danceoftheshamen

Part of me hopes he turns it around obviously.. I like Dean and he's done great to keep us up for the last two seasons, especially last (even though we seemed to lose it after Christmas) However... I am deeply concerned that even if he does manage to get us away & clear from the drop zone it is only a matter of time until we hit another half season of poor form as that appears to be the pattern under his stewardship. I was hoping this season would see more consistency as he now has a couple of years experience in the division & well it kinda is more consistent but of the variety none of us want. I will be amazed if we do not lose on Friday given the state of the team currently. Prove me wrong Dean!

So i decided to wait until this morning to react so as not to do a knee jerk job. Sadly this season is deteriorating rapidly into a true relegation battle! It actually already is one now as with 1/4 of the season gone we have yet to play most of the top sides bar Chelsea away which we lost of course and are only a measily 3 points above the drop zone. Factor in that the zillionaires Newcastle will inevitably be buying massively in Jan and the threat is clear. Currently i am staggered by our team & what a shambles it is. I was on the Holte yesterday as always and it was staggering to see how poor we are at playing out from the back. Poor old hause clearly is not comfortable doing it and looked clumsy on a few occasions when pressed usually ending up with a panicked hoof up the line which usually resulted in the ball coming straight back again. Targett was just as bad if not worse. West ham looked sharper and clearly all knew their roles well. Our players looked lost and were trying to figure it out on "on the fly" or were basically "winging it". Surely after 3 years at the helm for Smith this should not be the case!!! I knew we would lose as soon as that odd team line-up was announced and that seemed to also be the general feeling on the Holte before a ball had been kicked. The pre-game buzz was simply not there, likely lost when the line up was revealed. The Holte felt completely flat as though awaiting the inevitable incoming defeat, it was nowhere near the passion and bouyancy we enjoyed prior to the Everton game for example. Indeed a kind of Apathy has swept into Villa Park caused by the awful recent performances and last nights bizarre line-up from Smith. It seemed to sweep in at the moment a bunch of poor substitutions against Wolves caused us to throw away a 2-0 win in the space of 10 minutes. I feel Smith is now sctratching the bottom of the barrel and somehow has turned a European capable squad into relegation contenders. Pre-season was shambolic and caused a stuttering start which we managed to recover from eventually with the win at Old Trafford but what on Earth has happened since then? We should have been flying!!! He has lost the dressing room now by the looks of it. That was as patchy & uncoordinated a team as i have seen since the relegation season and he needs a small miracle to turn this around now. Where were Ings, Mings, Traore, Sanson & co?! I noted after the game his "message to the Villa fans" was that there were "reasons for the defeats like injuries" What happened to the contradictory comments a few weeks ago about "how we now have a good enough squad to cope with a few injuries"?? Somethings not right and we are losing a crazy amount of games and that's not even against the top sides! Very concerned

I don't think it's because they are any better than us in a footballing ability sense but they are consistently strong physically and very good at set pieces both of which are right on the money as to our weak points. We seem full of lapses in concentration generally and are highly likely to have brain farts in defence... exactly the things a team like them will be good at exploiting.

What scares me is seeing today just how poor that Spurs team are... & we lost to them a couple of weeks back! The worrying thing for me about tomorrow is that with one of the two teams you know exactly what you're gonna get and can have complete faith that they'll battle all the way.......... Not sure about us mind! Will we turn up for the first half this time? Will we capitulate for 15 minutes and concede a quick 3 goals? It's a big concern and probably one of the worst teams to face at the moment with the question marks this Villa team have at the mo is West Ham as they will be100% at it from start to finish in all likelihood.

from 1979 onwards Martinez Kenny Swain Paul McGrath Allan Evans Colin Gibson David Platt Sid Cowans Dennis Mortimer Tony Morley Peter Withe John Carew Subs: Martin Laursen, Jack Grealish, Brian Little, Dean Saunders, Jimmy Rimmer

Really annoyed tbh at this as he's never really had a chance. I know he played a bit last season and struggled to make much impact as he tried to adjust but even so.

Not expecting anything from this and i can't even go anyway due to having COVID at the moment so will be isolating. Lets hope our players stop being so isolated as they have been lately

Where did i comment on tonights game specifically? I made more reference to the Wolves game but am refering mainly to the season as a whole. Only reason i did not watch is i do a radio show on Fridays so unable? Not sure why the angst??

Didn't watch tonight (thankfully by the sounds of it) but not suprised at all as losing that game last week took some doing and showed a really fragile new side to this team. For me we need another couple of windows to repair the damage caused by Grealish going as the ones brought in were actually intended to build a team around grealish not to replace him from where i was standing but it has been spun to look as though they were the actual replacements i guess so it looked like we'd spent the money to stop us being ripped off with clubs knowing we had 100m burning a hole? Hence we are unbalanced in my opinion. Targett is now exposed horrendously as being clueless in the creative aspect and we have nobody natural on that side to fill the gaping wound Grealish left. We have some who can cover there but it's so easy for teams now to leave our "wingbacks" and cover everyone else and we are struggling to create. I forsee a relegation scrap unless this is sorted pronto. We have now lost to Arsenal, Wolves, Watford, Spurs & Chelsea and drawn with Brentford at home. Only two of those you would have expected to likely get zero points from. Yes we won at Old Trafford which makes up for one of those losses but that still puts us way behind our expected points haul for me. We have now completely thrown away the Old Trafford win and some. Really poor from Dean this and i sadly am really now questioning if he's the right guy now Terry has left as we look a shambles currently. Did anyone see the pathetic wall against Wolves for their winner? I really think Terry leaving was a big big loss now as defensively we have lost it.

For me that system relies quite heavily on the wingbacks (Cash & Targett) actually being productive in the final 3rd. They are frankly atrocious in that department. I was watching them closely on Saturday and not once did I see Targett make good use of the ball from the many very good chances he had to do so. Cash similar where 3 times he had the almost identical situation to when he scored against Everton but sadly he resorted to type and every one went way over the crossbar. defensively both were ok though.

That's about 3 games i've watched now where nearly all of the best opportunities to shoot or cross the ball have fallen to Targett & Cash both of whom & Targett in particular are completely woefull with their shooting or final ball. If this new system is relying on those two to create for us we may as well pack up & go home. As has been said that was on Smiths substitutions for me today. Threw it away. For me he tinkered too much as though it was 4-0 with 10 mins left rather than the very dangerous 2-0 situation which it was.

Don't agree sadly They are hitting form and have won the last two plus have outplayed (though not outscored as they were without their main man) virtually every team they have faced. With all the disruption with Luiz, Bailey, Martinez etc etc plus a lot coming back in from International camps and thus having poor preparation i would take a draw (Although of course would be delighted with a win). This will be a big test of how far our squad has come in my view.

I doubt it as Southgate only starts players who are at a top 4 club apparently (Except keepers & DM's that is ... hypocrite)

Oh i see, so Saudi Arabia... "The State of" came to an agreement to stop one of the crimes it was involved with and suddenly the football club which they apparently won't be running even though it's their money, (We know because a legally binding piece of paper says so don't you know) is allowed to be sold to them?! Hmmn??!! I think i can see how the FA works now... "Do this and we'll do that" Interesting.

I reckon the whole league should go all out to relegate the fekkers now. But of course i guess they'll buy a slice of the corruption pie and work their way onto the FA's "protected list" along with the scummy 6. Penalties aplenty and VAR blind spots await no doubt. Clearly something dodgy has already taken place for them to be allowed to takeover at all. Maybe they dealt with the objectors in the same way they normally do? Or are you telling me some ridiculous and apparently "legally binding Piece of paper promising that the state of SA would not be in charge of the club" is anything more than a pathetic piece of spin drummed up by the FA which they think they can hide behind as the reason they have gone back on their word? In other words they are trying to say "It's our money but we're not running it".... Yeah whatever! Clearly some brown paper bags have exchanged hands at government level somewhere and the word has been given. On that point i thought Boris Johnson had stated it should not go ahead? Very quiet now no? I suppose we are now looking at the scummy 7 as that kind of wealth buys you a seat at the exclusive table straight away. No doubt any break away proposal would now suddenly see fit to include Newcastle. I've No issue with their fans as they are a passionate bunch who have been starved of success by their version of Doug Eliis (Mike Ashley) for a long time... Not as long as we had to endure Mr Ellis for mind you! Football really is pretty pointless now and corruption continues to rule at FA Towers.

The problem is it could so easily be a bunch of bitter noses doing what they do and sinking to astonishingly low depths to feed their sad & pathetically infantile hatred. It has to be Twitter who step in but the club should do something to embrace them in my view.

It will be a very tough ask to achieve it this season. Losing whatsisname to oil fc put a bit of a spoke into what was already a mess of a pre-season and we have paid a price for that. Losing at Watford and several players still not at the races 7 games in has cost us points for sure but hey ho it is what it is. Being where we are now on 10 points & in10th is not too bad but we of course need to get all the players fit & firing asap if we are serious about finishing high enough for Europe. I think we have an outside chance but we have to improve and become more consistent of course. You would say next season is more realistic but then who's to say the talent skimming clubs don't come & wreck things again in the summer which they will surely do to try to prevent us threatening as much as anything else!? That's my biggest fear. Already we have rumours linking McGinn with Manure and a few others. It's really a case of can we continually strengthen whilst the inevitable poaching of our best players takes place. We need to find a way to take one step back but two forward every summer.

I think playing this 532 system is basically nullifying our attacking play. It is relying on Cash & Targett to suddenly become consistently good as an attacking threat adding goals & assists to their game in abundance. I just can't see this happening often enough to justify using the system consistently. On the odd occasion maybe but Watkins & Ings, a potentially top notch duo, are chasing shadows in this system and with Cash & Targetts usually poor delivery of crosses & through balls coming to the fore they are getting no service or are nullified by having to go out of position to get the ball. No coincidence that we suddenly stuck 3 past Everton when Bailey replaced Targett.

Thought Smith got out managed today basically. Nuno simply got his players in our faces in midfield and as a result we kept giving the ball away... exactly what he wanted and set up for in my view. Nothing was done to change this by Smith until what 10 mins from the end? This typifies why we are not a top team currently. Amazing win at Old Trafford but once again we don't follow it up the week after.... and that's against a team who played in midweek too! Not buying into the "Ah well 3 points from 6 is ok from those fixtures" that's a losers attitude and questions need to be asked of that horror show today as it was unacceptable from Smith & the players. If we have higher aspirations this is exactly the type of performance that needs abolishing. For me to play this system well you need wingbacks who excell when going forwards. I'm afraid Cash & Targett whilst having some quality in some area's are not the best in an attacking sense & so it puts two of our least creatively talented players in the position of needing to be our main creators. Rafa Benitez saw this when we played Everton and simply let them have the ball whilst marking everyone else and it almost worked as we created very little until Targett was replaced by Bailey which is what changed the game. I know it was Cash who scored the opener but lets be honest it was about time he chipped in considering the number of occasions he's been in good positions. Normally its Row z or a useless ballooned cross straight to the keeper. Targetts missed sitter from a few yards out against Manure was more the norm. Poor today all round for me.

Personally i think the US system makes it much more fun and is a much more sustainable model for clubs. The college football i guess is almost what the lower leagues are to us where lots of new upcoming players are blooded and discovered. The big difference of course is that the're all young players not a mixture of old pro's & the like that we have in the pyramid. The no risk or relegation is huge and takes away that awful sceptre of doom which we have meaning clubs can plan better. I know there are some small points like the fairytale of a Wimbledon or Bournemouth suddenly making it to the big time but in all honesty i would rather have a set 2 top divisions each with 22 teams which would effectively mean the Premier League & Championship would be alamgamated into North /South divisions with playoffs at the end of each season to reach the ultimate final between North & South Champions! That way enough teams could be in it to represent all parts of the UK (Scotland included) and with no risk of relegation. All of the traditional big clubs could be part of it and all would have a chance of winning the title.... Much better in my eyes.

I really hate it when our players get called up for England. It's just a huge tapping up "time you got to a proper club" camp. No doubt Mings & Watkins will be next out the door. I note Grealish is now a permanent starter after he followed Southgates orders and got to a "Proper team". No wonder he left! Quite bizarre how he was formerly "up against such good players in his position" to the second he moves it's no longer an issue and he starts every game. He must have learned so much after playing 2 games under Pep that he is now undroppable. What a farce!

So once again here we are! Surely that's a Red for McGuire?! Right in the refs view and he waves play-on. That is 100% a foul /yellow or red if it's our player on a Utd player. Yet again we have evidence of the corruption from the FA. There is no way Mike Dean did not see that. Add to that the iffy penalty (Yet again occurs when UTD are losing and in need, seldom does when they are winning comfortably "as it happens") Surely Hause's arm is down in a natural position and the ball deflects onto it, at pace & nearby him. Let's put it this way.. there is no way we are getting that if it was a UTD player who'd done it and that is the issue here, the scummy 6 alone get those. Ok we got the decision for our goal but that is only correct anyway. Every pundit, former ref who has commented have all said it was a good goal as when the ball was headed (which is the moment when the keeper should not have his view impared otherwise it is offside) Watkins is nowhere near his eyeline and the ball even came from the opposite side so he cannot be interfering ....Correct decision! Despite what OGS is attempting to portray. The biggest mystery is why wasn't the McGuire rugby tackle not even shown on MOTD?! A surefire red card and they don't even mention it! Bizarre!

What a result, didn't see the "hand ball" for their inevitable penalty so i cannot fairly comment but would not be at all surprised if it was a ridiculous one as that's how the corruption works. Man Utd in trouble and losing so bring out the dodgy decisions! Happens without fail every single time which is a huge factor in why it's been so long since we beat them. Fortunately for us for once they missed it so we can celebrate a famous win! So for those who saw it was it a Pen? Well done the lads though! That makes up for the loss at Watford! We are back on track!!

Erm ..... nope he doesn't! The actual cheek of the guy! The number of dodgy pennos they get and he has the gaul to actually call out the officials for refusing to give a penalty to some blatant cheating/diving. Even if one of them could have been a Pen they also denied West Ham a clear one earlier in the game but i don't hear Moyes bleating on about that one! Instead Jermaine Jenas and all those who came out crowing about how wonderful it was to see Ollie Watkins sent off for going down a bit easy (Even though actually contacted) should be shouting hard & loud as to how on Earth the corrupt FA & their officials found a way to not book Ronaldo despite repeated (At least twice) clear & obvious dives. The one he was not even touched whatsoever, dragged his foot and dived blatantly....much worse than Watkins' against them last season....Not even a yellow card! They disgust me quite frankly. The number of dodgy pens they have had against us and Jenas (A former player no less) actually saw fit to come out and slate Watkins for ONCE trying to reiprocate their antics (even though he got some contact) and he gets a red! I mean really?! It's Ridiculous! The ref & VAR could obviously see Ronaldo was diving as could we all. In another of the incidents he clearly kicks the ball away from goal to the left of the defender and deliberately carries his run on straight away from the ball and then at the last minute bends into the defender initiating contact. A typical UTD penalty normally. They are only so staggered because they normally get 100% of those and especially when employee No.1 Mike Dean or Martin Atkinson are officiating ... that would have likely been 3 pennos had it been against us rather than one of the current darlings of the London media West Ham. Ollie GS is clearly taking instruction from Alex Ferguson on how to pursuade the FA to play along. Simple tactic.. Shout loud when you don't get any decision and hey presto, because they are greasing the tracks for the scummy six especially Man U & Liverpool & have been for years, the week after (sadly against us this time) they will slot in the Ref of the moment to redress the balance and restore order. It used to be Howard Webb or whoever (Apparently huge rumours that he was a Man U fan but tried to cover it up & still does according to UTD fans at work but who knows i guess) Nailed on dodgy penno or two against us incoming tomorrow i reckon. The only time that tends to not happen is if it's not required like if UTD go 3-0 up so they therefore don't have any need to intervene.

Sadly i think if we want to have a real go at Manure we need this guy fit.