Bristol City v Aston Villa post-match thread

[ASHTONVILLA]

Was not happy with the change to three central defenders, and it didn't work at all.

However in fairness to Bruce he did what he often doesn't and changed tactics to deal with it. We looked much better after that and had enough chances to have won it. Last season we would have lost that, it is promising to see us respond to going a goal down.

Not great but some positives. Just annoyed he started with such a daft formation change.

[dave.woodhall]

Or maybe it's someone with a different perspective.

[SoccerHQ]

I was just countering the Bristol City are a very good side line just because the pass the ball around o.k. They had 20 goals from Abraham last season and nearly went down, don't see them finishing top half this season with what they have.

Edit: Only side to lose to SHA in the league this season aswell.

[Monty]

Or maybe it's someone with a different perspective.

And not a bad point. You can say a lot about (most of) the players, but they do seem in the main happy and honoured to be at the club.

[Matt Collins]

I was just countering the Bristol City are a very good side line just because the pass the ball around o.k. They had 20 goals from Abraham last season and nearly went down, don't see them finishing top half this season with what they have.

Edit: Only side to lose to SHA in the league this season aswell.

I think they'd won five from seven at home or something like that

I was hoping for a win, definitely. And we do need to go to places like that and win on a regular basis

But as I said earlier it will be a decent point if we stack up some wins either side of it, and another missed opportunity if we don't

[Ads]

There was a huge difference this year to conceding and last year. The more I think about it the more of an improvement it was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

[ChicagoLion]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

[Clampy]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

[dave.woodhall]

Or maybe it's someone with a different perspective.

And not a bad point. You can say a lot about (most of) the players, but they do seem in the main happy and honoured to be at the club.

And that in itself is a point, because for all that Benteke was the most consistently complete target man I've ever seen at the Villa, he never seemed to give the impression that we were anything but a staging post for his next big move.

[ChicagoLion]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Sure, Even you must admit, that decisions seems bonkers.

[Monty]

Or maybe it's someone with a different perspective.

And not a bad point. You can say a lot about (most of) the players, but they do seem in the main happy and honoured to be at the club.

And that in itself is a point, because for all that Benteke was the most consistently complete target man I've ever seen at the Villa, he never seemed to give the impression that we were anything but a staging post for his next big move.

Yeah, it's not that he has no feeling for the club - I'm sure he's fond enough of us - more that it's plain we were playing a role in his career that many clubs do now.

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Indeed, in the same way as you can acknowledge when he does something right even if you're still not at all convinced.

[Clampy]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Sure, Even you must admit, that decisions seems bonkers.

What, you mean the five at the back in the first half?

[ChicagoLion]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Sure, Even you must admit, that decisions seems bonkers.

What, you mean the five at the back in the first half?

Yes, genius or bonkers?

[Clampy]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Sure, Even you must admit, that decisions seems bonkers.

What, you mean the five at the back in the first half?

Yes, genius or bonkers?

I didn't have a problem with him trying it but it didn't  seem to suit us at all.

[tomd2103]

was, just such a folly to have hamstrung ourselves for 40 minutes.

And this is where I don't understand the support for Bruce.
How do you explain that decision?

You can be critical of what he does from time to time whilst still backing him.

Sure, Even you must admit, that decisions seems bonkers.

What, you mean the five at the back in the first half?

Yes, genius or bonkers?

I didn't have a problem with him trying it but it didn't  seem to suit us at all.

I just didn't see the need to try it to be honest.  The previous two games had been a step forward, so why not just try and build on that rather than change things again?  I could understand it if we had been going in to it on the back of a couple of poor results. 

It's the signals that it sent out that concerned me as well.  Without wishing to sound arrogant, I want the manager of Aston Villa to be going into a second tier game against Bristol City and not changing the formation to a safety first approach.