Swansea City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[dicedlam]

Watching Villa these days makes my eyes bleed.

[JUAN PABLO]

I have said before that we have turned into an exact copy of the dog shit - we are even becoming thugs like them and i really dont like it

Everytime Hutton or Delph go flying in you just grit your teeth as i fear for a red card very soon.

Given - considering the circustances he was a credit to make the one save he had to

Hutton - tackle apart (which i feel should have been red) he at best was average

Dunne - nothing wrong

Collins - must have been a difficult day for him but that does not excuse 50 yeard punts to no one all the time

Warnock - another player who i wince every time he goes flying into tackles

Herd - Did his job of breaking play up - stuggled to get any momentum with such a weak midfield around him

Delph - only a matter of time that he gets sent off - cannot see what he offers after 3 years at the club

Nzogbia - continually making the wrong choices when he has the ball - at least his work rate is improving

Heskey - just please go now you uselss lump of shit - offers fuck all and totally disjoints our team

Gabby - worked hard but must be getting pissed off

Bent - Did he play?  The cross from Gabby was on a plate for his trade mark run across the defender and again he was left flat footed - again though he must be getting frustrated at the lack of chances

Jenas - must start next week

Bannan - must start next week

I would rather go at United and lose a few goals that watch this turgid crap every week - we try and keep it tight angainst the red filth and once we concede the "plan" is dead

 FInally - Alex this is shit, you are out of your depth and i am sorry to say we deserve better than the garbage you are serving up - if the players are not doing what you tell them then drop them

I fear they are doing exactly what you tell them thats why not one of them look even remotely interested

PLease shape up or fook off

Ditto . cant disagree with any of that .

Id like to see Jenas , Bannon and Petrov im midfield next game .  Herd at RB .   maybe Cuellar instead of Collins .    Bent, Nzog and Gabby up front .. 

[darren woolley]

Again I'm disappointed with our performance it's just not good enough it's painful watching us play.

[Clampy]

I think we would have won if Bannan had played from the start. It's a pity it took McCleish 82 minutes to realise it.

[sg]

Bannan or Jenas must start for Heskey next week.

Saying that, i doubt it'll make much difference if Alan Hutton has his way and gets himself sent off after getting skinned by Young/Nani a few times in the first 10 mins.

[olaftab]

Bannan or Jenas must start for Heskey next week.

Saying that, i doubt it'll make much difference if Alan Hutton has his way and gets himself sent off after getting skinned by Young/Nani a few times in the first 10 mins.

Young will not play and even if he does based on his last few  performances he  can barely  skin a prawn.

[Brend'Watkins]

Bannan or Jenas must start for Heskey next week.

Saying that, i doubt it'll make much difference if Alan Hutton has his way and gets himself sent off after getting skinned by Young/Nani a few times in the first 10 mins.

Young will not play and even if he does based on his last few  performances he  can barely  skin a prawn.

If Young does play and Hutton puts in a tackle like he did yesterday Young will be hobbling around on one leg till the end of the season.

[Clampy]

If we are sending a message to kids about Bannan, then why would we say it's ok for him to come on as a sub but not to start the game?

Nonsense.

Agree totally. His court case has been and gone, he's been dealt with and now he has to learn from it.  He should have started yesterday. We're not going to win many games with Heskey playing in midfield.

[Chris Smith]

I put us down for loss, but we should have won that today... negatives were Hutton, I just think the guy is dirty, Heskey and I fear that Bent will soon get pissed off with this style of play.

As for the positives, Given for another game saving display, Herd and the Villa fans who went, it was the biggest crowd ever there.

Yes, Given did really well ... With the one save he had to make all game. He was largely well served by his defence yesterday who kept Swansea at arms length for the most part.

[Chris Smith]

It's been a regular theme in recent years - what do they get up to in training- but it's as relevant now as it was in MON's era.

For me the most consistent failing in the way we play is the total and utter lack of movement off the ball.

It seems to be a malaise about the club which has lingered for about 20 years. In fact, it is almost 20 years, BFR's team were the last Villa side i really recall being anything approaching vibrant off the ball.

Brian had us playing some great pass and move football between 1995 and '98 before the wheels fell off. Then in Gregory's honeymoon first three months we were an absolute joy to watch. Hendrie (peaking, tragically, in his first run in the side) and Yorke in particular, tore teams to shreds in the spring of '98.

Actually, comparing Gregory's Villa in his first few months in charge to the sterile team that lost to Chelsea in the cup final two years later (and also to forget MON's slightly less boring Leicester team in the two-legged League Cup semi final that season), it's quite scary to see how our style changed so much.

I disagree with the analysis about movement, if it was a total and utter (not sure why you need both words) lack" then we'never make a pass. Gabby and Bent for instance are never still. What we do often  lack is the bravery or perhaps the ability to try the pass that will find them. We too often take the safe option.

It was noticeable that when Bannan came on he was pinging incisive balls around, he can't do that if there's no movement.

[andyh]

I thought I saw Bannan also 'pinging' balls into no-one in particular.
He was maybe not as guilty as some for that, but I can't buy into the thought process that everything will be better if Bannan is playing. 

[Clampy]

In yesterday's midfield you had Delph was was playing his normal defensive and tackling game, Herd who was keeping it simple and passing to the nearest man (nothing wrong with that by the way) and Heskey, well i'm not sure what Heskey's role was suppose to be actually.

There was no-one running forward with the ball, there was no energy. We looked pedestrian and largely predictable. It was only when Bannan and Jenas came on that we started looking like team with a purpose and worth watching.

[Stu]

So if we are to progress from here we must keep our top players

But the board have already shown they're willing to sell anyone for the right price. I mean fair enough if the money is too good to turn down, but it needs to be reinvested properly in decent younger players. And as you pointed out, I wouldn't trust AM with the money. Aside from Given, his signings so far have been crap.

[Clampy]

I thought I saw Bannan also 'pinging' balls into no-one in particular.
He was maybe not as guilty as some for that, but I can't buy into the thought process that everything will be better if Bannan is playing. 

It would be better because it was better when he came on, unless you want us to stick with Heskey?

[BILL DE VALL]

Barry's the best passer of the ball at the club
to quote AM "he sees pictures" ie has vision
he can trap a ball better than anyone at the club
HE MUST PLAY