Aston Villa v Swansea City Post-Match Thread

[olaftab]

Well done to Swansea. Brendan Rodgers has shown that not having much money does not mean that you can't play proper football, and has given a lie to the idea that, just because you can't compete at the top, doesn't mean you can't play the game in the 'right' way.

Agreed Monts.

Total agreement here also

Ditto

Absolutely bang on Monty. I would welcome Rodgers here when Eck leaves which hopefully is not too far away.

[Irish villain]

I didn't get to watch today's game but from all that I've heard, we weren't very good.

Very disappointing after such a good performance on New Year's Eve. Our home form is very worrying.

[old man villa fan]

I'm sorry Bent is a contributing factor to us not playing well.

He scores tap ins, he isn't a goal machine, he is a goal hanger.

We don't play a system or have the personnel to accommodate him, so what's the point?

It's no coincidence he came back in and the performance suffered. The ball never sticks up front it just keeps coming back thus applying constant pressure on ourselves.

I am sorry but your anti-Bent campaign is b*******.

In our 5 wins this season, Bent has scored in 4 of them.

How does Bent contribute to individual errors by others that cost us goals game after game.

The urban myth that Bent only scores tap-ins.  Go back and do some research on his goals.

We do not have a system or personnel to accommodate Messi, so there is no point in having him in the team???  Bent is not the best striker around and does miss some sitters at times but has scored goals wherever he has played and sometimes in not very good sides.  Improve other parts of the team and you will get a far better return out of him.

How many passes did he receive today?  How many times was the ball played infront of him for him to run onto?  How many chances were created for him infront of goal today?

The ball comes back because our passing is atrocious, with long balls usually failing to hit the intended target.

Wake up and face reality.

[olaftab]

Pity nzog didn't get the luck of the bounce for his shot off the post. He needs a goal.

Yes a goal at that time was of no value to the result however it would have done huge amount of good foe his confidence.

[Clampy]

It's hard to tell how much the Chelsea game took out of the players, but it was very very poor. First twenty minutes or so we looked lively but that was about it.  Once they got the second of their gift wrapped goals, you could'nt really see us getting back into it. After the 3 previous encouraging displays, let's hope it's a one off.

As for Warnock, i praised him yesterday for being good in the last few games, which was deserved. Today again though showed that he's one of the worst left backs i've ever seen down there. 

[nigel]

I understand why the fans are frustrated, Christ I'm frustrated but after the booing and the chants the players became worse they didn't want the ball they were terrified. It does not help

Agree,
Home support is pretty crap, has been all season.
Not all, some of us do try and get a flicker of life from the rest.
 

[littlevillain]

Albrighton must have been gutted to be left out of this one after his performance at chelsea. Saying that the team mcleish put out would have been many peoples pick and it should have been more than enough to beat swansea at home. This is the roller coaster that is Aston Villa and many older fans must of had that underlying feeling of apprehension after such a great win in london, I certainly did because its typical of the villa to let you down when they've pumped you up. We will however respond with a win against a decent confident everton team, I'm sure of it. up the villa!

[Shrek]

I'm sorry Bent is a contributing factor to us not playing well.

He scores tap ins, he isn't a goal machine, he is a goal hanger.

We don't play a system or have the personnel to accommodate him, so what's the point?

It's no coincidence he came back in and the performance suffered. The ball never sticks up front it just keeps coming back thus applying constant pressure on ourselves.

So having attacking minded players like Ireland, Bannan, Albrighton, N'Zogbia and Gabby arent the right type of personnel to provide Bent with service to score goals? We could certainly do with some more guts in midfield but surely those players have the footballing intelligence to supply Bent with the type of service he thrives on to get his 20+ goals per season. He is a player capable of doing that and he has the players around him to help him reach that target, so it can only be the system that is wrong...who is responsible for the system and the tactics?

Bent is a goal scorer, but he doesn't contribute to the play at all, he is just waiting for someone to put it on a plate for him.

Gabby up top backs into the defender holds the ball up and brings the rest of the team into play. Bent doesn't.

People cannot seriously say its just a coincidence we've looked a completely different team the 3 previous games while playing without Bent.

Bent would be perfect for a team that dominate possession, but there must be a reason he has never played consistently for a top 10 team.

I would honestly sell him and strengthen the squad, but that's just me.

[nigel]

While I agree with praising the way Swansea played, I think it's a little unfair to compare him to McLeish or overly criticise him on that subject. Rodgers and Martinez before him sha the same footballing philosophy and over the last few years have specifically purchased played to play a certain way. McLeish is trying to make us play that way with players he's mainly acquired from MON who never tried to play that way. It's also something as we know GH struggled with. It will be a long time, and/or take a lot of cash to change out the playing staff and ingrain a different playing mentality at the club.

Interesting post.
I remember saying that last season too.

[MadJohnnyC]

If this has been said countless times before then i apologise, i just cant be bothered to read the previous 10 pages.

One man up front at home against anybody is pisspoor let alone Swansea - in fact he did it against Hereford so i expect the same against Bristol Rovers next week too. And if you do persist with this, that man cannot be Darren Bent. He simply can't play on his own all his qualities are wasted. Two managers have deployed him like this now and i really can't see why.

Then at 2-0 down we simply had to take Warnock off for Albrighton. To take off Ireland was not increasing the attacking threat at all. Then the whole Clark for Bannan was so predictable.

Credit to Swansea they played very well indeed and had a game plan. They are a footballing side which we should have known already from their previous games in the division.

Scott Sincair said on MOTD last week they fancied coming to Villa - that says it all when a newly promoted side fancies coming here.

Happy new year to all H&V mods and subscribers anyway. Let our blind faith continue to give us something to talk about. UTV

[spangley1812]

I'm sorry Bent is a contributing factor to us not playing well.

He scores tap ins, he isn't a goal machine, he is a goal hanger.

We don't play a system or have the personnel to accommodate him, so what's the point?

It's no coincidence he came back in and the performance suffered. The ball never sticks up front it just keeps coming back thus applying constant pressure on ourselves.

So having attacking minded players like Ireland, Bannan, Albrighton, N'Zogbia and Gabby arent the right type of personnel to provide Bent with service to score goals? We could certainly do with some more guts in midfield but surely those players have the footballing intelligence to supply Bent with the type of service he thrives on to get his 20+ goals per season. He is a player capable of doing that and he has the players around him to help him reach that target, so it can only be the system that is wrong...who is responsible for the system and the tactics?

Bent is a goal scorer, but he doesn't contribute to the play at all, he is just waiting for someone to put it on a plate for him.

Gabby up top backs into the defender holds the ball up and brings the rest of the team into play. Bent doesn't.

People cannot seriously say its just a coincidence we've looked a completely different team the 3 previous games while playing without Bent.

Bent would be perfect for a team that dominate possession, but there must be a reason he has never played consistently for a top 10 team.

I would honestly sell him and strengthen the squad, but that's just me.

I agree with you Shrek 100% Bent isnt a team player his movement outside the box is poor, he doesnt close defenders down and as u say without him we have played well and looked balanced. Having said that it wasnt his fault we lost that was down to individual errors by defenders and possibly Brad 

[Shrek]

I'm sorry Bent is a contributing factor to us not playing well.

He scores tap ins, he isn't a goal machine, he is a goal hanger.

We don't play a system or have the personnel to accommodate him, so what's the point?

It's no coincidence he came back in and the performance suffered. The ball never sticks up front it just keeps coming back thus applying constant pressure on ourselves.

I am sorry but your anti-Bent campaign is b*******.

In our 5 wins this season, Bent has scored in 4 of them.

How does Bent contribute to individual errors by others that cost us goals game after game.

The urban myth that Bent only scores tap-ins.  Go back and do some research on his goals.

We do not have a system or personnel to accommodate Messi, so there is no point in having him in the team???  Bent is not the best striker around and does miss some sitters at times but has scored goals wherever he has played and sometimes in not very good sides.  Improve other parts of the team and you will get a far better return out of him.

How many passes did he receive today?  How many times was the ball played infront of him for him to run onto?  How many chances were created for him infront of goal today?

The ball comes back because our passing is atrocious, with long balls usually failing to hit the attended target.

Wake up and face reality.

It's no anti Bent campaign, it's just reality. Bent very rarely if ever creates a goal for him self or others.

[Lee]

We looked good for 20 minutes, then for the next 70 looked as poor as we have done at home all season.

The most disturbing thing for me was that Swansea passed the ball around us like aliens from the planet football. The contrast between Rodgers and McLeish was laid out about as starkly as it possibly could be today.

Warnock was execrable today. I can't remember the last time I saw a player take a full back to the cleaners as thoroughly as Dyer did to him today. it was pitiful to watch.

Saturday was fantastic, but today was the sharpest reality check possible.

Currently we have a large number of players who are not good enough, a manager who is deeply unconvincing, a squad which is quite frankly not strong enough, an owner who hardly ever graces us with a visit from the other side of the Atlantic, and whose idea of running the club seems to be insist that we can't strengthen the squad until we do more about the wage bill. We are going absolutely nowhere other than in the wrong direction, and at a worrying pace.

I don't like booing the team, and it isn't nice to hear chants of "you don't know what you're doing" at the manager, but i fully understand the reasoning of those who did it today.

We have lost five of our last six home games. I can't believe anyone is surprised to hear boos after that.

Again Paulie, you say it exactly as I see it too.

I also have to add that I thought that Clarke was very ineffectual today. I can see why he was in the team, but he offered us nothing at one nil down really, and at two down things had to be changed. He was the ideal candidate  to come off even prior to Ireland running out of steam. The team on the sidelines obviously saw things different.

One of the biggest critiques of MONs management and rightly so, was that there was no plan B. We seem to have a Management Team that have the same approach.

[Shrek]

Just to clarify, I'm not blaming Bent for us losing, I'm saying Bent is one of the main contributing factors in our poor performances.

Today we lost because Warnock messed up then Brad didn't just clear the ball first time, instead he took a touch was under pressure them cleared too their player.

[KRS]

I'm sorry Bent is a contributing factor to us not playing well.

He scores tap ins, he isn't a goal machine, he is a goal hanger.

We don't play a system or have the personnel to accommodate him, so what's the point?

It's no coincidence he came back in and the performance suffered. The ball never sticks up front it just keeps coming back thus applying constant pressure on ourselves.

So having attacking minded players like Ireland, Bannan, Albrighton, N'Zogbia and Gabby arent the right type of personnel to provide Bent with service to score goals? We could certainly do with some more guts in midfield but surely those players have the footballing intelligence to supply Bent with the type of service he thrives on to get his 20+ goals per season. He is a player capable of doing that and he has the players around him to help him reach that target, so it can only be the system that is wrong...who is responsible for the system and the tactics?

Bent is a goal scorer, but he doesn't contribute to the play at all, he is just waiting for someone to put it on a plate for him.

Gabby up top backs into the defender holds the ball up and brings the rest of the team into play. Bent doesn't.

People cannot seriously say its just a coincidence we've looked a completely different team the 3 previous games while playing without Bent.

Bent would be perfect for a team that dominate possession, but there must be a reason he has never played consistently for a top 10 team.

I would honestly sell him and strengthen the squad, but that's just me.

What you're actually arguing against is a style of player issue rather than Bent contributing to the team. Bent isnt and has never been the type of player to muscle defenders off the ball and hold up play...his strengths are playing off the shoulder of the last defender, his positional awareness in the box and putting the ball in the back of the net. If you're argument for selling Bent is right, then we may as well play Heskey up front instead but the end result would be the same...we wouldnt score goals, we would concede at the back and lose games.

I can see the problems with Bent and agree with your points about his style of play, but its for the manager to use the correct tactics and style of play to utilise the strengths of our greatest asset on the pitch. If he cant recognise that or adapt a style of play to accomodate that then its best that we get in another manager that can rather than selling Bent.

If its a decision between keeping Bent and keeping AM...I know which one I'd choose.