Birmingham City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[beness]

but we are now out of the bottom three by GD.

Not according to the table on the BBC site we aren't.

According to SKY we are.

[littlevillain]

thought we shaded it, two mediocre teams in a scrappy game.
hit the bar 4 times I believe. thought the fonz was great  when he came on really livened up the attack but i'm afraid the line up in the first half  with gabby wide again just doesn't suit and was mentioned many times by the commentary.

[Chipsticks]

Collins getting that goal forced me to fork out for a Man City ticket on Saturday.

I'll take a draw, much better than it could've been. Dissapointed to hit the woodwork so much but at the end of the day we haven't lost and now we need to move on and prepare for the tycoons on Saturday.

[PhilGibson]

Losing today psychologically could have been catastrophic. Winning would have been ideal, but drawing is only a point but a very valuable point, its going to be a fight between now and the end of the season whatever way we look at it.

Lets see who the manager can bring in between now and the end of January, and fingers crossed we start getting some wins on the board.

[villa_cads]

First and last twenty - good. The bit in between - awfull.

How much of the game did Gabby waste on the wing? I'm not suprised Carew struggled, he has always done well when flicking on for Gabby. He often had no one in front of him. We really need to switch the tactics when they aren't working. It was like the last derby at Villa Park, when he kept Young up front all game when it wasnt working.

Glad we got the point, but tactically it's not good enough.

[garyshawsknee]

Not a terrible performance,had enough chances to win the game. Gab is wasted on the left,least we know that Carew offers us nothing anymore,the Fonz done more in 15 mins than he did in the whole game.

[pauliewalnuts]

Positives:

1 more point. Anyone who thinks a point is not enough when you're playing a relegation six pointer should have a think about it.

Created chances.

Fonz and Bannan changed the flow of the game when they came on.

Walker looks quality going forward.

Negatives:

We desperately need a striker, absolutely desperate.

Reo-Coker and Petrov need to be replaced. NRC just doesnt look bothered (unsurprisingly) and Petrov looks like he's not good enough.

Signs of heads dropping when they took the lead, only reversed by the substitutions.

[Jimbo]

We didn't lose. But one point isn't much good to us.

Thats patently not true.

This was a six pointer. Getting something was absolutely vital here. Can you imagine the mood that loosing would have caused at the club?

We need to start winning. Obviously it's better than losing, but we needed three points here. We're out of the relegation zone by a fanny hair. We've got games against both sets of Manc arseholes coming up. How's the table going to look then. I'm actually quite relieved as I expected a loss today, but am I worried about the pile of shit we're in? Yes, yes I am. Especially when he neutralise our main attacking threat by sticking him in midfield. 

[eastie]

Hopefully people will now see the manager is trying to sign quality players to strenghten us and get off his back , randy has backed him so he isn't going anywhere , now let's get behind him and the team , give him a chance and see where it takes us.

[Woofles The Wonder Dog]

Loads of bottle today and unlucky not to win it. That sort of commitment the rest of the season and we'll be fine. Back 4 were great.

Agreed. My main complaints would be our attacks were too slow, which allowed them to blanket cover and I simply don't get Downng inside and Gabby left wing. Whatever the theory it doesn't work.

[Apyadg]

According to SKY we are.

Yeah, my mistake, the scores update without refreshing the page, but the table doesn't, I was looking at the table as it was when we were behind.

[hawkeye]

My problem is the manager, there is enough fight and ability to put us in a mid table position but GH fucks the tactics and formmation up, this is not difficult, put your best players in thier best positions

[sfx412]

Unlucky not to win a scrappy game. Walker continues to impress and we'll undoubtedly be fine.

Who was it said he was shit? OK he occasionally gets caught out of position but his forward play is a revelation, that cut back that led to our goal would have had the Ashley luvvies playing with themselves had he done it.

Never thought we'd lose it we just need a little more confidence in the middle of the pitch and I'm sorry Bannan lovers but he just doesn't cut it in midfield if he doesn't attempt to head balls.

Did Petrov play I didn't see the team sheet. Otherwise, good win, and we aren't bottom as some predicted, so came back at Chelsea to draw, came back against Blues to draw, maybe the training has helped.
Well all but Carew , he's an average but very idle waste of space.
If Defounso could play like that for 90 mins he'd help solve the problems we have scoring goals but then with Gabby playing as a spare left back mostly its unlikely he will score.
Wonder what sort of difference Makoun will make to the midfield, especially with Ashley back

[sfx412]

My problem is the manager, there is enough fight and ability to put us in a mid table position but GH fucks the tactics and formmation up, this is not difficult, put your best players in thier best positions

You serious?

[PeterWithesShin]

Relieved we didn't lose, depressed we've failed to beat a dog awful small heath side in 3 attempts this season. And i'll be fucked if I get remotely excited at moving above Wigan and out of the bottom 3 by virtue of the alphabet.