Birmingham City v Aston Villa Match Thread

[JUAN PABLO]

should be winning.

They got stronger as the half went on.  The defence did well.   

Need more from Petrov and Downing now..  and have to put our chances away ( as usual) 

Albrighton causing them problems..

[ozzjim]

A win would be great, but a draw is not a disaster here. It means they go nowhere in front of us and we will improve as more players come in.

[TimTheVillain]

Carr should be booked.

He should be taken to the zoo to find some natural friends.

[richard moore]

After a bright start, we are conceding midfield - Petrov anonymous

I would get John 'I may be bigger than you but I don't half play like a big girl's blouse' Carew off as he has fallen into his usual hop, skip and jump into a player, giving away a foul' routine, shift Gabby up front and beef up midfield
 
Clark awful positionally, Walker great going forward, dodgy at the back
 
Albrighton really needs to learn the art of defence as he is very, very worrying in and around our box...

[hawkeye]

Our formation and tactics are all wrong, the only purpose of playing gabby on the wing is to cover Bentley, he aint doing it, there is no movement in front of the ball from us, they are winning the midfield and to me look the better team,

[eastie]

Great chance for gabby early on, solid display, bentley looks dangerous but this is so tight it could go either way, at least we seem up for it today .

[Holtenderinthesky]

We tried Gabby out wide against Sunderland and we lost.  Gabby didn't get in that game and everyone on here and the commentators at the game could see it wasn't working, everyone but Houllier could see it wasn't working and today he has done it again.  I have no faith in his tactics.  Gabby 87th minute hearder for the 3rd time in a row?  Not if he is on left midfield duty.   CHANGE IT HOULLIER!! 

[PaulWinch again]

I don't think the tactics are wrong, Petrov just needs to do something and we need to take our chances.

[Jimbo]

Not only does Gabby on the wing not work, but he has a record of scoring against these monkeys. Why, then, are we doing our best to minimise his threat by playing him in midfield? Sorry, but it's the manager's fault. It actually defies belief.

[Risso]

Our formation and tactics are all wrong, the only purpose of playing gabby on the wing is to cover Bentley, he aint doing it, there is no movement in front of the ball from us, they are winning the midfield and to me look the better team,

Indeed, what's wrong with vanilla 4-4-2?  Both Gabby and Carew have done ok as a pairing in the last three years, Downing in the middle is a dismal idea.

[Holtenderinthesky]

HAHAHA.  Jamie Redknapp, "Birmingham are starting to evolve".  Quality! 

[lovejoy]

Not only does Gabby on the wing not work, but he has a record of scoring against these monkeys. Why, then, are we doing our best to minimise his threat by playing him in midfield? Sorry, but it's the manager's fault. It actually defies belief.

I don't think a track record of scoring against a particular team is that big an issue. I'm not GH's biggest fan but can't fault him for that.

[hawkeye]

There is no reason to fuck around with the team today, he has plenty to choose from so playing 2 guys out of position is just barmy, he will wait for them to score and panic

[Fergal]

I don't think the tactics are wrong, Petrov just needs to do something and we need to take our chances.

I almost forgot he was playing

[brontebilly]

Pretty awful stuff. So much for the football improving under Houllier. This is Stoke without the guts. Anyway diabolical tactics. Gabby on the left when Carew and himself looked dangerous up top together. Reo Coker and Petrov have been so poor. when they hide our centre halves have no option but to go long. Collins and Dunne have been excellent to be honest. Bad mistake from Walker but he has been good going forward.

Birmingham have been totally on top in midfield but Derbyshire up front by himself is terribly negative from McLeish. Murphy is rank at left back we need to target him more.

We need to be brave. Go back to 442. If Delph is on the bench I'd bring him in for Petrov. At least Reo Coker is getting tackles in