All conquering Aston Villa 1-0 QPR

[Des Little]

No highlights?

1.  The pre match Guinness
2.  The goal
3.  The final whistle

[villa `cross the mersey]

After a turbulent last few months Jnr and I came down last night - we thought it would cheer us up.
We spent a few hours "knocking around Brum" - i.e. showing Jnr where I spent my childhood and youth etc .
The much looked forward to pre-match Balti pie and chips were as "enjoyable" as ever and we got in the ground for a pre-match drink and to soak up the "atmosphere"
What followed can only be described as mind numbing (aside from the well taken goal).
I feel for all those loyal fans who have suffered that football all this season - ok we are not conceding and the points are being racked up, however the basics seem to be lacking - ie there is no strong holding midfielder, creative mid fielder  - the control of the ball following a pass is woeful from most of the team, there seems to be an inability to pass the ball more than 4 times - the final pass going short on most occasions.
Hopefully we can finish the season on a high with a few more wins and no defeats - regroup in the summer and bring in an experienced keeper, an energetic lively mid fielder, a creative midfielder and a decent winger.
Finally did anyone else experience the difficulty heading back north last night? I ended up going via Tamworth and the A5 joining the M6 at Cannock -there were road works on M6, M5, A5, M62,M57 !!

[DB]

The build up and the goal were excellent

[papa lazarou]

however the basics seem to be lacking - ie there is no strong holding midfielder, creative mid fielder  - the control of the ball following a pass is woeful from most of the team, there seems to be an inability to pass the ball more than 4 times - the final pass going short on most occasions.

That sums it up nicely for me vctm. It was a great result, a fine goal and the defence were magnificent but Bruce must be aware that we need someone to control the game and dictate. It doesn't appear that Lansbury or Hourihane are that type and Bacuna is similar in style. When we are under pressure we should be able to string a number of passes together and create openings instead of one or two and then a hopeful pass forward.

[WarszaVillan]

I feel for all those loyal fans who have suffered that football all this season - ok we are not conceding and the points are being racked up, however the basics seem to be lacking - ie there is no strong holding midfielder, creative mid fielder  - the control of the ball following a pass is woeful from most of the team, there seems to be an inability to pass the ball more than 4 times - the final pass going short on most occasions.

The one thing we do have is a strong holding midfielder. Jedinak is proving to be as important to our team as Kodjia is.

My one abiding memory of this game will be the reminder that Andy Blair is the worst co-commentator ever in the history of radio.

[Lobsterboy]

It's not great football in a piss poor division but after five years or more of being absolutely bloody rubbish I am loving us being hard to beat and winning a few games - makes coming to work the next day so much more enjoyable!

UTV

[UK Redsox]

Finally did anyone else experience the difficulty heading back north last night? I ended up going via Tamworth and the A5 joining the M6 at Cannock -there were road works on M6, M5, A5, M62,M57 !!

M6 North, M5 South and parts of the M42 were all shut last night.

I dropped some friends off in Bournville after the game, so went straight through town and down the Bristol road. I was surprised at the lack of traffic.

That's a route that I might be using again the the future because it's only going to get worse on the M5 thanks to this........

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/m5-roadworks-misery-two-years-12171093

[ktvillan]

I went along for the first time in a while last night.  The first 5-10 minutes were great, an excellent goal, hit the woodwork and some other promising play and good football.  It had me wondering if the long awaited hiding we've supposedly been due to give someone would finally materialise.  Unfortunately it was gradually and then rapidly downhill after that. 

The second half must rate as one of the poorest displays I've witnessed even in these straitened times.  We couldn't seem to control, pass or hold on to the ball at all for long periods of it, and the decision making for passes was abject.  The worst area was down our left where from about the 60th minute onwards Bacuna, Amavi and Taylor contrived to screw up just about every touch.  Yet we still managed to make more clear cut chances than QPR, who had zero cutting edge - luckily for us.  On the plus side the two centre backs played well and looked solid, and Johnstone looked untroubled except  for a couple of dodgy back passes from Taylor and a couple of occasions when he weirdly chose to punch easily catchable balls.  But I was most impressed with Jedinak who seemed to put in one tackle and interception after another.  OK he got caught out once or twice but generally thought he was excellent, even made a few good passes forward.   Most disappointing was Lansbury who takes a decent corner but didn't really contribute a great deal else - but at least he's not Westwood or Gardner.   Bruce waited too long to change things when it was obvious we were struggling and I thought it was a bit desperate looking bringing on Elphick to try and hold on for the added time. 

Finally a quick mention for Hutton.  I'm one his biggest critics and usually think of him as a waste of space.   I thought he looked ok last night, not great, but just about competent at this level.  He does still look as though he's only just able to cope, and often reminds me of a drowning man just about keeping his head above water.     

Overall it's nor easy to see how that team has won all but one of the last 7 or 8 games and only conceded once.  The amount of possession we give away cheaply would see any decent side bury us I think.

[Keeno]

I feel for all those loyal fans who have suffered that football all this season - ok we are not conceding and the points are being racked up, however the basics seem to be lacking - ie there is no strong holding midfielder, creative mid fielder  - the control of the ball following a pass is woeful from most of the team, there seems to be an inability to pass the ball more than 4 times - the final pass going short on most occasions.

The one thing we do have is a strong holding midfielder. Jedinak is proving to be as important to our team as Kodjia is.

My one abiding memory of this game will be the reminder that Andy Blair is the worst co-commentator ever in the history of radio.

Agree on how vital Jedinak is, for all his faults. We've won 7 from 8 since he came back, it's no coincidence.

[PeterWithesShin]

He played against Newcastle so since his return we've won

[paul_e]

For me we have a solid centre to the defence with Baker, Chester and Jedinak (who is an advanced central defender rather than a defensive midfielder) which is enough to get you plenty of clean sheets in this league if you have full backs who can hold their position and 2-3 midfielders who work back and press the ball in our final third.  We also have the best striker in the league which means he can make things happen (7 of our 11 goals in the this run are from kodjia, that's a frightening reliance on one player) and convert clean sheets into victories.  For now it's enough but we need to add to that between now and August if we want to really hit the ground running next season and push for automatic promotion.  We have some tougher games coming up and the results and performances in those will be very telling in my opinion.

[Risso]

He played against Newcastle so since his return we've won

So, seven of nine you say?

[PeterWithesShin]

Since Bruce arrived our league record when Jedinak starts is W14 D4 L5. Our record without him is W0 D1 L5. Which is QI, possibly.

[Keeno]

He played against Newcastle so since his return we've won

Very good

[andyaston]

The game was almost the same as Brentford at home early in the season. A Tuesday night game, Kodjia scores a cracker into the North Stand net, we are on top for a few minutes, then we allow the opposition to grow into the game. In the second half we retreat in a manner similar to Dunkirk, we can't string any passes together and seem to leave Kodjia totally isolated. We spend the rest of the game camped on the edge of our 18 year line longing for the full time whistle...

However, last night we didn't concede the usual late gutting goal to end our evening.

Why is this? Well for the first time in ages we have a manager who knows how to organise a defense.