Newcastle United v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[adrenachrome]

Hats off to all the villa fans that travelled up and down the country today . Heard you load and clear on TV and thank you all for being a credit to the club again today.

I was chatting to Newcastle friends after the game and they said they'd heard us throughout the game, even though we were right up in the top tier. I thought our support today was excellent and, to be fair, the team deserved it in the first  half. But at the end the  Villa fans  left in angry silence

[john2710]

I think we all understand that we couldn't keep pouring money into overpaid players pockets with little or no return. But you can just as easily break a club by strangling the life out of it & we are inching our way towards it. They might try & spin it however they like but we can all see it happening. I see no evidence of progress other than the wage bill.

As football fans we all cling to the slightest signs of optimism, but I just can't see anything that shows that the current set up at Villa Park are capable or willing to turn things around.

Like the rest of us fools, I'll still be there next week. But it's getting harder to justify or keep up the pretence.

[Irish villain]

I have tried to write a post about Lerner and Faulkner on my phone but it has kept failing so here's a shortened version.

In the 1990s and 2000s we had our bad years but were generally competing for Europe and trophies. Between 1995-2002 we were  continually in the top eight. Yet in 2000 fans held up pound signs at Villa Park and there were how many other protests?

Why are Faulkner and Lerner getting away so lightly? The dark shadow of relegation has hovered over the villa since 10/11 and the club has fucked up every time it tried to stop our decline. We have been quite rudderless and the lack of know-how at the club was dramatically underlined during various pursuits of managers, especially after Houllier's departure.

We can all see where this current set-up will eventually take us. So why have the fans been so quiet about it all, letting the various managers take all the flak for what is happening?

[JUAN PABLO]

Westwood was utter shit today.  What the hell has happened to him? Sylla was no better either.  Why the hell did Lambert spend silly money on Kozak when we were desperate for a proper midfielder?  He now reaps what he sows.

Westwood was our best player today in my opinion, and he won the man of the match award on sky even though he only played an hour or so.

Really sorry, I meant to write El Alhmadi/Sylla, not Westwood. Must stop drinking at lunchtime.

we have a 20% win rate when KEA plays


says it all

[JUAN PABLO]

I thought we played well enough in the first half. Second half, we really didn't look like scoring and although their goal was coming from 70 minutes in, a draw would just have about been fair.

having watching MOTD , magpies had loads of chances and it was obvious they were going to scorre . Two absolute sitters before

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

It's funny that you can watch the same game as other people and come out of it with completely different views.  You see things that other people do not see and they see things that you do not see.  The only conclusion I can come to is that at times you see what you want to see and ignore what you do not want to see.

I have followed football for many years.  In past years I would watch whatever match was on the TV and enjoy it.  Today, I generally only watch Villa, because it is Villa.  I am fed up with the whole football thing.  Money has killed the game in England as a competitive sport for those other than the top 6.  All of the money that is coming into the game is either going into players' pockets or going overseas to pay for this never ending stream of foreign players.  Football in England is slowly strangling itself to death.  Where is the money that used to flow down the leagues so that they could develop players that they could sell on.  How many players can you name in the top 6 that have been bought from lower league teams.  For that matter, how many from teams lower in the PL.

We do not have the financial power to compete at the top and I cannot criticise Lerner for not throwing vast amounts of money at a minimal chance.  However, I can criticise him for not making sufficient available to improve the team in the last 2 years so that we can at least show some progress.  If he cannot even afford that, he should look to find a buyer and get out as it will only get worse for him.

Back to the game today and comments I have read.  I thought we played the better in the first half and could have gone in ahead.  We should have stepped it up after halftime as it was clear that Newcastle would come out stronger than they were in the first half.  It was clear that Westwood was injured as he signalled over to the bench that he was struggling.  I am not a big fan of KEA but thought he had a reasonable game, especially first half.

Somebody earlier best summed it up for me, we have no winners in the side.  There was no desire to give everything to the point of coming off the pitch having given everything.  Although there were others, I would pick out Gabby as the worst culprit of this.  If he has the ball in space he can look brilliant but without the ball, he just stands there.  He will not look to create space for the pass, he half-heartedly tries to close players down.  He looks flat-footed in the box when the ball comes in.  His seemingly couldn't care less attitude as seen in his laughing and joking during the game after one miss after another.  I could go on and on.  He is one of the senior players in the side and is quickly becoming a luxury we cannot afford.  He is becoming the epitome of the modern player, over paid and under performing.

I am not sure where we go from here.  I do believe that this is not the right time to get rid of the manager.  Without money to spend, managers are not going to put their reputation on the line.  You are then into the has-beens or the untried and untested.  It is easy to sit on the side lines and say we should do this or that without taking everything into consideration.  There are some posters on here that study the game, others that make fair comment but there are others that are so over the top that they are starting to make me consider not coming on here.  As I said at the beginning, people see the game differently and I may be better off (and certainly for my sanity) sticking in my own world and leave others to theirs.

Thankyou OMVF, an excellent post, and I fully agree and empathise with your closing comments.  I tend to give this site a wide berth immediately after matches these days, because passions run so high that reason goes out of the window.  Not that people aren't justified in feeling angry and upset, they have every cause and every right, but I find the vicious and hostile reactions on here often depress me more than the defeat does.     

[Pete3206]

Shit

[ROBBO]

Just a couple of observations, in Lamberts pre match interview he looked Knackered and sounded depressed, i think the jobs got the better of him. Second point, its the managers job get the best out of Benteke, this is what really annoys me Villa never seem to get the best out of the players they have.

[itbrvilla]

Are the clowns who run our club up to the job of sacking a poor manager and employing a new one?

Like I said that's not a reason to keep Lambert though. At the end of the day you don't keep a bad manager, because you're scared of who to employ next. Whoever it is would struggle to do worse than Lambert is currently.

PWA I give you Billy McNeill. He was the worst manager in our history and bearing in mind the competition and who he succeeded that was some feat.

Faulkwit and Non Lerner couldn't pick their nose let alone another manager.

Regardless you'd hope they're actually learning. I don't think the logic behind hiring Lambert was bad, he's just let them down.

The logic to me seems to of been a point opposition manager who Villa  fans sing his name at a match. Dodged a bullet by not getting Martinez.... Phew!

[Phil from the upper holte]

I have tried to write a post about Lerner and Faulkner on my phone but it has kept failing so here's a shortened version.

In the 1990s and 2000s we had our bad years but were generally competing for Europe and trophies. Between 1995-2002 we were  continually in the top eight. Yet in 2000 fans held up pound signs at Villa Park and there were how many other protests?

Why are Faulkner and Lerner getting away so lightly? The dark shadow of relegation has hovered over the villa since 10/11 and the club has fucked up every time it tried to stop our decline. We have been quite rudderless and the lack of know-how at the club was dramatically underlined during various pursuits of managers, especially after Houllier's departure.

We can all see where this current set-up will eventually take us. So why have the fans been so quiet about it all, letting the various managers take all the flak for what is happening?

This is my thoughts on it as well. Lerner sacks Lambert then gets in Fuck knows who, they going to want to completely rebuild the team and we all know that isn't going to happen as there is no Fucking money available.

[Tugby Villain]

Rubbish.  Lambert out

[martin o`who??]

Im Cardiff and Newcastle we've played two sides who had zero confidence on the back of several bad results and yet we failed to score in either. Dreadful and lambert should go.

To be replaced by who? And please bear in mind the recruiters and their abject knwledge of football.

I have no idea, but that's not my job. What I will say is that there are not many who could get us playing worse football or worse results.

I think there are many who could do worse on both counts. Far too many who are also rated beyond their abilities.

I'd rather you choose the successor than those who will. And I am being serious compared to Lerner and Faulkner.

I am willing to listen to alternatives.

Ronald koeman an experienced manager at European level and has expressed a desire to manage in the premier league next season , feyenoord contract expires in June.

I`d have Ronald Macdonald over what we`ve got at the moment.

[LeeB]

It's funny that you can watch the same game as other people and come out of it with completely different views.  You see things that other people do not see and they see things that you do not see.  The only conclusion I can come to is that at times you see what you want to see and ignore what you do not want to see.

I have followed football for many years.  In past years I would watch whatever match was on the TV and enjoy it.  Today, I generally only watch Villa, because it is Villa.  I am fed up with the whole football thing.  Money has killed the game in England as a competitive sport for those other than the top 6.  All of the money that is coming into the game is either going into players' pockets or going overseas to pay for this never ending stream of foreign players.  Football in England is slowly strangling itself to death.  Where is the money that used to flow down the leagues so that they could develop players that they could sell on.  How many players can you name in the top 6 that have been bought from lower league teams.  For that matter, how many from teams lower in the PL.

We do not have the financial power to compete at the top and I cannot criticise Lerner for not throwing vast amounts of money at a minimal chance.  However, I can criticise him for not making sufficient available to improve the team in the last 2 years so that we can at least show some progress.  If he cannot even afford that, he should look to find a buyer and get out as it will only get worse for him.

Back to the game today and comments I have read.  I thought we played the better in the first half and could have gone in ahead.  We should have stepped it up after halftime as it was clear that Newcastle would come out stronger than they were in the first half.  It was clear that Westwood was injured as he signalled over to the bench that he was struggling.  I am not a big fan of KEA but thought he had a reasonable game, especially first half.

Somebody earlier best summed it up for me, we have no winners in the side.  There was no desire to give everything to the point of coming off the pitch having given everything.  Although there were others, I would pick out Gabby as the worst culprit of this.  If he has the ball in space he can look brilliant but without the ball, he just stands there.  He will not look to create space for the pass, he half-heartedly tries to close players down.  He looks flat-footed in the box when the ball comes in.  His seemingly couldn't care less attitude as seen in his laughing and joking during the game after one miss after another.  I could go on and on.  He is one of the senior players in the side and is quickly becoming a luxury we cannot afford.  He is becoming the epitome of the modern player, over paid and under performing.

I am not sure where we go from here.  I do believe that this is not the right time to get rid of the manager.  Without money to spend, managers are not going to put their reputation on the line.  You are then into the has-beens or the untried and untested.  It is easy to sit on the side lines and say we should do this or that without taking everything into consideration.  There are some posters on here that study the game, others that make fair comment but there are others that are so over the top that they are starting to make me consider not coming on here.  As I said at the beginning, people see the game differently and I may be better off (and certainly for my sanity) sticking in my own world and leave others to theirs.

Thankyou OMVF, an excellent post, and I fully agree and empathise with your closing comments.  I tend to give this site a wide berth immediately after matches these days, because passions run so high that reason goes out of the window.  Not that people aren't justified in feeling angry and upset, they have every cause and every right, but I find the vicious and hostile reactions on here often depress me more than the defeat does.     

Sorry for the epic quoteathon but it's difficult to edit on a phone, but I have to agree with the closing comments of both posters.

[amfy]

There are some posters on here that study the game, others that make fair comment but there are others that are so over the top that they are starting to make me consider not coming on here.  As I said at the beginning, people see the game differently and I may be better off (and certainly for my sanity) sticking in my own world and leave others to theirs.

Thankyou OMVF, an excellent post, and I fully agree and empathise with your closing comments.  I tend to give this site a wide berth immediately after matches these days, because passions run so high that reason goes out of the window.  Not that people aren't justified in feeling angry and upset, they have every cause and every right, but I find the vicious and hostile reactions on here often depress me more than the defeat does.   

This is what I do. Wait 2 hours, scan the first page ('shit' ' Fuck of Lambert you @@&???!!!@@ & take Faulkner & Learner with you' etc) then I go to the last page and go 3 pages back. It's usually started to get a little more readable by then. The day that page 23 of the post match thread looks like page one is definitely the day I stop logging in!

[PaulTheVillan]

Westwood looked decent, he was never going to last after he took that kick to the leg early on.

I thought Gabby had a good first half, good couple of runs and shots, although when KEA put that ball across the box, Gabby was OUTSIDE the area.

Weimann was crap, so was Benteke. I thought Vlaar and Baker were OK. Vlaar nearly cost us just before the goal, I hate it when defenders piss around in the box, row Z it, FFS.