Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[Brian Taylor]

I am coming round to McL think now..I expected us to get drubbed yesterday; wiped out. and we got another 'glorious draw'. against superior opposition...UTV!! and what a manager! McL has saved up from oblivion and left us straggling with the almost also rans and I am kinda happy..butI also think I am the one losing it!

[JUAN PABLO]

Havent been to a home game since the Blackburn win.

.

great post . agree

[JUAN PABLO]

Someone should tell Hutton to stop overlapping, he is hopeless at it.

Someone should tell Hutton to stop playing. He is  hopeless at it!

To think , when we were interested in signing him , 99.9% of us said no way , he is awful
, yet a manager on £2 million a year thought he would be a good signing for £4 million .  ffs

[JUAN PABLO]

Ozvilla...certainly would not have a pop at you mate.
I think your circumstances are a far cry from admitting that going shopping is preferable to attending matches!
Although, given this season.........

to be fair I didnt go much neither , I saved alot of money and bought two expensive synths . I didnt miss one game on either TV , stream or radio . But to be honest , If McLeish goes in the summer , I wont buy another synth in the next 12 mths , because I wouldnt be able to afford to as I would be going down VP alot more often.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

The goal was a huge dollop of luck, topped with sprinkles of the ridiculous. You have to speculate to accumulate but Clark shooting from 30 yards is not my idea of attacking intent, albeit a welcome goal.

I credit the goal to the Villa fans. Two minutes before, Clark had a chance to shoot but instead passed it. The crowd let him know what he should have done. He didn't make the same mistake twice.

[martin o`who??]

Well, this game really sums up why we are where we are in the league. Although we defended stoutly and with some passion today, there were long periods where we just were not good enough.
Credit to Herd and Clark; well done Lichaj and Cuellar in defence. Credit to Ireland for his first half effort; pity he faded so badly in the second. Well played, Warnock, for the effort down the  left.
I thought N’Zog looked low on confidence, out of sorts and poor on decision-making. He has been a real disappointment.

The season’s record is worth repeating.
Re McLeish:
- 2 relegations from three seasons, with a third threatening in four.
- His three outfield-player purchases (including Jenas) have failed to ignite the team.
Re the season:
- Highest number of draws in the division: 33% more than the next team (Sunderland).
 - Lowest number of goals-scored in the bottom 6 clubs (and only surpassed by Stoke in the whole division).
- Worst record in the league for losing from winning positions – 20 points lost (equal with Wolves).
- Villa's worst-ever league home record.
- A numbing style of football.
- VP crowds down by 9% (I think) this season.

On this basis, McLeish should leave the club tonight.

And your forgetting we still havnt scored from a corner this season, and we`ve also conceded a record number of goals from set pieces. So what`s he been doing on the training ground not practising set pieces that for sure.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The manager hailed his players for showing determination and desire to earn the point against the Champions League-chasing aristocrats from the capital

Jesus wept, when did we turn into Rochdale?

[danlanza]

The goal was a huge dollop of luck, topped with sprinkles of the ridiculous. You have to speculate to accumulate but Clark shooting from 30 yards is not my idea of attacking intent, albeit a welcome goal.

I credit the goal to the Villa fans. Two minutes before, Clark had a chance to shoot but instead passed it. The crowd let him know what he should have done. He didn't make the same mistake twice.

I think that you will find that Clark's goal was only the fourth we have scored from outside the area all season, 2 for Robbie Kean against Wolves and a belter from Stan. Why are players constantly trying to walk the ball into the net instead of taking a shot? The more shots you take the more pressure on the goalkeeper,the more chance of him making a mistake,you would think.

[martin o`who??]

Didn`t see "Big Eck" on the touchline much, thought the "Gareth Bale you look like a chimp" chant was frikkin hilarious, defended brilliantly until all the enforced changes, then it was a bit fraught. Got the point we needed, thats the main thing, decent atmosphere for a change, the Spurs fans did themselves proud for Stans ovation and fair play to them for it.

[paul_e]

The goal was a huge dollop of luck, topped with sprinkles of the ridiculous. You have to speculate to accumulate but Clark shooting from 30 yards is not my idea of attacking intent, albeit a welcome goal.

I credit the goal to the Villa fans. Two minutes before, Clark had a chance to shoot but instead passed it. The crowd let him know what he should have done. He didn't make the same mistake twice.

I think that you will find that Clark's goal was only the fourth we have scored from outside the area all season, 2 for Robbie Kean against Wolves and a belter from Stan. Why are players constantly trying to walk the ball into the net instead of taking a shot? The more shots you take the more pressure on the goalkeeper,the more chance of him making a mistake,you would think.

This, and virtually every other problem (lack of movement, poor decision making, panic under pressure) is purely a result of low confidence.  We have players capable of scoring from distance, we have players capable of winning the ball at a corner and getting headers on target, we have players capable of playing pass and move and taking the pressure off by holding on to the ball.  The problem is none of this is being drilled into them in training with the ongoing message that if we play our game we can beat anyone.  Instead we're told that holding on for a point against the 'elite' is a great result for a side with such a weak squad.

As I've said before McLeish has every player in our squad playing well within themselves, none have been consistently terrible (with the exception of maybe Hutton and Warnock at the start of the season and nzogbia recently) but no one has stood up and taken control of the games.  For players to do that they need self-confidence, which starts from the training ground and the changing room.

[Stu]

The manager hailed his players for showing determination and desire to earn the point against the Champions League-chasing aristocrats from the capital

Jesus wept, when did we turn into Rochdale?

Have they still not done anything about that?

[nigel]

The goal was a huge dollop of luck, topped with sprinkles of the ridiculous. You have to speculate to accumulate but Clark shooting from 30 yards is not my idea of attacking intent, albeit a welcome goal.

I credit the goal to the Villa fans. Two minutes before, Clark had a chance to shoot but instead passed it. The crowd let him know what he should have done. He didn't make the same mistake twice.

2 minutes before he didn't have the time.
Lichaj cut in from the left and I thought he was going to have a go, being right footed, but he held on to long then passed to Clark, who in fairness never really had the time, as he was closed down quickly.
I've been saying all season that they take one touch to many or take a couple of seconds to long thinking about it.
Classic example was Weimann vrs Stoke. He scored that wonderful goal then in the second half, before they scored, he was through on goal. His inexperience told when he said he looked for Gabby, chance gone. Bent wouldn't have considered looking.

[Dave Clark Five]

If you watch Clark's interview on AVTV, he points out that the manager had encouraged them to have more shots from that sort of distance.