Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on February 06, 2016, 04:55:26 PM
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We are still alive just. Gabby and Lescott were excellent. Well done boys
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great win
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I trying to just enjoy whatever I can from each game as it goes now and I will enjoy MOTD tonight. Well done Villa.
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Result!
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Only eight points away... ;)
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Get the f**k in there!!!!
Predicted a 2-0 win and gabby to score, off to buy a lotto ticket!!
Happy days, the dream is alive.
UTV
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No but that's better from Villa.
(http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/attachments/football-manager-2015-manager-stories/965315d1445532804-andy-townsend-transition-commentator-managerial-legend-possibly-andy-townsend-03.jpg)
Better.
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A win, and the lads bust a gut for that.
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Excellent, got a bit hairy at the end. But really encouraging result, need to follow it up with another win now.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
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No but that's better from Villa.
(http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/attachments/football-manager-2015-manager-stories/965315d1445532804-andy-townsend-transition-commentator-managerial-legend-possibly-andy-townsend-03.jpg)
Better.
love that man
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LTA meltdown
Gana+Ver2 MOTM
And Ref for not fucking us over
Okore was a mountain
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Followed the game via H&V and Beeb whilst up an Alp. A far less stressful way to deal with Villa games
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A win!
We're not down yet!
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Okore is a giant.
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Gana immense. Veretout really good.
Best back 4 we've had in years, shame we've taken so long to get them fit and find this combination.
Gabby very good.
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Letsbeavinyer!
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Nice to get another win obviously, shame these kind of results and performances didn't come before Christmas as we would have given ourselves a chance which is all but gone now. But encouraging signs none the less.
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Followed the game via H&V and Beeb whilst up an Alp. A far less stressful way to deal with Villa games
I wouldn't say that!
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Okore is a giant.
Was a rock at the back today I thought.
Not a bad time to play Liverpool next week.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and IF we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
More positive please TV, not like you.
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A win!
We're not down yet!
youd better believe it
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
Just thinking exactly the same.
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Borwich had one of those days which allowed us to capitalize and get the win. Was it a great performance from us, nowhere near... but we'll take it.
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We are actually pretty good at the back now. They are look comfortable for most of the match but when they have to throw themselves in front of the ball, they do it.
Gana has also been excellent for a month now (Man City match aside). The game really is about small margins and the improvement from him and Lescott has helped the cause hugely.
Leicester only had one more point that we now have at the same stage last season. We ourselves only had 6 more points and then lost our next two league games (the first two of Sherwood's reign).
You can't say it's impossible but buying a chuffing striker and a decent winger in the window wouldn't half have made a difference.
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two out of sorts teams to come next in Liverpool and Stoke. We have to keep believing. Good win today. Norwich seem to be in free fall at the moment.
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Happy days.
Excellent performances from Ver2, Gana and Okore.
I like angry Gabby.
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Imagine if we make it - then we have to accept the board was right ;)
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Yesssssssss. ..to all the none believers....where there is life there is hope... okore immense...richards played well...gil has fantastic skill...and gabby....well !!!!!!!!
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There definitely are a few players in that squad who are good enough. It's amazing just how wrong it's gone, though.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
Just thinking exactly the same.
Unless all of the players he wanted turned us down based on how far adrift we were. Not defending the board but it's a possibility. You imagine he had a dozen or more targets/back-ups, who knows?
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It is later than 5pm on Saturday and I am not pissed off stomping round the house. Feels very strange
(https://i.imgur.com/SxnZR5a.jpg)
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If I didn't notice Westwood - does that equal a good game?
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" we,ll support you ever more " X 10
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How was Gab today apart from his goal ?
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Should have backed the manager with cash on 1 January. This is do-able, Garde has done wonders to get 12 points out of a side that had four points in November.
We easily could be on 18-20 pts now if they had imo. If we go down, never will a board have been more culpable than ours.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and IF we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
More positive please TV, not like you.
You're right Ian. I'm like an old man on a long walk. Even when my shoe wore down to reveal a hole I kept on walking. I remained happy and oblivious. I ignored the first stone of discontent. Then the second. By the third it was starting to bother me. Now my journey is much more uncomfortable, many stones in my shoe, and I have developed a bitterness that I can't fully explain. Food doesn't taste as good. The sun on my back is an annoyance. I know I will still get to the end of my walk. But I will be a changed man...
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How was Gab today apart from his goal ?
After the goal - very very good. Worked hard
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Barcodes not winning today would of been ace, an 8 points gap is still way too much with 13 to go.
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Norwich are very poor.
There is a marked improvement in our performances, add a couple of decent players to that team and we would be mid table.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and IF we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
More positive please TV, not like you.
You're right Ian. I'm like an old man on a long walk. Even when my shoe wore down to reveal a hole I kept on walking. I remained happy and oblivious. I ignored the first stone of discontent. Then the second. By the third it was starting to bother me. Now my journey is much more uncomfortable, many stones in my shoe, and I have developed a bitterness that I can't fully explain. Food doesn't taste as good. The sun on my back is an annoyance. I know I will still get to the end of my walk. But I will be a changed man..
Take your bloody shoe off.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
Just thinking exactly the same.
Unless all of the players he wanted turned us down based on how far adrift we were. Not defending the board but it's a possibility. You imagine he had a dozen or more targets/back-ups, who knows?
Didn't it come out we had deals in place and it was the board wouldn't sanction them? i read that in relation to at least two of our targets.
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Barcodes not winning today would of been ace, an 8 points gap is still way too much with 13 to go.
Yeah it's a long shot but stranger things have happened. 8 points, what's that, 3 results? It can be done.
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Not having seen the game or followed the match thread, reading the post-match thread, it seems to me that the players were playing for the manager today. Could I be right?
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
Just thinking exactly the same.
Unless all of the players he wanted turned us down based on how far adrift we were. Not defending the board but it's a possibility. You imagine he had a dozen or more targets/back-ups, who knows?
Didn't it come out we had deals in place and it was the board wouldn't sanction them? i read that in relation to at least two of our targets.
come on people lets enjoy the evening
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Credit to players and management for digging out a win in horrible conditions. Especially after playing with 10 men for about 70 mins mid week. Okore made a couple of epic blocks near the end as our goal led a charmed life. We had the classier players though and were a more organised and resolute outfit. Another assist for Veretout!!
Must say neither keeper has any business playing in the top division. Rudd was abysmal for both goals and Bunn is really poor. Okore bailed him out big time near the end.
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Last 5 games, 8 points.
Thats 1.6 points per game.
13 games x 1.6 games = 21 more points, 37 total.
#I Believe in Remi
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Norwich are very poor.
There is a marked improvement in our performances, add a couple of decent players to that team and we would be mid table.
Right now a replacement for Bacuna would massively improve us. We have a few to come back, the tempo has been set, the attitude finally correct, the fans right behind the team, let's see how far we can push on.
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Okore superb and fair play to Gabby, he worked hard for the team today .
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I do hope we keep Okore, a proper centre half.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and when we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
Just thinking exactly the same.
Unless all of the players he wanted turned us down based on how far adrift we were. Not defending the board but it's a possibility. You imagine he had a dozen or more targets/back-ups, who knows?
Didn't it come out we had deals in place and it was the board wouldn't sanction them? i read that in relation to at least two of our targets.
Not seen that but if true it's clearly damning evidence.
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I've just set my Sky+ to record Match of the Day. It's been a while...
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Okore superb and fair play to Gabby, he worked hard for the team today .
Pass to Micah was sublime
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Norwich are very poor.
There is a marked improvement in our performances, add a couple of decent players to that team and we would be mid table.
Right now a replacement for Bacuna would massively improve us. We have a few to come back, the tempo has been set, the attitude finally correct, the fans right behind the team, let's see how far we can push on.
Agree about Bacuna, our worst player. Who else could we play there?
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I've just set my Sky+ to record Match of the Day. It's been a while...
Me too pal, first time this season for sure.
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The frustration is you watch dross like Norwich today and you just know if we'd got our shit together earlier in the season we'd surely be above them.
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What was the gate? The BBC match report says 47,472...
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LTA? Shocked?
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The defence is a lot better, it's taken a while but Lescott looks up to speed.
Richards might want to play centre half, but I want to own the Dallas Cowboys. We can't all get what we want.
Gabby much, much better. Not just the goal, but he was a constant annoyance to their backline. I hope he doesn't sit on that and think that's him for another 30-odd games.
It's probably come too late, but lets go down with a fight and fling a few turds towards Sunderland, Newcastle and the Olbiyun.
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Well done u lions, anybody else believe we can do Liverpool.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and IF we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
More positive please TV, not like you.
You're right Ian. I'm like an old man on a long walk. Even when my shoe wore down to reveal a hole I kept on walking. I remained happy and oblivious. I ignored the first stone of discontent. Then the second. By the third it was starting to bother me. Now my journey is much more uncomfortable, many stones in my shoe, and I have developed a bitterness that I can't fully explain. Food doesn't taste as good. The sun on my back is an annoyance. I know I will still get to the end of my walk. But I will be a changed man..
Take your bloody shoe off.
The shoe is our penance Rudy. We can never remove it. May McGrath be with you.
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oooh remi garde
happily hetrosexual 50 year old man , starting to get a bit of a thing for this fella
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Forget the dream. Forget staying up. Take each game as it comes, go all out to win every one of them, and let staying up or going down take care of itself. Even if we go down, we'll go down with a bit of pride and fight, and we'll be in a good frame of mind for next season.
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Great win boys, and after Liverpool surrendering a win against Sunderland I fancy us for back to back wins since I don't Know when.
Whatever happens from now until the end of the season I just hope we go all out to win every game, go for each opponent and fuck it if we lose, we have nothing to lose now just attack from the off and take it to the opponent.
Liverpool won't be an easy game, but there confidence must have taken a knock after today.
I'm having a bit of a do tonight as I was 30 yesterday, can't believe I will be able to celebrate with a Villa win, cheers all enjoy the night!
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Great result.
We've played better and lost but there is now some grit and team spirit. The players are working for each other.
With better decision making, we could have made the last 10 minutes a lot more comfortable.
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Will have to watch MOTD tonight..behind the goal in the north stand and second half don't quite know how Norwich didn't score later on.
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Forget the dream. Forget staying up. Take each game as it comes, go all out to win every one of them, and let staying up or going down take care of itself. Even if we go down, we'll go down with a bit of pride and fight, and we'll be in a good frame of mind for next season.
Agree, James. Maybe the lads can watch Leicester before every game too. We showed exactly the same kind of commitment, something that's been missing far too often this season.
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The goals
http://ball-control.com/video/aston-villa-2-0-norwich-city/
BTW, What was the attendance?
The beeb match report has it as 47,000!
I'm guessing there were 37,000 there or maybe 27,000?
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27k would seem about right.
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13 games to go, 8 points from safety. Not over and IF we miss our target by 3 or 4 points the board will only have themselves to blame for not having the balls to back the manager.
More positive please TV, not like you.
You're right Ian. I'm like an old man on a long walk. Even when my shoe wore down to reveal a hole I kept on walking. I remained happy and oblivious. I ignored the first stone of discontent. Then the second. By the third it was starting to bother me. Now my journey is much more uncomfortable, many stones in my shoe, and I have developed a bitterness that I can't fully explain. Food doesn't taste as good. The sun on my back is an annoyance. I know I will still get to the end of my walk. But I will be a changed man..
Take your bloody shoe off.
Ha ha!! That tickled me.
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Bloody hell we won! Yay!
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I do hope we keep Okore, a proper centre half.
Agree. Quickly becoming one of my favourites.
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32,400ish definitely not 37,000 or 47,000!
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Just watched the goals. Both nice. Looks to be a decent spirit in the team which is good to see.
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Thought Veretout played well and Gana was superb. Imagine if Garde has been able to get 3-4 of hid own in!!!
Okore and Lescott did brilliantly. I thought the amount Lescott was talking to Okore was really good too. They are a got pair.
Bunn gives me no confidence but is better than Guzan.
Bacuna was awful but Naismith could easily of gone for the challenge late on in him.
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Well done Gabby it's been a long time since I said that. Goals in all the other Premier League matches, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if we're again last on MOTD.
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Bloody hell that was wet! Worth it though. We're not dead yet! UTV
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Nice celebrating by the team on Gabby's goal. Good to see smiles on faces.
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I've been at work, knew we were winning but couldn't believe we held on and won 2-0 when I'd finished!
How did we play? How was the atmosphere?
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32,400ish definitely not 37,000 or 47,000!
32,400ish was the attendance stated at the ground. Similar type of performance to the Palace and Leicester ones really. Some decent football in patches but no real threat in the final third until Gabby decided to turn up in the second half. Couple of close escapes towards the end, but a well deserved win.
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Team has definitely improved with Richards at RB and Okore and Lescott in the middle. Shame for Traore being out as he could be doing well for us on the right hand side.
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That was a lovely pass from Veretout for the second goal, I thought.
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Wasn't at the match, from reports it appears back 4 was solid, but how did Bunn play.
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A lifeline. Gabby took his goal well and needs to play up front for the rest of the season for me.
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Wasn't at the match, from reports it appears back 4 was solid, but how did Bunn play.
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He doesn't fill me with confidence
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Wasn't at the match, from reports it appears back 4 was solid, but how did Bunn play.
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He doesn't fill me with confidence
There was a "ghost of Guzan" moment in the 2nd half we got away with...
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Wasn't at the match, from reports it appears back 4 was solid, but how did Bunn play.
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He doesn't fill me with confidence
There was a "ghost of Guzan" moment in the 2nd half we got away with...
That shot from Mbokani in the first half as well - straight into this chest and it bounces off him back into the penalty area.
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Cissohko once again turns in a defensively sound performance at left back. Never gets any credit but he has improved the defence no end.
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Just got in and changed me pants (wife thought I had wet myself with excitement) before commenting.
Norwich were OK-ish going forward but relied on us not being particularly incisive ourselves (why don't we drive into the box instead of passing obliquely backward?) - Gabby had a good second half but what a horrendous miss in the first when it seemed easier to side-foot in front!- his goal was well taken and I have been screaming for someone to just run that channel with a through ball (was it Vertout?).
At the back teams have to beat us now and not just wait for the inevitable brain fat that used to gift them one.
This season will end up being a series of "what-ifs" I reckon, but no change there.
Lovely to win ;-)
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a good and much needed three points, onwards and upwards
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Who knows the confidence and belief that win will bring? I thought after the 2nd we had a 20 minutes spell where you could see more players demanding the ball. Maybe should of got a third with the Bacuna chance.
Keeping them out and a clean sheet will do wonders as well. Not sure how bad the weather was so hard to judge whether Bunn was solid or not.
Gil continues to please and frustrate me. From not watching the game live I'm not sure if players aren't making the runs but often today he got hold of the ball and moved it will without being incisive. Certainly not criticism as he kept it well.
Interesting no subs till the end.
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Good old Gabby post match 😂
https://twitter.com/thevillazone/status/696026654372659202
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A nervy last 20 mins because we pretty much decided to shut up shop.
Norwich had a few good chances in that period and if one of them had gone in, it really would have been squeaky bum time.
But, if Bacuna had not been as shit as he is, and put away the glorious chance he had to make it 3-0 then we could have coasted the last 20.
I must mention the WM phone in on the way home.
They were doing a post match interview with Pulis, and he mentioned how the baggies had created no chances today, BUT, Villa had only created 3, but scored 2.
Errrr, hold on, you were playing Newcastle, how the fuck are you so clued on what's happening at the Villa, within a few mins of your own game ending.
They really are obsessed with us.....wankers.
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Good win today.
Our defensive unit is pretty solid now. Yes Norwich had chances but overall our stats in the league from early December for conceding goals is very good for a bottom team. The two poor games at Norwich and Sunderland Okore didn't play which is very interesting...
That's given us a base to pick up points and win the odd game.
Norwich have no chance staying up on that performance, they're in freefall so would be amazed if this isn't a championship fixture next season.
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If only we had signed Gary Hooper 😉
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I heard the Pullis interview and and had exactly the same thought . That takes obsession to a level above the noses!
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32,400ish definitely not 37,000 or 47,000!
32,400ish was the attendance stated at the ground. Similar type of performance to the Palace and Leicester ones really. Some decent football in patches but no real threat in the final third until Gabby decided to turn up in the second half. Couple of close escapes towards the end, but a well deserved win.
good summary, terrible goalkeeping errors for both goals but we kept at it.
if we can get 3 points off the bin dippers we are in business
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Yes really bizarre from Pulis.
The defence looks a whole lot better now. Lescott and Richards did very well.
Gana was quiet for the first half an hour but then really stood out. Fair play to Gabby for putting in a shift and he did well as an outlet but then again working hard from players is a bare minimum.
Veretout provided a great pass but I can't say he did much else with the ball although i know others saw differently.
Like we know, a couple of players may have given us a squeak but it's a massive task for this set of players.
However a first home Saturday win and a deserved win and some good spirit and some decent football as well.
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Team has definitely improved with Richards at RB and Okore and Lescott in the middle. Shame for Traore being out as he could be doing well for us on the right hand side.
richards was right in front of me second half and personally i thought his positional sense and awareness of what was going on around him was fucking appalling a decent wide player would have ripped him a new arsehole.
may sound harsh but he defends like an 11 year old just chasing the ball
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Yes really bizarre from Pulis.
Even take away the weird obsession and strange timing, it doesn't even make sense.
"How do you excuse the fact that you didn't create any chances against the team in 18th place?"
"Well, another team in another game created chances and scored from them. So that shows you".
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Good to see the lads fighting for it, hate to say it but we are really going to regret 'those' two games over christmas come May.
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We really needed that win get in there.
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I'm sure 0 shots on target against Newcastle will stop the bestest fans in the world from booing Pulis and his great football. 3 of their last 4 league games they've failed to manage a shot on target.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/EnglishPride2004/00_zps8driqf5f.jpg)
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That was a real dig in performance. Let's be honest, Norwich were no great shakes - and Naismith is a dirty bastard - but the whole team put in a proper shift. And hats off to Gabby for leading the line on his own - I've been less than complimentary of him this season, but credit where it's due he worked well today. Thought we started sitting too deep after the second goal (the second goal!) and we could have done with some fresh legs for the last 15-20 minutes, AND we rode our luck a couple of times, but how great is it to come away from VP with a win, three points, a clean sheet and a warm feeling inside? The weather on the motorway was shocking, but I hardly noticed!
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The start of the Greatest Escape?
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That's the first time we've scored in the first half of a league game since Southampton away 5th Dec. It was Lescott that game as well.
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Due to boring RL, missed today's game. Added to which the need to use public transport and annoyingly leaving my phone at home, I've only just found on the result. I was almost dreading finding out. Off to read the match thread now.
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What is RL and why is it boring?
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Said hello to Ed Balls, found a pound coin on the floor all before kick off...what could go wrong?
Very pleased this evening.
Two out of form teams next up and things are looking good!
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Not sure Lizz should be telling us what she was doing with Randy Lerner, or why it was boring!
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Ha ha. In this case RL = real life. Which I strongly suspect was obvious.....
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I may have been reading too much into it, but was convinced Garde was going to go all the way to full time without using any sub's as if to say 'there just isn't anyone of sufficient quality to bring on'. It looked to me as if the assistant manager had to convince him to make the change when Clark came on.
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Unbeaten in 4 league games at VP. Now I know how Barcelona fans feel.
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I've seen us win a match in person for the first time this season!
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I don't get to Villa Park as often as I would like, but the last time I saw us win was when we beat Bolton five something in 2009!
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I am not that bright Lizz. I thought it mean Romantic Liason and you were being discreet.
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Loved it ! That is all. 😊
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I may have been reading too much into it, but was convinced Garde was going to go all the way to full time without using any sub's as if to say 'there just isn't anyone of sufficient quality to bring on'. It looked to me as if the assistant manager had to convince him to make the change when Clark came on.
I'd need serious convincing to bring on Clark too.
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Great result...lived a charmed life not to concede but about time we had a bit of a rub of the green
Thought gana was stand out player. Lot of energy almost snake like...think Westwood also played well.
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was it clark on the touchline booting all the throw ins down the tunnel?
Gana was class he's terrific at nicking the ball, vintage Agbonlahor
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I loved it when the fan on the front row of the Lower Trinity threw the ball back on to the pitch as far away from the Norwich player as possible when they'd won a corner in the last few minutes.
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I've seen us win a match in person for the first time this season!
Me too ! First league win of the season for me . Was still on holiday for Bournemouth away and car broke down and lost wallet with season tickets in on day of Palace at home .
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Agreed. Solid and unspectacular.
EDIT: what the hell was I responding to ?!
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I loved it when the fan on the front row of the Lower Trinity threw the ball back on to the pitch as far away from the Norwich player as possible when they'd won a corner in the last few minutes.
Yes..I think a few thousand others did as well.
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Ha ha. In this case RL = real life. Which I strongly suspect was obvious.....
RL = Rugby League. You? Lizz?!
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First half was dire from both sides, but we went in all smiles, so who cares?
Second half we played some good stuff at times once 2-0 up, Gabby was an outlet, worked hard and took his goal well.
Love the Lescott Okore CB pairing, seriously can't have let many goals in this season when those two have played together.
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Good win and a much needed one. I'm surprised Norwich didn't score though.
Gabby showed shades of his old self at times which was nice. Another confident performance from Bunn again as well. If there's one criticism though, we were catching them on the break a lot so i'd have put Sinclair on for Gil.
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I'd like to see Norwich stop up. We'll beat Newcastle so hopefully they'll go back above them.
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I thought Liz's other half had forced her to watch Rugby League.
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Good result and fighting spirit but far too much passing backwards especially in middle 3rd of the pitch. I would introduce basketball and make the players learn to move and think faster just to develop teamwork. Gaby had done well and probably his best game for a while. He seem to thrive when he is main man and no competition. But where there is competition he doesn't seem to be hungry enough to fight for it to win his place back. Shame about the weather.
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I loved it when the fan on the front row of the Lower Trinity threw the ball back on to the pitch as far away from the Norwich player as possible when they'd won a corner in the last few minutes.
It was a little kid as well! Got a little standing ovation from those around him.
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Good result and fighting spirit but far too much passing backwards especially in middle 3rd of the pitch. I would introduce basketball and make the players learn to move and think faster just to develop teamwork. Gaby had done well and probably his best game for a while. He seem to thrive when he is main man and no competition. But where there is competition he doesn't seem to be hungry enough to fight for it to win his place back. Shame about the weather.
I thought in the first half today, a lot of the sideways and backwards passing was a result of Richards and Cissokho being our main attacking outlets. Neither are going to beat players so were forced backwards nearly every time.
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I thought Liz's other half had forced her to watch Rugby League.
I thought she was royally legless (again).
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Honest opinion was there was no lack of effort but no much quality on display. Bacuna is awful. Okore and Lescott have a good partnership going now, not sure why it's taken Lescott so long but they're both strong, one good in the air and the other has some pace. Gabby, I give him a lot of stick but he did alright today. Bunn is not good enough. Happy for everyone tonight that we've got another win on the board. No matter how we do it let's keep things ticking over and see what happens.
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Ha ha. In this case RL = real life. Which I strongly suspect was obvious.....
Obvious? Only for those who are from Venus.
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Well it was a very wet walk from the car to VP today, our performance in the first halfer was even wetter except that freekick and Lescott nicely pushing Norwich player out of way and nodding it down to fool the keeper. Fantastic. Great ball from Vertout for Gabby but I did not think for second that he will score until Rudd came running out and 2-0 dream moment. After that it rained and rained but we stood firm. People talk about luck of two off the line ....well no such thing it's just good positioning and sound defending.
Okore MotM for me. A no nonsense clear it first ask questions later defender. He does where others stand and watch.
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Well it was a very wet walk from the car to VP today, our performance in the first halfer was even wetter except that freekick and Lescott nicely pushing Norwich player out of way and nodding it down to fool the keeper. Fantastic. Great ball from Vertout for Gabby but I did not think for second that he will score until Rudd came running out and 2-0 dream moment. After that it rained and rained but we stood firm. People talk about luck of two off the line ....well no such thing it's just good positioning and sound defending.
Okore MotM for me. A no nonsense clear it first ask questions later defender. He does where others stand and watch.
Totally agree..okore is massive for us..he could play champions league with another decent centre half. We cannot afford to lose him.
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Well done lads. Bring on Liverpool. Keep the faith
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Well blow me over. Been to West Ham, Palace and this game. The phrase 'If Only...' springs to mind.
1) Bunn, Well not convincing and had Narwich been on the ball in the penalty area could easy have conceded a couple.
2) Richards - done well. Positional play not the best but kept their left side busy
3) Cissoko - not great but a million times better than Richardson
4) Lescott - well done,very good match
5) Okore - see Lescott
6) & 7) Bacuna and Westwood. Well they weren't the worse 2 players on the pitch so that was improvement on normal level
8 Gana - excellent game. Proper red wine player
9) Gill - frustrating that he cut back, inside, didn't create enough but that said a great shift for the team. Consistently showed as the out ball, occupied their players and ran all day
10) Gabby - well done. Can we have 10 more of those this season. In fact 8 and we'll call it quits and you'll be good enough to stay in the Top League next season. With us or someone else. Better late than never.
11) Ver-tut - see Gana
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How was Gab today apart from his goal ?
After the goal - very very good. Worked hard
He did - even in the first half his positional and anticipation play was mile better than it has been for what seemed years.
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Yes really bizarre from Pulis.
Even take away the weird obsession and strange timing, it doesn't even make sense.
"How do you excuse the fact that you didn't create any chances against the team in 18th place?"
"Well, another team in another game created chances and scored from them. So that shows you".
[/quote
Or we were playing a crap team and created nothing whereas the worst team in the league managed to create chances against an equally crap team. And that's your justification.......
fucking Prick
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The start of the Greatest Escape?
Too late - as someone posted we have 5 games where realistically we'll get bugger all. That means 8 games and we have to win 7.
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I may have been reading too much into it, but was convinced Garde was going to go all the way to full time without using any sub's as if to say 'there just isn't anyone of sufficient quality to bring on'. It looked to me as if the assistant manager had to convince him to make the change when Clark came on.
I'd need serious convincing to bring on Clark too.
Me too unless it was to dishout the Lucozade sport
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Liverpool are there for the taking.
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Well there's a good chance we won't finish bottom. Norwich are absolutely rotten.
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Well there's a good chance we won't finish bottom. Norwich are absolutely rotten.
And we'll finish above Sunderland.
So... only one more to go.
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Remi Garde's reaction for the second goal. :-)
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"Villa have never had a 2 goal lead this season until now" BBC MotD commentator.
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Pffft, they obviously didn't watch the Wycombe replay. Being 2-0 up is getting old hat now.
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The start of the Greatest Escape?
Too late - as someone posted we have 5 games where realistically we'll get bugger all. That means 8 games and we have to win 7.
But rob it's 13 games you can not remove games that we possibly can not win and then start. Out of 13 we need to win 6 and draw 3 so we can lose 4.
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Well there's a good chance we won't finish bottom. Norwich are absolutely rotten.
And we'll finish above Sunderland.
So... only one more to go.
boom boom
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Yes really bizarre from Pulis.
Even take away the weird obsession and strange timing, it doesn't even make sense.
"How do you excuse the fact that you didn't create any chances against the team in 18th place?"
"Well, another team in another game created chances and scored from them. So that shows you".
Or we were playing a crap team and created nothing whereas the worst team in the league managed to create chances against an equally crap team. And that's your justification.......
fucking Prick
Horrible man horrific team.
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We have 6 that are highly winnable, and there's points going in all of the others. Citeh away is the dodgiest but we've already taken a point off them so you never know.
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Pffft, they obviously didn't watch the Wycombe replay.
Or the Leicester away game.
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The start of the Greatest Escape?
Too late - as someone posted we have 5 games where realistically we'll get bugger all. That means 8 games and we have to win 7.
But rob it's 13 games you can not remove games that we possibly can not win and then start. Out of 13 we need to win 6 and draw 3 so we can lose 4.
Yes. You're right but we need to win at least twice as many games in the last 13 as we have in the first 25. Not impossible but incredibly hard.
Manure away, Arsenal away, cite-eh away, Spuds home. We'd need 4-5 points minimum as we ain't gonna win 7 of the other 8. We don't have firepower or creativity. We lost points against teams under Sherwood who had nor form at the time. Easy pickings. Man U home, Stoke, Swansea, Albion, Sunderland - Chavski and 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' away. We have been playing too far to catch up since.
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Veretout's pass for Gabby was brilliant.
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Richards wore the armband but Lescott was the captain on the pitch, constantly in Okore's ear and gave Gabby a bit of a rev up to keep moving.
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Okore had to be man of the match, saved two certain goals after awful mistakes from Bunn and Cissokho. Despite Okore and Lescott developing a solid partnership I can't see us keeping too many clean sheets. That clown Richards again in the first half for Bassong's chance, captain my arse.
Could do with Sanchez back too, last 20 mins we had no presence in midfield. He would have been handy to bring on.
Liverpool are pretty shite but I'm not any more confident after today's performance. Norwich are in big trouble, their manager doesn't seem to know who to pick at the back. Thought Bamford looked lively though in his cameo, depressing that our boards ambition couldn't stretch to even getting him in on loan.
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That clown Richards again in the first half for Bassong's chance, captain my arse.
Yes that was half arsed token jump. He was also useless in attack as everytime ball got to him play stopped or moved backwards for us. we honestly thought he was injured and will be taken off at HT by the way he was acting. Get bacuna back at RB when Ayew is back and keep Gil in midfield.
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Okore and Gueye were excellent. Well done lads!
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We have 6 that are highly winnable, and there's points going in all of the others. Citeh away is the dodgiest but we've already taken a point off them so you never know.
If you look at teams that have pulled off 'Great Escapes', they have won and got results in games no one expected them to. We've got to go into games against the top sides with a positive mindset, not just roll over like we normally do.
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A nervy last 20 mins because we pretty much decided to shut up shop.
Norwich had a few good chances in that period and if one of them had gone in, it really would have been squeaky bum time.
But, if Bacuna had not been as shit as he is, and put away the glorious chance he had to make it 3-0 then we could have coasted the last 20.
I must mention the WM phone in on the way home.
They were doing a post match interview with Pulis, and he mentioned how the baggies had created no chances today, BUT, Villa had only created 3, but scored 2.
Errrr, hold on, you were playing Newcastle, how the fuck are you so clued on what's happening at the Villa, within a few mins of your own game ending.
They really are obsessed with us.....wankers.
I heard that and thought why the devil is Pulis talking about us at his own post-match interview? He must be trying to appease their fans by drawing attention to us? Bit strange.
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That clown Richards again in the first half for Bassong's chance, captain my arse.
Yes that was half arsed token jump. He was also useless in attack as everytime ball got to him play stopped or moved backwards for us. we honestly thought he was injured and will be taken off at HT by the way he was acting. Get bacuna back at RB when Ayew is back and keep Gil in midfield.
I really like you my Castle Bromwich mate but so disagree re Richards. We need him at right back and cannot believe anyone thinking Bacuna is a better right back. Richards has pist everyone off when Delph lefy, but to me he is the best player we have, not that that is saying much lol
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Well done Villa, game by game and lets see how it pans out.
It is the hope that fing kills you.
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A lot of positives from that. Defending was excellent, there seems some passion and fight now. Gil was good and needs to be the attacking midfielder as he can't defend. Quality not that good particularly the first half but I put that down to atrocious weather and nerves.
I think we can beat Liverpool next week and perhaps an exciting end of season. We need a decent run whether we stay up or not.
Loved the support for Garde too.UTV
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Pffft, they obviously didn't watch the Wycombe replay. Being 2-0 up is getting old hat now.
Or Leicester away.
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yesterdays goals
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the board and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the board and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
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Couldn't help but feel very nervous until we scored - at a "perfect" time at last...and feeling that a bit of luck was going our way - and that settled the team. To get the second when we did helped massively, but Bacuna's chance should have been buried, the game well and truly over, and so the nerves were back. Some stout defending - Lescott and Okore excellent, Cissokho working his socks off, still not convinced by Richards. Gana and Veretout very strong, Westwood not! Gil tried hard to create and would still be one of the first on my team sheet every week, and Gabby was a revelation compared to his contributions for the last 12 months.
Great to hear the chants "Remi Garde's claret and blue army" carrying on from Tuesday night and him acknowledging the support that the vast majority of fans are giving him.
The warm feeling of having won hardly cooled when I arrived home to a flooded kitchen.
Let's hope we can do the business against 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' and start worrying a few of those just above us.
Come on you Villa boys!
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the board and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
Can't help thinking of the games v WHam on Boxing Day, Leicester at VP and Baggies up their end - all of which we should have won...and another 6 points!
"IF" is a bit of bustard innit?
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Went to the game with my son and his cousin. For all of us, it was just great to see a win, as we had almost forgotten what this felt like.
What changed the game for me was the midfield becoming more forward thinking in the second half. Vertout made 4 or 5 very incisive forward passes, one leading to the goal. Gil suddenly seemed more intent on turning forward into space with pace rather than working across the pitch every time. Gana was often making runs beyond the forwards creating space for everyone. Even Bacuna was trying to put balls down the line rather than coming back and inside.
I met up with a good number of other Dorset / Hampshire/ South Coast lions still making the long journey to VP. Even in our darkest hour the support remains strong. I only hope for the younger supporters that we can continue to see shoots of recovery and start to enjoy the Villa once again.
Dorset Villa
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Heart says we could still avoid relegation. We have seen improvements in the team, the organisation and defence, and now we are getting points on the board.
My head says, we beat a Norwich team who look like they will also be relegated, our goal led a charmed life, we don't have enough quality or depth in the squad, and other teams won't be as rubbish. We are still down.
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the borard and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
3 points closer, as they would have only got one point, not 3.
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Went to the game with my son and his cousin. For all of us, it was just great to see a win, as we had almost forgotten what this felt like.
What changed the game for me was the midfield becoming more forward thinking in the second half. Vertout made 4 or 5 very incisive forward passes, one leading to the goal. Gil suddenly seemed more intent on turning forward into space with pace rather than working across the pitch every time. Gana was often making runs beyond the forwards creating space for everyone. Even Bacuna was trying to put balls down the line rather than coming back and inside.
I met up with a good number of other Dorset / Hampshire/ South Coast lions still making the long journey to VP. Even in our darkest hour the support remains strong. I only hope for the younger supporters that we can continue to see shoots of recovery and start to enjoy the Villa once again.
Dorset Villa
Well done to all of you.
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Went to the game with my son and his cousin. For all of us, it was just great to see a win, as we had almost forgotten what this felt like.
What changed the game for me was the midfield becoming more forward thinking in the second half. Vertout made 4 or 5 very incisive forward passes, one leading to the goal. Gil suddenly seemed more intent on turning forward into space with pace rather than working across the pitch every time. Gana was often making runs beyond the forwards creating space for everyone. Even Bacuna was trying to put balls down the line rather than coming back and inside.
I met up with a good number of other Dorset / Hampshire/ South Coast lions still making the long journey to VP. Even in our darkest hour the support remains strong. I only hope for the younger supporters that we can continue to see shoots of recovery and start to enjoy the Villa once again.
Dorset Villa
Say hello for me to anyone that remembers me when you see them all next!
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the borard and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
3 points closer, as they would have only got one point, not 3.
<cough cough> 4 points. As we would have had 2 points from those two games and they both would have 2 less points. Yes losing those two matches did a lot of damage.
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the borard and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
3 points closer, as they would have only got one point, not 3.
<cough cough> 4 points. As we would have had 2 points from those two games and they both would have 2 less points. Yes losing those two matches did a lot of damage.
Fewer.
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<cough cough> 4 points. As we would have had 2 points from those two games and they both would have 2 less points. Yes losing those two matches did a lot of damage.
Haha...thank you as I struggle with that! I do the Mathematics you do English!
Fewer.
[/quote]
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Couldn't help but feel very nervous until we scored - at a "perfect" time at last...and feeling that a bit of luck was going our way - and that settled the team. To get the second when we did helped massively, but Bacuna's chance should have been buried, the game well and truly over, and so the nerves were back. Some stout defending - Lescott and Okore excellent, Cissokho working his socks off, still not convinced by Richards. Gana and Veretout very strong, Westwood not! Gil tried hard to create and would still be one of the first on my team sheet every week, and Gabby was a revelation compared to his contributions for the last 12 months.
Great to hear the chants "Remi Garde's claret and blue army" carrying on from Tuesday night and him acknowledging the support that the vast majority of fans are giving him.
The warm feeling of having won hardly cooled when I arrived home to a flooded kitchen.
Let's hope we can do the business against 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' and start worrying a few of those just above us.
Come on you Villa boys!
Thought Westwood did OK yesterday, looked decent in possession and move the ball on quickly, which is about as much as we can expect from him.
I'd still want better, but we'll probably have to wait 2/3 years for that.
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Westwood is like a referee. He can only be said to have had a good game when nobody notices him.
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the board and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
Four surely?
EDIT: as olaftab pointed out.
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Westwood is like a referee. He can only be said to have had a good game when nobody notices him.
That made me chuckle. I heard his name mentioned late in the 2nd half yesterday - & it was only then that I realised he was still on the pitch!
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Went to the game with my son and his cousin. For all of us, it was just great to see a win, as we had almost forgotten what this felt like.
What changed the game for me was the midfield becoming more forward thinking in the second half. Vertout made 4 or 5 very incisive forward passes, one leading to the goal. Gil suddenly seemed more intent on turning forward into space with pace rather than working across the pitch every time. Gana was often making runs beyond the forwards creating space for everyone. Even Bacuna was trying to put balls down the line rather than coming back and inside.
I met up with a good number of other Dorset / Hampshire/ South Coast lions still making the long journey to VP. Even in our darkest hour the support remains strong. I only hope for the younger supporters that we can continue to see shoots of recovery and start to enjoy the Villa once again.
Dorset Villa
Every credit to you and all the other Villa fans who travel such distances to watch our beloved football club In such difficult times.
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My brother took his six year old to his first match at Villa Park yesterday. He didn't want to go out in the rain but dad had decided today was the day.
The little bugger fell asleep in the stand and missed the lot.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
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To be honest I don't think we'll get out of it but I think we will probably overtake 1 team to not finish last. The 2 games that really sealed our fate were the 2 over Xmas, Norwich and Sunderland away. I think if we'd got 4 points from those 2 games i would fancy us to do it, as we'd have 4 more points on the borard and we'd be on a really good run overall from when Garde took over.
Even 2 draws in those games would have meant we would be 2 points closer to both of them.
3 points closer, as they would have only got one point, not 3.
<cough cough> 4 points. As we would have had 2 points from those two games and they both would have 2 less points. Yes losing those two matches did a lot of damage.
Fewer.
Or 2pts less!
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My brother took his six year old to his first match at Villa Park yesterday. He didn't want to go out in the rain but dad had decided today was the day.
The little bugger fell asleep in the stand and missed the lot.
what about the six year old?
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Westwood is like a referee. He can only be said to have had a good game when nobody notices him.
Gana and Veretout had very good games. When they are up against better midfielders that's when Westwood is shown up because that's when we need him to step up and compete and help swing the balance back in our favour but he can't because he's shit.
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Westwood does seem out of his depth but I won't give him any stick at games at the moment along with any other of the players as they need our 100% support at the moment.Bunn worries me more. He got bailed out by the defence and by good fortune yesterday and when you see who we have to replace him it does worry me that it could cost us vital points.
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Bunn is pretty bad, possibly worse than Guzan (but luckier)
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Westwood does seem out of his depth but I won't give him any stick at games at the moment along with any other of the players as they need our 100% support at the moment.Bunn worries me more. He got bailed out by the defence and by good fortune yesterday and when you see who we have to replace him it does worry me that it could cost us vital points.
I certainly share your concerns about Bunn, Mr R. He looked decidedly dodgy on a few occasions yesterday & a quality forward or two would've made him/us pay for those lapses. That said, I'd still have him ahead of bleedin' Guzan.
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Good win against a side in free fall. Think we played them at just the right time. Still can't see anyway we can stay up, but a few more wins like this at least could lift us.
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That clown Richards again in the first half for Bassong's chance, captain my arse.
Yes that was half arsed token jump. He was also useless in attack as everytime ball got to him play stopped or moved backwards for us. we honestly thought he was injured and will be taken off at HT by the way he was acting. Get bacuna back at RB when Ayew is back and keep Gil in midfield.
I really like you my Castle Bromwich mate but so disagree re Richards. We need him at right back and cannot believe anyone thinking Bacuna is a better right back. Richards has pist everyone off when Delph lefy, but to me he is the best player we have, not that that is saying much lol
VFL you are the only decent thing I can think of everytime I drive past that stretch of M1 J12 to 10! Agree that we have very poor choice at RB at the moment. Cissokho is just about OK at LB. Long term Amavi and Okore are shoe in and we need to find another two.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
Only problem is, Leicester this time last season were only 3 points from safety..we are 8 points from safety.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
Only problem is, Leicester this time last season were only 3 points from safety..we are 8 points from safety.
They were 7 from safety with 9 to go and hadn't won for 8 games.
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Between now and the end of the season the fate of the champions and those relegated will have much to do with momentum. Which sides have just about enough to stay ahead of the pack or clear of danger. Or those that simply pick up momentum when those around are faltering. That's what Leicester did last year. That they were like a stone going downhill and irrespective of what preceded that run the momentum they generated from a few wins saw them safely across the line in the end when it looked to everyone they were dead and buried. That's why it's not over. We now have to go and beat Liverpool and continue to narrow the gap above us. We can't afford to falter.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
Only problem is, Leicester this time last season were only 3 points from safety..we are 8 points from safety.
They were 7 from safety with 9 to go and hadn't won for 8 games.
That makes me feel a lot better PWS!!
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Bunn is pretty bad, possibly worse than Guzan (but luckier)
I reckon Guzan is far worse and unnerves the whole defence. His distribution is completely amateurish and he has cost us dearly. The defenders seem to have improved a lot since Bunn came in. It can't be a coincidence.
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Momentum is the key. If we can win a few on the bounce you never know.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
Only problem is, Leicester this time last season were only 3 points from safety..we are 8 points from safety.
They were 7 from safety with 9 to go and hadn't won for 8 games.
Yep, they were as nailed on for relegation as we are.
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Leicester also ended up about 5 points clear of safety in the end so we may not have to quite match what they did, although it will take something special admittedly.
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I'll be happy to stay up on GD. What Leicester did was incredible. We don't need to be that good. We just need to marginally more than the team that finishes 18th.
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We are now only one point worse off than Leicester were this time last year. Keep the faith!!
Only problem is, Leicester this time last season were only 3 points from safety..we are 8 points from safety.
But it was Hull they caught and they finished 6 points ahead of them
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If they keep going and get a bit of luck - it is bound to change at some point who knows.
If a player like Gil is starting to contribute more - he was actually defending well yestreday and made some important blocks and tackles - then there is a chance.
Norwich are awful and the Tesco baggies are going to implode soon - especially if they lose in the cup.
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Leicester's run was incredible, but we don't need to be quite that spectacular. Something similar to our own run under Sherwood would possibly do. He arrived at this stage last season and we were 6 points better off. However, we lost the first two games of his reign and then the last two games of the season and still stayed up. If we have the same run as we had under him but turn two of those 4 defeats into wins, we finish on 38 points again.
Of course, we don't have a Benteke this year although we do have a better defence. If we can keep earning clean sheets, then we just need a couple of players (Gabby,Ayew) to pop up with four or five goals each and you never know.
It's unlikely, but it's not impossible.
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I have been fiercely critical of Gabby over the years and his career will always be marked by an indifferent attitude and under achievement but doesn't his display yesterday epitomise how woeful our attacking options have been this season? Even an overweight, past his average best, clubman running the channels seemed to revolutionise our midfield in terms of attacking intent. A sort of microcosm of the Leicester/Vardy system.
If Sherwood and his employers hadn't been such incompetent arseholes and left us with even a half decent striker we would never be in this situation.
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If we can get to the 37 point mark I think there are a few more teams who could get sucked into things, Bournemouth and Swansea have both had a bounce but I can still see them both struggling to get more than 35-36, Palace probably have enough already but they've been incredibly poor for the last couple of months and could easily end up sucked into it if they don't start picking up points in the next 4-5 games. Newcastle are still a poor side and the baggies are an awful team who seem to be planning on doing it with draws, they look a lot like we did under McLeish and we know how close that got. Like others I think Norwich are fucked adn I can't see Sunderland getting out of trouble either. Whatever happens we need to just pick up points as often as possible and that starts by looking at teams like Man City and Arsenal and thinking we can do them over.
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As much as I would like to hope, the problem is that as soon as you get past our best 11 we have some pretty awful players.It shows how crap Norwich are we beat them with Westwood and Bacuna in the team.
Any injurie in the back 4 and you have Clark and Hutton to come back or even worse Bacuna again.
I do not think Bunn is very good but if he gets injured, it's shudders the flapping Goose.
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Just back to Essex from the game yesterday superb win lads
Just shows with guts and determination and the crowd behind the team what we can do I'm sure I woke up in the hilton in the night humming "remi gardes claret and blue army"
Come on villa the fat lady ain't ready to sing yet
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"Villa have never had a 2 goal lead this season until now" BBC MotD commentator.
We were 2-0 up away to Leicester.
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The consensus was Norwich were poor yesterday, yet they still created enough chances to get back into the game in that second half.
A better team than them would have punished us.
That's not to ignore our defensive improvement recently, but we still get carved open far too easily for my liking. Even against some of the most dreadful sides in the division.
Still, we have a bit of momentum now. Our record against the Redscouse at home since the early 90s is dire, but if we can win that, you are then talking about six wins over the next three months. When you think of it like that, it's not an outrageous target.
If we can focus on chipping away at the gap between us and Slumberland and then Newcastle or whoever, lets see where we are come mid/late April.
Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
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As much as I would like to hope, the problem is that as soon as you get past our best 11 we have some pretty awful players.It shows how crap Norwich are we beat them with Westwood and Bacuna in the team.
Any injurie in the back 4 and you have Clark and Hutton to come back or even worse Bacuna again.
I do not think Bunn is very good but if he gets injured, it's shudders the flapping Goose.
The inaccuracy in that being that we currently have 6 players (Gestede, Kozak, Traore, Amavi, Hutton and Sanchez) who would all be in (or around) the matchday 18 out injured and we had Ayew out suspended. Yes we don't have a massively strong squad, no one would argue that, but it's not as horrific as you're trying to make out.
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One thing that struck me yesterday was how many Narwich fans there were - easily twice as many as normal and then they just sat there...
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Just let's make sure the fat lady doesn't get to sing afterall..come may I hope it's lemmy singing and not some woman...no offence meant to the ladies on here.
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Norwich are like a lot of clubs, in the olden days if they brought 300 to VP it was a good turnout, now they regularly sell out the away end. Southampton are another.
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The consensus was Norwich were poor yesterday, yet they still created enough chances to get back into the game in that second half.
A better team than them would have punished us.
That's not to ignore our defensive improvement recently, but we still get carved open far too easily for my liking. Even against some of the most dreadful sides in the division.
Still, we have a bit of momentum now. Our record against the Redscouse at home since the early 90s is dire, but if we can win that, you are then talking about six wins over the next three months. When you think of it like that, it's not an outrageous target.
If we can focus on chipping away at the gap between us and Slumberland and then Newcastle or whoever, lets see where we are come mid/late April.
Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
That last line is important. If we get close, you can see them all shitting it thinking "Fucking Villa, they never go down so we're fucked"
It's one of the few benefits of swirling round the plug hole for so long.
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Must say I was impressed by gabby and gil defending Norwich corners yesterday..didn't think they had it in them.
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Re: "Atmosphere" on Saturday.
« Reply #95 on: February 02, 2016, 11:44:05 AM »
Don't panic!
My son has a 100% win record at Villa park and we're coming up, so everybody chill out.
All in a days work. I've told the wife not to book anything in until the end of May.
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As much as I would like to hope, the problem is that as soon as you get past our best 11 we have some pretty awful players.It shows how crap Norwich are we beat them with Westwood and Bacuna in the team.
Any injurie in the back 4 and you have Clark and Hutton to come back or even worse Bacuna again.
I do not think Bunn is very good but if he gets injured, it's shudders the flapping Goose.
The inaccuracy in that being that we currently have 6 players (Gestede, Kozak, Traore, Amavi, Hutton and Sanchez) who would all be in (or around) the matchday 18 out injured and we had Ayew out suspended. Yes we don't have a massively strong squad, no one would argue that, but it's not as horrific as you're trying to make out.
Ayew would improve our first 11, Amaviis a decent prospect but Sissoko is more solid. I would play any of them ahead of Bacuna he is that poor. I have seen nothing to suggest that Traore is ready at this level. Most of the above have been playing regularly in a team that was losing regularly. If our squad was not crap we would not be bottom.
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I'd be thinking about trying Amavi and Traore out wide next season with Ayew and some other guy up front. Veretout and Gana in the middle. 4-4-fucking 2 but I'm a dinosaur.
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A nervy last 20 mins because we pretty much decided to shut up shop.
Norwich had a few good chances in that period and if one of them had gone in, it really would have been squeaky bum time.
But, if Bacuna had not been as shit as he is, and put away the glorious chance he had to make it 3-0 then we could have coasted the last 20.
I must mention the WM phone in on the way home.
They were doing a post match interview with Pulis, and he mentioned how the baggies had created no chances today, BUT, Villa had only created 3, but scored 2.
Errrr, hold on, you were playing Newcastle, how the fuck are you so clued on what's happening at the Villa, within a few mins of your own game ending.
They really are obsessed with us.....wankers.
I heard that and thought why the devil is Pulis talking about us at his own post-match interview? He must be trying to appease their fans by drawing attention to us? Bit strange.
West Brom have a very tough game at Everton next week. Cup game at Peterborough midweek.
6 points from relegation zone, that gap should be closer by this time next week.
Good to see Bournemouth losing today, still think they are capable of going on a really bad run.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
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Norwich are like a lot of clubs, in the olden days if they brought 300 to VP it was a good turnout, now they regularly sell out the away end. Southampton are another.
So that's a good thing then.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Palace have what? 32 points? 4 or 5 points more in 13 games and they'll probably be safe or at worst for us, completely out of reach. Easily achievable. Only Norwich have hit a brick wall of late. All the others or picking up points somewhere and in all honesty our recent sort of revival isn't or hasn't been good enough to see us close the gap in any significant way. We'll still do well to get 20-25 points.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Palace have what? 32 points? 4 or 5 points more in 13 games and they'll probably be safe or at worst for us, completely out of reach. Easily achievable. Only Norwich have hit a brick wall of late. All the others or picking up points somewhere and in all honesty our recent sort of revival isn't or hasn't been good enough to see us close the gap in any significant way. We'll still do well to get 20-25 points.
We'll do well to get another four points? Behave.
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If we picked up only another 4 pts then like him or not Garde would deserve the sack. A pt per game I reckon, just ticking over.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Palace have what? 32 points? 4 or 5 points more in 13 games and they'll probably be safe or at worst for us, completely out of reach. Easily achievable. Only Norwich have hit a brick wall of late. All the others or picking up points somewhere and in all honesty our recent sort of revival isn't or hasn't been good enough to see us close the gap in any significant way. We'll still do well to get 20-25 points.
We'll do well to get another four points? Behave.
Seeing who we've got left and seeing that we have amassed 16 from 25 then yes, I don't think it's too far fetched to see us getting no more than 9 points out of the next 13 games. We've got 0.64 points per game so far this season. Over the next 13 games that would translate to 8 more points. Obviously it's no exact science but I'm not taking yesterday as anything other than a weekend where I could watch Match of The Day.
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As much as I would like to hope, the problem is that as soon as you get past our best 11 we have some pretty awful players.It shows how crap Norwich are we beat them with Westwood and Bacuna in the team.
Any injurie in the back 4 and you have Clark and Hutton to come back or even worse Bacuna again.
I do not think Bunn is very good but if he gets injured, it's shudders the flapping Goose.
The inaccuracy in that being that we currently have 6 players (Gestede, Kozak, Traore, Amavi, Hutton and Sanchez) who would all be in (or around) the matchday 18 out injured and we had Ayew out suspended. Yes we don't have a massively strong squad, no one would argue that, but it's not as horrific as you're trying to make out.
Ayew would improve our first 11, Amaviis a decent prospect but Sissoko is more solid. I would play any of them ahead of Bacuna he is that poor. I have seen nothing to suggest that Traore is ready at this level. Most of the above have been playing regularly in a team that was losing regularly. If our squad was not crap we would not be bottom.
Sanchez is a good player if used correctly (get him to sit in front of the back 4 and be a shield, a lot like Dier does for Tottenham. As soon as you start getting Sanchez to play he gets tired out and becomes sloppy. Amavi made a couple of mistakes but he also made Gestede look like a threat because he crosses the ball very well. I'd like to see him in a team that looks organised before writing off his defensive abilities. Gestede and Kozak are both very average strikers but give us the option to change things from the bench which is what you complained about. Ayew is clearly an important player for us and losing him was a big blow.
The Traore comment is strange because whilst he is very raw he has a goal and 2 assists from a total of about 3 1/2 hours of playtime for us, we're crying out for a spark of genius at times and he is very capable of delivering it. Like Amavi I think the untrained player we saw a few months back isn't what we'd be seeing now if he was fit.
So only Hutton of the players missing offers very little to the 18, it's all about the depth in the squad and right now most of the players who could improve that are out and we're left with kids and wasters like nzog and richardson to build a bench with.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Palace have what? 32 points? 4 or 5 points more in 13 games and they'll probably be safe or at worst for us, completely out of reach. Easily achievable. Only Norwich have hit a brick wall of late. All the others or picking up points somewhere and in all honesty our recent sort of revival isn't or hasn't been good enough to see us close the gap in any significant way. We'll still do well to get 20-25 points.
We'll do well to get another four points? Behave.
Seeing who we've got left and seeing that we have amassed 16 from 25 then yes, I don't think it's too far fetched to see us getting no more than 9 points out of the next 13 games. We've got 0.64 points per game so far this season. Over the next 13 games that would translate to 8 more points. Obviously it's no exact science but I'm not taking yesterday as anything other than a weekend where I could watch Match of The Day.
So when you say 20-25 you don't actually mean 20-25 you mean 25. Thanks for clearing that up.
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Disagree paul e. Sanchez plays at too slow a tempo for the English game and doesn't shift the ball quick enough for us when he is in possession. he does do the breaking up of play well enough and can keep the ball moving for large parts of the game but the pace of the game sees him off balance or not looking when trying to make a quick pass. At times he has looked great but far too often he hasn't and is a big contributory factor to why we're bottom.
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Everyone thinks we're down, most Villa fans included. So there is more pressure on the sides directly above us, especially with the amounts they have spent recently. If we pull it back by then, some of that lot might just cave altogether.
I agree. Palace, Swansea, Norwich all bricking themselves. We're not: everyone wrote us off ages ago. We've nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
Palace have what? 32 points? 4 or 5 points more in 13 games and they'll probably be safe or at worst for us, completely out of reach. Easily achievable. Only Norwich have hit a brick wall of late. All the others or picking up points somewhere and in all honesty our recent sort of revival isn't or hasn't been good enough to see us close the gap in any significant way. We'll still do well to get 20-25 points.
We'll do well to get another four points? Behave.
Seeing who we've got left and seeing that we have amassed 16 from 25 then yes, I don't think it's too far fetched to see us getting no more than 9 points out of the next 13 games. We've got 0.64 points per game so far this season. Over the next 13 games that would translate to 8 more points. Obviously it's no exact science but I'm not taking yesterday as anything other than a weekend where I could watch Match of The Day.
So when you say 20-25 you don't actually mean 20-25 you mean 25. Thanks for clearing that up.
No, I mean anywhere between 20-25 points seeing who we've got left. it could be 20, it could be 25. it could also be any of the numbers in between.
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No, I mean anywhere between 20-25 points seeing who we've got left. it could be 20, it could be 25. it could also be any of the numbers in between.
Couild well be. You're the one who's making them up as you go along.
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Sanchez is a liability that screws up at least twice a game. Keep him out.
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We've taken 8 points from our past six. It doesn't matter how our former in September under a different manager was.
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No, I mean anywhere between 20-25 points seeing who we've got left. it could be 20, it could be 25. it could also be any of the numbers in between.
Couild well be. You're the one who's making them up as you go along.
If you like. Not sure what your point is though.
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Disagree paul e. Sanchez plays at too slow a tempo for the English game and doesn't shift the ball quick enough for us when he is in possession. he does do the breaking up of play well enough and can keep the ball moving for large parts of the game but the pace of the game sees him off balance or not looking when trying to make a quick pass. At times he has looked great but far too often he hasn't and is a big contributory factor to why we're bottom.
That's why I'm saying use him as the defensive shield to win the ball, move it on and then hold his position and let the fullbacks go forward with the knowledge that we've 3 players in behind.
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We've taken 8 points from our past six. It doesn't matter how our former in September under a different manager was.
Well yes. But all the positive energy has been sucked out of me this season that i can see nothing but the abyss staring us in the face. Keep that form up and we'll end the season on 33 points. I'd rather have my 20-25 points as the last thing I want in the last 13 games is the semblance of any hope as that will ultimately be worse. I've already accepted relegation.
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Disagree paul e. Sanchez plays at too slow a tempo for the English game and doesn't shift the ball quick enough for us when he is in possession. he does do the breaking up of play well enough and can keep the ball moving for large parts of the game but the pace of the game sees him off balance or not looking when trying to make a quick pass. At times he has looked great but far too often he hasn't and is a big contributory factor to why we're bottom.
That's why I'm saying use him as the defensive shield to win the ball, move it on and then hold his position and let the fullbacks go forward with the knowledge that we've 3 players in behind.
I know - maybe i didn't make the point properly but I think that him trying to move the ball on leads to him making more errors than we can carry.
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Bunn is pretty bad, possibly worse than Guzan (but luckier)
I reckon Guzan is far worse and unnerves the whole defence. His distribution is completely amateurish and he has cost us dearly. The defenders seem to have improved a lot since Bunn came in. It can't be a coincidence.
For me the defence has improved since Okore got involved. The goalkeeping is about the same I think. Cissokho had done well too.
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20-25 points is being ridiculously negative. If you go simply on games under Garde the points per game goes up to 0.8 which would see us on 26-27 so for me that's the pessimistic minimum. If you then account for the fact that he clearly made fitness a priority and to make noticeable improvements to that during the season would take 4-6 weeks you can probably focus instead on results since 12/12 to get a real idea of where we are under him. That puts us up to a point a game (and we're actually 17th if you do a custom table since that date) and goes to 29. I'd therefore say that 25-28 is the pessimistic return, 29-32 is about par and 33-38 is optimistic, anything above that is make-believe. So your 20-25 just scraps the bottom end of what I would consider to be the likely range and the bottom end of your total is just being silly and I think you know that, I'll honestly say that there is absolutely no chance that we'll finish with less than 25 points, the sheer degree of regression we'd need to witness from the squad is almost unthinkable.
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Disagree paul e. Sanchez plays at too slow a tempo for the English game and doesn't shift the ball quick enough for us when he is in possession. he does do the breaking up of play well enough and can keep the ball moving for large parts of the game but the pace of the game sees him off balance or not looking when trying to make a quick pass. At times he has looked great but far too often he hasn't and is a big contributory factor to why we're bottom.
Agree. He has the physicality, but the game in this country is too quick for him and he ends up making some pretty basic errors when in possession. Gana has done well in the defensive midfielder role recently, but he too is prone to giving the ball away needlessly at times. We could really do with a real leader and steady presence in that position.
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Disagree paul e. Sanchez plays at too slow a tempo for the English game and doesn't shift the ball quick enough for us when he is in possession. he does do the breaking up of play well enough and can keep the ball moving for large parts of the game but the pace of the game sees him off balance or not looking when trying to make a quick pass. At times he has looked great but far too often he hasn't and is a big contributory factor to why we're bottom.
That's why I'm saying use him as the defensive shield to win the ball, move it on and then hold his position and let the fullbacks go forward with the knowledge that we've 3 players in behind.
I know - maybe i didn't make the point properly but I think that him trying to move the ball on leads to him making more errors than we can carry.
See i don't think he does. If you really look at his involvement in games his mistakes are almost entirely int he last 10-15 minutes when his legs have gone. The 2 simple solutions are to either tell him to give it everything for an hour and then replace him or to get him to run less and coserve energy better. I think he wants to be an all action tackle everything that moves midfielder, which is commendable, but I just don't think it works in the premier league where pace plays such a big role.
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I think we're very feeble at the back for all our improvements and we haven't won game this season when going a goal behind. yes, there have been improvements but we will be lucky to come across two worse teams than Norwich and Crystal Palace in the run in. just because I'm not shouting from the rooftops after yesterday, and in all honesty struggle to even to register it as a positive with the league table in mind, it doesn't make it a silly suggestion. Just an opinion.
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I think we're very feeble at the back for all our improvements and we haven't won game this season when going a goal behind. yes, there have been improvements but we will be lucky to come across two worse teams than Norwich and Crystal Palace in the run in. just because I'm not shouting from the rooftops after yesterday, and in all honesty struggle to even to register it as a positive with the league table in mind, it doesn't make it a silly suggestion. Just an opinion.
Didn't Palace have one of the best away records in the league when we beat them?
Don't get me wrong, I know what you mean, it's hard to get too excited when you look at the table and get dragged back to reality again.
For all the "luck" involved in playing shit teams like Palace and Norwich, though, there's a fair amount of bad luck that has gone against us in quite a few games this season, so what goes around comes around.
I've been resigned to us going down for a while now - the reason everyone thinks we are dead and buried is because that's what we've looked for weeks and weeks now, so anything like yesterday I'm just taking as a nice bonus.
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I think we're very feeble at the back for all our improvements and we haven't won game this season when going a goal behind. yes, there have been improvements but we will be lucky to come across two worse teams than Norwich and Crystal Palace in the run in. just because I'm not shouting from the rooftops after yesterday, and in all honesty struggle to even to register it as a positive with the league table in mind, it doesn't make it a silly suggestion. Just an opinion.
I think feeble is a bit harsh. I think the Okore, Lescott, Cissokho combination has been pretty solid and if Richards can find some form then it should be a decent back four.
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If we picked up only another 4 pts then like him or not Garde would deserve the sack. A pt per game I reckon, just ticking over.
No he won't.
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Norwich had the kind of ''luck'' we've had all season up front. Deflections going wide by inches and scrambles not falling the right way for them. I wasn't particularly happy with the tracking back again of the midfield as when they broke a fair few times their runners would hit the box un marked but they lacked the quality to punish us.
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If we picked up only another 4 pts then like him or not Garde would deserve the sack. A pt per game I reckon, just ticking over.
No he won't.
16 pts from 28 games would be shite.
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Sisko is a big reason, you don't see teams targeting our left side like they were earlier in the season.
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I have to say he has done remarkably well since coming back in. It's a shame he's not great on the ball in defensive positions, and can't take a man on in the attacking third, but he can put the odd decent ball in. Seeing as his career was all but dead and buried I'm giving him 'props' for being okay thus far.
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Sisko is a big reason, you don't see teams targeting our left side like they were earlier in the season.
Agree with that. He's solid defensively, but it's just that his distribution and crossing are so poor. Saying that, if his attacking play was as good as his defensive play, he probably wouldn't be with us,
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Sisko is a big reason, you don't see teams targeting our left side like they were earlier in the season.
Hmm good observation.
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Sisko is a big reason, you don't see teams targeting our left side like they were earlier in the for the last 3 seasons.
Fixed
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Maybe we won't overtake Palace but it doesn't change the fact that Palace fans I know are shitting a brick. Pardew has turned out to be Pardew. There's lots of fear at the bottom end of the table and we are the only club that doesn't need to feel afraid. That's all I meant.
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Sanchez is a liability that screws up at least twice a game. Keep him out.
Agreed.
Interesting that Gana does exactly the same thing but many on here don't see it.
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Sanchez is a liability that screws up at least twice a game. Keep him out.
Agreed.
Interesting that Gana does exactly the same thing but many on here don't see it.
Gana has been doing well in the defensive midfield role, but he is like Sanchez in that he can be having a good game and then go and do something a Sunday park player would be disappointed with. We could really do with a solid, reliable player in front of the back four who can keep the ball for us.
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Gana was excellent at the weekend, but I do think he has the ability to play where Westwood is and create a gap for someone really consistent in the defensive role. He has god a decent touch, likes to shoot (often badly but has at least scored this season!) and is good at carrying the ball.
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Gana was excellent at the weekend, but I do think he has the ability to play where Westwood is and create a gap for someone really consistent in the defensive role. He has god a decent touch, likes to shoot (often badly but has at least scored this season!) and is good at carrying the ball.
I can't understand why you'd say he excellent - he was supposed to playing the defensive midfield role and gave the ball away (a la Sanchez) 2 or 3 times in the first half in really dangerous positions.
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Maybe we won't overtake Palace but it doesn't change the fact that Palace fans I know are shitting a brick. Pardew has turned out to be Pardew. There's lots of fear at the bottom end of the table and we are the only club that doesn't need to feel afraid. That's all I meant.
And, you're right.
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I can't understand why you'd say he excellent - he was supposed to playing the defensive midfield role and gave the ball away (a la Sanchez) 2 or 3 times in the first half in really dangerous positions.
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Indeed! I though at times he looked a liability.