Aston Villa v Manchester City Post-Match Thread

[paul_e]

I hate slagging off ref's and blaming them for our own shortcomings, but that ref last night was totally in awe on Man City.
At one point he appeared to apologise to one of their players for giving US a free kick.

Definitely, one of those who favours the big boys !     

I can't agree with that I thought the ref did okay. I haven't seen any replays but from my seat in the holte I didn't think it was a foul on Clark for the goal, I didn't think it was a penalty at the end and I thought he was pretty fair throughout.

Clark was 50/50, penalty was stonewall, nastisic took him out, worst thing is Benteke would've been clear on goal so it should've been a pen and probably a red card.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

There's a nine page thread on Bluemoon entitled 'Thank you, Mr Dean'. They love the blind bastard.

[Monty]

There's a nine page thread on Bluemoon entitled 'Thank you, Mr Dean'. They love the blind bastard.

They're smug and annoying, but at least they admit the refs give them help, unlike Liverstool or Uniturd.

[themossman]

Oh and you can also see he's starting to get frustrated with the weakness of the rest of our team.

There was a moment where he held off 4 players on the edge of their box, then laid the ball off to Lowton, who instantly blasted it at someone's shins without looking up. You can't really blame him.

[andyh]

I hate slagging off ref's and blaming them for our own shortcomings, but that ref last night was totally in awe on Man City.
At one point he appeared to apologise to one of their players for giving US a free kick.

Definitely, one of those who favours the big boys !     

I can't agree with that I thought the ref did okay. I haven't seen any replays but from my seat in the holte I didn't think it was a foul on Clark for the goal, I didn't think it was a penalty at the end and I thought he was pretty fair throughout.

I wasn't really referring to the big decisions, and to be honest, I don't even remember a big penalty shout.
What I meant was the ref's general demeanor and attitude to the players. I think they got more decisions than us and the ref definitely appeared more 'matey' with their players than ours.     

[Steve kirk]

Well I was hoping that Villa would give me a lift on the last night of my hols in cape Verde but sadly not, however I do have a feeling we will be ok, the heavy beatings have stopped and going into the last ten games we're not cut adrift as I thought we might be, on another note holiday including weather was great, up the Villa

[mr woo]

As somebody posted previously, it says it all when a single goal defeat is considered a relief.

Positives - Delph - probably MOTM,  if he adds more drive and inventiveness to his game he'd be a real asset.
                  Guzan- did everything asked of him.

Negatives - Lowton - looked every inch a League 1 player last night.
 The ever-static forward line, who bar Wiemann on occasions, looked rooted to the spot time and again.
Lambert- for spunking the remainder of the loose change on a parks player (Dawkins) and a kid who'll take years to reach this level (Cilla) when we were crying out for an experienced centre half and centre mid. And I thought MON could be a stubborn prick at times, Lambert is at another level.

[Mister E]

As somebody posted previously, it says it all when a single goal defeat is considered a relief.

Positives - Delph - probably MOTM,  if he adds more drive and inventiveness to his game he'd be a real asset.
                  Guzan- did everything asked of him.

Negatives - Lowton - looked every inch a League 1 player last night.
 The ever-static forward line, who bar Wiemann on occasions, looked rooted to the spot time and again.
Lambert- for spunking the remainder of the loose change on a parks player (Dawkins) and a kid who'll take years to reach this level (Cilla) when we were crying out for an experienced centre half and centre mid. And I thought MON could be a stubborn prick at times, Lambert is at another level.

Sylla? - not sure we can fairly comment since he doesn't get risked!
I thought last night was a good opportunity to play him alongside Westie and Delph as part of a three-man central midfield.
He may now have to be thrown in agin' our two main relegation rivals to fill in for Delph (although it is more likely that the ineffectual KEA will be played).

Sylla's signing does seem to sum up the enigma that this season has been.

[andyh]

I don't think Delph could have added more drive last night, he was like a whirling fucking dervish !! 

[mr woo]

He was Andy, but what I really want from him is FORWARD drive. You know, the odd one-two or give and go on the edge of the opposition box.

For all his bluster, what did he do creatively? I don't mean that to sound critical but I think he has enough quality to be more of a attacking threat, that's all.

[supertom]

Unfortunately when playing the likes of Utd and City etc, you're never, ever gonna get the rub of the green from the officials. It's a sad fact. It's been that way for decades now that the "big boys" seem to get most of the decisions.

[stubbsyandy]

Let me start by admitting that City deserved the win this evening.  I don't support either team but I feel very upset on behalf of Villa as, in my opinion, Mike Dean has just given the most one-sided refereeing performance that I've seen in a very long time.  Villa have enough issues without having to contend with an apparently star-struck referee who has simply refused to award even as much as a free kick to the home team.  Villa's play didn't warrant an equalizer but Dean seemed as though he was hell-bent to ensure that this didn't happen.  Benteke was brought down in the box late on by Nastasic but unsurprisingly Mr Dean just wasn't interested.  More evidence that the so called top-teams get the majority of the decisions?

Above comment left on Times website from a neutral!!

[mr-villa]

I hate slagging off ref's and blaming them for our own shortcomings, but that ref last night was totally in awe on Man City.
At one point he appeared to apologise to one of their players for giving US a free kick.

Definitely, one of those who favours the big boys !     

I can't agree with that I thought the ref did okay. I haven't seen any replays but from my seat in the holte I didn't think it was a foul on Clark for the goal, I didn't think it was a penalty at the end and I thought he was pretty fair throughout.

Dean was caught too far down the pitch towards the North Stand to see the Clark foul = poor positioning and he was again in the wrong position to see Nastasic clatter both of Bentekes legs across the kneecaps whilst managing to tap the ball with his hand at the same time, quite an example of masculine multi-tasking from Nastasic.  Anyway forgiving the Ref, the lino was perfectly positioned to see the foul on Benteke, he would have been looking directly along the line so I don't understand why he didn't flag it.

[Steve R]

Two innocuous bookings have put key players out for what is for us two big games.

Who else is suspended?

Sky put a graphic up saying it was Benteke's fifth yellow of the season. I assume he will miss the next match.

Unless there is some kind of amnesty in place.

[mr-villa]

Two innocuous bookings have put key players out for what is for us two big games.

Who else is suspended?

Sky put a graphic up saying it was Benteke's fifth yellow of the season. I assume he will miss the next match.

Unless there is some kind of amnesty in place.

But we are well past the point in the season where 5 bookings gets you a ban, its now at the point where you don't get a ban till you reach 10 I believe.