Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace Pre-Match

[Baldy]

Our players should be treating this game like an 'FA Cup' final. Heaven knows, we are owed one!!

How many times over the years have we seen Villa get into a comfortable position and then go to sleep. This game will tell us a lot. Are we serious about the future or just making up the numbers?

I hope Unai (and the fans) put pressure on our players to perform at high intensity and earn the three points they are capable of getting.

I believe Unai will, I just hope our fans don't give them an easy ride and settle for second best. More demanding, less resignation.

It is not the holiday season yet.

[Bad English]

Let's face it Baldy, they are a factory of mild irritation most of the time.

[Brazilian Villain]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Fair comment, the most memorable Palace game at Villa Park was in 1990.

[AV82EC]

Let's face it Baldy, they are a factory of mild irritation most of the time.

That’s an improvement on the Factory of Sadness from 2012 to 2018. Reasons for optimism.

[Martyn Smith]

We should just settle for a gentlemens agreement with Palace where we just both keep the three points from the home fixtures without bothering to travel to play, save everyone the hassle.

NOOOH! Warm regards

Martyn Smith
Somewhere where Palace is the nearest Prem ground...

[Reuben]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Fair comment, the most memorable Palace game at Villa Park was in 1990.

I can't actually remember that one - I recall the 4-1 (Walters hat trick) in Div 2, and a 2-1 win with Platt scoring the week before the Everton 6-2.  There was a 3-0 where Staunton either scored from 360 yards out or from a corner!  Just twigged as I'm typing you may be talking about the FA Cup semi final with Liverpool - grrr!

[Martyn Smith]

My circumcision nurse was a Palace fan (so I was nicer about them than I might otherwise have been when we were chatting) He reckons that that Sainsbury's is going to make way for a ground expansion. Not sure how that'll work unless the whole thing is knocked down and shifted a bit. God knows part of their ground needs rebuilding. And by that of course I mean the utterly dire and horrible Arthur Wait stand. Unless you're in the first few rows it feels like you're watching the game on wide-screen.

[Martyn Smith]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Fair comment, the most memorable Palace game at Villa Park was in 1990.

I can't actually remember that one - I recall the 4-1 (Walters hat trick) in Div 2, and a 2-1 win with Platt scoring the week before the Everton 6-2.  There was a 3-0 where Staunton either scored from 360 yards out or from a corner!  Just twigged as I'm typing you may be talking about the FA Cup semi final with Liverpool - grrr!

The 2-1, weren't we 1-0 down with 5 minutes to go? The roar of relief when we snatched it at the end has not left my memory.

I remember the 4-1. Wasn't Walters allowed to take a penalty at the end with the game won in order to get his hat trick? I know he wasn't the usual penalty taker

[Martyn Smith]

I remember a 3-1 win in the league cup in 2010 or so. Carew shithousing a couple of penalties to win it

[Martyn Smith]

Our players should be treating this game like an 'FA Cup' final. Heaven knows, we are owed one!!

How many times over the years have we seen Villa get into a comfortable position and then go to sleep. This game will tell us a lot. Are we serious about the future or just making up the numbers?

I hope Unai (and the fans) put pressure on our players to perform at high intensity and earn the three points they are capable of getting.

I believe Unai will, I just hope our fans don't give them an easy ride and settle for second best. More demanding, less resignation.

It is not the holiday season yet.

We are 8 points off 7th place, the lowest league place that will reward European competition next year (assuming the FA Cup is won by a team in the top 6). It is entirely bridgeable. In all likelihood this season will however become one of mid table consolidation. But that doesn't mean we have to write it off as such at this stage, with still over 1/3 of the campaign to go...

[Brazilian Villain]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Fair comment, the most memorable Palace game at Villa Park was in 1990.

I can't actually remember that one - I recall the 4-1 (Walters hat trick) in Div 2, and a 2-1 win with Platt scoring the week before the Everton 6-2.  There was a 3-0 where Staunton either scored from 360 yards out or from a corner!  Just twigged as I'm typing you may be talking about the FA Cup semi final with Liverpool - grrr!

I was although tbf I was living in a house with 4 Irish Liverpool fans at the time so it may been more memorable for me.

[RamboandBruno]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Fair comment, the most memorable Palace game at Villa Park was in 1990.

I can't actually remember that one - I recall the 4-1 (Walters hat trick) in Div 2, and a 2-1 win with Platt scoring the week before the Everton 6-2.  There was a 3-0 where Staunton either scored from 360 yards out or from a corner!  Just twigged as I'm typing you may be talking about the FA Cup semi final with Liverpool - grrr!

I was although tbf I was living in a house with 4 Irish Liverpool fans at the time so it may been more memorable for me.

I was 16 living at home and that was a great Liverpool side. It was one of the greatest FA Cup games I’ve seen. Wasn’t the other semi final that year an equally great game between Oldham and Man United, 3-3 and Man United winning 2-1 on a replay?

[eamonn]

Our players should be treating this game like an 'FA Cup' final. Heaven knows, we are owed one!!

How many times over the years have we seen Villa get into a comfortable position and then go to sleep. This game will tell us a lot. Are we serious about the future or just making up the numbers?

I hope Unai (and the fans) put pressure on our players to perform at high intensity and earn the three points they are capable of getting.

I believe Unai will, I just hope our fans don't give them an easy ride and settle for second best. More demanding, less resignation.

It is not the holiday season yet.

We are 8 points off 7th place, the lowest league place that will reward European competition next year (assuming the FA Cup is won by a team in the top 6). It is entirely bridgeable. In all likelihood this season will however become one of mid table consolidation. But that doesn't mean we have to write it off as such at this stage, with still over 1/3 of the campaign to go...

I want a Spring'98 John Gregory-motivated barnstorming  run to the end of season.
P13 W10 D0 L3 (our defeats coming in Madrid and at home to Bolton and Barnsley who both got relegated!). We've never played better football over a sustained period since then, in my humble op*. It's been exactly 25 years. Let's finally supercede this shit.

*Sorry, the immaculate Spring-finish of ten league wins on the trot four years ago cannot compare as it was in a secondary league.

[Footy-Vill]

The Christian Benteke derby.

[Flamingo Lane]

I tend to find games against Palace a bit of a chore. Only a few really stick out, like that one under Gregory. Last year's home one, with the whole European Cup celebration, was turgid. I saw a load of the '82 squad coming out if the ground though, so that was good.

Even the home game against them the season we won the league in 1980-81 was a bit rubbish.  I think it was played in February and by that time Palace were hopelessly marooned at the bottom of the table, yet we stuttered our way to a 2-1 win, a performance apparently felt by the Villa Park faithful to have been so lacklustre as to warrant a round of booing at full time!

Funnily enough, my old mum only ever attended one game at Villa Park, and that was Palace at home, possibly 1973 but I'm not sure.