Sunderland v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[VancouverLion]

Thought we played well tbh apart from the defending at the death as per.

Oh well. I'll get my coat. Up the Villa!

[Greg N'Ash]

whole defence barring shay needs shipping out. needed shipping out last season. best part of 20m there worth probably not much more than 10m now.

[Dave Clark Five]

whole defence barring shay needs shipping out. needed shipping out last season. best part of 20m there worth probably not much more than 10m now.

Try thinking about the good work they did and there was plenty of it. We are doing nothing up front.

[TonyD]

Norwich is going to be interesting.  Let's see what team he picks.

[Dave Clark Five]

Norwich is going to be interesting.  Let's see what team he picks.

And let's see how each of them play. Great goal by Petrov today. Must have ignored McLeish's instructions.

[Greg N'Ash]

whole defence barring shay needs shipping out. needed shipping out last season. best part of 20m there worth probably not much more than 10m now.

Try thinking about the good work they did and there was plenty of it. We are doing nothing up front.

In part yes in that we haven't got the players further up the field to take the pressure off them, but they really are lower table premiership defenders without the likes of Milner and co helping them out

[Archie]

McLeish does not control Bent like a puppet on a string. Bent bottled that sitter and it cost us.

How many chances did Bent have today? We are totally lacking in creativity.

I think Marc Albrighton should be given 10 games to find his form like N'Zogbia has had. He would provide crosses for Bent, N'Zogbia never crosses the ball.

This.

[Gazza1982]

A 2-2 result away to Sunderland is a good result imo.I was expecting a third straight defeat and we stopped the rot.Probably should have won agreed, but most of us on here would have gladly accepted that result before kick off. In first half Zog looked lively, hungry and positive which is what we have all been waiting to happen,trouble is he always cuts back to his left foot which makes him easier to read. Collins needs to be replaced, 9/10 he hoofs it and 9/10 we lose possesion because of it.

[mr woo]

McLeish does not control Bent like a puppet on a string. Bent bottled that sitter and it cost us.

How many chances did Bent have today? We are totally lacking in creativity.

I think Marc Albrighton should be given 10 games to find his form like N'Zogbia has had. He would provide crosses for Bent, N'Zogbia never crosses the ball.

DB appears to be a very, very limited footballer as I feared when we bought him. Scores one, misses three. Long range shooting poor. Can't hold up play. Not prepared to get hurt for the cause. Not particularly quick. Contributes little in defence. , and so on. His only ability, it appears, is to make himself available for 6 yard tap-ins (not to be under-estimated - very few manage it). In other words, he's a 24 Million pound goalhanger.

 For all those fearing his departure in January, I have to be honest and say I'd take 18 m for him. Tomorrow.


Plus points today btw........

Herd - did everything asked of him, just what we've needed since NRC left.

N'Zog - His best game for us, had a bit of purpose and drive at last.

Petrovs recently discovered shooting boots.



Negatives :

Heskey : Consistently contributes so little.

Hutton : better than Luke Young? I don't think so.

Inability to control a game while leading. Our mindset seems to change the very second we go in front. Regardless of the opposition. And for that I lay the blame firmly at the door of..........

[ROBBO]

Why do posters say Bent missed a sitter? on the replay surely the keeper saved it, he put it to the side of the keeper but as good keepers do he spread himself. Is it just coincidence that Petrov has scored a few screamers this season or has AM instructed him to shoot whenever possible? Collins should have been in front of his man bad marking and lack of concentration at a critical period.

[old man villa fan]

The way some have been going on about a draw at Sunderland being a good result is as though they are a top side.  Before today, they had won one, drawn one and lost two.  Their home performances have been very poor this season and that form showed today.  Again we failed to beat a side that was there for the taking.

I said before the Albion game that we needed 10 points from the next five matches before the fixtures start to get a lot tougher.  We have so far taken one point and, no, I can't see us winning the next three, either.  We are fortunate that there are 3 or 4 teams that have been very poor so far.  Let's hope they stay that way.

[mr woo]

He's missed easier chances than the one-on-one today Robbo, and seems to fail to score one GOOD opportunity in nearly every game.

And as far as the 'save' today goes, if you compared it to a penalty kick (from a comparable distance out), you'd have to put it down as a poor pen rather than a good save.
In other words, its still a poor miss from a top-rated striker in that position. How many of those did Shearer or Lineker miss?

[Greg N'Ash]

Bent was awesome last season and probably kept us up. you don't suddenly become useless and if we did flog him off at a loss in January you can bet he'll start scoring again in a team that creates the sort of chances he thrives on - i.e. passed on the floor.

[mr woo]

Never said he was useless Greg, I pointed out his strength. Which makes him a passenger in our system under McLeish.

And if he does move on, I hope he gets those on-the-deck chances at Everton, QPR or Fulham because nobody better than that will touch him with a bargepole.

[Greg N'Ash]

Never said he was useless Greg, I pointed out his strength. Which makes him a passenger in our system under McLeish.

And if he does move on, I hope he gets those on-the-deck chances at Everton, QPR or Fulham because nobody better than that will touch him with a bargepole.

or we could try playing to his strengths and the majority of our youth players and not devaluing our major assets. I see no point in playing a system that suits Ivanhoe and Dunne.