Victorious Aston Villa v Derby Post Match Thread.

[SoccerHQ]

29% possession at home is not the way to succeed long term, but the win was all that was required today.

The possession stat means fuck all, only one stat counts and that is the 1-0 stat.

Obviously in a one off game that's true, but as I thought I made pretty clear long term if we're having less than 30% of the the possession we'll probably struggle.

Yep it was the same when we won that game at Southampton a few seasons back at Southampton under Lambert with 20% or something ridiculous low.

It's just not sustainable to win every week if we can't learn to control games.

[London Villan]

The confidence the win will give them is important. We never make it easy though.

[Ian.]

Surely a lot of this possession is also frame of mind. We sat very deep and dug in for the last 20-25 minutes mainly due to the run we're on. That's a lot of possession to give away. We need to take control early and take our chances and build confidence. We need to get away from this panic near the end of each half.

[charleeco7]

Pretty dire at times but a much needed win and watching Bruce jump up and down going crazy at times at least shows he gives a monkeys. Positives from today are Bacuna (up until his sending off), Green when he got the ball looked our biggest threat, Hutton had another good game and Chester was superb.

We still don't play as a team but the building blocks are there.

[Risso]

I thought the second half was mostly quite decent.  What possession there was consisted of some nice crisp passing between the midfield.  Not one of our most terrible performances by a long way.

[Percy McCarthy]

29% possession at home is not the way to succeed long term, but the win was all that was required today.

The possession stat means fuck all, only one stat counts and that is the 1-0 stat.

Obviously in a one off game that's true, but as I thought I made pretty clear long term if we're having less than 30% of the the possession we'll probably struggle.

All depends if you are set up to play on the break, MON won plenty of games with the team set up to play on the break, then people were constantly moaning about possession stats every time even when we won.

Maybe I'm forgetting, but I thought our home form under O'Neill was one of our biggest problems.

First-world problems.

[PeterWithe]

A very welcome three points.

Unfortunately the performance addressed few of the questions about our ability to compete at the top end of the table in the future. The last 20 mins were truly inept and I fear a team in better form than Derby would have run up a cricket score. Still you have to start somewhere.

I admire the defensive performance today but I am beginning to question if Bruce will ever be the man to unlock the creative forward talent we have paid big money for. A disjointed and lethargic midfield and attack that rarely looked like opening up Derby.

Still, better than last time out but more questions than answers for me.

[Chris Jameson]

For all it was a poor match and there's the all important possession stat that people bang on about, we could have been four up before Derby dominated the final 20 minutes. I thought the defence were great, Hutton had the best game i've seen him have and can Lansbury take all the corners and free kicks please?

Bacuna deserved the red, he appeared to barge the linesman. Kodjia really irritates me, so many attacks broke down thanks to him and get sick of him pretending to be injured.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

It's just not sustainable to win every week if we can't learn to control games.

i thought we looked fine first half, the best we've looked for some time. What worries me is once again we look like a completely different team second half. As soon as the opposition manager switches it around we have no idea what to do. It was so predictable, we got deeper and deeper and were grateful to see out the game with all points. It felt like watching some lower league club in the cup hang on for their lives and manage the giant kill.

All this against a Derby side that had one shot on target all game though admittedly Bent just needed a touch on a few occasions to have knocked one in. Both our full backs did well to prevent more crosses coming into the box but what was really disappointing was how we looked like we had no ideas of our own. The subs were strange yet again and how Bruce can finish a game playing 4-6-0 at Villa Park is beyond me. It was like the ghost of Alec McLeish on a bad day had returned to haunt Villa Park. Horrible.

There were positives to take from the game but I more and more get the feeling we're our own worst enemy.

[PeterWithe]

I thought one of our weaknesses today was the amount of crosses we let them get in.

[DeKuip]

I thought the second half was mostly quite decent.  What possession there was consisted of some nice crisp passing between the midfield. Not one of our most terrible performances by a long way.

Offering a bag of Smokey Bacon around is about all they must be doing in training as well.

[PeterWithe]

I floated a theory in the pub afterward that maybe one of our problems is that Kodja can undoubtedly hold the ball up but the midfield don't trust him to lay it off quickly enough or at all so don't advance to support him as quickly as they might. That makes us look ponderous.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I thought one of our weaknesses today was the amount of crosses we let them get in.

True but it could have been far worse. Almost everything they did came from the flanks from two of their best players.

[Meanwood Villa]

The three points were absolutely key today but it was another poor performance. An equaliser seemed inevitable from around 75 mins but thankfully never came. Onwards.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I floated a theory in the pub afterward that maybe one of our problems is that Kodja can undoubtedly hold the ball up but the midfield don't trust him to lay it off quickly enough or at all so don't advance to support him as quickly as they might. That makes us look ponderous.

Don't get me started on Kodja. Let's just say he might no be available for the Bristol game due to jet lag following his nomination as Best Male Actor at tomorrow nights Oscars.