Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Steve67 on November 05, 2021, 09:55:53 PM
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Another poor display overall. Had a touch of desperation about it. Better in the second half but we still didn't look like scoring.
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Should have scored second half, but they should have scored at least three first half.
Nowhere near good enough.
And Keinan Davis isn't a footballer, unfortunately.
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Bye Dean....and thanks
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Times up.
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That first half was dreadful, Bailey and AEG especially were poo in that half. Not sure where we will get the next point to be honest and that's so fucking painful.
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Second half was better, and Emi B was great, but the overall level is way below the acceptable level. Time for a change.
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Im actually quite calm after that. There is an air of inevitably about him going now.
I'm more angry that we have wasted the last few weeks sticking with him than what I am over tonights result.
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Please can we make it quick and clean, he has done his best and will be looked upon as a good Villa man but if they make him linger the frustration will get the better and the good will will vanish.
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A sad end to a great journey
You could argue unlucky, injuries, refereeing ...
but we looked disjointed
management team didn't react to changes (Southampton did when we went 4-4-2)
Thanks for the memories Dean you will always be one of us but you have reached the end of the line
Good luck in you next job
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His body language at the final whistle very telling. I think he knows its the end. Sad that it looks to be ending on a sour note, but the club must come first
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Sorry Dean but that wasn't good enough by a very long way. To be fair it was a very lucky bounce for them to set up the goal but we never ever looked like scoring even in an improved second half. Good to see Archer given game time but Davis? Seriously?
If you care about your club go tonight because at no time tonight did you look inspiring a comeback. We appreciate what you have done but you are not the future.
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Sadly I think he’s done. Doesn’t know what side to pick or where the players he does pick should play. Buendia was poor until he moved out wide, Bailey is lazy and mcginn isn’t a holding midfielder. We are deep in the brown stuff.
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Got what we deserved.
You can't only play for 20mins per game and expect anything other than what we got.
Cash and Emi M did well. Everybody else meh.
I fail to see how Dean keeps his job after this.
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No press in midfield in the first half, and after that did come along in the second, we looked too blunt in attack.
I think DS needs to look at things from the perspective of the Villa fan that he is and ask himself from that point of view if he'd be happy with the direction Villa are heading in right now.
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Percy has tweeted that he's in big trouble. He's never normally far off the mark
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Slightly better 2nd half, you could put that down to the fact that Soton simply felt no pressure to go on and kill the game off, left with a few choices, we either stay with this and hope it comes good, settle for a relegation battle, if we survive prey to the fact we have Smith in charge hoping that keeps us up, big gamble that, or, we cut him adrift now and look to push on from last season with new blood in charge, if that's the case we need to do that now in the international break.
Problem is I don't see Purslow as the kind of action man to make that kind of decision.
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Huffed and puffed second half, a good 10 minute spell at the start should have seen us level at least, a complete lack of creativity though, a sad end if that's to be Smith's last game.
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Whatever else can be said, it doesn't look like Smudger has lost the dressing room.
But for all the improvement second half, Martinez made the better saves.
I know there was talk of Europe etc at the start of this season. But after the scars of 2015/16, it's still always a race to the 10 wins and safety for me. How soon we get them dictates how good a season we'll have. Last year we raced to 8-9 wins by the midway point, but was played out in a backdrop of empty stadiums and whole thing had a sense of falseness about it. I don't think we'll be getting nine away wins this year.
That said, I'm still in the Smith in camp. But can fully understand why others may not be.
I'd back him to keep us up and give a full pre season to someone closer to a first choice.
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He's got to go. We are up to our necks in trouble & look miles away from being a fluent team.
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Even after the improvement in the 2nd half, I dont think we made McCarthy make a single save?
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The weird thing is that we have been truly shit in the last 5 games. - BUT we aren’t a million miles away from competing with the teams.
As Sexual Ealing said : something isn’t right at VP.
What has happened to us?
Anyone have a clue???????
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He threw on Keinan Davis to rescue a point.. that's all you need to know.
We're wasting time at this point.
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Decent second half but you could tell we wouldn’t score. Mings and Martinez kept us in it first half.
Fine lines.
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Even with the players we have out, to come back in, we still look weak. Tonight, Dean changed the formation around five times out of sheer desire to change things. For that, I can't blame him but it smacked of desperation. Our midfield is so poor. I thought Mings played well but the likes of Bailey, El ghazi, McGinn all looked very poor. They scored a lucky goal, dropped really nicely for him. We were slow to react and Southampton we much better than us and they are nit a good side by any stretch. We look devoid of craft, desire, confidence and physicality. Not a good combination.
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Bye Dean.
Time is up.
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Got what we deserved.
You can't only play for 20mins per game and expect anything other than what we got.
Cash and Emi M did well. Everybody else meh.
I fail to see how Dean keeps his job after this.
Can't agree with the bold bit, Mings was the best player on the pitch by a very long way tonight, he held us together for he first half hour when the rest of the back 4 were all over the place.
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The starting midfield was the weakest in a long time, where was Sanson?
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[/quote]Sadly I think he’s done. Doesn’t know what side to pick or where the players he does pick should play. Buendia was poor until he moved out wide, Bailey is lazy and mcginn isn’t a holding midfielder. We are deep in the brown stuff.
You could be right but the other side of the coin is that he may have stumbled on a better way to use the players in that second half.
To be honest I’m glad there is now a 2 week break as he needs to regroup and get players back and fit
And as Spuds and Geordies have snapped up the only two decent managers readily available I think we have to stick with Dean til Xmas at least
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OK we were poor first half, a lot better 2nd, but I still wasn't convinced we would score (1 on target). But the most interesting thing for me - a reflection on Sky coverage and the piss poor uselessness of VAR, was the fact that the commentators went on and on about El Ghazi being lucky to still be on the pitch (he was but do they really need to hammer it home evry couple pf minutes), but the blatant penalty on Mings got one replay, one mention and was not even considered by the man at Stockley Park. It beggars belief. We probably didn't deserve anything by the end but that sickens me even more than the poor performance.
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Confidence is utterly shot. Took us till half time to get things together after the early goal. Much better 2nd half but too late. Played the ratboy formation which sort of hints at being out of ideas. Davis coming on....dear god.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
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£300 odd million spent and were giving game time too a Man Utd defender so they can get a fee for him, have no midfield what so ever and are starting El Ghazi on the wing.
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Absolute Garbage first half. Second half was best I’ve seen in the last 3-4 games. Still well below par, but an improvement of sorts, if nothing else for the margin of loss. Defence looked more solid today. But the constant surrender of possession is what sticks in my mind from today. That said, the saints players hassled like fk and we just never seemed to get any time on the ball or a breather. I reckon that was the highest intensity we’ve faced at least in the losing sequence of matches, so you have to give Villa a bit of credit.
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The line up without a midfield probably did for us.
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Sorry but we created very little playing well for ten minutes. The rest of the game was garbage.
Mings should be commended for his display. Superb.
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We’re carrying too many players at the moment, Watkins, Bailey, Nakamba, AEG and to a lesser extent Buendia. Better by a couple of those second half but still poor. Add to that our “Set piece coach” who appears to have made us worse in that area and we’ve got problems.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
Is it april 1st ready?
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The starting midfield was the weakest in a long time, where was Sanson?
Persona non grata, don't think we'll see him play for us again under Smith.
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Sorry but we created very little playing well for ten minutes. The rest of the game was garbage.
Mings should be commended for his display. Superb.
The fact that he was dropped for the West Ham game was criminal.
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Slightly better 2nd half, you could put that down to the fact that Soton simply felt no pressure to go on and kill the game off, left with a few choices, we either stay with this and hope it comes good, settle for a relegation battle, if we survive prey to the fact we have Smith in charge hoping that keeps us up, big gamble that, or, we cut him adrift now and look to push on from last season with new blood in charge, if that's the case we need to do that now in the international break.
Problem is I don't see Purslow as the kind of action man to make that kind of decision.
Slightly better?!? It was chalk and cheese mate and to say Saints took the foot off the pedal is madness. They took forwards off and replaced them with defenders which tells you how they thought the game was going
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Am just glad that Leeds, Watford and Burnley all have tough looking games over the weekend and that it seems highly unlikely that they could all win. Because if they do...
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Sorry but we created very little playing well for ten minutes. The rest of the game was garbage.
Mings should be commended for his display. Superb.
Emi B was excellent in the second half and importantly showed he could compete physically.
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He needs to go .
If he thinks El ghazi is the answer ... He needs to go .
Bringing on kienan ..needs to.go
How many saves did their goalie make ..needs to go .
We had better players but they have the better manager..needs to go .
Fucking rubbish
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We had ten good minutes then made poor subs and didn't get another sniff. Chalk and cheese indeed. And should have had 10 men, because Ghazi should have been sent off twice. 1-0 flattered us over the game
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
I would say that's about right, in fact you could say it came down to about 17 mins of that 2nd half that has kept Dean Smith in the job, hence we either except this shit or bust approach, grab points wherever we can and hope we survive, of we break with the old and get with the new, thing is if the likes of Soton can run us ragged for 45 mins, then just about anybody can in the Premiership, we are miles away from the original target at the start of the season.
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Sorry but we created very little playing well for ten minutes. The rest of the game was garbage.
Mings should be commended for his display. Superb.
Emi B was excellent in the second half and importantly showed he could compete physically.
Agreed. All stopped when he went off.
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It was better second half because of effort but there was no structure whatsoever.
We never looked like scoring.
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All the forwards on in the 2nd half was classic Lambert.
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Conversation
John Percy
@JPercyTelegraph
Dean Smith in big trouble. Five Premier League defeats in a row but it's arguably the 18 defeats in 2021 which put him in greater danger. For a club with a mantra of "continuous improvement and progress", this isn't what the owners are after.
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Feels like we've wasted an awful lot of money .
Owners must be infuriated
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We had the one Cash chance after he went off, but definitely our main chance of avoiding defeat departed when he did.
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Am just glad that Leeds, Watford and Burnley all have tough looking games over the weekend and that it seems highly unlikely that they could all win. Because if they do...
None of them likely to take a point thank god looking at their fixtures
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I don't particularly think we were that good in the 2nd half, its just that we have been monumentally shit for the other 4.5 halves.
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2nd half was a 0-0 with us shading it
1st half could have been 3 or 4 to them
Confidence is on the floor.
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What was on the bit of paper????
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John Percy @JPercyTelegraph
Dean Smith in big trouble. Five Premier League defeats in a row but it's arguably the 18 defeats in 2021 which put him in greater danger. For a club with a mantra of "continuous improvement and progress", this isn't what the owners are after.
The most games lost by a Premier League club in 2021, FYI.
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Absolutely pathetic. 1-0 down to a mediocre team with 97 minutes left and we can’t do anything about it. Dreadful.
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Whatever else can be said, it doesn't look like Smudger has lost the dressing room.
But for all the improvement second half, Martinez made the better saves.
I know there was talk of Europe etc at the start of this season. But after the scars of 2015/16, it's still always a race to the 10 wins and safety for me. How soon we get them dictates how good a season we'll have. Last year we raced to 8-9 wins by the midway point, but was played out in a backdrop of empty stadiums and whole thing had a sense of falseness about it. I don't think we'll be getting nine away wins this year.
That said, I'm still in the Smith in camp. But can fully understand why others may not be.
I'd back him to keep us up and give a full pre season to someone closer to a first choice.
This. He has not lost the dressing room.
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I think Dean should go.
BUT… something isn’t right at VP at the moment.
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What was on the bit of paper????
No 39 with boiled rice and chips......
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What was on the bit of paper????
'Try and do a goal. Love Dean'
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Yes Dean and his coaching staff are doing a terrible job.
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It didn’t sound in his interview like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
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I thought we lost all shape up front when Archer and Davis particularly came on. Decent 20 mins after half time. Absolutely dreadful first half, again no idea why it took Smith until half time to switch up our front players. Martinez made two super saves and AEG was very lucky to stay on. Mings had a great game and should have had a penalty.
Martinez 8, Cash 7, Tuanzebe 6, Mings 8, Targett 6, Nakamba 5 (Ramsey 7), McGinn 5, Bailey 4, Buendia 7, Watkins 6, AEG 6. Archer and Davis 5
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It didn’t sound in his interview like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Well he’s not going to sack himself.
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Too many excuses Dean. Play with intensity, yes, but playing with quality and making the right decisions is more important. Of the players to come back in, only Luiz is guaranteed a start, so don't bullshit us because Ings, Traore and Sanson are not guaranteed a start, arguable about Ings, but his inclusion makes the team shape difficult. We have some good players but they have lost confidence and it isn't working.
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Well yes.
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I thought we lost all shape up front when Archer and Davis particularly came on. Decent 20 mins after half time. Absolutely dreadful first half, again no idea why it took Smith until half time to switch up our front players. Martinez made two super saves and AEG was very lucky to stay on. Mings had a great game and should have had a penalty.
Martinez 8, Cash 7, Tuanzebe 6, Mings 8, Targett 6, Nakamba 5 (Ramsey 7), McGinn 5, Bailey 4, Buendia 7, Watkins 6, AEG 6. Archer and Davis 5
Davis should never have been on the pitch. Blame the tactics, not the players. Watkins and Archer will never thrive from long balls.
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It just looks desperate. The players were trying in that 2nd half, there's no doubt.
I don't want him gone but have every sympathy with those that do. I thought a lack of composure was the issue tonight.
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It didn’t sound in his interview like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Probably putting on a brave face. I feel for him, despite his shortcomings.
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12461374/ft-southampton-1-0-aston-villa
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I do wonder what we do on the training pitch all week. Players don’t seem to know their role during set pieces, they don’t seem to know their job in open play when we don’t have the ball and we don’t seem to have any clue how the opposition is going to play until half time.
It’s all a bit of a mess.
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That 2nd half was Bradford all over again
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If that’s true, and he’s lost more games than a Steve Bruce Newcastle side, he should be ousted for that reason alone. That is unforgivable! 🤯
John Percy @JPercyTelegraph
Dean Smith in big trouble. Five Premier League defeats in a row but it's arguably the 18 defeats in 2021 which put him in greater danger. For a club with a mantra of "continuous improvement and progress", this isn't what the owners are after.
The most games lost by a Premier League club in 2021, FYI.
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This is the weekend he has to go, along with all the coaching staff.
Terry and O’kelly were obviously an important part of the set up that we haven’t replaced.
Thank God Mings put that bit of paper in his sock….the cameras were desperate to see what was on it.
Just desperate, embarrassing stuff.
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Apart from looking like a long haired version of Pontus Jannsen what else does McPhee bring?
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I do wonder what we do on the training pitch all week. Players don’t seem to know their role during set pieces, they don’t seem to know their job in open play when we don’t have the ball and we don’t seem to have any clue how the opposition is going to play until half time.
It’s all a bit of a mess.
Pratting about in 5 a sides
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If that’s true, and he’s lost more games than a Steve Bruce Newcastle side, he should be ousted for that reason alone. That is unforgivable! 🤯
John Percy @JPercyTelegraph
Dean Smith in big trouble. Five Premier League defeats in a row but it's arguably the 18 defeats in 2021 which put him in greater danger. For a club with a mantra of "continuous improvement and progress", this isn't what the owners are after.
The most games lost by a Premier League club in 2021, FYI.
For a long time I have been concerned with the inability to grind out a point. The losses seemed excessive all through his reign. But people used to reason that we go for wins. I never thought the number of losses was acceptable
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That 2nd half was Bradford all over again
I was thinking that as Dean was making the subs.
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If that’s true, and he’s lost more games than a Steve Bruce Newcastle side, he should be ousted for that reason alone. That is unforgivable! 🤯
John Percy @JPercyTelegraph
Dean Smith in big trouble. Five Premier League defeats in a row but it's arguably the 18 defeats in 2021 which put him in greater danger. For a club with a mantra of "continuous improvement and progress", this isn't what the owners are after.
The most games lost by a Premier League club in 2021, FYI.
Source: WhoScored
https://mobile.twitter.com/WhoScored/status/1456744012375801867?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
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That 2nd half was Bradford all over again
I was thinking that as Dean was making the subs.
To be fair to him the bench was thread bare. Don’t think whoever we bought on would have made a difference
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
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That 2nd half was Bradford all over again
I was thinking that as Dean was making the subs.
To be fair to him the bench was thread bare. Don’t think whoever we bought on would have made a difference
I wouldn't have taken off AEG, as mad as that might seem, looked our most likely to score. Davis coming on shifting Watkins out left made little sense.
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The 2nd half performance may just have saved Smith his job, but why can't we put that type of performance in for the full 90 mins. Gotta give credit to our captain thought he was superb as was Martinez.
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Southampton are not a great side just better drilled than us
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It's a funny old game if playing 10 mins of decent football in five matches is seen as some sort of endorsement.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
I think so too. It was a level of intensity and commitment we haven't seen since Old Trafford. It did not suggest he'd lost the dressing room, far from it.
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He hasn't.
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This was a poor performance against a poor Southampton side, not good enough
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It was 10 / 15 minutes of decent football,same as West Ham
5 defeats is unacceptable
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Sounds like me watching generations of fellas carrying burning tar barrels through very busy streets was far more exciting than watching Villa tonight.
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I am thoroughly depressed, I thought these sorts of runs were behind us. I need a cuddle.
As for the game, the first half was pathetic. We had a go second half but you know we needed a goal during that period or else we would lose. Utterly demoralising.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
I think so too. It was a level of intensity and commitment we haven't seen since Old Trafford. It did not suggest he'd lost the dressing room, far from it.
The fact that it takes a talk at half time after 45 minutes of getting embarrassed is just as damning though..
The first 20 minutes of getting outplayed were far more telling then a decent 10 minutes after halftime.
It shouldn’t take a bollocking to get your squad to play.
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We lost for the 5th time in a row. Its over Dean, much as we all wanted you to succeed, it isn't going to happen.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
I think so too. It was a level of intensity and commitment we haven't seen since Old Trafford. It did not suggest he'd lost the dressing room, far from it.
I don't fathom that. We can't keep on being hopeless for long periods and then seemingly be redeemed by a bit of temporary improved play that actually yields nothing.
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If ten minutes pressing when losing 1-0 keeps him in a job, or owners and CEO are taking us nowhere fast.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
I think so too. It was a level of intensity and commitment we haven't seen since Old Trafford. It did not suggest he'd lost the dressing room, far from it.
19 losses in 2021 no thanks
Bye deano
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If ten minutes pressing when losing 1-0 keeps him in a job, or owners and CEO are taking us nowhere fast.
Yes exactly. I don’t really care whether he’s lost the dressing room or not - I care that we lose, and play poorly, far too often. The level of “performance” in the first half was like they’d never been coached.
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I actually though we played better at Arsenal second half than tonight, scored and also Buendia missed a very good chance.
Tonight we hardly created anything. I mean you could tell from the crowd they were very nervous from 75th minute onwards yet we hardly had a decent shot at goal, nothing in the 7 minutes of injury time so it's a very low bar to praise really.
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It’s the perfect time to make a change. It’s just time
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If ten minutes pressing when losing 1-0 keeps him in a job, or owners and CEO are taking us nowhere fast.
I agree Jim. They seem a classy duo and are unlikely to see it in ten minute spells, rather than a whole 2021.
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The thing is I don’t think they can afford to stick. The next two games we need a bounce as much as anything as the three after that look horrendous.
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If ten minutes pressing when losing 1-0 keeps him in a job, or owners and CEO are taking us nowhere fast.
I agree Jim. They seem a classy duo and are unlikely to see it in ten minute spells, rather than a whole 2021.
I agree. These people haven’t made a fortune by personal sentiment and let’s face it, they showed plenty pre Pandemic and it’s that, that saved Dean when we looked fucking doomed.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
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It’s a multi billion £ business and our owners have spent multiples of millions is rescuing us and wanting success. There is very little room for sentiment. The manager is not doing the job so we need to make a change. If you want pure romance don’t follow football at the top level.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
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We need to talk about John. He’s not super any more and I’d hesitate to say he’s even mediocre. Loses the ball more often than he gets it. Maybe Grealish made him look better than he is because he could ping the ball in that general direction and it would stick. And running around like a wasp in a bottle just doesn’t make up for it.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Apologies. I’m upset.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Leeg, can you stop quoting yourself and just talk about the match please! Honestly, you are stopping us from arguing.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Apologies. I’m upset.
It's not aimed at you. It's a generic request.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Hey Leg, back to football.. as a guy with a soft spot for Archer, how did you feel when he was brought on with three other center forwards with Emi and AEG going off?
It didn’t make any sense to me. I had no idea how they were supposed to get service or balls through.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Leeg, can you stop quoting yourself and just talk about the match please! Honestly, you are stopping us from arguing.
Quote fail somewhere along the lines.
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I'm pissed off at how pissed off I am. Fucking stupid game.
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Yet another slow start and it takes going behind and (presumably) a bollocking at half time to get a reaction. Not a sustainable pattern I’m afraid.
Feels desperately sad that the journey is coming to a conclusion but it seems we’ve reached the end.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
Hey Leg, back to football.. as a guy with a soft spot for Archer, how did you feel when he was brought on with three other center forwards with Emi and AEG going off?
It didn’t make any sense to me. I had no idea how they were supposed to get service or balls through.
I thought it was ridiculous. Right decision to bring him on but then play him in the correct position as well as provide the service he thrives on as opposed to the long ball malarky with Donkey Davis present.
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Ha ha. Legion, thanks for point out my shocking work. It's takes a very special kind of numpty to make such mistakes.
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It didn’t sound in his interview like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Well he’s not going to sack himself.
Perhaps he should, as a Villa fan, consider it...
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Archer looked like he was being played as a winger. Absolutely ridiculous decision by smith. We know what archer can do in the middle
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It didn’t sound in his interview like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
Well he’s not going to sack himself.
Perhaps he should, as a Villa fan, consider it...
Why should he?
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94 minutes and the benefit of a ‘friendly’ referee to salvage something and we didn’t trouble their keeper once.
A decent 10-15 minute spell in the second half doesn’t mask how shit the first half was….again.
Bye Dean, thanks for the memories.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
It's not just about a rough patch though, is it. It's about an overarching feeling of a manager having taken a team as far as he can. It reminds me of how we were at the end of Brian Little's reign.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
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94 minutes and the benefit of a ‘friendly’ referee to salvage something and we didn’t trouble their keeper once.
A decent 10-15 minute spell in the second half doesn’t mask how shit the first half was….again.
Bye Dean, thanks for the memories.
I thought the ref was poor overall. Made two big mistakes: not sending AEG off for a 2nd yellow and not giving us a penalty for the shirt pull. But at least it was even shiteness...
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.
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Great post my friend.
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Well for me Villa is a big club and has been in the doldrums for too long- 25 years since the last League Cup win.
I think sentiment has its place, but so too does a desire to be at the top table where we belong.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Thank you. You expressed my opinion far better than I did.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Applauds.
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All stating the obvious but all our problems stems
From midfield. I thought the defence marshalled by Mings tonight, was pretty good, but the problem is there is nothing to stop the ball coming at the defence and nothing to initiate any attacks. Nakamba is not good enough. Mcginn not interested.
I thought the last 10 mins said a lot. It was like a desperate cup game, where you have 5 forwards on with a few mins to go. All those players seemed like they wanted to save Deans job.
Dean has defo gone and im glad its not ended in Boos from the Holte. Hes been brilliant for us, really fantastic times, time to move on.
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My sentiment starts and ends with the club I love doing well against clubs I don’t want to see doing well. My affection is to the club and not any one man; player or manager or chairman etc. Ok maybe I have a little more affection for Dean Smith because he grew up a Villa fan but if he wasn’t a footballer manager and just a fan he’d want better for his club too.
I want Dean Smith gone because I like him. I don’t need to remember him in any other way than the overriding fondness of what he’s done for us. But he’s just not the man to take us forward.
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To paraphrase the great Marcellus Wallace, ‘fuck sentiment’.
I want us to be unsentimental winners.
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Well for me Villa is a big club and has been in the doldrums for too long- 25 years since the last League Cup win.
I think sentiment has its place, but so too does a desire to be at the top table where we belong.
Absolutely this.
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El Gazi and Buendía linked up well all game, first half there were flashes then 2nd half they were causing danger. Unbelievably Smith took them both off. Buendía was possibly an injury and Gazi was on a yellow but the two replacements did nothing and our early 2nd half impetus faded after that.
On paper I think we are better than southampton you could argue their goal was a total fluke. Buendía lost a 50:50 with Prowse the ball loops up in the air bounces off Cash right into stride of the striker who puts it in the top corner. When your lucks against you and all that. The 2nd half start showing tells me they're still fighting for smith, but he still does crazy things. like the piece of paper thing and taking off both creative players and bringing on two centre forwards who were both awful.
Bailey just isnt justifying the hype. Tonight he looked like a carbon copy of Nzogbia.
Ward prowse really bossed the first half, but we took over in the 2nd. He's a good player but looks very gaunt.
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Of course there's room for sentiment. But some are talking as if poor form and consecutive losses are the aberration, rather than winning at Old Trafford. Five losses on the bounce in isolation is survivable; but they're part of another story. If Smith somehow stays and turns it around, we'll look back and say it's a spectacular chapter in our history. But I think he's used that one up, personally, and all the sentiment in the world won't make that happen again - it has to be worked for, and it isn't working.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
None of them have achieved what Dean did though. I think his time
Is up - but I would say that Dean and Jack gave me the most fun watching Villa since Sir Brian. Made me enjoy being a villa fan after years of bullshit. Shame it ended like this - but I guess one Jack went this was always going to be next
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Thank you for that.
I wasn't there but it felt like those that were there supported Smith and the team.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.
Put better than I could - and why I feel sad now - not anger or frustration - just sad
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We need to talk about John. He’s not super any more and I’d hesitate to say he’s even mediocre. Loses the ball more often than he gets it. Maybe Grealish made him look better than he is because he could ping the ball in that general direction and it would stick. And running around like a wasp in a bottle just doesn’t make up for it.
I said in the summer we needed two midfielders because McGinn and Luiz just ain’t that good. Luiz might be, given time.
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We had ten good minutes then made poor subs and didn't get another sniff. Chalk and cheese indeed. And should have had 10 men, because Ghazi should have been sent off twice. 1-0 flattered us over the game
Poor subs, who would you have brought on ? Buendia got cramp and couldn't run and AEG needed to be taken off sooner. Ramsey made a good impression and Archer did no worse than most of the others. David, yes he should be nowhere near a PL team.
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Which of those young guys from the academy is the best prospect? I know it's a tough ask to come into a struggling side but a ball playing midfielder in the last 10/15 mins tonight would have got plenty of time and space. Maybe pushed McGinn onto the wing or even taken him off.
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Watkins isn't good enough even though he works hard. El Ghazi was our best player even though I understand why he was taken off because of the threat of being sent off. Otherwise the midfield is rolled over too easily. A decent manager could turn these players into a half decent side.
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El Gazi and Buendía linked up well all game, first half there were flashes then 2nd half they were causing danger. Unbelievably Smith took them both off. Buendía was possibly an injury and Gazi was on a yellow but the two replacements did nothing and our early 2nd half impetus faded after that.
On paper I think we are better than southampton you could argue their goal was a total fluke. Buendía lost a 50:50 with Prowse the ball loops up in the air bounces off Cash right into stride of the striker who puts it in the top corner. When your lucks against you and all that. The 2nd half start showing tells me they're still fighting for smith, but he still does crazy things. like the piece of paper thing and taking off both creative players and bringing on two centre forwards who were both awful.
Bailey just isnt justifying the hype. Tonight he looked like a carbon copy of Nzogbia.
Ward prowse really bossed the first half, but we took over in the 2nd. He's a good player but looks very gaunt.
What was that paper nonsense all about?
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
the first two contributed to our relegation, the last one stabilised us when things were dire, but couldn’t ultimately get us promoted. Smith managed that, rebuilt the team and kept us up and then got us to 10th. That’s an achievement comparable to SGT. you don’t get sacked after losing 5 games in a row after doing all of that. It wasn’t great today by any stretch, but looks like the players are still playing for him and sounded from what I heard, he still has the away support. Just my opinion, but I think we’d have to be bottom 3 and heading for the drop before he gets booted. Today’s Villa aren’t a Spurs or a Newcastle. I reckon he’ll get every chance to turn it around. I think it’s more likely that he resigns if he feels he can’t do it.
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He hasn’t got a player to drop into this team to turn it all around.
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Can we please keep this thread to discussion about the match?
It was turd Lee.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Where I'm at, for the most part.
Anyone advocating getting shot of him shortly after the Man U game all the way back on Sep 12 would have been seen as a fruitcake.
The situation has changed but it can quickly change again.
He does need to bury his pride if there's been any sort of fallout with Sanson, mind. He's not in a strong enough position to be casting players aside like that.
I'd be looking to bring Guilbert* back in Jan too, if possible. Targett shouldn't be a guaranteed starter based on his form so far this year. We need a bit of fight.
*Appreciate Guilbert is a right back, but Cheggars can't be boozers.
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Watkins isn't good enough even though he works hard. El Ghazi was our best player even though I understand why he was taken off because of the threat of being sent off. Otherwise the midfield is rolled over too easily. A decent manager could turn these players into a half decent side.
There are no quick fixes here even if Guardiola rocks up with Grealish at Villa Park. That farce of a pre season is really catching up with us now. At least the next day we should have Konsa and Luiz at a minimum back in the starting team. With Sanson, Ings, Traore at least on the bench. That makes the squad stronger anyway.
Buendia will surely be kept on the right wing now too. But the partner(s) for Luiz is a huge problem now, Nakamba is nowhere near good enough and McGinn has surely played himself out of the team. Will have to be Sanson and Ramsey I think.
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El Gazi and Buendía linked up well all game, first half there were flashes then 2nd half they were causing danger. Unbelievably Smith took them both off. Buendía was possibly an injury and Gazi was on a yellow but the two replacements did nothing and our early 2nd half impetus faded after that.
On paper I think we are better than southampton you could argue their goal was a total fluke. Buendía lost a 50:50 with Prowse the ball loops up in the air bounces off Cash right into stride of the striker who puts it in the top corner. When your lucks against you and all that. The 2nd half start showing tells me they're still fighting for smith, but he still does crazy things. like the piece of paper thing and taking off both creative players and bringing on two centre forwards who were both awful.
Bailey just isnt justifying the hype. Tonight he looked like a carbon copy of Nzogbia.
Ward prowse really bossed the first half, but we took over in the 2nd. He's a good player but looks very gaunt.
I like your thinkin', Stinkin. Saved me some typin'.
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Thought we were wretched first half but improved 2nd without really creating anything of note. But the ‘reaction’ that people were hoping for, we’ll it’s just not there is it and hasn’t been for weeks.
I’m absolutely torn. Any other manager would be gone, no questions, literally any one else but with Smith it’s tougher.
The bottom line is we are sinking, fast with no discernible pattern or identity. We are without doubt relegation fodder right now and with the fixtures coming up I see no way out of that with the current management team. I think, reluctantly, it’s over.
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We can shoot the breeze all night long.
But the stats AND performances AND results AND team formations AND team spirit:
Means were are going down.
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A decent marker is the away support and I didn't see or hear anything negative towards Deano tonight (Or yesterday)
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Plenty around me telling Smith to fuck off at the end.
The absolute lacklustre Dean Smiths claret and blue army at the end is a marker. We know he's gone and so does he and deservedly so.
My mate messaged me asking my view on the team and I said before the game I felt the midfield would be too open with the two. Fuck me, what an understatement. Absolutely abysmal.
Second half better, but ran out of ideas quickly.
Bailey isn't anywhere near fit enough. Buendia looked decent 2nd half.
All gone to shit. No structure, no clue and no more time Smith. Sack him now.
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Amazing how Madley never saw Mings shirt being pulled off his back Not amazing was the idiot in charge of VAR was Stuart Atwell Did he even check it ?
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Villa under Smith have become extremely easy to play against and we saw loads of evidence of that today. Southampton didn’t do much of note to win;
* just attack down our right because Bailey is either not disciplined or fit enough to track back.
* Play a right footed left back to face up both Bailey and Bunedia drifting in on their left foot(s).
Then, we they didn’t show up in the second half or we got better (not sure which is actually true) their manager saw what was happening and quickly changed it up with another defender so that they then had 3 centre backs along with their full backs to close out our 3 attackers with JWP and Romeu obviously going to win a midfield tussle against Mcginn and Nakamba. Then just wasted time and slowed the game down to win it. That was it. No tactical revolution, no genius, just really basic stuff. And that’s all it takes to beat this Villa team under Smith. If this was the preparation for a supposed ‘cup final, then my goodness, what are they doing all week?
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We need to talk about John. He’s not super any more and I’d hesitate to say he’s even mediocre. Loses the ball more often than he gets it. Maybe Grealish made him look better than he is because he could ping the ball in that general direction and it would stick. And running around like a wasp in a bottle just doesn’t make up for it.
I said in the summer we needed two midfielders because McGinn and Luiz just ain’t that good. Luiz might be, given time.
Agreed. Our midfield is just not of the quality you need for our supposed ambitions. As you say, Luiz might get there given time but I've lost faith in McGinn stepping up. I'm just so fucking tired of seeing us being dominated in midfield.
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We lost for the 5th time in a row. Its over Dean, much as we all wanted you to succeed, it isn't going to happen.
Even if it's the end of the road now, he has succeeded. Spectacularly so.
Andy amfy's post a couple of page ago was a belter.
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https://twitter.com/OfficialTM_3/status/1456786534661775368
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
You’ve convinced me.
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He hasn’t got a player to drop into this team to turn it all around.
This is very worrying indeed.
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
Sadly, despite amfy’s post, this is the reality of the situation.
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Amazing how Madley never saw Mings shirt being pulled off his back Not amazing was the idiot in charge of VAR was Stuart Atwell Did he even check it ?
Agree. And yet he got Konsa sent off last week with a red card which wasn't justified as Bowen wasn't running directly towards goal with the ball.
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Atwell was VAR on both. Says a lot. I think we've had some very tough breaks last few weeks, but Hause should have gone last week, and we had a similar shirt tug not given against us last week too.
I still can't understand the subs last night. Nakamba was recovering the ball which you need to get on the front foot. Buendia was causing issues from midfield joining the play up. Why did we not bring Chuck and Bidace on, who are creative players at least, to try and feed Ollie and Bailey. It made such little sense.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
I agree with this i really do. Smith and Grealish epitomised all this for me, coming out of the dark days with two villa boys driving the bus. Your right about the sentiment as well, its the cascade of claret and blue that hit me as a kid, its about my 11 year supporting Villa from the age of 5 or 6, seeing us in the championship and back up and being totally Villa. The play off final day and the emotions of that, were far bigger than promotion. Smith and Grealish have been integral to all that.
But now looking back at the summer that era ends when Grealish goes. I dont think Dean can turn this around and id rather it was quick. For sentimental reasons i dont want to see the holte end turn against Dean in numbers against a nobody team (albeit playing well) like Brighton, he doesnt deserve that.
And also, for all the sentiment in the world i dont want to face the disaster of relegation and thats where we are headed at the moment.
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He will never drop McGinn or substitute him. That is why he took Nakamba off. Buendia had cramp it looked like. He doesn't trust Chuck and JPB. Hard to say whether that is justified or not. Easier to chuck on kids (is Keinan still a kid?) up front I guess.
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Basically this summer we did what Villa do and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was all looking good and somehow we managed to fuck it up - we signed the wrong players, or at least didn’t get in better midfielders.
Fuck knows what these new coaches do but there not fit to lace the boots of Terri or ROK - and needed to be in place at least a month before the end of the season.
Not convinced by Lange to be the signings that have been most successful are the ones that look like they are Dean influenced. If I was NWSE I would br fucking fuming
This is inexcusable for regardless of jack going - and this isn’t all Smiths fault
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When I saw the team, it seemed clear to me that the midfield was too light; it was.
McGinn was totally anonymous throughout.
Bailey is moody and inconsistent: I don't see what he brings at all.
Smith should have removed AEG at half-time and brought on either Archer or Bidace.
Davis? - what's the point?!
Tuanzebe looks like a total rooky.
Watkins looks ponderous and indecisive.
Cash, Nakamba and Buendia played okay-ish.
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Better second half but disappointed with another loss.
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He hasn’t got a player to drop into this team to turn it all around.
This is very worrying indeed.
Because they're all injured.
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We had a full strength squad against Arsenal and put in a display that Tactics Tim would have been ashamed of.
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We didn't force there keeper into anything all game, he had one comfortable save from Beundia in the first half and a few catches in the second half. On the other hand Martinez has had to make two world class saves.
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First half poor, second half better but how many times have we said that now? Bringing on both Archer and Davis did have a whiff of desperation about it although I can see why he did it. I think Chuck for Bendy and Watkins out wide with either Davis or Archer through the middle would have been better. All in all, not good enough again.
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When we had five at the back reverting to a four was going to turn things around. When Bailey wasn't in the team he was what we needed .Now we need to get Ings,Luiz and Konsa back in the team to steady the ship.
The excuses have to run out some time don't they?
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Should have been dead and buried by half time. I want Deano to succeed as much as anyone but a decent 20 mins in the 2nd half away a Southampton where we created bugger all shouldn’t keep anyone in a job with the current run we’re on.
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
You’ve convinced me.
And me. It feels like I've woke up next to the girl I thought I'd spend my life with only to realise I don't really love her.
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Despite the quality of the finish by Armstrong i thought Southampton were very fortunate that the bounce from just lumping it forward was missed by Adams and came off Target to sit up perfectly for the finish. BUT that was only 3 minutes in and I would have expected a team who were fighting to be straight in it to work harder to create chances and chase their players down but we got NOTHING for the rest of the half. Second half was better but why Davis got on the pitch is beyond me.
It isn't just losing 5 in a row it IS l losing more games in 2021 than any other team. You don't get statistics like that from a "bad run". Does he deserve more time - of course - but only if we believe that he has the drive, energy and ideas to turn things around. For me he has shown us time and time again that he doesn't so I am Smith out and now.
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Jamie and Paul on Sky reckon the players' performance in the second half has kept him in his job for now. Time will tell if they were right.
. I actually thought merson was talking alot of bollocks
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
You’ve convinced me.
And me. It feels like I've woke up next to the girl I thought I'd spend my life with only to realise I don't really love her.
Caught in a trap?
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Sorry but we created very little playing well for ten minutes. The rest of the game was garbage.
Mings should be commended for his display. Superb.
Emi B was excellent in the second half and importantly showed he could compete physically.
Agreed. All stopped when he went off.
He will be a top player for us once we get a manager to use him proper.he had a decent second half .
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I turned off before half time and have only just found out the result. You can call me all the ****** under the sun if you like but I just couldn't watch anymore because of the inevitability of it all. There's nothing. We play hopeless, brainless, aimless football. The manager is all at sea having given the wheel to an ill qualified, glorified Sunday League long haired shouter. There are no tactics of any kind, we play like a team assembled on the car park just before kick off, yes they try but all the effort in the world can't make up for an absolute lack of any plan, reason or ethos.
Wither overloads, the high or low press, neat triangles, pass and move, emotional control and considered tactics?
It's vanished in a shitfest of toe pokes, long balls, bewildered looks, ill discipline, embarrassing notes and appalling, amateurish coaching.
The result last night was inevitable and the result of the result even more so, it's just a matter of time.
What a fucking shame.
You’ve convinced me.
And me. It feels like I've woke up next to the girl I thought I'd spend my life with only to realise I don't really love her.
Caught in a trap?
I can't walk out
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Think I'll stick with the cricket for a while.
The latest failure to launch a season has been just too bitter after all the hope, expectation and pre-season hype.
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Just watched Targett's post match interview. He looked broken.
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A shit show of a night - if the match wasn’t depressing enough we had to witness a big punch up in the row behind us in block 43 immediately after the goal. Pretty shocking stuff with people punched to the ground, bodies (bystanders) falling over seats, blood spilt, someone’s glasses broken and a boy of about 8 and his mom both in tears.
The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
It was also my youngest son’s first away game in 22 months and that’s the main thing he’s talking about. At one point I was worried that fighting, middle aged men were going to fall on top of him.
A minority of our fans are an embarrassment, sadly.
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A shit show of a night - if the match wasn’t depressing enough we had to witness a big punch up in the row behind us in block 43 immediately after the goal. Pretty shocking stuff with people punched to the ground, bodies (bystanders) falling over seats, blood spilt, someone’s glasses broken and a boy of about 8 and his mom both in tears.
The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
It was also my youngest son’s first away game in 22 months and that’s the main thing he’s talking about. At one point I was worried that fighting, middle aged men were going to fall on top of him.
A minority of our fans are a disgrace, sadly.
Blimey; sorry to hear that, Marlon.
Sad.
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Just watched Targett's post match interview. He looked broken.
He really is. It's a great interview of honesty and emotion. He's been really poor this season, but you can see how much he cares. He cares as much as we do.
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Just watched Targett's post match interview. He looked broken.
He really is. It's a great interview of honesty and emotion. He's been really poor this season, but you can see how much he cares. He cares as much as we do.
hardly surprising he doesn’t look great compared to last season because he hasn’t got Grealish to link up with on the overload, or to drop back and help him out. Quite a few people said that Grealish didn’t get back to help defend, but I think that’s bollocks really, he did. Added to that, Targett was injured in the summer and missed pre-season. No mystery to his big drop-off in form, in my view.
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A shit show of a night - if the match wasn’t depressing enough we had to witness a big punch up in the row behind us in block 43 immediately after the goal. Pretty shocking stuff with people punched to the ground, bodies (bystanders) falling over seats, blood spilt, someone’s glasses broken and a boy of about 8 and his mom both in tears.
The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
It was also my youngest son’s first away game in 22 months and that’s the main thing he’s talking about. At one point I was worried that fighting, middle aged men were going to fall on top of him.
A minority of our fans are an embarrassment, sadly.
Bad times. We always start fighting amongst ourselves when it comes to the end.
Somebody jumped into the Southampton end second half too.
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Sorry to hear about the trouble last night. There was a nasty punch up at The Emirates on the concourse at half time as well, in which a steward got hurt. Unfortunately, it appeared to be the usual pissed up, coked up suspects who I remember from years ago, now pathetic middle aged men. Absolute dregs who shouldn't be getting tickets to follow our team away from home. Embarrassing and just sad.
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A shit show of a night - if the match wasn’t depressing enough we had to witness a big punch up in the row behind us in block 43 immediately after the goal. Pretty shocking stuff with people punched to the ground, bodies (bystanders) falling over seats, blood spilt, someone’s glasses broken and a boy of about 8 and his mom both in tears.
The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
It was also my youngest son’s first away game in 22 months and that’s the main thing he’s talking about. At one point I was worried that fighting, middle aged men were going to fall on top of him.
A minority of our fans are an embarrassment, sadly.
Sorry to hear that mate. there's always quite a large contingent of arseholes in our away support, sadly.
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The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
A minority of our fans are an embarrassment, sadly.
Saw something on FB about a villa fan ended up in hospital beaten up by a fellow Villa fan. Lets hope they find him and ban the fucker for life.
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The one thug who floored a fellow Villa fan in the 4th minute of the game stood in the same spot until finally being removed by stewards in the 72nd minute (despite clearing standing out, stood there in his grey Stone Island jumper) so you can imagine how tense and unpleasant the atmosphere was by us.
A minority of our fans are an embarrassment, sadly.
Saw something on FB about a villa fan ended up in hospital beaten up by a fellow Villa fan. Lets hope they find him and ban the fucker for life.
Villa fans can identify his seat pretty easily. Hopefully necessary action will follow.
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Just watched Targett's post match interview. He looked broken.
He really is. It's a great interview of honesty and emotion. He's been really poor this season, but you can see how much he cares. He cares as much as we do.
He, like the rest of them, knows that DS is a goner.
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Even living in London I only got home at 1am given the glorious transport infrastructure in this sceptered isle and couldn’t summon up the nerdy to post on here.
Another poor start to a game, with a lot of players who look poor, but if I’m being charitable are just low on confidence. They really hurt us down the right and we were second to every loose ball - every opponent seems more athletic than us this season.
They just seemed well coached, more aggressive and faster. McGinn and Nakamba both terrible, with McGinn notably playing some awful passes. Opponents have worked out his default trick of rolling players with his arse and he lost possession too easily on many occasions.
I thought Buendia was our best player, along with Martinez, and AEG showed moments of danger, but also should have had at least one more yellow. Most of the rest were poor to shite. The substitutions made us consecutively worse and the front 4 chasing hoofs from our new playmaker, Martinez, brought back memories of the Bradford semi final. That tactic made me think that Smith is losing it, though the effort from the players in the second half showed he hasn’t lost them. Yet.
The players were booed off at half time and I can’t comment on full time as had to leave in the 95th minute to get to the coach station. We were chatting to other Villa fans on the coach and I reckon the feeling is 50:50 that Smith will go.
One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.
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Just read Marlon’s post and hope it doesn’t deter you from going.
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What was far more alarming for me was in the build-up to their goal we had no midfield support anywhere near the ball and the defence was stretched too...
[click the pics to see properly]
(https://i.ibb.co/Vx1f0SH/sv2.png) (https://ibb.co/Vx1f0SH)
(https://i.ibb.co/zbsXV3p/sv.png) (https://ibb.co/zbsXV3p)
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Yeah the positioning of the midfield is all wrong there, especiallly so early in the game. Also not letting the ball bounce is one of the first things defenders are supposedly taught.
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One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.
Very good point. Of the 139 games Dean has managed at Villa, he's only recorded 28 draws (55 wins, 56 defeats).
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Yeah the failure to recover from losing positions is definitely a stick to beat him with. It wasn't so vital at the start of last season when we tended to take the lead, but it's a fairly disastrous trait now.
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One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.
Very good point. Of the 139 games Dean has managed at Villa, he's only recorded 28 draws (55 wins, 56 defeats).
It's a useful stat until we remember that many of those wins were probably from the Championship? Including the famous ten on the trot, so actually, it's not a particularly great record overall.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.
Thank you
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One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.
The stat on the Beeb last night was that we'd won one of the last 70 games when trailing at half-time (which was the 2-1 home win v Watford in Jan 2020).
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.
Thank you
it’s not 5 games though, is it ?
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Yeah for me that's all very noble, but that attitude see's us relegated with pats on the back. Fuck that.
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Relegation. And I’m Smith in.
I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.
It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.
Honest question,
If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?
I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.
For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.
Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.
Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.
Thank you
it’s not 5 games though, is it ?
5 games since Old Trafford I said.
At that point we were happy. We were laughing at Danny Murphy for not understanding why we had a set piece coach, Dean was nominated for Manager of the month for September. We weren’t looking back and saying it was all down to Jack then we’re we? ..or including last season in our calculation of how well things were going? Before 5 games ago we thought things were shaping up pretty well.
......& if relegation happens it won’t be with a ‘pat on the back’ but that’s a very long way off. I think sacking or not sacking him now is potentially the difference between a high and low finish. Sacking or not sacking him at the turn of the year, if things are still rough, is the difference between staying up & relegation.
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It's not just this run of bad games though is it? throughout his tenure we have seen many bad runs, the difference being that in the past it was usually because Grealish was injured, there is no Grealish to come back in and save him this time. The backroom structure has changed and DS looks as if he has run out of ideas. My worry is that losing becomes a habit and if we may wait too long to change.
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Sorry to hear about the trouble last night. There was a nasty punch up at The Emirates on the concourse at half time as well, in which a steward got hurt. Unfortunately, it appeared to be the usual pissed up, coked up suspects who I remember from years ago, now pathetic middle aged men. Absolute dregs who shouldn't be getting tickets to follow our team away from home. Embarrassing and just sad.
How do they keep getting tickets?
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& he’s come out the other side of all of the others….. but there’s a Smith Out thread if you want to carry on this conversation. I think he is worth a bit longer, because if we could make it work it would feel really worth it. I don’t expect everyone to share that view, but it’ll remain mine for now.
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One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.
The stat on the Beeb last night was that we'd won one of the last 70 games when trailing at half-time (which was the 2-1 home win v Watford in Jan 2020).
That's pretty bad but I wonder what a par score would be for that kind of stat. Also they must only be including Premier League games.
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Tuanzebe is crap.
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Tuanzebe is crap.
He's OK as cover for injury or suspension.
But we shouldn't be trying to shoehorn him into the starting XI.