If you switched off at halftime to go do something else, you made the right call. The shred of optimism Villa might’ve taken away from holding City scoreless evaporated when they conceded the opener, and it all went downhill from there, Everton adding another two in short order to go in at the half up by three, and finish up by four.
To be fair, Everton played very well. Martinez has done a good job there. But once again, we saw Villa not dealing well with pressure in possession and didn’t do much to disrupt Everton’s ideas. The Toffees were intent on taking the game to Villa from the off, and were rewarded. Villa had no real response. Everton didn’t need to worry about a wide threat and had no trouble frustrating Villa through the middle. We were chasing shadows much of the day.
Garde reintroduced Grealish to the squad, but it had little effect. I’d rather have seen Bacuna or Sinclair instead. While Gil and Grealish were more properly attuned to their defensive responsibilities, Villa couldn’t press forward enough to bring them into the game. We were outmuscled in midfield, Gana looked well off the pace, and one wonders whether Westwood should’ve been given a start as well.
Tactically, Villa’s set-up was perhaps a bit naive. While we wanted to calm the game and play on the counter, we couldn’t break quickly with any coordination, largely because Everton were cutting off the outlets and fighting hard to deny Villa any time and space. With Grealish and Gil pushed out wide, it was hard for Villa to create anything centrally, Ayew cutting an isolated figure up top. The game probably cried out for Sanchez instead of Westwood. Passes, both simple and overly ambitious, went astray, the ball didn’t stick to feet, and it seemed like Everton were playing with 12 or 13 outfield players.
There’s obviously a lot to point out on the negative side, but sadly I think we’ve all got those shortcomings ingrained in our minds now. Whatever poor display you’re thinking of from the past, it probably matches up with what we saw at Goodison.
More problematic, I couldn’t see any real bright spots from this one. The back four are a still a mess, tending to sit deep while the midfield wanted to push up, and failing to play with any of the assuredness or anticipation necessary at this level. The CBs still get split far too often, and opponents continue to ghost around the back four just outside the box, picking out backside runners. Richardson was very much out of his depth against Deulofeu. Hutton, as always, put in a shift, but still was Hutton. Most everyone in a blue shirt had all day to make their minds up. When Villa pushed forward, there was far too much room in the middle of the park for Everton to use playing back out.
In the end, it’s just a game we just have to forget, but I don’t know if the players can. Garde will face the unenviable task of watching this one several times over on film, and it will be interesting to see what he takes away. He didn’t look amused while it was playing out in real-time, jaw muscles clenching. I wasn’t amused either. I really don’t want to start drinking at 8am, but I might have to start if I’m going to get anything out of these games.
I don’t know what the answer is at the moment. Games like today will do that to you. All I know is that Villa have to get a win, however it happens.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 81
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What a player delafu is end of story.
Plus points Ayew vertout are both very good players .
Gil is wasted in a role out right, if he is not on the ball neither are we.
That said Sanchez made a massive difference and vertouts influence will grow.
Felt sorry for richardson he wont face a better player other than Marez this season.
Absolutely nothing positive came from that game. Watford will batter us next week too.
Where’s this ‘Bright future’ ?
Guzan injured, Steer ? no thanks.
Everton just walked through our midfield and then did the same with our defence.
Players i never EVER want to see wearing a Villa shirt –
Steer, Richardson, Lescott, Hutton, Bacuna, Agbonlahor, Westwood, Zoggy, Sinclair.
Don’t blame Remi though, you can’t polish a turd.
Richards admitting Everton wanted it more. That’s worrying as we are team fighting for everything
Mark- Remi got it wrong how he set up Gil and Jack to play. A) they aren’t players to track back full backs. b) when we get the ball, they have to move inside very narrow, not stay standing out wide. They are useless there.
Watford play a 442 so we should stick with Gil and Jack playing as two CAM, play Ayew and Gestede up top. Sanchez and Gana is CM.
Hope westwood and Guzan never play for us again. Can’t stand them
Remi got it very wrong today. He has to change from the last two games defensive set up. Attack, press more, get body’s forward. Sacrifice space
I think we have to face the fact we are getting relegated, I think even the fucktards running the club have grasped this fact and therefore won’t spend heavily in January. we are shambolic and ineffective all over the pitch and are easily the worst side in the division. These players simply aren’t good enough and the recruitment dept have had their pants pulled down over the prices we paid for these planks and as for giving out new contracts for dogshit like Gabby and Westwood is just criminal.
There are no positives to take from today as we watch our beloved club crumble and die in front of our very eyes, Rabdy Lerner’s legacy will be bankrupting the club and taking it out of the premier league, I have nothing but contempt for the man and I will have a wry smile when his fortune is wiped out
some great comments out there tonight steamer frem b62
saying that steamer your bit harsh on steer has to be better than bufoon guzan
garde saying troare not fit enough or something what the fuck is going on at bodymore where are okore ilor and kozak they cannot be worse than crap today and sorry john l if i see gabby westwood again i will stop watching villa
next week
has to be
steer had enough guzan
richards if doesnt like start bombsquad 2/3/4 what ever
okore
clark
don t know
troare
sanchez
vertout
ayew wide
rudi
gil playmaker
subs
ilor
gana
bacuna
sinclair
kozak
another point remi made major mistake today playing richardson as leftback against deulofeau one most form players in league with no body straight front to stop best right back in europe coleman running at him as well
Barca giving Real the welly – 4-0 up and no Messi either.
Scary – 4 fantastic goals and could have been 8.
Was at today’s game. Away at Everton was not the game to play Grealish AND Gil. Richardson cannot defend – he simply wasn’t close enough to Delefeou, who killed us. Our centre backs don’t seem to anticipate danger. Gana was lost. Plus side, Vertout battled until the end. Ayew looked dangerous with the ball. We improved with Sanchez and Gestede. Don’t agree with Steamer’s comments about happy clappers – Villa fans cheering was their way of showing defiance. We all know the Club is a joke, but fans need to find a way of salvaging some pride when losing 4-0. There was also healthy piss-taking of our own players.
Chelmsley-
Agree about the away support. Good on you for going.
I do also think, as others are saying as well, that Grealish and Gil, if they are playing together, have to be closer and more central, the 4-3-2-1. Sanchez, Gana and Vertout in the middle.
I don’t think all hope is lost yet. Everton clearly a side playing with freedom and confidence. Villa have to start strong and get a foothold if not a goal, but give themselves something to work with.
Basically, with Hutton and Richardson we don’t have attacking fullbacks. Hutton will get up, and that’s fine, but they really have to be careful picking their spots.
If Grealish and Gil play together, the central three have to work their socks off, and Grealish and Gil have to be pressing at their end of the pitch, wide or central, to slow counters. Veretout up the middle has to be key player filling that gap between them. He seems to have the legs for it.
But what Garde was emphasizing in terms of shape, that’s what they still need to be working on.
James-
Agreed Richardson was totally overmatched. That said, of the available options, I don’t know that anyone is built to play against someone like Deulofeu. None of them have quick hips, they’re all tall, don’t change direction quickly, etc.
On pressing, we have to play man to man, in their faces, not zonally. One comes up, and the outlet is too easily found.
But we’ve been saying this for years.
Next season we could have local derbies against Blues, Wolves, Walsall, Cov, Forest and possibly Derby and Burton Albion.
Not pretty but regardless of what the naysayers and doomsday era are saying we will fight on! So much parity in this league. Arsenal made Everton look like championship fodder then they dominate frequently! They will challenge for champs league! Arsenal lose today. Leicester top of the league. There are 5 teams stuck in the muck! This is not over! Leicester were where we are later in the season and will soon be champions of europe 😉
I’m not throwing in the towel and neither is Garde!
UTV
Thanks for the well written review, JC.
Another disappointing result, a hiding. To be honest, I kind of expected a loss.
Perhaps, there’s a silver lining in this loss that won’t be immediately obvious. It’s another three points gone and another four goals in the debit ledger.
Bottom line is that better players need to come in.
I agree with Ronnie Biggs. Garde won’t throw the towel in. There is a lack of quality in depth at Villa. Somehow, Garde has to get the best out of what he’s got and bring in some better players later, but there’s still enough games left to make PL survival a reality.
Have a good week!
Despite all the current doom and gloom, I really think that a good run in the FA Cup will transform Villa’s season, provided that they manage to avoid Salford City or Hartlepool.
What quality players will want to come to villa?
Andrew,
No decent English player would come to VP.
Chelmsley,
Welcome to the site.
Commendable as it is, your’e cheering on multi-millionaires who don’t actually give a toss about Villa and even worse don’t give any effort on the pitch. The state AV is in i would have thought that giving Fox and Lerner, as well as the previous four managers, hell would have been more justified.
Most of the team just walk off the pitch anyway, its not as if your efforts are appreciated.
Lerner won’t sell until he gets an exaggerated offer, at the moment were worth sod all compared to what a well run club would be valued at. The club is a total shambles from top to bottom, signings are vetted by Fox, Fox ? what the fuck does that jumped up prick know about football ? and a German statistics geek who was working in the commercial department at Arsenal, you couldn’t believe it. If you picked ANYONE from the crowd on a match day they’d know a million times as much about Villa and football that the useless fuckers running OUR club.
If our fans are happy about these circumstances then they’ll be ecstatic when we’re going to Rochdale etc, iv’e done all that and its grim believe me.
Still have confidence in Remi, just the other shower thats the problem. We need at least five players with goolies, even if they’re average, just as long as they respect the badge and compete.
Four points from 13 games, beyond shameful.
Five.
that didnt go too well then
real big ask for garde and i think he will have to learn fast what a lot of us already know about a lot of our players
we are still 5 points from safety so next game is huge — frems earler comment was on the money foe me in what we need to do for that game
watched highlights/lowlights again motd
my god we are shite our keeper and back 4
guzan we signed 2 keepers in the summer plus steer anyone would give you more confidance than guzan yes one good save but first goal poor spill 3 goal where was he going
hutton unbelieveable looked good yesterday but poor poor excuse of footballer
richardson 3 goals came from his side plus heap off chances not blaming entirely we where set up with no width to try stop coleman running forward
richards captain didnt think we could have 3 shite captains in a row vlar,delph richards,shocking show yesterday as leader watch 3 goal lying on his ass no hurry to get up shocking bad
clark not worst think he would like okore back
garde has some work to do needs to go with 4411 formation and if we don t beat watford lerner putting away cheque book after paying of garde
steer bunn
crespo okore ilor
traore
kozak
some young lads need a chance
to many had to many chances
Agree James,
If the usual suspects can’t/won’t do it then give the kids a go.
Would anyone want Vlaar back if we had a chance of signing him ? He’d walk into that crepe B4.
Ashley Cole is a free agent too.
For those suggesting that Bennet may be the answer, he hasn’t played for B’mouth this season, that tells you something. Cissoko would do a very good job, who cares if he’s crepe going forward, he’s the best FB on the books defensively and thats what we need.
Regarding Steer, Huddersfield SENT him back we didn’t recall him. New 4 year contract from Fox. Give me strength.
Bunn
Richards, Crespo, Clark.
Veretout, Sanchez, Gana.
Traore, Gil.
Gestede, Ayew.
Rest of squad – Gardner, Illori, Guzan, Okore Sinclair Hutton and kids.
No Gabby,No Westwood.
Get Senderos in the squad, tell us what the problems are with Kozak, Illori and Traore instead of treating us like idiots.
Thank you John for the superb write up of what was a crushing blow – will they ever stop – for us Villa fans and Remi Garde.
I have read up on the game as couldn’t get it on my pc and watched MOTD – which should have been a no go area particuarly as it was viewed when I got back from seeing the film Steve Jobs which was another waste of money and two hours !!
For what they are worth here are the player ratings by The Sunday Mirror –
Guzan 6 – probably only visitor who emerged with any sort of credit (jeez he let in 4 goals and is the best of our bunch !)
Hutton 5 – least exposed df
RIchards 5 – taken apart time and time again, huge hole down the middle
Clark 5 – ditto
Richardson 4 Abandoned left back position never to return (in other words he gave up)
Gil = no supply but no excuse for not tracking back
Veretout 4 Hardly noticed he was there
Westwood 5 – worked hard but completely over run in the middle
Gana 3 – only gets marks for turning up because did nothing els
Grealish 4 – looks out of his depth miles behind Barkley
Ayew – didnt offer a single outlet throughout the game
Whilst this is subjective – it is the assessment of a neutral. What is worrying is why are players giving up and new signings like Gana, Ayew,Veretoutwere went missing. We have to accept for all the hype and wishful thinking, that Grealish is not ready yet. I have seen ppl and even pundits saying Av should build the team around JG – please no would you build a house on sand .
Unfortunately, what is staring us in the face is the unpalatable truth that Tim Sherwood may be right when he said “we are in a hole”. He made it clear in the post cup final press conf that he would rpelace ‘that team of losers’ (or words to that effect) Are the replacements better or God forbid are they worse. We spent 50 million (albeit financed by the Benteke money) what do we have to show for it. Could the money be spent better. Leicester, not world beaters or spenders are top of the premier league. Teams who have spent less than us are not fighting relegation. To ignore these truths would be naiieve.
But unlike Richardson who seemed to give up, I am not giving up on them just yet. Remi has only had two games – and if nothing else that embarrassment will have spelled out where our problems lie. I wouldn’t be too hard on him for not selecting Sanchez to start as I have read he was exhausted from international duty and travelling. They are not his team and maybe there is some truth in it that Riley and Co have sought a french mgr to justify their french signings. WHo knows, but if we give up on them now they are well and truly Championship bound.
Yes we are bad – but then so to are Sunderland and Newcastle – and Bournmouth could make the three. Remi should be banging on RLs door and saying unless you give me funds to buy a striker in January you may as well kiss goodbye to the 120 million tv money. We should also remember that Everton have some smoking players at the moment and would probably have beaten the best playing like they did. A team with Deulofeu, Lukaku, Stone,Barclay are going to be tough to beat. We need to focus on beating the lesser teams and if we do we will be safe.
Id agree with that Steamer – what the hell has happened to Traore – it is time to put to bed the rumours that he is not being played because his salary will take a hike. Also, what has happend to our very own Lord Lucan – aka Kozak .
Isn’t Ashley Cole another Lescott in disguise though . Great in his hey day but past it now ? I don’t know as I haven’t seen him play recently and admit was prob a better defender than Lescott on his day. I just wonder whether we are going to be outpaced again.
Daughter has told me she is going to buy me one of them Amazon Firesticks with Kodi loaded onto it as you can get all sky channels ect , just so l can be in the room on my own and not wreck the lounge ,
question is , has anybody on here got one and does it do what it says on the tin , (although l have sky l dont bother with sports channel as l prefer going the pub to watch it , but lm running out of pubs now )
as for the villa , alhough lm going to newcastle and that really is to have a drink with the lads on my birthday , l would say were down as l cant see Leaner giving Remi a pile in January to get us out of this shite ,
Hi Jenny hope your feeling better xxxx
Hi st – much better thank you xx
Not sure of those Amazon Firesticks – way over my techno sphere ! Be interested to learn what they are though !
Jen,
Never rated Cole at his peak, never mind now, just thought he might be better than KR.
In Memorium?
When the leathered sphere in Aston landed,
the Villa triers together banded,
but – a story so sad to relate
– the Villans at first were not great.
And then, by chance, a wee Scot knocked on their door,
a clerk who clearly knew how to score!
The “dapper little man” who wanted a game,
who showed them all how to dribble, and the ball to tame;
His name, Ramsay, spread around;
outside Aston’s borders, his name was found.
Then to the Barr, he led the Villa hence,
to build a club par excellence.
Fully charged, the magnet’s power
attracted more Scots to help the sower.
A kindly draper, McGregor, was pulled this way,
the League’s father he became, they say.
Archie Hunter and many other friend,
a Band of Brothers did blend.
Didn’t that Ramsay Celt sow the seed;
and from the acorn came the grand oak to feed.
Many years of splendorous teams soon grew,
whose feats many tried to copy, it is true.
The claret and blues (as they became)
– a tower of strength, and great fame.
JL
Jenny,
Remi has said (yesterday I think) that he doesn’t rate Traore right now. He wants to get him up to scratch – referring to “his wasteful tendencies” or something to that effect.
Jenny
they’re called Amazon Firestick (£35) and you download Kodi onto it off the net or you can buy them off some sites fully loaded with all the sports , films , series ect ,( around £60 ) just found out my brother has got one and is watching Spectre now , he watched the villa yesterday , it goes into a HDMI socket in your telly and logs onto your wifi and away you go , lm dropping over my brothers later so will have more info , l just wondered if anyone else had the set-up , xx
JL . “wasteful tendencies !!!! ” regarding Remi observation of Traore . if he has come out with that then lm going into panic mode , because all them tendencies were on display with the whole team yesterday , that really is a lame excuse IMO ,
It’s going to be tough to get out of this mess, in all honesty I don’t believe we can. No team has survived relegation on 5 points after 13 games, we need 33-35 points from 25 games, we haven’t shown that sort of form since MoN walked, I can’t see these players suddenly tearing it up and winning football matches on a regular/semi regular basis. I don’t think we will hit 20-25 points such is the ineptitude of our squad. The only glimmer of hope is Newcastle, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Norwich haven’t completely pulled free yet, next week is a must win anything less and it’s over bar the shouting. Across the sites most are resigned to the drop, most agree it’s deserved as RL has continually asset stripped the club year on year until now we are a shadow of our former selves. He will pocket the TV cash/parachute payments and sell the club on a knockdown fire sale to another chancer and walk away without being too far out of pocket for his 10yr destruction of one of England’s oldest sporting institutions.
Its such a p-poor league this year i can see 20-25 points being enough, unfortunately unless Lerner gives Remi 30m or so all the other strugglers will get maximum points off us.
have a listen to this bloke, i’d sooner have his punditry than the jokers we have to put up with –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ngk2pABJU
Godfrey-
They do need something to build on, and if it comes in the cup ties, that’s a-okay by me. But something has to happen when points are on the line…need three next time out.
I think I have finally worked out the problem with Villa. We cannot defend. We have no midfield. And we cannot score goals. And the board running Aston Villa are an eclectic bunch of shit for brains.
Eweell, another game, another loose!
I switched over of at halftime , and to take my mind of it watched some walking dead.
I am almost up to date with that. Funny thing is the zombie looked like they would play here than some of our lot!
Top top! Article there John.
St75. I have used kodi and its previous incarnation xbmc, for a few years now on both a laptop connected to project er. And on android tablet and phone. Which then push to my WiFi TV scren It’s great for movies TV, and live matches in HD. I use it mainly as a second TV on a laptop in my bedroom, as the missues andkids don’t let near living room TV.
It’s good if u know your way around tech, as there can be loads of fiddling with it every now and then. I am currently watching full metal alchemist .& the peter Davison’s doctor who years and the odd crappy villa game!
Walking dead is class.
Not alot to be said on the villa front, whatever team i want us to field i look at and its crepe. We must be a dream to play against, we have no fight, no threat and will easily buckle under any pressure.
Just praying we can get a decent owner in to re build us.
Delusional Crystal Palace chairman talking about Josh Harris and David Blitzer and how Palace have the potential to be the biggest club in the Universe. We had a lucky escape there…. or did we ?
Harris and Blitzer have been talking to Palace for 18 months with Parish resisting attempts to relinquish control. “They are smart guys, David and Josh, and they have looked at what has happened [at other clubs] and they want to do it with a partner,” Parish said.
“We’ve had 18 months to get to know each other, since we first started talking, so that’s been great and obviously we are on the same page now. They know a lot more about the culture of the club and the things that matter to the fans and to me.
“I think they looked at another club [believed to be Aston Villa]. I think they felt the best opportunity to make a difference was at Crystal Palace – there is a lot of potential growth there. Whether we can do it remains to be seen. But the potential is there. We are the only Premier League club south of the river (Thames). There are 2.4 million people in south London and no other Premier League club until you get to Southampton. So it has to be the biggest catchment area potential of any single football club in the country.”
As it stands i don’t think anyone would dispute that we are far and away the worst team in the division and probably a mediocre one in the division below. While Lerner and Fox remain we’ll always have that stench of incompetent failure about us despite how much money Lerner will belatedly throw at us. At the moment i’d accept Carson Yeung and Peter Pannu over these idiots.
I just cannot believe the decline in standards in every facet of AVFC since Lerner arrived.
Its quite possible that three of the biggest clubs in England will be relegated this season, two owned by Americans and one by a fat cockney, just the types who shouldn’t be allowed to own our clubs. I understand that in Jeermany the fans must own 51% of the club so whats stopping our FA bringing in in a similar rule ?
Disappointed obviously anout the game but plenty of others got hammered on sat including some big names. One swallow and all that, Garde was fuming on the side lines so an arse kicking will be due.
Sanchez needs to play without him cbs pulled everywhere. Gil needs to play central and I would chance my arm with kinsella. Have good week I am off to lanzerote
UTV
Twelve months ago I think I wrote an identical piece about there being three worse teams than us at about this stage of the season at that time I had doubts if there actually were, I sit here now with absolutely no doubt whatsoever, we are the worst team in the division and our position tells you all you need to know about how bad we really are.
Last season at least we had three players in Vlaar, Delph and Benteke who could dig us out of a hole but now we have a load of gutless players who get paid tens of thousands to put in some of the most inept performances we have ever seen in our once famous colours, it makes you think why someone like Remi Garde who comes across as a very intelligent man would take on such a role, was he duped by Lerner and Fox into taking the job on, if so can we strike intelligent.
Over the last five seasons we have gambled and flirted with survival, we set our stall out to be 17th, a very dangerous game to play but in all fairness if you show such a lack of ambition you sometimes get what you deserve.
The lack of football knowledge and nous from Lerner through to Fox and onward to the idiots playing Moneyball is going to be the death of our football club, I feel for Garde trying to do an impossible job amongst these incompetent fools, try running a marathon in a tank of treacle up to your waist and ask RG is he enjoying his new role.
Someone wrote every team I pick from our selection of players looks poor and he is absolutely right, I cannot pick a team that is good enough to get us out of this hole, will any player worth his salt want to join a club in January who are destined for the championship, we need players with a never say die attitude a Kevin Richardson or a Steve McMahon and all we have is Gil or Grealish neither could tackle a fish supper.
It is difficult to predict when this nightmare will end but my fears are that the championship may just be the start of a very dark period in Aston Villas history.
GSAVFC
spot on swv…..it was i who said about the poor team on paper! Its very sad but i have gone through all the stages of anger, grief etc, it does not even upset me anymore, im numb to it. Buck bets ten deeney will kill us saturday, he is bang up for the game.
I thought we would loose but when i saw jack, gill ayew up top which we have been praying for all season i thought we could at least be a threat and score some goals but we turn in our worst game yet!
have a good hols mark. picked a good time cuz its freeeezing here!
Mark don’t splash out too much on my prezzie mate – have a spondious time
I still think we can get out of this – we need to get a result in our next game for sure though
one win could see us 2 points from safety and i don’t see many wins in the rest of the bottom 4
we need a goal scorer though – really weird that kosak still can’t get a look in – surely he is more of a goal threat than our other stikers
Ayew looks a talent but i don’t fancy him upfront on his own – he does look dangerous working a little deeper
runtings
I think we should go 4231 not 433
sanchez gana
Gill Vertout Ayew
Gestede
as the 231
Like you say putting ayew up top on his own bit of an ask, better there.
Need gestede up top, at least he is a lump and would give the def something to think about!
Very interested to see if remi keep richardson lb. If he does then its a black mark against him allready for me!
like the team Andrew
i do feel a little sorry for garde – Richardson is the only established player in the left back position but like you imply he is awful as a footballer — will Garde play a younger player there ? — maybe he is worried there confidence will be battered and doesn’t want to risk it
Cheers lads just about to board.
We need Adama up to speed some pace will open things up like it did for everton.
I’d heard delafou was good didnt realise how quick he is , Adama can do the same or a trimmed down flabby
Runtingz – kinsella is steady and would of put delafou in row Z
Problem is we sit too deep to protect richardson , it affects the whole way we play. Without Sanchez it was chaos
I might be shot down for this but why not use Gabby at left back when we have RM with pace attacking us.
Scary thing, my company do a lot of business with AVFC and a few projects have been put on hold in case we do go down, if they are preparing for relegation then we are truly fudged.
My friend works in a dentist and just before the FA cup, one of they’re customers is a Villa coach and when she asked if he was looking forward to the cup final, he said no chance. All the players are little brats that have the ability and talent but don’t push themselves. He told her they are just waiting for another club has being in the Midlands is not glamorous enough.
Haggis,
For footballers to be used in different roles to what they normally play I feel they have to show a degree of intelligence and football knowhow, Gabby falls flat on his Aristotle on both counts in fact I cannot remember when he actually achieved any success in the role that we pay him £70k a week for, I thought when we bought Crespo he could play all the way across the back line.
Well it looks like some of those idiots might have a long wait on their hands I don”t see anyone being linked with any of them.
GSAVFC
haggis
think theres a typo. it reads put gabby at lb. surly you meant gabby needs taking out the back and shooting
I knew I would get shot down, He is useless at going forward. At least in that position he has his pace.
I play Sanchez at LB on Fifa and he is a rock there.
Not wishing to depress anyone but can i point out a possible scenario for our future –
1) Lerner spends 30m in Jan putting us in more debt to his family.
2) Villa are still relegated.
3) We have to unload our few capable players at cut price, Gil, Sanchez and anyone else who can kick a ball.
4 ) Fox’s ridiculous give everyone a four year contract policy leaves us with tripe like Lescott, Deadwood, Steer. Agbonlahor, Bacuna etc to keep us in the Championship.
5) Fox came to VP to increase revenue, there’s no sign of it happening in the EPL so why would it happen in the Championship.
6) Lerner at the present obviously doesn’t want to sell Villa but if we’re relegated won’t invest /waste any more and is therefore left with a club he doesn’t want because it is now unsustainable and no-one wants to buy.
7) We’re then in a situation of out of sight, out of mind and descend in League one before Lerner finally gives up and sells us for a pittance to another cowboy.
8) Villa then go the Leeds/Portsmouth way of having numerous owners who bleed the club dry until we finally fold.
I saw quite a well written article on another blog recently but within it was the suggestion that we shouldn’t expect much from Garde because his 50% win rate was no better than the average Lyon win rate for the previous 10 years.
That missed the point completely.
The reason his win rate was so impressive was precisely ‘because’ it was the same as their previous recent history.
Lyon went through a similar period of financial cut backs as Villa, during which they cleared out nearly all of their top (expensive) players. ‘Despite’ this, Garde ‘maintained’ the 50% win record. If only Houllier, McLeish, Lambert or Sherwood had been able to maintain O’Neill’s win ratio we’d not be in the mess we are now.
Garde had the advantage of having worked within the youth set up of the club and was able to bring many of the players he already knew through into the senior team.
We all hoped that K Mac may be able to perform a similar miracle at Villa but sadly it was not the case.
Garde had the benefit of knowing the players and set up at Lyon so it is a big challenge for him to come straight into Villa and immediately make a difference. He strikes me as the sort of man who will steadily develop the players and playing style, but unfortunately we’ve not given him the luxury of time for this steady approach and we could really do with at least two more wins before Christmas!
Too early to call watford a must-win but at home it will certainly be a must-not-lose plus we need to start picking up some points even if draws which of course will also give the players a bit of much needed confidence prior to the crucial Xmas period!
UTV
To be honest it really does feel like a must win and Newcastle will be if we don’t beat the hornets!
UTV
steamer
if lerner had put another20/30m in summer buying less but quality players which we needed after 4 years of rubbish
if you look at all players released how many are playing at new clubs vlar delph benteke mostly injured
we need keeper guzan was dropped last season because he wasnt good enough then how does he become better over summer,right back hutton is crap always has been and never will be any good ,same for westwood wasnt replaced either,gabby neville don us a favour that night highlighting how much captain fantastic really cares for club,rudi as number nine he was one fifth of benteke price
I see we are being linked with Charlie Austin , no chance will he come in January , he has already said he won’t go to a struggling team as he doesn’t want to play in the championship next year. I said we should have gone for him in the summer instead of Ayew and Gestede. He would have been cheaper and would have undoubtably scored more than those two. Whoever over saw our recruitment in the summer, they completely wasted the window buying unproven over priced French rubbish, supplementing the absolute rubbish we already had clogging up our squad like fat clogging a scotsmans artery. I agree no matter what starting line up we pick from our squad it looks weak, ineffective and unlikely to trouble anyone in this division.
I don’t think we will come back from relegation for at least 10yrs, such is the rot and incompetence at VP. We could even see us drop into lge1 as we implode and will undoubtably receive penalties and sanctions under the football leagues Fair play rules.
watford H
Southampton A
Arsenal H
Newcastle A
Westham H
Norwich A
Sunderland A
Really to start thinking about moving out of relegation we would need 4 wins out of that run up to January. They’re very unlikely to come from the southampton or arsenal game. Watford is a must win. 3 massive away games against Newcastle, Norwich and Sunderland! If we lose these we are down before the new year, let alone Garde saying it will go to the last game of the season.
Sunderland winning away at Palace FFS no help this season we are gonna have to do this on our own with possibly the worst squad in living memory devoid of any confidence or quality, a squad that can’t score goals and leaks them at the other end for fun.
All the stats suggest we’re going down but last season Leicester were doomed and the season before so were Crystal palace but they both escaped. In 2013/14 Crystal Palace gained 37 points from their last 25 games and ended the season in mid table.
We won’t need that many points but the 31 or so that we will need still feels like a hell of an ask.
The thing is, there have been times this season when we’ve looked really good. If Sherwood had a clue about game management we’d have had 3 points against Leicester and there are several other games where we came close.
We have had the most unsettled team selections of any club, bar none, whereas Leicester have had the most settled. If Garde can find our best team and stick with it then there is still a chance that we can be this year’s escape artists.
Support from the fans will help too and if we did go on a good run it would feel as good as if we were in a race for the title.
Get through this season and I reckon that Garde is the man to help us build for the future.
Robbo
Both leicester and palace had more points than us at this stage, and leicester were playing ok just not getting the rub off the green, both then went on unbelievable runs ( in fact leicester are still on it). Can you honestly see Villa replicating that?? We look shambolic in every dept both on and off the pitch. I’m worried people can’t see how much trouble we are in, relegation won’t be the end of the decline we will struggle to stay in the championship with these lightweight players. If we go down we won’t be coming back, and Garde isn’t the man to guide us through a very competitive league playing sat and midweek, but I agree if we somehow pull off a miracle he could be the man to take us forward in the premier league, but that turnaround has to start now, we need to win the games around us ie Watford ( although we won’t catch them they are 11 pts ahead of us already), Newcastle away etc etc
Now i think some of the French lads are good players, however the results seem to indicate otherwise so why are Fox, Reilly and the Jeerman not only still in jobs but will be allowed to make decisions on who we will sign in January.
Apparently the Jeerman is a real knob, very unpopular.
I still can’t work out how three blokes who have never kicked a ball in their lives get to run a Premier club.
Grealish has done himself no favours again, pictures in the press of him pissed up on the lash after the Everton debacle. He needs to get his head in the game or he will be another wasted talent
B62, honestly, no I don’t think we’ll stay up but I just don’t think it’s yet impossible. Even one win would see sentiment change again. Trouble is we probably need 3 in the next half dozen games just to keep us in touching distance.
I agree with Steamer that there are some decent players but can they get up to speed in time? So far this season we only have 1 player who has played in every game. . . . Leicester have 9.
At least none of the players should be too worn out for the run in! (Apart from Grealish, but that won’t be down to the football he’s played because he’s not going to be playing much of that if he carries on like this)
Remi hints he may recall sissy or Bennett – but worrying that neither have played more than 2 games this season.
Have to admit , Sland look harder to beat under big sam – put up a decent defensive performance tonight – even if Dan gifted Defoe the goal.
We still have time to dig ourselves out and hopefully a striker comes in Jan at least . But as steamer says – Riley and co have not proved they are capable of finding players – so v worried if they have the job of selection . What is concerning is that our partners in relegation look to be improving .
B62,
I don”t agree I think we are getting it right off the pitch.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/23/aston-villa-manage-to-get-the-date-to-their-own-match-wrong-5519671/
GSAVFC
Top to bottom a sick, pathetic joke of a club.
Not getting it right off the pitch when after arguably our worst performance of the season is met by Grealish three hours later partying and getting pissed up and whatever else . Yes he’s young , yes everyone’s done it, but he’s in a privileged position of being a premier league footballer . Alcohol doesn’t make you play better , neither does lack of sleep . No excuse – if you want to be your best for the club and yourself , cut that out until the season ends . I gather it wasn’t one day but two . Not acceptable . As Vlaar said , he couldn’t understand his team mates drinking during the season and many foreign players are tee total. sunderland also have a drinking culture – maybe that is part of the reason why we both bottom .
You can’t put your best in Monday training if you’ve been out two nights in a row or even the two nights before . I don’t card how fit you are and as AV are the unfittest team in the league , this is ridiculous .
Another thing, the club are taking up less tickets than they are offered eg Everton offered us 3,000, we took 1,700.Someone told me a few weeks ago that the idiot who runs the tickets office only applies for half – three quarters of the possible allocation because the club has to pay for any returns, BUT also because it looks good on her CV with no returns. So thats – Worst Owner, Worst CEO, Worst team, Worst admin, Worst run club, we’re cleaning up this year aren’t we ?
sww
you couldnt make it up mate , steamer , l heard she a baggies fan , the place is a fucking joke and lv told chris to give jack a good whack if he see’s him this week ,
B62 , you have my sympathies mate having to go into work surrounded by the inbreds and 6 fingered lot ,lm wondering do l still go to newcastle on my birthday as thats going to spoil it and you can bet its going to kick off there .
Roger thanks for the info lm looking at some that have got the lot already loaded ,
I dont agree about riley. He suggesred Benteke, Amavi, Vertout, Gana, Sanchez, Ayew not the worst players in the squad. We changed 4 players for the Everyon game. Lost shape and paid for it against a form team and an in form player in delafou. They exploited our weak left back and without Sanchez the middle was open too. Plenty of points to be had between now and xmas a win and the picture changes
ST75
Newcastle is a great drink, I’d definitely go mate, just don’t let the Villa ruin your day. If you want some real sport rock up in the Strawberry pub early doors 😉
As for the ticket fiasco it just shows what a complete and utter shambles the club is from top to bottom.
The Albion fans at work are loving our demise, but one of the Wolves fans wiped the smile off their faces with a quick comment, ” Why do you lot want the Villa to go down, it means you won’t have any cup finals next season!” I pissed myself they didn’t have a decent reply amongst them. They are just wannabe bluenoses
Big Sam is saying clean sheets are the key to survival, as the last two they have had this season have yealded 6 points. Defence is the key as QPR showed last season, going forward they were ok and Charlie Austin was banging them in, however they leaked goals for fun.
We are constant in all departments, dire up front, dire in the middle and beyond dire at the back, we are starting to be cut adrift, with those around us on 9/10/12 pts etc whilst we are stranded on 5. We simply don’t have the players or spirit to turn this around and the club is dying.