Manchester City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[gpbarr]

Precisely. This constant barrage of focus on Lambert is all well and good but his sacking / resignation will solve NOTHING but makes us all feel better for a couple months. You get what you pay for these days - tonight just showed that - and we will be the same next year irrespective the man doing the managing unless the philosophy of the club and those that run it change.

Not going to lose any sleep over only managing 3 points off the champions this season. I suggest some of you do the same.

Difficult at the best of times but with our attacking options severely tested it was always going to be a hang in and hope performance against a team that has scored 100 goals this season.

I get that Man City will be champions and that they have a world class squad built at vast expense.  I get that.

But that has nothing to do with how desperately poor we are and how badly our club is being run.  That's why I feel so low; getting thrashed by Man City is just a symptom.

Well get used to it. Until we invest in a PL squad we will struggle. The squad has been stripped of quality and currently has too many key players missing. Simply put, it can't cope. Without investment we will exist simply to survive.

[D.boy]

Jeez how god awful have we become?

[Des Little]

Jeez how god awful have we become?

We are a pitiful club at present.

[JUAN PABLO]

The sad thing is that tonight could have happened to just about any team in the league.

what you mean ? us losing to wba , stoke and norwich 4-0

[Goldie.7]

Why is Lambert saying he shouldn't play the youth for on avtv. One more game.....

[onje_villa]

I want to be annoyed, but I couldn't give two fucks. The rest of this season has battered the shit out of my nerves. I'd have liked to have seen us get a result, but all the attacking tactics in the world couldn't change the fact that we're not a very good team, we're managed by a bloke who has no understanding of setting up a football side, and losing doesn't make it any more likely we'll be sold to a zillionaire. We survived, and until further news comes out I don't really have the energy left for 2013/14.

I'm with others on this - we're a grand old institution that's been given a few coats of paint and left to attract a crowd. The people in charge had neither the means nor the heart to restore it to its former glory, because if they did, we wouldn't be coming off the back of a win against Hull City feeling like we want the season to be over - we'd be aching for next season to begin. So do yourself a favour: don't wail because we lost to a team worth £200 million, wail because we put out a team worth £19 million and the people who make the decisions thought that was the best thing for Aston Villa Football Club.

Well said that man.

[claret and blue blood]

Shame Weimann's header didn't go in ,Toure is one hell of a player,Bertrand is weak isn't he ?Thought we looks a lot worse after Bowery went off,we did have a spell in the game when we passed it quite well but in the end we were carrying about 4/5 players.

[PeterWithesShin]

Must admit i've seen little to suggest Bertrand is going to be much of an upgrade on what we already have. Is that down to him not really being that good, our coaching, or just us being crap?

[avfc_1874]

Meh.

They have £20+ million players in near enough every position. We don't.

And what's the excuse for all the other times we've been thrashed this season?

Touche.

[Steve kirk]

Not surprised by the thrashing and as I watched it I just accepted it without much feeling or anger because thats what the last 4 years has reduced me to, same owner plus same manager next season and were down.

[olaftab]

I though Clark was very good tonight. On the other hand Bacuna coming on changed it for us as he didn't do his job of controlling Zabaleta.

[rougegorge]

The players can't keep possession for long, regardless of the opponents so it's surprising we've stayed up.  The midfield looked less than insipid and Bertrand has apparently seamlessly fitted in with the hapless defending instilled over the last 2 years.

[VillaAlways]

Boss Paul Lambert hailed the fight and determination of his players in the loss to Man City.

Lambert was pleased with the way his team competed against the champions elect for over an hour.

Eventually, City's class shone through although Lambert insisted that the claret and blue injury list played a big part in the final score.

He said: "I thought we did fantastic. I really did, especially in that first hour we were excellent.

"We were frustrating them. The game plan was working fantastically well.

"I knew we wouldn't come here and dominate the ball. We had to play counter-attacking.

"Obviously Andi had a chance. We had a spell. We just couldn't get a goal.

"Moments like that, you have to take them.

"We were good in that first half. We had some little chances to score.

"I couldn't ask any more. They gave me absolutely everything.

"The realistic thing is that the injury list to our big players is huge. We had to bring in two lads from the academy.

"We have had some major injuries with Libor Kozak, Christian Benteke and Jores Okore and tonight we were missing Gabby Agbonlahor and Marc Albrighton. It was too much for us.

"But effort-wise, I couldn't fault them.

"I was very proud of the effort. They gave me everything they had. It was a big, big effort.

"The edginess was starting to set in for Man City. You look at the players they have got and the squad they have got. They are going for the title.

"I am proud of my own team."

On the title race, he added: "Man City are in the driving seat. You never know.

"Liverpool will have a go at it, I'm pretty sure.

"On the last day of the season, anything can happen."

Check out all the details about new season tickets.

[Monty]

I thought we defended very very well in the first half, and were about as threatening as they were when we countered (which is to say 'not very threatening', but hey). Second half, as soon as they got the first it was always likely to turn into something of an annihilation, and that Yaya Toure goal was preposterous. He doesn't use the same physics as the rest of us.

These things happen, and to better teams than ourselves. Nice to see both Robinson and Grealish on the pitch and I hope they get longer against Spurs, where I think we could get a result. Lambert's future should not be decided by games such as these - losing to Fulham 4-1 was considerably less acceptable than anything like this.

[Villa in Denmark]

Boss Paul Lambert hailed the fight and determination of his players in the loss to Man City.

Lambert was pleased with the way his team competed against the champions elect for over an hour.

Eventually, City's class shone through although Lambert insisted that the claret and blue injury list played a big part in the final score.

He said: "I thought we did fantastic. I really did, especially in that first hour we were excellent.

"We were frustrating them. The game plan was working fantastically well.

"I knew we wouldn't come here and dominate the ball. We had to play counter-attacking.

"Obviously Andi had a chance. We had a spell. We just couldn't get a goal.

"Moments like that, you have to take them.

"We were good in that first half. We had some little chances to score.

"I couldn't ask any more. They gave me absolutely everything.

"The realistic thing is that the injury list to our big players is huge. We had to bring in two lads from the academy.

"We have had some major injuries with Libor Kozak, Christian Benteke and Jores Okore and tonight we were missing Gabby Agbonlahor and Marc Albrighton. It was too much for us.

"But effort-wise, I couldn't fault them.

"I was very proud of the effort. They gave me everything they had. It was a big, big effort.

"The edginess was starting to set in for Man City. You look at the players they have got and the squad they have got. They are going for the title.

"I am proud of my own team."

On the title race, he added: "Man City are in the driving seat. You never know.

"Liverpool will have a go at it, I'm pretty sure.

"On the last day of the season, anything can happen."

Check out all the details about new season tickets.

And what about the 30 odd other games, mostly against mediocre opposition where we've adopted exactly the same tactics?