Aston Villa vs Sandwell Town Pre-Match Thread

[Tugby Villain]

Twitter has been absolute shitpit of self-loathing as far as Villa are concerned recently.  Absolutely everything is the fault of the fans, and the 3-3 comeback against Sheff U was because all of the moaners left the ground when their 3rd goal went in.

In fairness, the unrelenting misery of the old guys around me really has me contemplating whether to bother or not, and I haven't missed a match since 2006.  I get that it's crap at the moment, but the torrent of abuse whenever someone misplaces a pass or a player makes a mistake is just unneccessary.  The guy opposite me genuinely told Smith to 'fuck off and die' when Sheffield scored the other week.  Too many people seem to enjoy being miserable.

[dave.woodhall]

On Judgement Day I expect to be cast into the fiery furnace for all eternity for saying, and these were my exact words, "Terry Weir is just a daft old fool with a camera". The fact that before that I said, "The biggest mistake anyone at Villa Park can make is to think," will cut no ice with the celestial jury.

[andyh]

The general assumption is that the club has stated that we ‘do not NEED’ to be promoted this year.
They even said it during commentary in the Brentford game.
Misconception or not, it’s what is in the public domain now.

[dave.woodhall]

The general assumption is that the club has stated that we ‘do not NEED’ to be promoted this year.
They even said it during commentary in the Brentford game.
Misconception or not, it’s what is in the public domain now.

Fine by me. Saying we don't need to go up is saying we don't have a problem with either FFP or missing out on the Premier League money tree.

[andyh]

Oh, I agree Dave, i’ll take not being beholden the the premier league monster any day of the week.
I just think it’s a strange coincidence that our drop off in form seems to have happened when that became known.

[Sexual Ealing]

I wonder whether 3-4-3 might be worth trying.

           Hutton - Mings - Elphick
   Elmo - McGinn - Whelan - Hourihane
           El-Ghazi - Tammy - Kodjia

Good idea in principle however Hutton gets caught out of position so often that we’d spend much of the match with only 2 defenders.

Oh, MfB, you've fallen into my tactical trap. In that instance Elmo retreats to fullback, Whelan channels Kante and Hutton becomes the false Pirlo that we all know to be his destiny.

[Villatillidie1982]

The deadwood and loan players need to be be cleared out. Smith should try the youngsters after tomorrow. What happened to Davis, O'Hare and RHM? Forget promotion next season and plan for the future. Short termism has been a problem at Villa for many years.

[Risso]

I think the problem is that whatever formation you try, a midfield 3 or 4 with Whelan and Hollowman is never, ever going to be good enough.

[Sexual Ealing]

I think the problem is that whatever formation you try, a midfield 3 or 4 with Whelan and Hollowman is never, ever going to be good enough.

That's 100% true, but then if we accept that it makes the incessant wailing about them in the absence of anyone better a bit silly (we're all guilty).

[dave.woodhall]

Oh, I agree Dave, i’ll take not being beholden the the premier league monster any day of the week.
I just think it’s a strange coincidence that our drop off in form seems to have happened when that became known.

That's a bit like the Dad's Army episode when Jones reckons the platoon shot down a German plane and Walker replied, "Either us or the two Spitfires behind him". Maybe an offhand remark by a director did cause a load of professional footballers to drop their form. Or maybe it was losing the best midfielder and defender in the league. Who knows?

[Damo70]

The deadwood and loan players need to be be cleared out. Smith should try the youngsters after tomorrow. What happened to Davis, O'Hare and RHM? Forget promotion next season and plan for the future. Short termism has been a problem at Villa for many years.

Short termism is the way it is in football in this country and the world in general. How much money did Alex Ferguson throw around at Manchester United in the seven years it took him to win the title? How many of the fans, directors or pundits suggested he waited for the youngsters to come through? And how often do that amount of youngsters with that amount of talent actually come through?

[KRS]

The deadwood and loan players need to be be cleared out. Smith should try the youngsters after tomorrow. What happened to Davis, O'Hare and RHM? Forget promotion next season and plan for the future. Short termism has been a problem at Villa for many years.

Davis has been injured all season, and both O'Hare and RHM are out on loan.

[Ads]

Edited as ironically, there's no context to this post.

[ADVILLAFAN]

It still isn't a proper derby, I don't wake up feeling sick about the game. We were much the better team at their place, but have been poor since Grealish has been out. I'd like us to try Green in attacking midfield, as West Brom look a slow at the back.

[McGraths Dry Cleaning]

Looking forward to this. I've bought 8 (yes 8!!) tickets for this game. My 7 year old plays in the local team and 2 of his team mates are coming to their first ever Villa match (one is Villa already the other is not committed). The Villa fan couldn't sleep last night apparently. I told his Mum he won't be able to sleep after seeing how we play!

Hoping for a good game - the 4-3 with Tekkers scoring a winning pen in the Holte is one of my favourites.