Ponky

O'Neill just on the beeb, said he didn't think we'd played well, especially in the first half.

Well you know we were rubbish when even MON says we played poorly.

If we had a bit of composure & nouse up forward we may have scored 3-4. I can't believe the amount of times we butcher easy chances for crosses or shots. Big problem is apart from Gabby pretty much every player who is expected to contribute goals is very much out of form.

I think Carew is being harshly bagged out here. I thought he was pretty important for us and made several very good flick-ons etc.

And I love James Milner for his heart and workrate but unfortunately he couldn't hit a Hippo's arse with a banjo at the moment and much of his hard work gets flushed down the toilet.

I just think it's ironic that in pre-season MON was saying we had no troubles scoring goals but just couldn't keep them out, but I think it's the complete opposite now.

Oh, and the ref was a complete word removed.

Also worth noting that when Mr Petrove finds his way into the opposition penalty area he makes stuff happen - even if he does not score much himself.

For him to be able to do that he needs to be sure that his midfield partner and his defence won't leave him stranded. I think Sidwell, for all his flaws, is a hard worker and has a good understanding with Petrov.

Has anyone got any footage of MON going arse over tit after Annelka ran into him?

here 'tis

Has anyone got any footage of MON going arse over tit after Annelka ran into him?

Ashley seemed a little intimidated by Boswinga today - Boswinga and Sagna tend to play best against him because they can match his pace better than other defeders.

Collins & Dunne together = Martin Laursen+++ Neither on their own is better than Laursen but together I think they make our defence the strongest I have seen it in 3-4 years.

Friedel gave away a Carson-esque goal but his multiple saves from 1 0n 1 situations more than made up for it.

Petrov was fantastic and really dug in well. Sidwell didn't go hiding as usual but his disposal was poor.

All in all I think we only played at about 70% of our capacity - there is massive room for improvement - and we still beat Chelsea 2-1!

Jedi has Carrie Fisher in a skimpy outfit, back when she was every geek-boys fantasy.

Empire has Billy Dee Williams with his shiny hair and sky-blue cape.

Empire shades it by a notch if you are looking at the original versions, but by a long shot if you look at the "re-mastered" version of Jedi where they insert Hayden Christensen into the picture at the end alongside the afterlife versions of Yoda and Obi-Wan.

Certainly a very good game and the right result although we might have put it to bed in the first half. I agree that Ireland changed the complexion of the match and we should have responded better.

Our main problem at the moment is that with Carew out of form we have only really Gabby and set pieces to score for us and thus we are lacking in teeth up front. Milner seems to conjure a raft of chances for himself only to butcher them all. It's quite frustrating really.

Was impressed by Delph today. Certainly still has a way to go but his one-touch passing is outstanding and seems to be developing a bit of an understanding with Ashley.

I thought we had been struggling with their high balls into our defensive area and Heskey was brought on to help counter that.

However, I did expect Carew to come off for Albrighton when Grella was sent off, or at least when they scored.

I thought the tactics were fine - in my opinion. It was the defence's inability to cope with their high balls into the box and our poor ball control that cost us.

I love Milner but this is the second away game in a row where his passing, crossing, shooting and positioning have been utterly woeful. And Ashley's free kicks were poor today, costing us opportunities for goal attempts.

To me the game was ours to take when Grella went off - moving Heskey upfront and replacing Carew with Albrighton would have really stretched them.

Did Albrighton get a run and if so how did he go?

Last time we played Blackburn at Blackburn we played 442 and won 2-0, should have been 5-0. It was our last decent win before things went downhill.

With the defence we now have I have no real fear of 442, as long as MON has the nous to change the formation late in the game.

Is this the Shorey who turned down a loan move because Pompey wouldn't give him a straight out guarantee of being first choice? If Shorey was really that hard done by surely he would take his chances at ousting Bellhadj, knowing that Warnock and (eventually) Bouma were likely to be above him in the pecking order.

I'd be very surprised if Collins didn't play - being against his old club and all.

I think it will be a reasonably strong defence, with Collins & Cuellar in the middle and Beye & Warnock at FB.

Gardner will probably get a run in midfield as he is the only player without substantial game time.

I thought it was a poor second half but we were always relatively in control. Quality goal by Gab - reminded me of Fuller's goal against us last year.

My main comment from the game:

Michael Brown you are a dirty **** piece of shit sniping word removed.

About 3 times he came in late with a knee in the back and he does it every time he plays against us. Abolute piece of shit.

Lucas Neill's a good signing for Everton. I was saying on an Aussie forum a few days ago he seemed to be pissing his career down the drain in a world cup year simply because he had an over inflated sense of his own worth.

Sounds like he has seen the penny drop somewhat and landed himself at a very good club in the process. Aussie papers are suggesting 35-40k a week.

I suspect Cuellar may sit this one out for Beye or Luke Young to provide a bit more attack from out wide if he decides to start with Carew.

General Krulak here:

1. I will be off the site for about a week. I have some tests to undergo and will not be near a computer. NO PROBLEM...I will be back and as ornery as ever.

I guess Mr Gold is still waiting for his apology then

I'm sure he thinks he has you running scared General!

I hope Sunday's result has done wonders for your "orneriness" and hope to see you back here soon.

I thought this from Richard Jolly of soccernet was an excellent summary of the match:

Fortune favours the brave at St Andrew's

By Richard Jolly

(Archive)

September 13, 2009

The significance of derbies to the balance of power in a city can serve to stifle and smother ambitions. Fear of defeat to rivals can outweigh the desire to beat them; a must-win game becomes a must-not-lose match. That, at least, was the approach Birmingham City took. Seventy minutes in, Aston Villa decided to risk defeat and were rewarded with victory.

Enter John Carew to augment Gabriel Agbonlahor in attack. That duo duly combined for the solitary goal in a weekend where the eight previous Premier League games contained an average of four apiece. Even one appeared unrealistic at St Andrew's during a lengthy impasse. Both sides deployed a 4-5-1 formation; Villa's, at least, is designed to aid counter-attacking. Birmingham's is essentially cautious.

Yet it produced a common problem in these parts. Congestion is experienced all too often on the M6, the M5, the M40 and the M42 in the West Midlands. With 10 men in midfield, parts of the St Andrew's pitch were similarly crowded. Then Martin O'Neill navigated his way out of the gridlock, enabling Villa to take the aerial route to Carew.

Indeed, the Norwegian beat Roger Johnson, a fine header himself, in the air to Ashley Young's free kick, sending it back across goal. There Agbonlahor eluded his marked to head in his 85th-minute winner.

"We are able to adjust and adapt," said O'Neill. "It looked as though it was heading for stalemate and I wanted us to force more pressure on Birmingham if it was possible. We got John on and he made a big contribution."

O'Neill was too diplomatic to draw a contrast, but his Birmingham counterpart did. "I felt that Villa's power in midfield could over-run us," said Alex McLeish, explaining his side's shape. "They did the same at Anfield and played the same at home [against Fulham] with one striker, so I don't see why I can't use one striker at home. I thought the tactics were spot on."

Others might not concur. McLeish is a manager who has spoken of the importance of winning home games, a failing of Birmingham's when they were relegated two seasons ago. Yet too little ambition was apparent to prevail in this one. The initial formation remained intact until the closing minutes: when Cristian Benitez, who is rapidly becoming Birmingham's specialist substitute, came on, it was at the expense of the lone striker, Garry O'Connor.

Negativity spread from McLeish's tactics to his post-match interview. "The difference between us and Villa in financial clout and quality is a gulf, but it didn't look like that today," he insisted. However, his side had become more defensive at half-time when a thigh injury forced the removal of James McFadden. Lee Carsley replaced him, becoming one of five essentially destructive central midfielders scattered around the Blues side at the same time.

"It's a harsh result, there's no doubt about that," added the Birmingham manager. In some respects it was - for much of the game neither side merited a win - yet in others, Villa's more progressive attitude made them deserving victors.

At Birmingham, the emphasis is on the defensive. McLeish's safety-first theories served Scotland well, and plenty north of the border could be forgiven for feeling nostalgic about his brief but successful stint in charge of the national team. He earned Birmingham promotion despite scoring fewer goals than relegated Norwich and it is not hard to see why their first five Premier League games have only produced six goals. Birmingham have only managed two of them.

This presented an opportunity to increase that meagre tally. Villa fielded a trio of debutant defenders, in Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock, and recorded a clean sheet. Allegiances to these two clubs don't always last long.

It was a tale of one city, but of two Brummies. Agbonlahor, the resident Villa fan, endured some unpleasant chants about his mother before answering his tormentors among the Birmingham support with the winning goal. The City club captain, Carsley, is a lifelong fan who was attending his first derby in any capacity. Dropped to the bench, he attempted a couple of audacious shots before local hero status was claimed by Agbonlahor and he was sacrificed in the search for an equaliser. The substitute was substituted, always an ignominious exit, a couple of minutes after Agbonlahor celebrated.

His fellow Villa supporters were as ecstatic as Agbonlahor, the other Bluenoses as despondent as Carsley.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Richard Dunne - This was an accomplished debut for the former Manchester City captain and an auspicious start for his new-look central defensive partnership with the equally impressive James Collins. Both were reassuringly solid.

BIRMINGHAM VERDICT: An injury crisis has been the backdrop to their season and McLeish could benefit from seeing more of his defenders and forwards fit again. A decent defensive record shows the stand-ins at the back have fared well, yet a side with such limited intent surely need to commit more players forward if they want to win games.

ASTON VILLA VERDICT: The 4-5-1 formation is serving Villa well, but Carew has a habit of making an impact and for games such as Portsmouth's visit on Saturday, there is certainly a case to revert to 4-4-2 and give the Norwegian a start.

THE LIFE OF WILEY: Alan Wiley, one of the Premier League's better referees, was in the crowd. If the match provided little excitement, he may have had the consolation of watching an excellent display by Howard Webb, the official on the pitch.

Dare I say it, but we got down and wrestled with the pigs today, and came away relatively clean

It was a tough son of a bitch of a game. The blues were dogged and played pretty well, and it was probably only the presence of an all-new, all-improved defence that proved the difference in the end. The inclusion of Cuellar at RB puzzled me, but he did the job, giving us an extra solid foundation that probably assisted the three noobs to adjust.

It was a close first half but I suspect that it was the fact that Milner was having an absolute nightmare that kept them in the match. Had several chances to put it to be but he was dire. Into everything, but botched the lot. I am a huge Milner fan, I hope he can bounce back next time.

Just finished watching Season 3 over a few weeks and really was the best season of Dexter so far IMO. I was a bit doubtful to begin with because Jimmy Smits is a bit wank as an actor but it was really very well done.

I'm struggling to see the point of this poll

It seems to be aiming to demonstrate that, when asked to choose between our two excellent wingers, about half choose one, and half choose the other. :winkold:

Which would be quite a quandary if there was only one wing.

Im pretty sure he had a knock which he picked up in The Peace Cup, but it was hardly what you would describe as an injury.

I think it was a quad strain - he got sent home from the the training camp & didn't make the Peace Cup (hence Lichaj playing every match).

He missed a few matches late last season and has had little pre-season so I would say Luke will be working his way back to fitness - so would be a few weeks off yet.

Gabby was relentless in closing down their defence tonight and forcing them into numerous turnovers and dodgy balls. It amazes me that some suggest he was "shit" tonight apart from the goal.