Aston Villa v Norwich City Post-Match Thread

[SoccerHQ]

Yes Bennett had to go and herd should have been sent off for a dreadful challenge when on a yellow.

Eastie, all your comment shows to me is that Dowd is effin' useless. For me, he was conned for the Bennett debacle and  - yes - he should have come back and given Herd his 2nd yellow.

When was this Herd foul? Completely missed that.

Bennett two yellows were two of the easiest you can give as ref, first one he dived in recklessly Warnock style and second one Bennett had got away and he tugged him back. Dare I say a player with good premier league experience would've just let him run on.

[eastie]

I thought we were looking ok and the 2nd half we started like we could have got a second goal, but the sending off really knocked us back and we proceeded to play like a team who could'nt play with ten men, like some teams can.

Bringing on Bent was the last thing i would have done. Benteke was doing really well, so Ireland and Bannan for Gabby or Benteke and Holman would have been much better. Lambert did seem to lose the plot a little today but overall i'm not too unhappy with the draw in the circumstances.

I thought we were poor 1st half to be honest clampy, the goal apart we looked out of sorts with 11men.

Benteke and Guzan were excellent though.

[eastie]

Yes Bennett had to go and herd should have been sent off for a dreadful challenge when on a yellow.

Eastie, all your comment shows to me is that Dowd is effin' useless. For me, he was conned for the Bennett debacle and  - yes - he should have come back and given Herd his 2nd yellow.

When was this Herd foul? Completely missed that.

Bennett two yellows were two of the easiest you can give as ref, first one he dived in recklessly Warnock style and second one Bennett had got away and he tugged him back. Dare I say a player with good premier league experience would've just let him run on.

On the build up to holts shot at goal, dowd played advantage.

[PaulWinch again]

Yes Bennett had to go and herd should have been sent off for a dreadful challenge when on a yellow.

Eastie, all your comment shows to me is that Dowd is effin' useless. For me, he was conned for the Bennett debacle and  - yes - he should have come back and given Herd his 2nd yellow.

When was this Herd foul? Completely missed that.

Bennett two yellows were two of the easiest you can give as ref, first one he dived in recklessly Warnock style and second one Bennett had got away and he tugged him back. Dare I say a player with good premier league experience would've just let him run on.

When Holt went through on goal and Guzan saved, Herd scythed down the Norwich player who played the through ball and was pleading with Dowd not to book him.

[SoccerHQ]

Ah right, missed that. Thought Holt looked offside aswell.

Just before the Norwich goal, seemed one of our players took a swipe at a Norwich player in the area. That looked a penalty to me so thought that might have been the Herd incident.

[Olof's Beard]

I have kind of being hanging my hat on the hope that most of our problems were down to confidence and we would turn a corner at some point but it is looking increasingly like it isn't confidence, it's quality. And that's a much bigger worry.

Unfortunately, the manager is not helping when he picks a team like that.  He needs to look at the personnel and players he used in our best performances of the season at Newcastle and at home to Swansea and replicate it.  Bannan and Ireland get a hard time from a lot of people but when they play together, they link up well and both are good at pressing the ball.  Holman is not a winger, his key attribute is his engine and hustling ability and that it not best used when he is running in straight lines out wide.  Like Milner, he's very ordinary as a winger but can be a very effective central midfielder with the right players around him.

No team will put out a more non-functional midfield than we out today and I really hope Lambert can see that otherwise I will start to worry.  As others have said, positives were Herd (who makes the most of what he has), Guzan, Benteke and Vlaar.

[PeterWithesShin]

And I meant to say earlier, respect to the Norwich fans during the 19th minute. The vast majority joined in. And someone said to me that Hughton applauded for the minute as well. If true then even more respect.

[fredm]

Down to 10 men and need a defender on.  What do you do?  Take off a young(ish) wide player who has contributed very little all game and continually loses/leaves his man when the opposition are attacking or take off an experienced front man who has been playing poorly but send on explicit instructions for him to get his a***e in gear, run the channels and take the ball into the corners?

I could not believe what I was seeing with the first substitution and as for the second, well words fail me.  As was said last year when we went down to 10 against the Baggies, you might as well take Bent off for all the good he is in a 10 man team. So to bring him on was mindblowing.  IMO Ireland should have been brought on so he could at least have got hold of the ball and held it up a bit which no one else was capable of doing.

Overall am in complete agreement with everyone else about our midfield.  Too ponderous in thought and deed.  We are second to every loose ball, we have no physical presence to either withstand tackles or make them.  KEA and Delph both need replacing with two experienced midfielders and if this takes a few million quid in January then so be it because it will cost us a helluva lot more if we go down and on todays performance unfortunately that looks very probable.

[PeterWithesShin]

[Risso]

We still appear to be waiting for the ups in this so called season of ups and downs.  Really, it's just more of the same as last year, with a slightly more palatable manager.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Easily the worst midfield i've seen down Villa Park for years. Holman is a headless chicken, Delph is utterly shit, El Ahmadi is inept and Albrighton is an absolute steaming pile of shit.

This team is racing towards relegation, no doubt.

[citizenDJ]

Easily the worst midfield i've seen down Villa Park for years. Holman is a headless chicken, Delph is utterly shit, El Ahmadi is inept and Albrighton is an absolute steaming pile of shit.

This team is racing towards relegation, no doubt.

More sort of sleepwalking thsn racing, really. But fully agreed on the midfield, which is woefully poor.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I honestly think the major problem is that the players aren't good enough.


It is really the culmination of three years of so of dreadful mismanagement / stewardship of the club.

Have to agree with both points.
The players are woefully sub-standard and Lerner is at best a fucking imbecile and at worst a clueless c.unt

[Risso]

Just for once Mark, I wish you'd say what you really think.

[bertlambshank]

Why have the last 3 Villa managers been full of shit when it comes to the post match interview?
Is there a spin doctor at the club?
Paul you would get a lot more respect if you came out and said"we were shit and the changes I made were wrong".