Stoke City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[villajk]

Gabby flattening Clattenberg was amusing.

Loved it.  Got a big cheer from the crowd.  MoTD pundits seemed to like it as well.

[Dante Lavelli]

With my extremely optimistic hat on, I am encouraged by what is happening.  I'm not sure whether it is luck (injuries) or an actual strategy from AMc but today I though we looked like we were most definitely trying to play football.  On a number of occasions it looked like the emphasis was on retaining possession rather than hoofball.  Admittedly this often meant we went backwards but I'd prefer this than playing a long 50/50 pass.

My other reason for optimism is that today we played Guzan, Clark, Albrighton, Gabby and the Fonz with Bannan on the bench.  Admittedly they're not all world beaters but they represent a pretty solid future for Villa.  If we can have half the squad made up of youth (or cheaply acquired) players then the other 6 odd players can be of a better quality.  Besides it's so much easier supporting players like Clark than it is say Warnock or Collins as they cost us 12m (?) in transfer fees and are often not significantly better than what we can produce ourselves.

It's VERY early days but the last two games have been a big improvement even if the points tally says otherwise.

[Grande Pablo]

Collins & Dunne did look good, but up against the stuff their good at dealing with - aerial bombardment.  They've not looked so clever against swift, on the deck stuff which we'll be up against next.

[olaftab]

Swansea really is the must win game. Any sense in resting a couple - like stan or albrighton - v Chelsea or is that folly?

No. we must always compete with intent to win even if we do play GIANTS.

[villan1975]

Awful game that should never have been the only prem game of the day on the tv,
though for once we were in no way the main protagonists and indeed played the
more expansive football.
Quite interested to see our overall stats and play against Swansea,not interested enough
to travel up and pay good money for the priveledge as yet though.
Best part of the day for me footballing wise was Paul Merson trying to convince that fuckwit
Stelling that Villa are a bigger club than the toon,the very cheek of the fuckwit.
Much improved Villa keep it up.

[markus209]

A very boring game but at least we gave it a go. I thought Dunne and Collins played very well. Gabby worked hard and looked dangerous at times. Petrov had a good game as well and it was nice to see us keeping possession of the ball rather than just loft it aimlessly forwards all the time.

I thought Guzan did very well at dealing with the long throw ins.

I got a lift with a Stoke supporter to and from the game and after the game he was going on about how they had in fact scored as the ball had definitely crossed the line at some point? I must have missed that bit as I can't even think of a moment where anyone was appealing for a goal so if anyone can shed any light on the incident for me. I'm sure he must have nodded off and dreamt it.

Off topic but in the programme Stoke had our manager down as Harry Redknapp.

[villan1975]

A very boring game but at least we gave it a go. I thought Dunne and Collins played very well. Gabby worked hard and looked dangerous at times. Petrov had a good game as well and it was nice to see us keeping possession of the ball rather than just loft it aimlessly forwards all the time.

I thought Guzan did very well at dealing with the long throw ins.

I got a lift with a Stoke supporter to and from the game and after the game he was going on about how they had in fact scored as the ball had definitely crossed the line at some point? I must have missed that bit as I can't even think of a moment where anyone was appealing for a goal so if anyone can shed any light on the incident for me. I'm sure he must have nodded off and dreamt it.

Off topic but in the programme Stoke had our manager down as Harry Redknapp.

All of the ball did'nt cross the line,was pointed out in match of the day as a
highlight along with ref falling over.No reason for anyone to moan about
BBC bias tonight as it certainly looked the game of least interest today.

[Zhong Yi]

performance aside, when it comes to the stage that a 0-0 draw with the likes of Stoke City is considered progress, one has to ask what the hell has happened to Aston Villa Football Club.

[dave.woodhall]

performance aside, when it comes to the stage that a 0-0 draw with the likes of Stoke City is considered progress, one has to ask what the hell has happened to Aston Villa Football Club.

You mean as opposed to the season we won the league, and drew away at Stoke? The second division promotion season when we set a record for away wins, and drew at Stoke? The Champions League-chasing days of Martin O'Neill, when we lost then drew at Stoke? 

[Steve R]

I am surprised at some of the criticism and faint praise on here.

That was easily our best performance at the Britannia against probably the strongest Stoke team we  have had to face.

It wasn't perfect - the passing could have been crisper and we need more football from N'Z, on top of his workrate - but there were many positives to take from the game.

We conceded one decent chance in the whole game, created more by Pulis' lottery football more than error on our part. What football there was came from us. Despite a postage stamp pitch and hard working opposition, we footballed some very good chances of our own. A team that looked frozen with fear a couple of weeks ago is starting to look like a cohesive unit. The intent to play is there, that's an enormous step forward.

Excellent games from Clark, Guzan and Petrov. The back four did very well.

As for Stoke, they are entitled to play the game they wish to play, it's up to the opposition to deny them and play football their own way. We did exactly that and almost got the win we deserved.


mom - Gabi's right nipple, followed closely by the left hand he used to push Clattenburg over.

[phantom limb]

With my extremely optimistic hat on, I am encouraged by what is happening.  I'm not sure whether it is luck (injuries) or an actual strategy from AMc but today I though we looked like we were most definitely trying to play football.  On a number of occasions it looked like the emphasis was on retaining possession rather than hoofball.  Admittedly this often meant we went backwards but I'd prefer this than playing a long 50/50 pass.

Everyone plays football against Stoke, mainly because they can't. It's nice but not too much of an accolade, but yes it is slightly enjoyable. Really the quicker that Stoke are deducted billions of points and relegated several divisions because the FA found out that they are just a load of massive blokes from the pub who physically assault people for a living, the better.

[dave.woodhall]

 Really the quicker that Stoke are deducted billions of points and relegated several divisions because the FA found out that they are just a load of massive blokes from the pub who physically assault people for a living, the better.

Sentence of the night.

[KevinGage]

Agree on the faint praise but disagree with the performance being the best at the Britannia.

Last season we were all over them for 70 odd minutes and really should have been 2/3 goals to the good before they got a sniff.

[bertlambshank]

Stoke are the boil on the arse of football.
The cap wearing twat of a manager gets my goat.
The constant fouling off the ball boils my piss.
The long throws make me want to vomit.
The way the press say they love the noise makes me want to kill.
They are ****** the lot of them.
That's better.

[KevinGage]

But they've made the humble throw in an event!

TBH, I don't have an issue with the way they play. It works for them, and has seen them go from relegation certainties to European contenders, playing the likes of Dynamo Zagreb and Valencia.   Their own fans seem happy enough with them, it's not their job to entertain the opposition.

The onus is always on the supposedly better sides, sides who play more expansive football, or sides who have spent far more than them to break them down.