Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[DB]

And Everton and Albion are both currently in the top 6 with a number of what were unknown and lower league players. Both currently have the best sides i've seen them have for 20+ years. It can work but requires some patience not wrist slashing after 7 games.

None of those teams sold all their decent players in the space of two years and failed to replace them with anybody as good.  It's why we're struggling, we just don't have a very good team.

...and made to awful managerial appointments in past few years - one flight risk who had a desk job with the French Football Fed, and another who got relegated 2 times in 3 seasons. It does need patience to turn the ship around from the pile of dog shit we were last season. Lambert is the best man to this from what we could realistically get in the summer - IMO.

Just wish he's drop Delph....

[PeterWithesShin]

Well said Delph and Irish, we're not over-reactionary fans like you see over on VT, we're behind the manager and embrace the changes he's implementing. Doesn't mean we should suddenly be happy to only compete with a handful of clubs in the league.

It's the fans expectations that worry me almost as much as the league table at the moment. I'm happy for us to build gradually and it's not the end of the world we're near the bottom but I won't be happy if it lasts all season.

None of us will be happy if it lasts all season, but some of us are patient enough to wait more than 7 games before declaring the end of Aston Villa.

Not sure that's fair, I don't think anyone's saying that.

Plenty of posts so far this season saying we are doomed, certs for the drop, Lambert is as bad as McLeish, shopping cheaply can only end in failure, we will be relegated if we don't sign more players in Jan and so on.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Its the nature of being a passionate football fan to overreact, especially when things have not been going well.
Of course none of us want to appear as if we are lowering expectations or our ambitions for Aston Villa.
But also we must try and take a balanced view and not go into blind panic and be doom merchants every time we lose.

The answer for the management and players is hard work and professional application.
The answer for us fans is beer.

[tomd2103]

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.

Couldn't agree more mate and I think that just one midfielder with that experience and quality would make a massive difference.  Still hoping Dunne can be more of a help than a hindrance when he returns to the fold as well. 

[onje_villa]

Its the nature of being a passionate football fan to overreact, especially when things have not been going well.
Of course none of us want to appear as if we are lowering expectations or our ambitions for Aston Villa.
But also we must try and take a balanced view and not go into blind panic and be doom merchants every time we lose.

The answer for the management and players is hard work and professional application.
The answer for us fans is beer.

Well said Mr Lochhead!

[silhillvilla]

Still much better than last season even if the table doesn't reflect it. Next two games are massive and we could do with 4 points minimum.

[preston28]

I have read all 13 pages on this thread & some of the comments amaze me.

I don't care where are in the league table now nor do I care who is picked to play or not.  I want the team in claret & blue to go out and give it their all and try to win the game.
I still get the buzz & excitement about going to watch the Villa (not as much as I'd like admittedly).  Sure it hurts when we lose but that is tempered somewhat if the team actually putsome effort & graft in.
I am not worried about this season - I can see things settling down and getting much better.

I shall look forward to my next 'live' game at Sunderland with relish and will be as excited as ever setting off with my son even if we are in the bottom 3 that day!

[citizenDJ]

It's truly scary he many of us have the mentality of "we weren't expected to win so it doesn't matter".

It's not so much that, in my opinion, as it is 'Losing against so-and-so isn't a total disaster'. Plenty of teams will lose against Tottenham this year, as they're a good side.

[littlevillain]

I thought we did pretty well today. Going in at half time we had given a very good spurs side a decent game.
I also thought Bent should have started but maybe Benteke has been incredible in training? We don't know the full story. Second half that header would have changed the game if gone in and then who know's what would have happened. Some of the doom and gloom posts on here are laughable.

[hilts_coolerking]

I couldn't care less what Wigan were or how many points they got. We've finished in the bottom half once during this "prolonged dismal spell." How you would have coped during some of the genuinely bad periods in our history I dread to think.

I think it's fair to say that the club has been on a fairly steep downward trajectory for two years.

[SoccerHQ]

Fulham away and Norwich at home, must take a minimum of 4 points otherwise we're deep in the shit.

I agree, our season starts again at Fulham really so those two games are the real ones to judge as I expected to lose today.

[Kingthing]

Cracking support by us today, put their lot to shame.

[Brian Taylor]

Happy?  Not!!
Nicest thing about today was meeting DC5 and Mrs before the game.

[onje_villa]

Just been reading the comments on the match article from the Guardian (not my usual rag) and was pleasantly surprised by how decent the Spurs fans sounded. That plus the fact most of them were pretty complimentary about Villa's performance, saying it was miles better than last season (which luckily I didn't see) they were also saying how impressed they were with Bennet before he went off.

Perhaps some perspective from another point of view.

[Percy McCarthy]

They're right about Bennett, he looks a real find. Glad his injury is not as bad as I feared.

Tony Gale was quite complimentary about us too during the commentary I had, and not really in a patronising way either.