SHA v Aston Villa LCQF Post-Match Thread

[Shrek]

Why the hell didn't he bring a striker on earlier.

We were quality against Arsenel second half playing 442, today we had one striker on the pitch all game.

It's no good passing it around if we can't score.

On chances blues were by far the better team.

[avfcpg]

The question is how long can we keep playing some good football which getting better and better but not seeing the results? How the fuck did small heath win tonight - they were non-existent in the second-half. Have no idea what Collins was doing tonight - get Cuellar back in the team ASAP.

small heath are an incredibly lucky team - we'll be better in the long term - just needs time and more backbone in the team at certain moments.

I know this won't go down well but I would still rather this scenario in some ways than what O'Neill was serving up. Because I always knew we would get found out playing his brand of football and we did...every season. I can actually see far more of a way forward in the current circumstances which I realise sounds bizarre at this moment in time

No I totally agree. I can see the difference in the style already and it will take us further in the long run that MON's style would have. It's not by any means the finished article but he's been in the job what, 90 odd days? Had a shed load of injuries and has yet to bring in his own players....

[Toronto Villa]

There will be a lot of doom and gloom on here tonight, and I am gutted to lose to them, but lets put some persepctive on it. We have had to play the same back 4 for the last 6 weeks due to injuries, maybe it might get changed when Cuellar is fully fit. Hogg is growing as a player, Clark is playing out of position in midfield, Gabby has been fit for about 3 games this season, we are missing all of our centre mids and arguably our most effective creator this season, and we have gone there, been the better team by a distance and been undone by our most experienced men. We need 2 centre backs and a keeper of quality, and a top centre mid. I think Houllier likes the 4-5-1 and Gabby does it well. Give it time, I think we are on a better path than the boring motorway we were on, and the end will be much more rewarding. Time now. Just time.

Sorry ozzjim, that's not going to cut it tonight.

We've just gobbed it in spectacular style to our local rivals, making all their dreams come true.

If we were having an otherwise decent season it might be a bit easier to tolerate but the same failings as we've seen all year have cost us again. The LC probably represented our best chance of salvaging anything from this increasingly wretched season -  had we lost to any other side in the last seven minutes tonight it would still have been hard to take.

To lose to the Rags is just the cow pat flavoured icing on the stale cake.

It feels like shit now because it is. But it's going to take a lot of work to get us to play the kind of football we ALL want to see. MON brought us consistency even if his home football was predictable and bland. What we are now seeing is the volatility brought about by uncertainty and change.

It will take different players that are better with the ball that will have to be developed or purchased. GH is making all of these changes mid season, with a brand new staff and with players that are either very young, or just coming off injuries. It has a massive bearing on what we are seeing.

[JUAN PABLO]

they have no fooking chance of winning it

[PaulWinch again]

I would like to point out I still think Houllier will be the right man for the job. However the defence needs to be dealt with, because they are experienced and have no excuse.

[PhilGibson]

In the cold light of day I am really not sure.... Martin O'Neill purchased a group of players to play a particular brand of football. This was at times 'hoof' ball, playing the percentages and counter attacking. The defenders and midfielders did not need to be overly comfortable on the ball, we just needed to play the ball into the channels for Ashley or Gabby to chase and then we would try and create chances, teams came to Villa Park in recent years and because we lacked creativity they parked the bus, on the road this tactic worked excellent, we had some really long unbeaten runs away from home.

Houiller has come in and tried to install a passing game, the trouble with this is we have a wicked combination of injuries and players who do not have the technical ability to play this way. It is causing us to be all huff and puff and no end product.

Richard Dunne has come back from pre-season really out of shape and it is breeding low confidence in the heart of the team, our spine for the last few seasons has been relatively decent. Friedel, Dunne, Milner, Petrov, Gabby. Most of these were ever present for most games, this season we have chopped and changed the side, introducing a number of youngsters to varying degrees of success.

One thing Martin never had was an injury crisis of this magnitude. It is going to be very difficult next 6 weeks at least, I fear for us playing Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City in the next month. We could very realistically be languishing right in and around the relegation zone come the new year.

Do we have spirit and the ability to bounce back? I fear it is going to be a long hard season.

[TimTheVillain]

All they had to do was put men behind the ball and bang it into our box, that was enough to win the game. We are fucked

Like we played last season.

We TRY to play football at the moment, but we just haven't got enough talent.

[Toronto Villa]

The loss of NRC cannot be understated, shocking as that might be to say. His bite and endless energy in the midfield would have given the our other midfielders a bit more room and licence to be creative. He was playing very well indeed when he got injured and it's really hurt us.

FFS Tonto we had about 80% posession in the second half, we got done because we cant defend and have no cutting edge up front

Hawkeye -  you need to fuck off. I've got nothing to fucking say to you ever. Don't fucking comment on anything I post because you are a fucking waste of space. If you can't state my username correctly like you do with everyone else, then don't fucking bother. Your act is fucking broken record. Do you understand??? Or are you completely retarded?

[hawkeye]

There will be a lot of doom and gloom on here tonight, and I am gutted to lose to them, but lets put some persepctive on it. We have had to play the same back 4 for the last 6 weeks due to injuries, maybe it might get changed when Cuellar is fully fit. Hogg is growing as a player, Clark is playing out of position in midfield, Gabby has been fit for about 3 games this season, we are missing all of our centre mids and arguably our most effective creator this season, and we have gone there, been the better team by a distance and been undone by our most experienced men. We need 2 centre backs and a keeper of quality, and a top centre mid. I think Houllier likes the 4-5-1 and Gabby does it well. Give it time, I think we are on a better path than the boring motorway we were on, and the end will be much more rewarding. Time now. Just time.

Completely agree

Our most effective creator? who is that then? we just dominated 45 minutes could not score yet managed to concede great

[ktvillan]

The question is how long can we keep playing some good football which getting better and better but not seeing the results? How the fuck did small heath win tonight - they were non-existent in the second-half. Have no idea what Collins was doing tonight - get Cuellar back in the team ASAP.

small heath are an incredibly lucky team - we'll be better in the long term - just needs time and more backbone in the team at certain moments.

I know this won't go down well but I would still rather this scenario in some ways than what O'Neill was serving up. Because I always knew we would get found out playing his brand of football and we did...every season. I can actually see far more of a way forward in the current circumstances which I realise sounds bizarre at this moment in time

You're not alone but I'll feel better when we get another win or two under our belts.  We could do with a little of the O'Neill "hard to beat" mentality, and being able to win when playing shite especially away, but I don't really miss anything else about him.  We are trying to play proper football now and it will come right eventually with injured players back and a few new signings.  And once Gerard realise having a barely mobile lardarse at CB isn't the best idea.

[Apyadg]

It's fair enough that we have to give a new manager time and can't expect him to equal the previous manager's league finish in his first season, but we've had 1 win in 10 games, we're 15th, and almost half way into the season, and O'Neill was only able to bring in 1 player in his first summer, and we finished tenth. I'm not saying I think we'll definitely go down, but I'm very worried, and think Houllier is out of touch.

On the other hand, O'neill didn't have to deal with such injuries, he was very fortunate in his time here in that we had a few players out here and there, mainly Heskey and Carew, but never had an injury crisis. Hopefully things will turn out well in a year or 2, but this season is going to be very uncomfortable.

[paulcomben]

Houllier's post match interview did acknowledge that the defence keeps making mistakes: "We cannot score 3 in every game." He said again we did not deserve that result, but saying that after every game is not as crucial as swearword well winning.

[pauliewalnuts]

The loss of NRC cannot be understated, shocking as that might be to say. His bite and endless energy in the midfield would have given the our other midfielders a bit more room and licence to be creative. He was playing very well indeed when he got injured and it's really hurt us.

FFS Tonto we had about 80% posession in the second half, we got done because we cant defend and have no cutting edge up front

Hawkeye -  you need to fuck off. I've got nothing to fucking say to you ever. Don't fucking comment on anything I post because you are a fucking waste of space. If you can't state my username correctly like you do with everyone else, then don't fucking bother. Your act is fucking broken record. Do you understand??? Or are you completely retarded?

Take the night off, Toronto, it's been a tough night for everyone.

[damon loves JT]

Steady Toronto. Just ignore if it bothers you.

[richard moore]

The loss of NRC cannot be understated, shocking as that might be to say. His bite and endless energy in the midfield would have given the our other midfielders a bit more room and licence to be creative. He was playing very well indeed when he got injured and it's really hurt us.

FFS Tonto we had about 80% posession in the second half, we got done because we cant defend and have no cutting edge up front

Hawkeye -  you need to fuck off. I've got nothing to fucking say to you ever. Don't fucking comment on anything I post because you are a fucking waste of space. If you can't state my username correctly like you do with everyone else, then don't fucking bother. Your act is fucking broken record. Do you understand??? Or are you completely retarded?

Hey, TV mate, don't lose it, the last thing we need is for this thread to spiral into a massive argument. Hang on in there and let's all try and stick together!