Aston Villa v Newcastle United Post-Match Thread

[Chris Jameson]

I do like a 3.00 Saturday kick off. Plenty of those next season. Know any decent pubs near the Galpharm Stadium?

I've been twice to the ground and walked from the station. It's the only ground that seems to get further away the more you walk, what should have been a 10 minute walk took half an hour, didn't help that the guy we were following in a football shirt was actually on his way to the supermarket.

[dorsetvilla]

Play 442, show the same desire as we did second half and we might just have a slim chance of staying up.

[Ross]

Owner needs to go. Manager needs to go. Same old shit. Bored of it. Resigned to fate.

[Hampshire Villa]

The Villa management team told me that they thought they had turned a corner at the Albion....... they really are deluded!
I'm sorry but again I say , if we can ask no more from the players and yet again they have lost, then clearly they are just not good enough!

[hilts_coolerking]

Well McLeish seems to actively discourage players from passing along the ground to each other.

With our midfield that might not be such a bad idea.

[Mellin]

It's ironic that having sacked McLeish who was as conventional and conservative as it's possible to be, and having appointed a manager who can mix it up tactically, we only ever look good when we go back to meat-and-potatoes 442.

The football McLeish played compared to that second half was very different. All about high pressing and it should be persevered with.

[Nev]

Fucking hell I'm sitting here agreeing totally with Phil Thompson, what is going on?!?!

Because the problems are so simple to solve even he can spot them. Pity our manager can't...........

[Villastu]

Worrying thing apart from everything else, for all the 2nd half possession, we still couldn't score from open play. We are are f**ked. Can't see us picking up anymore points this season.

[OzVilla]

Can't fault the players for their effort, the gave everything.  Thing is we aren't good enough.

I hate to say the but there is NOT a decent team in there somewhere, there is at best an below par Premier League team that without any confidence is a relegation side.

Newcastle have not won an away game all season, they backed off, panicked 2nd half and we had almost total possession and although we worked our collective socks of we still created very little. That should tell you everything.

I really can't see us staying up at all now.

[Somniloquism]

If we do go down, 0 points from Wigan, Southampton and Newcastle at home will be what did us.

Especially when more action and planning for the Jan transfer window could easily have meant points from 2 of those 3.

[Monty]

Pardew joins the long line of opponents who say 'Villa will be safe, no problem'. I really hope they're seeing something we can't, because it's not looking good.

[danlanza]

All the lads in the huddle before the game were serious, except Bent, he was laughing at something and on the tv it looked like Benteke swore at him. Somebody double check, but i swear that Bent was laughing and Benteke told him to fuck off, sure of it.

[MonsXI]

Fucking hell I'm sitting here agreeing totally with Phil Thompson, what is going on?!?!

Because the problems are so simple to solve even he can spot them. Pity our manager can't...........

He has spotted them. He said we need some strength in midfield. Is Lerner allowing him to bring that strength in? I doubt it!

[onje_villa]

We have now lost 'must win' home games v Wigan, Southampton and Newcastle.

We are sinking fast and have a manager at the helm that doesn't appear to have a clue

5 at the back at home in a game we had to win reeks of being shit scared to concede and by the time he switched it to 4-4-2 it was game over. Spirited second half performance but the damage was already done and we are now in the bottom 3, have no new signings in January and nothing apparently imminent.

Doomed.

Another way of looking at - Look at the table then deduct three points from those teams. It's their wins against us that have got them clear.

[Toronto Villa]

I'd have thought he'd have realised that if having 5 defenders still results in losing then maybe we don't have the players for that system. Go to something that works with what we have. Lambert is a professional football manager that before his time with us was heralded as some sort of tactical bright light in the modern game. That story that did the rounds when he outwitted Rodgers at Swansea. Well, I'm seeing little to indicate that he has the ability to change quickly as needed and in fact he appears as stubborn as MON in sticking to the plan. I get that being obstinate is a quality to be valued at times, but in times of desperation durely you have to be a little bit flexible. It is his inflexibility and inability to read and adapt the gameplan that is killing us.