Manchester City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

hes just said we didnt have a bad game?

[jonzy85]

GH: "Take away the 2 goals and 1st half was even".............what drugs is he on??

[phantom limb]

I never expected us to win beforehand, and we didn't. I don't feel half as annoyed as when we rolled over to them in the league in December, so now I just feel "meh".

[lukey27]

I'm usually very considered but that team selection and performance is the lowest I've felt all season. It's impossible to justify that selection. Two strikers out wide, Heskey isolated. Herd ahead of a fully fit Walker. I could go on, Houllier has totally destroyed the goodwill he's built up since the last disaster at Eastlands.

[paulcomben]

So, all we have to look forward to is scraping together about 7 points from 10 games against the likes of West Brom, West Ham, Newcastle, Stoke and Bolton. And I bet we make heavy weather of it.

[Fergal]

Taxi for GH...

[Mac]

Houllier

"beaten by a better side.  we didn't have a bad game.  unlucky first goal. had a good last 10 mins.  better second half. we didn't hurt them enough. score very flattering.

team selection
"we started with strikers - all internationals. so midfield. we have quality so use it. young downing wouldn't have prevented first goal"

[frank black]

Houllier lives in his own little world. The result flattered them apparently

[Legion]

Sackable offence? Ridiculous.

[Deano's Mullet]

Its opened a whole can of worms now as well. its gonna be open day on aston villa for the next few days, talksport, the papers etc etc etc. Our name is mud.

[jonzy85]

I never expected us to win beforehand, and we didn't. I don't feel half as annoyed as when we rolled over to them in the league in December, so now I just feel "meh".

Sounds like you are reading Houllier's mind.

[pauliewalnuts]

So, of late, you've managed to:

- put together a decent run of form
- get us playing like a team
- startkto win the supporters over as the confidence returns, albeit a brittle confidence
- made it look like we're not going to get relegated
- even start to get fans to forget some of the gaffes of the earlier part of the season.

In the last few days you've:

- watched our unevolved local neighbours manage to overcome the odds, beat Arsenal and win a trophy.

So, with this fresh in the mind, and the achievements of the first block of points in mind, what do you do next, when faced with a cup tie we could win if we played our strongest side? A victory which would leave just Reading between us and a semi final place?

You go and play a team weaker even than most peoples' definition of "a weakened side" in the typical cup context.

And the result?

We've shown a total lack of respect for the Cup.
You've shown a total lack of respect for the supporters.
You've reminded us just how out of step you have been with the feelings of the fans all season until recently.
You've made us a bit of a laughing stock on live television.
You've pissed away all the achievements you've made of late, all that confidence, all that improved spirit. There it goes, pissed away.

Pathetic.

[KevinGage]

Mark the date in your diary folks, Wed 02 March 2011. The date Aston Villa FC officially gave up any pretensions of being a big club.

We're officially happy to finish anywhere between 6th-16th, doesn't really matter - trophies don't really matter. So long as we stay in the league. We've turned into Bolton.

True, I can't say in all sincerity that at any stage in my Villa supporting life to date we expected silverware or success as of right, we were rarely that good. We did at least give it ago for the most part though, at least that's how it seemed.

He's a curious bird, this Houllier fellow. Just when it looked like he was getting more people on side he goes and does this. If I was cynical, I'd say tonight's selection was as much a 'fcuk you' to the fans who have given him stick this year, rather than any real need to rest a side who have just come back from a week off and have another one after Bolton on Saturday.

MON had far more goodwill and credit in the bank when he raised the white flag in Moscow -and he still came in for a fair amount of stick. GH doesn't really have that type of insurance, you wouldn't think he'd be daft enough to chance something that looked nailed on from the outset to make him even less popular.

I hope the next manager -whoever that may be- has it written into his contract that effectively throwing important games with weakened team selections is a big no-no. Perhaps it's the only way.

[jonzy85]

Strachan spot on......no way Bolton would have fielded such an understrength team if they were playing tonight.

[Irreverent ad]

Its opened a whole can of worms now as well. its gonna be open day on aston villa for the next few days, talksport, the papers etc etc etc. Our name is mud.

Like the press wasn't anyway! Who cares what they say?!!

With our financials we NEED to stay up. I think GH made the right decision.

Lets all get behind them for the Bolton match.