Aston Villa v Bradford City Post-Match Thread

[Jon Crofts]

Richard Keys made a mistake this morning though claiming Bradford have beaten more Premiership teams than Villa have this season, he's wrong of course but I had to check for myself.  They've beaten 3, we've beaten 5, so close but no cigar Richard, fucking sad isn't it?

[Steve R]

I mentioned this a few pages ago but has anyone else noticed how little the strikers work the channels ...

I noticed with Benteke a couple of weeks back that his reaction to us getting the ball out wide was to trot off to the far post or beyond and stand theer waiting for a cross, rather than stay on his toes and look to get between or ahead of defenders when the time is right.

H's only started to do this recently, and it was no accident that his goal last night came from the one occasion (that I recall) where he made a well timed run towards the near post.

He must be doing this under instruction.

[Jimbo]

What Did Gray say?

That people will blame youth & inexperience for that loss which is complete toilet, Given, 100s of Prem Games; Clarke, 50 odd; Gabby, 100s; Bent, 100s; Vlaar, International; Benteke, International; Bannan, International; Ireland 100s of Prem games; N'Zogbia, 100s of Prem games.

The 5 up front, no width, tactically inept.

Formation, changed again, we change it week after week after week, no wonder players don't know where their responsibilities lie. 

Why didn't Lambert match the Bradford lineup?  A pub team would have.

There was a lot of stating of the bleeding obvious like testing the keeper, for 70+% posession their keeper was asleep for most of the first half, 5 up front all within 10 yards of each other, not working the channels, defending of the corner.

Without actually saying it he blamed Lambert fair & square.

well you cant blame Lerner for that performance , theres only one man to blame. Mr Lambert

I think the board are total fuckwits but last night is fairly and squarely at the feet of Lambert and the players.

It's largely Lerners fault we are getting hammered in the Premier league but Lambert has absolutely no where to hide for going out over 2 legs against a 4th Division club.  No where at all.

Both are to blame. Lerner's lack of investment and leadership, and Faulkner's lack of anything, has made us the most badly-run club in the PL. But I think the Bradford debacle has put to bed a lot of the 'they're just inexperienced kids' arguments. There's something fundamentally wrong about the way we're set up, and that has to be down to the manager. What a merry shit-milkshake.

[batucada]

To put things into perspective exactly how much was the wage bill for those blokes on the pitch last night?

[oldtimernow]

If we had managed to get on level terms we would have gone out on penalties.

In fact we went out on the new feature of League cup ties ....we went out on corners instead

[Jon Crofts]

My sons U12s decide cup matches on corners rather than penalties, maybe his coach can do a job at Villa?

[oldtimernow]

How big are the under12's ?
Are they any good...

[steffo]

most U12's will be bigger than Bannon.........

[saunders_heroes]

most U12's will be bigger than Bannon.........

And probably better too.

[LifelongToad]

Aren't the players to blame too? I hope we continue to come out fighting for the remainder of the season and think sacking Lambert is a ridiculous suggestion, seeing as he's got Zoggers looking threatening - and Benteke is a great signing. Westwood back instead of Bannan in the mid, we'd have had a safer second half. At least we're not following the blue path of a couple of seasons back.

[dutchvilla]

I can accept the need to cut the wage bill and there was c£20M in the summer, so I am not sure that this is where the problem lies with Lerner (it's more the appointment of McLeish and the lack of communication).

I can see the logic of recruiting young players from the lower leagues and from Europe. This is a recruitment policy many have sought for a long time. Many of the signings seem good (Benteke) or promising (Lowton, Westwood), while Vlaar should be good enough, KEA too really. The weaknesses are not the signings (perhaps Bennett excepted) but the rest of the squad being not good enough (Bannan, Lichaj, Herd, Clark) or not performing to the standards of which they are capable (Ireland, N'Zogbia).

But the big issue is the inability to address the lack of confidence and apparent lack of motivation. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that responsiblity for this falls squarely on Lambert's shoulders.

The only way forward now is to stay up and win the FA Cup...

[kippaxvilla2]

We pick ourselves up right about now and go again brother, right about now, we pick ourselves up right about now, we pick ourselves up and go again, pickpickpickpickpickpick right about now we pick ourselves up and go again, right about now, we pick ourselves up and go again go again go again gain gain gain. The funk so Villa, right about now.

[itbrvilla]

I mentioned this a few pages ago but has anyone else noticed how little the strikers work the channels ...

I noticed with Benteke a couple of weeks back that his reaction to us getting the ball out wide was to trot off to the far post or beyond and stand theer waiting for a cross, rather than stay on his toes and look to get between or ahead of defenders when the time is right.

H's only started to do this recently, and it was no accident that his goal last night came from the one occasion (that I recall) where he made a well timed run towards the near post.

He must be doing this under instruction.

saw 5 standing in a bunch in the D last night. Not one of them tried to do anything.

[LifelongToad]

I can accept the need to cut the wage bill and there was c£20M in the summer, so I am not sure that this is where the problem lies with Lerner (it's more the appointment of McLeish and the lack of communication).

I can see the logic of recruiting young players from the lower leagues and from Europe. This is a recruitment policy many have sought for a long time. Many of the signings seem good (Benteke) or promising (Lowton, Westwood), while Vlaar should be good enough, KEA too really. The weaknesses are not the signings (perhaps Bennett excepted) but the rest of the squad being not good enough (Bannan, Lichaj, Herd, Clark) or not performing to the standards of which they are capable (Ireland, N'Zogbia).

But the big issue is the inability to address the lack of confidence and apparent lack of motivation. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that responsiblity for this falls squarely on Lambert's shoulders.

The only way forward now is to stay up and win the FA Cup...

Well said. And set pieces of course - at both ends of the pitch, if we could deliver a ball as well as Bradford then we might see a rare header go in!! So do you want Lambert out?

[ACVilla]

I haven't trawled through the thread so apologies if this has been answered.

Has anyone got any idea how the guy is who was being resuscitated in the Lower Holte in the first half?