Fulham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[fredm]

Thought we played very well and if we could be more clinical would have sewn it up well before the end. Margins going against us at the moment - Clark's header last week, Fonzs this week.  Another day and they would (hopefully) go in.

Just one thing worries me though - I would say that Collins is probably our best defender of a set ball, everybody knew it would be aimed at Hangeland so why was Collins at the front of the line and Dunne and Warnock at the back marking him? I am sure Collins would have prevented him getting a clean header in and maybe we could have cleared it and then game over.

[Villa'Zawg]

Some lovely football played at times today, it just needed a bit more composure when the opportunities to score were there.

We don't have enough experienced players but every one of the kids put in a decent effort and showed very promising touches, which is all you can expect from them at this stage.

A draw at Fulham isn't a terrible result, giving away the win with the last touch is feckin annoying though.

[Sutton_Villa23]

After punching the wall, and screaming the house down i have calmed down now and think we were very very unlucky today. Yes we sat back a bit for 25 mins in the 2nd half but we didnt look threatened and to be fair, we were the away side. Last 10 we could have scored at least 2 but for poor finishing and the youngsters did brilliantly. We are not having the rub of the green at the moment, it'll come...

[tarzansbrother]

I fully agee Fredm. You think between Fridal,Collins and Dunne they would have sorted that last kick of the game. Still as with the Stoke late goal we need to use our head and not give away free kicks when the game has 30 secs to go.

[Lambert and Payne]

So much anger and frustration on here, only read the first few pages and gave up. Lets take the positives out of this, youth team forced to play because of injuries and sounded like we played very well. I have to admit i was very nervous about today and i thought we'd lose which isnt something i feel alot..
How did the Fonz play? I diddnt get to watch or listen. Is he as overrated as thought? What was the positives out of this?

[Jimbo]

Whatever the positives of today's game - and there were a few, including performances from wee Barry, Albrighton, Clark, etc. - there's something fundamentally wrong with us conceding so many late goals. It's a state of mind, and we seem utterly powerless to do anything to change it, whereas Man Utd showed again that they have quite the opposite psychological make up. Sadly, it's one of the great constants in football, but there has to be a way to disrupt it. 

[eastie]

Fonz had chances but missed them- looks low on confidence and badly in need of a goal at this level- wasn't impressed by him but hopefully he will come good in midweek!

[Bad English]

We are a laughing stock once again - 6th, 6th, 6th work it lads. And now fucking look at is.

People who weren't born within sight of the AV floodlights know not of what they speak. They must not comment on any matters Villa.

[darren woolley]

I dont think we played too bad we should have taken our chances when we had them we have really got start finishing moves
off by scoring when we get the chance. 

[Ger Regan]

So much anger and frustration on here, only read the first few pages and gave up. Lets take the positives out of this, youth team forced to play because of injuries and sounded like we played very well. I have to admit i was very nervous about today and i thought we'd lose which isnt something i feel alot..
How did the Fonz play? I diddnt get to watch or listen. Is he as overrated as thought? What was the positives out of this?

Some positives in his play, but also negatives. For a big lad I don't think he competes well enough in the air, and should have done better with a few chances. Hopefully experience and coaching will improve him. The jury's out for me though

[The Situation]

How did the Fonz play? I diddnt get to watch or listen. Is he as overrated as thought? What was the positives out of this?

I give Nathan a grade B. If he would of been able to convert 1 of his chances he would of got a grade A.

He was playing as a lone striker and he's only 19 years old, but he played better than I expected and did well considering.

[eamonn]

Re Delfouneso, today was his first league start. Not just of the season, but ever. The way people have been writing him off you'd swear he has a rack of full appearances to his name. Up to now he's had fleeting substitute appearances where he's generally impressed. His goals per mins record holds up pretty well.

None of the chances he missed today were sitters. And I don't think I'd have put money on either of our three more senior strikers scoring any of them. The boy has good movement, great feet and despite today is actually a very good finisher which I'm sure he'll prove over the next few games.

[KevinGage]

How many points did we have this time last season?

22, if i've worked it out right.

Nah, apprarently it was 18 points which means we're only 5 points from what we had this stage this time last season. Get a grip ppl.

Just to put in into perspective, check out this link which shows the table after 11 games played last season http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2009-2010/table/2009-11-04

Can we pls stop over reacting now? Look at spurs, look at liverpool, look at Everton... even look at small heath. As you can see Everton only had 12 points this time last season and look where they finished. Look at how many points both spurs and liverpool had and now look at how many points they have so far this season. small heath only had 11 points this time last season and finished 9th.

All worth bearing in mind.

But we've become very adept at not winning. With the injuries we have we really need to pick up points where we can. Fulham weren't at the races today but we let them back in it -as we have at various other times v different opposition this season.

This is part of the problem when you settle though, as in fans saying this season is a write off and even GH saying to his mind we are a team that finishes 7th-12th. Eventually that seeps through to the players. Are we really performing below expectations? No, it's alright. We can afford to throw a few wins away - this season is a write off and it's OK to finish 7th-12th.

It really isn't. For one thing it makes it that much harder to keep our best players and attract others to push us on.

[Legion]

We're 13th in the league. 3 points away from relegation and 3 points away from a European place. We'll be fine.

[Percy McCarthy]

Re Delfouneso, today was his first league start. Not just of the season, but ever. The way people have been writing him off you'd swear he has a rack of full appearances to his name. Up to now he's had fleeting substitute appearances where he's generally impressed. His goals per mins record holds up pretty well.

None of the chances he missed today were sitters. And I don't think I'd have put money on either of our three more senior strikers scoring any of them. The boy has good movement, great feet and despite today is actually a very good finisher which I'm sure he'll prove over the next few games.

I wholeheartedly agree. The other three from the all-conquering reserve team looked real quality again - I think Fonz will benefit from a few games in the same way they have.