Wolves v Aston Villa post match thread.

[class-of-82]

Also is it me or do other teams even if it's at vp or away just seem to want it more than us
The 50-50s the second ball the knock downs etc etc
Players I have never even heard of before this season just seem to look so much better than anything we have

[curiousorange]

I agree, but I don't know how helpful McCormack is being in that regard. His movement is pedestrian at best.

[paul_e]

From a logical viewpoint Ross McCormack can't be as terrible a striker as we've seen. He's scored far too many at this level for that to happen. So while Kodjia isn't around, Bruce has to treat him as the alpha striker and find a way to make him tick. I think we're all in agreement that long ball isn't really his thing. As for his partner, I'm one hundred percent sure it should be anybody but Agbonlahor. I think Hepburn-Murphy is being badly advised but I would rather see what he's got against the crappy Championship defences we face than know for certain Agbonlahor will be losing foot races to the likes of Stearman.

The thing is though is that we're creating very little in way of chances for any striker to score from.

This is because we play like a team that don't know each other.

[class-of-82]

Even southern rail have much better strikers than us

[AGRIPPA]

Shit. Again. Bruce has to start taking some of the blame here. There's no pattern to our play and the performances aren't improving

Green the only highlight for me

Does look really odd to have let gestede go. Not that I'm a fan but he's a bigger threat than gabby

Think we can give up on promotion this season and build for next

Yes I think.... Getting our money back on Gestede ( or thereabouts) was a major result cus he was blatantly shite

[AGRIPPA]

Not remotely good enough. Far too much going through Hutton when he can't deliver a ball in to save his life.

Because he is the only one offering himself....enough of the witch hunt on him... Yes he's crap but we have no better and he doesn't hide for all the stick he gets

[Des Little]

Shit. Again. Bruce has to start taking some of the blame here. There's no pattern to our play and the performances aren't improving

Green the only highlight for me

Does look really odd to have let gestede go. Not that I'm a fan but he's a bigger threat than gabby

Think we can give up on promotion this season and build for next

Yes I think.... Getting our money back on Gestede ( or thereabouts) was a major result cus he was blatantly shite

Well right now McCormack is no better and we'd do well to get a goldfish and a balloon off the tat man for him.

[AGRIPPA]

Shit. Again. Bruce has to start taking some of the blame here. There's no pattern to our play and the performances aren't improving

Green the only highlight for me

Does look really odd to have let gestede go. Not that I'm a fan but he's a bigger threat than gabby

Think we can give up on promotion this season and build for next

Yes I think.... Getting our money back on Gestede ( or thereabouts) was a major result cus he was blatantly shite

Well right now McCormack is no better and we'd do well to get a goldfish and a balloon off the tat man for him.

And the "now" manager has to deal with that and he has 3 weeks left to do it...

[Cliftonville Villain]

Totally underwhelmed by his appointment...but he has to be given time. He has inherited the worst Villa team in living memory as well as terrible DiMatteo signings. Agree though that McCormack's fitness is on his watch, and he keeps picking Agbonlahor, but he knows what he's doing. I'll judge him at season's end, we'll still be in this division, but we'll be in a better position to pass judgement. The malaise has to stop sometime, it's getting ridiculous now, but I do think we've bottomed out (even allowing for today's atrocity).

On another note, I watched Alexi Sanchez throw a strop today because he was taken off. That kind of passion is foreign to me these days because of the gutless, useless mercenaries we've had these last few years. I'd even settle for that now.

[QuintonVilla]

I agree, but I don't know how helpful McCormack is being in that regard. His movement is pedestrian at best.

It's a vicious circle. Gabby and McCormack weigh 60 stone combined and have got the movement of two oil tankers, but none of our midfielders can pass a ball so it doesn't matter.

Pinning our hopes on Grealish coming on to save us. Let's face it, he's a bit shit. Pull your socks up and stop gliding about the pitch because you've achieved nothing and done nothing. Arguably the most overrated player I've seen.

[PaulWinch again]

I think with the right system McCormack would be ok. He was trying to find space and move off the ball, but the others weren't reading it.

[AGRIPPA]

I agree, but I don't know how helpful McCormack is being in that regard. His movement is pedestrian at best.

It's a vicious circle. Gabby and McCormack weigh 60 stone combined and have got the movement of two oil tankers, but none of our midfielders can pass a ball so it doesn't matter.

Pinning our hopes on Grealish coming on to save us. Let's face it, he's a bit shit. Pull your socks up and stop gliding about the pitch because you've achieved nothing and done nothing. Arguably the most overrated player I've seen.

I think good players stand out in a poor team and great ones control games.....saddle for all the hype Grealish has never done either of these......a lovely player with the ball at his feet but so are hundreds of other players. He's had 5 managers ( mostly shite I must admit) that I recall and none have played him regularly.....

[AGRIPPA]

I think with the right system McCormack would be ok. He was trying to find space and move off the ball, but the others weren't reading it.

Too clever for the players around him perhaps??

[old man villa fan]

I am fed up with fans saying this player or that player at least tries.  There should be no sympathy in this game.  If you are not good enough to do the things you need to do in your position, you shouldn't be in the team.  Likewise, Bruce has been saying similar things about certain players putting effort in but I am not seeing good performances from this players, only mediocre at best.

Bruce has come out a couple of times and said that we will only bring in players that will improve the side.  Well, in my opinion, there are a number of positions that wouldn't take much to bring in players that would be a distinct improvement to the team.

I thought playing four midfield players strung out across the middle with the wide players stuck to the touchline had gone out with the dark ages.  Trying to use your fullbacks to create from wide positions just magnifies the error of this system.  Bacuna had a couple of decent games when he came back in as his energy added to the midfield but to play him wide left when he is so one-footed, doesn't give him a chance and becomes a liability to the team at times when he has to turn inside.

Playing Bacuna and Adamoh wide means that neither Jedinak of Tshibola can push forward through the middle as neither of the wide players are strong enough to drop inside to cover.

Quite a few have mentioned that performances have gone down since Calderwood arrived but I think this is just coincidence.  The performances have got worse the more Agbonlahor has appeared.  To the point where when he has started, we have looked terrible up front.  If you look at the replay of RM's miss, just look how far Agbonlahor was behind play.  Considering how far Amarvi ran with the ball before crossing, there is no excuse for him being so far behind play.

To compete in the middle of the field, we have to go back to three players in there and if Bruce wants us to create more, he has to go with a naturally wide player further forward supporting two players up front, one of which needs to have very good movement.

Bruce talks about not spending money for the sake of spending and I agree with this but he should be looking to use loans to fill key positions until the end of the season.  We are desperate for a strong central striker that can hold the play up.  There must be someone out there that we could get in on loan without having to spend a lot of money when promotion is far from certain.

I want to give Bruce time as we need stability but his apparent stubbornness is getting to me.

[DeKuip]

Is there a more boring team in the four divisions to watch away from home than us?
Apart from the second half at Brighton the football we've played away under Bruce has been about as dull as one of our sponsor's products.
It's not exactly inspiring to watch at home either but at least we do create the odd chance and even score some goals.