Bolton Wanderers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Shrek]

Houllier got it spot on today!

Ash Downing and Bent all missed sitters.
They let us down today not Houllier.

We had a very inexperienced defence that were under pressure because we kept missing easy chances.

Friedel NEVER comes for crosses or corners. Most goalkeepers will come for around 50% of crosses, this just adds more pressure to a defence.

People need to wake up and get over them selfs with all this anti houllier shit.
He turned Liverpool into a challenging team regulary in the CL, he has vastly improved us in a short time so let's give him a chance and we might have some success.

I'm certain our defence will be totally different next season.

[olaftab]

People blaming Houllier for the result today are fecking clueless or just too wrapped in their emotion to know better. We had the chances, when leading, to put the game firmly to bed. We didn't which then invites pressure on a very young and shaky defence, which to top it culminates in us missing a penalty. Stomping feet at the manager is simply futile, and the players need to take a bit of flak, Friedel as the experienced man does nothing to inspire in goal, while Young insisted on taking the pen when Bent and Reo Coker tried to dissuade him.

Might take a week or so away from the site, as the hysterics will start now about GH and be so boring.

ozzjim everything you mentioned ( highlighted ) IS Houlliers fault.  Pressure on the team was there since Wednesday's selection.  Young insisting on taking pens  well Manager should sort that out before the game.  Friedel not up to it well who selected him?

[bob]

Albrighton's goal was class, like. Lovely back heel from Delph, great run and cross from Downing and Marc hit the target. Yeah!

[The Situation]

There is just no point playing great for most of the match if you can't defend in the most vital moments of the match towards the end.

Yet again we un-do all the good work in the last 10-15 minutes. That's where games are either won, lost or drawn for us. It's like it every time.

I'm just annoyed. Not pointing fingers at anyone, not playing the blame game, just in general and wholly pissed off at everything. Missing a penalty, conceding from corners, conceding on the stroke of half-time and concedeing in the last few minutes yet again. When will we learn.

[Nev]

Christ almighty, the players are not blameless, far from it. But the buck has to stop with the manager.

We played some great stuff, the likes of which we could've done on Wednesday but the manager chose a different path and is has, over the last few days, payed the price and with today will have even more pressure heaped upon him.

Look nowhere else, because despite the misgivings of so many of our well payed players, the manager is in charge and he is not doing a good job.

[mallo]

We've got 5 home games to get about 5-6 points I reckon (all aways being losses as we have the 19th worst defence on the road), so the dogheads and wigan games really are important. Depressing.

[tarzansbrother]

The ghost of Martin ONiell continues to haunt us. Injured players, missed chances,missed penalty, comical defending,poor goal keeping,players we have spent millions on no where near the team. How can fans want this weak french buffoon to continue at the helm. Get rid now and we have 2 weeks preperation time with a new man in charge.

[eamonn]

Shades of Stoke, two years ago (near enough to the very day). A game we had the best of and had the perfect chance of sewing up but threw it away. Surprised no one's mentioned that Klasnic was offside before he scored the winner. Having said that the ball was clearly gone for a throw-in for the move that led to the penalty. Young's arced run-up and noncholant kick finally cost him and us today.

Very worrying that even when playing really well, like we did today, we end up losing. Can't really blame the young lads at the back today, they are inexperienced. Friedel deserves to be dropped after that though. Fear or inability to stray from his line and inspire confidence cost us big time today, not for the first time.

I honestly don't know what to expect from the Wolves game other than that we will concede at least once, most likely to that body-builder black defender from a set-piece.

[Mac]

Young is a cock, and Friedel should retire at the end of the season, he has nothing left to offer.

Young has one good game in 6.  If he's not winning pens for throwing himself to the floor he's no use.  Billy Big Bollocks. Get rid.

Like we did Cahill you mean

Well if you think we should persist with a player who has one good game in 6, is living off a reputation built 3 seasons ago but is clearly much better than shows, then I'll bow to your superior knowledge Malcolm.  I'll just remember when I see another corner/free kick going nowhere near the  he's such a great player.

PS I wouldn't have sold Cahill and said so at the time

[Jimbo]

If Houllier was resting players against Man City - a game that we couldn't win, by his own admission - then why didn't he rest Dunne - our only fit senior central defender? Instead, he risked him in a game we were certain to lose - as Houllier himself confirmed - and he got injured. So we played kids at the back in the next match, because we had no choice, and we got beat. True, we had the chances to win this game and threw them all away, one by one. But the defence just couldn't hack it. I do blame the players, but the manager has to shoulder the blame too. It's his set-up, and we've been unable to defend for the duration of his time here. When's it going to change?

[bob]

Houllier got it spot on today!

Ash Downing and Bent all missed sitters.
They let us down today not Houllier.

We had a very inexperienced defence that were under pressure because we kept missing easy chances.

Friedel NEVER comes for crosses or corners. Most goalkeepers will come for around 50% of crosses, this just adds more pressure to a defence.

People need to wake up and get over them selfs with all this anti houllier shit.
He turned Liverpool into a challenging team regulary in the CL, he has vastly improved us in a short time so let's give him a chance and we might have some success.

I'm certain our defence will be totally different next season.

But we might be in The Championship.

It remains to be seen the effect Wednesday's decisions will have on the rest of the season, but we ain't got long to find out.

Houllier can't be trusted. He's proven that much.

[Kent Villian]

Albrighton's goal was class, like. Lovely back heel from Delph, great run and cross from Downing and Marc hit the target. Yeah!

And our manager took both Delph & Albrighton - totally baffled!

[pauliewalnuts]

People need to wake up and get over them selfs with all this anti houllier shit.
He turned Liverpool into a challenging team regulary in the CL, he has vastly improved us in a short time so let's give him a chance and we might have some success.

WIth all due respect, it's nonsensical to just put it down to "anti Houllier" shit.

It's not "love him or hate him" - a lot of us can see the good work he is doing in other areas of the pitch, and are happy to acknowledge it, but you can not just ignore the frailities which persist, especially as we get more results like today, and persist in lingering a tiny number of points off the relegation spots.

As for "vastly improved us" - obviously not that much, or we wouldn't be where we are right now.

[tarzansbrother]

Houllier got it spot on today!

Ash Downing and Bent all missed sitters.
They let us down today not Houllier.

We had a very inexperienced defence that were under pressure because we kept missing easy chances.

Friedel NEVER comes for crosses or corners. Most goalkeepers will come for around 50% of crosses, this just adds more pressure to a defence.

People need to wake up and get over them selfs with all this anti houllier shit.
He turned Liverpool into a challenging team regulary in the CL, he has vastly improved us in a short time so let's give him a chance and we might have some success.

I'm certain our defence will be totally different next season.

Total bollox. Warnock and Beye should have been used today.

[sfx412]

For Heavens sake, no matter what you coach if you are chopping and changing players around in the defence they just are not going to be able to play as a unit, they just are not. Add in the players he had there, Young has hardly played all season, it was his first game in a while, Clarke has been left back, cb,left back and today represented our most experienced cb, and it was Bakers 2nd game. His second game and that after a recent injury.
I appreciate its your desire to get Houllier the sack so we can go into the final run in still looking for a manager, but please try and use a little common sense.
What is more relevant was the miss by Downing, the several misses by Bent and that atrocious penalty miss by Young to say nothing of his delivery from free kicks, most of which he wasted. We were the better side and a makeshift defence was done by some poor marking but our much vaunted and expensive forwards were equally reason we didn't win.
Houllier is an easy target and not my idea of who should be managing Villa, but when we have a defence like that, which was poorer than the one at Man City which caused so much offal to be said and written, then defeat should be no surprise.
Yet it is.