Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace Post-Match Thread

[Olof's Beard]

Nice to have an argument over Man of the Match for once. It was Gana for me, just edging Lescott. But you could make a case for Ayew, Veretout and Cissokho too. And special mention to our two most criticised players, Westwood and Bacuna, who both put in huge shifts. Bacuna completely switched off after 20 seconds and we got away with it but after that he was excellent, loads of interceptions and an incessant work rate. Credit where it's due.

[rob_bridge]

What a thoroughly pleasant evening. Cold, Rainy and some fucking idiot nearly took me out on the way by the Bromford Interchange.

But I didn't care. We had Great Seats in the Trinity. We won. The Holte End Sang. It sounded like there were 60000 for a couple of minutes. The Players Gave a Shit.

The fans were smiling.

At last.

Oh and all this for £30 thanks to a Sunday night purchase on Seatwave by the Good Lady.

[Louzie0]

Fuck me it was cold. But ace. May only have 28K there tonight but at times the atmosphere in the Holte was right up there with the great games. Fucking get in!       

Thanks PWS

I understand the attendance tonight was 27341;)

Ok olaftab, I'm doin' the GTC sums! UTV!

[richtheholtender]

Did anybody notice how Lescott walked straight off at the end while the others celebrated with the fans? What is it with this guy?

[rob_bridge]

Nice to have an argument over Man of the Match for once. It was Gana for me, just edging Lescott. But you could make a case for Ayew, Veretout and Cissokho too. And special mention to our two most criticised players, Westwood and Bacuna, who both put in huge shifts. Bacuna completely switched off after 20 seconds and we got away with it but after that he was excellent, loads of interceptions and an incessant work rate. Credit where it's due.

Agree with all of that.

Gana really broke up their play and shape anticipated throughout. Very good performance.

Palace are a big side but they didn't get anywhere near bullying us.

[old man villa fan]

Somebody said that Kozak was poor.  I do not agree with that at all.  He is clearly rusty after so long out but he put in so much effort.  He will never be a very good player as his touch is not particularly good but he has a footballing brain.  Gestede is supposed to be good in the air but I do not think I have seen him lay a ball off with his head.  Kozak did that a few times tonight both with flick-ons and lay-backs when heading is probably his weakest point.  What he does do very well is trying to get his body between man and ball.  Also as somebody else said, he did a lot of good defensive work.  He has to be first choice now unless somebody is brought in.

We look so much more balanced tonight, particularly the back four.  I go along with what others have said about the other players.  My only gripe is that we have to play Gana and Westwood to fill the position of one decent defensive midfield player which restricts us getting players into the penalty area.

We got a bit lucky tonight but it is about time that every deflection didn't cause a goal.  The players put a lot of effort in and deserved to get the win.

[rob_bridge]

Did anybody notice how Lescott walked straight off at the end while the others celebrated with the fans? What is it with this guy?

I didn't notice. Hopefully because he is so ashamed of most of his previous performances he feels the need to do more.

[ozzjim]

If we could replace Westwood in that side with a player that could get into the box a bit more and support the attack it would be great, but the boy actually went in for a 50/50 2 footed tackle today in the second half. That was when i thought we might do this.

[Axl Rose]

Yesssssssss!

Good morning. You deserved that. It was difficult to leave a warm house and make  our way to VP tonight with freezing rain but.... YES YES YES

Good evening, Aftab and a happy new year to you mate!

You deserved that, too! My students will witness the rare sight of a happy teacher this morning!

[olaftab]

Did anybody notice how Lescott walked straight off at the end while the others celebrated with the fans? What is it with this guy?

Nothing wrong with that as may be he thinks a win over Palace at home is nothing to celebrate and team needs many more before he can celebrate.

[saunders_heroes]

We need a goal poacher. Love to see Charlie Austin in that team. We just never seem to have enough players in the box when we're attacking.

[Lastfootstamper]

Did anybody notice how Lescott walked straight off at the end while the others celebrated with the fans? What is it with this guy?

Not wanting to put a downer on things, but I don't want them celebrating. Acknowledge the praise and applause, you've earned it, and that'll do ya. It's one win. Do it four times in a row, I might mellow a little.

[PeterWithesShin]

We need a goal poacher. Love to see Charlie Austin in that team. We just never seem to have enough players in the box when we're attacking.

It was noticeable is that a number of times we had no one attacking the edge of the box after a cross was half cleared.

[maigrait]

So happy after the win. In dublin stuck watching the man u game ( which was quite entertaining Newcastle gave it a good go ).

Gave a shout for the goal and everyone thought i was a bit mad.

We've a long way to go but this is great news. Garde comes across as very intelligent on his post match interview i like the fella.

Well done everyone.

[Meanwood Villa]

Happy happy happy. Night all