Post-match thread - Newcastle v Aston Villa

[vilan461]

Still reeling from it and don;t quite know how it happened when the first 15 minutes looked quite promising.  After missing the penalty we just seemed to give up. 

Newcastle are a big strong physical side and were totally up for it.  I think too many of our midfielders and defenders just got bullied out of it, especially the youngsters like Albrighton and Clark, but also Petrov, Downing, Ireland, and the full backs.  Might have been different with Collins or Cuellar at CB alongside Dunne, and maybe NRC in from the start. 

Cant understand anyone blaming L Young, he was no worse than a few other senior players like Dunne, Petrov or Warnock.

Blaming O'Neill is out of order too.  I didn't like him or his football , but his away record was very very good, Chelsea aside, and I doubt we would have capitulated like that to such an ordinary team under him.   This was down to KMac's selection and tactics and the players not being up for it enough.

Edit:Forgot to say I've thought Friedel has been a bit past it for a while now and he looked it again today, first goal especially was a straightfoward save.

fully agree with everything said---the whole side were out--bullied, and had no answer to Newcastle,s bustling style we just capitulated, rolled over and died-----an absoulte disgrace!!!

[KevinGage]

They looked like a team with no drection or instructions, as soon as we went 1 down it was a mess.

There were shades on that On Thursday.

Bright opening, and if things had continued to go our way we could have won relatively comfortably.  But as soon as we conceded we looked a different team. Or no team at all, in fact.

If your plan/ tactics are solid, then a minor setback like a goal conceded shouldn't resort in that level of tail off.

For all the shite of the players coming out and saying they want Kevin Mac to get the gig fulltime, there was little evidence of that today. Our formation/ team selection was a mistake, and if the foundations are facked you're always going to struggle.

But 6 shagging 0 to that shower...

Good teams just don't lose by that scoreline.  Particularly to that level of opposition. We're effectively talking about a Championship side with a few busted flushes thrown in for good measure (them -not us...though you do wonder).

[jungel]

I went to bed at 1-0 when my third stream shat itself, and my oh my am I pleased with that decision. Thankfully the mocking texts started chiming in before I watched it back this morning.

Two decent results against average opposition does not mean you're a great manager.

One absolute collapse against average opposition just might mean you're not.

In fairness, this is not KM's team, and I think we are starting to see the beginning of the consequences of MON walking out and leaving the rest of us in the sh*t.

[BannedUserIAT]

This probably isn't going to be a popular view as I suspect the pain of not only being defeated but the manner of that defeat will be around for quite some time yet.

But, having slept on it, the result is that we've dropped at least a point. One. And that's what the league is based on - points. If we miss out on a CL spot at the end of the campaign on goal difference, then I'll be pissed off.

In the meantime, many people have said on this site that we'd settle for a slightly lower finish in the table if we tried out some of the youth players. And, sadly, this is what sometimes happens when you come up against a team that is effectively battle-hardened from a season in the rough and tumble of the Championship.

The team will learn from this, Kev Mac will learn from this.
We now know for sure that a midfield pairing of Petrov and Ireland doesn't work and I don't expect to see that again. We know that Carew cannot be relied upon when it comes to the crunch. I would hope from this point on, he'll be a last-ten-minutes impact player.

The team, stacked with youth, will not have any sort of learning curve unless they come up against a variety of teams. Yesterday they were faced with bruisers. On another day they'll have to face a technical team that can pass (and keep) the ball. Further down the track, a long ball team will front up.

At the end of those lessons, if we've not learned anything, then changes will have to be made.
But, just like any other trade, you learn from experience.

So, a dropped point. No biggy. Most Villa fans will have to wear the insults for at least a week but hopefully much of what went wrong at Newcastle will be put right again and that result will be nothing more than an anomaly.

As I said at the start, I don't expect this to be the most popular of viewpoints but it is what it is.
We move on from here.

[Toronto Villa]

The game is very emotional and it's very tough to take when you've been beaten that badly. I think you make some sound points Troy. The good thing is this has happened at the very start of the season. There's a lot of uncertainty, and we have to stay calm. There's going to be a lot of change in the next few weeks, and as a club we have to stick together until things settle down. The big thing is we don't all melt down over this. That we regroup and focus on what is a big test on Thursday. Not only from the standpoint of staying in Europe, but as a way of showing that we can bounce back, and that Sunday was just a freak event.

The league season doesn't mean a whole lot this early on, and we'll certainly recover from this because we are better than what we showed today.

[KevinGage]

It's the nature of the tonking though Troy - and who it was against.

Had it been against a crack top 4 Prem side who ripped us to pieces with good passing and good movement it would still have been a shameful scoreline.

Had we lost 2/3-0 to a newly promoted side that in itself would be cause for concern.

When you combine the scoreline and the opposition there really is no hiding place.

You wonder if this idea of 'a season of transition' has seeped into the mindset of the players, this one doesn't really matter as we'll be comfortable anyway.

As a few have mentioned, Dunne looks top-heavy and all over the shop and Warnock's ongoing dip in form is far from ideal either. Both were big players for us last year - Dunne more so. But what if the motivation that spurned him on last year -proving Citeh wrong- has burnt out. Is he just settling now? There was talk of Warnock being unsettled over the summer too.

Factor in losing one of our most consistent players this week and you can understand why it might be hard just to write this one off as a bad day at the office. Usually a reversal of this nature is indicative of a deeper underlying problem.

[Villa'Zawg]

Honestly? That's a real opinion? It isn't made up just to make my eyes bleed and head hurt?

NEWCASTLE UNITED 6 - 0 ASTON VILLA

"So, a dropped point. No biggy" :shoots himself in the face thingy:

[Villa'Zawg]

I'm sorry, I'm a bit drunk. But "So, a dropped point. No biggy". I ain't that drunk.

[ROBBO]

What it will have done is destroy the notion that playing the kids will negate the need to strengthen. On another thread i said those that are looking to NRC have short memories. We need a quality defensive midfielder and a centre forward that can hold on to the ball, the midfield of Petrov and Ireland can't possibly work, don't get me wrong Irelland will be an asset but not in the role he played yesterday. The main concern for me is a new manager, KM is not qualified to take over a top six prem side, the need for an experienced manager who has operated at the top level is critical.

[BannedUserIAT]

I'm sorry, I'm a bit drunk. But "So, a dropped point. No biggy". I ain't that drunk.

But that's what it is. The difference between say 1-1 and losing 273-0 is....one point. For sure we should be grateful that there's no system that rewards extra points for more goals (or rather takes points off for ridiculous performances) but it's a lost point which, at some point during the season we'll make up for.

Oh yes, it's not a pleasant scoreline to look at (or have to deal with at work on Monday) but it's done now....we have to deal with it or cry about it for 6 months while the season goes down the toilet.

[hawkeye]

"The team Stacked with youth" !!!
we had 2 kids out there, the rest were regular 1st teamers, its not like the team we put out against Rapid.
i want to know what happened in the 7 days after beating West Ham because there is obviously something wrong

[BannedUserIAT]

Fair comment. Maybe just wishful thinking that it was inexperience that caused that.
Albrighton and Clark are young, Ireland's not a first teamer for anyone - especially in that position.
you could even argue that, under MON, Luke Young was not a regular first teamer.

But, yes, you're right, not as youthful as I thought.

My overall point still stands though....with the introduction of Albrighton and Clark (as well as the others coming through), the re-introduction of reserve players and a new manager, it'll be a period of transition and the occasional bollocking whilst the squad get fully used to each other and, just as critically, life without Milner, will be handed out.....and, occasionally, handed back!

[brian green]

Troy, I am sorry but your comments are utterly blase.   See another thread for my track record and I can assure you that was a bad, bad, bad defeat.   They were not bruisers.   They played us into the ground because we capitulated from the instant Carew's penalty joke sailed into the back of the stand.   Equally bad was Kevin McDonald's transmogrification into Martin O'Neill after one whole week doing too little too late to prevent or even moderate a defeat of seismic proportions.

Villa defeats I can take, I have taken hundreds.   Relegation I can cope with, even losing FA Cup semi finals but the one thing which might, just might make me turn my back on Villa after a lifetime is fans behaving like the captain of the Titanic.   Iceberg?  What iceberg?   The one you just hit.

[brooklynlou]

"The team Stacked with youth" !!!
we had 2 kids out there, the rest were regular 1st teamers, its not like the team we put out against Rapid.
i want to know what happened in the 7 days after beating West Ham because there is obviously something wrong

Sorry. The kids did not screw up -  the veterans did. It was Ireland's first game, he gets a pass. But Dunne, Carew, Petrov were awful.

[taylorsworkrate]

"The team Stacked with youth" !!!
we had 2 kids out there, the rest were regular 1st teamers, its not like the team we put out against Rapid.
i want to know what happened in the 7 days after beating West Ham because there is obviously something wrong

Sorry. The kids did not screw up -  the veterans did. It was Ireland's first game, he gets a pass. But Dunne, Carew, Petrov were awful.

I think Carew's performance was the most abject, gutless, cowardly and pathetic display from a Villa player i've seen in a long time.