Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on December 22, 2025, 11:39:28 AM
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Sat 27th, 17.30 KO.
1-1
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1-1
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We always lose Boxing Day away matches so just rest our crucial players so they're fit for Arsenal. A few players looked tired yesterday.
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Draw, 1-1.
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Come on, they ain't all that. We'll play average and win. The PL is a piece of piss for us.
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First we analyse and work out how many they will score (anything between zero and three).
We then select accordingly and employ a tactical plan to score one more.
Piece of piss, anybody could do it. How much are we paying this coat chucking Spaniard ?
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We always lose Boxing Day away matches so just rest our crucial players so they're fit for Arsenal. A few players looked tired yesterday.
We’re not playing Boxing Day so we should be fine! 😉
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Are the team likely to stay down there after this match?
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The claret and blue army marches on - 6 points between now and end of year. UTV
🎵"Now you gonna believe us"🎵
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Tiredness cannot be an excuse or reason for anything.
Bloody hell, if they are tired now we’ll be relegated by April.
We have to be better than we were against Manure.
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Winning games like this is what champions do. Come on me Villa babbies!
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We always lose Boxing Day away matches so just rest our crucial players so they're fit for Arsenal. A few players looked tired yesterday.
We’re not playing Boxing Day so we should be fine! 😉
I considered this, but we still lost our most recent 27th December game, too. 3-0 at Arsenal. You can't deceive Jesus Claus with that kind of calendar chicanery, sadly.
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Calendar Chicanery, the comeback EP from African Car Reverser.
Hope he's chuffed to billi-o with Villa's resurgence given he first came to attention in the awful Lambert midwinter.
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An economy of effort performance and I don't hold much hope. 3-1.
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Their home record is not overwhelming, beaten Fulham, Liverpool, Wolves, Everton, drawn with Arsenal & Palace, lost to Brighton & Sunderland.
Saying that, we can’t afford to give them the head start in the same way we gave it to Leeds, Brighton & West Ham.
Can’t see us winning the next two, but if we can get three or four points, we’ll be right in the mix.
2-1 us Rogers, Tielemans.
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Are the team likely to stay down there after this match?
I was wondering that.
I know we just need to get on with it, but it doesn't seem right to me that we've been handed two such away fixtures in the course of three days over Christmas (noting that none of the 'Sky Six' has a fixture against another one, over the course of the entire Christmas/new year period).
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It's a win. That's what we do. 3 points at the Bridge, 1 point up the Arse and a Happy New Year all round.
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I’m not going to the game, but my three visits to Stamford Bridge all had 8 goals.
Not that I was still in the ground for the 7th & 8th of the game 13 years ago tomorrow
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I’m not going to the game, but my three visits to Stamford Bridge all had 8 goals.
Not that I was still in the ground for the 7th & 8th of the game 13 years ago tomorrow
Was that really 13 years ago? Remember it well. Our coach got bricked on the way back.
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The juggernaut will roll on.
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Are the team likely to stay down there after this match?
Yes. The plan is to go to Borough market on Sunday and do London Eye on Monday and maybe tootle along the Mall and Buck palace before checking into Convent Garden Travelodge. China Town for dinner later that day.
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They need to be demanding of themselves as tourists.
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Are the team likely to stay down there after this match?
Yes. The plan is to go to Borough market on Sunday and do London Eye on Monday and maybe tootle along the Mall and Buck palace before checking into Convent Garden Travelodge. China Town for dinner later that day.
I've heard they've all got tickets for The Mousetrap.
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I’m not going to the game, but my three visits to Stamford Bridge all had 8 goals.
Not that I was still in the ground for the 7th & 8th of the game 13 years ago tomorrow
Was that really 13 years ago? Remember it well. Our coach got bricked on the way back.
And you never let Legion on again.
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I’m not going to the game, but my three visits to Stamford Bridge all had 8 goals.
Not that I was still in the ground for the 7th & 8th of the game 13 years ago tomorrow
Was that really 13 years ago? Remember it well. Our coach got bricked on the way back.
And you never let Legion on again.
It was Big Daz.
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2.1 them
I wish they were as crap as they were in 1989
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Said this before the last of game, but it's equally applicable here, so...
I hate these twats.
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Stand off these guys and they are a very good team. Get stuck into them like Leeds did a few weeks back and they are shaky. Going to have to rotate the squad over next couple of weeks so expecting a few changes. More legs in midfield required and I think Bogarde deserves a chance.
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Bogarde, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.
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If ever there were any doubt as to how much of a bunch of twats Chelsea are, they have a stickied thread on their main forum to discuss "Rangers".
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How come?
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Because they're bigoted arseholes, I assume.
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If ever there were any doubt as to how much of a bunch of twats Chelsea are, they have a stickied thread on their main forum to discuss "Rangers".
In the days when I used to go into Sportspages or Piccadilly Records to read all the fanzines there was a strange one called the Blues Brothers which covered Chelsea, Rangers and Linfield.
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I think it comes to an end here. Their press will overwhelm us as will their pace. Think we will struggle but hope I am wrong.
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When the fixtures came out everyone rightly pointed out how tough these two games were, that they remain but the context is not really what anyone expected.
The law of averages comes in here so between now and next Tuesday night our run maybe over but then it's time to start another. The latter of the two is the more difficult, but Chelsea can be brilliant one minute and terrible the next, although the club itself is terrible all the time. I really can't see Emery not rotating a bit over the two games which may be our downfall and the depth of our squad may be what ultimately keeps us from the top.
2-2
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Stand off these guys and they are a very good team. Get stuck into them like Leeds did a few weeks back and they are shaky. Going to have to rotate the squad over next couple of weeks so expecting a few changes. More legs in midfield required and I think Bogarde deserves a chance.
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Bogarde, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.
I know he wasn’t great on Sunday, but there is not a chance Tielemans doesn’t start the next two games. Onana maybe just one of them.
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Feels to me like Onana / Kamara / McGinn / Tielemans / Rogers / Watkins is how we want to play against the bigger teams.
Resting a couple of them for Malen / Buendia / Guessand for the supposed "easier" games.
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Hopefully alix9815s ****** has been binned.
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I think it comes to an end here. Their press will overwhelm us as will their pace. Think we will struggle but hope I am wrong.
So do they press more than Bournemouth? Are they more competent than Arsenal? Do they have more quality than 115Y? Are they hungrier than manu?
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Hopefully alix9815s ****** has been binned.
I think Unai has a choice to make with team selection at Chelsea. Stick with the old guard or blood some younger players.
Much like when I’m thinking about which cola drink to buy. I choose Pepsi, as it’s the choice of a new generation.
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Playing Snow Rider has given me a bigger penis, more confidence and some very right-wing opinions. Snow Rider for the win!
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Playing Snow Rider has given me a bigger penis, more confidence and some very right-wing opinions. Snow Rider for the win!
I thought you were off the Class A stuff nowadays?
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Stand off these guys and they are a very good team. Get stuck into them like Leeds did a few weeks back and they are shaky. Going to have to rotate the squad over next couple of weeks so expecting a few changes. More legs in midfield required and I think Bogarde deserves a chance.
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, Bogarde, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.
I know he wasn’t great on Sunday, but there is not a chance Tielemans doesn’t start the next two games. Onana maybe just one of them.
Going to have to rotate and YT missed a lot of football at the start of the season. Can't afford for him to break down again. We have a lot of options in those positions. Onana did ok v Arsenal a few weeks back so would save him for that one. Buendia very unlucky not to have got more minutes in recent games, should have been first man on v Man United.
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Are Cash and Konsa on 4 yellows? It may be a risk playing them at Chelsea: perhaps Bogarde will play instead of at least one of them.
I agree that is we play too passively Chelsea will be all over us.
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Playing Snow Rider has given me a bigger penis, more confidence and some very right-wing opinions. Snow Rider for the win!
I thought you were off the Class A stuff nowadays?
You're always a text message away.
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Are Cash and Konsa on 4 yellows? It may be a risk playing them at Chelsea: perhaps Bogarde will play instead of at least one of them.
I agree that is we play too passively Chelsea will be all over us.
It’s Cash and Kamara that are a card away from suspension I believe.
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Konsa's not been booked in the league this season. Just the Newcastle red.
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Dave, why are you spoiling Bent Neilsens Screamer's belief with facts?
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Dave, why are you spoiling Bent Neilsens Screamer's belief with facts?
I’m a believer mate!
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2-2
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Are Cash and Konsa on 4 yellows? It may be a risk playing them at Chelsea: perhaps Bogarde will play instead of at least one of them.
I agree that is we play too passively Chelsea will be all over us.
It’s Cash and Kamara that are a card away from suspension I believe.
Ah, okay. Thx.
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0-4.
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I have a childhood recollection of David Platt scoring an overhead kick in this fixture when I was 12/13 (so around 1990 I guess), and it being disallowed because the ref blew his half-time whistle as he was about to do it. My mate (who is a couple of years younger than me) says my brain has made it up as he doesn't remember it, but I can almost see it happening if I close my eyes.
Is my old brain playing tricks on me? Feels like the sort of thing that would cause all sorts of controversy these days...
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Not making it up, here is the “goal”
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Not making it up, here is the “goal”
Thanks! Interesting that in my memory of the event, we were definitely wearing Claret and Blue!
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Not making it up, here is the “goal”
And just like today the commentator was looking for the offside when clearly he was being played on. Clearly, the ref was related to the twat who reffed our game at ManU last season.
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Konsa's not been booked in the league this season. Just the Newcastle red.
the odd yellow card wouldn't be a bad thing for him being over-physical, instead of that saft turn on the ball he tries to do, then flops to the ground to win a free-kick
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When was the last time we didn't wear claret and blue at Chelsea? And why the change...was it something to do with folk still having black and white tellys and there needing to be one dark-shirted team and one bright to make it easy to see which team is which?
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When was the last time we didn't wear claret and blue at Chelsea? And why the change...was it something to do with folk still having black and white tellys and there needing to be one dark-shirted team and one bright to make it easy to see which team is which?
Im sure we were wearing white when we beat them 2-0 in Emerys first season?? The McGinn cracker
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Konsa's not been booked in the league this season. Just the Newcastle red.
the odd yellow card wouldn't be a bad thing for him being over-physical, instead of that saft turn on the ball he tries to do, then flops to the ground to win a free-kick
He’s got that down to an art form
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How come?
Both Loyal
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How come?
Both Loyal
To what?
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I think we can guess.
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When was the last time we didn't wear claret and blue at Chelsea? And why the change...was it something to do with folk still having black and white tellys and there needing to be one dark-shirted team and one bright to make it easy to see which team is which?
In the 90s it used to annoy the hell out of me that Arsenal would almost always seemed turn up at Villa Park in their home shirt.
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How come?
Both Loyal
Both bigoted?
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How come?
Both Loyal
To what?
To being reprehensible fucking boneheads.
And, in the interest of balance, Celtic and their fans can get in the sea, and stay there, too.
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This is tough one.
Caceido will be all over Rogers when he gets the ball so this I think is a battle between those two and Kamara v Palmer.
Our midfield will need to be right on it to get anything here and they also have loads of pace out wide which we can struggle with away.
We'll play better than last year (which won't be hard) but think it will be a narrow 2-1 defeat.
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Yes a very strong team, their centre half s can be got at, goalkeeper and centre forward less strong. Their midfield fullbacks and wide men are formidable.
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I think this will be very tough. If we got a point that’d be a really good result.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
The choices are incompetent or dodgy.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
The choices are incompetent or dodgy.
We seem to get him a lot considering he's probably a fan of one of our local rivals, and he always finds spurious ways to fuck us over.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
2 of our 3 losses this season were where he was ref (Palace and Liverpool).
Also reffed this fixture last season when we lost 3-0.
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I’m not going to the game, but my three visits to Stamford Bridge all had 8 goals.
Not that I was still in the ground for the 7th & 8th of the game 13 years ago tomorrow
Was that really 13 years ago? Remember it well. Our coach got bricked on the way back.
By VILLA fans?
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
The choices are incompetent or dodgy.
We seem to get him a lot considering he's probably a fan of one of our local rivals, and he always finds spurious ways to fuck us over.
Comes from Nuneaton but apparently a Luton fan.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
The choices are incompetent or dodgy.
We seem to get him a lot considering he's probably a fan of one of our local rivals, and he always finds spurious ways to fuck us over.
Comes from Nuneaton but apparently a Luton fan.
We’ve covered this before but that’s a myth put around initially by Luton supporters because he allowed a “phantom” goal against Watford.
His family are well known in Nuneaton because his father was head of the refs for the amateur league and were season ticket holders at Cov.
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Stuart Atwell is the ref apparently.
The choices are incompetent or dodgy.
We seem to get him a lot considering he's probably a fan of one of our local rivals, and he always finds spurious ways to fuck us over.
Comes from Nuneaton but apparently a Luton fan.
We’ve covered this before but that’s a myth put around initially by Luton supporters because he allowed a “phantom” goal against Watford.
His family are well known in Nuneaton because his father was head of the refs for the amateur league and were season ticket holders at Cov.
It cost Forest a few bob.
Nottingham Forest have lost their appeal against a £750,000 fine for a social media post criticising video assistant referee Stuart Attwell.
They were fined by the Football Association in October for an "attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale".
Forest complained on X about three penalty decisions that went against them during a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton on 21 April 2024.
Forest's post said they had "warned" referees' body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) that Attwell, who was the VAR for the match, was a fan of relegation rivals Luton, but that "they did not change him", adding: "Our patience has been tested multiple times."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c4g7zye2kqvo
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Yea was just saying how it started.
He never comments one way or the other other on who he supports (as with most refs) so that how it took root.
I don’t think he should be allowed to ref Villa games.
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I was hoping at least one of Torres or Mings would be fit by now. Typically this isn't the case. It makes the task harder now. A point would be a good result.
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2-2 I think would be a good result, we stay unbeaten, another point chalked up. Come on Villa
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F365's "Big Weekend" section:
Game to watch: Chelsea v Aston Villa
Always looked like it would be the most significant game in the title race over the festive weekend, but only in the last few weeks has it become clear that this is because of Aston Villa’s involvement and not Chelsea’s.
It is, obviously, a huge test of Villa’s stickability; Chelsea may have meekly surrendered their own chances in self-fulfilling fashion once again, but they remain a tough test for a team trying to compete with two giants in Arsenal and Man City.
The actual dynamic of this Saturday evening affair will inevitably be coloured by what Man City and Arsenal themselves have done earlier in the day. Fair to say Villa would at this point settle for a retention of the status quo in terms of their gap to the top two.
And without wishing to pour any rain on Villa’s current parade, it does still bear mentioning that as the second half of the season pans out there is still the possibility/probability that Chelsea emerge as more significant rivals to Villa than the top two anyway in terms of Champions League qualification.
Villa currently lead Enzo Maresca’s side by seven points and while sprinting to keep up with the top two isn’t doing Unai and the lads any harm right now it does feel like a day where, even for a team with 11 wins from their last 12 Premier League games, a draw would be absolutely fine and not in any way necessarily a momentum killer.
Team to watch: Manchester City
Villa are obviously the best team in the country right now, but for the first time in a good while it’s looking like Man City might be second best. They’re certainly playing more convincing football than Arsenal right now, and have another chance to briefly leapfrog their main title rivals and put pressure on a potentially ticklish home game for Arsenal against a Brighton side who so often relish the chance to mess with the bigger boys.
But in order to apply that pressure City must take care of their own business against Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest, a team that can’t quite be described as resurgent but is definitely no longer the pushover of the brief but hilarious Angeball days.
They’ve been alternating between victory and defeat for the last six Premier League games, and the bad news for City is that they’ll arrive at the City Ground at the wrong point in that particular pattern.
The good news for City is that they aren’t currently alternating anything having won each of their last five Premier League games, the last three of them by 3-0 margins and with 17 goals in total across those five games. Which, even after the 3-0 paddling of Tottenham the other week, is still the total number of Premier League goals Forest have managed all season.
Only posted the second bit (and why I spam the place with F365 content), because I thought that in the "they all hate us and don't know how good we are" melancholy, people might get a little kick out of being referred to in The Media in such terms.
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I'd take a draw, but think a 2-1 defeat
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Yeah, it feels the opposite to me, that we have a Villa fan working for F365!
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Everyone I chat to (not a Villa fan) thinks we will lose.
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Be interesting which games Attwell refs next season when Cov come back up. I'm sure he is from the Crowhill/Whitestone area of Nuneaton which will be mostly a Cov supporting area
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I don’t think he’s ever reffed Cov. Historically and traditionally Nuneaton is a Villa town but there has been a lot of Cov overspill in more recent times.
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Bobby Sands was very fond of Nuneaton.
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And a Villa supporter!
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And a Villa supporter!
Indeed. I'm very much from the left-footed tradition in these matters but the football chant that made me laugh the most when I heard of it was Rangers': "Do you want a chicken supper, Bobby Sands?" (to She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain, obvs)
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I think it's "could you go a chicken supper, Bobby Sands".
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I think it's "could you go a chicken supper, Bobby Sands".
My apologies to my Weedgie-adjacent brethren.
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Be interesting what games Attwell refs next season when Cov come back up. I'm sure he is from the Crowhill/Whitestone area of Nuneaton which will be mostly a Cov supporting area
I'm not saying he's anti-Villa but when it comes to the Attwells, I prefer Hayley to Stuart.
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I don’t think he’s ever reffed Cov. Historically and traditionally Nuneaton is a Villa town but there has been a lot of Cov overspill in more recent times.
I've lived in treacle town for almost 24 years now, there are a fair few Villa and even Leicester around but it is mainly a Cov supporting town
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Anyway 2-1 Villa win
Come on!
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I don’t think he’s ever reffed Cov. Historically and traditionally Nuneaton is a Villa town but there has been a lot of Cov overspill in more recent times.
I've lived in treacle town for almost 24 years now, there are a fair few Villa and even Leicester around but it is mainly a Cov supporting town
Treacle Town is a Cov insult for Nuneaton.
I’m 5th generation Nuneaton Villa. There used to be 19 buses leave Nuneaton bus station for Villa Park. Traditionally a Villa town. There was always a lot more Argus’s sold than Cov Pinks. One of the reason Cov dislike Villa so much is areas like Nuneaton support Villa!
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If we play like we did against Manure we’ll get beat. This is one of the toughest games, and it’s followed by another.
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I really hate Chelsea, much more than I hate Blues or even Rangers. This ought to be enough to secure our defeat.
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Pleased to know I’m not the only one that absolutely detests Chelsea. They’re much worse than Blues in my eyes.
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If we play like we did against Manure we’ll get beat. This is one of the toughest games, and it’s followed by another.
Yep play like we did against Man U or West Ham we’ll get beat. Play like we did against Arsenal we won’t. My son has a Hans Solo esque ‘bad feeling’ about this one. I don’t particularly, if we are going to lose one of the next two I think its more likely to be to Arsenal. Saying that even on this incredible run, we’ve been more resilient away from home, than had really top draw performances.
I don’t think we beat any of the teams that finished top 6 away last season, so would be good to get back to doing that like we did reasonably regularly in Emery’s first two seasons.
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It will be fascinating how Emery sets us up for this. Chelsea have one of if not the strongest midfields, so I wonder if try to bypass it and go a bit more direct,we can not afford to allow them to peg us back for long periods.
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Cash and Kamara are on 4 yellows so need to keep clear tonight. McGinn on 3 needs to avoid picking one up in successive games.
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
Agree with this, lose this and Maresca will have those above breathing down his neck. Midfield key for me, Kamara hasn't been great recently, ratboy controlled the game at ours before he went off. We can't rely on Rogers to dig us out of a hole every week, so I'll go
2: 1 Villa.....Watkins, Tielemans
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
Agree with this, lose this and Maresca will have those above breathing down his neck. Midfield key for me, Kamara hasn't been great recently, ratboy controlled the game at ours before he went off. We can't rely on Rogers to dig us out of a hole every week, so I'll go
2: 1 Villa.....Watkins, Tielemans
Rogers has dug us out of a hole every week? We've won 10 on the trot.
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Chelsea will be fuming that it is us, not them, hanging on the coat tails of the leaders, especially given the weakness of Liverpool. You can see the cracks beginning to appear in their facade.
We need to be looking at the little picture, however. Unai knows how to set us up to get a result from games like this - we'll need fortune to smile on us a bit, so let's hope that our luck holds out too.
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
Agree with this, lose this and Maresca will have those above breathing down his neck. Midfield key for me, Kamara hasn't been great recently, ratboy controlled the game at ours before he went off. We can't rely on Rogers to dig us out of a hole every week, so I'll go
2: 1 Villa.....Watkins, Tielemans
Rogers has dug us out of a hole every week? We've won 10 on the trot.
well not every week tbh, but in 3 of the last six league games, games when we weren't at our best to be fair, he has scored a fantastic goal to win the game..Utd, West Ham, Leeds.
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well not every week tbh, but in 3 of the last six league games, games when we weren't at our best to be fair, he has scored a fantastic goal to win the game..Utd, West Ham, Leeds.
Careful now, some folks get a little antsy at any thought our form might be 'unsustainable'
[/justjoking][/sortof][/calmdownandcarryon]
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
Agree with this, lose this and Maresca will have those above breathing down his neck. Midfield key for me, Kamara hasn't been great recently, ratboy controlled the game at ours before he went off. We can't rely on Rogers to dig us out of a hole every week, so I'll go
2: 1 Villa.....Watkins, Tielemans
Rogers has dug us out of a hole every week? We've won 10 on the trot.
well not every week tbh, but in 3 of the last six league games, games when we weren't at our best to be fair, he has scored a fantastic goal to win the game..Utd, West Ham, Leeds.
Didnt think anyone was great against man utd, but other than that Kamara has been pretty great fir most of the season.
I think our midfield on its day is as good if not better than any, so how they cope with Chelsea’s midfield will be fascinating
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Enzo and Caisedo are key for us to sop. Maatsen will be needed to counter the pace of Neto.
Watkins needs to get over his issues and push thier back line
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I’m fine with whatever happens today, unless it’s a Liverpool away or Man Utd away type performance.
On their day, Chelsea are really good, they can also be decidedly average. Let’s go and compete and see hat happens.
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I’m fine with whatever happens today, unless it’s a Liverpool away or Man Utd away type performance.
On their day, Chelsea are really good, they can also be decidedly average. Let’s go and compete and see hat happens.
If we lose, let it be on your head.
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Got offered a ticket 3 hours ago, but I was literally in a horse drawn sleigh up a mountain in Poland.
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Got offered a ticket 3 hours ago, but I was literally in a horse drawn sleigh up a mountain in Poland.
Leaving it late aren't you?
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Pressure is on them more than us. We win we pull away from fourth, they know they need a result here with a bit of pressure on their manager.
Agree with this, lose this and Maresca will have those above breathing down his neck. Midfield key for me, Kamara hasn't been great recently, ratboy controlled the game at ours before he went off. We can't rely on Rogers to dig us out of a hole every week, so I'll go
2: 1 Villa.....Watkins, Tielemans
...and so it came to pass, close but no cigar as Tielemans got the assist. My bad.