Gardner?

Chinman3000 said:

Last night showed once again how bad Gary Gardener actually is. Lost the ball nearly everytime, no fight to win / track / get back, and that back-heel near the end

Just goes to add to how clueless Sami is as he keeps playing him.

Bloom tell 'em both to bugger off.

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Alan Titchmarsh is a better footballer

Don Tmatter said:

Never mind Gardner, we can send him back, its what's happened to Holla that worries me.

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Good point, he's lost his vibrancy, style and ability to take a great free kick. As I saw with Solly last year, some coaches have the ability to coach the skills and motivation out of players. What is happening in the midfield at the moment is of concern, because its not creating and its not defending.

I bet gardner's on a bloody good wage and we pay most of it too...Thats another load of money wasted

Don Tmatter said:

Never mind Gardner, we can send him back, its what's happened to Holla that worries me.

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Holla looked awesome with Bruno in the holding role behind him. As a team, we've looked rubbish since we stopped using that option.

As for Gardner, considering he's allegedly good at set-poieces, his set pieces are absolutely dire and his shooting wouldn't test the seagulls on the roof let alone an opposition goalkeeper. He's a prime example of someone who never follows the cardinal rule of keeping your head over the ball to keep a shot low.

Every game he's played he's got worse but to be fair, with the possible exception of Stockdale, Dunk and maybe Colunga, everyone has got progressively worse.

Gardner is only here to provide cover for Stephens. I will be delighted to see Dale back in the team, although he will be badly lacking in match practice. Such a pity that he got injured just as his form was blossoming.

I hoped Gardner might want to prove himself to Villa but I cannot see how he has enhanced his prospects. Very disappointing. For a prospective Prem player he does not look to impose himself on the game, shows little hunger and seems content to watch the ball pass him by. The sad thing is that he's had two or three decent scoring chances and fluffed them all. Given our current goal famine he could have become a minor Albion hero.

With regard to Ince, Holla and JFC I think their form has suffered because of Sami's rotation policy. Yes it is good to have depth, especially while Crofts and Stephens are unavailable. We do not have a settled first XI which cannot help the players make the formations work. It will be a blessing to have Stephens available - but I guess Sami will continue to rotate the CMs.

Plus I suspect they all are suffering from a collective dip in confidence that must be affecting the whole team during our present run. A couple of wins would make all the difference, not just to our league position but just as importantly the confidence of the players.

I think Robbie Savage may have had a slightly more effective loan spell. Has Gary got a nice shiny car?

Forget about his lack of commitment, it's the fact his abilities were deemed worthwhile by Burke and co that should concern everyone.