Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers Post-Match Thread

[Bottom Right 89]

Usually takes me a good hour and a half to get back after the game - tonight just 40 minutes, a reflection on a very low turnout (18,500?). 

18500 - was this league or Simod cup?

[CJ]

Usually takes me a good hour and a half to get back after the game - tonight just 40 minutes, a reflection on a very low turnout (18,500?). 

18500 - was this league or Simod cup?

18500 is bad - but still twice as many as turned out for Bloose last night apparently!

[JUAN PABLO]

Sidwell gets his first big chance and still fooks it then....   He needs to take a big look at Heskey... 

[Pete3206]

Heskey was excellent tonight and so were all 3 goals.

[Holtenderinthesky]

After following the match thread here I'm looking forward to our 30 seconds on BBC later to make my own opinion.
Good to see that we have made changes during a match, changes that have made a difference.  Let's hope this continues.

It may well be less than that!  There are goals galore to show as well as ET and Pens from Anfield.  They need a longer show, it's only on for an hour.

[Legion]

Awful first half.
Pretty good second half.
Heskey did very well.
Nice to see a match-changing/winning substitution for a change.
Very poor/low attendance.

[Bottom Right 89]

Usually takes me a good hour and a half to get back after the game - tonight just 40 minutes, a reflection on a very low turnout (18,500?). 

18500 - was this league or Simod cup?

18500 is bad - but still twice as many as turned out for Bloose last night apparently!

It was a week night a lot of them are under house arrest

[pauliewalnuts]

A shocking first half, truly soporific stuff.

Interesting to see GM getting more and more annoyed on the touchline.

Infinitely better second half, and for me by far and away the best thing was that the manager saw the match wasn't going to plan and used his subs to change the game. Last year, we'd have carried on regardless, hoping something fell for us.

He also made a big difference switching Bannan further out wide. He was getting nothing at all in the middle, but looked much more like it out wide.

Slightly surreal being in such a small crowd.

[Holtenderinthesky]

Awful first half.
Pretty good second half.
Heskey did very well.
Nice to see a match-changing/winning substitution for a change.
Very poor/low attendance.

 

I'm only asking but is that match winning substitution you mention the Heskey for Carew one that MON used to get absolutely slated for?  I'm only asking cos I genuinely don't know the answer.

[Legion]

Yes. Heskey was on fire, as opposed to Carew.

[curiousorange]

The first half was so bad I went to kill myself by having a pie.

Gladly for me, there were no ill effects and I agree with Paulie - the subs came quickly and that was a good thing. It may not always work but Goddamn if it didn't work tonight. And he waved enthusiastically at the Holte as well.

Sidwell was useless as usual but I was very impressed with Lichaj again.

[Holtenderinthesky]

Yes. Heskey was on fire, as opposed to Carew.

Ok.  But it can't have been MON's fault that Heskey wasn't "on fire" when he made the exact same change in so many games.  If Emile had done what he had done tonight on other occasions then would MON have been right to have brought him on?

[puppyfeat]

Usually takes me a good hour and a half to get back after the game - tonight just 40 minutes, a reflection on a very low turnout (18,500?). 

18500 - was this league or Simod cup?

Only 22577 at Anfield - not much better than us from 'the best supporters in the world'. And at least our 18500 saw us win!

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

Bannon was impressive, I thought he tried to move the ball along earlier whether out wide in the second half or in the middle in the first half. It wasn't until Heskey came on and Ash played off him that we had anything like enough movement. I know NRC's passing is poor but he is one of very few Villa players that actually run to the ball instead of away from it. He should play against Wulfs on Sunday.
Heskey was excellent I have to say, and he showed Carew up I thought. Carew's overall fitness and mobility is shocking. Delfonz was better in the second half, especially with Heskey's support.
Clark I thought had a good game and Lihaj was pretty solid. Guzan done ok but he scares me.

[pauliewalnuts]

Yes. Heskey was on fire, as opposed to Carew.

Ok.  But it can't have been MON's fault that Heskey wasn't "on fire" when he made the exact same change in so many games.  If Emile had done what he had done tonight on other occasions then would MON have been right to have brought him on?

The problem with MON was that Heskey for Carew was one of a very limited number of substitutions he ever made, pretty much always at the same point of the game, and almost always, it didn't work.

The contrast between tonight and MON's time was that we changed things on the pitch and influenced the course of the game. Changed it, in fact.

One of MON's biggest faults was that, had that been him managing tonight, we'd have carried on doing exactly the same thing for the rest of the game, and almost certainly got nothing.