Aston Villa v Fulham Post-Match Thread

[Chris Smith]

Disagree Paulie, he looked to have gone physically and I thought he should have been taken off. Not his fault, he's new to the league, but GH dropped a bollock.

[pauliewalnuts]

Disagree Paulie, he looked to have gone physically and I thought he should have been taken off. Not his fault, he's new to the league, but GH dropped a bollock.

I thought if GH dropped a bollock, it was leaving Stan on the pitch as long as he did. He looked like the post 70 minutes Petrov we're used to, except from the start this time.

Bit of a weird afternoon all round today. Neither team really looked like they deserved to win, though, so a draw was probably about right.

[glasses]

Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?

Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP

If you think what we watched today is better than the last few years you are kidding yourself. I know O'Neill walked out on us at a terrible time, but people have conveniently forgotten the good stuff we played, and would rather believe that O'Neill did nothing for us. The football is not good at the moment. It goes nowhere. Its possession football in ineffective areas of the pitch. Ive said on this thread already, you can have as much possesion as you want in the game, look comfortable on the ball, play some nice passes etc, but if you dont create enough chances, or defend properly, we will get nowhere.

[Sleeuwenhoek]

The pretty poor opponent looked alot better than us second half. Our midfield faded after, what I thought, was a pretty good start from Stan and Makoun. Petrov always runs out of steam after about 60 mins and taking him off leaving a knackered Makoun and Downing holding the midfield was always asking for trouble. I'm sure there's a good team within our squad, don't think Houllier's found it yet though

[pauliewalnuts]

Is feckin' "tippy-tappy" the new "fickle" or something?

Don't care what we call it, It's better than most of the shit we've watched for the last couple of years @ VP

If you think what we watched today is better than the last few years you are kidding yourself. I know O'Neill walked out on us at a terrible time, but people have conveniently forgotten the good stuff we played, and would rather believe that O'Neill did nothing for us. The football is not good at the moment. It goes nowhere. Its possession football in ineffective areas of the pitch. Ive said on this thread already, you can have as much possesion as you want in the game, look comfortable on the ball, play some nice passes etc, but if you dont create enough chances, or defend properly, we will get nowhere.

Better than the stuff we played away from home? No.

Better than the stuff we played at home? Yes.

I saw plenty of home games in the last two years where we created next to no chances, and that was reflected in our abysmal goal return.

[glasses]

How many chances did we create today Paulie?

[JJ-AV]

On another day Bent's goal counts, Clark doesn't miss an absolute sitter and our defence doesn't fuck up for both goals.

Things are improving, look at the upcoming fixtures. We will win a fair chunk of them.

[pauliewalnuts]

How many chances did we create today Paulie?

I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.

[Pete3206]

I think the key here is results. If Brad hadn't had the wobbles, we'd be celebrating a comfortable victory. It doesn't matter if you hoof it over the top or pass it all the way into the net. Winning is all that matters. We had chances, scored 2 goals and had one ruled offside which was a close run thing. In my opinion, we are getting there slowly.

My biggest criticism today is the square peg in a round hole scenario. I hope Mr Houllier realises soon that he has better options for wide players, than a central striker whose clearly struggling in these positions.

1 point from 2 games is not good, but we'll win enough games in the remainder of the season to banish any worries.

[Chris Smith]

The pretty poor opponent looked alot better than us second half. Our midfield faded after, what I thought, was a pretty good start from Stan and Makoun. Petrov always runs out of steam after about 60 mins and taking him off leaving a knackered Makoun and Downing holding the midfield was always asking for trouble. I'm sure there's a good team within our squad, don't think Houllier's found it yet though

A good summing up, particularly the last line.

[glasses]

So, a day where an official gets a decision wrong, and our left back scores a header, to add to the own goal and long range shot from nothing. Stunning football that.

[pauliewalnuts]

I think the key here is results. If Brad hadn't had the wobbles, we'd be celebrating a comfortable victory. It doesn't matter if you hoof it over the top or pass it all the way into the net. Winning is all that matters. We had chances, scored 2 goals and had one ruled offside which was a close run thing. In my opinion, we are getting there slowly.

My biggest criticism today is the square peg in a round hole scenario. I hope Mr Houllier realises soon that he has better options for wide players, than a central striker whose clearly struggling in these positions.

1 point from 2 games is not good, but we'll win enough games in the remainder of the season to banish any worries.

I'd agree with that.

[pauliewalnuts]

So, a day where an official gets a decision wrong, and our left back scores a header, to add to the own goal and long range shot from nothing. Stunning football that.

So what's the solution, if you're unhappy with it?

[glasses]

How many chances did we create today Paulie?

I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.

I was referring to today in my original post. That was my point

[pauliewalnuts]

How many chances did we create today Paulie?

I'm not denying we didn't create many chances today, I'm saying that today was one match, which I'm comparing against the last two years of home matches.

I was referring to today in my original post. That was my point

I know, but you then went on to talk about people acting like O'Neill did nothing for us, and he had us playing good stuff etc etc etc.

I thought we looked toothless today, but I'm prepared to give GH time to sort it out, and I think he's getting there, albeit slowly. Under O'Neill, we were - my opinion - terrible to watch at home for at least two entire years, and I always had the sense that we weren't really going to get any better, as that was the only thing he knew how to do.

We've given Houllier lots of money to spend, and are clearly giving him time to make the job his own. We shouldn't be mooking around the relegation places, that much is definitely right, but to expect him to get us playing effective, devastating football within a few months is the stuff of fantasy.