Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers F.A. Cup 4th Round Post-Match Thread

[ozzjim]

Really chuffed with the result, and it would appear Houllier is really starting to get his ideas and style over to the players now. Pleased for the Fonz to get a goal, and Bannan sounded excellent on WM. Baker sounded unlucky, look forward to seeing it on the box later.


Cov 2 up against Blues too. Ouch.


Bradley in too, and all round what a bloody good January. Sunderland the only blip, which was silly in the way we lost it considering the chances we had too. GH too a lot of stick coming into Jan, and deserves a lot of credit for his handling of everything pretty much since.

[PaulWinch again]

Good to see all the dissension against Houllier is disappearing, now we have players fit and are getting results.

[Bad English]

I've always rated that Robert Pires. You'll never win anything with kids. Experienced players are a must.

[Toronto Villa]

agree entirely Ozz. I think a lot of people jumped all over him for the start he made and simply would not give him the time needed to make the structural, philosophical and tactial changes he wanted to implement. We're certainly not out of the woods yet by any strech, but you can now see what he's starting to do. The players are playing better football, with more confidence and team spirit. We all wanted to see more squad rotation during the MON years, and not only are we getting it, but the players coming in are very competent indeed. And finally, the players we are now attracting to the club are exactly the type we all knew we could attract and wanted, and are not limited to the British Isles. That policy served us well, but it was so limiting and expensive. It's good to now have a manager with a keen eye on numerous markets.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Played very, very well.
Was concerned when I saw Pires starting, but he had a decent first half.
Very good stuff from Bannan and Clark, but everybody played well and we played some excellent stuff at times.

The biggest bonus is that Young, Downing, Dunne and Collins will be fresh for Tuesday.

Hats off to Gerard for being bold and making changes.

Blackburn were shockingly bad.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I thought there might be a few more but I suppose Blackburn at 1pm isn't to everyones tastes

[Rigadon]

Just back.  Fucking freezing cold!

We did enough to win the game.  Some good performances from Bannan, Fonz and Pires.  The sending off off looked soft to me, a 50 50 ball that Baker won but the Blackburn bench rushed to the side of the pitch which gave the ref all he needed. Shame because up til then he was having a storming home debut.  I'm liking the attacking fullbacks we have in Baker and Walker.  Gives us another dimension.

Somebody shite in the next round like Blues at home please.

[Rigadon]

Anyone know if Gabby went off at half time because of an injury?

[Pete3206]

Bloody hell, that was a cold afternoon.

That was a very good performance all round. The young players excelled again and Pires had a solid outing. Baker's sending off looked a tad unlucky as it was a 50:50. I can only assume his studs were up. Clark was outstanding. Walker looked slightly off the pace in the 2nd half, but looks a class act. I hope we can sign him permanently. In the hat for round 5, very happy.

[pauliewalnuts]

Just got back.

That's the coldest I've been at a football match in ages. The concrete steps of the Upper Trinity are the coldest material on earth.

Thought we were very good - Barry Bannan was absolutely superb. Who needs Charlie Adam when you've got someone with that range of passing.

Slightly iffy at the back at times, mostly self inflicted, Walker a bit careless at times, I thought, but it was pretty straightforward for us, really.

We played some very good passing football at times today, can definitely see what GH is trying to get us to do.

[Chris Harte]

Atmosphere was odd. A bit like a game versus a lower division team but without the up-for-it-bonkers lower division fans on a special away-day.

Felt that some of Blackburn's marking was poor (first two goals).

Felt is was a good all round performance.

Baker's red card was completely deserved, and the booing of the recipient of that tackle was harsh.

Cringed at the "Houllier, give us a wave" chants.

[PaulTheVillan]

That was bloody freezing!!

Bannan was very good, he always wants the ball & was full of energy.

Heskey didn't look interested today.

I thought GH made the right 2nd half changes at the right time.

NRC is such a limited player, I'm looking forward to Makoun getting in the team.

Pleased to be in the draw.

[Ads]

We played really well up to the red card, which killed the game and we then saw it out nicely.

The passing and movement of the midfield was excellent, with NRC covering nicely for Pires and Wee Barry. I like how Walker bombs on too.

It was never in doubt, even with the red card. Christ Blackeyeburn are poor.

Good to see us rotate and still keep the momentum up too.

[Shrek]

Great game, we were in total control through out, even after the sending off.

Bannan was running the midfield, Pires was shit but overall a great game where we rested alot of key players.

[dave.woodhall]

This season must be the worst weather-wise in Villa Park memory. I can't remember a game where it hasn't been either freezing or rained.