Aston Villa v Manchester United Post-Match Thread

[eastie]

its obvious that any manager coming to Villa would be working under the same constraints as Lambert and as such, would have a similar chance of success or failure, so why not stick with the status quo?. The problem I have with that is that Lambert has not displayed any real ability to be a budget manager so what have we got to loose by replacing him?. Most of his signings look poor, and tactically we have not progressed under his regime in any real sense from TSM. No one in their right mind would advocate Holloway or someone of his ilk as  a replacement but is it really beyond us to do something similar to Southampton?

I think most people realise that we can only realistically compete at upper midtable with our finances but the dreadful football being played is a huge concern for many.

[Mister E]

@StrideSteve: Poorest Villa v Man Utd match and atmosphere that I can remember. http://t.co/MZ2fIx8tlu

I have a lot of time and respect for Steve but that was just ridiculous.

I think he just about called it right: United were not particularly good; the atmosphere was pretty low-key and the Villa display pucntuated by some awful individual performances.

From what I can remember Steve Stride was around in the 80's so unless he has a short memory it is a ridiculous comment.

I seem to remember a December game in the Turner years where a United side that included Colin Gibson who we practically gave away to them transfer fee wise stuck three past us and I'm pretty sure the attendance was a tad short of 40,000.

No, that's the 26000 I mentioned  the post above.

Well, apologies for forgetting that, but I can see where SS was coming from in his tweet - as I said above, maybe SS's assertion simply reflects the complete let-down that people generally felt after what was not only a dispiriting game but also an opportunity lost against an indifferent MU side.

[Nastylee]

Is the problem benteke or indeed lambert? Buying players from the market we are in is doomed. Benteke looks shite but when does anyone beat a player and put a decent ball in? No coach in the world could make a defence from clark and baker but with our budget who can we replace them with, another untried gamble? The midfield can't dominate games, can't retain possession,  has no physical presence and little penetration.  In a word, it's shit. Would replacing PL solve this? Not unless RL changes his philosophy.  Perhaps it would be better if he came clean as to what the club is hoping to achieve, if it's merely survival then don't expect any improvements. The transfer window will confirm this, if it's more of the same then expect this every season until RL leaves.

[silhillvilla]

Was today worse than last week at Fulham? I went last week but couldn't get there today. Did we just give up?

[Des Little]

Was today worse than last week at Fulham? I went last week but couldn't get there today. Did we just give up?

Yessir.

[Legion]

Only after they'd scored.

[danlanza]

Is the problem benteke or indeed lambert? Buying players from the market we are in is doomed. Benteke looks shite but when does anyone beat a player and put a decent ball in? No coach in the world could make a defence from clark and baker but with our budget who can we replace them with, another untried gamble? The midfield can't dominate games, can't retain possession,  has no physical presence and little penetration.  In a word, it's shit. Would replacing PL solve this? Not unless RL changes his philosophy.  Perhaps it would be better if he came clean as to what the club is hoping to achieve, if it's merely survival then don't expect any improvements. The transfer window will confirm this, if it's more of the same then expect this every season until RL leaves.

Two words for you as far as Mr Lerner is concerned......... Cleveland Browns. Says it all for me. Look at them now and look at their fans vitriol towards Lerner. Was that for no reason.?

[andyaston]

Only after they'd scored.

So we gave up after 15 minutes

[Des Little]

Only after they'd scored.

So we gave up after 15 minutes

Well at 2-0 it was done and dusted so let's say 20 mins.

[Louzie0]

I have to say that although the football on the pitch was utterly woeful, what's the point in selling out our magnificent stadium then sitting there in silence listening to them horrible twats making all the noise for 90 minutes?

Just what has happened to the atmosphere down there?

I have just got back and this was the overriding impression of being at VP today.
The away fans were ignored. Let them sing what they like.
The vast majority in the stadium where it mattered was silent. It was eerie.

I thought we did well in the first 15 minutes and in the second half from time to time. (Defending further up helped and keeping the ball;not being funny.)

It's not that fans are being tight lipped or bloody minded about the team. It's just that, for goodness sake, give us something to get behind! Everybody around me was cheering on sot to voce, then the move would break down.
Gabby discovered the crowd's potential for that wonderful minute when he bundled De Gea and got a corner.
I don't think that you could ignore the mass yearning for something to cheer.

Sort it out, PL.

[amfy]

So many posts saying its so predictable, yet going on as if you're shocked.

We lost to Manchester United. It's what we do.

Please move on.

It's not the defeat amfy - it's the manner of the defeat

Really?

So you've not seen better Villa sides than this throw away 2 goal leads?

The best thing I heard today was someone say at half time 'Cheer up - it could be worse, we could be 2 goals up!'

There was nothing in the manner of this defeat that was worse than previous years. We came out fighting, we'd had 3 shots in target before their first attack where they scored from a strike off the post that fell straight to one of theirs - of course. They're in a bad run but no-one was kidding themselves before KO that we had a better team.

A couple of injuries will hurt us more than half a dozen of theirs for a few years yet. (at least)

This is where we are, you can choose to carry on being angry about it every week or accept that this is your team. They're not the European Champions - that was 30 years ago. They're not the team that won the FA Cup the most times because we haven't won it since 1957.

This is your team Aston Villa 2013. You can get behind them if you like.

My own view is that despite the result this was be of our better home performances this year. Loads better than Sunderland. This isn't a fixture I particularly expect anything from. Maybe last week, before they'd already lost 2 in a row & before Delph's suspension I may have had some hope , but look at the re-match thread - who genuinely saw anything else here?

[tomd2103]

its obvious that any manager coming to Villa would be working under the same constraints as Lambert and as such, would have a similar chance of success or failure, so why not stick with the status quo?. The problem I have with that is that Lambert has not displayed any real ability to be a budget manager so what have we got to loose by replacing him?. Most of his signings look poor, and tactically we have not progressed under his regime in any real sense from TSM. No one in their right mind would advocate Holloway or someone of his ilk as  a replacement but is it really beyond us to do something similar to Southampton?

I think most people realise that we can only realistically compete at upper midtable with our finances but the dreadful football being played is a huge concern for many.

A couple of decent loan signings in January (particularly a CB for the rest of the season) might be a decent move. 

[PeterWithe]

I can't mind a quieter atmosphere against them, even with 20k fewer in the ground, I'm not knocking the support in saying that, it was as one sided a game as normal and it's difficult to get excited by it.

[silhillvilla]

Lescott on loan, let's just get it done.

[London Villan]

But PL is totally adverse to buying in any premiership experience... even when he had them in the squad he didn't used them. I doubt he'd have played Petrov had he been around last season too...

It's pigheadedness of the highest level when the squad is crying out for a bit of experience.