Newcastle United v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[barrysleftfoot]

  What today showed me.

  Ireland and N'zog need to take a leaf out Keanes book, and work at their game.2 very good players in there , but not prepared to be team players.Much as i like Ireland as a player, i wish McL would chin him sometimes when he has a strop.

 Clark is not a midfielder.

  Dunne has gone, too many mistakes giving too many goals away

 GG is going to be a good player, hopefully a mainstay of our team for the next 10 years.

 We are not far off Nooocastle, and they are 5th.

 We should have won that today.For whatever reasons we stopped playing football in the 2nd half, and only really picked up when GG came on.I would'nt have taken Ireland or N'Zog off tbh, but i thought Bannan was'nt too bad, and Heskey was'nt as bad as normal.

 1 mistake by Dunne gave them their winner, but their goalie was probably MOM.

[saunders_heroes]

Have not read all the thread but I notice the usual `Have a go at Heskey, so therefore Mcleish too` comments.
The reality is that during the 2nd half we were coming under increasing pressure and Newcastle were dominating possession. This was due to us giving away ther ball cheaply and being unable to hold the ball up outside our own half.
Immediately Heskey came on, that pressure was relieved and our levels of possession improved and we were playing more of the game in their half.
Heskey held the ball up, he brought players into the game and provided important link play. We lost because of errors at the back, in the case of the second goal poor defending by Dunne. Not because of Heskey or because of the managers substitution decisions.

It seemed to me that when Heskey came on Toon dropped back a bit expecting three strikers to have a go. I didn't see as much value in the Heskey sub as some, but I understand where you are coming from.

But we did create chances when Heskey came on. We certainly started looking dangerous again when he came on.

[PaulTheVillan]

Every single mistake is costing us at the moment, we don't get the rub of the green with anything.

[saunders_heroes]

It's possibly the worst defence I've ever seen down the Villa. It's costing us every game. The end of the season can't come quick enough.

[Dan England]

Yet again on another day we would have won that (how many times could we say that this season). The key points for me were:-

-Dunne was awful and seems to be spending an ever increasing time marking fresh air.
-The first 20 minutes of the second half was dire. We cannot win playing long balls from the back, when we get the ball down and move it we do well, it's not rocket science.
-Thought the game passed Clark by in the second half and Gardner coming on put a presence back in the middle.
-For what ever reason he went off we desperately missed Ireland.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Every single mistake is costing us at the moment, we don't get the rub of the green with anything.

The one repetitive remark continually trotted out by Premier League managers in interviews which I do agree with is... "At this level, your mistakes gets punished."

[villadelph]

Every single mistake is costing us at the moment, we don't get the rub of the green with anything.

The one repetitive remark continually trotted out by Premier League managers in interviews which I do agree with is... "At this level, your mistakes gets punished."

That was the sole reason Ireland got the swap apparently. Not blocking crosses.. He didn't do enough wrong for me to get subbed for his on-field performance.

[avfcpg]

It's possibly the worst defence I've ever seen down the Villa. It's costing us every game. The end of the season can't come quick enough.

This...so long as we stay up, which we should, just about.

1. Slash the wage bill.
2. Keep us up.
3. ?

Assuming 1&2 are ticked off, what will Randy have in mind for no. 3? Surely it can't go on like this for another season.
 

[villadelph]

via the Birmingham Mail;

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish was pleased with much of his side's performance against Newcastle United but was unhappy with the goals they conceded.

And he insisted he had not withdrawn midfielder Stephen Ireland at half-time because he had reacted angrily to his manager's suggestion that he might have done better for Ba's goal.

The Scot said: "I know he spoke back, but at the same time, players don't like to hear the manager screaming at them from the touchline.

"But I kick every ball with them, I am passionate, I care and I wouldn't be so petty to take a player off for something like that if he is doing a fantastic job.

"But Stevie had an ankle problem. He wasn't able to close down and that was it."

[Dave Clark Five]

Every single mistake is costing us at the moment, we don't get the rub of the green with anything.

Very true. All loose balls invariably go to the opposition.
Regarding N'Zogbia. I have been very supportive of him all season. He has come good at times, but very few and far between. Now he feels that he is at the top of his game, he goes bleating on Twitter. He is not that good. I have come to the conclusion it was money badly spent and he can go. Poisonous talk by players needs rooting out. They will be daubing stuff on the walls of Bodymoor Heath next.

[barrysleftfoot]

 Well McL was right.Ireland should have done better.

  Much as i like Ireland as a player, he needs to be able to take criticism, and improve his game, same as N'Zog.Both have enough ability/talent to play in a top 4 team, but lack professionalism.

  We did miss Ireland 2nd half though, but Bannan was'nt too bad.

[Brend'Watkins]

We should have got a draw at least out of that.  However, we can't keep shipping goals like we do and expect to get a result.  Even so, their winner was a wonder strike and it's difficult to point the finger at any of our defenders for not preventing it.

I thought Ireland going off we lost something in the final third and allowed them to dominate for long periods.  N'Zog was very frustrating as was Bent with his hold up play.

[TheSandman]

It's possibly the worst defence I've ever seen down the Villa. It's costing us every game. The end of the season can't come quick enough.

They'll still be here next season, as we cannot make them leave, no one will take them and Lerner won't take a hit on them. Our best hope is that McLeish manages to get them into some good form.

[Villanation]

via the Birmingham Mail;

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish was pleased with much of his side's performance against Newcastle United but was unhappy with the goals they conceded.

And he insisted he had not withdrawn midfielder Stephen Ireland at half-time because he had reacted angrily to his manager's suggestion that he might have done better for Ba's goal.

The Scot said: "I know he spoke back, but at the same time, players don't like to hear the manager screaming at them from the touchline.

"But I kick every ball with them, I am passionate, I care and I wouldn't be so petty to take a player off for something like that if he is doing a fantastic job.

"But Stevie had an ankle problem. He wasn't able to close down and that was it."

Well ,IF, the manager has fallen out with Stephen Ireland you can expect a major sulk from Stephen Ireland, when he falls out with people its akin to a crusade.

[martin o`who??]

Excellent first half, very positive, unlucky not to be 2-3 goals up, 2nd half, bit of a mystery, please tell me those substitutions were for injuries rather than tactical, because if they were for the latter, that`s a serious error of judgment on AMs part. I know Christmas has come and gone, but dear Santa, i`d love a new back four please.