Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers Post-Match Thread

[Mister E]

Get behind a team who have just won 4 on the bounce rather than pick fault with them

I was at the game and got behind the team.
What I cannot fathom about yesterday's game was that our manager seemed unwilling to exploit his team's strengths - pace down the flanks - to beat a tall, physical side. We played with three wingers who saw relatively little of the game as the ball was repeatedly blasted down the throat of the oppo CB.
So, yes, I'll complain as often as I like; I'm fed up of watching mediocrity and unintelligent football.
Sorry to upset you, Clampy and others.

[not3bad]

As has been pointed out that is the kind of game we would not have won last season so I'm happy.

[dave shelley]

3 points and a win ..... thats what the records will show ...... at the end that is all that counts

Reading this it seems that most who are slagging the team off even state they were not at the game - to them get your backsides down to the ground and show support for the team

Referee was terrible ...seemed to want to be centre of attention as was shown in the first half when he over ruled an offside by the linesman - afraid the red card does look like a red to me

There will be games when we win like this and thats something we have not done in the past

The next month is vital some key games where points will be difficult to take

Get behind a team who have just won 4 on the bounce rather than pick fault with them

That second paragraph is very contemptuous LV for many reasons, I think you should retract it.

[olaftab]

I think we have to accept that we have a style now, and it's very similar to MON's with all its strengths and weaknesses - on our day, especially if we make an early breakthrough, we can rip through teams on the break, but if they dig in and we don't find our fluency (which is sort of up to luck more than design) we can make hard work of supposedly easy games. The important thing to do on those days is just fecking win - which we did, so it's all still to the good for now.

Yes I think you have precisely summed it up. It is also then important that we have players like Kodjia and hopefully Grealish who can do something extra-ordinary to open up rigid defensive teams. Yesterday I thought more enterprising substations would have been to keep Davis on with Hogan and replace Whelan with Onomah but....

[Chris Smith]

Get behind a team who have just won 4 on the bounce rather than pick fault with them

I was at the game and got behind the team.
What I cannot fathom about yesterday's game was that our manager seemed unwilling to exploit his team's strengths - pace down the flanks - to beat a tall, physical side. We played with three wingers who saw relatively little of the game as the ball was repeatedly blasted down the throat of the oppo CB.
So, yes, I'll complain as often as I like; I'm fed up of watching mediocrity and unintelligent football.
Sorry to upset you, Clampy and others.

I don't think it was quite as one dimensional as you suggest. Look at where our goals have come from this season and it contradicts the stereotype that we are a long ball team. Yesterday was an ugly game, perhaps a combination of tiredness in one or two players, an uncompromising opposition and an absolutely clueless referee. I think in those circumstances players do sometimes take the easy way out but more often I see it as trying to build from Davis holding the ball up.

[Clampy]

I said yesterday about 10 minutes in that we might have to be patient today and to be fair, I think the crowd possibly saw that as well and stuck with them. We'd have drawn that last season but we dug in because we had to.

[Villatillidie25]

I suspect not but is it possible to actual make an official complaint about the referee. Comfortably the most incompetent performance from an officiating team I've ever seen - the majority were against the Villa but not necessarily all of them so don't think it's claret and blue tinted glasses here.

[Mister E]

Get behind a team who have just won 4 on the bounce rather than pick fault with them

I was at the game and got behind the team.
What I cannot fathom about yesterday's game was that our manager seemed unwilling to exploit his team's strengths - pace down the flanks - to beat a tall, physical side. We played with three wingers who saw relatively little of the game as the ball was repeatedly blasted down the throat of the oppo CB.
So, yes, I'll complain as often as I like; I'm fed up of watching mediocrity and unintelligent football.
Sorry to upset you, Clampy and others.

I don't think it was quite as one dimensional as you suggest. Look at where our goals have come from this season and it contradicts the stereotype that we are a long ball team. Yesterday was an ugly game, perhaps a combination of tiredness in one or two players, an uncompromising opposition and an absolutely clueless referee. I think in those circumstances players do sometimes take the easy way out but more often I see it as trying to build from Davis holding the ball up.

I accept the points you've made, Chris. We certainly were not dynamic, and we faced an oppo that was determined to keep the score down any which way.

[Comrade Blitz]

Last year Bolton would've equalised AND gone ahead at the end.

The referee was crap (again)

[mr underhill]

we won, and as many others have said, last season we would have drawn .

[CT]

One thing about Bolton is that they have some spirit and plenty of fight. Similar to us in 2015/16, they're pretty hopeless, can't score, and lose most weeks.

The complete opposite of us that season however is that they scrap, battle, foul, hold, pull shirts and make it as uncomfortable for the opposition as possible. Chuck in an incompetent referee and they give themselves a chance.

Like most are saying, Wolves will now be very interesting.

[andyh]

I don’t get this, ‘we would have lost or drawn that game last season’.

We could lose, win or draw any game depending on the run of the game.

Had Sambas head not been in the way in the 94th minute, Bolton would have scored and the game would have been drawn, and then what we would we be saying?

[Matt Collins]

We won a lot of game last season despite not playing well

In isolation I'd be a bit concerned but on the back of the run we've had I wouldn't be inclined to read too much into one game

The next two will be much more telling

We need to be much fresher following the international break this time - even if it means resting first choice players

[sirlordbaltimore]

Had Sambas head not been in the way in the 94th minute, Bolton would have scored and the game would have been drawn, and then what we would we be saying?

If my Auntie had bollocks etc etc

[tomd2103]

As has been pointed out that is the kind of game we would not have won last season so I'm happy.

We went on quite a long run of winning games exactly like that at the end of last season.