Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[arnie66]

We have to stick together, players and fans.....let's not kid ourselves it may well be touch and go this year but we will come through it better, stronger and with a team of hungry young players with some PL experience.  We can't do it any other way because we haven't got a rich Arab bank-rolling us.

So keep the faith, support the gaffer and get behind the boys. 

Ive been to most games this season home and away and with the exception of one or two players I have been really proud and pleased about the effort and commitment......how many times did I think that last year ??....very few !!

[onje_villa]

I only saw the last 15 minutes, from when Bennet was injured, so I haven't got much to judge it on today but I've seen most games this season.

Today was always going to be difficult, they have better players in every position in the team and that's true of  Man Utd/City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton. 6 teams who i'd be shocked if we got anything from.

Theres another bracket of teams with, Newcastle, Sunderland, Liverpool, Stoke, where some of our individual players might be on a par but overall their squads look stronger. These are games where realistically you'd be happy with a point from.

Then there are the group I feel we are amongst, West Brom, Fulham, Swansea, West Ham, QPR, Ideally you want to be winning these games but again realistically they would think the same about us. Our games against West Brom, Swansea, West Ham suggest our results will be a mixed bag.

Below us there's a slightly weaker group of squads, Norwich, Southampton, Reading, Wigan who you would expect to battle relegation. I make this only four teams where I would actually expect us on the balance of probability to win these games. As the Southampton result indicates, even these aren't bankers because there isn't enough of a difference in quality between us and them.

I think this is a fair enough assessment of our relative strength compared with the other teams in our league and it isn't too reassuring. I think we have got a great manager and I think ultimately his method of strengthening the squad looks like the way forward, signing players with potential and developing the young players who we already have. But it does look a squad that's desperately short on quality. I'm not surprised or too disappointed with todays result because it just seems a true reflection on where we are, but I feel we will need to start picking up some wins from the teams in our group VERY soon if the pressure isn't going to build on us again. Due to the make up of our team, which is built for long term development, and financial prudence, we are made up of young players and players without much premier league experience and I think it makes us particularly vulnerable to suffering under the pressure in the immediate short term.

I'm not panicking, but I think LAmbert has a massive job on his hands, bigger than I initially thought.

Great post mate.

[Irish villain]

An hour on and only 8 pages of posts. I get the feeling that apathy is setting in. Better than caring I suppose.

That's what three difficult seasons does to you. The attendance of 34,000 against West Brom spoke volumes. The fans were given two fingers last season and it won't heal overnight. Sure we finished ninth in 2010/11 after winning our last two games. With four games to go that season we were still in a relegation scrap.

It will take some fighting performances and a signal that the board want us to be more than just also-rans for people to shake off the apathy.

[pooligan]

Just seen the highlights on cable over here and the thing that worries me is Benteke. He has missed easy chances in every game he has been involved in so far. It is early days i know,but the guy looks to be a young version of Heskey. If he had scored against the Albion and today ,the whole game changes.

[Risso]

Just seen the highlights on cable over here and the thing that worries me is Benteke. He has missed easy chances in every game he has been involved in so far. It is early days i know,but the guy looks to be a young version of Heskey. If he had scored against the Albion and today ,the whole game changes.

He doesn't deserve to be starting games.

[villadelph]

How games have we actually won this calendar year?  4?  5 tops? 

6 of the last 38.

Home - Swansea, Fulham, Norwich.
Away - Wolves, Bolton, Chelsea.

That truly is an awful statistic - Chelsea result aside - We are officially shit then?

Maybe the Baggs have a point..

[brian green]

I am with you Matt Collins.   We have to draw a line under manager bashing.   I cannot be alone in thinking that I have had a bellyful of slagging off our managers.   The last three years have been like being in a car full of back seat drivers.   I have been as vocal as most in my criticism of O'Neill, Houllier and TSM but I want to follow Villa without rancour.   I have followed them through infinitely worse periods and it is time for me give full and total support to the manager.   I do not care very much what other fans either on here or in the general fan base want to see rectified.   I only know what I feel.   I miss being blind to Villa's shortcomings.   Whatever the future holds, f*ck it, bring it on.

[mike]

Calm down. We did ok. Focus on winning the winnable games eg Norwich and Fulham

Absolutely, who do we think we are expecting to win against decent teams. TSM said the same last year and made everyone angry. Obviously we've lowered our expectations.
 

[Yossarian]

I really hope that Benteke becomes our own Drogba and there is so much time for that to happen but he has a lot of ground to make up. At least his first touch today wasn't quite as bad as last week.

[Chipsticks]

The Post-Match threads are always hilarious to read after I've been out all day.

[pauliewalnuts]

There's no point getting upset about losing matches like this. We have a long way to go in our transition. Much further than the handful of games so far

One thing I will say is, whilst nobody wants a return to paying seasoned pros huge money to do fuck all, "young and hungry players" alone will get us nowhere.

We frequently look like a side that needs a bit more maturity, and the focus on young, untested players almost to the exclusion of all else strikes me as more than a bit risky.

If we spend in January it needs to be on proven quality.

[Ron Manager]

Lets face it most people expected us to lose 2-0 at least. The fact that the manager didnt select Bent meant our chances of scoring were minimal. He doesnt seem to like Bent which is not good news at all. Both Agbonlahor and Benteke had three good chances between them.They didnt convert them. Bent has a track record of doing so.

Its going to be a long hard season  but we expected that. Paul Lambert is hopefully the new Ron Saunders.

At least I hope so.

[Rigadon]

From the official site:

Lambert said:

 "When you come to places like this, you have to take your chances.

"Their first goal was very fortunate for them. We had two chances beforehand - the header and the shot after the pull-back which went straight at the goalkeeper.

"I said to him just then that you have to score at this level. Christian has to hit the target with his header. They were terrific chances.

"He's only a young lad and he will learn every day but at this level you have to score.

"I thought we gave a very good account of ourselves.

"But, as I said, the big moments were when we had the chance to go one-up with Christian, not just once but twice with the shot and the header. I thought they were the massive moments.

"I can't fault the effort. That was there in abundance. We pick ourselves up and go again now.

"I am disappointed to lose but some of things in the game were really pleasing.

"The great thing is the lads kept on going, even with ten men. They never capitulated.

"They kept their hunger and desire. That's a big plus. We just pick ourselves up and go again."

Lambert revealed Joe Bennett has a gash on his leg after a slide across the track pitchside.

He hopes the left-back, who excelled in the game, will be fit in time for the Fulham game.

He added: "Joe is okay. He's got a gash on his leg which needs seeing to.

"But we have the international break now so hopefully he will be back. We will have to wait and see."

[onje_villa]

Calm down. We did ok. Focus on winning the winnable games eg Norwich and Fulham

Absolutely, who do we think we are expecting to win against decent teams. TSM said the same last year and made everyone angry. Obviously we've lowered our expectations.

I'm with you Mike. Lambert's in it for the long-haul and I'm really happy to back that but what I absolutely cannot stand is the fans who think Villa are now just some two-bit club.

"Let's focus on beating Reading", "as long as we finish 17th"...

How quickly we have fallen that a couple of seasons ago we were disappointed with 6th now any old shit will do.

If the board senses this, it's just another excuse for them to not invest further.

Bringing in kids is fine but Villa (board and fans alike) must not lose their ambition or we're going to go the way of Forest sadly.

[Risso]

"We pick ourselves up and go again"

Is anybody else getting a bit sick of hearing that?