Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic Post-Match Thread

[Rigadon]

Not sure about the stats but I thought we were comfortably the better team, made all the best chances and on another day would've won 4 or 5 nil.  They never once looked like scoring.

They where dire in front of goal, worse than I thought they would be, they are without doubt relegation fodder IMO, simply because they can't get anywhere near the opposition goal, get something like 10 corners and how many free kicks??and never really threaten once.......

We will have stronger tests (none more so than the next game) no doubt, but as PeterwithesShin said, many chances for us, none of any note for them.  Comfortable win.  Enjoy it!

[Percy McCarthy]

Faultless display from Given. I think his outstanding form gives the whole defence so much more confidence.

Gabby was the other stand-out performance for me. Could it be that the departure of Young and Downing has encouraged him to step up a gear.

Maybe he fancies a move away too .

He's Villa for life.

I can comfortably say that Agbonlahor will never leave Villa.

If he does, I will.

(Only joking).

[Villanation]

Some people seem to be taking a very peculiar line of argument here. A significant number of people on this forum felt that following his form last season Gabby did not deserve to be in the team and it is not entirely unlikely that a new manager coming in would have felt the same way. Last season Gabby looked shorn of confidence and fitness but this season he looks like a different player. Surely the manager deserves some praise for doing that as much as Houllier deserved criticism for how bad he was last year? Much like Ireland, Warnock and Dunne all seem to be better players under him.

I'd go as far as to say that Gabby looks better than ever this season. His all round play looks much better (not that it was bad before) and he is on a good run in front of goal (he has done before but the question is whether he can sustain this). Some of the credit should be with the player but some definitely should be given to the manager for unlocking the form and confidence. If managers did not do that then there would be no point having one.

People are very quick to criticise McLeish for things that he has done badly such as a pair of signings that have as of yet failed to fire and some negative tactics but refuse to acknowledge the improvement he has engineered in some of the players as well as making an excellent signing in Given. I also note that one or two posters who were making a lot of negative noises on the match thread disappeared very quickly after the first goal and haven't been heard from since.

Houllier was weird, simple as, he frooze players out, he outed players publicly, he did frightening things like at the Liverpool game, the tunnel incident which would have had a profound effect on the squad, Gabby spent a good part of last season either injured or coming back from and even then spent time on the bench, Dunne was out of sync, players couldn't wait to get away from the club.

I'm not rubbishing McLiesh but I'm certainly not saying he's getting this right at this point because as sure as night follows day we will come up against a team like Man City and the teams real flaws will stand out like a sore thumb and rather than make rash statements now only to revisit them 2 weeks from now when we may be looking at a different scenario and everybody will be saying what a tosser he is, I won't be, more a reality check.

[damon loves JT]

I love Gabby. All he has ever needed is a manager prepared to believe in him and play to his strengths.

He also finally has a strike partner who understands how partnership works. I hope he totally eclipses pisshead Carroll this season.

[Rigadon]

Yes, Damon me too although that would result in a media rush for Gabby to join the army of darkness in the league of almost champions. 

[Risso]

I love Gabby. All he has ever needed is a manager prepared to believe in him and play to his strengths.

He also finally has a strike partner who understands how partnership works. I hope he totally eclipses pisshead Carroll this season.

Well said Damon.  I too am a big admirer of Gabby's, and I always thought that both he and Bent could perform extremely well playing up front together.  I mean, you've got two excellent strikers, so why WOULDN'T you play them together?  I haven't seen any of the match by the way, and am now patiently awaiting the game on both Sky and Match of the Day.

[Mister E]

When Gabby comes out and says he owes it all to Mcleish, thn fair enough. But until then don't give Mcleish credit for something he may not have done.

Whatever has happened, Gabby was out of sorts last season and looked a shadow of his former self. This season he has sharpened up, looks fitter and quicker than ever and is playing with an assurance that I have not seen before.
I put this down to (i) poor management last season, (ii) the departure of two billy-big-bollox players, and perhaps (iii) an empathic management that is working with him and seeking to make him feel good about things.

I'd suggest we not disparage McGinge whilst the team is still developing on his watch.

[Mister E]

Whilst this result - and performance - was welcome, I can't help feeling that we'd better get a whole lot tighter through the middle against the better teams: whether this means forfeiting SI or BB in favour of a more tenacious player or wehther it measn Del;ph gives way, I'm not sure. But Petrov will not do it on his own.

Mentioning Petrov, I do think he's been very good so far this season; not just the quality of his shooting but his general play has been excellent.

[Dante Lavelli]

I love Gabby. All he has ever needed is a manager prepared to believe in him and play to his strengths.

He also finally has a strike partner who understands how partnership works. I hope he totally eclipses pisshead Carroll this season.

Well said Damon.  I too am a big admirer of Gabby's, and I always thought that both he and Bent could perform extremely well playing up front together.  I mean, you've got two excellent strikers, so why WOULDN'T you play them together?  I haven't seen any of the match by the way, and am now patiently awaiting the game on both Sky and Match of the Day.

I missed it too.  Did they play as a traditional two?
I must admit that I did not think it would work, but I'm delighted to be proved wrong if that is the case.

[Monty]

I love Gabby. All he has ever needed is a manager prepared to believe in him and play to his strengths.

He also finally has a strike partner who understands how partnership works. I hope he totally eclipses pisshead Carroll this season.

Well said Damon.  I too am a big admirer of Gabby's, and I always thought that both he and Bent could perform extremely well playing up front together.  I mean, you've got two excellent strikers, so why WOULDN'T you play them together?  I haven't seen any of the match by the way, and am now patiently awaiting the game on both Sky and Match of the Day.

I missed it too.  Did they play as a traditional two?
I must admit that I did not think it would work, but I'm delighted to be proved wrong if that is the case.

You see, I don't think so. Gabby drifted much more, especially wide left, whereas Bent moved around the penalty box area more. In that way I think it's more that we had one striker and one support striker.

[Damo70]

Maybe if Gabby had scored against France under 18's and under 16's as much as he did against SHA then Houllier would have had the clues that AM had that he's not a bad player if you actually select him. I seem to remember an interview shortly after McLeish took over and he was being asked about individual players. With a wry smile, he admitted he was aware of what Gabby could do. As for Shay Given, I always thought that was as close to a guaranteed good signing as they come.

[PeterWithesShin]

As an aside, from where I was sat it seemed the police and stewards were being rather forceful in making people sit down in the Lower North today. Did anyone else notice?

[damon loves JT]

I am a bit myopic when it comes to tactics, all I would say is that Bent seems a very generous player for a goalscorer. If he likes Gabby, and I think he does, he will do his best by him.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Just a shame we sat back for the last 20 mins instead of putting a turgid wigan to the sword,or is that a bit fantasy football ?

I agree with you about the last 20 minutes. I really wanted us to push on, even with the three points already in the bag, a little exercise in ball retention wouldn't have gone amiss; practice makes perfect.

As for Wigan, despite losing their best two players, Martinez still has a very well drilled side, even if they are a bit toothless up front. They move the ball around very well, they just lack a decent striker. Man United made very hard work today beating Norwich and could easily have been on the end of an embarrassing result. The point is there are very few poor teams in the Premier League and unless you've a squad like Man City, there's always the chance of an upset against so-called lesser teams.

Wigan 'turgid'? I wish we could pass the ball around like them at times.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think the report done by the BBC tonight on there match report summed it up beautifully, the comment being " Now Villa know what they where missing all last season", got it in one, yes..

..a defence.