Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Dave on December 07, 2014, 05:55:58 PM
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Good stuff.
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Looking forward to next week now
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Hurrah!
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21 points to go
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Strolled it
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Coming from behind to win and scoring at the Holte end. 2 firsts for the season there.
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Enjoyed that. Coming from behind a v good thing. Bit scrappy in spells but could have won by more in the end.
Guzan 6
Hutton 7
Okore 8
Clark 7
Cissokho 7
Sanchez 7
Westwood 7
Cleverley 6
Gabby 8
Benteke 7
N'Zogbia 5
Grealish 6
Richardson 6
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(http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t217/coolerking99/_79572718_huttonhero2.jpg)
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Thank feck for that. Rest of weekend can now be enjoyed.
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Hutton is going to stroll player of the season at this rate.
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A well deserved three points, Benteke could have had a hatrick today.
I hope Westwood's injury isn't to bad as that challenge by Vardy was worse than the one on Hutton which ended in a red card.
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Above Everton. Blimey.
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Not perfect, not even very good for long spells, but better. In all fairness it was only Schmeichel keeping it from being a hiding.
Hutton lucky to stay on but if anyone deserves a bit of luck it's him. Grealish looked pretty good and contributed more in 30 minutes than Zog did in 70.
Felt a bit sad to see Marc come on for them.
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Good stuff, we've got to be beating teams like Leicester and I'm glad we did. Hope the Westwood injury isn't too serious.
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Well deserved,chuffed for Hutton
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Kasper would be my motm today, outstanding
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How nice is it to have two back to back wins. Leicester not great but in Nugent and Ulloa they still had the sort of strikers who can cause trouble. Okore was colossus at the back and looked technically very good, Hutton was solid and deserved goal, note of praise for Sanchez too who anchored midfield very nicely. Benteke looked dangerous up until last 10 mins or so, Agbonlahor was dangerous when running at their defence. Note sure why Cissokho couldn't run ball into corner instead of giving Schmeichel a chance to start another attack, last 5 mins murder as always. I think we are more than capable of getting a draw at least at WBA if not the win but today was so so important. Still not a Lambert believer but a couple of goals and three points will go down very nicely in my house tonight!
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Leicester are going back to the Championship.
We controlled the game until Westwood and Cleverly came off. Benteke could of had 5 on another day, Kasper their best player.
Okore had another good game although poor opposition.
Sanchez is starting to nail that spot down.
Gabby worked his arse off.
Grealish was inventive when he came on.
N'Zog needs to call it a day....
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Much, much better. Unlike Palace, we controlled the match, got the goals through teamwork rather than a one-off moment and deserved the victory completely. Well done Lambert - maybe this week you could visit Mourinho to learn how to close out a match without giving the crowd heart problems.
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Thought Okore was brilliant. Not sure what the point of N'Zogbia is apart from he runs around. When we sharpen our finishing up we'll batter someone. The defensive unit, given the circumstances around how they have found themselves playing, are really impressive at the moment. Good result and pleasing performance in parts.
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we needed to beat these , we did
could have easily been 4-1 really
nog wank
the rest put in good performances
hutton is the man
start with jack next game and keep nzog and weimann on the bench please.
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Well done, much better.
I can't believe Hutton is the same bloke from two seasons ago.
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Guzan 6 - at fault for goal. overall steady with some good saves
Hutton 8 - good goal, solid
Okore 8 - very good. good pace
Clark 7 - took the goal well. steady
Cissokho 6 - steady. should do better when forward
Sanchez 7 - steady, more mobile
Westwood 7 - was ok
Cleverley 6 - disappointing. one good pass. but expect more
Gabby 8 - good runs, worked hard
Benteke 7 - should have scored two goals. good pass to set up hutton. villa a much better team with him playing
N'Zogbia 4 - why play him?? off the pace.
Grealish 6 - good touches. looks lightweight though.
Richardson 6 - good pass to set up benteke. did ok.
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scores from my drawers
guzan 7
aly 6
hutton 8
okore 8
clark 7
clevely 6.5
westwood 6.5
nog 5
sanchez 7.5
gabby 7.5
benteke 7,3
richardson 6.5
jack 7
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Well done. Better team won.
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Next games....
West Brom (a)
Man Utd (h)
Swansea (a)
Sunderland (h)
Palace (h)
Leicester (a)
There has to be some more wins in there
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We're better than the worst team in the league and for that I am grateful (and I'm not being flippant) Good performance and deserved win. It would be nice to breathe easier at the end of games though.
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Highlights and goals are here
http://www.ball-control.com/video.php?ID=1741
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Well done to anyone who put money on the first Villa Holte End goal of the season being Alan Hutton in mid-December.
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Superb win, keep the momentum going. If we can we can convince Delph to stay at thus rate. I ain't bothered about Ron as Clark like Baker has shown tremendous character when called upon this season.
Hutton really deserved that goal and I think many including myself are really pleased that a player can win us over. What a brilliant professional he is to do what he has done this season after the way he's been treated.
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Decent win. Would have been more if their keeper hadn't pulled off some blinding saves. Freezing my fingers off waiting for the train from Witton but in a good mood!
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Little by little. Inch by inch. Certainly not perfect but signs of life and a bit more confidence. Unbeaten on 5 is a world away from what it was just a few weeks back.
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we needed to beat these , we did
could have easily been 4-1 really
nog wank
the rest put in good performances
hutton is the man
start with jack next game and keep nzog and weimann on the bench please.
Spot on
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Some frustrating midfield passing and losing of ball, but all in all a solid enough performance and confidence booster.
Yes, it's the sort of team we should beat, but recently we haven't been.
Thank you free wi-Fi on Hull Trains.
Thank you, the Scottish Cafu.
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Stick that up your bollocks Roy boy
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Two goals, home win, three points. Lovely.
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Sanchez has excellent positional sense. Okore looks what we hoped he might be. Things are looking up a bit. Looking at our fixture list we have chances of moving up further.
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Huttoninho.
I think Sanchez did well again...had a bit more time on the ball as the Leicester midfield was hopeless and moved the ball well.
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If the Oracle in pre-season would tell me that the first goal in front of Holte this season would be made by Hutton against Leicester in December....I would guess that we would be dead last and bet the farm on relegation....
Another observation...when Westwood had to go off Sanchez was promoted to playmaker. We then get more direct when attacking, he is less accurate then Westwood with his passes but he also less predictable and pick out strikers. Westwood always opt for the "safe" pass ...sideways or wallpasses with defenders. The illusion is control and possession...but its also gives the other team all the time in the world to get organized and out attack gets "blunt" and predictable.
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A very welcome three points, some good performances and a bit of luck with the refereeing decisions. Hutton rapidly becoming a favourite of mine but he was a tad fortunate not to get himself sent off.
Unbeaten in 5, 2 wins on the bounce, but the stats don't tell the full story and our faults were still there for all to see in the last 10 minutes. We're at home, a goal ahead and a man up against the worst team in the league, any other team would press high up the pitch, keep the ball as much as possible and either work an opening for a third or just close out the game. Despite all those advantages we still retreat into our box, invite pressure, fail to press high up the pitch, and give the ball away cheaply time after time. It was so bad you'd have thought we were a man down not them. It really is brainless stuff and a damning indictment of Lambert's coaching, or lack of it.
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Highlights and goals are here
http://www.ball-control.com/video.php?ID=1741
missed the CB header there
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Hutton is so far ahead as Player of the Season they might as well give him the trophy tonight!
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Was a bit worried he was going to get sent off but thankfully referee sent off Konchesky instead.
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Westly's going to be unbearable tonight,
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Westly's going to be unbearable tonight,
Just enjoy it, he's happy, we're happy, we won, we're unbeaten in 5. Lambert's here whether we want him or not. Just ignore the other stuff. If Westlys happy it's cause Lambert's picked a winning team, it's a win win situation.
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Westly's going to be unbearable tonight,
Just enjoy it, he's happy, we're happy, we won, we're unbeaten in 5. Lambert's here whether we want him or not. Just ignore the other stuff. If Westlys happy it's cause Lambert's picked a winning team, it's a win win situation.
I like the lad, and he was right all along
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A very welcome three points, some good performances and a bit of luck with the refereeing decisions. Hutton rapidly becoming a favourite of mine but he was a tad fortunate not to get himself sent off.
Unbeaten in 5, 2 wins on the bounce, but the stats don't tell the full story and our faults were still there for all to see in the last 10 minutes. We're at home, a goal ahead and a man up against the worst team in the league, any other team would press high up the pitch, keep the ball as much as possible and either work an opening for a third or just close out the game. Despite all those advantages we still retreat into our box, invite pressure, fail to press high up the pitch, and give the ball away cheaply time after time. It was so bad you'd have thought we were a man down not them. It really is brainless stuff and a damning indictment of Lambert's coaching, or lack of it.
I agree, but I think the 2 thingd you really have to add into the equation are nerves at Villa Park and confidence. Because of the past we are high on the first and low on the second. I think if we are comfortably mid table come February, they will even up somewhat.
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Leicester are going back to the Championship.
We controlled the game until Westwood and Cleverly came off. Benteke could of had 5 on another day, Kasper their best player.
Okore had another good game although poor opposition.
Sanchez is starting to nail that spot down.
Gabby worked his arse off.
Grealish was inventive when he came on.
N'Zog needs to call it a day....
Spot on imo. Hopefully Westwood is back next weekend. The only change I'd make is grealish for N'zog. Lambert will play Wiemann though I think, plus side to that is he seems to love the big games...
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We are winning the games we need to in order to stay away from the relegation zone. If we can hang on until Delph and Vlaar are back and then keep them together with Benteke, we should have a chance of finishing 10th to 12th, the equivalent of Europe these days for us! I think Delph and Vlaar being out for a while injured may also stop the predators hovering come January so that may turn out to be blessing in disguise
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Westly's going to be unbearable tonight,
just let him get on with it , he will be pipng up we beat a team who scored 5 against Manure so you cant win.
at least we won ;)
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To quote NASA astronauts' nearest and dearest, I'm proud, happy and thrilled. We won! Second half goal! Yay!
Getting back up to nearer where we belong. Well done, chaps.
Beeb has 16 shots on goal which is better than it has been.
Just need to keep this up.
Would be great if Benteke could score a few more over Christmas. Or anybody, really.
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Winning goal scored by attacking down a flank, ball switched to opposite side of pitch where player has space (created by width) to score.
More please...
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Forgot to say, now the stat about the only team not to come back after being a goal down has gone, as well. Good feeling, come on Villa!
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Am i being harsh in thinking we looked better when Westwood went off?
I thought the position of Sanchez, Richardsons industry and pace, and Cleverleys positional sense , gave us a better balance in midfield, we played the ball quicker, and looked more dangerous.
We are not far off a reasonable team.A good attacking/creative player, a ala Tadic, to play of CB, and we are comfortably top 10.
Okores MOM for me, looks a real player.
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Good stuff I listened to the second half on the radio and it sounded like Schmeichal had a great game for them. Second time in a week we had more possession than the opposition and second time we've won. There's something in that and we need to keep it up. Well done Villa.
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As others have said, we dearly needed to win and we did. They showed some real determination today.
Schmeichel was MOTM - without him we score four or five.
Bit of a worry on Cleverley and Westwood both injured - we could be woefully short in midfield without them both.
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I echo a lot of what's been said above and enjoyed the game in the cold.
One observation I'd make about Sanchez is that he seems to take an age to release the ball and sometimes the quick pass would serve the team so much better. Contrast with Clwverley's quick ball-movement.
All in all, this should have been a tonking, but for Schmeichel junior and some Villa profligacy.
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Typical Villa, always make it nervy towards the end, but it shows what a fine line an extra goal is, their keeper made some great saves, and if we got a third, could have got a couple more.
Impressed with Sanchez, always available, most times keeps things neat and tidy. Think we are too pedestrian with Westwood and Cleverly there, N'Zogbia offers little, would prefer Grealish or Bacuna to start next time out.
Centre back pairing looked good, even if it was against Leicester. UTV
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Westly's going to be unbearable tonight,
Just enjoy it, he's happy, we're happy, we won, we're unbeaten in 5. Lambert's here whether we want him or not. Just ignore the other stuff. If Westlys happy it's cause Lambert's picked a winning team, it's a win win situation.
I like the lad, and he was right all along
I never said you had to like him or agree he was right. It's just if he pipes up he's happy that we won. Ignore him 'tis all.
'A happy Wes is a happy Paul and a happy day for all'
:)
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Anyone that tells me they can still see a player in nzogbia and he should be starting in front of Grealish will get a sharp punch on the end of there nose
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Sounds like Okore is starting to cement his place in the team.
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I thought NZog had a decent first half, really impressed with Okore again, Sanchez also. We played some decent football, albeit against a shite team.
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Nice to back home in the warm, thank you Mr Sox. Was worth getting off my death bed for. Played some very nice stuff at times, shaky at the back against the break though. Kasper MOTM. Okore and Sanchez look real players, although Sanchez still looks like he has the potential for a late daft pass or challenge. And who would have thought 6 months ago that Marco van Hutton would be the player he is! First time i've seen us win at home since early May!
Onwards and upwards, Champions League, here we come.
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Am i being harsh in thinking we looked better when Westwood went off?
I agree. I was interested to see how we looked without him as Lambert never drops him. Better I thought.
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Turned up at VP fairly early for once. Was parked up in Bevington Road by 3.30. If Legion had been under the tree today I would have had time to have a good long chat with him and then popped around the corner to say hello to PWS. However there is no H&V and to add to my disappointment walking up I realised I had left the ST cards at home. So it was straight back in the car to get cards and finally made it in at 4.25 having missed both goals. Frustrating second half as we wasted good possession and chances but all ended well.
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Anyone that tells me they can still see a player in nzogbia and he should be starting in front of Grealish will get a sharp punch on the end of there nose
I'm not a violent man, but I'd be willing to act as a character witness on your behalf.
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Well done for persevering Hutton.
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Benteke's vision and distribution were outstanding today.
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Sounds like Okore is starting to cement his place in the team.
Okore will make us forget about Vlaar's likely departure in January quite quickly. He's doing so very well now. Delighted for him.
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What a header by Clark, tops off a great few weeks of performances from him. I've given him some stick for being dominated too often physically and not up to standard but if he turns out to prove me wrong I'd love us to have a player on our hands there.
He is definitely more of a threat than any other centre back we have from set pieces.
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Sounds like Okore is starting to cement his place in the team.
Okore will make us forget about Vlaar's likely departure in January quite quickly. He's doing so very well now. Delighted for him.
agree TV
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Anyone that tells me they can still see a player in nzogbia and he should be starting in front of Grealish will get a sharp punch on the end of there nose
I'm not a violent man, but I'd be willing to act as a character witness on your behalf.
Count me in if you need witnesses to say it was just a gentle pat on the nose me Lord!
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Okore, Baker, Clark and big Phil means we're ok if Ron wants to move on, no worries there.
I'd like Delph to decide to stay though.
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Benteke's vision and distribution were outstanding today.
Yes however he should have buried that header.
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Sounds like Okore is starting to cement his place in the team.
Okore will make us forget about Vlaar's likely departure in January quite quickly. He's doing so very well now. Delighted for him.
I think you could be right
I was unsure of him to be fair, due to not seeing much of him and the expectation building around Him
But he's hardly put a foot wrong so far
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What was the attendance?
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27692
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What was the attendance?
27,692
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Clark (was not a fan) excellent
Okore quality and will get better
Benteke looking stronger and sharper
Hutton most consistent player
Nzogbia terrible player and draining the team of any new found confidence
Grealish done more in his "stint" than Nzogbia has done since the spurs game
Great result and will be buying a paper at work tomorrow !!!
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Much better performance, still had the issue of looking for the safe pass when a bit more risk might've led to better chances (3-4 times we could've played Benteke in on the edge of the box with a ball to feet but we worked it wide and crossed instead).
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what were their names?
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Played some very nice stuff at times, shaky at the back against the break though. Kasper MOTM. Okore and Sanchez look real players, although Sanchez still looks like he has the potential for a late daft pass or challenge. And who would have thought 6 months ago that Marco van Hutton would be the player he is! First time i've seen us win at home since early May!
Onwards and upwards, Champions League, here we come.
+1
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What was the attendance?
27,692
What was the Parma attendance?
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Fair play to Hutton, his composure and skill to finish that was commendable, I had visions of him volleying it first time into Row Z in the Holte End.
Everyone put a shift in today, well apart from Charles Insomnia. let's hope some mug comes in for him in January because he's stinking the place out right now.
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Bloody good win and a fine performance as well. We've been (rightly) moaning about the lack of entertainment at Villa Park but today was everything we've been crying out for. Unlucky to go behind but we did well to come back and deservedly take all 3 points. Thought Gabby was excellent by the way.
Oh and the first goal at the Holte for 8 months!
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I reckon that would have been a good match for the neutral to watch. I quite liked their number 26 Mahrez, some nice stuff from him at times.
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I actually genuinely enjoyed that game. A much better performance all round...we attacked! With movement! And I even saw the players attempting short passes in the final third and *gasp* ONE-TWOs. Wonders will never cease.
Although you could see pretty clearly why we're so ineffectual without Benteke. Everything good we do goes through him at some point. He gets plaudits for his strength and goalscoring, but his vision and passing in the box is brilliant.
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What a header by Clark, tops off a great few weeks of performances from him. I've given him some stick for being dominated too often physically and not up to standard but if he turns out to prove me wrong I'd love us to have a player on our hands there.
He is definitely more of a threat than any other centre back we have from set pieces.
Excellent "tackle" to even things up after Westwood injury as well.
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Put 'telegraph Villa' into your safari or Google and read Henry Winter's story of the match. A bit partisan. On our side!
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I actually genuinely enjoyed that game. A much better performance all round...we attacked! With movement! And I even saw the players attempting short passes in the final third and *gasp* ONE-TWOs. Wonders will never cease.
Although you could see pretty clearly why we're so ineffectual without Benteke. Everything good we do goes through him at some point. He gets plaudits for his strength and goalscoring, but his vision and passing in the box is brilliant.
It gets overlooked, but he is our 'number 10'.
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Sounds like Okore is starting to cement his place in the team.
Okore will make us forget about Vlaar's likely departure in January quite quickly. He's doing so very well now. Delighted for him.
I think you could be right
I was unsure of him to be fair, due to not seeing much of him and the expectation building around Him
But he's hardly put a foot wrong so far
He really is lovely to watch at times in how times his runs and addresses his angles to deny the forward space. He's a very intelligent young player.
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Thought we did well in the end considering we lost two of our center midfielders and it would have been more comfortable if that pesky Kasper hadn't been annoyingly good. Special mention for Sanchez for doing his best to hold the depleted midfield together. Also a mention for the linesman on the Trinity Road side who didn't seem to know what he was doing.
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Match report from the OS
Alan Hutton grabbed his first Villa goal as Paul Lambert's men recorded their second win in a week and extended their unbeaten sequence to five matches.
The Scottish full-back crowned a fine performance, which earned him the sponsors' man-of-the-match award, by driving home a 71st-minute winner after Ciaran Clark had cancelled out Leonardo Ulloa's early goal for the bottom-of-the-table Foxes.
It was a hurly-burly, all-action contest, although it was marred by some wild challenges.
Ashley Westwood was carried off on a stretcher after a dreadful challenge by Jamie Vardy, while Leicester finished the match with 10 men after Paul Konchesky was sent off.
Ulloa's 13th-minute goal was all the more galling because Villa had dominated until then, creating some good openings.
With less than two minutes on the clock, Aly Cissokho's menacing low cross was only just too far ahead of Christian Benteke, who would surely have scored had he not been distracted by a Leicester defender.
It was a similar story on 10 minutes, when another fine Cissokho delivery was just beyond Gabby Agbonlahor's reach, and a couple of minutes later Benteke was unlucky with a fine cross shot which flew narrowly beyond the far post.
But just as Villa were building up some momentum, they had the wind taken out of their sails by a gift opening goal.
Riyad Mahrez worked his way into a good position for a low left-foot shot which Brad Guzan was unable to hold, leaving Ulloa the simple task of tapping in from a couple of yards.
Thankfully it took Lambert's men only four minutes to find an equaliser.
Westwood floated a teasing free-kick into the goalmouth and Clark dived in to send an intelligently-flicked header past Kasper Schmeichel and into the roof of the net.
As Villa continued to press forward, Agbonlahor was unfortunate to see a well-struck drive charged down just inside the penalty area, although the visitors also produced a couple of decent efforts, Guzan holding Ulloa's low shot before Jeff Schlupp fired just wide.
Benteke was close again when his 39th-minute drive hit Liam Moore and looped over for a corner but Villa were forced to make a change just before the interval , sending on Kieran Richardson after Westwood had be scythed down by Vardy's late tackle.
Westwood was carried off on a stretcher, with Vardy fortunate to escape with only a yellow card.
Villa started the second period in even more forceful fashion that they had the first.
Tom Cleverley was only just off target with a rising angled shot before Agbonlahor's low cross was hacked clear as Richardson moved in for the kill.
And when Richardson's slide-rule pass sent Benteke clear in the 53rd minute, it was only the striker's momentary hesitation that let him down, Schmeichel racing out to deflect his shot for a corner.
The Foxes still posed a threat on the break, however, and on 68 minutes Guzan made the save of the match, leaping to tip the ball over at full stretch after sub Chris Wood had unleashed a 20-yard volley that was heading for the top corner.
That was a huge relief, but three minutes later Villa were in front.
Benteke spotted Hutton unmarked beyond the far post and picked out the full-back with a magnificent crossfield pass.
Hutton's control was equally good, and he composed himself before drilling a low right-foot shot inside Schmeichel's near post.
Benteke almost added another with a firm header from a cross by sub Jack Grealish, only for Schmeichel to brilliantly tip it away for a corner, while Grealish had a shot blocked following Agbonlahor's strong run and cross.
In the meantime, the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Konchesky hacked down Hutton and then accused the defender of over-reacting to the challenge.
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What was the attendance?
27,692
What was the Parma attendance?
Parma played today and got beat at home by Lazio. I am not aware of attendance ;)
Anyway with Leicester turning out in force 27K means probably less home fans in the ground than v Southampton.
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Force? They had loads of empty seats. I know they are shit and it's live on TV but surprised more of them didn't travel considering how close it is.
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Thought we did well in the end considering we lost two of our center midfielders and it would have been more comfortable if that pesky Kasper hadn't been annoyingly good. Special mention for Sanchez for doing his best to hold the depleted midfield together. Also a mention for the linesman on the Trinity Road side who didn't seem to know what he was doing.
Only real complaint is that we didn't have the game wrapped up and had to go through another tense final few minutes. Thought Clark and Okore both did well and the former is full of confidence at the moment. Sanchez was a lot better on the ball and I thought Bacuna did alright when he came on. The only real disappointment was N'Zogbia who offered very little.
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Force? They had loads of empty seats. I know they are shit and it's live on TV but surprised more of them didn't travel considering how close it is.
They had twice as many as Saints.
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Leicester are the worst team I've seen so far this season but a win, three points and a goal at the Holte End is all that matters, and but for Scmeichel it would have been a more convincing scoreline. Having said that Brad pulled off a superb save to keep them out. Hutton's return from the bomb squad thoroughly vindicated, and begs the question why he was there in the first place. Impressed with Okore and Clark today; N'zogbia continues to frustrate and should have been taken off earlier as he was in danger of getting sent off; and a bit of humble pie for me - I criticised Sanchez the other week but thought he was superb today - the only player who really moved into space at every opportunity. Hope Westwood's injury isn't too serious but to be brutally honest I don't think we missed him that much.
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Force? They had loads of empty seats. I know they are shit and it's live on TV but surprised more of them didn't travel considering how close it is.
They had twice as many as Saints.
A 1000 more tops, and the attendance was over 2K higher.
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A 1000 more tops, and the attendance was over 2K higher.
You sure you dire state of health has not affected your judgement? :)
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Excellent performances today from Clark, Hutton and Okore. Disgraceful challenge on Westwood. Hutton was perhaps a little lucky to stay on but will reserve passing judgement until I see the replay later. Benteke was unlucky not to score. Guzan redeemed himself for his clanger with that excellent second-half save. Schmeichel was the outstanding player for me today.
Thanks to the group sitting behind me who knocked a whole bottle of coke over my Programme Bag. I only had one because Fred wanted the matchday prog and I then got the 140 years book for an extra £2. It seems to have survived and they were very apologetic about the incident. I think they relocated for the second half.
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Thanks to the group sitting behind me who knocked a whole bottle of coke over my Programme Bag. I only had one because Fred wanted the matchday prog and I then got the 140 years book for an extra £2. It seems to have survived and they were very apologetic about the incident. I think they relocated for the second half.
Unusual for something untoward to happen to you Leeg ;)
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Much better. Really pleased to see the ref take the brave decision of sending of the Leicester player who very deliberately was trying to get Hutton to react, I wonder if he was close enough to hear what was said?
On the whole I thought we tried to attack the whole match. There is just a lack of crispness/quality in midfield. Hopefully it can build as they get more and more confidence.
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Just home from the match and delighted with the win. Thought we made hard work of it and it should really have been 4 or 5. Still we won that's the main thing.
Big games from Hutton and Cleverley and again Clark and Okore were excellent . Grealish again very lively when he came on. Nice to see dion Dublin at HT plugging his new cd ! (Charity)
Another low crowd circa 27k , but I think fans will gradually return if the form and results keep picking up.
We need to consolidate this with a win at WBA now.
Any word on Westwood ?
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Haven't enjoyed as much since the first half against Hull.
Post-match interview with Lambo he said "we have been trying something new in training and it's working" - that will be width then Paul?
Our most creative player is still Benteke - pity he can't pass to himself.
Excellent run from Gabby for the winner
Some good individual cameos today (Okore, Clark, Sanchez, Gabby, Grealish)
Top mention to the bomb-squad hero that is Alan Hutton - true professional - if we get a wide player for him to pass forward to we will be dangerous!
Had a boisterous and excited 6-year old lad sat behind me today. He was wide-eyed and in awe of VP loving every second - chatting to all around - there is another generation out there just waiting to follow the Villa if they give them something to cheer
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Just got back, glad to get the win. With chances we created we should have been more comfortable for the last 10mins or so...why can't we see games off? Charles was pap, Jack has to start next week. All of the defence was superb, Sissoko got turned a couple of times, once resulted in there goal.
We played a shit side and we still need to improve.
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Just got back, glad to get the win. With chances we created we should have been more comfortable for the last 10mins or so...why can't we see games off? Charles was pap, Jack has to start next week. All of the defence was superb, Sissoko got turned a couple of times, once resulted in there goal.
We played a shit side and we still need to improve.
I'm assuming it will be Andi back in next week.
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Delighted with the 3 points, the first half performance, noteable performances from Brad, Hutton, Clark and Jores. Even Cissokho started getting crosses in, something I've been screaming out for from him.
Sanchez looked great today, possibly his best game for us. Westwood and Cleverly played their part and Richardson did his best, he'll always put a shift in. The less said about Charles the better though I didn't think today he was any worse than normal. Grealish, for all his talent is still finding his feet at this level but he didn't let anybody down, probably saving it for next week when he'll score the winner from 20 yards.
Good to see the strikers finally get some decent service. Felt sorry for Benteke as he was desperate to score. Gabby found space and linked up well, constantly giving their defence something to worry about.
My only complaint was how we finished the last 15-20 minutes. We really should have ripped them a new one but losing both Westwood and Cleverly probably didn't help and with Sanchez forced to drop deeper we lost somebody that could drive forward through the centre with the ball.
Whisper it very, very quietly but since Keane left we've actually started to pass the ball.. and you know what, we're not half as bad as we've tried to look. Take a bow, Scott Marshall.
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Good to come from behind and win. Some good individual performances. Sloppy at times and lacking a bit of movement going forward. Pleased with the win, should have been more. Glad to see us going in the right direction.
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We need to consolidate this with a win at WBA now.
3 wins in a row. Dare we dream?
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Just got back, glad to get the win. With chances we created we should have been more comfortable for the last 10mins or so...why can't we see games off? Charles was pap, Jack has to start next week. All of the defence was superb, Sissoko got turned a couple of times, once resulted in there goal.
Yeah it was a suspension? I would still like to see Jack start.
We played a shit side and we still need to improve.
I'm assuming it will be Andi back in next week.
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Yep, 1 match ban for accumulated yellows.
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Happy with the win of course. CNZ proved again he offers nothing and we should be looking to move him on in January. Thought 3/4 of the defence were excellent with Sissoko, still having a wobble. To be fair to Cleverly he was carrying a knock for the majority of the time he was on the pitch. I am convinced there is a decent player in there and he might still deliver. We are a different team with Benteke on the pitch and he is our most important player, just hope something changes off the pitch which means we can keep him long term. I like Jack a lot and glad he was given a decent run out. Great ball in for Benteke's header. I personally would have started him today against a poor, low confidence team. Would I in a local derby or against Man Ute? Not sure.
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Relieved to get the win, but even against a poor Leicester team we were still clinging on at the end. Don't get me wrong, we more than deserved the win, but I just wish we could make things easier for ourselves when closing a game out.
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Oh just to add I do love watching Sánchez, looks like a guy playing on the beach and having fun. He is getting there so fair play to PL, lets have a couple more gems in January please.
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Good 3 points but so it should have been - 10 of their players were playing a league below this time last year.
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Okore and Clark were tremendous and Hutton is fastly becoming my favourite player, onwards and upwards!
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Good 3 points but so it should have been - 10 of their players were playing a league below this time last year.
We are crap against lower league opposition so let's just savour the win.
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We looked convincing for the first time all season. Good win, well done all.
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
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Christ, what a difference a few wins and points makes. Really enjoyed todays game and all of a sudden football is wonderful again. Pity I cant bottle the feeling, its brill. I think the 6 one against Sunderland. was the last time I felt like this
Okore looks the business. He isn't just a defender he can really play. Quality
Loathed Clark in the past but he and baker have done well this season. They are just awful together. Keep them apart and they will be fine.
Beneteke is the difference. He is the fulcrum for everything. He is the attacking outlet and can play a bit as well, as evidence by the exquisite pass to Hutton. He keeps their defenders busy and allows Gabby to get into the game, as he did today.
Nzog needs to join the bomb squad. Awful. Cissokho worries me as well, he looks short on confidence.
Onwards and upwards
Finally, fair play to Kaspar. He will be in the prem next season even if Leicester aren't.
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
Probably our best midfielder today, Cleverly did alright too. Sorry to say Grealish did not impress me at all.
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Might be time to recall Gardner if we've lost Westwood for any length of time.
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
Probably our best midfielder today, Cleverly did alright too. Sorry to say Grealish did not impress me at all.
Jack needs a run of games
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
Probably our best midfielder today, Cleverly did alright too. Sorry to say Grealish did not impress me at all.
Jack needs a run of games
Yes people were slating Sanchez early on too, players need games.
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Happy with that.
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Grealish did fine. I would have loved to see him cut back inside and try a shot instead of laying the ball out wide for Richardson at the end.
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
Probably our best midfielder today, Cleverly did alright too. Sorry to say Grealish did not impress me at all.
Jack needs a run of games
Yes people were slating Sanchez early on too, players need games.
Hopefully you are both right. But yeah, in my eyes, not good tonight.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
I appreciated the energy but his misplaced passes and runs into the wrong places were the characteristics I saw most from him. He really didn't seem to get into the game at all. Anyways opinions. Glad other fans saw more positives than me.
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Oh just to add I do love watching Sánchez, looks like a guy playing on the beach and having fun. He is getting there so fair play to PL, lets have a couple more gems in January please.
I like Carlos in a deep role but when he plays further forward he slows things down too much.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
That rubbish through ball to Richardson?
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Carlos was a very good signing, as basically have all Lambert's signings that have cost 4m or more: Vlaar, Benteke, Okore, Sanchez, Kozak.
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We are getting there, there is more of a team feel to our play rather than the reactive off the cuff stuff of a few weeks ago. Benteke makes such a difference, he allows us to play a completely different way. Slap a £500m price tag on him.
Hutton deservedly man of the match but most put in a shift although would like to mention Clark who is starting to fulfil his potential and Okore who looks like he could be something special.
Hanging on a bit at the end but injuries in midfield probably had a lot to do with that.
The Smith contingent enjoyed our day.
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Hutton deservedly man of the match but most put in a shift although would like to mention Clark who is starting to fulfil his potential and Okore who looks like he could be something special.
Good point. They both seemed determined to take the chance they have. High energy and focused all game. Very good from both.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
Is is just me me? Not getting the Grealish hype at all. Looks a bit Lee Hendrie at the moment. Am I missing something?
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Finally, fair play to Kaspar. He will be in the prem next season even if Leicester aren't.
I'd have him here to be honest. Still this its a vulnerable position for us as Guzan is average and has little competition for his place.
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Everyone's being very black and white about grealish
He set up a great benteke chance with a cross and played a through ball that bEnteke shouldn't have been offside for. He also showed composure with his shot and looked to have class on the ball
On the flip side he gave some stupid balls away, his passing when it really counted wasn't good enough and he was afforded a lot of space - unlike n'zogbia
I was encouraged overall though
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Weren't Real Madrid after Kasper
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Finally, fair play to Kaspar. He will be in the prem next season even if Leicester aren't.
I'd have him here to be honest. Still this its a vulnerable position for us as Guzan is average and has little competition for his place.
Guzan is hardly average.
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Finally, fair play to Kaspar. He will be in the prem next season even if Leicester aren't.
I'd have him here to be honest. Still this its a vulnerable position for us as Guzan is average and has little competition for his place.
I'd take one Guzan in nets over two Kaspar Schmeichels, in spite of today's mess-up.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
I don't think anyone's doubted hendrie's talent have they?
Is is just me me? Not getting the Grealish hype at all. Looks a bit Lee Hendrie at the moment. Am I missing something?
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Strong performance overall with a good response from going behind early on. Beneteke was again influencial and help to bring the best out of Gabby too. The tactics were also more postive than recent home games (but then them scoring early may have had somethingto do with that). There were a number of solid performances, and it was nice to see Grealish get a decent run out. Agreed that he needs a run of games to really get into his flow. Hope the injury to Westwood isn't too bad. Looks like Lambert's job is safe for now.
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Finally, fair play to Kaspar. He will be in the prem next season even if Leicester aren't.
I'd have him here to be honest. Still this its a vulnerable position for us as Guzan is average and has little competition for his place.
Guzan is hardly average.
Yeah I was gonna say. Kaspar definitely kept them in it today but for my money Guzan made the best save of the game, from the best shot of the game.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
I don't think anyone's doubted hendrie's talent have they?
Is is just me me? Not getting the Grealish hype at all. Looks a bit Lee Hendrie at the moment. Am I missing something?
250-odd league games for us and an England cap will do for me.
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As for Guzan he did have a few hairy moments today (as he did on Tuesday), but made up for them with some great saves and again at cruical times of the game.
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I claim full credit for our win today because once again I didn't post in the match thread.Yay!!
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65% possession
7 shots on target.
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Just home. M6 and A14 once again a living nightmare for us East Anglian carrot crunchers. Could have been and should have been a bigger win for us. Alan Hutton outstanding and if anybody can explain why such a player spent last season playing frisbee with the youth team I would be pleased to hear it. Benteke is pure class and against a lesser shot stopper would have had a hat trick today. Sanchez still seems to need too much thinking time but when he snaps out of his day dream he shows signs of being a top class player. Charlie is still Charlie playing as though he is driven by clockwork. Dart, dart, stop, swivel, spin, dart, dart, stop. Gabby worked his nuts off. Referee allowed a potentially hard fought game to become very ugly with inconsistent decisions. Looks like Lambert survives to go again another day. Clarks Irish DNA had him at a much higher playing temperature and he was very much better for it. Jores Okore looks like he is everything we hoped he would be.
I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
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Any idea why most of our players had white boots on today ?
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The best passages from midfield were started by Okore and Benteke which says a lot about the quality we have there, Okore was very steady and with good players to come back we look good in defense. Grealish looks a bit light on and he seemed a bit frightened of making mistakes but that will come good with more game time. Agree about Nzog, he's lost that crucial bit of pace and needs replacing. I am gobsmacked that we are where we are after all the shit we've played the last few months.Still want Lambert gone though.
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Any idea why most of our players had white boots on today ?
Because modern football is evil. No defender should ever wear non black boots.
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Is is just me me? Not getting the Grealish hype at all. Looks a bit Lee Hendrie at the moment. Am I missing something?
Just my opinion of course but I at least thought he was always looking for the ball tonight. He got into a lot of good positions in a lot of space which led to some good chances (albeit untaken), something that Zog hasn't ever done for us. The highlight of course was his great cross to Benteke who should have nodded in.
Not a great performance but I can certainly see the potential. At any rate he's shown a lot more with that one cross than N'Zog has over the past half a dozen games.
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N'Zogbia never looks like he cares.
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Turned a match around <tick>
65% possession <tick>
Back to back wins <tick>
Goals from other than forward players <tick>
Sanchez immense in midfield <tick>
Okore had a very good game <tick>
Jack came on <tick>
I am running out of ticks!
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Just back in. Much better, but Leicester are a very very poor team and gave our midfield too much space and time on the ball. Very impressed with Okore, he could become something very special, only his sixth (?) start at this level. Let's hope that he's over the injury now.
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Grealish did fine. I would have loved to see him cut back inside and try a shot instead of laying the ball out wide for Richardson at the end.
Yes that was disappointing. I thought he should have ran on and not passed but he is class act to be.
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Grealish may be lightweight (Gordon Cowans?), but he creates chances, he did well today IMHO.
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Delighted with the back to back wins, everyone played great.
Not really having a go at Cissokho but I think he really struggles with the ball, our attacking play seems to go to him too often and ends up breaking down. He's good defensively but we shouldn't use him as an attacking outlet.
Having said that he's ok for where we are now I suppose. I'd want to see some flair in midfield before attending our merry go round left back problem.
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Sanchez is really settling in well now.
I thought he was MotM.
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Grealish offers what no other of our midfielders does. Constantly shows for the ball and is brave enough to run with it and take players on.
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Lovely to win at home as ever. Little steps for us. A few comments:
Guzan is not average!
Great goal for Hutton. Not sure why people are thinking he was lucky not to be sent off.
Okore and Clark - excellent, not worried about Vlaar now.
Sanchez - improving match by match.
Grealish - could have had a couple today, young lad still learning.
Benteke - awesome!!
We have taken some good steps these last few weeks, keep positive. UTV!!
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Carlos was a very good signing, as basically have all Lambert's signings that have cost 4m or more: Vlaar, Benteke, Okore, Sanchez, Kozak.
Seen a few people mention this, but they conveniently leave out that left back we signed from 'borough for £4.5m whose name I don't want to remember.
Also talks that Cleverley deal will be made permanent for £8m (ish)
Still agree, a great percentage of his non bargain basement buys being outstanding
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Every time I see Sanchez I'm impressed . He's still making errors (as he will until fully settled), but his positional awareness is superb and he is a dominant presence in the centre of the pitch. He's also getting steadily better .
I think by next season he will look an absolute bargain.
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Enjoyed it...match 7 of the season and 1st win for me and my boys this season....massive relief as my 10 yr old is becoming as negative as most of you lot :P . I hate seeing the ground so empty...hopefully we have hit the low and its upwards from here....love okore, comfortable on ball always looking to intercept, and what's with these goal kicks....Hutton and aly always staying back...long ball no more?
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Grealish is a 19 year old lad, with not much more than 90 mins experience of the Premier League. He has undoubted talent but there is stil a long way to go, we need to give him time & patience.
Overall, a well deserved win, Benteke makes a big difference, but I've been hugely impressed by Okores. He looks the real deal to me.
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Okore and Clark - excellent, not worried about Vlaar now
I know what you mean.
It is very early days, but given what we have seen thus far, and given Vlaar's injury record, the idea of Okore being Vlaar's replacement doesn't concern me too much.
I am much more worried about losing Delph than I am Vlaar.
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A start that was lacklustre.
Leo ulloua for Leicester.
Villa came back with muster..
A Goal ! Clark headed the leveler
Hutton was a bit of a jester
When being like a wrestler
But scores & villa win .. YEAH !
:) :D ;) ;D
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Just home. M6 and A14 once again a living nightmare for us East Anglian carrot crunchers. Could have been and should have been a bigger win for us. Alan Hutton outstanding and if anybody can explain why such a player spent last season playing frisbee with the youth team I would be pleased to hear it. Benteke is pure class and against a lesser shot stopper would have had a hat trick today. Sanchez still seems to need too much thinking time but when he snaps out of his day dream he shows signs of being a top class player. Charlie is still Charlie playing as though he is driven by clockwork. Dart, dart, stop, swivel, spin, dart, dart, stop. Gabby worked his nuts off. Referee allowed a potentially hard fought game to become very ugly with inconsistent decisions. Looks like Lambert survives to go again another day. Clarks Irish DNA had him at a much higher playing temperature and he was very much better for it. Jores Okore looks like he is everything we hoped he would be.
I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
Re Jack
i wonder whether its the hairstyle ( my 16 year old daughter says its uncool and awful) or the socks at half mast that make us all think he is a bit different and should therefore be quality. He might be one day but he really needs a run of games and we can then see what we've got. He looks to me and if he could be decent and if he turns out to be as good as Hendrie that cant be bad.
Time will tell
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Lambert shouldn't bother to hire a coaching team. He said they tried something different in training yesterday that they are going to persevere with. I reckon it was attacking the opponents with the intent of putting the ball in their net. Lets keep it up.
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Carlos was a very good signing, as basically have all Lambert's signings that have cost 4m or more: Vlaar, Benteke, Okore, Sanchez, Kozak.
Seen a few people mention this, but they conveniently leave out that left back we signed from 'borough for £4.5m whose name I don't want to remember.
Also talks that Cleverley deal will be made permanent for £8m (ish)
Still agree, a great percentage of his non bargain basement buys being outstanding
Do you mean Bennett? If so they probably leave him out because he cost about £2.5m*, rather than for convenience.
*(It says so on the internet so it must be true).
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Lambert shouldn't bother to hire a coaching team. He said they tried something different in training yesterday that they are going to persevere with. I reckon it was attacking the opponents with the intent of putting the ball in their net. Lets keep it up.
I think the change was a serious intent to keep the ball, rather than pump it hopefully.
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Carlos was a very good signing, as basically have all Lambert's signings that have cost 4m or more: Vlaar, Benteke, Okore, Sanchez, Kozak.
Seen a few people mention this, but they conveniently leave out that left back we signed from 'borough for £4.5m whose name I don't want to remember.
Also talks that Cleverley deal will be made permanent for £8m (ish)
Still agree, a great percentage of his non bargain basement buys being outstanding
At the risk of giving you nightmares, I'll guess that you're talking about Joe Bennett, but I don't know where you're getting £4.5M from.
It was reported as €3.0M or £2.5M at the time, but given that the fees for most of his signings that summer were over reported at the time (both Lowton and Westwood were reported as £1.5 - 2.0M at the time, but Lambert has subsequently said under £1M each, which, if I remember correctly, has been confirmed in Lowton's case by his brother) it's not to much of a stretch to think the actual fee might have been even lower.
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Clark was playing his 99th premier league game today. If Grealish, Okore, Sanchez and Sissokho all reach that figure, they will all be much better players.
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It was interesting to see how deep hutton was, waiting to collect the ball from guzan. At times he was behind guzan close to the touchline.
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Grealish just needs a bit more confidence which will come with games. I have noticed that he is reticent to take a shot when it's on for him. He gave the ball away once and underhit a couple of passes, but he is full of quality.
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A player like Grealish will make mistakes , that's because he wants balls in the thick of the action, doesn't shirk the ball and treat it like a hot potatoe. Can't believe he's getting flak.
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Watching the highlights now and Schmeichel played a complete blinder. It could have been 4 or 5 to us in the end.
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He's got vision. He will be great. Let's hope we have a team to retain his talents...vtid
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Our lad Thomas is on MotD2.
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Thought Grealish was great when he came on. Comfortable with the ball, and willing to take players on. What's not to like !
Is is just me me? Not getting the Grealish hype at all. Looks a bit Lee Hendrie at the moment. Am I missing something?
Blimey, I hope he's as good as Hendriebtk gr honest. He was a very good footballer, I'll have done more of that if that's what Jack is.
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I'm undecided on Grealish's performances to date.
Lets hope he keeps improving and becomes a top player. As fans we desperately need someone who can lift the mood and he may turn out to be that player.
I noted he took 2 corners from both sides and they were both top quality - something we have been missing for what seems like an age.
On a similar note Clark always looks dangerous from set pieces. In his 4 games he could have scored 3/4. From a side where you wonder where the goals are coming from this can be a huge bonus.
UTV.
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The one corner, which we almost scored from was from Grealish's right foot. I thought he was left footed but must be good on both sides. It will be interesting to see whether he commits to England or Ireland. It might be an indicator of how confident his career will pan out.
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Good win. Second goal was really nice.
Bit concerned Sanchez has no awareness of what's around him when he has the ball. Seems to take ages to make a pass. Like him though!
Leicester are such a long ball team. Even in the first half, their defenders just smacked it forward. They're going down I think.
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Freakish is absolute class,the cross for Benteke was sublime and every fine he got the ball he attacked his nearest opponent,he also takes the best corners I've seen us take for ages.
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I think that the whole team (included Grealish) played well and with great committment today, we would have deserved a wider win.
Schmeichel was by far MOM.
One thing that I haven't understood is that, after missing Westwood, Lambert changed our only defensive midfielder, Cleverley, with an attacking-minded midfielder, like Grealish. But we have risked as we can not afford a three men midfield with Sanchez, N'Zogbia and Sanchez, it is too lightweight and with stronger opponents we would have paid this incomprehensible decision.
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Turned up at VP fairly early for once. Was parked up in Bevington Road by 3.30. If Legion had been under the tree today I would have had time to have a good long chat with him and then popped around the corner to say hello to PWS. However there is no H&V and to add to my disappointment walking up I realised I had left the ST cards at home. So it was straight back in the car to get cards and finally made it in at 4.25 having missed both goals. Frustrating second half as we wasted good possession and chances but all ended well.
If you forget your season ticket you can nip in the ticket office and ask them to print you a paper one. The barcode can only go through the turnstile once, so they can't lose.
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N'Zogbia never looks like he cares.
Yes and that annoys me.
Billy McNeill cared least.
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Very pleasing performance overall and a welcome result.
Leicester playing a high defensive line played to our strengths somewhat, and energised Gabby to have one of his best games for a long while. Benteke did some fantastic work, but the number of times he was caught offside showed he was not used to this tactic.
I thought Cissokho was being beaten far too easily but he was decent going forward. Hutton was immense but he had little protection from the wide midfield player, presumably Zog.
I have always liked Sanchez who has a touch of class about his play, but he played the hospital pass to Westwood, and he needs to cut that out. Okore is classy as well, and seems imperturbable. Clark played very well apart from the time he tried to play out from he back and gave the ball away in a very dangerous position which most other teams would have punished.
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I enjoyed the game but found it strange that so many sitting around me were so critical of the team.
Any backwards or sidewards pass - even though we retained possession was greeted with jeers and comments about having no idea what they were doing. Too slow was shouted numerous times by people near me. Get it forward was also shouted a lot.
I just wonder how much of this nervousness, negativity and anxiety gets through to the players on the pitch.
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I think that the whole team (included Grealish) played well and with great committment today, we would have deserved a wider win.
Schmeichel was by far MOM.
One thing that I haven't understood is that, after missing Westwood, Lambert changed our only defensive midfielder, Cleverley, with an attacking-minded midfielder, like Grealish. But we have risked as we can not afford a three men midfield with Sanchez, N'Zogbia and Sanchez, it is too lightweight and with stronger opponents we would have paid this incomprehensible decision.
I think Cleverley was an enforced change as he had an injury and was straight down the tunnel.
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I was impressed by Clarks tackle on the Leicester forward. It was a great tackle on its own but it came right after Westwood went off injured and it felt like Clark just stepped up and took ownership of Villa Park as ours. We've often been accused of being too nice, that was a great, solid tackle that said, "don't fuck about!".
I'm sorry the player was injured, I don't wish for that but I was impressed by Clark in that instance.
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I think that the whole team (included Grealish) played well and with great committment today, we would have deserved a wider win.
Schmeichel was by far MOM.
One thing that I haven't understood is that, after missing Westwood, Lambert changed our only defensive midfielder, Cleverley, with an attacking-minded midfielder, like Grealish. But we have risked as we can not afford a three men midfield with Sanchez, N'Zogbia and Sanchez, it is too lightweight and with stronger opponents we would have paid this incomprehensible decision.
I think Cleverley was an enforced change as he had an injury and was straight down the tunnel.
It was definitely enforced as Lambert has said TC had to go off with a bruised foot.
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I think that the whole team (included Grealish) played well and with great committment today, we would have deserved a wider win.
Schmeichel was by far MOM.
One thing that I haven't understood is that, after missing Westwood, Lambert changed our only defensive midfielder, Cleverley, with an attacking-minded midfielder, like Grealish. But we have risked as we can not afford a three men midfield with Sanchez, N'Zogbia and Sanchez, it is too lightweight and with stronger opponents we would have paid this incomprehensible decision.
I think Cleverley was an enforced change as he had an injury and was straight down the tunnel.
Also, our only defensive midfielder wasn't Cleverley it was Sanchez.
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Don't think this has been posted. The bold bit is interesting.
Paul Lambert was delighted with the three points against Leicester City, insisting it was thoroughly deserved.
Lambert felt his team should have made it more comfortable, with two chances from Christian Benteke and one from Jack Grealish failing to find the net.
Villa boss Lambert was happy as the maximum haul took his team to 11th in the Barclays Premier League table - but he was also thrilled with the manner of the performance.
He said: "I am delighted with the win. I am delighted with how we did it.
"It was a massive three points for us. We are in a wee bit of form at the minute. I am really delighted with the lads.
"We are on a good run at the minute. The pleasing thing for me tonight was the way we played.
"I thought we were excellent - the way we kept the ball and moved it. We went a goal down against the run of play but I thought some of the football we played was fantastic.
"Someone told me afterwards that we had 72% possession. I am not one for stats but it's pleasing to do that.
"With the amount of chances we created I thought we were well worthy of winning.
"We are doing well. Five games unbeaten is good form. We're above Everton and two behind Tottenham and Liverpool.
"We lost Libor Kozak and Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph and three centre-halves. But I have to say, Ciaran Clark and Jores Okore have been outstanding together. Their partnership has been excellent.
"Alan Hutton is playing as well as anyone in the country at the moment at right-back. I am delighted with them.
"I thought we played really well tonight. We worked on something yesterday for the first time, a different way of playing, we only worked on it one time. And fair play to the lads for taking to it.
"We just worked on things yesterday and asked the lads if they felt comfortable with it. They did. So I said we'd go with it. " said let's try it. I thought we were excellent at it.
"It should have been more. Kasper Schmeichel has had a really good game. But Christian has got to score two. When he goes through, he's got to score. And Jack should have scored."
Lambert confirmed that Ashley Westwood is due for a scan on his injured knee, with the results likely tomorrow.
Tom Cleverley was subbed off in the second half due to a bruised foot.
He added: "Westy will get a scan tomorrow.
"For Westy to go down and stay down, you know there's some sort of thing there. Hopefully it's just a ligament thing and not as bad.
"I just think because it's him, if he goes down you know there is something wrong with him. I haven't seen it on the rerun back. He's a lad, if he goes down, there's a problem.
"Tom has a bruised foot at the minute. But Tom was touch and go before the game. Fair play to him for wanting to play. As the game went on, he was feeling it."
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Incidentally, I can't see any reason why Konchesky deserved a straight red card for either his challenge, or what followed it.
Vardy's was far worse.
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I wonder if it was classed as 2 yellows but the ref just showed the red? A yellow for the foul and afters was fair. Same as for Hutton. Benteke must be wondering everyone else gets a yellow for similar reactions that got him a red.
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I'd agree that two yellows would have been perfectly fair - and if the referee wants to do that then he can show two yellows. But he didn't. So he must have seen something that Konchesky did as worthy of a straight red. And I can't figure out which bit of that event it was.
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I wonder if he thought he spat at Hutton? I agree that nothing he actually did warranted a straight red, although he did deserve a red for 2 yellow card offences.
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I wonder if he thought he spat at Hutton?
On the replays I thought that it looked a bit like that - but I imagine had he done that then a bigger deal would have been made about it, both at the time and afterwards. But then it's a pretty big jump to make to send somebody off for it without asking anybody.
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In the world where two wrongs don't make a right, we got one back there for Benteke's sending off. Both could have been handled differently by the respective refs. I suppose the Konchesky one was wreckless and he came right through on Hutton's foot. I wonder how much his reputation for enjoying walks down the tunnel played against him?
And on the trying something different, Lambert visits Pep and our possession rockets to the mid 60% mark. You hope it didn't take that to notice what has been blindingly obvious to just about everyone else. Still, whatever it was they did for the first time yesterday I hope they keep at it.
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Incidentally, I can't see any reason why Konchesky deserved a straight red card for either his challenge, or what followed it.
Vardy's was far worse.
On watching the TV I thought it was correct Vardy got a yellow. He didn't lung in, do scissors or jump into the tackle, he was just a bit late from behind and even then got the ball I think.
Shame Westwood got injured but I wouldn't just send him off for a tackle that caused a bad injury, I think some of the tackles from Spurs players a few weeks ago were far worse.
No idea what Konchesky did but it's about time we had an opposition player needlessly get himself sent off against us. It makes winning just that little bit easier.
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By the letter of the law Hutton should have gone. Can't raise your hands.
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That was a very encouraging performance. I know Leicester aren't the greatest but the style was much better, similar to Burnley.
Is a win next week to much to expect though? Okore and Sanchez played well but what a lift we get from Benteke just being on the pitch.
Well done lads.
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In the Kingdom of the Ifs, if we held on and didn't concede late goals to Southampton and Bolton we would be sitting in 8th tonight. Crazy considering how bad things were looking.
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In the Kingdom of the Ifs, if we held on and didn't concede late goals to Southampton and Bolton we would be sitting in 8th tonight. Crazy considering how bad things were looking.
Put it another way - if Benteke hadn't been sent off against Spurs we'd have won. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he would have then scored in two of the three games he missed. And now we'd be fourth.
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In the Kingdom of the Ifs, if we held on and didn't concede late goals to Southampton and Bolton we would be sitting in 8th tonight. Crazy considering how bad things were looking.
Put it another way - if Benteke hadn't been sent off against Spurs we'd have won. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he would have then scored in two of the three games he missed. And now we'd be fourth.
Yes that's right, but many teams could say that.
I'm always doing the imaginary table thing too but I only seem to put points on to the total, never take points off.
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The actual fireworks were a nice touch.
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Don't think this has been posted. The bold bit is interesting.
Paul Lambert was delighted with the three points against Leicester City, insisting it was thoroughly deserved.
"I thought we played really well tonight. We worked on something yesterday for the first time, a different way of playing, we only worked on it one time. And fair play to the lads for taking to it.
"We just worked on things yesterday and asked the lads if they felt comfortable with it. They did. So I said we'd go with it. " said let's try it. I thought we were excellent at it.
."
That bloody scares me. Lambert may be many things but qualified to be be manager of Aston Villa isn't one of them.
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Not sure if it was only me, but there was some excitement in that performance yesterday, something that has sadly been missing for a very long time.
We need to be quicker to process the ball, possession is good but not just for the sake of it, if we have pace in Gabby and Benteke we need to use it and I don't mean just by humping it.
Alan Hutton take a bow, not many players deserve a goal more than you son, and that to go with a good performance as well.
Back to back wins after a certain guy does one, there's a coincidence.
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A good win and three vital points even if we made bloody hard work of it.Well done Alan Hutton,he has made quite a few of us eat our words this season
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I enjoyed the game and performance. But I can't really get my head around what this different way of playing was? We had a lot more of the ball but as I understand it Leicester have let the majority of their opponents have the ball. Lambert talked of moving the ball quickly into the most dangerous areas but I didn't really see that.
We did rotate the midfield and the front line more than we've been used to. Perhaps he meant that
Either way, why you only practice it on the Friday is also a mystery
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I enjoyed the game and performance. But I can't really get my head around what this different way of playing was? We had a lot more of the ball but as I understand it Leicester have let the majority of their opponents have the ball. Lambert talked of moving the ball quickly into the most dangerous areas but I didn't really see that.
We did rotate the midfield and the front line more than we've been used to. Perhaps he meant that
Either way, why you only practice it on the Friday is also a mystery
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Maybe they only thought of it on Thursday?
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I wonder if it was classed as 2 yellows but the ref just showed the red? A yellow for the foul and afters was fair. Same as for Hutton. Benteke must be wondering everyone else gets a yellow for similar reactions that got him a red.
You're quite right, if we'd had this ref vrs Spurs maybe the out come would have been different.
Their chap pushed his head into Hutton's face, the difference AH pushed him in the chest rather than slap his face.
How Vardey escaped a straight red was amazing
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Don't think this has been posted. The bold bit is interesting.
Paul Lambert was delighted with the three points against Leicester City, insisting it was thoroughly deserved.
"I thought we played really well tonight. We worked on something yesterday for the first time, a different way of playing, we only worked on it one time. And fair play to the lads for taking to it.
"We just worked on things yesterday and asked the lads if they felt comfortable with it. They did. So I said we'd go with it. " said let's try it. I thought we were excellent at it.
."
That bloody scares me. Lambert may be many things but qualified to be be manager of Aston Villa isn't one of them.
I think the new "thing" was passing to each other.
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See I dony 't get this. We're doing badly and we say we need to change. Lambert changes it and we win, so we complain that we only changed on Friday? He's in a lose-lose situation.
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A good win and three vital points even if we made bloody hard work of it.Well done Alan Hutton,he has made quite a few of us eat our words this season
Spot on.
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The Konchesky tackle was a foul in the first instance so a yellow card for that and there should have been a 2nd for un-gentlemanly conduct standing over Hutton berating him.
It's an old trick for a canny pro when a team is in trouble and your having an off day - put yourself about and make sure the fans know you care. Deano was a past master at it.
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Quote from: The Sound of Villadelphia on Today at 05:17:05 AM
Quote from: PeterWithesShin on Today at 01:13:02 AM
Don't think this has been posted. The bold bit is interesting.
Quote
Paul Lambert was delighted with the three points against Leicester City, insisting it was thoroughly deserved.
"I thought we played really well tonight. We worked on something yesterday for the first time, a different way of playing, we only worked on it one time. And fair play to the lads for taking to it.
"We just worked on things yesterday and asked the lads if they felt comfortable with it. They did. So I said we'd go with it. " said let's try it. I thought we were excellent at it.
."
That bloody scares me. Lambert may be many things but qualified to be be manager of Aston Villa isn't one of them.
I think the new "thing" was passing to each other.
Or Villa Park dodgeball.Anyone else notice Guzan trying to hit the roof of the dugout second half , with all the players running towards the dugout as he kicked the ball.
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heres all the goals against. not sure about the dodgy German 80s europop soundtrack.
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Unbeaten in 5, 2 wins on the bounce, but the stats don't tell the full story and our faults were still there for all to see in the last 10 minutes. We're at home, a goal ahead and a man up against the worst team in the league, any other team would press high up the pitch, keep the ball as much as possible and either work an opening for a third or just close out the game. Despite all those advantages we still retreat into our box, invite pressure, fail to press high up the pitch, and give the ball away cheaply time after time. It was so bad you'd have thought we were a man down not them. It really is brainless stuff and a damning indictment of Lambert's coaching, or lack of it.
Exactly my thoughts. This is a major failing of Lambert's coaching. We should have been totally comfortable at 2-1 against that lot but somehow the whole team collectively goes into panic mode with 10 mins to go. It may be a confidence thing but having played reasonably well for 80 mins I can't see why we always make the last 10 so difficult for ourselves. Keep the ball, keep the shape and keep doing what you had previously been doing.
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I didn't see what the new thing was. Maybe I missed something
We retained the ball better is the obvious thing and didn't give it away so cheaply. Benteke and Sanchez are now match fit. Gabby looked up for it.
Leicester were poor and lacking in confidence but we still did the usual trick of sitting back for the last 10-15 minutes.
I honestly believe that Lambert's presence is actually incidental.
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Carlos was a very good signing, as basically have all Lambert's signings that have cost 4m or more: Vlaar, Benteke, Okore, Sanchez, Kozak.
That's a point worth repeating - if we had a decent budget, would we have an overall bunch of better players?
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We won, we played pretty well and we actually took the game to them and attacked. Benteke is fired up and to a large extent he encourages the midfield up and encourages a little more movement around him by what he does. I thought Gab worked the channels quite well at times and really used his best.
Tekkers gives us options though because not only is he good facing goal and with his back to goal, but he's got at dropping deep and orchestrating things. He showed good vision with his assist for Hutton. Had it been Gabby or Weimann on the ball for example, the pass would have been overshot if they'd even attempted it. Chances are they'd scuff a shot into the defenders.
Benteke will keep us well clear if he stays fit.
That said we've a long way to go. Two wins on the bounce, 5 unbeaten. You can almost sense the implosion coming, but this time we really need to consolidate. I think we showed yesterday, albeit against the worst side in the league, that we are better when we attack in games than spend 70-80 minutes of a game defending. It's no good just reserving it for a side as shit as Leicester. We need to take the game to the majority of sides in the league. And as for the Chelseas and Arsenals etc, we might as well have a go and lose 3-0 rather than just park the bus and still get hammered.
We were good yesterday but if Lambert approaches the West Brom game negatively, or the Utd game (fucking get at them and their shitty backline) then he really is clueless.
Our best performances this season have been a half against Hull, a half against Liverpool, a half against Burnley and the Leicester game. Why? Because we showed attacking intent. The rest has been mostly dross. We're also not nearly good enough to sit back and soak it up for so long. We've got the best striker outside the top six so we may as well get players round him and work off him.
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We won, we played pretty well and we actually took the game to them and attacked. Benteke is fired up and to a large extent he encourages the midfield up and encourages a little more movement around him by what he does. I thought Gab worked the channels quite well at times and really used his best.
Tekkers gives us options though because not only is he good facing goal and with his back to goal, but he's got at dropping deep and orchestrating things. He showed good vision with his assist for Hutton. Had it been Gabby or Weimann on the ball for example, the pass would have been overshot if they'd even attempted it. Chances are they'd scuff a shot into the defenders.
Benteke will keep us well clear if he stays fit.
That said we've a long way to go. Two wins on the bounce, 5 unbeaten. You can almost sense the implosion coming, but this time we really need to consolidate. I think we showed yesterday, albeit against the worst side in the league, that we are better when we attack in games than spend 70-80 minutes of a game defending. It's no good just reserving it for a side as shit as Leicester. We need to take the game to the majority of sides in the league. And as for the Chelseas and Arsenals etc, we might as well have a go and lose 3-0 rather than just park the bus and still get hammered.
We were good yesterday but if Lambert approaches the West Brom game negatively, or the Utd game (fucking get at them and their shitty backline) then he really is clueless.
Our best performances this season have been a half against Hull, a half against Liverpool, a half against Burnley and the Leicester game. Why? Because we showed attacking intent. The rest has been mostly dross. We're also not nearly good enough to sit back and soak it up for so long. We've got the best striker outside the top six so we may as well get players round him and work off him.
And that is as accurate a summary of our recent lack of attacking intent situation as you'll garner, here or elsewhere.
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Was the "new" thing ;
In open play :
A defender hitting the box ala Hutton for the goal ?
A midfielder hitting the box ala Cleverly just missing a cross early doors 1st half and blazing it over the bar 2nd half ?
It may have taken a long while for the penny to drop but getting players in goal scoring positions will help you score goals !
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I think our problems in the last few minutes were in a large part down to losing Cleverley to injury. With Westwood already off we seemed to lose our shape so reverted to camping in our own half and had no leader there to rectify it. I guess it comes of not having the winning habit but it is something that we need to cure ourselves of.
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One small gripe about yesterday was hearing one or two boos when Albrighton came on. Some people are so idiotic.
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One small gripe about yesterday was hearing one or two boos when Albrighton came on. Some people are so idiotic.
There are a small number of ex players who have been worthy of booing over the years.
Albrighton is definitely not one of them.
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I'm not sure Hutton is making us eat our words, in his first spell he was both poor and reckless and rightly dropped,. Then with the calamities of the Lambert's first Christmas and much of his second season he could have come in and been given a chance. Perhaps his time in Spain educated him...
But to his credit he's never moaned, just got on with it.
I'd love to find out the reasons why one day.
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Happy and when was the last time we dominated such a game ? very happy with the whole team but Charlie needs to up his game as Grealish did more in 20 odd minutes than he did in the time he was on the park.
now for those stripey fuckers
UTV
The Doc
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I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
I remember thinking similar of Raheem Sterling when he first started appearing for Liverpool.
Fingers crossed we get a similar player.
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See I dony 't get this. We're doing badly and we say we need to change. Lambert changes it and we win, so we complain that we only changed on Friday? He's in a lose-lose situation.
I know what you mean.
There was clearly an empthasis on keeping the ball. Clark knocked less long balls and the centre halves came short for goal kicks. Before Westwood got injured, Sanchez and Cleverley were pushing further on, with Westwood in turn dropping deeper. Ultimately we did keep the ball a lot better and I don't think its enough to say "oh but it was only Leicester", as we have faced plenty of sides at Villa Park over the past 8 years who have sat deep and we haven't used the ball to any great effect.
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I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
I remember thinking similar of Raheem Sterling when he first started appearing for Liverpool.
Fingers crossed we get a similar player.
I think he looks boyish because that is exactly what he is and he has got some filling out to do if he is going to withstand the rigours of this league. One thing he doesn't lack, however, is confidence. Always looking to get on the ball and comfortable in possession. Early days of course but he could be something very special.
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Not meant to say anything about the worthiness of our victory, but Christ, Leicester are awful.
Cambiasso can still pick a pass, mind.
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Not meant to say anything about the worthiness of our victory, but Christ, Leicester are awful.
Cambiasso can still pick a pass, mind.
They were, but how many teams have rocked up at Villa Park and managed to turn us over while we huff and puff? Fulham and Palace are two awful teams from last season who spring to mind. I thought we were very composed in the main yesterday. We got too deep in the last ten minutes again, but we created good chances.
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I actually enjoyed yesterday's performance, and I don't say that very often. Great to see us creating chances against anyone, and even better to see Benteke getting better by the week. We look a different team with him in it.
Hopefully we'll shut the Baggies up next week and look forward to a decent christmas period.
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Cambiasso can still pick a pass, mind.
Yup, he really is a class act and its to a few of our players credit that they didn't look out of place up against him.
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We won, we played pretty well and we actually took the game to them and attacked. Benteke is fired up and to a large extent he encourages the midfield up and encourages a little more movement around him by what he does. I thought Gab worked the channels quite well at times and really used his best.
Tekkers gives us options though because not only is he good facing goal and with his back to goal, but he's got at dropping deep and orchestrating things. He showed good vision with his assist for Hutton. Had it been Gabby or Weimann on the ball for example, the pass would have been overshot if they'd even attempted it. Chances are they'd scuff a shot into the defenders.
Benteke will keep us well clear if he stays fit.
That said we've a long way to go. Two wins on the bounce, 5 unbeaten. You can almost sense the implosion coming, but this time we really need to consolidate. I think we showed yesterday, albeit against the worst side in the league, that we are better when we attack in games than spend 70-80 minutes of a game defending. It's no good just reserving it for a side as shit as Leicester. We need to take the game to the majority of sides in the league. And as for the Chelseas and Arsenals etc, we might as well have a go and lose 3-0 rather than just park the bus and still get hammered.
We were good yesterday but if Lambert approaches the West Brom game negatively, or the Utd game (fucking get at them and their shitty backline) then he really is clueless.
Our best performances this season have been a half against Hull, a half against Liverpool, a half against Burnley and the Leicester game. Why? Because we showed attacking intent. The rest has been mostly dross. We're also not nearly good enough to sit back and soak it up for so long. We've got the best striker outside the top six so we may as well get players round him and work off him.
And that is as accurate a summary of our recent lack of attacking intent situation as you'll garner, here or elsewhere.
Excellent post with one caveat. On a strict results basis I think our most impressive (ie unexpected) were stoke, palace and Liverpool away
All three involved hefty spells of just parking the bus. All three involved a clean sheet. We have more away clean sheets than anyone else
With benteke's return making us more potent I think we'll continue to see this tactic. It's horrible to watch but it's delivered results on the road against mid ranking clubs
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team of the week off da beeb has Hutton and Clark in it :)
UTV
The Doc
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Cambiasso can still pick a pass, mind.
He wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world in the summer for our midfield.
I can't imagine that Leicester are paying him hundreds of thousands per week.
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Cambiasso can still pick a pass, mind.
He wouldn't have been the worst idea in the world in the summer for our midfield.
I can't imagine that Leicester are paying him hundreds of thousands per week.
Yes, good player but his antics around the ref really annoyed me yesterday. Always in his ear, disputing everything and generally winding up an already tetchy game. He's like a bald Robbie Savage, albeit one who can also play.
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The Konchesky tackle was a foul in the first instance so a yellow card for that and there should have been a 2nd for un-gentlemanly conduct standing over Hutton berating him.
Quite, but there weren't two yellow cards - just a straight red.
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See I dony 't get this. We're doing badly and we say we need to change. Lambert changes it and we win, so we complain that we only changed on Friday? He's in a lose-lose situation.
I know what you mean.
There was clearly an empthasis on keeping the ball. Clark knocked less long balls and the centre halves came short for goal kicks. Before Westwood got injured, Sanchez and Cleverley were pushing further on, with Westwood in turn dropping deeper. Ultimately we did keep the ball a lot better and I don't think its enough to say "oh but it was only Leicester", as we have faced plenty of sides at Villa Park over the past 8 years who have sat deep and we haven't used the ball to any great effect.
That was at least part, if not all of the difference. I also noticed Guzan throwing the ball to an unmarked player on several occasions rather than giving it the traditional hoof.
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I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
I remember thinking similar of Raheem Sterling when he first started appearing for Liverpool.
Fingers crossed we get a similar player.
I think he looks boyish because that is exactly what he is and he has got some filling out to do if he is going to withstand the rigours of this league. One thing he doesn't lack, however, is confidence. Always looking to get on the ball and comfortable in possession. Early days of course but he could be something very special.
Anyone ( who saw his goal vs Hartlepool ) notice the similarity between Grealish and Jarret Rivers ?...............Godzvilla!
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Anyone ( who saw his goal vs Hartlepool ) notice the similarity between Grealish and Jarret Rivers ?...............Godzvilla!
They both have paper rounds?
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Although we weren't brilliant, i thought we were decent enough and the scoreline flattered Leicester.
The biggest positive for me, and in regards to the last few games, not just yesterday, is just how solid Okore and Clark are looking together. I've always liked Clark, and always regarded him as our most promising youngster when he came into the side under Houllier. Now he's bulked-up I think he's much more capable of dealing with the physical side of the Premier league which is often where he's struggled before. He also carries more of a goal-threat than any of our other centre-backs.
Okore is steadily settling in to his role too. His recovery pace is excellent and he's nowhere near as vulnerable in the air as he appeared to be in pre-season. He reminds a lot of Marcel Desailly in his prime. I really hope that Senderos, Vlaar and Baker are made to earn their places back, rather than being stuck straight back in. That said, the other plus with the current pairing is that they're both quite comfortable in possession of the ball, so could easily play as part of a back 3 should the situation require it too.
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I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
I remember thinking similar of Raheem Sterling when he first started appearing for Liverpool.
Fingers crossed we get a similar player.
I think he looks boyish because that is exactly what he is and he has got some filling out to do if he is going to withstand the rigours of this league. One thing he doesn't lack, however, is confidence. Always looking to get on the ball and comfortable in possession. Early days of course but he could be something very special.
As others have said, I thought Grealish contributed more in 25 minutes than N'Zogbia has in his last 2 appearances for us. The big difference between the 2 is that Grealish gets his head-up as soon as he has the ball. if there's nothing-on he simply checks back and keeps possession. If there is something on he looks to play the ball forward, early. As basic as that sounds, it's something that neither N'Zogbia or Weimann do consistently. His corners were also better than either Westwood's, Cleverley's or N'Zogbia's.
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Anyone ( who saw his goal vs Hartlepool ) notice the similarity between Grealish and Jarret Rivers ?...............Godzvilla!
They both have paper rounds?
Very good Chris.J , I like that ............Godzvilla!
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Best thing about the Clark revenge tackle was him just walking away back to position afterwards like a proper hard defender, have some of that.
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One small gripe about yesterday was hearing one or two boos when Albrighton came on. Some people are so idiotic.
Yes totally agree. We should not boo any of our ex-players unless they are like Downing and NEVER boo any of our kids coming back especially if we let them go because they were not good enough.
Having said he struggled and was as disappoining as ever.
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One small gripe about yesterday was hearing one or two boos when Albrighton came on. Some people are so idiotic.
Yes totally agree. We should not boo any of our ex-players unless they are like Downing and NEVER boo any of our kids coming back especially if we let them go because they were not good enough.
Having said he struggled and was as disappoining as ever.
there will always be some boners who will boo ex-players irrespective of who they are. I think a good number of our fans applauded him when he came on which was nice. Leave the boos for the true pricks of the game, not young kids who have moved on to further their careers having served their time honestly at the club. Albrighton is good kid. I hope he does well at Leicester. My guess is he's a little like Whittingham and he'll do well at Championship level.
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Can the football hipsters (or anyone) please explain why our fullbacks stood at the corner flags at every goal kick? I assume it was to draw Leicester outwide?
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Only saw highlights but a good win and a great second goal. Game should have been wrapped up before the end. Benteke made a hero of Schmeichal with his header. Should have head it back to the side the cross came from like Carroll did earlier in the day. Awful tackle on Westwood, definitely should have been a red. We go again
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See I dony 't get this. We're doing badly and we say we need to change. Lambert changes it and we win, so we complain that we only changed on Friday? He's in a lose-lose situation.
I know what you mean.
There was clearly an empthasis on keeping the ball. Clark knocked less long balls and the centre halves came short for goal kicks. Before Westwood got injured, Sanchez and Cleverley were pushing further on, with Westwood in turn dropping deeper. Ultimately we did keep the ball a lot better and I don't think its enough to say "oh but it was only Leicester", as we have faced plenty of sides at Villa Park over the past 8 years who have sat deep and we haven't used the ball to any great effect.
That was at least part, if not all of the difference. I also noticed Guzan throwing the ball to an unmarked player on several occasions rather than giving it the traditional hoof.
Heard on talksport that it was two yellows though ref made a mistake in only showing the red... yellow for the challenge and a yellow each for the handbags
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Westwood rumoured to be out for 4 months!! Massive blow if true. Gardner should be recalled now
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Westwood rumoured to be out for 4 months!! Massive blow if true. Gardner should be recalled now
i don't believe it is a massive blow....imo he's mostly ineffectual... i just hope whoever comes in for him shows that...
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We already have Westwood mkII in Cleverley.
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I think our problems in the last few minutes were in a large part down to losing Cleverley to injury. With Westwood already off we seemed to lose our shape so reverted to camping in our own half and had no leader there to rectify it. I guess it comes of not having the winning habit but it is something that we need to cure ourselves of.
We said EXACTLY this during the game.
Westy and Cleverley actually have a little bit of footballing nous and this disappeared when they went off.
We looked very,very naive without them.
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The Konchesky tackle was a foul in the first instance so a yellow card for that and there should have been a 2nd for un-gentlemanly conduct standing over Hutton berating him.
Quite, but there weren't two yellow cards - just a straight red.
I think the red was for the incident as a whole (tackle+berating).
Hutton was a lucky boy, but because of the berating, I'm glad the referee saw it the way he did.
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Important that Cleverley is back for the Albion game now if rumours of Westwood are true. I would expect us to sign him in January now.
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Rumoured by whom?
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Westwood rumoured to be out for 4 months!! Massive blow if true. Gardner should be recalled now
If from twitter then he'll be back for WBA this Saturday
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Really enjoyed the game great to get the win can't wait until Saturday.
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Really enjoyed the game great to get the win can't wait until Saturday.
yes
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I was impressed by Clarks tackle on the Leicester forward. It was a great tackle on its own but it came right after Westwood went off injured and it felt like Clark just stepped up and took ownership of Villa Park as ours. We've often been accused of being too nice, that was a great, solid tackle that said, "don't fuck about!".
I'm sorry the player was injured, I don't wish for that but I was impressed by Clark in that instance.
Agree totally. It was like a proper mates team " you hurt one of our now your going to get it" fairly
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A proper 'have that' moment.
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I still don't get Jack Grealish. I see the languid floatiness of his game and it appears to be something special but he looks so boyish in everything he does. Fingers crossed
I remember thinking similar of Raheem Sterling when he first started appearing for Liverpool.
Fingers crossed we get a similar player.
I hope he is better than him. Stupid haircut who did well behind the world class sure but now looks like a stupid haircut on a headless chicken
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team of the week off da beeb has Hutton and Clark in it :)
UTV
The Doc
And Crooks says Clark's tackle was a deciding factor.
So...anybody who thought Clark's tackle was bit bad, just f**k right off.
The slightly crazy phenomenon that is Garth says it's officially wonderful!
;-)
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I do like Garth Crooks. He's mental but informative at the same time.
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I was impressed by Clarks tackle on the Leicester forward. It was a great tackle on its own but it came right after Westwood went off injured and it felt like Clark just stepped up and took ownership of Villa Park as ours. We've often been accused of being too nice, that was a great, solid tackle that said, "don't fuck about!".
I'm sorry the player was injured, I don't wish for that but I was impressed by Clark in that instance.
Agree totally. It was like a proper mates team " you hurt one of our now your going to get it" fairly
Heard that Ulloa wasn't injured, but the whithering look Clark gave him as he walked past scared the s**t out of him so he was too frightened to come out for the second half :)
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I do like Garth Crooks. He's mental but informative at the same time.
Guaranteed off-the-wall entertainment.
Always reminds me of Spike Milligan, but on something.
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I do like Garth Crooks. He's mental but informative at the same time.
I think he's both mental and full of shit.
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I do like Garth Crooks. He's mental but informative at the same time.
I think he's both mental and full of shit.
A perfect balance for someone from Stoke who played for Spuds!
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I do like Garth Crooks. He's mental but informative at the same time.
I think he's both mental and full of shit.
Haha, this.
We all know Weimann will be straight back in the team, that's my biggest issue, it doesn't matter how much better we looked without him. And Westwood and Cleverley are the new Westwood and KEA. Just better, but the same issue none the less.
Better though.
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Assume cleverly can't play v Yanited so no Westwood either, hoping Delph back to this one.
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Assume cleverly can't play v Yanited so no Westwood either, hoping Delph back to this one.
You mean you don't fancy a central midfield pairing of Herd and Bacuna against Man Utd ?
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Assume cleverly can't play v Yanited so no Westwood either, hoping Delph back to this one.
You mean you don't fancy a central midfield pairing of Herd and Bacuna against Man Utd ?
Oh the memories of Hogg and Bannan dominating their midfield and Albrighton tearing them apart.
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It would be Sanchez and Richardson with maybe Grealish at the tip you'd think.
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It would be Sanchez and Richardson with maybe Grealish at the tip you'd think.
Grealish at the tip ! That would top bent at hmv !!
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
Has it been reduced to a yellow, or has he got off scot free?
Bit unfair on Hutton if it's the later
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
Don't understand that one at all.
Lack of explanation why doesn't help players, fans or other refs, surely.
Thought it was right at the time, but watching it on TV I would say that Hutton probably got away with his (over)reaction. Konchesky deserved to go - simple.
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
The right decision.
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
The right decision.
Only if the Red was converted into a Yellow. If Konchesky gets nothing, whilst Huttoniho gets a Yellow, then its a wrong decision.
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
The right decision.
Only if the Red was converted into a Yellow. If Konchesky gets nothing, whilst Huttoniho gets a Yellow, then its a wrong decision.
Totally agree - and wasn't he already on a yellow?
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Schmeichel has broken a bone in his foot and is out for 4-6 weeks!
They must be doomed now.
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Red card decision overturned (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30403198)
The right decision.
Only if the Red was converted into a Yellow. If Konchesky gets nothing, whilst Huttoniho gets a Yellow, then its a wrong decision.
I think there was a case that its was a red card as Konchesky committed two yellow card offences (the foul on Hutton and his reaction to it, and then the following skirmish). If the ref had shown two yellow cards and then the red, then I don't think there could have been that many complaints.