The one thing that the previous owner of Aston Villa finally succeeded in doing was to transform 30,000+ Brummies into being totally miserable while at the same time putting grins on the faces of the fans of the local opposition. And this coinciding with a time of government-sponsored austerity since 2010! Oh, how the Villans were shocked out of any complacency they might have retained since the days of Big Ron, and the smirk of contentment when Doug made his exit.

The previous owner did not succeed, however, in causing the extinction of the football club he claimed to love, but (as Wellington once said) “it was a close run thing.”

Enter the Doc. In what is hardly 3 months since his arrival he has totally transformed the mood, though it is noted that a number of fans are still not happy that we are not yet top of the Championship or that we have failed to score 11 goals against any opposition as Villa did in November, 1959, during another sojourn in the second tier. But wait: there’s still time!

Yes, Wolves have managed to sign even more players than Villa during ‘the window’, but the Doc has made it crystal clear that he wants no-one playing for the club who has not the right attitude or the right level of experience to meet the situation the club faces. And the Doc has put his money where his mouth is, without a doubt, as well as removing almost all the demoralised dross that we saw last year.

So, Roberto di Matteo has been provided with what must be regarded as a very tantalising set of fresh ingredients to make a team that can get back into the big time, and also act as a basis for future development. Amidst the amount of experience that the manager now has at his disposal the right framework should exist for the times when injury strikes, or the Africa Nations Cup intervenes, and a youngster or two has to be thrown in to the lion’s den. It was a bit like that in the 70s, wasn’t it, when what we would now regard as great players materialised from the youth ranks to take their rightful place in a mature and capable Villa team: players of the ilk of Little, Gidman, Deehan and Shaw, and others who were not too far behind in stature. It will be fascinating to see if Villa’s youngsters of today can emulate those names of yesteryear.

Well, the manager has over a week to try to massage his new brood into some kind of shape that might resemble a team that will challenge for the main prize – promotion. And what better place to unveil his new pride of lions but at Villa Park in what should be a match to savour. We should not have expectations that all will ‘click’ in one go, but I feel the promise is there.

There has never before been so much emphasis on the “Up” in “Up the Villa”!

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John Lerwill
I'm a Villan of more than 60 years standing and an occasional writer on Villa history. For me there is only one football club worth supporting, but I am now wondering whether I will again see anything like the pageant that was paraded under Ron Saunders or even that by Big Ron and Brian Little. My glass, however, is always half-full! Click here for my Villa website.

Comments 468

  1. Heroes-and-Villans

    good post John and some very good comments at the end of the previous post.

    You might recall the previous years I was always saying we are done for. Easy to see as from the very top we was run badly and that filtered down to the pitch. Shit runs downhill. Now even though we are in the champ and won 1 in 5 ill hang my hat on the opposite now happening. We have everything at the very top sorted, the right people in the right jobs and that will filter down to the pitch in time.

  2. DarrenO

    Absolutely spot on with my thinking, we have to positive around the changes taking place on the pitch and off it.

    It bodes well, only patience is required as commented in the previous thread, 5/6 years of bilge will take more than a few games to turn around but everything being done is in the name of returning to the prem.

    great article John and to rob from you very ‘+ve’

  3. southwestvillan

    John,

    Apologies I copy and pasted this from JCs previous post partly because I am too idle to type it again:

    Negative: So the seat left vacant by NZogbia whilst stealing £72k a week from AVFC is now filled by Agbonlahor stealing £65k a week for doing sweet FA, some will probably look on it has saving £7k a week.

    Positives: Just been reading the main site about Steve Round and you cannot be forgiven to be filled with massive optimism and expectation for the future of Aston Villa.
    We have endured a terrible last five to six years since MON left that it would probably kill most peoples enthusiasm for the this club and the game of football in general, but we stuck around because that’s what AVFC does to you, it sucks you in as a boy and wraps its tentacles around you for decades until you get to breaking point and then you come back for some more.

    I watched the collapse against Bristol City and was genuinely annoyed because that passion never goes away, but then you have time to think and analyse and understand all the damage that was done by Lerner,Faulkner,Fox etc and realise it will take more than half a dozen games to repair all that carnage.

    I hate the word transition but it probably defines where we are at this moment in time, yes we will need patience but I truly believe in time with Tony at the helm we will get things right, there will be some rocky moments but the future is looking decidedly Claret and Blue.

    SWV

  5. John Lerwill

    SWV: “We have endured a terrible last five to six years since MON left that it would probably kill most peoples enthusiasm for the this club and the game of football in general, but we stuck around because that’s what AVFC does to you, it sucks you in as a boy and wraps its tentacles around you for decades until you get to breaking point and then you come back for some more.”

    Isn’t that so true!

    But the Bristol City match was one thing. It’s almost as though 10 years have passed since that match as so much has happened these last few days, all re-newing our enthusiam – I hope!! But (as you rightly stated) it’s not going to click in a few weeks. In fact I’m very intrigued as to how the team selection will now go, particularly in view of Ayew’s profligacy.

  6. Heroes-and-Villans

    adoma will play right side so ayew will be fighting McCormack for that number 10 role (his best position). RDM wanted smallish squad with 2 players for each position…got that now.

    Goalini/steer
    Delaet/hutton
    elphick/Richards
    chester/baker
    amavi/cissokho
    jedi/westy
    tisch/gardner
    jack/green
    McCormack/ayew
    adomah/bacuna
    gestede/kodjia

  9. runtings

    Thanks J L

    The doc has performed his first operation on villa and now we wait to see how we recover and to find out what other smaller operations are needed to get us to full health

    Not sure how thing will go with the new bunch but at least we have given ourselves a chance to improve which makes a change from getting progressively worse each season

    Looking forward with a lot more hope

  10. B6toBrasil

    Morning Lifers.
    Great leader once again John.
    A question,is Chester our first Welshman since Leighton Phillips,can’t think of any other taffys?
    SWV,great post.
    If I were to be hyper critical then I wanted another MF player.RDM is no fool,and I ‘m sure he tried.January maybe,all in all pleased.

  15. John Lerwill

    B6,

    We haven’t had bad Welshman at VP, have we?

    Dai Astley, Trevor Ford, Ivor Powell, Vic Crowe (ahem – a Brummie Welshman!), Phil Woosnam, Leighton Philips, Dean Saunders … and let’s not forget Mark Delaney and James Collins.

    They’ve all played with typical Welsh enthusiasm.

    Are their others I can’t think of?

  18. Mark King

    JL- Tafton Villa 😉

    I hope our new no9 lives up to the vids I’ve seen, looks very mobile but I think could well come with a few of Tekkers foibles regarding the offside rules. Can’t wait to see RM find him early because he knows how to finish One on one 🙂

  19. John Clark

    Good write-up, JL.

    I, too, remain filled with optimism. The window showed a dedicated approach to identifying weaknesses and correcting them. As identified targets didn’t materialize for one reason or another, the staff quickly shifted gears to others. The mandates for experience and character were clear and necessary. Moreover, they were actually applied.

    Dr. Tony has shown a refreshing engagement with the club and fans. Amazing how different he is to Lerner, how involved in the daily business and intent on pushing things through. It cannot be said that he lacks ambition.

    Now, the team just has to cohere. May not be a perfect side, but I think they’ll be good enough, and as I’m seeing people say, it’s at least a much better foundation to try and get us moving in the right direction.

  20. John Clark

    Mark…I did like what I saw on the highlights for Kodjia. (Course they only show the good bits). But he’s strong, fast, direct. Maybe not world-class, but he seems to know where the goal is, isn’t afraid to shoot, and should cause defenses problems with McCormack and others to worry about as well.

    Haven’t had a forward like that in a while and we’ve been crying out for one.

  22. steamer

    The Doc certainly calls a spade a shovel and i have a feeling that despite his easy going personna a certain shyster is about to find out that he makes a bad enemy.

  23. John Lerwill

    Steamer,

    I reckon that “shyster” has already found out! 😉

    Did you ever see that Sean Connery film “The Hill” way back in the 60s? I wouldn’t be surprised if the “shyster” is treated to that treatment! 😉

  28. steamer

    This is the first time ever that i have confidence that all departments of AVFC are being run in a competent manner, usually there is at least one weakness in the organisation but, for me, the managerial side is ok as is the coaching of all the other sides, we have options for the academy as well as the levels below, we’re producing players as well as having money to buy and we have genuine football people behind the scenes, i’ve never been so confident that this club is going places.

  30. John Lerwill

    Steamer/Texas,

    I rather agree, but the manager’s ability is only now the focus as up until now he’s had rather an interim and incomplete set of players to work with. He’s only now got a set of players that appear to be able to play and so it’s only now that he is able to steer them to produce results, of course.

    So as a ‘di Matteo’ of course, it’s over to you! 😉

  31. Texas Villan

    As far as RdM goes, he’s proven himself as a promotion-winning manager before his appointment at B6. Plus … he’s led a team to a Champions League title, for heaven’s sake! Given these facts, there’s absolutely no reason to think that he’s a tactical dolt. Once he learns how his disparate pieces can all work best together, I have full confidence that he’ll prove his managerial worthiness.

    This is the first gaffer we’ve had since Houllier that’s proven themselves as a manager at a club at least equal to our stature (Sherwood hadn’t really proven anything at Tottenham, as shown by the derisive nickname of “Tactics Tim” given him by Spurs’ fans themselves); our recent installations have been men that had previously shown their so-called “qualities” at lesser clubs.

    Of course Di Matteo did lead the Baggies in the past … but then he led Chelsea in capturing an FA cup by defeating both Spurs and then Pool, and then conquered Europe by vanquishing Benfica, then Barca(!), and then Bayern — at Allianz Stadium of all places!

    Surely he’s shown enough class in his past managerial stints to be worthy of some patience.

  32. Texas Villan

    Oh, and John Lerwill … please don’t think that my last comment was directed at you — it most assuredly wasn’t!

    I just had read a couple of pointed comments in other places about how di Matteo wasn’t tactically aware or adept enough.

  34. Texas Villan

    And if we do start tasting the success that we believe Villa might be on the threshold of enjoying — then just imagine how deliciously sweet and precious it will taste after we’ve been forced to swallow the bitter dregs of five consecutive seasons of almost unalloyed defeat and humiliation.

    I intend to savor every succulent dewdrop of success — even if it means exercising a bit more patience for awhile.

  36. DarrenO

    I was at the game in Lansdowne Rd, as soon as he appeared on screen there was an immediate response, he is so loved here and lucky for us he is a Villa legend. A true humble gentleman with many demons.

    The club in it’s efforts to make us great again, should remember the players like God that made us who we are.

    Gabby has become N’Zogbia, if he had any real love for the club and for his own career he would have taken the loan at Reading, let’s hope that brings an end to the Villa fans who think Gabby should be first on the team sheet.

  37. John Lerwill

    Texas: “Given these facts, there’s absolutely no reason to think that he’s a tactical dolt.”

    W-h-o-a !!!!!!!!!!! 😉

    Did I cast any aspersions (or nastertions) on the fellow?! NO!

    Aii I was basically intimating is that he has to do what he’s done before. A bit obvious, really, but that’s all I was saying! 😉

  42. Texas Villan

    John Lerwill: hey, my brother, I think you might have missed my comment in which I pointed out that my previous remarks in urging more patience for the di Matteo regime (remarks which I had just finished posting) were specifically NOT referring to your RdM post which had immediately preceded mine. My comment post was in reference to a couple of ludicrously impatient commenters that I’d read elsewhere, not on this site; I only posted what I did in hopes of preventing that sort of “way-too-early negativity” infection from gaining any foothold here!

  44. John Lerwill

    Texas,

    No problem at all … they don’t call me “Ironside” for nothing! 😉 (Boy, I used to enjoy Raymond Burr’s acting!)

    No as your comment came straight after mine it seemed there must have been some kind of link, but it matters not anyway. 🙂

  45. steamer

    No reason not to re-name the Witton Lane stand after someone who has actually contributed to AVFC rather than exploit it and is worshipped rather than reviled – The Paul McGrath Stand.

  46. B6toBrasil

    John,I see you more as a Perry Mason type.
    Raymond Burr,god actor,as ‘Arry would say trrrfffik,just trrrrfffk.
    Another man gone who literally cost the club millions.He must be a nose.

  51. B6toBrasil

    ‘Drew please get on twitter about the crest.I know I bang the drum about this but it must be changed IMO,as it is carp and is a symbol of the last regime.Another twitter folk please get on this.It must include -1874 and our flippin name.Thank you.

  62. steamers75

    Steamer …. cracking from Cloughie ,
    remember the train from Rotterdam , him and Likkle Brian Moore ,
    l asked cloughie which player would he sign from villa , Cowans but l cant afford him , and l asked if he would manage the villa , loved to but l cant stand ellis .
    says it all about that fucking blue nose ,
    maybe l could get my niece to let me into his ward and l can turn his oxygen off ………….)))

  63. Mark King

    Steamer- I listened to that clough story what a character 🙂

    When you consider we were offering Hernandez £75k aweek and £125k if we go up and he wanted more I think we dodged a bullet. Without getting carried away the goals scored by Kodjia vs Hernandez you have to say kodjia’s are of a better quality, his heading is skilfully placed as are his one on ones and as we have seen he can do the unusual. Hernadez flopped in the prem with 4 goals and as far as I can see most of his goals were six yard tap ins in the champs, Kodjia also scores those. Of the two I’m starting to think we got the better player.

  64. steamer

    100k per week, Bale has just put in for 14.3m per annum. Always suspicious that players who put in for huge increases when they’re already overpaid are going to withdraw labour, can’t think of anyone like that at VP…..oops.

    Just shows how thick skinned Herbert is i’ve never heard ANYONE say they like him. He wrote the programme notes once for BFR and put ” i’m very lucky to have a Chairman who knows the game inside out” BS, BS, etc expecting the fans to believe BFR would write that crepe, fantasy island dweller.
    Recently saw a BM photo of the plank in his sitting room, it was full of photo’s of himself and ONLY himself just like when he turfed the pics of the EC winning team out of the players lounge and replaced them with stuffed salmon that he’d caught in Scotland.

  65. steamer

    2-1 to Engurland, an offside goal and an og or penalty. No incentive to play well when you play unbelievably poor and retain your place, no wonder we’re a laughing stock.

  69. steamer

    That team should rip this division apart, we have more attacking talent than anyone else.
    Not surprised that Allardyce was happy with that abject performance just that he seemed enthused by the total mediocrity of it. Wonder who the next boss will be ?

  70. steamer

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/05/paul-scholes-non-league-football-premier-league

    Got a valid point.

    So Clark is blaming the managers for every missed tackle, unmarked CF and his numerous bookings, i always thought he had the potential to be better than average,not great, not particularly good but it seems as though his manager, who’s been booted from four jobs in four years and took the club into the Championship is getting the best out of him, possibly a meeting of minds.

  72. Heroes-and-Villans

    All of a sudden with Adomah & kodjia we look stronger in the final 3rd.

    2 players who can be direct, have pace and produce the unexpected. 2 types of players we have been crying out for.

    We may actually have a management team who know what the hell they are doing! streghtening the areas we need.

  74. Heroes-and-Villans

    for the first time in years im looking forward to watching a villa side.

    A arsenal mate of mine went to the Bristol city villa game. Said first half we should of been 6 up and jedi smashed everyone off the park. But grealish stood out for him..said he was a class apart. really rated him.

  76. runtings

    greeting to Jen and Frem – it isnt the same here without your input – hope all is well

    st75 take a look at rottotom festival for next year – very highly recommended and all the family would love it i reckon – if you can squeeze it in as part of your usual 8 holidays per year 🙂

  77. Heroes-and-Villans

    It feels like footy starts proper now. Autumn, int break done and window shut. Just praying we can get on a run now. feel so positive with things off the pitch and seeing a new starting 11 but then reality bites and we have won 1 in 5!! 2 huge huge home games now in 4 days and they are surly must wins now. Win them and ill be feeling the most positive ive ever done!

    What I need to see now are wins/good form and no more westwood and cisskho.

  78. Mark King

    Andrew- I would say that but for finishing and few refs decisions we’d have minimum two more wins and the opening day loss would of been a draw at least. I know I might be sugar coating our deficiencies but Go in 2-3 nil up after a commanding first half display and there are not many that would of come back without us scoring again. As it was 1-0 is always a dodgy scoreline as the opposition are always likely to sneak one then and were probably less gung-ho than 2-3 nil score line would of made them, and us less jittery.

  81. B62 Villa

    Our midfield seems to be decimated with injuries, with Tishibola, Grealish and Jedinak either English or doubtful for the weekends game against Forest. I hope the midweek travelling and international games don’t affect the players too much, we really need to start winning matches on a regular basis

  84. Mark King

    I think its just jedi and Jack not sure on Adomah I would hope so. Can’t find any injury updates but I reckon Jack will be fit maybe even Jedi, they only have knocks reportedly

  85. Texas Villan

    Living so far from the B’ham area, I’ve a question for my fellow Villans: since they both sport the colors of blue and white, how do the yam yams and the vermin tell one from the other?

  88. Mark King

    Texas – slightly different odors one smells of shit and the other bin lorries

    Andrew- no cowans not left because of round, may even be his choice, Xia has tweeted about it today

  89. steamers75

    Texas
    they,re all related , the noses Uncle is the yam yams aunt and vice versa , my brother-in-law asked a similar question years ago , “how can you tell a blues fan if he hasnt got colours on ???” . easy they’re all fucking ugly and talk shite , one or two do throw a spanner in the works , like SWV and Steamer , but hey ho we cant all be perfect ,

  90. southwestvillan

    Bloody lovely that is ST75 you ain’t lost none of your old charm.
    Sad to see Sid leaving VP although I suppose some things must come to an end probably one of my favourite players ever to wear the famous colours, he can retire in the knowledge that he always loved the club and gave his all for AVFC.
    SWV

  91. Trinity

    Hadn’t been able to sign in for a wee while. The wit is as wicked as ever on here.
    I hope we have a decent midfield on Saturday. If GG has to run more, he’ll do his knee in and have to rest until 2017. Mile likes to talk the talk, let’s see if he can walk the walk. Has a bruised toe, does he? Is Tshibola hurt too? Must be age setting in.
    B62 is right. They need to start winning soon.

  92. John Lerwill

    ‘Sid’ Cowans

    It’s remarkable i.m.o. that no-one on here has commented much on his departure.

    The reasons for it seem obscure, but it does appear that there was not any acrimony involved.

    To think it’s 40 years since I saw that lanky 17 or 18-year old lad come on as a sub at QPR and me thinking “what he possibly do to improve the match?”. I soon found out.

    We must surely regard him as a legend. League winner, Euro Cup winner, 505 appearances for Villa, youth coach for 18 years. His poignant comment “I don’t have Platty to ping to anymore” (after Platt had left Villa) summed up his sheer love of football artistry. That chip over the Inter Milan defence for Platt’s goal back in 1990-91 summed up Cowan’s worth.

    My goodness, Sid even stood in as emergency first team manager only 3 or 4 years back, saying “there’ll be no relegation under my watch”.

    Sid, your departure makes me sad, but as you say all things have to come to an end. Another north-eastener who has left a very deep mark at VP, following the likes of Johnny Dixon, Tommy Thompson and Clem and George Stephenson. All of whom came down here and truly made VP their home.

  94. Mark King

    Jl- The north east seems to have produced some great players over the years John doesn’t it coupled with their no nonsense attitude and sense of humour they fit well with the Midlands. Who knows whats going on in Sids life but I wish him a happy retirement if indeed thats where he’s off to.

    Trinity- I’ve noticed you have lost a bit of patience lately with the team 😉 If we have a mass midfield injury crisis then we could be playing westwood and Bacuna in CM the latter is supposedly a CM I remember from his arrival. Jordan Lyden really does need to be looked at and soon, unless he is still suffering from his injury he is a captain , can tackle and has assists and goals to his name. We do have several players out on loan that could help and I assume that is why they are out there, Calder,mason,sulliman and a few others. Add to that Vertout, Sanchez and Gil on loan at the moment? who knows what the future will bring.

  96. steamer

    David Platt said that GC was the best player he ever played with until he signed for Sampdoria and played with Roberto Mancini, not a bad successor.

  97. Mark King

    Steamer- A Sid type player is the one thing we do not have unless Tshbola gets off of the injury table and wows us. That said it would take £30 mil to buy his equal these days and thats on the low side. His sons out on loan and there is high hopes for Abdo coming through.

  98. Mark King

    From the horses mouth

    “He may be leaving, but he will not be forgotten.”

    Gordon says: “All good things must come to an end someday and it is right to make this change at this time.

    “Although I will no longer be turning up to work for this great club, I will remain a lifelong supporter.

    “Under the guidance of the new owner and his management team, I look forward to many years of supporting Aston Villa from the stands as we start the climb back towards our rightful position as the area’s premier football club.

    “I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our wonderful fans who have given me such tremendous support over the years and helped me through the more challenging times in my career. You will always be in my heart.”

  99. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    When you take into account his 40+ years of service to the club (with gaps) it seems inept of us to just say “Tarah and thanks”. But perhaps there is nothing else we can do … except perhaps I should produce a book of *true* Villa legends (Steamer!) to enforce the importance of Sid.

    Although you can’t speak of him in the same breath, Sid’s service reminds me a tad of Ron Wylie who didn’t retire from Villa’s community work until 2003.

    BTW, another great north-easterner was Charlie Wallace, who was still working behind the scenes at VP in Villa’s Cup Year of 1957.

  102. Rob Hunt

    Just a thought,what about a testamonial for sid cowans 40 odd years service to the club surely he deserves one.bet villa park would be rammed to say farewell to a villa great.

  104. Trinity

    Mark
    I’m not as patient as I used to be. Maybe too eager to see promotion this year. I think with Tshibola and Jedi, Villa’s midfield will harden up, if they are fit and playing.

  107. Trinity

    John
    Hopefully Richards can do a job at rb if needed. So he’s a good bloke to have around. Good luck to him. I remember him ribbing Gabby for not scoring goals.

  108. B6toBrasil

    Agree John,pretty astonishing there hasn’t been more reaction to Sid’s departure.Womderful footballer,very humble man apparantly.An antidote to the bling,me,me,me genration of footballer.I feel very sad about itsomething has left the club for ever.What it is ?I don’t really know,maybe it’s a last link to that glorious period in our history that’s gone.I felt that whilst he was there that link remained,but it’s broken now.I am blessed to have seen him,BL and PMcG. many times.Thank you for everythind Sid Cowans.

  109. runtings

    Sid was a fantastic player and like all villans i have a huge amount of respect for him but in terms of our youth academy we have produced very little and i have been disappointed with the style of play when i have watched them

    love him though

  111. John Lerwill

    Andrew: “Mark I think it is rounds doing. Mcdonald and another chap gone too apparently.”

    Yes, it does smack of a new broom sweeping up. I suppose the lack of real quality coming from the Academy has been noted, and so the action taken.

    It does seem as though Dr. Tonix really means business.

  112. Mark King

    JL round has done all the latest courses to a masters degree level so I suppose we will be getting in a level of coach that have that level of understanding of stats and all the modern Jargon and methods. He’s charged with developing a style of play/identity for Villa so we can slot in managers if we need to. Its basically the Southampton way.

  113. Mark King

    Andrew- well Xia has tweeted again Sid not sacked its his own choice

    Dr. Tony Xia ‏@Dr_TonyXia 9h9 hours ago
    Dr. Tony Xia Retweeted Phil Harris
    Checked. Sid wanted to retire 4himself but he’ll help the club all the time. Regretful that 1Tony came 1left!#UTVDr. Tony Xia added,

    Phil Harris @PhilHs10
    @Dr_TonyXia I am concerned that Sid has gone, very sad day. Can you confirm he wasn’t sacked & that he will be looked after #avfc #UTV

  114. John Lerwill

    Mark/Andrew,

    The twitter comments seem to reinforce what I had started to feel, that Dr. Xia really is the bee’s knees. He seems to always make the right comments, and sincerely too.

    I particularly liked his defence of Lerner – that the Doc is of the view that Lerner’s a very nice guy but got used by those he appointed. The Doc could have described RL as being utterly naive, but didn’t.

    Because of the nature of the family’s politics I’m not sure whether to accept the Doc’s view, but it is possible that assuming RL was brought up in a straight-jacket existence he could have been blinded to the realities of life. Hence the kind of PR work the General was doing.

  115. Mark King

    JL- I like Tonys style a lot, maybe the view on Lerner has come form more than personal contact? could be second hand from people at Villa Park? either way its classy. When you look at the American style of promotion we were subjected too its hard to think Randy wasn’t a little naive as you say.

    At the moment he’s getting stick as people want to but tickets for the Forest game but policies are restricting them.

    Dr. Tony Xia ‏@Dr_TonyXia 4h
    Dr. Tony Xia Retweeted David Hooton
    I don’t respect the old policies but I have 2respect staffs. I can’t be a backseat driver.need time change policiesDr. Tony Xia added,

    David Hooton @DaveHooton
    @Dr_TonyXia Too late Tony, no point in saying that systems are wrong when fans want to buy tickets for NFFC and can’t

    Dr. Tony Xia ‏@Dr_TonyXia 15h
    Dr. Tony Xia Retweeted John christodoulou
    Sorry John.I asked but couldn’t help this time.I agree with u there’re some stupid policies need change.Will push…Dr. Tony Xia added,

    John christodoulou @Jonny_Doulou
    @Dr_TonyXia hi Tony. Just been villa park to get tickets v’s NF. Very disappointed to leave with nothing as there is a policy in place for..

  117. Heroes-and-Villans

    Think the Dr has said the closing of the trinity will be reviewed on a constant basis.

    The dr is a class act so far, I love him.

    Regards to cowans I think there just being delicate due to he is a legend. If he wanted to retire surly done it end of last season not 5 games in. Whatever though, round seems to be making his mark. Lester have nabbed one of the coaches we have let go.

  118. Heroes-and-Villans

    had a dream we done forest 4 – 0.

    Even though its been fine margains, and geling a new team etc 1 win in 5 is poor.

    If we want to go up we need to win our next 2 home games. Got to go on a massive roll now.

  120. Mark King

    Steamer- On the trinity, poor choice by Lerners lot, sacked people to lower out goings, did you see the vertout 30 game money that would of gone to nantes? we stopped playing him at 29 games in march.

  121. John Lerwill

    Rob: “Just a thought,what about a testamonial for sid cowans 40 odd years service”

    That’s a good idea! I’ll write to the club straight away on that.

    Lee Preece (at VP) has written: “Will happily put this suggestion forward. “

  124. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    Lee Preece is a ‘mover’ and will use his own wiles to try to get it done.

    We cannot put everything to the Doctor – he’s not a one-man band… is he? 😉

  125. Jenny Truman

    Hello everyone !

    I’m well and truly back now – been hectic all summer but with girls going back – i may get more time ! I’ve been following from afar though and enjoying Dr Tony’s enthusiasm and connection with the fans ! He’s really something else and his first game at VP was priceless .

    The first few games have been disappointing : for me , because the weak mentality still seems to reappear every game , whether it’s defending a lead or conceding a goal . This was unexpected given the leaders and experience we have recruited . But with what seems to be a very promising transfer window , I expect our team mentality to get massively stronger . Now we have another striker in kodjka (brilliant international goal ) and added to the defence I believe we will see an entirely different attitude and confidence . I am feeling so positive that I can see us getting promoted first try. From what I have read DeM has bought a character of player which we have been crying out for and Dr Tony’s philosophy of buying the right characters is spot on . It’s exciting times for us villa fans and can’t wait for the weekend game . Tbh I don’t know much about championship players so have to rely on what I’ve read . That’s life in the chumps i guess .

    Thanks for the kind wishes , St75 , Steamer and Runtingz – never been too far away xx

  126. Jenny Truman

    It was a surprise to hear about Sid – I hope there is some special celebration for him at the game – I’m sure there will be. It’s a shame when you lose the claret and blue faithful so I hope he will still be connected even if it’s not in coaching role . We really need the old school to preserve the great memories and history of the club.

  127. steamer

    Jen,
    Totally agree about retaining our heritage. Love to see GC taking a bow on Sunday.
    Mark,
    Didn’t know that about Vertout.
    Andrew,
    Yes mate, its crucial that we win on Sunday, considering the talent at VP the results haven’t exactly been great have they ?

  130. Jenny Truman

    Hi Steamer
    I think we will beat NF by at least 4 goals . There I’m sticking my neck out . Not sure what bookies look at but if you consider the money we’ve spent ie about 49 mill more than them , their finish last season (16) and now that we’ve got 2 strikers on 20 plus a season in Ross and Rudy , we have to be favoirutes . I also understand they’ve got two strikers injured .
    We have played well so far (for 45 mins per game at least ) even if we have folded mentally which has denied us the points we couid have got .

    I think it’s largely a psychological issue and the new recruits will go along way to giving our team a stronger mentality so they can play to their full potential . They haven’t so far but they will , I am sure .

    Knowing there is now four excellent strikers , Rudy , Ross , Kodja (signs of brilliance ) Ayew will have a massively positive effect on the whole team. We have the strike force to score goals . We didn’t have that last season .

    I also think that the competition for places that Anew now has will motivate him to step up a gear . He has to be more team minded and aware of others on the pitch . I think he does have passion and a desire to win . He needs to channel this in the right direction . Less of the me and more of the team mentality .

    With JG being given a four year deal which coincides with some very good play from him this season we have great potential .

    Score prediction 4-0 .

  131. Mark King

    JL- if you follow his twitter it appears he is trying to be, Can you imagine a hotline to Lerner? you have to pinch yourself 😉

    Steamer- forest have been poor away they haven’t scored an away goal lost twice, scored loads at home but conceded loads which says they will come and defend I think. Hopefully Kodjia or ayew may wriggle through maybe even Grealish or Adomah all can dribble.

  133. steamer

    Hello Jen,
    While you were away there was quite a bit of chat on the blogs about mental fortitude, or lack of it, possibly you may be interested in sending in your CV, Tone seems open to new approaches and methods.
    Hope your hols went well and we see a lot more of you in the future.

  134. steamer

    Mark,
    Kod will be looking to impress and also Jedi if he’s fit, they say Tish is borderline hypochondriac so maybe out, 4-0 would be just the confidence booster we need.

  141. Jenny Truman

    Hi steamer – thanks for that – it’s worth another try . Have tried before and was given the impression I wouldn’t get past the “old boys network “. But hey , Dr Tony is making big changes and is certainly far more progressive in his outlook . Thank goodness !!

    I agree – hope Man City finish them off . Morinho has his excuse in early by saying ” Aguero being out has made it more difficult “. Ok Jose

  143. Jenny Truman

    Hols were great thanks Steamer . Stayed at Hard Rock hotel Cancun – party all day long , loads of live music – not all rock thank God or my girls wd have gone mad . If I hear “Livjng on a Prayer ” once more I will self destruct Not enough salsa music so the girls were saved the embarrassment of me mamboing on down with my newly acquired salsa moves

  145. steamer

    Few things from todays third city derby, Rooney is crepe and the pathetic Clattenburg should have sent him off on a dozen occassions, neither is Prem standard.
    Is Stones really a footballer ? can’t believe 50m for a non-lge player.
    Guardiola is on a far higher plane than Jose who was outclassed today, he’ll be a goner soon.

  148. Texas Villan

    Welcome back, Jenny! Looks like you enjoyed my southern neighbor. Hope someone at VP is forward thinking enough to give your CV the serious perusal it deserves.

    I’m desperate to see us begin a winning streak this week, and even though I’ve been largely thrilled with the way we’ve rebuilt the side five seasons of doom and gloom make it really hard to maintain enough hope to start believing in our club’s footballing abilities again. Once we do start winning again on a regular basis I’ll be ecstatic … can’t wait for those days to get here!

  149. Texas Villan

    When all are healthy, a 4-2-3-1 consisting of

    Gollini
    De Laet ● Elphick ● Chester ● Amavi/Cissokho
    Jedinak ● Tshibola
    Adomah ● McCormack ● Grealish
    Kodjia

    with a bench of

    Bunn
    Richards
    Bacuna/Westwood
    Ayew
    Gestede

    is, on paper at least, the finest matchday team we’ve had in years.

  151. John Lerwill

    Benteke

    … has become the first player to score for 3 Premier League clubs.

    AND … on the 84th minute Benteke was sub’d by … Benteke! CB’s younger brother.

    Pardew clearly has a clever game plan working.

  152. John Lerwill

    Texas: “on paper at least, the finest matchday team we’ve had in years.”

    Yes! Trouble is it might take till Christmas for them to gel … OR thy’ll hit it off immediately.

    I agree with Steamer … 1-1 or 2-2 is likely … but 5-2 is also possible! 😉

  153. B62 Villa

    Well today’s football results were a real pisser. Steamer if you think the 3rd City Derby lacked quality, don’t watch Villa v Forest tomorrow !!
    Rangers looked like Villa last season, especially at the back.
    Tomorrow is a must win if we want promotion, we are getting to the point where if we don’t start winning regularly( IE most weeks), we will leave ourselves too much to do. Newcastle look on a real roll and are looking the side many journo’s thought would romp this league. We need to win both our home games this week, 1 win from 5 games is pretty dismal and the way we capitulated against Bristol City is a massive worry. We have the biggest spend in this division and anything less than promotion will be seen as failure by many, although I still think the play offs is the best we can achieve this season. My fears were that by the time we got to this point at the end of the window/after the international break, we would be too far behind to catch up( we are 11 points behind top place), whilst it’s still relatively early, we haven’t looked like the real deal against poor opposition and are 17th and in a potential relegation battle, only stringing together wins will change this.
    I’ve got my Preston ticket and it seems a Blackpool beans could be on the cards, never let the football get in the way of a good weekend at the football 😉

  156. Heroes-and-Villans

    Yep got 2 home games in 4 days, win them both and the table will look better. Top 2 is big ask due to so much up havel but playoffs has to be do able surly! No transfer window to hide behind now, with the money spent pressure is on rdm now.

  157. steamer

    Assuming Tish, Adomah & JG are missing that leaves a MF 3 of Wastewood, GG and Jedi, not the most creative or pacey, Ayew has to step up to the mark, could be a really good game though.
    Flabby could make the bench with all these injuries.

  160. Paul Pears

    Just caught up with the blog and your article Jl, which as usual is top notch.

    Sad to see Sid retiring, but it comes to us all at some point, and a testimonial would be a fitting tribute.

    Loved the Dean Saunders story about Cloughie, and has a ring of truth to it…!!

    Nice to see everyone back here, and all the positivity that is growing.

    Jen, Villa were actually advertising a job a few weeks ago, although it was only fours a week, I think and possibly for the Villa ladies, but shows they are looking at the positive roles.

    Looking forward to today’s match, but unfortunately have decided that I will go to Wednesday’s, as it is on tv, and it is a big round trip twice in the same week.

  161. steamers75

    out last night at a party and got talking to a good friend .
    the youth manager also left thursday and he’s got picked up by leicester city , and the villa kids are not happy about it and some of the parents who let their kids sign on the strength of him being there are also questioning this decision, considering how well the kids have been doing , this is a strange one to me

    have a nice all and hopefully with a win ,
    B62 l had a couple of arses on about the shite , l said l wouldnt be happy that nufc are struggling as l can see the waiter going and they come calling for rowett , go away and think that over ,
    Jenny xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Frem do you have to buy your own tools for the job your doing ? . let me know mate

  163. Jenny Truman

    Thanks Tex – yes Mexico is a beautiful place .
    Paul P – cheers for that – i looked on the AV website and the post is more in the practical coaching side not psychological – but thanks again .
    St75 – that’s v interesting .

    Our capitulations all season have been chronic. This is a pattern that can be stamped out – if you can play well for 40 that can be replicated.

    We are the opposite of what underdogs Leicester were doing last season . We are losing from winning positions whilst they were winning from losing positions . It hit me early on last year that Leicester were building up a mental strength bank as they repeatedly won after going two down (against us for one ! ). This put in a belief that they could always recover . I wrote about it in an article when they won the league . It was a huge factor IMO in them being champions . What’s more , when they went into the lead they didn’t start panicking that they were going to lose it (like AV are currently )
    I quote from my article at the time

    “Leicester’s fearless mentality was reflected in the style of play. As one commentator said “Leicester deserve to be where they are. When they get in front they keep driving forward, they don’t sit back and when they go behind they keep driving forward.”

    They resisted the psychological tendency to try and protect a lead. This is a natural response and we see how brave they were when playing Man City. IT is this confident play that got them the 3 goals to 1 win at the Etihad. Some teams would have sat back after an early goal but Leicester ramped up the pressure and went on to score 2 more.

    This takes courage but it’s what is going wrong in the AV psyche currently .

    Paul McGrath tweeted during villa that maybe we needed to go a goal down to start playing – spot on .

    There are so many opposites and parallels with AV and Leicester’s start to last season that if you’ve got a spare five mins have a read .

    http://www.jtperformancecoaching.co.uk/news/2016/5/9/fearless-foxes-how-they-won-the-mental-battle-to-become-champions

    With change comes hope (initially). I agree with Tex – on paper we have a serious league winning team . Now to start winning !!

  164. steamer

    “Gareth Bale can be better than Messi & Ronaldo” following on from his “West Ham can be the biggest club in England,” shows that Harry Ballbagface talks absolute bollox.

  165. John Lerwill

    Starting XI to face Forest: Gollini, De Laet, Elphick, Chester, Cissokho, Gardner, Westwood, Ayew, McCormack, Grealish, Kodija

    Subs: Bunn, Baker, Richards, Bacuna, Gestede, Amavi, Jedinak

  166. steamer

    Dunno about that MF, obviously Jedi is still feeling his bumps but apart from JG i can’t see a problem for an experienced team like Florist, sorry 0-2 with Bentner netting.

  170. Mark King

    We definitley need to score some goals with the team on the pitch because we sure as hell won’t keep them out with that midfield. The bench apart from Gestede are all defenders , why no Murphy or lyden? or Green?

  171. Mark King

    Steamer 75- the youth coach getting snapped up smacks of prior contact from Leicester considering the timing who knows. we will see who comes how planned it all is? if it takes weeks not very

  172. John Lerwill

    What does it take to score a goal!

    Ayew doing his usual stunts … the centre that he put wide with his backside was just asking for a diving header a la Bobby Thomson! .. And McCormack’s attempt at the post was surely the miss of the season.

    I dunno … the passion is still missing from many of ’em. JG I’m afraid is still not doing it for me.

  182. @RonnieBiggs

    Yes Steamer,
    Even though I can’t stream the match from my crepe hotel wifi I somehow knew that after throwing away the less last match that we’d come back and win today!

    The irony of the Villa is unfailing.

    UTV!

  184. James Gill

    typical villa
    how many times have i watched wastewood running behind player scoring for other side
    on RDM sorry not good enough leaving grealish on when crepe steading up midfield
    had enough 50m on that lot

  185. steamer

    Still crepe at the back, dismal in MF and blunt up front. RdM seems a little cautious considering the expensive players he has, i don’t think he’s using them right, Wastewood is Lge 2.

  186. James Gill

    we have won one match out of SEVEN and yet we still have wastewood and gg in midfield RDM wake up them 2 are as steamer says lge 2 standard at best, why with 5mins to go did he not put jedi into midfield even amavi

  187. steamer

    From what iv’e seen so far i’d concentrate on staying in this division because we certainly ain’t getting promotion this season. I was very positive but we keep making the same basic errors every game.

  188. John Lerwill

    Steamer: “Wastewood is Lge 2”

    Huh? He was the first one to put a shot on goal after 30 minutes!! And did a lot of reasonable work … including two superb through passes, one of which Ayew should have scored from.

    I think he gets picked on. Gardner was the weak link for me, with Grealish just not up to it … Jedinak and Tish in place of Gardner and Grealish and we’ll be ok.

  189. John Lerwill

    Steamer: ” I was very positive but we keep making the same basic errors every game.”

    Three of the latest signings didn’t play today! Let’s give ’em chance to play their way in. It will get there – but I’ve said it before that it may take until Christmas before it starts working.

    Remember the situation under Saunders in 1974-75? A fantastic run after Christmas got us the promotion.

  190. Paul Pears

    Have to agree with your comments JL. Unfortunately Gardner is still off the pace, but good to see Ayew, eventually light up and become MOM. Rudi is definitely going to make sure he plays his part, and very impressed with “Codger” from Bristol City….

    Looking forward to Wednesday night now and a win…!!!

  191. Jenny Truman

    I am afraid this is another ‘coulda shoulda’ game which is exasperating. I agree with John, Jedinak and Tish could have made a big difference. It was an odd game with neither side getting into gear until the last 20 mins. Forrest had two brilliant 20 second patches which was enough to steal them a point. Both of their goals were stunning and I just think they were lucky to have two of these in one game. But instead of bemoaning our luck we have to start making our own luck and scoring the many more chances we had on goal compared to NF.

    The positive for me was Kodija – I thought he had a very promising debut. Another was Rudy coming on and scoring. Why doesn’t he start more games when he’s a 20 goal a season striker. Coincidence or not, when he came on we looked more dangerous particularly with his aerial threat. He is a calming influence too – as seen when the handbags came out with Cissy.

    The ingredients are there but can RdM combine them to make the winning cake ? We are not playing to our full potential but at least the potential is there.

  193. B62 Villa

    Well that match showed exactly why we won’t be getting promoted this season, not organised , solid or clinical. It’s going to be a long frustrating season. VP seemed flat and I doubt there was actually 30k in the ground, the early season optimism is ebbing away the longer we go without a win. The likes of Huddersfield, blues and Rotherham are showing us how it’s done, draws don’t get you promoted, you have to win football matches on a regular basis, I don’t buy this early days bollox or plenty of time, we need to win around 25 games to go up, 1 in 6 doesn’t cut the mustard in fact it is shit.
    We were at home but allowed Forest to dictate the pace for long periods and were organised .
    We definately need to pick the pace up quickly or write this season off as experience

  194. Jenny Truman

    John – yeswe had 26 shots on goal (8 on target ) something we could only have dreamed about a couple of season ago but need to put more of those away . Thought Ayew was better team player today in his defence .

  195. southwestvillan

    Well six games played and we are ten points adrift of Huddersfield never thought I would be typing that at the start of the season.
    Still giving goals away to the opposition and I thought our back four would be our strongest unit, the midfield is awful contains two strikers plus two players who are not good enough, Gardner is proving he lacks the ability to perform at this level and Westwood again shows a lack of leadership, he was the senior player in there and should have been running the show but time and again he took the easy option, sorry John but we all cannot be wrong about him.
    Agree with Jenny I thought Kodija had a very bright debut and showed he could be a big player for us if he gets enough service and support.
    We lack a player in the middle to control and direct play, to make those decisive passes unfortunately Veretout looked like he could have done this until we let him go.
    Still got doubts about RDM tactically not sure how long he may get and I am serious about that, you cannot spend all that money and hover just above the relegation zone it is just not acceptable, you can blame the players week in week out but ultimately the manager must pick the team and get the tactics right, so far he has shown he has come up well short.
    Don’t expect Brentford to roll over easily because they will not, this should have been six points from two home games so far we have just one.

    SWV

  196. John Lerwill

    SWV: “Westwood again shows a lack of leadership, … but time and again he took the easy option, sorry John but we all cannot be wrong about him.”

    🙂

    Well, I’ve seen several people on this list (and this season) speak in favour of Westy. Those people don’t make comments too often though.

    The people that criticise him are those that post day in, day out, and are usually critical about most things Villa anyway! 😉

    I’ve never said he’s the world’s greatest but I do think he does more than people give him cred for. I gave two or three examples earlier … no-one can castigate him for that as a non-advanced player. Some others seem to see agree with my p.o.v. as I’ve said – but we’re all entitled to our p.o.v.

  197. steamers75

    Mark
    No Prior
    the bloke loved villa , all his family do , just the offer came at right time , its his mom and sister l spoke to as they are close friends . its happened and l do think Albrighton might have said something about him , funny how no tweets of media about it though ,
    Swv
    l said to steamer a couple of weeks ago lm not convinced with RDM , but he’s here and to be honest lv decided to just go with the flow now as lm numb to with the ongoings at the villa ,

  198. John Lerwill

    Jenny,

    Yes, we did have all those attempts, but the fact is we should have been at least 2-up at h-t if those forwards (and I’m talking Ayew and Mac) had been more awake. Ayew has yet to score in the league this season.

    And what the heck did JG do today apart from making the relatively easy things look a bit pretty?

  199. John Lerwill

    Well, I’ve decided this is the Villa team I most fancy to give us a chance of promotion. Amazingly I’m sticking with Ayew as he does offer some danger – and assists in today’s match.

    I go with a 4-2-1-3.

    The defence as it was today. I think Cissy does a fairly good job and is better defensively than Amavi i.m.o.

    Jedi, Tish.
    Ayew
    Kodjia, Gestede, McCormack.

  200. Frem

    Hey guys

    We are still a bit soft aren’t we? Still like a hangover from last season. I only caught the second half because of work. for me RDM made a mistake not getting Jedi on as soon as we scored the second. It was westwood in the middle on his own. There first goal there striker had all the time in the world to turn and shoot. Bunn is crap so it had every chance of always going in. There second, the player walked through a few challenges and where was De Laet in the right back covering position?

    We have the potential to get promoted but a lot of work to do. I think we are a big rigid at times with how we set up. Its always 4411.

    Kodjia looks good. Quick, powerful. Ayew is our best player and even playing in the wrong position. ross took his chance nicely. Rudy can score at this level. Jack will either have a great game or be useless.

    Adomah will be a good option. Quick, direct, can play either wing. Jedinak and Tshib will be a solid paring.

    We will be fine. Should win our next two though

    UTV

  201. Frem

    Amavi has to come in as well at left back. So much better going forwards

    I’m not so sure RDM will be our manager come the end of the season though. I hope he is but I don’t think Dr Tony will hang about

  202. Texas Villan

    My brief two pence of opinion:

    • Kodjia seems the real deal.
    • A front twosome of Kodjia and Gestede looks like it could really terrify opposing defenses.
    • We’ve yet to see what Adomah can add to the mix, especially from out wide.
    • Without Jedinak and Tshibola on the pitch our MF is just too soft. Jedinak’s international knock may have kept him out today.

  204. John Lerwill

    Frem: “Amavi has to come in as well at left back. So much better going forwards”

    I’d agree – but I think Cissy gets the nod because he’s better at doing what defenders are supposed to do! 😉

  205. Texas Villan

    This is what I wanted to see from Aston Villa this season: complete and thorough top-to-bottom improvement in every area — from ownership, to management, to coaching, to player acquisition and dismissal, all the way through to matchday gamesmanship.

    For me, the process of thoroughly improving in all these areas is more important than the gaining of any one particular goal; i.e., if we well and truly improve in all of these areas, then promotion will be the inevitable result — whenever it comes. I would much rather see us accomplish an absolutely thorough and complete overhaul of our club with sustainable improvements in each part, than to see us stumble into an almost, if you will, “accidental” promotion.

    So what I’m saying is that I really and truly believe that the process is more important than the result. What I desire is a club-wide improvement so thorough and complete that whenever we do get promoted we easily maintain ourselves there, while continually improving our position in the Premier League without having to worry about relegation battles again. I hate the thought of us becoming a permanent “yo-yo” club.

    Now, in my opinion, we have the absolute right type of owner in Dr. Xia, and we’ve had almost exactly the right kind of squad turnover that I was hoping for; however, though di Matteo certainly has a solid enough prior track record, it might be that he ends up not being quite the manager that we need — if so, I trust Dr. Xia to bring in the right man. As for now, I’m still in our manager’s corner, for I’m waiting to see how he’ll manage us when our squad is fully fit and gelled together.

    In the meantime, I’m not as worried as some about the lack of Premiership monies because I believe that much of that difference can be made up through our owner’s wealth and obvious willingness to spend it in support of our beloved Villa. In the long run, if we structure ourselves properly then sustained improvement in our league position and finding ourselves in a position to continually challenge for silverware will become a given, and not merely a deluded hope.

  206. John Lerwill

    Texas,

    Have to agree with what you state but in football the adage is the old “time waits for no-one”.

    Even the Doc vents his impatience on Twitter – as he has after today’s match.

  208. Mark King

    Hello folks, another game thrown away, how can a team have 3 chances and score 2? play us.

    Tonys not best pleased and I think thats a blanket not pleased

    Dr. Tony Xia ‏@Dr_TonyXia 1h
    Dr. Tony Xia Retweeted Longbridge Lions
    Unlucky could be excuse once , not be twice,third times… I would never forgive myself when I make the same mistakeDr. Tony Xia added,
    Longbridge Lions @Longbridgelions

    @Dr_TonyXia team played well created 26 chances ! We got unlucky UTV

    For me we are playing to many similar players or trying to cram all the supposed best players on the pitch, RM, ayew and Grealish all no10’s. I would drop one or two to the bench and get us looking more solid. We could do worse than crossing the ball into Kodjia and Gestede against these pact defences too. Adomah I think will be a very important player for us and I’d give green ago out wide.

    Time ticking for RDM

  209. John Lerwill

    Steamer: “One Florist fan on the Nottingham Post site said that Villa should have won 8-2.”

    And you and I remember even fairly moderate Villa sides that would have done just that!

    I’ll always remember that Easter week-end back in 1962 when Villa trounced Leicester 8-3 on the Saturday and then Forest 5-1 on the Monday! Derek Dougan at his best. No wonder Leicester later signed him!

  211. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    A lot of your comment I referred to earlier and before, and you’re right.

    But this is a team very much in transition and I feel certain that RDM will make midfield/wing changes for Brentford and hopefully rest JG for awhile.

  212. Heroes-and-Villans

    Watching the game now on rec. had roast dinner at mothers. 8 mins in. No excuse, stop playing westy and cissokho….especially ay vp where teams sit deep. Amavi is like another winger, brilliant option at home. Draw is just not good enough. And conceding last few mins feel like a defeat. Rdm better saught it cause pound a penny the dr wont muck about…he willbe gone

  213. Mark King

    Jl I think its a consequence of late arrivals and injury, I don’t think given the full squad start of June we would be seeing that front four situe, we will see still early days and hopefully we will get rid of the bad luck before Dr Xia has the fen shui people in 😉

  214. B62 Villa

    Mark,
    This was my fear given most of our business was done towards the end of the window, we effectively gave the league a 5 week head start . I was hoping we would be more in touch with the top 6, by the time we got our targets in. Newcastle are looking ominously good in this league and have that game management and no how that gets them the win even when they aren’t playing great( the complete opposite of us).
    We look unbalanced, and yes Westwood and Gardner are a waste of oxygen in the middle of the park, benchwarmers at best. They put pressure on the defence, which still looks out of sorts, and Elphick is now 1 booking away from a suspension. RDM has to step up or Dr T will be telling him to step off, he has to start winning and fast.

  215. Jenny Truman

    Evening all
    Good to see you back posting Frem 🙂

    Rudy Has scored 3 goals in 4 appearances – 2 of these as subs . He’s a proven 20 goal a season scorer so why isn’t he starting games. If we are not careful we are going to waste his talent like Liverpool wasted Benteke. We have another proven 20 plus scorer in Kodija. Why not keep it simple and play to our strengths . How many other teams in chumps have 2 20 plus goal scorers .

    I agree with Tex – Rudy and Kodija would make an awesome pairing . It’s a shame Rudy started his villa career with a team who couldn’t create chances . Now we have the players to create chances , and with his finishing stats this season, he deserves another chance . He’s ideal for the championship and a calming influence .

    I also agree with Mark : is RDM trying to shoehorn too many similar players in . Tony Xia has provided the players over to him to pick that best team to start and I don’t think he has done this yet .

  217. Mark King

    Jen don’t forget RM has 60 goals over three seasons now, Ayew is the player miss firing in front of goal at the moment although he seems the one most involved. I cannot make my mind up whether he would be missed or not or whether we would play a more balanced way. we will soon find out as he’s on 4 yellows.

    B62- I thought GG had his best game today and the pass he gave away that lead to a goal was because RM made a run then changed direction, dummied his own player if you like. I think GG would look better in a three or maybe with Jedinak. I defo think we are on catch up after the takeover so sooner we win a few the better.

  220. DarrenO

    Much improved again in my eyes, Ayew actually tracking back and helping De Laet was good to see although a little too selfish in front of goal.

    We were at our weakest in midfield and it explains our ability to concede in my opinion as our defence is getting enough protection from the first line.

    Listen we all want to be top of the league and coasting but having got rid of many of the reasons for our relegation, the immediate task is to get this team to gel. This will take a bit of time because despite spending 60m, the money was spent on the first day of the transfer window, it’s been a dramtic change over the last few weeks.

    There’s the old idea of give the team 10 games and then assess well this can only happen from the date the transfer window closed. We have to acknowledge there’s a big improvement in the quality of player in most positions, that quality will start to work it’s way into results.

    Lot of talk as to why wasn’t Jedinak on the pitch, remember he’d been to Australia and back so doubt was fresh enough to start or he would have had to be subbed and then we’re down an option if we needed to make other changes, he’ll probably start against Brentford.

    Am I happy with the results, No, Am I happy my own wife is slaggin me about only getting a 2 all draw with Forest, No, but there is a bigger picture and we have to be patient with this team.

    Also to acknowledge even thru a tv screen, the Villa family on the 24th minute made the hairs stand up, so proud to be a Villan.

    UTV

  221. John Lerwill

    DO’R,

    Good to read someone who has a clear head! … Or maybe it was written after a tot of Irish whisky! 🙂

    In all seriousness I agree with you – and that we’re probably being a bit too impatient about how things are. Thing is the Doc doesn’t seem too patient either given what he puts out on Twitter and it is important that we don’t get into a run without any wins … then it may start to become a re-run of last season. At least this season we’ve so far actually scored more goals than matches played.

    On the matter of Elphick haveing collected so many yellows. Well, if he gets a fifth then we lose him just for one match … and Baker is reliable enough at this level i.m.o.

  222. DarrenO

    Hi JL

    I suppose the immediacy of a reaction clouds the judgement and a strong desire for us to start winning can account for his reaction plus it’s his money.

    A few ciders and a chance to sleep on our performance accounts for my more considered view, had I written straight after the game, it would have worded differently around disappointment and frustration but, i’m no longer angry with Villa and the rubbish served up last season, i’m prepared to give this team time and I’m prepared for us to use the full two year plan.

  223. runtings

    Well we certainly have something to build on now

    I thought we were a little unlucky although i was filled with dread when i saw Bunn warming up

    Gollini has also got a way to go imo as his decision making has a lot of room for improvement

    Apart from Ayew the buys from previous seasons still look out of place and in the new side with old habbits resurfacing

    i really hope GG gets with the pace of things as i would love to see one of our own come good

    we don’t have a lot of time to start getting things right but if we can go out and give our next opponents a good tonking it may well lift the level of the team a notch or two

    jen n frem great to see you posting — looking forward to seeing how our new winger shapes up also

    onward and upwards

  224. southwestvillan

    We can make lots of excuses as to new players, gelling, getting to know each other etc which in all fairness is totally acceptable, but I felt at 74 minutes when Gestede scored the second RDM could have made a change to see the result out, if Jedi was not ready to start the game then surely he was capable of playing 15 minutes to shore up the midfield which had already been weakened by taking Gardner off, although it would have been our final change I think it would have been a gamble worth taking to secure the three points.
    Having gone 2-1 up with Gestede,Kodija,McCormack,Grealish and Ayew all on the pitch all attacking style players I felt it left us open to Forest who then had no choice but to push forward and try to get an equaliser.
    I know it is being wise after the event but I felt at the time just make the change take the three points, Christ we deserved it but in football you don”t always get what you deserve, and we ended up drawing with a very poor Forest side who came to VP with only one thing in mind and that was to get a draw.

    SWV

  225. Heroes-and-Villans

    Conceding 5 in last 2 games is a worry. Would of thought with elphick and chester back there would be tighter…surly has to be due to protection the def is getting…gardner and westy offering none?!

    Agree with Mark, best ive seen gg play but he aint a mid destroyer type, him and west too similar. Tisch and jedi back for wed 🙂

    Lovely to have options up top, got to find the best formation and personal now. No way should gestede start for me…super sub is what he is.

  226. John Lerwill

    Gardner

    Though GG may have played his best game yet, for me he did not add enough weight to midfield, and weight is one commodity that we were short of in that department yesterday.

    It would be nice to see him make it, but I am so far disappointed. Aside from which Jedi and Tish have clearly arrived as the prime contenders for m-f I would think, and sentiment has to be swept aside if we want to make serious headway.

  228. James Gill

    almost 24 hours after still fuming at our inability to hold last minute lead, and after all this is new team cannot blame anything else,
    our manager has to take responsibility 5 attackers alongside the weakiest centre midfielder in professional football [wastewood] when he had jedi amavi on bench one of them should been on
    keepers bunn who i thought last season wasn t bad has conceded 5 goals in match and half ,3 shots yesterday 2 goals
    watching the match we should have won ,yet we only have 6 points out of 18 if we dont start putting wins on the board the doc could get itch fingers

  229. Heroes-and-Villans

    No doubt its very frustrating.

    Feels like we are so close and we def have a team I can get behind but then I look at the results and table and its shite! We need a run of 4 wins to get us up there and we can be happy!

  230. Mark King

    I think GG will struggle in a two man midfield the way we play it, most players would as the two wingers are not really wingers but No 10 types its a big old pitch out there with 2

  231. steamer

    Who’d have thought it….. David Camoron a liar, surely not.

    Fantastic gesture by the classiest club in Liverpool to donate 200k to that little lad with cancer.

    Dunno what you think but i’d take GG over Wastewood as our MF stand in.
    I’d be amazed if we signed NR Coker.

    Gonna be a tough ‘un on Wed, apparently Brentford hammered Brighton on their own pitch. Dean Smith was at VP on Sun and he’s a big Villan too.

  232. steamer

    Gary Nev makes me chuckle, apparently he’s the only Brit to manage a top 4 La Liga club in the last 20 years, strange that they only just avoided relegation. That and the fact he coached Engerlunds valiant Euro team probably means that he’s actually crepe at his job yet he blames the FA for booting him, wise up Nev, beginning to look stupid.

  233. runtings

    very interesting link re NRC – was never a great player but he had a better level that westy’s current level so maybe he could do a job until the end of the season — it’s a long hard season and we seem very light in centre mid

  234. Mark King

    Runtingz- he’s 32 haven’t we got one of them already 😉 surely there must be a better option in the stiffs, Lyden Mason and calder can play there. In Tims pre-season they looked decent with a smattering of pro’s in there then got dumped, surely they have to be tried? quite a few out on loan that play in midfield and I suspect theres a plan afoot. Mason came through the Spanish academies and Southampton, I can’t believe he’s not got potential, can play CB too.

  235. Mark King

    Steamer- on GG me too, He played well for forest and having a player like lansbury next to him must help some combinations don’t go and Westy seems to have been in all of them this season. He was never able to play the DM role with another player there, always needed to be the deep lying play-maker type and have legs running off of him to work. I would go GG and Jedinak and let Tish bola recover properly. Then again I would be looking at Lyden if fit a proper chance.

  236. John Lerwill

    Mark: “[Gardner] played well for forest “

    Well, I heard mixed reports about him, to be fair.

    No, he’s not showing as a strong enough player for me … very sadly. I want him to succeed but I don’t think he can hack it. He reminds me of a 60s Villa midfielder -Mike Tindall – in some respects: a fair player to look at but not having the oomph.

    As Steamer will remember, an oldie and former number 10 by the name of Ron Wylie was brought back to drop into Mike Tindall’s place and made a heck of a difference. Player of the season at the end of 1964-65 … and Villa then sold him! Guts, forward vision, incisive passing … Wylie showed everything a deeper midfielder (the old wing-half) should have.

    But that was yonks ago, but the principle is still the same. Westy is not as good as Wylie was but shows more than GG i.m.o.

  237. Mark King

    JL- Westwood rarely brings the ball out, he is not forward running with the ball at least GG has something in that department, of course he hasn’t set the world alight but with all players some partners suit some do not. so far westwood hasn’t really complimented anyone imo. He does some good work but that quick ball to a froward runner of the past like Delph is missing, all the attacking threat for us is in that front 4 and nobody can hit 40 yard passes all day nor should they. We haven’t had a decent midfield since Tims first stint and that was counter attack. Westy isn’t proactive enough for me with the ball at his feet, GG is at least trying to burst forward.

  238. DarrenO

    Don’t worry about Westwood or Gardner, Everton have the right idea in two ex-Villans Barry and Gana, the older playing a holding role, the younger providing the link between a protected back four and the forwards.

    Step forward Jedinak in the Barry role and Tishbola in the Gana role. There’s undoubtedly a lightness in cover in some positions but this January we only have to make a small number of additions and one Gabby leaving to help us with the second half push to promotion if possible.

    My judgement of Westwood is clouded by watching him in the premier league as opposed to 6 games in the champ, imo he’s always looked out of his depth in the prem but we were trying to stay in the league on a shoestring so what do you do when faced with other teams investing in better midfielders, you will look poor and unable to dominate if you aren’t good enough. And that’s the issue with Westwood, there is no next level performance capability that would say yeh he can do a job. what he provides is only adequate, but we need more dynamism. I actually think he is suffering the relegation hangover more so than the fingers we pointed at Lescott and Richards etc.

    Forget NRC, this lad Hourihane from Barnsley would be just the ticket.

    UTV my fellow Lifers

  239. Jenny Truman

    Morning all – seems RDM and Dr Tony are still actively looking to improve the squad and Conor Hurihane Capt Barnsley is latest. What must poor old Remi G be thinking : wrong time or what .

    If there is truth in the reports we are going to end up having a team of captains ! One for each are wouldn’t be a bad thing .

    I agree with Runtingz as I was one of the few who was sorry to see the often maligned NRC go . He was a very strong and important part of the engine room and did give his all. I remember it being reported that he too was sorry that the club didn’t renew his contract . My reservation is, what has he been doing since leaving and at what level ?

    I am very confident for tomorrow . If we can create 26 chances the odds are more have to go in sooner or later . Isn’t this where our problem lies : improve the finishing by just 10 percent and we are there . It’s not even fine margins. NF only had two shots at goal , there aren’t going to be many occasions when both of those go in so yes we were unlucky but we wouldn’t be so vulnerable if our forwards were more clinical in front of goal. Ok there were two defensive errors, but if those shots had hit the woodwork, the discussion would be entirely different . I agree RDM left the MF exposed after Rudi’s goal but he was unlucky that Pereira, who’d done nothing all game , morphed into Messi to create that stunning goal – probably will be their goal if the season !

    I can’t wait to see who is in the team sheet tomorrow . What a joy it is to have options . RDM needs to pick someone who can find the back of the net pronto !

  241. Jenny Truman

    I agree with you on GNev Steamer . I always thought he seemed very knowledgeable tactically when he was a sky pundit but the two part fly on wall documentary about the club he owns with his bro, Scoles and Butt showed how arrogant and one dimensional he is. They may have served under SAF but that’s where it ends .

  246. runtings

    Hi Mark
    i think were NRC is concerned he may be a better option than the kids for were we are now — i think strength and power help help a lot in this division and with so many games to play we will rarely have our best 11 out there
    so nigel would be good cover and to make sure one of what would be 3 stronger midfielders are out there for each game — imo of course

  247. southwestvillan

    Brentford will be a big solid team with a no nonsense back four that has conceded the least goals jointly in the division (4), they will come to VP with a game plan to frustrate the big boys from the premier.
    This is what we will be up against week in week out which is why RDM must be smart with his tactics and also be clever with his game management, its ok picking the best 11 players but if that does not work he must have a plan B, see Sherwood and Lambert who to be fair struggled with plan A.
    Jack must stop giving the ball away by constantly taking players on in situations where he should be playing balls into RM and Codger, he gave away possession on numerous occasions on Sunday when we should have been holding onto the ball until a gap emerged, would not be surprised to see AA come in for Jack with Ayew moving over to the left, it might give us a stronger unit in there.

    SWV

  248. John Lerwill

    Mark: “e does some good work but that quick ball to a froward runner of the past like Delph is missing,”

    Well there we go – when Westy does do things like that no-one wants to know!!

    Case in point – first half on Sunday: Westy puts perfect through ball to Ayew who instead of working it left opts for his right foot and finds himself in collision with a defender. That’s not Westy’s fault.

    No, agreed he doesn’t do that too often, but in that match he was also the first player (after 30 mins) to put a shot on target.

  249. John Lerwill

    Jenny: “Gestede 3 goals in 4 apps (1 sub)”

    Sorry to be a pedant, Jen, but he’s’s actually started 4 matches with one sub appearance: 5 in total (in the league). He was injured (Derby match?) within the first 30 minutes though, and had to go off.

  250. John Lerwill

    DO’R:

    I had some reservations about Gana last season, but I think he was also taken over by the relegation thingy. Last season was too bad to be true, and in fact Westy was one of the few players who actually showed improvement in the last few games, scoring 2 in one match.

  251. Mark King

    JL- gana just goes to show that its so important to get the right blend, which IMO is not what RDM has at the moment. What I was trying to say is westy suited that deep play-maker role when he had two box to box players to deliver the ball quickly to. Now he is almost having to play a proper DM role not his forte and unfortunately the 4231 does not suit him.

    I think people might be surprised by Brentford, they out footballed the leagues most footballing side on sat and deserved their win. Heres an article I just saw about their boss and their approach very moneyball if you like.

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/feb/22/brentford-mathematical-modelling-denmark

  252. steamer

    I remember NRC in his last season, he was one of the few who stood up, limited but a leader.
    JL,
    My Unc knew Tindall, he said that when Tindall broke his leg at Spurs Dave McKay went over to the stretcher and told MT to ” ‘Effin stop crying like a baby.” Villa thought once he was fit Tindall would regain form, he didn’t and the board couldn’t resist 15,000k for Wylie who was an outstanding right half and captain.

  253. John Lerwill

    Steamer,

    Typical McKay … Mind you we nearly got him from Hearts, but Villa chose to sack the magician (Eric) just before he could pull off the deal.

    Yes, I remember that well. Wylie was around 30 at that time and the Villa felt they had a surfeit of wing-halves then, as I recall.

  254. runtings

    It is strange about Gana getting rave reviews and me having people texting me about how good he looks at everton

    agree with mark in that it’s about the right blend / balance — a effective player in the right set up , but we all know how villa have been ruining or losing whatever little talent we have had in recent years

    anyone seen if Toure is getting a game at Bournemouth ?

  255. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    Yes, no doubt it is a question of right blend/balance. But I see the Jedi/Tish duo coming to the forefront simply because leadership and money-spent issues will over-ride anything else. On the other hand they might well turn out to be the best duo to play anyway.

    And Adomah has to be found a slot, too, I suppose.

  256. Mark King

    To me its quite plain that the games we have looked more balanced in were the first 3 with Tishbola involved. Undone only by keepers error if you will in 2 and winning the other. The other combo’s have so far proved toothless in defence ie Westy and Jedinak and westy and GG. Of course we lost gestede too but we have developed our sieve like defending since Tishbola has been injured, coincidence?

  258. B62 Villa

    I’ve written off automatic promotion and if we don’t put a string of wins together the play offs will soon be a task too far. As expected Newcastle are starting to take the piss out of this league and already have a massive lead over us with Norwich not far behind them. We have wasted opportunity after opportunity and basically given our promotion rivals a 5/6 week head start. The game against forest showed we aren’t good enough or clever enough to go up. Teams will set up defensively against us( as they will against Newcastle) only we are incapable of breaking them down and seeing games out. The pressure is mounting on RDM, the new owner hasn’t ploughed all this dough in to hear, well at least it’s better than last season as we languish in 18th and 10 pets off the top already!!!! The fact the other two relegated teams are winning consistently adds to the pressure as does the fact teams who have spent a hell of a lot less are turning us over or romping away from us in the league. We simp,y should be doing better, we aren’t playing PL opposition, yes the teams in this division are decent and organised but as the Geordies are showing, they aren’t a patch on the opposition we faced last year, so I would expect us to look better, only we haven’t except for in patches. Fans are already starting to question RDM and his tactics/selections and early optimism is waning, anything less than a win tomorrow and it could all start unraveling .

  259. r0bb0

    Brentford look a well drilled side and with the meanest defence in the division goals could be hard to come by.
    I reckon we have the players to open them up though so the more important question may be whether we can stop them scoring.
    They seem to use Hogan a bit like Leicester use Vardy and we saw last season how we could be unpicked by balls over the top to a nippy forward. . . . who are our fastest defenders to deal with that sort of ball, or do we have to avoid space behind our defence. Any tacticians out there who know the answer?

  260. John Lerwill

    B62/R0bb0 et al,

    I agree that there is a point where we could say RdiM has had his chance, but regardless of how the Barcodes and the Canaries are doing – not to mention Huddersfield and Barnsley! – we should remember that we were officially the poorest team ever in the PL last season!. And the poorest Villa team in history I should think.

    You don’t simply make a few signings to turnaround a thing like that. The morale of the club had eroded and surely we knew it was going to take a time to recover. At least there are at last signs now that the ability is there – together with some spirit. And virtually all of the reasons for last season’s debacle have been ejected from the club – or in the process of being ejected.

    Yes, if we don’t beat Brentford then we may have cause to start being nervous. But just let’s wait and see. There *is* a long way in the season to go yet, and even Ron Saunders could not have been sure he was going to be successful at this stage in the season way back in 1974-75.

  261. southwestvillan

    John,

    A few more like nine in total nearly a completely new team, our problem was we did our business way too late which has put us behind all the other teams.
    If Codger was our number one option as a striker then why did we not get him at the start of the window and not the end, he had been in dispute with Bristol City since the first game.
    My worry is the middle of the park I would like to see four actual midfield players in there instead of two and two strikers, it makes us look lightweight, you can guarantee Brentford will have a big solid back four and four or five midfield players.
    If we are to play Kodija and RM up top then we need a solid unit behind them but I feel Ayew and Grealish do not give us that, even Adomah is not a dedicated midfielder he is more like an old fashioned winger but does put in a shift.
    I worry about Grealish I just do not think we can afford him in this team, we have too many that at times it looks like we are carrying them, Ayew drifts out of the game as does RM so at times it can look like we are three players short and that is something you cannot do in this division.
    I also worry about RM and I still do not think we have found a formation that suits him and gets the best out of him, he can get caught in no mans land in that area between the midfield and strikers and I do not believe he is a good No10.

    Unfortunately it is going to take a while to find the system that suits these players but has time slips away we get further and further behind that top six, I also have my doubts that we have a team to make a serious challenge, I have doubts on the keeper and at left back plus we are light in numbers in the middle of the park and need some real quality in there, so January cannot come soon enough.

    SWV

  262. steamer

    IMO the only negative about the club is results, however we’re gonna drop a lot more points in the near future when needless suspensions and the ANC kick in, not at all confident of promotion although with this team we should certainly be challenging, the standard is pathetic.
    Dean Smith is the perfect example of a lower league player intelligent enough to actually learn about the game in his playing career and formulate a successful system with what he has mainly inherited, he did a wonderful job at Walsall and is continuing the good work at Griffin Park, a tough one for us which i can easily see us losing. Beginning to think suggestions that RdM will be gone by Crimbo may be more accurate than guesswork.

  263. James Gill

    RDM biggest problem for me is set up of team, we needed to go simple 442 at least one natural winger in it,
    as different comments have mentioned ayew grealish and mccormack playing in same team is to much especially when they are backed up by wastewood my team hoping they are fit
    gollina
    delaet
    sissko
    chester
    elphik
    ayew
    tish
    jedi
    amavi
    gestede
    koda
    subs
    bunn
    baker
    bacuna
    grealish
    admoah
    gardner
    mccormak

  264. steamers75

    IMO
    until midfield is sorted we aint going nowhere,

    Steamer lv dropped a right Bollock , im going to preston with roff , hicky and granny and the like , and bloody Final Funk are on at the coleshill social and Jessie is singing !! need your help , lv got you a ticket for it as l know you wont want to go preston, but hopefully l can get back to be thrown out of there ,
    cheers for dropping that £20 off at that address , thats another £20 off you , just got to order something in london to get my£20s off Runtins , something in oxford for MK to pay for and fuck knows what l can get in Brasil !!!
    another draw tonight methinks 2-2

  265. Heroes-and-Villans

    robbo

    If matey up top is like vardy and that’s how they play then don’t leave space in behind and get de laet who is quick to cover.

    Midfield should be ok once jedi and tish are up and running….those 2 should boss it.

    Got to start winning….come on villa.

  266. John Lerwill

    SWV,

    Yep, I’m in agreement with a lot of what you say – particularly about Grealish, but I think Ayew is showing signs of waking up to his responsibilities. He wasted chances (first half) on Sunday but second half made 2 goals and hit the bar with a thundering shot.

    Grealish for me has got to make way… and I think Andrew is right when he says “Midfield should be ok once jedi and tish are up and running….those 2 should boss it.”

    Tonight’s the night!! 🙂

  267. Heroes-and-Villans

    would of thought tonight is too soon for tish seeing as not on bench last game. Id go gg and jedi in middle. I wonder if 352 would suit us better?

    Goalini
    Chester Elphick Baker
    De laet Jedi Amavi
    Tisch Ayew
    Kodjia Mccormack

  268. B62 Villa

    JL
    I get where your coming from regarding how poor we were last season and the stench of relegation. However the majority of this side weren’t in that team, the manager and backroom staff have changed, we have a new owner who has pumped money in and uplifted the whole feeling around the club. The prob is we have rushed our business st the end of the window rather than getting it done early. Other sides have also bought large numbers of players but were set earlier and it’s paying off is Huddersfield, Newcastle etc. Tonight is now a must win, just to steady the ship, we are below teams like Leeds who have been horrendous this season and are currently looking like being in a relegation battle rather than the promotion one.
    There are some difficult fixtures coming up inc 2 derbies the big one being against bloose. We need to put 3/4/5 wins on the bounce together, something I don’t feel we are capable of given what Iv seen so far this season.

  269. Mark King

    B-62 I think once RDM realises he does not have to play 6 strikers we will improve. We have 5 midfielders all central. we also now have two wingers in adomah and green, I hope he stops shoehorning all our attacking options in and thinks team, reminds me of Keegan

  270. runtings

    b52 i think you last post outlines the reason why we are struggling to get going

    we did have to rush players in and out due to tony having to buy the club and then wait week for clearance during the window

    i still think there is hope we can go on a run and we have some good players for this division
    hopefully are boys get things moving tonight

  271. southwestvillan

    Mark,

    Exactly RDM thinks Ayew and Grealish are talented players I must get them in the side somehow without actually thinking about the best team to win a particular game, these players are ok when we have the ball and boss possession but when the opposition takes charge we carry them defensively.
    Some teams in this division only play one striker and have nine others defending their goal from all areas of the pitch, it don”t sound pretty but it can be effective, whereas we play four offensive players leaving six to share the workload defensively .

    SWV

  272. Mark King

    SWV- totally agree mate, accident waiting to happen as has been proven no matter how bizarre at times. We can’t be surprised when we leave the back door open someone’s stole our TV

  273. John Lerwill

    SWV/Mark,

    Not sure you’re being fair on Ayew. He’s covered a lot of ground and has covered pretty well … my argument with him has been his lack of “team consciousness” when it comes to releasing the ball to others, and also has wasted some good chances. However, the second-half Ayew on Sunday made me look twice … in a trice he had started to look for other players, and effectively too. A h-t talking to might have done the trick, perhaps. 😉

    Nah, it’s essentially Grealish that worries me. With the players now becoming available I can see him becoming a “sub” option.

  274. Mark King

    JL- I see nothing wrong with having a strong bench, it helps to effect games in the latter stages and I know what you mean about Ayew, Of all our players you can look at the games and say if Ayew had looked up, if Ayew had passed , if Ayew had scored. Directly or indirectly he has cost us points so far while being one of if not our best performer. If it was a team talk that did it I hope he remembers tonight 🙂

  275. Mark King

    P.s. It does beg the question what would we be like without Ayew? would we find a different or better pattern of play? 4 yellows so I guess will probably know next game 😉

  276. Jenny Truman

    Thanks for the correction John .

    In my defence of Gestede to start tonight , I’ve just read on Twitter that Rudy has scored 9 goals in his last 9 championship games. That’s incredible . We are in the championship -what isn’t there to like !?!

  281. Paul Pears

    Have you not got cctv yet Steamer, and built in recognition, so you know when he is about????

    WAs going tonight, but painting and the Bristol wench have detained me, but still hoping for a solid win tonight.

    I certainly am not going to miss the next one..!!

  289. John Lerwill

    The impressive thing about Kodjia is that he made (I think) 4 attempts on goal on Sunday (out of 4 attempts) and today has another on target – with better results. 5 on target of 5 it seems.

  295. steamer

    Agree with Jenny about Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, he relies on service and last season he was let down, in my opinion he’ll be a good asset this year with Adomah.

  301. Jenny Truman

    They need to come out second half not dwelling on goal lead otherwise they will revert back to ‘defend the lead’ mentality . Or if they want to keep it in mind it must be with “let’s go and score a few more ” . This will kill me if they slow the tempo like they have some in the past .

  311. steamer

    as paul said this is relegation form, draw your homes and lose the aways, everyone thought it would happen so i’m not bothered if rdm gets booted, problem being most bosses in this lge are garbage.

  314. Jenny Truman

    Aston Villa: Have now conceded 5 goals in the final 10 minutes of matches this season, dropping 9 points from winning positions already

    Mentality , tactics , take your pick . Trying to defend a one goal lead for 55 mins is kamikcaze tactics but that is what it looks like . Why ? Because we play well before we score but as soon as we go into the lead we lose tempo , sit back and retreat . Surely RDM isn’t telling them to do this . The furst 20 mins was so positive , stunning goal from Kodjia then second half we hear Gestede is isolated and Villa have no energy and won’t press forward .

  315. B62 Villa

    Fucking awful, another inept clueless performance, we are certainly escaping this division only out the trap door!!! RDM is looking clueless it’s not unlucky it’s crap play. Iv resigned myself to a few years in the lower league. I can see RDM being sacked by November having lost both derbies

  316. steamer

    Ought to halve the entrance fee because we only play half a game. That MF has been appalling all season whoever plays. Bizarre team selection to start with.

  319. Texas Villan

    Now we know why the Cherries weren’t trying to keep Elphick — captain or no, he appears to be washed up in a very similar fashion to Lescott. His legs just aren’t there anymore, which is why he keeps fading so badly late in matches.

    And speaking of Lescott, how many Pulis rejects are we going to buy thinking that they will be our new saviour at CB (here’s looking at you Chester).

  320. Jenny Truman

    AV have conceded

    85th min vs Sheff Weds
    86th min vs Huddersfield
    87th min vs Forest
    88th min vs Brentford

    On those stats we are in serious danger of being investigated for match fixing !

  323. steamer

    Must admit to massive disappointment with how this season has panned out, absolute crepe standard and we win one in eight and lose or cup tie to a lower div team. nearly 30,000 again and they aren’t going to stand these results. I really thought we had a very good set up but they have no excuses for this tripe, gone from a joke EPL to a joke Chumps team.

  325. B62 Villa

    No way will the Dr stand for spending the most in the league , only to be in a relegation battle, and make no mistake that’s exactly what we are in, 7 points against Wednesday, Derby, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Bristol city, Forest and Brentford is nothing short of a disgrace , throw in the cup humiliation and it shows how shit we really sre. Amavi is awful a real liability , he is so scared since his injury he isn’t worth the risk. We may need to spend in Jan just to stay up

  326. steamer

    We must have at least four players who would get in a divisional team but we have no balance, strikers wide and in MF. Just play them in their correct positions, RM nets loads until he comes to VP then dries up, got to be the formation.

  327. Jenny Truman

    It beggars belief doesn’t it . Why did RDM have 4 strikers on the pitch ? Was it because he got carried away with the 26 shots on goal we had against NF (as I did ) did he use my logic of some of those will go in – lets up the odds by putting em all on. It’s reminiscent of the Lambert tactics against Bradford when he threw on all five strikers (and later admitted he got it wrong )

    RDM won the Champions league with Chelsea. Ok it was his playing club etc etc but he still had to get the tactics right and he did . So he must have some tactical expertise surely?? It makes no sense .

  329. southwestvillan

    Apologies for repeating myself from this morning but once I saw that side I feared the worst, as Jenny says we again started with four strikers which is suicidal defensively, we have no shape or structure and teams are going to take us apart, RDM is struggling to get to grips with this division and after 7 games he is staring down the barrel, this gung-ho attitude cannot be allowed to go on, you need to give these teams respect and not just think we have a lot of good individuals we can beat anyone.

    SWV

  330. B62 Villa

    Not only does RDM continue to get it wrong, but some of our signings certainly haven’t lived up to their billing. We go to Ipswich sat to try and break the longest run of not winning away in history, we haven’t won away since Aug 8 th 2015!!! And in all honesty haven’t looked like altering that stat this season. I don’t really see how fans are saying this is an improvement in comparison to last season, we have spent £50-60m improving the squad yet can’t beat inferior opposition to that we faced last season!!! If we were playing a prem team tonight it would have been a real thumping with these tactics, and that is what we will get when Newcastle arrive in a fortnight, who by then will be out of sight from us.

  331. Texas Villan

    Jenny: loved your post specifying exactly which late goals we’ve surrendered, and got a good chuckle (after tonight, a much needed one!) with your reference to a possible match-fixing investigation.

    Another way to look at the evidence you’ve listed, though, is to note that each goal is one minute later … at this precise rate, we’d only have to endure ANOTHER eight matches with points thrown away before our opponents would simply run out of time enough to humiliate us!

  333. DarrenO

    Unbeaten yet again, 4 games in a row, strange to put it mildly starting 11 given Brentford’s recent form. Has Dr.T been advising RDM what he wants to see is attacking football.

    It’s a long road, there’s no turning back.

    I think it’s unbelievable given the turmoil that RL created in the last 5/6 years that some Villans would be calling for RDM to be sacked at this stage. Despite my opening remarks, we need stability, we need to turn a corner but we are doing it with a brand new team, think back to last season and starting off with so many new players TS didn’t even want and how shambolic that was. There are 117 points to play for and we are 9 points off top spot.

    It’s a long road, there’s no turning back.

    What a goal from Kodija!!!!. RDM needs to look for his perfect partner, his name has to be first on the team sheet. It’s entirely frustrating having no access to watch the games here, subjected to Tony Cottee on Sky Sports Repeat News for sporadic updates means I can’t really comment on who performed or didn’t.

    It’s a long road, there’s no turning back.

    UTV

  334. southwestvillan

    Lots of problems to sort out the team has had major surgery and we need someone to put it all together to achieve a winning formula, and so far this season RDM is not the man to do it.
    We cannot afford to wait until January to find those players because we will be too far adrift in fact the way things are going we will be in a relegation dogfight, how the hell have we got where we are.

    We have some very good players, RM has proved he is one of the top players at this level, Kodija is looking the real deal, Ayew is a good player but not in midfield, Gestede needs the right service last he blatantly did not get it, Jedinak is a solid midfield player but needs legs around, we have the nucleus of a good side but RDM just cannot put this lot together.

    We have lots of weaknesses that are being exploited by the opposition and the bench last night looked awful, our three subs Bacuna, Gardner and Amavi a left back playing in midfield are not game changers it just made us weaker defensively and that’s why we conceded late on.

    I really thought we had a management set up of RDM, Clarke and Bond who could turn things around but this has not been the case, they say you must give it ten games before change actually starts to kick in, well with one win in seven it is certainly not looking good for our Italian from Leamington, I feel the good doctor will run out of patience quite soon if he is to achieve his goal of making AVFC one of the top five teams in Europe.

    SWV

  335. steamer

    Good moaning,
    Unanimous among the dog walkers who attended the game that RdM hasn’t got a clue and must go. VP is rapidly becoming a haven for cliches, platitudes and excuses, fact is that we’re more likely to be relegated than promoted under this clown.
    Dunno about Steve Round, his reputation seems to vastly outweigh his achievements, assistant to crepe managers like McClaren, Moyes and Allardyce, so what ? Point out his Engerlund job and that shows just how bad he is, sack RdM, Clarke, Round, Bond and the Italian fitness bloke who seems to be getting his players injured rather than fit.
    Don’t even consider Bruce, possibly Warnock, i’d even take Pulis over this muppet in fact i’d pick anyone who doesn’t select the absolutely dire Wastewood.

  337. southwestvillan

    We have a squad of 26 and the imbalance is frightening, we have 3 keepers, 9 defenders, 8 strikers and 4 midfield players of which two Gardner and Westwood are nowhere near good enough and one who is made of glass Tsibola, add to that the two youngsters Lyden and Green and the squad does not look fit to mount any type of challenge which is all the more disturbing when you think RDM was a midfield player himself.
    We all learnt from a very early age that the middle of the park was the warzone if you won that battle then 99 times out of a 100 you won the game, our squad tells me we do not have the players at our disposal to achieve those aims, a win against a very poor Rotherham side is all we have to crow about.
    We let Sanchez, Gana, Veretout and Gil leave which was fine if they didn’t want to play for us but we should have replaced them, we are so low on numbers in the middle of the field that RDM is having to play strikers in there and so far it is not working.

    SWV

  338. John Lerwill

    Hasn’t DO’R put it succinctly:

    It’s a long road, there’s no turning back.

    C’mon, Villans, we’ve been suffering for so long surely another season or two can’t hurt that much?! 😉

  339. B62 Villa

    SWV is spot on, our midfield is woeful and unbalanced, we are easy to
    Play against and dominate. The squad lacks balance and players like Bacuna, Amavi( who looked the worst player on the pitch again last night) Westwood, Gardner etc are just not good enough and go missing in games. This team has zero chance of promotion playing this way, it’s like RDM is happy to out score the opposition , but we aren’t doing that, we are leaking like a sieve. We are showing relegation form yet again, the red flags are being raised but no one is taking any notice, coming out with how unlucky we are in games which is bollox. We make our own luck and we switch off for vast periods allowing the opposition to do what they want. Last night Brentford dominated the game by bossing the midfield and spreading the play , we didn’t have a clue how to counteract. Westwood is a waste of oxygen, he was owned by a ginger midget last night who ended up looking like Andrea Pirlo he had that much time and space. I can’t believe we have spent £60m to look this inept.
    McCormack, De Laet , Tishibola, Grealish are all out/serious doubts for sat FFS Christ only knows what formation we will put out but I expect a defeat as MAd Mick s team will be organised and solid something we aren’t . Looking at our upcoming fixtures I can’t see where our next win will come until Wolves on 15 October . Tricky games against Ipswich and Preston( 7 of us going and staying over in Blackpool)
    Sandwich the Newcastle home game where I expect s cricket score , given the way the barcodes are sweeping all before them.

  340. DarrenO

    Lads get a grip

    The transfer window closed on the 31st of August, we’ve played two games with the new squad, we’ve been undone by two late goals and in neither game have we put out our strongest 11.

    RDM has to get the players up to speed with the system he wants to deploy. The players have to get up to speed on how they will play together and we face teams that are seasoned championship campaigners with for the most part settled squads and managers.

    In the words of Lance Corporal Jones – ‘Don’t panic’

    I’m a proud Villan, who doesn’t want to see his team beaten, ask my wife how moody I get. But you all need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The results aren’t great, the performances both individually and as a team could be better but this is a work in progress, it WILL take time to fix but we WILL come good. If you really think things are that bad then two names to remember Randy Lerner and Tom Fox.

    Come on my fellow lifers, stay positive, keep your heads and thank Paul McGrath you weren’t born a Small Heath inbred.

    UP THE VILLA

  341. Heroes-and-Villans

    Im still at the anger stage. what a bunch of gutless morons. 2 big home games and chucked wins away in dying mins. It beggars belief.

    I thought Clarke was a tactical genius as number 2! whats going on.

    Did not take a blind bit of notice of rdm winning the champ league, just the right guy in the right place….drogba, terry, cole and frank prob had more to do about winning it then rdm. They just defended and got lucky if I remember?

    Liked rdm at west brom though.

    I just don’t know anymore, who to play or what to do, I give up. No excuses left and can see another dark mood coming over vp. Whens the nightmare going to end 🙁

  342. Paul Pears

    Well, an interesting bag of comments.

    In the end, I never made the match, and listened on Five Live Extra, but became more fascinated and interested in in an ant that had dropped into my glass of San Miguel. I managed to drink most of it without swallowing the ant, and he remained in the glass. It then became like Bruce and the Spider, as I watched this ant climb to the top of the glass, and then let him fall back in, but I swear on one occasion, he actually dived back into the last drops of San Miguel, swimming back to the side, and climbing the glass yet again.

    This demonstrates how more fascinating the ant was than listening to the Villa commentary, although I now think that Gary Thomson and Ian Taylor should be managing Villa, as they seem to have a much better knowledge of the game than Di Matteo.

    Villa tried to sit on a one nil lead rather than going all out to get the second goal and kill the game off. I am also concerned about a growing injury list again.

    Apart from the goal, it seems there was very little to cheer.

  343. steamer

    PP,
    Love a good ant story, was his pal there, Dec ? He had the right idea listening to that …. get peed.
    B6,
    Westwood is a waste of oxygen, he was owned by a ginger midget last night who ended up looking like Andrea Pirlo he had that much time and space.
    Brill.

  344. Mark King

    Seems to me RDM is surprised we are not winning by 3 at half time and probably says more of the same and sends them out. The opposition manager has meanwhile worked us out and makes changes resulting in half our team being on the back foot and the front half lost. Brentford pushed one player further forward and stopped the ball getting to Kodjia and Ayew and we were knackered. RDM then seems to have no options to change the situation to wrestle the game back and we concede. From my stand point the starting position must be wrong because we have to change to many players to adjust.

  345. Texas Villan

    IMHO, RdM — despite a somewhat impressive resume — can stay or he can go and I wouldn’t care too much either way; too me he seems at least a bit better than the sorry lot that had recently preceded him, but then again that isn’t saying much.

    I just wonder, if RdM is given his walking papers, might our players respond better to a gaffer who is a very intimidating, fire-breathing, whip-cracking, tough-as-nails type? Or would that hardcore type of manager make things even worse? I honestly don’t know, but perhaps Jenny might have some good insights as to whether it’d be a solid or a stupid idea.

    By-the-by Steamer: be careful what you wish for — Sean Dyche has repeatedly made noises about wanting to buy “Wastewood” from us!

  346. John Lerwill

    SWV: ” we are so low on numbers in the middle of the field that RDM is having to play strikers in there and so far it is not working.”

    Yes, but for me Ayew and McCormack double as midfielders. I think RdiM’s plane is to have Jedi and Tish providing the bite in front of defence and then let Ayew and Mac do the creative bit.

    Trouble is we’ve not yet had Jedi and Tish playing together. And there is Adomah still to play.

    No, it’s an exasperating situation that’s clear, but we can’t compare ourselves with Newcastle because:

    1. Their manager was in place last season;
    2. We have taken on a new owner and manager during the summer;
    3. As DO’R reminds us, the transfer window only closed last week and we’ve not yet seen all our new signings play.

    Yes, if we can’t get a win at Ipswich and with the Barcodes being the next lot down to VP, it could all get a bit fraught, and confidence can easily erode as it did last season.

    I think we’ve got to hope that RdiM installs self-belief in them for this week-end and that they show their stuff. It’s imperative in fact.

  347. southwestvillan

    DOR,

    Sorry mate I can”t agree what system do you think RDM is trying to deploy because for the life of me I do not see it, he is going in striker strong and it is plainly obvious that has not worked teams like Brentford just soak up the pressure and then take control of the game, they will be over the moon with point at VP.
    And all this talk about new players, ins and outs is getting on my nerves Newcastle have got rid of 16 players while bringing in 10 the most in the championship, their success is built on recruiting the right players and a manager who seems to know what he is doing, love him or hate him Benitez is getting the job done, no other team in this division will go to QPR and give them six that’s a certainty.

    SWV

  348. DarrenO

    If a new manager came in tomorrow, we’d back to square one, with a manager who may not want the players that have been brought in, a closed transfer window until January and never a good time to buy and the players having to get used to a different style of play.

    I’m firmly in the camp that says give RDM and the players time, patient enough to watch ants swim in vino but not patient enough to allow the team to develop and start winning, you’ll be complaining about 1 nil wins not being two nil soon (will that be a good complaint for you?).

  349. southwestvillan

    John,

    Yes you are right RM and Ayew double as midfielders but essentially are strikers that is their position they are not proper midfield players, the same can be said for Grealish when the game is going away from you and you need to dig in and make tackles JG is not made to do that job, you can add Adomah to that list as well, he is more of an out and out right winger and not used to playing the midfield role.
    When you come up against the likes of Brentford who at times can overload that central area with five players then our two in there are fighting a losing battle, opposition managers are not stupid they know where the Villa are weak and they exploit that weakness, that then puts more pressure on the back four and the inevitable happens, and whilst all this is going on our strikers come midfielders are running about like headless chickens thinking what the hell is going on.

    The main problem is we do not have the personnel available to change it, we must live in hope that when Tish is fit and available and Adomah comes in on the right side that this gives us a bit more balance.

    SWV

  351. Texas Villan

    SWV: You wrote, “When you come up against the likes of Brentford who at times can overload that central area with five players then our two in there are fighting a losing battle, opposition managers are not stupid they know where the Villa are weak and they exploit that weakness, that then puts more pressure on the back four and the inevitable happens, and whilst all this is going on our strikers come midfielders are running about like headless chickens thinking what the hell is going on.”

    Very, very well-put assessment of one of our main weaknesses.

  353. DarrenO

    Hi SWV

    After 2 games and not being able to play his strongest 11, I don’t think it’s possible to talk about systems just yet or at least not a bedded down system. RDM, Bond and Clarke are not stupid men, I have to believe they have a plan/system but have been thwarted by lack of players wishing to drop down a division, lack of being able to play their first 11 in their minds. Certain players switching off at the wrong times in matches

    As for Newcastle, isn’t the grass greener when you’re winning, Benitez has had a lot longer to assess who he didn’t fancy and who he wanted to work with to get the team going in the right direction and had some decent end of last season results that would have suggested a longer time in the role would have saved them and Sunderland would be with us instead.

    Also I did state that team selection last night was strange and why I suggested that Dr.T might be trying to influence a more cavalier approach that backfired to such a massive extent we got 1 point instead of 3.

    You say Newcastle’s success is being built on recruiting the right players, who are the wrong players that we’ve recruited so far after just 7 games. Gollini has made mistakes but so does Joe Hart, all the others haven’t been in the Villa shirt long enough to be rated as wrong in my opinion only 4 of the starting 11 last night were with us last season

  354. John Lerwill

    The Midfield

    Yes, it’s patently obvious that managers are working out all too well what Villa’s main weakness has been. But that fact is that we’ve still not had Jedi and Tish playing together and I honestly feel that if they had been playing in the last 2 home games we’d have been 2-up at half-time, leaving it very difficult for the opponent’s plans to work.

    We dominated first half against Forest and did pretty well vs Brentford for a spell between the 15th and 40th minutes, a period in which we scored and showed signs of getting on top. But Tish wasn’t there, both matches and Jedi for only one and really he and Tish have not yet had much time to get up to speed.

    Relying on just two midfielders to provide bite is, however, clearly a shortcoming and that is the issue that could come home to roost in the sense of preventing promotion this season.

  355. Heroes-and-Villans

    cissohko was at fault mate. switched off! he is shit like westy….until they stop playing week in and out it will be tough. I don’t want rdm out yet…although if this continues until Christmas the dr will loose patience.

    Well we have to hope tisch is fit for sat and him and jedi stay fit and strike up good relationship. Don’t ever start with gestede again, very good impact sub that’s it. Adomah on right side, grealish or ayew left codger up top. Last night was unbalanced with poor tactics and subs. That ones on rdm last night, no luck involved.

  356. John Lerwill

    SWV: “Yes you are right RM and Ayew double as midfielders but essentially are strikers that is their position they are not proper midfield players”

    Well there we may disagree. As Mark has said, there’s a tendency for Villa to play a number of players as “Number 10s”, and that for me is a “proper midfield” position in the sense of being akin to the old inside-forward (numbers 8 and 10) who were usually expected to both create and score some.

    Someone like the Bobby Thomson of yesteryear would be ideal for us. He could tackle, pass and scored 22 in the 1959-60 promotion season. He was not so highly-rated at the time and rarely headed a ball unless it was a diving header, but how much would such a player be worth today? Unfortunately even Mac and Ayew haven’t his all-round skills.

    Thinking about 1959-60 brings back memories … Hitchens and Supermac each scored 25 and Thomson 22. The only other player to score a few was Stan Lynn, with 7.

  357. steamer

    If Petrov really “wanted to go out as a player” why didn’t he approach another club where he may have been able to perform at their level ? How an overweight 37 year old who hadn’t played for 3/4 years was going to improve even this team only McGrath knows, NEVER good enough for Villa but delusional fans and media have him labled ‘a legend.’ Jim Royle had a comment for that bull.

  358. Jenny Truman

    Good evening all

    Listening on R5L last night the sound of the players being booed at FT brought back some v bad memories of the last five seasons .

    I don’t blame the fans – the traffic delays are horrendous on the M5, and god knows how many hundreds of pounds and hours have been wasted waiting for an AV win.

    The disappointment this season is massive , greater than any other club right now because it’s so unexpected .

    Dropping down to the Championship had one consolation : it meant we might see our team win . So when this consolation doesn’t materialise the situation becomes hopeless .

    But we know that the players and RDM need the crowd behind them . There’s an article in eve mail tonight saying how upset RDM looks. This is worrying : the players need strong and confident leadership .

    I think we have to give him more time and get behind the team, manager and players even though we have seen some bewildering things lately .

    I wonder whether he has been reacting to what went wrong in the game before too much. It looks like this when you compare the NF game with last night. Putting on 4 strikers in the hope that we will create another 26 shots on goal . We didn’t because Brentfurd controlled the mid field better than NF . We needed to shut up shop after Gestede scored the 2nd goal against NF but lost out because we left ourselves too open. So for Brentford , Amavi comes on for Gestede to do what we should have done in the NF game (and fair play to RDM he admitted his mistake after the NF game . As Dr Tony has tweeted , we have to learn from these mistakes and let’s pray that RDM is a quick learner .

    So Let’s see how he does with all his players fit . I’m not going to use the ‘players have time to gel ‘ argument as with the experienced players we have , this shouldn’t take too long. We are not the only team in the league to have new players either . Watford had an even more drastic overhaul of their squad last season with 18 new ones coming in , and from memory about 12 different languages between them! They did OK and started well .

    To answer your question Tex , I’m not a big fan of the sergeant major manager types . This would be disastrous for a side low on confidence. Above all the players have to have respect for the mgr and believe in him. A good mgr will appreciate that each player responds differently so needs to be treated differently . Yes , have high standards and instil pride and discipline in the side but the most effective way is always with understanding and by example rather than by the stick . Encourage , understand and inspire a team that will go out and play for you because you have touched their emotions not because they are shit scared of making a mistake .

    Sorry for the long post !

  359. Jenny Truman

    I Its sad to hear Petrov say that he was disappointed not to finish his career at AV because he’s had such a huge mountain to climb and his return to fitness after such gruelling treatment is amazing . Because of this, and his dedication when he was club captain , couid they not have included him in the squad , even if his playing time was minimal . I would have : heart over head I know but is it going to make that much difference to AV ?

  360. Paul Pears

    Villa once again have failed to find the killer instinct when they are in a winning position, a failing mid-field and a lack of leadership is letting them down. the comments from JL and Jenny , among others, confirm what all the pundits have said about Villa to date, and RDM needs to act quickly, before the fans start to turn once more.

    I just hope the good DR does not lose faith as quickly as Randy.

  361. Texas Villan

    Jenny: Thanks for your input! After considering your line of reasoning, I think it highly likely that you’re correct as to whether an intimidating, “sergeant-major type” woukd be more damaging to us rather than improving us.

    It’s just so frustrating to see us remain so undisciplined for so long! Andrew, in an earlier post, spoke for me as well when he wrote, “I just don’t know anymore, who to play or what to do, I give up …”

    I’m at my wits end — which was never a very long rope to begin with!

  362. Texas Villan

    Paul Pears: You mention a lack of leadership, and that’s a point with which I agree completely. However, almost everyone thought that we’d already addressed that need by bringing in several players who’d been highly-respected captains at their previous clubs — McCormack, Elphick, Jedinak (and perhaps others whom I can’t remember).

    So now we have to start asking the questions:

    “Why isn’t that quality of leadership showing up on the pitch the way it ought to be?” and, “Is this failure of leadership due to lapses by the owner, the backroom management, the training methods, the matchday management, or simply the players themselves?”

    I confess I have no idea where the blame lies!

  363. DarrenO

    Why is there a such blame culture, why single out people and criticise them.

    This is a team game, there has to be collective effort and collective responsibility. Villa doesn’t play itself, it plays other teams and so other teams have the ability to influence how a match goes not just Villa.

    We need to recognise this is a work in progress and we need to support the team and lift them, the idea of the 12th man shouldn’t just be some football theory.

    I believe we are progressing slowly, too slowly for some. I also believe that the players are no longer defeated in their minds, as they were last season.

    What needs to change: RDM being able to play his strongest 11 and the results from draws to wins. This will happen. It’s not like we are being hockeyed 6 nil by teams, you’d swear we were given some of the reaction on here and elsewhere. Anyone expecting this to be a stroll is no doubt reacting stronger than others, anyone expecting an overnight miracle after 5/6 years of dross needs their head checked.

    UTV

  364. southwestvillan

    Aston Villa are now beginning to realise what the championship is all about and how great the physical demands are, it is constantly Saturday Wednesday or Sunday Wednesday week in week out, we play 46 league games 8 more than last season plus the cup games although the EFL cup is not going to be a burden, but the reality is that this division is more difficult than it first seems, which is why you need a big squad of players because injuries come thick and fast.
    Our lack of options in the middle of the park are already starting to cause problems and between now and January that will only become worse, Tshbola has already shown his fragility and Jedinak at 32 will struggle with the increasing workload, the two players who we all feel will be our picks in that department.
    We need to give Green and Lyden more game time their energy could be priceless so RDM must trust them until we can recruit and who knows one or both might just step up and become the answer to all our problems, other teams are not frightened to give their youngsters a go.

    SWV

  365. steamer

    Sanchez & Veretout should have been kept on, both are different planet to W——D.
    I’m interested to see what system RdM will play at Ipswich, if it 4-2-4 again then you may as well clock out for this season. A defeat followed by Newcastle must be the end of his tenure, frankly, i don’t know anyone who wanted him and i certainly don’t know anyone who wants to keep him. We must have had a selection of the Worlds worst managers over the last 10 years, i wouldn’t want to see a list of the rejects.

  366. Heroes-and-Villans

    press conf at 11am. Fingers crossed on injuries too McCormack, tisc, grealish and de laet.

    Got to sure up the midfield. Interesting we have been linked to a midfielder already, Barnsley captain I think?

    I wouldn’t be calling for rdms head yet.

    Darren

    I know it’s been draws but it’s the manner of them why everyones irate. 4 goals conceded in fergie time makes everyone frustrated! If we was scoring the equaliser in that time to draw maybe minds would be different?

    End of day though the dr wants to go up…if its a 2 year plan maybe rdm has time if he wants up now could be gone at chrimbo if we don’t start winning games

  367. John Lerwill

    Jenny,

    Yes, I agree with most of what you’ve written, but there seems to be a lot of talk from some about us playing 4 strikers. I have to disagree with this. Mac and Ayew are supposed to be scorers (according to the media) but they clearly have goal-making potential. RdiM seems to be playing them, therefore, as such and not as pure strikers. Mac in particular is often seen playing wide and even taking corners.

    They are more the typical old inside-forward, therefore … advanced midfielders.

  368. John Lerwill

    Steamer: “Sanchez & Veretout should have been kept on”

    Well it seems Veretout just didn’t want to be playing Championship football.

    Sanchez, possibly, but not quite as a good as you seem to believe i.m.o.! 😉

  369. runtings

    Was watching the highlights of the last match and again we were all over them and i saw two shots from brentford with one being on target — surely we are not too far away from turning the corner ?

  370. Heroes-and-Villans

    No probs getting rid of sanchez and vertout…trouble is we have not replaced them!

    Dissapointed mainly because after all this talk of buying experienced captains we are still being naïve not taking chances and not seeing out games.

  372. southwestvillan

    Yes we have a lot of new players and some must shoulder the blame for our below par start to the season but this is football I have never yet seen a player sacked for poor results but I have seen many managers dismissed for it, and that is the crux of the matter if a team does not win games then the manager will eventually pay the price.
    RDM must turn this team around the next 4 games or I can see the good doctor pulling the trigger, with a quarter of the season gone and still in the drop zone it will happen sooner than later, and Steamer take a deep breath because I can see Steve Bruce waiting in the wings.

    SWV

  374. steamer

    Unprincipled, disloyal opportunist who will bankrupt the Doc and take Villa back to the Champs if he’s lucky enough to gain promotion after spending 200m or so on crepe like Huddelstone, and that’s before we mention his potato head. Lets realise he was booted by ‘effing BLOSE !!!

  375. Jenny Truman

    I think the leadership point is very relevant Tex and Paul. Roy Keane’s quality shine as a player and leader on the pitch – which didn’t translate into management . Gary Neville put Keane’s leadership as being the reason why the team rise to such heights. In a sports psychology book I read some time ago he wrote “the thing about playing with Roy was that when we scored he’d get a firy look in his eyes and he’d get everyone running back afterwards with “now let’s score another ” (or words to that effect ). It’s a totally different mental attitude. Compare this with the “we’ve scored a goal we must hold on to this lead”. The first focuses on attack and the other focuses on defense. Guess which produces the most stress hormones ? Defense which is also more

  376. runtings

    interesting Jen

    I guess you can’t teach the winning mentality and it also helped that Roy played in a team of some of the best players in the country , But the sports psychology view of things is very interesting

    I still think we have been very unlucky but as pointed out on previous posts the way we are set up and the imbalance of the team isnt helping our cause at the minute

    i would like to see Old Codger playing as a striker for a start

    her is Codgers song ?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO_6qmBHLbo

  377. Jenny Truman

    Indeed Runtingz he did.

    When RDM finds a system to play to our strengths and the personnel are settled, they will feel more confident . I get the impression he is trying out a few different ways to find out what works best .

  380. Texas Villan

    Do we have the rottenest luck or what?!?! De Laet gone for the season!

    I know we still have Bacuna and Hutton, but I wonder if at some point Richards will get a look see at RB. I felt he was an abject failure at CB, but I thought he showed at least some glimpses of usefulness the few times he played at RB.

  381. Heroes-and-Villans

    Rdm saying he is still to work out best balance and formation. Jack could be moved to a number 8.

    With injuries id go this for tomoz

    Goalini
    Bacuna 🙁 Elphick Chester Amavi
    Jedi
    Grealish Tisbola
    Adomah Kodgia Ayew

  382. Texas Villan

    Steamer: I think John’s about right concerning Veretout and Sanchez. From what I’ve read, we wanted to keep the Frenchman but he wanted out pretty badly — not only because he didn’t want to play in the second division, but also (so reports say) because he and his young family desperately wanted to get back to France.

    As for the Colombian, he gave the ball away with such abandon it was like he was a footballing Mother Theresa! I think many of us were quite content to see him depart … and to my knowledge, apparently no other English clubs put much effort into recruiting him either.

  383. runtings

    Tex can’t agree re Micah

    his last game started at right back in the cup loss – he then moved to centre back followed by the bench

    i would only include him for comedy value — he actually made the football look like a hot potato in his last outing

  385. steamer

    John McDonnell called Alastair Campbell a “f****** a*******” in a heated backstage argument following BBC’s Question Time on Thursday night (15 September).

    Just like Jezza, totally honest,even Campbell couldn’t deny that.

  387. runtings

    Steamer a fella at work said to me he quite likes jezza for being real and down to earth but is not going to vote for him as he doesn’t like McDonnell

    after watching it last night i defiantly saw his point – lots of venomous answers that were totally unnecessary — i think Jez needs a better no.2 and better backroom staff at the forefront if he is to get the votes he deserves

  388. steamer

    Runtingz
    i would only include him for comedy value
    Another good ‘un.
    Andrew,
    I think thats a p-poor excuse, most teams play at least a dedicated 4 in MF sometimes 5, if he hasn’t worked out we’re going to be overrun then he’s a dummy. He had all pre-season to work it out, just bs.
    At least he has a natural wide player now, he may not be a wide MF but at least he can beat a FB ( hopefully ).
    Liked your team especially the absence of Wastewood.
    1-1 2morrow i think, just don’t have any confidence in the management or team now, there’s enough experience in our team to negate any talk of gelling. A couple of weeks ago i thought everything was going ok but we’ve stumbled and typically AV we’ve surrendered.

  389. steamer

    Runtingz,
    Campbell is vermin he deserves a long prison sentence never mind a verbal slagging, the damage he has done to Labour can’t be under estimated, McDonnell should have given the tw@ a kicking.
    Did you know AC is bessies with Ferguscon, another lying toerag, i read that when Bliar was stumped he asked AC to come up with solutions and he’d get on the phone to him and ask him what to do.

  393. Mark King

    I watched the extended highlights of the game (must have been a short job editing them) Gestede missed some sitters with his trusty shin and head but Kodjia put all but one shot on target out of about 5-6, he did well out wide but waisted there get him in the middle with RM.

    I noticed for their goal that ayew and GG were attempting to stop a cross by standing 4 yards of the player and during their attacks both ayew and Kodjia were in our FB’s positions while the pacey Gestede was left up top until the 82? what threat does he pose to a defence on the half way line? I know we had some injuries but surely Kodjia down the middle would at least of been an outlet?

    I agree with swv we need to give youth a chance, Lyden and green good enough for a run in the prem but not the champs?? I think we need a few in that do the unspectacular well.

  394. runtings

    the more kids that get a game the better – but i can overstand any caution being taken at the minute

    We know have an experienced 1st 14 with the likes of gg being the more developed of the youngsters

    the problem is if we are not winning , which we are not – they will be in from major stick in and out of villa park ,,, and with the cyber world to deal with as well it may be too much to put our kids into a side that doesn’t usually win games

    hope gg has broad shoulders as it is

    imo we need to create a winning environment which will then allow the best youngsters to be brought through effectively

  395. Canadian Villan

    Just got back from three weeks in Italy, was hoping to see us higher up the table, and a couple of wins under our belts. reading all your comments not much has changed as yet, the only positive i can draw looking at the table is that this time last year goal difference would be about negative ten, at least we are even in that department. If we can add some goals we’ll be OK, but i don’t see us getting straight back up unless its by the play offs. My worry would be we’ll bottle it at Wembley yet again even if we do make it that far.

  397. James Gill

    hopeful for a change in luck and results team for tomorrow 442
    gollina
    richards the other choices are mutton/bacuna
    cissko
    chester
    elphik
    adoamh
    tish
    jedi
    grealish
    codja
    ayew/mccormak

  399. Paul Pears

    Interesting on Wednesday night that while we were trying to score against Brentford, Villa “reject”, Marc Albrighton, opened his scoring account with a great goal in the Champions league.

    Sorry to hear that de Laet will be out for the season, something we did not need.

    I do hope that RDM can start to push on and get this team to find a style of play that suits them, but like Jenny said, you need people to create a winning mentality, and it is not happening at the moment. PMA…….POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE…..it needs to be drummed in every morning at the start of the day….we can win….we will win….we are going to win…nothing is going to stop us now.

  400. John Lerwill

    Gareth Barry

    I see that he plays his 600th PL match this week-end. Had he stayed with Villa he would surely have beaten Carlie Aitken’s record. Barry had clocked up over 400 matches when he left Villa.

  401. Mark King

    Steamer- yes bottle appears to be in short supply and by the way the crowd reacted in th elast two home games then it applies to the fans too. We may have shipped in leaders, loads of goals up front and new players but the fans are still tainted by the last few years and are showing no patience and a disregard for the fact this league is possibly harder than the prem. We have been unlucky and lately created our own bad luck but the more the pressure goes on and the support gets less we are in danger of recreating previous seasons.

    This fella talks about the crown against Brentford.

    http://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2016/9/17/12879386/from-the-stands-forest-and-brentford

  403. Paul Pears

    Thanks to Mark King and Texas Villan for the links. Two very interesting pieces, and reading Jock Wallaces’s story brought out an emotional moment, because those were the days to grow up in, when footballers were men, and you just loved to be on the Holte End cheering them on.

    I just hope that we can find a “few good men” this season to cheer and encourage, support and really feel that we are VTID.

  404. John Lerwill

    You know, i.m.o. there is a great deal of truth said about the need for hard leadership from the manager/coach. Taken to the extreme it’s a form of torture and a crime (e.g. the illustration of Wallace throwing Lineker against a wall), but at a certain level I’m sure it creates the right response from players.

    Back in the early to mid 60s there were plenty of players who had been through National service and were definitely a different creature to today’s players. Some were hard nuts but not as many as you’d think – Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney certainly weren’t. Even the players of the 60s, 70s and 80s that missed National Service learnt a certain attitude from their forefathers … the sense of responsibilty and being lucky to play professionally in a game you loved.

    They say the game has changed beyond recognition since 1996 – a specific year. And that was when so many more overseas players started coming into the PL. Though a fair number of those have been brilliant to watch (Zola stands out for me) they’ve also been the crowd that have brought about the blatant rise of shamming an injury and downright dirty play.

    On that basis the British game for me was at its height between the 50s and 1970, when there was greater toughness but also a much greater degree of fairness implanted in the players.

    We’re never going to see that again, of course.

    Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I do think the old sense of sportsmanship is badly missing – when the sportsman was more usually self-disciplined and self-motivated to do his best. And loyalty. There were always the exception, of course.

    As the decades rolled on and players became more ‘soft’, the managers who played from the earlier times simply knew that their charges were missing the character that the manager knew when he was a player. So the likes of Cloughie and Wallace should be no surprise given their playing and life experience.

  405. Clive Evans

    Paul – not only Albrighton shone in the Champions League but a former Villa player was, in my opinion, the man-of-the-match in the Feyenoord v Man Utd match – remember El Amahdi? He ran the midfield for the Nether;lands team.

    Insofar as the team goes, I have commented before on the bonce back up mentality and have to say anyone who thinks that is living in cloud cuckoo land. We have the ingredients to make a decent Championship side but Rome wasn’t built in a day and one or two residents are well equipped for the battle in this division; not only that but Newcastle are already showing their potential.

    I’m expecting a top 10 finish with a hint of a play-off place, otherwise a chance next season. But what do I know?

  406. B62 Villa

    Massive game today, will we break our 13 month away hoodoo curse?? Having seen the line up I’m not filled with confidence. Bacuna RB, Baker LB and Amavi in MF are all weak links and not playing in their natural positions . Amavi was shocking against Brentford, we will miss McCormack and his link up play and threat up front, not to mention his dead balls . Waste wood starts which is akin to starting with 10 players. Ipswich will be organised and well drilled, they will dominate the middle of the park and await our enivitable mistakes at the back or lapses in concentration. I think another draw today(at best) we could slip further down the league today, even Leeds are pulling away from us and initially they looked proper woeful. Another defeat and the pressure will really ramp up on RDM

  407. James Gill

    not many comments here today,the hope all but drained from us villa fans and then a team sheet like this make you cry
    gollina
    BACUNA
    BAKER
    chester
    elphik
    amavi
    WASTEWOOD
    jedi
    grealish
    ayew
    codja
    subs
    BUNN,RICHARDS MUTTON CISSKO GARDNER KOZAK AND adaomh
    we have spent over 100m last 15 months and thats our matchday squad 2 glass men baker kozak 5 crap full backs and then the general wastewood
    we should win the awards for wasting money hands down

  411. B62 Villa

    Wolves beating the barcodes 2-0!! When will ever see Villa win away???? Aug 8th 2015 is a very long time ago, in fact when we will win again full stop????? Injuries have resulted us into playing the dross and unflushables, if this is what we get for forking out £50m + , then we need to spend double that because we look inept across the park

  413. B62 Villa

    Going on for a draw, we got out of jail today. We are fucking awful, RDM hasn’t got a clue what he is doing and things are getting desperate, promotion for this season is a pipe dream we need to ensure survival we could be the most expensive team to go to the third tier

  416. James Gill

    next week will be the end of RDM ,50m spent one win out of nine including luton,no shots on target today changed system to 352 baker managed 26 mins thats normal for him so why start him,wastewood has been in our team for 5 years now and we are getting worse by the week between all the blogs i would say 5 % back wastewood ,the other 95% can be all wrong

  418. B62 Villa

    RDM is already a dead man walking, I really wanted him to succeed, I was quite positive with the money being spent and the calibration of players being brought in for this league, but fuck me we are shite. Never looked like winning today and were really lucky to get a point. 1 win against a really poor Rotherham is awful, I think the owner will be fuming, he has stumped up shitloads just to be in a relegation dogfight. WTF is going on behind the scenes, what are Clarke and Bond doing?? The three stooges look like idiots getting out thought EVERY week. We are 3 points off the drop and 3 years off promotion. I’m well and truly fucked off with these cunts

  419. steamer

    virtually no support on the blogs for rdm. didn’t listen to the game but the general consensus was that we were crepe and lucky to get a point. performances are getting worse so all the yak about gelling is nonsense.

  420. Paul Whiting

    Amavi, Wastewood, bacuna, ayew, Cissokho…still too many of last year’s dog-shite are playing. Can someone explain how Jedinak and Tshibola are the solution to a dreadful midfield.
    Overall, £50m wasted…Whoever is in charge of recruitment should be shot.
    Remind me how much Huddersfield spent…

  423. John Lerwill

    Steamer: “performances are getting worse so all the yak about gelling is nonsense.”

    With half of his team unavailable through injury?

    My glass is still half-full… 😉

  424. B62 Villa

    JL,
    My glass is smashed let alone half full. We are getting worse every week, this time next week we could be bottom of the championship, just let that sink in.
    We have spent the most in this league, we spent more this window than Brentford have in their 126yr history. Someone is getting it very wrong. This season is no longer about promotion as that isn’t going to happen the way we are playing and the tactics utalised. It seems ridiculous we are talking about sacking a manager less than 10 games in who has spent a kings ransom, yet we are because of how shite we are and how far off the promotion pace we are.

  427. John Lerwill

    B62: “next week we could be bottom of the championship, just let that sink in.”

    Well, it could be the case … and there again we might get yet another draw … or even win.

    We don’t know until next week-end arrives and that’s another SEVEN whole days away! I’m not going to get fretted waiting for next week-end to see what’s going to happen. 😉

  428. OldVilla

    JL – wise words from someone who has seen the merry rollercoaster that is AVFC for many mnay years 🙂
    And just to further inflame a few good people on here – I thought Westwood had a super game today ……….

  429. B62 Villa

    JL
    I can’t see us winning next sat mate, I’m actually struggling to see where our next win will come. Continually drawing games in this division ends up in relegation, we need a complete U turn in form to get this season back on track, only wins and plenty of them will cut the mustard . We are easy to play against , our midfield is powder puff. We never even tested the keeper today, Gollini was motm as we hung on desperately at the end. We look like 11 strangers and have no cohesion or game plan and our in game management is awful and panic reigns . It seems bizarre whilst the sun is shining we are pretty much writing this season off, it’s not even the depths of winter or the Crimbo period but we are talking about relegation and sacking the manager, but it’s real and yes we are in a relegation battle. We are not the force we wanted to be in this division, in fact teams are relishing playing us especially at VP. Many more performances like this or the longer we go without a win the louder the chorus for RDM to go will become. Saw a poll today saying 70% want him gone now!

  430. John Lerwill

    On how RdiM is finding the Championship…(from the OS)

    It’s a very competitive league.

    The quality is much improved from last time I was in the Championship.

    There are better players now than last time.

  432. r0bb0

    There are glass half full and half empty fans out there of course but nobody can be relaxed about our current position.
    One crumb of comfort . . . . in the 2011/12 season Reading were promoted as Champions . . . . . guess how many points they had after 8 games.

  433. r0bb0

    I’m not suggesting that villa are about to go on a similar run and win the league. That’s really unlikely, but to say (as I saw on another site yesterday) that “the table doesn’t lie” as if it was an intelligent insight rather than a facile cliche is just trying to stir up discontent (which may be good for driving clicks to a forum mind you)
    Let’s not forget how we ended last season and let’s also remember that there were far more people on here and other blogs other forums predicting another relegation rather than achieving a top 6 play off place.
    Here are some other cliches: give the team time to gell, our luck has to turn sometime, there are 7/8ths of the points still to play for.

  434. B62 Villa

    I think a lot of the fears surrounding a double relegation, were before the club sale and the massive investment( for this level) in the team. This raised the bar of expectancy and quite rightly so. Unfortunately we have completely under performed. I don’t know a Villa fan that now thinks we will go up let alone win the league , such is the disappointment of our start and how far we are behind. Adding salt into the wounds are those scum from down the road flying high in 5th with a very astute manager who gets the best out of his players and is tactically aware( he will easily out wit RDM next month when they meet). The players aren’t performing and the manager has no clue in formation /tactics/game management/his best side or how to stop the rot. He better sort it out quickly as the new owner doesn’t seem the most patient having pumped in around £120m to the club. All the early season optimism is turning to anger and despair, we aren’t playing Man City’s/Arsenals/United etc we are playing Brentford, Ipswich, Rotherham, Bristol city etc and still can’t buy a win, we are struggling in an inferior league to one we have played in for the last 28 years, we are 3 pts off bottom place

  435. John Lerwill

    R0bb0,

    Well, I remember 1974-75 in Ron Saunders first season (Villa still in the second tier). In mid-December we had only won 3 in the last 10 and lying in 7th place. Not looking particularly like promotion contenders. But then came improvement and then winning all the last 8 games; convincingly as well.

    Not saying that Villa will do that this season, but just to say the game can be full of surprises … hence why my glass (or can) half full approach.

  436. r0bb0

    B62, can’t disagree with most of what you’ve said there.
    Everyone seems to agree that the owner has fulfilled his part of the bargain and it’s now over to the manager and players.
    We do now have a decent squad but bearing in mind the deep deep malaise that hung around the club I do think we allowed our expectations to rise a bit too far too fast. Conversely, our concerns have grown too far too fast.
    The villa fan base has a bipolar disorder where delight can turn almost instantly to despair. When we win two games on the bounce (which we will) then the mood will instantly shift again.
    Only around a third of fans now think we’ll be promoted and it was over 50% a few weeks ago so confidence is draining fast but there’s still time for it to shift again.

  437. r0bb0

    John, we seem to have a similar outlook at the moment, but B62 is right that RDM does seem to be struggling a bit. I reckon he came into this confidently and with a pretty clear vision but he seems to be doubting himself now and that’s not a good place to be.
    With a touch more luck in earlier games he’d have felt vindicated and fans would be far happier. From what I’ve read he did try a new strategy yesterday and we kept a clean sheet despite our injuries at the back, so hopefully he is now showing that he can adapt.

  438. runtings

    after watching the game my view is we had control of most of it but again fell short in the final third

    rdm may yet turn things around and hope he does — long term thou i would love to see one of the new age more progressive managers that play the high pressing game

  439. steamer

    This Jeerman pal of Klipperty’s at Huddersfield seems to fit the bill, fed up of tenth raters managing us.
    If we went up with this team we’d get worse results than last season.

  440. runtings

    style of play is so important these days for success eh steamer

    some of our players may not suit the pressing game but i think this group would do better in a pressing philosophy

  441. B62 Villa

    I’m not saying sack RDM, more that I think if things don’t pick up sharpish the good Dr will pull the trigger, as he doesn’t seem the type to mess about where ££££ is concerned. Steamer is right this side would get thumped regularly in the PL playing this way, which is why we would need to invest heavily if promotion was achieved. It won’t be the Newcastle game that costs him his job, it will be the blues if they beat us and we are still languishing around the bottom come the end of October . We need a minimum of 4 points from the next 2 games and then kick on in October or the play offs will be effectively out of reach. I know mathematically they wouldn’t but realistically the turnaround in ours and others form would need to be huge. Iv seen a graph on another site showing where we need to be at various times of the season and average points totals required and we are so far behind it’s frightening .

  442. John Lerwill

    R0bb0,

    B62’s logic only works for me if you were looking at this season in isolation. I think the story of the last 4 or 5 years has caused such a problem with regard to morale at the club I think it’s taking a lot to get things back to normality. And that’s despite changing so much from top to bottom.

    And as RdiM says, this is a longer term project (that may take 2 or 3 yea5rs in all). Dr. X also said that, and he should remember his own words. Dr. X. is only getting frustrated because of those late goal give-aways, as we are too.

    But we’ve still lost less matches than Newcastle! 😉

  443. James Gill

    john l
    gollina chester elphik jedi codja new players
    amavi ayew only here 1 year and amavi was injured for most of it
    grealish playing for about 18months
    leaving only glass man baker,bacuna and wastewood long term, so we can t blame last 4/5 for this group of players
    rdm and backroom staff have not showed any emotion on bench, they never changed any matches for better with subs,or tactical moves and if RDM thinks a midfield comprising of either wastewood or gg in it we have no chance, we all knew we needed players in centre mid tish is too injury prone plus not proved anything in his career,jedi was left far too long to get completed,
    we have spent a fortune and yet we look as bad as last season points dropped from winning positions, yes a clean sheet yesterday BUT we did not have ONE SHOT ON TARGET AGAINST IPSWICH NOT NEAR GOOD ENOUGH

  444. James Gill

    under lambert and lerner it was 5 year plan,we cant afford another year out of pl, as like last season with remi wrong manager at crucial time again ,you got feel for remi who might been good choice for this season with a clean deck to work with RDM HAS FAILED EVERY WHERE BAR WINNING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WITH JOSE TEAM

  445. steamer

    The folk who are saying ‘don’t panic’ remind of the Villans who were so confident of walking Division 2 after our relegation in the 60’s, we all know what happened then. Complacency can be a dangerous frame of mind especially when the quality of player at VP isn’t exactly brilliant, we need to be 100% every game for 90 minutes which obviously we are not.

  447. r0bb0

    Steamer, I don’t think anyone is being complacent. We’d all hoped for more (maybe even expected it) and patience won’t last forever, but it does depend on what your expectations are.
    After the grim last 5 years I was still hoping for mid table this year. Following better transfers than expected I now expect 4th to 10th. If we don’t start turning some draws into wins soon then it won’t matter what I think. . . . as B62 says, the good doctor will almost step in and take action.

  448. John Lerwill

    Steamer,

    As R0bb0 says, no-one is complacent. But I think there are some who are not really trying to understand the big picture.

    James

    You say “we can t blame last 4/5 for this group of players” and if you think I was then you’re misreading me. I am talking about the spirit of VP and how it’s been affacted. To such an extent it effects new players as well – but they will come out of it.

  449. John Lerwill

    James: “rdm and backroom staff have not showed any emotion on bench”

    They’re not purely because they’re trying to think through what is going on.

    Emotion is not always good. In fact RdiM always shows emotion when Villa score.

  450. southwestvillan

    You know the one good thing about playing in this shitty league is you really struggle to find a write up in the Sunday papers, so much so that I give up and actually enjoy my breakfast.
    But reading the reports online it looks as if we took part in a dire game where the paying public should have been given their money back, one shot on target all game and Ipswich took credit for that, and by all accounts we were lucky to get the point.
    I really feel for the people who went all the way to East Anglia in the blind hope that they might see their mighty team actually take three points for the first time in how many years.
    I am starting to feel oblivious to it all, I just cannot get emotive about it anymore I can take it or leave it the Villa have battered me into submission I didn’t even look for the result until about 7 last night, I have felt this way before but I truly believe this time I am broken, I now know what an old Leeds fan must feel.
    I hope for the sake of young Villans they can turn it around but that hope is that alone and I would struggle to convince any person that the chance of it actually happening is very slim to none.

    SWV

  451. steamer

    RObbo,
    IMO this squad is capable of promotion but its hindered by poor selection and tactics with the result of it draining confidence from the team. It really is a dire standard where no team stands out, we have better players than anyone else so why are we struggling ? of course we have a couple of injuries but RdM should have padded out the squad to prevent having to play the likes of Wimpwood in particular and also others who do less damage to the team.
    Some fans are making excuses about gelling, Watford signed fifteen new players last year and got off to a flyer, they’ve signed a load more this year and it hasn’t done them any harm. I don’t think RdM has signed any dummies its just that he’s overloaded us with strikers at the cost of the MF.
    SWV,
    Know how you feel, i still take an interest but can’t be bovvered to watch them even on TV, footies died a death through greed and corruption and isn’t worth stressing over, just a game infested by mediocrities like the England team, absolute garbage, thank McGrath for Messi the only player worth paying more than 2 bob to watch.

  452. Heroes-and-Villans

    Well i have become enlightened and stress free. Why?Because ive realised i dont give a shit if we are in the prem or not. Until there is a breakaway and city, utd etc eff off its pointless. What we get promoted then what….target is stay up and a really good season will be mid table! Balls to that id rather be a big fish in this small pond.

    ( realise we ballsing up being a big fish)!

  454. Mark King

    Hello folks, while I think RDM is not faultless I think injury’s and late arrivals have played a part, it could be the players don’t believe in him But I think its more likely that the few games when we should of scored at least three are dragging the team down. We cannot on one hand say we were lucky against Ipswich without acknowledging how unlucky we have been in hitting the woodwork seven times all in games we did not win either. Lets hope we beat the Toon and kick-start something and I think we may as the focus is different, we are not the favourites.

  455. Jenny Truman

    Evening all,

    re: Jock Wallace Tex , I can only say when I read about management styles like his, I am left wondering “how”. I absolutely agree with you (and John L) that manager should promote self discipline and have exacting standards for the players – ie 100 per cent effort in training, commitment and prepared to make the sacrifices that top sportsmen need to make. For me this is no alcohol in season, good diet, supreme fitness, respect for club, team and coaches. This is a minimum. I would say this is strong leadership and players should have no gripes about rules like turning phones off in training, not going out on the piss during season, living within a sensible distance of training ground. To perform your best you need to make sacrifices and that is not just on match day. But a big no no for me is a manager that bullies his players because a. it isn’t necessary. A manager that puts the fear of god into his players isn’t going to get the best out of that player because to play your best you have to play with confidence. Athletes talk about being in the zone, that time when they excel and the zone only happens when you are living in the present, not thinking of the future “what ifs” and basically on automatic pilot. If a player is thinking “I musn’t make a mistake because the mgr willl humiliate me/shout at me/etc” then the pressure is more intense and the performance stilted. The fear of making mistake because they are going to get told off will change the way they play. They will be frightened to take risks – hide from the ball – pass it back instead of risking a forward pass. I know that the article talks about a couple of players who thrived under a harsh regime, but I wonder how many were stifled or put off. For the people I have coached, the ones who have had managers or coaches who they were fearful of were inhibited and even put off the sport. But the coach who encouraged them to take risks was the one who got the best performance. You can’t perform your best if you are frightened of making a mistake.

    Whilst SAF was renowned for being a no nonsense, strict manager, he also had his humane side eg Ronaldo said he was incredibly sympathetic when his Father was ill. Also, SAF built his incredible reputation when there was less player power than now.

    I think Koeman is the best manager in the premier league. He is quietly spoken but has high standards which he insists the players adhere to. Clearly he is a good tactician and capable of buidling a team from scratch – which he had to do when the Saints lost their best players.

  456. Jenny Truman

    Had a very tiring weekend – took my daughter to uni for her first day and now I feel like I’ve had an arm cut off. I am feeling very odd without her. So couldn’t watch game but Frem kindly kept me up to date as he streamed it.

    So disappointing for RDM as to be fair he did try and change things. I was surprised we didn’t have even one shot on target – this is so erratic when a couple of games ago we had 26. But then again, I wasn’t surprised that MadMick parked the bus and his game plan was do a major assault in the last ten minutes in the hope we would concede on the 89th. At least we kept a clean sheet so little steps and all that.

    Me and Frem would like to see a 4-4-2 – something the players will easily understand as they must be getting confused with playing different formations. Appreciate he hasn’t had a fit team so maybe we will see this against the toon.

    Looks like the special one is also having trouble so the weekend results weren’t all bad. Interesting that Jose has said that the mancs have a mentality problem – maybe not the best thing to say to the press 🙂

    Finally, Micky Quinn proving he is the consumate unprofessional. The most biased and irritating present on Talk Sport has sunk to a new low for anyone who has seen h is latest tweets. Please please God, if we are only destined to win two matches this season, let it be Newcastle and the bluenoses.

  457. B6toBrasil

    I rarely post here but NUFC and M.Q. really are the lowest of the low.That clown is the Max Wall of broadcasting,a great face for radio and a voice that makes my skin crawl.How he earns a living I have no idea,he can barely string a sentence together which seems wholly appropriate for Talk carp.
    Let me tell you about NUFC,sorry not attempting to lecture here.IN 1982 Bobby Robson was spat at/on the dropping Keegan from the England squad.In 2004,they reached 5th in the PL and the s/f of the old UEFA cup.Their “lap of honour”in May ,last home game,was watched by a less than half empty stadium,as they had missed out on qualification for the CL. A 1-1 draw with Wolves meant they had to win their 2 remaining games away,they didn’the. . Robson was hounded out for this by their magnificent supporters.as he couldn’the “take the club forward”. Best in the world,only they appreciate a great no.9 ,only they appreciate footie played the “proper” way,only they are loyal,yet pre Keegan they were getting crowds of 17,000.Yet when Robson died,I think 2009,the stench of hypocrisy was sickening. all the appalling treatment of him was conveniently forgotten.However don’the let this get in the way of the Geordie myth,marvellous ,loyal people.
    Have no intention of reading Sicky Gin’s comments as he just states platitudes and has the imagination of a crushed peanut.
    I just wanted to share with some younger fans that the constant myth we are fed about the greatest fans in the world is not quite on the money,and that football did exist before 1992,when NUFC drew crowds that are not up to today’so 52,000,in a city with one team.They wallow in their own self importance.Am I being a nob,not even reading what he has Said? Probably,but I just thought I would share my feelings about the most marvellous fans and people in the world.If you doubt me about Robson treatment and their low attendances please do your research.Goodnight.COYVB.

  458. B62 Villa

    Brasil
    I completely agree regarding the Geordies, their sickening media love in and myths about being the best/most loyal etc is bollox. They will certainly revel in beating us, which unfortunately looks the more likely result. I’d love it if we pipped them to the title or promotion( unlikely I know) beating them on the way, after the vermin this has become the next biggest grudge match.

  462. John Lerwill

    Micky Quinn

    Don’t you think that if everyone goes around talking about what he’s said then he’s won?

    I’m sure that’s why some of these guys say anything is just to gain attention … and extra dough.

  463. Mark King

    Well I’d like to thank Quinn he may well make Villa park a hornets nest for his team, I fear after the last two home games at VP have been very quiet affairs full of tension, Quinn may have just given Our fans something to focus on. On top of that this is a game that is the meeting of two clubs of closer stature than any we have played and been expected to roll over and we may not be favourites for once? will that help our fragile confidence and give the team a focus away from the league position. What an opportunity to dent the toons title chances and confidence, lets hop th eplayers come out with that in mind and not damage limitations.

  465. B6toBrasil

    Steamer,dunno his address but if I put on the envelope
    Fat scouse nob,
    Cat Pi $$ on Sea.
    It would probably be sent straight to TalkCarp where the resident scousers could despute the card’s ownership.
    Geordies, the scousers of the NE.

  466. steamer

    B6B,
    Hope we beat them after this latest row.

    Advertising for a youth manager and Head of Coaching, fired a good one last week and can someone tell me exactly what Rounds job is ? Lot of cooks around and the broth looks slightly off.

  467. B6toBrasil

    Steamer,I am surprised the vacancy is advertised in such a way.I thought jobs like this were filled via contacts and through the footie grapevine.It seems to restrict the applications to Villa fans by only putting it on the club site.I would have thought they needed to advertise the post more broadly.Perhaps they have.

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