Former PL club Aston Villa 2-3 Watford - post mortem thread

[brontebilly]

couldnt fault the effort of the players today or our manager his tactics and substitutions

some of our players had their best game for the club today I thought, Veretout particularly and Ayew, other promising signs from Sinclair in first half, Traore had some exciting moments too

But the goals we conceded were farcical really, there must have been two deflections involved in each one, no surprise to see an own goal, though I felt sorry for Hutton.

Once again I thought our centre back partnership, didnt look like a partnership. Ighalo was man of the match I thought and Deeney came into it strongly in the second half. Watford counterattacked down the middle in numbers throughout. Gueye didnt give much help to Sanchez in that time, in fairness he ran with the ball well in the first half.

The scoreline was a travesty on the balance of play but we look like conceding in nearly every attack

Guzan 6 - one great save early on which would have put Watford 2-0 up, doesnt inspire confidence but couldnt fault him with the goals conceded today
Hutton 5 - couldnt fault his heart or effort but a very limited player who made very little use of the ball he got in dangerous areas. Not a good defender either, no awareness of runners getting behind him. The Hutton/Richards axis cant stay in place as they both have the same flaws defensively
Richards 5 - fine header, plays well always when the ball is in front of him but not a centre half in any way shape or form, he has to take responsibility for the lack of organisation at the back. Wonder if playing him next to Sanchez might make more sense
Clark 4 - woeful beyond belief for the killer third goal, cowardly yellow afterwards. Still Id give Okore/Clark a chance for the rest of the season. Positionally seems to be getting worse but there is a general unease about us back there
Richardson 6 - started horribly but thought he showed a good bit of character to get back into the game and attacked reasonably well. Not a top division standard left back though which I guess is not in dispute
Sanchez 5- lost the ball horribly at crucial times, a bit like Richards in that he can play well for 30 mins and then make a crazy mistake out of nowhere. Still we need his physical presence in there
Veretout 8 - wonderful assist, used the ball very well throughout the game and finished stronger than most. Positionally has a lot to learn about centre midfield but was one of our best players today
Gueye 6 - fine going forward with the ball but I'm not too impressed with his attitude when he has to chase back. Certainly didnt give Sanchez much help in that crazy opening
Gil 6 - useful on the ball but without ever threatening too much. flatters to deceive a bit like a lot of our attacking players but popped in some decent corners early on
Sinclair 6 - very good in the first half, best Ive seen him play in a long time. But their right back got his measure early on in the second half and with that he disappeared
Ayew 8 - led the line really well, missed sitter was hard to believe but showed a lot of character to get back into the game, great goal too

Traore 6 - first couple of runs were brilliant but seemed to move to the left then for some reason where he didnt do much. Good sub
Gestede 5 - dont recall him getting a kick but we were out on our feet at that stage

[curiousorange]

The only thing that gives me any comfort at all is that for two seasons running, the team that was nailed on for relegation has got a few wins out of thin air and ended the season the absolute form team. We may be seven points adrift but Leicester and Palace were ten points plus, I think.

It's a huge long shot and almost certainly won't happen, but I look forward to a grovelling "we didn't think they'd be relegated anyway" profile of Garde by the BBC in April 2016.

[kippaxvilla2]

I was worried before now I know we are doomed.

I can not believe ASTON VILLA have come to this.

How the f@@k did Lambert stay so f@@king long .

Its a f@@king embarrassment.

Lambert is starting to look like Bill Shankly compared to what has happened since.

[Stirchley Villain]

Anyone who witnessed the game today will know deep down that we are down. Strangely I am now resigned to it and looking forward to the games we'll play next season.

[auntiesledd]

The thing you can't even say (at best) we've been unlucky to find us in such a perilous position. If you've spent the last 5 years selling your best players, replacing them with inferior ones whilst promoting youth players who are simply not good enough for the Premier League then sticking labels on them like "young and hungry" to fool the fans into thinking there's something magical about to happen.
No, this is all down to Lerner not wanting to pay the going rate for PL players. Decent players go where the wages are, and all we've done for the last 5 or so years is to hack at our wage bill with a sledge hammer.
Lerner is the sole cause of our humiliating decline. You reap what you sow, and all that.

We've jumped from a summer of buying players from Doncaster, Sheff Utd, Crewe and the French second division to a summer buying semi retired no hopers like Cole, Senderos and Richardson to a summer buying players almost entirely from smaller French teams. It's been a disaster, the transfer policy has been a total failure.

Austerity stinks. Not paying the going rate has got us to the dizzy heights of bottom place. Isn't that what's called a false economy?
Cheers, Randy.

Quite. An old adage containing the words 'monkeys' & 'peanuts' immediately springs to mind. The buck stops with our invisible owner/chairman. Chairman!? That's almost fecking laughable. God help us.

[GarTomas]

We looked alright going forward, played some nice stuff at times. Beyond awful defensively. Just about every meaningful Watford attack was thanks to us. And it was cold. Load of old bollocks.

Succinctly put but true as always.

[Toronto Villa]

Fucking Vardy has scored again

[Walmley_Villa]

Yep, today was the day when our Premier League ship sailed. The 5 year master plan has been realised.

I believe we may have been better off going last season so that we could have changed manager and rebuilt in the Summer. Now we have another 6 months to struggle through and then try to rebuild with no Delph or Benteke money. I don't blame Garde, there are too many turds to polish and the players have neither the heart or intelligence to save us.

The worst thing is that our experience is all at the back and they are abysmal bar Hutton who despite his limitations has won player of the season already.

We need Lerner and his cronies out and a complete restructure.

[Brian Taylor]

Well we scored in second half..its a start. Give remi a chance to rally our forces.

[andyh]

There should be absolutely no doubt that there 1 man responsible for the state of our club.
Bad decisions for 4 years have now come home to roost.

Don't think we can spend our way of trouble in January. For a start no one will want to come to club going down, but regardless of that, it will be too late to get out of the mess.

It's already too late, we are done.

If if Lerner can't sell a premier league club, he sure as shit will not be able to sell a championship one, unless his pretty much gives it away.

[Brian Taylor]

[quote am xt time, maybe but that is .. Oh dear
[/quote]

[auntiesledd]

Yep, today was the day when our Premier League ship sailed. The 5 year master plan has been realised.

I believe we may have been better off going last season so that we could have changed manager and rebuilt in the Summer. Now we have another 6 months to struggle through and then try to rebuild with no Delph or Benteke money. I don't blame Garde, there are too many turds to polish and the players have neither the heart or intelligence to save us.

The worst thing is that our experience is all at the back and they are abysmal bar Hutton who despite his limitations has won player of the season already.

We need Lerner and his cronies out and a complete restructure.

The slight problem being that nobody in their right mind would spend £150 million on a club that's already been relegated before Christmas.

[saunders_heroes]

What we need is a chairman willing to pay the going rate in PL wages, then we'd start to attract the better players that a club of our stature should be attracting.

[Fin Feds Dad]

Let's be honest . This has been coming for years.

Doesn't make it any less painful though.

The most painful part of today was when my lad said he didn't want to go.

5 years of watching complete shite has had its effect on him .

Fuck you Lerner .

[Villafirst]

Okore has to come in for Hutton surely! I'd bring in Lescott for Richardson. A backing of Okore Richards Clark Lescott.