What price Europe?

However, Roman, please share your "enlightened" discovery... not sure how you've arrived at the half-time conclusion.

My ongoing gripe is can anyone wake Howard up and tell him how to command his area or catch a ball as he didn't bother until the end of the game today, their second was a shocker.

Well we had the ULTIMATE chance to get closer to both the Redshite and the falling Spurs but, as normal, MOYES was too stubborn to make a change earlier in the game, so there we are. In no-man's land. See ya next season guys!!!

What I will say about Moyes is, even though I wish he'd given these guys a go earlier, now they've come in (and will probably have to play in the next couple of games as well) and can prove themselves, Moyes does reward that by keeping them in the team (Coleman/Rodwell as examples made their debut in similar circumstances).

Looking at the fragility of our squad, I'm happy that we got a point although three would have been brilliant. Luckily we have enough points to be able to breathe a bit better and maybe the injuries will enable us to see a few new faces.

ps: Oh for Darren Bent.

Now I?m not blessed with some unique football knowledge and I?m sure that Bill & Dave were watching the same thing, and not to act on it (and I don?t mean ?doing a Leeds?) it?s meant that this season has been a huge lost opportunity, which we probably won?t see again.

Our squad is threadbare now and this, when we look back, isn't the worst result. I'm gutted we didn't win. Watching from the Gwladys as Bent scored the 2nd was horrible though. I really want them down. I hate that club with a passion. Why is it their fans sing more about the opposition fans than their team? Why is it that they were singing 'you've never won fuck all' to Everton? This is a successful club with a nearly identical history to theirs. I hate Ashley Young, I hated O'Neill and the list goes on...

Excuse me, I'm devastated we let a half-time lead slip. But I'll let the players off on this one as a lot of them just weren't of a high enough quality to be expected to live up to the quality of Fellaini, Mikel, Louis etc. We came up against some quality players and it was the quality players and poor refereeing that cost us.

Can't wait to see more of Gueye. Looks skillful, quick and his delivery from what I've seen of it has been nothing short of brilliant. He did more in 20 mins than Bily has done all season. I'd start him from here on in. He is good enough, just not mature enough yet.

Plus we need to blood some players for next year. Him and Vellios need games this year to set them up for next. They could be good players and if we hang on to Fellaini in the summer and Rodwell, I still believe in a relatively bright future.

Beckford's laziness seriously pisses off the fans. He produced two lazy attempts on goal: missed one sitter with a pathetic finish when he should've scored; his second one, he just decides to blast the ball when it was easier to just place it in. Seriously, if he could shoot properley we'd be in the top 4.

I'd say only Bily and him put a foot wrong today. It was a great game, lots of banter between the two sets of supporters. Whatever people say, I believe the simple reality is we are incapable of taking chances.

I would like to be higher but we are seventh (where most pundits had us at the beginning of the season). The teams above us have all spent like crazy. The teams below are spending more than us. We have injuries beyond belief and no money.

Do people really think Moyes wanted to send all those players out on loan and not get any in? Do they think he was sitting on £20m in the summer and refused to buy a striker? Now people are saying Gueye should start every game after a cameo today... I remember Bily's first game and everyone was saying he was the next Sheedy! Don't hear that one to often now do you?

Sack Moyes, my arse; the man is doing an unbelievable job with both hands tied behind his back at the moment. Is a new manager going to come and the board will pull money out of thin air to back him? it's time to get real and realise most of the situation we are in is out of Moyes's hands at the moment until we get some investment.

Gueye and Vellios were good today and both deserve to be on the bench in future and given game time where possible.

I think we played well given our injuries and the fact that Villa were practically at full strength. Although their position on the ladder is low, I have watched their recent performances and they haven't been that bad, just a bit unlucky, like we were today.

Roman, you have got to be kidding with your critique of this game and Moyes. It's back to Football Manager for you, I'm afraid.

Fair play that hindsight is a wonderful thing but Moyes has us all hands down in that he knows the truth about whether he was getting anything from any sales and could easily have held a gun to BK's head telling the fans he's having to sell to buy. Sadly he did nothing and said nothing, even when he finally bit the bullet and sold Pienaar. He's not spent a penny of that money which appears to have gone straight towards one of BK's many debts.

We still destroyed them and would have won but for our usual combination of bad luck, missed opportunities and the infuriating knack of conceding from every single opposition chance.

If you took 5 first team players out of any other team in the league they'd struggle like we did. Considering the absentees, it was actually a decent performance.

I've got a suspicion Moyes knew he didn't fancy other players like Yakubu staying either and it's well known he can't wait to get shut of Vaughan yet gives Anichebe a four-year contract.

However, I would never proudly describe myself as "a Moyes hater" and I refuse to criticise the man simply for the sake of it. How can you possibly conclude that the reason Villa took a 2-1 lead was down to the fact that "...Moyes obviously fucked something up in the dressing room at half-time."?

Was his biggest fuck-up telling Beckford that he should just smash his next chance as hard as he can off the underside of the bar? Was it Coleman that he "fucked up in the dressing room"? Is that why he had to come off? Did he tell Baines to leave Downing in acres of space for the first goal, or order Howard to rush out like a lunatic for the second?

Looked a bit iffy from Jags, seems like Reffs are still giving compensatory decisions when they know deep down they cocked up.

Blatter, please, please, please drag FIFA into the (min) 20th century. Pull finger on the goal line technology will you!

Firstly Gueye, from the moment he came on, he was a breath of fresh air, taking players on, genuine pace and skill, and an end-product with the cross! A must start for the last few games.

Vellios should get more of these cameos for the rest of the season too. He did more running, won more headers and had more shots on goal (1!) than big Vic has is the past 2 years.

I also saw Shane Duffy after the game signing autographs, thought he was meant to be at Burnley?

I made a point of watching him off the ball all day yesterday, from defending at corners to covering his full back, to helping his midfielders and all I saw was someone who just did not want to know; the game passed him by. What was also annoying was, everytime he made a balls-up, I clocked Moyes spin around in anger ? and yet he still persisted with him!

What also has got on my tits for years ? I have missed a good few goals scored by the away team as I have been finishing my half-time pint... what goes on down there at half-time? I think he needs to send them out early for the second half.

Another gripe is our injuries: how come every year we seem to have the biggest injury crisis out of anyone else in the league and all those lads who would have now been given their chance are out on loan, just what has Billy Bull done to our beloved club to see a bench like that whilst our only natural goalscorer bags a hat trick up north???

I am a Moyes critic, I felt sorry for him yesterday but then I thought, "Why should I?" ? if he won't have some balls and grill the charlatan.

We are in deep trouble as a club but I believe that Moyes, for all his obvious faults, is a remarkable manager and without him under the control of a resource free and incompetent board we would have been in the championship or lower several years ago. It's also fantastic to see two possibly very good players that we got for next to nothing break into the first team.

We need to get rid of Bily (unfortunately) and Heitinga (thankfully) to get some funds and if necessary the big fella will have to go. Do we really do better with Arteta in the side? Is he worth £60k a week? We have some players who could genuinely go, without significantly weakening the side, as long as we buy well.

Gavin, I totally agree about Vellios and his running style! But, as I said, he's a massive improvement on Anichebe at the moment and judging by the state of Beckford when he went home last night, hand bandaged, limping and a lump on his head, he may well get longer than 10 minutes next week!

Hope there's not many midweek games left as we'll have to get permission from the school board for most of our subs!

We ain't got one ball winner in this present midfield, Fellaini ain't a ball winner, hence his second long injury. How we miss Lee Carsley. I would love to see Bily in his rightful position, alongside the centre-forward.
IT IS PARAMOUNT THAT WE GET A BALL WINNING HOLDING MIDFIELDER ASAP.

A decent squad should have cover for every position, eg; Modric/Pienaar and Kranjcar at Spurs... an absolute plethora of striking alternatives, etc etc etc. Every top side is the same and they are constantly being linked with top players as BUYERS not SELLERS.

It is false economy to take chances on loaning out first team squad members and taking a chance on injuries. Every position in the league we finish is worth half a million pounds so it's foolhardy to take chances when you still have to pay wages to players who are injured... and that fact may cost positions in the league table when they are unfit and loans make reasonable replacements unavailable.

It seems to me that our club is really in a financial mess and DM is performing a job similar to old Mother Hubbard. I honestly do not see any other top manager who would want his job with hands tied behind their back regarding investment.

Yes, Yakubu was a good Premier League striker; however, post-injury he has not been the same player and may have now found his level.

Vaughan has also been unlucky that his development has been interrupted so often with injury. Maybe a few years at a lower level will help him and one day he will be able to make it in the PL ? when we sell him in the summer we should definitely include a buy-back clause or get a percentage of any future fee. NSNO

Nice to see us moving up the pecking order on MotD, probably a mistake which Gary L will put right next week!

Good to see Wayne showing his eloquent command of his native tongue to the camera for all to see! His parents must be so proud! The regret statement must have been written by someone else as it contained words of more than one syllable! Bless!

In my younger years, I could just as easily have chosen to support the RS or Man United like all my mates did (fuck, there's even a couple Chelsea and Villa fans in our crew), but, no, I picked this great club. If you have a problem with that, wake up to yourself.

Ian, the ref's assistant's job is to be online with the ball hence they claim a decent salary for dressing up like a ref and jog up and down the touchline holding one flag (not the hardest job in the world). If you don't realise ,there is also a fourth official in the crowd watching the game too, with plenty of cameras about... it's not beyond the realms of modern technology and replays to think this fourth official might just see a replay and speak to any of the officials on the headsets they employ there and then.

Ian is it my job or the guy getting paid to be in the right place at the right time's job?

I for the life of me can't understand the point of the fourth official if they can't advise on incidents the ref and assistants might have missed or controversial ones like off the ball fouls or dives, Jags' being a good example, but a few for Young and that hack by Walker whilst Neville was in mid air.

Using a hand to score is just as bad and Bobby Robson's Ipwich of years ago had a center forward named Ray Crawford who scored one of the most blatant goals at Goodison. Robson was being hypocritical when he called Maradona because every professional will cheat to gain an advantage whenever he can... it's a fact!!

How many times do you see centre-backs literally grabbing opposing forwards at corner kicks???

I've no idea how old you are, Ian, but I'd guess unless you are quite young or still in education that you've worked in an environment with so called "professionals" who are so only in their own heads or labelled to gain higher pay or status or both.

The assistants can also make a call on an event such as a foul or penalty but the final decision is for the referee, the current remit of the fourth official is what exactly then Ian as you seem to know what it is ? a professional that does nothing?