Press-ing back

[dave.woodhall]

http://thebirminghampress.com/2016/02/clean-sheet-on-a-dirty-day/

[simon ward 50]

Suitably downbeat Dave!

[not3bad]

Best to be realistic about the prospects I guess.

I reckon this one might go on the "wettest at Villa Park" list anyway.

[tomd2103]

"After a rough start he’s putting a together a team who can beat poor opposition – which might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s an improvement on what’s gone before".

Agree with this part in particular.  It took him a while, but he has now found a system that is getting results (albeit against poor opposition) and making the most of the personnel at his disposal.  There still needs to be a major influx of quality players, but as stated in the article it's an improvement. 

[dave.woodhall]

"After a rough start he’s putting a together a team who can beat poor opposition – which might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s an improvement on what’s gone before".

Agree with this part in particular.  It took him a while, but he has now found a system that is getting results (albeit against poor opposition) and making the most of the personnel at his disposal.  There still needs to be a major influx of quality players, but as stated in the article it's an improvement. 

I'm sure I've said it before, and I almost certainly will again, but it's the inability to beat teams worse than us that will send us down. We won't get relegated because we lost to Arsenal, Manchester United or Spurs. What will ultimately do for us will be one point from  six home games in a row that included Albion, Swansea, Watford and Stoke.

[Risso]

"After a rough start he’s putting a together a team who can beat poor opposition – which might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s an improvement on what’s gone before".

Agree with this part in particular.  It took him a while, but he has now found a system that is getting results (albeit against poor opposition) and making the most of the personnel at his disposal.  There still needs to be a major influx of quality players, but as stated in the article it's an improvement. 

I'm sure I've said it before, and I almost certainly will again, but it's the inability to beat teams worse than us that will send us down. We won't get relegated because we lost to Arsenal, Manchester United or Spurs. What will ultimately do for us will be one point from  six home games in a row that included Albion, Swansea, Watford and Stoke.

That and the fact most of those around us have picked up points from the better teams.

[darren woolley]

Good read Dave.

[Chris Smith]

This seems as good a place to mention it as any. I was handed a flyer for a new book before the game - The Big Aston Villa Book of the Seventies" by Colin Abbott - they are promising a match report from every game. Not sure who will have the time to sit and read that.

Apparently you can reserve a copy via Kickstarter. It will have to go some to beat the Richard Whitehead tome on the same subject or indeed the output from Heroes Publishing.

[TopDeck113]

This seems as good a place to mention it as any. I was handed a flyer for a new book before the game - The Big Aston Villa Book of the Seventies" by Colin Abbott - they are promising a match report from every game. Not sure who will have the time to sit and read that.

Apparently you can reserve a copy via Kickstarter. It will have to go some to beat the Richard Whitehead tome on the same subject or indeed the output from Heroes Publishing.

Has anyone read any of his other books on the Villa.  I'm tempted but the pricing structure on Kickstarter might be best described as optimistic - I'll need some guarantees of the quality of the writing before parting with a minimum of £40.

[Nelson Lodge]

Looking at the full league table, not one that just gives goal difference.
Villa have let in 40 goals. Four clubs have let in more. Sunderland 49, Norwich 48, Newcastle 44. Bournemouth 41.
Villa's Goals for of only 20 is the killer. Makes you think what a difference a striker and an attacking
midfielder who can score a few goals could have made if signed in January. What a short term short sighted cock-up that could prove to be.

A few clubs have let in more than 30 goals including next opponents Liverpool on 36.

[tomd2103]

Looking at the full league table, not one that just gives goal difference.
Villa have let in 40 goals. Four clubs have let in more. Sunderland 49, Norwich 48, Newcastle 44. Bournemouth 41.
Villa's Goals for of only 20 is the killer. Makes you think what a difference a striker and an attacking
midfielder who can score a few goals could have made if signed in January. What a short term short sighted cock-up that could prove to be.

A few clubs have let in more than 30 goals including next opponents Liverpool on 36.

The failure to sign a decent striker dates further back than the January window, it dates back to when Benteke left.  As Dave mentioned above, failure to get enough points in that run of games against weak opposition at the start of the season has proved costly. 

[ChicagoLion]

Looking at the full league table, not one that just gives goal difference.
Villa have let in 40 goals. Four clubs have let in more. Sunderland 49, Norwich 48, Newcastle 44. Bournemouth 41.
Villa's Goals for of only 20 is the killer. Makes you think what a difference a striker and an attacking
midfielder who can score a few goals could have made if signed in January. What a short term short sighted cock-up that could prove to be.

A few clubs have let in more than 30 goals including next opponents Liverpool on 36.

Some of the "we won't go down" views were on the basis that we were only getting beat by the odd goal. The issue was because we were unlikely to score, poor teams did not need to score many to beat us.

The failure to sign a decent striker dates further back than the January window, it dates back to when Benteke left.  As Dave mentioned above, failure to get enough points in that run of games against weak opposition at the start of the season has proved costly.

[brackley]

"After a rough start he’s putting a together a team who can beat poor opposition – which might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s an improvement on what’s gone before".

Agree with this part in particular.  It took him a while, but he has now found a system that is getting results (albeit against poor opposition) and making the most of the personnel at his disposal.  There still needs to be a major influx of quality players, but as stated in the article it's an improvement. 

I'm sure I've said it before, and I almost certainly will again, but it's the inability to beat teams worse than us that will send us down. We won't get relegated because we lost to Arsenal, Manchester United or Spurs. What will ultimately do for us will be one point from  six home games in a row that included Albion, Swansea, Watford and Stoke.

Teams worse than us Dave? Against Watford we were handed nearly ten minutes of added time to score a goal. we couldn't even get hold of the ball. I'm pretty sure that these teams regard us as 'poor opposition' rather than the other way round.

[Louzie0]

Good article Dave. I hope you're wrong, though.

[dave.woodhall]

"After a rough start he’s putting a together a team who can beat poor opposition – which might sound like damning with faint praise, but it’s an improvement on what’s gone before".

Agree with this part in particular.  It took him a while, but he has now found a system that is getting results (albeit against poor opposition) and making the most of the personnel at his disposal.  There still needs to be a major influx of quality players, but as stated in the article it's an improvement. 

I'm sure I've said it before, and I almost certainly will again, but it's the inability to beat teams worse than us that will send us down. We won't get relegated because we lost to Arsenal, Manchester United or Spurs. What will ultimately do for us will be one point from  six home games in a row that included Albion, Swansea, Watford and Stoke.

Teams worse than us Dave? Against Watford we were handed nearly ten minutes of added time to score a goal. we couldn't even get hold of the ball. I'm pretty sure that these teams regard us as 'poor opposition' rather than the other way round.

With a half-decent manager I'd back us against any of them, as we're now seeing.