Blank Press

[dave.woodhall]

How to fill a page when there's no football.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2017/09/let-the-action-begin-again/

[Louzie0]

I think September will be good for Villa, going by the way the team were playing before the break. As you say, these are games from which we should be confident of getting a result, including the Cup.

[darren woolley]

Good read Dave.

[The Edge]

How to fill a page when there's no football.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2017/09/let-the-action-begin-again/

The bit that bothers me is that we seem to be the only club in the world that are worried about ffp. Because it definitely sounds like a cover story to me. Is Dr Tony getting worried about the way things are going and  he doesn't trust Bruce enough to bankroll him in the transfer market? I think Steve has been told "you have a squad at your disposal that should be more than capable of getting us promoted so get on with it" Pure speculation of course but it makes sense to me. 

[AV82EC]

How to fill a page when there's no football.

http://thebirminghampress.com/2017/09/let-the-action-begin-again/

The bit that bothers me is that we seem to be the only club in the world that are worried about ffp. Because it definitely sounds like a cover story to me. Is Dr Tony getting worried about the way things are going and  he doesn't trust Bruce enough to bankroll him in the transfer market? I think Steve has been told "you have a squad at your disposal that should be more than capable of getting us promoted so get on with it" Pure speculation of course but it makes sense to me.

Football manager told to manage and coach the resources he has! It'll never catch on.

[paul_e]

The bit that concerns me is this:

The summer was certainly far removed from last year, when money was invested/wasted on big name players with little regard about how they would fit into a team. This time round Bruce has gone for experience and solidity, at least on paper.

I'm not sure that the bold bit doesn't apply to this summer just as much.  We look like we're lacking energy and mobility which makes me think that any team who attacks us with pace and move the ball quickly will create plenty of chances.

[boozey182]

At the end of last season, the way I saw it; the defence looked solid, the midfield needed energy and consistency (/a lot of work) and we needed cover for Kodjia up front. Plus a consistent game plan to win matches.

So far this season, the defence has looked shaky and vulnerable to pace, but the midfield is much improved (largely down to Onomah and Hourihane) and in Davis we may have stumbled upon a decent option up front as an alternative to Kodjia. I think it basically balances out, but it's frustrating the defence was tinkered with when it seemed to be the least of our worries. I'm still worried that we don't have a definite shape or plan yet, and I'll give Bruce the benefit of the doubt that he's finding it, but we won't know for sure until a few more matches have been played. It was worrying that we signed so many players before we settled on a formation, though.

I don't think it can be underestimated how important the next month is for the club. If we're in touching distance of the top six, he'll get the fans right behind him. If we're not, I'm afraid he's got to go. Even if he has only been here six months....

[The Edge]

The bit that concerns me is this:

The summer was certainly far removed from last year, when money was invested/wasted on big name players with little regard about how they would fit into a team. This time round Bruce has gone for experience and solidity, at least on paper.

I'm not sure that the bold bit doesn't apply to this summer just as much.  We look like we're lacking energy and mobility which makes me think that any team who attacks us with pace and move the ball quickly will create plenty of chances.

I agree. The imminent return of Jedinak will only make the situation worse.

[paul_e]

At the end of last season, the way I saw it; the defence looked solid, the midfield needed energy and consistency (/a lot of work) and we needed cover for Kodjia up front. Plus a consistent game plan to win matches.

So far this season, the defence has looked shaky and vulnerable to pace, but the midfield is much improved (largely down to Onomah and Hourihane) and in Davis we may have stumbled upon a decent option up front as an alternative to Kodjia. I think it basically balances out, but it's frustrating the defence was tinkered with when it seemed to be the least of our worries. I'm still worried that we don't have a definite shape or plan yet, and I'll give Bruce the benefit of the doubt that he's finding it, but we won't know for sure until a few more matches have been played. It was worrying that we signed so many players before we settled on a formation, though.

I don't think it can be underestimated how important the next month is for the club. If we're in touching distance of the top six, he'll get the fans right behind him. If we're not, I'm afraid he's got to go. Even if he has only been here six months....

The next game will be telling.  Brentford were an average team last season but they made us look shit in January by playing at a tempo we couldn't live with.

[Brend'Watkins]

At the end of last season, the way I saw it; the defence looked solid,

It only looked solid because we had the midfield dropping deep to help it so it was far from solid on its own. And that was all to the detriment of anything we could make the other end.  Terry should give it more stability but as we were all well aware his lack of pace was to be questioned but let's face it, he wouldn't be with us if he still had a bit of that. Have we really been found wanting for lack of pace there as yet anyway? nothing immediately springs to mind where we have. We'll see how it pans out till January when we're up against speedier forwards if there are any at this level.

[boozey182]

At the end of last season, the way I saw it; the defence looked solid,

It only looked solid because we had the midfield dropping deep to help it so it was far from solid on its own. And that was all to the detriment of anything we could make the other end.  Terry should give it more stability but as we were all well aware his lack of pace was to be questioned but let's face it, he wouldn't be with us if he still had a bit of that. Have we really been found wanting for lack of pace there as yet anyway? nothing immediately springs to mind where we have. We'll see how it pans out till January when we're up against speedier forwards if there are any at this level.

Yeah, that's a fair point about last season; it could have just been a factor of our negative set up. It just seemed a strange place to start our transfer dealings.

I wasn't at Cardiff, but from the highlights I think there was at least one of their goals where they ran at pace and Terry only arrived back in our box when they were off celebrating, but I guess the sample size is too small to form any concrete evidence. I just think in order to accommodate a lack of pace at centre back (Chester isn't the quickest either), we're going to have to sit a bit deeper, which might end up dragging the midfield back a bit.

Ultimately though, you're right, we won't know for sure how it will work out until we've played more games. I do think it would be helpful to have a speedier centre back as an option, though. January could seem a very long way away if we continue to leak goals like we have so far. Clean sheets get you out of this league and we haven't got any yet.

[tomd2103]

At the end of last season, the way I saw it; the defence looked solid, the midfield needed energy and consistency (/a lot of work) and we needed cover for Kodjia up front. Plus a consistent game plan to win matches.

So far this season, the defence has looked shaky and vulnerable to pace, but the midfield is much improved (largely down to Onomah and Hourihane) and in Davis we may have stumbled upon a decent option up front as an alternative to Kodjia. I think it basically balances out, but it's frustrating the defence was tinkered with when it seemed to be the least of our worries. I'm still worried that we don't have a definite shape or plan yet, and I'll give Bruce the benefit of the doubt that he's finding it, but we won't know for sure until a few more matches have been played. It was worrying that we signed so many players before we settled on a formation, though.

I don't think it can be underestimated how important the next month is for the club. If we're in touching distance of the top six, he'll get the fans right behind him. If we're not, I'm afraid he's got to go. Even if he has only been here six months....

I agree with that.  The pointers were there in the winning run we went on towards the end of the season playing a 4-3-3 / 4-1-4-1 formation.  I thought there was definitely something to work on there, but that there just be a few tweaks over the summer and a bit more attacking intent.  The tweaks needed were to bring in a better option than Baker, a defensive midfielder better on the ball than Jedinak to make us a bit better in possession, bring in another wide option capable of playing on both sides and bring in a target man.  His expensive purchase of Hogan in January meant he has had to try and get away from that formation to incorporate two strikers though.   

To be fair, he has probably achieved the first two, but I still think he could have done that with much younger and cheaper options.  Bringing in both Snodgrass and Elmohamady on top of Adomah and Green (and possibly Kodjia) now means we probably have one wide man too many and at least one of them is going to miss out on a place in the squad (could even be two).  Davis has been a great find, but if he is injured or loses form, we're back to Hogan or Kodjia playing the lone role up front which suits neither.

I genuinely don't know what team or formation he will come up with against Brentford on Saturday.  Going forward and with everyone fit, I would like to see something like:

                                     Johnstone

Bree                    Chester             Terry              Taylor
                         
                                       Whelan
                           
                           Onomah           Hourihane

Snodgrass                          Davis                       Kodjia


Subs: Steer, De Laet, Samba, Jedinak, Lansbury, Green, Hogan     
                               

[paul_e]

Grealish on the bench ahead of Lansbury for me because I think Grealish and Hogan could work really together if the former is allowed to play high enough up the pitch.

[Brend'Watkins]

I genuinely don't know what team or formation he will come up with against Brentford on Saturday.  Going forward and with everyone fit, I would like to see something like:

                                     Johnstone

Bree                    Chester             Terry              Taylor
                         
                                       Whelan
                           
                           Onomah           Hourihane

Snodgrass                          Davis                       Kodjia


Subs: Steer, De Laet, Samba, Jedinak, Lansbury, Grealish, Green, Hogan     
                               

That team should walk this league

[Drummond]

Grealish on the bench ahead of Lansbury for me because I think Grealish and Hogan could work really together if the former is allowed to play high enough up the pitch.

I used to think of the same issue with Hendrie and Angel, they were both intelligent and gifted footballers and Hendrie could pick out Angel's runs that not many could.