Southampton 1 Aston Villa 0 Post Match weekend ruined again thread

[Pat McMahon]

Even living in London I only got home at 1am given the glorious transport infrastructure in this sceptered isle and couldn’t summon up the nerdy to post on here.

Another poor start to a game, with a lot of players who look poor, but if I’m being charitable are just low on confidence. They really hurt us down the right and we were second to every loose ball - every opponent seems more athletic than us this season.

They just seemed well coached, more aggressive and faster. McGinn and Nakamba both terrible, with McGinn notably playing some awful passes. Opponents have worked out his default trick of rolling players with his arse and he lost possession too easily on many occasions.

I thought Buendia was our best player, along with Martinez, and AEG showed moments of danger, but also should have had at least one more yellow. Most of the rest were poor to shite. The substitutions made us consecutively worse and the front 4 chasing hoofs from our new playmaker, Martinez, brought back memories of the Bradford semi final. That tactic made me think that Smith is losing it, though the effort from the players in the second half showed he hasn’t lost them. Yet.

The players were booed off at half time and I can’t comment on full time as had to leave in the 95th minute to get to the coach station. We were chatting to other Villa fans on the coach and I reckon the feeling is 50:50 that Smith will go.

One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.

[Pat McMahon]

Just read Marlon’s post and hope it doesn’t deter you from going.

[CT Villan]

What was far more alarming for me was in the build-up to their goal we had no midfield support anywhere near the ball and the defence was stretched too...

[click the pics to see properly]

[LukeJames]

Yeah the positioning of the midfield is all wrong there, especiallly so early in the game. Also not letting the ball bounce is one of the first things defenders are supposedly taught.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.

Very good point. Of the 139 games Dean has managed at Villa, he's only recorded 28 draws (55 wins, 56 defeats).

[cdbearsfan]

Yeah the failure to recover from losing positions is definitely a stick to beat him with. It wasn't so vital at the start of last season when we tended to take the lead, but it's a fairly disastrous trait now.

[Steve67]

One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.

Very good point. Of the 139 games Dean has managed at Villa, he's only recorded 28 draws (55 wins, 56 defeats).

It's a useful stat until we remember that many of those wins were probably from the Championship? Including the famous ten on the trot, so actually, it's not a particularly great record overall.

[oldhill_avfc]

Relegation. And I’m Smith in.

I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.

It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.

Honest question,

If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?

I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.

For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.

Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.

Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.

Thank you

[Brazilian Villain]

One final point is that since Smith came we have a weak underbelly. If we concede first we almost always lose, never mind get a draw. There is not enough toughness in the squad and that is a real concern as we’ll need a lot of that in the coming months.

The stat on the Beeb last night was that we'd won one of the last 70 games when trailing at half-time (which was the 2-1 home win v Watford in Jan 2020).

[ChicagoLion]

Relegation. And I’m Smith in.

I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.

It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.

Honest question,

If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?

I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.

For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.

Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.

Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.

Thank you

it’s not 5 games though, is it ?

[LukeJames]

Yeah for me that's all very noble, but that attitude see's us relegated with pats on the back. Fuck that.

[amfy]

Relegation. And I’m Smith in.

I don't know what that says about you as a so called Villa fan then.

It says I’ve been a villa fan all my life, but I believe that changing the manager every time we hit a rough patch never solves anything. But I expect you will quote how many posts you have made on this forum has justification of your superior sopport.

Honest question,

If it were Garde, di Matteo or Bruce this far into the season and serving up this sort of football/results.. would that change your opinion?

I wasn’t impressed or inspired at any point today. That’s the most worrying thing to me. Unable to get the ball into Ollie, weak on the wings and silly fouls.. it just has to get better at some point.

For me, If Garde or Di Matteo or Bruce had got us promoted in a breathtaking & unforgettable winning streak in a season we’d already written off, kept us up, then consolidated, I think I’d wait more than 5 games after I’d been singing their name after winning at Old Trafford & looking like we were heading for Europe - yes.

Everyone keeps saying there’s no room for sentiment - what’s the actual point of supporting Villa instead of Chelsea or Man City then? I support Villa because it’s a story, a journey not a destination. The problem is, all the money swilling around the game makes detours on that journey into disasters, but I choose to step back from that because that’s not the game I fell in love with. For me supporting Villa is all about sentiment, & a sense of belonging that was epitomised by having one of our own at the helm - so maybe he does get a bit more leverage, but for me there’s nothing wrong with that.

Expressed better than I ever could - I completely agree.

Thank you

it’s not 5 games though, is it ?

5 games since Old Trafford I said.
At that point we were happy. We were laughing at Danny Murphy for not understanding why we had a set piece coach, Dean was nominated for Manager of the month for September. We weren’t looking back and saying it was all down to Jack then we’re we? ..or including last season in our calculation of how well things were going? Before 5 games ago we thought things were shaping up pretty well.


......& if relegation happens it won’t be with a ‘pat on the back’ but that’s a very long way off. I think sacking or not sacking him now is potentially the difference between a high and low finish. Sacking or not sacking him at the turn of the year, if things are still rough, is the difference between staying up & relegation.

[ROBBO]

It's not just this run of bad games though is it? throughout his tenure we have seen many bad runs, the difference being that in the past it was usually because Grealish was injured, there is no Grealish to come back in and save him this time. The backroom structure has changed and DS looks as if he has run out of ideas. My worry is that losing becomes a habit and if we may wait too long to change.

[brontebilly]

Sorry to hear about the trouble last night. There was a nasty punch up at The Emirates on the concourse at half time as well, in which a steward got hurt. Unfortunately, it appeared to be the usual pissed up, coked up suspects who I remember from years ago, now pathetic middle aged men. Absolute dregs who shouldn't be getting tickets to follow our team away from home. Embarrassing and just sad.

How do they keep getting tickets?

[amfy]

& he’s come out the other side of all of the others….. but there’s a Smith Out thread if you want to carry on this conversation. I think he is worth a bit longer, because if we could make it work it would feel really worth it. I don’t expect everyone to share that view, but it’ll remain mine for now.