Aston Villa v Newcastle Post Match Thread

[clash city rocker]

Talking to a geordie on the way back to New St. They are far from impressed by Bruce. His words were......just shows how ambitious our owner is when he appoints Bruce.

[boutrosboutrosgnarly]

Good performance and much needed 3 points.

Observations:

We ain’t going down when you have teams like Newcastle in the league – they were dire, really really shit.

Guilbert had a great game..

It’s time to call time on Wesley – the worst Villa striker I’ve seen in over 40 years.

Oh and Jack…well what a difference one man can make to the team.  Legend..

Worst striker in over 40 years? What a load of bollocks

[Flin5tone]

Really impressed tonight in all areas of the pitch. I thought Heaton was solid and made some nice saves,defence were more with it than in recent weeks , Hourihane & Jack were fantastic.  McGinn had a quiet one,El Ghazi fine and grabs another goal, sometimes think he comes in for some unfair criticism but keeps proving why he should be on the pitch.

Wesley is splitting opinion,I thought he played well but needs to stop moaning and get on with the game,should have scored but he is getting there and just needs time.

Atmosphere was ok but i'm finding celebrations when we score are now very flat , even in the Holte  ( VAR I guess?) 

Was hoping to get to Digbeth Dining Club but it was too busy so opted for some Chips from Ali Baba after the game instead


all round decent night

[SoccerHQ]

It was certainly muted after the second goal, think everyone saw AEG look to linesman after he scored and assumed it would get disallowed like the goals in previous home games.

[paul_e]

It was certainly muted after the second goal, think everyone saw AEG look to linesman after he scored and assumed it would get disallowed like the goals in previous home games.

He was very unsure, clearly got asked a couple of times and just shrugged.

[ktvillan]

I like Konsa and prefer him to Engels, he seems steadier. 

Grealish was very good generally but I still find him a bit frustrating, too often he had the chance to really run at the defence into the area and /or have a crack at goal and didn't back himself, laying it off instead.  If he can get past that he'll be some player.   

Mings was sloppy, not for the first time. 

Luiz gets caught on the ball too often and needs to sharpen up.

Hourihane really adds something with his set pieces. 

Heaton looked solid tonight and made some good saves.

Newcastle looked a typical Bruce side on a bad night.  As the song says "tonight thank God it's them instead of you"

[cdbearsfan]

Absolutely no need for that. Have a word with yourself.

[Risso]

Just home after the usual evening bollocks on the M6.

Jack was different class again last night, absolute Rolls Royce of as player.  They were really crap, apart from that Saint-Maximin who was lively throughout but with no end product. 

The defence were much improved, and I thought the midfield three all did well, mostly.  That was the most comfortable we've been all season, I never really thought for one second they'd get back into it.

[PeterWithesShin]

As the song says "tonight thank God it's them instead of you"

Best line in a song ever. Fact. Poignant and beautifully sung by someone who truly cares.

[cdbearsfan]

You've ruined my night. Feels like a defeat now. 🤬

[PeterWithesShin]

You've ruined my night. Feels like a defeat now. 🤬

You'll wake up tomorrow and because Villa won it will be a beautiful day.

[Colhint]

All these U2 puns, no need. Mind you I did get a U2 monoply game for Xmas, like normal monopoly but the streets had no name.

[Perthvillan]

Couldn't believe how deep they were in the first half.
It was like a training exercise attack v defence.
They got what they deserved with such negative tactics.
We should have won by more but three points and a clean sheet gives us a bit of breathing space to the relegation zone for now.
Just shows how we missed Jack since Man C game and how important he is to us.
Bring on Man U.

[The Edge]

Alan Hutton was fairly unambiguous in exposing Bruce's tactical limitations on 5Live after the game. He said:

"I just think the way Steve Bruce sets his teams up, there is such a big gap between the midfield and the striker, and that leaves him isolated, and it's difficult. You're really asking them to do something spectacular to score a goal"

and

"...this is the thing, everywhere Steve Bruce has went he's tried to play this formation, and even when he was at Villa he tried to make us play that formation. It didn't quite work out, he didn't get it going, but I just find it quite difficult, especially from a striker's point of view. Like I said, the gaps are that big it's very difficult to play that way."

Hope Hutton thought more highly of him when he played for him. Whatever you think of Alan Hutton as a footballer, sometimes his crosses were the only connection between the Villa forwards and the rest of the team. I still feel, however, that Bruce left us in a better place than when we were when he took the job.

I know that  it was a bit of a joke but why didn't he acknowledge the Villa fans when asked to give us a wave. It might have lessened some of the animosity.

Imagine the stick he would of got if he had waved to the Holte. "We wor 2-0 down and that twat was waving to the fuckin Villa fans"  It was a no win situation for him.

[Clampy]

Good win, thought the whole team played pretty well but there were some really decent performances from Jack, McGinn (some of his passing was great) and Targett, first half especially. The only disappointment was not scoring more than we did.