Wigan Athletic v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[PeterWithe]

I'd had my fill but did I hear a chant of We Want O'Neill back' as well?

[VillaAlways]

From a Wigan fan

Wigan fan: This is the truth as I see it,(no wind up).. Today Aston Villa were the worst team to pitch up at the DW Stadium by a country mile. I mean we are crap,but I was staggered today by Villa`s negativity,it was if they had turned up to play Man Yoo or Citeh.Talk about `parking the bus`,they made us look decent,and believe me that takes some doing. I felt sorry for the 4000 travelling fans who payed good money to watch that shit,I agree with them,McLeish needs to go.

[PaulWinch again]

Spot on, everyone fucking sees it except our owner.

[PeterWithe]

I'd not seen this before, I've always wanted him out but kind of admire at least his understanding of what Villa are all about but does he really think that we shouldn't expect to take the game to the bottom team and 'tactically excellent'.. for real? giving up the lions share of possession and clinging on against fucking Wigan?

Villa's fans reacted to the draw by booing McLeish but he remained defiant and said: 'The fans have been great. They're expecting Aston Villa to come to Wigan and win and I understand that.

'I played four forwards and I played two young kids in the midfield. We made some chances and had we taken them then everybody would be clapping. We stuck to our task and, tactically, I thought they were excellent.'

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Not great was it. On the plus side we got our first clean sheet since boxing day with fat arse out the way. Hopefully that will give the defence a bit of confidence and we can build on it

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And......

Cheerful bastard.....!

I do feel sorry for McLeish. I just want the club to do wel and whilst he is here that means big Eck doing well too. I hate to see us turning on any of our own, be it players or coaching staff. I will never boo Heskey because though he may not be world class he is a trier, and i dont think he ever shirks his duties in a Vila shirt. He aint good enough to be a first choice forward but that is not his fault.

I do think McLeish is a thoroughly decent man who appreciates the size and history of Aston Villa, and, like Emile, is doing his best for Villa. Unfortunately, like Emile, i simply fear he is not good enough. Most of us, if offered the best job we could realistically hope to get, at a fantastically high salary, would say yes, and he is no different. I don't blame him for coming, and i realy dislike the abuse he is receiving.

I hope he can turn things around, but there is a massive negativity about us at the moment and this is the worst I have felt for a long time about our prospects. As Graham Taylor said, when a club is sliding it is very hard to halt the decline.  It is not as bad as the mid 80s, but it could get that bad if we don't perk up quickly.

It's also worth mentioning that all the anti-McLeish stuff gives some players and excuse to not give their best. I do wonder whether the likes of N'Zogbia and Ireland were left on the bench because they can't be arsed to put a shift in and are more than happy just to pick up their wages.

Saying that, football is a simple game and the first objective has to be to win the midfield battle. On that score, we never turned up.

[paul_e]

I'd not seen this before, I've always wanted him out but kind of admire at least his understanding of what Villa are all about but does he really think that we shouldn't expect to take the game to the bottom team and 'tactically excellent'.. for real? giving up the lions share of possession and clinging on against fucking Wigan?

Villa's fans reacted to the draw by booing McLeish but he remained defiant and said: 'The fans have been great. They're expecting Aston Villa to come to Wigan and win and I understand that.

'I played four forwards and I played two young kids in the midfield. We made some chances and had we taken them then everybody would be clapping. We stuck to our task and, tactically, I thought they were excellent.'

I can't believe he's said it again the same weekend that I've  been slating that very line.

It's this complete lack of understanding that 4 forwards on the pitch doesn't mean attacking football that makes me so against the guy.  It's not the first time that he's used this line to defend his tactics when he gets called defensive.

The guy hasn't got a clue, I don't care about the replacement at the minute, I just think every training session him and Grant have a part in is doing more damage to our team, the sooner he's out the door the better, even if it takes months to replace him it's not going to be of any further detriment than what's happening now.

[ktvillan]

I suggest you study the history of teams in the bottom three with 12 games to play and see how many points on average they manage to accumulate over those last 12 games, the answer is not enough to take any of them past 35 points.

Quite. Its all shite at the minute but tired off the mass panic on here.

I take your points but consider this. With 12 games to go last year both Wolves and Wigan were in the bottom three and both took a further 16 points to stay up. The same for any of the current bottom three would take them all above 35 points. admittedly to only 36 or 37.  In contrast a certain other team had 30 points with 12 games left and only managed a further 9 to slip into one of the relegation spots.  Their ex "manager" currently has 29 points with his new team.  A similar performance over the last 12 games ( and let's face it, our run in isn't that easy, and our form is shocking) would see them finish on 38 points.  It remains unlikely that all the stragglers will rally to the extent Wolves and Wigan did last season. But it may not be as much of a foregone conlusion as it looks. 

[lordmcgrath5]

One thing struck me yesterday as significant. I can't remember the last time our fans were so quiet away from home, the usual jovial atmosphere was'nt there.

Interesting. I thought the noise was actually pretty good, even when it was (justifiably) negative later in the second half. Then again, it was only my third game of the season.