Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on December 26, 2019, 04:58:30 PM
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Thank fuck for Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane and most of all today Tom Heaton. Another crack papered over in what was a poor display. But the three points were critical. On to Watford.
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A win is a win, but by christ was it a tough watch.
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Thank fuck.
Nothing else to say.
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Jack Grealish, Jack Grealish, Jack Grealish, 1-0 win and 3 points.
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As shit a win as you’ll ever see. Thank god for jack we’d be dead and buried already without him.
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With the other results today, anything but a win would have been disastrous. We got it...
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Trezeguet is one of the least effective players I’ve ever seen in a villa shirt. His complete inability to avoid the first man with a cross and his deceptive lack of pace reminds me of Steve Stone without the work ethic.
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3 points. Nothing else matters.
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What a team. The first of this season's ten game winning run.
AND WE HAVE BEATEN THE LAST POINTS TOTAL!
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
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Vital win. Rubbish display, but we needed that win.
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We could easily have lost that but at least there was a bit of fight.
I thought the Centre halves and goalkeeper did well, the way we are set up they get plenty of work.
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We were awful. But I’ll take it.
Hause magnificent, Heaton awesome, and Jack a different class.
Hopefully we can knock on after this.
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Jack is the best. The absolute best.
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We were crap throughout that. Slow, lethargic, boring.
One moment of quality quality in the game and thank fuck it was us.
Grealish, Heaton and Hause played decent.
Man of the match- The ballboys.
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Three points. That is what we needed. Yes we're shite but three points is all we could ask for. Let's go and get three more on Saturday.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
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Another shout for Heaton, him and Jack standing up for the club.
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Trezeguet and El Ghazi... Christ. You can afford one of those (player who has their moments but regularly does absolutely nothing) but not two.
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Shockingly poor but we got 3 points . Haven't got a clue where any more will come from.
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And relax (a little bit) until Saturday.
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The 3 points that may well have saved Dean Smith's job. Well done lads. I will take winning ugly over plucky losers all day long.
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Trezeguet and El Ghazi... Christ. You can afford one of those (player who has their moments but regularly does absolutely nothing) but not two.
We have by some distance the worst front three in the division
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Happy we won and got the 3 points but we all know it's a result that just papers over the huge cracks.
If it wasn't for Tom Heaton's brilliance since August we would be rock bottom of the table.
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Five wins at the turn of the year.
That's despite being decent but far from convincing in many games and pissing away a multitude of winning positions.
Hoped for four wins by early December and six by the end of the year/ early Jan.
So not a million miles off course but Watford and Soton's recent run of form is a concern.
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A massive 3 points that could keep us up.
Still dreadful starting formation and player selection from Dean.
Saved by Jack and Heaton.
Smith still OUT.
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fuck me we aint good but we have Jack
thought Hause was great , Jack was king , Luis gets credit to keep us in the game with the clearance , Heaton is class.
Targett 14 million ? waste of money ..Trez fecking useless and I thought he was in that nations cup , El Ghazi championship player, Wesley worked hard , dont mean he is good.. Elmo another championship player .
conor will always get you a goal when you are shit.
3 pts , clean sheet ( god knows how) and merry christmas :)
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Kodjia must have pissed in smiths tea or something. There has to be a reason behind why he is given little or no opportunity to get on the pitch.
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Grealish!!!,as good a player as we've ever had, Hause excellent, Hourihane must start the next game, Taylor for Targett also. Big thumbs up for the ball boy at the Witton End.
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Agree Jon. We have bought a load of truly duff players.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
Its looking that way. Trezeguet reminds me of Bjarnason, not in position or the way they play but in that hes looked monumentally shite from the moment we signed him. A few will relectuntantly try and see the good in him more so in hope than expectation but ive seen fuck all in him to suggest he's good enough for this level.
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Massive game again Saturday, Wet Spam playing Leicester & Bournemouth playing Brighton, a chance to at least climb out of the bottom 3 by the end of the year.
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Massive relief to win, but not sure it is too much of a comfort at this point. We are very close to a number of the teams above us, but looking at the table tonight I can't see us getting more points than any of them as it stands.
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Watford look no mugs under Pearson. Unfortunately.
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Kodjia must have pissed in smiths tea or something. There has to be a reason behind why he is given little or no opportunity to get on the pitch.
It's driving me fucking insane. And he got his chance the other day, albeit against Liverpool's kids, and did pretty much everything asked of him. He actually got fucked over at the end when Wes came on and scored. But I just do not for the life of me understand what he has to do to get a start over one of the worst and/or out of form forwards in the PL.
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Wonderful goal line clearance from Douglas, who I thought played ok. Hause, Heaton and Grealish were excellent. Wesley ran hard with very little service particularly from the two completely anonymous wingers in El Ghazi and Trezeguet, really poor players indeed. Our full backs are guff, Elmo was very wasteful. Nakamba tried to control the ball in his own box again!
One shot on target for us in the whole game. Really poor performance and without incoming players we will be down. Still in the bottom three but at least we stay in touch with the teams above us. Papers over the cracks indeed.
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Begs the question why was Hause overlooked for the last months, Heaton fantastic as was Grealish but we have some very poor players that are just not Prem standard and will get us relegated if not replaced.
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Thank fuck for that.
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Trezeguet and El Ghazi... Christ. You can afford one of those (player who has their moments but regularly does absolutely nothing) but not two.
We have by some distance the worst front three in the division
I wonder how far you could go down the Championship to find a worse front three.
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Begs the question why was Hause overlooked for the last months, Heaton fantastic as was Grealish but we have some very poor players that are just not Prem standard and will get us relegated if not replaced.
As soon as Mings is back I'd be picking Hause over Targett every single time. He's so much better in every conceivable way. But you just know Hause will be on the bench and Targett kept as LB.
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fuck me we aint good but we have Jack
thought Hause was great , Jack was king , Luis gets credit to keep us in the game with the clearance , Heaton is class.
Targett 14 million ? waste of money ..Trez fecking useless and I thought he was in that nations cup , El Ghazi championship player, Wesley worked hard , dont mean he is good.. Elmo another championship player .
conor will always get you a goal when you are shit.
3 pts , clean sheet ( god knows how) and merry christmas :)
Summed up perfectly.
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Trezeguet and El Ghazi... Christ. You can afford one of those (player who has their moments but regularly does absolutely nothing) but not two.
We have by some distance the worst front three in the division
I wonder how far you could go down the Championship to find a worse front three.
What I don't know entirely is if it's just the players and their ability or this reliance on two wingers versus a more compact 4-3-3 a bit like Liverpool. We are so spread out and Wesley is so isolated. I don't get why Dean Smith is so reluctant to change it.
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
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Every attack was down Targetts wing the opposition know he's shit.
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Christ that was a tough watch. Trez and El Ghazi woeful, least Wes run around a bit. Hourihane was good when he came on, Hause was very assured.
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
On the bench.
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Every attack was down Targetts wing the opposition know he's shit.
I'm very late to this (ever the optimist) but yes he is wank.
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
On the bench.
FFS!
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Unneccessarily dropped.
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Trezeguet and El Ghazi... Christ. You can afford one of those (player who has their moments but regularly does absolutely nothing) but not two.
We have by some distance the worst front three in the division
I wonder how far you could go down the Championship to find a worse front three.
What I don't know entirely is if it's just the players and their ability or this reliance on two wingers versus a more compact 4-3-3 a bit like Liverpool. We are so spread out and Wesley is so isolated. I don't get why Dean Smith is so reluctant to change it.
I'm afraid it's a combination of poor players led by General Haig. Like our attackers, the man is not for turning.
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Anyone know why the teams were wearing black armbands?
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Thank christ for that.
Wesley is the worst player I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. Complete shite.
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Martin Peters.
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Torturous to watch at times, but a badly needed win. Hopefully this is something of a turning point.
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Thank christ for that.
Wesley is the worst player I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. Complete shite.
weren't you watching AEG and Trez?
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We have won a six pointer today and cut Norwich adrift. If we can do the same to Watford on Saturday that will be massive back to back results.
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Poor for most of the game but we’ve played well and lost so I’ll take it. Thought the two centre backs played well. Full backs were both poor again but then guilbert was terrible last game so I’m not surprised he was dropped. I thought Douglas was decent enough though and jack is something else.. Anyway we need to improve but we are still in there and fighting.
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I think that’s the least pleasure I’ve gained from any Villa win, if you could choose one game to win it would be Norwich at home, but it took a shit load of luck & our one bit of quality to win the game, Smith just ain’t learning! Our front three are embarrassingly poor, you can’t gamble with 433, but we have, our wingers are powder puff & to persevere with Wesley is almost perverse! People keep saying Smith is stubborn, I just don’t think he’s anywhere near as good a coach as we hoped/ thought he was.
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Where's Wesley?
(https://i.ibb.co/GRF3b4H/download-1.png) (https://ibb.co/GRF3b4H)
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I’m glad I continued watching to hear Farke’s stream of consciousness about a throw-in.
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Begs the question why was Hause overlooked for the last months, Heaton fantastic as was Grealish but we have some very poor players that are just not Prem standard and will get us relegated if not replaced.
Maybe because Mings is our best defender by a distance. I'd consider trying Hause at left back though once Mings is back as our other two options there are genuinely useless.
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I’m glad I continued watching to hear Farke’s stream of consciousness about a throw-in.
5 fucking minutes hes been babbling on about that after originally saying he wouldnt comment.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
Wes?
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Thank christ for that.
Wesley is the worst player I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. Complete shite.
Really boiled my piss when he was “playing” so deep in the last 20 minutes ambling around somewhere in midfield being of no use to the team whatsoever...in fact, he just gets in the way. A lot of problems stem from not having any attacking threat. Absolutely shite.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
Wes?
Haha funny man. Heaton.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
Wes?
I'd be thinking Heaton.
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I’m glad I continued watching to hear Farke’s stream of consciousness about a throw-in.
5 fucking minutes hes been babbling on about that after originally saying he wouldnt comment.
Have you heard how quickly Farke speaks? He can quote the whole of the bible in five minutes.
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I'd be less concerned if we were playing like Norwich. At least they can pass the ball, decent movement and on another day would have been 2 or 3 up. Watford is going to be a massive game.
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Watford have some decent players but the one thing you can guarantee is as limited as it is long term Pearson will have them very fired up for this game. We will need to compete at that level as well as technically outplay them. I don’t know how much faith I have in us raising our game on both counts.
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Not an excuse but I’d say the lack of confidence all around from bad results, injuries and need for a win made the team edgy today which could explain some of the bad passing. It was noticeable from the first minute from the team to the crowd.
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Thank christ for that.
Wesley is the worst player I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. Complete shite.
weren't you watching AEG and Trez?
No end product, but at least they can get in to the positions.
Our centre forward hasn't had a shot on target in 4 or 5 games. He's absolutely appalling.
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Player ratings today, gents ?
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I do not think Wesley wants to score, shields the ball well, turns his man and lays the ball off, Then stands still with no movement to get into a scoring position from a return ball.
Heaton,Hause and Jack. apart from that crap.
Maybe Connor, sorry a bit harsh on him and Luis for the clearance.
Our two Egyptians, Sphinx like, Targett, even jack bollocked him in the second half for an aimless ball out of defense, under no pressure.
Reinforcements needed
And yes what has Kodja done, I think we should be told.
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Apart from Heaton and Jack, were were awful and may as well have been playing with ten, because Wesley is beyond egregious. What does Kodjia have to do to play? Are there two players called Douglas Louiz and we bought the wrong one? (Goal- line clearance excluded) Overall, the result was all that mattered, but on this evidence, we have regressed significantly even from the Newcastle game. Huge window ahead as we simply have to reinforce to survive.
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Player ratings today, gents ?
Heaton 9
Elmo 4
Targett 4
Konsa 7
Hause 8
Targett 4
Douglas 6.5
Nakamba 6
Grealish 8
Trezeguet 2
El Ghazi 3
Wesley 6
Hourihane 6
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No wonder Grealish was getting so mad. Stop giving the ball back to the opposition. Villa at the moment pass pass hoof.
Just some simple stuff would help. They all seem to lack confidence and cohesion
Wesley's highlight today was getting booked for behaving like an under 10
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Player ratings today, gents ?
Heaton 9
Elmo 4
Targett 4
Konsa 7
Hause 8
Targett 4
Douglas 6.5
Nakamba 6
Grealish 8
Trezeguet 2
El Ghazi 3
Wesley 6
Hourihane 6
Wesley 😂
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Unneccessarily dropped.
everyone was shit against soton and Freddie is dropped ? very odd
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Player ratings today, gents ?
Heaton 9
Elmo 4
Targett 4
Konsa 7
Hause 8
Targett 4
Douglas 6.5
Nakamba 6
Grealish 8
Trezeguet 2
El Ghazi 3
Wesley 6
Hourihane 6
Wesley 😂
I don't know how you gave Nakamba a 6? He was terrible, constantly giving the ball away. Somehow Douglas Luiz made an amazing goal line clearance from Nakamba's poor touch in the area. I'd give him a 3 at best. Rubbish!
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I only saw the second half but I was impressed by the fight, if not the quality. Heaton, Hause and Grealish were excellent. Hourihane needs to be on the pitch as much as possible (could we play him up front?!)
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Unneccessarily dropped.
everyone was shit against soton and Freddie is dropped ? very odd
He is on 4 bookings so maybe didn't want to risk him being suspended for Watford, all bookings are wiped off after 31/12/19
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Maybe Dean was resting Guilbert for Watford.
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There was a worrying drop in intensity after about half an hour, fitness is a major issue by the looks of it.
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Only good things about this afternoon - 3 points and home in record time. Think Norwich will feel hard done by but they are where they are 'cos they don't score goals away from home. Heaton, Hause and Konsa impressed, Jack still our main hope to avoid the drop, everyone else was pretty poor. Marvelous and Doug must have had a bet to see who could give the ball away most; Targett was out of position so often that nearly all their attacks came down our left; don't know what Guilbert did (more than anyone else against Southampton) to get dropped, or what Elmo does in training to get picked ahead of him; Trezeguet and AEG were simply woeful; Wesley worked harder than usual, and Conor did OK when he came on and took the goal well. With other results we're still in the bottom 3, and judging by that performance we're well and truly in the shit.
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Well done Villa for getting the much needed 3 points! Special praise for keeping the clean sheet, Heaton and Jack. Wes won't get us the goal in 1-0 wins and he won't get us the goal when we need to put the game to bed when we're 1-0 up. He shouldn't be starting games but with only Watford to play in 2019, I expect he'll start Saturday, but we need a proper goalscoring striker in from 1st Jan as clearly Kodjia doesn't fit into Deano's plans. As we f-cked up vs Soton we need to win at Watford, but this is going to be a difficult ask. It might help if Deano doesn't keep dropping one of our highest goalscorers!
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Highlights (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/11895384/hourihane-strike-gives-villa-the-points)
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We also miss a centre forward helping out defensively on corners and free kicks, hence why we've conceded so many from them this season. Tammy was immense at helping defensively, Wesley can barely get off the floor.
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It was a nervy and at points very poor performance but this was a huge game after the recent loss's, we simply could not lose and overall we got over the line and got the win.
Was fight in the team if not quality other than Jack.Wes I throught did ok linking up and ran and chased balls down but we are not helping his cause we such poor build up play and cross's into the box.I would have had had Kodjia on in the closing stages myself , Jota for me is not the player you want on when trying to protect a lead and playing on the counter.
Hopefully we can take confidence into the Watford game get some more points and get to Jan where we can improve the squad. Another striker and a pacy winner is needed.
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Hause was good. Really impressed with him.
I also thought Douglas had more energy and intensity.
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Unneccessarily dropped.
everyone was shit against soton and Freddie is dropped ? very odd
He is on 4 bookings so maybe didn't want to risk him being suspended for Watford, all bookings are wiped off after 31/12/19
I thought he already served a suspension against Chelsea for 5 yellows? My guess is Deano just preferred Elmo to him today for whatever reason. More worrying for me is Jack is on 4 yellows and at risk of suspension, but looks like we may get away with that one
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Blimey. I’m extremely relieved to snaffling the points, but that was bloody agony! Jack was his magnificent-self; Heaton superb; and great finish by Conor. Hopefully our luck will hold out a while longer: otherwise the Watford Strikers will be licking their lips (if they aren’t already).
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Couldn't watch the game but just feel relieved considering most of the posts which I must admit are not very reassuring for the future unless good new players arrive in jan.
Anyway a win is a win.
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The result was more important than the performance, but you know it's bad when we can't even perform against a team worse than us.
I really think we need to give Jota and Kodjia a run in the side for Wesley and which ever one of the useless wide players, take your pick.
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Vital win. Rubbish display, but we needed that win.
This.
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Guilbert was all over the place vs Southampton, showed a complete lack of composure & ability to defend. That's why he was dropped, a standout in a shocking team performance. Same for Engles.
We defended well today, but Nakamba was a liability, poor touch, no right foot & I struggle to see what he does.
Wingers don't offer much, but at least Trezeguet supports the defense .
Other than that, we were OK, a win more than we deserved. We are totally dependant on Jack.
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Once again we made a terrible start to second half. Could have been 3-0 down before we scored. Fix this please Dean...and the other stuff.
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Jack is the best. The absolute best.
Absolutely fucking reliable in any situation.
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Highlights (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/premier-league/11895384/hourihane-strike-gives-villa-the-points)
Highlights ?? Grim watching, Norwich missed some utter sitters. Credit Luiz for stopping one, the bar another and Heaton with some smart stops.
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The result was everything. We went 1-0 up and then saw it out. Psychologically this is important. Great goal too. We go again.
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It was the win of a team that's incredibly low in confidence. I wasn't surprised by how shaky we looked once we went ahead - after the run we've been on they were bound to be on edge in the closing stages.
If nothing else, we showed a lot of team spirit to get the win - that was not the performance of a team that has given up on the manager or not trying. We have a chance to pick up some more points on Saturday, and if we can build a better run of results, confidence will return and we'll begin to play a bit more football.
However, Watford will be just as big a battle as today - and we are crying out for a decent defensive midfielder who can stop teams just waltzing between the lines against us. It is this simple: if we do not improve defensively in the midfield, we will be relegated.
We kept our heads above water today and crucially cut the bottom two adrift. Feel as though this may go down to the very final few weeks of the season. Any form of survival is victory for us this year, and we're going to have to scrap for every point like we did today to make that happen. Relief.
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A massive 3 points that could keep us up.
Still dreadful starting formation and player selection from Dean.
Saved by Jack and Heaton.
Smith still OUT.
Oh fuck off.
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My Tuppeny-halfpenny's worth:
Heaton 9 For obvious reasons
Elmo 5 Poor distribution, though he does have a killer cross on him at times. Not today.
Targett 4 One moment of skill aside was poor and left huge acres of space for Norwich to exploit second half.
Hause 9 Brilliant good old fashioned blood and thunder centre half performance, no pissing about and enjoyed watching it. Keep him in.
Konsa 7 Decent
Douglas Luiz 6 Thought he was pathetic against Saints but much more committed today and what a clearance!
Grealish 9 Amazing skill for the assist and carrying the team utterly.
Nakamba 2 I'm a fan in general but he was dreadful today. But he gives his all.
El Ghazi 5 Don't think he was as bad as some are making out.
Wesley 5 Better than some of his performances but the concept of a striker who holds the ball up but never wins a header in the box and hardly ever even shoots is weird, and would probably require a midfield of Messi, Modric and Zidane to make it work. Heskey was so much better in this role. He did do one exquisite pass though, which took me aback.
Trezeguet 0 Laughable and totally egotistical display.
Hourihane 7.5 Delivered as he so often does - and was a calming influence in midfield. Needs to start every game.
Jota - not enough 'data'
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Like most said, Heaton, Konsa, Hause and Jack performed very well. Targett, AEG , Trez, Luiz (clearance-excepted) and Nakamba were utter shite.
There is no way Wesley and Luiz are Brazilian...maybe Suso misheard and they are both really fishermen from Buckie with a penchant for man-scaping.
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I really think we need to give Jota and Kodjia a run in the side for Wesley and which ever one of the useless wide players, take your pick.
Wesley is undroppable for some reason, so I’d go Kodjia Wes Jota for a go.
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What a relief! Big, big result but, let's be honest, we will lose way more than we'll win if we continue to play at that level. How Norwich weren't 2 up at half time I'll never know.
Villa were setting up crossing situations before the game but the crossing during the game was wretched. We had 2 wingers who can not pick out a man from a cross. Rank.
However, Luiz's goal line clearance was astounding, just amazing and gave us a chance to win. Worth a goal to us any day. The only one similar was Matt Lowton against Fulham some years ago.
More fight particularly after we'd scored but the quality has got to improve if we're going to stay up.
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We've played well and lost enough times this season, I'm happy for us to pay badly and win for change. Long may it continue and hopefully when confidence returns it'll morph into playing well and winning.
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At midnight, when the replay becomes available on Prime, I'm going to get meself a big bumper A4 refill pad and a pack of biros, and keep a tally of each and every time we failed to do that most basic of tasks; complete a <10 yard pass to a player in the same colour shirt. The sort of thing that has to be bread and butter for any side in this division. It was fucking farcical, we were doing it that often.
Heaton, Konsa, Hause, Grealish, all very good. Targett is rubbish (although no inference should be taken of this as vindication for Taylor's future inclusion, cos he's fucking rubbish as well).
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Player ratings today, gents ?
Heaton 9
Elmo 4
Targett 4
Konsa 7
Hause 8
Targett 4
Douglas 6.5
Nakamba 6
Grealish 8
Trezeguet 2
El Ghazi 3
Wesley 6
Hourihane 6
Wesley 😂
I don't know how you gave Nakamba a 6? He was terrible, constantly giving the ball away. Somehow Douglas Luiz made an amazing goal line clearance from Nakamba's poor touch in the area. I'd give him a 3 at best. Rubbish!
Fair enough! He was poor.
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Jack is the best. The absolute best.
Absolutely fucking reliable in any situation.*
*Except taking corners and free kicks.
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At midnight, when the replay becomes available on Prime, I'm going to get meself a big bumper A4 refill pad and a pack of biros, and keep a tally of each and every time we failed to do that most basic of tasks; complete a <10 yard pass to a player in the same colour shirt. The sort of thing that has to be bread and butter for any side in this division. It was fucking farcical, we were doing it that often.
JT is that you!? I can't believe somebody would consider watching through that again unless its their job.
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Delighted with the three points, very fortunate in my opinion.
On the plus side, Hause and Konsa were excellent and I assume Jack will have a serious back issue seeing as he literally carried that team all day.
On the negative, AEG and Trez were absolutely pathetic. Offered fuck all going forward and must be our defenders worst nightmare. If either of them can be bothered to come back, they invariably lose their man or fail to stop anything from happening.
AEG must have been guilty if this over five times in the first half. We were just lucky whatever Norwich tried didn't come off.
Great the points, still massively worried.
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Were Hause and Konsa excellent? I think individually they both played well and Hause especially seemed to really play his position well. But together there were still gaps in the middle and too many of their players got into very good positions to get away shots which required Heaton to save us. It’s not all on them of course but I’m yet to be convinced they are a long lasting partnership. For me the best back four is still Freddie, Engels, Mings and Hause
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A pretty poor performance, but as others have said a massive three points. The team just looks devoid of confidence at the moment (Jack excepted). If I think back the positive performances earlier in the season - even when we didn't win - across the park the players WANTED the ball. We were happy knocking it into feet even when players were under pressure - TRYING to play. Now, everyone looks scared to take some responsibility and demand the ball. I've got no problem with players trying to do things and it not coming off, but it frustrates me when the entire side looks frightened of playing. I don't know if that's something you can fix on the training ground, or if you need to grind out results to get there.
Jack is simply a marvel. He's absolutely priceless. Can you imagine trying buy someone like him? I've just watched the second-half of the Man U game, and if he was playing with a front-three that moves as well as Rashford, Greenwood and Martial, I think he'd average three assists a game! It's nothing short of a miracle that his goals and assists are so high given what he's working with in front of him.
If he gets injured, we are fucked.
Here's hoping we strengthen the front three in January.
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
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Were Hause and Konsa excellent? I think individually they both played well and Hause especially seemed to really play his position well. But together there were still gaps in the middle and too many of their players got into very good positions to get away shots which required Heaton to save us. It’s not all on them of course but I’m yet to be convinced they are a long lasting partnership. For me the best back four is still Freddie, Engels, Mings and Hause
I think in fairness all of our CBs have proven they are really capable at times this season. In fact it's the position in which we're arguably strongest.
They and and Heaton are simply given far too much to do as our midfield is useless at stopping teams play through the lines - they are constantly faced with midfielders running free at them having bypassed our DMs. Lack of a good DM also means our fullbacks are frequently exposed.
I'm convinced this is the reason we look so fragile at the back - the stats back this up as we force ourselves into making far too many blocks and rely on keeper to make many saves. I like Luiz - but he does not think about covering space and blocking passing lanes like a natural DM should do. Ditto Nakamba, but he can't even pick a pass like Luiz can. It should be our number one target in Jan - we'd look more free going forward too.
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Sorry wrong thread.
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The more I see of this team, the more I think what a load of shit we've bought in the summer with 1 exception.
Wes?
I'd be thinking Heaton.
I do think there's potential in some of our summer signings but last few weeks hasn't half shown they get lost when the going gets tough. Look at how bad the defence has been since Mings did his hamstring. I know we kept a clean sheet today but it wasn't like we limited them to half chances, they should've scored three like Southampton did.
As much as I hate using the phrase we need some "oven ready" players from the top level. Tom Heaton has been a regular keeper in this league since 2014, he knows how to stay up at this level. Most of our players don't.
The gaunlet has been laid down for the board and manager, sign 2-3 more of his type either on permanent or loan and we should survive just.
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First live game for me this season
Thank God for Jack. Great display. Imagine what he would be like with decent players around him. Lots of pressure on him to perform and more often that not, he does.
The two wingers were awful as they have been for most of the season. With one of them, you might get away with it, with both, not a chance. Oh for a Morley, Young or Graydon
Lots of money wasted in the summer unfortunately
Finally, Heaton was excellent
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Hause was great today, a very good footballer. When Mings is fit I’d stick Kortney at left back and sell Targett to Alfreton Town or somebody of that stature. £14m, fuck my old boots.
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Tell me then, what has Welsh done to impress you, today or any of the matches he has played? Ran his socks off, hahaha. Wondering around barely breaking into a sprint, get a grip.
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
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Hause was great today, a very good footballer. When Mings is fit I’d stick Kortney at left back and sell Targett to Alfreton Town or somebody of that stature. £14m, fuck my old boots.
Just checked, they don't need him. They have Danny Preston on a month's youth loan from Nottingham Forest. We could try raffling him unless Aylesbury Flooring FC are interested?
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
He has to be on the wind up, and has the nerve to call me a ‘noob’. Merry Christmas.
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Yes, Targett was poor but fuck me AEG provided about as much cover as one of Jodie Marsh’s swimsuits. The bloke is currently an empty shirt.
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
Wesley did run around a lot and close down their defenders that were never in any danger of losing possession, you are completely right. Not too shabby for someone impersonating a footballer eh?
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Unneccessarily dropped.
everyone was shit against soton and Freddie is dropped ? very odd
He is on 4 bookings so maybe didn't want to risk him being suspended for Watford, all bookings are wiped off after 31/12/19
I see Jack is on 4 too :)
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In no way shape or form is Trezeguet a Premier League player, neither is Jota.
Unless we sign a wide man in January if Andre Green is fit fet him back in from Preston. I would much rather have him out there than either of those 2.
And Jesus please get Wesley out the team for Kodjia and then Davis, whatever it takes just get Wesley out of the team.
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Hause was great today, a very good footballer. When Mings is fit I’d stick Kortney at left back and sell Targett to Alfreton Town or somebody of that stature. £14m, fuck my old boots.
It's got to be done. I don't want to tempt fate by asking how much worse if any could it possibly be, but how much worse if any could it possibly be?
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I know we didn't play well but I get a sense that lots of people had prepared their outrage for a loss today and now need somewhere to put it.
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In no way shape or form is Trezeguet a Premier League player, neither is Jota.
Unless we sign a wide man in January if Andre Green is fit fet him back in from Preston. I would much rather have him out there than either of those 2.
And Jesus please get Wesley out the team for Kodjia and then Davis, whatever it takes just get Wesley out of the team.
Wesley put in a great shift today. Just get back to the sty you Wesley hater. Was you actually at the game today you noob
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I was at the game today, as I have been at 90% of the games this season......and Wesley is AWFUL! Simple as that.
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In no way shape or form is Trezeguet a Premier League player, neither is Jota.
Unless we sign a wide man in January if Andre Green is fit fet him back in from Preston. I would much rather have him out there than either of those 2.
And Jesus please get Wesley out the team for Kodjia and then Davis, whatever it takes just get Wesley out of the team.
Wesley put in a great shift today. Just get back to the sty you Wesley hater. Was you actually at the game today you noob
How old are you? 4? Wesley hater....noob...
It's like I'm stuck on the Twitter account of Taylor Swift.
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The result was more important than the performance, but you know it's bad when we can't even perform against a team worse than us.
I really think we need to give Jota and Kodjia a run in the side for Wesley and which ever one of the useless wide players, take your pick.
Wesley was one of our better players today. Get off his back you and all of the other Wesley haters. If Wesley is left out who will be your new scapegoat you noob
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Site rules (http://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?page=page4597)
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I know we didn't play well but I get a sense that lots of people had prepared their outrage for a loss today and now need somewhere to put it.
Or the bots that always post in the match thread? You know the ones that post
Shit!
Fuck!
Wank!
Bollocks!
${CURRENT_MANAGER} out!
${RANDOM.PLAYER} is the worst player I've ever seen in a Villa shirt!
Lord knows why Putin's trollfarms take an iterest.
Big winky face -> ;-) <-
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
Exactly what I saw, and I've read several posts about how hard he worked today with absolute astonishment.
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Yes, Targett was poor but fuck me AEG provided about as much cover as one of Jodie Marsh’s swimsuits. The bloke is currently an empty shirt.
He was "defending" the side where I am in the first half. The cover was either non existent or when he was back, he just continually let his man free. We're very luck Norwich didn't take advantage of it.
Fair play to Elmo today, that was a real effort in his own.
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
total bollocks mate take your f Wesley haters glarsses off and get your eyes tested
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I know we didn't play well but I get a sense that lots of people had prepared their outrage for a loss today and now need somewhere to put it.
Or the bots that always post in the match thread? You know the ones that post
Shit!
Fuck!
Wank!
Bollocks!
${CURRENT_MANAGER} out!
${RANDOM.PLAYER} is the worst player I've ever seen in a Villa shirt!
Lord knows why Putin's trollfarms take an iterest.
Big winky face -> ;-) <-
In days of yore, there used to be H&V Chat Room which absorbed most of this stuff. Thee main site couldn't handle the traffic.
I started watching Villa in 1966, and there have been very few players that deserve the vitriol meted out. I have been guilty of it myself, at times.
I think we made a mistake with Wesley, as he is going to take a season to acclamtise to the P.L., and we can't afford it.
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Strange to come away after a win and think 'we're going down'. That is unless we find a couple of gems in January, and looking at what we signed in the summer in the midfield and forward positions I'm not overly optimistic.
I actually thought Wes put a shift in, never going to score and assist many goals mind.
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To me the players that deserve vitriol are those that clearly have the ability but can't be arsed. Ireland and N'Zogbia stand out.
I don't think Wesley fits into that category, and I think he was okay today.
Malcolm maybe needs to chill a bit when anyone disagrees with him, though. He's getting as bad as me in all the politics threads...
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
total bollocks mate take your f Wesley haters glarsses off and get your eyes tested
Give it a fucking rest.
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I realise it’s churlish but I’m mightily underwhelmed by that victory, yes 3 points but we were woeful against one of only two teams that reside below us.
AEG and Wesley are stealing a living
Targett is trying but just isn’t very good
Trezeguet is extremely trying and he also isn’t very good
Elmo is a championship player
We are a one trick pony (Grealish) and without him would be toast
Merry Christmas
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Wesley was utter shit again. If I never see him at n a Villa shirt again it will be too soon. Play Kodjia, one of the kids, anyone just please get him out of the team.
Lazy, talentless and disinterested.
Pleased with the needed 3 points, hopefully another win at Watford and some reinforcements come in.
Looking like we made some very bad signings in the summer.
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Only watched the second half in which Wesley did try to close down players and he had a couple of nice touches along the way but he isn't a goal scoring centre forward and he never has been which leads me to ask why on earth did we buy him. A centre forward who is not fast cannot jump and does not have a shot on him, who the f...k is doing our scouting, sack him.
I can see a lot of our first team going out on loan to championship sides to make way for others it's for sure the 12 million spent on Targett and the 20 odd million spent on Wes is not recoverable.
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Compare the two front men.
Pukki full of running, dragging defenders out to create space.
Wesley chasing the odd lost cause but largely ambling around doing the square root of fuck all.
He’s not the worst striker we’ve had but he’s currently not performing at anything like an acceptable level.
Looks a very poor signing but first name on the team sheet every week
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3 points but unconvincing. Trez, El Ghazi, Luiz and Wesley all poor.
Wesley put in one hell of a shift get your eyes tested like all of the other Wesley haters. Was you actually at the game you noob?
For the last half an hour he was trotting around the centre circle, seemingly oblivious that the game still had 30 minutes left. I've never seen such a shit, disinterested player. Fucking awful.
total bollocks mate take your f Wesley haters glarsses off and get your eyes tested
Give it a fucking rest.
I thought Wesley did ok. He was chasing down but ran out of gas on about 70 mins. Got a petulant booking which is annoying. He isn’t perfect but gets no service whatsoever. Our two wide me are awful
A v underwhelming 3 points
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Got to say I thought Wesley did ok today considering he had absolutely zero service from either wing. Nothing from either the fullbacks or wingers.
Zero.
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Know what you mean russon, I feel very deflated even though we won.
Partly down to the performance, which was atrocious from most of the team (and Smith who is looking worryingly clueless). Partly because it’s starting to feel like the teams around us are going to make things very difficult even if we manage to scrape some more wins.
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I know we were awful, but as pointed out earlier we've been very good and lost. I suppose it evens out.
But we need a striker who can do a job at this level and Wes just isn't. I can't see the potential that others seem to either. He reminds of that description of Emile H when he was with us. Something like "He's a real problem for defenders. You can't mark him because he's already marking you."
3 more points against Watford will steady the nerves a bit.
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Nice to have done the double over someone.
Who was the last team that we did that to in the Premier League?
Somebody weird and unexpected under Lambert or Sherwood?
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It was this lot under lambert wasn’t it?
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Nice to have done the double over someone.
Who was the last team that we did that to in the Premier League?
Somebody weird and unexpected under Lambert or Sherwood?
Mentioned during the footage that it was Norwich 6 years ago. Probably the game Gabby shushed the Holte.
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We were lucky to win that and didn't deserve it. Grealish, Heaton and Hause were very good, and I thought Konsa, Elmo and Wesley were ok. Luis did some good things but as always undoes a lot of it with careless passing and giving away stupid needless free kicks in our half after he loses the ball.
For some to be picking on Wesley today is harsh and perhaps smacks of scapegoatism. I thought he worked hard and linked up play well a few times with little or no support form our other so called forwards. Nowhere near the worst payer on the pitch, and not a chance of that when you look at the "performances" of the utter dud Trezeguet and the bottle job disappearing act that is El Ghazi.
Trezeguet has to be one of the most pointlessly ineffective players I've seen at VP in years. He' a master of looking like he's trying to close down whilst not actually getting anywhere near his man. I'm still waiting to see what he's meant to add, he can't cross, can't shoot, can't win a header, can't beat a man and doesn't win the ball back. Get a couple of decent forward options in January and I reckon Wesley will look a whole lot better.
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We were lucky to win that and didn't deserve it. Grealish, Heaton and Hause were very good, and I thought Konsa, Elmo and Wesley were ok. Luis did some good things but as always undoes a lot of it with careless passing and giving away stupid needless free kicks in our half after he loses the ball.
For some to be picking on Wesley today is harsh and perhaps smacks of scapegoatism. I thought he worked hard and linked up play well a few times with little or no support form our other so called forwards. Nowhere near the worst payer on the pitch, and not a chance of that when you look at the "performances" of the utter dud Trezeguet and the bottle job disappearing act that is El Ghazi.
Trezeguet has to be one of the most pointlessly ineffective players I've seen at VP in years. He' a master of looking like he's trying to close down whilst not actually getting anywhere near his man. I'm still waiting to see what he's meant to add, he can't cross, can't shoot, can't win a header, can't beat a man and doesn't win the ball back. Get a couple of decent forward options in January and I reckon Wesley will look a whole lot better.
Absolutely this. All of it.
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I agree we were lucky to win, although the saves from Luiz and Heaton were great. I don't recall any matches where we have played very welll and lost. Against Liverpool, we battled really hard and held out for the best part of 90 minutes, but we weren't the better side that day.
Playing both Luiz and Nakamba makes little sense and Nakamba is currently playing poorly as epitomised by his almost careful lay back for the shot that Luiz cleared.
Wesley was better today but I have set his bar pretty low, and he is a striker that rarely looks like scoring.
4-3-3 as usual, and as usual, the issue was with the 3 front players. We are not good enough in those positions to play that way and the lack of decent defending down our left was also evident; we really struggled with Aarons.
Also our defending of corners is inadequate as borne out by how many times we have conceded, although I would single out Hause and Konsa today for their defensive performances.
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Konsa looks like a player to me.
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Trezeguet and AEG have had decent games before, but today they were so terrible it was hard to believe my eyes.
My biggest worry is that we seem to have got worse since the season began. You would think we'd get better when the players, obviously many of whom have something about them, settle in. But no - we look shapeless, planless, without purpose or overall strategy, all of which must affect confidence massively, and I'm afraid it's hard to avoid the conclusion that this falls on the manager.
But! We won. Somehow. I don't know how. But hey, it's a win and it's Christmas, so mustn't overgrumble I guess.
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On the Telly it looked like 4 2 1 3
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A massive 3 points that could keep us up.
Still dreadful starting formation and player selection from Dean.
Saved by Jack and Heaton.
Smith still OUT.
Oh fuck off.
Charming.
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To be fair Tone you do seem to look for a reaction with some of your posts. Well there it is.
MOTM Hause. Utterly brilliant centre back display. As good as anything ive seen from Mings. Konsa and Heaton very good as well. Luiz and Wesley whilst not hugely convincing did run their bollocks off and were useful. Grealish was good as well although comments like ‘he’s as good as anyone that’s played for the Villa’ is cringeworthy in the extreme. Hourahane good when he came on and should be starting really.
The others all mediocre/crap and as a team we stuttered to the win in truth. Need to be better to stay up.
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I don’t mean to cause reactions. Just say it as I see it. Also not the quickest typist so don’t often do long expansive posts. Id really love to see Dean turn it around but my instinct tells me otherwise.
Anyhow, let’s hope we stuff Watford with Wes getting a goal.
UTV. And Merry Christmas to all the Villa family near and far.
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I don’t mean to cause reactions. Just say it as I see it. Also not the quickest typist so don’t often do long expansive posts. Id really love to see Dean turn it around but my instinct tells me otherwise.
Anyhow, let’s hope we stuff Watford with Wes getting a goal.
UTV. And Merry Christmas to all the Villa family near and far.
Fair enough.
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Our defending from corners is a joke atm. Something Watford and particularly Burnley will profit from if we don't work on in the training ground.
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Where was Guilbert? Is he injured?
Very good call 👍
Unneccessarily dropped.
everyone was shit against soton and Freddie is dropped ? very odd
He is on 4 bookings so maybe didn't want to risk him being suspended for Watford, all bookings are wiped off after 31/12/19
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Tough watch today but we had to find a way to win and we did.
The worry for me is we may have some good new technical players but a lot of them lack the guts and bravery. I don’t feel one of the summer signings with the exception of Heaton (mings doesn’t count) has added an improvement
El Ghazi and Trezeguet are not players for a relegation fight. El Ghazi wanted to come off after 25 mins or so pathetic! Also Targett 17m he can’t defend and was constantly skinned. El Ghazi and trez offer zero movement It was tough to watch
Wesley did work harder today but is that really good enough for 22m. He carries zero goal threat.
Defensively hause konza and Heaton did well. Nakamba and Luiz at home does not work. I don’t see Man City activating them buyback on Douglas anytime soon.
We desperately need the following in January
Striker nr 9
Another winger
Midfielder who can get beyond the striker
I’d like another left back but think we will be lucky to get one of the above
Without an improvement we are going down I’m afraid
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Wes was better but it's missing the point we need him being better in front of goal not half way down the pitch, our wingers are les than useless I know but Wes never seems to be a threat. Someone mentioned Konsa I think this guy would be great with better players around him.
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Well we won it takes some of the pressure off, Mom for me was Max Arrons he must be gutted. Our two wide men were very poor today but that tends to happen with wingers/wide men One day brilliant next day dire, what we don’t need is two of them in the team, replace one of them with Guilbert I sure he would offer more. I would just like to know who is going to get their heads on cross,s when we eventually start getting them?
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And a shout out to the ballboys. It's been a while since I've seen work of that quality. Bollocks to fair play, they were superb Villans!
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Cant aay we deserved that. We were pretty hopeless most of the game
I thought heaton hause and grealish were great. I gave hause motm but Heaton a close second. Great finish by conor. Luiz was also good that clearance was brilliant.
Thought trez el ghazi, marvellous and wesley were very very shit. Esp marvellous and trez. Trez is absolute dog shit. Id try get rid and go for benrama.he is twice the player of trez.
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Looking back on the first half of the season and taking into account the last couple of games in particular, a few observations for what they're worth!
Defence - Targett is woeful, Hause to left back or play a back three.
Midfield - With McGinn out we need a central midfielder - Luiz and Nakamaba are not consistent/good enough.
Forwards - Another central striker desperately needed. We can't afford to play both Trezeguet and El-Ghazi.
Smith/Management Team - need to be more flexible on tactics/formation.
Out of all of the above the central midfield issue, to me, is most concern. I think we've got options up front if Smith would be a bit more flexible.
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You always get what you deserve in football. We did the hardest thing, they didn't.
For the first time with managed to win a game in the ugliest of fashion. Devoid of quality, structure or urgency in attack, careless in midfield both in possession and out, but solid at the back.
Heaton, Konsa and Hause in particular were very good. Hause dominates in the air, winning pretty much everything and looking much better today on the ground.
The midfield isn't working effectively. Nakamba has dropped right off in form, while Douglas looks like a kid with potential doing 1 thing well, but making silly mistakes.
It's been said, but the widemen didn't support our attacks or full backs defensively. Both are way out of form and I feel Trezuguet is more an impact substitute than a starter.
Wesley did work hard today, but he needs to work smart. He doesn't play the width of the 18 yard box or challenge the centre halves with runs off the shoulder. He might make a nuisance of himself, but he doesn't offer a goal threat.
We've hit into poor form and theres no real top flight experience in almost all of them to fall back on. I think we'd benefit in midfield from some knowhow. A Gareth Barry type.
Very pleased to win though, the goal was of real quality.
Now I take my 4 year old, I have to be quieter and talk him through what's happening, have him on my lap at times and of course, avoid aggression or swearing. As a result I'm a little more detached from it. One thing I have noticed is that the Holte End appears to be full of people who'd fit in on the Tilton.
The amount of El Ghazi you're a c***, fuck off Douglas or this and that was extraordinary. No singing in support and no vitriol torwards the opposition. Just vile abuse against our own. It's probably always been there, but I do wonder why some people bother to follow a hobby they don't enjoy.
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We were lucky to win that and didn't deserve it. Grealish, Heaton and Hause were very good, and I thought Konsa, Elmo and Wesley were ok. Luis did some good things but as always undoes a lot of it with careless passing and giving away stupid needless free kicks in our half after he loses the ball.
For some to be picking on Wesley today is harsh and perhaps smacks of scapegoatism. I thought he worked hard and linked up play well a few times with little or no support form our other so called forwards. Nowhere near the worst payer on the pitch, and not a chance of that when you look at the "performances" of the utter dud Trezeguet and the bottle job disappearing act that is El Ghazi.
Trezeguet has to be one of the most pointlessly ineffective players I've seen at VP in years. He' a master of looking like he's trying to close down whilst not actually getting anywhere near his man. I'm still waiting to see what he's meant to add, he can't cross, can't shoot, can't win a header, can't beat a man and doesn't win the ball back. Get a couple of decent forward options in January and I reckon Wesley will look a whole lot better.
Yep, kt. This is how I saw it. Particularly irritated with Luiz giving away stupid free kicks, AEG's lack of defensive nous and Trez being in the side at all. I have no idea why Jota came on at a time when we needed to stiffen the middle of the park. Hause, Konza and Elmo did okay - Hause has added some defensive strength to the back 4 and he at least wins most of his headers.
Our season is becoming defined by the build-up play being sooooo slow; and the ball retention is - once again - embarrassingly poor.
It's the lack of closing-down and dynamism generally that really boils my piss.
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You always get what you deserve in football. We did the hardest thing, they didn't.
For the first time with managed to win a game in the ugliest of fashion. Devoid of quality, structure or urgency in attack, careless in midfield both in possession and out, but solid at the back.
Heaton, Konsa and Hause in particular were very good. Hause dominates in the air, winning pretty much everything and looking much better today on the ground.
The midfield isn't working effectively. Nakamba has dropped right off in form, while Douglas looks like a kid with potential doing 1 thing well, but making silly mistakes.
It's been said, but the widemen didn't support our attacks or full backs defensively. Both are way out of form and I feel Trezuguet is more an impact substitute than a starter.
Wesley did work hard today, but he needs to work smart. He doesn't play the width of the 18 yard box or challenge the centre halves with runs off the shoulder. He might make a nuisance of himself, but he doesn't offer a goal threat.
We've hit into poor form and theres no real top flight experience in almost all of them to fall back on. I think we'd benefit in midfield from some knowhow. A Gareth Barry type.
Very pleased to win though, the goal was of real quality.
Now I take my 4 year old, I have to be quieter and talk him through what's happening, have him on my lap at times and of course, avoid aggression or swearing. As a result I'm a little more detached from it. One thing I have noticed is that the Holte End appears to be full of people who'd fit in on the Tilton.
The amount of El Ghazi you're a c***, fuck off Douglas or this and that was extraordinary. No singing in support and no vitriol torwards the opposition. Just vile abuse against our own. It's probably always been there, but I do wonder why some people bother to follow a hobby they don't enjoy.
That's not restricted to just the Holte, facebook groups, twitter and most fans sites are full of people who just want to vent at how shit everything is.
Whenever a club has a bad run you get claims that they need to win ugly but when they do they were still shit, didn't deserve to win and all the players are still not good enough.
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Player ratings today, gents ?
Heaton 9
Elmo 4
Targett 4
Konsa 7
Hause 8
Targett 4
Douglas 6.5
Nakamba 6
Grealish 8
Trezeguet 2
El Ghazi 3
Wesley 6
Hourihane 6
Targett amalgamates to 8?
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Watched the game earlier. They should have scored but didn’t. We created next to nothing but did.
We still look like a team that’s likely to concede a stupid goal at any moment but in Jack we’ve the really outstanding player in those bottom 6/7 sides. Without him we’d have no hope.
Absolutely desperate for a striker with movement and pace though. Having a forward whose strongest asset appears to be chasing a few lost causes like a 10 year old playing with his older brothers just isn’t going to be good enough.
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Watched the game earlier. They should have scored but didn’t. We created next to nothing but did.
We still look like a team that’s likely to concede a stupid goal at any moment but in Jack we’ve the really outstanding player in those bottom 6/7 sides. Without him we’d have no hope.
Absolutely desperate for a striker with movement and pace though. Having a forward whose strongest asset appears to be chasing a few lost causes like a 10 year old playing with his older brothers just isn’t going to be good enough.
Brilliantly put. The amount of goodwill towards Wes from the fans is palpable though. When he does his once or twice a game charge around the opposition back line the fans love it. It shows a degree of willing but we are so desperately in need of someone who plays smart, clever in their movement and in sync with what is going on around him.
Wes isn't that player.
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I watched it back this morning on MOTD and i'd forgot how many chances they had. We didn't play great but the three points were the important thing yesterday. I thought Heaton, Elmo, Hause and Jack all had decent games. We'll need to play better than that but let's hope the win gives the players a bit of belief.
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We desperately need the following in January
Striker nr 9
Another winger
Midfielder who can get beyond the striker
I’d like another left back but think we will be lucky to get one of the above
Without an improvement we are going down I’m afraid
The first 2 are an absolute must, and they need to be experienced, decent premier league players that know the league.
Midfielder wise, i think if McGinn is out for much of the season i think a player who really makes his presence felt in the middle (again experienced) is more the ticket than one pushing through. I think they need to tell Grealish to do that. Full backs who can actually defend not a bad call also. The only way any of the fullbacks we have are going to look good is if he changes it to 3 CB's and lets them play as proper wing backs. Guilbert in particular could be a spectacular right wing back. Continuing to play a flat back 4 and i think we can play Hause left back but need a solid proper defender on the right.
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On the plus side we've been saying we need to grind out some wins rather than be plucky losers, and win when not playing well so I guess this is a start.
If Smith insists on sticking with 4-3-3 we could do worse than play Targett and Guilbert as wide forwards with Elmo and Taylor at FB - I doubt they could possibly be as ineffective a Trezeguet and AEG.
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I'm astounded that people spend a small fortune loyally following our club home & away and yet have what seems, nothing short of pure hatred for some of our own players. I simply don't understand what kind of pleasure or enjoyment they get from that. I guess it's just a reflection of society in general, where there seems to be a lot of angry people.
We're Aston Villa, a fine club with a great history but after 10 years of decline we're a long way from where we should be but a long way from where we were 12 months ago when Wigan ripped us apart.
The home game vs Everton was the finest example I've seen for a long long time on what Villa Park should be like every week. That kind of atmosphere lifts everyone. We're in a fight to survive with these players, how about we give them some help.
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Thank christ for that.
Wesley is the worst player I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. Complete shite.
weren't you watching AEG and Trez?
i thought that signing el ghazi in the summer would be one of our better bits of business, as I rated him last season. Probably just goes to show the gulf in quality between the prem and the championship.
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I watched it back this morning on MOTD and i'd forgot how many chances they had. We didn't play great but the three points were the important thing yesterday. I thought Heaton, Elmo, Hause and Jack all had decent games. We'll need to play better than that but let's hope the win gives the players a bit of belief.
Concerning that they had so many decent chances from set pieces as well. We really can't afford that area of the game to fall apart in this league, as we will get punished.
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I watched it back this morning on MOTD and i'd forgot how many chances they had. We didn't play great but the three points were the important thing yesterday. I thought Heaton, Elmo, Hause and Jack all had decent games. We'll need to play better than that but let's hope the win gives the players a bit of belief.
Concerning that they had so many decent chances from set pieces as well. We really can't afford that area of the game to fall apart in this league, as we will get punished.
Another argument for playing Hause at LB.
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I'm astounded that people spend a small fortune loyally following our club home & away and yet have what seems, nothing short of pure hatred for some of our own players. I simply don't understand what kind of pleasure or enjoyment they get from that. I guess it's just a reflection of society in general, where there seems to be a lot of angry people.
We're Aston Villa, a fine club with a great history but after 10 years of decline we're a long way from where we should be but a long way from where we were 12 months ago when Wigan ripped us apart.
The home game vs Everton was the finest example I've seen for a long long time on what Villa Park should be like every week. That kind of atmosphere lifts everyone. We're in a fight to survive with these players, how about we give them some help.
Well said.Sadly the Everton game was the exception rather than the rule.People pay their money so can choose how to 'support' the team, but I have to say some of our fans are utter twats.
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Concerning that they had so many decent chances from set pieces as well. We really can't afford that area of the game to fall apart in this league, as we will get punished.
Our set piece management is utterly inadequate, and has been for a while. And yet, this is a part of the game that can be rectified easily, with the right approach to training.
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Yep, if we don’t solve this problem we don’t solve any of the others.
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You always get what you deserve in football. We did the hardest thing, they didn't.
For the first time with managed to win a game in the ugliest of fashion. Devoid of quality, structure or urgency in attack, careless in midfield both in possession and out, but solid at the back.
Heaton, Konsa and Hause in particular were very good. Hause dominates in the air, winning pretty much everything and looking much better today on the ground.
The midfield isn't working effectively. Nakamba has dropped right off in form, while Douglas looks like a kid with potential doing 1 thing well, but making silly mistakes.
It's been said, but the widemen didn't support our attacks or full backs defensively. Both are way out of form and I feel Trezuguet is more an impact substitute than a starter.
Wesley did work hard today, but he needs to work smart. He doesn't play the width of the 18 yard box or challenge the centre halves with runs off the shoulder. He might make a nuisance of himself, but he doesn't offer a goal threat.
We've hit into poor form and theres no real top flight experience in almost all of them to fall back on. I think we'd benefit in midfield from some knowhow. A Gareth Barry type.
Very pleased to win though, the goal was of real quality.
Now I take my 4 year old, I have to be quieter and talk him through what's happening, have him on my lap at times and of course, avoid aggression or swearing. As a result I'm a little more detached from it. One thing I have noticed is that the Holte End appears to be full of people who'd fit in on the Tilton.
The amount of El Ghazi you're a c***, fuck off Douglas or this and that was extraordinary. No singing in support and no vitriol torwards the opposition. Just vile abuse against our own. It's probably always been there, but I do wonder why some people bother to follow a hobby they don't enjoy.
A really good summary this. I sit in the lower holte with my kids, albeit a bit older at 9 and 13. I don’t mind the swearing etc that’s just the passion of it and frustration, but I get really irritated when middle aged blokes like me rant against our own players constantly. And I know we’re playing poorly but the atsmophere in the holte is poor at the moment and has been for the last couple of months.
In terms of the game and our season so far, at the start of the season I would have taken finishing 17th this season but hoped for a bit of an easier time. Finishing 17th would be an achievement but also means losing lots of games and I think we just need to stick with the team and do our best not to turn on the team.
Yesterday wasn’t great but was massively important. As has been said grealish, heaton and Hause were really good. I think given Targetts poor form it would be worth putting Hause at left back as he doesn’t deserve to drop out when Mings is back. Luiz I thought showed passion and commitment to be fair to him. The wingers are good enough currently and we need a new one in January. And finally on the Wesley debate, he does try hard and calling him lazy is lazy in itself. However he doesn’t really know where to run or position himself. Against Liverpool’s kids when he came on, Elmo had the ball on the left wing and trez ran towards him and Wes followed him! He may come good in the long term but being reliant on him is too much. I guess Kodjia will be off in the coming days.
Watford will be a tough game given Pearson will have them fired up and I’d probably take a draw.
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Pure hatred? Bit drama queen isn't it? You pay your money (and contribute to their enormous wages) so you're entitled to call them out if they are putting in substandard performances or appear to be not trying. Calling them useless c**** is out of order, but a bit of criticism is fine with me, where it's merited.
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During the Southampton game a bloke near me was losing the plot big time and whilst ranting at Smith, shouted “Get out of our club you ginger bastard”.
Embarrassing.
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It's the ones you want to turn round/lean over to and say, "change the bloody record, mate". There's a kid sits 6 or so seats down my row, early teens by my aged eyes, comes with his dad, I'm assuming it is. He has two phrases, the occasional "Wake up, Villa" interspersing the much more frequent "Wake up, El Ghazi". Other than those week after week after week, barely a peep.
But swings and roundabouts, there's another kid of about 8 behind me who amongst other gems beyond his years, upon witnessing Norwich once again escape with possession from a throw deep in their own half, comes out with the rhetorical observation, "how did we let them get out of there again?". Some people get sitting in the upper Trinity, some don't.
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Pure hatred? Bit drama queen isn't it? You pay your money (and contribute to their enormous wages) so you're entitled to call them out if they are putting in substandard performances or appear to be not trying. Calling them useless c**** is out of order, but a bit of criticism is fine with me, where it's merited.
I agree a bit of criticism is fine but constantly calling players c**nts for game after game is just horrible and mind numbing. On the flip side there are some fans who won’t allow any criticism at all. Example, earlier in the season against West Ham, a bloke next to me in pure frustration said not even that loudly ‘c’mon villa they’ve only got ten men’, bloke next to him called him a wanka! Hilarious really. The joys of the holte
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During the Southampton game a bloke near me was losing the plot big time and whilst ranting at Smith, shouted “Get out of our club you ginger bastard”.
Embarrassing.
There's just no need for that get behind the manager and give him our support.
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I've just watched the game again and we really needed those three points hopefully we can go on a run and get some more points on the board.
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A very welcome win, we rode our luck and were second best for a lot of the match all over the park. The intensity and desire was far better from us.
There were some improvements from previous weeks, Heaton was excellent, as were Hause and Konsa with Elmo adding experience and good movement. Luiz was much more energetic, Nakamba filled the midfield danger areas well and Jack looked like he’d been playing Champions League football all his life. So plenty to be positive about but......
I walked away from the ground thinking we are pretty likely go do down now, we just lack quality all over the field, stick a man man marker on Jack and we don’t have anything else, our attackers just aren’t anywhere near the quality needed even if they did look like they’d improved and all tried hard
We really did buy too many promising players and missed signing 2/3 ones who were already at the required level
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It's a worry that we struggled so hard to win a home game against the worst team in the division.
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Not really that bothered about a so-called "lucky" win. We battered Burnley and were the better team against Man U and drew both. We probably deserved results against Bournemouth and Liverpool and were cheated out of a point against Palace (despite playing badly).
Most teams at the bottom will pick up the odd point or three when they have been less than spectacular and it's about time we did.
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Considering we only had two shots on target, nobody can really complain about us not taking our chances.
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Congrats to Deano and the lads for beating our points total for 2015/6!