Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on December 10, 2016, 05:04:00 PM
-
Well done Jack. Made hard work of it but we are still moving forward.
-
ESPN FC says that Wigan registered 6 shots, but none on goal?
Still yet to see Jack's goal.
PUMPED for three points!
-
Never in doubt. Nice to see us showing a bit of character again, we'd have lost that 1-0 a few months ago.
-
We fucked some fuckers.
-
I'm enjoying this 'scoring late goals' malarky. An inversion on the old formula, but I'm liking it.
-
Haven't seen Jack's goal yet, but there's a picture of him celebrating the goal with Rab C. Nesbitt.
-
Poor game...class goal......still that will do
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
-
It was a great goal. A draw would have been fair as we were shit for large parts but fuck it I'll take a jammy win thanks to a worldy every game. On the train and soaking wet, nice not to mind for once.
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
About the same as if you'd actually had have gone to the game.
-
3 points off the play offs and 5 off third place. Onwards and upwards
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
You utter, utter, bastard.
-
Also on the train from Witton and In to town for a fuckin good session. ..I fuckin love villa although they do annoy me at times
-
Also on the train from Witton and In to town for a fuckin good session. ..I fuckin love villa although they do annoy me at times
Witton train army!!
-
Witton train army...!!!! The new football crew......we're the barmy Witton train army
-
Bruce has change a great deal in mentality, work rate and organisation but we could just add that quality in the final third more regularly we would be so much more comfortable in games.
An early goal today and we would have pummelled them.
-
Looking like a classic Steve Bruce side.
We won't always (or ever) be pretty. But we'll win games than we should've drawn (as opposed to drawing/ losing games we should win) and we'll hopefully squirrel out enough points to scrape the play-offs.
-
I'm hoping we can keep this momentum going until the transfer window opens, and then we are able to bring in the appropriate players to take us on to the promised land.
-
I'm in London and trying to keep up with the game via phone was agony.
Jack and his smooth legs do the business.
Off to see Smoove!& Turrell tonight (look them up and thank me later) so happy days!
-
What a relief, that was a very important game to win.
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
AA Gill died. But you're still alive, so there's that.
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
AA Gill died. But you're still alive, so there's that.
That's Michael Winner's wife, right? What a tragedy after the mugging and Michael's passing.
-
I love one-nils.
-
The goal is here:
http://www.skysports.com/football/live-blog/11095/10690358/sky-bet-efl-recap
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
AA Gill died. But you're still alive, so there's that.
Always found him sneering and unpleasant, but never nice when someone goes relatively young.
My favourite Gillfact was that his mom was Madame Peignoir in that episode of Fawlty Towers.
-
Great instant control from the clearance and then a superb strike. Brilliant
-
Absolutely appalling game, just great to get 3 points, lets move on quickly!
-
Terrible game but we do have players who can produce a bit of magic. A really classy goal but we do overpass at times.
I think going more direct and getting the Wigan defenders turning would have helped. We played in front of them too much but you can see why they are not bad away from home. Warnock had a decent game for them.
-
Thought we just about deserved to win today. Wigan came for a nil nil draw and teams who do that don't deserve anything. Midfield is still unconvincing. Jedinak played well but I don't think Gardner has got it. Defence did their job. Going forward we need to be more direct. Peach of a winner. The glass is half full.
-
Thought we worked hard and deserved it in the end. Always difficult to break a team down with almost 20 footballers in one half of the pitch.
Superb goal
Oh and please fuck off Jordan Ayew total gash
-
Terrible game, think Brucie fell into same trap as RDM in trying to shoe horn too many attackers into the team, we need three in the middle of the park until we can find Jedinak a partner in there. When he took Gardner off for McCormack it was a huge risk, luckily Wigan matched Rotherham for lack of anything.
Jedinak outstanding, back four solid enough but the only real moment of quality was Jack's finish.
-
I thought that today we faced a test. Not from the opposition but a test to see how we coped after last week's defeat. We won, we showed character in doing so and whist it wasn't pretty, it's about 3 points secured in our rise up the table.
-
On train back to north west happy chappy
-
Crap game and performance, but it's a good sign that we can grind wins out when playing poorly. Still unbeaten at home and won the last four which is unheard of.
Big game on Tuesday, win that and we're right on the brink of the play offs.
-
These sort of games are the sort that you could have checked the score at 75 minutes and have known that we definitely wouldn't win. If Bruce is breaking down that mentality it's going to be a massive step in our development.
-
Started off brightly and nearly scored a great goal but after 15 minutes we were dragged down to their level. They'd clearly come for a draw, setting up with 4-5-1 or even 4-6 for most of the game and we just couldn't break them down. The next hour was just drab, with lack of imagination (especially from free kicks) and lots of mistakes. But we picked it up again in the last 15 minutes and Jack scored a superb goal to seal the points. Positives - Jedinak (maybe MOTM again for me), Hutton always looking to drive forward, and I thought Amavi had a decent game. Negatives - Gardner was poor - really not sure he's got it; Gollini remains surgically attached to his goal line even when the ball is 3 yards away and his hesitation creates panic clearances;and as far as I'm concerned the sooner Ayew fucks off to the ACN the better - looking more and more like a selfish show pony. Poor game, dreadful weather on the way back, but that goal from Jack made the day.
-
Steve Bruce is starting to pay us back for all those irritating late goals his clubs scored during his previous employment.
Onwards and upwards.
-
Superb goal
Oh and please fuck off Jordan Ayew total gash
He plays the Le Tissier role, just doesn't score goals or create chances.
We've got Hutton playing that role too.
-
Stopped off in Wendsbury to buy a dishwasher on route north.
Made hard work of that. I said before that we don't bounce back in style, but equally, winning ugly isn't something I credit us with either so I am happy to be wrong on that point.
Brilliant goal. Brilliant first 15 minutes. Disjointed, ragged frustration for the rest.
We lack a bit of balance, especially with the midfield being as weak as it is. We desperately need some equality in and around Jedinak to give us a boost.
Massive game Tuesday. Let's get back on a roll.
-
Haven't seen the goal. But we all know the lad is proper class.
-
Well this team was very haphazardly built by RDM like the team Tim built and Bruce is managing to scrap out wins so hopefully with a little tinkering with his purchasing we'll improve no end.
-
Brilliant goal. Brilliant first 15 minutes. Disjointed, ragged frustration for the rest.
We lack a bit of balance, especially with the midfield being as weak as it is. We desperately need some equality in and around Jedinak to give us a boost.
Massive game Tuesday. Let's get back on a roll.
This sums it up. We seemed to lack impetus and playing against a team that generally parked the bus, players needed to run at them to pull them out of position and create gaps. We rarely did that today. Thank goodness for that goal else we'd all have come away saying it was really poor.
The formation towards the end, if there was one, resembled one of RDM's.
-
Haven't seen the goal. But we all know the lad is proper class.
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/10691129/aston-villa-1-0-wigan
-
Grealish goal below, fantastic strike and it's really pleasing to see him scoring - it's the main thing that has been missing form his game for us so far in his career.
https://streamable.com/62ff
-
A massive 3 points and fair play to grealish for showing he has got a shot on him
Some ok performances but fuck me that midfield today. Special mention to the moody, couldnt give a shit ayew and gardner fuck me how shit and slow is he
-
Bloody M6 north is closed!
-
Bloody M6 north is closed!
Move to the Midlands it's where it's at. Speak to Percy if you don't believe me
-
It would be a hell of a commute.
-
Cold, wet and boring but we won.
-
I love the 3 points but Christ it was dreadful, and our midfield is the pits. Great goal from Grealish though!
-
Cold, wet and boring but we won.
Cold, wet and boring and not winning is far far worse.
-
Jedinak is really playing well now, if we can get a playmaker next to him we'll dominate teams.
-
The movement or lack of it was terrible and im still not convinced by adomah he just doesnt look quick enough to beat his man
-
Jedinak is really playing well now, if we can get a playmaker next to him we'll dominate teams.
He still loses the ball too much for me though.
-
The movement or lack of it was terrible and im still not convinced by adomah he just doesnt look quick enough to beat his man
Trouble with Adomah is that he tries to do too much and ends up running into dead ends and loses the ball far too often. The jury's out for me.
-
Jedinak is really playing well now, if we can get a playmaker next to him we'll dominate teams.
He still loses the ball too much for me though.
I do wonder if he had someone capable next to him he'd be able to just lay off simple passes and his error rate would drop.
-
Jedinak has some really good points to his game but gave the ball away far too much today
-
Have to say Ayew looks awful. He actually looked better in the Premier League, I thought he'd tear this league up.
Desperately need some creativity in midfield in January. Teams will come to VP and park the bus and at the moment we haven't got the right balance or creativity in the final third.
-
Jedinak is really playing well now, if we can get a playmaker next to him we'll dominate teams.
He still loses the ball too much for me though.
I do wonder if he had someone capable next to him he'd be able to just lay off simple passes and his error rate would drop.
I think so too. I think Jedinak can be class at times but sometimes he tries to do too much and he makes mistakes. One thing's for certain though and that's the fact he's miles better than both Gardner and Westwood. The former was absolutely useless today. We just have to finally fix the midfield in January if we're to have any chance of promotion this season.
-
Jedinak has some really good points to his game but gave the ball away far too much today
I saw may be twice when Jedi lost the ball?? He was the pick of the midfield.
-
When was the last time we scored late to win???
-
When was the last time we scored late to win???
Reading.
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
About the same as if you'd actually had have gone to the game.
Yeah some of us got soaked this afternoon and actually went to the game....
-
Jedinak has some really good points to his game but gave the ball away far too much today
I saw may be twice when Jedi lost the ball?? He was the pick of the midfield.
He lost it more than twice, and claiming he's the pick of our midfield is hardly a ringing endorsement these days. Mind you saying that I still rate him. We just need a decent midfielder to play along side him.
-
SB needs to give Tshibola a run in the midfield.
-
It was a great goal. A draw would have been fair as we were shit for large parts but fuck it I'll take a jammy win thanks to a worldy every game. On the train and soaking wet, nice not to mind for once.
No don't agree. A draw would have been totally unjust. We should have won this game by a mile as they had no plan to do anything other than just defend.
-
I'm enjoying this 'scoring late goals' malarky. An inversion on the old formula, but I'm liking it.
And we play out last 5 plus injury with ease.
-
I'm enjoying this 'scoring late goals' malarky. An inversion on the old formula, but I'm liking it.
And we play out last 5 plus injury with ease.
They got 2 corners in the last 5. I was on tenterhooks.
-
I'm enjoying this 'scoring late goals' malarky. An inversion on the old formula, but I'm liking it.
And we play out last 5 plus injury with ease.
Did we?
-
Yes we did play it out with ease. We dealt with two corners properly.
-
4 in a row so the obvious question is when was the last time we won 4 consecutive home matches?
-
Shit game. Shit atmosphere. Shit kicking towards the Holte first half.
But I'd happily grind out another 20 odd 1-0 wins.
-
thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/
It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.
-
Two massive away games coming up. Three points off the last play off spot and one game closer to being able to strengthen the squad. Keeper, centre back, another Jedinak and we will be tough to beat. Exciting week ahead methinks.
-
Poor game but right now who cares it's another 3 points ,great goal by Jack also think Ayew is one of the laziest players I've seen in a villa shirt if he doesn't fancy it he should go asap
-
Started off brightly and nearly scored a great goal but after 15 minutes we were dragged down to their level. They'd clearly come for a draw, setting up with 4-5-1 or even 4-6 for most of the game and we just couldn't break them down. The next hour was just drab, with lack of imagination (especially from free kicks) and lots of mistakes. But we picked it up again in the last 15 minutes and Jack scored a superb goal to seal the points. Positives - Jedinak (maybe MOTM again for me), Hutton always looking to drive forward, and I thought Amavi had a decent game. Negatives - Gardner was poor - really not sure he's got it; Gollini remains surgically attached to his goal line even when the ball is 3 yards away and his hesitation creates panic clearances;and as far as I'm concerned the sooner Ayew fucks off to the ACN the better - looking more and more like a selfish show pony. Poor game, dreadful weather on the way back, but that goal from Jack made the day.
Would agree with most of that, including the weather and the soaking on the way back to the car. I would add though that even Jedinak gave the ball away sloppily on a few occasions. I share your concerns about Gardner - he's featured quite a bit now and continues to give the ball away regularly. Desperately need at least one new midfielder in January.
I did think it was noticeable, however, that we looked a lot fitter than them in the closing stages, which wasn't the case in earlier games. We really picked it up in the last 20 minutes, though we were still pretty poor for the majority of the game before that.
-
First 15 minutes we ran at them, moved the ball quickly and could have scored.
Then we let them back into the game and played at their level for the rest of the match.
It was an abysmal game. Jedinak is OK as a destroyer but when he comes away with the ball his passing seems to be utter crap (mostly) with the odd really decent ball. We didn't pass accurately and we don't move into space. If we had played the basics well we would have smashed Wigan. Gardner is stronger than Westwood, there was a contested ball in the first half that Gary won and brought away smartly. Westwood would have lost the tussle.
A Manure "follower" of my acquaintance texted me that he wished Villa luck today but thought "you need more than luck". I have had great delight replying that we relied on individual brilliance. Cheeky bastard.
-
Lay on my bed two and a half hours ago. Just woke up to see final score
Did I miss much?
AA Gill died. But you're still alive, so there's that.
Always found him sneering and unpleasant, but never nice when someone goes relatively young.
My favourite Gillfact was that his mom was Madame Peignoir in that episode of Fawlty Towers.
You naughty man.
I never knew that.
-
Started off brightly and nearly scored a great goal but after 15 minutes we were dragged down to their level. They'd clearly come for a draw, setting up with 4-5-1 or even 4-6 for most of the game and we just couldn't break them down. The next hour was just drab, with lack of imagination (especially from free kicks) and lots of mistakes. But we picked it up again in the last 15 minutes and Jack scored a superb goal to seal the points. Positives - Jedinak (maybe MOTM again for me), Hutton always looking to drive forward, and I thought Amavi had a decent game. Negatives - Gardner was poor - really not sure he's got it; Gollini remains surgically attached to his goal line even when the ball is 3 yards away and his hesitation creates panic clearances;and as far as I'm concerned the sooner Ayew fucks off to the ACN the better - looking more and more like a selfish show pony. Poor game, dreadful weather on the way back, but that goal from Jack made the day.
Would agree with most of that, including the weather and the soaking on the way back to the car. I would add though that even Jedinak gave the ball away sloppily on a few occasions. I share your concerns about Gardner - he's featured quite a bit now and continues to give the ball away regularly. Desperately need at least one new midfielder in January.
I did think it was noticeable, however, that we looked a lot fitter than them in the closing stages, which wasn't the case in earlier games. We really picked it up in the last 20 minutes, though we were still pretty poor for the majority of the game before that.
it was a poor game, generally. Jack's goal was good, but he was too peripheral for too long.
Jedinak was pretty good: he gave the ball away a couple of times, but he was always looking to move the ball quickly - which is what we need to do to break down the packed defences - and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
Ayew flatters to deceive; Kodjia needs to stop listening to the hype; Adomah is not as good I thought he might be.
Amavi is really good; Hutton is a trier, albeit limited; Gardner has found his level; Gestede should not play for us ever again.
-
Jedinak is really playing well now, if we can get a playmaker next to him we'll dominate teams.
He still loses the ball too much for me though.
I do wonder if he had someone capable next to him he'd be able to just lay off simple passes and his error rate would drop.
I think so too. I think Jedinak can be class at times but sometimes he tries to do too much and he makes mistakes. One thing's for certain though and that's the fact he's miles better than both Gardner and Westwood. The former was absolutely useless today. We just have to finally fix the midfield in January if we're to have any chance of promotion this season.
Jedinak as good as he does the stuff he's meant to do still makes some horrendous passing mistakes. Twice today he made passes into no mans land when not under any pressure. In all honesty this is his level as it is for most of our lot, Gralish excepted, who was head and shoulders the best player on the park by a mile. He should shoot more, he has it in him.
I'm a big fan of Ayew but he really does need a size 12 boot up the arse. Just think about what you're doing and you really would be something.
-
They were very well organised if lacking in any ambition whatsoever, it was always going to take either a mistake or a moment of brilliance to open them up. A wonderful goal.
Fucking horrendous weather mind.
-
What a poor game that was couldn't see a goal coming. Though Gardener and Ayew were very poor,Amavi was our best player by far. What a goal to win it,made the terrible journey home more enjoyable. UTV!!!!
-
18 points from 9 games would suggest significant improvement under Bruce but performances seem as poor as ever on the games I've seen. For those going to the games what are your thoughts?
Amavi is in, Jedinak settled as the defensive blocker in midfield but are we still an unbalanced rabble apart from that? There seems to be no real shape at the top of the pitch particularly and no idea why Gardner is starting ahead of the three midfielders on our bench today.
-
We are far more solid and organised at the back and there is a solidity in midfield without it being particularly dynamic, it's up front where we haven't really gelled, with the players we have we should be creating lots of chances but it's not really happening, yes we've seen some great individual goals but the fluidity is still to come.
-
15 minutes of domination, 73 minutes of the dullest rubbish going and then one moment of brilliance.
-
Have all winnable games before January. Then we sign a Bremner and Barry duo type midfielders with Jack able to play in free role without any fear of losing the ball on his runs and we will truly run riot.
-
I think that given the unbalanced, and it certain areas, rank average players that we have in some important positions, Bruce's job is just getting us to January with us in or sniffing around the play-offs. Then we can sell the club a lot easier to Premier League players to come in as we can pay Premier League wages and offer a good chance of being back in the top flight next season. Also I expect better performances and seeing starting to put more teams away a lot earlier and a lot more convincingly.
-
18 points from 9 games would suggest significant improvement under Bruce but performances seem as poor as ever on the games I've seen. For those going to the games what are your thoughts?
Football is not great and we are bits and pieces outfit but hey I don't expect anything more from a Bruce team.
-
SB needs to give Tshibola a run in the midfield.
Bruce really doesn't seem to rate him much though does he?
-
Wigan are gash, we weren't much better, but thinks we used our get out of jail card today.
my motm Jedi
-
For me Amavi was excellent and MotM.
-
Just home and dried off, food in my belly too.
Generally we were awful. We started brightly but did very little and Wigan were more fluid than us for a good 15-20 minutes o ft he first half. I put that down to our two man midfield.
Second half was soporific, and we were guilty of playing in front Wigan. Several players were guilty of far too many touches in possession (Ayew, Kodjia, Adomah), we didn't move the ball quickly enough and our crossing was abysmal. Gardner and Jedinak seemed to have a private battle to see who could give the ball away the most, though the latter was good defensively and showed great skill to create one decent shot for himself.
Gestede substitution added little as we didn't get any crosses for him from out wide. The goal was completely out of context with this game, but it's a wonderful feeling to score a late winner.
Long may it continue.
Chuffed we won, but we made hard work of it. Jack's goal was a beauty but it wasn't as if a goal was coming. I'm relieved but worried by our disjointedness.
-
Wigan haven't changed since the last time we played them at home. Boring team looking for a point at any cost, horrible team. Teams are going to park the bus more and more as we move up the league so we are just going to get used to it. Very important to get three points today. Love this winning at home thing
-
When was the last time we scored late to win???
Reading.
Rotterdam
-
Against teams who 'park the bus' we need to have not just much better movement off the ball we just need some movement.
-
Westwood is limited as has been discussed ad infinitum but he gives the ball away far less than Gardner. He is really poor. We will look much better when Bruce gets the right players around Jedinak.
-
I think that Wigan did very well today and we are perhaps not giving them credit here. They made it very, very difficult for us and if that header out had fallen to anyone else other than Grealish, I'd wager that Wigan would have been heading home with a draw.
I'm a fan of Jordan Ayew but he needs to start bringing more to the table. His confidence is probably low but somehow, he needs to start producing.
I'm now more convinced than ever that Kodjia is not a number 9 and needs to be played out wide, preferably from the left, as his chip today showed that he is weaker coming in from the right. He just isn't physical enough to play number 9 and this may explain why he has never played at the top level. I'm now more convinced than ever that we need a number 9 in sooner, rather than later as Gestede isn't the answer.
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned Alan Hutton as I thought he had an excellent game today. You always know that you are going to get 100% from AH and I'm not as critical of him as many are. A great run in the second half that somehow ended in him being booked.
I disagree with others about Adomah. I think he is doing fine, a proper winger who causes problems and is aware of his duties when we don't have the ball.
Jack Grealish showed exactly why he is rated so highly. One moment of brilliance changed the result.
We need to replace Gardner, which makes me sad to say, given he's a local lad but how he manages to start ahead of Tish is beyond me.
I think its clear that we aren't going to be thrashing many teams but we are certainly robust and we are certainly a team that will go for 90+ minutes.
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
-
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.
You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.
-
Wigan haven't changed since the last time we played them at home. Boring team looking for a point at any cost, horrible team. Teams are going to park the bus more and more as we move up the league so we are just going to get used to it. Very important to get three points today. Love this winning at home thing
Didn't they murder us 3-0 the last time they came to Villa Park?
-
15 minutes of domination, 73 minutes of the dullest rubbish going and then one moment of brilliance.
Liverpool 79-87?
-
I think that Wigan did very well today and we are perhaps not giving them credit here. They made it very, very difficult for us and if that header out had fallen to anyone else other than Grealish, I'd wager that Wigan would have been heading home with a draw.
I'm a fan of Jordan Ayew but he needs to start bringing more to the table. His confidence is probably low but somehow, he needs to start producing.
I'm now more convinced than ever that Kodjia is not a number 9 and needs to be played out wide, preferably from the left, as his chip today showed that he is weaker coming in from the right. He just isn't physical enough to play number 9 and this may explain why he has never played at the top level. I'm now more convinced than ever that we need a number 9 in sooner, rather than later as Gestede isn't the answer.
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned Alan Hutton as I thought he had an excellent game today. You always know that you are going to get 100% from AH and I'm not as critical of him as many are. A great run in the second half that somehow ended in him being booked.
I disagree with others about Adomah. I think he is doing fine, a proper winger who causes problems and is aware of his duties when we don't have the ball.
Jack Grealish showed exactly why he is rated so highly. One moment of brilliance changed the result.
We need to replace Gardner, which makes me sad to say, given he's a local lad but how he manages to start ahead of Tish is beyond me.
I think its clear that we aren't going to be thrashing many teams but we are certainly robust and we are certainly a team that will go for 90+ minutes.
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
Ayew is awful with an appalling attitude.
As for 'Notts' Forest it would be unwise to describe them as 'Notts' to most of their fans. Regardless of their geographical location. I lived there for 15 years.
-
You have to accept that some days it just doesn't go right. But we won without playing well. For me our best home performance this season was Forest, but we only got one point.
-
Sides who keep finding a way to win, even when they're not playing well, generally do rather well. I'll take that.
-
Elphick was very angry with Gollini when he didn't come for a Wigan cross in the closing minutes. I expect the McGregor rumour is true and he'll be our regular keeper come January.
-
Elphick was very angry with Gollini when he didn't come for a Wigan cross in the closing minutes. I expect the McGregor rumour is true and he'll be our regular keeper come January.
Jeeps. A poor replacement
-
Maybe Bruce will go left field and go for Conor McGregor
-
Just got home. We weren't great today and people around me were getting frustrated with the constant sideways passing but what a goal! We need to go central a bit more, too often we are looking to go wide all the time. Thought defensively we were solid although Wigan offered nothing, Jedinak was poor 1st half but much better second and Ayew was fairly low key. Gestede and McCormack both looked out of sorts when they came on but three points is three points. UTV.
-
Maybe Bruce will go left field and go for Conor McGregor
I like him. Turn up at training and justify why you aren't in as good shape as him.
-
Elphick was very angry with Gollini when he didn't come for a Wigan cross in the closing minutes. I expect the McGregor rumour is true and he'll be our regular keeper come January.
He was seven yards from his own goal, it was Elphick's to deal with.
-
The sooner Baker is back the better. We need another centre back in January as I'm not convinced by Elphick.
-
We are far more solid and organised at the back and there is a solidity in midfield without it being particularly dynamic, it's up front where we haven't really gelled, with the players we have we should be creating lots of chances but it's not really happening, yes we've seen some great individual goals but the fluidity is still to come.
The issue is a lack of movement up front and the current inability to move the ball quickly.
The number of times yesterday that Grealish, Jedi and Gardner looked to slot the ball into the channels and found there were no runners into the space; and, the times when Kodjia, Adomah and Ayew should have been finding space and didn't ... it drove me mad.
We have to find that balance upfront, and we have to drill some more dynamic approaches: because breaking down the packed defences that we face will not happen without some guile and movement.
-
When was the last time we scored late to win???
Reading.
When was the last time we won 4 straight league home wins and realistically a 5th? Surely not 1982/83?
-
We made hard work of it but that was down in part to Wigan putting 10 men behind the ball for most of the game and us struggling to break them down which made it frustrating to watch. Lovely goal to win it though and if we do go up, we'll look to games like that where we had to grind out the result.
-
You could tell how much effort Wigan had put into the game by their reaction to our goal. Their players were collapsed all over the pitch, totally shattered mentally and physically. Teams will raise their game against us at Villa Park and try that little bit harder as they know they are going to experience the most expensive forward line ever assembled in the Championship.
-
thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/
It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.
Had to laugh when I saw this. Keep up the good work mate!
-
That Jordi Gomez is one cheating fcuker. Either that or he had no studs in his boots...spent more time on his arse than on his feet.
-
You could tell how much effort Wigan had put into the game by their reaction to our goal. Their players were collapsed all over the pitch, totally shattered mentally and physically. Teams will raise their game against us at Villa Park and try that little bit harder as they know they are going to experience the most expensive forward line ever assembled in the Championship.
I noticed that too, we've conceded enough late goals ourselves so know how if feels.
As everyone says after the first 15 minutes it turned into a real grind but we now have a few players now who can produce a touch of class to win the game.
-
Well we were playing a lot more attacking intent under RDM, like a loose poker player who gets involved in too many pots, and dropped far too many points because we dropped away last 5 mins. We're now a more dour team at times, and look far from the finished article, but off the top of my head we've now won probably the same amount of points with late goals than we lost under the previous manager.
-
Four late points won against Wigan and Reading with late winners, a stretch to say Fulham as there was about 12-15 minutes left but I think we're still behind on the games thrown away against Weds/Hudds/Forest/Brentford/Barnsley.
Did many fans leave yesterday before the goal? What a double pisser if so (no beautiful late goal and lots of rain to wade through).
I was moving house, lugging boxes and bags from a removals van in crappy weather so am not being smug.
-
We made hard work of it but that was down in part to Wigan putting 10 men behind the ball for most of the game and us struggling to break them down which made it frustrating to watch.
Agreed, but we have to learn to cope with these tactics and we need midfielders who can produce the killer pass. How many decisive passes did we see from midfield? Perhaps 2 or 3 in the whole game.
-
Maybe Bruce will go left field and go for Conor McGregor
I think we should hire him as the personal coach for Ayew. He should get him fit and focussed.
-
The sooner Baker is back the better. We need another centre back in January as I'm not convinced by Elphick.
Hi welcome!
-
thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/
It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.
Had to laugh when I saw this. Keep up the good work mate!
I really enjoyed it. It provided a brilliant soundtrack to the match thread, which is generally my only way of following a game. Russon's Radio is the new Orange Dot!
-
thanks very much to those who encouraged and contributed to the radio show this afternoon, i was happy to be your stooge. here's a brief write up https://stoneygolf.blogspot.co.uk/
It's good to be part of the Villa family even when shivering in a northern Scottish outpost. Thanks everyone.
Had to laugh when I saw this. Keep up the good work mate!
I really enjoyed it. It provided a brilliant soundtrack to the match thread, which is generally my only way of following a game. Russon's Radio is the new Orange Dot!
Fair play to ya👍
-
Well that one went the full Di Matteo mental. 4-1-5 by my reckoning. We really must sort our midfield out next month, and right back of course
-
Seemed to me no one wanted to burst through the middle like an Ian Taylor or a David Platt. Everything goes wide.
-
Seemed to me no one wanted to burst through the middle like an Ian Taylor or a David Platt. Everything goes wide.
Yes that was the recurring theme in my head. No Rioch or Sir Dennis type who can pick the ball up and drive forward through the centre but I guess we don't have that sort of player.
-
We made hard work of it but that was down in part to Wigan putting 10 men behind the ball for most of the game and us struggling to break them down which made it frustrating to watch.
Agreed, but we have to learn to cope with these tactics and we need midfielders who can produce the killer pass. How many decisive passes did we see from midfield? Perhaps 2 or 3 in the whole game.
If memory serves, this is not a recent problem I seem to remember we never quite managed it when we were a top 6 side in the early Lerner days
-
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.
You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.
Bit unfair. Its not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview
-
The ref kept killing the momentum of the game.
-
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.
You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.
Bit unfair. Its not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview
Which is part of the reason I am enjoying him being manager. He is the first one for a long tme who seems to watch the same game I do. That feeling of a shared reality with our manager gives me confidence.
-
All in all, an awful game but the Notts Forest game at home was really entertaining. How many would prefer todays result though?
That's it for me. We made a pact with the devil when we went with Bruce.
You can't appoint Steve Bruce and then complain when his team plays like a Steve Bruce side.
Bit unfair. Its not like Bruce did a Paul Lambert saying we were excellent. He acknowledged we weren't very good In the post match interview
Which is part of the reason I am enjoying him being manager. He is the first one for a long tme who seems to watch the same game I do. That feeling of a shared reality with our manager gives me confidence.
Listening to WM (yes, I know) on the way home last night the contrast between his post match interview and TSM II's was striking.
-
I'm really starting to like what Bruce is doing at Villa.
I think if we go up this season it will have to be by winning at Wembley. I think we've got the quality to prevail in the playoffs, if not finish second.
What does anyone think our progress will be like if/when we go up with Bruce in charge? It's a big question and will hopefully need to be addressed at some stage.
Personally I think there are sufficient safeguards in place to let him have a crack at the Prem. And I think any manager who gets promotion deserves a gig the following season. For me though, he just doesn't have the track record for the top flight.
It's a difficult one for sure. Made all the harder by him being such a genuine bloke.
-
I'm really starting to like what Bruce is doing at Villa.
I think if we go up this season it will have to be by winning at Wembley. I think we've got the quality to prevail in the playoffs, if not finish second.
What does anyone think our progress will be like if/when we go up with Bruce in charge? It's a big question and will hopefully need to be addressed at some stage.
Personally I think there are sufficient safeguards in place to let him have a crack at the Prem. And I think any manager who gets promotion deserves a gig the following season. For me though, he just doesn't have the track record for the top flight.
It's a difficult one for sure. Made all the harder by him being such a genuine bloke.
Get promoted, reasonable lower mid-table finish in the first season back in the Prem, and we'll happy let him go off to manage England on the back of another group stage exit in the World Cup. Easy-peasy.
-
I've not actually got the record books out and done the maths on this but it feels like we've won more points in the last 10 Minutes since Bruce took over than we have in the last 10 Seasons.
-
I agree with the sentiments about Bruce.
I think we've probably only played well once under him so far. I do hope having stabilised the ship we'll start to be a bit more quality but as others have said the midfield is of poor quality
We'd need quite a few new players if this squad did get promoted. I'm not sure any section of the pitch is really functioning yet
In spite of all this I still think we've got a really good chance of going up via the play offs. The keep it tight and rely on a moment of attacking quality approach is working well. Derby currently look the real threat to me
-
We'd need quite a few new players if this squad did get promoted. I'm not sure any section of the pitch is really functioning yet
Didn't the good Doctor say this was always going to be the case? He;s talked about the need to build three teams in quick succession:
One to get us up
One to consolidate
One to kick on.
In terms of Bruce - he's done wonders since he got here. Half the games we have drawn since he arrived, we'd have lost (especially the one against the Blues when there was 10 mins of extra time). More than half the game we'd won; we'd have drawn under Di Matteo.
I for one don't think we're ever going to 'boss' a game until we have some quality in centre-mid.
-
I think that if we do go up, the safeguard on Bruce should be control of how he spends money. The Board etc. should ensure that money is spent on building for the future i.e. quality and not a 'kid in a sweet shop' approach. This usually defines whether a manager is a good manager and can see the pieces of the jigsaw required or an average manager who cannot raise the bar.
-
I don't think Steve Bruce has ever felt like he does now about the club he is part of. His manner and the way he keeps referring to the size and prestige of the club shows that he is chuffed to bits to be here. Plus he has never been in charge before of a club with the potential that there is at Villa. Add in the Steve Round factor plus the CEO who knows how to run a club and a Steve Bruce in the Premier League might well be very different to what has gone before.
-
I don't think Steve Bruce has ever felt like he does now about the club he is part of. His manner and the way he keeps referring to the size and prestige of the club shows that he is chuffed to bits to be here. Plus he has never been in charge before of a club with the potential that there is at Villa. Add in the Steve Round factor plus the CEO who knows how to run a club and a Steve Bruce in the Premier League might well be very different to what has gone before.
Totally agree with this