Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on October 29, 2017, 01:57:46 PM
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0-0
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Overall largely terrible.
On that Davis should've started over Kodjia as we created some good chances when he was our focal point.
Every time we approach away games like this I just don't see how we can finish top 2.
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That was apppalling.
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The few times we seemed interested in attacking we caused them no end of problems. If only we had a manager that didn't seem terrified of losing.
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Two points dropped. Boooooo!
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Bruce pant shit job again. For parts we were terrible. Draw a fair result in the end.
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Much better in the last few minutes... if only we had started with two up front. It's a good point if we can beat Preston. Otherwise, not so much.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
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The few times we seemed interested in attacking we caused them no end of problems. If only we had a manager that didn't seem terrified of losing.
Agreed.
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Well as expected it was lacking in quality, not much football to be honest lots of long balls. Good substitutions by Bruce but we need to put in a better performance against Preston.
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One reason for that shite-fest.
Bruce and his fucking scaredy cat tactics.
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Well these games are alway shit. Pleased we didn’t lose disappointed we didn’t win but overall a deserved point.
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He’s gotta go Tone.
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SB is gripped by fear in these games I'm afraid. It will be the same when we play Leeds away in a few weeks.
Imagine him managing us in the premier league....I'd rather not.
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Started well and finished well. The middle 30 mins we were awful. Bruce got the subs spot on. Looked better when Mile and Keinan came on
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Poor performance really even though we could of pinched it in the end. Why he took hourihane off and left onomah on I will never know he was terrible today. A least we didn't loose and hopefully the last trip to play that scum for a few years now.
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Boo. Our manager is under performing.
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The game at the Sty is always going to be amongst the most difficult we have irrespective of where they are in the league. Take the point forget the game and move on to Preston.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
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Not good enough...my eyes are bleeding more than Glenn Whelan
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Snodgrass what is the point?
Bringing Hogan on, what’s the point?
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Pathetic match from start to finish. We couldn't create chances and we're left to defend far to often. Errant passes and poor giveaways. Jedinak and Whelan in the middle together is a terrible idea. A deadly slow combination that will be carved up against any decent opponent.
Onomah was absolutely terrible, I want to have a look at his stats when available. I don't think the kid completed a pass today, nor a dribble at a defender.
Whelan, while a "warrior", is toast.
Scott Hogan is just non-factor. Im sure he'd rather be spearheading the line but he brings absolutely nothing to the game. Can't beat a defender, can't unlock a defense, can't get himself on the end of a chance. He's either mentally gone or just not good enough.
I thought the back line was okay.
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Blues were better than I expected we were way below our standard. Omunamh and Hourihane particurly poor, the latter should get a kick in the bollocks for nearly giving them the game.
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Poo
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
This. Sack the boring fucker.
A complete yawnfest.
They're a vile bunch, both the team and the fans.
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Poor performance really even though we could of pinched it in the end. Why he took hourihane off and left onomah on I will never know he was terrible today. A least we didn't loose and hopefully the last trip to play that scum for a few years now.
Exactly. Onomah was nowhere today and Hourihane's ability at set pieces would've helped near the end. Snodgrass was anonymous too. However a significant improvement in the last 25 minutes and we should've won.
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So an awful game and a negative football-free approach from Bruce the cowardly Lion. No great surprises then.
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We looked decent during the handful of times we actually attacked, which was not very often. That’s all I got.
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Didn't deserve to win which is a poor state of affairs. I don't care if it's a derby, they're shit and we should be winning there.
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Blues were better than I expected we were way below our standard. Omunamh and Hourihane particurly poor, the latter should get a kick in the bollocks for nearly giving them the game.
Typical that we got free kicks in good areas once Hourihaine was subbed. I reckon he'd have buried the last one
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Pathetic from us against a hard working pub side. I so look forward to the day we have a proper manager.
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No matter where we finish this season, Bruce has got to go in the summer. Diabolical football for long periods. Massively frustrating
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Awful against Wolves, ok at home to Fulham and shit again today.
This is not a promotion winning set up.
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Did Hogan so much as touch the ball when he came on?
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Were we below our standard or was it that we didn't have that piece of individualism to score. The way we play, there is a fine line between winning, or not. With the players we have, we should be playing far better.
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Pretty shit game. As far as I can remember we prettt much always play like that there. Just sometimes we sneak a goal
Davis was so much better than Kodjia
Jedinak and whelan v good
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Absolutely wank until Jedi came on and then actually quite good. Probably a fair result in the end. The defenders all played well, the midfield were fucking awful before Jedi. How Onomah stayed on is beyond me, truly awful performance that the likes of Gardner, Lansbury and co would have been disappointed with. Hourahane was also shite, Snodgrass and Adomah very under-par. Whelan looked miles better with Jedi by him. Kodjia was a threat when he had the chance, he had more in the last 25 mins. Davies looked awesome after he came on too.
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Bruce just depresses me. He''s no modern day coach. He could possibly get a job driving one but he's no modern day coach.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
Birmingham are not just going to roll over and let us play round them. It was a battle and difficult at times but this is always one of our hardest away games.
We weathered a tough 15 mins at the start of the second half but his substitutions took the game away from them and he deserves credit for that. A couple of inches and we take a 1-0 and a sound away performance.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
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Did Hogan so much as touch the ball when he came on?
His contribution was passing to them once, getting caught in possession and doing an impersonation of a sausage in a football kit.
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Whelan was man of the match and he was useless. I don’t like a lot of our players but Kodjia irritates me more than most of them.
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Awful against Wolves, ok at home to Fulham and shit again today.
This is not a promotion winning set up.
Really ? WWWWLWD
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I agree with the points above that this was going to be a tough away game. Blues were always going to raise their game and we should be happy with a point. Next week they'll be back to shit again, and Villa should look ahead to giving Preston a bad time.
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Whelan was man of the match and he was useless. I don’t like a lot of our players but Kodjia irritates me more than most of them.
Useless? He was exactly what we needed on the pitch today.
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When was last time we played well there regardless.of the result?
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That was 90 minutes my life I wont get back. SB got what he wanted today, so frustrating though because when we actually pressed and passed after the changes, we created a couple of chances. No excuses for the hoof up to Kodjia for most of the match, he was living off scraps for most of the game. Still don't see what Snodgrass brings to the team, seems too slow to me.
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Whelan was man of the match and he was useless. I don’t like a lot of our players but Kodjia irritates me more than most of them.
Really? He stood up to a very tough physical battle in the middle pretty much on his own for 60 minutes until Jedinak came on. I thought he did well.
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The point keeps us going, overall it was bloody poor though. Not a great advert for the 2nd City.
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I don’t have a problem with Whelan performance, he kept challenging, kept getting fowled and wa over run in midfield as they had more numbers.
Bruce as usual took to long to put an extra body in there, when we did we got into the game.
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Blues were better than I expected we were way below our standard. Omunamh and Hourihane particurly poor, the latter should get a kick in the bollocks for nearly giving them the game.
Typical that we got free kicks in good areas once Hourihaine was subbed. I reckon he'd have buried the last one
Save that there wouldn't have been a free kick in that position at that time, had he remained on the pitch.
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The point keeps us going, overall it was bloody poor though. Not a great advert for the 2nd City.
Local derbies are shit basically.
Thought we created the best chances and should have put a couple away. Really pleased to see Jedinak back, we always look a more solid team with him in it. Davis holds the ball up well and we keep possession because of it. I hope they both start on Wednesday.
PS - I hope Small Heath get done by the FA for their scummy fans continually throwing things at our players wether it be those pathetic small time clappers, bottles and coins. They’re the scum of the earth.
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Fair result in the end. We never play well here and today was no exception.
Could have been 3 down start of the second half, but then Jedinak came on and steadied it and we could have had 3 or 4.
Point away from home is always decent enough when you're winning at home.
Big game Wednesday and I hope Kodjia is fit.
Felt we got into a rut of knocking it long for their number 4 to swallow up.
Onomah, Kodjia, Snodgrass, Hourihane and Adomah all collectively poor. Hopefully Kodjia is not badly injured.
Six points off Barcelona in 2nd and well in the Play Offs. Not too bad so far.
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I agree with the points above that this was going to be a tough away game. Blues were always going to raise their game and we should be happy with a point. Next week they'll be back to shit again, and Villa should look ahead to giving Preston a bad time.
I wasn't overly impressed today but wouldn't be quite as negative as some about it. We will, however, lose at Preston. We also will not get promoted this season, you don't get promoted playing at the overall level we have this season so far, our midfielders with the exception of Adomah have been at best inconsistant, at worst utter shite.
My one glimmer of hope is that Jedinak makes a comparable difference to our performances for the rest of this season as he did for the last 25 mins today, and that he stays fit, and that Kodjia shakes off this setback and comes back roaring for the whole of the remainder of the season.
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I don’t have a problem with Whelan performance, he kept challenging, kept getting fowled and wa over run in midfield as they had more numbers.
Bruce as usual took to long to put an extra body in there, when we did we got into the game.
He was kicked and elbowed all over the place today with barely protection from the useless ref.
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Blues were better than I expected we were way below our standard. Omunamh and Hourihane particurly poor, the latter should get a kick in the bollocks for nearly giving them the game.
Typical that we got free kicks in good areas once Hourihaine was subbed. I reckon he'd have buried the last one
Save that there wouldn't have been a free kick in that position at that time, had he remained on the pitch.
Very true
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I'd have taken a point before the game but not if we played for one.
Disappointing. Not the worst result though.
Just OK.
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Cotterill dismissing us hitting the crossbar twice because “they were just counter-attacks”...
Yeah okay, mate.
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Today saw the importance of Terry and Chester as a very effective partnership, the fight of Whelan - a real warrior - and the difference Jedi makes.
But nothing much creatively.
A Steve Bruce team. Sadly.
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24,408
2,078 villa
So,22,330 noses in their best crowd of the season
Pa-the-tic
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24,408
2,078 villa
So,22,330 noses in their best crowd of the season
Pa-the-tic
Absolutely pathetic.
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Not good enough.
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can someone tell me who hit the bar?
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
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Cotterill dismissing us hitting the crossbar twice because “they were just counter-attacks”...
Yeah okay, mate.
The Houirhane free kick was a hair away from being turned in while I was sure that Kodjia had scored with his header.
They had 15 minutes of the second half and should have scored. We took control after and should have taken oir chsnces to punish them.
But we are always a bit ropey here performance wise. We created more than we usually do mind.
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Still not moved up the hill to the turnstiles yet. Fucking farce this.
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Still not moved up the hill to the turnstiles yet. Fucking farce this.
You guys getting walked to Duddeston again?
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Oh well, at least we won't go there next season ;)
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
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We're not getting walked anywhere yet.
Who knows where the Bordersley Safari will take us this time.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
Cowardly.Sat deep.One striker.
No commitment to tackle.
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Cotterill dismissing us hitting the crossbar twice because “they were just counter-attacks”...
Yeah okay, mate.
The Houirhane free kick was a hair away from being turned in while I was sure that Kodjia had scored with his header.
They had 15 minutes of the second half and should have scored. We took control after and should have taken oir chsnces to punish them.
But we are always a bit ropey here performance wise. We created more than we usually do mind.
I’m okay with it. Losing at the Sty is unthinkable to me so even a 0-0 is acceptable, as they always raise their game against us. We’re still 6th and still in the mix.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
Cowardly.Sat deep.One striker.
No commitment to tackle.
OTT nonsense.
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Ads you driving back to newton? In ground as well
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Aston Villa's updated league record against Birmingham:
WWWWWWDDDWD
12 years, 11 games and counting... 💪
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
The approach was exactly the same to Wolves. Luckily SHA don't have the quality they do throughout the team.
I'm sorry but I just don't see us winning enough away games to get top 2. Happy to be proved wrong but we don't seek to play on the front foot enough in away games.
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Hard working, but ragged and disjointed too often. Too many long balls, and we were hampered by some below par individual performances. Onomah and Snodgrass were piss poor today. Onomah should have been hauled off instead of Hourihane. Two points dropped against mediocre opposition. Given our resources, squad, potential, experience etc we should have what it takes to get out of this league this season. My worry is that performances like today's and v Wolves may leave us short come May.
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can someone tell me who hit the bar?
Davis 1st, Kodjia 2nd.
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Aston Villa's updated league record against Birmingham:
WWWWWWDDDWD
12 years, 11 games and counting... 💪
That last should be D minus
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We were terrible second half until Jedi came on, he made a huge difference and it is good to see him back. Davis also looked good when he came on, but Hogan was an odd substitution.
Disagree with some here on Hourihane, I thought he did ok today. Can't understand how Whelan got MOM.
That defence is loads better than last year.
Johnstone 8 - Did well
Hutton 9 - Excellent again
Terry 8 - Great as usual and nearly got another goal.
Chester 7 - dependable
Elmo - 7 dependable at the back and at times a threat going forwards.
Whelan 6 - Terrible first half, better second half.
Snodgrass 6 - Meh
Adomah 6 - Couple of good runs early and late on.
Onoma 6 - Meh
Hourihane 6 - Good at times
Kodjia - Looked much better when Jedi came on
Hogan 3 - pointless
Davis 8 - Good
Jedi 9 - Very good
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11 whelans would have won us 3 points
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Not today. Got my nipper down with the grand parents.
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Cotterill dismissing us hitting the crossbar twice because “they were just counter-attacks”...
Yeah okay, mate.
The Houirhane free kick was a hair away from being turned in while I was sure that Kodjia had scored with his header.
They had 15 minutes of the second half and should have scored. We took control after and should have taken oir chsnces to punish them.
But we are always a bit ropey here performance wise. We created more than we usually do mind.
I’m okay with it. Losing at the Sty is unthinkable to me so even a 0-0 is acceptable, as they always raise their game against us. We’re still 6th and still in the mix.
It's fine margins though. Let's say Jota buried his chance as he obviously should've done. We're 1-0 down after 50 minutes barely having had a shot and no doubt SHA would've started camping on their own box so we'd probably have struggled to create the chances we did.
I'm hypothesizing of course but then again 10-11 away games have panned out like that under SB's tenure so far.
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Hard working, but ragged and disjointed too often. Too many long balls, and we were hampered by some below par individual performances. Onomah and Snodgrass were piss poor today. Onomah should have been hauled off instead of Hourihane. Two points dropped against mediocre opposition. Given our resources, squad, potential, experience etc we should have what it takes to get out of this league this season. My worry is that performances like today's and v Wolves may leave us short come May.
Completely agree, we could have easily been a goal down before Bruce finally changed it.
He seems paralysed when teams are on top, this awful not lose first football.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
Agree that we had the best of the first 20 minutes but once they got into the game we didn't seem to have any idea how to get back on top.
I think the first substitution was defensive to protect what we had got, rather than to go and try and win the game. It worked against a poor Blues team but I don't think it would against better sides.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
The approach was exactly the same to Wolves. Luckily SHA don't have the quality they do throughout the team.
I'm sorry but I just don't see us winning enough away games to get top 2. Happy to be proved wrong but we don't seek to play on the front foot enough in away games.
I’m okay with this criticism, but it’s calling the team cowards that struck a nerve. They fought well and could have won it. This is a local derby and form goes out of the window and they always raise their game against Villa.
Yeah a win would have been brilliant and when we brought on Jedinak and then Davis we looked like we could win. Food for thought for Bruce.
Still we’re 6th and still in the mix.
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Bruce is what he is. And we will now go to Deepdale with precisely the same objective and mindset. Fucking miserable
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Let's imagine Kodjia scored and we didn't rattle the bar and Terry or Chester had turned Hourihane's free kick in.
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24,408
2,078 villa
So,22,330 noses in their best crowd of the season
Pa-the-tic
WM's take on this was that 22 Villa fans didn’t show. I shit you not.
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Let's imagine Kodjia scored and we didn't rattle the bar and Terry or Chester had turned Hourihane's free kick in.
Na, let’s pretend Jota scored then camped in their own half and we couldn’t break them down.
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Let's imagine Kodjia scored and we didn't rattle the bar and Terry or Chester had turned Hourihane's free kick in.
Win would've been very sweet but it would've been a steal and no indicatioI hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
The approach was exactly the same to Wolves. Luckily SHA don't have the quality they do throughout the team.
I'm sorry but I just don't see us winning enough away games to get top 2. Happy to be proved wrong but we don't seek to play on the front foot enough in away games.
I’m okay with this criticism, but it’s calling the team cowards that struck a nerve. They fought well and could have won it. This is a local derby and form goes out of the window and they always raise their game against Villa.
Yeah a win would have been brilliant and when we brought on Jedinak and then Davis we looked like we could win. Food for thought for Bruce.
Still we’re 6th and still in the mix.
It wasn't so much the team, more the manner and mentality they were set out with by the manager. Given that's the mindset we approach the majority of away games you can see who the problem is.
We approached this fixture the same way last year and our season amounted to nothing.
We're better this season but my target pre season is top 2 as I wouldn't fancy us in the play offs and we look short of automatic promotion even if we've strung good form.
We've won 5/7 yet are still 6 points off 2nd so that's a bit of a problem I think.
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Let's pretend we went to a ground we never enjoy going to, to play a team who haven't got a bad home record, and we got a point.
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We knew what Bruce’s style was like when we employed him. He’s pragmatic and rarely pretty to watch but he gets results. We’re 6th and still in the mix, and I’m okay with this considering the 7 years that went previous.
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A fucking hour. Fuck off West Midlands Police you twats. They have and always will be the worst force in the country for dealing with football.
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High/Lowlights (http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11104493/birmingham-0-0-aston-villa)
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You guys have my sympathies, WMP handling of game is partly why I don't have any desire to ever go to this game at that venue. Poor for the fans who've come to Brum from up and down the country.
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That was fucking shit.
Their fans were shit, our fans were shit. What's happened to our support there? Poor last season aswell.
Piss poor from Bruce.
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Drop the negative comments guy's. We've taken a point and we can move onto Preston knowing a win would be a good return on 2 difficult away games.
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Over an hour on the hill to be moved to the fucking car park.
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Sympathies to those stuck in that awful place, stay safe lads.
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Drop the negative comments guy's. We've taken a point and we can move onto Preston knowing a win would be a good return on 2 difficult away games.
No divine right, it's a difficult division. I don't care.
With the money spent and the squad of players, we should be causing teams more problems. Football is not a mystical thing, if you have resources and underperform, it's usually down to the manager.
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A draw at St Andrews? That's ok.
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A poor performance but decent result. They didn't win their World Cup Final. Important to keep things ticking over now in November.
3 very winnable home games, Sheff Wed, Sunderland, Ipswich and away at QPR and Preston. Really looking at needing at least 10 points from those 5 games, any less is below par for those fixtures.
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I hate this fixture, I really do
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Over an hour on the hill to be moved to the fucking car park.
fuck me, I watched the game in Nottingham and have got back to Birmingham before you guys have even moved. That is ridiculous.
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Aston Villa's updated league record against Birmingham:
WWWWWWDDDWD
12 years, 11 games and counting... 💪
That's a club reckon apparently, so at least we achieved something today
Mile immense as he was 12 months, gotta play Wednesday ahead of Whelan. Keinan very good, inches away from becoming a Villa legend, Kodjia doubtful for Wednesday, so the likelihood is he will start. Overall far from great but reckon a draw was a fair result.
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If we follow that with a win against Preston I'll be satisfied.
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For me we got a er, battling draw! against a horrible, horrible club, so well done. It wasn't pretty, never is, they could have scored, we could have scored, but they still cant beat us, ha ha :)
Ye Preston away is important, just glad its over tbh
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Typical derby, very little quality - other than the suicidal ball from Hourihane to put Jota in I didn’t think they had much once Hutton sorted out the Vassell threat.
We still looked what we are, a team that doesn’t commit enough going forward - play with these inverted wingers who are too predicatable (maybe swap them round occasionally?) & rely on Kodjia producing a moment of magic too often.
Bench options seemed strange-with Jedinak & De Laet on there why do you need Samba - O’Hare or Grealish offer something different on the ball, positive to change.
Why bring Hogan on for the left wing? Surely Bjarnasson would have been more suited to that role?
Win on Wednesday and today can quickly be forgotten
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Drop the negative comments guy's. We've taken a point and we can move onto Preston knowing a win would be a good return on 2 difficult away games.
No divine right, it's a difficult division. I don't care.
With the money spent and the squad of players, we should be causing teams more problems. Football is not a mystical thing, if you have resources and underperform, it's usually down to the manager.
Bruce must set us out to be cautious in this fixture. We clearly have more quality than they do but don’t utilise it. Yes, you’ll expect a battle but really, a bit of width and movement and we’re well capable to control such a game. Instead, we have a midfield too deep and fuck ups like Hourihane’s always a possibility. That said, I’m pleased with a point but with a bit more drive and imagination 3 were there for the taking.
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Johnstone can consider himself lucky not to be added to the select group of GK clangers over the years.
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Johnstone can consider himself lucky not to be added to the select group of GK clangers over the years.
He’s earnt his slice of luck this year :-)
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Just got out of the ground.
Yet another painful episode of “Bruceball” - he’s so negative .
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Over an hour on the hill to be moved to the fucking car park.
fuck me, I watched the game in Nottingham and have got back to Birmingham before you guys have even moved. That is ridiculous.
Terrible. If you look on Twitter, our football police officer guaranteed a chap he'd be out the ground by 1430 'easy'. The guy has an 1855 flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg!
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Avoid the Woodman and the Eagle by Curzon Street. About 50 or so of their lot are grouping up.
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All the way down the road to town are small mobs just by new steeet now
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An escort of Villa has gone through. Lot of faces and even more police. Nothing happening but you know what these are like for bullying.
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Just got home after watching the game out earlier. Decent start and finish, but absolutely horrendous 60 minutes in between. We might be able to do it at home, but yet again we've seen that Whelan and Hourihane as a midfield two is pretty weak. When you added in the fact that Kodjia was being being bullied up front (thought the ref let their centre halves get away with a lot), we were all over the place. Bringing Jedinak on shored things up a bit in midfield and bringing Davis on meant we were able to hold the ball up. Again it concerns me that Bruce left it quite late to change things (we could have been out of the game by then) and that we somehow ended up with Hogan on the left wing.
In terms of our players, though Johnstone was OK but got a bit lucky in the first half, the back four did OK on the whole even if the distribution was poor at times, Whelan and Hourihane were overrun in midfield and gave the ball away quite a bit, Onomah and Snodgrass were poor, Adomah did OK and Kodjia had another tough time there.
On a separate note, whenever it went out for a throw or corner and it showed the first few rows of their fans, it looked the kind of scenes you would see in a cage at a rescue home for deranged chimps.
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Fairly poor performance, half decent result.
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Big fan of jedinak
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Tragic football today. What struck me was how stupid our players are. Folk talk about players with a footballing brain (eg.Cowans) yet our mob couldn't blow their hats off if their brains were made of dynamite. They're just thick.
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On a separate note, whenever it went out for a throw or corner and it showed the first few rows of their fans, it looked the kind of scenes you would see in a cage at a rescue home for deranged chimps.
Ha!
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Hit the bar twice, Terry header just past the post.
Almost did enough but not quite.
Didn't lose, away at our local rivals who have a new manager in post. It was bloody poor at times though, christ it was dull. However, we didn't lose ground at the top.
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We're just dull and boring to watch. No pace or urgency when we attack. Bruce is killing our away support.
How the feck did Whelan get man of the match?!
Got to laugh at the noses saying their atmosphere was great but we were quiet. Our fans were poor, same as last season, but theirs were poor aswell. A few half hearted keep right ons and that's about it.
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I hate having Bruce as manager, you know. Even when we win it's hard to build up much optimism or to look forward to us playing again.
Even when we go on a decent winning run it's always at the back of your mind there's a cowardly away performance around the corner.
We were so poor today for an hour.
I just don't see how we can get top 2 approaching many away games like this.
You think that was cowardly today?
First hour was.
No it wasn’t it. I thought we bossed the first 20 minutes anyway.
Getting a 0-0 away from home in a local derby is never cowardly. What a daft statement.
The approach was exactly the same to Wolves. Luckily SHA don't have the quality they do throughout the team.
I'm sorry but I just don't see us winning enough away games to get top 2. Happy to be proved wrong but we don't seek to play on the front foot enough in away games.
We're second in the form tale behind Sheffield United. So we're in top 2 form.
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Johnstone can consider himself lucky not to be added to the select group of GK clangers over the years.
Or consider himself unlucky to have hit their player and the ball gone back towards goal.
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We're just dull and boring to watch. No pace or urgency when we attack. Bruce is killing our away support.
How the feck did Whelan get man of the match?!
Got to laugh at the noses saying their atmosphere was great but we were quiet. Our fans were poor, same as last season, but theirs were poor aswell. A few half hearted keep right ons and that's about it.
Sky deadened the noise coming from the stands a few times.
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Started and ended well. A better team would've beaten us though perhaps.
What on earth did Onomah do to warrant playing the whole match - he was awful.
Adomah wasn't given the ball enough. Kodjia still needs to learn there's 10 other players in the team and he's allowed to pass to them. Davis did well when he came on and hopefully now starts on Wednesday. Whelan did his job very well.
At no point did our players panic. We seem to have stopped this now. Potato has to be thanked for this at least.
Can't help but think if Potato had a bit more ambition we'd be 5/6/7 points better off.
Still confident of being promoted though.
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Yeah, we should stroll into such a bear pit and take the piss. 'Cos it's happened so many times before hasn't it?
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Taking off Hourihane instead of Onomah was a mistake. Jedinak helped put us back into the match but we don't do enough if some of the players aren't firing. Snodgrass was crap, Onomah was worse. Defended well enough but no real spark about us today. Fair result but in a season where we are looking for automatic promotion, points dropped.
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Would have taken a point before but Bruce is definitely too negative away from home. Had we won 1-0 at the death though we'd be calling it a classic away performance. Beat Preston and it will be a very good point indeed.
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Pretty horrible game to watch and I would have taken a point beforehand. Massive difference when Jedi came and hopefully he can stay fit as we are so much better with him in the team. Whelan had some early dodgy moments but to be fair took to the task well in the second half. Much better having Albert on the right and we could have snatched it. Very subdued atmosphere from both sets of fans and the clappers were an obvious own goal with the Pikey Bleeders trying to live up to their reputation.
6 pts from the next two please...
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let's hope Kodjia's injury is not too serious
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Onomah awful just can’t see what all the fuss over him is all about, whelan or terry Man of the match, could have snatched it, if only bruce wasn’t so negative will settle for the point as long as we win on Wednesday
What an own goal with the claret and blue clappers from every perspective. Atmosphere was dead and possibly the biggest losers on a he day were WMP Who proved beyond doubt they are incapable of overseeing a big game at St. Andrews
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Onomah awful just can’t see what all the fuss over him is all about, whelan or terry Man of the match, could have snatched it, if only bruce wasn’t so negative will settle for the point as long as we win on Wednesday
What an own goal with the claret and blue clappers from every perspective. Atmosphere was dead and possibly the biggest losers on a he day were WMP Who proved beyond doubt they are incapable of overseeing a big game at St. Andrews
Occasion was just a bit too much for him I think. It can happen to young players who are just used to under 23 football.
Would keep him in though as he has that touch of quality. Otherwise it will be Whelan-Jedinak-Hourihane.
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Comes to something when you go to a midday kick off in your own city, come straight home from the ground and it’s getting dark. An hour and three quarters? You can clear Kabul of snipers quicker
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Appalling fans. Truly, a set of moronic, knuckle dragging muppets. But, I guess we all know this already.
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Onomah awful just can’t see what all the fuss over him is all about, whelan or terry Man of the match, could have snatched it, if only bruce wasn’t so negative will settle for the point as long as we win on Wednesday
What an own goal with the claret and blue clappers from every perspective. Atmosphere was dead and possibly the biggest losers on a he day were WMP Who proved beyond doubt they are incapable of overseeing a big game at St. Andrews
Onomah was the best player on the pitch last week. He’s a young lad with huge potential but he’ll have off days - just wasn’t his game today.
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Although the clapper things that were thrown on the pitch were a stupid thing to do I hope the FA see the footage of when Hourihanne was about to take a free kick and a beer bottle was removed from the pitch.
Fine them fucking scum suckers
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Onomah awful just can’t see what all the fuss over him is all about, whelan or terry Man of the match, could have snatched it, if only bruce wasn’t so negative will settle for the point as long as we win on Wednesday
What an own goal with the claret and blue clappers from every perspective. Atmosphere was dead and possibly the biggest losers on a he day were WMP Who proved beyond doubt they are incapable of overseeing a big game at St. Andrews
Onomah was the best player on the pitch last week. He’s a young lad with huge potential but he’ll have off days - just wasn’t his game today.
The more I see of him, the more I think he isn't suited to the 'number 10' role. He just doesn't seem to have the finesse needed to play there.
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24,408
2,078 villa
So,22,330 noses in their best crowd of the season
Pa-the-tic
WM's take on this was that 22 Villa fans didn’t show. I shit you not.
lol
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I know this probably won't come as an earth shattering shock but I thought Small Heath looked a very poor side. Over the 90 minutes I didn't think that other than from Conor's abberation we ever looked in real danger of conceding. On another day we'd have won that game.
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
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Onomah awful just can’t see what all the fuss over him is all about, whelan or terry Man of the match, could have snatched it, if only bruce wasn’t so negative will settle for the point as long as we win on Wednesday
What an own goal with the claret and blue clappers from every perspective. Atmosphere was dead and possibly the biggest losers on a he day were WMP Who proved beyond doubt they are incapable of overseeing a big game at St. Andrews
Onomah was the best player on the pitch last week. He’s a young lad with huge potential but he’ll have off days - just wasn’t his game today.
He was a bit of a rabbit in the headlights for me.The pure physicality of the game was probably a shock, especially with a ref who seemed to be looking for an opportunity to even things up.O'Hare might have been a better bet for this one, he's been with us long enough to know what's needed at times like this.
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Congratulations from the police to our fans.
https://twitter.com/WMPVillaFC/status/924688863951556608
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An absolute farce.
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Congratulations from the police to our fans.
https://twitter.com/WMPVillaFC/status/924688863951556608
Should have been let out earlier then for good behaviour!
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Apparently the "clappers" are a one-off for the Villa game at St Andrews this season.
Like most of the fans.
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Bruce post-match interview https://www.facebook.com/avfcofficial/videos/1722383304472398
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
He'll not be seen on here again.
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
He'll not be seen on here again.
RIP.
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
He'll not be seen on here again.
RIP.
Shall we have a minutes flatulence?
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
wouldn't his uncle and cousin be one and the same?
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Although the clapper things that were thrown on the pitch were a stupid thing to do I hope the FA see the footage of when Hourihanne was about to take a free kick and a beer bottle was removed from the pitch.
Fine them fucking scum suckers
Even Bruce has made reference to the stream of missiles chucked at Villa players today. No doubt SH will have their wrists slapped via a paltry fine from the FL/FA; the cretins throwing shit won't be identified; and justice will apparently have been served. I sincerely hope that in the very near-future, the sub-human bastards finally go out of business. Fuck 'em all.
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
If he set us up more positively and focused on our attributes in the big away games we'd win more of them. He's too bothered about the opposition like at Wolves. We showed them far too much respect and we didn't get near them all game and gave them nothing to worry about defensively.
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Appalling fans. Truly, a set of moronic, knuckle dragging muppets. But, I guess we all know this already.
My old man was of the generation getting on for 6 decades ago who used to go Villa home games and when Villa were away to Blues (mainly) Albion or Wolves. He could never support the Noses as all they talked about was Villa - I suspect you could back a further 6 decades and it would have been the case.
To be fair all clubs have idiots or people who turn into idiots at games, they just seem to have a far higher proportion than almost everyone else.
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Although the clapper things that were thrown on the pitch were a stupid thing to do I hope the FA see the footage of when Hourihanne was about to take a free kick and a beer bottle was removed from the pitch.
Fine them fucking scum suckers
Even Bruce has made reference to the stream of missiles chucked at Villa players today. No doubt SH will have their wrists slapped via a paltry fine from the FL/FA; the cretins throwing shit won't be identified; and justice will apparently have been served. I sincerely hope that in the very near-future, the sub-human bastards finally go out of business. Fuck 'em all.
I only watched on telly but it looked like the police and stewards did nothing about it.
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Ain't it a poor reflection on the human race when 10''s of thousands had to be spent on policing at a football match instead it could have been spent on the NHS.
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Has No Fixed Abode been on yet to gloat about their 0-0 victory or is he too busy bragging to his uncles and cousins about it?
He'll not be seen on here again.
He's gone to get the best position to view their open top bus tour tomorrow.
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He's editing the commemorative DVD.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
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Fair result overall and on reflection a good point. First half, we were absolutley terrible and should have been behind. We looked better once Jedinak and Davis were on but as poor as we were, they still couldnt beat us and let's face it, we gave them enough chances.
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
If he set us up more positively and focused on our attributes in the big away games we'd win more of them. He's too bothered about the opposition like at Wolves. We showed them far too much respect and we didn't get near them all game and gave them nothing to worry about defensively.
Think they may have been a bit worried defensively on both occasions when their crossbar was rattled, when Terry's header missed by 2 inches and also when Kodija's header was tipped over by their keeper, all in the second half. But apart from that......
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
If he set us up more positively and focused on our attributes in the big away games we'd win more of them. He's too bothered about the opposition like at Wolves. We showed them far too much respect and we didn't get near them all game and gave them nothing to worry about defensively.
Think they may have been a bit worried defensively on both occasions when their crossbar was rattled, when Terry's header missed by 2 inches and also when Kodija's header was tipped over by their keeper, all in the second half. But apart from that......
I think Quinton was worrying if we were singing loud enough to notice.
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I thought for the first 20 minutes we controlled the game. Okay they came back into it then but to say we were terrible first half is a bit OTT.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
Perhaps because it's not everyone's 'thing' at a football game, to sing and chant. It's never been mine, really.
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The Villa fans did their bit today. God knows what QuintonVilla is on about.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
Some people don't sing. They shout, they clap, they cheer, they just don't like singing. Why does that make their support 'poor'? By all accounts (including the police's, apparently) our supporters were great today. Not everyone's definition of support is 'constant singing'. Have you ever thought of joining a choir?
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According to an away fan on Twitter, the Villa fans were held back for over an hour at The Sty by the police. I’ve always wondered about the legality of this. Sounds like a form of custody to me, and while I’m sure the argument is that it’s in the fans’ best interests, can they actually legally insist on you staying behind? What if you’ve got a plane to catch, or kids to pick up? What would happen if yoy insisted on leaving?
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
I am not referring to games against them but games were teams try to press us and stop us playing, for the last few years Villa have allowed them to bully us.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
I think you make a good point. The biggest overriding issue with this games for us is the fear of defeat and it over rides everything. It stifles the normal enjoyment of a game. B’Lose hope for a win but expect a defeat or an honourable draw and that has been a fact for the 50 years of my life in all but a few seasons in the early 70’s. It’s a nervy day when you know that, a fluky conceded goal, could mean that people who never normally speak to could ring you out of blue just to say ‘KRO’ at 3 in the morning. It’s an irritating bloody game that we should just win and move on. Preston will be back to normal.
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I thought for the first 20 minutes we controlled the game. Okay they came back into it then but to say we were terrible first half is a bit OTT.
I thought the same about the first 15-20 mins. I thought the control ended when Blues finally put in a couple of big tackles. Our players seemed to lose control of it after this. Whether they were worried of being taken out so got rid of it quicker, I don't know.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
I think you make a good point. The biggest overriding issue with this games for us is the fear of defeat and it over rides everything. It stifles the normal enjoyment of a game. B’Lose hope for a win but expect a defeat or an honourable draw and that has been a fact for the 50 years of my life in all but a few seasons in the early 70’s. It’s a nervy day when you know that, a fluky conceded goal, could mean that people who never normally speak to could ring you out of blue just to say ‘KRO’ at 3 in the morning. It’s an irritating bloody game that we should just win and move on. Preston will be back to normal.
It's right that we expect to go there and win deep down and can just about accept a draw. If they drew 0-0 at our gaff it would be a 'moral victory' for them and their fans would party like it's 2002.
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A game typical of so many derbies over the years, plenty of commitment but little composure, that is difficult to draw many conclusions. What do have now though is bunch of players up for the fight, too often in recent years we have buckled in that type of game.Only the most short sighted would try to draw any exp wider conclusions.
Eh?
We haven't lost to this lot since I was a young man?
Unless you're referring to buckling in the Wolves game? In which case it's not "recent years", but recent weeks.
My wider conclusion would be that we're not yet capable of winning many of the big games, especially away.
If he set us up more positively and focused on our attributes in the big away games we'd win more of them. He's too bothered about the opposition like at Wolves. We showed them far too much respect and we didn't get near them all game and gave them nothing to worry about defensively.
Think they may have been a bit worried defensively on both occasions when their crossbar was rattled, when Terry's header missed by 2 inches and also when Kodija's header was tipped over by their keeper, all in the second half. But apart from that......
Sorry I meant the Wolves game. They could commit as many bodies forward as they liked as we offered nothing going forward. Today when we actually did attack we looked like we could nick it. Davis if you're being critical you say he has to score that, for me he should have placed it. Kodjia is obviously our best player but he frustrates the living daylights out of me. He does not pass the ball, his hold up play is poor and he gets too involved in trying to wrestle the defender rather than concentrating on the ball.
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According to an away fan on Twitter, the Villa fans were held back for over an hour at The Sty by the police. I’ve always wondered about the legality of this. Sounds like a form of custody to me, and while I’m sure the argument is that it’s in the fans’ best interests, can they actually legally insist on you staying behind? What if you’ve got a plane to catch, or kids to pick up? What would happen if yoy insisted on leaving?
The police apologised on Twitter this evening claiming the held back the Villa fans due to the behaviour of 200 - 300 Noses at the match. Obviously waiting for them outside I’m guessing.
Scum of the earth.
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According to an away fan on Twitter, the Villa fans were held back for over an hour at The Sty by the police. I’ve always wondered about the legality of this. Sounds like a form of custody to me, and while I’m sure the argument is that it’s in the fans’ best interests, can they actually legally insist on you staying behind? What if you’ve got a plane to catch, or kids to pick up? What would happen if yoy insisted on leaving?
The police apologised on Twitter this evening claiming the held back the Villa fans due to the behaviour of 200 - 300 Noses at the match. Obviously waiting for them outside I’m guessing.
Scum of the earth.
It just shows they have nothing else in their sad little lives and they hate us more than they care about their own club. I could never imagine hanging around for a couple of hours to shout things at Small Heath fans behind the police. They'll claim it as a result that they 'waited for the Vile' and picked off a few innocent stragglers walking home later on.
Still peddling the same shit that town is theirs and Birmingham is blue aswell despite getting just 22,000 home fans for their biggest game. We get 30k+ against Fulham.
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There is too much after match negativity for me. We performed okay (no more and no less) and got an away point against a team scrapping for points and who will have been wound up to beat us more than any other we will face this season. I think we will now go on to beat Preston as I reckon they were over achieving for a while and in recent games seem to be struggling to maintain those standards.
Have they still got their plastic pitch? ;)
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There is too much after match negativity for me. We performed okay (no more and no less) and got an away point against a team scrapping for points and who will have been wound up to beat us more than any other we will face this season. I think we will now go on to beat Preston as I reckon they were over achieving for a while and in recent games seem to be struggling to maintain those standards.
Have they still got their plastic pitch? ;)
Absolutely this.
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There is too much after match negativity for me. We performed okay (no more and no less) and got an away point against a team scrapping for points and who will have been wound up to beat us more than any other we will face this season. I think we will now go on to beat Preston as I reckon they were over achieving for a while and in recent games seem to be struggling to maintain those standards.
Have they still got their plastic pitch? ;)
Absolutely this.
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According to an away fan on Twitter, the Villa fans were held back for over an hour at The Sty by the police. I’ve always wondered about the legality of this. Sounds like a form of custody to me, and while I’m sure the argument is that it’s in the fans’ best interests, can they actually legally insist on you staying behind? What if you’ve got a plane to catch, or kids to pick up? What would happen if yoy insisted on leaving?
The police apologised on Twitter this evening claiming the held back the Villa fans due to the behaviour of 200 - 300 Noses at the match. Obviously waiting for them outside I’m guessing.
Scum of the earth.
My son said he was held back for two hours and was very frustrated by the police action but saw enough threat from Blues fans to understand.
On the positive side he shook hands with Sir Brian and has a lovely photo of the two of them.
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I thought for the first 20 minutes we controlled the game. Okay they came back into it then but to say we were terrible first half is a bit OTT.
I thought the same about the first 15-20 mins. I thought the control ended when Blues finally put in a couple of big tackles. Our players seemed to lose control of it after this. Whether they were worried of being taken out so got rid of it quicker, I don't know.
I thought we were poor first half and i was glad of the half time whistle. That in itself was funny as the ref had just signalled a corner to them then blew for half time.
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I thought for the first 20 minutes we controlled the game. Okay they came back into it then but to say we were terrible first half is a bit OTT.
I agree with this. We were totally in control for 20 mins.
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That's pretty much exactly how I thought it would go, they raise their game and intensity, Bruce sets us up to be cautious, we go into our shell as an attacking force and the game just becomes a stalemate, both sides happy with a point.... next.
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Preston have only got one fit centre half available for Wednesday so if he sets us up negatively there he's a buffoon.
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We would have won it if Kodjia had stayed on.
I thought we were sound.
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Just got in, 14 hours after getting up. Those 14 hours included 2 taxis, 4 trains, 1 bus, quite a lot of walking and 90 minutes "hold-back" in the ground. Was it worth it? Well, obviously not on this occasion, but that's not the point. One of the attractions of following your team home and away is that you never know how things will work out. It might have have been one of the great Villa away victories over Blues, such as the Wylie-inspired 2-0 in 1962. It might have been a real thriller, with Villa losing or winning 4-3 in the 97th minute. It might have been a humiliating defeat. You just never know. That said, I must admit that I feared that Steve Bruce would revert to his default position, which is to defend deep in away games, as at Wolves, and I was pleasantly surprised that he left Samba and Bjarnason on the bench and brought on Davies and Hogan. (Not that Hogan did anything, but at least we replaced a forward with a forward).
I agree with many of the earlier comments. Onomah, after his good performance against Fulham, was poor and didn't seem to know what his role was. Why was he left on and Hourihane taken off? Snodgrass achieved little and I think Elmohamady might have been a better option wide on the right with De Laet in defence. Kodjia was disappointing, but he always has the ability to produce something from nothing, and I hope the injury isn't serious. Davis and Jedinak both made a difference. Blues had done their homework on Adomah and he was tightly marked and far less effective than last week. He's skilful enough to beat one man but not two.
In other words, there weren't too many positives to take from the game. If it bored us committed fans inside the ground, it must have been pretty dire for the neutrals watching on tv. But you can always argue that a derby, especially this one, is different from other games, and Preston on Wednesday and Wednesday on Saturday give us an early opportunity to pick up momentum again. With Kodjia out, perhaps Davis will start and perhaps O'Hare will get his chance. Or Grealish. Perhaps Jedinak will strengthen the midfield. Perhaps Adomah will find more space. We just don't know. What I hope is that we don't defend deep but counter Preston's attacking play with attacking play of our own. And that the journey up to Preston will be worth it.
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Great post frank
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Great post frank
Seconded. It was a pleasure to read. Bless you Frank; & UTV.
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Superb Frank. See you at Preston.
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agreed with the three above. good read Frank. UTV.
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The game at the Sty is always going to be amongst the most difficult we have irrespective of where they are in the league. Take the point forget the game and move on to Preston.
This. Toughest away game of the season out of the way, onwards and upwards 👍
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
Yep I’m all for Bruce getting stick when he deserves it I.e Wolves away but the win against Fulham was alright.
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
Yep I’m all for Bruce getting stick when he deserves it I.e Wolves away but the win against Fulham was alright.
Spot on. Fulham at home was a cracking game.
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Burton and Barnsley were quite good fun too.
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
I thought it was okay but more due to Fulham playing how Bruce wanted them to play. I think a lot of teams will have noted our tactics this season and react accordingly when we play them again
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
I thought it was okay but more due to Fulham playing how Bruce wanted them to play. I think a lot of teams will have noted our tactics this season and react accordingly when we play them again
If you're saying that when the games are exciting, it's due to the opposition playing how we want them to, then really the manager is on a hiding to nothing, surely?
Don't get me wrong, I am amongst the first to complain when the matches are awful, but that was an exciting match.
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Fulham was a good game to watch, and there's been a few others but he's right, most of the time we're awful to watch. Which is all the more frustrating as we do see glimpses of how well this side is capable of playing.
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
I thought it was okay but more due to Fulham playing how Bruce wanted them to play. I think a lot of teams will have noted our tactics this season and react accordingly when we play them again
If you're saying that when the games are exciting, it's due to the opposition playing how we want them to, then really the manager is on a hiding to nothing, surely?
Don't get me wrong, I am amongst the first to complain when the matches are awful, but that was an exciting match.
I think Fulham played like Bruce hoped they would yes, that's not Bruce's fault, but people learn from their mistakes. What i mean is come feb when we play them again and if they're mid-table and we're up near the top, they are gonna surrender a lot of possession and say " beat us" and we better hope someone can pass in the team.
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Burton & Barnsley were pretty good as well.
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Genuine question here to anyone else who was there today, why was our support so poor do you think? It was the same there last season aswell. Very little passion or noise during the game both seasons. Some trying to get songs going and a few were joining in but most just stood there. We sang more today after the game than during it. I just don't understand why you would go to Small Heath away and just stand there, especially when there's thousands of others who would go and sing their heart out.
Is it because of Bruce and the football we play? Is it because of nerves during the game? Is it because a lot of those first 2000 fans are obviously the most loyal but not necessarily the most vocal? A combination of the three?
Were you there? If so then surely you know the answer. If not and you're basing your response on the TV coverage I wouldn't; there were times when our fans were louder and someone at Sky turned the sound down.
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I'm not sure i'd call it the toughest away game - maybe the one we don't want to lose the most. Bruce in fairness did that but jesus, you wouldn't watch that game again, like most of our games since he got here
I know you said most, but I thought our last home game was one of the most watchable games I've seen there in fucking ages.
I thought it was okay but more due to Fulham playing how Bruce wanted them to play. I think a lot of teams will have noted our tactics this season and react accordingly when we play them again
If you're saying that when the games are exciting, it's due to the opposition playing how we want them to, then really the manager is on a hiding to nothing, surely?
Don't get me wrong, I am amongst the first to complain when the matches are awful, but that was an exciting match.
The Fulham game was great to watch as a result of two teams, two different styles, banging heads together. A proper old school ding dong. Entertaining? Absolutely. Something to build your promotion hopes on? Probably not but at least it was an entertaining game. Today we were as ugly as it gets until Vassell went off and the game opened up for us for 15 minutes. Other than that, we we shockingly poor given the resources, local derby or not.
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I think we need a bit of perspective on this game. We know Villa at home is their ultimate cup final and whatever else has gone on in the league they'll raise their game for this one and deny us any space. In fairness, they're not actually that bad at home either.
Sure it'd be lovely to have an entertaining end to end ding dong derby * (copyright Ron Toss) but that was never going to happen against these. Not losing to us serves as a moral victory for them and I reckon Bruce will feel the same about grinding out a point away from home in a derby match.
In short, a crap game and a crap atmosphere.
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Norwich at home was the most exciting I can remember for years.
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No worries they have their 0-0 win. Fans lived up to their reputation, bullied old men, ran villa everywhere....Paradise for your average nose. There is one on SHA who actually posted that he never saw Villa in town all night. If his idea of a good night out is looking for us I really hope he discovers girls soon, for his own sake. What a plum.
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Did not lose the Small Heath World Cup final, but Bruce has got to have a mind change, about how he approaches away games, when we did go for them 3 chances came in quick succession, imagine if we had gone at them from the start.
We must not lose Bruce attitude in ways was ok yesterday, as I can imagine the shit he would have got if he had gone for it and we had lost, but away from home from here till May let the guys loose Bruce FFS.
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The point keeps us going, overall it was bloody poor though. Not a great advert for the 2nd City.
Local derbies are shit basically.
Thought we created the best chances and should have put a couple away. Really pleased to see Jedinak back, we always look a more solid team with him in it. Davis holds the ball up well and we keep possession because of it. I hope they both start on Wednesday.
PS - I hope Small Heath get done by the FA for their scummy fans continually throwing things at our players wether it be those pathetic small time clappers, bottles and coins. They’re the scum of the earth.
if the club bans the chuckers as they should, there may only be 22k for next season’s fixture there (should we not go up). They won’t of course.
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Did not lose the Small Heath World Cup final, but Bruce has got to have a mind change, about how he approaches away games, when we did go for them 3 chances came in quick succession, imagine if we had gone at them from the start.
We must not lose Bruce attitude in ways was ok yesterday, as I can imagine the shit he would have got if he had gone for it and we had lost, but away from home from here till May let the guys loose Bruce FFS.
We did go for them from the start, we were on top for the first 20 minutes or so, they upped it for a while and got on top for the middle part of the game but we finished the stronger. We all seem to ignore the fact that there are two teams involved in a game and unless they are complete no hopers there will be times when we have to defend.
Looking at their results they had won their last 2 at home, Wednesday and Cardiff, so would have gone into it with a degree of confidence. While there is always room for improvement I think we deserve credit for handling the occasion and the attempts at intimidation.
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For a change I thought Bruce got the subs right . Jedi nulled them and then Davis nearly scored the winner was very unlucky.
I would have left Hourinane on maybe instead of onomah , could have done with him on the FK last kick.
I did not like the hoofball we played a lot but I am mildy happy with 0 0 .
Beat Preston and its a good point.
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sorry if it looks like dr x wrote it , I hate mobiles.
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Have to agree with the previous couple of posts. I thought we were decent all round without being outstanding. Bruce made good choices for a change and was trying to win it. This was a much improved Blose side and was what 'Arry was saying, they have made some good signings and will not be relegation fodder.
I have not been a great fan of spanner-chops, but I am seeing improvement and more commitment, which is the most I ask these days.
I voted give him till October, now I extend that to give him till Christmas unless a horror-show manifests.
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sorry if it looks like dr x wrote it , I hate mobiles.
:) + ;) = 8)
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Must add I was delighted to see both Hutton and Whelan have very good games. Not sure Whelan was MOM but he out played Onomatopoeia.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of whole villa park will do this in the return fixture.
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Errmmm... no.
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Its a no from me
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
Captain Mainwaring might have thought he was a stupid boy but he wasn't stupid enough to support them. He was a Villa Fan. ;)
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With a bit more luck we could've been sitting here with three points if those efforts had gone in instead of hitting the crossbar we need three points against Preston and why oh why did they give them clappers in a derby game baffling.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
Is this a fill in the missing word competition?
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
Is this a fill in the missing word competition?
I'm sure he knows what he means but it's a mystery to the rest of us. My Border Collie is a more effective communicator!
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
In English. Please.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
Is this a fill in the missing word competition?
Never mind one missing word, there's eighteen still there that I could do without.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
You looking at my Bird?
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No worries they have their 0-0 win. Fans lived up to their reputation, bullied old men, ran villa everywhere....Paradise for your average nose. There is one on SHA who actually posted that he never saw Villa in town all night. If his idea of a good night out is looking for us I really hope he discovers girls soon, for his own sake. What a plum.
Or gains the distinction of sporting an ankle tag c/w a curfew order being stuck on him.
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Congratulations from the police to our fans.
https://twitter.com/WMPVillaFC/status/924688863951556608
Have the Police employed a 10 year old chav to write that - good God
Text speak - I ask you - no wonder the youth they come up against are virtually illiterate and have no respect for them - embarrassing
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Just imagine when they do finally beat us. They will go absolutely nuts and it will be unbearable. They'll have an open top bus tour.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
In English?
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
In English?
According to Google translate.
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The whole boozer calling blues pikies hopefully the of villa park will do this in the return fixture.
In English?
According to Google translate.
LOL thanks!
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Just in case we have to play them again next season think my chances of a ticket at the sty may have improved
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In isolation it is a reasonable point. The game was shit like it always is there. I would be telling porkies if I didn't say I was worried by Bruce and his propensity to play for a draw away from home.
Wednesday will be interesting. Essentially, Preston are a similar side to Blues but better. They are big and strong and like to mix it.
The few noses in the bar at the caravan park were not exactly a credit to them during the game Sunday. All mouth at anyone in a Villa shirt or who was supporting us.
I upset them by pointing out that I wouldn't be anywhere near a weekend away if we were at home to them, so what was their excuse?
You won't be surprised to learn it was the usual.
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When was the last time we played well there? I know it's a cliche but form and quality really do go out of the window when we play there. Even under O'Neill we didn't really play well and relied on late goals.
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When was the last time we played well there? I know it's a cliche but form and quality really do go out of the window when we play there. Even under O'Neill we didn't really play well and relied on late goals.
I don't think I have seen us play well there since the 2-0 win when Taylor was in charge.
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Our hardest away game in any division or cup. Why can’t our 11 want it as much. Nevermind we might a break from them after Feb for a decent number of seasons
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When was the last time we played well there? I know it's a cliche but form and quality really do go out of the window when we play there. Even under O'Neill we didn't really play well and relied on late goals.
I don't think I have seen us play well there since the 2-0 win when Taylor was in charge.
I would tend to agree with that. Although from Kevin Richardson in the cup in the mid nineties to Gabby we have tended to nick a late winner there. We nearly did again. Amongst all the talk on here about all the goings on on the pitch, in the stands and outside the ground I don't think anyone has mentioned what, for me was the best moment in the game. Because, to be fair their keeper made an excellent save, tipping it over in the last minutes. It was going in the top corner I'm sure.
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Our hardest away game in any division or cup. Why can’t our 11 want it as much. Nevermind we might a break from them after Feb for a decent number of seasons
Probably for the same reason we don't want it as much. It is everything to them and whilst its a nightmare to lose this game, its never going to be as important to us as them - team or fans. We just have to rely on being better & that doesn't always work!
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The don’t play well there is one thing, but to have the team set up so we were getting over run in midfield is another.
This is born out by the fact that when he did change it we came into the game.
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Bruce's whole approach pre game was to go dial a cliche. "It's a derby/ probably won't be great to watch/ not about style/ make sure you don't lose" yada yada yada.
Well yes, with him in charge, it was highly unlikely it would be great to watch.
And in isolation, all those points ring true for a derby. But do Tottingham stop playing football just because they are playing Arsenal? Different stratosphere to us because of the way we have been mismanaged (long before Bruce) admittedly.
So how about an example closer to home -which for us, is now the grim meathook reality of championship football. Barnsley v Leeds last season, shortly before we signed Hourihane. Big game for them. Dig they try and kill the game as a spectacle? No. A Hourihane inspired- Barnsley won 3-2. And looked like a competent football team doing so. You don't just jettison all the good habits and style of play you have worked at for a while (if you have actually worked at it) because you are facing a team with an address geographically close to yours. It's a crock of shit.
A 0-0 away from home in an awkward early afternoon kick off shouldn't be enough to see the bedsheets come out. But if you set out telling everyone it won't be great to watch, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
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Look at Sheff Utd this season. They went to Sheff Wednesday and won 4-2 and played them off the park. We didn't have 4 shots on Sunday.
They also went to Leeds last week and won 2-1. They went to both with a positive approach and played their normal game and didn't care that it was a derby. Compare and contrast those two games to our performances at Wolves and Small Heath.
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It cannot be dismissed as an irrelevance. We went there with O'Neill, one of the best sides in the country with an even wider gulf in class of players, excellent away form, but invariably it was a grind.
There's context to this fixture. It wouldn't have so much needle about it otherwise.
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Look at Sheff Utd this season. They went to Sheff Wednesday and won 4-2 and played them off the park. We didn't have 4 shots on Sunday.
They also went to Leeds last week and won 2-1. They went to both with a positive approach and played their normal game and didn't care that it was a derby. Compare and contrast those two games to our performances at Wolves and Small Heath.
We had thirteen shots.
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Anybody know if Small Heath have been fined £200k for violent crowd trouble at their stadium yet...?