Last Saturday’s match versus Watford was so big for the the club it barely fitted into Villa Park.

The team selected by Remi Garde lacked the sweeping changes many of us thought were needed after our heaviest defeat of the season at Everton. This was the clearest demonstration yet that under his stewardship it will be evolution rather than revolution.

Garde appeared quite keen on Sanchez before this game, so one wonders whether he will have a change of mind as the midfielder, with a lack of control and wayward distribution, conspired to put his defence under pressure. His two fluffed attempts to adequately clear Watford’s straight forward pressure on the Villa goal led to Watford’s opener.

Yet if the first half of this encounter promised much for Villa, Micah Richards equalising on 41 minutes, the second half delivered very little.

Not even the announcement of an unprecedented minimum ten minutes of added time could fire the home side into action. Many supporters, sickened by the unfolding events at 1-3, had left before Andre Ayew fired in a late consolation.

Those of us that did stay until the end were left to suffer the ignominy of watching Watford comfortably wind down the game, marshalled gleefully by a somewhat smug Troy Deeney. Indeed the visitors could have added to their tally as the game disintegrated towards its miserable conclusion.

The following morning, by chance I caught the re run of Channel 5’s ‘Football League Tonight’ show – chilling, it is a place we really don’t want to find ourselves in.

Somehow and from somewhere, Garde has to find this team an identity and a presence. Not to mention points. At the moment they are a group devoid of spirit and unity. The late Norwich equaliser against Arsenal and Bournemouth’s surprise comeback at Everton are clear reminders that the teams above us have the necessary stomach for survival.

With immense frustration and pressure building at B6 we have to keep the faith. Starting this Saturday, we have to believe that it is possible to avenge our recent cup and league defeats at Southampton and move forward if the club are to progress.

Comments 34

  1. Hi Matt,

    I didn’t think we needed sweeping changes after Everton, Sanchez didn’t start through tiredness from international duty and the Obvious hole at left back was there to see. Grealish’s usual one way performances compounded the lack of a left-back, he was probably Garde’s biggest mistake to date considering the cover he offers.
    Gardes biggest challenge is to plug that gap otherwise the whole back four collapses, maybe it warrants a back 3 although I would be surprised. I am expecting changes in the back four imminently.

    Sanchez unfortunately was replaced by his hapless twin against Watford, lets hope that’s over for a few games as the obvious replacement for me is the never quite fit Gardner who did a great job there for Forest plus he’s a goal threat. Otherwise its Westwood who can do a job but is too small IMO.

    Up front we are beginning to click but lack a focal point up top, saying that a couple of those shots go in and we are away. I would like to see Kosak given the chance as he leads the line well and could complement any of the forwards we have with his all round play. He lacks pace but so does Gestede.
    I am wondering what Garde could do with a fit Gabby? I suspect he is already pushing Adama forward for that role. If we can get adama on the ball 10 yards from their penalty area he will cause problems, its great to see him burst forward from our half but its easily dealt with, the edge of their area would not be so easy.

    as to what we need to survive? 10-12 wins or 9-10 wins and a huge amount of draws will do it. Its possible and I expect a few wins in this month and some arrivals early doors in Jan, it will be interesting to see Gardes influence in the choices and how much he is backed, I’m expecting minimum £30mil.

  2. Matt
    In short the answer to the question your leader poses is, miracle. We need a very average /poor bunch of players to start over achieving and actually winning matches, and those around us to capitulate big time. Is this likely to happen??? The stats say prob not, we have a terrible record, not only from this season but from the last 5. Taking this season into isolation, we have won 1 game in 14 and concede goals for fun. We offer very little up top and our midfield is easily over run.
    We simply don’t have the players to hit the sort of form we require to escape the hole we find ourselves in. Is Garde the right man?? Possibly but possibly not for this situation, if we were more stable I think he would be ideal, however only time will tell if he is the right man for a long relegation dog fight( if we do go down he will prob walk or leave in the summer anyway) .
    But we have to try, every game is now massive, we have to try and get around 8/9 wins and around 7/8 draws , I think 36/7pts will be enough it’s an extremely long shot and more than likely we are gone, but we still have to fight on until it’s mathematically impossible to survive.

  3. Lots of fans are looking at big Sam at Sunderland and thinking what if? I think the dury is still out on that, they got thrashed at Everton Beat Palace who can’t win at home even though they battered them and got lucky with the stoke sending off . Would Sam of fared better with our French speakers? We certainly lack the Sam type players he likes, Sunderland are possibly a better fit for him.

    We need to win matches and Garde has that in his locker 50% at lyon with a youth team. Of course things don’t always translate but the parallels are there.

  4. hi all

    i must say although we lost and some of the usual of our many weak links were exposed , we also looked the most organised i have seen us in a long while

    for us to stay up i reckon its a case of smabling some points up to january and then we will need to do great buisiness early doors in the market

  5. I wonder if Senderos will get back in the squad and who will miss out? He speaks 5 languages so why Tim didn’t use him to get his ideas across is anyone’s guess? unless he did and Senders did him over fro dropping him 😉

  6. Runtingz – I think Garde knows his budget and targets by now, he will bring back Cissoko and possibly Bennett and Calder and buy a winger and 1 maybe 2 forwards. If he doesn’t fancy senders then he could well buy a CH too.
    wonder what Richards could do at DM?

  7. I can’t see Garde having much to spend in Jan, and if we don’t close the survival gap , it’s immeterial as we aren’t going attract anyone that will be of the calibre required. Our terrible start is hamstringing us, on and off the pitch. Ultimately it will be down to the incompent carpetbaggers in positions of power at our club, Lerner, Fox, Reilly and the jeeerman cannot be trusted to do the right thing or make the right choices

  8. B62- I cannot see Garde coming to do mission impossible without gurantee of funds. As our net spend was low it will work in our favour as far as how much that will be. I would be surprised if its less than £25-30 mil considering whats at stake.
    No guarentees but gardes rep and connections could work for us where Tims didn’t, a few decent loans.

  9. Garde is already starting to make his mark on the team.we are creating chances,and if he can sort out the defesne we will start picking points..What we need to survive?its very simple..start picking points now..Put richards at rightback and bring oin Okore..but would Richards and his ego accept that??

  10. Having read this blog and my own posts back and looking at the mainly local media diatribe on Villa’s situation, the various ex-pros getting their few quid to provide a comment (looking at you Hendrie and Bosnich), I’ve made a personal decision not to dwell on the negatives.

    We have 24 games to play, that’s 72 points, Leicester saved themselves from relegation in April, not going to say look at them now but reflect on the amount of time Remi actually has to get things right in terms of formation and more importantly confidence.

    We can absolutely avoid relegation and Remi can become the right man at the right time, in terms of future seasons. It also appears the China revolution has kicked off and will lead to other investors looking to get a piece of the pie, particularly with tv money in mind and the massive Chinese population to sell to (even Villa are doing their bit in a very small, grassroots way to get Villa fans in China), so maybe Chinese investment will take us away from the absent landlord.

    UTV

  11. Very good leader Matt, that’s how it is all right.
    It sounds daft but i think Remi has done wonders in the time he’s been with us, players, and folk in general, respect intellect and Remi has it whereas TS, to be honest was thick, a decent motivator, but thick.
    We all know we’re going to have problems signing quality in January but Cissoko is 500% better than any LB on the books and Traore, now he’s fit with add a new dimension and threat, a couple of wins and its a different cup of Bovril.
    The club is a pathetic shambles, no doubt, but the league is so weak that i can’t see the bottom three totalling 40 points between them by May.
    I see that the bloke who runs Rugby Union in England earns 600 thousand per year and the organisation took 200m, i’d get him in at VP, Fox takes 1.5m per annum and is a dummy, where’s all these big sponsorship deals he was supposed to get ? Even Chubster was better than this clown, they all see Lerner and AVFC as a ticket to easy street.

  12. DOR- too late lerner turned down the offer of a special fried rice and a spring roll from a local chinese, they did buy gabby to wash up though he’s getting a meal for 4 a day.

    Congrats on shaking off the gloom

  13. Andrew- when we play southampton We will most likely have a completley different team to the ones under TS and Kmac . Hopefully that should keep them guessing.

  14. Good post, Matt. Identity is indeed what we need, it’s the thing other teams with no more talent have.

    This is what I think Garde has been working on, trying to get the side settled into something cohesive, evolution as Matt said. We did see sparks against Watford, but were undone at the back.

    I want to see Ayew shooting more. He obviously has goals in him. Gil needs to be central. I think Garde’s tried to put him in space coming from out wide so he can drift in and is harder to target.

    JackVilla: I wouldn’t mind seeing Richards at RB, though he has been vital in the center. If Okore is truly up to speed wouldn’t mind seeing him come on, maybe with Sendeross. Risky trying a new pairing there at this point, Garde may not want to go out on that limb. But, something has to change back there.

    For me, despite his one or two head-scratchers per game, I think Sanchez has to keep playing. He does have quality, breaks things up, and we don’t have anyone else like that.

    I could see Garde giving Grealish the opportunity. Grealish just didn’t take it. He’s not contributing the right mentality, even though what he needs to do is very clear to see. Good to see him benched after the partying. Tough call, but the right message. We’ll need him, I think, but he has to pull his head out and just get stuck in.

  15. Saints lost 6-1 at home to the Klopp revolution last night, there confidence will be shot after such a devastating home defeat. However they know they are facing the perfect team at the weekend to get it out of their system and get a confidence boosting victory. Will we add to their misery??? Prob not, we will prob do our usual and roll over and have our bellies tickled. Saints are a far better side than us, better players with a proven manager, it will be a tough day at the office for Villa, but frankly we have to start beating teams or soon it will too late( if it isn’t already). We have to go into every game with a game plan to win, and belief we can win it, after all if we are waiting for a worse team than us to be our opposition, we will be waiting til next season in the championship, because as the premier league shows there isn’t one in this division.
    I read a horrible stat yesterday, we have lost 23 from 33 at home in 2015!!! More than any other club, I’m glad my ST is VFM !!!

  16. Or they are tired and overconfident as its us. We did better against city who play possesion footy aswell, I think we have a chance as the team will be different to kmacs effort too

  17. Looking at something around 8-10 nil. They’ll be playing for pride with a half decent team that can score goals, we, on the other hand have no pride, and in some positions, no ability. This will be a total humiliation, nothing Remi can do about it, another club record gone, massacre doesn’t come close.

  18. senderdross too the rescue then

    Klopp methods really taking shape – my closest mates are mostly pool fans so this is sooooo annoying
    I believe in the managers methods and style of play so the great escape could begin this weekend

    keep the faith

    VTID

  19. 03-Dec 5
    Southampton V Aston Villa Sat 5 Dec 3
    Aston Villa V Arsenal Sun 13 Dec 0
    Newcastle V Aston Villa Sat 19 Dec 1
    Aston Villa V West Ham Sat 26 Dec 3
    Norwich V Aston Villa Mon 28 Dec 3
    Sunderland V Aston Villa Sat 2 Jan 3
    Aston Villa V Crystal Palace Tue 12 Jan 1
    Aston Villa V Leicester Sat 16 Jan 3
    West Brom V Aston Villa Sat 23 Jan 1
    West Ham V Aston Villa Tue 2 Feb 1
    Aston Villa V Norwich Sat 6 Feb 3
    Aston Villa V Liverpool Sat 13 Feb 0
    Stoke V Aston Villa Sat 27 Feb 1
    Aston Villa V Everton Tue 1 Mar 1
    Man City V Aston Villa Sat 5 Mar 0
    Aston Villa V Tottenham Sat 12 Mar 0
    Swansea V Aston Villa Sat 19 Mar 1
    Aston Villa V Chelsea Sat 2 Apr 0
    Aston Villa V Bournemouth Sat 9 Apr 3
    Man Utd V Aston Villa Sat 16 Apr 0
    Aston Villa V Southampton Sat 23 Apr 1
    Watford V Aston Villa Sat 30 Apr 3
    Aston Villa V Newcastle Sat 7 May 3
    Arsenal V Aston Villa Sun 15 May 0
    40

    The formatting is a bit off but – fool that I am – I have played with the idea of where 40 points might come from.

  20. Tony H
    That is a very positive set of results you have picked, no way will we get 40 pts, a total we haven’t reached in a few seasons, I’m hoping 36/7 will be enough and that will be a stretch hitting that target.
    I have gone through the fixtures and struggle to see getting more than 25-30 points this season. I hope I’m wrong and we pull off an absolute miracle and creep over the line, but when you see a back four of Hutton Okores Lescott Richardson with Brad Guzan stood behind them you realise we are overachieving being bottom of the league

  21. Steamer
    “International Rescue ?”
    Are you talking about Thunder Birds? It might take them to haul Villa out of this one.

    I think Remi Garde is a brave man.

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