Aston Villa v Norwich City Post-Match Thread

[Dave]

Shame JJ can't play v Spurs, so for that game presuming everyone is fit, I would bring in Delph as a midfield three with Herd and Petrov and N'Zogbia, Gabby and Bent up top.   He will pick an unchanged team though.

UTV !!

I agree - maybe Bannan instead of Delph, but I think that's definitely the way to play at the moment.

[Clampy]

I was convinced at HT that we would go on and win but we could have done without the last 10 nervy minutes.

N'Zogbia is starting to look the part, but he needs to start looking up more in the final third and passing the ball, he gets in good positions then runs into people, but he seems to be gaining more confidence which is good.

Herd and Petrov were great again and Jenas looked good when he came on. My only gripe was McCleish putting on Ireland when Petrov had to go off, he was'nt the right player at all.

All in all, a much needed win and a better perfomance. Let's enjoy it.

[Irish villain]

McLeish sort of said in his MOTD interview that the substitutions he made disrupted villa's rhythm. That in itself reflects an refreshing change from the embarrassingly arrogant Houllier and MON. How many times did Houllier publicly hang players in media last season?

[Dan England]

On the whole a good performance. Gabby was outstanding, Bent did what Bent was paid to do, Herd and Petrov looked like they are forming a good partnership and N'Zogbia had his best game for us.

Warnock was good although, having watched it again on MOTD, lost his man far too easily for their 2nd goal.

Oh and the comedy "football gods irony" was the dogs abuse a guy infront of us got for defending Bent for Bent to score 3 mins later and all the abusers having to apologise. Very Funny.

[PeterWithe]

I'm struggling to get the Warnock stuff.

I thought that after Gabby and Herd he was our best player yesterday.

Credit where it's due, I think overall he's been one of our best players so far this season.

[citizenDJ]

I'm struggling to get the Warnock stuff.

I thought that after Gabby and Herd he was our best player yesterday.

Credit where it's due, I think overall he's been one of our best players so far this season.

I agree with both of you. He's close to being back to his best as far as I can see. He still has a slight tendency to 'dive in', but overall he's playing well. His positioning seems to be a bit better currently, too.

[andyh]

I'm struggling to get the Warnock stuff.

I thought that after Gabby and Herd he was our best player yesterday.

Credit where it's due, I think overall he's been one of our best players so far this season.

Ditto.
I think Warnock plays with his heart on his sleeve.
To me, he plays with gusto and is always fully committed.
He may not be the most graceful of players, but because he is full blooded, he is prone to making the odd mistake, or finding himself out of position.
Given his effort and commitment ,I can forgive him that.

Remember, we used to have Nicola Shorey !!!

[l_mckay]

A good 3 points,shame we had a very nervous last 10 minutes. Gabby was brilliant. Nzogbia,Herd and Warnock played really well aswell.

[JUAN PABLO]

I actually thought Warnock played well.

Nzog is trying to hard to score the 25 yarder to get the fans on his side , instead of the simple pass to a team mate , but he is improving.

Heskey played well to be honest , I just think its a wasted postition .

Jenas looked good , I saw him hit a brilliant ball across the half way line  , and thought nobody in the team could do that..

Bent , does what we pay him to do , score goals , I love him.   

Gabby , class yesterday , caused problems , the Gabby of old but with more of a brain in there .  I love him too.

Herd , a bonus for me , didnt expect him to play regular at the beginning of the season , I do .   

In fact , a very enjoyable game . 

[Greg N'Ash]

Not far off our best performance, and lets face it we really needed to win this one to give us some breathing space. Downside is the defence again - we're gonna struggle if we have to score 3 every week to win a game

[AV82EC]

Really enjoyed it yesterday, tbh we looked very shaky at the start as Norwich came out of the traps like a greyhound but we found our feet after about 20 odd minutes and the really encouraging thing for me over the whole game was the number of chances we created, there were balls flashing across the box all game, meat and drink for Benty, and Gabby in a loose support striker role was a revelation as he popped up here there and everywhere.  Scores on the doors:

Given - 6.5 - bit flat footed for the free kick but some excellent stops and confident keeping second half
Hutton - 6 - looked a bit lost at first but grew into the game and became an attacking threat second half
Collins - 6 - I can't make my mind up but for such a big bloke he doesn't half get bullied by big lads up front for other teams
Dunne - 7 - Thought he had a good solid game
Warnock - 7.5 - Getting back to what we know he can be he isn't ever going to be Cole, Gibbs or Clichy but i srtill like his whole hearted approach
Herd - 7.5 - Very accomplished, lost in the first 15 mins but then got his foot on the ball and started covering his back 4 superbly especially the full backs
Petrov - 7.5 - Workrate excellent and really good use of the ball
NZogbia - 6.5 - Its starting to happen, looks more settled, starting to run with purpose and if he could look up a bit more....
Agbonlahor - 8 - MOM - Superb, constant threat.
Heskey - 6.5 - After an awful first 15 minutes suddenly realised he could contribute and had a good game until he was taken off.
Bent - 7.5 - Did what he's paid to do, on a better day (!!) could have had 5.

Jenas - 6 - Patently not match fit but looked assured and composed on the ball, crossfield ball to Hutton a delight
Ireland - 5 - Not really long enough but a couple of intelligent runs but at least he was covering the right back position even though they scored

McLeish - 7 - Seemed to have them up for it and after a shaky start got them to start causing Norwich problems.  Ireland for Petrov was a mistake, and we need to defend slightly higher up the pitch when we don't have the ball.  He needs to solve (?) the Heskey conundrum or hope someone else steps up to the plate to challenge for that place.

Fans - 7 - Well L1 and 2 were in good voice and the boys upstairs seemed to keep it going but hats off to the North Lower who seemed to be having a laugh with the Norwich fans.

[not3bad]

I would give N'Zogbia lines.  Write out "You've got to hold or give but do it at the right time" 1000 times.

[olaftab]

James Collins. He is a bit like Eddie Stobart. He delivers long distance anywhere all the time!

[ktvillan]

I've only seen the highlights but from them it does look like Hutton is a very poor defender.  Needlessly conceded the free kick that led to the first goal, hours after the ball had gone, and it looked as if everything Norwich created came down his side.  He seemed to often be wandering around watching their players stroll past him and gave the crosser plenty of time and space for the second goal.  That said, I guess he should be getting support from N'Zogbia, who was usually nowhere to be seen.

[luke25]

I've only seen the highlights but from them it does look like Hutton is a very poor defender.  Needlessly conceded the free kick that led to the first goal, hours after the ball had gone, and it looked as if everything Norwich created came down his side.  He seemed to often be wandering around watching their players stroll past him and gave the crosser plenty of time and space for the second goal.  That said, I guess he should be getting support from N'Zogbia, who was usually nowhere to be seen.

He was injured for the 2nd and it was Ireland filling in, although I do agree that there game plan seemed to be to get at him.