Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on April 19, 2026, 03:58:05 PM
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Never in doubt.
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Phew!
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phuck me
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3-3 and you fucked it up. Have that you ******.
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Good on Sunderland, absolutely brought it, demented game and sporting handshakes all round.
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Sancho buying Tammy and Emi a Guinness after that.
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Thank f**k.
Sancho you absolute bellend.
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Unbelievable.
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Can I come out now?
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Sancho had the ball three times and nearly gave away three goals. What a signing he has been. Huge win we, got away with one big time.
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Great game 8)
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Jesus, madness.
Emery talks about control, but we totally melted down after McGinn's withdrawal.
Kudos to Martinez, Digne and Abrahams.
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A bit boring, that.
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Mental.
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Great game 8)
Trying to pin our meltdown on Watkins is rather rich, as you did in the match thread.
In other news, anyone wishing to sign Sancho should definitely think carefully about confirming their wish
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Fucking hell. Well done Digne and Abraham. Cool heads when we needed them. Martinez too.
But mainly fucking hell.
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Naturally Liverpool are winning.
Thank fuck for Emi Martinez. Phew.
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Sancho had the ball three times and nearly gave away three goals. What a signing he has been. Huge win we, got away with one big time.
He's a gutless pr*ck but I'm not putting all that on him. Konsa caught in no man's land. Tielemans legs gone in midfield is on Emery too. Gaping space in midfield and between our centre backs.
But....delighted for Tammy. Typical Tammy goal from an unbelievable cross from Digne.
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Ollie is ace. Great impact by Tammy.
But bloody hell we can’t be that weak defensively again.
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Great result..
Thank you boys. Glad for Tammy.
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Never in doubt.
Can never trust Everton, ffs.
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Can we now stop any talk of buying Sancho? He's been shite all season other than one or two games. Bailey and him are complete liabilities to Emery's system.
Ollie superb, Martinez mom for that save alone. Four more points will do it.
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Bonkers game, should have cruised that second half.
McGinn was awesome.
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Great game 8)
Trying to pin our meltdown on Watkins is rather rich, as you did in the match thread.
Not my fault you can't detect a bit of sarcasm.
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Wow. should have been home and dry long before they got back in it, and even at 3-2 you can't let them score right from the kickoff, unforgivable. But thank you Tammy for saving the day!
Shame Redscouse had to score in Redscouse Time (fka Fergie Time).
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The winning move.
https://xcancel.com/EsezaNamiyingo/status/2045879995235520791
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We were cruising until Sancho's cameo.
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
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Thank fuck for the winner with Liverpool having won at the death too.
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We were cruising until Sancho's cameo.
He is never going to risk getting hurt, total chicken.
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
Lindelof is in better form than Konsa too. Mings seemed to think his job was done when Brobbey went off.
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
Even Pau can't stop Sancho mis-controlling then bottling the challenge on the edge of the box.
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
Backline was fine most of that second half.
McGinn going off and Sancho's horror show nearly did for us.
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Can we now stop any talk of buying Sancho? He's been shite all season other than one or two games. Bailey and him are complete liabilities to Emery's system.
Ollie superb, Martinez mom for that save alone. Four more points will do it.
Couldn't agree more, both are a total waste of space and a liability at times.
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What an absolutely bonkers game. For the vast majority of it, we looked absolute quality - some great passing moves, and we looked totally in control for most of the second half. Then, on 86 minutes, we turned into vintage 2016 villa and looked totally fragile for a 6 or 7 minute period before the winner.
Ollie will rightly get the plaudits for two goals and an assist, as will Tammy for coming off the bench to score the winner, but that save from Emi at the end was worth more than just a single goal. We would VERY easily be looking at zero points today with a different keeper in goal, and instead we're looking at all three.
Yes, that's his job, but that was an incredible save from a keeper brave enough to stand up as long as possible in the last minutes of the game.
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Oh my word.
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It feels like I’m just looking forward to the end of the season, we seem to have been on 33 games for about 2 months.
Worrying loss of concentration when the subs were made, we cannot afford to be carrying any underperformers at the vinegar strokes point of the season. We are going to have to go hell for leather against Forest who are clearly going to target Cash and run at us from the off.
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The world’s number one. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone, even at 34 or however old he is.
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That was a bit mental
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Absolutely mental. Not sure what to say. I have no notes.
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The world’s number one. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone, even at 34 or however old he is.
34 isn't old for a gk.
We've got him for a few more years yet.
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Will be happy never to see Sancho on the pitch again
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
McGinn not being on the pitch is our biggest weakness. We're just not a fraction as sloppy when he's in the side.
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Can we now stop any talk of buying Sancho? He's been shite all season other than one or two games. Bailey and him are complete liabilities to Emery's system.
Ollie superb, Martinez mom for that save alone. Four more points will do it.
Sancho awful from the outset. I recall the cowardice cameos against Leeds and Wolves when we were holding on at the end.
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Blimey
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Our defensive structure as a team really falters without Pau in there. Hope he’s back next week.
McGinn not being on the pitch is our biggest weakness. We're just not a fraction as sloppy when he's in the side.
McGinn got us going again at 1-1. Leaving Luiz on bench when Tielemans gassed completely was stupid from Emery.
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
This.
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Never in doubt.
Can never trust Everton, ffs.
Everton winning would have been a worse result for us. We would have an 8 point gap over 6th rather than 10 points.
3rd, 4th or 5th matters little
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
He’s utterly unique, so therefore irreplaceable.
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The world’s number one. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone, even at 34 or however old he is.
34 isn't old for a gk.
We've got him for a few more years yet.
I assume he still wants to leave so hopefully we get a good price for him after the World Cup.
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Just had to suck and breath in on my inhaler for ten minutes lying down why do you do this Villa to me .
still shaking . .. that Tammy goal is so fcuking BIG !!!!!!
should have been done and dusted until Sancho started to change into temu Bailey but thank fuck for never giving up at the end and Martinez wow , could have been zero points.
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The world’s number one. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone, even at 34 or however old he is.
34 isn't old for a gk.
We've got him for a few more years yet.
I wouldn't be rushing him out the door unless we get a good offer.
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Was getting a bit bored at 3-1 tbh, so glad both teams agreed to make it exciting.
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Never in doubt.
Can never trust Everton, ffs.
Everton winning would have been a worse result for us. We would have an 8 point gap over 6th rather than 10 points.
3rd, 4th or 5th matters little
Not many people were wanting an Everton win, but to hold out for the draw which would have given us five points over 5th instead of three.
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Never in doubt.
Can never trust Everton, ffs.
Everton winning would have been a worse result for us. We would have an 8 point gap over 6th rather than 10 points.
3rd, 4th or 5th matters little
Not many people were wanting an Everton win, but to hold out for the draw which would have given us five points over 5th instead of three.
That's fair enough
Personally I don't really care whether we finish 3rd, 4th or 5th as it all amounts to the same thing
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
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Not many people were wanting an Everton win, but to hold out for the draw which would have given us five points over 5th instead of three.
That's fair enough
Personally I don't really care whether we finish 3rd, 4th or 5th as it all amounts to the same thing
Well there is a £2.6m bonus for each league position so with our SCR troubles, every scrap helps.
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Still won't be first on motd tonight.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
But they didn’t look threatening until Sancho came on
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Two very important life-lessons from that game: 1) take nothing for granted and 2) never give up.
Oh and a third one too - leave Sancho on the bench.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
Still won't be first on motd tonight.
Even if it's a 0-0 borefest at Wastelands.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
But they didn’t look threatening until Sancho came on
Every decisive through all for them didn't come from a Sancho error. Was worrying to see us opened repeatedly with the same through ball.
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(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0c/93/b7/0c93b7ebe1c978a83108d3286a3a21c4.jpg)
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What a rollercoaster! Comfortable almost turned into disaster, only for us to clinch it at the end. The drop off when we began making substitutions was a bit alarming.
Huge, huge win though.
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Incredible mentality to go on and win the game from that position.
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Weirdly, I knew we’d win even when they equalised. We are not the Villa of old
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I was having Stoke flashbacks at 3-3 but this team is made of different stuff. What an enormous, stupendous three points that is.
I need a lie down.
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
We need to try and identify someone with similar attributes, particularly from a character pov.
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
We need to try and identify someone with similar attributes, particularly from a character pov.
Might be a tough one that. He's a pretty unique combination in style and personality.
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Four cracking assists today, inch perfect.
Rogers didn't track first (great finish from their kid), Sancho/Konsa abysmal for other two. Mings and midfield awol for the one they missed
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Us scoring a late winner at Villa Park in our chase for a CL spot feels so much better than conceding a late goal to Stoke.
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SJM by far our most important player. I've said before that as good as many of our players are he will be the hardest to replace when the time comes.
We need to try and identify someone with similar attributes, particularly from a character pov.
Might be a tough one that. He's a pretty unique combination in style and personality.
It’s a lot like Ollie too. He does a very specific thing for Emery’s style and character. Emery will need to evolve much like other great managers do when top players leave or are no longer as effective.
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A tale of 3 subs.
Sancho fucking it up twice.
Digne and Tammy combining to dig him out of the shit.
Off to Dortmund with you.
Oh and to all those fans who bugger off early --- hahaha.
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I think when you do get out of a game like that the lessons can be learned pretty easily, I highly doubt we’ll be that loose late on again.
But the most important thing is we’re starting to score plenty of goals again - you can weather defensive lapses when you’re free scoring.
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"How good was that!! HOW. GOOD. WAS. THAT!!"
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Nearly gave me a heart attack today. Great win though!!
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Incredible.
Man City just scored.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
Still won't be first on motd tonight.
Even if it's a 0-0 borefest at Wastelands.
At this rate we'll justifiably be second on
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The big positive is that we haven’t bought Sancho. ——Stealing a living on top player money!
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The big positive is that we haven’t bought Sancho. ——Stealing a living on top player money!
I reckon he's a good, sometimes great, player. But I also reckon I'd never want to count on him when it's muck and bullets. The Antimcginn.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
Still won't be first on motd tonight.
Even if it's a 0-0 borefest at Wastelands.
At this rate we'll justifiably be second on
Ha, yeah and I assume the Merseyside derby will also trump us.
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We are scoring some classy goals
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The game reminded me a little of the 3-3 with Brentford almost exactly two years ago. We were in the driving seat at 2-0 and then Brentford scored thrice in ten minutes before a late Watkins equaliser.
Then Dougie got booked in injury-time, knowing he was one card away from a two game ban with this being the last game before an amnesty kicked-in. He couldn't see it out and his missed pen against Olympiakos soon followed with his fine Villa career coming to a frustrating end as he left weeks later.
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Wow that's probably taken 10 years off my life, which is not great at my age!
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Obviously there's no way of knowing, but I wonder if Isidor is played onside and gets to run through the gaping hole between our centre-backs if Pau is on the pitch.
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From a Mackem on RTG:
We had arguably a better first half than Villa. They were better second half overall. We never gave up, scored 2 late goals when we’d been written off yet again. We could’ve won it but they did, because same as us, they never gave up.
They are a great team but we were able to score 3 against them. We made mistakes, but so do Arsenal, so do Man City. We can’t expect our lads to be perfect and make the right split second decision every time, because the top teams don’t every time either. The fact that this game could’ve been 3 points to us today shows how far we have come and should give everyone encouragement. Villa are a top 4 team, established, in Europe this year fighting for a trophy and in a Champions League qualifying place and we matched them. Anyone can pick fault, but take a step back and see how far we’ve come.
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McGinn Ollie and Emi at the end were brilliant.
Rogers at it today again.
Pressure off - go and win EL and finish 3rd
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Very well said by the Sunderland fan. It’s been some ride for that lot. A dreadful few years as they plummeted down the leagues. And to now be back in the PL and perform as they have their fans must be in dreamland. Well done for a top season. They absolutely could have won it today.
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Yep, well said. Every Sunderland fan I've met has been a top bloke.
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Emery - post match
On Sancho's error: "It’s not his mistake. If we were doing more passes (for their 2nd goal) before we passed to him with the opponent close to him, we could have avoided it. I am never punishing. After the ball we lost, the players didn’t respond well to protect the goals.
The players have their own emotions. When we conceded two goals like we did, it is difficult to keep balance in the mind. I tried to settle the players down. In that moment of Emiliano's save, I thought it was all or nothing."
I will need tomorrow to take a day off and recover. I am so happy. 90 minutes we played how we wanted to perform. We conceded two goals in a crazy minute, we lost our minds."
On Dibu's save:
"We need strikers and goalkeepers. It was the match - three points for them and no points for us."
Protecting Sancho - which is what all good managers do post match. Sancho looked emotional at full-time as he headed straight down the tunnel after the referee’s whistle. He was consoled by Damian Vidagany.
Unai may say something different about the goals at BMH next week.
I reckon Emery will probably go back 2 or 3 passages in play BEFORE Sancho's cock-ups to pinpoint where he saw the problem(s) arising.
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Just got back from the game and blimey I have no idea how we contrived to almost throw that away. We were completely in control for most of the second half, we pretty much had the slippers and cigars out.
The subs totally changed the game. In particular we replaced McGinn, who’d been imperious, with the brittle Sancho. They replaced Brobbey, who’d been largely ineffective, with the lively Isidor.
Thank god for Tammy’s winner - that was almost Buendia against Arsenal level limbs.
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There is a human component to all this.
Sancho may not be up to snuff, but he's not here just to take the money (and the piss) like some of the wasters we've had over the years. Good that he's emotional, if that part about him at the end of the game is true.
Emery seems to see summat in him so I imagine he'll get other chances before the campaign is out. For good or for ill.
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I’m still shaking at the moment!! For half an hour after the game I couldn’t sit down. Just unbelievable and why we love the game (I think). For me, Emi’s save and Tammy’s winner are moments that I’ll remember forever. Possibly the difference between Champions League or not next season
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Quite like Sunderland, don't like Newcastle. Great to see them above the barcodes.
What an incredible roller coaster game, summed up perfectly by the Sunderland supporter. I'm not sure I've ever seen 4 goals of such quality in one game, absolutely brilliant goals and great to see Watkins fired up. Shame Liverpool scored so late on, but so did we. 10 points clear of Chelsea, still got my fingers crossed but hopefully we grab a place in the CL and watch us enjoy a positive summer transfer window to move us on another level. Great game today, really enjoyed it. Tammy's goal has quite probably paid his transfer fee.
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From a Mackem on RTG:
We had arguably a better first half than Villa. They were better second half overall. We never gave up, scored 2 late goals when we’d been written off yet again. We could’ve won it but they did, because same as us, they never gave up.
They are a great team but we were able to score 3 against them. We made mistakes, but so do Arsenal, so do Man City. We can’t expect our lads to be perfect and make the right split second decision every time, because the top teams don’t every time either. The fact that this game could’ve been 3 points to us today shows how far we have come and should give everyone encouragement. Villa are a top 4 team, established, in Europe this year fighting for a trophy and in a Champions League qualifying place and we matched them. Anyone can pick fault, but take a step back and see how far we’ve come.
It's nice that Niall Quinn posts on there. But then he's always been a nice man.
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Some people near me missed three goals by leaving early!
It reminded me of when we won’t 3-4 at Spurs years ago. 94 I think
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I’m still shaking at the moment!! For half an hour after the game I couldn’t sit down. Just unbelievable and why we love the game (I think). For me, Emi’s save and Tammy’s winner are moments that I’ll remember forever. Possibly the difference between Champions League or not next season
We'd likely still qualify as the chasing pack are incapable of stringing a couple of wins together.
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Some people. War me missed three goals by leaving early!
It reminded me of when we won’t 3-4 at Spurs years ago. 94 I think
With Jim Barron in charge.
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I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn't need to make a triple substitution when we did, even if it's commonplace nowadays and even though Sunderland were not threatening.
Sancho had a nightmare, not on purpose, but the defence also has to take some responsibility for the 3rd and also the chance where Martínez saved us.
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Some people. War me missed three goals by leaving early!
It reminded me of when we won’t 3-4 at Spurs years ago. 94 I think
With Jim Barron in charge.
If I remember right they had Gerry Francis in charge - also a caretaker manager.
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Buendia and Digne were fine when they came on, then it was Tammy who was fine and then Sancho who wasn't. It was only Sancho for SJM that didn't work.
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Some people. War me missed three goals by leaving early!
It reminded me of when we won’t 3-4 at Spurs years ago. 94 I think
With Jim Barron in charge.
If I remember right they had Gerry Francis in charge - also a caretaker manager.
That’s right. When we were 3-0 up we were singing “Gerry Francis what a difference you have made!”
He was permanent manager though wasn’t he? Just appointed
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Is Barron our only manager with a 100% record or did he do another game before Brian came in?
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Just got home.
We never do it the easy way. Never ever!
I think I aged 10 years between their second goal and the final whistle. Fair play to Sunderland, though: they were brill!
If it was a Leap Year I'd ask both Tammy and Big Emi to marry me!
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What a shock those two goals we conceded were. Sunderland looked done. So many over hit passes from them and no threat and then…..
Just as shocking was that we found a way of getting the winner. Emotionally draining!
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Whatever you say, Sancho is not the sort of player that we need, require or should even consider.
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I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn't need to make a triple substitution when we did, even if it's commonplace nowadays and even though Sunderland were not threatening.
Sancho had a nightmare, not on purpose, but the defence also has to take some responsibility for the 3rd and also the chance where Martínez saved us.
Maybe because we have played on the last 2 Thursday's and Unai was worried about energy levels. Sunderland put on fresh legs.
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On the other hand, our winning goal was both assisted and scored by a sub and three of the four subs played well. We should easily have seen it out from three-one, nobody in the ground thought they were getting back into it, and resting/rotating players when you have the opportunity is vital. Our failure to ever do so was a large part of the reason why we would always collapse around March when O'Neill was manager.
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What a shock those two goals we conceded were. Sunderland looked done. So many over hit passes from them and no threat and then…..
Just as shocking was that we found a way of getting the winner. Emotionally draining!
Sunderland had all but given up and were playing with no urgency at all. Then Sancho started making a bid to be their player of the season.
Should have won
Should have lost
Won
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What a shock those two goals we conceded were. Sunderland looked done. So many over hit passes from them and no threat and then…..
Just as shocking was that we found a way of getting the winner. Emotionally draining!
Sunderland had all but given up and were playing with no urgency at all. Then Sancho started making a bid to be their player of the season.
Should have won
Should have lost
Won
My heart sank when they looked like getting the winner but great stop from Emi. So important we got the 3 points though!
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It is a little worrying that we lost control of the game so easily with the substitutions.
I am sure we will learn from this.
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It is a little worrying that we lost control of the game so easily with the substitutions.
I am sure we will learn from this.
Since Emery took charge we’ve been generally very good at seeing games out. That was so uncharacteristic of us. I thought conceding the second was out of nowhere but we’d see out the rest then an even worse goal conceded. Twice we let someone run through one on one, that’s not us normally.
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Any news on Torres?
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He was just left out for a rest, confirmed by Emery.
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Any news on Torres?
Just having a rest according to the maestro.
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He was just left out for a rest, confirmed by Emery.
That’s a relief
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I wasn't surprised Mings came in for him. Brobbey was kept in-check, the just did us on two cheap turn-overs for their second and third.
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Anybody else notice that Bizot came straight onto the pitch at the final whistle in order to hug Emi M? Brilliant gesture in recognition of what could prove to be a season defining moment.
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Anybody else notice that Bizot came straight onto the pitch at the final whistle in order to hug Emi M? Brilliant gesture in recognition of what could prove to be a season defining moment.
Abraham did it to Watkins after the match on Thursday too. Clearly a lot of team spirit.
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I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn't need to make a triple substitution when we did, even if it's commonplace nowadays and even though Sunderland were not threatening.
Sancho had a nightmare, not on purpose, but the defence also has to take some responsibility for the 3rd and also the chance where Martínez saved us.
I’d be surprised if the majority of the crowd questioned the rationale for subs at the time. We were in total control and the subs appeared to be a sensible step in playing the game out. It didn’t pan out that way but the subs were undoubtedly the thing to do at that moment in time.
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I wasn't surprised Mings came in for him. Brobbey was kept in-check, the just did us on two cheap turn-overs for their second and third.
Yeah thats my take - we took unneccessary risks that back fired. Was poor game management - in the seocnd half our defence didnt give them a sniff until then
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Anybody else notice that Bizot came straight onto the pitch at the final whistle in order to hug Emi M? Brilliant gesture in recognition of what could prove to be a season defining moment.
Abraham did it to Watkins after the match on Thursday too. Clearly a lot of team spirit.
Watkins returned the favour today too.
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Mings looked to be struggling for pace for the two one on ones towards the end.
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Anybody else notice that Bizot came straight onto the pitch at the final whistle in order to hug Emi M? Brilliant gesture in recognition of what could prove to be a season defining moment.
Abraham did it to Watkins after the match on Thursday too. Clearly a lot of team spirit.
Watkins returned the favour today too.
Missed that. Lovely stuff.
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I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn't need to make a triple substitution when we did, even if it's commonplace nowadays and even though Sunderland were not threatening.
Sancho had a nightmare, not on purpose, but the defence also has to take some responsibility for the 3rd and also the chance where Martínez saved us.
I’d be surprised if the majority of the crowd questioned the rationale for subs at the time. We were in total control and the subs appeared to be a sensible step in playing the game out. It didn’t pan out that way but the subs were undoubtedly the thing to do at that moment in time.
I was thinking Dougie for Youri as well as ones made. Yes I'd have Sancho ahead of Bailey
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Apropos nothing on particular, thought today's ref had a pretty decent game.
Kept the game flowing to the extent that you hardly noticed him (as it should be).
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Anybody else notice that Bizot came straight onto the pitch at the final whistle in order to hug Emi M? Brilliant gesture in recognition of what could prove to be a season defining moment.
Abraham did it to Watkins after the match on Thursday too. Clearly a lot of team spirit.
Compare that to the first five weeks or so. There was something rotten across the whole squad.
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I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn't need to make a triple substitution when we did, even if it's commonplace nowadays and even though Sunderland were not threatening.
Sancho had a nightmare, not on purpose, but the defence also has to take some responsibility for the 3rd and also the chance where Martínez saved us.
I’d be surprised if the majority of the crowd questioned the rationale for subs at the time. We were in total control and the subs appeared to be a sensible step in playing the game out. It didn’t pan out that way but the subs were undoubtedly the thing to do at that moment in time.
I was thinking Dougie for Youri as well as ones made. Yes I'd have Sancho ahead of Bailey
I honestly think I’d prefer Guessand (sp) to the pair of them.
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Just home. Almost calmed down after that ending. Thursday was very unlike Villa and stress free. Today was also so comfortable until the 85th minute. Complete chaos after that. I do think taking off McGinn and Watkins at the same time was a mistake. The right side substitution is causing us problems when McGinn goes off. That's Old Trafford, Bologna and today. Maybe a more defensive sub should be made in future. We really are in an amazing position...
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Just watched BBC iPlayer highlights. Villa get 8 minutes, Everton Liverpool 13 minutes.
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How long was the weather forecast?
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Very well said by the Sunderland fan. It’s been some ride for that lot. A dreadful few years as they plummeted down the leagues. And to now be back in the PL and perform as they have their fans must be in dreamland. Well done for a top season. They absolutely could have won it today.
Walking from shop to Trinity stand a couple ofnthemwere commenting on how good the legacy wall looked. Fair play.
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We should have cruised it today just like Thursday.
Emi Martinez take a bow the difference in a spilt second between three points and no points.
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Can anybody tell me what happened today from minute 85
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Just watched BBC iPlayer highlights. Villa get 8 minutes, Everton Liverpool 13 minutes.
Did you like Gabby's outfit?
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Can anybody tell me what happened today from minute 85
You told us you felt physically sick twice?
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Sometimes, as a club we should realise that substitutions might not always be a good idea. I can understand it if players are flagging, McGinn probaly might have been. Watkins wasent, he was on fire.
Sunderland were decent and always a threat, there was an aire of, we’ve got the job done from us, it’s something I really hate about us at times. As good as we were for part of the game we did our best to fuck it right up.
Sancho can’t be trusted.
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Can anybody tell me what happened today from minute 85
You told us you felt physically sick twice?
I know but I appeared to be hallucinating as well.
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Sometimes, as a club we should realise that substitutions might not always be a good idea. I can understand it if players are flagging, McGinn probaly might have been. Watkins wasent, he was on fire.
Sunderland were decent and always a threat, there was an aire of, we’ve got the job done from us, it’s something I really hate about us at times. As good as we were for part of the game we did our best to fuck it right up.
Sancho can’t be trusted.
Equally we’re fighting on two fronts and if Ollie or SJM get injured everyone goes mad that we didn’t use the bench. It was a bit of a freak situation today, but we came through it.
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Le Bris post match interview was very good. I am amazed he’s not being linked with bigger jobs already.
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Sancho buying Tammy and Emi a Guinness after that.
I wouldn't trust him to do that without spilling the beer.
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Sunderland showed why they are level with us on most points gained from losing positions. Just glad we stopped them going first in the table.
But they didn’t look threatening until Sancho came on
That's why Sunderland brought Sancho on ;)
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I ran around the house twice when we scored.
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From a Mackem on RTG:
We had arguably a better first half than Villa. They were better second half overall. We never gave up, scored 2 late goals when we’d been written off yet again. We could’ve won it but they did, because same as us, they never gave up.
They are a great team but we were able to score 3 against them. We made mistakes, but so do Arsenal, so do Man City. We can’t expect our lads to be perfect and make the right split second decision every time, because the top teams don’t every time either. The fact that this game could’ve been 3 points to us today shows how far we have come and should give everyone encouragement. Villa are a top 4 team, established, in Europe this year fighting for a trophy and in a Champions League qualifying place and we matched them. Anyone can pick fault, but take a step back and see how far we’ve come.
This sort of level headed sensible comment wouldn’t be well suited to here
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I ran around the house twice when we scored.
I was stunned for a moment. Couldn't believe my eyes!
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Le Bris post match interview was very good. I am amazed he’s not being linked with bigger jobs already.
They'll prob give manager of the year to Pet Gladiola at Citeh or the spoilt manbaby at Arsenal if they somehow get over the line.
But Le Bris should be in contention for what he's done there.
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They didn't match us though. They were pretty poor second half and the game had felt won since Rogers scored. We probably should have scored a couple more. It wasn't quite a case of a side being so bad, like Go Ahead, that we totally fell asleep, but out of nowhere Snacho gifted them goals and a belief that they'd never have generated themselves.
We deserved to win.
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They didn't match us though. They were pretty poor second half and the game had felt won since Rogers scored. We probably should have scored a couple more. It wasn't quite a case of a side being so bad, like Go Ahead, that we totally fell asleep, but out of nowhere Snacho gifted them goals and a belief that they'd never have generated themselves.
We deserved to win.
Of course we did.
We had a mad 60 seconds or whatever it was, but we were well in charge of that match and cruising.
And even then, even having fucked up so badly, we still managed to win.
Good teams win matches when you really don't expect them to.
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How many times did Man U during the numerous Ferguson title winning years did they find a way to win. However it came about, they played to the very end of games and scored late, late goals*. Thats what excellent sides do.
*Usually at our expense.
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On the balance of play, Sunderland were maybe a bit unfortunate to be behind at half-time. We dominated second half though, and it would have been a travesty if we hadn't won.
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Sancho can’t be trusted.
There are a few on the bench who now fall into that category unfortunately. The drop.off in performance level when we began making substitutions was pretty alarming.
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I get the gnashing of teeth at the substitutions buts its a squad game these days. And those subs also combined to get us the winner. Just a shame Tammy couldnt have celebrated it more.
Great to see Ollie officially now on one of his streaks too, great timimg that. UTFV.
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On the balance of play, Sunderland were maybe a bit unfortunate to be behind at half-time. We dominated second half though, and it would have been a travesty if we hadn't won.
Sunderland did not deserve a draw based on their general second half performance so the result was correct.
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Unai defended Sancho and to a degree I can see his point, we were in cruise control when again we decided to play short out of defence, have a look at the replay we had at least two chances to play a long ball out but no we went tip tappy again before Sancho lost posession.
It's been a feature all season, I know it's the way Unai wants us to play but sometimes our skill level lets us down at the back. It was a brilliant game, Sunderland came to play and had the better of the first half but we really looked a top four side in the second, we could have scored six easily. I think that is Watkins best game of the season, a proper centre forward.
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I get the gnashing of teeth at the substitutions buts its a squad game these days. And those subs also combined to get us the winner. Just a shame Tammy couldnt have celebrated it more.
Great to see Ollie officially now on one of his streaks too, great timimg that. UTFV.
Yes, you’re right it’s a squad game. Even so, we have no midweek game so rest isn’t the issue that it normally is. Ollie looking for his hatrick might have been just as rewarding.
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Landed in Kuala Lumpur a short while ago and from my messages I thought we’d lost. Luckily saw the score on BBc but sounds like I missed a rollercoaster of a game.
Chuffed at the result and at the 10 point gap with 6th
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The shape of the team changed completely with the substitutes. The high line got exposed with those 3 passes through it - it looked vunerable. Thankfully Emi made that great save!
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Just home. Almost calmed down after that ending. Thursday was very unlike Villa and stress free. Today was also so comfortable until the 85th minute. Complete chaos after that. I do think taking off McGinn and Watkins at the same time was a mistake. The right side substitution is causing us problems when McGinn goes off. That's Old Trafford, Bologna and today. Maybe a more defensive sub should be made in future. We really are in an amazing position...
Funny, Elliott plays right side and is probably more reliable.
Just saying ...
Cash and Konsa do have this habit of sometimes playing themselves in to a corner when trying to play out from the right side of defence - it's happened several times this season, and it requires a strong forward-right player to support their efforts. We didn't have that - which does not absolve C and K from being more capable in that situation.
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Too much entertainment.
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I hope we take more from the late winner than we worry about the absolute shambles that was the previous five minutes.
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The subs were key all round. If I'm not mistaken their two late goals were scored by subs as a result of one of our subs (Sancho) losing the ball. Our late goal was scored by Tammy (sub) from a great cross from Digne (sub). I can't remember when subs have had such an influence on a game.
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Their first goal Maatsen stumbled at the point he could have blocked the cross.
Before the second goal McGinn made arguably just as bad a mistake as Sancho did the only difference was the shot was straight at Emi. I think that was why he was subbed, likely tiredness.
For their second goal Emi should have cleared, Cash is marked and back-pedalling, he signals to Emi to boot it who doesn’t. Mings points for it to go long too. Sancho to be fair runs deep to help out but has the bad touch. The weird one is Konsa, who for some reason ran off the pitch, then charged to the ball when Sancho mis controlled leaving a gigantic hole that Hume strolls into.
The third goal when Sancho loses it we are in a decent shape with six men behind the ball, except Konsa is three yards deeper than Cash and Mings playing the striker onside. Emi slips.
The one v one, we try to counter press needing to win the game, Cash most culpable getting sucked in not tracking Hume. This time Mings is in no man’s land, we only have two men back and both are right side of the centre circle.
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I get the gnashing of teeth at the substitutions buts its a squad game these days. And those subs also combined to get us the winner. Just a shame Tammy couldnt have celebrated it more.
Great to see Ollie officially now on one of his streaks too, great timimg that. UTFV.
Yes I hope he can get another 4 or 5 in the remaining 8 games.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
The 3-3 against Sheffield Utd in the Championship is the only other one that springs to mind.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
The one that came to mind walking back afterwards was Leicester in 95, slightly different but the same catastrophic 'where the fuck did that come from' feel. That almost banjoed the season as well, we were coasting in mid table and that triggered a relegation dog fight.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
The 3-3 against Sheffield Utd in the Championship is the only other one that springs to mind.
And it's amazing to think that even though that was seven years ago, and that we were a mid-table Championship side at the time, three of the players in that side played yesterday (and played well, with Tammy scoring in both!)
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Hard to put into words how big that save and goal where at the end. If we lose that game, it hangs over us for the rest of the season and effects everything.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
The one that came to mind walking back afterwards was Leicester in 95, slightly different but the same catastrophic 'where the fuck did that come from' feel. That almost banjoed the season as well, we were coasting in mid table and that triggered a relegation dog fight.
Yeah Leicester match is a good shout.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
The 3-3 against Sheffield Utd in the Championship is the only other one that springs to mind.
GREEN!!
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Their first goal Maatsen stumbled at the point he could have blocked the cross.
Before the second goal McGinn made arguably just as bad a mistake as Sancho did the only difference was the shot was straight at Emi. I think that was why he was subbed, likely tiredness.
For their second goal Emi should have cleared, Cash is marked and back-pedalling, he signals to Emi to boot it who doesn’t. Mings points for it to go long too. Sancho to be fair runs deep to help out but has the bad touch. The weird one is Konsa, who for some reason ran off the pitch, then charged to the ball when Sancho mis controlled leaving a gigantic hole that Hume strolls into.
The third goal when Sancho loses it we are in a decent shape with six men behind the ball, except Konsa is three yards deeper than Cash and Mings playing the striker onside. Emi slips.
The one v one, we try to counter press needing to win the game, Cash most culpable getting sucked in not tracking Hume. This time Mings is in no man’s land, we only have two men back and both are right side of the centre circle.
Agree with your summary. I can't stand Sancho and he was pathetically soft for the first. But just because he kept losing the ball shouldn't mean goals going in. Konsa in particular was appalling for the two late goals and as you say Mings at sea for the one they missed. Lindelof/Torres are the centre backs in form currently. Emery for me was asleep too leaving Tielemans on for 90mins +, Luiz or even Bogarde could have come in at 3-2 or earlier to give us legs. Midfield was wide open late on.
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Agree with your summary. I can't stand Sancho and he was pathetically soft for the first. But just because he kept losing the ball shouldn't mean goals going in. Konsa in particular was appalling for the two late goals and as you say Mings at sea for the one they missed. Lindelof/Torres are the centre backs in form currently. Emery for me was asleep too leaving Tielemans on for 90mins +, Luiz or even Bogarde could have come in at 3-2 or earlier to give us legs. Midfield was wide open late on.
I doubt he could have made the change between 3-2 and 3-3 unless they were already about to come on. (I appreciate you also mentioned earlier).
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Their first goal Maatsen stumbled at the point he could have blocked the cross.
Before the second goal McGinn made arguably just as bad a mistake as Sancho did the only difference was the shot was straight at Emi. I think that was why he was subbed, likely tiredness.
For their second goal Emi should have cleared, Cash is marked and back-pedalling, he signals to Emi to boot it who doesn’t. Mings points for it to go long too. Sancho to be fair runs deep to help out but has the bad touch. The weird one is Konsa, who for some reason ran off the pitch, then charged to the ball when Sancho mis controlled leaving a gigantic hole that Hume strolls into.
The third goal when Sancho loses it we are in a decent shape with six men behind the ball, except Konsa is three yards deeper than Cash and Mings playing the striker onside. Emi slips.
The one v one, we try to counter press needing to win the game, Cash most culpable getting sucked in not tracking Hume. This time Mings is in no man’s land, we only have two men back and both are right side of the centre circle.
Agree with your summary. I can't stand Sancho and he was pathetically soft for the first. But just because he kept losing the ball shouldn't mean goals going in. Konsa in particular was appalling for the two late goals and as you say Mings at sea for the one they missed. Lindelof/Torres are the centre backs in form currently. Emery for me was asleep too leaving Tielemans on for 90mins +, Luiz or even Bogarde could have come in at 3-2 or earlier to give us legs. Midfield was wide open late on.
Konsa stepped a couple of yards just as that player knicked the ball off Sancho and it left that gaping hole behind him. If he'd not moved they wouldn't have scored.
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Their first goal Maatsen stumbled at the point he could have blocked the cross.
Before the second goal McGinn made arguably just as bad a mistake as Sancho did the only difference was the shot was straight at Emi. I think that was why he was subbed, likely tiredness.
For their second goal Emi should have cleared, Cash is marked and back-pedalling, he signals to Emi to boot it who doesn’t. Mings points for it to go long too. Sancho to be fair runs deep to help out but has the bad touch. The weird one is Konsa, who for some reason ran off the pitch, then charged to the ball when Sancho mis controlled leaving a gigantic hole that Hume strolls into.
The third goal when Sancho loses it we are in a decent shape with six men behind the ball, except Konsa is three yards deeper than Cash and Mings playing the striker onside. Emi slips.
The one v one, we try to counter press needing to win the game, Cash most culpable getting sucked in not tracking Hume. This time Mings is in no man’s land, we only have two men back and both are right side of the centre circle.
Agree with your summary. I can't stand Sancho and he was pathetically soft for the first. But just because he kept losing the ball shouldn't mean goals going in. Konsa in particular was appalling for the two late goals and as you say Mings at sea for the one they missed. Lindelof/Torres are the centre backs in form currently. Emery for me was asleep too leaving Tielemans on for 90mins +, Luiz or even Bogarde could have come in at 3-2 or earlier to give us legs. Midfield was wide open late on.
Konsa stepped a couple of yards just as that player knicked the ball off Sancho and it left that gaping hole behind him. If he'd not moved they wouldn't have scored.
Konsa has done that a few times this season, Cash made a similar mistake v Man United but Konsa was nowhere to be seen on the cover. Kamara is sharper than Onana in those situations too as the covering midfielder on that side. Losing the ball in those areas, while dangerous, shouldn't mean a clear shot on goal.
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What an amazing match, can anyone think of a more dramatic end of a Villa match, where after 85 mins we were winning the match by a 2 goal margin and looking very comfortable and it ended like it did.
Not really, but just for similar levels of twisty turny whatthefuckery, with added Lescott despair, it was a bit Everton away 2008.
Maybe because I was talking about it last night with an Evertonian. And we were both a bit upset that it was nearly 18 (eighteen!) years ago.
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Their first goal came from not clearing the ball and trying to play out from the back. I know that’s what we do but there are times when it’s not needed.
We were that comfortable at that point I think we relaxed too much. I’m sure lessons have been learnt.
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I haven't yet found the courage to watch the highlights, but my impression at the time was that Sunderland's second goal was the result of some terrible sideways passing that left Sancho in a pickle that was not of his making. The ire with Sancho is purely down to his absolute aversion to being on the receiving end of anything resembling a tackle.
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I haven't yet found the courage to watch the highlights, but my impression at the time was that Sunderland's second goal was the result of some terrible sideways passing that left Sancho in a pickle that was not of his making. The ire with Sancho is purely down to his absolute aversion to being on the receiving end of anything resembling a tackle.
This is true. However how can he get to such a semi reasonable tackle?
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I haven't yet found the courage to watch the highlights, but my impression at the time was that Sunderland's second goal was the result of some terrible sideways passing that left Sancho in a pickle that was not of his making. The ire with Sancho is purely down to his absolute aversion to being on the receiving end of anything resembling a tackle.
Both Emi and Cash could have played longer balls, however Cash's ball to Sancho was decent though and a bit of control with it would have meant more options. However his first touch was heavy, he bottled the recovery challenge which their player did as well, however that player managed to touch it to the side for the one who was pressing Sancho to run onto unchallenged. So unlike Emery I do lay the main issue there on Sancho who could have controlled better, challenged stonger or just tripped the player but did none of that.
However for the equaliser, the challenge on him was very well timed and well executed to come out with the ball.
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For their second goal Emi should have cleared, Cash is marked and back-pedalling, he signals to Emi to boot it who doesn’t. Mings points for it to go long too. Sancho to be fair runs deep to help out but has the bad touch. The weird one is Konsa, who for some reason ran off the pitch, then charged to the ball when Sancho mis controlled leaving a gigantic hole that Hume strolls into.
In that sequence, rather than beat the press we walked into the trap, as each out pass got harder, making the subsequent pass of poorer quality (and more easily readable), and so on. Sancho's touch was poor (it would have needed to be immaculate) but there is genuinely some shared blame there, as Unai pointed out.
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
Currenly "executive consultant" to the owners of Al-Ettifaq, if anyone was interested.
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
Gosh Mick Beale !!!
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
Currenly "executive consultant" to the owners of Al-Ettifaq, if anyone was interested.
Not Eastenders then
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
Currenly "executive consultant" to the owners of Al-Ettifaq, if anyone was interested.
Not Eastenders then
I'd take Ian Beale over Mickey, at least he knew how to set his stall out.
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I will say also, their manager is worth keeping an eye on. He's got them up picking up the pieces from Gerrard's brains trust, and then fashioned a very decent team out of a seemingly random assembly of signings a division up, who play in an interesting and not obvious way, and clearly buy into what he wants. I've not heard too much from him but when I have he's impressed me as well.
Sorry what does that mean please ?
Sorry, Michael Beale.
Currenly "executive consultant" to the owners of Al-Ettifaq, if anyone was interested.
Not Eastenders then
I'd take Ian Beale over Mickey, at least he knew how to set his stall out.
also know how to sweep too
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Mr Perfect was Rick Flairs Executive Consultant back in the day.
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Mr Perfect was Rick Flairs Executive Consultant back in the day.
Mr Perfect was by far the better wrestler out of them pair 😁
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Very-balanced review from a Mackem:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IiY8ASVY4No
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Very-balanced review from a Mackem:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IiY8ASVY4No
Excellent take on the game
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What a balanced accurate and eloquent analysis .
I would much prefer to see him on Sky Sports than the absolute twats we have to suffer.
Good stuff.
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What a balanced accurate and eloquent analysis
Agreed, it reminded me of the match threads on here after a defeat.
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How good was that review, fair play to him
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I haven't seen it but does he say we're a fantastic club, playing in a great, historic stadium and that it's good to see us back at (near) the top?
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I haven't seen it but does he say we're a fantastic club, playing in a great, historic stadium and that it's good to see us back at (near) the top?
No, none of that, which I was expecting to be fair. Just a fairly brief analysis of the game that was really complimentary to us and also maybe a view of some of our players that us hard task masters dont always have. For example, Watkins gave the best individual performance against them
All season (along with Cherki when they played Man City). Konsa and Mings handled Brobbey better than anyone this season, they (Sunderland) were really good, but we are an excellent top quality team etc etc
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I haven't seen it but does he say we're a fantastic club, playing in a great, historic stadium and that it's good to see us back at (near) the top?
No, none of that, which I was expecting to be fair. Just a fairly brief analysis of the game that was really complimentary to us and also maybe a view of some of our players that us hard task masters dont always have. For example, Watkins gave the best individual performance against them
All season (along with Cherki when they played Man City). Konsa and Mings handled Brobbey better than anyone this season, they (Sunderland) were really good, but we are an excellent top quality team etc etc
Fair play (and thanks for the summary!). It'll teach me to remember to never Cardinal Basil Hume. It makes a Cardinal B&H out of U and Me.
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Fair and excellent summary - agree with the suggestion to be a pundit rather than the inane biased drivel we usually here on major platforms.
It makes you realise that genuine football fans see us as a very decent team and justifiably occupying a place in top of the league.
The right aquisitions in the summer and keep Kamara as fit as we can and i see a push for the title or to have a serious say in its eventual winners place