The Mind Numbing Task of the Stoke City v Aston Villa (R) Post Match Thread.

[Yossarian]

Everton getting new investment today. Shoulda woulda coulda, but playing Stoke will forever remind me of not being able to hold that 2-0 lead. It's rare that you can wind history back to a single Sliding Doors moment, but we hold onto that lead, I reckon we wouldn't be getting relegated.

I know exactly what you mean. A lot of people blamed the Moscow game but it was the Saturday before against Stoke when in an alternative universe we won, qualified for the Champions League and invested wisely.

[AV89]

Relegation can't be confirmed soon enough now.  Pretty obvious we're now merely fulfilling the remaining fixtures.

Regardless of whether Garde stays or not, the majority of these players must be replaced if we want any chance of coming straight back.  We need to know quickly though, though I don't think Garde will do a last minute quit job like O'Neill did.

[in exile]

Relegation can't be confirmed soon enough now.  Pretty obvious we're now merely fulfilling the remaining fixtures.

Regardless of whether Garde stays or not, the majority of these players must be replaced if we want any chance of coming straight back.  We need to know quickly though, though I don't think Garde will do a last minute quit job like O'Neill did.

Where does the investment come from?

[pauliewalnuts]

Everton getting new investment today. Shoulda woulda coulda, but playing Stoke will forever remind me of not being able to hold that 2-0 lead. It's rare that you can wind history back to a single Sliding Doors moment, but we hold onto that lead, I reckon we wouldn't be getting relegated.

I know exactly what you mean. A lot of people blamed the Moscow game but it was the Saturday before against Stoke when in an alternative universe we won, qualified for the Champions League and invested wisely.

That Stoke game was the Saturday after Moscow, not before it.

[curiousorange]

The squad needs a good clean-out, but every season where we've struggled has made it impossible. Managers are reluctant to clear out players who have played their part in survival because they've got the experience of it. Now we're as good as down, there's no excuse to keep any of them.

[Villafirst]

How many corners did we win today?

[curiousorange]

How many corners did we win today?

I'm sure we'll find out in Tony Pulis's post-match interview.

[VillaAlways]

How many corners did we win today?

None

[Toronto Villa]

Everton getting new investment today. Shoulda woulda coulda, but playing Stoke will forever remind me of not being able to hold that 2-0 lead. It's rare that you can wind history back to a single Sliding Doors moment, but we hold onto that lead, I reckon we wouldn't be getting relegated.

I know exactly what you mean. A lot of people blamed the Moscow game but it was the Saturday before against Stoke when in an alternative universe we won, qualified for the Champions League and invested wisely.

That Stoke game was the Saturday after Moscow, not before it.

Yep. The entire plan being that we would sacrifice European football to further cement our place in a CL spot. And for a good while it was going perfectly to plan. Nobody saw what was to come next, but more so what transpired in the next few games. A collapse that as a club we have never recovered from. It's when all the eggs in that basket slipped from our hand and were smashed to pieces.

[Ads]

It was cold. Stoke were shit. We were shitter. We sung quite loudly.  We all went home.

[frank]

The highlights of my day were the excellent pub in Hanley and the efficient bus service after the game which got me to the station in 10 minutes. And, to be fair, we scored a good goal. As for the game, it really was pretty dire. As usual we had lots of neat possession but hardly ever looked threatening. When we play the ball out to the wings there’s no one in the box to cross it to, and when we try to play it through the centre we immediately lose it. I don’t blame Garde’s tactics, it’s just that the players aren’t good enough. As others have said, the end of the season can’t come soon enough.

[preston28]

Bacuna and Westwood. Please fuck off.

Both given 5 year contracts at the start of the season. If it wasn't so mind-blowingly incompetent it would be comical.

Westwood is a stain on the Villa. An appalling footballer who is completely out of his depth in the PL and he has been since day one. I shook my head in disbelief when the club's PR machine laughably tried to talk him up for the England squad after we beat Liverpool in Lambert's first season and I'm shaking my head today with the realisation he's still here making a living in the PL.

His post match quote on the BBc states Garde as saying 'we don't have enough quality'

I'm not sure if he is trying to gee up the players with these comments, having a dig at the board or shifting the blame from him before he resigns at or before the end of the season.

[flybo]

I should have found this hard to type but i hate our playing staff. but i still love our club VTID

[West Derby Villan]

Everton getting new investment today. Shoulda woulda coulda, but playing Stoke will forever remind me of not being able to hold that 2-0 lead. It's rare that you can wind history back to a single Sliding Doors moment, but we hold onto that lead, I reckon we wouldn't be getting relegated.



Think it was Sunday as we played on the Thursday

I know exactly what you mean. A lot of people blamed the Moscow game but it was the Saturday before against Stoke when in an alternative universe we won, qualified for the Champions League and invested wisely.

That Stoke game was the Saturday after Moscow, not before it.

Yep. The entire plan being that we would sacrifice European football to further cement our place in a CL spot. And for a good while it was going perfectly to plan. Nobody saw what was to come next, but more so what transpired in the next few games. A collapse that as a club we have never recovered from. It's when all the eggs in that basket slipped from our hand and were smashed to pieces.

[mattjpa]

I'm actually numb to it now. I no longer  watch soccer am, I don't watch football focus. I have watched motd twice all year and now don't frequent any football sites other than this one. I haven't bought a shirt this season and haven't looked at going to a game since the the annual Christmas farce. Football banter amongst my mates had died because we are so fucking pathetic they can't even bring themselves to laugh at us. I am desperate for this to be over because its absolutely turgid supporting the villa at the moment. I'm now watching champions league obsessively and am really looking forward to the euros just because they have nothing to do with Aston Villa.
Roll on next year ey lads?