Aston Villa v Wolves post-match thread

[brice jovial]

Just remembered I saw Ian Taylor and a teenage boy who is presumably his son, just before the game. I was tempted to ask for his autograph or a photograph, but chickened out.

hey nice one tayls is a legend..
Reflecting thought for day : you miss 100% of the shots you never take
youre not chicken you just decided not to go for it no worries

[KRS]

N'Zogbia will never replace either of them because he hasn't got their work ethic.

N'Zogbia hasnt got the work ethic of the lazy non-tackling Downing?

No he hasn't.  Downing works far harder, he may not be too keen to put his foot into a 50/50 challenge but he chases back and gets goal side far more than N'Zogbia seems to.

N'Zogbia is pretty well known for not tracking back and not defending, so dont expect it of him any time soon. If thats the kind of player AM wanted then he's bought the wrong player. What he lacks in the defensive side of his game will hopefully be balanced by his tenacity going forward and I think he will prove to be much better than Downing in that respect once he's on form. If he cant do it consistently then he'll be another lemon to add to the list of lemons we've signed over the MON years.

[PeterWithesShin]

I've been very disappointed by the quality of crosses from N'Zogbia so far, both from set pieces and open play.

[olaftab]

N'Z can't cross, can't shoot' can't tackle, doesn't score ..hmmm
I have not ever feared N'Zogbia when we played Wigan and  I have been to  all 4 of our games  and I must say I see nothing there to inspire me.

[The Situation]

N'Z can't cross, can't shoot' can't tackle, doesn't score ..hmmm
I have not ever feared N'Zogbia when we played Wigan and  I have been to  all 4 of our games  and I must say I see nothing there to inspire me.

Scored against us twice in the last 4 times he played for Wigan.

[oldtimernow]

I still think we have to compare N'Z with the first 6 months of Downing which if I remember was distinctly uninspiring for someone who cost nearly half as much again.Given time and involvement we will see him improve especially if AM can work on his defensive duties but never expected anything from Downing in those circumstances anyway.

Herd looked a good replacement for L. Young where his enthusiasm took him into places of personal danger but his lack of experience did show at times; again something for AM to work with .Could he have the potential to be a Gidmanesque player?.Height and heading ability could be useful especially at set pieces both offensive and defensive.

Heskey looked good in first half but was blown in second would have liked to have seen BB on much earlier.

A bit concerned that Bent is on his own , a player closer to him might be better for us, wonder how long he'll be happy playing in that role when he's not got the service that he thought he would be having?

Anyway we are still +1 for the season over last year so onwards and upwards

[Matt Collins]

I note that both sky and motd had heskey down as the best player on the pitch. Yet some villa fans think he not only shouldn't be playing, but that it betrays some form of incompetence by mcleish.

[ktvillan]

I confess to only having seen the second half but I though we looked good going forward for the first 20-25 minutes and there was only one team going to score.  The subs buggered it up to an extent.  N'Zog was starting to make some runs and Delph was playing it out from deep, yet he took them both off and we lost all the momentum.  Very odd.

Although both Gabby and Heskey did well yesterday, I still think the combination is wrong because it simply fails to provide supply for our most potent weapon - Bent.  When I bemoaned this combo against Fulham, some said it was "horses for courses" and that AM would be more adventurous at home.  So far they have been completely wrong and the indications are that AM likes to go with the "safe" option of pace, power and strength over the technique and creativity that Bannan or Ireland might offer.

That's one reason I didn't want AM as boss and was sorry to see GH go.   Still it's early days and let's hope he is more prepared to rotate as time passes.

[Shrek]

I note that both sky and motd had heskey down as the best player on the pitch. Yet some villa fans think he not only shouldn't be playing, but that it betrays some form of incompetence by mcleish.

Heskey didn't play bad, but having him on the pitch basically means the team is carrying Bent, because Heskey provides fuck all in a position that should.

Horses for courses.
He should have played Bannan against Wolves and we'd have had a better chance of winning then against a big physical team like Stoke yes play Heskey.

I just thought the days of knowing the team before it's release were over.

[Caiphus]

I still think we have to compare N'Z with the first 6 months of Downing which if I remember was distinctly uninspiring for someone who cost nearly half as much again.Given time and involvement we will see him improve especially if AM can work on his defensive duties but never expected anything from Downing in those circumstances anyway.

Herd looked a good replacement for L. Young where his enthusiasm took him into places of personal danger but his lack of experience did show at times; again something for AM to work with .Could he have the potential to be a Gidmanesque player?.Height and heading ability could be useful especially at set pieces both offensive and defensive.

Heskey looked good in first half but was blown in second would have liked to have seen BB on much earlier.

A bit concerned that Bent is on his own , a player closer to him might be better for us, wonder how long he'll be happy playing in that role when he's not got the service that he thought he would be having?

Anyway we are still +1 for the season over last year so onwards and upwards

Pravda has Herd's height down as 5'8", which is only an inch taller than what Bannan has been listed at.  That's why I thought it was so strange that he lined up at CB against Wolves last season... has he had a growth spurt and they haven't changed his height on the squad list?

[oldtimernow]

5'8  never that makes him shorter than me....he looked taller than that to me

[jembob]

I saw plenty of encouraging signs today. Solid defence and much more proper football going forward. We looked very good going forward on occasions although we clearly have more to do.
The worst part of the day is to hear fans still having a go at McLeish despite us being more organised and capable than we have been for years. No wonder fans are staying away with the level of hatred and moaning that's around the place at the moment. If Houllier was still here we would have lost yesterday.

[PeterWithe]

I'm not Heskey's biggest fan but I thought only one player on the field was more effective and that was the impressive Richard Dunne

[UsualSuspect]

Was it really that bad?  I'm getting sick of the expections and moaning of our fans.

Maybe some fans are bewildered by the extent to which our expectations have plummeted over the last year or so.

Fucking hell

Please forgive me for expecting us to beat a team that will finish bdelow mid table at home

[Chris Smith]

Probably would have settled for a draw really, which shows you how my expectations have plummented and probably explains the missing thousands. The problem AM has is he's not got the players to play the way he wants and no funds to change it. whether his way is ever going to produce entertainment is debatable but its still a major handicap. The big question though is how this team will fare when we play someone good - 1 decent result against a blackburn side who are already looking nailed on relegation candidates doesn't tell us anything - From today's showing i'll think struggle to get anything unless we go into AM's Blose-era turbo-defensive mode.

So the Blackburn game told us nothing yet you go on to draw conclusions from yesterday. As for the first line, come on Greg, we know you, you've always had low expectations and you're in no position to talk about the missing thousands. You're losing your touch, you can't even do a decent wind up now.

We should have won, never looked like losing. Plenty of good things about the performance but the balance isn't quite right.