Aston Villa v Sunderland Post-Match Thread

[oldtimernow]

Both games against Sunderland have been robberies.I know we didnt look like scoring a hat full of goals in either but we should not have lost both of them.Redistribute the six points and hey presto we are both level on 27 points.

Fine line between success and failure at this level , perhaps a sports psychologist could help sort out where the success mindedness has gone this year, or a nutritionist to discover the bottom of RD's eating disorder? 

[The Situation]

We need a person who's job is listed under "how to stop a football team from conceding in the last 10 minutes all the time".

[Percy McCarthy]

What do Faulkner and Lerner know about football ? They are not football men and we lack a football man on the board- move houllier into the board room and to oversee scouting etc and bring in martin jol as coach!

bit of 'insider' info-my uncle knows one of the scouts at villa
apparantly our scouting network has blossomed under GH after MON left it to wither to 'joke levels'(the villa employee's words)

Great. The scouting's good but the team's a joke. I think I preferred it when it was the other way round.

[usav]

Both games against Sunderland have been robberies.I know we didnt look like scoring a hat full of goals in either but we should not have lost both of them.Redistribute the six points and hey presto we are both level on 27 points.

A little sense in a mass of hysteria.

[Percy McCarthy]

"I'm disappointed with the result, but am happy with the reaction of the players"

Eh?

Makes perfect sense. They bought him a nice 'Sorry You're Leaving' card and had a generous whip round for him.

[pmk1981]

You have to agree with him when he said "if we had won they would be singing my name"
Because most of the fans would of done but that don't mean he is the man for the job. it's things like last night with the subs so late on, gabby on left Downing on right??? Young up top??? That pisses everyone off if we had won great but last night showed us when we get into that position we were in with 10 men.. He hasnt got a fucking clue so pack your garlic and fuck off and take jar jar binks with you

[ROBBO]

I can understand the anger but disagree with who it should be directed at. Every team even those expected to struggle strengthened their squads in the summer we, thanks to a king size prick, were unable too. At the end of last season it was clear midfield needed strengthening, Petrov is finished and Rio is a tryer but not very good. We have two key forwards that are too old and injured or can't be bothered. Without the injuries we would have still struggled this season even with the God that is MON, he new that when the purse strings were tightened we were in for a fight. For the first time i will criticise Lerner, you don't push peoples buttons when you are at your most vunerable. There is a way out but it means Randy spending big in the short term not the long, if there are quality players out there that we can get he must get them, the cost will be far less than demotion.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The most inept home performance since the season of GT 2 at home to Southampton, we also lost that 1-0.

No leadership on the field, poor tactics, inept possession and passing, a team low on morale who seemingly do not want to play for the manager.

Spineless and gutless which was highlighted by the fact that most of the players didn't seem to want the ball.

I've backed Houllier till now, but Randy will have to hold his hands up and admit he backed the wrong horse, if he persists with him, we're doomed.

Don't worry about the transfer window as the club are not willing to spend much anyway.

The whole club looks a shambles at the moment.

'Proud history, bright future' is up there with 'we're all in this together' In other words, it's a complete load of bollocks.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I can understand the anger but disagree with who it should be directed at. Every team even those expected to struggle strengthened their squads in the summer we, thanks to a king size prick, were unable too.

How long can we keep blaming O'Neill?
It's the same squad bar Milner, with the bonus of a resurgent Heskey.
The lack lustre performances, strange selections and inept tactics are down to Houllier and his woefully under qualified sidekick McAllister.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

And if Gabby is a winger, them i'm Brad Pitt.

Which I ain't.

[UK Redsox]

70 minutes with a left winger on the right, a striker on the left, and a winger up front.
15 minutes of 10 men behind the ball.
5 minutes of two centre backs up front, a left winger and central midfielder at the back.


It was horrible to watch, heartbreakingly bad at times.

Most worrying is that Villa actually looked better with Bannan at Centre-Half and Dunne as a striker.

I can understand playing Gabby wide if you're going to concentrate attacks down the other wing and instruct him to run to the back post at every opportunity.

However, last night, it appeared like Gabby was under strict orders to stay on the wing and worry more about covering Clark than about supporting Emile.

[Simba]

I agree Rip.

We have also benefitted immensely from some really top class youngsters (thanks Kevin et al) a couple who are now attractive transfers for most clubs in the prem. He can't simply blame injuries.

This is a 'man magement' and training ground/tactics problem. Send them both packing.

We can't defend, can't create and the players looked lost, confused and dispirited. Same as us.

[OzVilla]

I can understand the anger but disagree with who it should be directed at. Every team even those expected to struggle strengthened their squads in the summer we, thanks to a king size prick, were unable too.

How long can we keep blaming O'Neill?
It's the same squad bar Milner, with the bonus of a resurgent Heskey.
The lack lustre performances, strange selections and inept tactics are down to Houllier and his woefully under qualified sidekick McAllister.

Holy Mc Grath, I would have thought the rapid decline since MON's departure would mean that those who wanted him sacked last Summer would have so much egg on their faces they wouldn't even want to go there - apparently not.

[ROBBO]

Our midfield is useless no matter who the manager, last season we were being overrun, We need a major overhaul in the summer, there are a lot of players that need replacing. Under MON most of them were guaranteed a game no matter how badly they were playing,  some of them are now spitting the dummy.

[nick harper]

The most depressing sight of the night was our most creative player taking free kicks in his own half in the last 10 minutes. It smacked of a desperate group of players with no discipline, organisation or leadership.

I think there is as much danger in getting rid as keeping him in terms of whether we can survive this season.

What was clear for those who were there is that those players are not playing to save the manager and the malaise that was apparent from the start of the game soon spread to the fans and made for a pretty ugly atmosphere towards the end.

It doesn't feel like 86-87 as there was an inevitablity about that. This feels like a club that thinks it's in the middle of a temporary blip and is talking long term planning when it desperately needs short term fixes.