Aston Villa v Ipswich Town Post-Match Thread

[Hookeysmith]

This clown will not see the season out.
Out thought by Mick Mccarthy ffs

[Ads]

He wasn't though was he? Ipswich capitalised on an unenforced error, where as we seem incapable of taking simple chances.

We didn't create anywhere near enough and that was down to an unnecessary system against a team not interested in doing anything but contain, but we should have been two up at half time and you can guarantee if Baker player for Ipswich, then we'd have shanked the goal line clearance into our own net.

We need a holding midfielder to get Lansbury 30 yards further up the pitch. At the moment that's Gardner.

[aj2k77]

McCarthy was always going to come here, give us a lot of the ball, defend solidly, come for the draw and hope for a mistake. I said it in the pre match thread and I know fuck all about football, so why Bruce played 5 at the back god only knows, someone tweet Mcgrath for the answer.

[SoccerHQ]

Didn't go yesterday....wasn't surprised at how dull the game looked given the two teams involved but losing that just sums us up doesn't it?

All the money....all these great new players (on paper) and yet we still have the same issues we did in August.

We lost against a mid table team that have wanted their manager out for months.

I really don't know what to say anymore....just get this season over and done with and hope the hope club has a brain transplant in the summer.

[postal]

Oh the shame and dignity.
But for a bit of luck, but you make your own luck
Promotion next season* once players who get paid oodles of mula gel to a team. 

*back to the premiership, not back to the championship

[anton hillman]

Steve Bruce was on TV last week (made in Birmingham, I think). His eyes said it all. You didn't need to be a psychologist to see that he currently feels that his job is beyond him. However, as I have seen many times in my working life people can recover from a lack of self belief. We have to give him time to get a grip of this club and all the new players. Another change of manager at this time could prove terminal for this club. It hasn't worked over the last six years and there is no guarantee a continuation of the management revolving door will change things. This season is effectively over and as long as we stay up, Bruce should be given the close season to bond this group of fairly talented players into a team.

[Lobsterboy]

Nine points behind Preston! Fucking Preston!

Steve Bruce you have not got a clue unfortunately - 5 at the back with 3 non footballing centre halves and two wing backs who are shit at getting forward - at home. To Ipswich. Ipswich!

Someone. Please. Make. It. Stop

[paul_e]

Steve Bruce was on TV last week (made in Birmingham, I think). His eyes said it all. You didn't need to be a psychologist to see that he currently feels that his job is beyond him. However, as I have seen many times in my working life people can recover from a lack of self belief. We have to give him time to get a grip of this club and all the new players. Another change of manager at this time could prove terminal for this club. It hasn't worked over the last six years and there is no guarantee a continuation of the management revolving door will change things. This season is effectively over and as long as we stay up, Bruce should be given the close season to bond this group of fairly talented players into a team.

Sorry but no, if anything over the last 6 years can be pinpointed as the single worst decision in that time it was, with hindsight, not getting rid of Lambert much sooner than we did.  If we'd fucked him off late in his 2nd season he'd have had no complaints and we'd not have signed the shit he picked up in that last summer or have given Gabby a new contract on the back of 2-3 half decent performances.  We would've been able to bring in someone new whilst we still had Delph and Benteke and the whole tactics tim thing would never have happened.

What that should show us is that if someone looks like they have no idea what they're doing and they just making it up as they go along sticking with them in hope and for stability isn't the answer.  Stibility is great if you're not heading in the wrong direction.  Stability because you're scared of the alternative is a whole different story.

[amfy]

In the pub after the game I said that it felt like we could sign Messi and Ronaldo and still be dreadful, and my companion said - it's worse than that, if we signed Messi and Ronaldo we'd get worse!
That's how it feels at the moment, it doesn't matter who we sign, or how good they are, we just keep getting worse.

I don't get how Bruce said he wanted to play 442 and was looking to make a couple of signings to enable that shape, explained exactly how those players would fit the bill, and then plays some weird 531 game against Ipswich at home? It makes no sense at all - I can't think where his head has gone in such a short time, or what problem he can see that is stopping us from doing that.

Maybe it'll happen once the new players have settled a bit, maybe by signing more players than he thought he would and upset the balance more than he intended and it'll take longer than he thought to get there. I can't see it.

That said, our longest standing new signing, Lansbury, has really started to look the part, so maybe the others will start to fit around him. Also, if you put a team out that creates 16 chances in the first half alone, with 2 proven goal scorers at this level up front, and restrict your opposition to 1 shot on target, then however unpretty it looked you've got to wonder what you've got to do to come away with the points!

It actually is like a curse - I cannot make any sense of it at all.

[Madferret62]

Nine points behind Preston! Fucking Preston!

Steve Bruce you have not got a clue unfortunately - 5 at the back with 3 non footballing centre halves and two wing backs who are shit at getting forward - at home. To Ipswich. Ipswich!

Someone. Please. Make. It. Stop

An utter funcknugget of a post. Is that because Preston don't "deserve" to be above Villa or is it that Villa are "Too big" to be in this mess? Am hoping that this great club sorts itself out and doesn't do a Leeds, Charlton etc etc , but playing the big club card is crass. Thanks for the four points. Oh and Fifty grand fifty grand Daniel Johnson....

[LukeJames]

Oh great, now were at the stage of smaller clubs fans (yeah, yeah you're above us, took four points off us blah, blah, blah) coming on here in post match threads that have nothing to do with them and getting all offended while  trying to tell us what to think and how to behave.

[anton hillman]

Steve Bruce was on TV last week (made in Birmingham, I think). His eyes said it all. You didn't need to be a psychologist to see that he currently feels that his job is beyond him. However, as I have seen many times in my working life people can recover from a lack of self belief. We have to give him time to get a grip of this club and all the new players. Another change of manager at this time could prove terminal for this club. It hasn't worked over the last six years and there is no guarantee a continuation of the management revolving door will change things. This season is effectively over and as long as we stay up, Bruce should be given the close season to bond this group of fairly talented players into a team.

Sorry but no, if anything over the last 6 years can be pinpointed as the single worst decision in that time it was, with hindsight, not getting rid of Lambert much sooner than we did.  If we'd fucked him off late in his 2nd season he'd have had no complaints and we'd not have signed the shit he picked up in that last summer or have given Gabby a new contract on the back of 2-3 half decent performances.  We would've been able to bring in someone new whilst we still had Delph and Benteke and the whole tactics tim thing would never have happened.

What that should show us is that if someone looks like they have no idea what they're doing and they just making it up as they go along sticking with them in hope and for stability isn't the answer.  Stibility is great if you're not heading in the wrong direction.  Stability because you're scared of the alternative is a whole different story.
[
We were in a different ownership situation when Lambert was here. Lambert was brought in not to produce successful football but to manage an investment at no net cost until the owner could get shut of it. Lambert who is essentially a good manager was never allowed to manage the club forward. Delph, Benteke and all other good players sold off would never have been kept at the club while Lerner was the owner, whoever was the manager. They were seen as balance sheet assets. The one principled individual in all of the last six years of calamity was O'Neill, who walked rather than carry out the sort of thing that Lambert was tasked with. We now have new and progressive ownership who I believe will see the benefit of supporting this manager by giving him time to rebuild the disastrous shambles that he has taken on.

[Chris Jameson]

Why bother signing up for another teams forum?

[TonyD]

You stick with a manager who might not be getting results but you can see what his vision is and you can see some evidence of progress.  Now the new manager bounce has gone,  the only direction we are going is Division Three.  Maximum 6 more games for me.   Is we are still a shambles in 6 games get shot.

[Richard E]

Why bother signing up for another teams forum?

Especially as dropping 2 points against this Villa team is hardly an achievement to shout from the rooftops.