Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur Post-Match Thread

[Rip Van We Go Again]

When was the last time Randy was at VP?

Who wants Blandy there anyway?
The sleeping Yank has all the charisma and motivating skills of an empty crisp packet.

I only hope the idiot will see sense and provide adequate funds to replace KEA, Holman and the laughably bad Delph and Albrighton.

At least three experienced players needed, two in midfield and one in defence.

Who of quality will come here though?

[DB]

Well the Chickens are coming home to roost in a rather spectacular way.  Play an academy side with a sprinkling of Championship players and the odd highly paid mercenary who doesn't give a shit against top quality, well drilled sides that are pushing for Champions League and you get absolutely humiliated.  And that's what we are right now.

Mr Lerner, we've all had you sussed for a couple of years now so how about we get through the january window with the last bit of investment you'll be required to put in, get us through to the end of the season and then you can cash in your chips when that new TV deal kicks in.  It'll be better for all of us that way.  Because let's face it, you've proven that you havn't a feckin clue what you're doing.

'We all' have, have we?

Well I agree. Randy - what is his strategy for the Villa? If its anything like the Browns we are f***ed.

[brian green]

Just home from the game.   I said to my son two days ago that that Chelsea game would either make or break this young Villa side.   On today's evidence it looks as though it has broken them.

We have to guess what is happening inside the closed shop Villa has become since the MON debacle and we can only have visceral and intuitive reactions to what we see.   What I saw in the opening minutes of that game was that Paul Lambert had gone home after the Chelsea game and done nothing and said nothing.   Other than put out the team sheet for Spurs and mutter a minimum amount of cliched aphorisms like "pick ourselves and go again" the players appeared to be still playing at Chelsea.   They were sloppy, they were slow, they ball watched, they did not mark tightly.   We survived at nil nil by some miracle until half time when I deduce that Lambert started to earn his wages by rousting them and ripping into them.

As a result we came out and played like a different team for ten minutes.   Then Spurs got a goal and we went to pieces again.   My honest opinion is that if we at the Holte End had not got behind the team for the last ten minutes it could haver been a defeat approaching the Chelsea score.

Whatever Lambert did or said at half time should have been said on the bus back from Chelsea at Bodymoor Heath and before the kick off.

The bald fact which seems to be staring us in the face is that Lambert lacks motivational skills.

As for the game itself I think that once again all our problems flow from midfield inadequacies.   The do not track back so the defence gets overrun and carries the blame for goals and they do not get into the opposition third and threaten to score goals.  Ahmadi is lazy and one of the worst ball watchers I have ever seen in a Villa shirt.   He will not go face to face with opponents and seems to be permanently tied to an opposition player like the arse end of a pantomime horse.   Ireland is a football butterfly, no weight, no punch, no energy, no sting.   He just flits from place to place on the field trying to look flash and cool.   In our situation he is a massive extravagance we cannot afford and to make matters worse he clearly does not give a shit about Villa or the fans because he knew how provocative swapping a shirt would be in full view of the fans but he still did it.

I think that game ushers in a second half of the season of percentage football scrambling for points wherever we can find them.

[PaulWinch again]

As far as I can see these are the players that are currently good enough to be regular first team players - Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Westwood, Weimann, Benteke, Bent and maybe Baker, N'Zog, Bannan and Gabby. That is a pretty thin squad and the glaringly obvious area where we are in massive trouble is midfield. We need a quality centre half, left back, two centre mids, a playmaker and a forward.

[oldham_villa]

Brian, an excellent summary (as always).

[Ads]

Motivation in my view has nothing to do with it. Quality and exprience does. I saw a highly motivated Delph get about the park tonight, one of the few who laid a glove on Spurs. His problem and by extension ours, is not motivation, its quality and exprience.

[pestria]

I've read a lot of comments regarding Lerner in this thread and wondered whether it was worthwhile relaying a conversation I had with a guy who is well connected with the management team at the baggies and has a family member related to Faulkener.

The gist of his remarks were that Lerner is almost bipolar.  A combination of his divorce and financial losses from banking interests have left him depressed and completely uninterested in almost everything for the past couple of years.  The villa management team struggle to get him interested in club matters and are frustrated with his lack of involvement and it's impact on their plans to move the club forward.

On a brighter note, lerner's new girlfriend has a daughter who's very keen to get into either oxford or Cambridge, and if she gets in mum and lerner plan to spend more time in the .  Faulkne et al hope this may rekindle lerner's interest in the club.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

As far as I can see these are the players that are currently good enough to be regular first team players - Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Westwood, Weimann, Benteke, Bent and maybe Baker, N'Zog, Bannan and Gabby. That is a pretty thin squad and the glaringly obvious area where we are in massive trouble is midfield. We need a quality centre half, left back, two centre mids, a playmaker and a forward.

Agree with that Paul.

It's going to be a tough task to get quality reinforcements in though.

What has pissed me off this season is the belief that getting youngsters in was a conscious move by the club to follow an 'Ajax' type path of bringing youth through - Bollocks, it's George Osborne style cost cutting, pure and simple.

[Legion]

Just home from the game.   I said to my son two days ago that that Chelsea game would either make or break this young Villa side.   On today's evidence it looks as though it has broken them.

We have to guess what is happening inside the closed shop Villa has become since the MON debacle and we can only have visceral and intuitive reactions to what we see.   What I saw in the opening minutes of that game was that Paul Lambert had gone home after the Chelsea game and done nothing and said nothing.   Other than put out the team sheet for Spurs and mutter a minimum amount of cliched aphorisms like "pick ourselves and go again" the players appeared to be still playing at Chelsea.   They were sloppy, they were slow, they ball watched, they did not mark tightly.   We survived at nil nil by some miracle until half time when I deduce that Lambert started to earn his wages by rousting them and ripping into them.

As a result we came out and played like a different team for ten minutes.   Then Spurs got a goal and we went to pieces again.   My honest opinion is that if we at the Holte End had not got behind the team for the last ten minutes it could haver been a defeat approaching the Chelsea score.

Whatever Lambert did or said at half time should have been said on the bus back from Chelsea at Bodymoor Heath and before the kick off.

The bald fact which seems to be staring us in the face is that Lambert lacks motivational skills.

As for the game itself I think that once again all our problems flow from midfield inadequacies.   The do not track back so the defence gets overrun and carries the blame for goals and they do not get into the opposition third and threaten to score goals.  Ahmadi is lazy and one of the worst ball watchers I have ever seen in a Villa shirt.   He will not go face to face with opponents and seems to be permanently tied to an opposition player like the arse end of a pantomime horse.   Ireland is a football butterfly, no weight, no punch, no energy, no sting.   He just flits from place to place on the field trying to look flash and cool.   In our situation he is a massive extravagance we cannot afford and to make matters worse he clearly does not give a shit about Villa or the fans because he knew how provocative swapping a shirt would be in full view of the fans but he still did it.

I think that game ushers in a second half of the season of percentage football scrambling for points wherever we can find them.

Yes.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The gist of his remarks were that Lerner is almost bipolar.  A combination of his divorce and financial losses from banking interests have left him depressed and completely uninterested in almost everything for the past couple of years.  The villa management team struggle to get him interested in club matters and are frustrated with his lack of involvement and it's impact on their plans to move the club forward.

If true, he needs to sell up then.
He can fuck off back to the States and have self loathing racks offs over there.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I saw a highly motivated Delph get about the park tonight

As ever, his tackles are woefully mistimed.

Absolutely incredible that we spent £6m on him.

[eastie]

I've read a lot of comments regarding Lerner in this thread and wondered whether it was worthwhile relaying a conversation I had with a guy who is well connected with the management team at the baggies and has a family member related to Faulkener.

The gist of his remarks were that Lerner is almost bipolar.  A combination of his divorce and financial losses from banking interests have left him depressed and completely uninterested in almost everything for the past couple of years.  The villa management team struggle to get him interested in club matters and are frustrated with his lack of involvement and it's impact on their plans to move the club forward.

On a brighter note, lerner's new girlfriend has a daughter who's very keen to get into either oxford or Cambridge, and if she gets in mum and lerner plan to spend more time in the .  Faulkne et al hope this may rekindle lerner's interest in the club.

If true and I have no reason to doubt you, then I think we are in the shit big time if the owner has lost interest.

[David_Nab]

I've read a lot of comments regarding Lerner in this thread and wondered whether it was worthwhile relaying a conversation I had with a guy who is well connected with the management team at the baggies and has a family member related to Faulkener.

The gist of his remarks were that Lerner is almost bipolar.  A combination of his divorce and financial losses from banking interests have left him depressed and completely uninterested in almost everything for the past couple of years.  The villa management team struggle to get him interested in club matters and are frustrated with his lack of involvement and it's impact on their plans to move the club forward.

On a brighter note, lerner's new girlfriend has a daughter who's very keen to get into either oxford or Cambridge, and if she gets in mum and lerner plan to spend more time in the .  Faulkne et al hope this may rekindle lerner's interest in the club.

If thats true then we truly are fucked....

[OzVilla]

Well the Chickens are coming home to roost in a rather spectacular way.  Play an academy side with a sprinkling of Championship players and the odd highly paid mercenary who doesn't give a shit against top quality, well drilled sides that are pushing for Champions League and you get absolutely humiliated.  And that's what we are right now.

Mr Lerner, we've all had you sussed for a couple of years now so how about we get through the january window with the last bit of investment you'll be required to put in, get us through to the end of the season and then you can cash in your chips when that new TV deal kicks in.  It'll be better for all of us that way.  Because let's face it, you've proven that you havn't a feckin clue what you're doing.

'We all' have, have we?

Well if you haven't i suggest you're in a massive minority, probably of one.

[silhillvilla]

I just don't get what's happening. We look like a team and management who have been out on the piss since the Anfield win.