Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Greg N'Ash]

thought we did okay. don't subscribe to the view Mcleish told them to defend at half time. The main problem was Petrov got knackered which is par for the course and we have nobody remotely similar to bring on. So that leaves the kids and Heskey which i'm sure would have gone down well if he'd have come on. We should have beg stealed or borrowed another central midfielder in January becuase Petrov is barely lasting 45 minutes anymore

[Vanilla]

The negative effect of this draw is compounded by the fact that the mighty Wigan, who started to turn a corner in their season with the draw against us last week, lost 2-0 at home to 10 man Swansea.

[Nev]

I always feel that once the fans raid the airing cupboard for an old sheet and the shed for some matt black paint, as a manager, you're fucked.

Mind you, our fans were doing it in July.

[hawkeye]

thought we did okay. don't subscribe to the view Mcleish told them to defend at half time. The main problem was Petrov got knackered which is par for the course and we have nobody remotely similar to bring on. So that leaves the kids and Heskey which i'm sure would have gone down well if he'd have come on. We should have beg stealed or borrowed another central midfielder in January becuase Petrov is barely lasting 45 minutes anymore

Agree Herd and Petrov were knackered and not suprising considering both back from injuries

[Greg N'Ash]

thought we did okay. don't subscribe to the view Mcleish told them to defend at half time. The main problem was Petrov got knackered which is par for the course and we have nobody remotely similar to bring on. So that leaves the kids and Heskey which i'm sure would have gone down well if he'd have come on. We should have beg stealed or borrowed another central midfielder in January becuase Petrov is barely lasting 45 minutes anymore

Agree Herd and Petrov were knackered and not suprising considering both back from injuries

Yep. Petrov at his age should be a sub - he's the first name on the team sheet currently becuse the penny pinching has got to dangerous levels. Mental

[Dave Clark Five]

Herd made all the difference in the first half. There's a lot of promise there.

[Dante Lavelli]

Personally I think Petrov should start, but he should be subbed more often (earlier).  The chances are it will either be Herd/Clark/Gardner/Bannan partnering him (and coming on) so his experience will be valuable.

[timeoutbigbar]

thought we did okay. don't subscribe to the view Mcleish told them to defend at half time. The main problem was Petrov got knackered which is par for the course and we have nobody remotely similar to bring on. So that leaves the kids and Heskey which i'm sure would have gone down well if he'd have come on. We should have beg stealed or borrowed another central midfielder in January becuase Petrov is barely lasting 45 minutes anymore

Agree Herd and Petrov were knackered and not suprising considering both back from injuries

Yep. Petrov at his age should be a sub - he's the first name on the team sheet currently becuse the penny pinching has got to dangerous levels. Mental

Petrov has to start.  I realise he fades slightly (to put it mildly) in the second half but we played some excellent football first half today.  Herd played very well, but I don't think we have another player capable of doing the 'playing it calm and simple' role, thus we have to carry on with what we have.

[ROBBO]

The defence has come in for some stick this season but in the first half with the midfield operating as it should they did well, lets face it Blackburn couldn't have played worse than they did in the first half and with our midfield fading it was odds on they'd score. Puzzled that Nzog was subbed when i thought he was more effective than Ireland defensively but they both let the side down with Ireland especially lacking in effort. Thought Cuellar put in another good performance but i've just about given up on Albrighton, he doesn't seem to have much in his locker exept a willingness to work hard.Fulham next week is crucilal hate to be in MCleishes shoes should we go behind.

[LeeB]

thought we did okay. don't subscribe to the view Mcleish told them to defend at half time. The main problem was Petrov got knackered which is par for the course and we have nobody remotely similar to bring on. So that leaves the kids and Heskey which i'm sure would have gone down well if he'd have come on. We should have beg stealed or borrowed another central midfielder in January becuase Petrov is barely lasting 45 minutes anymore

Spot on Greg.

[PeterWithe]

Difficult to believe it was the same team in both halves. Very impressed with them first half, energetic, confident, competitive and seemed to have thrown off the shackles of the safety first tactics seen so often, albeit against poor opposition.

Second half, same old, same old. Give that level of performance its hard to see where the next win is coming from.

[Bad English]

I decided to spend the afternoon in Spain where I discovered the existence of "Tit" Cheese. On our way back, we stopped at a local supermarché which was selling a [nice] red wine marketed as Vin de "Merde"

An afternoon of tits and shite. How was yours?

[Matt Collins]

Only saw the first half and clearly the game changed a lot. Blackburn were so outrageously bad - I mean really, really bad - in the first half that you can't read too much into it. But several of our players played very well indeed. If albrighton and gabby had been more dangerous, we'd have been out of sight. Petrov and especially herd and ireland ran the game, both full backs excellent going fwds and cnz very dangerous if erratic.

We should just about be ok but I suspect it may be tight. And next season is a real concern for me. I'm pleased we have a good youth system but we seem to be placing too much faith in the kids. They're all doing well in spells but then less well in spells. Albrighton looked very average to me yday

[PeterWithe]

That formation is used to get the best out of N'Zogbia cutting in but he's not the most potent goal threat, Gabby/Bent are and we should play to their strengths with N'Zogbia and Albrighton getting earlier crosses in to take advantage of their movement.

*I should quote someone above but I cant remember who it was.

[brian green]

I have this superstition, one of many, that if I am not at a Villa game I have to be out of sight and earshot of any indication of how it is going.   So I spent the afternoon putting up bird boxes and spreading on my garden the manure generated by my horses.

So Mr English we had similar Saturday afternoons of tits and shite.