Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[Flamingo Lane]

I turned down an invitation to a christmas soiree to stay at home and watch that shit on tv tonight.  So its not all bad.

[Somniloquism]

Watching them live, I was surprised how easily we were shrugged off the ball by Spurs. Also how many of our players just could not control and pass it without any pressure, let alone with a player on them.

[richard moore]

I'm even embarrassed to go downstairs and face my family and in laws who don't know the result. I'm in such a bloody bad mood

[frank black]

Lichaj, Herd, Bennett, and Holman are not very good players. The rest are distinctly average. Bentekes OK, but even he's been crap for the last two games. Good luck Lambert, you will need it..

[ozzjim]

I thought in the 5-3-2 Bennett looked to have potential first half.

[Fergal]

Too many kids, too many of whom are not good enough.
Too many lower leagues, low wages players.
Not enough experience.

The natural reaction is to vent at the manager, but really, this is just another symptom of the dreadful management of the club by Lerner and Faulkner,.

I can't even look at the teams around us and take comfort from the fact that we've a stronger squad, better players than them, because we haven't.

I totally understand what Lambert is trying to do, and I like it when it works, but the fact of the matter is, we have nowhere near sufficient quality in the side.

Some - Bennett, Herd, Delph - are quite clearly nothing like good enough. Some - KEA, Ireland - are probably good enough but don't show anything like enough desire to prove they are.

Lerner needs to take a look at where we are and reflect on how his stewardship of the club has gone the last few years.

He spent 20m on players though, and few of those players are anywhere near good enough.  ANY manager serving up an 8-0 and a 4-0 loss at home needs to have a long, hard look at themselves.

20M is a drop in the ocean for what we need to spend to turn us into a top 6 team again....

Forget any idea of becoming a top six team for years yet.

We have to focus on proving we deserve to be a Premier League side, because on the evidence of the last two games, and many games before that, we don't

What should we aspire to be then? Stoke?

[richard moore]

Lambert had better have some fantastic plans for January, or it's time for him to fuck off.

See, I don't get this. We have a manager who the majority of us wanted. If it happened to another club and they sacked a manager after six months, they'd be a laughing stock and too impatient. It would be unacceptable. But we have two (admittedly very heavy) defeats just after we reach a cup semi final and beat Liverpool and it's okay for us to start going for ultimatums? We're poor. We lost. Move on, we'll win again some time and everything will be rosy.

Wise words of course but we are all just very upset at the moment and so we all get things out of perspective. I think a little allowance is needed in such circumstances as emotions are running understandably high...

[pauliewalnuts]

I've not been at all convinced by anything I have seen of Bennett.

Lichaj has looked even worse.

[VILLA MOLE]

Lambert had better have some fantastic plans for January, or it's time for him to fuck off.

See, I don't get this. We have a manager who the majority of us wanted. If it happened to another club and they sacked a manager after six months, they'd be a laughing stock and too impatient. It would be unacceptable. But we have two (admittedly very heavy) defeats just after we reach a cup semi final and beat Liverpool and it's okay for us to start going for ultimatums? We're poor. We lost. Move on, we'll win again some time and everything will be rosy.

I kind of agree, also beating Norwich and Liverpool was then hyped up by the media,  we were never that good but losing the last 2 dose not make us any worse than before, but you do worry about confidence

[Tom_Mc9?]

The main reason we lost is because we're not very good and are in a relegation battle and Spurs are very good and chasing a Champions League place. In your face Hansen.

[eastie]

I thought in the 5-3-2 Bennett looked to have potential first half.

Too soon to write Bennett off but the young lads need some experienced players to help them .

[David_Nab]

Out muscled all over the pitch same as Chelsea it's men against boys.

We started nervous but someone kept it to 0-0 started brightly 2nd half with the subs of Ireland making a difference but once they scored you knew it was all over and again it was a matter of how many.

12 goals conceded in 2 games worst GD in league.We are in a mountain of trouble even Westwood and Benteke who have been so good lately were poor today.

[pauliewalnuts]

Too many kids, too many of whom are not good enough.
Too many lower leagues, low wages players.
Not enough experience.

The natural reaction is to vent at the manager, but really, this is just another symptom of the dreadful management of the club by Lerner and Faulkner,.

I can't even look at the teams around us and take comfort from the fact that we've a stronger squad, better players than them, because we haven't.

I totally understand what Lambert is trying to do, and I like it when it works, but the fact of the matter is, we have nowhere near sufficient quality in the side.

Some - Bennett, Herd, Delph - are quite clearly nothing like good enough. Some - KEA, Ireland - are probably good enough but don't show anything like enough desire to prove they are.

Lerner needs to take a look at where we are and reflect on how his stewardship of the club has gone the last few years.

He spent 20m on players though, and few of those players are anywhere near good enough.  ANY manager serving up an 8-0 and a 4-0 loss at home needs to have a long, hard look at themselves.

20M is a drop in the ocean for what we need to spend to turn us into a top 6 team again....

Forget any idea of becoming a top six team for years yet.

We have to focus on proving we deserve to be a Premier League side, because on the evidence of the last two games, and many games before that, we don't

What should we aspire to be then? Stoke?

I am not saying we shouldn't aspire to being a top six club, of course we should.

I'm just pointing out that right now, our immediate aspirations are way, way below that level.

[SamTheMouse]

I think the makings of a decent side are there. Lambert has made some good signings, but most of them are kids. Vlaar was a good addition, too. But the most important one, the one in the pivotal position that he absolutely had to get right, was KEA, and frankly he's just a piss poor version of Reo Coker. The midfield is slow and shit.

We lack a dominant presence, we don't have enough bite and athleticism in there, and we don't have enough drive and pacy aggression. In short, we need two new midfielders, both seasoned pros able to slot straight in: one a battler and leader, and one a tricky player who can beat a man and run at a defence.

[Somniloquism]

Bentekes OK, but even he's been crap for the last two games. Good luck Lambert, you will need it..

Believing his own hype suddenly after Shearer praised him up as the best around? The amount of times he tried to lay the ball off first touch when it needed someone to hold onto it put us under massive pressure. Although saved, was he offside for the only shot on target from us in the game?