Our sparring partners for the Boxing Day fixture happens to be a club that we have never before met in the league: Burton Albion. And such has been the interest generated that the match would appear to be close to being a sell-out, giving the appearance that there is something about it that invites curiosity. More ‘derby’ feeling seems to be generated for this than a Blues match, it might seem.
Well, though Burton is new to us in major competition, the town of Burton figured a good deal in Villa’s early exploits in the late 1870s and early 1880s. So-called friendly matches against Burton teams were usually vigorous affairs, and (as Archie Hunter would have told you) they could throw a mean punch. And for that they didn’t need to play on Boxing Day for the excuse!
It was at Burton that Villa’s famed skipper of the 1880s, Archie Hunter, made his debut for the Lions in 1878. And it quickly developed into something of a free-for-all, with ‘hacking’ and sly digs being a feature of the match. In fact, the match finished on such a warm note that the Villa players had to get off the pitch quickly. The match score? Well, there were various opinions about that depending on which side you supported!
But though the word “boxing” describes the day of the upcoming match, it should not – I would hope – mean that this fixture will succumb to the atmosphere of that in 1878, and with Nigel Clough being the man in charge of the Brewers, peace should reign.
From Villa’s point of view, and being unbeaten so far at Villa Park this season, this match offers some hope that any Christmas cheer will come Villa’s way, especially if Mr. Kodjia remains in determined mood to keep his scoring tally going.
For my part, I would also hope that Jack Grealish starts this match and really shows what he can do as a team player. I sense this is just the opportunity that he needs to strut his stuff and show himself to be the great player that everyone thinks that he should be. The second tier of the league should offer Jack the opportunity for him to show more of his true ability, and if he can’t do it at this level, then what chance does he have when Villa are promoted?
As stated in my last article, I would hope for youth to be given its chance, and if Hepburn-Murphy were to partner Kodjia that would be wonderful. However, I can’t quite see RHM actually starting the match and I would expect that the Villa team that won at QPR will start this match, with the possible switch of Grealish for either Gardner or Bacuna: it’s important to play a settled side.
It would be ‘nice’ to achieve a comfortable win if for no other reason than to increase the belief that we are able to dispose of Leeds, who visit only 3 days later.
UTV!
The Author
John Lerwill
I'm a Villan of more than 60 years standing and an occasional writer on Villa history. For me there is only one football club worth supporting, but I am now wondering whether I will again see anything like the pageant that was paraded under Ron Saunders or even that by Big Ron and Brian Little. My glass, however, is always half-full! Click here for my Villa website.Comments 99
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Think Jack will play, packed vp he will be up for it.
Good news….tisch improving and not going out on loan.
bad news…not signing a striker…please god McCormack turn into the player he was!! RHM will feature if he signs contract.
Hello John.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
If near 42k turn up against Burton Albion that would be an exellent turnout. It should be a cracker of a match. Villa must go for the jugular, and BA will be looking for a big scalp. Win or lose, I hope it isn’t a draw. Villa needs to win this. Villa have the players and are due a big win. We got used to losing for so long. 4-1
Thanks for another good leader JL to keep us going.
Merry Xmas to everyone here and roll on Boxing Day….Loooking forward to an electric Villa Park and a great game…..!!!!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all Lifers , hope you have a great time ,
Jenny xxxxxxxxxxx
whether Steamer comes on and backs this up
The fat fuck is on £87,000 a week and they are trying to sort a pay-off and the big one is , spud doesnt like Jack and wants him gone .
will be an interesting jan .
well thats me . see you whenever i see you .
Bye
john l
had to read it twice to see you wrote it lol
but hope to see some of them in action
steamer 75
slip steamer a 20 pound note and get him back posted missing his gentle barbs at few of numpties wearing our shirt with shame
To all I’ve not been able to send a personal message….
I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas! And if your families still put silver threepenny pieces in the Christmas pud, I hope you get them all! 🙂
Hello all, just popped in to spread some Christmas cheer, sure Spud will have a good ‘un considering he’s on 5m if we win promotion.
Not only Spud and Flabby on ridiculous money, apparently Lescott was on 80k per week and 20k appearance money, well done Tom Fox, good judge of talent mate.
How does Spud work out that Russian must sign a contract before he joins the 1st team squad, surely if he’s good enough then he should play, also, what guarantee is their that if he does sign one then he won’t be ignored by the Geordie dummy ?
Forced myself to watch the QPR classic, went for a walk with the mutt after 15 minutes and i don’t expect anything different versus Burton who could sneak the points.
Not impressed by the names of the potential signings all of which would need replacing at EPL level, but then Spud has history of signing useless crepe and according to Spud Slumberland aren’t a big club !!!!
This is a good laugh –
https://www.facebook.com/MattLynch01/videos/787737238033373
Merry Christmas all.
Hope you all stay safe.
Villa 4-1.
UTV
Good man steamer, great to see you back you miserable old git. 🙂
Forgot to wish everybody a superb Christmas and a great and peaceful new year.
Great to hear from you, Steamer.
very funny link steamer – nice to see you both home fellas
Merry Christmas Everybody!
I wish Santa will give us promotion!
I know I don’t comment much but Merry Xmas Lifer’s.
Hey guys
I’ve been absent but haven’t stopped keeping up with Villa. Only the news on my iPad as there hasn’t been one game televised here. A return to the Prem will be nice as all those games are on hand every week.
Have a happy and safe holiday
All the best for 2017
Cheers
Ian
Long time no see to both Steamers, Finland, Haggis and Ian. Thought a bobcat got ya.
Merry Christmas and great to hear from you.
The Steamers are back . . . . there is a Santa after all!
Merry Christmas everyone and here’s hoping for a Very Happy 2017 for Villa fans everywhere!
R.I.P. George Michael.
Happy New Year to all ‘Lifers’ – not so long ago that sounded like a sentence but now it’s back to being a way of life.
Good post John – you are carrying the load at the moment; I think the rest have writers block.
My sports stream shows, in addition to all the EPL games, a token EFL game each week – unfortunately this week it’s Newcastle v Sheffield Wednesday, so it looks like Channel 5 highlights tomorrow for me.
Hoping for a win UTV
Care about football ? then please take time to watch and share Justin Madders MP bill to Parliament to help safe guard the future of our game,This bill will need the full support of everyone involved in the game from fans to the volunteers in Grassroots football so please make sure we all do are little bit and you can start by getting this short video out for all to see,Thanks for your support football family http://parliamentlive.tv/…/09118eb8-a027-4e6a-a6ae-7de9252e…
quiet on here
bacuna with the 1st ,now go on and score 5/6
ooh that was too close for comfort now can we finally win 3 in a row
James
Couldn’t watch the match from here. Aye, 2-1 is a bit close for comfort against Burton, who dominated the stats. A win is a win, though. It’s good to see someone else score. McCormack scoring should bolster his confidence. It’s great to see Bacuna chip in too. What was the atmosphere like at VP?
Here are the highlights…
http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/10708549/aston-villa-2-1-burton (click on the arrow, don’t forget!)
All were well-taken goals, but Villa certainly give you palpitations!
Oh … Mark! … perhaps we can now see why PNE might finish 20th! 😉
john l
bruces hull side look like they are nearly as bad as villa last year sorry should have put one of bruce promoted sides
john its poor value at villa we are struggling in every match ,its not like its a bunch of kids either ,nearly all our internationals or under 21
James,
You’re right – we’re not at all the completed article yet. There’s a way more to go yet, but in terms of turning the corner of getting points on the board we’re not doing too badly.
I may sound like a broken record but I have to say I prefer the current situation of seeing us slowly climb the table rather than the vision of yet another relegation.
…and this article shows us that Bruce is not living in a dreamland…
http://www.myoldmansaid.com/steve-bruce-says-performances-now-must-improve-for-promotion/
john l
i prefer when we are winning but a little turn of luck in few them games wouldn t look very rosy
roll on leeds its on sky hate this league no streams
John
Thanks for the links. Bruce has enough experience under the bridge to know what he’s talking about. He knows Villa is still under performing and will need to improve substantially to get out of the division. He wants money for new players.
I see our next opponents just had a 4-1 win. Villa is progressing at a steady rate, not far off the top six. Be nice to improve on that goal difference, though.
Evening Lifers, Archie at the controls….take a day off….
I went to Villa Park yesterday and all I can take from it is, a wins is a win. I’m fast concluding that this division is absolute tripe. Its all about winning the fixture, no matter how. And we did that, but the amount of mis-placed passes and poor decisions by players was inexcusable. The over the top ball kick and chase is aweful on the eye. All I can say is, if it gets you out this division….needs must.
My conclusions are……back later, soups on the table…
Archie
Back again…lovely bowl of vegatable soup, that stong cheese with crackers an a bottle of Sangiavasi.
My conclusions…its all about points on the board and winning games. Watched the mongrels this afternoon. They tried to knock it around and got beat by an average Derby side. That sort of tippy tappy stuff wont get you out this division.
Anyway lets see what the transfer window comings and goings bring in. We’ve all got our desired ins and outs .
Whoever he brings in I’d love it if we took this division apart in the new year.
Peace and love …..the journey continues.
Archie.
Archie,
You’re not wrong.
I see that Newcastle have now lost 3 in their last 6 – which makes them not so invincible I think. Brighton look the more dangerous team of the two, in fact, losing only 2 so far and getting into gear.
But it’s the play-offs that are our realistic concern.
I see that Albert does not appear to be going on hols in January after all. With him accumulating assists I think we need him.
Dont think ive heard a manager as honest as bruce since gregory.
Playing badly but winning….ill take that. Lost count of the times we have said when we were in the prem that ifvwe go down we will struggle as its a fight in the champ and not pretty….why are some demanding great flowing footy now wevare in the champ?!!!
The play will get better in time and when we have signed a midfield im sure. But main thing is winning.
But for me we aint getting play offs. Finish top 8, sign a midfield and finish above noses will be descent alng with getting toon, brighton and sheff wed promoted. The champ is ours next season then
Andrew,
You may well be right, but I’m sure that the Doc wants promotion this time around if at all possible. Perhaps keeping Amavi (for example) might depend on getting promotion this time.
Hello everyone out there in Lifer Land hope you all had a good xmas.
It is nice to see Steamer and his little minion back the place is just not the same without his cutting wit, one thing we all have to admit is that results have improved under Bruce and he is not frightened to throw forwards on to pinch a result, this league is a marathon and yes Brighton are the stand out team but they will have a rocky patch that’s for sure.
January will be interesting and midfield will need to be sorted if we are going to have a go at the top six, I cannot really believe someone has bid £25m for Amavi, yes he is a decent player but that figure is over inflated, we will need a right back and possibly another striker to fill the gaps left by the ACN players, just hoping that goal will spur RMC into some type of form.
Happy New Year to you all.
PS Archie don”t keep us all in suspense what did you have for main course.
SWV
Like everyone, I’d love to see us scoring three or four a game, just rolling over teams. But as it stands, three points are three points. And learning how to grind out a result is perhaps the most important thing in all sports. It’s one thing when everything is easy and going your way. Quite another when it isn’t.
Doesn’t mean I enjoy the nerves induced by so many of these precarious wins. Would really prefer us looking invincible in every area and just enjoying a season of romps. But that’s obviously not who were are right now.
Not writing off the play-offs by any means. Bruce has passed Test One, which was taking a team he didn’t assemble—and was in danger of falling apart—and getting results, however ugly. Test Two of course is using the window to fill the gaps left by the summer recruitment. If he gets that right, we could be a much more formidable team. We’re already not easy to beat, and that’s actually saying something given the midfield.
Rejected 25 mill from a china club for amavi! Got to love the dr. Getting a profit on rudi…again love the dr!!
A rb, 2 mids and a winger ill be happy. Ayew linked to china. Id sell him
Wonder what gate we will get against leeds. Need to play jack. He is the one man who can link mid to attack and get ball down and pass!!
Looking forwatd to vp under lights, hoping for a good game and play well.
Andrew (re: Jack),
Yes, he looks good, but I’m still waiting for him to provide an assist for a goal!
john l
hopefullly this will be last match without some new players,
read an interesting piece on adoamh saying he is doing 2 jobs defending as well as attacking and if he had full back that done what it says on tin defends position and helps out in attack not running about like headless chicken we would see a different adoamh
as for jack our attacking players are served like riding a bike with no chain never going any where
agree with andrew
full back 2 centre midfielders and a winger needed urgent loans will do but not 3rd choice man u players
as for the doc
we all loved lerner in first few seasons, but foreign owners have been bad for most clubs
villa,pool,cardiff, hull, qpr,n forest,blues. swansea sunderland west ham even arsenal man u its all profit
Hope the lads have a good match. Hopefully playing a big club will bring the best out.
Consistent mediocrity breeds apathy in the fanbase. Bruce & Dr. X know this. Be interesting to see how many turn up. Great turnout vs Burton, but nobody was pleased with performance inspire of win.
2-1 Villa.
UTV
Huge test for our boys tonight
i hope we go as attacking as possible as i am sure Leeds won’t sit back — should be entertaining but nail biting as we are missing a few vital components to be the team of this division
hope Jck plays – he did a bit of skill in the middle of the park last game to set us on our way for our winner — its the sort of thing i love about the game the way he left there midfield for dead with a few twists and turns and a bit of vision
COYVB
Tonight’s Match
This match has the flavour of a hum-dinger, but expectations don’t always match up to actuals, unfortunately! I don’t really think we’ll see anything very different than we saw at Leeds in early December, except that I think Leeds will not go away with all the points this time. I suspect a score draw is more likely.
It would appear that this is the last time we’ll see both Codger and Ayew until end of January, so (assuming they’re played) I hope they’ll be out to do all they can for Villa before they board their plane.
As for Jack, well I agree with Runtings that he does have those attractive turns and touches, but I’ve yet to see any killer play from him. I’m expecting him to raise his game from now.
C’mon the Villa!
aaah aaah westwood
adomh ross mccormak dropped
Games for the taking. If only we had a midfield we would destroy most teams.
Kodger does nothing simple does he!
Why do we choose to attack more down the right with hutton!!!
Absolutely shocking half of football. Bit like all the other performances I’ve seen this season.
Oh yes, I hope you now see why I keep saying Amavi can’t defend…that’ll be because he can’t defend…unless of course your idea of a left-back is someone who gifts possession to the opposition in his own penalty area.
Re jack
He needs the ball played to him. We simply dont have anyone who picks him out.
This pile of sh!t will be lucky to finish in top half of table
Jedinak is fucking dire…never seen him play well. Slow, loses the ball all of the time. Bruce needs a whole new team in January.
The squad is so shite he has no idea what team he should be playing. Why does he chop and change every game?
Come on then you one-eyed mothers…get the fuck on here and tell me that Amavi is a good defender
paul w
jedi only looked decent because we were comparing with gg westwood
why so many changes ,hope ayew fucks off to china
final changes leave us with no midfield
a draw doesnt hide how poor we are
paul w
i would play amavi left mid never as full back
bruce luck is going to run out leeds hit bar 2 easier to score
shocking management tonight got real lucky and another match we fail to win westwood starts
Speechless at how sh!t Villa are.
Leeds were the better side…and they’re useless…what a fucking awful division
Thought Villa were better in first half. Poor in 2nd half until final 15 minutes. Big mistakes from Amavi. 1-1 fair result. Villa needs cohesion. IMHO better off without Ayew, too individualistic. I think Villa has a lot of improving to do and will.
Villa simply lack potency … the final ball just isn’t there.
Having said that, Green had to do all the work – he saved around 5 attempts,
they had *one* attempt on goal and that went in … keeper’s error it has to be said.
But McCormack was *far* more effective than Jack,
Ayew – I’m glad he’s off on holiday,
Amavi slipped 3 times and each time we could have lost a goal. £25m? Mmmmm…
Plus we can’t afford to keep Adomah off the pitch; he offers something that others can’t.
Westy good in my view … he did a lot of good work. Jedi not bad.
Hope Villa can cope without Kodija. Be interesting to see if the team can play more as a team while he is away.
john l
they hit the bar twice,apart from codja effort late they werent hard saves
agree on ayew ,said it before we can t afford him and jack at one time on field
thought first half codja could have put moreeffort in to challenges
as for westwood not just good enough and neither is jedi
bunn didn t cover himself in glory
bruce has a lot of work starting sunday when window opens
Fair summaries from Trinity and JL.
Slightly harsh on Jack I thought as he played some calm link up play until he was injured. McCormack looked keen when he game on though and let’s hope these are the early signs of him coming to life in the second half of the season.
Westwood made two mistakes but apart from those had a good game and worked his nuts off. He took on responsibility to sprint back to clear one ball in our own box and right at the end was up in the Leeds box to head the ball on to create a chance for Kodjia.
All in all, a fair result and we’ve now drawn with the three other best teams in the division and hopefully will improve further in the second half of the season when inevitably some other teams will fall away.
Just seen some player ratings from someone with a silly name who rated Westwood well below every other player.
We’re all guilty to some extent of seeing what we ‘want’ to see but people are just totally incapable of seeing past their own prejudices and giving unbiased views.
Yes he made two mistakes today but Amavi, Jedinack, ayew, Kodjia and even Chester made more then that today.
If you’re going to write a blog Sheldon may I suggest you try to be Muchmore objective in future?
Thought amavi recovered well from his mistakes. Draw fair result, was willing an early goal when we started so well. Leeds came for a point and got it.
How bruce is grinding out results with no mid is mind boggling. He certainly knows how to get a result. Would of lost that under Rdm. Nothing changed, need a midfield and glad unbeaten run at vp continuing.
Agree about westy not his worse game but still no way good enough, same with hutton.
Mccormack looked decent when on, could be perfect timing with kodger away.
Isn’t it strange how we all see the game from different perspectives?
I saw a largely ineffective attack with Ayew running around like a headless chicken and Kodjia trying to do it all single-handed. Grealish showed some nice touches but over-elaborated to the point he was caught in possession a few times.
Midfield I thought Jedinak and Westwood both played withing their capabilities but the full backs were left exposed a few times. Chester and Baker solid but need cover if one gets injured and I am not sure Elphick is the complete answer.
As James Gill commented the final changes left the midfield weak and that showed in the last 10-15 minutes. At least McCormack showed up for once .
Let’s hope the window of opportunity is not slammed in our face as usual due to dithering – I’d take £25m for Amavi and sell Gestede and Ayew, maybe Gollini as Juventus are looking keen
James: “they hit the bar twice,apart from codja effort late they werent hard saves”
They hit the bar twice yes, but otherwise apart from their goal and one occasion when Bunn had to come out to smother an attempt, there was nothing of great potency from them. Bunn was the keeper in least action. Green’s saves were not all easy by a long chalk, mate! I don’t know why you’re diminishing those attempts – Green had to be strong those several times, and he was. Two saves in particular, early and late on.
r0bb0: “Slightly harsh on Jack I thought as he played some calm link up play until he was injured.”
I wasn’t really saying that Jack played badly, simply that McCormack was far more direct and worried them a lot more than Jack did. Jack is still too tippy-tappy for me, I’m afraid.
I notice no-one has mentioned Bacuna. What did he do in this match? After the Burton match in which I’m told he did well, he seemed to be conspicuously absent in this one! I certainly expected him to be sub’d.
True John – Adomah for Ayew was a change begging for it – maybe Bruce was trying to keep Adomah injury free for the time Kodjia and Ayew are not here. We will miss Adomah but not so sure about Ayew. Bacuna blows hot and cold and I am not sure what team play he is working to.
Clive,
If you’re inferring that Adomah is away in January, then that’s not the case it would seem. I believe he’s not been picked for his country’s squad, which means he helps us instead! Thank goodness.
I hear that Ayew is not travelling until after Monday’s match, but we’re not sure whether Codger will be allowed to do that.
”Come on then you one-eyed mothers…get the f**k on here and tell me that Amavi is a good defender” — have you been looking down my pants 🙂
Lots of effect in this game but very little quality all round from us
Leeds knew as long as they stayed organised that we would be unlikely have creativity to break them down and then came out on the front foot 2nd half and knocked us off our stride
that probably the best i have seen westy play but like hutton he is a weak link in the team overall
Agree that a couple of quality midfielders a right back and a decent keeper would do wonders for this group
we now have on paper some very winnable games so lets hope we can start 2017 with a bang
my Amavi view is that we have one of the best young left backs around even though he has a lot of developing to do — but he will play many times for France have no doubt about that
Yes John – I meant Kodjia – I’m getting senile!!
Bruce has said that we have a striker too many and that we won’t buy a striker as cover during the ACN.
It’s hard to reconcile this with the persistent links to us swapping Rudy for Rhodes unless another of our forwards will be leaving also?
Right now we seem to have too many up front who are keen to score goals but not very interested in providing assists.
I’ve no idea if Jordan Rhodes would help plug that gap?
We’re not the only team who will be losing players of course: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/african-cup-nations-newcastle-uniteds-12344799.amp?client=safari
Newcastle have faltered slightly recently and this won’t help them and Norwich can ill afford any set backs at the moment.
With Adomah staying and McCormack (hopefully) starting to click, we may not suffer from ACN absences as much as we fear however, if Gestede goes at the start of January too we may miss an aerial presence whilst both he and Kodjia are out.
Runtings. I agree with just about everything you say there, but the odd thing is, even though we all see a disjointed front line we are still creating plenty of chances and even last night, we had 5 shots on target to their 2.
Steve Bruce is saying that we still have a lot of improving to do and if he genuinely believes that, then there’s real hope for the second half of the season.
The most pleasing thing for me is that when we go behind, I no longer feel that the game is lost.
It was telling last night that few fans left before the end of the game. Clearly the belief is just starting to feed through to the terraces too.
Bruce has said that turning round the losing mentality in the dressing room is taking time. The fact that some fans booed at half time in the Burton game (like spoilt children who hadn’t got the Christmas present they wanted) showed that the losing mentality still exists in many fans too.
He was right to point out that last night showed an improved “resilience” to this team. . . . it’s something that has been lacking for years!!
Agree robbo. Nthe fact is we have come a lond long way under bruce. We are hard to beat, we have character and fight. Things wevaint had in years. Gregory summed it up for me saying bruce has full control of the dressing room. First manager in a long long time!! Delighted to be un beaten at vp still. Making vp a fortress again top priority.
Sadly i still think we will finish shy of top 6. Got to beat teams above us at vp.
Andrew. Whilst top 6 is very far from guaranteed I don’t think it will be because of our performances against the other top 6 teams. For years, Arsenal have made the Champions league whokstvpwrforming poorly against the other top teams . . . they’ve learned to consistently beat all the lower teams though!
If we draw against the top teams but beat all those below us we’ll be more than fine.
By then, hopefully we’ll have improved enough to beat the other top teams in the play offs!
(Ok . . . . getting ahead of ourselves now!)
Andrew: ” Got to beat teams above us at vp.”
Yes; v.g. point that.
Mind you, I think that should come as the season progresses, but if it doesn’t it will be the difference that will prevent participation in the play-offs.
The match vs Wolves next week should be interesting with Lambert there now and having seemed to have woken them up a bit.
john l
codja shot in first took a deflection to put it on target,
codja had a good run but with players unmarked took an awkward shot which never troubled green
good save at end from codja in which codja having done well should slipped to unmarked ross for tap in
rudi shot from 40 yards was typical rudi brainless players either side to cross it in
leeds didnt have to take the game to us,first half contained us with no real threat 3 bid mistakes gave them their goal,and with us at 6/7 should scored again with shot rattling the bar,leeds could sit back and defend
our subs grealish was enforced thought that was time for adoamh,the next 2 subs left really unbalanced like rdm time and reason so many chances both ends near end as for players
bunn shocking goal to give away
back 4 absolute no protection from midfield errors all over the place
midfield jedi looks ok first half dies in 2nd
westwood not good enough at this level for a player having played 150 matches no presenceon field
bacuna has a nice haircut don t remember one single thing he done
ayew not good enough to start at home to burton yet bruce thought he was man last night,deadball delivery shocking workrate shocking hope he is sold while at african nation cup
grealish started well but soon changed totrying awkward stuff giving ball awaty in dangerous positions
codja took pen well but too greedy,and seems to pull out of 50/50 challenges
subs
ross adoamh should started
rudi won penalty but what was shot about at end
I’ve never been to Blues vs Villa at VP, but I went to a Wolves match, which they won 0-1 at VP. It had a real nasty atmosphere about it. Fans were jeering Houllier and arguing amongst themselves. Just escaping from Aston in one piece was a job. The riot police were on horseback that day. Wolvws had a good winger in that match.
James,
I actually mostly agree with your comments, except for…
“codja shot in first took a deflection to put it on target,” … yes, but why not think that that deflection was so wicked that Green’s save was all the more a great one – he had to change direction. Apart from which I reckon Codger’s shot was on target but would have hit the other side of goal.
“westwood not good enough at this level for a player having played 150 matches no presence on field”… I think it#’s clear that there are two distinct camps – those who like Westy or at least see what he’s good at, and those that don’t. I was looking at Twitter comments this morning in which people were giving their views on Westy and – like us – they were split evenly. We just have to agree to disagree on this.
“ross adoamh should started” … I actually agree with this, but Bruce is obviously using the squad principle when playing games so close together.
r0bb0: “Steve Bruce is saying that we still have a lot of improving to do and if he genuinely believes that, then there’s real hope for the second half of the season.”
Yes. And with people also saying that he has complete control of the dressing room gives even greater confidence. I actually see some determination now on the faces of players like Hutton and Bacuna, players that are not great but from whom more should have been got – and is now showing some fruit.
But Ayew still seems to be the same….???? There was one occasion last night which really summed him up … when a pass came to him on the left of the pitch he was facing his own goal, but instead of collecting the ball and turning inside, he chose to turn to his right and consequently let the ball go out of play. This sort of thing happens with him too often … if he really is a quality player he should show more awareness of where he is on the pitch!!
The Villa world according to me aka my player assessment from last night
Bunn – little to do, but will kick himself for that goal of theirs, could have done better
Chester/Baker – please don’t let this partnership break up, provides much defensive solidity when all around them is at sixes and sevens
Hutton – charged down the wing with no purpose, shocking going forward, did his defensive duties well
Amavi – a game to write off because it was poor, he’s relying on his pace to defend but will get caught out, a few unfortunate slips which created chances for Leeds, did little in attack
Bacuna – seen he had a go at Berardi a couple of times but lacked involvement
Ayew – terrible use (no use) of the ball, I don’t mind keeping possession and rebuilding attacks but just no intelligence when presented with opportunities to attack
Westwood – did well including 70 yard dash to save a Leeds attack but so unimposing in midfield we need a ball getter and a ball distributor
Jedinak – starting to annoy me with his midfield ability, what I see is a ball winner, great at heading the ball but offers no forward distribution, if both Westwood and Jedinak are doing the same thing in trying to win the ball back then who’s linking with the forwards
Grealish – thought the number ten role would suit him and he may become a great number ten but not on this performance, screamed at the telly to release the ball a few times only for him to be tackled or he passed back towards Westwood when crossing the ball into the box may have offered us a better chance, needs to be more direct, suck in defenders and release early
Kodija – selfish like most strikers but let the team down because of it, a couple of ops to put in players in better positions
Gestede – came on as a sub, went off the pitch at the final whistle
Adomah – proper wing play, not sure why he was benched beyond rotation/number of games
McCormack – best i’ve seen from him in terms of intelligent forward play, we need to play to his strengths once we get a midfield, him and Kodija has to be a partnership for the remainder of the season post AFCON
Overall, again midfield is where the problem lies, Leeds came for a point, they weren’t competent, they just weren’t challenged in midfield, look at the paucity of attacks from Leeds and it tended to be midfield cross to the wing due to Westwood/Jedinak occupying the same space. Grealish danced around the back four but wan’t incisive, huge respect for Kodija to have to do it all himself, just don’t be so greedy.
Need to snap the hand off the so called offer for 25m, agree he could become a very good left full but he’s not worth that money now and buying a more proven LB for 10m and still having 15m for other positions makes more financial sense than Dr.T pretending we are such a massive club no one can buy our players.
Good news Flabby was an unused sub.
love the assessment DOR
agree with it all except the Amavi out stuff
imo – any up and coming talent should be kept and nurtured and not sold off like we have been doing for so many years
there isnt a lot of young talent at the club but we must hold on to what we have – it already looks like we will be losing a potentially talented young striker because we havent handled him right.
on top of everything Amavi has shown great appreciation from the many villans that supported him sending him messages every day during his year out and he wants to try and repay that — in his own words — Amavi for sale ? – not at any price
who would replace him and would they be any better than sissoko and the various shambles that have played there before him
I get where you are coming from Runtings but 25m!!! and not because he made mistakes in the last game but we could get a proven international full back at that price and not have to wait until Amavi becomes that.
A moment of patience lost on my behalf
john l
what about bacuna haircut lol
dor
good assessment
maybe bit harsh on amavi, he is only one can cross the ball westwood attempt led to leeds chance ,hutton to leeds goal
we need three new faces in mf and go with 442 with ross up front ,grealish for cameo roles
bruce wants us to accept gabby back,yet no reason for not playing tish green leyden
Balls, cardiff game could get called off tonight. Be fresh for us mon!
Johnson in as number 1.
The Leeds Match
Perhaps we’ve overlooked the fact that in their previous match (also away) Leeds beat PNE 4-1.
Now a little while ago, PNE were a fair away above us in the league and some on here were saying they’re not looking bad. So for them to go down to Leeds by that score should tell us something – or is it just that PNE have lost their momentum?
For my money I would say that we should read it that Leeds are very much a potential promotion side but that we were good enough to stop them in their tracks a tad. That’s my glass-half-full interpretation for this week! 😉
John
I didnt think leeds were all that. We were better 1st half imo.
Apparently the atmosphere was great last night, much better than come across on tele.
We had more possession and more shots.
The thing pleasing me most is vp form. Banged on about it all summer. Must make it a fortress again. Unbeaten all season so far.
The fixtures for us is decent in jan. Some early signings please!!
Andrew: “I didnt think leeds were all that. We were better 1st half imo.”
That’s partly what I meant, Andrew – that we were good enough (despite our shortcomings) to prevent Leeds showing up too well.
In fact I thought we were better after h-t when McCormack came on … he was worrying them a good deal before they scored that silly goal.
Talking about McCormack…
I’ve just been reminded that Codger could have passed to Mac instead of shooting at Green towards the end of the match. A pass and that would have been the winner they say, and I think that’s right.
Well, McCormack can now show us how it’s done while Codger is away! 😉
johnl
was the onus not onus to go at leeds first 5mins were ok really think codja should have scored from backpass, after that apart from chester header nothing really happened, too many passengers bacuna ayew
leeds were happy to sit back and soak it up
2nd half jack shouldnt came out the change lost our momentum leeds took over scored from our attack in which too many players made errors, we were all over the place at that stage they should have scored again hit bar ,no ,one stood up and organised bruce at fault as well,we started to chase ,made changes which left no shape in team at all as they say in rugby an up and under and a pen,equaliser then some switched something it was all out attack in which codja was too greedy with both runs,amavi made a silly error which he got away with. says it all adoamh was most people mom yet only played 10min or so
I thought kodger should of scored early on but on replay looks like he slipped a sec and delayed getting shot off. Dont blame him for not passing to ross at end,
Johnson
Trippier chester baker amavi
Jedi
Mid? Hourihan
Adomah mccormack grealish
Please make that happen for jan!!
Happy New Year everyone.
Thanks to the writers, especially John Lerwill, John Clark and other writers in 2016. Thanks to Matt Turvey for keeping the site up. And thanks to all the posters on AVL.
Let’s look forward to a prosperous 2017.
UTV
Health and happiness for the new year to all the avl fam
This has been one heck of a year … starting with nothing but a series of fiascos and ending in hope…
… and we’re still not happy! 😉
Of course not … we’re Villa supporters.
I send my best wishes to you all for a Happy new Year … all the way through!
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