John Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Harry Kane will miss playing at Villa Park next season. He has now scored three goals in his two games at B6. His two goals either side of half-time did for us yesterday and left us having lost two thirds of the league games we have played so far this season. Villa could still have had a slender chance of staying up had they played with the same sort of spirit that they showed particularly in the first half yesterday in some of our previous games and of course if our defence did not have more holes in it that a colander does! Yesterday we came up against a team that could well end this season as league champions. Had they gone for the jugular in the second half rather than been content to come away with a comfortable two goal win we could have suffered another embarrassingly heavy home defeat despite the effort that our team put in. Once again after conceding the first goal we then let in another one shortly afterwards that ended the game as a contest but we were also denied a consolation goal three times by the woodwork near the end. Our club have taken some rare positive steps this week by introducing a football man to the board and in appointing a Villa legend as a consultant to it. More is now needed. For me there is no point whatsoever in retaining the services of those whose decisions have left the club in the position we now find ourselves in until this embarrassing season is over. If they (and they know who they are) are not prepared to do the decent thing and fall on their swords their contracts should be terminated forthwith. I would add that some heavy handed stewarding did nothing to improve relations between the “custodian” and the club’s supporters last night. The sight of banners being ripped away from supporters and fans that have paid for their admission being ejected for exercising their right to free speech in the form of those protest banners was an over reaction for me. The club need to work to heal wounds rather than to open up any new ones! All is now lost on the pitch and we must very reluctantly accept that at the very least a season outside of the top flight for the first time in 29 seasons is what awaits us. It would need Harry Houdini if not Harry Kane to get us out of the mess we now find ourselves in and more realistic targets than survival are now required. Let us instead aim to break the 20 point barrier and win a third home game before this season reaches its sad conclusion. Let’s also try not to break some more unwanted club records. For example we need another 4 wins to equal our lowest ever number of league wins in a season, 14 more goals are required to equal the lowest number of goals we have scored in a season and we need 2 more points to equal the lowest number of points we have ever managed in a season (when we only played 22 games and only 2 points were awarded for a win by the way). My player ratings from a game that gave us our 9th home league defeat of the season are: Brad Guzan – 9 – MOTM – This was a return to the Brad we knew of old and it was he who stood between us and a heavy defeat. He came out well to face Kane who had ran between Okore and Lescott to reach a ball from Lamela and deserved his slice of luck when the striker’s chip from the edge of the box struck the bar after 4 minutes rather than the back of the net. He held a low shot from the edge of the area from Alli 5 minutes later and then kept out another effort from Kane from a Rose cross with his right leg as he moved to the left on 24 minutes. Brad was again called upon after 26 minutes when he saved a Kane shot at his near post after Okore had gone for a ball wide on the right but failed to connect with it leaving the striker free to run towards goal. He then managed to touch a 30th minute Lamela shot from a Walker cross onto the post before Hutton cleared the loose ball away to safety near the goal line. Brad got down well to hold a solid well struck Walker shot after 33 minutes but was finally beaten after 45 minutes when Hutton was unable to make up ground on Kane as he ran onto a quickly taken free-kick to hit home their opener. He stood no chance with their second but did well to block a 59th minute Walker shot at his near post to prevent a third. Alan Hutton – 4 – Failed to cover Alli’s run for their decisive second goal. Jores Okore – 4 – May not have as many Champions League clubs battling for his services on this sort of showing as he allegedly anticipated. Joleon Lescott – 4 – Turned the ball onto a post on the 88th minute after Gestede had headed a Green corner wide but into his path. Both Jores and he were unable to get near to Kane whose pace left them both standing. Aly Cissokho – 5 – Found Walker a handful and failed to get a challenge in on Kane whose run into the box for their second was inexplicably not covered by any of our players. Jordan Veretout – 5 – Did very well to reach a 12th minute ball played forward by Hutton before it crossed the line and to pull it back for Gestede who was unable to turn the ball towards goal. Ashley Westwood – 5 – Spent the game trying to combat the grip on the midfield that Spurs mostly enjoyed throughout. Idrissa Gana – 7 – Picked up loose balls, made a couple of decent forward runs and worked hard. He was our most effective outfield player by some distance. Carles Gil – 6 – Had a good first half and put in a shift prior to his substitution. Jordan Ayew – 6 – Made a great run into the box from a wide position on 84 minutes but his shot from a tight angle thudded against the post and Gestede was unable to put away the rebound instead hitting the crossbar with a rising shot from close range. Jordan needs to play as a striker for me it is not as if we are over burdened with them is it? Rudy Gestede – 5 – Hit a 39th minute free-kick from Gil that dropped invitingly to him straight at Lloris that if directed to either side would have given us the lead. Hit the bar late in the game when he really needed to get the ball on target. Works better as a target man that the player who was unavailable for selection yesterday but his weakness on the floor is as noticeable as is his strength in the air. Substitutes: Andre Green – 6 - Replaced Veretout on 62 minutes. Did not look out of place on his debut and showed some ability in what time he had available. He along with other youngsters can expect to get a look in during the course of our final eight games. Scott Sinclair – Replaced Gil on 70 minutes but failed to make enough of an impression in the time he had available to merit a rating. Go down with some fight Villa! John Lewis 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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