Aston Villa v Sunderland Post-Match Thread

[Rip Van We Go Again]

We ended up with Downing, Bannan and Ashley Young at centre half hitting the ball into their box, what a great Plan B.

I must admit that this wasn't the kind of tactical innovation I expected when GH was appointed.

Nor I.
It was like a 5 year old had implemented it.

McAllister is also looking totally out of his depth.

[PeterWithe]

And why our GK couldn't take the free kicks in our half God only knows.

[Olneythelonely]

And why our GK couldn't take the free kicks in our half God only knows.

To be fair, with his kicking I'm not sure he'd reach their box.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

As mentioned before, Cuellar almost visibly shit himself everytime he got into an excellent position for a cross.
Every time he passed it back, thus releaving Sunderland of any potential danger.

For all Luke Young's or Eric Lichaj's defensive failings, they wouldn't be scared to put a ball into the box.

[CJ]

After a restless night's sleep I've calmed down and was going to post some rational thoughts but.....

The players do not want to play for the manager. That is wrong. It shouldn't be like that, but it quite clearly is, and as a result we are in big, big trouble.

Tonight was the night I realised that, actually, it's not going to get any better under GH, the players aren't going to suddenly find the passion under him, it just will not happen. Sometimes it is a case of wrong manager, wrong club, wrong time, and all three seem to have happened at the same time for us.

We genuinely are getting worse. It wasn't just that we were performing badly today, I couldn't even see what we were trying to do.

Clark looked out of his depth.
Collins just swung his leg at the ball every time he got within 5 yards of it.
Dunne seems unable to jump. How many balls flew past him?
Cuellar, after marauding forward in the first half like a(nother) winger, but then infuriatingly passing it back, went to shit in the second half.
Petrov and Reo-Coker were both absolutely rubbish. One (NRC) clearly doesn't care any more, the other is not good enough.
Gabby - I can't really tell what we were trying to do with him out there, but he might as well have been in the fucking stand.
Ashley - worked hard, but he must be getting dispirited, I'd be off if I were him.
Heskey - worked hard, but the miss of the season and then a truly fucking cretinous thing to get sent off.

Sitting there tonight, we looked in many senses like a club in decline. Vast swathes of empty seats, no atmosphere or spirit in the crowd, the team going through the motions but really not caring either, the manager sat impassively watching the game pass by us, the whole place has a horrible feeling of malaise. For those of you who watched on the telly or on the internet, it is difficult to properly convey just how wretched an experience that was.

I still think changing manager at this point is asking for it, and risking an awful lot, but after watching that, I can not see how it can be any worse than persisting with GH and GM.

We're going to have to take the plunge and get shot. If we don't do it now - right now - we'll lose at Sheffield United, lose to Man City (which we're bound to lose) and get beaten at Blues, so he'll go anyway. Better to do it now.

We need leadership somewhere. There is none at all on the pitch, and none from the bench. It needs to come from the very top.

Desperately, desperately depressing.

...Paulie beat me to it. Sums up everything I was thinking.

The only thing I'll add is that the Beeb have just announced that Houllier has Randy's full backing. Hopefully it's the dreaded vote of confidence but unfortunately I fear not.

[fredm]

People moaning about playing Ash as second striker should look at the fact that we have been playing him there virtually all season.  There was one exception, I cannot remember which game it was now, where he started as a wide player and took his bat home and looked distinctly uninterested until the second half when he moved into the centre and started trying.

He is like a spoilt kid - there was even the taking of a free kick at the end when Brad came out of his goal nearly to half way to take it - but no, Ashley has to take it.  Why, had he been putting all the others on a sixpence all night?  He would have been better moving forward to pick up any knockdowns etc.

And as for being second striker aren't they supposed to score goals?  If you are not in positions to shoot and if you never shoot you will not score.  How many has he scored in PL games from open play this season?

But it wasn't only him - Gabby might as well not have been on the pitch.  I have said before that Delfonso (sp) is worth a chance playing alongside Emile.  Then play Ash wide with either Downing or Gabby.  And why play Gabby and Downing on the "wrong" side all night?  Ok mix it up with them swapping but it wasn't working with them permanently fixed to their given wing.

Last night showed again that this bunch have no fight, no bottle, and just couldn't care.  The "injury" to Gyan typified it - the ref had a clear view of NRC's challenge and saw nothing wrong so why didn't we move the ball and attack instead of fannying about with it.  Then our only player on the night who had some guts and determination, Emile, tries to do that and for the 3rd time in the match gets scythed down resulting in their player getting a yellow.  Why Henderson (who I thought was the best player on the park last night) needed to run at Emile mouthing something at him god only knows, but it resulted in Heskey's frustration boiling over and the sending off.  Personally I think our other players were just as guilty as their lack of bottle and guts caused the frustration in Emile.

[Olneythelonely]

People moaning about playing Ash as second striker should look at the fact that we have been playing him there virtually all season.  There was one exception, I cannot remember which game it was now, where he started as a wide player and took his bat home and looked distinctly uninterested until the second half when he moved into the centre and started trying.

Then don't play him at all if it's going to keep Gabby out of position.

[Irreverent ad]

I didn't actually think we played that bad last night. We were by far the better team until Heskey went off and I think we would have won the game. We do need to start winning now though. Birmingham & Wigan games are crucial.

[jembob]

Personally I think our other players were just as guilty as their lack of bottle and guts caused the frustration in Emile.

Emile was very frustrated last night and was showing his experience by playing out of his skin. We've seen so many inert performances from him that last night was a real treat and however damaging the dismissal was, at least he was fired up. Heskey appeared to be the only player who realised the importance of winning last night and I can understand why he was so angry by the time he finally flipped and was shown the red card.

I can't help but think that something has happened behind the scenes since the Chelsea game. Last night it seemed that most players had their minds on other things (transfers?) and seemed completely off the pace. The game was a perfect illustration of a confident mediocre team beating a good team lacking in confidence.

When I got home last night I was very angry and hoped that I would wake up this morning feeling a bit better. Firstly I didn't sleep well and kept waking up thinking how shit we were last night. When morning finally arrived I found that I am still seething about everything, from the players' discraceful performances, the officials ineptitude and a managerial display which cannot be summed up within my current vocabulary (and I have access to an online Thesaurus and Roger's Profanisaurus).

I have not been in a position to buy a season ticket this year and am buying seats game by game. Last night cost me £38 and I'm seriously trying to justify to myself why I should spend more on a ticket for the Citeh game if that's the quality which we are going to show. I know that our priority is to support our Club, but what I saw last night did not resemble Aston Villa.

Shocking and deeply depressing.

[Walmley_Villa]

Stick or Twist? I have also waited to post after the most depressing night I've had at VP for a while. We are stuck in a corner. Sack GH and his staff would also have to go. Realistically how can you replace the manager and backroom staff and then be active in the transfer window which has only 3 weeks or so to go? Any deals that will happen will have been in progress for weeks so any new manager will find it hard to get things moving.
If we stick with GH there does seem to be some fundamental issues around morale/spirit etc . Most of us wanted the same team to play last night as at Chelsea (did we not?). That is why we aren't Premier League managers. That team was set-up to stop Chelsea playing and to get a result which was achieved. The worrying thing is that our manager and coaches still went and played the same team at home when we need goals and points. That is the very worrying aspect for me.
On the postitive side Heskey is playing very well but his stupid reaction has now robbed us of him for 2 key league games. If we don't get a striker in we in big trouble for me.
What should we do?
See if Chris Hughton will come in as First Team Coach/Manager with GH going upstairs. Sorry - best I can think of.

[Risso]

And why our GK couldn't take the free kicks in our half God only knows.

Your callous disregard for the elderly shocks me.  I'd give up my seat if I saw Friedel standing in a bus.

[Chris Jameson]

Heskey - worked hard, but the miss of the season and then a truly fucking cretinous thing to get sent off.

The miss was on a par with his miss at Sunderland, he should release a box set of DVD's featuring his own brand of fuckwittery in front of goal. Still not a fan.

[Olneythelonely]

Heskey - worked hard, but the miss of the season and then a truly fucking cretinous thing to get sent off.

The miss was on a par with his miss at Sunderland, he should release a box set of DVD's featuring his own brand of fuckwittery in front of goal. Still not a fan.

Well at least you have a chance to remind us of that again.

[midnite]

And why our GK couldn't take the free kicks in our half God only knows.

Your callous disregard for the elderly shocks me.  I'd give up my seat if I saw Friedel standing in a bus.

Lol risso, Freidel's kicking ability is appalling!! Every time it's either rushed or just booted blindly up field and straight to the opposition. I find it as frustrating to watch as heskey not able to find the back of the net.

[Dave Cooper please]

But was the badge nice?