Aston Villa v Sunderland Post-Match Thread

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

I wonder which player is on the rota for tomorrow morning's Pravda "we'll show fighting spirit and get out of trouble" bollocks.

Will not be Pires. He is on a mission to sink Houllier !!!

[PeterWithe]

I still can't get warm.  My polo shirt had ridden up underneath and exposed my back.  There was a terrible draft and it's aggravated a patch of eczema that has developed strangely above my bum crack.

And the football was shit too.

I was actually overdressed, at one point I removed my hat, scarf and coat. Soon put them back on though.

[pauliewalnuts]

I still can't get warm.  My polo shirt had ridden up underneath and exposed my back.  There was a terrible draft and it's aggravated a patch of eczema that has developed strangely above my bum crack.

And the football was shit too.

I was actually overdressed, at one point I removed my hat, scarf and coat. Soon put them back on though.

I took my hat, scarf and gloves.

The hat came off relatively quickly, the gloves stayed in the pocket all night, and the scarf came off and was used to bury my face in on and off for 90 minutes, trying to make the grim vision of decline in front of my eyes go away.

[vilan461]

why oh why have we become so bad???i,m damwell speechless,WTF was that new back 3 of Downing Ash n Bannan all about??and constant hoofball to Dunne &Collins??
  Villa fans arguing with each other in Upper Holte,combined with anti and pro Houllier chants --not a good sign,

[mr woo]

And with that, I think I'll leave the rest of you to discuss the merits of Gypsum Fantastics cock in the cold.

I'm off to watch the cricket. G'night all.

[VillaAlways]

It's funny was shitting myself about this game since Sunday.Worked a night Tuesday feeling physically sick after Tues results.Went to bed Wed having crazy dreams about us winning 3-2 and than am surprisingly calm at the game albeit after a few drinks.Terrible atmosphere at the game and depressing hearing Sunderland fans singing going down.Happy New Year

PS We were shit

[not3bad]

I'm still on the train going home. Won't get there until nearly half 1. Still, it was worth the trip eh?

I think it was the lack of substitutions that got me. Heskey was the only player who looked up for it. So when he was sent off I knew we were f*cked.

Are they going to reduce the season tickets when we go down?

[VillaAlways]

No because they'll say there's more games in the season in the championship

[luke25]

In the 2 games against Sunderland this season, Emile has missed 2 open goals and got sent off, thats pretty good going

[SoccerHQ]

Heskey held the ball up well but no matter how good the hold up play, you just can't rely on a striker who only averages 5 goals a season.

Gabby has played well as the hold up striker in the past, we desperately need him to get scoring in the league. Dosen't even bare thinking about if he gets injured again.

[ozzjim]

Gabby looks a shadow of himslef though. We need a striker, maybe 2. And 2 midfielders central. The rest can wait.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

What I can't understand is tonight was a massive, massive game and Houllier got it so wrong. What was he thinking? Maybe if Heskey had scored instead of hitting the crossbar we'd be discussing a comfortable home win on the back of a decent point at Chelsea with everybody confident and looking forward to the trip to Sheffield.

Instead, confidence is shattered and we're self imploding. Which ever way you look at it, it ain't pretty and there's no easy solution.

[PeterWithe]

I dont think I have ever seen Heskey play so well at home, he looked lively and committed, right up to the point he dropped us in the shit. That a player with that much experience should be sent off for something so daft is ridiculous, brains of a rocking horse.

[VillaAlways]

What I can't understand is tonight was a massive, massive game and Houllier got it so wrong. What was he thinking? Maybe if Heskey had scored instead of hitting the crossbar we'd be discussing a comfortable home win on the back of a decent point at Chelsea with everybody confident and looking forward to the trip to Sheffield.

Instead, confidence is shattered and we're self imploding. Which ever way you look at it, it ain't pretty and there's no easy solution.

The margins are so fine.FA3 now seems almost insignificant Bloody nightmare GH said in press conference "if we had won they would have been singing my name Doh! but you didn't !!!!!!!

[Villatillidie25]

I was most definitely one of those who was pleased with the initial appointment of Houllier but frustrated that the first half of the season was ravaged by injuries to players. I have continuously said give him more time to allow him to inbed a more continental style of play and get everyone back.
However, having been at the game tonight. He has to go. He played four centre backs at home against a weakened Sunderland team and two defensive midfielders. On top of that, he played a striker on the left wing (at least play him on the right if you have to stick him there, especially given that downing is useless on the right) downing on the right when he quite obviously isnt comfortable there and young up front. I thought the ashley experiment up top might work but not at the expense of the balance of the team and not when he plays out and out up front. He no longer roams the park going from wing to wing to avoid being double marked and allow him the licence to whip in crosses from either flank. Instead he is stuck up front doing sweet fa. The two in the middle were devoid of ideas and Stan was so far off the pace it was almost funny...if not so scary. I just pray he was unfit/injured.
Admittedly, Heskey cost us the game; he scores we get at least a point, he doesnt get sent off, we probably still get a point but he was the only player who looked like he wanted. He moved off the ball well, held it up and ran the ragged. The rest of the team, while they worked hard enough looked unbalanced and disorganised. They ambled around the pitch, rather than moving in quick, short bursts in an effort to free up space. We looked as if we couldn't pass the ball to save our life.
However, the worst bit of it all was our supposedly tactically astute manager sat by and watched a second half performance which was one of the worst I have ever seen. He had bannan and albrighton warming up from around 55 and yet didnt bring them on when their energy could have provided the spark we needed. Im completely against playing just kids but they have showed they are good enough and a smattering of them could be the invigoration we need; they certainly looked livelier when they eventually came on in the 87th minute. Still more depressing was Houllier's tactic on how to break a team down. Put your best attacking player at full back, your big burly defenders up top and shell it to them. This is not English rugby, this is the Villa and it had the tactical imagination of a battering ram only with the strength of a wet fart.
I'm afraid Mr Houllier, this fan has ran out of patience, you should stick to roles behind the scenes, you simply aren't cut out for being a manager any more and the Villa players would seem to agree with me on that.