Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[ashkar]

stand out players

heskey
ashley
cuellar
collins
reo coker

albrighton excellent first half, went missing second half as central midfield went missing

petrov wasnt in the game. some decent passes but doesnt look fit.

downing same apart frm the goal. was better in the right when albrighton went off.

warnock looked a liability till he popped up at the end with the cross for heskey.

Luke Young was good in the first half but terrible in the second. exposed time after time by jarvis.

reckon houllier needs new fullbacks and a new central midfield.

[curiousorange]

Our downfall was being so casual when in possession. The passing at times was appallingly sloppy. But a win is a win, and it's a marvellous result.

[supertom]

Do we need to look at who our captain is? Is Petrov just on the way out? I can't see him starting every game this season.

Yes. For me Collins or Nigel should be captain. Both give it their all, plenty of desire and plenty of vocal. Petrov looked worn out from the start. The legs have gone I'm afraid, but we're so short on quality, solid options in the middle, I can only see him starting every game between now and jan. Sidwell is a constant worry. His energy did make some difference for us, but on the flipside he can't tackle for shit.

[Lambert and Payne]

That was one of them moments when you just waiting for either a kammy "unbelievable jeff" or a andy gray "tek a bow son". Emile "lional" Heskey. Amazing villa you are my love!!

[brontebilly]

Carlos Cuellar's best game for the club. Collins was pretty solid next to him. The rest were disappointing. Cant understand people rating Reo Coker. I thought he ran around like a headless chicken and rarely won the ball. Petrov was absolutely useless and has to be dropped, just a total passenger and frightened to get close to anyone in case they ran past him. We must have one of the worst central midfield partnerships in the league. Very hard for the likes of Downing and Young in that kind of scenario. Neither were great but when they got the ball looked decent enough. Great winner from Heskey, he showed a good attitude but I was screaming for Gabby to go up top with the high line Wolves were playing. Luke Young was poor in the second half, Friedel shit for the goal, Warnock is a poor player frankly. Yikes its three points but we were awful really. Milner and even Gareth Barry very badly missed still. We wont be going anywhere with a midfield of Petrov and Reo Coker this season.

A word on Ashley Young, in his first couple of seasons at the club, he had a great attitude and his set pieces were superb. Fair enough the movement in the opponents box has really declined this season but still his deliveries are cack. What is with all this arm waving, diving bullshit though? He is a very talented player and he showed his class in glimpses today but he could be so much better. Hard to shine when you are relying on hoofs from Collins et al. (Not that I blame the defenders as Reo Coker and Petrov hid in midfield and they had no option). A firm word from the management is in order. He should be looking to hit the deck at every opportunity.

[Tony]

Heskey was awesome all game, he defended, he attacked and his header was bloody superb.

Wolves had loads of possession and few chances, we did smash and grab but isn't that what you should be doing to win away in this division?

[Villan For Life]

Nice for us to snatch a late winner for a change.

Collins and Cuellar were fantastic, they looked so solid. Albrighton was good until Ward went off and Elokobi bullied him out of the game. NRC had a good game, his best for a while.

Heskey had possibly his best game in a Villa shirt and we scored two goals from good crosses.

Cuellar was my man of the match, amazing what can happen when you play players in the correct positions.

[PaulTheVillan]

Just on the train heqding back to brum!

Superb 3 points, we were on the back foot the 2nd half.

Petrov needs to be replaced.

Cuellar, simply his best game for us. No doubt.

Thanks to the wolves fans spitting on us. Hope you enjoy the highlights.

[Irish villain]

Yes. For me Collins or Nigel should be captain. Both give it their all, plenty of desire and plenty of vocal. Petrov looked worn out from the start. The legs have gone I'm afraid, but we're so short on quality, solid options in the middle, I can only see him starting every game between now and jan. Sidwell is a constant worry. His energy did make some difference for us, but on the flipside he can't tackle for shit.

How about Cueller or is the language barrier a problem? I agree with your two suggestions being in contention but I think Cueller would have a shout. I think's a better defender than Collins and would really lead by example.

[pauliewalnuts]

Cuellar and Collins were both outstanding.

Ashley did very well, Albrighton did but faded, NRC had a good one and actually played some more than decent passes, and Heskey was really excellent.

A bit worrying that we can play so well in the first half, but so badly in the second, but looking at it objectively, it is going to take the new management team a fair while to stamp their shape and approach on the team - possibly a large chunk of the season, in fact.

It is heartening that we can show we can play some more than decent football in the meantime, and if we continue to pick up points - especially hard fought ones like today - in the meantime, then that's even better.

[Muscle-Dolphin]

Gerard, please make Heskey the captain and bench Petrov!

[Somniloquism]

Thanks to the wolves fans spitting on us. Hope you enjoy the highlights.

Didn't you take a mac? Lets hope it was only Spit, their voices seemed very high so it could have been worse.

[supertom]

Yes. For me Collins or Nigel should be captain. Both give it their all, plenty of desire and plenty of vocal. Petrov looked worn out from the start. The legs have gone I'm afraid, but we're so short on quality, solid options in the middle, I can only see him starting every game between now and jan. Sidwell is a constant worry. His energy did make some difference for us, but on the flipside he can't tackle for shit.

How about Cueller or is the language barrier a problem? I agree with your two suggestions being in contention but I think Cueller would have a shout. I think's a better defender than Collins and would really lead by example.

Yeah, lingo is all I'd worry about in Carlo's case. Otherwise he'd be a worthy contender for sure. Nige has captained us before, and Collins has captained Wales I believe. Friedel is another shout, but I'm not a big fan of keepers as skippers.

[mshurst]

I think today showed a real sign of things to come.

First half we played reasonably well ... not the Villa that we'd all love to see but good enough to get a goal and keep the Dingles at bay.

The second half was fairly terrible. I've been sitting here for the 42 of the final 45 minutes shaking my head with disgust that we can't break them and get past their back line. Then we scored, and I must say that goal was absolutely outstanding. A perfect cross for Heskey to convert with his head. Not only that, it was done so well that I don't think we'll see a better placed header all season.

We then hung on those final 6 minutes and really made it known that we wanted to win, even though before that the 'spark' was just not there.


Friedel - 9 - Absolutely solid performance today. Performed a lot of outstanding saves.
Young - 7 - I'd like to see him make a bit more of a difference going forward. Didn't play poorly, but didn't play well enough to make a difference.
Cuellar - 8 - Clearly a better CB than a RB. Played fantastically. Won loads of balls and made some much needed important tackles.
Collins - 8 - Again, won the ball a lot. A solid defender who really cares about this team. By far one of MON's best signings.
Warnock - 5 - Far too angry today. Went in to far too many stupid tackles and, let's not fuck about, he's very lucky he got away with only one yellow card.
Albrighton - 7 - Still showing a LOT of promise for this team. Making many runs and getting past the full backs. Doing what he should. And let's not forget he set up Downing with that spectacular cross ... the kind of cross you'd expect to see from a seasoned professional.
NRC - 7- I like this guy and I'm happy to see him back in the first team. Makes runs to help in attacks, gets back and defends, and has enough pace within him to really make a defence scared.
Petrov - 4 - Disappointing today. Didn't see him make any difference and was not surprised to see him getting subbed off. I'm expecting him to get some really captaincy training.
Downing - 8 - Played really well. Converted that superb cross in to the net (with his right foot) and is really starting to show the potential that MON clearly saw in him when he signed him.
Young - 7 - Did play quite well but seemed to turn into one of them annoying "whiney-little-bitch" footballers. Still, I'm getting more and more impressed with him in that central attacking role.
Heskey - 9 - I'm really starting to like Ivanhoe. He's not the best striker in the world and he never will be, but he's starting to really show his colours without MON around. Not to mention he scored that fan-fucking-tastic header.

Subs. Gabby - 4 - Didn't see much from Gabby today ... I don't think he's suited for that winger role any more. Sidwell - 3 - Came on and made two tackles that saw him get booked and (very nearly) sent off. He was very disappointing today and really needs a beat down in the dressing room.


Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed. Any team that can still win when they're clearly not having a good game is the sign of a winning team. And, although some people won't agree, I think Randy Lerner made the right choice with GH.

[The Situation]

lol 27000 for their cup final and their deluded owners think they can expand their stadium to 50,000.

Awesome to win, I really can't stand the Dingles like I said previously... their pathetic little chants screaming 'Villa' high-pitched (why do the Dingles and small heathens do this - I don't get it?) just makes their inbred fans look even more stupid than they were before.

Heskey 10/10... 2 goals in 2 games, things are looking good for him. He's looking like he actually cares and gives a shit with the effort he's putting in now. Dowining did well again, likewise with Ash, Cuellar and young Marc.

P.S. Don't want to be a party pooper but Petrov needs to go. Another awful performance by him, it just feels like we're playing with 10 men when he's playing, he's not contributing to the team. Stephen Ireland with Coker plz.