Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: Toronto Villa on April 30, 2022, 04:58:44 PM
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We played down to their level a lot of the time. But a win is a win and two clean sheets. Much better after Ings came on.
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Pleased for Ings to get his goal. Relieved for us. Sad for Dean. Delighted about Everton (hopefully).
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Lots of people having a moan about how we played but it wa s clean sheet, 2 goals, hit the bar twice and missed 2-3 more decent chances on top, with them never really looking like scoring.
After a run of 5 without a win that performance is exactly what we needed to do.
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I was welling up when I saw Dean clapping at the end.
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Nice.
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
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Buendia motm and outshining Phil
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
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Come onto our pitch and celebrate a trophy, would you?
Seriously, crap game, three points, safety, love to Deano.
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Yes, results not looking good for Everton now.
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
Oh, just football supporter spitefulness, I suppose. I should know better.
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
It's always good when a big team that isn't us is in trouble.
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Wasn't a classic, but 2-0 will do. Iroegbunam did well, and we could have had a few more to be honest.
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Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
Hans Segers. *taps nose*
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A very welcome three points
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
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Relieved.
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A dull but fairly routine win and puts any doubts to bed. Still two games in hand on many around us, making the Liverpool game a free hit. Pleased with the clean sheet and goals for strikers.
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Well done Villa and now 2 clean sheets in a row, feel for Dean, but if Delia keeps him, he's the man to take them back up.
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
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Buendia motm and outshining Phil
He does this every ten minutes every week.
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That relieves a bit of my stress. Well done Villa.
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
however he scored 1 and the 2nd came from his willingness to press and work for the team.
I get the frustration but he contributes a lot as well, that's what makes him so difficult to judge.
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
If he was clinical we would be fending off interest from the best side in the country. If he didn't have the outstanding work rate that he does, he'd be playing in the championship. He's a mid-table centre forward at a (currently) mid-table club.
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Should have been many more goals, but the final touches went a bit worng, and robbed us of goal of the season. Keeping Coutinho would be wonderful, but Buendia is an excellent replacement.
Work rate was good too.
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
If he was clinical we would be fending off interest from the best side in the country. If he didn't have the outstanding work rate that he does, he'd be playing in the championship. He's a mid-table centre forward at a (currently) mid-table club.
I'm not sure it's as simple as that. Ings, for example, misses sitters, but you can at least understand what he's trying to do, and why. Watkins just seems to make such inexplicably bad decisions every game.
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Strange game, we deserved to win that's for sure but against a frankly awful Norwich team. Positives, Chambers was fine, solid debut by Tim and both forwards scored. Buendia was excellent when he came in, not sure how our best eleven can afford to have him outside it. All three subs were good in fairness. Negatives, thought our midfield was outplayed for long spells, Bailey injured/half hearted again, Digne I'm not seeing it.
Martinez 6, Cash 7, Chambers 7, Mings 7, Digne 5, Tim 6 (Luiz 7), McGinn 6, Ramsey 7, Bailey 5 (Ings 7), Watkins 7, Coutinho 6 (Buendia 7)
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Relieved.
Exactly how I feel..
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Strange game, we deserved to win that's for sure but against a frankly awful Norwich team. Positives, Chambers was fine, solid debut by Tim and both forwards scored. Buendia was excellent when he came in, not sure how our best eleven can afford to have him outside it. All three subs were good in fairness. Negatives, thought our midfield was outplayed for long spells, Bailey injured/half hearted again, Digne I'm not seeing it.
Martinez 6, Cash 7, Chambers 7, Mings 7, Digne 5, Tim 6 (Luiz 7), McGinn 6, Ramsey 7, Bailey 5 (Ings 7), Watkins 7, Coutinho 6 (Buendia 7)
I thought Digne played well, one cross in the 2nd half was about as perfect as it gets, Watkins just didn't read it, Ings on the front post for it and we'd have been 2-0 about 25 minutes earlier.
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
Oh, just football supporter spitefulness, I suppose. I should know better.
It’s always a bit comical to see a big club in the shit, but it’s not as funny as Newcastle and considering the other option for the drop this year is cunting Burnley I’d actually prefer Everton to stay up.
Start of last season they looked like they’d be pushing for top 4 and now look like bottom 3. What a fuck up!
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
Basically he has not got a single ounce of football intelligence, a bit like a Poundland version of Julian Joachim. I really wouldn’t be sorry to see him sold. Looked decent in the Championship and having Joe made him look better than he is. Get the kid back from Preston and give him a run, he will do more in five games than Watkins has done all season.
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2-0 but let’s be honest, it was a very flat performance AGAIN.
Why Buendia doesn’t start is quite beyond me - he brings more energy and determination than half our squad.
Given when Gerrard came in it was all about how he uses "two number tens", it's odd that he hasn't worked out how to get him and Coutinho to work together.
To play two tens he needs a centre forward to lead the line. There lies the problem.
At Rangers he was using Kemar Roofe or Alfredo Morelos. It's not like the quality of striker he now has available has diminished.
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A wins a win, and another clean sheet - only saw bits of it as I’m away but didn’t really looked troubled
Norwich we’re rubbish but hopefully we have started to play back into form and the league table looks much better.
We’ll done to SG for giving Tim a start
Feel sorry for Dean - wouldn’t be surprised if he brings them back stronger though
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Should have won more comfortably, but got the job done.
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I know their fans don't see the good in Villa, but I'd be sad to see Everton go down. Our game is the most played top flight fixture and losing them for a few seasons would probably lose that record. Both our clubs were there from the start and we stand as reminders of the game before Sky and money derailed it. There's precious little tradition left in the game as it is.
As for today, the rest of the team get scores of 4-6, Buendia gets a 7. Grateful for the points.
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Yeah but Everton fans are the whingiest, whiniest fuckers and they hate us a lot more than vice versa so fuck'em.
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Pleased and relieved - 3 points, clean sheet BUT that really was a poor performance. Playing anyone else other than Norwich today and we would have lost.
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Yeah but Everton fans are the whingiest, whiniest fuckers and they hate us a lot more than vice versa so fuck'em.
Amen eamonn
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Buendia is always up for a scrap, which I really like about him. Always wants the ball, always looking to create something. Bags of skill too.
We could build a team around him, I think. If we strengthen the spine this summer, he will really shine next season.
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Penny for Dean’s thoughts today. I can’t imagine at the start of the season he’d of thought he’d be relegated with Norwich at Villa Park in April.
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Imagine just what Emiliano Buendia could do if he played for the full 90 minutes. He created three chances, one of which lead to a goal, in added time alone!
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Don't feel too sorry for Dean Smith, after all, he is the guy who purchased Leon Bailey in the Summer!!
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Tables looking a lot better. I thought Watkins had a good game personally. Buendia looked really sharp as he has done in his last few performances, I’d really like to see him get some more game time.
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Great reception for Deano especially from the Holte.
Relieved about the win. Unspectacular, but important, so well done to the players.
Clean sheet, 2 goals from the strikers, Tyrone commanding at the back. Phil looked better behind the front 2 in the 2nd half.
The selection was cause for improved hope before the game especially with Tim coming in. A long way to go for all concerned, but at least we can use today as a springboard.
Live band in Trinity Rd fanzone was good to see pre-game.
UTV!
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Yep live band beforehand were very good. Thought the game was a bit meh and for all Norwich’s pressing in the second half they were pretty poor. Could have had 2 or 3 more with a bit more composure but job done. Need to be a bit more up for it next week at Burnley.
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Tables looking a lot better. I thought Watkins had a good game personally. Buendia looked really sharp as he has done in his last few performances, I’d really like to see him get some more game time.
Re Buendia he generally does play well when he comes on, but rarely seems to perform, when he starts.
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A wins a win, and another clean sheet - only saw bits of it as I’m away but didn’t really looked troubled
Norwich we’re rubbish but hopefully we have started to play back into form and the league table looks much better.
We’ll done to SG for giving Tim a start
Feel sorry for Dean - wouldn’t be surprised if he brings them back stronger though
Is there a surfeit of apostrophes where you're on holiday?
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Only at the Villa could we have an established England player in a winning England side getting pelters from Villa fans.
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A wins a win, and another clean sheet - only saw bits of it as I’m away but didn’t really looked troubled
Norwich we’re rubbish but hopefully we have started to play back into form and the league table looks much better.
We’ll done to SG for giving Tim a start
Feel sorry for Dean - wouldn’t be surprised if he brings them back stronger though
Is there a surfeit of apostrophes where you're on holiday?
On balance no. The missing one from win’s just turned up in the wrong place later on.
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Tables looking a lot better. I thought Watkins had a good game personally. Buendia looked really sharp as he has done in his last few performances, I’d really like to see him get some more game time.
Re Buendia he generally does play well when he comes on, but rarely seems to perform, when he starts.
Strange thing to say, I thought he was our best player for weeks before he was left out the team.
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Imagine just what Emiliano Buendia could do if he played for the full 90 minutes. He created three chances, one of which lead to a goal, in added time alone!
It’s not that straightforward though is it? I like Emi, but coming on against a tired side knowing you only have 10/15 mins is completely different to starting. He’s going to be a valuable player for us absolutely, but he needs to be more precise at times.
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Only at the Villa could we have an established England player in a winning England side getting pelters from Villa fans.
I understand your love in with Ollie goes back to his Exeter days, Brian but he's been very poor this season where his weaknesses have been highlighted on an almost weekly basis. As I said in the Match thread, as we're stuck with him until at least the end of the season, we need to play to his strengths as we continue to look pretty toothless up front.
We all love his workrate, it's his poor technique that lets him down.
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Are we going to be on last again on MOTD?
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Only at the Villa could we have an established England player in a winning England side getting pelters from Villa fans.
I understand your love in with Ollie goes back to his Exeter days, Brian but he's been very poor this season where his weaknesses have been highlighted on an almost weekly basis. As I said in the Match thread, as we're stuck with him until at least the end of the season, we need to play to his strengths as we continue to look pretty toothless up front.
We all love his workrate, it's his poor technique that lets him down.
Agreed. Summed up by that brilliant bit of skill by Coutinho in the first half, with a 50 yard pass to put Watkins in yards of space, only for him to shoot tamely imto the side netting.
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Don't know if it's been mentioned but just a word for the ref. After a couple debatable yellow cards especially the one for JJ how the fucking hell did he let that one go on Cash late in the second half? Their player took both his legs and got nowhere near the ball. The absolute tool of a ref did nothing. Shocking refereeing.
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Tables looking a lot better. I thought Watkins had a good game personally. Buendia looked really sharp as he has done in his last few performances, I’d really like to see him get some more game time.
Re Buendia he generally does play well when he comes on, but rarely seems to perform, when he starts.
I’d have him playing ahead of Coutinho, but I can see why Gerrard wouldn’t want to do that as it may upset his chances of signing him in the summer.
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How did Bailey play? I’ve not seen him justify his continued selection. Was today any different?
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Only at the Villa could we have an established England player in a winning England side getting pelters from Villa fans.
I understand your love in with Ollie goes back to his Exeter days, Brian but he's been very poor this season where his weaknesses have been highlighted on an almost weekly basis. As I said in the Match thread, as we're stuck with him until at least the end of the season, we need to play to his strengths as we continue to look pretty toothless up front.
We all love his workrate, it's his poor technique that lets him down.
Agreed. Summed up by that brilliant bit of skill by Coutinho in the first half, with a 50 yard pass to put Watkins in yards of space, only for him to shoot tamely imto the side netting.
Hi workmate is faultless and I do like him but how many times can one player drill his shot straight into a defenders legs before he learns?
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A wins a win, and another clean sheet - only saw bits of it as I’m away but didn’t really looked troubled
Norwich we’re rubbish but hopefully we have started to play back into form and the league table looks much better.
We’ll done to SG for giving Tim a start
Feel sorry for Dean - wouldn’t be surprised if he brings them back stronger though
Is there a surfeit of apostrophes where you're on holiday?
On balance no. The missing one from win’s just turned up in the wrong place later on.
Still a surfeit of one though ;)
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Hi workmate is faultless and I do like him but how many times can one player drill his shot straight into a defenders legs before he learns?
Every single time, he's head down, surrounded by team mates, and whack, off the defender's shins halfway down the pitch. He's such a brainless player.
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A wins a win, and another clean sheet - only saw bits of it as I’m away but didn’t really looked troubled
Norwich we’re rubbish but hopefully we have started to play back into form and the league table looks much better.
We’ll done to SG for giving Tim a start
Feel sorry for Dean - wouldn’t be surprised if he brings them back stronger though
Is there a surfeit of apostrophes where you're on holiday?
On balance no. The missing one from win’s just turned up in the wrong place later on.
Still a surfeit of one though ;)
Oh yeah.
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Shame about Deano going down thought we gave him a fantastic reception but Villa won and are now safe i think. That game was so bad
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Imagine just what Emiliano Buendia could do if he played for the full 90 minutes. He created three chances, one of which lead to a goal, in added time alone!
It’s not that straightforward though is it? I like Emi, but coming on against a tired side knowing you only have 10/15 mins is completely different to starting. He’s going to be a valuable player for us absolutely, but he needs to be more precise at times.
Fair points, particularly regarding fatigue. It was interesting that in his press conference yesterday Gerrard guaranteed that Emi would be on the pitch at some stage which is unusual to see but perhaps confirmation of the regard in which he is held by our manager. I do feel, though, that Coutinho is not commanding enough, despite his fantastic skills, and much as I'd love to see Coutinho do better particularly as I have a Brazilian DIL, I think Emi shades it into the starting line-up based upon recent form.
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Ref had an absolute shocker. Throwing yellow cards around like confetti in our direction, while Norwich fouls went unpunished constantly
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We played well in spells and poor in others. The subs when they came in changed the game. Bailey is like having ten on the pitch though. No application and little effort even before the injury.
Watkins had another good game, with his non stop running.
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Thought Bailey and Cash were working well together to be honest. My main concern is that the players seem to wait for a pass to come to them which gets intercepted. Time and again this happened today, it was perplexing that this wasn’t sorted out and very frustrating, we conceded so much possession in that manner.
I saw someone post that Ings was rubbish today but I thought he played well and was the decisive player for us in the end.
What I cannot get my head around is that we should have buried these by half time but didn’t play with urgency for long enough. Fast starts at the start of both halves but then fell away, although we did wake up again for the last 5 mins of the match. Coutinho thinks much faster than half the team as well.
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Thought we started both halves well then faded but they were never really created anything. Pleased with the win, particularly for my niece and nephew's first match but not sure it was a ringing endorsement of progress under Gerrard
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Ref: Coutinho comment above
Absolutely spot on
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So good to get a win. Didn’t see it so can’t comment on how we played, but hope this is the start of us turning a corner.
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How did Bailey play? I’ve not seen him justify his continued selection. Was today any different?
I thought he was playing well until his injury. Him and Cash linked up well
Should have been taken straight off as he was nowhere near fit, as it shown when trying to chase one of their guys.
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Better second half and deserved winners, but my God Watkins is the most frustrating of players to watch at times.
Agreed on Watkins. I'm grateful for his goal, but he does so much wrong - decision making, shooting when he should pass, passing when he should shoot, pointless weak shots from the edge of the area, shooting off target. Drives me nuts.
You forgot his hopeless holdup play, he still has an awful lot to learn!
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Shout out for McGinn, who - I thought - had his best game for a while. Was that because we started with a proper CMF?
Tim had a good first-start, and he will hopefully have learned a bit from the 3 duff passes he made in the first half.
Ings was excellent when he came on and showed the footballing nous that Ollie seems to lack.
Bailey forced their keeper into a brilliant save ... but that was it. He is - in my humble opinion - a dud.
Buendia over Coutinho, for me. I think we'd be crazy to pay silly money to keep a 2-in-5 player like Phil. Sorry if that offends others here.
A special mention for the ref - you utter tool!!!
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12602856/norwich-relegation-confirmed-after-aston-villa-defeat
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The atmosphere was quite flat along with the game, but once we led, we never looked like losing. We'd have scored more with more intensity and better decision making in the final third. Nobody was terrible but nobody was brilliant either.
Bailey did a bit better today and had a good shot, but I'm not convinced, and I don't know why he would get in ahead of Buendía or Ings.
Anyway, better to get a facile win than have a game in which we have a calamitous half or one where we barely have a shot.
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Still disappointingly very average.
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Reminded me of the away game a bit. Made hard of work of it but didn't look like conceeding.
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Happy with three points and another clean sheet.
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Was dropping off at times in that second half.
One of those games where we didn't play great at all but due to how inept the opposition were (on a par with that lot from 15/16) we could've still won 4 or 5 pretty easily.
Burnley will be more of an interesting test so looking forward to how we cope with a very in form team.
Let's try and finish top half at least, still very possible after today and how annoying are those two Wolves results now given they've effectively retired for the season.
Stick Grealish back in this team and we'd have a very good chance of europa qualification this season so just shows what a difference one player can make sometimes as I'm sure we'd be around 10 points better off.
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I was as happy leaving VP today as I was the crisp stadium last Saturday 4 important points, 2 clean sheets.
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How did Bailey play? I’ve not seen him justify his continued selection. Was today any different?
Got a kick early on and struggled after that. Did hit the post though with a nice shot. Pre season is huge for him, needs to shift some timber and get fully focused.
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Those who don't like Watkins will try and find fault I suppose. He did ok. Worked hard again and did well for the goal.
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Those who don't like Watkins will try and find fault I suppose. He did ok. Worked hard again and did well for goal.
Won the back for the second goal too. Has a lot of faults too but a decent display today
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Felt we were largely comfortable throughout. Started brightly and didn't find the goal, with the game drifting a bit until that brilliant ball from Ings for the first.
Bailey went close with the effort that hit the bar and he was a bit more direct before he picked up his knock. Overall, he's massively unimpressive. He doesn't do anywhere near enough off the ball.
Tim had a so-so game. Couple of moments where he failed to engage the opposition midfielder or got drawn in and left space, but other good moments of getting a block in, pass off and a driving run. Hopefully a good exprience and something to learn from. He ought to go out on loan next season for games.
We started the second brightly and really ought to have scored a couple to put the game to bed. Ings was bright, which was a plus. Watkins works hard, but that first touch often let's him down.
There was an incredibly irritating 15 minutes 2nd half where we decided we'd give the ball away incessantly. We have to treat possession more carefully. Although the Holte moaned when we weren't keeping the ball, then the same people moaned even more as we kept the ball late on.
Mings was solid defensively, Chambers too. Quite how he was booked I have no idea. The referee was really poor. Distribution from the centre halves needs to be better.
We saw the benefit of Digne and his delivery and attack purpose that Ash doesn't have the legs. A couple of quality balls into the box, the one Watkins didn't anticipate was undefendable.
Plenty to work on, but nice to keep a clean sheet, have a pretty straight forward won and have both forwards score.
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You've used the word 'felt' so often it sounds weird in my head now! ;)
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Happy with three points and another clean sheet.
Same here and gives us a decent chance to finish 11th or 12th, ahead of Newcastle and maybe Palace.
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Happy with three points and another clean sheet.
Same here and gives us a decent chance to finish 11th or 12th, ahead of Newcastle and maybe Palace.
Amazing what difference a routine win can make, but I agree. To be honest I think everywhere between 9th-15th is going to be a bit of a crap shoot and I wouldn't read too much in to any of it.
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You've used the word 'felt' so often it sounds weird in my head now! ;)
Edited now. One thing I did feel and forgot to mention, was pretty sad about Deano clapping him at the end.
Shame you can't Sky+ record life, as I'd batter those 10 weeks of us going on that run in 2019. From Adomah at Stoke to 97+ at Wembley. I hope we go onto greater things, my mates sharing posts of us in Vienna 12 years ago being an obvious thing to aspire to in the next few seasons. But I suspect when I'm old and reflecting back, that period will always be one of the best times I've had supporting this great thing of ours.
You can buy trophies, trophy players. You cant buy magic. Thank you Deano.
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What Ads said. UTV.
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Agreed.
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It was nice of their support to chip in with helping my score for GTC.
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You've used the word 'felt' so often it sounds weird in my head now! ;)
Edited now. One thing I did feel and forgot to mention, was pretty sad about Deano clapping him at the end.
Shame you can't Sky+ record life, as I'd batter those 10 weeks of us going on that run in 2019. From Adomah at Stoke to 97+ at Wembley. I hope we go onto greater things, my mates sharing posts of us in Vienna 12 years ago being an obvious thing to aspire to in the next few seasons. But I suspect when I'm old and reflecting back, that period will always be one of the best times I've had supporting this great thing of ours.
You can buy trophies, trophy players. You cant buy magic. Thank you Deano.
Perfect.
I have to admit I had a bit of dust go into my eye while we were applauding him
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Cause they think they are too good and big to go down. In reality they are dippers, smaller club thsn the villa and just a mirror image of blues
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We won great but made very hard work of it. Buendia made a difference and how he doesn't get a start worries me that Gerrard doesn't rate him. Watkins has his critics and i can see why but he works hard and puts defences under Pressure, Always prefer a big body up front thats why he gets my preference over Ings. Burnley will be a much stiffer test.
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Very disappointing that there was no rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ in the last few minutes of the game.
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One thing I did feel and forgot to mention, was pretty sad about Deano clapping him at the end.
Shame you can't Sky+ record life, as I'd batter those 10 weeks of us going on that run in 2019. From Adomah at Stoke to 97+ at Wembley. I hope we go onto greater things, my mates sharing posts of us in Vienna 12 years ago being an obvious thing to aspire to in the next few seasons. But I suspect when I'm old and reflecting back, that period will always be one of the best times I've had supporting this great thing of ours.
You can buy trophies, trophy players. You cant buy magic. Thank you Deano.
Perfect
At the end, Sweet Caroline, the soundtrack of his best moments becoming the soundtrack to one of his worst, was one of those football scripts you can’t write.
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Atmosphere of a pre season friendly.
Watching Villa slow down the play at every throw in, every time the goalkeeper has the ball and pretty much when ever in possession.
Tedious unimaginative humdrum football, The Holtebemptied at 37 minutes it was that dull.
If you were watching the game and not knowing the background it would have been difficult to chose who was the relegated team.
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Atmosphere of a pre season friendly.
Watching Villa slow down the play at every throw in, every time the goalkeeper has the ball and pretty much when ever in possession.
Tedious unimaginative humdrum football, The Holtebemptied at 37 minutes it was that dull.
If you were watching the game and not knowing the background it would have been difficult to chose who was the relegated team.
Touch of an exaggeration isn’t it?
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Pleased and relieved - 3 points, clean sheet BUT that really was a poor performance. Playing anyone else other than Norwich today and we would have lost.
But we weren’t and we didn’t
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Pleased and relieved - 3 points, clean sheet BUT that really was a poor performance. Playing anyone else other than Norwich today and we would have lost.
But we weren’t and we didn’t
Indeed - talk about seeking out the negative.
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Did Dean get the warm reception he deserved?
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Did Dean get the warm reception he deserved?
Yes. Loudly applauded with the Holte chanting his name.
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I don’t wish injury on the guy, obviously, but it was amusing to see the Norwich sub being subbed within 15 minutes of coming on.
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You've used the word 'felt' so often it sounds weird in my head now! ;)
Edited now. One thing I did feel and forgot to mention, was pretty sad about Deano clapping him at the end.
Shame you can't Sky+ record life, as I'd batter those 10 weeks of us going on that run in 2019. From Adomah at Stoke to 97+ at Wembley. I hope we go onto greater things, my mates sharing posts of us in Vienna 12 years ago being an obvious thing to aspire to in the next few seasons. But I suspect when I'm old and reflecting back, that period will always be one of the best times I've had supporting this great thing of ours.
You can buy trophies, trophy players. You cant buy magic. Thank you Deano.
Well said Ads. Ive been going down since the earlyish 80s, but i remember feeling surprisingly emo when Dean walked out for his first game against Swansea, and so many memories from 2019 and that run, sheff wed away, Millwall at home on may day to complete the 10 games and West Brom snd Hourihanes goal. Great memories Deano
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Norwich were awful. We took advantage of the many fuck ups they made to enough of an extent to see it out. I'm not convinced though.
Still, Everton look fucked which is good.
Why is Evertons plight good? Have I missed something?
It's always good when a big team that isn't us is in trouble.
this is how I see it. Nothing against Everton at all, personally. It’s just somehow pleasing to see big clubs in trouble. I’d rather it were Leeds and Newcastle instead of Everton and Norwich.
Really felt for Deano today. Must’ve felt terrible having to sit in the away dugout and watching Gerrard sit in the home one. Couldn’t make it out for sure, but sounded like the fans were shouting ‘Deano’ when he walked to the tunnel after the match. Dunno if it was the Villa supporters or Norwich fans.
Still, a handy 3 pts and a clean sheet. Thought it was a bit scrappy, but never really in doubt. Norwich had a bit of a spell in the second half where they maybe looked like scoring, but I always felt we would get at least one more. Solid 7s across the board today. Martinez wasn’t really troubled, but did what he had to when called upon. The defence looked confident, Chambers and Mings, looking a bit more solid than Konsa and Mings. Thought Digne looked good today and Cash did what he usually does.
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How did Bailey play? I’ve not seen him justify his continued selection. Was today any different?
he didn’t play badly today, but then, Norwich were there to be got at. He just looks in general to be a bit out of his depth at this level and certainly not worth, comparatively, what we paid for him. He still might come good, but it doesn’t look likely to me. Maybe punt him out on loan to Norwich next season and see if Deano can get a tune out of him.
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He's got to give Coutinho and Buendia a run of games together.
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Did Dean get the warm reception he deserved?
Yes. Loudly applauded with the Holte chanting his name.
Good to hear, as expected and deserved
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How did Bailey play? I’ve not seen him justify his continued selection. Was today any different?
he didn’t play badly today, but then, Norwich were there to be got at. He just looks in general to be a bit out of his depth at this level and certainly not worth, comparatively, what we paid for him. He still might come good, but it doesn’t look likely to me. Maybe punt him out on loan to Norwich next season and see if Deano can get a tune out of him.
Who the fuck was that player who came on at Everton and tore a hole in their back four before doing the same in his own hamstring? That day I thought we’d signed a world beater.
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You've used the word 'felt' so often it sounds weird in my head now! ;)
Edited now. One thing I did feel and forgot to mention, was pretty sad about Deano clapping him at the end.
Shame you can't Sky+ record life, as I'd batter those 10 weeks of us going on that run in 2019. From Adomah at Stoke to 97+ at Wembley. I hope we go onto greater things, my mates sharing posts of us in Vienna 12 years ago being an obvious thing to aspire to in the next few seasons. But I suspect when I'm old and reflecting back, that period will always be one of the best times I've had supporting this great thing of ours.
You can buy trophies, trophy players. You cant buy magic. Thank you Deano.
We don't agree too often, Ads, but that's a beautiful post.
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. Although the Holte moaned when we weren't keeping the ball, then the same people moaned even more as we kept the ball late on.
Wankers should have left early instead.
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Yeah but Everton fans are the whingiest, whiniest fuckers and they hate us a lot more than vice versa so fuck'em.
Amen eamonn
Most clubs hate us more than we hate them because nobody else has a sense of humour. I have no doubt I hate Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City & Rangers more than most of their fans hate us.
But the rest? Bitterness and self-regard galore.
A Newcastle fan I worked with justified her hatred of us by citing the Ant & Dec banner. "How sad and pathetic can you be? Why would you do that? Are you obsessed with us? Are you all that small-time?"
This was 2018, so a full nine years after someone hung a hand-painted sheet as a last-game-of-the-season joke. But it was still as if our entire club and fanbase had publicly spread Mike Ashley's excrement on their Jimmy Nail statue.
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. Although the Holte moaned when we weren't keeping the ball, then the same people moaned even more as we kept the ball late on.
Wankers should have left early instead.
Me and my brother have a thing about the Villa Park moaners.
When we have the ball in midfield or defence: "FUCKIN' GET IT FORWARD!"
When we play the ball forward and, as with all teams, often lose possession: "KEEP THE FUCKING BALL!"
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Wasn’t Oz a Sunderland fan? Or was that Dennis and Neville?
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Wasn’t Oz a Sunderland fan? Or was that Dennis and Neville?
They went to watch Sunderland in Europe, but were all Newcastle, I believe. It was made 8 years before I was born, so I may be wrong!
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All three. Oz, Dennis and Neville were Newcastle. Oz eventually rocked up in Middlesbrough for the third series.
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Used to love watching that show. Moy Haaayy- zull
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All three. Oz, Dennis and Neville were Newcastle. Oz eventually rocked up in Middlesbrough for the third series.
And started wearing a suit and somehow shagged Bill Nighy's assistant.
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I just remember Oz sticking the nut on ‘big Baz’
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I just remember Oz sticking the nut on ‘big Baz’
"He was just going for an Indian, man!"
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Nobody does big Baz!
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I was welling up when I saw Dean clapping at the end.
On my dodgy stream, it showed him clapping quite fervently right after the final whistle. Was that to our mob or theirs?
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Dean briefly applauded Norwich fans straight after the whistle and then more pointedly and for a longer period our fans after the players had disappeared off the pitch.
I know this because I am not a wanker who leaves bang on 90 mins.
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Double post
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We never looked in any kind of trouble but we seemed to lack a bit of fluidity going forward. We saw the best and worst of Ollie, great strike for the goal, excellent work rate and tenacity without the ball but a lack of quality with it.
Thought Tim didn’t do badly without really looking like he was ready for the step up.
Dean was by the tunnel entrance shaking hands and hugging all players as they came off and taking the applause of the Villa fans, bit of a tough one for him as he can hardly milk the deserved accolades of the home fans having just relegated the away ones. Thought he played it just right. As ever.
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Clean sheet. Strikers scoring.
Chambers looked solid, but Norwich didn’t really threaten.
Young Tim did well, we didn’t miss Luiz.
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Defence was largely untroubled, didn’t do a lot wrong. Going forward we played some attractive football at times but the decision making in and around the box wasn’t always the best. Players needed to look up more often before playing the final ball.
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Completely missed the game.
Good to see Ollie bag a goal and another clean sheet.
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He's got to give Coutinho and Buendia a run of games together.
I agree but he needs Nakamba back in the side to do that to give the midfield more bite and energy. We were far too open last time he tried that.
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Yeah but Everton fans are the whingiest, whiniest fuckers and they hate us a lot more than vice versa so fuck'em.
Amen eamonn
Most clubs hate us more than we hate them because nobody else has a sense of humour. I have no doubt I hate Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City & Rangers more than most of their fans hate us.
But the rest? Bitterness and self-regard galore.
A Newcastle fan I worked with justified her hatred of us by citing the Ant & Dec banner. "How sad and pathetic can you be? Why would you do that? Are you obsessed with us? Are you all that small-time?"
This was 2018, so a full nine years after someone hung a hand-painted sheet as a last-game-of-the-season joke. But it was still as if our entire club and fanbase had publicly spread Mike Ashley's excrement on their Jimmy Nail statue.
I hope Everton go and I’d rather they go with Newcastle too rather than any of the others. It’s the “they can’t possibly go down” attitude that I hate from almost every quarter
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Shout out to Tyrone yesterday. He gets pelters off fans when he has his brain farts, but he's been slowly hitting a bit of form and was immense when called upon yesterday.
Apart from Ollie's decision making in front of goal, I enjoyed yesterday. His effort is not in question, I reckon he just needs to think less in front of goal and just hit the damn thing. Couple of chances yesterday would have been goals if Ings had been on them.
Still, 2 clean sheets in a row and steadily playing into a bit of form.
We have a major say in both ends of the league in the next few weeks, so we'll be facing stern opposition till the end of season. Burnley away especially will be tough, and one where I'd definitely start with Emi over Coutinho.
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He's got to give Coutinho and Buendia a run of games together.
It didn't work when he tried it before
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Just remembering when it emerged that Rashica wouldn't sign for us because he didn't want to be involved in a relegation battle.
Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, your boy took one hell of a beating.
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Not sure where the Everton hate has come from. They are a good historic club, decent fans, decent ground. I think we’ve got quite a lot in common. I don’t have a second team, but in the PL they are probably the only other club I have any affinity for. I hope they stay up.
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Jonathan Pearce was the MOTD commentator for the match, was it him who predicted in the week we would only get another 2 points and go down?
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When you shut up shop after 70 minutes against the bottom team questions need to be asked. We should have gone at them not just counter attacks which we excelled out yesterday. If you took a kid for his first game at Villa Park yesterday what do you think that child would be thinking?
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When you shut up shop after 70 minutes against the bottom team questions need to be asked. We should have gone at them not just counter attacks which we excelled out yesterday. If you took a kid for his first game at Villa Park yesterday what do you think that child would be thinking?
Something like "wow this place is AMAZING" followed by "I wonder if my dad will buy me some pop at half time" or "grown ups at football swear loads" if anything like the young me.
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My 7 year old was buzzing, because we won 2-0 and he got to sing Sweet Caroline (clean version) and Hi-Ho Silver Lining at the end.
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Lacklustre performance but nice to get a win and lift the mood a little. Let’s hope we can no build on it and finish the season strongly.
Great to see the appreciation for Smith, must have been a weird feeling for him but he handled it with his customary dignity.
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Did anybody else go to the Bartons before the game? I couldn't believe how quiet it was. No queue at the bar and plenty of seats available. I wonder why. Cost of living/drinking crisis, people out of the habit after covid or are more fans choosing to drink at the outlets next to the ground?
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Thought that was a thoroughly professional performance, we weren’t anywhere near free flowing and it seemed the pace on the final ball nearly always seemed to be wrong but other than the 5 mins of 2nd half where they made Emi make a couple of saves never felt they had enough. Biggest threat was the referee who was off his head and the way we killed the last 10 mins where I was in no doubt if they had got in our box he would have found a penalty was excellent.
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Not sure where the Everton hate has come from. They are a good historic club, decent fans, decent ground. I think we’ve got quite a lot in common. I don’t have a second team, but in the PL they are probably the only other club I have any affinity for. I hope they stay up.
Do you know any Everton fans? I do and every single one of them not only spent that entire season teling me how glad they were that we were going down but also making a big deal about how we were going to 'do a leeds'. There were also comments about how it would be 'good for the league' for us to go down.
When you shut up shop after 70 minutes against the bottom team questions need to be asked. We should have gone at them not just counter attacks which we excelled out yesterday. If you took a kid for his first game at Villa Park yesterday what do you think that child would be thinking?
I don't think that's what happened at all. You talk about us shutting up shop but that was directly after the ref gae us yellow cards for 3 fouls in a row alongside not even giving free kicks when they made similar fouls, over the course of about 6-7 minutes. We backed off a little because if we didn't he was going to send someone off because he'd decided that was the way the game was going.
I'd hope most 7 year olds would've loved being there for a 2-0 win where we had 21 shots and hit the bar twice.
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Obviously pleased with the win but I thought it was a poor game between a team struggling to find fluidity and a truly awful opponent who are clearly the worst in this division. With more intensity and better decision making we should easily have added a couple more.
I thought McGinn played well and gave the ball away less than recently, as well as playing a couple of top drawer cross field passes. Watkins showed his strengths and limitations, brilliant at closing down and hassling defenders ( he did a lot of work for his goal and stole possession for the second) but poor at protecting the ball and somehow slow at getting shots away. He must have more blocked shots than any other player in the PL.
Glad for Tim who had a solid but unspectacular debut, including taking a yellow for the team with an intelligent foul.
The atmosphere was flat, reflecting the fare on offer, though great to see the reception that Deano received before and after the game. However I thought it strange that he didn’t go over to the Norwich fans at the final whistle., something that a couple of their fans pointed out on the train.
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Did anybody else go to the Bartons before the game? I couldn't believe how quiet it was. No queue at the bar and plenty of seats available. I wonder why. Cost of living/drinking crisis, people out of the habit after covid or are more fans choosing to drink at the outlets next to the ground?
Yes it was very quiet.
I had tried to book a table last week but was told it was fully booked, some of the bookings had not showed up.
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Another clean sheet so was pleased with that. Both strikers done what they are paid to do.
Atmosphere was awful
Dean Smith Tribute/Appreciation very nice touch (even if they held his flag the wrong way round)
Why didn't we sell the empty away end seats in the upper Doug Ellis to Home supporters?
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When you shut up shop after 70 minutes against the bottom team questions need to be asked. We should have gone at them not just counter attacks which we excelled out yesterday. If you took a kid for his first game at Villa Park yesterday what do you think that child would be thinking?
Something like "wow this place is AMAZING" followed by "I wonder if my dad will buy me some pop at half time" or "grown ups at football swear loads" if anything like the young me.
or as my son asked me many years ago why they calling the referee a f ING anchor
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I would assume Norwich bought the 3k off us and didn't return any. I was surprised by their low then out.
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Not sure where the Everton hate has come from. They are a good historic club, decent fans, decent ground. I think we’ve got quite a lot in common. I don’t have a second team, but in the PL they are probably the only other club I have any affinity for. I hope they stay up.
Well said, and I feel very much the same.
A couple of great Toffee mates, and would be sad for them if Everton went down. I have no doubt they'd be back, much in the same way we came back, but there are far more irritating teams than them that I'd love to disappear for a while.
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I would assume Norwich bought the 3k off us and didn't return any. I was surprised by their low then out.
Maybe they can't be arsed anymore. It's odd if they took the full allocation, didn't sell any at all and didn't let us have them back. We sold out well in advance and 22,000 waiting list....
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Not sure where the Everton hate has come from. They are a good historic club, decent fans, decent ground. I think we’ve got quite a lot in common. I don’t have a second team, but in the PL they are probably the only other club I have any affinity for. I hope they stay up.
Well said, and I feel very much the same.
A couple of great Toffee mates, and would be sad for them if Everton went down. I have no doubt they'd be back, much in the same way we came back, but there are far more irritating teams than them that I'd love to disappear for a while.
I would be sad to see them go too, they’re the mirror image of our great club and have a bit of a soft spot for them because of it.
I’d much rather see the back of Burnley for reasons that do not need explaining. It could well be Leeds dropping anyway.
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There was a very excited lad by me attending his first match yesterday. The ST holder next to me said that when his Dad told him on Friday evening he was going, he broke down in tears. Sometimes, us long term 'sufferers' don't realise how lucky we are. Also, it took me back to February 1977, when I saw my first game at Villa Park. A 3-0 win against Port Vale. Still a vivid and happy memory.
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There was a very excited lad by me attending his first match yesterday. The ST holder next to me said that when his Dad told him on Friday evening he was going, he broke down in tears. Sometimes, us long term 'sufferers' don't realise how lucky we are. Also, it took me back to February 1977, when I saw my first game at Villa Park. A 3-0 win against Port Vale. Still a vivid and happy memory.
A few years ago I went with my cousin, who's in his sixties, and his lad who was about 25. Because of where they live and assorted family stuff they attend maybe one match a decade. It was a routine win against Blackburn and I still had to virtually drag them put at the end because they wanted to be there as long as they could.
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Why was Smith blathering on about their 'penalty'? "Because it's Norwich I doubt I'll be getting a call from Mike Riley." Nothing to do with it being Norwich, Dean, you won't be getting a call because nobody else in the world thought it was a penalty either.
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What penalty?
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What penalty?
Exactly.
But first half where their player caught a foot in the face as he was bending down to knee height.
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It was a routine win against Blackburn and I still had to virtually drag them put at the end because they wanted to be there as long as they could.
This last sentence resonates deeply with me apart from the routine win bit. My last visit to Villa Park was the 5-5 against Forest, before that it was Watford 2-4 and before that Burnley 0-1.
Each time I just wanted to hang around inside to soak up the atmosphere and to look at the suroundings for as long as I could. I knew my lad was anxious to get going as he lives in Shropshire but I think he had an unsaid understanding.
I don't wish to be maudling about this but at my age and not living in the UK anymore, you never know if it's going to be your last visit and the Villa has been such a massive part of my life I just want to make the most of it. It will be ever thus, hopefully for a good few years yet to come.
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Out of interest, what was the team of mini no.8s that paraded around the pitch at half time? If there was any kind of announcement about their identity and accomplishment, I missed it.
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Mostly my own fault (as well as Covid) for not having been since December 2019. But it was nice to be back and see us win a game.
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Out of interest, what was the team of mini no.8s that paraded around the pitch at half time? If there was any kind of announcement about their identity and accomplishment, I missed it.
Coutinho and Buendia?! ;)
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Out of interest, what was the team of mini no.8s that paraded around the pitch at half time? If there was any kind of announcement about their identity and accomplishment, I missed it.
They're our new under 9's academy recruits. The announcement came about 5 minutes after they'd left the pitch. Which following on top of announcing the wrong sub when Leon went off wasn't a great effort by the announcer.
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Out of interest, what was the team of mini no.8s that paraded around the pitch at half time? If there was any kind of announcement about their identity and accomplishment, I missed it.
It was the Aston Villa under 9 team. It was poorly announced; just as they were going off the pitch😩😩
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Thanks all. I gave up waiting and popped to the loo after they'd lined up in front of the Holte.
As an aside to Risso's pop at the vertically challenged above, I noted as they briefly lined up together as a wall that Ings is shorter than McGinn. I was not expecting that.
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Thanks all. I gave up waiting and popped to the loo after they'd lined up in front of the Holte.
As an aside to Risso's pop at the vertically challenged above, I noted as they briefly lined up together as a wall that Ings is shorter than McGinn. I was not expecting that.
That's because you're not used to see McGinn stand upright. 😁
When he's playing he's half hunched, leaning forward with his bum pushed out.
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Yeah but Everton fans are the whingiest, whiniest fuckers and they hate us a lot more than vice versa so fuck'em.
Amen eamonn
Most clubs hate us more than we hate them because nobody else has a sense of humour. I have no doubt I hate Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City & Rangers more than most of their fans hate us.
But the rest? Bitterness and self-regard galore.
A Newcastle fan I worked with justified her hatred of us by citing the Ant & Dec banner. "How sad and pathetic can you be? Why would you do that? Are you obsessed with us? Are you all that small-time?"
This was 2018, so a full nine years after someone hung a hand-painted sheet as a last-game-of-the-season joke. But it was still as if our entire club and fanbase had publicly spread Mike Ashley's excrement on their Jimmy Nail statue.
I hope Everton go and I’d rather they go with Newcastle too rather than any of the others. It’s the “they can’t possibly go down” attitude that I hate from almost every quarter
True, but to be fair they can’t go down almost always translate to they don’t - and it looks good for them again. Not so good for Leeds!
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My 7 year old was buzzing, because we won 2-0 and he got to sing Sweet Caroline (clean version) and Hi-Ho Silver Lining at the end.
Same here, took my 10yr old for only his second game. He was buzzing because of just being there, got to get something from the store beforehand and got to see his team win 2-0! I can assure he thought it was ace!
In contrast to that though we were sat behind a chap and his teenage son in the trinity, they were late sitting down, early to leave for half time and missed our first goal, late coming back for the second half and left early missing our second goal. The chap moaned constantly and I get it was a frustrating game at times but you have to wonder why he pays the money! 😀
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Ref had an absolute shocker. Throwing yellow cards around like confetti in our direction, while Norwich fouls went unpunished constantly
I said to myself he must be a Norwich fan. At one point I expected the ref to start shouting "Let's be 'avin you!" at the away fans.
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Ref had an absolute shocker. Throwing yellow cards around like confetti in our direction, while Norwich fouls went unpunished constantly
I said to myself he must be a Norwich fan. At one point I expected the ref to start shouting "Let's be 'avin you!" at the away fans.
We’ve had some weird referees this season, but this one took the biscuit. I know we always bemoan some decisions, but there were some very inconsistent and one sided calls.
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Apparently we have won every time he has reffed us!
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Ref had an absolute shocker. Throwing yellow cards around like confetti in our direction, while Norwich fouls went unpunished constantly
I said to myself he must be a Norwich fan. At one point I expected the ref to start shouting "Let's be 'avin you!" at the away fans.
We’ve had some weird referees this season, but this one took the biscuit. I know we always bemoan some decisions, but there were some very inconsistent and one sided calls.
He was useless.
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Apparently we have won every time he has reffed us!
Top ref!
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Dean briefly applauded Norwich fans straight after the whistle and then more pointedly and for a longer period our fans after the players had disappeared off the pitch.
I know this because I am not a wanker who leaves bang on 90 mins.
He's as bad as Houllier. Tsk!
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Awful game played by 2 very poor teams
Chambers - looked as though he had not played all season, Mings his distribution of the ball was woeful, Bailey, hopefully the last we will see of him in a Villa shirt.
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Awful game played by 2 very poor teams
Chambers - looked as though he had not played all season, Mings his distribution of the ball was woeful, Bailey, hopefully the last we will see of him in a Villa shirt.
I didn't think Mings and Chambers were that bad at all.
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Awful game played by 2 very poor teams
Chambers - looked as though he had not played all season, Mings his distribution of the ball was woeful, Bailey, hopefully the last we will see of him in a Villa shirt.
I didn't think Mings and Chambers were that bad at all.
Some people will focus on the negatives, others focus on the clean sheet and three points in a positive light after a long weekend getting ready for the week ahead.
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Awful game played by 2 very poor teams
Chambers - looked as though he had not played all season, Mings his distribution of the ball was woeful, Bailey, hopefully the last we will see of him in a Villa shirt.
I didn't think Mings and Chambers were that bad at all.
Some people will…
…just post whatever crap comes into their head to try to be controversial.
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It’s also weird to single out the centre halves when we keep a clean sheet.
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
Well, we won the game on Saturday.
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We have a current England centre forward who gets pelters from sections of the Villa fans. We have a current England centre back who gets pelters from sections of the Villa fans. Oh for the days when we had players like Paul Elliott and Rudy Gestede. With Jordan Bowery to come off the bench.
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We have a manager who gets pelters from sections of the Villa fans. Oh for the days of Remi Garde. ;)
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My 7 year old was buzzing, because we won 2-0 and he got to sing Sweet Caroline (clean version) and Hi-Ho Silver Lining at the end.
Yeah, that was my little girl's overriding memory of her first game (v Brighton, earlier this season). Absolutely love how she's taken to singing "hi ho Aston Villa" at random intervals at her Manc Utd supporting grandad.
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
It’s a totally irrelevant argument. Everyone is fully aware that the current squad are not in a position to win things but are a work in progress. If things go to play them some players will stay and play a full part, some will become peripheral and others will move on.
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My 7 year old was buzzing, because we won 2-0 and he got to sing Sweet Caroline (clean version) and Hi-Ho Silver Lining at the end.
Same here, took my 10yr old for only his second game. He was buzzing because of just being there, got to get something from the store beforehand and got to see his team win 2-0! I can assure he thought it was ace!
In contrast to that though we were sat behind a chap and his teenage son in the trinity, they were late sitting down, early to leave for half time and missed our first goal, late coming back for the second half and left early missing our second goal. The chap moaned constantly and I get it was a frustrating game at times but you have to wonder why he pays the money! 😀
It was my four-year-old's first match - I was so desperate for him to enjoy it. He's at the age where he's not particularly really in to anything, but is happy to go along with everything, so we thought he was ready to give it a go. We went to the funzone before the game, which he loved, we got some food and drink outside the ground. Then he sat quite happily watching the full match - we played a game where he would get a sweet if we got a corner or a free kick, three for a goal - it kept him engaged in what was happening. We sat next to the tunnel (my season ticket is normally back of the Holte, but we got them moved), and he was fascinated watching the subs warm up. He nearly went as long as Danny Ings without needing the toilet too (that was the delay before he came on - he'd nipped down the tunnel, much to the amusement of our other subs). We got right to the front at the end of the match and some of the players came over to give their shirts away, so he got really close to some of them.
It was fascinating to see the match through his eyes. He doesn't have much of an understanding of football other than you have to kick it in the net more than the other team, but everything else - the stadium, the number of people, the lights, the noise, the banners, the colours - that was all huge to him. Exactly the sort of stuff I take for granted. How we played didn't matter to him - we won, he got to see John McGinn "for real life" and he had some sweets. That's a pretty afternoon for a four-year-old! Most importantly, he's said he wants to go again.
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My 7 year old was buzzing, because we won 2-0 and he got to sing Sweet Caroline (clean version) and Hi-Ho Silver Lining at the end.
Same here, took my 10yr old for only his second game. He was buzzing because of just being there, got to get something from the store beforehand and got to see his team win 2-0! I can assure he thought it was ace!
In contrast to that though we were sat behind a chap and his teenage son in the trinity, they were late sitting down, early to leave for half time and missed our first goal, late coming back for the second half and left early missing our second goal. The chap moaned constantly and I get it was a frustrating game at times but you have to wonder why he pays the money! 😀
It was my four-year-old's first match - I was so desperate for him to enjoy it. He's at the age where he's not particularly really in to anything, but is happy to go along with everything, so we thought he was ready to give it a go. We went to the funzone before the game, which he loved, we got some food and drink outside the ground. Then he sat quite happily watching the full match - we played a game where he would get a sweet if we got a corner or a free kick, three for a goal - it kept him engaged in what was happening. We sat next to the tunnel (my season ticket is normally back of the Holte, but we got them moved), and he was fascinated watching the subs warm up. He nearly went as long as Danny Ings without needing the toilet too (that was the delay before he came on - he'd nipped down the tunnel, much to the amusement of our other subs). We got right to the front at the end of the match and some of the players came over to give their shirts away, so he got really close to some of them.
It was fascinating to see the match through his eyes. He doesn't have much of an understanding of football other than you have to kick it in the net more than the other team, but everything else - the stadium, the number of people, the lights, the noise, the banners, the colours - that was all huge to him. Exactly the sort of stuff I take for granted. How we played didn't matter to him - we won, he got to see John McGinn "for real life" and he had some sweets. That's a pretty afternoon for a four-year-old! Most importantly, he's said he wants to go again.
Ah that’s great! Little does he know you’ve signed him up to a lifetime of pain
Glad you all had a great day - that’s what it’s all about
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
It’s a totally irrelevant argument. Everyone is fully aware that the current squad are not in a position to win things but are a work in progress. If things go to play them some players will stay and play a full part, some will become peripheral and others will move on.
Spot on Chris!
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
Sounds a bundle of fun in your section of the ground!!
Mings and Chambers didnt have a lot to do Saturday but didnt put a foot wrong with what they had to do.
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Nothing controversial, there were quite a few agreeing with me on Saturday who sit by me
We wont win anything with average centre halves
Sounds a bundle of fun in your section of the ground!!
Mings and Chambers didnt have a lot to do Saturday but didnt put a foot wrong with what they had to do.
Meldrew Corner.
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We've sold home tickets in the upper tier for Burnley, so it's even more unusual that the away end was half empty on Saturday.
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We have a current England centre forward who gets pelters from sections of the Villa fans. We have a current England centre back who gets pelters from sections of the Villa fans. Oh for the days when we had players like Paul Elliott and Rudy Gestede. With Jordan Bowery to come off the bench.
Absolutely 100 % Brian. Some have extremely short memories. I’m still not really sure if Gestede was actually a footballer
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Great to see Deano get a good reception. No doubt he'll bring them back up if given the necessary support.