HI All i am coming to you from a Aston Villa Fansite looking for someone to participate in a short Q&A for our regular feature, please answer the questions below and the best response will be posted on our main page and in the forum for Members to discuss. Banter is encouraged and full credit will be given to your site and a link provided. many thanks in advance, 1. Michael Laudrup seems to have hit the ground running after the departure of Brendan Rogers to Liverpool, what are thoughts on Rogers departure and how do you think he will fair at Liverpool in the long run? 2.Swansea are a great Team to watch because You play attractive attacking football and have scored a massive 13 goals in 4 competetive games so far this season, is this great form the fruits of Rogers labours or a result of Laudrup's effect on the Team? 3. Neil Taylor has been ruled out for the season after suffering a horrific ankle injury against Sunderland, how much will Swansea miss him and do you think he can come back the same player? 4. Former Aston Villa Player Luke Moore (like his Brother) is a Player who promised so much when coming through the ranks at Villa, but he seems to be doing very well for Swansea! what are your thoughts on him? 5. Moving away from Swansea for a moment, News broke today that vindicated Liverpool Fans of ANY wrong doing whatsoever in the Hillsborough disaster, something Liverpool Fans knew already. Is this too little too late for all the greiving familes and do you ever think they will get the closure they deserve? 6. Aston Villa like Swansea have a new Manager in Paul Lambert, what are your thoughts on him as a Manager and do you think he could be a sucsess at Villa? 7. Aston Villa has a proud history and traditon, but in recent years the performances and results on the pitch have resulted in us having 2 relegation battles in 2 seasons! my question is, do you see Aston Villa as a big Club, Sleeping giant or a also ran in decline? 8. Which one Swansea Player should Villa watch out for on Saturday and which one Villa Player are you concerned about? 9. What do you think both Clubs can acomplish this season and in the near future? 10. And finally match Predicitons?
1. Michael Laudrup seems to have hit the ground running after the departure of Brendan Rogers to Liverpool, what are thoughts on Rogers departure and how do you think he will fair at Liverpool in the long run? Unless they start turning results in soon, his job will be under threat big stylie.. Even with the Liverpool name, power, money and so called talent they have, I just can't see them playing the Swansea game better than Swansea, well at least this season (unless he buys half the squad in Jan) Can Liverpool wait that long and can he turn them into a Swanseapool side sooner rather than later...... 2.Swansea are a great Team to watch because You play attractive attacking football and have scored a massive 13 goals in 4 competetive games so far this season, is this great form the fruits of Rogers labours or a result of Laudrup's effect on the Team? Every manager has had their slant and brought attributes to the team, but the goals have to be Laudrup imo... 3. Neil Taylor has been ruled out for the season after suffering a horrific ankle injury against Sunderland, how much will Swansea miss him and do you think he can come back the same player? I hope he can come back at least the player he was, he's young so keep positive, but who knows eh! By then there maybe another player that makes LB his own... 4. Former Aston Villa Player Luke Moore (like his Brother) is a Player who promised so much when coming through the ranks at Villa, but he seems to be doing very well for Swansea! what are your thoughts on him? Luke Moore, frustrates me - He obviously has talent, but doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. He always seems like he is on cruise mode.. Saying that, I'll never forget the goal he scored against ManC.... Just a decent squad player for me i'm afraid... 5. Moving away from Swansea for a moment, News broke today that vindicated Liverpool Fans of ANY wrong doing whatsoever in the Hillsborough disaster, something Liverpool Fans knew already. Is this too little too late for all the greiving familes and do you ever think they will get the closure they deserve? I don't think there will ever be closure on such an event for the families 6. Aston Villa like Swansea have a new Manager in Paul Lambert, what are your thoughts on him as a Manager and do you think he could be a sucsess at Villa? I can't say too much on other teams and managers because i don't know the complete facts - but it appears to me that clubs get a manager in just because he may have had success at another club - that does not mean that he will fit in with every clubs ethos or way of doing things... The one thing I do like about the way Swansea go about things is that they always look to choose a manager that fits - even when some fans are nervous, particularly if the new manager is an unknown or not had success at other clubs... Lambert on Villa, we'll see..... Have you guys got a style and do you think you pick managers that fits???? 7. Aston Villa has a proud history and traditon, but in recent years the performances and results on the pitch have resulted in us having 2 relegation battles in 2 seasons! my question is, do you see Aston Villa as a big Club, Sleeping giant or a also ran in decline? I defo see Villa as a big club, however I see Villa as a club in troubled times at the moment, if you can find some direction no reason why Villa can't be a sleeping giant.... 8. Which one Swansea Player should Villa watch out for on Saturday and which one Villa Player are you concerned about? Crikey all our front 4 at the moment are on fire, but if I had to single one out Michu just about edges it, but Routledge and Dyer both also to watch on form.. Keep the ball in Swansea's half cos in your half I think we are extremely dangerous at the moment... Sorry, not up on Villa players... 9. What do you think both Clubs can acomplish this season and in the near future? I am sure Villa if not this season will be back up there in the future... Swansea - I take 17th Still at the moment as we still newbies, and anything above is a bonus... If we can hit mid table again this season I'd be ecstatic... Do you think there are 3 worse teams in the division than us this season??? 10. And finally match Predicitons? I never predict a game outcome....
Given our defensive concerns and goal scoring prowess so far this season, I can see a few goals in it. 2-4
"Glaciers have counterattacked faster than we did under Rodgers." Ah, Lone, you do make me laugh. There, you see.
1. Michael Laudrup seems to have hit the ground running after the departure of Brendan Rogers to Liverpool, what are thoughts on Rogers departure and how do you think he will fair at Liverpool in the long run? Michael Laudrup has made a dream start. He is very impressive when interviewed and has so far made very sensible decisions in the transfer market and on match days. I get the sense that he has managed to get most if not all Jacks onside, those with money on him to get sacked can rip up their betting slips now. Rodgers' departure was a depressing affair. Firstly because of the inevitability of the attempted ransacking of our club by one of the game's elite. It seems to happen to every small club that makes a splash in the Premier and was expected, just dispiriting. Secondly because of the sordidness of what followed. Rodgers always said he'd leave for a big club if the chance came along, we knew that and the vast majority wished him well....despite most of us realising that his departure was going to scupper our deal for Siggurdsson! Brendan then wrote an open letter to the fans (something he seems to have made an embarrassing habit of at Liverpool) stating that he'll "always be a Jack" and hoping he'd be welcomed back here someday. At the press conference to announce his departure both he and Jenkins put on public record that as part of the deal an agreement had been reached that Liverpool would not bid for one of our players for 12 months unless we accept a bid or put a player on the open market (something that was insisted on by Jenkins to avoid the gutting of our squad on the eve of our crucial second season). We all know what happened next. In short Brendan; - Scuppered Siggy deal whilst unnecessarily patronising us "I'll insist he speaks to the new Swansea manager first, if he doesn't want to sign then of course I'd like him here" - unseemly courting of Joe Allen through the press and leaking of his contract details, specifically details relating to the minimum release fee - breaking of agreement with an insulting offer of £12.5 million + Jonjo Shelvey on loan - activation of Allen's minimum release fee forcing us to sell at £15 million, totally ignoring what he and Liverpool had agreed - the continued courting of our players, e.g. Talking, in one interview, in glowing terms about Vorm (describing him as "perfect for the way I want to play") in the same week he put out a story to the press about an ultimatum he had given Reina to improve by January In the long run Brendan is going to regret not showing the club that picked him up from the management scrap heap, when he couldn't get an interview with a League 1 club, a bit more respect...as he will be sacked with his reputation in tatters at some point in his first 18 months, my guess is next Christmas. 2.Swansea are a great Team to watch because You play attractive attacking football and have scored a massive 13 goals in 4 competetive games so far this season, is this great form the fruits of Rogers labours or a result of Laudrup's effect on the Team? Our last 4 managers have all contributed to the way our current team play, but Laudrup deserves the most credit for the dramatic improvement in front of goal. Martinez introduced the passing, possession football with the emphasis on attack which saw us controlling games and creating more chances. Sousa taught our squad how to defend as a team and close down space for the opposition much more effectively. Rodgers introduced, through his contacts at Chelsea and Reading, a better quality of attacker who took a higher percentage of our chances... ...and Laudrup has introduced a better quality of attacking player again with the signings of Michu and Pablo Hernandez. He has also added a better threat at set pieces with the signings of De Guzman and Ki. But the biggest effect Laudrup has had is on the encouragement to get the ball forward faster and the tweaking of our winger's roles. Dyer had found a goal scoring touch under Rodgers but Routledge was left to rot on the bench regardless of Sinclair's poor form. Now Routledge is played andhas confidence and the movement of he and Dyer is a quantum leap forward on previous seasons' systems. They are coming inside and changing positions. Sometimes Michu joins Graham to make a front 2, sometimes one of the wingers joins Graham, sometimes Graham and Michu switch and one of the wingers joins Graham in the hole. Under Rodgers the wingers didn't move from the touch line. Now we look lethal. 3. Neil Taylor has been ruled out for the season after suffering a horrific ankle injury against Sunderland, how much will Swansea miss him and do you think he can come back the same player? Neil Taylor will be a huge loss for us and I fully expect Lambert to target us down that side. He'd matured into one of the most consistent full backs in the Premier and knew our system inside out. I hope he comes back the same but obviously there is a huge risk that he won't after such an injury. It is the position we are weakest in so it is bad news for us. We'll most likely give a young local lad, Ben Davies, a run of games and so far he has looked very promising....but learning your trade in the Premier against International standard wingers every week is a big, big ask (Taylor had 2 years in the Championship) and is the reason why Laudrup signed Dutchman, Tiendalli, on a free this week....if one of the 2 can't plug the hole our points total will suffer this season, no doubt about it. 4. Former Aston Villa Player Luke Moore (like his Brother) is a Player who promised so much when coming through the ranks at Villa, but he seems to be doing very well for Swansea! what are your thoughts on him? Personally I like him. He's not everybody's cup of tea, I think he suffers from having a run that can look lazy. He's neat and tidy, has a high level of technical ability and is willing (and able) to play in any position in our front 4. He also has a good attitude, never grumbling despite spending a lot of time on the bench. He's one of those that look more comfortable in the Premier than the Championship...if that makes any sense. 5. Moving away from Swansea for a moment, News broke today that vindicated Liverpool Fans of ANY wrong doing whatsoever in the Hillsborough disaster, something Liverpool Fans knew already. Is this too little too late for all the greiving familes and do you ever think they will get the closure they deserve? I'm sure nothing could come close to giving them the "closure they deserve" but I think they're getting closer to seeing some kind of closure, namely the prosecution of those whose incompetence can be proved to have contributed to the loss of lives. It is too late and it is, so far at least, too little. 6. Aston Villa like Swansea have a new Manager in Paul Lambert, what are your thoughts on him as a Manager and do you think he could be a sucsess at Villa? I think he is very shrewd, a tough cookie, and I also think he must have spies in the Liberty Stadium because he's always chasing the same players as we are! I think he produces proficient, effective, hard working teams who score lots of goals and possess the same drive/will to win as he has. I remember the season Norwich got promoted to the Premier they seemed to score a lot of winners in the last 5 minutes which shows tremendous spirit. He also outfoxed Rodgers 3 times out of 4. He will be a success at Villa if you stick by him for 3 years. He seems to be buying in younger players with the future in mind. I believe he could do for you what Moyes has done for Everton. In the short term though, he has his work cut out. Last season you were the least impressive team I saw come down the Liberty and were easily the biggest underachievers in the Premier. It's asking a lot to ask him to get you playing good football straight away. I believe you will improve enough in the New Year to avoid relegation. 7. Aston Villa has a proud history and traditon, but in recent years the performances and results on the pitch have resulted in us having 2 relegation battles in 2 seasons! my question is, do you see Aston Villa as a big Club, Sleeping giant or a also ran in decline? Sleeping Giant 8. Which one Swansea Player should Villa watch out for on Saturday and which one Villa Player are you concerned about? Nathan Dyer on the right-wing gives most left-backs a tough afternoon. Abonghalor, hope he isn't lining up on the right-wing v young Ben Davies. 9. What do you think both Clubs can acomplish this season and in the near future? Swansea - this season a top 10 finish....although those chances have taken a dent with Taylor out for the season. Long term, survival in the Premier. At the very least we want to be going back down with better training facilities, extended capacity at the stadium and a well stocked youth academy. Villa - If things go very right this season, a top 10 finish...although I would think avoiding relegation with a younger, cheaper, improved squad would be success. Long term - you could be challenging for Europe if you stick with Lambert for 3-5 years. 10. And finally match Predicitons? 2 - 2 We look dangerous enough to score but with Taylor and Chico out we will most likely ship a couple as well. Good Luck you Villains.
That was well worth the read Terrorwit , anything I might add would subtract from your take on things I fear . Really enjoyed it Cheers !
Agree what my fellow jacks have said above.I will add that Villa are a big side going through not so good times at the moment, but i have no doubts that under Lambert you will turn the corner soon (I hope its not against us with our weakened defense due to injuries)...Villa i think will finish mid table and i hope we can at least do the same...
