Luton vs Aston Villa post-match thread

[VillaTim]

Doesn’t make him biased. I suspect if you go on most fans forums everyone thinks refs are against them, but I don’t think it’s true. They might make poor decisions, but also a lot of calls are pretty subjective. Most of the fouls given against us today I thought were fouls, he could have given more against Luton but I don’t think it’s because he had an agenda.

Maybe he doesn't, but he's regularly shit for us and regularly gives poor decisions against. You're happy to say it's not bias I'm not and either way, the alternatives that Legion offered of incompetence or corruption are still on the table. What I find odd is that you are so eager to downplay how poor he was today. It's one of the worst reffing performances I can recall and whether you think we should've played better int he 2nd half or not shouldn't excuse that.

Conversely I think it’s interesting how you’re keen to downplay how much we were architects in our own struggles. If the ref was incompetent we didn’t do a great job of minimising the impact of his decisions- see how we allowed our left hand side to be completely exposed. I’m not going to get into an argument about this, my view is the ref wasn’t great but it wasn’t some scheme to screw us over and had we replicated the level we hit in the first half we wouldn’t be debating fouls that should/shouldn’t have been given. Luton got back in the game because we dropped off, but great quality from a couple of changes won us the game.

We just didn't come out for the 2nd half and Rodgers didn't bother with his off the ball work down the left. It almost cost us 3 points.

[paul_e]

Doesn’t make him biased. I suspect if you go on most fans forums everyone thinks refs are against them, but I don’t think it’s true. They might make poor decisions, but also a lot of calls are pretty subjective. Most of the fouls given against us today I thought were fouls, he could have given more against Luton but I don’t think it’s because he had an agenda.

Maybe he doesn't, but he's regularly shit for us and regularly gives poor decisions against. You're happy to say it's not bias I'm not and either way, the alternatives that Legion offered of incompetence or corruption are still on the table. What I find odd is that you are so eager to downplay how poor he was today. It's one of the worst reffing performances I can recall and whether you think we should've played better int he 2nd half or not shouldn't excuse that.

Conversely I think it’s interesting how you’re keen to downplay how much we were architects in our own struggles. If the ref was incompetent we didn’t do a great job of minimising the impact of his decisions- see how we allowed our left hand side to be completely exposed. I’m not going to get into an argument about this, my view is the ref wasn’t great but it wasn’t some scheme to screw us over and had we replicated the level we hit in the first half we wouldn’t be debating fouls that should/shouldn’t have been given. Luton got back in the game because we dropped off, but great quality from a couple of changes won us the game.

but I haven't done that:

Poor 2nd half where we just couldn't seem to find any control of the play but we were superb in the first half and got a very good late goal.

Probably the most biased reffing performance of the season, the yellow card for Luiz is one of the softest I've ever seen and I have no idea what Mengi would've had to do to get a yellow, kicked, pushed and pulled Watkins all game and the ref just ignored it every time, fucking gerodie twat.

That's my first post on the thread. What I find strange is that you refuse to see that the inconsistency from the ref played a part in how we couldn't get any control after half time, I'm not saying it's the only problem but it clearly played a part.

[PaulWinch again]

I’m not saying it didn’t play a part, but I think our drop off in performance played a greater part, and I don’t think he has an agenda against us.

[Nunkin1965]

Another great win and all credit to the players for pulling out a late goal.
Its very unfashionable to praise the opposition but Luton played well in the second half and probably deserved a point.
With 5th spot looking a likely Champions League place, I'd say we need 4 or 5 wins to secure our spot.

[ROBBO]

Credit to the Luton manager who saw the weakness in Rogers defending, all of their pressure came down the right in the second half, why Emery didn't respond earlier is puzzling. We left it late but a goal of pure class, don't want to sell Digne he has been brilliant for us this season.

[curiousorange]

haha, you tried Oliver.. you crooked prick!

Investigation is required. Biased as fuck

It was one of the most biased refereeing displays I have ever seen.

As someone put it on X, Oliver's day at the office was the worst since John McClane's.

*smiles bashfully*

[Footy-Vill]

haha, you tried Oliver.. you crooked prick!

Investigation is required. Biased as fuck

It was one of the most biased refereeing displays I have ever seen.

As someone put it on X, Oliver's day at the office was the worst since John McClane's.

*smiles bashfully*

Oliver officiated Gerrard's last stand the 3-0 defeat.
Steven Gerrard get out of our club .

[Hillbilly]

Given the various soft bookings, I’m amazed there wasn’t a booking for the elbow on Watkins. The Luton player new exactly what he was doing.

[olaftab]

Thought Rob Edwards comments post game were pretty balanced. He’s doing a very good job at Luton.

He's doing a great job. I didn't realise he was one of our own.

[The Edge]

Brilliant result. That's a real banana skin for every team in the PL this season. The 4 subs were made at exactly the right time. It totally changed the dynamics of the game. What a manager. We all should savour every result, every moment we spend being managed by the brilliant little Spaniard.

[Rory]

Thought Rob Edwards comments post game were pretty balanced. He’s doing a very good job at Luton.

He's doing a great job. I didn't realise he was one of our own.

He was one of the tiny pictures in one of our calendars in the early '00s. Probably next to Vassell's groin.

[darren woolley]

I'm just so pleased we got the three points.

[Holte Antipode]

Credit to the Luton manager who saw the weakness in Rogers defending, all of their pressure came down the right in the second half, why Emery didn't respond earlier is puzzling. We left it late but a goal of pure class, don't want to sell Digne he has been brilliant for us this season.

Game was a really enjoyable watch from this galaxy, far far away, although I definitely needed a couple of strong breakfast coffees to get through that flaky 2nd-half period. This is how I saw it too Robbo - Luton are not pushovers at home (see their recent efforts v Manure, Brighton and the Saudis), often step it up in the 2nd 50 minutes, found a grand canyon between Moreno and Rogers etc.

Also thought Ollie’s post-match comments to Sky/Beeb showed a steely confidence, combined with realistic self-criticism and team evaluation of what we need to work on.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/aston-villa
He could have fairly added “and how that WWE Superstars cnut Menghi remained on the pitch is beyond me” - but I guess he’s too classy to voice what we were all thinking. Congrats to him on this fine season.

Out of the loanees, I’d much rather keep our Barcelona one than the Galatasaray one. There were a couple of occasions in the first half where Clement seems to be learning from Pau, carrying the ball out with ease and making a nice pass that sliced right past the midfield into Ollie’s channel.

Don’t care how late the goal came, 3 points and now lunch with my Hotspud supporting, Waiheke Island chardonnay drinking friend tomorrow will be the sweeter. UTV!

[Percy McCarthy]

If Lenglet let's Emi pick that ball up before the corner that led to the first goal, I think we see that out comfortably. Lost our way a tad in the second half but we did what all good sides do.

Yep, I said that at the time. Moreno did it previous to that as well. Not sure if it was Emi not communicating assertively enough though.

Think it was Lenglet that left the ball for Emi to collect against Forest, and they nipped in front of him and tucked it away.
Personally, I think they both made correct decision. Get rid

Fulham that was.

[brontebilly]

The tendency to sacrifice leads is worrying but Unai’s game management was sound.

There is no tendency. The two 2-0 to 2-2 are unusual and outliers.

Inability to defend set pieces unfortunately has become a real issue.