Aston Villa v Hull City post match thread.

[Ads]

Free flowing Fulham conceded a late equaliser

Free flowing Boro lost to the Dogheads.

Real Wednesday lost to Preston.

It happens, it would seem.

[pauliewalnuts]

Very good first half, poor 30 mins then good final 15 in the second.

Whelan was the best player in the pitch in the first half, he was involved in everything.

At half time you just knew we'd rue missed chances, and so we did.

[Taylor]

Thought we were nailed on championship winners in the first half, then we lost our way for 30 mins. I still think we are going up though, as long as Kodija comes back soon.

[cdbearsfan]

We were very good first half. We looked short of fitness second half. I'm not going to cry myself to sleep on the basis of one game.

Let's batter Colchester and get our first away league win at Caerdydd.

Mon you Lions.

[Pat McMahon]

First game and we can't judge the season on that. Things will be much clear after 10. Anyway today I thought it all started going wrong when Hull's limited but energetic midfield started running past Whelan with ease and Bacuna was not able to cover him. Bruce never spotted that and that is a worrying factor. Green added required energy and should have been on earlier and Bruce also needed to replace Whelan at the same stage. Having said that we should have still won it 2-1 but Green's heading is abysmal as has happened previously and again today. Everyday after training  he needs to stay back and get some practice in for an hour or so.

Pretty much my feelings Aftab. Generally a good first half with decent movement up front and we should have scored more than one. I finally saw that Hogan could be a good player if he has service though I still have doubts over him, particularly his touch and ability to hold onto the ball. But Hull started to come into it in the last 10 minutes and kept that momentum in the second half. It was around this point too that they worked out how to nullify the clearance to El Mohammady to flick on routine, though it obviously didn't stop us from pursuing it with no further success.

Whelan had been good in the first half but then started to make mistakes (stamina?) and we lacked any energy until Green came on. He made a difference but should have done better with his header.

Lansbury - I am still not sure what type of player he is. Watching from the Holte he has the look of Andy Carroll trying to get around the pitch.

It is only the first game of the season but I can sense a lot of frustration coming out very, very quickly if we don't get a few wins. 

And the atmosphere was very subdued.

[saunders_heroes]

Just seen the Green miss again. Christ what an absolute sitter.

[tomd2103]

First game and we can't judge the season on that. Things will be much clear after 10. Anyway today I thought it all started going wrong when Hull's limited but energetic midfield started running past Whelan with ease and Bacuna was not able to cover him. Bruce never spotted that and that is a worrying factor. Green added required energy and should have been on earlier and Bruce also needed to replace Whelan at the same stage. Having said that we should have still won it 2-1 but Green's heading is abysmal as has happened previously and again today. Everyday after training  he needs to stay back and get some practice in for an hour or so.

I agree that was a warning sign, but Bruce did not act.  We went through a fairly lengthy period at the start of the second half where we just couldn't get the ball.

[Des Little]

When are we ever going to cure this second goal syndrome? Until we do, we're fucked.

[Axl Rose]

First game and we can't judge the season on that. Things will be much clear after 10. Anyway today I thought it all started going wrong when Hull's limited but energetic midfield started running past Whelan with ease and Bacuna was not able to cover him. Bruce never spotted that and that is a worrying factor. Green added required energy and should have been on earlier and Bruce also needed to replace Whelan at the same stage. Having said that we should have still won it 2-1 but Green's heading is abysmal as has happened previously and again today. Everyday after training  he needs to stay back and get some practice in for an hour or so.

Pretty much my feelings Aftab. Generally a good first half with decent movement up front and we should have scored more than one. I finally saw that Hogan could be a good player if he has service though I still have doubts over him, particularly his touch and ability to hold onto the ball. But Hull started to come into it in the last 10 minutes and kept that momentum in the second half. It was around this point too that they worked out how to nullify the clearance to El Mohammady to flick on routine, though it obviously didn't stop us from pursuing it with no further success.

Whelan had been good in the first half but then started to make mistakes (stamina?) and we lacked any energy until Green came on. He made a difference but should have done better with his header.

Lansbury - I am still not sure what type of player he is. Watching from the Holte he has the look of Andy Carroll trying to get around the pitch.

It is only the first game of the season but I can sense a lot of frustration coming out very, very quickly if we don't get a few wins. 

And the atmosphere was very subdued.

I agree with both of you, guys. Am looking forward to watching some matches with you in a foreign land sometime soon.

[VinnieChase84]

The Achilles heal that Bruce talks about is same as usual. It cannot be coincidence that as soon as we go 1-0 up we retreat and try and hold on for for the result. Issue with this when we go 1-0 down, we won't win that game. It has to be down to coaching/management? Cannot be coincidence.
We could all see what was going to happen second half, Bruce has to take responsibility to try and change the game when we can all see we are on the back foot. All subs are reactive and then throw of dice moves.
Picking Bacuna over Hourihane is ridiculous, especially considering the natural balance CH would bring to the midfield.
Thought Lansbury got into some good positions 1st half and if more composed could have scored. 2nd half he ran out of gas.
We are still crying out for a player like Jota at Brentford, really hope we see a couple of new additions before the months out.

[Ads]

We didn't retreat and try and defend a 1 goal lead.

[lukey27]

I personally thought there was a nice shape about us first half. Last year too often that lone front man was too isolated. Yesterday  (in the first half) Lansbury joined in nicely and looked v effective.

We should have been comfortably ahead which makes the fact we didn't kick on second half even more frustrating.

But conveniently forgetting the first half didn't happen or ignoring the number of positives to suit an agenda is wrong.

If Bruce doesn't get us up this year, he knows he'll be gone. He understands the expectations. A few tweaks and that formation could be incredibly effective for us this season but we do need to start putting chances away. If ever a club needed a few comfortable wins to get it going, it would be us.

[The_ads]

You could layer that performance over about 15 from last season and they'd all be the same. What is really starting to get on my tits is the fact we signed one of the championships best midfield players last year and since Jan he can't get a game. Not only that but we appear to be playing a guy who was part of our worst sides for 30 years over him.

[Marlon From Bearwood]

So many individuals faded badly in the second half it does make you wonder if we're still not fit enough.

We could all see that changes were needed after 55 minutes but as per usual Bruce leaves the substitutions until the last 20 minutes.  He's just too cautious IMO.

Finally, how many goals do we concede due to defenders (e.g. Hutton) being dragged out of position? Three defenders move towards the ball leaving their player completely unmarked to score. (Hull's defence did the same on our goal too).

[robbo1874]

Not really bothered about the result first game of the season and I have to say I didn't see it, but sounds like the same old Villa story of a game of two halves.

Hopefully Bruce will get his shit together sooner or later, it is still a worry though that we can't put teams to the sword when we are on top.