remember seeing Cana and thinking "who the heck?" Then I saw the armband and I was all "zwah?" Then he got sent off. True story.

I hadn't heard of him before either, but many a red & white was left giddy with excitement after this YouTube video started doing the rounds. Incidentally, those same people now rate him as a flop because the yellow cards have started mounting up and he's always suspended. Go figure!

I'm very, very sad about this but there's still a lot to play for this season! As Bon Jovi taught us all, keep the faith!

I'd say fourth place is still there for the taking. On paper and compared to the nearby teams, Villa have what looks like a favourable run of fixtures coming up.

When we were originally linked with Juan Pablo Angel, even in a pre-YouTube age, there was an excellent goal of his for River Plate that did the rounds and pretty much single handily instigated the "£" sign protest posters we held aloft in protest over Doug's refusal to cough up the money to buy him.

Bad luck Freddy. Damn those Manc bastards...including Citeh...not because I hate them but because I don't want Manyoo to have a sniff at the title.

Gerrard scores his first goal for ages once Torres returns. Coincidence? I think not. Benny and Johnson to come back as well, things this season are finally looking up. Now all we need is for Torres to come back from the Spanish friendly without a scratch...HAHAHAHA like that would ever happen <_< but if it does, the race for 4th will certainly heat up