Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Ger Regan on August 16, 2014, 04:54:42 PM
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Very very encouraging.
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Yippee
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Good result and decent performance but room for improvement and some close shaves toward the end.
Will absolutely take 3 points though.
UTV
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2nd in the league chaps!
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Did we just see a game out and look largely comfortable?
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Nice way to start my holiday! Get in.
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Boooooo! Worse opening away win than last season! Lambert out! ;-)
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Impressive. Having experience in key positions makes all the difference.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a depleted team.
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Very much so Ger. very solid, wasteful but at least we created chances. Importantly we have some key pieces to come in who are all upgrades on the players that started today. Even Joe Cole can add something. Plus if we can get one more in, of genuine quality in midfield it will help immensely.
Very encouraging start indeed.
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Well done Villa. Very professional.
Some very good performances, particularly from Cissohko, Vlaar and Delph.
Very impressed with all the debutants, and well done to Young Jack.
Onwards and upwards.
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Really pleased - for the first time in a while we looked like a team
Aly looked very good as did all of the defence
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Did we just see a game out and look largely comfortable?
Not sure about largely comfortable but yeah.
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Great start. Jack looks like he belongs at this level.
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I liked the way none of the players looked like they were shitting themselves with 20/25 to go, unlike myself and Villa over the last couple of seasons.
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Excellent performance, the back four were outstanding and the system worked perfectly, if we took our chances we would of won 0-3.
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Champions League place!
And Munure flirting with relegation. My day is perfect.
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Very encouraged by that, especially our backline who looked very organised. Only slight negative was a couple of good chances missed.
As poor as Stoke were that will be a very difficult place to go this season, so a dream start.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Deleted? They're gone?
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Nothing spectacular but a solid win. Didn't think Stoke did a lot, half of them still looked like they were on holiday.
Thought we looked quite organised, but still not very inventive. Saying that, chuffed with the 3 pts.
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Not seen us holding the ball so well towards the end since we had Milner holding the ball in the corner for 5 minutes
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Nothing spectacular but a solid win. Didn't think Stoke did a lot, half of them still looked like they were on holiday.
Thought we looked quite organised, but still not very inventive. Saying that, chuffed with the 3 pts.
I'm glad we didn't get battered in every department ;)
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Chuffed to bits. UTV!
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What a fantastic feeling a win is!!
Well deserved also. Phillipe had a good game. Richardson looked good. Hutton is a massive upgrade on our right back options of recent (never thought of say that), Aly a quality performance
Happy days. Now off out tonight to celebrate my 30th, all in all a great fucking day
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Good result and decent performance but room for improvement and some close shaves toward the end.
Will absolutely take 3 points though.
UTV
Expect them in all games when you're leading 1-0
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They were discussing who was going to win the league at work the other day (not me, I don't give a fuck). A b-loser kept saying "get yer money on Stoke" and laughing like it was the funniest joke of all time.
I'll be repeating that Monday morning, except I'll be exaggerating his fucking stupid speech impediment.
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Professional. Solid. Experienced.
Didn't think I would be saying that about the Villa this year! Senderos and Cissokho look great additions, far better than what we had. Vlaar and Hutton were both very good too. The whole back 5 were great. In midfield we harried them off the ball and clearly won the midfield battle. Gabby might miss sitters but he put in a real shift today.
Excellent. Once Sanchez comes in for Westwood and we get Benteke or Kozak back we'll have a very decent side.
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Really pleased. We look much more organised and very solid at the back. Take back what I said about Senderos - he played well, and at last we have 2 decent full backs (never thought I'd hear me say that about Hutton). We'll have a very tough September but Get Sanchez and Benteke in that team and I think we'll be well safe this season. Imagine.........a whole season not worrying about relegation.......hmmm
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Superb result and, (according to my mates who went) a performance to match.
Well done, Villa!
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Confirms in my mind that it doesn't take that much extra to end up somewhere between 8th and 12th rather than fighting relegation. Teams like Stoke and Newcastle really aren't very good. Very pleased, particularly with key players still to come in - Okore, Benteke, Kozak and Sanchez
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They were discussing who was going to win the league at work the other day (not me, I don't give a fuck). A b-loser kept saying "get yer money on Stoke" and laughing like it was the funniest joke of all time.
I'll be repeating that Monday morning, except I'll be exaggerating his fucking stupid speech impediment.
;D
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I was genuinely impressed with that, we were the better side overall. Aly and Senderos were both excellent, Richardson was very handy in midfield. Vlaar was his usual quality self and Weimann did well for the goal. We still need to have more composure going forward, but Grealish had a nice 20 minute cameo. Excellent result.
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We look like a proper team now. Considering how little we've spent this summer and that 3/4 players who should make an impression this season were missing, Benteke, Kozak, Cole and Sanchez, I think this year is going to be like night to day from last year. Players like Bacuna, Weimann, Westwood, Delph will have much less pressure on them as there is the experience there now in the likes of Richardson, N'Zogbia and Senderos along with what we had already. That hopefully gives them a chance to develop at a more suitable pace. Good passion from the touchline too.
Cissokho is a proper full back.
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Over the moon with the result a good win for us thought the defence played well.
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That went a lot better than I expected. It was crap to watch but a proper away performance. First priority is improving results so in that respect it's just what we wanted.
Couple of the new lads played well too so all in all in it's a very good start for us.
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Gutted I never went now. Roll on next week!
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A solid performance and a good win. Very impressive defensively especially after Crouch came on with 20 minutes to go as I fully expected an him to be involved in at least an equaliser.
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Easily the biggest plus for me (after the three points, obviously) was that defensively, we looked calm and composed, whereas over the last two years, all too often we have looked like we're winging it and hoping for the best.
Sanchez coming in might allow the other midfielders to move forward more, and Grealish looks like he could slot in at this level, but even so, I'd like us to get some creativity in during this window. It would make all the difference.
Also, the fact we should have won far more comfortable suggests the strikers can't come back soon enough.
Impressed with Hutton and Cissokho, both did extremely well, I thought.
Stoke to me looked pretty awful. I know it is also, mainly, because we played well, but I didn't really feel threatened by them much over that 90 minutes.
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A brief glimpse of Senderos after the whistle on Final Score. Looks like playing for The Greatest Club On Earth means something to him. Good to see.
We're gonna win the league
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It's the first away win since new years eve, at a place where most teams don't win i'm very happy.
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Very impressed by how the back four looked. I don't think we'll be scoring too many until Benteke gets back, so we really need to get the defence right, and this is an encouraging start.
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Bring on Football First! And five minutes of Match of the Day!
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Only saw second half but we were defensively very solid. All four defenders are physically strong which makes a big difference against the likes of Stoke. Was disappointed with the rest of our side. Worked hard but our lack of quality on the ball was evident. Hopefully Sanchez can improve us in midfield. Guzan was appalling with the ball at his feet, Keane was going ballistic with him at one stage.
Awful game in truth. Not sure what Hughes was doing leaving Crouch and Adam on the bench for so long and leaving that impostor Steven Ireland on the pitch. He was delightfully useless.
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Yep forgot actually, fair play to Hutton he made us a lot better at right back.
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Splendid - bloody splendid!!!
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I'm amazed we only had 37% possession, seemed like we had more than that.
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Typical bloody Villa. Hasn't anyone told them they're nailed on for relegation?
We only need 37 more points to be safe.
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It's amazing what a good result can do to the general mood on here. Can enjoy my saturday evening just that little bit more.
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
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Sat in the sun in the Vendee, I'll have a couple more glasses of red to celebrate. Sounds like a decent performance, hopefully We keep Grealish at the club this season and develop him ourselves rather than rely on somebody else.
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Vlaar looked like the madman we signed from Holland two years ago. The confidence of the win will lift everybody and bloody deserve it after putting in a real shift.
Well done lads. Great effort and result.
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First game of the season, away win. clean sheet, Weimann scores. these smokes are fuckin brilliant.
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Reckon Leeg will moan about the scarf out the window on the way back?
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Well done Villa....chuffed does not cut it :)
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In fairness to Lambert, he seemed to get it tactically spot on today. Pretty much nullified stoke's attacking threat. Smart substitutions at the right times too.
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Crazy to think we look so solid at full back with two previously much maligned full backs.
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It's amazing what experience can do for a team, we didn't look at all panicked.
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Good solid performance.
It shows that if you can keep it tight at the back, you give yourself every chance to pick up points. Really pleased with Cissokho who looks a brute that can get up and down the pitch. When he gets forward he can put in decent crosses on the run and he is another big guy to have around for set pieces. Also pleased with Hutton, nothing spectacular but very solid in the tackle and again doing well getting forward.
On that performance, we look as though we are not going to get pushed around and bullied at the back this season.
More work to be done in midfield and up front but an encouraging first game.
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Nothing spectacular but a solid win. Didn't think Stoke did a lot, half of them still looked like they were on holiday.
Thought we looked quite organised, but still not very inventive. Saying that, chuffed with the 3 pts.
I'm glad we didn't get battered in every department ;)
HA
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We're gonna win the league. We're gonna win the league.
Love from me, Legion and RedSox.
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
yeah but he reverted to type by saying we won the first game last season then collapsed
Still wearing an earring at his age.tut tut
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It's amazing what experience can do for a team, we didn't look at all panicked.
Experience and a proper defence. We looked a bit aimless going forward, even on the break there appeared to be little by way of a plan, but at the back they were really solid. Also, although we weren't necessarily brilliant with the ball in their half, we pressed their back four very well and stopped them building momentum. An encouraging start overall, and a necessary win given our upcoming fixtures.
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And for anyone who doesn't believe Legion is a walking disaster area. The car has been pranged twice with him in it. On the car park. Stationary.
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Was the Hutton song sang?
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What happened to Okore? Not even on the bench, and yet Baker was? Good start though.
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Well done lads. Great 3 points and a clean sheet. Onwards & upwards.
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Surprisingly comfortable win. Should've won more easily as Bacuna missed a sitter at the end, and we missed at least two in the first half.
All the defence played well especially Hutton. N'Zogbia was the only poor player but he was taken off and Grealish looked good when he came on. We're gonna win the league!
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What happened to Okore? Not even on the bench, and yet Baker was? Good start though.
Slight knee injury
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Just got in . Great day . Had a lift with my stoke mates who were very impressed with us .
Hutton, Senderos and Cissokho were excellent - as was Delph.
My stoke mates were impressed with Westwood .
Brilliant start to the season for us . UTV
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Easily the biggest plus for me (after the three points, obviously) was that defensively, we looked calm and composed, whereas over the last two years, all too often we have looked like we're winging it and hoping for the best.
Sanchez coming in might allow the other midfielders to move forward more, and Grealish looks like he could slot in at this level, but even so, I'd like us to get some creativity in during this window. It would make all the difference.
Also, the fact we should have won far more comfortable suggests the strikers can't come back soon enough.
Impressed with Hutton and Cissokho, both did extremely well, I thought.
Stoke to me looked pretty awful. I know it is also, mainly, because we played well, but I didn't really feel threatened by them much over that 90 minutes.
Agree with that. Need to improve the attack i.e. get a wide forward in. Can't wait till Benteke comes back now!
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Absolutely solid across the back line. And we've still got Okore to throw in the mix.
Signs of the midfield moving it well, particularly Delph and Richardson. And we've still got Sanchez to throw in the mix.
If we can get Benteke and Kozak back sharpish, we'll be sorted up top. Cos frankly, Gabby needs melting down for glue.
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Just got in . Great day .
My stoke mates were impressed with Westwood .
Well, he has some competition for his spot next week!
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Good start, more solidity to come next week.
Is it just me or is Nzonzi just a shaved chimp in a football kit? Talentless thug.
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I was impressed with the discipline. I wonder how much of that is down to the new assistant manager?
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I was impressed with the discipline. I wonder how much of that is down to the new assistant manager?
Some could well be, but the average age of the back four surely has something to do with it, as well as the aggregate of international caps.
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I wasn't pessimistic going into today but we were better than I expected. The back four were excellent. Cissokho looked so solid and if Hutton keeps that level of performance up I'll forget I ever said anything bad about him.
The midfield and attack all worked hard and did their jobs as well. Richardson looked lively and I think Delph was very good. Encouraging signs as we've got players to come in and scope to improve. My only worry is that one he last two seasons we've looked good away but not performed at home. I might have had to much red stripe but this felt different, though.
Up the Villa!
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Did we just see a game out and look largely comfortable?
Not sure about largely comfortable but yeah.
Other than the late chance that Senderos blocked Stoke never really looked like scoring.
As frustrating as when the shoe is on the other foot we held it well in the Stoke half towards the end.
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Didn't see that coming. No matter what else happens over the rest of the 9 months this is a feeling tonight that will be hard to beat for nothing has gone wrong. Sort out the home form and we may surprise one or two..........
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Was the Hutton song sang?
The Proclaimers one? If so, yes.
Thought he was fantastic today. MOTM IMO.
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Hopefully Okore's knee problem not linked to his cruciate injury? Injury only "slight"? I still think a fit Okore will be outstanding; the guy is potentially a real powerhouse.
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Lambert's smiling during his post match interview. Things are looking up.
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Was the Hutton song sang?
The Proclaimers one? If so, yes.
Thought he was fantastic today. MOTM IMO.
That's will forever be my "Yesterday".
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Four strong defenders with the man who outmuscled Toure in front of them bodes very well indeed. Well done lads. Fingers crossed that top half is a realistic prospect. Senderos enjoyed that win which is great to see.
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I was impressed with the discipline. I wonder how much of that is down to the new assistant manager?
Some could well be, but the average age of the back four surely has something to do with it, as well as the aggregate of international caps.
without a doubt. I thought we are actually quite disciplined all over the pitch. I know people have different opinions on Keane, but the one thing he will bring is experience in abundance. I still think it suits him to be in an assistant position giving advice and concentrating on coaching. Not everyone can juggle the different aspects of being a manager. Time will tell off course but given the players we have to come back to the line up, genuine first team talent, it's a very promising start.
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Hopefully Okore's knee problem not linked to his cruciate injury? Injury only "slight"? I still think a fit Okore will be outstanding; the guy is potentially a real powerhouse.
other leg
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Great stuff
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(http://i3.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article7626307.ece/alternates/s2197/Aston-Villa-assistant-manager-Roy-Keane.jpg)
(http://i1.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article7626776.ece/alternates/s2197/Aston-Villa-manager-Paul-Lambert-L-and-assistant-manager-Roy-Keane.jpg)
Things might be a little different this season
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This club is a shambles from top to bottom....oh.
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Well I thought we would get killed today, so I'm sitting here thinking I must be dreaming
Villa win
defence keeps a clean sheet
Hutton plays well
Lambert smiling
New signings looking solid
Yep I am dreaming
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Was the Hutton song sang?
The Proclaimers one? If so, yes.
Thought he was fantastic today. MOTM IMO.
What was the song?
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What makes a day shopping in Ikea then putting up the furniture tolerable? A Villa win. Roll on MOTD!
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First goal, first point, first win, first clean sheet and knowing that we dont have to go to the Britannia for the rest of the season! Brilliant. Thanks Lawro for (not) believing
'Arry lost and Manure....
Only 39 more points to go, brilliant day
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Bloody hell. Our back 4 was excellent. I can't believe I wrote that. Aly,Hutton, Senderos, Vlaar. All of them, superb.
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Well well well.
Just shows that by playing four proper experienced blokes at the back can make to the whole team's confidence. We never looked like conceding and the players knew it, meaning we could nick a goal and ride it out. Not sure how much input Keane had but I'm glad Lamberts seen sense at last, albeit two years late.
And if I'm not mistaken chaps.....I believe a point against Newcastle (assuming they dont beat Citeh) will put us top of the league. ;-)
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Good to hear the back 4 played well and looked solid. We haven't said that much over the last couple of seasons.
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Pleased with that. Feared the worst when the fixtures came out, a good win underpinned by a solid performance.
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
What is GSS , please ?.................................Godzvilla
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A win away at Stoke is always a good result, but I must say that although it wasn't always pretty it was fairly comfortable. The back four really were quite good, and Senderos and Cissokho were both very good indeed. It's only one game, but that was certainly much better than I expected, and with some good players to come back too then maybe we'll do a bit better than many of us thought?
Either way, a more than decent start.
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
What is GSS , please ?.................................Godzvilla
Gillette Soccer Saturday, on Sky Sports
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
What is GSS , please ?.................................Godzvilla
Gillette Soccer Saturday I think
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
What is GSS , please ?.................................Godzvilla
Gillette Soccer Saturday I think
I theng yow .....................Godzvilla !
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Charlie Nicholas singing our praises on GSS at the moment. I love it when they do that.
What is GSS , please ?.................................Godzvilla
Gillette Soccer Saturday I think
Free advertising.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
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I spent the afternoon child minding - it's hard work looking after a 3 and 7 year old at my age - and didn't find out the result until after the game. Deliberately. What a pleasant surprise.
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I know I shouldn't laugh, and I don't want to encourage this sort of behaviour, but this Vine did make me chuckle.
Ah, the noble pursuit of football is back ....
https://vine.co/v/M3mX5DxBmQt
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Just back.
Great day, great performance - much better than expected - strong in defence (Cissokho was excellent!) and a wonderful 3 points at one of my least favourite places to visit. Those Stokies were a bit quiet weren't they?
Am now going out for a bit of a dance!!!
UTV!
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Just back.
Great day, great performance - much better than expected - strong in defence (Cissokho was excellent!) and a wonderful 3 points at one of my least favourite places to visit. Those Stokies were a bit quiet weren't they?
Am now going out for a bit of a dance!!!
UTV!
At the discotheque?
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I was impressed with the discipline. I wonder how much of that is down to the new assistant manager?
Some could well be, but the average age of the back four surely has something to do with it, as well as the aggregate of international caps.
without a doubt. I thought we are actually quite disciplined all over the pitch. I know people have different opinions on Keane, but the one thing he will bring is experience in abundance. I still think it suits him to be in an assistant position giving advice and concentrating on coaching. Not everyone can juggle the different aspects of being a manager. Time will tell off course but given the players we have to come back to the line up, genuine first team talent, it's a very promising start.
He doesn't strike me as the sort who would hold back from a bit of straight talking and I wonder if that's exactly what has been lacking the past couple of seasons amongst the players and the management team. PL has certainly been keen to protect players in the past and I wonder if Keane has told a few home truths to a few people, including the manager himself.
Great start to the season for us, but even through the struggles of the past few seasons, I've always fancied us to get results away from home. It's at home that we've really struggled and improvement is really required.
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Chuffed with the result, especially at Stoke which is always a tough place to win at.
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Well done Villa, good result ,to win at Stoke is never easy .Let's hope it is the start of a decent season
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Haven't seen anything of the game yet as was only following on text alerts. Very pleased my pre match pessimism was unfounded! The comments here gave me a good impression of how the performance went thanks. Sounds like that tougher defensive approach went well.
Can I ask how we lined up? I assumed the same as v Parma with Weimann behind gabby. But a couple of things I looked at suggested more 433 with Richardson in the middle three - maybe even the right of the middle three?
How did the front three do? And grealish?
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Promising signs that we have a bit of steel, and Sanchez still to come in. Showed we can win at a tough away venue without Benteke. Great start.
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Last on MOTD. BOOM!
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Just back.
Great day, great performance - much better than expected - strong in defence (Cissokho was excellent!) and a wonderful 3 points at one of my least favourite places to visit. Those Stokies were a bit quiet weren't they?
Am now going out for a bit of a dance!!!
UTV!
At the discotheque?
Yes indeedy!
And down the street a bit too! ;-)
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
That's why I said: Are you taking the p?, i.e. taking the p out of depleted. ::)
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The performance of Hutton, Senderos, Vlaar and Cissokho today reminded me of the game at St Andrews when MON threw in Collins, Dunne and Warnock (along with Cuellar) for their debuts. It was as solid a defensive performance as we've had under Lambert.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
That's why I said: Are you taking the p?, i.e. taking the p out of depleted. ::)
I thought it was very clever.
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I know I shouldn't laugh, and I don't want to encourage this sort of behaviour, but this Vine did make me chuckle.
Ah, the noble pursuit of football is back ....
https://vine.co/v/M3mX5DxBmQt
he only offered them outside so he could eat them
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
Well done. I appreciate such genius!
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Up front: Gabby missed a sitter but worked hard, Weimann redeeemed himself with the goal, Zog ran into a few brick walls, Grealish looked promising. We need Benteke and/or Kozak!
We used the long ball far too much though, just giving possession back to Stoke with Shawcross gobbling up almost every high ball. And we still can't do anything with a throw in!
And we still got 3 points!
UTV!
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Amazing yu get four experienced blokes at the back who are men and look what happens a clean sheet. I know he probably knew it but how has it taken so long to sort the defence out. And irony of ironies when there's a so called spending freeze at the club.
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I know I shouldn't laugh, and I don't want to encourage this sort of behaviour, but this Vine did make me chuckle.
Ah, the noble pursuit of football is back ....
https://vine.co/v/M3mX5DxBmQt
he only offered them outside so he could eat them
Haha. Om nom nom.
Don't need this Sanchez bloke.
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I've been dreading the start of the football season, but after this, I am starting to suspect that the world is not about to end.
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
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Watched game in a bar in Spain. Thought we looked pretty comfortable and passed the ball well.
Alan Hutton had a fine game. Stoke pushed a lot of play down his side of the pitch, but he held strong.
I also thought the 3 debutants had good games.
Also pi##ed off some Everton fans. They came in and settled down to watch their game not knowing that I'd spoken to the owner who was in the process of changing channels. :D
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Extremely promising start to the season. All reports say the defense was cohesive and strong, the midfield was solid and the new boys and reintegrated players did well. With Okore, Benteke and Sanchez to come in there are some grounds for moderate optimism.
I was at Taunton watching The Bears and and there were cheers from various parts of the ground when Weimann scored.
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Senderos reaction at the final whistle is superb!! Performance from the back four today was the best I've seen in years from us, good stuff!!
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Senderos reaction at the final whistle is superb!! Performance from the back four today was the best I've seen in years from us, good stuff!!
God (5) bless you, weve got 3 points, and cant wait for Newcastle.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
That's why I said: Are you taking the p?, i.e. taking the p out of depleted. ::)
I thought it was very clever.
Slaps hand against forehead in embarrassment!
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Great day, fantastic result, good company, nice curry and spectacular car-scarf.
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Just got in . Great day .
My stoke mates were impressed with Westwood .
Well, he has some competition for his spot next week!
Competition. I like that word!
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Back home now after a curry with Leeg and RedSox. What a splendid day, even if I am only just the right side of Mr Creosote territory. Maybe not quite so splendid for RedSox who has to get the damage to his car sorted.
And I still can't believe that prat ran on the pitch when we scored. Almost certain banning order, fine and possibly a criminal record. All to celebrate a goal against Stoke fucking City.
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Sorry. Somebody dared me.
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The critical thing now us that we build on this and a produce a solid home display. We've seen these dawns before and we all know we can play well away from home. We now need to show we take the game to the opposition when playing at Villa Park.
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
That's why I said: Are you taking the p?, i.e. taking the p out of depleted. ::)
I thought it was very clever.
Slaps hand against forehead in embarrassment!
No worries, TV, and cheers amfy and berneboy.
Anyway, back to the match, from what I could see from my front row view through the goal net, the back four looked solid, particularly in the first-half, albeit some dodgy moments with Brad in the first 20 minutes - slow to clear on a couple of occasions and positioning poor on one cross. Good view of the goal as it entered the net right in front of me but couldn't see what was happening up the other end and really hope I'm never in the front row again.
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Well....fuck my old boots but that was an enjoyable game to watch! Solid defence, clean sheet and Hutton played a blinder! Gabby was abysmal and Guzan should refrain from snorting crystal meth before a game but apart from that well done the lads!
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
Yep - here it is:
https://vine.co/v/M37F1mB5IzB
And it's a bird of the feathered variety (I presume!)
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Two visits to the Britannia and 6 points for Villa. I'll be expecting you lot to provide me with free tickets and a limo for the next game we play there.
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I know I shouldn't laugh, and I don't want to encourage this sort of behaviour, but this Vine did make me chuckle.
Ah, the noble pursuit of football is back ....
https://vine.co/v/M3mX5DxBmQt
Ha! He appeared on a massive screen (he was holding the corner of a what looked like a Coleshill Villa flag) during the round up of the earlier action at half-time of the Arsenal v Palace game. The presenter was a bit embarassed and had to make an apology!
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Over the moon with the result a good win for us thought the defence played well.
Over the moon? Steady on Darren that is a bit strong from you!
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Deleted? They're gone?
I blame iPhone and auto correction. Meant to write depleted.
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Pleasantly surprised by the result but more shocked that we didn't cave in second half as I have come to expect us to in recent seasons..just imagine if we could start holding on to leads. The top half of the table might beckon. All in all..fuckin ace villa..!
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
Oh that's brilliant and well deserved. The cheating diver should keep his gob shut!
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
Yep - here it is:
https://vine.co/v/M37F1mB5IzB
And it's a bird of the feathered variety (I presume!)
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Think I've peaked a bit early with the beers, onto the wine now ;)
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
I think he meant depleted, as in missing the likes of Okore, Benteke etc
That's why I said: Are you taking the p?, i.e. taking the p out of depleted. ::)
See what you did there.......now
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Well done Paul, Roy and the lads. Great start with a deleted team.
Are you taking the p?
Yes it was taken out for me as I explained earlier ???
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"We're Aston Villa, we're bald at the back!"
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Great day, fantastic result, good company, nice curry and spectacular car-scarf.
Not a half and half I hope.
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Watched game in a bar in Spain. Thought we looked pretty comfortable and passed the ball well.
Alan Hutton had a fine game. Stoke pushed a lot of play down his side of the pitch, but he held strong.
I also thought the 3 debutants had good games.
Also pi##ed off some Everton fans. They came in and settled down to watch their game not knowing that I'd spoken to the owner who was in the process of changing channels. :D
Which Bar was that Nigel ? , was it Portside or Linekers in Puerto Banus ? , by any chance ........Godzvilla!
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Excellent today, so so comfortable.
Credit to Senderos, him and Vlaar were rocks today and I really like the look of Cissokho.
Good win today but not getting carried away as we had this after Arsenal last year and still failed to reach 40 points. Need to back this up with 4 points from Newcastle and Hull which is unlikely knowing us.
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We played well and it's always satisfying to beat Stoke. I'm still not buying all of this changing style under Mark Hughes. All I saw was a bunch of big blokes trying to cheat any way that they could throughout the game, as usual.
And Bojan. Who was shite.
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Have I stumbled onto the wrong site? Not used to this positivity, keep it up Villa. I missed the game but I'm looking forward to the highlights
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If Bojan was as good as all the media have been trying to hype him up to be he wouldn't have just moved from Barca to, erm, Stoke.
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
No, but I wish I had.
EDIT: Now I have. Chapeaus aloft to that bird. It had a better aim than Ashley has with 90% of his crosses.
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"We're Aston Villa, we're bald at the back!"
That's why we have Sanchez, he alone makes up for the lack of hair in the rest of the defensive 'unit'.
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Bojan had som moments of spark but our defenders kept him quiet, fortunately. I was very surprised how well Cissokho, Hutton and Richardson played, especially Cissokho and Hutton. Richardson worked his socks off and I hope he keeps it up.
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What a difference dropping lowton Bennett and baker makes.
Whilst an admirable and noble approach, young & hungry only works if you have great quality young & hungry.
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Good solid performance, if Sanchez for Westwood is an upgrade like Cissokho then I'll be happy :-)
Anyone know why that non trying twat Ireland didn't play...oh he did....useless, ineffectual passenger....sounds familiar :-)
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I thought Hutton, Senderos, Richardson and especially Cissokho were excellent today. Grealish also made a great cameo appearance.
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I see we're last on MOTD tonight as usual. Now I wait to see how fleeting they have made the glimpse of anything Villa related on the opening titles.
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I see we're last on MOTD tonight as usual. Now I wait to see how fleeting they have made the glimpse of anything Villa related on the opening titles.
no one watches or pays serious critical attention to MOTD now do they? I've already seen most of the goals already on other streams or sites. and games of the day are on SKY well before MOTD. we won, I don't care if we're on first last or whatever. MOTD is an biased irreverence with pundits that state the obvious. my gran would give more insight into a game.Even Hansen's comments in recent years were pretty ho hum. "Striker shoots.... if it goes in its a goal and it did go in so it was a goal....." if we are going to discuss running order, the first two games are fairly obvious, if Chelsea or city were on it would be same four in whatever order of importance. in a normal world you not normally say WHU/TOT more significant than WBA/Sun? Leic/Everton ahead of QPR/Hull? QPR only out of top flight 2 seasons ago, Leicester 10 years.
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I see we're last on MOTD tonight as usual. Now I wait to see how fleeting they have made the glimpse of anything Villa related on the opening titles.
Watch on sky at 10pm instead with match choice .
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I see we're last on MOTD tonight as usual. Now I wait to see how fleeting they have made the glimpse of anything Villa related on the opening titles.
no one watches or pays serious critical attention to MOTD now do they?
I hope not. It is a relic packed with tedious has beens or never beens. I till have a lot of respect for Lineker even though he only gets excited about golf these days, but even with him the show is not the cultural opinion maker it used to be. Time has passed it by and thats a good thing.
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We're last on MOTD because we had the least drama in our game. Same as it always is. There were two other 1-0s but they both had missed pens and / or red cards
Chill out with the conspiracy theories!
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Some things never change.
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Bojan had som moments of spark but our defenders kept him quiet, fortunately. I was very surprised how well Cissokho, Hutton and Richardson played, especially Cissokho and Hutton. Richardson worked his socks off and I hope he keeps it up.
Watching the game on Sky choice and commentator described Bojan's problem as being up again a very tough customer in Aly Cissokho.
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I see we're last on MOTD tonight as usual. Now I wait to see how fleeting they have made the glimpse of anything Villa related on the opening titles.
no one watches or pays serious critical attention to MOTD now do they?
I hope not. It is a relic packed with tedious has beens or never beens. I till have a lot of respect for Lineker even though he only gets excited about golf these days, but even with him the show is not the cultural opinion maker it used to be. Time has passed it by and thats a good thing.
A brief shot of Benteke celebrating, and his back, at that. One thing I did notice was there's a sticker commemorating Ipswich winning the UEFA Cup in 81.
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Watching the highlights now and it's such a relief to see us defending so well. Hutton looks rock solid.
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Well that was good game by us. Hughes was very fair with his pistol match comments.
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Pistol match? Bit early for that
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
Yep - here it is:
https://vine.co/v/M37F1mB5IzB
And it's a bird of the feathered variety (I presume!)
Gobshite!
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Pistol match? Bit early for that
I must check before pistoling in future. That's two typos today for me.
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In Lambert's first year, one of the things I liked was that when we didn't have the ball, we'd work really hard to get it back, we'd harry and hassle the opposition, close them down in midfield, and make it difficult for them to play, then try to do something when we had the ball back.
Other than the first few games last season, we hardly saw that at all.
Today, there was plenty of that again. It is only one game (and let's not forget, the first game last season was an even more impressive performance), but it was good to see some of that coming back today.
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Those slating Gabbys miss ? No time poor angle
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Match of the Day made it look like a smash and grab.
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Those slating Gabbys miss ? No time poor angle
He had time to hit it wide, so he had time to hit it in.
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Those slating Gabbys miss ? No time poor angle
He had time to hit it wide, so he had time to hit it in.
There was that huge defender in the way mind. He should have scored, but not the open goal some said it was.
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
No, but I wish I had.
EDIT: Now I have. Chapeaus aloft to that bird. It had a better aim than Ashley has with 90% of his crosses.
Better view with added zoom of the landing http://gfycat.com/RevolvingObedientHyena
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Lambert haters very quiet today. Great day, love the Villa. Away fans immense today.
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Great start,maybe we'll finally get a good mix of experience and youth this year. Lots of quality still to come into the side as well so very promising.
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In Lambert's first year, one of the things I liked was that when we didn't have the ball, we'd work really hard to get it back, we'd harry and hassle the opposition, close them down in midfield, and make it difficult for them to play, then try to do something when we had the ball back.
Other than the first few games last season, we hardly saw that at all.
Today, there was plenty of that again. It is only one game (and let's not forget, the first game last season was an even more impressive performance), but it was good to see some of that coming back today.
The other thing is, if you're going to play 433 with 3 genuine strikers as we have been the pressing to win the ball high up the pitch isn't just a nice thing to do, it's actually the entire point of the 'plan'. Creativity in football is, effectively, the ability to get defenders into places they don't want to be and then getting the ball into the holes left behind. If you're not picking 2-3 players who can do that with skills then the other option is to press high up the pitch and force the opposition players who are off the ball to move out of their positions to make angles. If you then win the ball back they've created the gap for you.
To put it simply, if you're not creating for yourself and not forcing errors by pressure you're going to struggle to score in open play, this basic fact holds true in any sport where you're in direct competition.
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And for anyone who doesn't believe Legion is a walking disaster area. The car has been pranged twice with him in it. On the car park. Stationary.
Seriously, this really happened. I'd just got back in the car after taking the first drivers details when someone else drove into the back of us.
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Has anyone pointed out yet that we only had 37% possession?
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Bring on the toon!
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Lambert haters very quiet today. Great day, love the Villa. Away fans immense today.
It's one win, a worse win than on the first day of last season.
I don't rate the guy as our manager and its going to take something monumental to change that view.
I'm delighted with the win obviously. But I noticed he was back with crap like we were excellent comments and we had enough chances to win two games (we had two shots on target).
It's. a good solid start. The back four looks miles better. But lets see if we are still saying this in November when not out of the league cup via Lower league opposition and languishing in 13th ready to launch our challenge for 16th.
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As low as 37% you say? Goodness!
On the car parking issue, I must say I take an extremely pessimistic view of a car body's survival at many entertainment venues. And even some pubs: The Swallows Nest at Romsley springs instantly to mind.
When I lived in the the US, I would be surprised if my car had not been pranged after they had decided it would be a good idea to park 5000 cards in a field with no markings.
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Has anyone pointed out yet that we only had 37% possession?
Isn't that like alot for us? Especially away..
We also excelled in getting players in the box on the counter. Stoke barely had one target when they got a cross in.
Not to mention that their strikers was belittled by Senderos and Vlaar. Vlaar just grows to a giant when he surrounded by quality.
Also liked that they gave Grealish some playtime despite so much at stake with a slim lead, opening game and replacing a playmaker . He will build on that, I think.
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Can Lambert lovers and haters not descend into a row please... Anyhow I was stood/sat by the tunnel and Lambert stopped applauded the fans, then pointed to the players saying they were the ones who deserved the praise. A nice touch.
'Ally Cissokho' will be a big hit.
Jack Grealish is already a fans favourite and did some great runs.
Great day, great night..
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a worse win than on the first day of last season.
Brilliant, when desperately trying to find negatives from a winning start to the season this is a doozy!
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Lambert haters very quiet today. Great day, love the Villa. Away fans immense today.
Why?
Isn't it enough that your team won?
But you would rather have a pop at other Villa supporters. Well done.
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Good solid performance from the back 4, midfield pressed hard and supported the front line by getting numbers in the box, negatives, Brads distribution, again at times lack of movement of the ball, Gabby works hard but worries me as to getting goals in between now and the two giants coming back, Andi worked hard as he always does, but quality needs to be better.
Seemed to be a good bit of fight in the players today and as for the 37%, it was impressive at times what we did with so little of the ball.
Well done Villa
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Why should anybody who has criticized Lambert's failings over two seasons be termed a Lambert "hater"? I am thrilled and delighted for the team and the fans by an excellent start to the season. My joy is qualified by the belief that if better times lie ahead it is in large measure because Lambert has been forced to abandon the gamble that was young and hungry, the stupidity of bomb squaddery, have his brother in law and his mate evicted from the club and Roy Keane parachuted in. The presence of experienced players played a big part in the fine victory at Stoke, something we Lambert "haters" have been begging for for months.
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He's openly admitted that the young, lower league player route wasn't working and has changed things. Call that being forced if you like, I call it making a decision to change things.
This win doesn't suddenly mean he's a genius, but he got a fresh start from me and it's disappointing that some end up being so entrenched that they struggle to keep an open mind.
That's not aimed at anyone in particular, but you're not a better fan for ignoring Lambert's faults. The same goes for anyone unable to see anything positive he does.
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Brian Green and Olneythelonely are absolutely right.
Any mention to the alleged Lambert's heaters is absolutely inexplicable.
Lambert deserved to be criticised in the last two seasons for various orders of reasons:
- he brought in the squad unknown young players from the lower divisions that proved to be absolutely inadequate for the Premier League;
- he never had a gameplan apart from longballs, kick and run, and counter attack;
- in many occasion he proved to be clueless and tactically inept; the midfield, for instance, never pressed exposing the defence to the opponents'attacks;
- infact, he has the worst record of a Villa manager in the Premier League ever.
Now there are important signs that something is changing. Although with strict financial restructions, he brought a bunch of experienced and good players, and for the first time since his arrival at the Villa, the team is trying to play a nice passing football, and all the squad play as a squad, with all the departments that help and protect the others.
This different approach is exactly what the fans wanted and asked.
Everybody is happy to acknowledge this, but that means that Lambert is changing, not that he didn't deserved to be crticized in that last couple of seasons!
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Add to the above the Karsa / Culverhouse fiasco. The club had to deal with them and they were Lamberts boys. We move on, but the criticism levelled at Lambert has been warranted on many fronts.
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Ok then let's all just agree on one thing........we go again! (at last)
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Okore and Sanchez available for Newcastle?
We need to go out all guns blazing against them, no fucking around.
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Okore and Sanchez available for Newcastle?
We need to go out all guns blazing against them, no fucking around.
Boss is a Geordie.
3 points is a requirement.
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Okore and Sanchez available for Newcastle?
We need to go out all guns blazing against them, no fucking around.
Boss is a Geordie.
3 points is a requirement.
3 points would be a dream, really need to pick up points now before that run of games next month.
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I'm glad we won our opener and especially against Stoke, they are one of those teams we've never really had any consistency against, too often over the years we've drawn or lost. One game does not a complete turn around make, but there were some encouraging signs yesterday.
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on. Looking forward to a season ramming shit down the throats of tosspot teams like Sturk, Southampton and Leicester that aren't fucking fit to play at Villa Park let alone purport to compete with us.
Up the fucking Villa.
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Good mix of old heads and young. I'm actually feeling positive about our football team.
Which is nice.
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Watched it for the first time this morning. Its difficult to make an assesment from the highlights but I thought qiute a few goalkeepers would have stopped Weimann's strong shot. Having said that a very professional defensive performance which bodes well for the weeks ahead.
Senderous may surprise a few of us and form a very good partnership with Vlaar. Agbonlahor should have scored if he was razor sharp.It was not as easy as posters were saying in the match thread but he should have put it away.
If they can keep up that standard of performance it could be a much better season. With Sanchez to come in next game that will improve things further and with Benteke's arrival that might mean a top half position by Xmas.
But its just one game, dont be fooled Lambert knows what he is doing, he has shown far to often he does not.
But encouraging.
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Great to win. Please sustain it Mr Lambert. Agree with others about having the balls to change the approach. I hope we are turning the corner at long last!
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Why do we wear those hideous claret shorts?
Surely the blue ones we used in 95/96? would be a far better alternative for when we can't wear white shorts.
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To be fair that was a very poor goal to concede. Thought Clark Baker and Enkleman had been transposed to their defence.
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Why do we wear those hideous claret shorts?
Surely the blue ones we used in 95/96? would be a far better alternative for when we can't wear white shorts.
I like them.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Cropped_Okore_v_Shamrock_Rovers.JPG/200px-Cropped_Okore_v_Shamrock_Rovers.JPG)
Snazzy 8)
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Great to win. Please sustain it Mr Lambert. Agree with others about having the balls to change the approach. I hope we are turning the corner at long last!
So say all of us.
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on. Looking forward to a season ramming shit down the throats of tosspot teams like Sturk, Southampton and Leicester that aren't fucking fit to play at Villa Park let alone purport to compete with us.
Me and you the same, hoping we control the game against the Geordies on Saturday and give them a bit of a battering. Hate that lot.
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We mustn't get carried away. Just because we won it doesn't mean we played particularly sophisticated football, or attacked cohesively, or any of that. We won a bit Greekly - very good defence, go for the counters, got a bit of luck and used it well. We deserved the win, and it all looks much more agreeable than it did at 2.59pm yesterday, but let's not pretend everything's sorted just because one or two things are.
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The issue we still have is how do we take a game to a team such as Newcastle at home. I'm still not sure we are equipped to do that.
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on. Looking forward to a season ramming shit down the throats of tosspot teams like Sturk, Southampton and Leicester that aren't fucking fit to play at Villa Park let alone purport to compete with us.
Up the fucking Villa.
Reality check! Remember the first game last season, it all went tits up after then. Hopefully this season will be better, time will tell.
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We were strong in defence and used that as a base to break in numbers which had them struggling to reorganise quickly enough. For a first game of the season it could hardly of gone any better. When you consider the people who weren't involved it makes you think we should cope with injuries far better this season.
The new signings all looked decent, Senderos really surprised me but the test will be against strikers with a bit more movement. Hutton actually looked the player enticed to Spurs from Rangers all those years ago, not the kick anything that moves bloke from when he last played for us.
It looks as though the events of the last few months with the coaching staff and Lerner's planned sale plus the loss of the chief exec have galvanised the club. No more bomb squad, a few older heads to help the youngsters and a refreshed coaching setup.
I know it is (very) early days so I am not getting carried away but we have set ourselves a benchmark for a level of performance that we have to maintain.
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on.
Me and you the same, hoping we control the game against the Geordies on Saturday and give them a bit of a battering. Hate that lot.
In that case good job that you two were not sharing a bed!
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While we wasn't great overall, we defended really well and if we'd have been better in front of goal, we could have gone in a couple of goals up at half time. I was really impressed with Cissohko. Also for a change, Stoke wasn't cold.
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How much of that performance yesterday - good shape, some feisty challenges, fighting to get the ball back when we lost it - was down to the impact made by a certain Mr Keane? Quite a lot I reckon.
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We were strong in defence and used that as a base to break in numbers which had them struggling to reorganise quickly enough. For a first game of the season it could hardly of gone any better. When you consider the people who weren't involved it makes you think we should cope with injuries far better this season.
The new signings all looked decent, Senderos really surprised me but the test will be against strikers with a bit more movement. Hutton actually looked the player enticed to Spurs from Rangers all those years ago, not the kick anything that moves bloke from when he last played for us.
It looks as though the events of the last few months with the coaching staff and Lerner's planned sale plus the loss of the chief exec have galvanised the club. No more bomb squad, a few older heads to help the youngsters and a refreshed coaching setup.
I know it is (very) early days so I am not getting carried away but we have set ourselves a benchmark for a level of performance that we have to maintain.
I wonder if Hutton playing well today was physical proof of how much better Lambert, for all his faults, is better than McLeish.
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We could have easily lost the game yesterday and that we didn't deserve. So it was good to show some backbone and come out of a tough one with 3 points. Let's pocket those and move on to Newcastle. Last seasons win at Arsenal was different as it was on the back of a very good finish in the previous season so we did get carried away. There is no chance of that after the miserable end we has last season. So feet to the ground and let's look for little improvements till Benteke and Kozak are back on and then we can kick on. UTV.
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I wonder if Hutton playing well today was physical proof of how much better Lambert, for all his faults, is better than McLeish.
Maybe but I would like reserve my judgement till around Xmas.
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on. Looking forward to a season ramming shit down the throats of tosspot teams like Sturk, Southampton and Leicester that aren't fucking fit to play at Villa Park let alone purport to compete with us.
Up the fucking Villa.
Reality check! Remember the first game last season, it all went tits up after then. Hopefully this season will be better, time will tell.
I'd say the reality was we were fine till March when Benteke got injured. We're stronger this time.
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How much of that performance yesterday - good shape, some feisty challenges, fighting to get the ball back when we lost it - was down to the impact made by a certain Mr Keane? Quite a lot I reckon.
If we had of lost it would have been all Lamberts fault though
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Lambert has addressed some of his biggest issues from last year, experienced players in the back four and using the resources he has. Good start.
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I wonder if Hutton playing well today was physical proof of how much better Lambert, for all his faults, is better than McLeish.
Maybe but I would like reserve my judgement till around Xmas.
The thing with reserving your judgement is that in December we will know if he's any good or not,
it won't be an early call on his new found ability it will be more a statement of fact
I think he's rubbish,
but he's doing good at the moment so my judgement might well prove to be wrong,
if you reserve your judgement on every player until we know for sure what they are capable of you will never be wrong, or right for that matter
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I think on the evidence of yesterday we have a better chance this season and principally because we have experience in the side now.
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Experience is the one thing most fans have been asked for over the last 18 months...
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Experience is the one thing most fans have been asking for over the last 18 months...
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Waking up with a massive a Villa hard-on.
Me and you the same, hoping we control the game against the Geordies on Saturday and give them a bit of a battering. Hate that lot.
In that case good job that you two were not sharing a bed!
;)
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I hate the claret shorts.
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I've got my reservations about Roy Keane, but there's no denying that when you saw him storm off the bench to lay into the officials - on several occasions - there was something inspiring about it. He certainly has presence, and I think when the players look across and see there's a very scary man fighting in their corner, it must have some effect.
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I've got my reservations about Roy Keane, but there's no denying that when you saw him storm off the bench to lay into the officials - on several occasions - there was something inspiring about it. He certainly has presence, and I think when the players look across and see there's a very scary man fighting in their corner, it must have some effect.
His winning mentality can't do a team who appeared to accept defeat any harm at all. I know it's the first game but the signs are positive and I've missed having something to be positive about.
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For all his faults Keane ' s a winner at all costs..If the players can have the same mentality on the pitch that he had then there is no reason why we should go into any game expecting to get beaten. He for one , I'm sure, would never allow players to go out thinking that loosing was an option.
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Keane might have helped but just having a defence that was physically strong helped..
I suspect Lambert like us has had enough of 2 years watching our defence being pushed around.Lowton ,Bennet and Clark have all been so weak.Clark made Anichabe look like Drogba every time he played against us.
Only one game but important to get a win and clean sheet, hopefully adding Sanchez as well will now make us more solid and stop giving away poor goals.
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When was the last time we won two opening games on the bounce? We've always seemed to struggle in them.
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Keane might have helped but just having a defence that was physically strong helped..
I suspect Lambert like us has had enough of 2 years watching our defence being pushed around.Lowton ,Bennet and Clark have all been so weak.Clark made Anichabe look like Drogba every time he played against us.
Only one game but important to get a win and clean sheet, hopefully adding Sanchez as well will now make us more solid and stop giving away poor goals.
Can't understate how important this is. For instance there was a moment early on yesterday when a Stoke player got into a 1 on 1 with sisoko Sissokho Aly and Aly just took the ball off him and bounced him off. Bennett would've snapped in two attempting a challenge like that.
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I hope you guys have paid up to H&V with that little bet we had on who will be owner and manager at the first game of the season
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I hope you guys have paid up to H&V with that little bet we had on who will be owner and manager at the first game of the season
I'll put my hand up and admit that at the time I thought we would have been taken over by now.
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I hate the claret shorts.
That's Lambert for you. Totally useless can't even select the right colour shorts!
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The difference between last season and yesterday is that our style, however limited it may be in the wider picture, was at least recognisable as a style. It is limited to rely on strong defence and counterattacking, but at least yesterday we had the defence to actually pursue that game-plan with some focus and concentration.
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I have to say, it was the most comfortable 1-0 victory that I can remember us having for quite some time. I could get used to that.
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Why do we wear those hideous claret shorts?
Surely the blue ones we used in 95/96? would be a far better alternative for when we can't wear white shorts.
I know there's a lot of cost cutting going on but surely we won't have enough of them still lying around! It might mean phoning round all the players who had them.
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Why do we wear those hideous claret shorts?
Surely the blue ones we used in 95/96? would be a far better alternative for when we can't wear white shorts.
I know there's a lot of cost cutting going on but surely we won't have enough of them still lying around! It might mean phoning round all the players who had them.
I can't understand why we needed to change to claret shorts. I've been to several games and seen on TV teams with the same colour shorts.
I know it was the norm for all the kit not to match, but doesn't seem such an issue these days.
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We no longer look soft. Defense looked stronger. We were less naive and a more cohesive unit. Good start.
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Liked the fact Lambert had enough confidence in Grealish to give him 20 minutes as well. The last time I felt so despondent before a season was when we signed that shit Peter Withe and Tony Morley, lets hope we have a similar season :-)
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a worse win than on the first day of last season.
Brilliant, when desperately trying to find negatives from a winning start to the season this is a doozy!
I don't know what a doozy is.
Edit: I've since educated myself. Thanks I agree.
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How much of that performance yesterday - good shape, some feisty challenges, fighting to get the ball back when we lost it - was down to the impact made by a certain Mr Keane? Quite a lot I reckon.
Yep, just like the first day of last season and the 6 months before then we when saved ourselves. The Keane effect goes back in time.
The best thing about this result is that it is against a team we will probably be around come the end of the season. I could go through this season and lose 10 nil to the top four if it meant we got at least three points from each of the bottom 10.
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a worse win than on the first day of last season.
Brilliant, when desperately trying to find negatives from a winning start to the season this is a doozy!
I don't know what a doozy is.
Edit: I've since educated myself. Thanks I agree.
In fairness kippax that's one of the all time greatest lines ever written on here
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Such a great feeling when we win and it makes your weekend, now cmon Villa follow it up with 3 points against Newcastle, just praying now that Ron is still with us at the end of the transfer window.
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Just seen result
Excellent
Clean sheet three points
I'm having a Chinese . Celebration
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Was it like a MON era away performance?
Think we'll need more creativity at home. Maybe same personnel but Richardson and n'zogbia wide and Weimann behind gabby?
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Credit to Senderos. He looked extremely committed throughout that game. You could see it in his face at the end. Long may it continue.
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Nice that players are actually playing for their places now
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Just seen result
Only just? How?
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I have to say, it was the most comfortable 1-0 victory that I can remember us having for quite some time. I could get used to that.
It's nice to not concede an injury time equaliser. I've become so conditioned to conceding late goals.
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Solid opening performance, good win, and a clean sheet to boot. Good to see Weimann get the winner too. Need to aim for at least four points now from the next two, and then take what we can get in the following six. Since I can't see us losing all six of them then figures crossed we maybe in a decent position come late October :-X
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I'm having a Chinese . Celebration
What's her name
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I'm having a Chinese . Celebration
What's her name
Hes told you once. Her name is Celebration. :)
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I'm having a Chinese . Celebration
What's her name
Yu Won?
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We Won.
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Won Nil ?
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https://vine.co/v/M3mX5DxBmQt
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Great stuff, well done Villa.
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Too right, well done. Not sure about the clip though.
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Love this...
https://twitter.com/badlydrawnicons/status/501116669696430082
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Just watched some of the first and the whole of the second half.
Good defending from the back 5, and the midfield battled well, but it was a tight game and I agree with the other posters who've said that we can't read too much into it.
Also looks like a very different side from last season.
Front three didn't really work that well, though they had their moments.
Grealish's hair!
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Completely off the subject but did anyone else see a bird shit in Ashley Youngs mouth during the Man.Utd game?
No, but I wish I had.
EDIT: Now I have. Chapeaus aloft to that bird. It had a better aim than Ashley has with 90% of his crosses.
Better view with added zoom of the landing http://gfycat.com/RevolvingObedientHyena
Young gets his own back
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1st: Everton (3,304)
2nd: Manchester City (3,105)
3rd: Aston Villa (2,979)
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I'm having a Chinese . Celebration
What's her name
Hes told you once. Her name is Celebration. :)
Ting tong
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1st: Everton (3,304)
2nd: Manchester City (3,105)
3rd: Aston Villa (2,979)
And it was was local match for us ...tut tut!
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1st: Everton (3,304)
2nd: Manchester City (3,105)
3rd: Aston Villa (2,979)
And it was was local match for us ...tut tut!
On the other hand we were playing by far the most unattractive (in probably every sense of the word) opposition.
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1st: Everton (3,304)
2nd: Manchester City (3,105)
3rd: Aston Villa (2,979)
And it was was local match for us ...tut tut!
On the other hand we were playing by far the most unattractive (in probably every sense of the word) opposition.
What was our allocation?
A better indication would be a percentage of allocation sold, not actual numbers, as each club allocates a different number of tickets.