Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Legion on January 21, 2011, 06:09:12 PM
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Available Saturday night.
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Villa: Friedel; Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Clark; Albrighton, Petrov, Downing, Young; Agbonlahor, Bent.
Subs: Marshall, Delfouneso, Pires, Reo-Coker, Bannan, Herd, Baker.
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Brilliant!
We've got ourselves a matchwinner. That's what you pay £18m for.
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Yes you fcking beauties, Yes, yes , yes
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3 points off 11th.
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YEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!
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Never in doubt
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Yesssssssssssssssss. The season starts here
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Not a bad player in a Villa shirt, fcking brilliant, and a clean sheet at home.
Another performance like that on Tuesday please.
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Can someone pinch me. GET IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I feel sick. That was emotional.
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Ave that you bunch of Shameless shite.
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Onwards from here on in. I was surprised we didn't sell out though.
Bent, you beauty!
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Very important point tonight....Good Job for all
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3 points off 11th.
We'll be above Blackpool by the time we play them. That will be fun.
Got a bit of luck today. Something we've not had all season.
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How good was Collins today!!!
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Easy.
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That's better. What were we all worried about?
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Great poachers goal for Bent. Impressed with our much improved defence as a team.
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Absolute torture.
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The result is everything
We had some luck today, long overdue
Huge commitment but our passing and ball retention must be some of the worst in the league and seems to have been so for a very long time
Forgotten what a win feels like!
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I posted the team on the post-match thread? It was an omen. Solid performance, even though we have very little to offer going forward. Apart from a goal.
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Under the cosh 2nd half but we stood firm and rode a bit of luck.Looks like we are up for the fight so the season starts now......Cheers Darren and welcome to the Villa
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well this is a different feeling to most post match threads.....
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How the feck did we hold onto that!?
Colossal performances all round the park and a goalscorer in the team at last!!!!!
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Awesome!!!!
DB is the DB's
Where did GED buy that defence from - so much better than the shower of shite we have been delivering at the back
Mrs Monkeyboy is going to get some gooood news tonight
Get in!!!!
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3 points.
That is all.
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3 points off 11th.
We'll be above Blackpool by the time we play them. That will be fun.
Got a bit of luck today. Something we've not had all season.
One bit of luck when they hit the post which considering how many times we hit the bar last week, I'll settle for that.
I know have the pleasure of an evening with my son and his in laws. Him apart they are all Man City fans. Oh joy of joys.
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Let's Shutdown Wigan this Tuesday..
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Very important point tonight....Good Job for all
Three points i think you will find for a win.
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i have aged 10 years
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Oh my nerves are shredded. Defence threw themselves in front of everything and a clean sheet as well.
We let them have far too much possession and we gave the ball away cheaply but can't knock the effort.
Bent didn't really get the service but the only opportunity that did come he tucked away which is what we have been missing until now. That goal is worth the fee alone.
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I posted the team on the post-match thread? It was an omen. Solid performance, even though we have very little to offer going forward. Apart from a goal.
I saw that Darren, do it again next week please!
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Brillaint Defensive display!
Brillaint tactical display!
Brillaint Team effort !!
Mrs Remy wont be able to walk on sunday !!! 8) !
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The journos were all right. Bent is so one-dimensional. All he does is score goals.
I'm glad my powers of prediction are useless. Three badly needed points and a massive shot in the arm. We're moving up.
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How good was Collins today!!!
Absolutely! A man mountain. Best game in a Villa shirt tonight. The whole team deserve respect for the effort.
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What a difference a week makes! Viva la villa!
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Really good game.
Collins was superb closely followed by the rest of the defence. Thought we had no chance of winning on another day they could of easily had a stormer.
Never the less ecstatic with the 3 points.
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Superb result, three points against a decent team.
The defence were fuckin brilliant, as well as DB avin one chance and taking it on his debut.
YESSSSS
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Have some of that Oliver Holt you fat quim.
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Never in doubt
Fuckin love it..
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Superb win, and a clean sheet too. Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks.
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Brillaint Defensive display!
Brillaint tactical display!
Brillaint Team effort !!
Mrs Remy wont be able to walk on sunday !!! 8) !
She done a hamstring?
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Milner who?
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Great, nerve-racking performance! I believe Milner sat in the luxary seats? While our 20M-ish pound transfer put in the game winner. I'll take that bit of business everytime!
On that note ... Gabby is completely wasted on the wing. He'll make a decent sprint for a couple of yards, and then have no clue about what to do with it. I just don't get it ... it's like putting Friedel at striker or something. It's not for lack of effort ... he just doesn't belong there.
Outside of that, I thought everyone else put in tremendous shifts.
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everything else will come in good time. We now have someone up front that given a glimpse will make the difference. On another day, it's 0-0 late on and our defence's stirling work would go to waste with sloppy winning goal. I think Albrighton is going to develop a deadly partnerhip with Bent from those low driven crosses also.
Every player worked their bollocks off today. Just a shame only 37,000 came to see the debut of our record signing score the winning goal.
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Brillaint Defensive display!
Brillaint tactical display!
Brillaint Team effort !!
Mrs Remy wont be able to walk on sunday !!! 8) !
Fair play.
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Oliver Holt (c***)
Steve Bruce
Ian Hollowhead
The i newspaper
Daily Nazi
Stan Collymore
Alan Brazil
Robbie Cabbage
John Carew
Curtis Davies
Steve Sidwell
Nicky Shorey
Sali-Salifou
Habib Beye
Small Heath
Knuckledragger neanderthals
Peter Pan
Carson Yeung
Blackpool
Gareth 'custard pants' Barry
BBC WM
Sky Sports Geordie reporter
David Gold
Karren Brady
David Sullivan
Martin O'Neill...
Roberto Martinez...
were you f***ing watching?
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How good was Collins today!!!
Class. Even Dunne looked a bit sharper! Glad it's all over though.
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What a complete waste of £24m.
I mean, surely Milner could have made some tea or something.
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massive win. m.o.m for me, ceullar. huge, huge performance, inching his way towards legend status in my eyes. special mentions for collins and clarke, brilliant blocks today. my love for football is back. ;D
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Brilliant result! Epic defensive performance and, earlier on, some good attacking stuff too.
For me, Downing was man of the match, an absolutely brilliant performance in my book. Really well done!
I don't know if that selection or formation will work each week, but it did look a lot better than I thought it would.
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Thought 37 000 was a decent crowd considering our league position.What a battling performance.Bent was impressive throughout,hard working,sharp and dangerous, he will get us a lot of goals.Thats 3 points he has gained us already and the confidence has taken a boost.Thought Cuellar on Tevez was magnificent.Albrighton and Downing did well.Ash still loses possession too easily....sell him for 20M now while he still has a reputation
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As chuffed as I am that we have a new Holte End hero, I'm even happier that we've finally, at last, remembered how to defend. Our first clean cheet since halloween! No excuses for the rest of the season, now lets crack on starting at Wigan and get back in the top half.
Fair fucks to the lot of them, they all worked their bollocks off tonight and got what they deserved.
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We'll be 1st on motd tonight then.
Adam might just hand in a T.R now, A notable win changes everything for us..
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great result, fabulous commitment and effort , well done to players , fans, manager and randy, we are 3 points behind Blackpool now and ready to climb that table- bring on Wigan!
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The team selection was superb, so many at the start of the match thread thought we would be battered when the team was announced.
A massive thee points.
Well done Villa
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....... Just a shame only 37,000 came to see the debut of our record signing score the winning goal.
By accounts the crowd would have been a lot lower before Bent signed.
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Oh My God do you see Manchester city, did you see Gallagher brothers, all the Chatsworth estate lowlifes, do you see now Bernard Manning (RIP). And you Mr Eddie Large....your boys took a hell of a beating !!!!
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Where did that team spirit come from?
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Have some of that Oliver Holt you fat quim.
Haha, great win, decent performance - well done to all.
And Downing was a brave selection - I think he justified Houllier's faith in him.
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15 West Brom 22 25
16 Aston Villa 23 25
17 Birmingham 22 23
_________________________
18 Wigan 23 22
19 Wolves 23 21
20 West Ham 24 21
That's better.
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We went with a very attacking line up yet defended brilliantly. Collins was my man of the match. Looked back to his best for us. Ash and Downing played really well too.
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Awesome!!!!
DB is the DB's
Where did GED buy that defence from - so much better than the shower of shite we have been delivering at the back
Mrs Monkeyboy is going to get some gooood news tonight
Get in!!!!
Like this
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great defending today! gota build on this tuesday night. things are looking up at last
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Missed the first home game in years today. I couldn't bare to watch the TV or log on H&V but Mrs Jembob got home after 6pm and told me Bent had scored. At that point I thought we'd be OK but it didn't stop me worrying myself sick!
3 huge points with the bonus of being damaging to Citeh too! A win against Wigan and draw against Manure will get us back into the top half. After that we have a really good run in and we can hunt those Sunderland fuckers down. Sixth place still a possibility in my view!
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Fucking gettin. I was hoping for a draw and didn't expect that win. Okay it was a nightmare, real mental torture and we lived on our wits but we got the win thanks to lionhearted defending, clinical finishing and a wasteful, indirect City side. It was only when they brought on Adam Johnson that they had that.
Player ratings:
Friedel 7: Solid when called upon. That's all you can ask for. Still been good all season for me.
Cuellar 8: You know what you will get not the smartest on the ball but helps the others in the back four. I'd be tempted to stick with him against the better sides.
Collins 9: MOTM, a lionheart. Brilliant performance. Cannot think of the relevant superlatives to describe his excellence and lionheartedness.
Dunne 7: Solid, reliable and did not let us down. Good stuff.
Clark 7: As with Dunne. Though I am concerned about his tendency to collect yellows.
Albrighton 8: Great stuff and really direct. Kept Kolarov on his toes.
Ashley Young 7: Worked hard for the team and did well in patches.
Downing 7: As with Young. The fact we had the backs against the wall did not help but he worked hard.
Petrov 8: I felt he was very good in what seemed like a difficult position. Manned the midfield and moved the ball well.
Agbonlahor 8: Despite playing a position I'm not sure he's too well suited for he did really well.
Bent 8: Took his chance. All you can ask really ask for. I hope he keeps taking them.
I was surprised and shocked by what seemed like an open team but it worked and each player was very disciplined so credit to Le Gaffer for that.
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I have waited a long time for that result. Very sweet indeed.
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Yep, hands up to Ged. Team selection paid off didn't it. Very happy to have been proved wrong. Makoun in for gabby I reckon, he looks lost out there. Albrighton is a real threat isn't he?
And can someone please turn that fucking red warning text off!
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I expect three points at Wigan now. This will buy Houllier another 72 hours or so.
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I expect three points at Wigan now. This will buy Houllier another 72 hours or so.
That's right, he can leave his coat on
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15 West Brom 22 25
16 Aston Villa 23 25
17 Birmingham 22 23
_________________________
18 Wigan 23 22
19 Wolves 23 21
20 West Ham 24 21
That's better.
Yes, but I can't see why you would want to immortalise the moment in bytes. I'd be waiting until we were 5th or something.
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And can someone please turn that fucking red warning text off!
You can turn it off in your profile settings, I think it's under Forum Layout or something similar.
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Just got in the car, fucking brilliant result, Bent one chance, one goal, thats what we've been missing for years, the 2nd half seemed to last for hours but Dunne, Cuellar and Collins were immense, that clean sheet is a massive bonus
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Is Bents goal tonight worth £1 million ? Maybe more ? Another 18 - 24 and he has paid for himself. Let the good times roll.
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Yes, but I can't see why you would want to immortalise the moment in bytes. I'd be waiting until we were 5th or something.
We are 5th. From bottom.
Hence the celebrations.
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Maybe, when I get in to work on Monday morning, there will be a little less sarcasm about Darren Bent. Not that I give a toss what a bunch of Spurs fans think.
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15 West Brom 22 25
16 Aston Villa 23 25
17 Birmingham 22 23
_________________________
18 Wigan 23 22
19 Wolves 23 21
20 West Ham 24 21
That's better.
Yes, but I can't see why you would want to immortalise the moment in bytes. I'd be waiting until we were 5th or something.
Indeed. Three points against Wigan and I'll start to feel more relaxed. Tonight means nothing if we don't continue to win and pick up the points we need.
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In terms of our football we improved in the second half, after being suicidally wasteful in the first. Collins had his best game in months, and I thought Petrov was really really good the whole game - there were a couple of moments where I felt moved to say "oh, you got Petroved" - but for me, the stand-out performance was the manager's. Tactics spot-on in all departments today, knew he could rely on Downing and Young to keep running in midfield and really gave City no room to breathe for most of the game, and they really looked clueless for most of the game. Great defensive performance, great to have a striker who can read the game well enough to go for goalkeeper parries, great to finally beat the lottery-winning fuckers. What a day.
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Watched it on telly from the warmth and comfort of my sick bed (cough, cough, splutter).
I must have sweat about 3 lbs off during the second half...most of that in the last 15 minutes or so.
Excellent team performance. Thought Collins was immense, and Dunne looked more like the player he was last season.
Now, let's build on that performance...and result...and keep the momentum going at Wigan next week.
Well done, Villa!
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15 West Brom 22 25
16 Aston Villa 23 25
17 Wigan 23 22
_________________________
18 Wolves 23 21
19 West Ham 24 21
20 Birmingham 22 0
That's better.
much better
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There will be a lot if bitter, unprofessional journalists pissed off tonight.
Report on what you see, not what you think you see or what you think you should see and treat everyone in the game with the same courtesy and respect that you afford to your "freinds".
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Is Bents goal tonight worth £1 million ? Maybe more ? Another 18 - 24 and he has paid for himself. Let the good times roll.
If he stays his full 4.5 years I am demanding at least 80 goals.
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There will be a lot if bitter, unprofessional journalists pissed off tonight.
Report on what you see, not what you think you see or what you think you should see and treat everyone in the game with the same courtesy and respect that you afford to your "freinds".
Amen to that!
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Got to be optimistic after that.i can see us murdering teams with the attack and spirit we seem to have found.No-one will like playing against Bent, Albrighton and Downing in that form.We keep a solid defence like today and Ash and Gabby find a consistent run of their true form and we will terrify anybody.
I'm loving this!
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sue fuikenperwb!!!!
great result, and how great it is to see this place buzzing tonight and not full of doom and gloom
20 dots on bent for 1st goal at 11/2 as well
can this day get any better?
oh yes, that lot spanked 5
this city is ours, this city is ours, f**k off birmingham, this city is ours
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Cracking performance from us. Defended like lions at times but even so we looked like we could score at the other end.
We are trying to pass it a bit more, it doesn't always come off. We are not going to learn how to play keep ball overnight.
We showed great character and spirit. Well done to Gerrard, brave line up.
Albrighton is great, he still has a lot to learn but he is doing that. I think he will learn quicker than Wallcot for Arsenal due to the fact he will get more games.
Special mention to Collins and Dunne, well played. They looked like they both wanted it for Villa tonight. I have given them shit this season, but then I think the older heads have let us down. But credit when credit is due. Both brilliant.
And Bent? well what a waist of money, should have gone for Kean or Miller. ;) Happy Days!!
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We'll be 1st on motd tonight then.
Adam might just hand in a T.R now, A notable win changes everything for us..
But Liverpool won 3-0 today. I dunno, if they are interested in him, I imagine he'd go there over us. Pains me to say it, obviously.
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Can this day get any better? Oh yes, that lot spanked 5
This city is ours, this city is ours, f**k off Birmingham, this city is ours
"Tom, they break yer 'eart, just as the gap were closing, the vile pull away.
Can I 'ave a bronx 'at fer me babby?"
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There have been a few small, signs of improvement (Chelsea away, coming back against Birmingham) lately, and this was another one, perhaps larger. There will probably be more hiccups along the way, but I think we can hope for a much better second half of the season.
As for the sudden show of team spirit, I think it is amazing what a difference belief and a sense of optimism can do to a team's performance.
I don't there will be many posters asking if the team is playing to get the manager sacked tonight.
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Am I alone in thinking the Wigan match is now even more important than it was before today?
We absolutely must take the spirit, confidence and boost from a totally unexpected result today and harness it to beat Wigan, and thus create a real platform for the end of the season.
We had that chance after Chelsea and spectacularly blew it. We absolutely must not do that again. If we beat Wigan, we can go 12th. We have got to take the opportunity this time.
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Citeh fans are not happy and believe their title chance has been blown now (page 77 onwards).
Bluemoan (http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=203631&start=830)
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so much for Houllier puting out negative teams and formations, as we were told from liverpool fans and others when he first came,
cant remember a more attacking line up,
and he who dares, wins and all that ....
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On that note ... Gabby is completely wasted on the wing. He'll make a decent sprint for a couple of yards, and then have no clue about what to do with it. I just don't get it ... it's like putting Friedel at striker or something. It's not for lack of effort ... he just doesn't belong there.
Totally agree, he can't play on the wing and in the second half he just sulked... absolute waste of time playing him there!
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Delighted with Bent scoring on debut. Gets that first goal out of the way and should help lessen the burden. Even more delighted with the clean sheet, we'll need a few more of those if we are to pull away from the arse end of the table.
We're still in the shit, but a win on Tuesday and the season takes on a different perspective. A few of the sides above us start dropping points (the reason they're in mid-table is their inconsistency) and suddenly we might be talking about a late and unlikely dash for Europe.
Lets get 35 points on the board ASAP before we start thinking about that, mind.
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when was the last time we signed a forward who scored on his debut?
just remembered Heskey did!!!
anybody rem who before Heskey?
was is Savo in a 3-1 win over utd on the first day of the season?
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Carew had a goal ruled out v Newcastle on his debut.
Scored on his home debut v West Ham IIRC.
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I thought it is very cat and mouse game between Man City V Aston Villa and Aston Villa didn't create much but they gave Bent one chance which is enough to score the only goal. I have been watching 2 Man City players like a hawk, I like the left back Alexander Kolarov as he is very good with the ball. Edin Dzeko look promising but he is a bit like Andriy Shevchenko. Pleased with result.
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when was the last time we signed a forward who scored on his debut?
just remembered Heskey did!!!
anybody rem who before Heskey?
was is Savo in a 3-1 win over utd on the first day of the season?
Didn't Dubs score on his debut? And I didn't think Savo did. His first goal was against Blackburn away when he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and was in the LB position when they kicked off.
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when was the last time we signed a forward who scored on his debut?
just remembered Heskey did!!!
anybody rem who before Heskey?
was is Savo in a 3-1 win over utd on the first day of the season?
Didn't Dubs score on his debut? And I didn't think Savo did. His first goal was against Blackburn away when he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and was in the LB position when they kicked off.
i though he scored on the first day of the season v manure where we won 3-1?
or was that his 2nd season?
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Barosh scored against Blackburn on his debut. Against Friedel.
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Great defensive performance, we defended as a unit, got our bodies in the way and worked our bloody socks off, Downing was excellent in that department, he never stopped running, Gabby at one stage was playing almost like a second left back and put in a decent shift, as they all did.
Now if only we could pass a bit better, we'd have been far more comfortable if we could pass better but the character and commitment tonight was extremely encouraging and although City had loads of possession and loads of corners, their keeper had to make more saves than ours.
Houllier's tactics were spot on.
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Am I alone in thinking the Wigan match is now even more important than it was before today?
We absolutely must take the spirit, confidence and boost from a totally unexpected result today and harness it to beat Wigan, and thus create a real platform for the end of the season.
We had that chance after Chelsea and spectacularly blew it. We absolutely must not do that again. If we beat Wigan, we can go 12th. We have got to take the opportunity this time.
Agree 100% with this.
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incredible result, at one point in the second half they had 87% posession, you can not fault the comitment to win a game tonight as we hardly had the ball, absoloutely brilliant
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when was the last time we signed a forward who scored on his debut?
just remembered Heskey did!!!
anybody rem who before Heskey?
was is Savo in a 3-1 win over utd on the first day of the season?
Phillips v Bolton.
Savo didn't score at VP until the hat-trick v Cov IIRC.
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Delighted with the result. Carlos was immense. It was a testament to the teams belief and work ethic that we held on. Lots of great performances including the gaffer. Makes wigan the biggest game of the season!
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The chants about Carlos Tevez looking like Steve Bruce were amusing too.
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Brilliant result.
Special mention for Collins, he was absolutely colossal today. My MOTM, superb defending.
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Massive result today, some monumental defending. We rode our luck to a degree, we had to do a hell of a lot of last ditch defending and thank feck that the header from fat Baz curled wide. And I fucking loved it.
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Massive result today, some monumental defending. We rode our luck to a degree, we had to do a hell of a lot of last ditch defending and thank feck that the header from fat Baz curled wide. And I fucking loved it.
To be quite honest, after all the shitty luck we've had this season, we deserve a bit going our way.
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Man City have some very good players, assembled at a ridiculous cost. What they don't have is a team. And I wonder if they ever will. Well not for 3-4 years.
The Villa with Bent & Makoun have the start of a spine of a team. There's enough at the club to add variation to the spirit and we should have easily turnned the corner.
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incredible result, at one point in the second half they had 87% posession, you can not fault the comitment to win a game tonight as we hardly had the ball, absoloutely brilliant
Over 5 minutes. I'm sure we had something similar at the end of the first half.
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Fantastic result and gutsy performance today.
The whole place felt more like the Villa today - optimism is priceless commodity.
Pleased for Darren, Ged and - most of all Randy today.
Collins was superb , and a special mention to Dunney and Stan - both put in a full 90 mins shift today.
I also thought Ash looked aloot happier today - 18M is a real signing of intent , perhaps this will have the added benefit of showing our ambition - which means Ash will sign a new contract.
All that - and we have binned off Warnock.
Great day all round- up the villa.
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Citeh fans are not happy and believe their title chance has been blown now (page 77 onwards).
Bluemoan (http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=203631&start=830)
Some tool wrote: How we didn't win that game, their cup final, I'll never know.
What the fuck would they know about getting to a final?
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Have some of that Oliver Holt you fat quim.
With your bird-like head and all.
Well done lads. It's amazing what dropping Warnock seems to have done for the defence.
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Fair play Mr Houllier rewarded with an attacking line up and an excellent signing. One chance and one goal, he will get more than that against Wigan. As paulie has said we need to follow this result up with another win. Thought Ashley Young had his best game for while as well. The players now know who is in charge and the chairman has backed him, this showed in their performance today.
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Massive result today, some monumental defending. We rode our luck to a degree, we had to do a hell of a lot of last ditch defending and thank feck that the header from fat Baz curled wide. And I fucking loved it.
To be quite honest, after all the shitty luck we've had this season, we deserve a bit going our way.
Which is why I fucking loved it, long may it continue!
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Well done lads, hard fought win - we dearly (so) needed a win.
We got one, and against the rich boys which makes it even more satisfying.
Benty, 10 more like that before the season's out and you'll be a Holte End hero forever !
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Has Bent been dubbed 'Legend' yet?
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Delighted with today's performance and result.
What more to say?
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incredible result, at one point in the second half they had 87% posession, you can not fault the comitment to win a game tonight as we hardly had the ball, absoloutely brilliant
Over 5 minutes. I'm sure we had something similar at the end of the first half.
i think the stat was at half way through the second half
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Result of the season. Amazing the amount of pressure a goal releases on the side. And a bit of luck for a change...
Really was impressed at how organised & disciplined we were...and the spirit...onwards and upwards now...Makoun and Walker to come in as well...
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What very good defensive performance. Every sinlge player put 100% effort in today and well done to them.
OK, not the sort of performance you like to see at home, but we won't be playing Man City (who looked a very good side) every week, and eventually when we do play them again, hopefully we'll give them more of a game having improved our own.
Questionable whether any other Villa player would've finished that, well done Darren, nice to have you on board!
Please let us kick on now and start to get our game together and move on up the table, giving us something to look forward to for next season.
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Yes Yes YES
Oh my my ...Villa fans those of you who were not there for family reason, work reasons , economic reason or you just live too far especially those of you overseas
I feel sorry for you
Why ..because when Dazza struck in the 17th minutes
THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE ON THIS EARTH TO BE THAN VILLA PARK
The burst of noise that seem to last forever the sheer joy and celebrations by players the hugs all around the silence of the mancs...unbelieveable
I am still buzzing..I wish you were all there!
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Great to see Webcam have a go. He looks much happier. Good moment was Carlos having a genuine laugh when the deflection off his knee went wide. The whole team seemed to be enjoying it. Big change. Confidence.
Strange looking line up but it worked and to see us attacking through the middle was different to our usual immediate ball out to the wings. I think GH confused 'em.
Clean sheet, three points, debut goal, great defending, positive tactics and small heath got a hiding. My round.
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From a MCFC site, I know it's childish to gloat but ................
MCFC ZESTY ZILLIONS Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:55 pm
I think its sooooo funny that one signing.....Darren Bent.....not a prolific scorer by any means....yet everyone is talking like he is Messi or Pele......they have paid far too much for an average player and wont score today.
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Just back and still haven't come down - what an adrenalin fuelled evening! Bent is what we've missed for years - one chance, one goal. And I thought our defence was absolutely immense tonight - especially Collins. Citeh played some classy stuff and I still can't believe they didn't score and we certainly rode our luck at times - a great save from Friedel in the first half, a deflection off Clark (?) that hit the post, Dzeko and Barry heading just wide, a pile-driver from Boateng that practically knocked Friedel off his feet - but we held firm.
A clean sheet. 3 points. Fantastic team performance. A striker who can actually put the chances away. An awesome defence. All we need now is for Ash to sign and the future really is starting to look bright
Oh - and some great chants - Tevez bitten by a shark, Tevez looks like Steve Bruce, and, best of all - there's only one Randy Lerner
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Win at Wigan and 7th looks realistic.
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Goals pay the rent, and Bent does his share!
May well be a different story in May but a penny for Millner's thoughts tonight?
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This may sound obvious, but if we didn't have Bent we wouldn't have scored that goal. What I mean by that is none of our other players would have been in that position to pounce on the rebound.
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Yes Yes YES
Oh my my ...Villa fans those of you who were not there for family reason, work reasons , economic reason or you just live too far especially those of you overseas
I feel sorry for you
Why ..because when Dazza struck in the 17th minutes
THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE ON THIS EARTH TO BE THAN VILLA PARK
The burst of noise that seem to last forever the sheer joy and celebrations by players the hugs all around the silence of the mancs...unbelieveable
I am still buzzing..I wish you were all there!
Bet it didn't compare to when Andy Lochead scored against Bournemouth
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So happy. This result is really massive for us, we just need to follow it up with a win against the Pie Eaters and then we can really start to look up up up.
What a spirited performance, it just feels so good. I was going to put a few quid on Bent as FGS, but didn't... that really did teach me a lesson.
I'm going to wear my Aston Villa shirt with 'Bent' on the back with pride!
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Typical ignorance. He is a prolific goalscorer and tried and tested in Premiership.
Of course you could spunk £27m on a quality but untested striker. No one laughs at Man City for that cos he's foreign and it sounds exotic.
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This may sound obvious, but if we didn't have Bent we wouldn't have scored that goal. What I mean by that is none of our other players would have been in that position to pounce on the rebound.
The goal was a tap in. Bent just happened to be "lucky" enough to be in the right place. That's what you pay £18m for.
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This may sound obvious, but if we didn't have Bent we wouldn't have scored that goal. What I mean by that is none of our other players would have been in that position to pounce on the rebound.
the point is that bent had moved maybe half a second quicker than every one else and had allready worked out his conection before he put the ball in the net, its called instinct and there are very few players that have it
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Indeed, Bent read it perfectly, that's what goalscorers do.
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Just back from B6, a special evening.
One of the nights you simply had to be there, great team performance and truly delighted for GH, RL, PF & DB39
Come on !!!!!!!!
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
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From a MCFC site, I know it's childish to gloat but ................
MCFC ZESTY ZILLIONS Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:55 pm
I think its sooooo funny that one signing.....Darren Bent.....not a prolific scorer by any means....yet everyone is talking like he is Messi or Pele......they have paid far too much for an average player and wont score today.
Snigger.
The defence was superb today. One moment in particular made the difference today for me. Adam Johnson went past our left back in the box and he didn't stick his leg out and bring him down ( like Warnock at the Emirates last season). He thought about it but he didn't .
Superb result, delighted and amazed we finally managed to hold out and get 3 points against someone not expected to go down.
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I'd forgotten what a performance and result like that felt like. The warm glow has returned, and even more so as it was against City and I live in Manchester.
Well played the lads. Thought the back four were outstanding. Cuellar had a blinder and even did well getting forward. Collins and Dunne put everything on the line to stop them getting through, which isn't much fun to watch, but shows their commitment to the cause. Clarke did a good job again considering he's only filling in at LB.
The midfield did a lot better than I thought they would defensively, but ball retention's been a problem for some time and has got to be addressed if we want to start climbing the table. Good energy levels though, which shows that this ball busting fitness training they're doing is paying off.
As for DB, great debut, and I'm glad he's already off the mark. If he hadn't scored for a few games and we weren't picking up points the pressure would really be on. Got a good feeling about him propelling us up the table with his goals. Felt a bit sorry for him as he was so isolated at times today and didn't see much of the ball, but he did what we bought him to do and I'm sure he'll bag a load for us when we're playing a more attacking style.
UTV
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As Young took the shot, Bent held his position instead of going forward to be in a likely off-side position. The defender followed the ball in and Bent had half a yard on him to score.
Well played today lads. YOu all put in 100% effort.
Can't wait to see the team when we play two strikers up front and have Makoun bossing the middle and Walker as a roving right-back (was he injured or ill today).
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
I thought Ash was excellent today. He showed great leadership on the pitch and put in some telling passes.
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As Young took the shot, Bent held his position instead of going forward to be in a likely off-side position. The defender followed the ball in and Bent had half a yard on him to score.
Well played today lads. YOu all put in 100% effort.
Can't wait to see the team when we play two strikers up front and have Makoun bossing the middle and Walker as a roving right-back (was he injured or ill today).
Back injury according to ESPN
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Not long back home. What made the victory all the sweeter was that we were under the cosh for so long in the second half. Can't remember the last time a game seemed to go so quickly either.
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Bet it didn't compare to when Andy Lochead scored against Bournemouth
OK now that you have mentioned it yes that was also special and some of us are priviledged to have been there. We had 48000 that day and the fear of Ted MacDougall was put to rest.
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
I thought Ash was excellent today. He showed great leadership on the pitch and put in some telling passes.
He wasn't exellent, he was better. Better than his recent displays. He is still capable of more though. Remember the MON "Genius" pronouncement. Haven't seen that in a long time. Legion.....you know what to do.
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Walker had back spasm- should be fit on tuesday but can cuellar be dropped after that display? Intersting to see who makes way for makoun as well.
Really cannot fault anyone today - they all gave it their best shot , were fantastic and I'm pleased for houllier as well- let's beat wigan and move onwards and upwards.
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I would just like to announce that I am coming out and love blokes who are Young and Bent.
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Not long back home. What made the victory all the sweeter was that we were under the cosh for so long in the second half. Can't remember the last time a game seemed to go so quickly either.
It seemed to drag on for me, especially at the end.
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Not long back home. What made the victory all the sweeter was that we were under the cosh for so long in the second half. Can't remember the last time a game seemed to go so quickly either.
Having only seen it on T.V. the last 72 minutes plus 3 seemed to last forever.
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
That has been my gripe ..... play him wide on the left where he cuts in and crosses /shoots.... brilliant! "In the hole" behinfd the striker ..... cack!
Enough moaning .... excellent win but we must follow up and for the first time this season get back to back wins.
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This may sound obvious, but if we didn't have Bent we wouldn't have scored that goal. What I mean by that is none of our other players would have been in that position to pounce on the rebound.
the point is that bent had moved maybe half a second quicker than every one else and had allready worked out his conection before he put the ball in the net, its called instinct and there are very few players that have it
I completely agree, and that's why we've paid the money.
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Outstanding defensive performance and 100% commitment of everyone and 3 points which at the end of the day is the most important thing
A couple of things if Mokoun is to start who gets dropped on Tues ?? This plan of playing Gabby on the left in my opinion is not working, we should either push him up and play 4 4 2 or put him on the bench and play Reo. We do not need a "roving"
right back and if Walker had played tonite I think Silva would have been all over him, he has a lot to learn defensively
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
I thought Ash was excellent today. He showed great leadership on the pitch and put in some telling passes.
He wasn't exellent, he was better. Better than his recent displays. He is still capable of more though. Remember the MON "Genius" pronouncement. Haven't seen that in a long time. Legion.....you know what to do.
As I said I think he was excellent today and this was a much better all round performance from him than the "genius" game.
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Not long back home. What made the victory all the sweeter was that we were under the cosh for so long in the second half. Can't remember the last time a game seemed to go so quickly either.
Quickly? It went on for about 3 days for me!
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
I thought Ash was excellent today. He showed great leadership on the pitch and put in some telling passes.
He wasn't exellent, he was better. Better than his recent displays. He is still capable of more though. Remember the MON "Genius" pronouncement. Haven't seen that in a long time. Legion.....you know what to do.
As I said I think he was excellent today and this was a much better all round performance from him than the "genius" game.
totaly agree, looked like he played for the team today, just like every other player
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To the poster who earlier wrote that we should sell AY for 20.000 i would say who fired the shot that the keeper could only parry allowing DB to score and who in the second half bought out a top save from the keeper?
I thought Ash was excellent today. He showed great leadership on the pitch and put in some telling passes.
He wasn't exellent, he was better. Better than his recent displays. He is still capable of more though. Remember the MON "Genius" pronouncement. Haven't seen that in a long time. Legion.....you know what to do.
As I said I think he was excellent today and this was a much better all round performance from him than the "genius" game.
O.K. I hear you . You think he was exellent.
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Gabby may be struggling for form but I thought his commitment and effort were immense in the 2nd half- certainly the manager has not lost the dressing room on that display , the spirit and fight in the team was just amazing!
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Bloody brilliant, Couldn't believe the performance the defence put in, first clean sheet since Halloween and they deserved it. Absolute "collosal" defending from Collins and Dunne, battled like Trojans. Also nice to see Cuellar looking comfortable at right back, makes a change. Interesting formation from Houllier, wasnt expecting to see Downing and Young in the middle of the park, but worked a treat. Might mean the end of Gabby though, as Makoun will surely come into the middle, allowing Downing to go back out left.
Also best the Holte's been this season, probably bit longer. Quality atmosphere.
Definate buzz about the club, and a huge contrast to the previous months of this season; bring on Wigan! We normally get a decent result there, and with a fully-fit side added to our new found confidence, I'm pretty happy.
Season restarts now.
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At last a win!
When did mostly pleasant self-deprecating City fans become such arseholes?
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The thing is the Bent signing has lifted the whole club. I would be surprised if any of the main players want to leave now as they don't see many other clubs in this leagle matching the signing of the likes of Bent. It was one of the most critical statements of intent in many years and I genuinely think it will make players like Young think again about leaving.
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1-0 nearly enough said.
James Collins - Awesome. Nearly enough said.
Man City, awesome attack force, but sum up whats wrong with modern football. Enough Said.
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Didn't City pay £18m for Jo? ;D
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Gabby may be struggling for form but I thought his commitment and effort were immense in the 2nd half- certainly the manager has not lost the dressing room on that display , the spirit and fight in the team was just amazing!
Playing Gabby wide left is good for tactical reasons. The only problem is he is a not a good crosser of flighted ball. He should concentrate on sending in grass cutters and Dazza will do the rest as I don't think he is going to score a lot of goals with his head.
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Gabby played well today. I like him on the left. His work rate and delivery is excellent for playing out there, and he obviously offers a goal threat.
We lose a bit from the middle with two conventional strikers.
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The thing is the Bent signing has lifted the whole club. I would be surprised if any of the main players want to leave now as they don't see many other clubs in this leagle matching the signing of the likes of Bent. It was one of the most critical statements of intent in many years and I genuinely think it will make players like Young think again about leaving.
Much as I've slagged off the hierarchy in recent weeks, this is an interesting comparison to the Gregory Era, when many of us believed the signing of Juninho would have pushed us onto greatness but Ellis bottled it. Clearly Lerner has not bottled the spending on this one. IF we do get up to a sixth place team again - I wonder if he'll bottle spending to take us to 4th?
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I thought Milner didn't put a foot wrong for them today... Snigger. I hope he's feeling shit tonight. A lot ritcher, but shit.
And poor old fat arse Gareth, my heart bleeds for them both.
It makes the win all the sweeter.
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I thought Milner didn't put a foot wrong for them today... Snigger. I hope he's feeling shit tonight. A lot ritcher, but shit.
And poor old fat arse Gareth, my heart bleeds for them both.
It makes the win all the sweeter.
Im sure they are really worried...........they have 20 more points than us and look set for Champions league football next season, oh and lets not forget the thousands of pounds in their bank a/c
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I thought Milner didn't put a foot wrong for them today... Snigger. I hope he's feeling shit tonight. A lot ritcher, but shit.
And poor old fat arse Gareth, my heart bleeds for them both.
It makes the win all the sweeter.
From where I was sitting (Upper Trinity) I had a perfect view of lard boys header and it looked in all the way. McGrath sure looked after us today with the forcefield he put up for us. I think I would have been physically sick if it had gone in.
To see him trudge off after being subbed was one of many highlights of a truly enjoyable day.
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At last a win!
When did mostly pleasant self-deprecating City fans become such arseholes?
were you at the witton station? those guys seemed ok, just playfull but the ones at new street were prize c*nts
amazing game, i think i've become a lower holte convert
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Probably apart from the players individual performences the tactics Houllier employed was a standout. Forcing City to go wide and strangling them in the centre was the perfect way to play them. When Johnson came on i thought they would score, he terrorised Clark. I think we can dispel any notion of an unhappy dressing room, unhappy and discontented players don't commit like that goup did today.
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Just got back.
For me Dunne was superb today, positionally, defensively, tactically brilliant.Stood up to AJohnson when he come on, and kept Tevez and Dzecko in his pocket all game.
Special mention for Marc Albrighton as well.Did'nt stop working the whole game, and our major threat in the 2nd half.Yet again 2/3 fantastic crosses off him as well.
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I thought Milner didn't put a foot wrong for them today... Snigger. I hope he's feeling shit tonight. A lot ritcher, but shit.
And poor old fat arse Gareth, my heart bleeds for them both.
It makes the win all the sweeter.
Nice one! I was surprised (not) that Milner didn't leave the bench once to do a little warm up towards the Holte!
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I had to drive to the game today, which meant I only had one pint. I don't recommend watching a game like that completely sober.
Such an important goal for us and for Bent himself
They put us under a fair amount of pressure but had few clear chances compared to usual.
Great battling display, we started off pushing up at them every time they came near our half but dropped deeper and deeper.
Fantastic noise from the whole ground when the goal went in and from the Holte and Lower North all game long.
"He got bit by a shark, he got bit a shark. Carlos Tevez, got bit by a shark"
He looks like Steve Bruce, he looks like Steve Bruce. Carlos Tevez, he looks like Steve Bruce" top notch songsmithery.
Cracking 3 points
Where's my corkscrew?
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the whole of Aston had a different, more positive vibe tonight
from the lady beneath the M6 flyover serving me my hot dog (hold the onions) right through to Ged and his post match interview, today is a turning point
Oh and how sweet to see FatGazBaz subbed off and Milner not even getting a sniff
Come home Jimmy
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A great feeling to win and climb the table.If anyone is to be dropped then possibly Petrov for Makoun,we need more forward passes and aren't always going to win 1-0,we have to keep attacking.I've seen Darren Bent's goals on You Tube and he can score with either foot,right foot I believe today!
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Not sure if the cameras caught it, but nice to see the Ash / Bent Embrace at the end
I get the feeling they're good mates, hope Ash signs up now
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I thought Johnson caused us massive problems when he came on for larde arse. He was thier best player for me. So glad Clarke was at left back in place of Warnock as he would have been jumping in making stupid late tackles in the box. Well done GH. Flog him back to Blackburn A.S.A.P.....and no Samba in return please.
Can't wait to see what Jean II brings to the team. I would inagine it will be the last we see of NRC.
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I reckon Clark might become our starting LB for the short term future. Not if he's strong enough to play in the middle just now but he could still bulk up.
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Man city who? Up the Villa! Great win. Hope we do as good against Wigan.. Then we're off to a good thing.
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Nice to have Dunne and Collins back. Both were immense as were the whole team defensively.
Great shift out of Albrighton and a perfect start for Bent.
Need to use the ball better at times but that will come. 3 points is massive and now we can start to look at the teams above rather than below.
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Amazing stat on Match of The Day - Darren Bent only 23 touches in the entire game, plus 1 touch in the box = 1 goal!!
How many times have we squandered chances over the last couple of seasons - hopefully no more
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That miss by Fahy...oh dear!
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I reckon Clark might become our starting LB for the short term future. Not if he's strong enough to play in the middle just now but he could still bulk up.
Defence wise he is solid but as a left back he gives little going forward, much like Carlos. His distribution is better then Carlos but Walker is the more attacking type of full back that i think we need. Watching some 80s footage lately, for example the Euro Super Cup match v Barcelona ( Home Leg) the thing that struck me most was the attacking ability of the full backs and how much I'd love to see that in our team now. For me Walker has that. His goal v Sheff Utd was superb and his overlapping is a joy to watch ( so far). If we can find a left back that can do the same ( As Warnock is obviously not up to the job)I think we will be an awesome team going forward.
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That miss by Fahy...oh dear!
Yip. That was pretty spectacular all right. What was he , 1 or 2 yards out ? At least Emile managed to hit the bar v Sunderland.
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Thought we were excellent at times in the first half with the ball, but second when the dogs of war were needed, our dogs were bigger, and more ginger than theirs. Collins was a beast, nay on mythical legend of a beast in the game today. Passion, heart, quality and just sheer will the epitomized everything we need from him. He and Dunne are both better when they are together. Houllier seems to have unlocked the magic potion that makes them play and long may it continue.
The team selection scared the shit out of me, but Young, Petrov, Albrighton and Gabby deserve all the credit in the world for theur closing, pressing and ball retention. Bent worked to give them space, and they worked to get him in, which in time it will click.
My one black spot. Our number 6 did a good impression of our old number 6 for 85 minutes, just without the quality the old one displayed in that role. Swanned about in the centre of midfield, failing to put a foot in too often, never getting close enough to be a nuisance and then gave the ball away continuously. Ponderous, slow. Frustrating. Either on the left or on the bench for me.
The system was spot on, and with another couple of quality midfield players centrally, it will click into place really nicely.
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Amazing stat on Match of The Day - Darren Bent only 23 touches in the entire game, plus 1 touch in the box = 1 goal!!
How many times have we squandered chances over the last couple of seasons - hopefully no more
I was telling Mrs Jembob that over recent seasons, scores of chances like Bent's goal tonight have gone begging because we had nobody with the knack of being in the right place. I can't see any of Messrs Carew, Heskey or Agbonlahor taking a chance on Hart spilling Ash's shot and being ready for the opportunity. I always held the view that we missed out when Bent went to Sunderland and tonight's goal shows why.
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I'm going to wear my Aston Villa shirt with 'Bent' on the back with pride!
Just don't wear it at Pride.
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Carew had a goal ruled out v Newcastle on his debut.
He did, but Ashley Young did score on his debut in that same game.
Back to the matter in hand, that was great. Collins easily the best player on the pitch, Petrov had his best game of the season and Cuellar, Downing and Young were all impressive.
Bent did next to bugger all. Long may that continue.
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another amazing stat our shots on target compared to theirs. Get in there, some team soon is on for a thrashing when our shots go in :)
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My ringpiece is still going half-a-crown, tanner, half-a-crown, tanner, half-a-crown, tanner. I thought Gabby was crap, I thought everyone else were brilliant and I thought Collins was awesome (why dont you play like that all the while you ginger sheep-shagging prat?)!
Looking forward to our annual sojurn to up Wigan and a couple of pints in the Pear Tree after the match on Tuesday.
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Nice to have Dunne and Collins back. Both were immense as were the whole team defensively.
Yessssssssss.
Agree.
Even if I nearly had an heart-attack in the last 15 minutes.
I hate when we go under pressure in the final part of the game, we should try and play the ball from the defence instead of belting it clear, but the team is improving, so I hope that we'll solve this problem too.
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another amazing stat our shots on target compared to theirs. Get in there, some team soon is on for a thrashing when our shots go in :)
BBC site says us 8 them 14
Sky says us 7 them 2 (I can only assume Sky don't include blocked shots as being on target).
Either way, we'll be fine once we get a goalscorer in!
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I was telling Mrs Jembob that over recent seasons, scores of chances like Bent's goal tonight have gone begging because we had nobody with the knack of being in the right place.
You old romantic, you :P
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another amazing stat our shots on target compared to theirs. Get in there, some team soon is on for a thrashing when our shots go in :)
BBC site says us 8 them 14
Sky says us 7 them 2 (I can only assume Sky don't include blocked shots as being on target).
That must be it.
Friedel can't have had 14 touches of the ball in the entire match.
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Fantasy league Hart got 7 saves given to him. Not a clue how many Brad had though.
Kolorov can hit a ball can't he!?
And seriously, how were you impressed with the heartless gutless mundane "efforts" of Downing Dave? He makes me want to shake him till he gets a bit of fire in him.
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Yes Yes YES
Oh my my ...Villa fans those of you who were not there for family reason, work reasons , economic reason or you just live too far especially those of you overseas
I feel sorry for you
Why ..because when Dazza struck in the 17th minutes
THERE WAS NO BETTER PLACE ON THIS EARTH TO BE THAN VILLA PARK
The burst of noise that seem to last forever the sheer joy and celebrations by players the hugs all around the silence of the mancs...unbelieveable
I am still buzzing..I wish you were all there!
I love posts like this, they epitomise why we support a football club.
Bravo Aftab, bravo.
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Fantasy league Hart got 7 saves given to him. Not a clue how many Brad had though.
Kolorov can hit a ball can't he!?
And seriously, how were you impressed with the heartless gutless mundane "efforts" of Downing Dave? He makes me want to shake him till he gets a bit of fire in him.
You are joking? Downing was quality today, everyone was quality and when Petrov tired he was subbed.
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I'm going to wear my Aston Villa shirt with 'Bent' on the back with pride!
Marvellous.
Just don't wear it at Pride.
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Barry - outclassed and subbed.
Milner - warmed up well, but may as well have stayed in bed.
Ireland - did stay in bed.
Dunne - simply magnificent.
And tomorrow's headline has to be...
BENT 18m
(not millions, but minutes taken to score his first goal)
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I agree that Downing played very well today, above all if we consider that he is a winger and has been played as CM, so we must appreciate his versatility.
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Maybe the few people around where I was saw it different then, but Downing gave it away a fair bit and just never seemed to bust a gut the way the others were. He is too much of a fairy to play central midfield.
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Two moments today: the cheer/noise that seemed to last forever after Bent's goal and at the final whistle. I love football.
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TURNING POINT....
A new folk hero
Quality in depth
Solid defence/dangerous attack = points.
Mark my words, we will get to the same kind of level Spuds are achieving right now.
Heard we might be getting Crouchy back as a foil for Bent,got to be good.
We are getting rid of the driftwood at long last.
This is going to snowball from here on in. 22-1-11 remember the date...its day ONE.
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That result was a long, long time coming!!
Wasnt pretty for long periods, but some of the last ditch defending was magnificent. Still think our midfield doesnt offer enoguh defensive protection but that is for another day.
Fact remains that City were restricted to long range shots, which they almost got lucky with on once or twice. I think if we werent on such a bad run and were playing with a bit mroe confidence there could have been another goal or 2 for us.
Dunne given MOM on ESPN, Collins would have been my choice, but both were immense. Credit to Clark and Cuellar too. I would still put Walker back in against Wigan though for the simple reason that he offers us more going forward. It will also be interesting to see if Makoun gets a start. I suspect he will start on the bench unless there were injuries picked up today.
Lastly, how things have changed for Jimmy M in the space of 6 months. From being the golden boy of English football, to making a move for eye-watering money, to being barely noticed in his "homecoming" game where his arse collected splinters and the 2 new-multi-million-signing-kids on the block, Dzeko and Bent, took any fading limelight he may have had on him. I dont mean to say it in a gloating way, just is remarkable how football is going. He cant be one bit happy how this move has turned out for him, unless the money makes it all ok.
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Lastly, how things have changed for Jimmy M in the space of 6 months. From being the golden boy of English football, to making a move for eye-watering money, to being barely noticed in his "homecoming" game where his arse collected splinters and the 2 new-multi-million-signing-kids on the block, Dzeko and Bent, took any fading limelight he may have had on him. I dont mean to say it in a gloating way, just is remarkable how football is going. He cant be one bit happy how this move has turned out for him, unless the money makes it all ok.
Spot on and good post.
You sort of in way feel sorry for Milner making a naive decision to join Abu Dhabi Superstars, on the flip side of the coin it was hilarious watching Barry waddle off being subbed. Respect him as a player but he certainly irked (putting it mildly) a lot of Villa fans.
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Can't stop watching Bent's goal yesterday.
It just seems so surreal, it feels like I'm having a beautiful dream except I haven't woken up yet...
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Can't stop watching Bent's goal yesterday.
It just seems so surreal, it feels like I'm having a beautiful dream except I haven't woken up yet...
We're all feeling this my friend. This result against this team is more satisfying to me than any win over Blouse since they came back up. Well, the first time we beat them in the PL and the 5-1 come very close indeed, but even that just felt like re-establishing the way things are meant to be, there was a kind of irresistable inevitability about it. This win against Man City feels like the first time we've struck back in a true war, after all they've done to usurp our position both directly and indirectly, after all the bollocks with the way they approach transfers, Garry F***king Cook, everything - we finally hit back.
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We now have the TOP scorer in the premier league for the last 5 years, same rung as Rooney and Drogba, and they both cost their respective clubs a shitload more. Well done DB, I don't care that your "all round game is a D", you might be as lazy as Carew but at least you know where the net is. Well done boys for the effort otherwise.
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If Carlesburg were in charge of debut`s this was it. Was with two blue noses who kept telling me Bent was a waste of money !!!! Had some serious action with the misses. Does it get any better. Thank you Lord !!!!!!
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A bit churlish to complain after such a result but I spent most of the game tearing my hair out as we constantly gave away possession cheaply and defended deeply. Yes they have good players but it's Man City for fuck sake, not Barcelona. That stat that came up in the second half showing Sheikhy had completed 400 odd passes to our 150 was a tad embarassing. Fuck it, we won but next time we play them I hope we don't play like a lower league team showing too much respect.
It was a classic MON away/against a big team performance (reminded me a lot of the Spurs and ManUre games last season). The counter attacks weren't as frequent as they might have been though as our last ditch clearances invariably went straight back to the opposition. Oddly, though the defence was over-worked, Friedel didn't really have any saves to make. Bent pounced with the one chance he had. A clinical striker is something we've lacked for years.
A big, big result but we're in a similar position post-Chelsea. Win at Wigan and we're on the march. Fuck up like the Sunderland game and the struggle continues.
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Fully agree with you Emamonn.
We are improving, that's for sure, but still we tend to stop attacking and to retire in the box in the last 15 minutes of the game, it's that sort of conduct that costed us points with Fulham and ManU. Yesterday we have been lucky because the ball defleted by Clarke hit the post. When shall we learn?
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Superb result and performance last night. As most have said, the whole team defended superbly.
We were under the cosh for most of the game, and struggled to hold the ball up the final third.
Can't wait for Heskey to come back and play up front with Bent.
That will be some partnership.
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A dream start for Bent. He was on the move as soon as Ash shot, anticipating where the keeper was going to push it and made it into a simple chance.
I thought they were bound to score and was thinking one all wouldn't be a bad result but when it hit 80 minutes I dared to think we would win it so became really nervous. Fair play to them though as we defended manfully and earned the bit of luck with the one that hit the post. They all worked their socks off and credit to the manager for being bold with his selection and seeing it come off. I hope all of the people advocating selling Downing were paying attention as he had a great game.
It is games like that which remind you why you go to football.
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A dream start for Bent. He was on the move as soon as Ash shot, anticipating where the keeper was going to push it and made it into a simple chance.
I thought they were bound to score and was thinking one all wouldn't be a bad result but when it hit 80 minutes I dared to think we would win it so became really nervous. Fair play to them though as we defended manfully and earned the bit of luck with the one that hit the post. They all worked their socks off and credit to the manager for being bold with his selection and seeing it come off. I hope all of the people advocating selling Downing were paying attention as he had a great game.
It is games like that which remind you why you go to football.
He was woeful Chris. Sorry but he has not got the heart or ability to play central midfield. Fine on the left, but he did about a third of the work that the other 2 did in there, and Petrov was immense thankfully. I would slot Makoun straight in for Downing and let him fight it out with whoever to play left hand side.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
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Gabby doesnt seem to be able to get to grips with it out wide and doesnt like the amount of defending he has been told to do so i think he will drop to bench, Downing out wide and Makoun with Stan in the middle for Tues night
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I think Downing is too much of a wuss to play in the middle and he does't have that killer ball in him either.
Its on the wing or not in the team at all for him.
Gabby on the wing doesn't work for me either.
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Quite true but still Gabby started the action of the Darren's goal, though.
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Quite true but still Gabby started the action of the Darren's goal, though.
Indeed he did Archie, but he has to play up front if he plays at all.
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Thanks gervilla. Thought I was the only one that thinks he is too weak to play centrally. On the flip side, it is a position made for Delph with Downing going back out wide.
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Anyone know why Kyle Walker wasnt in the squad, I presume illness?
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Watching the highlights again it was good to see Ash so involved in such a direct manner (3 shots) and at his argumentative best with the corner kick appeal - he does appear to care!
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Anyone know why Kyle Walker wasnt in the squad, I presume illness?
Ged said it was a back injury sustained in Friday training.
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Anyone know why Kyle Walker wasnt in the squad, I presume illness?
Back injury.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
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Watching the highlights again it was good to see Ash so involved in such a direct manner (3 shots) and at his argumentative best with the corner kick appeal - he does appear to care!
Does he care enough to sign a new contract ?? or is it because he has seen a new midfielder join and thought......mmm I may have to try a bit harder
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Watching the highlights again it was good to see Ash so involved in such a direct manner (3 shots) and at his argumentative best with the corner kick appeal - he does appear to care!
Does he care enough to sign a new contract ?? or is it because he has seen a new midfielder join and thought......mmm I may have to try a bit harder
I'm not sure yet, but if he signs or not he is still our best player.
And Downing was brilliant with Ash an Petrov yesturday!
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Didn't get home until late last night.
My initial feelings are one of relief.
Relief, obviously, for the three points.
Relief that the record signing has got off to a scoring start. Nothing would have been worse than the headlines "Bent has gone two/three/four/five..." without scoring. I was also pleased in a way that it was a scrappy, but predatory strike; pouncing on the half chance. We haven't been tucking those away for a long time.
And finally relief that the defence held firm. Not pretty at times, and a certain amount of luck ridden, but the desire was there not to concede and get a result. For that only, we deserved our good fortune.
Well done to everyone, both on and off the pitch. Now for the same please on Tuesday.
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Close run thing though wasn't it. Barry header, Tevez air shot, post etc. But if they had got one back I would STILL have been satisfied simply because there was a (surprising) game plan, and passion, in spades.
Hat's off to GH and everyone involved. I was a "sack him", not simply because of the shit results but the reason for them. No-one seemed to care. Well, they do now it seems. He lost them. He got them back. From teddy bears to Tigers. Can't help feeling that the comittment from RL in spending the cash was a catalyst for the senior players.
What a pity that the LCQF against SHA was when it was. Not only would we have been in the final I think we could have given Arsenal a bloody good fight.
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Close run thing though wasn't it. Barry header, Tevez air shot, post etc. But if they had got one back I would STILL have been satisfied simply because there was a (surprising) game plan, and passion, in spades.
Hat's off to GH and everyone involved. I was a "sack him", not simply because of the shit results but the reason for them. No-one seemed to care. Well, they do now it seems. He lost them. He got them back. From teddy bears to Tigers. Can't help feeling that the comittment from RL in spending the cash was a catalyst for the senior players.
What a pity that the LCQF against SHA was when it was. Not only would we have been in the final I think we could have given Arsenal a bloody good fight.
The irony is we played pretty well that night and should have got a result. Bent would have made a huge difference in both those games.
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Well that was nervy, maybe a turning point as a few weeks ago we would have almost certainly conceded in the last few minutes. The defense was immense with Collins, Dunne and Cuellar having their best games in a very long time. The midfield looked very empty for large parts of the game despite all of them working very hard and I'm not sure I'd like to see Bent up on his own for large parts of the season, he is always on the defenders shoulder looking for the killer ball rather than showing to feet and that meant we squandered possession or had to go backward into more populated areas of the field.
A fantastic win but still much more to come.
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Apart from Bent doing what he does best, the big plus for me was Collins and Dunne. They were back to their best yesterday. I can't understand what went so wrong, but more of the same please.
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I thought Petrov was brilliant. I have been, at times, in both pro and anti-Petrov camps, but his attitude this season has been exemplary, especially when you'd think he'd be the one senior pro to be most affected by MON's departure.
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Still on a high from it.
Bizarre but brave formation from Houllier, everybody worked their balls off and James Collins was a brick wall, as was Cuellar.
A good result against Wigan, a win in the FA cup and we'll be on a roll.
Bring it on.
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I was pleased as punch after that win against Man Shitty i thought the defence where brilliant especially Collins who get's my motm award i think the lads put a shift in yesterday which was good to see if we can biuld on it against Wigan things will look a lot better for us.
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clean sheet, debut goal from a natural finisher, and a much needed win!
awesome stuff...
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Collins was like a different player and thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award.
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Brilliant win against a title chasing team. Great performance and a clean sheet, fantastic! Got to follow it up with a win on Tuesday, comfortable win aswell.
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Maybe the few people around where I was saw it different then, but Downing gave it away a fair bit and just never seemed to bust a gut the way the others were. He is too much of a fairy to play central midfield.
And not skillful or fast enough to play wide.
To be fair, though he still bottled some tackles, at least he was making the effort to get in opponents ways.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
Downing wasn't 'great' and certainly not 'absolutely superb'....hyperbole gone mad yet again
However, neither was he 'woeful'
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I thought Petrov was brilliant. I have been, at times, in both pro and anti-Petrov camps, but his attitude this season has been exemplary, especially when you'd think he'd be the one senior pro to be most affected by MON's departure.
Agree.
I'm far from being a Petrov fan but last night he led superbly, not only with his football, but the way he controlled the younger lads around him offering words of wisdom especially when they did the odd dodgy tackle. His chat kept some players on the pitch.
If they can now get enough confidence to hold he ball more, rather than give it away we will climb up the table without too much of a problem, if they don't, it will be harder.
A word of praise for Houllier too. Not many of us appreciated that team pick against such a strong City midfield but it worked for once and our shots on target did his tactics proud. Now lets see if they can do the same against a more mundane side. Seems to me against the big sides, Chelsea, Utd, now City they turn a performance on, but against the weaker sides, its not so good. Time for the knife sharpening to be put on the back burner for a while.
Again an all round great team performance, everyone did well, especially Petrov, Young, Downing and those magnificent men in defence, out first clean sheet since October.
Villa Park was back at nearly its best, well done all, pity Randy wasn't there to see it, seemingly.
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Gabby doesnt seem to be able to get to grips with it out wide and doesnt like the amount of defending he has been told to do so i think he will drop to bench, Downing out wide and Makoun with Stan in the middle for Tues night
Rubbish, he did his job manfully as he always does
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What is it with Mancs and the Bham accent? I must have heard half a dozen cod brummie accents from City fans who were hardly Brian fucking Sewell themselves.
Second city resentment I reckon.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
Downing wasn't 'great' and certainly not 'absolutely superb'....hyperbole gone mad yet again
However, neither was he 'woeful'
Nope, I'm sticking with it. I thought he was superb, and I don't consider that to be overly hyperbolic, really. It was, in my view, a terrific, disciplined and consistent midfield performance from a player I didn't honestly expect it of. I don't think he's a 'superb' player, nor a 'woeful' one, but yesterday, for me, Downing's was an outstanding performance.
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I'm still waiting for the City supporter to post on the thread to give his considered opinion of the match like on the last post match thread at their place.Somehow I think I'm in for a long wait
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Collins was like a different player and thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award.
Collins has made a habit of putting in last ditch tackles and blocks this season. Most of these were due to his own/team mates mistakes a few seconds earlier. Yesterday he also did that when required however he and Dunne did not put a foot wrong in crucial decisions. Ball was in row z before a city forward could get a sniff of it. That is how they need to be for the rest of the season.
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I thought Petrov was brilliant. I have been, at times, in both pro and anti-Petrov camps, but his attitude this season has been exemplary, especially when you'd think he'd be the one senior pro to be most affected by MON's departure.
Agree.
I'm far from being a Petrov fan but last night he led superbly, not only with his football, but the way he controlled the younger lads around him offering words of wisdom especially when they did the odd dodgy tackle. His chat kept some players on the pitch.
If they can now get enough confidence to hold he ball more, rather than give it away we will climb up the table without too much of a problem, if they don't, it will be harder.
A word of praise for Houllier too. Not many of us appreciated that team pick against such a strong City midfield but it worked for once and our shots on target did his tactics proud. Now lets see if they can do the same against a more mundane side. Seems to me against the big sides, Chelsea, Utd, now City they turn a performance on, but against the weaker sides, its not so good. Time for the knife sharpening to be put on the back burner for a while.
Again an all round great team performance, everyone did well, especially Petrov, Young, Downing and those magnificent men in defence, out first clean sheet since October.
Villa Park was back at nearly its best, well done all, pity Randy wasn't there to see it, seemingly.
With Petrov , maybe its now got something to do with not being guaranteed your place however out of form you are , as in the past and this goes to other players too... If you add quality to the team , the players in the team have to go up a level or they will be shipped out to the like of Stoke... and Im liking this....
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I'd say to him what he said to us. That there are at least three worse teams in the league, and I'd be surprised if they went down.
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I thought Downing had a fine game, he covered a lot of ground, got forward and did make some tackles, tackling will never be his strong point.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
Downing wasn't 'great' and certainly not 'absolutely superb'....hyperbole gone mad yet again
However, neither was he 'woeful'
Nope, not hyperbole Richard, just a different opinion to yours. That is allowed you know.
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I'm still waiting for the City supporter to post on the thread to give his considered opinion of the match like on the last post match thread at their place.Somehow I think I'm in for a long wait
The world is full of patronising twats. I wander he and some others would like to hear us say:
"Oh there is no way you deserverd to lose. If you carry on playing like this you will win more games than you would lose this season. I am sure you are good enough for top 4. There is no way Dzeko will struggle like he did yesterday and Tevez will not be as clueless as he was Best of luck for the rest of the season you are club we have always liked"
*snigger snigger*
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Although 'hyperbole gone mad yet again' is wonderfully subtle! ;)
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
Downing wasn't 'great' and certainly not 'absolutely superb'....hyperbole gone mad yet again
However, neither was he 'woeful'
Nope, not hyperbole Richard, just a different opinion to yours. That is allowed you know.
Downing's energy was superb last night, worked as hard as anybody and he's the sort of creative player we need to hang on to.
I don't understand why people have got such a downer on him.
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We have gone from a complete crumbling mess of a team that teams could score against virtually every time they attack, to a fantastic solid unit from top to bottom. Major transformation. Collins and Dunne have gone from Laurel and Hardy to (not far off) McGrath and Teale within the space of 2 months. Bent was superb when involved, in games where we are on the front foot he should bag a hatfull. Young looked more up for it than he has for a while, maybe he's taking us seriously again?
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Downing works very hard to get into positions to receive the ball but he does tend to shy out of tackles, thats a lot more noticable to the crowd.
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Normally in a game like yesterday's, i'd be screaming at us to get the 2nd goal, but just for once i felt we did'nt need it. I just could'nt see Man City scoring. We worked bloody hard for those 3 points. Let's hope that gives us confidence to go on a bit of a run.
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I'm with Mr Smith on this one, I can't believe anyone would describe Downing's performance as 'woeful'! I thought he was absolutely superb yesterday, a vital part of our win.
I'm with these two. It was a very mature performance from Downing.
Downing wasn't 'great' and certainly not 'absolutely superb'....hyperbole gone mad yet again
However, neither was he 'woeful'
Nope, not hyperbole Richard, just a different opinion to yours. That is allowed you know.
Goodness me Chris, what's the saying I'm searching for, I think it has got the words 'pot' and 'kettle' in it
But thanks for the telling off
I'll stick with my view that calling Downing last night 'absolutely superb' is way over the top
However, I'm just an old git so you must excuse my aversion to hyperbole
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The Truth's post-match interview with ESPN
Stan's interview with ESPN
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I suppose tactically that was as negative an approach I've seen at Villa Park for years but it worked brilliantly, as we stifled Man City; even when they had the ball, they struggled to break us down and were pushed wide (although Johnson had a go late on) and relied on long range efforts. We still looked more dangerous on the break then they did. Work-rate from the likes of Petrov, Young and Allbrighton was immense and that was the best across the back we've played all season. Downing, Gabby and Clark were all doing jobs they're not best suited for but gave everything. We played with our heads and hearts. General Collins claim your medal. Welcome Cpl Bent, you did what you had to do.
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I don't like the way she was holding that mic!
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Richard, I accept the age argument, your senses have been dimmed and you are unable to interpret the evidence that your eyes are supplying you with but I won't gloat as it will happen to me in due course. <wink>
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So Darren Bent helped us earn a good point did he? Has anyone told her the rules of the game before they armed her with a mic and Camera?
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Just a quick mention for Carlos's through ball in the second half to Albrighton, simply magnificent, totally sliced the Citeh back line wide open, did'nt think he had that kind of pass in his locker
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Ye that pass suprised me as well. Players are now realising they really have got to be on top of there game or they will be replaced. Think its time for any "Houllier out" subscibers to put there hands up and realise he is turning things around ......
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I thought that pass was by Collins?
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Just a quick mention for Carlos's through ball in the second half to Albrighton, simply magnificent, totally sliced the Citeh back line wide open, did'nt think he had that kind of pass in his locker
Carlos can play some decent passes. Even last year when he was RB under MON he played some good passes but everyone remembered the times he played it down the byline and it went out or his crossing (which isn't the best) and conveniently forgot the rest.
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It was Collins who did the excellent pass to SMA.
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Tactically we set up in a strange way,but fair play to GH the tactics worked-we won!
I though that with Darren arriving gabby would have been dropped to the bench for this match,but he persevered with him on the left-this is still not quite working but it may be stopped soon anyway
When we get Emile back i assume GH will switch to a 442type set up-but you never know these days(which is a change from MON's 'set in stone' set up)
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I thought that pass was by Collins?
Now you've mentioned it I think your rite, aaagh fuck it, it was a fantastic defence splitting ball by one of our back four ;-)
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A dream start for Bent. He was on the move as soon as Ash shot, anticipating where the keeper was going to push it and made it into a simple chance.
I thought they were bound to score and was thinking one all wouldn't be a bad result but when it hit 80 minutes I dared to think we would win it so became really nervous. Fair play to them though as we defended manfully and earned the bit of luck with the one that hit the post. They all worked their socks off and credit to the manager for being bold with his selection and seeing it come off. I hope all of the people advocating selling Downing were paying attention as he had a great game.
It is games like that which remind you why you go to football.
He was woeful Chris.
I know others have said it, but I have to comment too. I cannot believe you could have watched the game yesterday and come to that conclusion. He was excellent.
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It is all about opinions Ads. Woeful may be harsh, but certainly not anywhere approaching good. Maybe 6 out of 10. So many times he gave it away, looked lost or clueless with what to do with it and was just walking when he needed to put a bit of energy into getting back. Really annoyed my during the game I have to say.
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Bizarre but brave formation from Houllier.
I think he wanted somebody in the middle who could advanced the ball forward. NRC was poor against Small Heath and he hasn't got the quality to drive it forward. Downing did well at this yesterday I though. Made a lot of good passes and some good forward runs. Keeping the middle warm for Makoun.
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See I thought his use of the ball was very mixed. Anyhow, as said the joy of the game is opinion.
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Bizarre but brave formation from Houllier.
I think he wanted somebody in the middle who could advanced the ball forward. NRC was poor against Small Heath and he hasn't got the quality to drive it forward. Downing did well at this yesterday I though. Made a lot of good passes and some good forward runs. Keeping the middle warm for Makoun.
It was very hard for Nige to do much interms of going forward against Blues as there was only static carew to aim at, felt sorry for him quite a few times. He had the ball and kept it in his possession but could only give it backwards as there was no options for him
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Don't get me wrong, I like Downing on the wing, but the center of the park is not the place for him. I can't remember him being involved in a single tackle yesterday. Yes, he closed people down, but give me someone who can put their foot in and distribute it any day.
I would rather see Downing on the left, Albrighton on the right with Petrov and Makoun in the middle, with two from Bent, Gabby and Ash up front.
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Dont know if it has been mentioned but there was a time in the match when City played a long ball over the top and Dunne was like Gabby sprinting across the back line to clear it. He seems to have reacted the right way to being dropped and getting rid of the extra pounds.
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Dont know if it has been mentioned but there was a time in the match when City played a long ball over the top and Dunne was like Gabby sprinting across the back line to clear it. He seems to have reacted the right way to being dropped and getting rid of the extra pounds.
Apart from a poor header in the first half, I though Dunne was looking as close to last season as he has this. Composed, in the zone and commanding. Great to have the two of them back in form, and fair play to Dunne and GH for sorting things out between the.
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Dunne's also looking in much better shape, and slowly seems in to be buying into the Villa vision. He and Collins were throwing themselves at everything. You need to want to do it before you actually do it. Dunne was very engaged yesterday.
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It is about opinions, but Downing was superb, he was always available to relieve pressure, we cant just pick out all the bad thngs he did, he deserves credit for yesturday.
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It is about opinions, but Downing was superb, he was always available to relieve pressure, we cant just pick out all the bad thngs he did, he deserves credit for yesturday.
Agreed. I think Downing did well. I can't wait to see this team take on lesser opponents at Villa Park, we have a lot of quality attacking options and with Bent's movement, anticipation and finishing I think we will finally reap the rewards of having Downing, Young and Albrighton in the side.
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The tactics employed by Houllier were excellent. The way the team followed them were also excellent.
I had a fantastic time and only now is my hangover subsiding.
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I thought Petrov was brilliant. I have been, at times, in both pro and anti-Petrov camps, but his attitude this season has been exemplary, especially when you'd think he'd be the one senior pro to be most affected by MON's departure.
Calling him brilliant is slightly going over the top. I lost count how many times Toure took the ball around him with ease. He's the player, for me, that Makoun should be replacing.
Petrov played well, and tends to keep the ball well, but we need someone with a bit more energy and pace. He makes Barry look like Usain Bolt.
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If manc citie had been more flexible tactically they could have tried to exploit the fact that the midfield cannot be relied upon to win headers
but they didn't
with makoun and or Fabian D in there we may be less vunerable in the middle of the park
I was pleased to see the lads in front of the back 4 try to tackle ,press and get their bodies in the way-but none of them are really that type of player in the way of the aforementioned
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I partly agree with ozzjim about Downing.
Sometimes you think he is real top quality, the next hes a big girls blouse.What does worry me about him is he has'nt got that winning mentality.Ash has it, Delph has it, that desire to be as good as you possibly can be, i'm not sure Downing has that in him.I get the impression off Downing sometimes that he is happy to do just enough.
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Although im a fan of him, i think Petrov will be replaced by Makoun.
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Downing was far from superb yesterday. He was also far from woeful.
I don't recall him doing anything outstanding or poor to be honest. He was just ok.
That said, it was backs to the wall, so probably not his type of game.
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Think we need to keep Petrov in midfield. He can keep the ball and distribute it well. He also is an expert at attracting fouls in dangerous places. Reo coker offers little alround and Makoun will replace him ....
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The real test is Wigan, gerrard got tactics right against Chelsea then did an Oneil and played the same vs Sunderland.
Let's hope he has learned his lesson.
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I partly agree with ozzjim about Downing.
Sometimes you think he is real top quality, the next hes a big girls blouse.What does worry me about him is he has'nt got that winning mentality.Ash has it, Delph has it, that desire to be as good as you possibly can be, i'm not sure Downing has that in him.I get the impression off Downing sometimes that he is happy to do just enough.
I think you have something here, good spot
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Love that SVC interview especially the end
He's so Villa, he's one of us, top man
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A great night. Its night's like that restore your faith in the Villa and life in general!
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Love that SVC interview especially the end
He's so Villa, he's one of us, top man
any link to interview or what he say as I don't do radio.
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I partly agree with ozzjim about Downing.
Sometimes you think he is real top quality, the next hes a big girls blouse.What does worry me about him is he has'nt got that winning mentality.Ash has it, Delph has it, that desire to be as good as you possibly can be, i'm not sure Downing has that in him.I get the impression off Downing sometimes that he is happy to do just enough.
I think you have something here, good spot
I agree
Our commitment on Saturday was fantastic but I thought we were sitting so deep in the centre of midfield we were bound to get punished. Luckily we didnt but for me in the centre we need Makoun and Delph, Downing wide left and gabby playing off Benty or not playing at all.
The sight of gabby trying to defend in the left back position is just wrong
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It was a deliberate plot to sit deep, keep them bogged down in midfield and not allow them space to get in behind. It worked a treat because for all their possession Brad was rarely stretched and it was only when Johnson came on and attacked Clark that they started to really trouble us.
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Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if it has already been mentioned but I thought the Cuellar had one of his best games for us. My MOM.