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Aston Villa host top of the league Chelsea this Saturday and will be looking to bounce back to goalscoring ways this weekend after scoring just one goal in their last eight Premier League matches.

Villa do possess a lot of direct runners in attack, including Andreas Weimann, and should really be able to pose a threat to the opposition goal. Weimann has completed the 17th most sprints in the Premier League this season with 1,212, averaging out at 55.1 sprints per game, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

As well as Weimann, Gabby Agbonlahor is another player with an abundance of pace, and should he put that to use against Chelsea he could cause some problems. Agbonlahor has run at the 15th fastest speed of any player in the division so far this season, being clocked running at 34.8km/h (21.6mph) according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Agbonlahor is 12/1 to score first with 888sport.com.

Villa do also possess the eleventh most successful tackler of any midfielders in the Premier league. Tom Cleverley has successfully won 55 tackles, which also ranks him inside the top 20 players of any position for tackling. Cleverley has won 72.4% of his tackles according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

It is looking increasingly unlikely that Cesc Fabregas, Filipe Luis or John Obi Mikel will return from injury this weekend, and there are also fresh concerns for Willian’s fitness, in addition to Diego Costa’s suspension. This could provide an opportunity for new signing Juan Cuadrado to make his Premier League bow against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Kurt Zouma has impressed lately, so much so that he appears to be establishing himself as part of Chelsea’s first choice central defensive partnership, alongside John Terry. In the 226 minutes of Premier League football that Zouma has played, he won 100% of his attempted tackles (6/6) and made four interceptions, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.

In front of him, Nemanja Matic continues to shield the defence, and according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Matic has made the most tackles in the entire division, winning the ball 86 times so far this season. As well as this, Matic has covered the second most ground in the Premier League, running a total distance of 257.2km so far this season, which is just over 2km less than Christian Eriksen, who has played a game more than Matic.

Ahead of Matic, the man who continues to stand out in the Chelsea attack, Eden Hazard now has eight goals and six assists, after setting up Loic Remy’s goal against Manchester City last week. Hazard has 109 successful dribbles, which is the most in the league, as well as having the eleventh highest tally of sprints in the division, with 1,254. Hazard is 22/5 to score first with 888sport.com.

Comments 215

  1. I’d take a battering if it means the fans will turn on him today. I want to see coffees and seats being thrown at him, I want to see fans running on the pitch trying smack him one. I want to see Fox sack him

    We all know what will happen. We won’t score. We will play 433 and cleverly will start and Sinclair will be on the bench

    I’d take another 5-0 but we all know Lamberk will just say ” Tuesdays game is massive “

  2. Chelski will be looking forward to today. They seem to enjoy a visit to VP.
    Be nice if we could send them home disappointed.
    At least there’ll be lots of talent on display, a lot of good Chelski players. They might put on a master class.
    If I were Lambert, I’d revert back to counter attack today. The only place where Villa might have an edge is in pace up front.
    Villa need to win matches, if they’re going to lose today, they may as well practice trying to win. Anything else is futility.

  3. things likely to happen today, we will concede, we will lose, we won’t get any points, we won’t score, did I miss anything?

    things Likely not to happen today, the Angel Gabriel will shed his golden light over villa park and grant us victory, a Gil stunner, a Benteke goal let alone hat-trick, Hutton crossing the ball to anywhere head height, tom cleverly warming the bench, grealish getting any minutes, Robinson getting recalled again, and finally losing this game to the likely champions having any real baring on our season.

  4. (Carrying over from previous post)

    Steamer,

    I do think that to assume the worst about someone is a tendency in all of us, but to say that Acorns was just “PR” I think is not very kind nor necessarily accurate. I am generally in sympathy with you in your views, but I try to see good in everyone and I don’t think that Randy is that perverse to do something like that *simply* for PR. PR *was* involved, of course, but it didn’t have to be done to the extent it was and is if it was just a PR stunt.

  5. Frem: we all know Lamberk will just say ” Tuesdays game is massive “

    PL has already effectively said that the Chelsea game is to all intents and purposes written-off and that he’s looking for points against “other” (lower in the League) sides – starting on Tuesday.

  6. He’s unbelievable John. I don’t want him to have the satisfaction of winning at Villa anymore.

    On Cleverley. Either he does have a clause, or Lamberk just thinks he’s doing well. Either way, shocking management yet again from the Berk

    He has to ditch 451 today or 433. Both the same shit.

    We’d be so much better with Clev and Gabby anywhere near the starting line up

  7. Mark

    That Mourinho stat will probably end today. I still hope Villa beat em, but the fear of visiting VP has long gone.

    I only caught the end of the Wales-England match, sounds like England showed a bit of character to come back, though, Wales fell off a lot of tackles, but I didn’t see most of the match. For me, Ireland and England are the tournament favourites. Scotland might upset someone, though. They’re decent at the moment. I’m glad for you that England won. It’s nice to support a winning team.

  8. I fully expect a cricket score today, with Jose bosting his VP cherry, we will run around like an U’8 team, devoid of all tactics, idea formation and possibly heart.
    I agree with frem I want the fans to fully vent their anger today, I want Lambert, the coaches, players, Fox and Lerner left in no doubt of how we feel.
    When the 4th goes in I want fans on the pitch, ST thrown back in The managers face, I want the worlds media to know how we feel about our beloved club being raped and killed off by these spineless wankers.
    We all known it won’t happen, I want the atmosphere against Bolton x10.
    Great win in Cardiff last night by an under strength England side, who weren’t given much hope against the sheep worriers 🙂

  9. fuck “Unbelievable Jeff ”
    new saying on here our very own “Unbelievable John” by our very own word wizzard Frem ,

    frem last week in the pub we was on about this site and some of the posts , and 1st is the one you put about “SHIT” and to be honest l dont think me and steamer done it any justice as the cider and ale was flowing and between us we just couldnt get it right but we must have looked a right pair of arse’s trying too
    2nd came the McCack from Cackville and l think that was where it all went down hill and we nearly got a leg and a wing out the door ,
    well lm going to have a walk round town looking in any record shop l can find then go watch jessie in her school (BOA) production of Peter Pan ,
    have a good weekend all ,

    Jenny xxxxxx

    l think a panning as l feel chelsea will want to build up their goals for , just in case .

  10. Heard an interview with Lambchop yesterday on Talkshite, I couldn’t understand a friggin word he said. Is it me or is he really mumbling more and more with each passing loss?
    Also the only reason he went in for Ricky Lambert was so he could blame him when the Lambert out chants came up during the matches.
    Complete and utter waste of time and money, I wait to be free of the shackles of this mad man and the other cronies who are destroying our club.
    Today will be yet another record and another embarrassment, humiliation guaranteed.

    #lambertout

  11. mark k
    going back tolast post
    our wage bill has gone down by 20 m but we are finnishing 10 places lower at 1/4 million a place 25 m in total so that blows lerners reasoning out window

  12. Trinity – The only place where Villa might have an edge is in pace up front.
    Unfortunately the ‘special one’ has introduced Zouma – one of the quickest central defenders in the league – he doesn’t need to hold on to his opponents like Skrtl – he beats them with pace and executes clean tackles – so far!

    I would like to see the pace from the right wing where Azpilicueta and Terry are not the quickest. We sold our best right winger to Leicester, so it needs Gil and Hutton to get the crosses in for CB leaving Delph to cover Hazard. That might drag Matic away to the central left and leave a clear run for Weimann/Cissokho,

    Then again – what do I know?

  13. james- lerner has been paying off our dept and forgoing interest owed, created by our push for champs league. we have been spending more than we make .we have to conform to ffp and that’s why he paid out £54 mil over what the club turned over in the last company books. it wasn’t a case of lets do this to make money more a case of if we don’t we will go under get fined and have trading embargoes.

  14. http://yellowhammernews.com/faithandculture/lone-survivor-navy-seal-marcus-luttrells-speech-bama-football-team-will-floor/

    If you have 6 minutes please have a listen. 1st, becasue it’s a true story, and secondly, becasue he’s talking to his football team he supports.
    If a human being can do what he did, then why can’t our players hit a ball in between 3 posts ?

    Right, I’m off to Villa now. Praying it’s the last ever time the Berk is in the Villa doug out. I’m sure I will see him sitting there on Tuesday night at Hull as well though

  15. amazing guts frem they have a will to win. As I said the other day I don’t understand why a manager can take that and your skill away from you unless your a sheep. I never stepped on a football field fearing the opposition, my aim was to prove myself against anyone I came up against and win that game. no manager ever made a difference to my commitment. that’s our teams main problem no leaders, we have clarke senderos at the back and I think Gil leads by example, sanchez tries too. I can’t feel sorry for Benteke any more than he already feels for himself.

  16. the same reason we all should trinity, we need a code to live by or at least an Ideal that’s set in stone or anything goes, which is what we see today

  17. Trinity – I’m having problems staying awake while watching Spurs v Arsenal. Maybe 2 cans and half a bottle of Shiraz has soemthing to do with it. How else should I celebrate my wife’s birthday?

  18. Trinity – the England performance was brilliant when you consider who they had out. Wales looked like they’d been in a bar fight. George North was knocked clean out at one point. Haskell would of scored if the dumb Fokker had tried going around the post 🙂 we uncovered a few gems Watson being one and brown is becoming world class in my opinion

  19. Steamer its out mate been out for yonks. The guitarists selling them on our website for a tenner. Would try and get a freebie but he payed for it all himself, worth a listen though. There are two vids on YouTube of two hastily put together blues numbers that are not on the album and one nervous looking singer trying to remember the Words 🙂
    Hard when your dads that good like being peles kid. I think he’ll come good just needs another stone on him for the modern game

  20. mark k
    mon spent heavy but recouped with barry young downing milner
    we have wasted 100 m since with an average placing of 14down if we include this season it will lower from mon 8th place lerner has told nothing but lies from day one and as much as i would hate i ll take relegation if it means lerner loses more money sheff wed sold for 30 million recently

  21. james mate do you not get we had to sell those players? There was no option unless Lerner stumped up another 100 mil. He had a billion it won’t all be in a bank account, it will be tied up in assets etc. hence why we had to lend from his company and he waived the interest. I don’t think he has lied he just hasn’t put the whole facts out there about the finances nothing unusual about that, you don’t put your dirty washing on the line. If we had tried a slow build from day one we would be better off now. We are paying for trying to hit top four with insufficient income

  22. Benteke on the bench – brave decision and Im very disappointed . He won’t regain his form not playing and we will see whether it is loss of confidence or loss of desire with his reaction when he comes for Weimann.
    I hope we upset Maureen – and will he stay the full time – where is Roy Keane when you need him.

  23. Things can’t get much worse for CB … left out for fatboy. Lambert said “Sometimes you get a reaction from the bench” I’d sooner the bench played than Gabby. I ask you, how is being left out for dummies going to give you confidence ?

  24. With respect Jen,I don`t think it is brave at all to omit CB.Brave in my eyes ,would have been to drop Cleverly, and CB both.Cleverly can do no wrong in Lambert`s eyes,and frequently plays the full 90.CB is the obvous one to omit as he is really struggling,but there are too many players hiding from the ball,not making runs,because they don`t want the ball.There is player that wants to take responsibility,demand the ball and take risks,as a result we have backward and sideways posession,which is easy to defend against
    An easy workout for Chelsea today.3 nil.

  25. Well John Terry, who do you fancy playing against today, 14 stone of solid muscle who’s gonna knock the shite out of you like he always does or a lardarse who can’t be bothered to get a sweat on ?
    Easy boss, like everyone else i’ll take the fat geezer, Benteke scares me.

  26. Can’t argue with his goals can you ? just his accent.

    Must admit i don’t like the current situation, if we lose at Hull we could be in freefall.

  27. mark k
    lerner has fucked this club completly and i pray he ends up on a street corner somewhere but i also hope lambert is holding his hand we are biggest joke in football world wide now grow a setof balls sling your hook tonight you numpty lambert and take cleverly and flabby with you

  28. What I was about to post was,one of the reasons we will probably go down was illustrated by Weimann.Not picking on him,it`s just an example,he had time and space to bring that ball down,but smashed it over the bar.That said his movement was good to make that chance.
    We have started the half well.

  29. james – if that’s the way you want to see it mate go ahead as steamer would put it I couldn’t give a crepe what others think of me. If enjoying a games a crime I fucking give up

  30. Sums it up nicely, they bring on 27 M Cuadrado and we bring on 47 YR Cole. As the President of the Happy Clappers Society I think we’ve played well today and if we can give the champs a real game then we should be able to get something from the lesser likes of the Prem.
    UTV

  31. not a shot on target after chelsea score 2
    sinclair trying to take on ivanicic instead taking corner
    another lambert record goes today#
    as for playing well against chelsea how many shots on goal today
    hull only concede in injury time but it is point they get we get none 3 out 27 2 wins from 20 no goals in last 15 mins all season our defence have scored 3 league since middle of sep midfield one all season strikers 4 since middle september and lambert still gets support
    behind put on joe cole who when he gets ball 10 seconds behind everyone else
    book your tickets for brighton blues etc because unless this turd of manager is removed we are down to abyss lerner not get 150 m for villa be lucky to get 50

  32. Well it could have been worse and we scored a goal . Improvement .
    Did Benteke look improved ? No – he looks devoid of confidence . That is worrying . If he keeps getting left out his head will be completely screwed . Let’s face it , he is still more likely than Weiman or Gabby to score – he hasn’t played as many games as them so the fact they’ve scored more is irrelevant .

  33. jen- the fact he contributes nothing isn’t irrelevant in a struggling team. I would seriously get Bent back and send him to Derby if he continues to look devoid of ideas and effort. And I have bigged him up until now,he’s had 15 games and has steadily got worse

  34. messi playing for lambert would be devoid of ideas
    how many crosses where put in box when he came on players lookig to go for knock downs none coming back top halfway line to get ball
    as thommo said sky sports when whas he going on when 1/2 behind
    LAMBERT OUT

  35. Mark – both DB and CB are proven goal scorers in the premier league – both have scored 20 plus in a season . We have no one else capable of doing that. Lambert has to play to our strengths and one shot on target today shows that we don’t have too much in the scoring dept without these two. He looked pretty miserable coming on.

  36. so whys Gil playing well? benteke has stopped anticipating and making things happen for himself, have a look at his goals from previous seasons and you’d think he was another player,gabbys shite but got himself involved today

    Lambert Out

  37. jen looking around the league today a lot of teams registered
    1-3 shots on goal Chelsea had 5. I wish bentekes malaise was all down to how we play but I cant put hand on heart an say that he’s doing all he can. god knows we need him, imagine listening to Lambert after we lose to half the championship teams sends shivers down the spine

  38. One thing that happened today was westwood controlled the game for us, he has to play, he links well with gil. drop TC and play sinclair and benteke might have a chance but he has to move as he did in his first season. there was loads of space today as we moved the ball forward quickly, poor passes in the final third let us down today.

  39. one moment said it all for me, cole chipped a ball into the box and benteke stood at the back post with 2 players and just put his hands up. cole played the ball into space that benteke should of attacked, its basic but something good players do, you cant stand and wait.
    thats it pint time

  40. I find it difficult to believe that his loss of form is because he can’t be bothered any more . Yes , he’s a shadow of his former self – we don’t know what is gojng on behind the scenes – but the more I think about it , it can’t be lack of interest on his part . If only because he won’t escape from
    AV if he carries on like this! He needs to score goals to fulfil his dream of playing for a top four team and this was within his grasp after he scored 23 his first season . Someone needs to put an arm round his shoulder and get him back to what he was . He’s even lost his physical presence and looks defeated before he tried to win the ball. IMO dropping him will add to his struggle and a striker has to continue playing to get their form back. Being thrown off the bus never helped anyone. This would only work if the player really wasn’t making an effort and confidence wasn’t an issue.
    For the Benteke’s good we need to play him. If we had a comparable striker then it would be a decision of team well -being versus player well-being . We don’t have another striker which is fortunate for Teckers. If only PL had kept DB up to speed and on side – as we are ridiculously exposed, battling in the bottom six with our only decent striker benched , unhappy and not scoring . Bad planning , poor man management , and this could be the difference between us staying up or going down .

  41. Yes mark I saw that – but this could also be because Lambert chops and changes the team around so much – there’s no fluidity and no connections between them – they look like they’re playing with strangers sometimes – what is our best team ?!

  42. jenny
    was cole incident not like watching football in slow motion he run into box stopped didnt know what to do then played into chelsea keepers middrift to easy
    we need to get further up pitch getting players closer to benteke instead of him been surounded by 3/4defenders

  43. Jenny,

    I kinda think that in the case of a man he has to do what the job spec says! 😉

    He has to “toughen up” and say to himself “That’s mine…” and go for it. Being a CF is not for the weak.

  44. It was a shame that the game fizzled out thanks to Chelsea’s ‘professionalism’ but for most of the afternoon the excitement was back and it felt like a proper game of football with Villa competing well throughout.
    Charles gill is a little hero and if only we can keep up this level for the rest of the season we’ll be fine. . . . . hope we can!

  45. jen on form you would have to say the one that started the season? in reality we know tekkers is our best forward and Gil cannot be dropped.
    i’d go for this if tekkers was firing

    hutton okore clarke sissy

    bakuna westwood delph sinclair

    gil tekkers

  46. Apart from the lack of good strikes from the so-called strikers today I thought the overall movement was good. And Gil is a good ‘un – not bad since he’s only just finding his feet in the Prem.

    In answer to Frem that movement mostly stopped once the subs came on – also that Delph wasn’t the same player after he put the skipper’s band on his arm.

  47. When Benteke first came in he looked really keen. He was dropping back trying to get involved but the enthusiasm seemed to wane pretty quickly.
    Yes the manager is key. Martin O’Neill knew how to build up his players, especially his midfielders but it also has to come from the player himself. He needs a lucky goal to get him going again. . . Hope it comes soon

  48. JL. Delph did fade, but it happened before he got the armband. Maybe he’s still not completely match fit because he’d been very good in the first half but started missing passes as the second half went on. You’re right about the movement today though. . . much much better, and also they seem to have gained the confidence from somewhere to pass the ball out of trouble even in right corners. Let’s hope today didn’t flatter to deceived because it really was much better.

  49. Mark – it’s all very well saying other teams didn’t register more than three shots on target , but we are the lowest scorers in football ! Our situation is more pressing

  50. Oh well I’m off now to “enjoy the goal ” and delighted for Okore who has been one of our better players these last five games and one if the fee who look willing to fight for the shirt . Well done .

  51. JL- your right the movement is getting better but end product needs work.
    Its easy to blame everyone else for tekkers dip. Everyone would agree gil has a good eye for a pass is intelligent and forward thinking, why has he picked out other players and not tekkers then? is it because he aint moving into space where Gil can see him?

  52. r0bb0,

    Yes, they did play better out of trouble … and at times also threatened to play the ball forward as well!!

    I just don’t know about Lambert … maybe the players do like him but that the problem is he changes things around too much.

  53. JL. You do get the feeling that the ‘togetherness’ in the team is pretty good. . . . there were times today when there was even ‘togetherness’ between the club and the supporters despite the fact that we lost.
    It just showed that when the play well and show real heart the fans will fall right in behind their team again.

  54. Listening to the match, it was a much improved Villa, and a good goal from Okore. Shame they could not provide enough effort to at least get a draw out of the game.

    There is still a long way to go for them to stay up. The danger is that we wikk do a Wigan, and progress in the Cup, and fail in the league. Clarke and Gil seemed to have a cracking game again, and there were not any weak links, even Cleverley seemed to get a couple of mentions.

  55. It really wasn’t much improved. It was the same crap just we scored an open goal this time.

    It was dour. We huffed and puffed but there was no belief in the fans or the players that we would actually win the game or even draw.

    We slow everything down. We pass with no pace or purpose. Every time there’s space to run. Into, the players walk into it. Wiemann always runs backwards. He always runs towards the ball instead of away from it even when there is space in behind

    and on Benteke. He’s crap because Lamberts tactics are all 10 men stay back, and leave benteke up front on his own. We didn’t get body’s forward even at 2-1 down. We had know one running In and around benteke.

    Lambert was scared to go for 2-2. He’d rather lose 2-1 than go for a draw and risk losing a 3rd goal. The man is a coward. He’s a fraud. He lies every game. He’s a disgrace to this club.

  56. Yet another home defeat,Chelsea were very comfortable,thankfully Costa and Fabregas didn`t play.Agree Frem,the mentality now at VP is to be pleased with a 2 – 1 loss,I am so numb to it all now,we just lose every time we play.
    Lerner and Lambert are dragging us into the Championship,we scored a goal ,so he will probably get another new contract”,we were great Blah,Blah,Blah,gave it a real go,blah,blah,Gabby was excellent,caused them problems,blah blah”
    It is so tedious and predictable.
    I thought Clark really earned his corn today,he really is reborn beside Okore.
    Another player who loves playing Villa,Ivanavich-spelling-has 5 goals in 6 games against us,and he is a defender.

  57. Frem,

    I think you must have seen a different game! 😉

    The missing element was purely attempts on goal. If we’d had more than the one (the goal itself) the game would have been far more interesting, agreed.

    But in terms of going forward we at times had the *league leaders* worried a bit.

    Let’s now convert this play into wins over the next 4 or 5 matches.

  58. Guys if you think that was a lot better watch Danny Murphys analysis’s of us on MOTD

    Pretty much said what I said. We didn’t move of the ball. We didn’t get body’s in the box. We were scared to pass forwards. Put aimless crosses in.

  59. Frem, I have to agree with JL on this one. We did play better today, there was more movement and good commitment throughout the team.
    We’re all frustrated by the season to date and concerned about the games to come but suggesting that there’s been no change is just wrong.

  60. sorry lads Mr potato head will hammer us why because he can lift his lot and our clown could not lift a balloon those are simple facts all the happy clappers said how great we where against Liverpool just the same as today in many ways
    our next game in the prem after Liverpool was Leicester and i went full of hope ,
    it was the worst i have ever seen a villa side play in over 50 years and i mean the worst we should have been beat 6 by a crap side and Leicester where 4 points adrift at the bottom at the time Hull where unlucky not to win at Man city and all you lot on here think we will win fuc king wake up Hull are 6/4 the greatest bet i have ever seen why will we change .
    Mr potato head will be rubbing his hands he is not a great manager but he is 500 times better than the wan ker we have and that’s a fact how any body can tell me we will win is smoking crack

  61. There was more movement yes compared to our normal statue style of play but still no where near enough as MOTD pointed out. It’s all very defensive and conservative from Lambert. He’s scared to get body’s forward.
    Good commitment. I’m sorry but that’s clutching at straws. That should be every basic instalment from any level of football let alone the premier league.

    John- I think Hull will do us as well. I’m going on Tuesday to that and I’m dreading it. I think that will be us down if we lose. There won’t be any turning this around unless the Berk is finally sacked.

  62. Did Delph Cleverly or Westwood once step foot Into the Chelsea box ? Nope. He plays a 433 and the 3 centre mids are tasked to be as defence as humanly possible. Then there are the two full backs who can’t cross a road. That’s 5 players there useless going forwards. Then there is gabby and Wiemann. That’s 7. Clark. 8. Guzan. 9. Okore scored.

    So it’s Gil. There 10 outfield players we had today and now can play football

  63. To be fair, I never actually saw the match, just listened to it on AVTV.
    That said 1-2 is better than 5-0 and Villa actually scored a goal. Definitely lots of room for improvement and a need to win matches starting Tuesday.
    Bottom line is win is what Villa must do. It doesn’t matter how they win. Just win!

  64. Mornin’ guys,

    I would be the last one to say all is hunky-dory – it most certainly is not.

    Playing Cleverley (despite his apparent success rate in tackles) over Sanchez had me baffled although Sanchez was ‘off’ last week. I feel that Sanchez would have given us that bit more going forward.

    Good luck to you Frem, on Tuesday – I hope it’s won’t be too cold out there!

  65. Today, we could be 17th if Burnley beat WBA

    That will make Tuesday 18th vs 17th place. Could Lambert survive losing that ?

    Haha.thanks. You’ve got stay loyal 🙂 I’ve only been to one away game this season and I had a job since then so I can afford to pay my way now.

    I’m just hoping it’s our first win in a long time. The away fans will erupt if we do !!!!

  66. John Doyle, hallelujah, for once I agree with you. Yesterday did have a lot of the feel of the Liverpool game. It’s Tuesday that matters rather than yesterday and if they don’t show the same commitment against Hull as they did yesterday then yes, the improvement will count for nothing.
    Ps. You still don’t know the difference between a fact and an opinion though 😉

  67. Frem
    I agree with your analysis of yesterday’s game, I thought we were okish in the first half but nothing to write home about, and again we conceded early. The second half we improved a bit but I always felt Chelsea were playing well within themselves and could go up a gear when required. Frem and MOTD are right the only player looking to play quick offensive football is Gil, the rest crab around the pitch looking for an easy pass, so as not to give the ball away, it’s easy to defend against and means we are never going to be a high scoring team. Bizarrely as defensive as we are, we still have the worst GD in the league, and will lose at hull, unless we attack more.

  68. Frem, you can quote motd but I could quote just about every villa based blog . . . even the cynical ones. Our play has been better bit as JD said it is Tuesday that matters.
    I so hope you enjoy Tuesday!!

  69. Robbo
    The problem is we have been so awful for so long, that any improvement no matter how slight, is grasped liked a drowning man grabbing a life raft.
    We are in free fall, if the league had started on sept 1, we would be bottom.
    Only mick McCarthy has a record as bad as Lambert in his first 100 games, and he was sacked after game 101.
    Tuesday is a cup final, a loss is unthinkable, our survival fight will go to the wire, with Burnley at home in the final game. Lambert, Lerner and now it seems Fox are not the solution which makes them part of the problem. Despite everything it’s obvious Lambert will be here until the end of the season, we have missed the opportunity to get rid early, however it seems he is harder to get rid of than cockroaches.

  70. Th sad thing is for Tuesday Lambert will set up not to lose instead of setting up for a must win. He will keep his dire 3 in midfield and tell them not run of the the ball. He will play one of Gabby or Wiemann on the left. 433:( You’d think against 18th in the league you would go 442 for a change and excite. He will even be happy with a close defeat.

    It’s so predictable. Opposition managers must love playing

    As B62 says, any little Improvement is hailed as greatness by some now. We could have lost 4-0 and some would have said we improved. MOTD analysed our non existent movement after the arsenal game, and they did again yesterday.

    Just watch the last few minutes. We needed a goal. We had 10 men back in our own half and know on near Benteke and we just hoofed to him hoping he will save us

  71. B62,
    Yer right mate, we could lose every remaining game this season 5-0 and he still wouldn’t resign or be sacked, what an indictment on the clowns who run our club.What amazes me is why the fans give their support to an admin that neither has any empathy with the club and is actually extremely hostile to our supporters, face facts they couldn’t care less about AVFC as long as Lerner gets his $$ back. What makes it even worse is that, if by some miracle we survive this season it will be exactly the same next season and the one after, constant struggle until we drop.
    0-0 Tuesday, two p-poor teams that shouldn’t be in the division and probably won’t be next season.

  72. Ha that is funny Steamer .
    John Doyle hits the nail on the head . The frustration with villa is that play a reasonable game usually against a big team like Chelsea , Liverpool or Man City – then revert to ten games of rubbish . It would be easier to accept if we were poor all the time – but when they have shown they can play ok – to revert to diabolical form is infuriating . So we’ve been immunised to hoping it will get better as for three seasons we’ve had our hopes dashed time and time again . We are left thinking that it’s more to do with luck than improvement or consistency . Yesterday’s game was ok – but put in the context of three seasons of massive fails , it means very little . Mark – we have scored 12 goals – the fact Everton had few shots on target doesn’t put them any where bear our pitiful record . We’ve done this all season , that’s the difference .

  73. And to prove my point Aston Villa just been voted as contender fir the bacon roll award by Georgie Bingham on TS – “for scoring a goal ” shame we lost it to Harry Kane who has scored more than our whole team out together 🙂

  74. I am saddened that we can’t be a little uplifted by yesterday’s performance.

    The match (have we forgotten?) was played against the league leaders who (if we ‘d had a more incisive strike force) might well have conceded more yesterday – due to Villa’s not perfect but reasonable approach play.

    Yes, Villa could well go back to type and serve up a woeful performance at Hull on Tuesday, but I think not. Gil has gained some useful match practice and looks tricky and is a good team player.

    It just depends on whether Okore and Clark can score some more ! 😉

  75. We lost John. We lost another game of football.2 wins in 20. 1 shot on target yesterday. I struggle to see what was better. We scored but that’s what we should be doing

    Glad Okore scored. I like him. Looking forward to him and Vlaar playing together. Two athletic centre backs

    I just hope The Berk changes system on Tuesday and actually plays to win a game and not to keep the score down

  76. Spot on Frem. How can that idiot justify starting a 3 man midfield that has not scored or assisted between them? To add to that he throws in gabby n weimann who struggle to 10 goals between them a season and drops benteke. How thick is this manager? he is effectively reducing his chances of scoring and thereby winning a game of football. But his ethos has always been not to lose rather than go for the win. If he had his way, he would not have bought Gil because skill, technique and ability are luxuries in his team. He was forced to add flair to his side. Mark my words we will never see an attacking trio of gil, sinclair, cole/grealish behind benteke unless we are chasing a game.

  77. jen- Everton have scored 1 in 3 but have three clean sheets, they were on a losing streak no matter how many they scored, which is where we need to get back to. I mentioned them as most like you would say they are a miles better team but like us they have a problem balancing defence and attack, there is a problem in the transition phase of both teams games. we hammer the team with stats like shots on goal but they are going on elsewhere to its a tight league.

    where we fall down is converting the chances that do come our way, It feels like we could have 20 shots on goal and not score, we have 3 goal shy forwards who lack decent movement end of story. Other teams take the ball into the box and play one twos our game is all about getting aimless crosses in to statues, when was the last time we had a pen?!

  78. We are now 17th. Funny watching WBA lose though after it took them 8 mins to sing shit on the Villa. Hope they go down

    Tuesday will be 18th vs 17th but our manager won’t play to win

  79. Quite fancy the Boggies to depart, i think signing Fletcher was the final piece of the jigsaw, a truly crepe player of a similar mould to our very own Cleverley. They used to have wonderful MF’s like the great Bobby Hope and were usually worth watching, still……

  80. did anyone actually watch the man city v hull game? were hull good or city poor? city haven’t won in four games without toure and 3 of their four losses this season have been at home.

    here’s a snippet from the bbc

    “the Tigers produced a disciplined and organised defensive display which will stand them in good stead ahead of games against relegation rivals Aston Villa and QPR.
    As well as struggling in defence, Steve Bruce’s side have had problems in attack but, despite having failed to score in 11 of their previous 15 league matches, the visitors almost took the lead.”

    should be a thriller on Tuesday then 😉

  81. Hope Burnley stay up, humiliating to us but at least they’re contributing to the Premier and have a very good manager, good luck to them, they have a dismal record at VP so you know whats gonna happen when we play them.

  82. Morning fellow sufferers,

    I hate to repeat myself,but I am going too.Injuries,suspensions,4 3. 3 ,442 ,three at the back,wingers,no wingers,Gabby wide,Gabby central,CB on the bench or starting,spending restrictions,FFP,MON`s spending,Alex McShambles,Houllier,young and hungry,older and experienced,Rickie Lambert ,1 shot on goal,high posession,low posession,good stats,bad statsLong ball,short passing,, etc,etc,etc.
    Whatever way I we,or the club/nedia dress it up we keep losing football matches.Remove all the camoflage(spelling oops) and the bullshine,we keep losing and I expect another loss at Hull.The one constant is Lambert,he doesn`t know his best side,and never has.His use of subs and naming of subs is atrocious,his transfer dealing are decent.Like most he has signed gems and duds,but he desrerves a little credit there.
    Unlike most,I dont think the attempted Lambert signing was a smokescreen.It had a the hallmarks of panic,over priced,33 years old,and crepe IMO.This illustrated,again he doesn`t know what he`s doing,desperation.Two up top CB and Lambert?Back to long ball.
    CB is struggling I believe mainly because of the change from long ball-to him,and the new sideways passing in our own half.He is not as involved and doesn`t know where to run and when,as a result he gets isolated and disinterested.Not making excuses for him,because he has been poor,but the change had hindered him,not helped.just a thought.
    Lambert out,and get a coach in to prepare us for life outside the Prem.Have a good Sunday all.

  83. Frem,
    Enjoy Hull, its a lovely place, nice beaches and restaurants, rates very highly in the tourist brochures just below Cannes. Haven’t been to the new ground but Boothferry Park was only slightly better than the skip.

  84. brasil- trouble is barring a miracle these idiots at villa wont get rid so what else is there to talk about?
    Lambert realises that our forwards are playing shite but has nobody who can tell the dumb fukkers what to do, get hoddle, sheringham, anyone who knows what a forwards job is and let him coach them, thats my answer if Lambert aint going.
    that said the first half and up to when we scored there was acres of space that benteke could of used.when he came on chelsea had shut up shop. Westwood was the springboard in nearly every attack and moved the ball forward quickly, something we have missed in the last few weeks. I would ditch TC and tell Sanchez to defend and let westwood knit the team with gil and delph making the forward runs.

  85. Frem

    I went there years ago,a night game too.Turner was in charge,lost 2 1 Fish and chips were the best I ever tasted.

    Agree Mark,CB needs to be coached and learn how to avoid the offsides.I thought we were very good for the first 5 or 6 mins after HT,but lacked belief,fitness,and know how ,to continue the prssure.Chelsea played within themselves and did enough,as good teams do.

  86. Dee: starting a 3 man midfield that has not scored or assisted between them? To add to that he throws in gabby n weimann who struggle to 10 goals between them a season and drops benteke.

    Sorry, Dee, but (a) Delph and Westwood *have* created chances – I can particularly remember Westwood’s free-kick that Clark converted with aplomb, and (b) Gabby and Weimann produce more movement than CB – CB (as he has been lately) tends to stop the flow.

    The fact is that we don’t have *any* strikers who are worth much at this point in time, though I agree CB should be persevered with (after giving him a kick in the pants).

  87. frem
    never read as much sense about lambert every week pundits are pointintig out whats wrong only the excuse of manager to thick to see it
    couple clips of cleverly showed how rubbish he is yet starts every game dont care if he has clause he must of broke when he said looking forwad to getting back utd team
    gabby wiemen hiding or running away from goal
    even nicolas merson slating gabby yesterday 2 stone overweight
    thats 3 players starting every game yet grealish bacuna robinson dont get chance why a poor day against blackpool they get blamed
    only thing dont agree frem clark our best player leave vlar on bench and why is hutton immune from stick his fault for first goal yesterday sleeping 2 goal game down his side as well

  88. Frem

    The erm….plan on Tuesday,will be to get 10 men behind the ball,we then go one down and have to attack,but we don`t know how to go about it.Gabby is unfit and couldn`t last the 90.Instead of being blasted for this ,he is praised for his contribution.We do look a better side with Westy in there,and he contibutes so much more the Craberly.Westy is a much better al round footballer.

    All in all the players,are confused by the change of style,there is clearly ,IMO ,inadequate coaching on patterns of play,3rd man running,and movement off the ball.
    We are too slow with the passing and players take too many touches.Compare with Soton,who obviously play a lot of 2 touch in training,their use of this in confined spaces is outstanding,and the ball is moved quickly,which is more difficult to defend against.

  89. James,
    Hutton isn’t the best defender when facing his own goal, also he doesn’t cover his central defenders, defending the touchline he’s ok but has major flaws in his game which is probably why he plays for us.

  90. In our midfield we have cleverly and Delph that constantly get caught on the ball, Gil and Westwood are much better on the ball but lack intelligent players running off them. Hutton is one of the worst culprits but is 9 times out of ten gils only outlet on the right and he gets no movement worth passing to up top.if benteke moved the defence about then ore runs from midfield can be made at least. We are still trying to use the fullbacks as wingers and they are crepe at it

  91. Point taken JL-maybe I should have added from open play. Fact is perm any 3 from our 4 midfielders and their attacking output is pitiful.Have they created from open play, As for gabby and weimann over CB, his scoring record alone warrants an automatic starting berth over those two however badly he plays.

  92. they are worse than a school boy team no running off the ball no player takes defenders away for team mates not one person picks up the thrower there is no coaching whatsoever it is just the basics which are not being carried out every game no plan nothing worst football ever seen and the most unfit team i have ever seen when will the fool fox sort it out if Lambert stays we are certain to go down

  93. Dee last season we went 433 nearly every game to my memory and delph and westwood, el ahmadi and bakuna scored goals. not loads granted but score them they did. benteke doesn’t warrant a place unfortunately he looks like he is playing in another game to the one he is actually in, every centre half this season has dominated him, I wish it wasn’t that way but it is and I also wish we had gone and got troy deeney he is a leader and a goal scorer

  94. Dee,

    I think its the strikers that have been missing chances created by midfielders. Gabby should have scored at least one yesterday, and Weimann had one good chance wasted – as in previous matches. The one midfielder who doesn’t create is Cleverley – he’s more put in for his tackling ability i.m.o.

  95. Steamer,

    Look at Burnleys next eight games all against the top ten really horrendous run of fixtures that will see them being the first team down, shame they have put up a decent fight of it.
    Also think Lester will go just a gut feeling and the third one is going to be between us and QPR, if Sherwood can get them playing then I think we will go and Lambert will be given the task of getting is straight back up, lets be honest most of our players are championship standard so will settle quite nicely.

    AVFC RIP

  96. SWV,
    Coming back from 0-2 will have done the Boggies resolve some good, Burnley give it 100%, QPR are typical Laanden fancy dans without the fancy, Leicester are capable of the odd goal but Hull are crepe and also have a crepe manager, not as crepe as ours but crepe nonetheless, I fancy Hull, QPR and AVFC to depart if i’m honest.
    I’m sure Jose will be worried by Lamberts childish outburst, can PL explain why he needs to upset him ? He shouldn’t be on the same planet as JM never mind sitting next to him.
    Who you supporting next year in the Brizzle vs Villa games ?

  97. It is going to be extremely tight, its out of Villa, WBA, Hull, Burnley, QPR, Leicester.
    We may be saved by others yet again, Burnley now go into a horrendous run of fixtures, Albion have a tough run in, Hull are poor and have an injury list that reads like an episode of Casualty, QPR have lost dune/Austin and can’t win away, I’m not sure Sherwood will want a relegation on his CV early doors, if he really wanted the gig surely he would have taken it by now, Leicester are shit and Pearson has lost the plot, and then it comes to us, possibly the worst team in the league(as the stats show), but due to our decent start ie August we may scrape over the line, although with these twats in charge and Lambert running all things football, we may yet snatch relegation from the jaws of safety.
    If we lose Tuesday the shit will really hit the fan, and I’d rather take our chances with a caretaker manager than Lambert for the remainder of the season, Fox needs to show he is part of the solution and not part of the problem, which he seems to be.
    # Lambert Out

  98. Even Leicester have standards. Pearson sacked.

    That’s WBA and Palace safe through sacking managers. QPR and LCFC now?

    Sunderland Villa and Hull to drop ?

  99. Frem
    Pearson going could be the boost Leicester need, depends on who they get in and how long they take to do it.
    St gonna be like a game of snakes and ladders combined with poker, my worry is Lambert doesn’t really have a clue what he is doing, both he and those other parasites running( ruining) the club, just seem to make it up as they go along.

  100. b62,
    austins missing 1 game according to one rag.
    frem,
    i’d give pearson the villa job until the end of the season, don’t think the players would mess with him.

  101. Steamer,
    Bollox I thought Austin was out longer, Pearson is a knob, what he did sat was sly, the player fell into him accidentally then he strangled him on the deck and blatantly held him back from getting back on the pitch, maybe it’s the pressure from not being good enough at this level.

  102. tom fox must be one of most pointless men in football
    qpr wba cpal and now even leicster are changing manager if big if we don t beat hull we are goners
    next season blues wolves derby forest be cheap for villa bus all local matches well done lerner

  103. Steamer,

    How very dare you once a Villan always a Villan you do not choose this club it in your blood although some days i wished i could support Wycombe.
    I will make sure you get a good welcome when you come to the West country i will get tickets to see the wurzels.

    AVFC RIP

  104. I wouldn’t want Pearson. The man seems even more of a knob in interviews than the Berk. I bet we get him then

    Starting to slowly give up on Villa. Reading fans on twitter saying a point on Tuesday will be a good result. Ye, a point against 18th placed Hull is a great result. Where has this clubs standards gone ? Also red someone saying we should set up 433. He obviously hasn’t watched us in the last 3 seasons

  105. And Lambert isn’t vindictive ? Look at the way he’s treated the bomb squad, Helenius, Grealish, Robinson in fact most of the squad except Westwood and Fatboy, set Culverarse and Karsa on the BH staff, he really is a lowlife.

  106. steamer- can’t see it mate, so why did hutton re-sign and Given act as a coach and still sit on the bench? Nzogbia is a sulky bugger Ireland a knob head, bent is the one that has clashed with him if anyone. Are you telling me any other wouldn’t of got Grealish to sign a new contract when the lad could of walked? Robinson is an employee like all the players and there to do as Lambert asks isn’t he? being a manager means making unpleasant choices, they may be the wrong choices but rarely do all people hit it off with their boss

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