Aston Villa v Preston: Pre-match Thread

[AsTallAsLions]

That's that Villa luck we all remember so well. Just poking its head innocuously above the parapets to whisper, "Hey there fuckers. Did you miss me?"

[SoccerHQ]

We beat this lot at their place without too much fuss 3 months ago or so and without Grealish in the side.  Have they improved immeasurably?

They didn't have any senior defenders available that night, they were all injured or suspended.

[Matt Collins]

I think I might try Grabban on the left wing

A bit of a square peg in a round hole, and means creativity needs to come from elsewhere. But he’s got pace and a threat. And I can envisage Snodgrass crossing an in swinger to the back post for him to score the only goal of the game

[Clampy]

I think I might try Grabban on the left wing

A bit of a square peg in a round hole, and means creativity needs to come from elsewhere. But he’s got pace and a threat. And I can envisage Snodgrass crossing an in swinger to the back post for him to score the only goal of the game

I think he has played out wide before and it would save us having to move Snodgrass over from the right again.

[Ads]

Bring Lansbury central and then Thor or Jedi.

[QuintonVilla]

28,000 tickets sold according to Twitter. We've lost 12,000 fans in 9 days. Only come to see the Small Heath...

[SoccerHQ]

This will be our lowest home attendance in the run in. I expect the others to be mid to high 30s.

[PeterWithesShin]

28,000 tickets sold according to Twitter. We've lost 12,000 fans in 9 days. Only come to see the Small Heath...

Difference is there won't be 10K away fans in the home stands tomorrow.

[Toronto Villa]

28,000 tickets sold according to Twitter. We've lost 12,000 fans in 9 days. Only come to see the Small Heath...

Or how about it's a Tuesday night vs Preston who won't fill their allocation. A lot of people simply can't afford to go, especially those who also travel away. We had something like 7000 at Fulham (if reports are accurate). Our support is outstanding, so suggesting otherwise is bollocks.

[Matt Collins]

I really think the crowd has a massive role to play

I’m expecting a flat atmosphere and boring game tomorrow so hopefully I can be proven wrong

[Toronto Villa]

I really think the crowd has a massive role to play

I’m expecting a flat atmosphere and boring game tomorrow so hopefully I can be proven wrong

They do, but in the end it is the job of the team to raise the noise level in the ground. That 28k-20k whatever is Villa will make a great noise if given good reason too. Preston are decent but there is no reason for us not to feel confident about tomorrow. One defeat vs Fulham shouldn't be enough to knock us off our stride.

[PeterWithesShin]

While we, rightly, think getting 28K is a bit crap, Black Country Barcelona are giving each other tongue baths about averaging just under 28K and talking about how they need a 40K+ capacity.

[QuintonVilla]

I really think the crowd has a massive role to play

I’m expecting a flat atmosphere and boring game tomorrow so hopefully I can be proven wrong

They do, but in the end it is the job of the team to raise the noise level in the ground. That 28k-20k whatever is Villa will make a great noise if given good reason too. Preston are decent but there is no reason for us not to feel confident about tomorrow. One defeat vs Fulham shouldn't be enough to knock us off our stride.

It is down to the fans to lift the players sometimes aswell. Leeds yesterday is a perfect example, 0-2 down and suddenly the fans started singing and the ground was rocking. You could visibly see the players got a lift from it and started to feed off it. Drew 2-2 and should have won in the end.

[Brassneck]

28,000 tickets sold according to Twitter. We've lost 12,000 fans in 9 days. Only come to see the Small Heath...

Or how about it's a Tuesday night vs Preston who won't fill their allocation. A lot of people simply can't afford to go, especially those who also travel away. We had something like 7000 at Fulham (if reports are accurate). Our support is outstanding, so suggesting otherwise is bollocks.

I think the point being made was that these people always seem to be able to afford to go to the Blues game. I think our support is good, not outstanding. 28,000 is slightly disappointing given there is no home game this Saturday or last Saturday. I can understand it when we are at home on the Saturday and then again on the Tuesday but that isn't the case for the Preston game.

Burton had a similar amount of fans present 2 weeks ago to what Preston will have tomorrow night. We got 33,000 for that game.

[SoccerHQ]

Saturday matches will also be more popular than midweeks.

We only got 33k for the midweek SHA cup game after all.