jackbauer24 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 I still don't believe we have the fight/ passion/ nerves to hold on to 2nd, although I'd obviously love to be proven wrong, but the bigger the point gap between us and 7th the happier I'll be! We are a team that is where we are because of individual talents and have rarely put in a team performance which means we've generally struggled against teams that are either very organised or very aggressive - I can see Blues outfighting us tomorrow so it's just a case of whether desire or skill wins out. 0-0 tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Villarocker Posted February 10, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2018 Don't lose faith! Tomorrow, we take second and never give it back! 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted February 10, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted February 10, 2018 My gut feeling is that this time next week, Derby will still be second, based on how the fixtures are scheduled and that I can’t see us winning both the blues and Fulham matches. It would be nice to see us break into the automatic spots, even if it’s only for a short while in near future. But that’s ok, if we pick up four points from the next two that’s a good return. We then have four very winnable matches before the wolves game. When we play QPR, Derby will be lining up against Fulham. That may well prove to be the point that we firmly establish ourselves in the automatic spots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 I think I'll cry if we win tomorrow. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 15 minutes ago, Shropshire Lad said: My gut feeling is that this time next week, Derby will still be second, based on how the fixtures are scheduled and that I can’t see us winning both the blues and Fulham matches. It would be nice to see us break into the automatic spots, even if it’s only for a short while in near future. But that’s ok, if we pick up four points from the next two that’s a good return. We then have four very winnable matches before the wolves game. When we play QPR, Derby will be lining up against Fulham. That may well prove to be the point that we firmly establish ourselves in the automatic spots. Derby also play Cardiff next month. March is the key month for 2nd. I fully expect us to be second and have a few points buffer to third by March 31st. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Also remember it's those miserable bastards cup final tomorrow and they'd love nothing more than to not win but maybe damage out season in the process. Let's hope the talent shines through, take it by the scruff of the neck and never let them in the game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said: I think I'll cry if we win tomorrow. Get the tissues ready mate! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Blues entered three competitions at the start of the season. Beat us at home, beat us away and stay up. Hopefully they’ll only be entering one competition next season. Small Heath, small club, small time all round. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMcKenna Posted February 10, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted February 10, 2018 1 hour ago, jackbauer24 said: I still don't believe we have the fight/ passion/ nerves to hold on to 2nd, although I'd obviously love to be proven wrong, but the bigger the point gap between us and 7th the happier I'll be! We are a team that is where we are because of individual talents and have rarely put in a team performance which means we've generally struggled against teams that are either very organised or very aggressive - I can see Blues outfighting us tomorrow so it's just a case of whether desire or skill wins out. 0-0 tomorrow. Disagree totally. As the season has progressed we have become much more of a team with quite a number of individuals standing out; Grealish, Snodgrass, Hogan, Adomah, Terry, Hutton, Johnstone, Bjarnason are all playing well You only have to look at how Grealish’s work rate has improved to understand how much working for the team matters. We have a lot of players in form and up for this game and the passion is there for all to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted February 11, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) We have looked, at times, a proper team of late. Something which was complete fantasy not so long ago. We've still not done it often enough and for long enough but we've at least shown it. That said, beat the shit and we go second. Beat the shit and we win 7/7. Beat the shit. Edited February 11, 2018 by romavillan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanVillan Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 41 minutes ago, romavillan said: We have looked, at times, a proper team of late. Something which was complete fantasy not so long ago. We've still not done it often enough and for long enough but we've at least shown it. That said, beat the shit and we go second. Beat the shit and we win 7/7. Beat the shit. You betcha Roma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 1 hour ago, MikeMcKenna said: Disagree totally. As the season has progressed we have become much more of a team with quite a number of individuals standing out; Grealish, Snodgrass, Hogan, Adomah, Terry, Hutton, Johnstone, Bjarnason are all playing well You only have to look at how Grealish’s work rate has improved to understand how much working for the team matters. We have a lot of players in form and up for this game and the passion is there for all to see. 14 minutes ago, romavillan said: We have looked, at times, a proper team of late. Something which was complete fantasy not so long ago. We've still not done it often enough and for long enough but we've at least shown it. That said, beat the shit and we go second. Beat the shit and we win 7/7. Beat the shit. I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here but results do not equal playing well as a team. However I'd be more than happy to spend the rest of the season winning purely through individual skill if it works! Our best performance as a team was against Bristol. Before that we have largely been pulled along by Adomah and since that, Snodgrass. I do not debate the fact that the likes of Grealish are playing very well indeed but I still rarely see team effort. If there was a statistic for second balls won I'd be surprised if we weren't one of the lower placed teams. We back out of challenges and we rarely chase/hustle the opposition. Our possession (11th) and passing (9th) are both quite poor, we rarely pepper the oppositions goal (also 11th for chances created) and we are 18th in regards to duels won (all according to Squawka) - those all point to individualism being far more an important factor. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with where we are, I just don't think we have the passion in the team to face a fight with physical teams which will increasingly be the case as we enter the business end of the season, starting with Blues. It will be a case of desire (the opposition) vs skill (us) which is why I think we're only capable of a playoff place. When a team really comes at us we struggle; Burton a case in point and they're bottom of the league. Our wins in this mini run have largely come from individual skill in amongst a generally poor performance - possibly signs of a good side but for that to be the case you need to win some games at a canter, which is far too infrequent to be a cohesive argument. But if it keeps going for us then great! I just think it's a shame as with a little more desire/team work this squad should have made it a two horse race for the title whereas I think we'll fall short of automatic promotion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 4 hours ago, jackbauer24 said: I still don't believe we have the fight/ passion/ nerves to hold on to 2nd, although I'd obviously love to be proven wrong, but the bigger the point gap between us and 7th the happier I'll be! We are a team that is where we are because of individual talents and have rarely put in a team performance which means we've generally struggled against teams that are either very organised or very aggressive - I can see Blues outfighting us tomorrow so it's just a case of whether desire or skill wins out. 0-0 tomorrow. Umm... So you see Blues “outfighting” us to a 0-0 draw? Seems a slightly odd use of the term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciggiesnbeer Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, jackbauer24 said: I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here but results do not equal playing well as a team. However I'd be more than happy to spend the rest of the season winning purely through individual skill if it works! Our best performance as a team was against Bristol. Before that we have largely been pulled along by Adomah and since that, Snodgrass. I do not debate the fact that the likes of Grealish are playing very well indeed but I still rarely see team effort. If there was a statistic for second balls won I'd be surprised if we weren't one of the lower placed teams. We back out of challenges and we rarely chase/hustle the opposition. Our possession (11th) and passing (9th) are both quite poor, we rarely pepper the oppositions goal (also 11th for chances created) and we are 18th in regards to duels won (all according to Squawka) - those all point to individualism being far more an important factor. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with where we are, I just don't think we have the passion in the team to face a fight with physical teams which will increasingly be the case as we enter the business end of the season, starting with Blues. It will be a case of desire (the opposition) vs skill (us) which is why I think we're only capable of a playoff place. When a team really comes at us we struggle; Burton a case in point and they're bottom of the league. Our wins in this mini run have largely come from individual skill in amongst a generally poor performance - possibly signs of a good side but for that to be the case you need to win some games at a canter, which is far too infrequent to be a cohesive argument. But if it keeps going for us then great! I just think it's a shame as with a little more desire/team work this squad should have made it a two horse race for the title whereas I think we'll fall short of automatic promotion. Not a debbie downer, its a good post. I disagree with bits of it, but it was a good read. I disagree because I see them as a team making this formation work, everyone is getting comfortable in their roles and there are genuine understandings that have developed all over the pitch. They even make chains, the Bjarn, Hourihane , Grealish, Axis is functioning very nicely in the middle. Snodgrass & Elmo have long had a good partnership but now Hutton/ Albert are increasingly on the same wave length as well. From front to back you can see these players talking or shouting to each other a lot during the match, these are players who are communicating and have gelled together. The stats you mention (possession, passing) I think that can be attributed to Bruces prefered style of play. We play wide , fast and long. Or at least we did for the early part of the season, now we build up more so I think that passing one at least is probably on the rise. As for the chances created, it has bothered me as well for a while, although I guess we are clinical? Anyway thanks for the thought provoking post. Edited February 11, 2018 by ciggiesnbeer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 We have much more quality than sha. All we need to do is match them for effort and we win comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 4 hours ago, briny_ear said: Umm... So you see Blues “outfighting” us to a 0-0 draw? Seems a slightly odd use of the term. It makes sense, as outfighting us is probably the only way they could get a result against us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 I think if we win today we will certainly go up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Going second will also think put more pressure on teams like Derby who had a decent gap not too long ago. Hopefully they can't handle it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 9 hours ago, jackbauer24 said: I don't mean to be Debbie Downer here but results do not equal playing well as a team. However I'd be more than happy to spend the rest of the season winning purely through individual skill if it works! Our best performance as a team was against Bristol. Before that we have largely been pulled along by Adomah and since that, Snodgrass. I do not debate the fact that the likes of Grealish are playing very well indeed but I still rarely see team effort. If there was a statistic for second balls won I'd be surprised if we weren't one of the lower placed teams. We back out of challenges and we rarely chase/hustle the opposition. Our possession (11th) and passing (9th) are both quite poor, we rarely pepper the oppositions goal (also 11th for chances created) and we are 18th in regards to duels won (all according to Squawka) - those all point to individualism being far more an important factor. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with where we are, I just don't think we have the passion in the team to face a fight with physical teams which will increasingly be the case as we enter the business end of the season, starting with Blues. It will be a case of desire (the opposition) vs skill (us) which is why I think we're only capable of a playoff place. When a team really comes at us we struggle; Burton a case in point and they're bottom of the league. Our wins in this mini run have largely come from individual skill in amongst a generally poor performance - possibly signs of a good side but for that to be the case you need to win some games at a canter, which is far too infrequent to be a cohesive argument. But if it keeps going for us then great! I just think it's a shame as with a little more desire/team work this squad should have made it a two horse race for the title whereas I think we'll fall short of automatic promotion. Just shows how looking st the wrong stats can lead to the wrong conclusion! I haven’t looked at Squawka but numerically it must be the case that a lot of the teams who are “above” us in these rankings are below us in the table and have little if no chance of even competing for promotion. Whereas we... Would you rather have.a feisty mid-table team who score well on these indicators but are going to remain mid-table or a team that has risen to third with a good chance of going second, if not today, then over the coming weeks. If it isn't having the “qualities” you highlight above that has got us here, how can you predict so confidently that the “lack” of them will hold us back? Strange feature of Villatalk that people tend to predict continuing failure for the team while the team itself gets increasingly successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post supermon Posted February 11, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted February 11, 2018 I'll just leave this here lads 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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