Ratings and Reactions: Villa v Fulham

[Xela]

Another victory

[chrisp65]

I'm gonna need somebody to sign something to say I was here before October 2016. 'Cos with my accent, in 18 months time people are going to presume I'm a newbie plastic glory hunter.

[BruLan]

Have to say I thought Gardener was excellent today, chased everything and looked like he REALLY cared, also Hutton, he played some great balls, and seemed to want to Win, great performance you can feel the confidence building.

I mention the above Players as the are often the  most maligned ... UTV

Edited October 22, 2016 by BruLan

[dAVe80]

Think it's about time to break out this guy. It's been a while.

[The Fun Factory]

I can actually enjoy football again?

Wasn't a great match but we dug out a victory. We have played better under RDM and lost/dropped points but who cares? I think the commitment levels are up. Perhaps better performances will come but at the moment points is what we need. Baker MOTM for me- I am not a big fan of his but he had a good game.

[Mantis]

Wasn't an amazing performance but solid for most of the game and despite being totally out-possessed we had way more chances. The psychological impact of winning 2 in a row and seeing out a lead in the last 10 minutes will be huge.

24 minutes ago, dAVe80 said:

Think it's about time to break out this guy. It's been a while.

Have a slightly different one!

[thunderball]

Just watched the highlights, we looked pretty potent and should've had about 4. It'll come, I think we are quickly finding our feet. Not sure where Jacks going fit in when he's back?

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

47 minutes ago, dAVe80 said:

Think it's about time to break out this guy. It's been a while.

Hope we see him every bloody week till the end of the season!

[villa4europe]

55 minutes ago, thunderball said:

Not sure where Jacks going fit in when he's back?

he's not, well not at the same time as ayew anyway, shame our CL winning manager failed to see it...

seriously though today most of the time, especially first half, showed exactly why jack doesnt work, theres no movement, as frustrating as it as at times to see kodjia or ayew try far too much the reality is half the time they have nothing else on, think there was a moment in the 1st half when ayew cut in from the left, ran across 3 defenders before having a deflected shot trickle through to the keeper...amavi didnt overlap him so theres no pass out wide, the 3 CMs were holding back so theres no one to lay it off to, kodjia and gestede are stood still so theres no through ball or even a run taking 1 of the 3 defenders away

it looks bad on ayew but its a bigger issue than that

[sidcow]

I tell you what folks,  this was some win. Someone said in the pre match thread that they were second in the table on away results. Sky sports just said thus was Fulham first defeat away from home this season and we totally battered them. 1-0 totally flattered them. 

Good going folks! 

[flamingsombrero]

10 hours ago, thunderball said:

Just watched the highlights, we looked pretty potent and should've had about 4. It'll come, I think we are quickly finding our feet. Not sure where Jacks going fit in when he's back?

Right about there will do

Edited October 23, 2016 by flamingsombrero

[BigAl]

That's a massive win back to back wins we are starting to build momentum,Bruce has been a breath of fresh air I know it's early days but he has turned things around even the like of Hutton ,Baker ,Bacuna and Gardner who have struggled the majority of games they have played in a Villa jersey look like proper players they have been excellent since Bruce has come in tactically Bruce has been good too  proper game plan and right subs at right time ,thought  promotion wasn't happening but beat the blues and we will take stopping momentum is building big time .

[thunderball]

16 shots and 7 on goal from 30-odd% possession is pretty cool. Newcastle had less with 66% possession, at home. If Ayew improves his finishing we would be laughing

[AntrimBlack]

13 hours ago, thunderball said:

Just watched the highlights, we looked pretty potent and should've had about 4. It'll come, I think we are quickly finding our feet. Not sure where Jacks going fit in when he's back?

It is a long season in the Championship. There will be injuries and of course the African Cup. Won't do Grealish a bit of harm to be eased into the side; he still has a lot to learn. I would trust Bruce to manage him properly.

[AntrimBlack]

We certainly got a deserved win yesterday. Fulham were an experienced outfit and came with a plan and stuck to it.They were very professional with their fouling and time wasting, aided by the referee, but in the end, as we know too well, if you defend/play deep for 90 minutes, there will often be that little mistake that lets the opposition in. Adomah and Kodjia still had plenty to do, but they did it well.

[Xela]

15 hours ago, dAVe80 said:

Think it's about time to break out this guy. It's been a while.

I'll match that, and raise you this:

[OutByEaster?]

5 hours ago, flamingsombrero said:

Right about there will do

You say that, but actually the shape we started the game with didn't work - with two men up front and Ayew with a free role - once we brought on a wide midfielder in Adomah, we looked a lot more balanced - I think two from Adomah/Grealish and Ayew will be starting in wide positions and he'll get games. If anything, I think yesterday showed how difficult it might be for Gestede and McCormack to start more.

 

[DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth]

I come to games from Barnstaple on the train and was certain after 75mins I was going on the long ride home having seen a dreary 0-0. But the one moment of genuine quality in the game turned all that.

Fulham were dreadful. We dominated without really threatening much, but they say a good side wins when not at their best.

The team are much more organised that before, and much harder to break down.

Special mentions to Chester and Baker who were nothing short of rock solid, Gollini for being assured, Kodjia for looking dangerous and his all round running, and Adomah for changing the game game when he came on.

Onwards.

[TRO]

He has started by making us hard to beat.

That is exactly what I was hoping he would do.

Long way to go, but we all know that.

[Raver50032]

It's a great feeling... another win, and a lovely way to win the match, a fine finish from Kodija. But...

That first half was dire... dismal in fact and the longer it went on, I started to think that we would end up at a drab 0-0, and 'another draw' at VP. The Holte was very quiet in the first half I have to say, almost as though we weren't up for it. I'm as guilty as anyone there... maybe waiting for something to spark us into life. I do wonder whether the 'drab' first halves at both Reading and then at home to Fulham were deliberate. A tactic to manage our lack of fitness to play the 'pressing' game that has seen us tire badly towards the end of previous fixtures. If that's the case, fair play Mr Bruce, it's worked up to now.

Second half was marginally better, and we could have scored 3 goals. Could have.

I'm enjoying Baker in the defence alongside Chester right now, as solid a partnership so far as I have seen so far this season. That said, I like Tommy a lot too, he has the right attitude and a likeability in my opinion. So I hope he sticks with it and is still able to flourish for us. He's waiting for somebody to make a mistake before he gets another chance. I guess what it equates to is competition for places - and that can only be a good thing considering what we hope to achieve this term.  

Somebody a few pages back said that they don't get the hate for Westwood, and that it's quite pathetic. Obviously forgotten the Preston game then. Fair enough. But his latest 'cracker' upon coming on during Saturday's game is a timely reminder that he just isn't good enough for where we want to be. Moments after coming on, I'll give him a little discount as players need to 'take time to get into a game.' But there he was in the middle of the park and having taken delivery of a ball from defence... He had time on the ball... I thought he had a simple forward pass to either wing for a quick break... a really good chance potentially. But he did the unthinkable given the time he was afforded. He got robbed of possession. Preston style.

I don't hate the guy... he's just not very good I'm afraid. Needs to be replaced.

Anyway, back to that nice feeling of winning football matches, no matter how. Excellent, long may it continue. We've won more games this week than the entire last 8 months? Keep it up Mr Bruce...