Aston Villa v Fulham Post-Match Thread

[Oh Andy]

I meant to say Ditto to the above.
Good assessment a lot better than some of the player ratrings you see in some of the newspapers.

[olaftab]

And as soon as Petrov went off, we had no midfield. Fact.

Well yes because we had Makoun and 4 wide players in Gabby, Albrighton, Young and Downing on the pitch. Subbing Petrov was the right thing to do however it should have been  a lot earlier and NRC should have come on. Similarly Heskey shoud have been on for Gabby straight after our second goal.

[mr woo]

I think those people looking at relegation need to lay off the crack - we're only 8 points off 6th.

The criticism of Brad Friedel is ridiculous - how many times has this guy saved a point or protected a lead? He makes a mistake, sell him!

I know its difficult given the white knuckle ride that is supporting the Villa sometimes but people need to have more faith we've got favourable fixtures and some decent players - I remember the Billy McNeill days, a draw against Fulham would have been treated like a cup final victory that season we're not that bad!

If you remember the Billy McNeill days, you might recall that we took more points from our first 21 games under him than we have in the 21 games since Houllier took over

I'd like to believe that getting out of the shit is going to be a stroll in the park but it isn't.

We've got only 2 fixtures left that could be described as more "favourable" than Fulham at home, against Wigan (17th) and Wolves (20th). Who also happen to be the only 2 teams we've managed to beat away from home this season.

Mc'Neill even managed to get 3 wins against the top 10 teams that season but I don't recall treating them like cup final victories. We've managed 1 win from 15 games against the top 10 so far.

Are you seriously comparing the state of the club today under Houllier to the complete and utter shambles as it was under McNeill? The two situations aren't even close to each other aside from the appearance of the league table. Back then, many of the players at the club had simply thrown in the towel and it was such a different environment. It's not like that now at all.

Agree with Toronto on this one,  I was at every (home) game that 86/87 season and believe me this side is light years ahead.

Don't forget there were mitigating circumstances to the first half of this season, what with the change of manager (twice), the injuries, the background mutinies and resistance to new methods and tactics.

Things are getting better now though, we have reinforcements and the players seem happier in themselves.

I firmly believe relegation won't be a worry from March-ish onwards.

[damon loves JT]

well I thought we'd lose, so I'm not too disappointed with a point.

[WikiVilla]

So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic

He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls

[ROBBO]

About to watch the replay, it will be interesting after reading all the comments. Again i would suggest some posters are expecting too much too soon, there are players that will be replaced in the summer but until then we will have good and bad days. we need eleven points to be safe if we can't get them with the games we have left we won't deserve to stay up but i have absolutely no fear of that happening.

[achilles]

Quite honestly that was awful!

As someone else has described it tippy-tappy football that looks very pretty but goes absolutely nowhere! Houllier obviously likes that type of football judging by his after match comments "I can take pride from the football and effort we put in at times." Playing like that without any urgency, passion, tempo, commitment or enthusiam is utterly pointless because it gets you nowhere!

I exempt only two players today from criticism (except perhaps the final ball) and they are Walker and Downing. I am not Downing's greatest fan but I thought he had an excellent game today with a superb cross for our first goal and worked brilliantly down the right with Walker. Walker epitomised everything which is wrong with our side with his goal; drive, commitment and  determination, finished off with a cracking shot, only the second shot on goal in the second half when we are playing at home!

Makoun seems a very tidy player, always makes himself available for the pass and passes a maximum of about 10 yards, quickly and sharply almost always to a Villa player. This type of player is never going to get supporters flocking to see them or even get supporters of their seats but he could be very valuable with the right players around him and that does not include Petrov.

Defensively we were shit again. How on earth do we keep on giving 'sloppy' goals away, it is getting extremely embrassing. Don't they do anything on the training ground to try and retify this continual problem. Perhaps dropping Dunne for Carlos might be a step in the right direction but what do I know.

I also think playing players in their 'proper' positions might also help... I must be a bloody idiot, whoever would think of such a crazy idea!

[olaftab]

make no mistake

we are still very much in a relegation battle, and most if not all below us have games in hand


very very worrying times

Most of the teams below us not f in Barca. They are rubbish and that is where they will stay ...below us.

[mr woo]

So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic

He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls

Well, that may be so, but Makoun only needed one touch to instantly lay it off. Petrov took four or five, before running out of ideas, shifting around clumsily and then laying it off.

Don't want to be too critical though tbh, Stiliyan is/was a VERY good footballer. Just can't decide if he's struggling with form and fitness or he's another one that time has caught up on.

[olaftab]

Those who thought we had a run of easy games and wins coming up and that we will beat teams like Fulham by 3 or 4 goals will now have to revise their predictions I suspect. At least, most of the other results went for us...

Richard  not 3 or 4 goals we  just need to win 3 or 4 of those matches  by 1 goal!

[Ian.]

It sounded a poor game from both teams from what I heard (very little, I admit) on the radio. It was never going to be an easy fixture, to be honest we have not got any easy fixtures.  Every we team we play is fighting for something, whether its survival, Europe or the title, the league is that close.

I can not believe what I'm reading sometimes......"were still crap even with new signings"...."It's like playing with 10 men with Bent on the pitch"....."We deserve to be relegated".......bloody hell, the dramatics on here is rather comical.

I don't see any need to panic, I'm positive we'll end up mid table come the end and Houllier can see what is needed for next season. He has a plan and we'll see more faces coming and going during the summer that is for sure.

[Lizz]

well I thought we'd lose, so I'm not too disappointed with a point.

After Fulham's second equaliser, I also thought we'd lose. And kind of proving Richard Keys/Andy Gray's comments, as a female who couldn't explain the offside rule if my life depended on it [though I'd have a damn good go] even I could tell Young, Petrov and Agbonlahor weren't at their best today.

Can't imagine being upset when Young's sold, and Gabby needs a kick up the backside.

[WikiVilla]

Gabby is being played out of position so lets lay off him

[Shrek]

Petrov was fucking shit, lost the ball, has shit control and is slow as fuck.

We really missed NRC legs in midfield today.

Makoun took just one touch every time, Peteiv would take 2 or 3 touches and even then he would turn into trouble.

Second half we are applying pressure, Petrov gets the ball and turns backwards, luckily for him Walker picked it up and scored.

Then he lost the ball and gave away a free kick and they equalised.

Peteov was shocking and he is not a scapegoat, he is finished!

[villa1]

So Petrov the scapegoat now, pathetic

He was good again today, not sure how he'll work with Makoun though as Makoun plays only square balls

Surely he can only be a scapegoat if he plays well and is still blamed / criticised for something?

If he plays poorly then he can't be a scapegoat. That accusation seems to be levelled at people a little too easily these days.