Birmingham City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Phil from the upper holte]

Gabby isn't an out and out goalscorer though, If he was he would have buried that one on one he had. He simply does not score enough

[Clark W Griswold]

Just back from the game thought a 1pt each was fair enough.....

Straight up Sheldon; why is your support so pathetic? 22k in the sty (including Villa fans) and why do you play 4-5-1 against a team below you in the league who come to the sty playing 4-4-2 without any fear - why is your manager so scared of losing? Serious questions wants  serious answers.

P.S. I wouldn't wear that thong next time

Hang on, we played 4-4-2? Was I watching a different game?

Downing and Carew played up front. Gabby was put out on the left-wing. I just find it baffling how negative and unambitious Birmingham are. 4-5-1 against a team below you... seriously?

Downing was in the free role in the 3 of the 4-2-3-1. Not out-and-out 4-4-2 at all.

Or maybe a 4-4-1-1
Downing was deeper than a traditional striker, thats for sure.

[Phil from the upper holte]

We don't look we have a plan, and rarely have in games under GH.

Under MON, we knew what we were about. You can see what Blues are all about, they have a plan to stop the other team. Most teams in the league have a game plan, but I fail to see what ours is supposed to be.

Bannan and Delfounseo did enough to warrant a start next week and Walker and Albrighton looked like they could make a good partnership down the right.

Not sure why he persists with Gabby down the left, seems very odd.

Downing really needs to be dropped and I didn't understand why it was NRC coming off and not Petrov.

I don't mind GH staying, but it'd be nice if we could start to see what he's actually trying to do with us as a team.

He's tryin to get us to play better football

[Legion]

Highlights

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

We don't look we have a plan, and rarely have in games under GH.

Under MON, we knew what we were about. You can see what Blues are all about, they have a plan to stop the other team. Most teams in the league have a game plan, but I fail to see what ours is supposed to be.

Bannan and Delfounseo did enough to warrant a start next week and Walker and Albrighton looked like they could make a good partnership down the right.

Not sure why he persists with Gabby down the left, seems very odd.

Downing really needs to be dropped and I didn't understand why it was NRC coming off and not Petrov.

I don't mind GH staying, but it'd be nice if we could start to see what he's actually trying to do with us as a team.

He's tryin to get us to play better football

What evidence do you have of that? The only players I've seen trying to pass the ball since he's arrived are the players who've come in from the reserves, and that, from what I can gather, is how they play in the reserves. Now, he's not playing them, and we look void of any plan, other than Collins still believing he's some sort of playmaker with sweeping 40-yard passes to nobody.

[Clark W Griswold]

Gabby isn't an out and out goalscorer though, If he was he would have buried that one on one he had. He simply does not score enough

Quite. Not sure what all the clamour is for him to play up front, yes he's been our top scorer for a few years but that says more about our lack of goals generally than Gabby's prowess. At the end of this window i would even argue that he should be down the pecking order sonewhat for playing that position. If we are ever going to improve on MON's record we need better. I like the idea of him as a good squad man, coming in and doing a job in various different positions as and when the need is there for his strengths.

[Somniloquism]

The shots on target thing doesn't tell the whole story. A shot that crawls along the ground and the keeper picks up easily counts whereas one that hits the inside of the post and rolls along the line doesn't yet which one is closer to a goal?

Both sides had other opportunities to score today but I think we had more if them.

Well if Foster is in goal then that is 2-1. But the point being on target is although it is normally catching practice or picking up practice the GK still needs to stop a goal. No interaction is needed to stop the other one.

The overall chances for both sides were very similar in the end. They had the best chance all day with Derbyshires miss which would probably cancel out Gabby's miss. Downing's shot that was saved was cancelled out by the Friedal save that Walker tidied up and Zigic miss at the end was as close as the shot by the Fonz.

[Phil from the upper holte]

We don't look we have a plan, and rarely have in games under GH.

Under MON, we knew what we were about. You can see what Blues are all about, they have a plan to stop the other team. Most teams in the league have a game plan, but I fail to see what ours is supposed to be.

Bannan and Delfounseo did enough to warrant a start next week and Walker and Albrighton looked like they could make a good partnership down the right.

Not sure why he persists with Gabby down the left, seems very odd.

Downing really needs to be dropped and I didn't understand why it was NRC coming off and not Petrov.

I don't mind GH staying, but it'd be nice if we could start to see what he's actually trying to do with us as a team.

He's tryin to get us to play better football

What evidence do you have of that? The only players I've seen trying to pass the ball since he's arrived are the players who've come in from the reserves, and that, from what I can gather, is how they play in the reserves. Now, he's not playing them, and we look void of any plan, other than Collins still believing he's some sort of playmaker with sweeping 40-yard passes to nobody.

Just because the players we have aren't good at passing the ball does not mean that he's not trying to get them to pass it. Surely you can see a difference between the way we used to play and the way we play now?

[JJ-AV]

Looking way better, Houllier's teams starting to take shape.

None of the centre mids move the ball forward, hopefully Makoun and Adam will sort if (if he signs).

Walker was fantastic.

[pav]

I also thought walker was great , except the odd mix up

[Ads]

Aye, neither NRC or Petrov have the ability move the ball forward with any speed.

[villa1]

Our defence still worries me, again looked shaky today at times and i think if Jerome had played it may have been a defeat

Why? He's shit! :-)

[sheldon nose]

Just back from the game thought a 1pt each was fair enough.....

Straight up Sheldon; why is your support so pathetic? 22k in the sty (including Villa fans) and why do you play 4-5-1 against a team below you in the league who come to the sty playing 4-4-2 without any fear - why is your manager so scared of losing? Serious questions wants  serious answers.

P.S. I wouldn't wear that thong next time

i imagine the last game didnt do any favours to make people attend did it,plus just after xmas and people are skint,plus bigger game with west ham coming up and poss wembley so people saving there money and also on the box and a 12 o clock kick off....as for formations i also cant work mcleish out....

[sfx412]

Just because the players we have aren't good at passing the ball does not mean that he's not trying to get them to pass it. Surely you can see a difference between the way we used to play and the way we play now?

I wouldn't bet on it

[spangley1812]

Looking way better, Houllier's teams starting to take shape.

None of the centre mids move the ball forward, hopefully Makoun and Adam will sort if (if he signs).

Walker was fantastic.

Walker was good going forwards but he was exposed defensively a few times