Aston Villa v Bradford City Post-Match Thread

[bertlambshank]

'We don't have the players to play long balls'.
So why have we been doing it most of the season?

[Apyadg]

Just got back. I've spent the last 2 hours wondering why any of us bother with this shit.

Once again, for maybe the 5th time in the last month, I'll go in to work and Villa will be the punchline to every joke. Proud history, humiliating present and future.

[Karlos96]

Not long been back that was horrendous. I've had it with Lambert the guy is a fucking idiot I couldn't believe the subs he made absolute madness. I couldn't care less if I never see that lot
in a villa shirt again I'm sick to death watching them make the same mistakes over and over, what the hell do they do in training?

One last thing thanks to all the scumbag Villa fans who thought it was hiliarious to pelt us with snowballs at Aston station rounded off a great night cheers.

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

I resisted the temptation to post my thoughts after the game, I wanted to gather my thoughts and give Bradford the respect they deserve for their victory. I was going to give a huge rant, but, much like some of those arseholes on the pitch wearing the beautiful Villa shirt tonight I can't be arsed. All I will say, is the club I love, and always will love are inept, from the owner, the Chief Executive, the manager and the players. If Barry Bannan and Stephen Ireland in particular wear a Villa shirt again it will be one game too many. They were outplayed by a 36 year old who played for fucking Rochdale... 

[frank black]

Pfft

[Dave Clark Five]

I saw the Bradford coaches leave Villa Park tonight and I thought how happy they must be and rightly so.
I then saw several fancy cars leave the car park with blackened windows and I won't repeat what I thought.

[Nii Lamptey]

Bannan was no worse than many others tonight.

So they practice set pieces every day with man for man marking. Clearly not working so maybe it's time to try zonal marking ?

And a get well soon to TopDeck113's missus

Thing is, in training our attackers are probably practising against our defenders which could explain a lot of things as they're shite at both!

[littlevillain]

Getting beat by a fkn pub team over 2 legs. Disgraceful and that saints manager got sacked after beating us and getting a point at chelski.

[VinnieChase84]

Just got back. I've spent the last 2 hours wondering why any of us bother with this shit.

Once again, for maybe the 5th time in the last month, I'll go in to work and Villa will be the punchline to every joke. Proud history, humiliating present and future.

Spot on!!! Embarrassed does not even come close to how I'm feeling

[London Villan]

While Bannan was no worse that a lot of them tonight what sums him up was the chest high pass to Given, who had a Bradford player right on top of him. Idiotic, but not the worst of that type of behaviour during the evening, that goes to Lambert and his progressive 3-1-6 formation.

When we talk about our history I don't expect us to play a formation last seen in 1896.

[Pat McMahon]

I hope your good lady is doing well TopDeck.

I am still upset, but not too surprised. We are like a team consisting of extras from the Walking Dead.

The substitutions were ridiculous - we went from a formation to a gaggle of forwards with no width and no midfield. Anybody who tells me Lambert is a good tactician will henceforth be dismissed as a  fucking eejit. Once these subs were made I honestly did not know who was playing where.

A few other thoughts, aside from not being able to defend set pieces:

We gave away three pointless fouls tonight from utterly stupid lunges on the left touch line - Bennett and Delph in the first half, then Benteke in the second. On each occasion we just had to shepherd them backwards. The latter was a disaster as it allowed them to attack down their right flank, Bennett had to give away the corner and boom, we are back to a two goal deficit.

Clark can't head the ball, or more accurately he cant jump, and Vlaar is certainly not the organising and commanding presence I had hoped for.

Gabby and Lowton appear to have never been introduced. Further, Lowton needs to develop some physical strength pronto.

We need width.

For what it's worth I thought Bannon did a decent job of keeping play ticking along a la Westwood but came in for lots of abuse near me. Delph was energetic too and prompted a lot but ain't got the pace and close control to really hurt people.

Well done Bradford by the way. Over 180 minutes they deserved it.

[nicardinho]

One last thing thanks to all the scumbag Villa fans who thought it was hiliarious to pelt us with snowballs at Aston station rounded off a great night cheers.

Aye, men with balls of steel they were (or, perhaps, weedy kids standing at the top of the platform 1 stairs lobbing them at those below while safely out of the way of retaliation). I was slightly surprised the station staff who were more than happy to be officious to the queue didn't get involved, especially when one ice ball hit someone on the back of the head and didn't even disintegrate. Snowballs is one thing, and amusing too, but balls of this icy shit is potentially incredibly dangerous.

EDIT - I feel it probably best  to point out now that I am displaying all the symptoms this evening of a severe sense-of-humour bypass. Perhaps that's also a result of the fact I've just been forced to endure much of 'Miranda, Episode 5: Three Little Words.' Wept.

[Billy Walker]

Losing to a 4th Division Club over 2 legs. STILL not being able to defend a fucking corner. Embarrasing hammerings by Chelsea and Spurs. Home defeats to Wigan and Saints. 22nd January and no new signings. God knows how many points chucked away in the last few minutes. I've never been at so a low ebb as a Villa fan even when we flirted with relegation under TSM.

I was a staunch supporter of Lambert but somethings got to give. If he's not backed by Lerner then it seems he is unable to get results out of what we have...for whatever reason.

Millwall and Newcastle wins or he's gone...if not before.

Absolute nail on the head. The tactical naivety is unbelievable. Given is quite simply a poor Goalkeeper but great shot stopper. No striker should be  able to head a ball in the 6 yard box as the keeper should be claiming it. Given was rooted.
Gabby contributed nothing, second half last week contributed nothing and hasn't contributed much since MON told him to bulk up.
We have an appalling mid-field that has no industry, no creativity and no endeavor. Added to a shocking inability to protect the defence (two banks of four really isn't rocket science) we are so narrow you might as well move the sidelines in 15 yards either side of the pitch.
Bennett was atrocious, Clark clueless, Bannan Useless and Delph headless.

The thing is there was nothing wrong with Lambert's tactics when he got Norwich promoted in double quick time.  He still is a very promising young manager.  Our problems lie much deeper than first team manager, it is the "plan" of Lerner and Faulkner that is destroying us bit by bit.  For three years now confidence and belief have been seeping out of the club and rot has been allowed to set in, little by little.  That's not Lambert's fault - he had no problem organizing a Norwich team to give Villa a shoeing at the end of last season.  Getting the rot out and spreading positivity and a winning mentality on a tight budget  is a tough old ask.  As Sir Graham Taylor said, when a big club starts to slide it takes a hell of a lot of stopping.  Lerner/Faulkner are not football people and they don't understand this - if they did they would have planned our transfer funds in such a way that we would have had new players in this January.  Imagine what a new midfielder from Europe could have done for us tonight?  (Getting to Wembley would have gone some way to paying his fee, too.)

It's been three years of constant fire-fighting without any firm plan* in place behind the scenes.  Lerner and Faulkner seem totally unwilling to get football people and football industry experts in to guide the club and it is costing us dearly.  If Lambert goes, our next manager will be facing the same problems, too, and eight months down the line, when we are sitting in the bottom six of the Championship, people will want rid of the new guy too.  We're in danger of becoming Leeds Utd here and it is totally and utterly down to the Boardroom.

The problem is not the manager - it's the people above him unfortunately.  It's high time Faulkner/Lerner faced the fans in a forum.


*I tell a lie, our plan is to make it into the top twenty turnovers of European clubs every year. 

[Mortimer's Bear]

I'm not a massive fan of Barry Bannan buts he's getting some unfair criticism tonight, he was no worse than any of the other jokers.

[tomd2103]

Bannan was no worse than many others tonight.So they practice set pieces every day with man for man marking. Clearly not working so maybe it's time to try zonal marking ?

And a get well soon to TopDeck113's missus

That's hardly a ringing endorsement.