Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on August 29, 2010, 09:50:26 AM
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Available Sunday evening.
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great win. We robbed the scousers!
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What a relief, good character shown. Collins was immense. KMac shouldn't have the job though.
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Bloody lucky, but I'll take it.
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Collins MOTM
Downing invisible man of the match
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we're 4th!!!!!!
we were a bit lucky with that game-lot of Everton pressure
but we held out
Albrighton did 90 mins
NRC was vital-he's not the best player but we need his fight to fill in the work Milner did
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Crisis? We are 4th!
Still lots to be done and we have Friedel and Collins to thank.
Credit to the full backs and Reo Coker too
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thank fuck for that. I thought we played way too deep the whole game...we were at home ffs....having said that, great result - we needed it. Downing and Carew bloody awful again.
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Thank Fook for that
Defence were excellent
Albrighton worked hard
Collins MOTM
Freidel brilliant
Downing useless
KMAC- not for me
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Andy Gray was a lot more pro Villa than usual today, and was saying what a fantastic club we are. Also had a bit of a dig at O'Neill aswell.
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Well, folks, that was all a bit tense, wasn't it?
I thought the defence were terrific today, Brad outstanding.
Petrov and Downing lightweights.
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they had 17 corners!!!...17!!! definately tells me we played too deep. KMac MUST NOT get the job full time.
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Jesus we were bad
But the defence held out Brad pulled off superb saves when needed and we did it. A real fighting display and after the last 2 games, a big well done
Everton need to score goals from somewhere, biggest cheats in the PL though.
Reo, Luke Young, Petrov did enough to get my joint Mom, although Albrighton deserves special mention for making Ashley Young look ordinary and Downing a waste.
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Battling nervewracking but a great result! Brad and the defence were immense , midfield overrun in the main and downing pretty poor - Carew came to life 2nd half but it's a great win.
I think we rode our luck a lot and it proves kmac is not the man for the job , but I thank him for getting points on the board - now let's get the new manager in and see where he can take us.
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Collins was immense, we still can't hold on to the ball. Friedel MOTM for that last save alone!
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What a relief, good character shown. Collins was immense. KMac shouldn't have the job though.
Agreed. Collins was absolutely superb. Credit to Young (both) and Warnock who ran Collins close for MOTM.
Best thing about today, apart from the 3 points, is we remembered how to battle. Everton are a very good side just lacking a top striker and they made us work for everything.
Well done lads, you've restored the pride.
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Great win. Almost felt like one of those last day, relegation avoiding wins, to be honest. We're still in a whole heap of shit. We still don't like right at all. Very hard work, almost to the point like I say, we looked a low end team scraping out a result against one of the big boys.
For me the positives today were the back line. Much more solid. Good to see Dunney with Collins, and two proper fullbacks. Luke Young was superb today.
Nigel was very good. Okay, come the final 3rd of the pitch, he's useless, but he did so much running, broke up so much play. To be honest, had he not played today, we'd have been like the red sea in the middle.
Albrighton once again played well. He's only young, so he'll make errors. But he's bright, confident, and always willing to take defenders on. If we do end up selling Ash Young, I'm glad we've got Albrighton in the wings.
Negatives for me are Stan's tiring legs. He needs more help. We need a decent system and the right players, to get the best of him. But that means replacing Milners workrate and ability. Which we've yet to do. I like Ireland, but he should be more advanced.
Warnock is still a worry.
Downing is still a worry.
Ash still looks a shadow of his former self. In all honesty, if Spurs offer us a couple of players and some cash, I'd take that. Maybe Keane and Bentley, plus a wedge? My major worry about Ashley is his headspace. Has he got one foot out the door already? Definitely doesn't look right. But then again, his form last season was patchy to say the least.
Striking options. We need one more, or we'll struggle. Gabby is key, though needs to lose weight. Carew should be a luxury player from the bench, and is inconsistent. Emile...well. Fonzie? Not sure he's ready.
Is Kmac the right man? No.
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Sky have given MOTM to L Young
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who did $ky give MotM to?
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While we didn't play great, we still got the win and that is all that matter. My MotM is Big Brad, 17 or 18 corners and still had a clean sheet, some spectacular saves. Overall good performance, Kmac not for me but wouldn't be the end if he was the manager; this match showed he is learning.
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Could have lost that 4-1 and not have cause to complain.
But we won, and we needed that, hopefully the confidence will come back and we can push on from here.
A few points from the comfort of my dodgy feed:
The defence and Friedel were superb, they had to be as our midfield was over-run and very sloppy in their passing.
Collins was immense and MOTM for me.
Albrighton doesn't look quite as good when he's up against a decent full-back does he?
Downing is shit.
We need a striker.
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Sky have given MOTM to L Young
played well, great goal. Collins for me though.
The fact they call him Kev says a lot.
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I'm actually shaking it was that nerve wracking!!
33% possession?????
Collins was amazing! Luke you played great. Fantastic goal, tracked Cahill all game. Ran his heart out. NRC broke play up. Great solid performance. If
That guy could pass he'd be deadly. Petrov was ok. There was a lot of frustration in his game today.
Freidel Showed that he may be an old timer but still got it!! Fantastic game with crucial saves.
Downing was worrying. Very quiet, carew was ok but he still need to do more for me.
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The defence were fantastic, Downing what is the point of this bloke, we are playing with 10 men with him on the pitch.
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Just proves that Kmac isn't for the job, without Ireland's injury he wouldn't have picked NRC and we would have lost that game.
Full marks to the defence, they were awesome!
Downing, just never want to see him on the pitch, great ability (somewhere) but what a pansy!
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The team showed a lot of heart and fighting spirit which was just what the doctor ordered after the week we have just been through.
Friedel - Absolutely superb kept us in at time and is a very assured presence when he has Collins and Dunne on that form.
Luke Young - Plaudits great goal and some tremendous blocks epitomised the never say die attitude.
Warnock - A few ropey moments but played his part in a great defensive performance.
Dunne - Very solid and coming on the back of his performance last week very pleased.
Collins - Ginge was rock solid through himself at everything and probably up there with Friedel for MOTM.
Albrighton - Will have learnt a lot from todays game never gave up, made some good runs and was much better in the 2nd half defensively.
Petrov - Typical Petrov performance industrious at times, but largely contributed to us playing like the away side by giving the ball away.
Reo Coker- All action performance chased lost causes fought for the ball, made some very dodgy passes, great enging typical Nigel really.
Downing - Where do I start, the amount of times he lost the ball was unreal, very average and needs to step us his game.
Ashley Young - Good in parts when he had the ball but did not have loads of support with Carew being pretty useless up front.
Carew - So very frustrating, did some good things almost created a couple of goals, but by god is he annoying to watch.
Pleased with the win but on another day they would have beaten us.
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what a relief.
some strong defending today and a good team effort.
lovely goal.
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Woo hoo ! 3 points ! Happy days ! ;D
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Great win in a great game, as much as we were battered for long spells. Good character to win that considering the week we've had. Friedel, Collins, L Young and Albrighton outstanding. Reo-Coker was very good too.
We're neither as good as the West Ham game suggested, nor as bad as the Newcastle game did. We're somewhere in between and we'll do OK this season. But still far from convinced Kevin McDonald should get the job though.
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Very good game.
On another day we could easily have lost it, but Everton can't feel particularly hard done by. We just defended a little bit better than they did.
Everton play very nice football when they aren't being cheating twats.
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. Overall good performance, Kmac not for me but wouldn't be the end if he was the manager; this match showed he is learning.
Not 100% sure about that. For me the key was Coker in the middle with his aggression, energy and stamina. But he wouldn't have started if Ireland didn't injure himself in the warm up.
We also need consistency at the back, so hopefully he sticks with this back 4. We'll see next game, if he's still heading things, just how much he's learnt. But I felt his initial selection today was naive again.
In many regards though, he's got his hands tied. We're woefully short on CM options. Downing certainly can't play there. Too lightweight.
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How we won it i'll never know.
Huge performances from our back 4 and Friedel.
We're 4th!!!
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Well, like most of us, Villa aren't going to win many attractiveness points today.
The two sides of Luke Young eh: first, a brilliant surging run and an excellent finish. A few good blocks and so on later on, but he was truly wasteful with the ball. I don't know if the ball left his foot along the ground once in the second half. Warnock was better with the ball in the second half, but was very similar in the first to Luke.
Terrifying. Great for K Mac, but we need a manager who can keep the players calm I think.
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MON are you watching ?? Luke Young was fantastic .................
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V Everton, 3 points, job done.
A little bit nervy but one of those games where the points meant everything.
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The ref was bloody awful
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MON are you watching ?? Luke Young was fantastic .................
Probably not.
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I wish we could play Everton every week. Never a dull moment with us two.
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MON are you watching ?? Luke Young was fantastic .................
Probably not.
The piece of shit would have been watching and praying we'd lose.
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post match interview and the players want KM. Sky obviously want him. Randy don't
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I think ash needs to go back wide and let nige stay in the team with petrov , and Ireland playing the attacking role behind gabby - balance wasn't quite right today and downing doesn't do enough to be in the team- is use ash and marc out wide and leave downing out- cuellar very unlucky to be out but the defence were immense!
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Took the words right out of my mouth!
Probably the most tense last 15mins yet!
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Phew!!
Very lucky to get the win.
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Collins - fantastic game and should of been motm.
Reo Coker - ran his socks off. Well done Nige
Ashley - another one who was immense today.
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Downing - whats the point? can we do a straight swop for Pienaar.
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post match interview and the players want KM. Sky obviously want him. Randy don't
Nor do I. We were completely overrun again and he seems to have his predecessor's annoying inability to change things for the better.
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3 vital points, even at this stage of the season. Great game for the neutral, horrible for villa fans to watch.
Brad - 2 awesome saves second half,
L Young - Probably his best game for us, excellent.
Dunne - Excellent, back to his best.
Collins - Won everything today, an absolute trojan. man of the match. IMO should be our new captain
Warnock - Much better than previous showings. Still a little worried with his tendency to dive in,
Albrighton - Not his day going forward, Gave everything to the cause though. Destined to be a holte end hero.
Petrov - Has he arrived at the ground yet?
NRC - Worked hard, limitations there for all to see
Downing - Has he arrived at the ground yet?
Young - some good moments on the counter second half, didn't have enough of the ball.
Carew- Only arrived at the ground 10 minutes into second half.
Gabby - lively after coming on, with a break now hopefully he'll be back to full fitness and better than ever.
All in all 3 points definitely not deserved, I think again K mac showed his tactical naivety.(3rd game in a row we've been badly overrun in midfield.
Please Randy, give K mac a payrise, or the assistants job to the big name new manager. Just don't give him the main job, hes not up to it, nice guy though he is
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I think ash needs to go back wide and let nige stay in the team with petrov , and Ireland playing the attacking role behind gabby - balance wasn't quite right today and downing doesn't do enough to be in the team- is use ash and marc out wide and leave downing out- cuellar very unlucky to be out but the defence were immense!
Agreed. The most sensible thing you've said this month. I trust you'll be taking back the drama queen oufit back to the fancy dress shop. (winky)
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post match interview and the players want KM. Sky obviously want him. Randy don't
Nor do I. We were completely overrun again and he seems to have his predecessor's annoying inability to change things for the better.
Agree.
We need a manager with plenty of experience and a lot more nous.
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Brad 7 - solid job under pressure
Luke 7.5 - covered every bt of the defence and took his goal wonderfully
Jimbo 8 - MOTM Vital blocks, clearences and headers, lead by example
Dunne 6 - Did just enough, bit of a quet one
Warnock 6 - started out well, faded got back into it late on
Ash 7.5 - tireless running and a great outlet, not too selfish either
NRC 5.5 - didn't really get into the first 20 minutes, some good runs,some good tackles, still atrocious passing, got forward to help when he could
Petrov 6 - Faded in and out, was in danger of a lower score until he got stuck in for the last half hour
Downing 3 - Giving NRC and Stan a real run for their money in terms of who's devised the best cloaking technology. Didn't see him attack much, didn't see him defend much.
Albrighton 7.5 - Put in a good shift at both ends, unlucky not to score, his tackling was a bit off key, but job done, shows he's not above getting back and helping out.
Big John 5 - Bad first half, did better in the second
gabby 3 - well, he ran, didn't really get a chance considering we were defending for 45 minutes.
Some shite refereeing to boot, the main gripe is playing like the visitors at home again, but strangely I thought we'd hold out, This was not always the case of the 2nd half onslaught we always used to face under MON...
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The two sides of Luke Young eh: first, a brilliant surging run and an excellent finish. A few good blocks and so on later on, but he was truly wasteful with the ball. I don't know if the ball left his foot along the ground once in the second half. Warnock was better with the ball in the second half, but was very similar in the first to Luke.
I don't know whether Luke ran over your dog, but in every match he's played this season you've been just about the only person to single him out for criticism. He was excellent today.
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Win, clean sheet. Very happy.
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Fantastically satisfactory.
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The two sides of Luke Young eh: first, a brilliant surging run and an excellent finish. A few good blocks and so on later on, but he was truly wasteful with the ball. I don't know if the ball left his foot along the ground once in the second half. Warnock was better with the ball in the second half, but was very similar in the first to Luke.
I don't know whether Luke ran over your dog, but in every match he's played this season you've been just about the only person to single him out for criticism. He was excellent today.
I don't know what people are watching. He was much better today but he still gets caught out of position and gives the ball away by booting it too much. He took his goal well today, and didn't rush to the ball as much, but I still think we need a better right-back. In the first half, half of the things Everton created came down our right as Luke got sucked to the ball.
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The two sides of Luke Young eh: first, a brilliant surging run and an excellent finish. A few good blocks and so on later on, but he was truly wasteful with the ball. I don't know if the ball left his foot along the ground once in the second half. Warnock was better with the ball in the second half, but was very similar in the first to Luke.
I don't know whether Luke ran over your dog, but in every match he's played this season you've been just about the only person to single him out for criticism. He was excellent today.
I don't know what people are watching. He was much better today but he still gets caught out of position and gives the ball away by booting it too much. He took his goal well today, and didn't rush to the ball as much, but I still think we need a better right-back. In the first half, half of the things Everton created came down our right as Luke got sucked to the ball.
I think that was more down to Albrightons inexperience and young constantly having to deal with the full back and winger
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I don't know what people are watching. He was much better today but he still gets caught out of position and gives the ball away by booting it too much. He took his goal well today, and didn't rush to the ball as much, but I still think we need a better right-back. In the first half, half of the things Everton created came down our right as Luke got sucked to the ball.
Because in the first half Albrighton didn't do a great job when they doubled up Pienaar and Baines on Luke. SOmeone had a word with Marc second half and he was much better.
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I agree, I think Luke had a very good game today. Defensively solid and decent coming forward.
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Brad 7 - solid job under pressure
Luke 7.5 - covered every bt of the defence and took his goal wonderfully
Jimbo 8 - MOTM Vital blocks, clearences and headers, lead by example
Dunne 6 - Did just enough, bit of a quet one
Warnock 6 - started out well, faded got back into it late on
Ash 7.5 - tireless running and a great outlet, not too selfish either
NRC 5.5 - didn't really get into the first 20 minutes, some good runs,some good tackles, still atrocious passing, got forward to help when he could
Petrov 6 - Faded in and out, was in danger of a lower score until he got stuck in for the last half hour
Downing 3 - Giving NRC and Stan a real run for their money in terms of who's devised the best cloaking technology. Didn't see him attack much, didn't see him defend much.
Albrighton 7.5 - Put in a good shift at both ends, unlucky not to score, his tackling was a bit off key, but job done, shows he's not above getting back and helping out.
Big John 5 - Bad first half, did better in the second
gabby 3 - well, he ran, didn't really get a chance considering we were defending for 45 minutes.
Some shite refereeing to boot, the main gripe is playing like the visitors at home again, but strangely I thought we'd hold out, This was not always the case of the 2nd half onslaught we always used to face under MON...
7 very harsh on Brad, 5.5 very harsh on Reo and 3 for Gabby!! Bloody hell Rancid you're a hard task master!
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I think ash needs to go back wide and let nige stay in the team with petrov , and Ireland playing the attacking role behind gabby - balance wasn't quite right today and downing doesn't do enough to be in the team- is use ash and marc out wide and leave downing out- cuellar very unlucky to be out but the defence were immense!
I'd agree with this.
We were extremely lucky to win, we were murdered for long periods but did show great heart and passion. I thought Dunne didn't look sharp enough and once again Albrighton was one of our best players.
As others have said I am still unconvinced by Kevin Mc. What we need is an experienced manager. Today showed that we have the players and the team spirit still. We just need somebody who can organise us a bit better and maybe a bit of experience at this level.
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Should Cuellar get back in the team for the Stoke game?
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I agree, I think Luke had a very good game today. Defensively solid and decent coming forward.
He had a good game, no doubt about it, and people are right about Albrighton's inexperience tracking back. But he does this a lot with Downing and Ash in front of him.
Again, not saying he had a bad game, but he made a few mistakes and I still think we need to do better. Same goes for NRC, who was equally inconsistent in his game today, and Petrov, who is showing his age and will be replaced in the long-term, I believe, by Delph.
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The result is everything. Fortress Villa Park - who'd thunk it!
We now have 2 weeks to appoint a manager, regroup and then get on with the rest of the season.
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How the hell did well pull that one off?? They did defend well,threw their bodies in front of everything. Its a big week or two now For Randy.
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Cracking game, bit shakey at times but a good 3 points.
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Again, not saying he had a bad game, but he made a few mistakes and I still think we need to do better. Same goes for NRC, who was equally inconsistent in his game today, and Petrov, who is showing his age and will be replaced in the long-term, I believe, by Delph.
Personnel can always be improved upon but until we get a better RB, Luke should play there rather than Carlos.
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Again, not saying he had a bad game, but he made a few mistakes and I still think we need to do better. Same goes for NRC, who was equally inconsistent in his game today, and Petrov, who is showing his age and will be replaced in the long-term, I believe, by Delph.
Personnel can always be improved upon but until we get a better RB, Luke should play there rather than Carlos.
Largely I'd go along with that, but we need to improve our ball-retention, and Luke is one of the most guilty.
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Should Cuellar get back in the team for the Stoke game?
I think Dunne should make way. He looks unfit and I just don't trust him the way I used to.
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Skys comments about kmac applying for the job don't seem to tie in with the generals post last night- the general seemed clear we are looking for an experienced manager and that surely rules out keV whether he applies or not !
At least we have a solid base for a new man to take over - maybe need a couple of signings in jan but if randy can get the right appointment times may be looking good ahead, nige and like have both grasped their chance , as albrighton has - that could never have happened under mon!
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I thought Ash was brilliant today, didn't stop running and closing all game.
MOTM for me was Collins
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...Petrov did enough to get my joint Mom...
I've just laughed and looked in amazement at that. Petrov? What a fucking waste of space and one of the reasons Everton dominated us through the midfield. Him and Downing need to dropped, of which there is no doubt about it.
Thought the defence played very well as well as Friedel. NRC couldn't manage the central midfield on his own, but tried his best to do so, A.Young had some nice touches as did Albrighton.
For those who watched it on TV, was the ref as bad as it looked?
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Well that was brill. Ref was an arse but sod him. Radio wm bloke kept saying bob Bradley is hot fav again. but I think that's poo cause general said they are looking for experience and managers that know England and the prem. would love mark Hughes
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Should Cuellar get back in the team for the Stoke game?
I think Dunne should make way. He looks unfit and I just don't trust him the way I used to.
I question whether he's fit. He never goes forward for corners anymore, which, to me, looks like becuase he can't be bothered to get forward just to have to get back in defence.
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Just back from VP. PHEEEEEW! We got away with it....we have not been under that sort of pressure even when likes of Chelsea etc have turned up.
Stand up James Collins you were magnificent today.
Stand up Nigel Reo-Coker you covered that pitch fantastic.
Sit down Stewart Downing we won despite you.
Sit down F in ref (who was he??) we won despite you.
What has been said about Ireland injury?
and oh yes Brad Friedel well done.
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Whats this Ashley talk then? Is he off?
I hadn't heard about the bid until I just got back but me and my mate commented that his clap to the Holte was for longer than usual...
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Whats this Ashley talk then? Is he off?
I hadn't heard about the bid until I just got back but me and my mate commented that his clap to the Holte was for longer than usual...
Utter balls, all of it.
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A great result considering we let them play like the home team.
Collins - Superb.
Friedel - Superb.
Dunne & Warnock. Decent enough.
NRC - Full of effort and great ball winning duties, but going forward the bloke doesn't remotely look like a footballer.
Petrov - Too many silly tackles, I think he needs to be replaced, sooner rather than later. Maybe by NRC as a deep/defensive midfielder.
Downing - Do you think The Blues want him? He was utter gash today. No effort, no balls, no fucking nothing.
Carew - Shite first half. Way better in the second half, but looked totally fucked then.
Albrighton and Luke Young were decent down the right, lots of effort.
Cracking goal by Luke Young. Would Cuellar have done that? No.
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Should Cuellar get back in the team for the Stoke game?
The question is, should Downing ever play in the team again?
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Well as 1-0's go that was pretty entertaining, I thought the ref had a shocker, I checked the programme to see if he had an Everton squad number.
Huge relief at the end, they threw everything including the kitchen sink at us.
We had chances to go further ahead though and with a few more cool heads rather than panic struck heads, we might have won this more comfortably, which would have been even bigger daylight robbery, but chances were there.
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The question is, should Downing ever play in the team again?
The answer is NO. The man is a liability. I can not find any words of redemption for him.
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I think Dunne should make way. He looks unfit and I just don't trust him the way I used to.
I agree Irish Villain. I look down on him several times in the second half from North Stand and thought he is just about coping. Some of the Everton pressure was due to Dunne not clearing his line effectively. Cuellar/Collins may be the better option.
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I think Dunne should make way. He looks unfit and I just don't trust him the way I used to.
I agree Irish Villain. I look down on him several times in the second half from North Stand and thought he is just about coping. Some of the Everton pressure was due to Dunne not clearing his line effectively. Cuellar/Collins may be the better option.
It pains me to say it but, at present, he's the third best defender we have and shouldn't be an automatic choice. Was he tight to his man? On tv he looked slow and gave away a sloppy free or two that betrayed a lack of fitness.
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Dunne.
If you remember even Beckford gave him hard time in the first half. He just about got to balls and than cleared in a sort of "half yard" from a good position clearance if you see what I mean.
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Dunne's put on alot of weight over the Summer. It's a joke how he's let himself get in that condition. That said 2 clean sheets from 3 and it'll surely drop off the more games he plays.
Another 2 for Ireland in the coming 10 days is it? Hopefully that'll have him in good shape by the Stoke game.
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Whats this Ashley talk then? Is he off?
I hadn't heard about the bid until I just got back but me and my mate commented that his clap to the Holte was for longer than usual...
Utter balls, all of it.
The last time you said that about something it came to pass about half an hour later.
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Statement from the club within the hour apparently.
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A wins-a win and we needed that (+clean sheet) today to gain some confidence;
but long term, if this is what we get under KevMac, then 33% possession at home is not what I want to see (& pay for).
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post match interview and the players want KM. Sky obviously want him. Randy don't
He's had significant movement downwards at Betfair today. Guess some people have been talking.
Edit:
He's a fraction over evens now from 7-1 earlier.
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Whats this Ashley talk then? Is he off?
I hadn't heard about the bid until I just got back but me and my mate commented that his clap to the Holte was for longer than usual...
Utter balls, all of it.
The last time you said that about something it came to pass about half an hour later.
Oh come on Hilts. I was just trying to be calm about as yet unsubstantiated betting rumours. Do you think we're going to sell Ashley Young?
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I don't know what some of you are talking about to be honest. Dunne was great today, I think he decided to stay back because we've been hit on the break a lot lately. Collins got Dunne booked early on due to a mistake so Dunne was always a bit anxious. Got a few tremendous blocks in, both of them did.
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We played a bit better in the second half when we realised that there was a midfield and we didn't just have to hoof it up to Carew.
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Oh come on Hilts. I was just trying to be calm about as yet unsubstantiated betting rumours. Do you think we're going to sell Ashley Young?
I don't know. I hope not. Beyond that, I wouldn't like to say.
From the very first time that Milner was linked with a move away, I watched the responses on here go from "It'll never happen" to "He's not for sale" to "Only if we absolutely fleece them" to "Milner's not all that" to "It's a great deal". So I wouldn't rule anything out, certainly not as categorically as you are wont to do.
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Give yer man a break.
Yes, he's not been first to every ball yet, unlike last season, but you can tell that he's still up for the cause.
Dont worry about Dunne. he will still be leading from the front come the end of the season.
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Oh come on Hilts. I was just trying to be calm about as yet unsubstantiated betting rumours. Do you think we're going to sell Ashley Young?
I don't know. I hope not. Beyond that, I wouldn't like to say.
From the very first time that Milner was linked with a move away, I watched the responses on here go from "It'll never happen" to "He's not for sale" to "Only if we absolutely fleece them" to "Milner's not all that" to "It's a great deal". So I wouldn't rule anything out, certainly not as categorically as you are wont to do.
This close to the end of the transfer window with one big player sold, I doubt we're about to sell Ash. I don't think even if he desperately wants to go that we'll let him.
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I think alot of people are being abit hard on KMac considering the circumstances I think he's does very well. We've won the first 2/3 games of the season and I think he deserve credit for his efforts. Many of the background staff left with O'neil therefore many of the duties others may have done he's inherited and found less time to do scouting as he found out with the Newcastle game. I really belive that KMac if given a chance with a backroom staff of his choice maybe Dwight York as his assistant or coach as he seem to throw his name in to opptaining a capacity of somekind at the club postmatch. I remember last year or the year before against Everton a similar situation when MON was incharge and we won then an he didn't get as much grief. I do belive with the squad we have at second we had no one on the bench that would of been able to change the posession to our favour no matter what manager we have it wouldn't have changed anything. If KMac get the job I hope he most fast for someone in the centre of midfield and a striker maybe Keane (as he's the type of striker we lack and also he should settle in fast).
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This close to the end of the transfer window with one big player sold, I doubt we're about to sell Ash. I don't think even if he desperately wants to go that we'll let him.
We'll find out soon enough. One thing in our favour is that the one club who seem interested won't be able to offer us something too good to turn down.
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Can't believe that people think we were lucky, we had the two best chances in the match when Albrighton slashed at the chance and then Howard saved from Young, plus that T*+% Coker clean through and he stops. Theoretically should have been 3 - 0 at least.
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I think Ashley Young will go.
We're out of Europe and the start of the season has hardly been outstanding.
Spurs being in the CL and MON going etc I think he's made his mind up.
I'll probably be wrong.
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Statement from the club within the hour apparently.
What? Regarding Ash?
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Statement from the club within the hour apparently.
What? Regarding Ash?
No, the managerial situation.
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Well that was like watching a rerun of the alamo or Zulu, backs to the wall defending against 12 men Albrighton was very good again, according to radio WM a club statement within 30 minutes!!!!
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Great result and a much better display/performance.
Good saves from Brad.
NRC, Young (L.), Dunne and Collins were superb. Also really pleased with Albrighton and Young (A.).
Poor referee.
Solid performances from everyone else bar one. Downing. Anonymous, inept and made an insignificant contribution. Not impressed.
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We had to work hard, but then you have got to do that against Everton. I thought confidence played a big part in our willingness to sit deeper and deeper. Everton were crossing a lot of high balls into the box from all sorts of angles, but we stood up to it.
The two sitters we missed second half were always likely to see us having to defend as we did, but credit where its due for the way the back four stood up to it. Dunne got very tight on Saha which was good to see and Brad made a top save towards the end.
I wouldn’t be too hard on Downing. Both wide men were poor, but then we weren’t retaining possession or using it high enough up the pitch to really get them involved attacking wise. Defensively Albrighton was all over the shop, while I thought Downing coped well in covering his full back.
A good three points. Nothing worse than going into an international break brooding on a loss. NRC played well for me, my MOTM, despite his poor touch in advanced positions. He battled really well.
Also, how do Cahill and Felani get away without being booked for persistent fouling, yet Stan gets pulled up for it?
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Good summary Ads.
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Well done Kevin for seeing us through that one. Nothing personal but i hope its his last match in charge.
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Just back from the game. Phew a win. Dunne who I am a huge fan of looked slow today. Petrov, who I am not a fan of was dire. The sooner he goes to Bolton/Blackpool (if he is very lucky) the better. i am sick of him conning us.
Albrighton looked, err, bright. It looks like KMac is going to get the hot seat - no good will come of it.
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Should Cuellar get back in the team for the Stoke game?
I think Dunne should make way. He looks unfit and I just don't trust him the way I used to.
Same for me.
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I thought we let Everton play far too much football. Having said that, although they had plenty of possession, they didn't muster up much in terms of shots on goal. However, playing like that at home against decent sides, conceding that much possession, more often than not we won't get away with it.
On the plus side, I thought Albrighton did superbly, NRC got stuck in (although some excellent examples of his inability to pass the ball, as well), and there was no problem with lack of defensive tenacity.
On the minus side, Dunne needs to be told it is unacceptable to let yourself "go" that much over the summer, he's still carrying timber, Warnock looked out of it, Petrov really is starting to look like he's approaching the end, and Downing was really poor.
Exciting game, though, you couldn't take your eyes off it.
I'd also like to say what an incredibly important player Ashley Young is for us. OK, so his crossing seems to go through patches of being poor, but he has a, errr, mercurialness to his play that gets things moving for us. He also chases down every loose ball going.
One negative - so many empty seats and an atmosphere of things being "on the slide" - the empty seats must have been a stark reminder to Randy of how badly things could slip away, were we to make the wrong appointment.
EDIT and the referee was fucking awful.
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Clean sheet from our first choice defence with them all playng in their right positions. Despite all Evertons pressure, Freidel wasnt having to make that many world class saves. Superb tackling, closing down, blocking etc at the back. With all the goals being scored round the premier league so far, David Moyes was talking pre-match about the art of defending. I think Dunne, Collins, Young, Warnock and Co. provided an exemplary example of this for him.
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1 nil, 3 points, crap midfield, lucky not to concede, Ash missd 2 siitters, Carew was shyte, Dowing 8 on the wussometer, good goal by Young, Friedel commanding ( thank God), NRC passing as we know it, Petrov worst game in ages for me.
Pity Ireland was injured during the warm up - I thought that was the mark of another nil points, but we fought on.
New Manager please - soemone to bring some pazazz back to VP.
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Haven't enjoyed a game as much is this in a long time. Auxhilirating stuff and we should be proud of them today, could easily have buckled but didn't. Albrighton looks quality, Downing isn't even worth a place on the bench, that ref was almost as bad as Paul Danson (but not quite)
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I thought we let Everton play far too much football. Having said that, although they had plenty of possession, they didn't muster up much in terms of shots on goal. However, playing like that at home against decent sides, conceding that much possession, more often than not we won't get away with it.
On the plus side, I thought Albrighton did superbly, NRC got stuck in (although some excellent examples of his inability to pass the ball, as well), and there was no problem with lack of defensive tenacity.
On the minus side, Dunne needs to be told it is unacceptable to let yourself "go" that much over the summer, he's still carrying timber, Warnock looked out of it, Petrov really is starting to look like he's approaching the end, and Downing was really poor.
Exciting game, though, you couldn't take your eyes off it.
I'd also like to say what an incredibly important player Ashley Young is for us. OK, so his crossing seems to go through patches of being poor, but he has a, errr, mercurialness to his play that gets things moving for us. He also chases down every loose ball going.
One negative - so many empty seats and an atmosphere of things being "on the slide" - the empty seats must have been a stark reminder to Randy of how badly things could slip away, were we to make the wrong appointment.
EDIT and the referee was fucking awful.
Good summary there Paulie.
Particularly agree with the bits in bold.
True. Dunne is carrying a bit of timber, but you can tell he's still up for it.
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Even after 90 minutes in the car to think about the match, I still can't figure out how the feck Villa won that game
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post match interview and the players want KM. Sky obviously want him. Randy don't
He's had significant movement downwards at Betfair today. Guess some people have been talking.
Edit:
He's a fraction over evens now from 7-1 earlier.
Back up to 100/30
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He sounded to me, in his post match, as if he really didn't want the job.
I think it would be a real mistake if he did get offered - and accept - it.
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He sounded to me, in his post match, as if he really didn't want the job.
I think it would be a real mistake if he did get offered - and accept - it.
After the statement I can't see it.
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I thought we let Everton play far too much football. Having said that, although they had plenty of possession, they didn't muster up much in terms of shots on goal. However, playing like that at home against decent sides, conceding that much possession, more often than not we won't get away with it.
On the plus side, I thought Albrighton did superbly, NRC got stuck in (although some excellent examples of his inability to pass the ball, as well), and there was no problem with lack of defensive tenacity.
On the minus side, Dunne needs to be told it is unacceptable to let yourself "go" that much over the summer, he's still carrying timber, Warnock looked out of it, Petrov really is starting to look like he's approaching the end, and Downing was really poor.
Exciting game, though, you couldn't take your eyes off it.
I'd also like to say what an incredibly important player Ashley Young is for us. OK, so his crossing seems to go through patches of being poor, but he has a, errr, mercurialness to his play that gets things moving for us. He also chases down every loose ball going.
One negative - so many empty seats and an atmosphere of things being "on the slide" - the empty seats must have been a stark reminder to Randy of how badly things could slip away, were we to make the wrong appointment.
EDIT and the referee was fucking awful.
Good summary there Paulie.
Particularly agree with the bits in bold.
True. Dunne is carrying a bit of timber, but you can tell he's still up for it.
Yep good summary....
All I can say re Dunne, is that we look so much more organised and coherent at the back with him and Collins together.
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He sounded to me, in his post match, as if he really didn't want the job.
I think it would be a real mistake if he did get offered it - and accepted it.
You don't "think about" managing a Club like Aston Villa. JG realised that it was Christmas when he was offered the job against the odds- and brought his own pen.
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As others have said we were fortunate that Reo Coker played instead of Ireland,surely Kev Mac could see that the front 6 needed changing from the Newcastle game.Collins MOTM but others really busted a gut and wanted to win,Ash Young closing people down,Albrighton never giving up,Collins and Luke Youn'g blocks superb.We should be getting more out of Carew,a harder manager would make him sit up and take notice,I think Kev Mac is too nice.
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That was a hard fought win today. Bit nail biting at the end. Not the prettiest of games but more exciting that a lot of last season's home games and 3 points in the bag.
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Cannot believe I'm reading people say negative things about Petrovs performance today. Thought he was excellent. In the shop after the game, heard someone mention how bad he was and how it was clear that Milner had been carrying him for the last two years. Solid midfielder who tries exceptionally hard. Really getting fed up of people having a go!!!
All in all today it was great to see us have our fight back after the last 2 debacles, thought Collins was magnificent at the back, and really gutted for Albrighton missing that chance, he had a great game.
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Everton will never know how they managed to lose that game today. And the referee was the worst I've seen at VP for many a long day. Incompetent twot.
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Yup. Nice summing up by Paulie.
If we sell Young there would be a revolt so it aint going to happen (yet).
Special mention to Collins who was the epitome of ugly defending majesty. Really, really great today.
We need to appoint a manager who is desperate to manage Villa.
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what was the attendance, looked like there were a fair few empty seats.
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What a rollercoaster of an afternoon! Outstanding defensive performance against a strong, mobile Everton team who probably deserved at least a point (not withstanding misses by Albrighton and NRC for us). Not going to go through individual performances as that was a great team effort (OK, maybe Downing should be singled out for special shell-like mention)
Who the fcuk was that ref though - dreadful decision making and definitely Everton's 12th man. Everyone near me was sure he was just itching to give them a penalty. How many bookings for us vs nil for them? And where on earth did he get the 5 mins added time from - spiteful rebuke for us chanting how unfit he was to referee?
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what was the attendance, looked like there were a fair few empty seats.
Official attendance was just under 35,000 - but I believe that includes e.g. season ticket holders who didn't actually go. It looked a lot less than 35k to me
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what was the attendance, looked like there were a fair few empty seats.
34,725
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I find it laughable that after the defensive shambles of the last 2 games any of our defenders get slagged or told they had poor games. For me Downing was poor again and we won the game because we had a right back that could finish. Anyone know what Ireland pulled out the game with?
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A tweaked hamstring.
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Brad 7 - solid job under pressure
Luke 7.5 - covered every bt of the defence and took his goal wonderfully
Jimbo 8 - MOTM Vital blocks, clearences and headers, lead by example
Dunne 6 - Did just enough, bit of a quet one
Warnock 6 - started out well, faded got back into it late on
Ash 7.5 - tireless running and a great outlet, not too selfish either
NRC 5.5 - didn't really get into the first 20 minutes, some good runs,some good tackles, still atrocious passing, got forward to help when he could
Petrov 6 - Faded in and out, was in danger of a lower score until he got stuck in for the last half hour
Downing 3 - Giving NRC and Stan a real run for their money in terms of who's devised the best cloaking technology. Didn't see him attack much, didn't see him defend much.
Albrighton 7.5 - Put in a good shift at both ends, unlucky not to score, his tackling was a bit off key, but job done, shows he's not above getting back and helping out.
Big John 5 - Bad first half, did better in the second
gabby 3 - well, he ran, didn't really get a chance considering we were defending for 45 minutes.
Some shite refereeing to boot, the main gripe is playing like the visitors at home again, but strangely I thought we'd hold out, This was not always the case of the 2nd half onslaught we always used to face under MON...
7 very harsh on Brad, 5.5 very harsh on Reo and 3 for Gabby!! Bloody hell Rancid you're a hard task master!
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the win and all that, you know if it was still MON it would've all come falling down spectacularly in the 2nd half, I think to be fair I've judged them on the tactics deployed rather than each individual tackle/pass/position. NRC, Petrov and Downing all score low because, well, we're not renowned for creative through the middle of the park stuff, as long as we rely on getting it wide for Ash/Marc to beat the last man/ cross for Carew to header or Gabby to latch onto our central midfield will always be a thankless task.
In retrospect though I can't give Gabby and Downing the same score, Downing goes to a 2 and Gabby gets a 4.
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That was a hard fought win today. Bit nail biting at the end. Not the prettiest of games but more exciting that a lot of last season's home games and 3 points in the bag.
Totally agree. The 2 home games so far this season have been far more exciting than most of last season's home games. I also thought the referee was awful. I kept thinking an Everton equaliser was inevitable. Fortunately it wasn't.
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to summarise today, i thought there were alot of positives to be taken from it:
Carew seemed to have a bit more about him, looks like he may be getting a bit sharper.
The defence were rock solid...all five were very good. Clean sheet is very pleasing
NRC took his chance and won us the game today, superb performance, needs a bit more confidence in the last third though. Deserves to keep his place
Despite confidence being down and a massive air of uncertainty around the place we have dragged a victory out of the mire against one of our main rivals-no mean feat.
People are caining dunney a bit, but he isnt match fit yet. he also took a big knock against beckford and had a yellow card for most of the game.
Well done Luke Young. Im very pleased he is staying
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the only thing I will say to defend Petrov (because I am using hindsight and not screaming or wincing at every set piece) is that he was marking Cahill for all the corners and free kicks and unlike other years he didnt get any free headers.
Downing is a wuss
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A slightly fortuitous win, but it was against a side who should finish in the top six or seven.
Given that ten of our starting eleven were MON signings it does tend to expose the gross exaggeration I keep reading on this board that MON "spunked" Randy's money. Fair enough some signings haven't worked, but evidently many have.
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I have never rated Downing. Ever. I was so disappointed when we spunked £12M for him.
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Petrov at least did his best. I like him. Downing does sweet F.A. Useless. Anonymous. Inconsequential. Inept. Inadequate. Not good enough.
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I think people are being unduly harsh on him today. Against West Ham when we had a lot of the ball he was excellent, with his delivery in particular. Today when we didn’t get hold of the ball at all really, he drifted out of the game, which is what you’d expect. When we did have possession we fed it through the centre via Young.
Neither widemen played well and Albrighton in particular will have hopefully learnt something defensively from today’s game.
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I can't agree with people saying the match was more exciting then some of last seasons. The only difference between this match and say Spurs or Citeh last season was we managed to hold on to the 1-0 lead and that was down to luck as much as Everton's poor finishing/ some good defending. 18 corners against and 31% possession was definitely MON playing style statistics.
And I hope the "We should have signed Beckford" argument is put to bed after that display.
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Ads, Albrighton still had one run again where he beat a couple of players and i was off my seat. Shit finish maybe but this kid looks a special player.
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No such thing as luck.
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Ads, Albrighton still had one run again where he beat a couple of players and i was off my seat. Shit finish maybe but this kid looks a special player.
He did, but there was no end product from it, which was the same as Downing. You want your widemen to create chances and stick balls into the box and neither of them did that today. Although as I've said, you've got to caveat that by remembering that we didn't have a lot of the ball all game and we were sat quite deep for large portions when we did have it.
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Always hard when the referee is against you. Great day, though. Got what we deserved. The feeling of tension erupting away when Young scored was very noticeable. Shame bout Stevie.
Er, match thoughts. Young played great, played like a leader of men and didn't stop trying. Collins was a juggernaut and nothing was getting past him today. What a hero. Brad, too, stepped up when called upon. Dunne doesn't seem like he's back to his best yet, so hopefully soon he will be. Albrighton again showed what we've got a better right winger than what we had in Milner. Downing is getting a lot of stick, but he did try, tracked back a few times. We just didn't have enough of the ball for him to get involved.
We shoulda killed 'em off though. Few easy chances missed which would have put us comfortably 3 in front.
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Sky were a laugh, Gray was trying to make out that Downing and Albrighton had swapped wings because Downing would give LYoung protection down the flank. A great tactical swap they were drooling over. When in fact Downing would give as much protection as a wet paper bag and the swap occurred as it used to under MON when Downing came across to the right hand side to take a corner.
They also stated that we are such a threat at set pieces when I can't remember the last time we scored direct from a corner or free kick.
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Sky were a laugh, Gray was trying to make out that Downing and Albrighton had swapped wings because Downing would give LYoung protection down the flank. A great tactical swap they were drooling over. When in fact Downing would give as much protection as a wet paper bag and the swap occurred as it used to under MON when Downing came across to the right hand side to take a corner.
They also stated that we are such a threat at set pieces when I can't remember the last time we scored direct from a corner or free kick.
We haven't been a threat from set pieces since Laursen retired.
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And I hope the "We should have signed Beckford" argument is put to bed after that display.
Fair enough, if you agree the "We shouldn't have signed Downing" argument is also settled on the basis of today's display.
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Fortune was on our side today, but I think we earned that bit of luck.
Ref was awful, not a single Villa player shook his hand at the end & in all the years I've been going I've never heard a ref' booed off the pitch after we've won.
Can't believe that there were people going home with 3 minutes left of normal time??
Neither Dunne or Carew look fully fit but they still gave everything. Collins, Luke, Ash & Brad were outstanding. Can't understand why people are obsessed with picking fault with Petrov & to a lesser degree Downing. Albrighton got the message in the 2nd half that he needed to defend also.
Kevin Mac - he's done a good job & we should be grateful that he put himself in the position, but unless we have no other option he shouldn't get the job & I think he / Randy know that. I'm sure Randy will recognise that he has helped the club out. After the last 2 games everyone could see that the formation left us vulnerable & but for Ireland's injury he would have picked more or less the same players / formation as the previous 2 games.
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Reo, Luke Young, Petrov did enough to get my joint Mom, although Albrighton deserves special mention for making Ashley Young look ordinary and Downing a waste.
Sorry, I thought Ashley showed some real fight and determination today. Him and Ashley seem to really feed off each other. Interesting to note KMac has Ashley left up front alone at defnesive corners instead of Gabby. That's one thing I'd say he got right.
Albrighton doesn't look quite as good when he's up against a decent full-back does he?
That's closer to it for me. He started brightly against Vienna away then faded. Struggled against Newcassle and didn't think he got much on Thursday either. I'd like to see him coming on from the bench with 20 minutes to go at the moment rather than starting. Take some pressure off him.
Got royally fed up with him failing to track back whoever should have been his player for the umpteenth time towards the end of the first half and receive a simple return 1-2 ball. "He's left him alone again" I declare... only for the 5-year old lad behind me attending his first game to repeat the same thing word for word. Made me laugh and on a day when the crowd was so quiet and disinterested early on, having someone so excited about being at their first game (coming from Shrewsbury, his parents had decided to take advantage of the £10 tickets to take him) and shouting "come on Aston Villa" really cheered me up and reminded me what the game can sometimes still be about.
Oh and I'm with Monty on this one. Even ignoring Alrbighton's failings in the first half when it came to tracking back, I thought Luke Young allowed himself to be beaten way too often and didn't put much pressure on the wingers.
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I don't care how we played to be honest. At this point in time, with the events of the past 3 weeks, 2 league wins out of 3 going into the international break is a decent return. Granted we've only played really well once, we're out of the Europa and we don't have a manager but a lot of things will start to resolve themselves over the next 10 days. Deep breath, there's a lot of stuff to fix, but much of that is down to us lacking leadership, cohesion and confidence.
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toronto villa: were you at the game today? Spotted someone with a home shirt with Toronto on the back (and what might have been a long-sleeve Maple Leaves top underneath) as I was making my way round from Trinity to the North Stand. Probably should have asked you / him but was a bit slow off the mark.
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toronto villa: were you at the game today? Spotted someone with a home shirt with Toronto on the back (and what might have been a long-sleeve Maple Leaves top underneath) as I was making my way round from Trinity to the North Stand. Probably should have asked you / him but was a bit slow off the mark.
No mate wasn't me. That would be a little much for me having Toronto on the back seeing as I'm from sunny Erdington really. Plus I detest the Maple Leafs hockey team of that's what the fella had on underneath. Still, be interesting to know who that was.
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At the ground I was suprised it was as low as 34k, but it looks awful on MOTD.
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Is it just me, or did MOTD make us look way better than we were!
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Please please tell me it's just a wind up, with this phil brown banter on MOTD
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Is it just me, or did MOTD make us look way better than we were!
They showed the highlights and we had several reasonable chances (same as Everton). What you don't see is all the wasted Everton Freekicks and corners that could have cost us and had us believing the next kick would be a goal against when watching live.
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Please please tell me it's just a wind up, with this phil brown banter on MOTD
It's true. Phil Brown will be our next manager, with Paul Jewell as assistant. Have it on good authority.
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So chuffedwith the spirit today, we're not quite right but after a couple of dodgy performances at the back we defended manfully today. Proud of the lot of them.
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Is it just me, or did MOTD make us look way better than we were!
They showed the highlights and we had several reasonable chances (same as Everton). What you don't see is all the wasted Everton Freekicks and corners that could have cost us and had us believing the next kick would be a goal against when watching live.
Only part of the way through the highlights and that's what's struck me so far. That and wondering again why when a free-kick is out wide, we defend so deep. If we were to hold a line on the edge of the box (or in the case of the free-kick that Albrighton gave out wide in lne with the penalty spot), there's no way they'd be able to get their players in as close to trouble Friedel. We got lucky. On another day, at least 1 sneaks in at the far post. But it didn't so f**k em 8)
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So chuffedwith the spirit today, we're not quite right but after a couple of dodgy performances at the back we defended manfully today. Proud of the lot of them.
Me too. I can't adequately articulate how much I expected an Everton equaliser, or worse still, winner.
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So chuffedwith the spirit today, we're not quite right but after a couple of dodgy performances at the back we defended manfully today. Proud of the lot of them.
Me too. I can't adequately articulate how much I expected an Everton equaliser, or worse still, winner.
I know exactly what you mean but almost by force of will they kept them out, mind you I was expecting that idiot of a ref to give them a penalty just to spite us.
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Another slovenly start of a season for Gollum. Unlucky, you ugly boring twat.
As for the match. Lots of heart and effort, very little control and not much composure. But all the points. So be it.
We missed Ireland's control and distribution but he's still not one of two central midfielders for my money anyway.
Shame Albrighton didn't put his chance away. He'll score plenty though, what a player.
All this team needs is a bit of stability, Gabby fully fit and one or two bodies in the middle that can keep, win and use the ball.
Then take it from there.
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So chuffedwith the spirit today, we're not quite right but after a couple of dodgy performances at the back we defended manfully today. Proud of the lot of them.
Me too. I can't adequately articulate how much I expected an Everton equaliser, or worse still, winner.
I know exactly what you mean but almost by force of will they kept them out, mind you I was expecting that idiot of a ref to give them a penalty just to spite us.
I thought the same. It seemed cheating was the only way they'd have got through our defence today and with the ref we had, anything was possible. I think I was just as delighted to hear the final whistle as I was with Luke Young's goal. I'll ask the neighbours to confirm.
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Is it just me, or did MOTD make us look way better than we were!
It certainly didn't reflect the amount of possession and corners Everton had, but as I said earlier, we had the chances to win by a bigger margin, it would have flattered us beyond belief, but the chances were most definitely there.
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Ads, Albrighton still had one run again where he beat a couple of players and i was off my seat. Shit finish maybe but this kid looks a special player.
He did, but there was no end product from it, which was the same as Downing. You want your widemen to create chances and stick balls into the box and neither of them did that today. Although as I've said, you've got to caveat that by remembering that we didn't have a lot of the ball all game and we were sat quite deep for large portions when we did have it.
Wasn't it Albrighton's cross for the Carew header? It was a peach of a cross.
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I was sitting next to the only guy in the ground who was using Albrighton as his scapegoat. He was really pissing me off.
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That was the sort of game I will remember for years. I was so nervous from the minute Luke Young scored.
Here's hoping that game will go down in villa history as the one that ended the interregnum and ushered in a great new era with a new manager!
Great three points to get even if we were dominated for large spells.
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Does anyone else have that Derby 1989/Dean Saunders' greatest game for the Villa feeling?
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Ads, Albrighton still had one run again where he beat a couple of players and i was off my seat. Shit finish maybe but this kid looks a special player.
He did, but there was no end product from it, which was the same as Downing. You want your widemen to create chances and stick balls into the box and neither of them did that today. Although as I've said, you've got to caveat that by remembering that we didn't have a lot of the ball all game and we were sat quite deep for large portions when we did have it.
Wasn't it Albrighton's cross for the Carew header? It was a peach of a cross.
Yes, first half. Was inch perfect and Carew really ought to have done better with it.
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To be truthful I wasn't confident when I arrived in L6 today and watching Ireland
being treated and finally limping away during the warm up made matters worse-
Yes we rode our luck but this was a team performance which would indicate that
the spirit in the dressing room is not as bad as we might imagine-
LukeY did enough to be motm six times over ............glad to have him back -
Surely the FA assessor will remove that chump from the Premier list !
Thanks KMac for standing in for these games - it wasn't to be but you gave it a go
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The first half was a very nervous display from our lot. I think we only had one shot on goal and it resulted in a goal scored by our forward-thinking, positive, two-footed right back. MONs decision to play Cuellar at right back for so much of last season seems more absurd when you see the extra attacking threat a proper RB can give us. Far too wasteful with the ball in the first half and I really can't understand why we persisted with the long balls to Carew when Fellaini had already sussed out how to deal with it.
Much better in the second half and we kept more possession. It could have ended 3-3 again and would have been a fantastic advert for the PL. At one point I remember thinking that the game had just gone insane but thoroughly enjoyable. I think that this season Albrighton will develop into the new James Milner - he's got the same levels of persistence and work rate but I think he's more skillful.
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It was like watching us 2 seasons ago?
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We need to get back to keeping the ball, the way we did against West Ham. Gave it away far too cheaply at times today, and really struggled to get it back of them again.
If we appoint a (decent) manager in the next two weeks, then we will have effectively ridden out this period of turmoil - at least in terms of points gained. Fourth in the league, six points from nine is not bad at all.
The shame is that the transfer window will be shut, and I worry about where the goals will come from, but in terms of the points we've taken, we've done as much as we could realistically hope to have done to get through this period and buy ourselves some time.
Forget the fact that we were backs to the wall, sod the fact that we were under great pressure for long spells, and who cares if really we could quite easily have lost today .... having lost 6-0 to a promoted side and gone out of Europe in depressing circumstances this week, the most important thing today by an absolute country mile was the result, anything else doesn't matter. Had we lost today, we'd have had two weeks to stew on a humiliation followed by two defeats, which would have carried the sourness into next month.
We didn't lose, though, and right now bollocks to it, I don't really care about anything else.
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On a negative note, Carew is having a crap start to the season - he was shyte again today.
That said , he is loved at VP and still got a good reception when he was taken off ..... I think he'd have to score 6 own goals intentionally to get booed !
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On a negative note, Carew is having a crap start to the season - he was shyte again today.
That said , he is loved at VP and still got a good reception when he was taken off ..... I think he'd have to score 6 own goals intentionally to get booed !
I thought after the break he did ok, he had a couple of runs where he desperately needed support but we were sitting way too deep for anyone to give him much of a hand, but he had a shot on target that went to Ashley Young where the defended took the sting out of the shot.
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His finishing has been poor, but I thought his leading of the line was good considering how little of the ball he was able to get.
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Thought it was a really gutsy performance from us, we were second best for much of it yet we still won. We looked like a side who were unfamiliar with the formation we were playing but that will take time I'm sure. Collins was my man of the match, thought he was exceptional. Despite the managerial uncertainty there's loads to work with in that squad and if we get the appointment right, 8th is the minimum we should expect.
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Felt very proud watching us today. I'll leave it at that.
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All the neutrals we spoke to last night said what a cracking second half it was to watch.
I thought Carew played pretty well, especially second half.
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I can't add much really. But it would have been SO nice if Freidel had simply rolled the ball out to a Villa player and we tried to keep the ball in the last ten mins instead of hoofing straight back to them.
If we'd have been able to string 5 passes together in the 2nd half, we'd have walked it.
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Only saw the highlights, and followed via bbc text. But my thoughts were:
- Ashley Young seemed to be involved in everything good we did, with some incisive passing. I took a lot of encouragement from this.
- Downing wasn't involved in any of them.
- Pienaar, Baines and Arteta's link-up play looked really very good, and in addition to showing what good players they are, also showed the importance of incisive passing on the training pitch, and of getting your technical players to play close to one another.
- There must be a way of getting Ireland and Young to get close enough to one another in a similar respect, but the team that was due to start looked a bit lightweight to me.
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We were under the cosh a lot today. Everton are a good, strong side but we showed great character to keep them out. There's an undeniable spirit in the team highlighted by the bodies that were thrown into tackles and to block shots and crosses, particularly Collins and Albrighton.
Carew started the second half like he'd been told to give it everything he'd got for 20 minutes and then he'd be replaced by Gabby. He was a real threat for that period, running at Everton's defence.
I suspect it's going to be a roller coaster season. We're going to be far more entertained at home than we were under MON but may not have the same resilience away from home. Given the crisis MON thrust upon us, I'll take a few more home wins in exchange for a few more away defeats.
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We were under the cosh a lot today. Everton are a good, strong side but we showed great character to keep them out. There's an undeniable spirit in the team highlighted by the bodies that were thrown into tackles and to block shots and crosses, particularly Collins and Albrighton.
I still think that Marc's got the potential to be a good Right Back
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A few things stood out. First was that during the barrage of crosses and cotners from everton in the second half i never thought they would score for some reason. it was a mixture of seeing the steely resolve from Brad and to a lesser extent the defence.but also the ball seemed to bounce for us a lot. Flicked headers going wide, shots hitting players and falling to us every time. That kept going throughout. A couple of great saves from Brad also.
The other thing was a tad disappointing in the relief. At the end it was like watching a Bolton, or Wolves having held out to a 1-0 win over a top 8 team. The whooping, hoopnig an' a-hollering. fair enough after the week they - we - have had, but all the same.
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The reality is that Everton probably have one of the best midfields in the league (with the exception of Rodwell every single Everton midfielder on the pitch would get into our team) and they went 5 across the middle. We were always going to struggle to keep the ball against that and it showed in the possession stats.
That makes it all the more impressive we kept a clean sheet. We saw almost none of the defensive shambles which conceded 9 goals in the last 2 games and that is down to the players picked.
In terms of individual performances I thought L.Young was MOM. Brilliant running and superb finish for a right back on his "wrong foot" - there are plenty of players in the team who are more attacking-minded who would've fluffed that chance on 9 out of 10 occasions. As someone else has said, it's just so disappointing to think what we've missed with Young through MON's stubbornness.
Ash was also excellent - makes a change to see him being so direct when he gets the ball which was maybe due to him playing a lot further up the field than normal.
Although Carew has his haters on here I thought that 2nd half he made a few good, almost inspired, runs which resulted in decent efforts. One was which was parried by Howard and would've been 2-0 if he hadn't pulled off a world-class save from Ash's second effort.
I also thought NRC did well and Ireland shouldn't automatically get his place back on that showing.
Maybe we give Downing's place to him instead...
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We've a problem regarding Ireland that's for sure. Ashley looks brilliant in the free role.
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The other thing was a tad disappointing in the relief. At the end it was like watching a Bolton, or Wolves having held out to a 1-0 win over a top 8 team. The whooping, hoopnig an' a-hollering. fair enough after the week they - we - have had, but all the same.
Nothing wrong with celebrating a hard-fought victory in particularly trying circumstances but I think you needed to be there to realise just how tense it was.
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A good win. A real boost at the end of a bad week. It's always good going into an international break off a good result, means I can better tolerate all the tripe about England in the papers from today. Having said which hopefully we'll be making a few headlines with our new boss.
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What an exciting, nerve-wracking game. I kept looking up at the clock to see whether they would have time to score a winner, let alone an equaliser and it only dawned on me with about 3 minutes left that we might win the thing. Friedel, Collins, both youngs and Warnock were good, however I feel that we were helped by a questionable team selection from Moyes, with Arteta as a deep-lying midfielder and Rodwell on the right for some reason.
However, we are currently 1 point ahead of the corresponding fixtures from last season(If you count Newxastle as Hull), and with the mess that MON left us in I think that is very good indeed.
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great result but we need to improve dramatically if that is the best we can offer at home, especially on the back of the previous 2 games.
I don't think Everton are that special, I know Newcastle aren't and I can't see what can be done to improve matters. Had we conceded I could see it being another slaughter, thankfully a combination of last ditch saves and some luck pulls us through. Obviously playing the same side for a few games will help, a stable club again will too, but we looked more like a side fighting to come to terms with the PL than a side who achieved 6th several times.
The new manager could be on to a hiding to nothing to start with and will need a cool head.
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Whlist delighted with the win it's alarming how much we have slipped. A hard fought win against Everton at home no thanks we should be better than that. It was bit like a team hovering above the relegation zone manages to clinch a 1-0 with desperate defending heroics, multiple blocks etc and wasteful opposition not being able to convert huge possession, 15 corners and 6 or so freekick very close to the goal, into a goal.
Everton ar a good team but they are NOT Chelsea, Manu or even Manshitty. They had a strong midfield with Treetop, Pienaar, Cahill, Arteta and Rodwell and we did not match up.
This is where we need to improve or we will end up having a hard season because 9 times out of 10 a performance like yesterday will end in defeat.
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Quite a few twitchy bum moments, our midfield has lost their way and the ref was utter gash. Based on all 3 league games to date, my next team would be:
Friedal
Young - Cuellar - Dunne - Warnock
NRC - Collins
Allbrighton - Ireland - Young
Agbonlahor
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it was an improvement, and we defended great, but lots more work to do...
there is a good attacking side in there somewhere, lets just hppe that the new manager when he comes in, can bring it to the fore consistantly...
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In terms of individual performances I thought L.Young was MOM. Brilliant running and superb finish for a right back on his "wrong foot" - there are plenty of players in the team who are more attacking-minded who would've fluffed that chance on 9 out of 10 occasions. As someone else has said, it's just so disappointing to think what we've missed with Young through MON's stubbornness.
I like Carlos as a person and think he's a very good central defender, but by no stretch of the imagination is he a right back. Against Rapid, when for some unfathomable reason we played without wingers, Carlos was the only wide player on the right and almost every ball out to him was wasted. Luke's no John Gidman, but he's a decent defender, has good positional sense and has the ability and speed to be a threat going forward. I hope he'll now be given a good run in the team.
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What disappointed me (again) yesterday was that we had only one man on the line defending corners. I always like to see a man on each post as eventually, (like against Rapid) you will rue the lack of a man on a post when you are picking the ball out of that corner of the net.
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What disappointed me (again) yesterday was that we had only one man on the line defending corners. I always like to see a man on each post as eventually, (like against Rapid) you will rue the lack of a man on a post when you are picking the ball out of that corner of the net.
Curiously, we had a man on each post for most corners, then they ran away from them before the ball was kicked.
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Shit gate m'lord ......... !
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Nothing wrong with celebrating a hard-fought victory in particularly trying circumstances but I think you needed to be there to realise just how tense it was.
I spent the afternoon putting up shome shelves and pretending I wasn't bothered. It was a terribly unconvincing performance. I put my family through some very unnecessary grief.
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In terms of individual performances I thought L.Young was MOM. Brilliant running and superb finish for a right back on his "wrong foot" - there are plenty of players in the team who are more attacking-minded who would've fluffed that chance on 9 out of 10 occasions. As someone else has said, it's just so disappointing to think what we've missed with Young through MON's stubbornness.
I like Carlos as a person and think he's a very good central defender, but by no stretch of the imagination is he a right back. Against Rapid, when for some unfathomable reason we played without wingers, Carlos was the only wide player on the right and almost every ball out to him was wasted. Luke's no John Gidman, but he's a decent defender, has good positional sense and has the ability and speed to be a threat going forward. I hope he'll now be given a good run in the team.
Young looked comfortable on the ball but I thought Piennar and Baines got round him too often yesterday, that might be because he needed better support but it stopped him being a mom contender for me.
I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
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On a lighter note.
Best song of the day as sung by North Stand Corner Crew to the bin dippers.
(to the you are my Villa tune).
You are a scouser, a dirty scouser ,
Your only happy on giro day!
Your moms out thieving!
Your dads Crack dealing!
So please dont take my hub caps away!
na na na na na!
Quality !
UP THE VILLA !
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A well needed win, it keeps us above the Blouse, so we can now spend the next 2 weeks, telling them even when we are sh*t we are still better than them.
In a business that is all about results, we really deserved that one I don't care how we got it but we did.
Maybe we were lucky, Everton should have scored, maybe we will find ourselves on the wrong end of a game like that during the season. I am glad we got the 3 points for K Mac, Randy and everyone who loves this club.
I think the new manager has quite an easy job, there is not much wrong with this team, and it is a good squad to build on, we don't need a few seasons of building, one or two new players and we will be challenging again.
We can now close the chapter on K Mac's managerial spell, P5, W2, D1, L2, and look forward to the next chapter in Villa history.
UTV
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Young looked comfortable on the ball but I thought Piennar and Baines got round him too often yesterday, that might be because he needed better support but it stopped him being a mom contender for me.
It was and it was corrected by Albrighton dropping back second half. As to MOM anyone who scores the only goal always deserves serious consideration, especially when he's a full back who ran on into the penalty area and scored with his weak foot, but then Mon rarely picked him so he must be rubbish.
I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Thing is he did that several times and I tried hard to see any other midfield er who even did that, most seemed to be turning their backs and passing backwards and running away. But if that's your preference fine, it was obviously Mon's that's why he rarely picked Reo
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For me, a completely gripping game. I did struggle with the referee, pretty much through the whole game. Thought we looked short up front with Carew, changed a little with Agbonlahor, looking forward to him being full fit. Defence was strong, and Friedel played well, I did however think L Young left too many holes when he went forward, but Albrighton covered nicely. Lot of poor comments on Downing, I didnt think he had a bad game, for me, middle of the park was where we lost it. Reo looked unfit, couldnt read the game, and seemed to have no concept of man marking. That combined with a Petrov that is slower than most Premiership midfielders, makes that area too easy for teams to attack, wave upon wave. But boy, did I enjoy the result, and i was well pleased to be watching it live. Well done lads. Ashley Young is a world class player, and needs to stay here. I remain delighted that if we had to lose a star it was Milner not Young
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Smashing game. The defence was brilliant as was Ashley Young. I thought NRC and Petrov ran their knackers off, but Petrov looks a bit slow. Carew was poor, he needs a goal.
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Young looked comfortable on the ball but I thought Piennar and Baines got round him too often yesterday, that might be because he needed better support but it stopped him being a mom contender for me.
It was and it was corrected by Albrighton dropping back second half. As to MOM anyone who scores the only goal always deserves serious consideration, especially when he's a full back who ran on into the penalty area and scored with his weak foot, but then Mon rarely picked him so he must be rubbish.
I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Thing is he did that several times and I tried hard to see any other midfield er who even did that, most seemed to be turning their backs and passing backwards and running away. But if that's your preference fine, it was obviously Mon's that's why he rarely picked Reo
Does every single post you make have to have some sort of provocation in it? You really are childish.
Reo Coker is energetic and hard-working but limited as a footballer as the incident I mentioned highlighted all too well.
It was a very well taken goal, but I have never thought one incident in 90 minutes should earn anyone a mom award. He had a decent, steady game but our 2 centre halves were our best performers by a mile.
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
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Quite a few twitchy bum moments, our midfield has lost their way and the ref was utter gash. Based on all 3 league games to date, my next team would be:
Friedal
Young - Cuellar - Dunne - Warnock
NRC - Collins
Allbrighton - Ireland - Young
Agbonlahor
I like this. I have an opinion for a while now that Collins would make a great holding midfielder and his distribution is very good, full of energy and a real threat in attack.
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I thought NRC had a great game yesterday, covered a lot of the pitch, great tackling, some good runs at Everton defence, great tackling. Fair play to him. Also it's great to be playing Luke Young in a correct position, it payed off. We couldn't keep trying make Cuellar fit into that role, it's not fair on him.
Albrighton looks great, if A Young is sold, I think he can step into that role.
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
Not as often as some fans like to make out though.
He takes risks I'll admit, he'd often be safer playing backwards like some Mon stalwarts do more often than not, but was the most effective player in our midfield yesterday and in previous games.
He's not perfect, but again I ask how many other midfield players defended as well broke up play as often and also broke forward effectively?
In reply to L Youngs Mom he was up against it all game because of the lack of help, still managed to break free and score the goal and generally put in a good performance. He made a few poor clearances but then so did both Collins and Dunne, Collins several times.
Makes me wonder if that defence would be out of Europe today.
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lots of pluses from the everton game, ok we rode our luck,but we played with togetherness spirit,wish the bloke behind me in the deadly lowe tear would get off downings back.nrc ran his socks off ,ashley worked hard too.defence solid what a difference luke young makes,its typical villa in over 40 years og supporting them ,we are great when our backs are against the wall.in the current climate at the club i really feel and sense a spirit of its us against the world.fans and players staff all pulling together makes you proud
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
The final pass shouldn't be his role. His role is to break up opposition attacks, cover ground, tackle and just to be a rock in the middle of the pitch. With Ireland playing just ahead of him, NRC should be told to lay simple passes to him and let super Stevie do all the creative things.
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I thought Downing, without doing anything great in attack, tried very hard and was helping break down attacks in those ever-lasting last 10 minutes.
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I don't know if i was watching a different games to some of you.
AYoung for me was the difference between the teams.Every time he got the ball he looked dangerous, lovely ball for LYoung for the goal, created chances foe Albrighton twice, and run at the defence every time.
Dunne/Collins....superb, proper defenders, as was Warnock, and not bad from Lyoung.
NRC...did what he is good at, all energy, lacks a bit of quality sometimes, what was he doing when Jagielka fell over?, but just what we needed yday.
Petrov....ok, but not quite right.
Downing....not good enough.
Albrighton.....lacks a bit of knowhow sometimes, but a really exciting player.Will struggle against some of the best fullbacks, but a real prospect.
Carew.....time has gone.
Overall, we should have had a penalty, and scored at least one more goal anyway, but if we could just pick that final ball, we have quite a good team, a really exciting team.A team of a front 4 of AYoung, Ireland , Albrighton and Gabby/Delf suggests a reaaly exciting era.
Kevin Mac...not for me, would have not played NRC yday if Ireland eas fit.NRC should be playing every game at the moment, and if he can't see that, then i'm afaraid hes not the man for the job
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
Not as often as some fans like to make out though.
He takes risks I'll admit, he'd often be safer playing backwards like some Mon stalwarts do more often than not
You did see the incident that Chris is referring to? Jagielka lying on his back in the middle of the penalty area with Young unmarked in the middle and Reo-Coker STILL manages to put the pass straight at the prone defender when it would have been easier to avoid him.
Happens far too often. If we could combine Reo-Coker's athleticism with everything else that Petrov gives us then we would have a brilliant player. As it is, we're clearly better off with a tiring Petrov than Reo-Coker there.
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
Not as often as some fans like to make out though.
He takes risks I'll admit, he'd often be safer playing backwards like some Mon stalwarts do more often than not
You did see the incident that Chris is referring to? Jagielka lying on his back in the middle of the penalty area with Young unmarked in the middle and Reo-Coker STILL manages to put the pass straight at the prone defender when it would have been easier to avoid him.
Happens far too often. If we could combine Reo-Coker's athleticism with everything else that Petrov gives us then we would have a brilliant player. As it is, we're clearly better off with a tiring Petrov than Reo-Coker there.
I think that combination hopefully could be Delph.
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I thought one incident in the second half summed up NRC perfectly. He won the ball really well in our half, fed Young then bust a gut to get on the end of his return pass only to fluff the cross.
Agreed. NRC is aggressive, a good ball-winner and he drives forward powerfully, but time after time he messes up the final pass.
Not as often as some fans like to make out though.
He takes risks I'll admit, he'd often be safer playing backwards like some Mon stalwarts do more often than not
You did see the incident that Chris is referring to? Jagielka lying on his back in the middle of the penalty area with Young unmarked in the middle and Reo-Coker STILL manages to put the pass straight at the prone defender when it would have been easier to avoid him.
Happens far too often. If we could combine Reo-Coker's athleticism with everything else that Petrov gives us then we would have a brilliant player. As it is, we're clearly better off with a tiring Petrov than Reo-Coker there.
I think that combination hopefully could be Delph.
Hopefully.
I think it's a big shame that we can't have seem a midfield three of Petrov - Ireland - Delph at the moment. Would be a little bit of everything.
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To frustrate you even more Dave.....how about
Milner..............................................................Delph
Albrighton.....................Ireland............................AYoung
Gabby/Delf.
Now that would have been some team.
Still got 4 of them though.
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To frustrate you even more Dave.....how about
Milner..............................................................Delph
Albrighton.....................Ireland............................AYoung
Gabby/Delf.
Now that would have been some team.
Still got 4 of them though.
Yup, something that had occured. Could have been the best midfield in the country. As it is, we'll just have to go and get the next Milner instead.
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Jordan Henderson?
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Jordan Henderson?
I don't know if he's the next Milner or not, but every time I've seen him play (which, admittedly, isn't that many time) he's stood out as very promising.
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Jagielka lying on his back in the middle of the penalty area with Young unmarked in the middle and Reo-Coker STILL manages to put the pass straight at the prone defender when it would have been easier to avoid him.
I found that frustrating because Jagielka falling like that basically opened things up for NRC to take a shot. Being unselfish is one thing but sometimes you have to go for it yourself. I thought that was one of those moments.
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TBF to Reo and what they picked up in the commentary and highlights was he was looking back at the ball when the slip happened so he didn't see it himself. Doesn't excuse the bad ball afterwards though.
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When NRC fisrt came he gave our midfield the energy it had been lacking for yeas under O'Clown, but as we improved year on year he became less needed. The fact that we are looking to him again shows we have gone back to his standard rather than him improving.
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Winning ugly at home, I like it. We certainly didn't do enough of that in home games last season.
I'd happily take another ten scrappy home wins like that this season.
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When NRC fisrt came he gave our midfield the energy it had been lacking for yeas under O'Clown, but as we improved year on year he became less needed. The fact that we are looking to him again shows we have gone back to his standard rather than him improving.
I still think it's more he's relatively decent still in a 4-5-1 formation that will bring out the best in
Ireland.
And Delph's broken until next year.
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An evertonian view. Well written but I doubt many will agree with their view.
http://www.dixies60.com/2010/08/30/dixies-60-match-report-aston-villa-1-0-everton/?
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An evertonian view. Well written but I doubt many will agree with their view.
http://www.dixies60.com/2010/08/30/dixies-60-match-report-aston-villa-1-0-everton/?
You're right - total bollocks. "Villa sat back"? We couldn't get the ball or hold onto it when we did. But I'm sure NRC is the answer to that age old question.
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In many respects, this was just as an impressive display as we saw against West Ham. I was worried that we had lost that mental toughness and 'hard to beat' edge we had under MON, but there it was for all to see. Albrighton also impressed me as there will be games like that where he sees less of the ball and can't influence things as he'd like, but instead needs to get stuck in and that's exactly what he did - excellent attitude.
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Who was the ref on Sunday because he seemed determined to ruin a really good premiership contest? My only real gripe with the match.