Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on October 04, 2013, 02:44:07 PM
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Available Saturday 5.10.13 @4.45pm
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Scrappy game - gabby had a couple of chances but little else , hull look uninspiring .
Another clean sheet - a decent start to the season , lets build on it .
Prefer to see kea or Westwood start but not both - sylla unlucky to miss out .
Westwood and Weimann poor today , Delph man of match for me.
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Clean sheet!
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both teams were shit.
BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD!!!!!!
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Luna's throw in, HA HA HA HA, Potato guts is even pissing his piss pad full of piss.
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curse the guy who said nil nil!
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Can't be too down in the dumps with another clean sheet and a point.
We badly miss Benteke up front but, well that is obvious. The jury is out on his long term replacement.
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Not a great game, certainly not up to our normal high away standards but we dominated the game, never looked like conceding and got another point and clean sheet. Not a bad days work in the cold light of day. Delph MOM.
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guzan 6
Luna 5 foul throws ffs
Clark 7.5
Vlarr 7
Bacuna 6.5
Delph MOM
KEA 7
Westwood 5
Weimann 5
Gabby 6 should have scored
Kozak 6
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Well with Benteke injured and forwards misfiring not a bad result. Clean sheet and a point that will do.
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OK, so we looked about as dangerous as the Andrex puppy going forward, but at least it was a clean sheet.
Hopefully, Lambert's got his eye on some creative talent. If that Japanese lad was as clever as everyone seems to think, he would have done us the world of good. Maybe we'll be back in for him in January.
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Easy money. As for the game itself really lack luster, Weimann was very poor and not with it.
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Clean sheet, not much else to say really.
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No interchanging or similar wavelengths up front rendering us toothless.
Delph, Clark and Vlaar the pick of the players, though Bacuna did his defensive duties well.
Overall, boring
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2 very average teams playing poorly.
I still don't know what Westwood offers and I've said it once but he reminds me of a crap Joe Allen.
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Last on motd for sure. Oh well, unbeaten in three games and another clean sheet. It'll do.
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Dreary, unadventurous and frustrating, as predicted. Hull were underwhelming, as were we, but this was a real opportunity to get a third win on the bounce. That doesn't happen to us, so perhaps the only positive we can take from this game is the clean sheet.
Throw-in practise is in order, which tells us a lot about our predilection for complacency.
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Turgid stuff. We need a serious upgrade in Midfield if we are going to move on. KEA and WEstwwod are tidy enough footballers but very ordinary with it.
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Well that was shit.
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and please drop weimann and westwood for next game
we look better with sylla and weimann needs a kick up the ass
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Poor game that, Clark and Bacuna were excellent though and Delph was very good. It highlighted the fact we so badly need a creative midfielder but we all know that and without Benteke we look very light up front.
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ps can we show Tony in training , how to take a throw in . ffs
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Dreadful.
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Poor, poor game, real lack of quality from both teams.
Apart from Delph and Bacuna i'm scratching my head for any positives.Missed Syllas energy, and really need a quality player to play off CB, Gabby misses far too many.
Westwood very poor, if his passing game is'nt going hes a liability, Weimann, very poor, hope Tonev steps up tbh.Would have liked a Remy kind of player on loan.Need a bit of quality.
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Crap game to watch, away point and clean sheet decent reward though.
I don't think I'd be astounded if Hull didn't score again this season.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
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Uninspired much? Good performances from Delph and Clark in particular. 10 points from 7 games is a decent return. I hope Kozak is still finding his feet because he looks fairly one dimensional at the present, he definitely needs a Defoe type playing off of him. This season was one of steadying and progressing and as such I'm not going to complain too much about a dull goalless away draw.
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Guzan 6
Luna (7 but -1 for foul throws) 6
Clark 7.5
Vlarr 7
Bacuna 7.5
Delph 7.6
KEA 6.5
Westwood 5
Weimann 5
Gabby 6 should have scored
Kozak 6
Could've been better, could have been a lot worse.
Probably the biggest gripe was that we seemed happy to take the point whereas the club we're aiming to be would've been throwing everything at Hull.
The defence looked really solid again.
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It was always going to be difficult to play the way we finished the season. on top of that some players will have the 2nd season syndrome - westwood, Lowton as prime examples. But they will come through it. Gabby and Delph arestill impressive and Clark appears to have come on. Whilst they were all in the same team at the sametime last season they were playing at the same level. One or two losses of form, one or two new players and it will inevitably take time for us to purr.
10 points from 7 is a solid enough start and there have been plenty of plus points. Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City win and some negatives- Newcastle, Tottenham in the League Cup. But we're stillbuilding something. I think we'll be slightly better this season compared to last - in terms of points won, but I don't think we'll be in a relegation fight. next season, though, I think it will start coming together regularly.
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I would have taken 0-0 after last week and their form so far. Gabby should really have won it for us, and Weimann looks totally lost without Benteke bringing him into play.
We are desperate for a 3rd midfield player to sit in front of Delph and create for us. Kozak might be a lump, but unless you give a lump service he will look a shit lump. A new winger/ forward with pace and skill and a forward midfielder are musts as the next 2 in, and they need to be ready, not potential this time. Ge them, and we will be a bloody good side.
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Dire match. Utterly woeful. That'll be last on for MOTD.
Positives- Clean sheet. The defence is looking better and better.
Man of the match for me was Clarky. There's almost a sense that we're waiting for him to do something calamitous been to be fair to Clackers this season he's been very good. He was near faultless today. At the over end of the pitch I have to credit to Curtis Davies. He had Kozak in his pocket all game. He looked like the player we had potentially hoped for.
Delph was also excellent again. The fullbacks were pretty good too, but didn't get forward as much second half.
Negatives- Midfield. No cutting edge. KEA did at least show a bit of ambition to push forward and try and score, but he only had half chances at best. As for picking a killer pass himself? Nope. Westwood is still struggling.
Tonev for me looks out of his depth. It is early days certainly, but he just looks a little spindly. Technically he's not brilliant. He's quick and a direct runner, but it's all pace and no touch or guile.
Wiemann has far too many anonymous games for my liking. He needs to be played through the middle too. He's not a right sided player.
Kozak has to show much better movement and get involved in the game more. He's essentially doing what Darren Bent does and waiting for service. The difference is, Bent can be a 15-20 goal forward playing that role. Can Kozak? He put himself about well against City, and had Wiemann in and around him. He's got to do more. In games like today when he had no service, he's got to impose himself on the game and try to make things happen. He's a different player I know but the fact of the matter is, he's replacing Benteke. That mantle is not easy to fill but he's got to get closer to that level. He was miles off today.
Next game I'd like to see Albrighton, Helenius and perhaps Johnson come into the matchday squad. I'd probably start Alby ahead of Wiemann at the moment. It could be beneficial having a wideman putting in some crosses. Bowery is never gonna make it at this level. I honestly don't see the point in playing him. Helenius is a Danish international, so he really has to be getting game time.
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Thank god it's over.
No ambition.
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Aaaarrgh. Weimann doesn't need a kick up the arse. Is there any suggestion he's not trying. I find it incredibly frustrating that fans always leap to that conclusion.
Decent-ish point and now on a good run including two clean sheets in three. But with Everton and spurs coming up we could have done with a win. They'll both be very tough indeed.
I think we'll be fine this year, but it does look like I overestimated how creative we're likely to be this season. Westwood and lowton's poor form has much to do with that.
Very interesting Lowton didn't even make the bench, though sounds like bacuna did well again and the defence overall is looking a lot better.
The midfield is looking pretty poor at the moment, Delph apart. I don't think bacuna is the answer to those specific problems.
Am I imagining it or were we actually knocking the ball around pretty well, making nice triangles, in the back end of last season?
Hard to see what Tonev offers over CNZ at the moment. I know CNZ is injured, but his new shirt number surely indicates he's not in lambert's plans?
Interesting to see how we shape up v spurs. I can't see us getting much out of it.
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Bacuna has made the right back position his own he was excellent. N'Zogbia would be a good option in that side if fit, we need a bit of spark.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
Never said it was, I said the performance was DREADFUL. Are you disagreeing ?
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We were the better of two distinctly average sides.
Considering a win would have put us in the top six, we really lacked any sort of adventure, but when you looked at the bench it was obvious there wasn't a single player there that could provide that spark we needed.
Positives the back four who looked comfortable, thanks mainly to hulls dire attack, and Fabian Delph, once again our best player by a country mile.
Negatives..
Andi Piemann, still apparently overweight from what I can see.
Kodak or whatever he's called. Has the obligatory poor touch for a big man, which wouldnt be such a problem if he was a threat in the air. Which he isn't. In fact, Im not sure I've seen him jump more than six inches off the ground.
Also sorry to say PL isn't absolved of any blame here either. I know he was a central defensive midfielder himself but is he so fond of them we have to play THREE of them every week?
Thought Sylla, Albrighton and Helenius were all worth a shout at some point today. If they were injured that's another matter.
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A point and a clean sheet away from home is never a disaster, just a bit of a let down considering how poor Hull were. Good time for an international break off the back of 7 points from 9, a couple of weeks rest for those not on international duty and then bring back the beast.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
Never said it was, I said the performance was DREADFUL. Are you disagreeing ?
Did you? You just wrote 'dreadful'. In any case it wasn't polished, but it was defensively sound though. It was nowhere near dreadful.
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If i had to score the entire side i'd probably doze off again. I would however give Weimann & Kozak about 1/10 each.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
Never said it was, I said the performance was DREADFUL. Are you disagreeing ?
Did you? You just wrote 'dreadful'. In any case it wasn't polished, but it was defensively sound though. It was nowhere near dreadful.
You are entitled to that opinion, it seems i'm not the only one that disagrees. Dreadful is being kind
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I heard that Hull have conceded only one goal in their last four home games.
Given how bad we are at keeping clean sheets I thought they'd probably nick it.
So all in all I'm fairly happy with the point.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
Never said it was, I said the performance was DREADFUL. Are you disagreeing ?
Did you? You just wrote 'dreadful'. In any case it wasn't polished, but it was defensively sound though. It was nowhere near dreadful.
You are entitled to that opinion, it seems i'm not the only one that disagrees. Dreadful is being kind
Dreadful is 8-0 against Chelsea and getting played off the park. Bit of perspective is needed. It wasn't great, but it wasn't dreadful.
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Bit of perspective is needed. It wasn't great, but it wasn't dreadful.
In your opinion. Mine differs
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I have never been so bored at a game in all my days.
The first thing I want to say though is a fuck you to the racist wankers that are your Hull fans. Inbred, EDL wankers.
As to the game; dross.
It was such a strange performance, as we kept looking for Kozak, who won nothing in the air. Every now and again we remembered that we were footballers, usually when Delph got the ball, and worked an opening.
We created half chances and forced McGregor into a few saves you'd expect him to make, but nothing clear cut. Gabby was nowhere near fit.
Westwood and KEA should not play together, but hats off to Delph; absolute quality and he made that lummux Huddlestone look like the immobile lumpit mechant that he is. Hull tried to kick him off the park.
We were not at the races by any stretch and were worse than poor. The positives being we were away from home, kept a clean sheet and picked up a point. If you're going to be poor, don't get beat.
Having said that, Hull could still be playing now and they wouldn't score. They are certs to go down. They scored few goals last season and unless they're getting soft penalties every week, they've got no hope.
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What word would you use to describe 8-0 against Chelsea or 3-0 at home to Wigan then?
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Weimann and Westwood looked awful today. Sylla should definitely come in for Ashley, but Andi needs more pressure on his place from Tonev or Helenius.
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What word would you use to describe 8-0 against Chelsea or 3-0 at home to Wigan then?
Dreadful. Why are you so interested in my opinion ?
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I'd like to see how we can slot Helenius into a No. 10 position: he has an eye for a pass and can score.
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I see Bent scored the winner for Fulham.....rather he started for us instead of Kozak. Also, why no Sylla again? FFS Lambert play Westwood, Sylla & Delph - they did really well at the end of last season. KEA isn't good enough.
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What word would you use to describe 8-0 against Chelsea or 3-0 at home to Wigan then?
Dreadful. Why are you so interested in my opinion ?
Well I'm just curious how a 0-0 and an 8-0 can have the same word attributed to them in terms of performance.
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KEA was at least noticeable. I saw Westwood get booked and from where I was stood, that was it, prey tell if you saw him contribute more.
And why is it 19 degrees in October?!
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We ought to take a look at that lad that scored the winner for Fulham. He seems to know where the goal is.
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A very welcome point but an absolutely dire match. It may not even get to be last on MOTD - they could run the highlights during the closing credits.
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I thought this would be a draw plus we kept a clean sheet.
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What word would you use to describe 8-0 against Chelsea or 3-0 at home to Wigan then?
Dreadful. Why are you so interested in my opinion ?
Well I'm just curious how a 0-0 and an 8-0 can have the same word attributed to them in terms of performance.
Quite easily. Give it a rest and if you enjoyed that then good for you
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What word would you use to describe 8-0 against Chelsea or 3-0 at home to Wigan then?
Dreadful. Why are you so interested in my opinion ?
Well I'm just curious how a 0-0 and an 8-0 can have the same word attributed to them in terms of performance.
Quite easily. Give it a rest and if you enjoyed that then good for you
How about we split the difference and all agree that defensively we were very good, but offensively we were dreadful?
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Not a bad result but considering who we have in the next two games, an extra two points in the bank would have taken the pressure off a bit plus boosted confidence.
But, we're, in the main, realistic Villa fans on here. Three league wins on the trot is just something we very rarely manage.
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Poor game , we lack creativity and shouldn't play kea and Westwood together but its a solid enough start to the season .
See you all in 2 weeks .
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Our attacking was so disjointed today. The wonderful ball Tonev put in summed us up. Fantastic delivery, but we have Kozak, Andi and Bowery all stood in a line not gambling.
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We weren't that impressive defensively, I thought, rather Hull were utterly abysmal going forward. Worse even than us.
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I can fully appreciate people calling this game dreadful even if it's slightly exaggerated. It certainly wasn't good. If our away form is suppose to be our strength, then how can a point against a newly promoted side away be seen as a decent result? Lets not let the City win make us think our home form is cured. If we're struggling to gain points at home, we have to getting them away from home, which means winning games like this. If we win games like this at Villa park, so be it, but we're likely going to struggle. Today was a missed opportunity. We're a better side than Hull, but I'm not sure Lambert put enough on his bench or in his starting 11 to really attack this game.
KEA and Westwood together doesn't work. Wiemann mostly struggles playing out wide. I really don't want this to become a long term position for him. He's not got the ability to play it. What he does have is great potential as a center forward though.
There were other players who could have played today, either from the off or off the bench, who might have given us more attacking impetace. I'm thinking Sylla, Albrighton, Helenius. Perhaps even 1-2 of our younger players like Johnson and Robinson (perhaps too early, certainly for the latter).
I actually thought in the first two thirds of the pitch we kept the ball quite well. Particularly in the first half. But again we saw the problem we have in the way Lambert wants to play. We don't have technically proficient players for when the passing becomes quicker, more precise and more intricate in the final third. Almost our entire side today had a mediocre first touch (defenders obviously you don't expect to be Dennis Bergkamp). If Lambert wants us to play like Arsenal, he's got to sign players with better ball control. I wouldn't mind seeing Johnson come in. He looks very tidy on the ball, good with the ball at his feet too and has some mobility.
We still definitely lack a number 10. If we can get a poor mans Juan Mata, that would be good.
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Just watching Sunderland v Man Utd.
I would have Craig Gardner in my side ahead of Ashley Westwood all day long.
And that really says a lot.
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We do have a tendency to want to throw players under the bus. Westwood is a good example, he was excellent last year but he hasn't started well this year. I think we need a bit more patience.
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Westwood ain't the player he was...seems to be the same with Lowton. Second season syndrome?
Sylla should start ahead of Westy...in fairness, it was about December before Westy got going last season so a bit of a rest might do him good.
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Just watching Sunderland v Man Utd.
I would have Craig Gardner in my side ahead of Ashley Westwood all day long.
And that really says a lot.
On current form yes. Westy's looking a little bit too League 1 at the minute. I didn't think Huddlestone had a brilliant game by any stretch but his touch and composure on the ball was Premier League. I couldn't say that about Westy today, nor probably KEA.
Its frustrating that two of our best performers last season, Westy and Lowton, and also two of our classier players, have struggled this season so far.
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We do have a tendency to want to throw players under the bus. Westwood is a good example, he was excellent last year but he hasn't started well this year. I think we need a bit more patience.
My worry about certain players is, opposition get an idea of how to combat them, and when you need to kick your game on a bit, some players can be found wanting. Westy isn't getting the space he got last season. Lowton hasn't been getting the attacking freedom, and the gaps he leaves have been exploited even more.
To stay at this level you have keep developing your game. So I hope Westwood and Lowton really kick on again.
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Helenius was ill.
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I do think that Helenius(when fit) deserves to be given a shot.
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Westwood ain't the player he was...seems to be the same with Lowton. Second season syndrome?
Sylla should start ahead of Westy...in fairness, it was about December before Westy got going last season so a bit of a rest might do him good.
Didn't Westwood only make his full debut fairly well into the season (was it the win at Sunderland, start of Nov?)?
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You could have put all the other midfielders together and they wouldn't have looled half as good as Delph. What a quality player he is.
I am not going to knock the defence, as Hull created nowt. Guzan might as well have brought a good book with him. But given how awful Hull are going forwards, its hard to tell if it was out good work or not.
A point away from home is always a good result. Never believe anybody that tries to tell you otherwise. The problem is, I have had the misfortune of having paid to watch that garbage, which sours both my mood and opinion.
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Helenius was ill.
I wonder if he was ill against City. It's the only way I can fathom that Bowery keeps playing. I like JB, he works hard, but even he must be wondering how he's playing premier league football. I honestly thought we'd not see hide nor hair of him this season and he'd eventually trickle out on loan never spring.
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My worry about certain players is, opposition get an idea of how to combat them, and when you need to kick your game on a bit, some players can be found wanting. Westy isn't getting the space he got last season. Lowton hasn't been getting the attacking freedom, and the gaps he leaves have been exploited even more.
To stay at this level you have keep developing your game. So I hope Westwood and Lowton really kick on again.
I agree with this. We had about bonus 6 months last season when Lowton and Westwood were emerging as other teams did not take care of them. However due to their success towards the end of the season teams are looking after them and they ard struggling. If they are going to be top class players they will have to overcome that and kick on as you say. Problem is do we have the time and space these days to allow them that luxury? I would say they have till Xmas.
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Would agree with your sentiments on Huddleston there, Supertom. He was certainly more 'involved' which is one of my biggest criticisms of Westwood, even last season.
It's one thing being tidy, but that's a world away from being one that pulls the strings in midfield and dictates play.
Im still unconvinced he'll ever be good enough to be international quality.
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oh well . Im off to to my music studio to work on some electronic hard Industrial remix I need to finish , then get a good chinese takeaway with cold beers and might get the girlfriend to try on the new lingerie shes just bought .
Its not all bad ;)
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These are all valid points. It wasnt too long ago we were writing Albrighton off after his bright start because it was suggested he'd been 'found out'.
Well, surely it follows that if a player can be repeatedly nullified by playing a certain tactic it only proves said player is simply not good enough.
Time will tell as far as Westwood is concerned.
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JP, I just had a text from the missus asking what time I am back, as we're off out for a meal and a number of drinks in Manchester tonight. A clean sheet, an away point, a good night out and a GTA V slug fest tomorrow and its a good weekend.
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Would agree with your sentiments on Huddleston there, Supertom. He was certainly more 'involved' which is one of my biggest criticisms of Westwood, even last season.
It's one thing being tidy, but that's a world away from being one that pulls the strings in midfield and dictates play.
Im still unconvinced he'll ever be good enough to be international quality.
That's my concern. I mean last season there was a lot of potential. But you have to work on all other aspects of your game too. He was heading in the right direction but hes a long way from being, to compare with his role model, Michael Carrick.
Delphy on the other hand has taken his good run from last spring and continued and seems to be developing into a top quality midfielder. Last May I'd have said Westwood would make the England set up long before Delph (if ever).
Now Delphy looks very close to it. He'd be unfortunate not to get called up, given he's one of the form English mids. Westy looks a world away. He's got to get back to being Prem level before he can even entertain thoughts of a phonecall from Woy (unless he's asked to pass the phone over to Delph).
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JP, I just had a text from the missus asking what time I am back, as we're off out for a meal and a number of drinks in Manchester tonight. A clean sheet, an away point, a good night out and a GTA V slug fest tomorrow and its a good weekend.
This. (Aside from the being in Manchester bit).
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I shouldn't really be surprised today either. I played the game on Fifa just before kick off and it ended 0-0 with not much to write home about besides some half chances for Gabby.
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JP, I just had a text from the missus asking what time I am back, as we're off out for a meal and a number of drinks in Manchester tonight. A clean sheet, an away point, a good night out and a GTA V slug fest tomorrow and its a good weekend.
of course mate - there are always positives in life ;)
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I shouldn't really be surprised today either. I played the game on Fifa just before kick off and it ended 0-0 with not much to write home about besides some half chances for Gabby.
Fifa 14 ?
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The kind of game we should be looking to win and capable of winning. Hull were there for the taking but they are probably saying the same about us.
Positives were a rare clean sheet a bigger share of possession, and a point.
Delph looks class (he should walk into the England team), Bacuna too in patches. Weimann is talented but his big problem is lack of composure. The rest were just ok.
I thought Davies played well for them Huddlestone in patches, but they barely created anything. We were not much better in the final third. Without Benteke last season we'd have been goners.
And finally I think I've seen us penalised for more foul throws under Lambert than in the previous 44 years put together. WTF is that all about?
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Bit of perspective , we are averaging 1.5 points per game.
Defensive looks a lot more solid.
We got 3 potential first teamers missing in Nzogbia, Oroke, Benteke
Surely we are making progress, we spent the equivalent of Gareth bale knee of a squad of very young players and look pretty mid table!
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Cant complain 4 points from 2 games better than I would have expected.
I felt with a fully fit squad we could have murdered them, but fair play to Hull they haven't been beaten at home since April I think so a good confidence building clean sheet.
Delph getting better and better, Bakuna becoming a favourite of mine and KEA has put in a solid performance since I slated him against Newcastle.
I'm not convinced with Kovac, personally I don't think he is mobile enough for our team.
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I dont think any one knows what our 27 is called neither ;)
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We already look better than last season, and if I'm honest, that's enough for me. Oh sure, I'd like us to dominate games a bit more and we do need some more creativity, but I think we look a more solid outfit and (touches an enormous chunk of wood) we're in no danger of relegation this year. That's progress, isn't it? Slow progress, but still heading in the right direction, and with such a young squad, Lambert's well placed to maintain the upward trajectory. Although if he adds just one more creative player in January or next summer, it would speed things up.
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Toothless. Well defended, I guess, but still, this game is best forgotten.
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I shouldn't really be surprised today either. I played the game on Fifa just before kick off and it ended 0-0 with not much to write home about besides some half chances for Gabby.
Fifa 14 ?
Yep.
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On the subject of toothless. Danny Graham was utterly hopeless today. He reminds me of Jon Stead. He had a fairly good introductory season in the Prem, then he just went ages without being able to score, or even looking close to it. Total bobbins.
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Bit of perspective , we are averaging 1.5 points per game.
Defensive looks a lot more solid.
We got 3 potential first teamers missing in Nzogbia, Oroke, Benteke
Surely we are making progress, we spent the equivalent of Gareth bale knee of a squad of very young players and look pretty mid table!
Precisely.
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Worth remembering that every side playing at hull this season has seemingly put in a similar performance to us. It's the second game we've not scored in since January I think.
So we can't be that bad going forwards
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There are going to be matches like this which shows that we have a ways to go. It was a poor game but we were the better team. Put Benteke up front today and we're sitting in the top 6
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Chuffed with a point and a clean sheet away from home, lets hope this gives the defence confidence to build on and that we work on our creativity.
Not bad.
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Chuffed with a point and a clean sheet away from home, lets hope this gives the defence confidence to build on and that we work on our creativity.
Not bad.
Agreed clean sheets will mean we can pick up a lot of cheap points and eases the pressure on our team.
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Worth remembering that every side playing at hull this season has seemingly put in a similar performance to us. It's the second game we've not scored in since January I think.
So we can't be that bad going forwards
They were very well drilled in fairness. Though Wiemann and Kozak's inability to get in the game made life easier for them than it should have been.
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For all the money we haven't spent and the players out injured we sit 3 points back of Man City. Not the end of the world at all and if anyone had said 7 games in we'd have a positive GD and would be sat 3 points off 3rd place they'd have been taken off to the nut house. It's mostly an average league and I think we'll be comfortably mid table and in touching distance of a european spot all season.
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I just wish we'd spent 7m or so on someone like leroy fer. I think we need a player like that. Him alongside Delph and we could afford to play a no 10, or indeed not need to
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Anyone who still believes the premier league is the best in the world, needs to watch this game. For two teams to have such a lack of basic ability is quite frankly pathetic.
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Paul Lambert accepted that neither side deserved to win this contest - but revealed his delight at the progress being made by his young lions.
Lambert was happy with the commitment of his charges but admitted they lacked a cutting edge in front of goal, something they are not usually short of.
Villa boss Lambert took a holistic view of the start to the season - including this draw at the KC Stadium - and pointed to obvious growth in the group.
He said: "I don't think either side did enough to win the game. It wasn't a great game for people to watch. But we have been involved in some big matches this year and this is a hard place to come.
"A point away from home, especially in this league is something really valuable.
"It was stalemate. We had one or two half chances but it wasn't enough to win the game.
"I couldn't fault the lads for work-rate and trying to do the right things.
"We had a lot of the ball, especially in the first half. We looked dangerous at times but we didn't have that cutting edge that we normally have.
"I can't recall Brad really making a save. The clean sheet is a big thing and a point away from home means three games having not being beaten."
On the development of his players, he continued: "They are growing into the league.
"Fabian is playing ever so well. He was excellent. Libor led the line great again. Some of his link-up play and touches were fantastic.
"There are a lot of big pluses now for the team. It's growing together, there's no doubt. We might have lost this game last season. But all credit to them.
"We have a pretty good return on points. A point away from home is a tough thing to get."
Lambert was also pleased to see Gabby Agbonlahor and Ashley Westwood back in the side after a spell on the sidelines.
He added: "Gabby is just back from an injury. He only trained on Thursday. It's minutes under his belt along with Westwood."
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Just back, has Curtis Davis given Kozak his shirt back yet?
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I'd agree on Delph but I thought Kozak struggled badly with the physical side of things.
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a good point. Crap match, but we will never go a season without a crap nil nil!
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Anyone who still believes the premier league is the best in the world, needs to watch this game. For two teams to have such a lack of basic ability is quite frankly pathetic.
I wouldn't judge the entire league based on one game. Last week we played in a really exciting game. I'm sure Germany, Spain, Italy all have games that would be best forgotten.
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Dreadful.
An away draw is not dreadful.
Never said it was, I said the performance was DREADFUL. Are you disagreeing ?
Did you? You just wrote 'dreadful'.
It's like one if those cinema poster adverts.
"Marvellous" Time Out. When the full quote is "Marvellous costumes, but the film is bollocks"
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For all the money we haven't spent and the players out injured we sit 3 points back of Man City. Not the end of the world at all and if anyone had said 7 games in we'd have a positive GD and would be sat 3 points off 3rd place they'd have been taken off to the nut house. It's mostly an average league and I think we'll be comfortably mid table and in touching distance of a european spot all season.
This for me.
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Can't hide from the fact that we lack quality in key areas, and today was a boring spectacle, but as a work in progress we're showing real signs of improvement - this time last year we'd amassed 5 points from our first 7 games, losing to the likes of West Ham and getting thrashed by Southampton along the way; this year we're now on 10 points from 7 games including wins against Arsenal and Citeh. Disappointing not to get a win against a poor Hull team, but putting it in perspective last year we'd probably have conceded a late goal and lost
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Can't hide from the fact that we lack quality in key areas, and today was a boring spectacle, but as a work in progress we're showing real signs of improvement - this time last year we'd amassed 5 points from our first 7 games, losing to the likes of West Ham and getting thrashed by Southampton along the way; this year we're now on 10 points from 7 games including wins against Arsenal and Citeh. Disappointing not to get a win against a poor Hull team, but putting it in perspective last year we'd probably have conceded a late goal and lost
I was thinking the same, we would have messed that up last year. The unbeaten run goes on!
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I think a return of 10 points from 7 games is pretty good and we keep that up and we'll be very comfortable this year. It's all about progression and showing solidity at the back is great start. If we can maintain that then we can hopefully add that creative player in January or the summer and it'll push us on another level. In the meantime the improvement in Clark, Delph and Vlaar is great to see and the emergence of Bacuna is brilliant.
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Last season we'd have bitten off an arm to get a couple of 0-0's. We'll always have goals in us, so I'm not concerned long term about that. Two clean sheets in 3 games is a positive step.
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Anyone who still believes the premier league is the best in the world, needs to watch this game. For two teams to have such a lack of basic ability is quite frankly pathetic.
I wouldn't judge the entire league based on one game. Last week we played in a really exciting game. I'm sure Germany, Spain, Italy all have games that would be best forgotten.
I do think the top of our league is as poor as it has ever been.
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Foul throws should be fined by the club. You're bloody professional footballers.
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Anyone who still believes the premier league is the best in the world, needs to watch this game. For two teams to have such a lack of basic ability is quite frankly pathetic.
I wouldn't judge the entire league based on one game. Last week we played in a really exciting game. I'm sure Germany, Spain, Italy all have games that would be best forgotten.
I do think the top of our league is as poor as it has ever been.
For sure, but I'm actually glad the league has mediocrity to it as opposed to be mindlessly predictable. I'd rather have weeks where anyone can beat anyone as opposed to knowing certain results before the games kick off.
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Last season we'd have bitten off an arm to get a couple of 0-0's. We'll always have goals in us, so I'm not concerned long term about that. Two clean sheets in 3 games is a positive step.
2 clean sheets in 3 games is a bloody miracle after the last 12 months we've been through!
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Last season we'd have bitten off an arm to get a couple of 0-0's. We'll always have goals in us, so I'm not concerned long term about that. Two clean sheets in 3 games is a positive step.
2 clean sheets in 3 games is a bloody miracle after the last 12 months we've been through!
Quite, I think our creativity problem is a lot more easy to solve than our defensive flaws. The fact that the latter is improving a lot is a great sign.
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We have the best centre forward in Europe to come back, but three games, 7 points and two clean sheets isn't bad.
Hull will be relegated I think, they wont score anywhere near enough to stop up.
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With us on 10 points and unbeaten in 3 and the leaders on 16 I'm satisfied.
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oh well . Im off to to my music studio to work on some electronic hard Industrial remix I need to finish , then get a good chinese takeaway with cold beers and might get the girlfriend to try on the new lingerie shes just bought .
Its not all bad ;)
Hope they're not tiger-print. You'll be thinking of Westwood failing to unlock a stubborn Hull defence while in the throes of passion. On second thoughts, that might help you go further for longer.
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Anyone else there today care to offer an opinion on this; Hull fans (duh Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu) sang "you're not English anymore". I took this to be a more subtle version of "town full of Pakis" and given how shallow the gene puddle is up there, I am not suprised by EDL-ness.
Did anybody else interpret the song the same as me?
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This might have been a bore draw but it brought us to 10 points and the mid-table mediocrity I can live with this season.
A win would have been good but as we gird ourselves for another close examination next Sunday Clark and Vlaar looked pretty good from what I hear?
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Decent point overall. Have not seen any of the game yet (guess I will be trolling though MOTD till the bitter end later) but it actaully sounded not bad for a 0-0 from the the reports on fivelive.
It is a clear sheet and like others have said keeps the unbeaten run going. 10 Points from seven is a decent enough start for me.
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Decent point overall. Have not seen any of the game yet (guess I will be trolling though MOTD till the bitter end later) but it actaully sounded not bad for a 0-0 from the the reports on fivelive.
It is a clear sheet and like others have said keeps the unbeaten run going. 10 Points from seven is a decent enough start for me.
Have an early night pal, not worth staying up for , apart from gabby having a shot saved and one narrowly wide there were no highlights - a useful point but a game that won't stay in the memory .
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It wasn't an exciting enough game to stop me reading a book at the same time, but overall I'm pleased with our start to the season so far.
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Reading a book during a Villa game? You are a cool cat!
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Anyone else there today care to offer an opinion on this; Hull fans (duh Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu) sang "you're not English anymore". I took this to be a more subtle version of "town full of Pakis" and given how shallow the gene puddle is up there, I am not suprised by EDL-ness.
Did anybody else interpret the song the same as me?
Didn't hear that at all? Was sat in the east stand with the home fans.
They only appeared to have 2 songs one using the word city repeatedly and one about Steve Bruce (yes it is as shit as it sounds)
Our fans were magnificent. The noise and singing before they actually got into the stand was amazing.
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Just got back home. Scrappy game, draw probably a fair result. I'm satisfied with the point. Good day out overall, thanks Leeg for the good company and Mr Sox for the ticket help. And nice to meet a few of you up there. Thanks for the pint Mr Villafan.
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Anyone else there today care to offer an opinion on this; Hull fans (duh Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu) sang "you're not English anymore". I took this to be a more subtle version of "town full of Pakis" and given how shallow the gene puddle is up there, I am not suprised by EDL-ness.
Did anybody else interpret the song the same as me?
Bell ends. I don't understand that English song either. We were sat (well stood) quite close and a lot of them spent the match goading us and rarely watching the game it seemed. They also seemed obsessed with our sisters for some reason. Jeremy Kyle song did amuse me mind. After the match as we left the ground they were stood the other side of the fence like wannabe hooligans. I was terrified. Honest.
Special mention for the escort away from the ground, top job by the police.
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oh well . Im off to to my music studio to work on some electronic hard Industrial remix I need to finish , then get a good chinese takeaway with cold beers and might get the girlfriend to try on the new lingerie shes just bought .
Its not all bad ;)
Hope they're not tiger-print. You'll be thinking of Westwood failing to unlock a stubborn Hull defence while in the throes of passion. On second thoughts, that might help you go further for longer.
eamonn , you are not far off mate . do you know her ;)
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What a terrible game of football that was, my daughter though did say 20 minutes in that 'your lot don't shut up do they? I'm getting a headache'. I don't think I can remember a single incident from the game apart from for the first time in over 40 years of going to games I saw two players from the same team pulled up for foul throws.
Thanks to the H&V seller who came over to the fence to sell me a fanzine and it was great to meet Rob Bishop and have a chat. That's it basically. The replacement bus service at Selby should have served as a warning, the radio station they had on played Barry Blue, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy and Boomtown Rats.
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Thanks to the H&V seller who came over to the fence to sell me a fanzine and it was great to meet Rob Bishop and have a chat. That's it basically. The replacement bus service at Selby should have served as a warning, the radio station they had on played Barry Blue, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy and Boomtown Rats.
That was me! Assuming it was a big bloke with a shaved head who looks a lot like Brad Pitt.
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Thanks to the H&V seller who came over to the fence to sell me a fanzine and it was great to meet Rob Bishop and have a chat. That's it basically. The replacement bus service at Selby should have served as a warning, the radio station they had on played Barry Blue, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy and Boomtown Rats.
That was me! Assuming it was a big bloke with a shaved head who looks a lot like Brad Pitt.
Nice to meet you, I was the Johnny Depp lookalike! The ugly, lanky streak of piss with greying hair version!
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Not long got back. It was a poor game. We didn't play well at all but on the bright side, we did'nt concede and we got a point. I didn't think much of the ref either.
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Just got back home. Scrappy game, draw probably a fair result. I'm satisfied with the point. Good day out overall, thanks Leeg for the good company and Mr Sox for the ticket help. And nice to meet a few of you up there. Thanks for the pint Mr Villafan.
Not long back myself. I echo those sentiments.
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Anyone else there today care to offer an opinion on this; Hull fans (duh Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu) sang "you're not English anymore". I took this to be a more subtle version of "town full of Pakis" and given how shallow the gene puddle is up there, I am not suprised by EDL-ness.
Did anybody else interpret the song the same as me?
Bell ends. I don't understand that English song either. We were sat (well stood) quite close and a lot of them spent the match goading us and rarely watching the game it seemed. They also seemed obsessed with our sisters for some reason. Jeremy Kyle song did amuse me mind. After the match as we left the ground they were stood the other side of the fence like wannabe hooligans. I was terrified. Honest.
Special mention for the escort away from the ground, top job by the police.
The "You're not English anymore" chant confused me. The eight year olds after the game terrified me. Honest.
Yes, kudos to the Humberside police armoured forces division who escorted us well away from the ground, stopping traffic until we were nearly in the Midlands. Great job well done.
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Anyone else there today care to offer an opinion on this; Hull fans (duh Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu) sang "you're not English anymore". I took this to be a more subtle version of "town full of Pakis" and given how shallow the gene puddle is up there, I am not suprised by EDL-ness.
Did anybody else interpret the song the same as me?
Bell ends. I don't understand that English song either. We were sat (well stood) quite close and a lot of them spent the match goading us and rarely watching the game it seemed. They also seemed obsessed with our sisters for some reason. Jeremy Kyle song did amuse me mind. After the match as we left the ground they were stood the other side of the fence like wannabe hooligans. I was terrified. Honest.
Special mention for the escort away from the ground, top job by the police.
The "You're not English anymore" chant confused me. The eight year olds after the game terrified me. Honest.
Yes, kudos to the Humberside police armoured forces division who escorted us well away from the ground, stopping traffic until we were nearly in the Midlands. Great job well done.
Maybe naively, I just assumed this was a reference to the fact our team last year was full of young largely English players and this year it's full of young players. Not to the demographics of Birmingham.
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He should have stuck with Sylla and left Westwood out. I didn't really see the point of throwing him back in just to take him off after 70 minutes. I'd have probably played Gabby through the middle as well seeing as Kozak wasn't getting much joy.
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He probably didn't throw him back on just to take him off after 70 mins though - he threw him back in full stop. Then had to take him off after 70 mins on account of the fact he was playing badly.
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A respectable point. We'd have lost this 12 months ago.
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He probably didn't throw him back on just to take him off after 70 mins though - he threw him back in full stop. Then had to take him off after 70 mins on account of the fact he was playing badly.
It was probably in his mind to take him off because he took Gabby off as well and he's also been out injured. I might be wrong though.
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He should have stuck with Sylla and left Westwood out. I didn't really see the point of throwing him back in just to take him off after 70 minutes. I'd have probably played Gabby through the middle as well seeing as Kozak wasn't getting much joy.
Yeah. Kojak was totally isolated. Any time he won a header (which was rare) there was no one near him to get the flick on. I think Wiemann is struggling playing on the right. He played more centrally against Man City and finally sparked into life. I also think he could have a lot of joy playing off Kozak. I'd rather see a wide player on the right who'll offer width. Either Alby or Lowton. I think Lowton playing right mid could work well. Bacuna is better defensively and has the pace to bomb up and down the touchline. Lowts is a clever player, and can deliver quality from wide. I think he could slip nicely into midfield if needs be.
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They were both (Gabby as well) taken off because they've only just returned to training and playing them for the full match would have risked incurring further injuries.
There's been a few comments about us not playing well. I thought first half we passed it around well and dominated possession - something I've rarely seen us do. We just lacked a cutting edge, which we might have had with a fit Benteke playing. It does highlight where we need to strengthen in future windows and/or by bringing through players like Grealish.
I thought Delph, KEA and Clark all had good games. Clark's now starting to look the part and he and Vlaar are developing a good partnership. Weimann and Kozak were poor. I'm trying to be patient with Kozak but we really need Benteke back to take the pressure off him and let him come to terms with the way we play and the change of lifestyle.
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He probably didn't throw him back on just to take him off after 70 mins though - he threw him back in full stop. Then had to take him off after 70 mins on account of the fact he was playing badly.
It was probably in his mind to take him off because he took Gabby off as well and he's also been out injured. I might be wrong though.
Yep agree, there's probably something in that. Westwood sure made it easy for Lambert to follow through with that plan though. Delph was good though wasn't he.
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He should have stuck with Sylla and left Westwood out. I didn't really see the point of throwing him back in just to take him off after 70 minutes. I'd have probably played Gabby through the middle as well seeing as Kozak wasn't getting much joy.
Yeah. Kojak was totally isolated. Any time he won a header (which was rare) there was no one near him to get the flick on. I think Wiemann is struggling playing on the right. He played more centrally against Man City and finally sparked into life. I also think he could have a lot of joy playing off Kozak. I'd rather see a wide player on the right who'll offer width. Either Alby or Lowton. I think Lowton playing right mid could work well. Bacuna is better defensively and has the pace to bomb up and down the touchline. Lowts is a clever player, and can deliver quality from wide. I think he could slip nicely into midfield if needs be.
I can only think Albrighton is injured because he wasn't on the bench. He played quite well against Spurs so I think he would have been a good option today had he been on the bench. Our only attacking options were Bowery and Tonev. Tonev did ok to be fair but we didn't really have good options to help with our lack of a cutting edge.
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Interesting stat today regarding Kozak. Our of 17 attempted aerial duels, he won 4.
That has to improve. If you're 6ft 4 you've got to be hitting 50% at least. Also gives some indication of the number Davies did on him.
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Interesting stat today regarding Kozak. Our of 17 attempted aerial duels, he won 4.
That has to improve. If you're 6ft 4 you've got to be hitting 50% at least. Also gives some indication of the number Davies did on him.
I have absolutley no stats to back this up, just memories, but wasn't Crouch like that as a young player? everyone was surprised how shit he was in the air and how good he was on the deck.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
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Yes, Crouch went through youth football without ever needing to leap so he was crap in the air. I noticed how poor Kozak was in the air and again, he didn't seem to jump either - he just seemed to stay standing.
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Having just watched the highlights I have to say how excellent Bacuna was today and for all that I said about him against Liverpool I am sorry. I think he is going to be this seasons star.
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I look forward to seeing Lowton returning and having Bacuna in the centre midfield role as get the feeling he will score some goals from that role. Another good signing. As for Kozak, why not give the guy a chance, probably been thrown in before Lambert was anticipating due to Benteke's injury.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
I am not going to bash Doug for the old days when he was causing chaos, suffice to say he was on Blues board before us and then went to Wolves. Got to say he follows the club well now
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I awarded it more on the basis of the entertaining descriptions and evocative use of imagery in the opening paragraph.
I guess the Doug bit would be a clincher for some.
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It was a tremendous post. Canadian geese swung it for me.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
I am not going to bash Doug for the old days when he was causing chaos, suffice to say he was on Blues board before us and then went to Wolves. Got to say he follows the club well now
That's because he has nothing else to do.
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I agree, good comments in there. So you in London these days eamonn?
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
I am not going to bash Doug for the old days when he was causing chaos, suffice to say he was on Blues board before us and then went to Wolves. Got to say he follows the club well now
That's because he has nothing else to do.
I agree with you, I was trying to be nice :-)
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
I am not going to bash Doug for the old days when he was causing chaos, suffice to say he was on Blues board before us and then went to Wolves. Got to say he follows the club well now
That's because he has nothing else to do.
I agree with you, I was trying to be nice :-)
Good luck to him for being there, particularly at his age, but to make out that he's some devoted grandfather overseeing his family is over-egging it. The best business deal Doug ever did was to hoodwink a sizeable section of our support into thinking he was on our side.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Post of the week.
I am not going to bash Doug for the old days when he was causing chaos, suffice to say he was on Blues board before us and then went to Wolves. Got to say he follows the club well now
That's because he has nothing else to do.
I agree with you, I was trying to be nice :-)
Good luck to him for being there, particularly at his age, but to make out that he's some devoted grandfather overseeing his family is over-egging it. The best business deal Doug ever did was to hoodwink a sizeable section of our support into thinking he was on our side.
He gets no credit for the £20 million that he gave Lerner to buy players with.
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He also deserves no credit for trying to mess our club up in 78/79 by trying to regain control and Sir Ron would have been history.
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game was crying out for Albrighton. Has to be injured?
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I think he must have been littlevillan.
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I agree, good comments in there. So you in London these days eamonn?
Indeed I am.
I really want to see Albrighton get a run in the next few games.
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I work in London, live near Luton.
I agree Albrighton is a good option, he has talent and hopefully Lambert can get that out of him.
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It was a tremendous post. Canadian geese swung it for me.
The fact he didn't mention the game did it for me.
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Have to say Kozak going off injured when we had a corner was pathetic, grow some balls man
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It was a tremendous post. Canadian geese swung it for me.
The fact he didn't mention the game did it for me.
Nicely played.
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Pity the new Chairman can't be arsed to watch his team....
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Awful really, Hull are a mid table Championship side at best and we didn't have enough about us to beat them. With Benteke and Nzogbia out and Gabby at half mast we look desperately short of attacking threat. Positives were Bacuna and Clark defensively, Delph in midfield outshone Huddlestone and that was about it. Clean sheet is great but when we were up against the might of Graham, Aluko and Boyd then the quality of the opposition does need to be taken into account.
Biggest negative was the team seemingly settling for a 0-0 after Gabby missed that chance. Lambert made his subs far too late but both lads are really struggling at this level.
Guzan 6 - nothing to do but has gone a bit iffy at crosses of late.
Bacuna 7 - very solid defensively and was key to the best chance we had. Should have pushed on a lot more
Vlaar 6 - solid against very limited opposition
Clark 7 - Covered well behind Luna but still hoofs it too much. Well capable of taking it down and playing it which he showed at times, just needs to be calmer on the ball.
Luna 6 - Hull got some joy down his flank early on but the Egyptian lad didn't have the quality to make it count. Got caught badly offside a couple of times. Needed our full backs to push forward a lot more.
Westwood 5 - big chance for him but failed to grasp it. Tidy at times in the first half but disappeared in the second.
KEA 6 - had a good first half I thought winning a lot of possession. Tried a couple of half hearted shots in the second half. Solid effort from a pretty average player.
Delph 8 - our best player by a long way. After all the talk about Huddlestone, he easily outshone him. Seemed to be the only one in midfield showing for the ball.
Weimann 4 - should have ended up with an assist which was the only thing he contributed the game. Aside from that, took the wrong option continuously and his touch was yet again appalling.
Kozak 4 - ranked with Weimann as our worst player. Someone in the match thread commented that he makes Peter Crouch look like Van Persie. Pretty accurate so far. So slow it's ridiculous and Davies owned him physically.
Gabby 6 - didn't look fully fit, still our only attacking threat. Great shot early on with his left but should have scored from Weimann's pull back. Missed a similar chance v Chelsea that cost us points. Needs a goal
Bowery - ain't a right winger anyway or a footballer at this level either
Tonev - not physically ready though his ball at the end wasn't a bad one
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
.... In terms of quality. If they are above us in the table after 38 games we will be in the Championship
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Have to say Kozak going off injured when we had a corner was pathetic, grow some balls man
He had to go off , if a player receives treatment they must leave the field and then be waved back on - he had no choice.
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
.... In terms of quality. If they are above us in the table after 38 games we will be in the Championship
Hull are in the Premier League on merit. Last season they worked hard and played well to achieve the results to get there. Credit where credits due. Neither of us played well yesterday so you can not judge Hull from that game.
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Have to say Kozak going off injured when we had a corner was pathetic, grow some balls man
He had to go off , if a player receives treatment they must leave the field and then be waved back on - he had no choice.
He was as much use off the pitch as on it, he spends a lot of the game feigning injury so it's difficult to tell when he genuinely is injured.
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Love the way people are writing Kozak off in the same way as Benteke was this time last year. Will he have the same impact? I very much doubt it. But I'm certainly not writing him off.
Disappointing performance no doubt. And overall, I am disappointed with the way we've passed the ball and created this season. And with our creative options off the bench. But people are rightly lauding the likes of Southampton. I recall an absolutely appalling 0-0 draw at home to West Ham. Win the next one and people soon forget. It's just that we've got Spurs!
But with no Benteke, gabby clearly not fully fit, Weimann's touch so poor at the moment, there are mitigating circumstances.
I really would like N'Zogbia as an option now. Tonev doesn't look ready to me at all. Will be interesting to see quite how quickly Carruthers and Grealish are integrated into the first team squad.
But people quoting Janusaj and Barkley as examples need a bit of a reality check. Those two look outstanding. It's unfair to set them as a benchmark.
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
.... In terms of quality. If they are above us in the table after 38 games we will be in the Championship
that's what footballs about,
if everyone finished where they should regarding quality everyone would finish in exactly the same predetermined spot
we have also beaten Aresnal and Man city so where should we be finishing in your fantasy league of footballing science
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Some reflections having just watched MOTD:
All our chances, such as they were, came from passing the ball to feet. We should do more of that.
Bacuna looks to be playing really well. If we can get Lowton back in form, I wonder if that could look a strong right side? Perhaps 4411 with Weimann behind Benteke?
Delph - love the way he's using his right more, and he seems quicker on the ball, with quicker feet, every time I see him.
KEA certainly seems to be playing better than Westwood.
All in all, I wonder about the following side:
Guzan - Lowton Vlaar Clark Luna - KEA Delph - Bacuna Weimann Gabby - Benteke
But we obviously need Lowton to regain form and Benteke to get fit. And ideally we'd have someone with more quality on the ball then Weimann to play the number ten role.
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Got home about 8pm, was a nice drive back, lovely sunset albeit driving straight into it out of hull was extremely dangerous. I kept washing my windshield but was out of fluid by goole, and had to stop to refill. Had a costa and a croissant on way back, a lovely flock of Canadian geese flew over around the Doncaster area headed east, not sure where they were going at that time of night, back to canada perhaps ? If so they were going the wrong way. I almost swerved off the road at that point and realised I needed to focus more on the road than transient wildlife and my phone as my wife had just text me to ask am I home tonight or tomorrow ? Seriously wtf, does she listen to anything I say ?
Anyway I carried on down the M1 and overtook the villa coach around the Sheffield area, think they had the Yanited game on as I had a quick look as I flew past them. I then almost flew past a cop car at 96mph sort of near east Mids airport area, luckily saw it last minute and threw on the anchors , phew, went past hi at 72mph and he didn't follow me. As I say, got back about 8pm and am now flicking through the programme and watching MOTD. Oh and I saw Doug Ellis today, that man, love him or loathe him us absolute villa through and through. I totally respect that man.
Have you considered writing a novel? I will be your agent.
'Out of Fluid By Goole'
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I think based on this self incriminating evidence silhilvilla should be banned from driving for at least 3 years. "think they had Yanited on".... Wouldn't like to be on the same road as you chap!
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Well I only watched 20mins of the first half but KEA seemed to be doing his job properly and Gabby was doing ok up front. A good result given injuries to influential players. Obviously MOTD didnt show much but Bacuna looks confident and Delph should be considered by Roy Hodgson for his next squad.
Both Clark and in particular Ron Vlaar have improved this season but on the debit side Westwood and Lowton are struggling. Generally given our financial resources we are doing ok this season. It would be nice if Benteke comes back firing on all cylinders we need something special to maintain the improvement. He is that something.
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As one wit behind us commented Kozak plays as though he is pulling a caravan and where does this gem about we were writing off Benteke this time last year come from?
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
.... In terms of quality. If they are above us in the table after 38 games we will be in the Championship
And if we're where we are now after 38 games, we'll be satisfied with a season of improvement.
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A mediocre performance in a mediocre match, but we took a point.
That's just the way it happens sometimes.
There isn't really much point getting all worked up over it. I know I've had enough rests-of-the-weekend ruined by Villa in recent times to know an opportunity not to let it fuck up my Sunday when I see it.
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As one wit behind us commented Kozak plays as though he is pulling a caravan and where does this gem about we were writing off Benteke this time last year come from?
That will be when a load of people couldn't speak Benteke's name without the word 'sitter' coming in the sentence.
It is a difficult job coming in as a striker, especially when the player you are replacing has been prolific.
Even Andy Lochhead struggled for some time when he first arrived.
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As one wit behind us commented Kozak plays as though he is pulling a caravan and where does this gem about we were writing off Benteke this time last year come from?
The Benteke thread. Match threads. Post match threads. Surely you read them Brian?
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Thanks to the H&V seller who came over to the fence to sell me a fanzine and it was great to meet Rob Bishop and have a chat. That's it basically. The replacement bus service at Selby should have served as a warning, the radio station they had on played Barry Blue, Alvin Stardust, Showaddywaddy and Boomtown Rats.
That was me! Assuming it was a big bloke with a shaved head who looks a lot like Brad Pitt.
Nice to meet you, I was the Johnny Depp lookalike! The ugly, lanky streak of piss with greying hair version!
Nice to meet you as well Chris. I mean Johnny!
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I don't see how Hull are a mid table Championship side if they are sitting above us in the PL.
.... In terms of quality. If they are above us in the table after 38 games we will be in the Championship
Their only 2 defeats so far this season have been at Citeh and Chavski. A point there isn't a disgrace given their start.
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Even Andy Lochhead struggled for some time when he first arrived.
Andy struggled? That is very close to blasphemy. Go and wash your typing finger with holy water.
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As one wit behind us commented Kozak plays as though he is pulling a caravan and where does this gem about we were writing off Benteke this time last year come from?
I found about ten such posts very easily in the Benteke thread around the time of the spurs and baggies games last season. I bet there's plenty more on the match threads
Criticise fine. Write off after a handful of games ridiculous
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Did anyone else think Huddlestone was bloody rubbish?
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My fride is more mobile than Huddlestone.
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Huddlestone the new pineapple head you mean? I thought his best effort was falling down and clutching his face when Westwood fouled him.
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Just like some people count the stones in the Great Pyramid at Gizeh and deduce the date of the end of life on earth, you could trawl through the content of the posts on this forum and prove anything you like including the assertion that we wrote off Christian Benteke this time last year. He scored on his debut (okay so did Kozak and so did Helenius) but by the time we played Swindon it was blindingly obvious that he was very special.
What I object to is the use of "we" in these threads when the poster means "I" or "some of us".
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If you came back from moon in February this year than you are forgiven for not knowing anything at all about criticism piled on Benteke both from people at the grounds and on forums. I remember the absolute horrible insults at Bradford in the semi for one.
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Huddlestone the new pineapple head you mean? I thought his best effort was falling down and clutching his face when Westwood fouled him.
You mean when Westwood didn't foul him but tried to get him sent off by flying to the floor clutching his face?
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Yes that's the one...I was being generous as usual!
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Highlights from yesterday's game:
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Highlights from yesterday's game:
You forgot the point and the clean sheet.
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Just like some people count the stones in the Great Pyramid at Gizeh and deduce the date of the end of life on earth, you could trawl through the content of the posts on this forum and prove anything you like including the assertion that we wrote off Christian Benteke this time last year. He scored on his debut (okay so did Kozak and so did Helenius) but by the time we played Swindon it was blindingly obvious that he was very special.
What I object to is the use of "we" in these threads when the poster means "I" or "some of us".
Much like some people forget that they kept creating threads last season saying they had stopped going to the Villa as they deemed us too shit to bother, spent months saying we were nailed on for the drop and so on.
Benteke was slaughtered on here by some, you saying he wasn't doesn't change that Brian.
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At least it has become "people" at the ground and on forums who were "piling" critiscm of Benteke. I regard that as a step in the right direction in the pursuit of the truth.
So these "people" are now justified in their bile towards Benteke because Kozak has had a disappointing start to the season? Are they going to be lying in wait for the next sitter missed by Benteke and start up a chorus of "we told you he was rubbish after the Baggies game on 22nd of October 2011"?
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Look through the threads Brian, it's really not difficult to see that it's true. And no one apart from you has said anything about justification for the stick Benteke got.
We can pursue the truth about name changes, stopping going to games because someone deemed us too shit to bother with if you like?
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So these "people" are now justified in their bile towards Benteke because Kozak has had a disappointing start to the season? Are they going to be lying in wait for the next sitter missed by Benteke and start up a chorus of "we told you he was rubbish after the Baggies game on 22nd of October 2011"?
You are now stretching the debate in a different direction.
I think the point some of us are making is give him time because if the club had written off Benteke after the early games that would ave been a huge mistake and same could happen for Kozak. Kozak may ell turn out to be a donkey however it is too early to judge now.
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Benteke was younger, with all the physical attributes to improve quickly. Kozak looks a lot more leaden-paced, timid in the air and no better at shooting. But he deserves time to prove himself.
Having said that, if Benteke misses the next game I'd like to see Helenius get the nod behind Weimann or Gabby.
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Benteke was younger, with all the physical attributes to improve quickly. Kozak looks a lot more leaden-paced, timid in the air and no better at shooting. But he deserves time to prove himself.
These are good differences you have pointed out eamonn. I think for Kozak it's about settling into the PL football and demands of our coaching staff.
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Two clean sheets in three PL games is another step in the right direction. And it is too soon to judge Kozak.
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At least it has become "people" at the ground and on forums who were "piling" critiscm of Benteke. I regard that as a step in the right direction in the pursuit of the truth.
So these "people" are now justified in their bile towards Benteke because Kozak has had a disappointing start to the season? Are they going to be lying in wait for the next sitter missed by Benteke and start up a chorus of "we told you he was rubbish after the Baggies game on 22nd of October 2011"?
Probably not, because Benteke was plying his trade with Genk in October 2011. I think you may mean 30th September, 2012. ;)
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
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Kozak hasn't looked that bad - he needs time to find his feet , but he's scored a winner and his movement contributed to the Weimann winner last week - we have a gem in benteke but Kozak may turn out to be very useful too .
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
I don't think thats the case for one minute - hull are not owned by an Englishman either .
The reference was towards the population in birmingham.
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but you don't know that. You "think".
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Benteke did get criticised in his first few games, but it was plain he had the physical game and technique to be effective in England. The early doubts were more about his link-up play, composure and finishing.
With Kozak it's the other way around. The movement he showed against Norwich just minutes into his Villa career was promising. But he's stick-thin and to me he looks awful in the air. If he's been bought as a like-for-like replacement for Benteke, then he's going to end up disappointing everyone. I hate it when teams have a big guy up front who's weak and shit in the air, because his teammates inevitably get tempted to lump it to him and it never works.
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but you don't know that. You "think".
It certainly wasn't a reference to us being owned by randy lerner- fact!
There is no place for racist chants in football or any walk of life and I have no doubt that the hull chant was a reference to the population in birmingham and it am surprised you think it would be to do with our owner - considering their own owner is foreign.
The hull fans chanted homophobic songs at brighton last year and some are a nasty bunch.
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It wasn't until December that some folks stopped giving him stick. The Norwich and Liverpool games.
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
What's the most common chant at an EDL rally?
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His game is to hold the ball up and bringothers into it, not to flick on headers all the time. lambert will have hadhisscouts on him for a while andwould haveknown what he's like in the air. Its not just Kozak, its also the rest of the team that need to get used to what type of service he prefers and revels in. The ball in front of him, the ball to the chest,the ball to his feet etc, this doesn't come overnight, or over a month or two, but is something that needs to be worked on.
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It wasn't until December that some folks stopped giving him stick. The Norwich and Liverpool games.
Came in for pelters after the saints away game if I remember rightly - an everton colleague of mine was taking the piss after their 1-3 win here saying how shit benteke was and waxing lyrical about jelavic - funny old game football :)
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I'm glad I couldn't get to post after the match yesterday because if I did I would have has the usual lot calling me a doom monger because the performance yesterday was so boring and negative it was unreal. On reflection though it was a decent point and another clean sheet. I only hope we try and play some football in the near future because seeing us constantly hoof the ball up to Kozac yesterday was not a pretty sight.
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
What's the most common chant at an EDL rally?
It was a bizarre chant that left me confused during the game. It was only afterwards when it was pointed out to me that it could be an EDL reference that it dawned on me.
What a pathetic lot they are.
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
What's the most common chant at an EDL rally?
Not exclusively theirs though.
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Re- You're not English anymore - surely a reference to us being owned by an American?
What's the most common chant at an EDL rally?
Not exclusively theirs though.
I've never heard it sung anywhere else .
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I've heard it sung to Arsenal in the past.
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Small time racists, in a dead beat town. You can stick your Ingerlund up your arse, you sad Yawkshu, Yawkshu, Yawkshu twats.
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It's Canada Goose, not Canadian Goose (I've bottled up my ornithological pedantry for four pages, but couldn't hold back any longer).
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It wasn't until December that some folks stopped giving him stick. The Norwich and Liverpool games.
Came in for pelters after the saints away game if I remember rightly - an everton colleague of mine was taking the piss after their 1-3 win here saying how shit benteke was and waxing lyrical about jelavic - funny old game football :)
I have to admit that in a couple of articles I wrote when we lost to Fulham and Tottenham last year, I slated Benteke and wondered if he could actually finish. I did backtrack before he showed how good he was, but all the same, I wasn't very patient. So Kozak's questionable contribution so far doesn't make me fear for the future just yet.
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Crouch got a lot better in the air. I dunno if that was down to technique or he actually put on a bit of muscle (if so, his body-fat must have come down quite a bit as he doesn't look much heavier now than he did ten years ago).
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We are only three points off 18th place. Panic.
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I do agree that Kozak looks to have better movement and be a bit quicker than I thought, but less strong in the air (certainly in terms of hold up play).
We lump it to Benteke too much anyway, so we should try to wean ourselves of this style.
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I gave Peter Withe some terrible stick when he first came then I actually SAW the contribution he made to the side, especially winding up referees and needling opponents that I was completely won over. Great guy. Villa legend. Allan Evans was a pretty useless centre forward.
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Benteke got slated by some when he started here, but the vast majority saw his potential and sure enough he's living up to that. Kozak has had a tricky start other than his goal, and needs to work on being stronger and more imposing but he deserves time. He's only played a handful of games.
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I gave Peter Withe some terrible stick when he first came then I actually SAW the contribution he made to the side, especially winding up referees and needling opponents that I was completely won over. Great guy. Villa legend. Allan Evans was a pretty useless centre forward.
Yes but did you ever catch his wristbands or sweets :)
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
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Ye I thought Kozak was not given several decisions yesterday. This player has been up against some of the best CB in Europe. Give him time he will be a very good player when he gets to know the premier style better. Benteke being injured has given him a good early run and he will be stronger as the season moves on .......
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We were a bit shit in a bit of a shit game. Teams in every league play those games out every week.
If ManUre do it and get a point or nick a jammy win we're all told what a strength it is.
I doubt we'll play so poorly again very often.
We came away with a point which is more that some teams have done, or will do, at Hull.
A scruffy point, a clean sheet and a game closer to PL getting his masterplan sorted and big Christian back up front.
UTV!
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Even Andy Lochhead struggled for some time when he first arrived.
Andy struggled? That is very close to blasphemy. Go and wash your typing finger with holy water.
He couldn't find the net at first but, once he did, they came thick and fast.
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We were a bit shit in a bit of a shit game. Teams in every league play those games out every week.
If ManUre do it and get a point or nick a jammy win we're all told what a strength it is.
I doubt we'll play so poorly again very often.
We came away with a point which is more that some teams have done, or will do, at Hull.
A scruffy point, a clean sheet and a game closer to PL getting his masterplan sorted and big Christian back up front.
UTV!
We were the better team against a side who have only lost to man city and Chelsea and were at home to us .
Defence is looking more solid and gabby could have nicked it for us - plenty of positives from the first 7 games.
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Not sure Davies and Faye have ever been described as some of the best CB's in europe Walters warriors lol.
Totally agree with Frankmoss, a scruffy point, but a game we would have lost in the first half of last season and good to get a clean sheet. Did Vlaar and Clark get any credit?
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Not sure Davies and Faye have ever been described as some of the best CB's in europe Walters warriors lol.
Totally agree with Frankmoss, a scruffy point, but a game we would have lost in the first half of last season and good to get a clean sheet. Did Vlaar and Clark get any credit?
Vlaar and Clark were pretty solid although hull were desperately poor attacking wise.
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Eastie, I agree, but these two lads have had lots of stick and actually think they have been doing a decent job recently
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Been away for the weekend in a far off place where the Internet was unavailable. This game was a classic, right?
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I look forward to seeing Lowton returning and having Bacuna in the centre midfield role as get the feeling he will score some goals from that role. Another good signing. As for Kozak, why not give the guy a chance, probably been thrown in before Lambert was anticipating due to Benteke's injury.
I'm thinking along those lines too.
I reckon Sylla, Delph and Bacuna up the middle. We'll just eat teams up, we'd be relentless.
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I've been really impressed with Bacuna, Vlaar, Baker, Luna and Clark this season. Much improved defending.
As an aside, I heard an interesting observation made by SVC that Norwich are far better defensively under Hughton than they were in the 'Lambert years'.
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Been away for the weekend in a far off place where the Internet was unavailable. This game was a classic, right?
Yes. It's been a long time since we witnessed a 0-0.
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And more likely to get relegated, probably.
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As an aside, I heard an interesting observation made by SVC that Norwich are far better defensively under Hughton than they were in the 'Lambert years'.
And they have scored about 5 goals in 7 games which means they will not win many games and draw a few and as above.
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And more likely to get relegated, probably.
Yes, it's amusing that folk seem to cite some yokel whining on about Lambert's team shipping a few goals whilst ignoring the fact they'd moved up about 60 places in the league inside three seasons.
I bet there's some economist bod feeding Lambert data proving that relentless attacking yields higher gains.
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And more likely to get relegated, probably.
Yes, it's amusing that folk seem to cite some yokel whining on about Lambert's team shipping a few goals whilst ignoring the fact they'd moved up about 60 places in the league inside three seasons.
I bet there's some economist bod feeding Lambert data proving that relentless attacking yields higher gains.
Possibly true which is why I was surprised and disappointed that we seemed happy to accept the draw from the game.
Arsenal, Man U, Spurs etc would have been busting a gut to win that match in the final 10-20 minutes.
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Not going to slate anyone but think the game was there for the taking if PL had wanted it enough. Perhaps bringing Baker on with 20 to go could have seen Bacuna and Luna threaten more and perhaps fashion a few more chances. That's that!
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I'm not happy to accept the draw, but short of lying rigid on the floor and drumming my heels on the carpet I'm not sure what I can do about it.
We'll have better results and worse ones before the end of the season.
Wasn't it around this time last year that we went 1-0 up against Southampton and got totally gubbed? Now that was a cack result.
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Exactly. We drew a game by playing poorly and missing our best player. Against a team who started the day above us.
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Exactly. We drew a game by playing poorly and missing our best player. Against a team who started the day above us.
They've had an easier set of fixtures so the league table doesn't mean a huge amount yet unless you're being cast adrift like Palace and Sunderland.
But they would have taken a lot of confidence from their start, making them a tough opponent.
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
only just seen this dan - top post!
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
only just seen this dan - top post!
we don't even play in Torquay.
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
Dan it's not right to label posters as idiots simply because some of us think they are being harsh on Kozak.
And oh by the way I saw a herd of wildebeest rampaging across Perry Common today!
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
only just seen this dan - top post!
It's not a top post.
Labelling people who disagree with you as "idiots" is a bit of a no-go, to be honest.
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
only just seen this dan - top post!
It's not a top post.
Labelling people who disagree with you as "idiots" is a bit of a no-go, to be honest.
Yep, and the Prem on a silver platter would be bloody lovely too. It's going on my list to Santa anyway.
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6 pts off top. Hardest starting fixtures in the league. We can close that gap. Happy with our points given we have had some pretty awful performances. We can get better. I thought we looked well, almost solid. It was helped by Hull parking the bus but still, felt alright.
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
I would go for a five year plan. Start off with a few wilderbeast, then herds of them and ultimately Sydney Opera House and The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon too.
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To say it wasn't a classic is putting it mildly, but it's hard to be downbeat about it. Last year, playing like that would have seen us get beat, so to me a point is progress and shows this team is starting to mature a little. We were the better team, but the forwards didn't fire Saturday, which happens to all teams from time to time.
Must mention Clark who seems to have got his act together defensively since he's come back into the side!
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To say it wasn't a classic is putting it mildly, but it's hard to be downbeat about it. Last year, playing like that would have seen us get beat, so to me a point is progress and shows this team is starting to mature a little. We were the better team, but the forwards didn't fire Saturday, which happens to all teams from time to time.
Must mention Clark who seems to have got his act together defensively since he's come back into the side!
Sorry if it makes me boring or negative, but two clean sheets in three PL games is a big step in the right direction as far as 'm concerned.
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Honestly as dreary as it was on saturday going forward, I'm still on the whole pleased that our defence appears to be improving. We're arguably without out best (or most promising) center half at the moment, whilst our first choice right back from last season wasn't playing either. Concrete Ron is looking ever more like Concrete and ever less like Blamange. Clark has been almost shockingly consistent since being put in the side, particularly as he'd been all but written off on here by many (myself included).
That's two away games on the spin without conceding. One a scrappy 1-0 win and a 0-0. That to me is definite progress. If we expect to win every game 3-2 we're not gonna get very far. You've got to grind results out sometimes because you could find yourself A- without your top scorer, or B- just having one of those games where nothing goes right in the final third.
We do seem solidly mid-table at the moment and perhaps 1-2 signings away from pushing on. I don't see us breaking the top 7 but I think we could stake a claim for best of the rest if we can get a playmaker in Jan.
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We do seem solidly mid-table at the moment and perhaps 1-2 signings away from pushing on. I don't see us breaking the top 7 but I think we could stake a claim for best of the rest if we can get a playmaker in Jan.
If I was to think where we need improvement, not that we couldn't get better in a multitude of positions, I'd be thinking and number 10 and possibly a better wide option.
But then we've got Helenius and Tonev, so perhaps that extra push may come from a couple of the summer signings settling in more and having an impact?
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Albrighton and Zoggy could be those better wide options. Just give 'em a chance, John.
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Kozak was climbed all over yesterday, again. Stop slagging the bloke off before you have seen him play properly. Ffs, sometimes, some of our fans really piss me off with their negativity. Look at where we were 3 seasons ago, look at us know. Get a fucking grip some of you. Idiots.
What do you want ? The Prem handed to you on a silver bloody platter, Lambert to unearth 22 players of Benteke's quality on a fraction of the budget that the top six teams have ? Herds of wilderbeest, galloping majestically across the Plains ?
Get real.
I would go for a five year plan. Start off with a few wilderbeast, then herds of them and ultimately Sydney Opera House and The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon too.
I was thinking exactly the same.
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Albrighton and Zoggy could be those better wide options. Just give 'em a chance, John.
If we can finally get the best out of Zogbia it would be good. I think the issue last season was that, although he played well, our side looked imbalanced with him in. That was more a tactical issue though. For Zog to play I think you need to drop one of Gabby or Wiemann. Carrying all three makes us too light in central midfield.
Albrighton could offer something if he can reclaim his Houllier form. We really lack width in the attacking third.
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I think Albrighton would have been perfect on Saturday down that right side. Not sure why he didn't even make the bench.
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I'm assuming Albrighton had some sort of a knock otherwise the choice of substitutes was strange given the lack of attacking players and his performance against Tottenham.
We would have to change to a 4-2-3-1 formation to accommodate N'Zog behind the main striker. He's not looked the part in wide positions. Last season the 2 defensive midfielders weren't good enough for that system to work so we would have to be careful when and where we used that system. So for a £60k/week player, we're already limited as to when we could use him.
Most, if not all of us want that playmaker behind the main striker. The midfield's got to grow and develop a bit first though. Probably why Lambert's not rushed to buy that playmaker.
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God it was a boring game, our best chance being when Bacuna went past a few of their players and pulled a cross back, but Gabby put it wide.
We need Benteke back, Kozak hardly won a header all game.
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I think Bacuna in the midfield three with Delph and Sylla would be interesting.
It would certainly be quick and physical.
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Albrighton and Zoggy could be those better wide options. Just give 'em a chance, John.
If we can finally get the best out of Zogbia it would be good. I think the issue last season was that, although he played well, our side looked imbalanced with him in. That was more a tactical issue though. For Zog to play I think you need to drop one of Gabby or Wiemann. Carrying all three makes us too light in central midfield.
You can't really trust N'Zogbia wide as he tends to wander and not hold his position. Hence why he's better central with that freedom to do that anyway. Once fit, I see him as a useful option from the bench. However, like Bent we need more than that for the money we're paying him, so I think he'll go next summer.
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We do seem solidly mid-table at the moment and perhaps 1-2 signings away from pushing on. I don't see us breaking the top 7 but I think we could stake a claim for best of the rest if we can get a playmaker in Jan.
If I was to think where we need improvement, not that we couldn't get better in a multitude of positions, I'd be thinking and number 10 and possibly a better wide option.
But then we've got Helenius and Tonev, so perhaps that extra push may come from a couple of the summer signings settling in more and having an impact?
I think it'd done a lot of good for Tonev if someone had thrown themself at the cross-shot not long after he came on, I have no idea what he was intending with it but it became a very dangerous ball between the keeper and his defence but none of our forwards were chasing it in, when you have 3 men at the post you need one of them to gamble on those and throw a foot at it.
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For all we go on about the likes of Chavski and Cit£h selling their souls for modern football, Hull Tigers of Humberside take some beating. Sponsored stadium name, player sponsors mentioned every time there is a substitution. So over the tannoy you get "Replacing number 8, sponsored by Northern Pies, Garry Northenfella, is number 22, sponsored by the English Defence League, Barry Nomark.
They even sponsor added time. Fucking sell outs.
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But why did they sing "you're not English anymore" at us? I still genuinely have no idea what they were going on about.
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But why did they sing "you're not English anymore" at us? I still genuinely have no idea what they were going on about.
The only logical reason is the ethnic make up of Brum. As Dave mentioned and I posted a vid a page or two back, it's a common EDL song.
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But why did they sing "you're not English anymore" at us? I still genuinely have no idea what they were going on about.
Because we are owned by an American?
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But why did they sing "you're not English anymore" at us? I still genuinely have no idea what they were going on about.
Because we are owned by an American?
They are owned by a bloke born in Egypt.
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But why did they sing "you're not English anymore" at us? I still genuinely have no idea what they were going on about.
Because we are owned by an American?
They are owned by a bloke born in Egypt.
sounds a bit empty seats my Lord in glass houses
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Because they're a bit racist.
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Doesn't Hull have the lowest IQ in the country? So my mate who studied at the University told me...
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Doesn't Hull have the lowest IQ in the country? So my mate who studied at the University told me...
Even lower than Coventry???
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Doesn't Hull have the lowest IQ in the country? So my mate who studied at the University told me...
When he told you, was it mainly in grunts?
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Mind you, a lot of our support were singing similarly mindless racist chants when we played Bradford.
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Mind you, a lot of our support were singing similarly mindless racist chants when we played Bradford.
That doesn't count. It was witty and hilariously funny.
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I can't imagine the chant is aimed at our American ownership/influx of foreign players. To the average idiot chanting, such details are not likely to have featured on their radar.