Bradford City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Clampy]

Elements of our support was a disgrace last night, fighting amongst themselves, (saw at least 2 fights), and if you were the bloke in block E row f seat 127, you are the most disgusting fan i have ever met, non stop vitriol (effing and C'ing) at our players from the very first to the last whistle.
i can appreciate some frustration, but this is out of order!

That chap was right behind me, i was in Block E, Row E, Seat 127 and yeah he was a nightmare. All he kept shouting throughout the game was 'useless c****s'. Throw in the scuffles just to my left which the police had to intervene with and all in all it was a bit of an horrible atmosphere. As for the chap who stood there at the end of the game with his lighter held aloft, well words failed me.

[PeterWithe]

Without doubt the worst away trip I've ever been on. A horrendous pub before hand, just about persuading the  massed ranks of coppers outside to let us leave unaccompanied, having to drink in a bowling alley, got there 10 mins late and seemingly missing our best spell followed by an abject performance which just about shaded Doncaster who at least were happy with scoring only 3.

I don't blame the players for not coming over to acknowledge the fans, the few that did were told in no uncertain terms what we thought of their performance.

Strangely enough I thought Delph wasn't quite as bad as the rest of them, at least he showed a little energy, drive and will to win, if few glimpses of quality.

[MarkM]

It's not really about bradford anymore to me , I agree we can beat them but if we can be so poor against a side Like bradford how can we realistically hope to avoid relegation - lambert looks to me like a man who knows the game is up .

There is no doubt we care and are hurting today , whether the players feel the same I doubt it.

We have been poor for nearly all of the season, we have had a few good performances and a few good periods in games but in general our play has been bad and our tactics nieve to say the least.

Lambert does look like the he is sitting accross from Alan Sugar in the boardroom after fucking up a task in the apprentice and knowing that he is going to get the boot.

Even if we turn the second leg around I feel it will only be papering over the cracks, Lambert seems to be very stubborn and it may be too much for him to change tack. I fear we will go down this season.

[Stu]

As for the chap who stood there at the end of the game with his lighter held aloft, well words failed me.

They're not failing me. Basic ******.

[fredm]

When the teams were announced at 7.30 I was a bit concerned.  That eased during the first 15 minutes of the match but from then on my concern turned to annoyance, then anger until I think it reached fury level.  What the hell were we doing playing with a midfield two and four attackers?  Did we just think they were so bad we could just walk straight through them?  And to accommodate these four attackers some were played out of position/in a formation which negates their strengths.  To me Lambert made a monumental cock up and never got to grips with the game at all.

[ACVilla]

Given - not much he could have done beyond Christ-like miracles.

Lowton - really poor, as he has been for a few games. Positionally he seems to have no clue, and he looks leggy having played so many games.
Clark - looks less and less like he'll make it. Terrible how he lost some of his aerial duels.
Baker - was often forced to defend more desperate situations than he'd have liked due to the deficiencies of others. Not his fault, basically.
Bennett - real garbage, never tight enough to the man in possession or marking the most likely receiver of a pass, never in position, always on his heels, looked stoned out there.

Bannan - some missteps but created almost all of the chances which we should have scored. Should play further forward where he influences the game more.
Delph - utter and total waste of space. Disastrous performance that was like playing with 10 against 12. Horrible.

Agbonlahor - just not enough from a supposedly Premier League player. Held the ball up okay, but his touch is nowhere near good enough, he plays with his head down and just generally looks deficient.
N'Zogbia -  look Ailsa Stewart, like the only attacking midfielder who might cause problems. Created more openings than made mistakes and worked hard enough. Again, not his fault.
Weimann - out of position so hard to judge, although he again showed that killer instinct in front of goal we otherwise lack so painfully.

Benteke - how many chances can you miss? Holding up the ball and all that against a League 2 side is the minimum you expect from a striker like him - his finishing was horrific.
Bent - wasn't on the pitch long before the injury curtailed his involvement, but f**k me he should have buried that headed chance. Jumped too early, which is just a weird thing to do.
Burke - can't judge, though he worked hard enough, as you'd expect.

Overall, this is a dark night. Things need to change and fast. The game looked like Bradford were the ruthless top-tier side and we were the plucky-but-toothless minnows. It was pathetic, the latest in a growing line of humiliations, and it's all getting rather too much.

Pretty much agree with all of the this apart from Lowton, who I thought looked semi-ok.

[Oscar Arce]

If anyone wants to motivate the players this I'd get them to listen to Richard Keys on Talk Sport taking the piss out of Villa, along with WM this morning, not that they'd fucking care.
I've already had three rows with people taking the piss, so thanks again Villa, and it's not even mid-morning yet.
My day just gets better and better here in Brum.

[Jimbo]

Frankly it still surprises me that people thought we'd walk this before a ball was kicked. Which Aston Villa have they been watching?

[pauliewalnuts]

Big up the new half season ticket holders with their "guaranteed Wembley seat", too.

That promotion was kind of asking for it.

[Monty]

Given - not much he could have done beyond Christ-like miracles.

Lowton - really poor, as he has been for a few games. Positionally he seems to have no clue, and he looks leggy having played so many games.
Clark - looks less and less like he'll make it. Terrible how he lost some of his aerial duels.
Baker - was often forced to defend more desperate situations than he'd have liked due to the deficiencies of others. Not his fault, basically.
Bennett - real garbage, never tight enough to the man in possession or marking the most likely receiver of a pass, never in position, always on his heels, looked stoned out there.

Bannan - some missteps but created almost all of the chances which we should have scored. Should play further forward where he influences the game more.
Delph - utter and total waste of space. Disastrous performance that was like playing with 10 against 12. Horrible.

Agbonlahor - just not enough from a supposedly Premier League player. Held the ball up okay, but his touch is nowhere near good enough, he plays with his head down and just generally looks deficient.
N'Zogbia -  look Ailsa Stewart, like the only attacking midfielder who might cause problems. Created more openings than made mistakes and worked hard enough. Again, not his fault.
Weimann - out of position so hard to judge, although he again showed that killer instinct in front of goal we otherwise lack so painfully.

Benteke - how many chances can you miss? Holding up the ball and all that against a League 2 side is the minimum you expect from a striker like him - his finishing was horrific.
Bent - wasn't on the pitch long before the injury curtailed his involvement, but f**k me he should have buried that headed chance. Jumped too early, which is just a weird thing to do.
Burke - can't judge, though he worked hard enough, as you'd expect.

Overall, this is a dark night. Things need to change and fast. The game looked like Bradford were the ruthless top-tier side and we were the plucky-but-toothless minnows. It was pathetic, the latest in a growing line of humiliations, and it's all getting rather too much.

Pretty much agree with all of the this apart from Lowton, who I thought looked semi-ok.

Maybe on reflection it was more a half-decent performance spattered with poor moments from Lowton.

As for N'Zogbia, by the way, I have no clue who Ailsa Stewart is, or why she has to 'look' on the subject of Zog. I did post this a touch under the influence though, so who knows.

[onje_villa]

Tranmere were a good second tier side. Not fourth tier!
 
I don't understand the criticism of nzogbia though. He was our most dangerous player by a mile

Agreed, N'Zogbia was probably our best player along with Delph (which I never thought I'd say)

[Concrete John]

Well, it wasn't good, was it?

Our midfield is so weak and lacking in shape that it was easy for them.  The front 4 needed to make something happen for us, but didn't, with the exception of Weimann.  Even taking the goal aside, he was looking to drop deep to get on the ball and give the midfielders an option.  Clark (but it might have been Baker?) stepped into midfield once towards the end of the first half and that lead to a chance.

Given we know we have troubles at the back, who of that 'front 6' was there to protect the back 4?  I know we're short on bodies at the moment, but be it through tactics or the team he picked, Lambert got it wrong.

We still had more possession, more corners and more shots on target, but Bradford had more belief.  And it's that mental aspect Lambert HAS to get right in preperation for a very important set of games coming up.

That and some new players!   

[onje_villa]

Is it just me or is there a lot of overreaction. Bradford must be doing well to get this far and they have have just knocked Arsenal out. Bradford's keeper wins man of the match and the majority are saying how crap we were.

We weren't entirely crap, we created lots of chances, and didn't take them.

The problem is the defending. I look at their second and third goals, and I'm not thinking "oh no, we're not going to Wembley", I'm thinking "much more of that, and we're going down, without a doubt".

Agreed Paulie, I actually thought Clark was going to cry at one point. I feel sorry for the lad, he's so out of his depth in this current run and he's the captain! Should have been 2-0 up and we'd not be having this conversation.

[onje_villa]

I'm struggling to recall a Villa player who looks quite so uninterested and uncommitted as N'Zogbia.

Hmm, the other ten that started alongside him for starters. Was our best player last night.

[London Villan]

Their two strikers we just sat on top of Messi and Delph and stopped them getting the ball, or putting them under pressure as soon as they had it.

We didn't alter anything to deal with this. As CJohn said when Baker took the ball up the pitch it changed the dynamic of the midfield and created space and eventually a chance, but this was a fleeting positive during the game.