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danceoftheshamen

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Everything posted by danceoftheshamen

  1. Well for me it's beginning to look like the only freak result was our 1-3 win at Anfield
  2. Well frankly a disgrace of a performance today.. Difficult to quite know where to start after that & yet equally odd considering the win at Anfield a week earlier ... Worryingly though we could have been a few down by half time up there too on another day. What concerns me is the way this team capitulates when we go a couple down. It's like they go into "can't be arsed" mode or something ...well today they paid the price & that result will blight the history of this club forever as it will stick out as clear as day from the history books in decades to come. It happened at Man City too of course in similar fashion when things went wrong early doors. I think we will now see just what PL & these players are made of against Spurs...especially if we go a goal or 2 down in that one too. A Shameful day.
  3. Sadly was always going to happen i fear.. Ok 8 is frankly embarrassing having said that but then i guess as a Villa fan i'm kinda getting used to it. But Chelsea had their tails up after their holiday & recent battering of Leeds in the cup & with us prefferring to go for the win now the writing was on the wall after the first goal went in which sadly was vary early in the game. Maybe this was a very valuable lesson for our kids who were maybe a touch cocky after the Anfield result?
  4. I think we could have just found the ideal partner for Benteke in Weimann.. He does appear to be "coming of age" which is fantastic news. Genuinely delighted for him. Now if we could get the creative elements to be more productive more often we could just be in business.
  5. Was at the Stoke game & it was just so clear that we have what i can only describe as a "Void" area in our play. At least thats how it looked from my position in the lower Holte. I thought we looked very promising defensively & our players handled the Stoke bullyboys quite well. The problem is the lack of movement up top.. it was attrocious. Benteke did his best although his finishing was distinctly average it has to be said but he did do well generally. The problem was that was it up front!. Our goal threat was awful. It was like Benteke got the ball but there was just nobody in an advanced position for him to lay it off to... at least not in a position of any threat. Also we had no width at all. Lowton was pretty poor in the final third & as was Lichaj. Although both did a decent job defensively. Then Westwood & Bannan were good at passing it about & rarely lost possesion but again had no options to pass it to upfront. On the odd occasion they found Benteke he then was so surrounded by huge Stoke defenders that he could do very little with it... Despite this he still made himself a couple of half chances but his finishing was poor... Other than that we had nothing. It's difficult to know what the answer is really but for me we need some wing threat & more pace in the side.. Or somebody who can dribble through a packed defence on occasion.. January gives us the chance to rectify this of course.
  6. It really is the big problem isn't it... the way you build a team which starts to look promising & then the parasite clubs come bullying around & do every underhand tactic possible to steal your best players. The worst offenders are Man U, Liverpool & Man City... Of course the lower league teams could i guess throw the exact same accusations at us & all the other Prem clubs.. It's the Pecking order i suppose but it's still flipping frustrating.
  7. Well i think we've done well this last week. A draw against Arsenal is never a bad result especially on the back of a linesman assisted 0-5 thumping. Then the win against Reading was vital.. They came hear having marked us as a must win & they lost.. so regardless that was always going to be a scrappy game & we are one of the few teams to have prevented them scoring too & the point at QPR was also huge with Arrymania at it's absolute maximum volume...We rode our luck maybe but that was some point down there.
  8. I fear for us against Stoke as they are the typical "strong solid & experienced old pro's" type team who we seem to struggle against as evidenced over the last few years. It is against these sides when our inexperience seems to come to the fore as they just know 1 too many old tricks for our lads.. So i am quite concerned about this game. If we can pull it off & win against them then that will be the surest sign of progress we have seen to date in my opinion so fingers crossed.
  9. Just hope we miss the usual ties. Blackburn, Man U etc... Avoiding any Premiership team would be ideal but just a nice steady route through to round 4 would be great... If that exists of course
  10. Still concerning regards relegation. Southampton are starting to win games & you can see QPR doing the same very soon & i'm sure they'll be spending again in Jan too now Arry's there. So still very much in the melting pot & we need another 28 points or so or 7 wins & 7 draws from 23 games to take us to 42 points. It could actually be a very close thing again this season as there don't appear to be many sides above us who could get dragged in either. Stoke are winning as are Fulham, Wigan, West Ham & the other usual suspects.. the only ones who look at risk are possibly Sunderland but surely MON will drag them up at some point?
  11. I see it like this with the squad/back up players in ( ). We do of course have some options in many positions but i have only included the ones who for me are good enough .........................................Guzan (Given) Lowton (????).......Vlaar (Baker),,,,,,,Clark (????)....???? (Stevens) ???? (????)......Westwood (El Ahmadi).... ???? (Bannan).......???? (????) ............Benteke (Bowery).................???? (Bent) SUBS: Agbonlahor, Ireland, Lichaj, Given. The good news is we are getting the teams spine together slowly with Guzan, Vlaar, Clark, Westwood & Benteke although we have no real back ups for the spine with the exception of maybe Given in goal...although jury is out on him as it stands it seems. For me our priority now is a strong midfielder & a striker to suit Benteke. this would complete the spine & make us much stronger. The predicament is surely what type of midfielder do we need & just what strike partner would work with Benteke? Then we need to sort out the creativity which is abysmal at the moment.
  12. Wow looking at those lists we still have a load of deadwood to shift.. Mostly the bigger earners too which is quite staggering really considering how many have departed over the last three years. Anyone know roughly how much combined those wages come to? For Dunne, Warnock, Given, Hutton, Bent, Albrighton, Delfounso, Delph, Nzogbia & Makoun?.. That must be some chunk of wonga!
  13. Think we'll definately know a lot more by tomorrow night. We badly need at least a point against QPR. If we win it would be huge as it would surely destroy the "Rednapmania" before it had really started & could be very damaging for them. For me QPR have one shot & that is by beating us & going on a "honeymoon period" run. If we could somehow beat them it may have the opposite effect. They will surely see this as one of their easiest fixtures of the season sadly so a loss could really damage them.
  14. It's beginning to appear as though its just a continuation of the "ever shrinking squad" thing. All the best players & top earners being replaced. All a bit odd really. Still so long as they know what they're doing & we stay up this season.
  15. Agree with this entirely.. The signings thus far have been very good so would love to see what Lambo would do with another good chunk like 15m..
  16. Yes i said it a bit "tongue in cheek" Coda.. but basically if we can get those players whether in Jan or more likely of course the summer, then i think we could have something with all the young players maturing too etc... What i like is that Guzan, Westwood, Benteke, Lowton of the 5 i like are all Lambert signings..(Even Guzan as theoretically he had left the club & was of course promoted by Lambo)
  17. I thought we were Ok last night with flashes of promise but also some flashes of poor quality interlaced in the performance too. We are quite scary to watch because you know there is always a shockingly amateurish pass just around the corner which could cost us... just as we are liable to miss even the easiest of sitters in front of goal... & we did a couple of times with Benteke's & Weimann's misses before half time. But whilst against better opposition those weaknesses will undoubtably cost us more often than not i do feel there are as many positives as negatives In Benteke we have a player in my opinion. He is a real handfull & with better support upfront we could finally have found our new Peter Withe!... (Given a bit more experience of course).. Yes i do rate him that highly. So now we need to find the perfect partner for him... Weimann could be that man eventually but i think the jury is still out on him at the moment as he misses too many easy chances. In midfield i think we lack grit & our creative players are way too inconsistent. Again this is possibly due to inexperience for the most part but it needs sorting. Defensively what we lack in experience we appear to make up for in energy although we do run around like headless chickens back there on occasion... This seems to be if anything confusing the opposition though at present resulting in the 2 clean sheets. Not a long term solution though & we need some work back there. Guzan i do like, he just is getting better all the time. I always like to compare any Villa side to the Title winning team from 80', 81'.. I don't know why? maybe it's because that was a proven & successful formula for this club with a limited squad & resources (sound familiar?) & well lets face it we won the ultimate prize with that team, the European cup, so it's not a bad way to check our progress... So lets compare the two for what it's worth (bearing in mind the game has changed considerably since those heady days of course) but what i have done below is to leave blank the players where i think we have yet to find a comparable / equivalent type of player. 1980/81 side 2011/12 side 1. Rimmer 1. Guzan 2. Swain 2. Lowton (potentially) 3. Gibson 3. 4. Evans 4. Vlaar 5. Mcnaught 5 . 6. Mortimer 6. Westwood (potentially) 7. Bremner 7. 8. Shaw 8. 9. Withe 9. Benteke 10. Cowans 10. 11. Morley 11. So although it would be ridiculous to compare the two teams in reality my point is that when you try to go through the positions player by player it highlights the weaknesses in the team very well in my opinion. Guzan is for me quite similar to Rimmer.. a small stocky keeper who does his job very well. Lowton can be a very classy (Same as Swain was) RB & with a bit more experience could be great. Vlaar i have compared to Alan Evans.. different types of player but he has a shot on him like Evans did & is a good solid player. In Westwood i see a potential Dennis Mortimer.. of course needs a lot more experience but i do like him & he has some similar qualities. Captain for the future? Finally the only other one i can compare is Benteke with Peter Withe. Both rugged forwards, lethal in the air & terrorisors of defences. So now to the missing links 3. Left back - Enda Stevens may be the man but it's way too early to say at this point. Colin Gibson was a great attacking full back with pace & just a good all round left back. 5. Central defence - this is surely an area of concern & we lack our Ken Mcnaught in my opinion.. we lack ruggedness & although Richard Dunne is that kind of player he is now surely too slow & error prone... Can Clark be the man? Jury again is out. 7. A tough rugged midfielder in the Des Bremner mould is desperately lacking to break up play & do the dirty work. 8. We lack a good foil for Benteke.. Gary Shaw was the lethal "fox in the box" in the 80's team & although Weimann is showing flashes he lacks the creative side Shaw possessed & his finishing is far less consistent. We need a 20 goal a season man to partner the big guy.. Bent is a lone soldier so not the man. 10. Our midfield creator.. We have Bannan & Ireland but they are both way too inconsistent & posses 1 good pass to 1 bad one from what i've seen. This is very reflective of how we play at present & is the fulcrum of the frustrating nature of this side. Sid Cowans was the man back in the day & neither of these two are fit to lace his boots. 11. Tony Morley was one of the main strengths of the Title winning team with pace & a lethal shot & cross. Our current pace man Gabby has flashes of all those qualities but again is just so inconsistent & lacks the brain, crossing & dribbling ability & long range finishing of Morley. Albrighton is too slow for the role & we erm..sold all the rest. So for January.. Left Back (Unless one of the 3 we have steps up) Creative midfielder Defensive midfielder Stiker Pacey Wide man. We are half way to a decent team in my book.
  18. Yes i thought we got stuck in the no mans land of stick or twist when we went 2-0 up against Man U.. They got rather a lucky break to make it 2-1 with the free kick that wasn't leading up to the goal & indeed the slightly fortuitous way the ball ran to set up Hernandez... even the finish on another day would've hit an outstretched leg or something. But once that had contrived to go in it rattled our young side & the inexperience came to the fore... This appears to be happening on occasion with the same "rattled" thing happening at both Southampton & Man City too when we capitulated. It seems to be when they get a bad break in a game they can't handle it.... Definately a symptom of inexperience.
  19. Great post which really does put things into perspective.. All sounds good long term & i really hope we turn the corner & start climbing that table soon as i would love this to be the blueprint for the future & desperatley hope we don't get sucked down & PL gets ousted before it can all kick in proper etc... Do we think Randy would stick by PL regardless? Even if we did succumb to the dreaded relegation?
  20. ""I would sooner the FA was investigating the possible bribing of officials rather than wasting their time with this. "" This.^^ exactly this!... Will never happen though.. It's a bit like expecting a casino to investigate the payouts on it's slot machines. The fact is it's all about the money so far as the FA are concerned. I really don't buy this "the ref was swayed by the home crowd" stuff either, for the simple reason they are .. well... Premier League referees!..Maybe a raw, new ref on a sunday league park could be pressured into making such a blatant error of judgement yes but surely a Premier League official would have enough knowledge & experience of such matters to not allow it to have such an impact? In the same way i wouldn't expect a fireman to run away from a fire because there were flames present. Or a politician to cave in & give away the real truth when being interrogated on TV?.... Because they are highly trained in how to deal with this as it is what they do!! So i'm afraid the "pressured into it" line simply doesn't wash in my opinion. Then we have the other argument of "Fear of reprisals" especially when officiating games involving the sky4 & the extra scrutiny they bring. This begs the question "fear of reprisals from whom exactly?" Most employees would surely be most afraid of upsetting their boss? So doesn't the evidence actually indicate that they are under extra pressure to make sure they don't make errors which go "against" those particular sides? For me this shows that they often take what they percieve to be the "easy option" when officiating in these games. The easy option appearing to be if in doubt award it to the big team? This for me gives evidence of the general brief from higher up... In other words they protect themselves by calling all the big decisions in favour of the "big" team as they know this will get them favour with their employer... who just happens to benefit financially when those "big" teams have a successful season with extra monies coming in from overseas (As admitted by certain a FA member not so long back). Then we have this situation with our own Paul Lambert. He dared to mention the shocking decisions which ultimately effected the game in a major way. Yes we were second best... of course we were but that is immaterial. We all know that at 0-0 it's anybody's game no matter how much one team is dominating...thats football for goodness sake. We also know that goals change games so that dog awful decision was huge & definatley a deciding factor in the game. So Mr Lambert rightly was appalled at the decision (amongst others) & was right to say what he thought considering just how bad it was. We also know of some other managers who would have been outraged at far less. Even a couple of minutes injury time can cause some managers to practically go into seizure, so i dread to think what they would have done when being victim to a phantom penalty award with the game at 0-0?!... Mr Ferguson for example. Funny how you just know the FA would not even mention the affair however if it had been him & not PL let alone fine him 8000 & touchline ban him for a game?! Odd is the only way i can sum it all up....Just odd?
  21. I've cooled down a bit now after the annual "w**k manc" week. It's just groundhog day every year now & it's frankly infuriating.. Corrupt officials, being the thing which always tips me over the edge & for me they are just that ...corrupt!.. I know there are many who refuse to believe that for whatever reason but for me there is simply way too much evidence & it keeps on growing week in week out but people just seem to choose to ignore it. Maybe they don't want their illusion of the good old game shattered or something? Who knows but it's getting a bit ridiculous trying to conveniently ignore the fact that there's a huge massive elephant in the room.. In fact it's more like a Brontosaurus actually! As for relegation? Well i'm worried but hopefull. But we have to now be among the favorites surely?
  22. Still at least our strikers will be happy enough today...... Arsenal won
  23. Ah.... yet another grim day in the life of a Villa supporter....... It's getting really boring now... Are you listening Mr Lerner?............................." hears a pin drop"........................................................ Nope didn't think so!
  24. Lol!.. thought i would just pop on to see how we were performing today...........DOH! What a complete waste of space lol! Roll on next season.......AGAIN!
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