Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Risso on August 23, 2011, 09:31:53 PM
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Phew.Job done just abouts.
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And arent there a lot of Sussex Villains?
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I think we can see why a lot of those players have got almost no game time.
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We're in the pot for the next round. That's all I care about.
Maybe we found out tonight why Makoun and Ireland haven't had any time in the league?
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Beye . MOM .. just for earning some of his grotesque wage
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Through to the next round, clean sheet job done!!
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Scraping past lower league opposition in the early rounds, Mcleish has previous for that ;-)
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Well thought it would have been a slight tad easier, however in this kind of thing the win is the most important thing, how you win not so much.
Not seen the game, however look forward to see who we get in the next round....Job done.
All eyes on Wolves, up next.
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A win, a clean sheet, a good run out for some of the fringe players and no injuries to Bent and N'Zogbia... oh and safely through to the next round!
Trying to focus on the positives here folks ;0)
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Result that suits all, were in the draw, Hereford get the moral victory and a decent bit of cash.
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Job done, and some fringe players getting match time. Can't ask for more.
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A win, a clean sheet, a good run out for some of the fringe players and no injuries to Bent and N'Zogbia... oh and safely through to the next round!
Trying to focus on the positives here folks ;0)
Quite right indeed.
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A win is a win and I'll take it every time. Wolves won 4-0 away tonight and will be flying with confidence on Saturday. We will need to improve to win that one you'd think.
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anyone a member of the sussex supporters club then?
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anyone a member of the sussex supporters club then?
hadnt realised there was one?
Mackail-Smith, Brighton 1-0!
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Looks like I will be in Brighton Saturday, where should I watch the match
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A win, a clean sheet, a good run out for some of the fringe players and no injuries to Bent and N'Zogbia... oh and safely through to the next round!
Trying to focus on the positives here folks ;0)
Indeed. Just getting through is the important part at this stage.
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Norwich lost 0-4 Sunderland are 1-0 down ET so just happy to be through. Bannan MOM got to play Saturday ........
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I think we can see why a lot of those players have got almost no game time.
Did you see the game then?
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I saw and heard bugger all. It was a fine display.
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Getting clean sheets gets to become a habit irrespective of the opposition, so it's nice to see those again. We're through and a goal for Fonz will do him the world of good. Big game now on Saturday now against a confident Wolves team.
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Looks like I will be in Brighton Saturday, where should I watch the match
anyone a member of the sussex supporters club then?
hadnt realised there was one?
Mackail-Smith, Brighton 1-0!
Blimey: http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-news/item/30-brighton-villa-hotspot
There's 6,000 of us in Sussex? :o And an "official visit" from the club coming on September 13 apparently?
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Bannan MOM got to play Saturday ........
She can't be any worse than Emile.
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In the car on the way home. Never looked liked losing and it was a matter of when we scored not if. Bannan did very well, Ireland was reasonably good and improving. Sadly albrighton was poor again. On another day that would have been 4 or 5 nil
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Looks like I will be in Brighton Saturday, where should I watch the match
anyone a member of the sussex supporters club then?
hadnt realised there was one?
Mackail-Smith, Brighton 1-0!
Blimey: http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-news/item/30-brighton-villa-hotspot
There's 6,000 of us in Sussex? :o And an "official visit" from the club coming on September 13 apparently?
And the Pub you all go to?
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Banana skin successfully avoided. Into the hat. Bring on another tie against plucky crappers.
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Bannan MOM got to play Saturday ........
She can't be any worse than Emile.
Bet she don't go down as easy...
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Kendrick said they were doubling up on Albrighton, is this true?
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I imagine we'll play the same side v wolves if possible. But if gabby were out, I wonder if bannan will get the nod ahead of albrighton, either wide left or with heskey wide left?
Let's hope albrighton will get through this. For one reason or another I have some doubts.
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Thought we played well. Created a fair few chances and never really looked too in danger, although there was always gonna be a few moments when it was 0-0 at that time.
Ireland was busy, should have had a hattrick though which would have made it easier.
Bent needs to time his runs better, always offside. Makoun had a few nice touches.
Albrighton disappointing again and N'Zogbia still looks off the pace, but it'll come.
Beye looked decent when he came on, hopefully he'll be given more of a chance.
Their #4 really impressed me, the lanky Crouch looking bloke in midfield.
Decent performance though, despite the late and scrappy goals.
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4 Premier League teams knocked out as well.
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Guardian report suggested albrighton was our most influential player. Sounds to me' like we played well before getting a bit frustrated later on. If we'd stu k our chances away it would have been more comfortable.
Shouldn't be too knackered for Saturday now
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We are through. You never get a decent performance in the early rounds for the League Cup against lower league opposition, it tells you little, the players just want to get through.
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Albrighton was ineffective.
One good cross. Saw alot of the ball too.
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Just got back, considering the standard of opposition, and our starting lineup I thought we were quite poor at times. We seemed to want to walk it into the net. Our movement off the ball just seems to vanish as well.
Ireland and Albrighton continue to disappoint, Bannan was very good, as was, it has to be said, Beye when he came on. An assist and a Messi type run! Fonz continues to worry me as well. Weimann looked decent, and i'd probably have him on the bench ahead of Fonz at present.
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Fonz that scored..?
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Just because he scored, doesn't mean that his overall play doesn't worry me regarding his longterm prospects.
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We're in the pot for the next round. That's all I care about.
Maybe we found out tonight why Makoun and Ireland haven't had any time in the league?
Ireland was excellent tonight.
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Our first choice striker doesn't do much else than score to be fair.
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i think ireland was fantastic tonight, he was everywhere and how that keeper saved his shot i'll never know.his passing was slick aswell with some nice through balls.overall our football was good, in control from start to finish!
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Ireland good, Bannan too. Albrighton poor but never hides which I admire, he'll come good. Referee energised the night with some baffling decisions. Half empty stadium reminded me of the eighties.
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I also thought Ireland was excellent, I thought albrighton was poor, continually failed to put a decenct ball in the box even when he wasn't under pressure. Improved 2nd half slightly when he moved to the left. Weinerman looked good when he came on. I'm also concerned about the Fonz.
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Thought Ireland had a very good 20 minutes or so in the 2nd half, Albrighton didn't do a fat lot, defence weren't really tested & Bannan had a very, very good game - some great passing.
The most important thing was my 4 year old went to his first game & saw a Villa win which sent him home happy if not a little hyper!
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So Ireland tonight was, fantastic, excellent, good and disappointing.
Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
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For the first 15 minutes it looked as though we'd score early then run out easy winners. The longer it went on I kept fearing they'd nick one from a set piece then stand 10 players across the goal line. HUGE relief when the first went in and obviously the second sealed it.
Thought Ireland was OK but I'm increasingly unimpressed with Makoun and may be best if we move him on and use the money to buy someone - if not now then January. Marc Albrighton has lost form and isn't half the player he was this time last year - his crossing was poor tonight. Thought Bannan played well, was impressed with Herd, and very impressed with Weimann. Have to say Beye was excellent when he came on too.
Considering Bent and N'zogbia started we should have slaughtered a team 2nd from bottom in the entire League, but the important thing is we're in the hat for the next round. Which means another game against Blackburn.
Biggest positive of the night - getting home less than an hour after the game finished
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Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
Yes, I have. What's the difference between a duck? One of it's legs are both the same.
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Just got back, thought we were pretty decent to be honest, could easily have been 5 or 6. Everyone had a decent game i thought apart from Albrighton and N'Zogbia.
Makoun went missing a bit in the second half, i can see why he might be the player McLeish might prefer to move on from the three who played tonight.
Lots of good stuff from the midfield 3 in terms of one touch passing to create space, not as effective in creating chances once in that space though.
We were under very little pressure all evening in truth, only 5 fouls from them all game (according to the dodgy ref anyway) it suggested we may need a plan b rather than just relying on getting the ball to Bent. I thought Albrightons best stuff came after Bent had gone off, maybe people are looking to get him the ball a bit too much.
Bannan was the pick of the midfield, the other two wern't bad, but i felt they were all doing a similar job, laying the ball off, making space, but none of the 3 was direct enough. Hereford couldn't cope with people running at them.
Delfouneso looked ok when he came on.
Weimann looked amazing, so direct, 2 great turns, unlucky not to score, did a lot in 15 mins, very impressed.
MOM: Lichaj for me stood out as having a great game. The defence were untroubled apart from a 3 min spell around the hour mark but i thought Lichaj was flawless defensively tonight. Was also one of the only players to try and force the issue, running forward at their defence, great long range shot early in second half and of course the key goal. Looks a useful squad player at very least.
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Not long got back. It was frustrating to watch at times, the longer it went on, you had a feeling the ref was going to give them a penalty, he did seem like an 'underdog ref' as my mate called him.
We played ok though, Bannan was very good again, Ireland looked lively and i thought it was brave of Eck to take Bent off at 0-0. We passed it around too much at times though and we could have done with a Petrov or Delph in the middle.
Still we're through, that's the main thing.
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Good job django. I'm glad to hear that Lichaj had a good game. He played solidly for the US in the summer at the Gold Cup and I was hoping he could carry that forward to this season with us. I think his US experience has made him more confident in his abilities. I can see him being at Villa for a while at either full back position.
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Anybody know the attendance at the game tonight?
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Anybody know the attendance at the game tonight?
21k
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Anybody know the attendance at the game tonight?
Just over 21,000
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Oh yeah forgot about Beye. Another good cameo, instrumental in the build up for the first goal (with his first touch after coming on?) and then went on a dazzling run, better than anything our wingers did all night. Why don't we like him again?
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Cheers fellas
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Que sera sera, whatever will be will be...
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Bannan was MOM, Ireland played well, Makoun looked slow and poor at times. Albrighton was ok but wasted some good crossing chances. I have to give credit to the Hereford defenders as they cleared some very dangerous crosses and dealt with our "attack" well for most of the game.
Next round is the most important thing.
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21,058. Shrewsbury Town away next, please.
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I'm getting increasingly excited about Bannan. These little cameos suggest he could be quite some player. I also think he'd instantly make Villa a great team to watch.
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Mcleish quotes on the official site saying they'd been impressed with weimann and fonz in training. Interesting if weimann liked the more ready of the two, he did better in the championship too though fonz seems to be ahead in the pecking order so far. Does weimann have the extra something needed? Fonz has pace and trickery
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Looks like I will be in Brighton Saturday, where should I watch the match
anyone a member of the sussex supporters club then?
hadnt realised there was one?
Mackail-Smith, Brighton 1-0!
Blimey: http://www.avfclionsclubs.co.uk/lions-news/item/30-brighton-villa-hotspot
There's 6,000 of us in Sussex? :o And an "official visit" from the club coming on September 13 apparently?
I will be there
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So Ireland tonight was, fantastic, excellent, good and disappointing.
Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
I thought he was crap. Too slow in both movement and thought process.
Wee Barry was by far the best in a Villa shirt tonight. The only other good thing was Weimman's cameo at the end. Signs of a decent player - he deserves more game time.
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We did enough to get through but the undoubted star of the night was the Hereford goalkeeper.
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"Does weimann have the extra something needed?"
Based on tonight he just may do. Held onto the ball under serious pressure, two great turns, really direct and powerful, and looked reasonably quick. It was an exciting cameo.
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I thought the Hereford number 4 was excellent. I'm not Ireland's biggest fan but he was far from "crap". He played pretty well apart from (I'm told, I was in the bog) one bad miss and one not so bad miss (which I did see!).
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Half empty stadium reminded me of the eighties.
Kids spitting on the town hall steps and frightening old ladies, people wearing pastel leather...that sort of thing?
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tory goverment cutbacks,inner city riots..and dalglish in charge at bin dippers all we need is specials at no.1 and we got a eightys revival going on
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I thought Makoun was a hell of a lot better than people are giving him credit for. He helped make the team tick (in the first half in particular) and his combo with Bannan really excited me. Some of the play which the two of them orchestrated together when taking a pass from one of the back four was Barcelona-esque... (OK a little exaggerated and ignoring the fact it was against a lowly League 2 outfit!). He disappeared a little when the Fonz came on and we moved to a 4 man midfield, which suggests he may be less flexible than Bazza (who looks class). Our captain had a top game too.
Didn't think Beye was particularly outstanding - a mazy run where he lost the ball and an overhit cross which Weimann did well to turn into an assist was what I saw.
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Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
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Completely controlled the game, never looked in real danger of conceding and had the lions share of possession...would be interesting to see the percentages on that one. Felt almost like a practise match passing it around (perhaps too much) and trying to walk it into the back of the net, when it would have been better all round to just finish them off early instead of overcomplicating things.
Albrighton was poor and struggled to beat his man with either skill or pace. Thought he would have used this game to improve his confidence but failed miserably. Not good.
Ireland played ok, but its very frustrating watching him as he looks like he cant be arsed half the time. A complete waste of potential talent.
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Fuck's sake, will they EVER let it lie?
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/23/aston-villa-hereford-carling-cup
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Fuck's sake, will they EVER let it lie?
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/23/aston-villa-hereford-carling-cup
"It was a similar tale in the second half with Albrighton continuing to thrive on the right, though often cutting inside onto his favoured left foot" say whaaaaaat?
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I'd also like to give a special mention to the 5 random stranger Villa fans that I rounded up to share a taxi with to get to VP after Midlands Travel decided that there should be no 7 buses from Colmore Row between 7pm and 7.30pm on the night Villa are at home and KO at 7.45pm. Nice one bus company.
Mind you, I don't think we missed much despite not getting to VP more than 15 mins after KO.
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"Does weimann have the extra something needed?"
Based on tonight he just may do. Held onto the ball under serious pressure, two great turns, really direct and powerful, and looked reasonably quick. It was an exciting cameo.
I thought Andreas was very good when he came on. He linked play well and injected fear into their back 4.
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I'd also like to give a special mention to the 5 random stranger Villa fans that I rounded up to share a taxi with to get to VP.
None of whom intended going to the match, and three are now sleeping in the spare room after getting home two hours late with their wives refusing to believe they were kidnapped from a bus stop.
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I'd also like to give a special mention to the 5 random stranger Villa fans that I rounded up to share a taxi with to get to VP.
None of whom intended going to the match, and three are now sleeping in the spare room after getting home two hours late with their wives refusing to believe they were kidnapped from a bus stop.
One of them was left with no choice but to bed down for the night on the Holte steps. Expect to hear a story soon that he has been living there for weeks.
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I thought Makoun was a hell of a lot better than people are giving him credit for. He helped make the team tick (in the first half in particular) and his combo with Bannan really excited me. Some of the play which the two of them orchestrated together when taking a pass from one of the back four was Barcelona-esque... (OK a little exaggerated and ignoring the fact it was against a lowly League 2 outfit!). He disappeared a little when the Fonz came on and we moved to a 4 man midfield, which suggests he may be less flexible than Bazza (who looks class). Our captain had a top game too.
Didn't think Beye was particularly outstanding - a mazy run where he lost the ball and an overhit cross which Weimann did well to turn into an assist was what I saw.
FINALLY someone who saw the same match I did! :)
I really enjoyed the game and the performance. Their keeper made 1 amazing point-blank save and 2 or 3 really good saves. Ireland and Makoun improved as the game went on and were the source of the majority of what was good as far as I saw it. Weimann really impressed in the short time he was on. Mature performance from Captain Dunne and Clark looked immense. Bent did an awful lot of running but glad to see him rested even with the score at 0-0.
Bannan looked seriously pissed off about moving to left wing when Fonz came on and we switched to 4-4-2. Looked much happier when he switched to right wing later on and tracked back well a couple of times very late on with the game still in the balance. Wasn't my MOTM but there you go.
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Fuck's sake, will they EVER let it lie?
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/23/aston-villa-hereford-carling-cup
What?
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So Ireland tonight was, fantastic, excellent, good and disappointing.
Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
how about this....?
"Football is not just a game of opinions, but two halves of the same banana"
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Can anyone tell me how every Carling Cup goal has been shown on SSN except Villa`s ?
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Yeah, I was wondering that aswell.
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good to read some of the positive feedback on Ireland and Makoun, we are through and we avoided the banana skin, let's hope we get another home tie in round 3.
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If anyone finds a link to the goals, could they post it?
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What?
I think referring to McLeish as the former Birmingham City manager. <shrugs>
I was expecting some mention of MON given the reaction.
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what way did the team line out?
guzan
lichaj, dunne, herd, clark,
albrighton, makoun, bannan, nzogbia
----------ireland-------------
Bent
it seems to be
where did beye come on? Weimann for Bent and last sub Fonz for Nzogbia with Ireland playing deeper and Bannan moving to left?
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I think Ireland was excellent. Linking up the play, good passing, and getting into scoring positions. I thought he could have been a candidate for man of the match.
He obviously enjoyed the night, a big smile on his face at the end and applauding the crowd in the Trinity. Would have preferred him not to swap shirts at the end though - after all the positives, you then just thought "It's Mr Inky torso, the tattooed fruitcake".
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Bring on another tie against plucky crappers.
Plucky - perhaps. Crappers - I hope not.
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Great to hear that Weimann played well; I've been of the opinion for a while that he represents a better option than Delfouneso.
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I rate them both and they're different players who play well together. It amazes me the level of criticism Delfouneso gets when his scoring record is actually very good. That's not aimed at you EffDee, just a general annoyance.
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When is the draw confirming Blackburn at home anyway?
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Not really fussed either way about last night
Win 5-0 and that's expected of you
Scrappy 2 - 0 and you're shit so you can't win either way
However the performances last night mean absolutely sod all
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I don't really care about anything beyond the fact that we won.
A Small Heath style run of home draws against shit teams would be nice now.
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I'm just glad we won and through to the next round we need to beat Wolves on saturday now.
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Darren Bent does fuck all every game except score.
But people say Delfouneso can't cut it when he scored against a team Bent
Couldn't in an hour?
I think we need to start giving Weiman, Fonz and Bannan alot more playing time. I think Bannan deserves to start ahead of Heskey and I think Weiman could be a good
Foil for Bent given time.
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For once my prediction was correct. A slow start due to new players in the mix, but in the end a 2-0 win. Not as comfortable as I thought it would be mind.
They had a spell from about 60-70 minutes, where it looked like they might score and had one header that drifted wide (and seemed to take 20 years to go wide).
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I thought last night was a little bit more of a struggle than we anticpated it was going to be.
Highlights were:
Clarke is definately a touch of class
Ireland improved as the game went on. He was very good up until he tired (understandably) around 80 mins.
Wiemann looks a real player. He was strong, willing, pacy and skillful. I have more hope for him than I do for Fonz.
The big negative for me was Makoun.
I really expected him to dominate and control the game given the level of opponent.
Although he was tidy, he was often caught in possession and generally struggled to have a real impact.
If he struggles at that level I worry that he will cut it against top oppositon.
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Delfouneso's finishing is generally very good. He's has pace, trickery and gets in good positions. Sure he doesn't demand the ball, and he isn't much of a winger, but his record is pretty good for a 20 year old. Everyone seems to think he is a crap finisher after that 1 pre-season game under McLeish where he missed a couple of sitters.
I haven't seen the game, and he may not have been that busy but he still got the ball in the net and it's not the first time as a sub either so he can't be that bad.
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Strange the huge differences of opinion on Ireland's performance. My mate, ( played for both Man City & Baggies ), reckoned he played very well. Opinions on here range from crap to excellent.
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Looking forward to seeing the goal-fest on the League Cup Show tonight!
Roll on the weekend!
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My mate, ( played for both Man City & Baggies )...
Gary Owen?
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Nice to see the AVFC official site has at last realised Lichaj is American and not Australian ..
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I thought Ireland looked good on the edge of the box and seemed the one midlfielder who could doliver the telling pass. He would have scored but for a great save. The pleasing thing for me is that he had a smile on his face which should only bode well.
Bannan is a class act but I think we needed Hogg last night for a bit of steel in midfield, we have too many footballers. Dunne gets a lot of stick but was thoroughly professional and led well. Guzan doesn't inspire me tbh. Fullbacks played well and Weiman looks a handful.
A potentially tricky game but we did the job. Winning becomes a habit.
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Last night was better than the early round league cup games under MON.
A few players who are knocking on the door of the first team, a few first teamers sprinkled through the side and a couple of reserves. Whereas with MON it'd be 10 reserves and Sidwell.
We played really well, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Forgive my ignorance, but. What is Wiemanns position ? Centre Forward, attacking midfield, in the whole between, or are we still finding out what's best
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Striker
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Thought the game was enjoyable but frustrating at times as i like most thought it would have been a goal fest and an exhibition match - what is needed in games like this is an early goal to open them up because even the shittest professional teams can stack 10 men behind the ball and make it difficult to create space.
Guzan - never been convinced with him - one serious cross he had all night and chose to punch - AM went mental at him for it
Lichaj - strange to see him at LB but performed well and got forward well - nice to see how excited he was at scoring
Dunne - almost perfect display - true pro and looks the part
Clark - oh boy have we got a cracker in him - tough, good on the ball excellent in the air - only negative was that he should have put his headed chance away
Herd - nice and tidy - did not venture forward much but did not let us down - do notice that he runs in a very strange, almost camp way?
Makoun - nice touches but equally as many wayward passes - never seems happy and feel that he would jump at chance to be gone
Ireland - at times he is just too clever for some of our players - great energy and wanted the ball all the time - bit of luck / better finishing could have had hat trick
Bannan - he is the scottish Zidane - cocky, super fit, loads of bottle and always want the ball - absolutely love him and he deserves a decent run in first team - but in the position that best suits him NOT ON WING
N'Zogbia - busy but very ineffective - did he do any training over the summer as he looks so intermittant at times - hopefully he can live up to expectation as not seen much yet
Bent - as we know if he dont score then effectively you are playing with 10 men for most of the game - worked hard but expected to get a few which disappointed when he did not net
Albrighton - really want him to shine but it just is not happening for him - lots of ball last night and end product (either beating his man or crossing) was pretty poor. Little bit better when swapped to RH where he cut in a bit more. Really hope he find his form or he is another one "that could have been"
Wienmann - really like his direct style - needs to be bench option certainly
Fonz - a little raw still but cannot argue with scoring record
Overall almost like a pre season game - but the result was all that mattered
To end on a very positive note - 8 changes from win on sat and even though the opposition was poor we ended the game with 7 players that are under 21 and most came through our own acadamy
The future may still be bright
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So Ireland tonight was, fantastic, excellent, good and disappointing.
Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
I'd say that that just about sums up Ireland tonight. He was all of those things during the game. The first 20 minutes he made Ray Wilkins look like an attacking passer, then he pulled off an incredible spin move which lead into an impressive period.
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I was going to do a player-by-player analysis but seeing as I basically agree with Hookeysmith, I won't bother.
As mentioned above, I wasn't quite as impressed with Ireland. Makoun's passes tend to be lofted and lacking pace. He doesn't seem to "ping" the ball around, which gives the defence time to read the pass.
Although Fonz scored, I'd still put Weimann ahead of him at the moment.
An interesting cameo from Beye. One good cross, one excellent run (however, please remember that we've seen Ulysses do those as well) and a couple of moments of terrible control which reminded me why he rarely plays.
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I was getting text updates in the pub last night, just relieved we're through really. That's all that matters, along with a win on Saturday.
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When is the draw confirming Blackburn at home anyway?
Blackburn have to overcome Sheffield Wednesday at home tonight.
Then we are paired with them when the draw is made this Saturday. Live on Soccer Saturday so probably just while we are playing Wolves.
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First half we showed some really good play. Good possession and good movement and were unlucky not to go in winning.
Second half was a bit different, with the nerves coming in as the game went on and we hadn't scored.
Barry Bannan was brilliant. He always looked to recieve the ball, played some great passes, had a couple of shots and generally looked like he wants to, and can be, a part of the first team. Of all the players, he must be closest to playing in the first team (personally, I'd like to see him instead of Heskey from the team that played against Blackburn).
We seemed to go backwards a little when Bannan was placed on the wing - why did he do that? Seemed a little strange.
Makoun lacks confidence and I'm not sure he'll be at Villa for very long.
Still not sure about Ireland. It'd be interesting to see how he plays with the better players.
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We won
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Looks like I won my bet with my bluenose mate that we'd get more for this game than they did for a 3.00 kick off on a Saturday at home to Coventry.
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Looks like I won my bet with my bluenose mate that we'd get more for this game than they did for a 3.00 kick off on a Saturday at home to Coventry.
I said something very similar to my bluenose mate last week.
Love it.
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So Ireland tonight was, fantastic, excellent, good and disappointing.
Has anybody got anything else to add to further confuse me?
In patches he showed that he's got tremendous ability in others he looked disinterested.As for the rest of them i hope N'Zogbia isn't match fit yet as he didn't do a great deal at all.Makoun, well on that display we won't miss him if he goes.Albrighton struggled but to his credit he didn't hide kept looking to receive the ball and improved as the game went on.Bannan was IMO man of the match, class act.
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NZogbia isn't match fit IMO. He's not had a real pre-season.
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Ireland looked like a talented player who's hardly kicked a ball in two years. The positive was he got through 90 minutes and was still pushing forward at the end - and looked better after McLeish made his changes. Lichaj was a real positive and I'd prefer Wienmann on that showing, ahead of the Fonz as back-up. Makoun looks like he did when Houllier bought him - does pretty work, in fringe areas, of little consquence, unsuited to the Premier, not what we needed then in a relegation fight and unlikely to be what we need now.
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Ireland didn't do enough for me to force his way into Saturday's team, but did do enough for me to think he can be useful in certain games this season. Bannan looks a shade beter overall than Ireland right now for the creative role, let's get him in instead of Heskey please and have emile as back up to Bent and Gabby.
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Nobody did enough to force their way in for Saturday as we won't change a winning team. Unless Heskey, Gabby or Young are injured in which case I would shove in Bannan or Lichaj.
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I agree we do not make wholesale changes to a winning side
If there are injuries then like for like players in and out. AS much as i would like to see either Bannan or Ireland in for heskey we cannot argue that at Fulham Emile put in a very hardworking shift and against Blackburn he scored - there is no reason to drop him yet
What the like of Bannan / Ireland have to do is when they get their chance they have to change the game and we have to win - then they keep the place
thats how it should be in a team
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I agree we do not make wholesale changes to a winning side
If there are injuries then like for like players in and out. AS much as i would like to see either Bannan or Ireland in for heskey we cannot argue that at Fulham Emile put in a very hardworking shift and against Blackburn he scored - there is no reason to drop him yet
What the like of Bannan / Ireland have to do is when they get their chance they have to change the game and we have to win - then they keep the place
thats how it should be in a team
Agree with this and I think Mcleish will start with Heskey on Saturday.
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First half we showed some really good play. Good possession and good movement and were unlucky not to go in winning.
Second half was a bit different, with the nerves coming in as the game went on and we hadn't scored.
Barry Bannan was brilliant. He always looked to recieve the ball, played some great passes, had a couple of shots and generally looked like he wants to, and can be, a part of the first team. Of all the players, he must be closest to playing in the first team (personally, I'd like to see him instead of Heskey from the team that played against Blackburn).
We seemed to go backwards a little when Bannan was placed on the wing - why did he do that? Seemed a little strange.
Makoun lacks confidence and I'm not sure he'll be at Villa for very long.
Still not sure about Ireland. It'd be interesting to see how he plays with the better players.
I'd argue that Bent, N'Zogbia, Makoun and Bannan are better players than Heskey, Gabby, Petrov and Delph.