Aston Villa v Sunderland Post-Match Thread

[SoccerHQ]

Offside or not, how the hell did Mignolet not even get booked after being done for handling outside the area?

[eastie]

Id take a draw against bolton but i really think they will come here and win- we look a very poor side who cannot score never mind win games- dreadful times and lerner may rue the fact he didnt jettison mcleish in january- the damage is done and we as a club are in total freefall thanks to the incompetance of lerner faulkner and mcleish!

[Cuz]

I'm very worried, they tried harder than against Man Utd, but that wasn't a very good Sunderland side, and when it's crying out for a someone in centre midfield (Gary G)to help the tiring Ireland he throws on Bannan right side of midfield for CNZ an area that he has proven not his best position.
Strange tactics IMO

[Steve kirk]

Never even began to think we could win it but we worked our socks off not to lose it our problem is the teams below us are grinding out wins when we can at best pick up draws, lose to Bolton and I think we are sunk, came away from the ground feeling we are nearly there but the QPR win has shook me.

[swiss1968]

We are as bad as Barca are tonight 

[Irish villain]

Never even began to think we could win it but we worked our socks off not to lose it our problem is the teams below us are grinding out wins when we can at best pick up draws, lose to Bolton and I think we are sunk, came away from the ground feeling we are nearly there but the QPR win has shook me.

That's the thing. Teams below us are getting good wins.

The QPR win has given me the feeling that it's going to be out of our hands. We are going to have to hope two teams stop picking up wins. Could you imagine having to go to Norwich needing three points?

[danlanza]

Oh goodie, now QPR have won. When the chips are down, almost all of our rivals can be relied on to pull a result out of the bag. The five teams below us have all won plenty of games over the past few weeks. The best we can muster are fucking stalemates. Sheer ineptitude.

Regarding the game, Cuellar had McLean in his back pocket for the first half despite playing out of position (he's been put there so often that maybe right back is his actual position now, no? Didn't Percy argue this about Mellberg before or summat?). Hutton struggled against McLean big-time in the second half when Carlos switched to the centre.

N'Zogbia is like a headless chicken. Plenty of dangerous running but he rarely looks up.
Albrighton worked tirelessly but his crosses just weren't up to scratch. Can we not try playing these wingers on like, their better sides? An awful habit Marc has is of doing some diligent defending and then almost without fail every time clearing the ball straight to an opposition's player.

Oh and I've just seen O'Neill's interview on Sky. He was asked a few Villa related questions and couldn't resist getting in a bit more self-preservation. He dismissed the notion that he left us in the lurch by saying ''They didn't do too badly winning two out of their first three games after I left'' and how he'd inherited a side who had narrowly avoided relegation and turned them into the best counter-attacking side in the country after ManUre.
Well, it's widely accepted that O'Dreary underachieved hugely in his last season and you had millions upon millions to spunk on whoever you wanted, Mart, so don't big yourself up too much.

Spot on comment

[Dave]

I must be mad, but I quite enjoyed the game today.

I've certainly seen us look worse. Admittedly, Sunderland were pretty rubbish.

[eastie]

I must be mad, but I quite enjoyed the game today.

I've certainly seen us look worse. Admittedly, Sunderland were pretty rubbish.

My word dave your standards have slipped dramatically !

[Dave]

I must be mad, but I quite enjoyed the game today.

I've certainly seen us look worse. Admittedly, Sunderland were pretty rubbish.

My word dave your standards have slipped dramatically !

I think all our standards have, haven't they?

To be honest, I just kept mentally comparing it to the last time I saw us play Sunderland at Villa Park - this one

I can't remember a more insipid performance than that one, so today was just a bonus. Plus I stuck the contents of my betting account on 0-0 before the match, so that made it quite a bit more interesting.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

There is absolutely no enjoyment going to the matches any more.

The team is clueless - and cannot do even the basic things right.

Pass and move ?  Support the player with the ball ? Show for the ball to make the pass easier ? Put someone on the back post / far side of the area at corners ?

Even if we survive this year-  by the skin of our teeth - we will be certs to go down next year.

Pretty much this.

Total lack of shape and tactical/professional nous.
Good possession easily given away, too much room/time for their midfield (every game!). Marc and Zog can't seem to get a decent cross/dangerous ball in between them to cause the defence anything resembling a problem. Surprised I can say this but I thought Heskey did well when he came on and I even had a distant thought or two that he and Weimann could be a good partnership! Frightening!
I don't see the Bannan thing at all. I've never seen him play well. But bringing him on with about 10 minutes to go is no good to anyone. Marc was truly fukt in the last 20 minutes and Carruthers should have replaced him before this!
I am now officially shi**ing bricks!

[bertlambshank]

The man is thick as a brick.http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2743872,00.html

[Clampy]

We played a bit better than we have done, but once again we did'nt look scoring. Throwing Bannan on towards the end did'nt make any sense whatsoever. It was almost a 'let's take the point' type of sub.

As for MOTM, i thought Herd was great.

[David_Nab]

Felt Bannan was the wrong sub would of brought on Carruthers myself.

Heskey did ok one great move to set up Weimann ,though felt Heskey himself should have gone on towards goal.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I must be mad, but I quite enjoyed the game today.

I've certainly seen us look worse. Admittedly, Sunderland were pretty rubbish.

It was certainly exciting at times but perhaps for the wrong reason - our precarious position in the table!
The O'Neill element added some spice but heard him on 5live on the way home say that Sunderland should have scored six!
Where did he get that from?