rodders0223 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 12 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Fair play for being on here! I was baffled by your tactical adjustment at half time, which seemed to involve plonking Flint up front as some kind of Gestede-type target man. I know he's tall, but he has none of the movement you would want from a forward player, and by effectively ceding any pressure on our defence, you allowed us to play the ball out from the back with time. Also seemed to move Reid further away from the goal, which didn't make much sense to me. I think we would have won no matter what tonight, we were just more on it, but Johnson's tactics were off IMO. It was a bit strange, they won the ball a few times early on and I thought we might be in for a rough ride but half the time their players were tripping over each other and running into each other. No communication rhythm. It was all a bit chaotic and sunday league. A bit Paul Lambert. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 hour ago, JamesBCFC said: I'm never one to hide and you guys seem a decent bunch. Tonights result is a bit embarrassing, from what I read we went for it after going behind which I like, but perhaps a bit too much so. Currently out doing tech for a drama show so thats about all I can comment on the game. After this and Wolves I think 8 games in 30 days with 7 injured might have taken its toll, but thats a seperate issue. Fatigue and probably just disappointment at losing so late to Wolves contributed a lot as you were well short on competiting for second balls and your passing was pretty bad compared to the usual I see from you boys on TV. We were pretty decent though! What strikers are you being linked to out of interest? Bobby Reid has been great this season but he's not going to get you up on his own and reserves like Taylor and Woodrow aren't good enough. Certainly lacked a focal point tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 1, 2018 Visiting Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 minute ago, VillaChris said: Fatigue and probably just disappointment at losing so late to Wolves contributed a lot as you were well short on competiting for second balls and your passing was pretty bad compared to the usual I see from you boys on TV. We were pretty decent though! What strikers are you being linked to out of interest? Bobby Reid has been great this season but he's not going to get you up on his own and reserves like Taylor and Woodrow aren't good enough. Certainly lacked a focal point tonight. At the moment our record signing (Diedhiou) and Djuric are both out injured but due back within a month or so. Diedhiou and Reid clicked really well before Diedhiou managed to injure 3 ligaments at once when a Palace player made a back for him. We've been linked with Hugill but not seen much else. If we buy a striker I expect we'll probably dip into the foreign market again. We also have a Swede, Gustav Engvall who we couldn't register until today because of loan rules as he spent the first half of the seaspn at Gothenburg. Flint upfront was almost a forced act of desperation, but it worked against QPR (we dominated after he went up in that game) and it lead to our goal against Wolves, though he should have been moved back after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post NurembergVillan Posted January 1, 2018 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 hour ago, omariqy said: After the month we have had I can't believe we are 5 points off 2nd. Crazy. However, shows you how if we had a half decent month we would be right up there now. Still, we have a very good run of games coming up now so we really need to get as many wins as we can. Makes you wonder if we'd kicked on after going 2-0 up against Sheffield United whether Brentford might not have happened and we'd be in a really strong position now. Perhaps the first part of that match was a sign of things to come, and what followed was us falling back into old habits? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 1, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2018 It seems incredible that we are right back in the automatic spot hunt again after that poor run. If anything shows what a missed opportunity it was, if we had just eg lost one and drew one in that period instead we would be well cemented in second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JamesBCFC Posted January 1, 2018 Visiting Supporter Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2018 After tonight I am unequivocably "Bruce out" 11 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 1 minute ago, JamesBCFC said: After tonight I am unequivocably "Bruce out" Your hysterical, man. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 4 minutes ago, sidcow said: It seems incredible that we are right back in the automatic spot hunt again after that poor run. If anything shows what a missed opportunity it was, if we had just eg lost one and drew one in that period instead we would be well cemented in second. I think we should be 2 points better off than we are. That draw to Shef United should never have happened. But then we were lucky to get a point against Millwall. Derby and Brentford were both just better on the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 1, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2018 2 hours ago, VillaJ100 said: If we go and lose to some feckin no hopers like Barnsley or small heath now I'll be pissed off Unfortunately that is the Villa Way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Derby got some interesting fixtures this month: Away to SHA, should be a win but SHA seem to regularly get points off the top 10. Home to Bristol City, wake up James. Away to Millwall, they rarely lose on their own turf. I'd like to think the 5 point gap could be cut further. We may even have a game in hand aswell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 1, 2018 Visiting Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2018 25 minutes ago, VillaChris said: Derby got some interesting fixtures this month: Away to SHA, should be a win but SHA seem to regularly get points off the top 10. Home to Bristol City, wake up James. Away to Millwall, they rarely lose on their own turf. I'd like to think the 5 point gap could be cut further. We may even have a game in hand aswell. I just want to fast forward to February. Other than our League Cup Final () it will be a much easier month than this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastie Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Only kodjia now is long term injury - we are in the window and can bring in one or two if needed but as others struggle with injuries our squad looks strong and tonight’s win should be huge for confidence - maybe Agnew has influenced Bruce to play more on the front foot but tonight we saw why fans have been crying out for the shackles to be off - this is a very good team when players are used to their strengths - for me it’s a fight between villa and derby for 2nd place 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 31 minutes ago, Eastie said: Only kodjia now is long term injury - we are in the window and can bring in one or two if needed but as others struggle with injuries our squad looks strong and tonight’s win should be huge for confidence - maybe Agnew has influenced Bruce to play more on the front foot but tonight we saw why fans have been crying out for the shackles to be off - this is a very good team when players are used to their strengths - for me it’s a fight between villa and derby for 2nd place Bruce must always want them to play this way. It just makes it so much easier when the away team attack and leave space. They also didnt double up on our wingers and our whole game is played through them. We struggle at home when teams park the bus because we cant break them down. Today was perfect for us. My biggest concern is performances like the one at Brentford's when players do not even turn up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 34 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: Bruce must always want them to play this way. It just makes it so much easier when the away team attack and leave space. They also didnt double up on our wingers and our whole game is played through them. We struggle at home when teams park the bus because we cant break them down. Today was perfect for us. My biggest concern is performances like the one at Brentford's when players do not even turn up. For whatever reason, Brentford just have our number. I'm glad we got them out of the way first game of this half of the season - now we have an uninterrupted, Brentford-free run to the end. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Highlights of Villa v Bristol City: http://www.skysports.com/football/a-villa-vs-bristol-c/374919 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Happy New Year Villans!! I stand amazed I suppose. At least that's what I said I'd be if we beat Boro and Bristol City back to back in 3 days. So this must be how that feels!! Right back in the hunt as it all stands. Amazing New Years Day for us. 3 more points against Brentford, Middlesbrough and Bristol City than we managed in the corresponding fixtures in the first half of the season too (6 L-W-W / 3 D-D-D). We're going to need more of that sort of thing if we're going to do this so long may it continue. Keep the faith. UTV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted January 2, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted January 2, 2018 11 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I think we should be 2 points better off than we are. That draw to Shef United should never have happened. But then we were lucky to get a point against Millwall. Derby and Brentford were both just better on the day. Agree about Brentford. Don't think I agree about Derby. We gifted them the early goal, quite literally. I thought after that, whilst never actually creating much, we had the better of the game. We certainly dominated possession from memory. Then they sealed it when we were pushing on to try and equalise. Not a good game, but I don't think we were much worse than Derby on the day. Scoreline flattered them, and had we got that confidence form beating Sheff maybe we'd have beaten them. Brentford was terrible though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Next 6 games for our rivals. Bristol City also have 7 games in Jan because of their cup games. I definitely think we have the easier of the runs coming up. Big chance for us to keep moving up the table. Derby Birmingham City (a) Bristol City (h) Millwall (a) Brentford (h) Norwich (h) Sheff Wed (h) Bristol City Norwich (h) Derby (a) QPR(h) Bolton (a) Sunderland (h) Leeds (a) Cardiff Sunderland (h) Sheff Wed (a) Bolton (h) Leeds (a) Millwall (a) Boro (h) Leeds Ipswich (a) Millwall (h) Hull (a) Cardiff (h) Sheff Utd (a) Bristol (h) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 30 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Agree about Brentford. Don't think I agree about Derby. We gifted them the early goal, quite literally. I thought after that, whilst never actually creating much, we had the better of the game. We certainly dominated possession from memory. Then they sealed it when we were pushing on to try and equalise. Not a good game, but I don't think we were much worse than Derby on the day. Scoreline flattered them, and had we got that confidence form beating Sheff maybe we'd have beaten them. Brentford was terrible though! We played Sheff Utd after Derby didn't we? I thought we were poor against a poor Derby side. They let us have the ball and knew we would not create anything. I have not been that impressed with Derby. They remind me of us in that they get the job done but it's not pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 1 hour ago, Stevo985 said: Agree about Brentford. Don't think I agree about Derby. We gifted them the early goal, quite literally. I thought after that, whilst never actually creating much, we had the better of the game. We certainly dominated possession from memory. Then they sealed it when we were pushing on to try and equalise. Not a good game, but I don't think we were much worse than Derby on the day. Scoreline flattered them, and had we got that confidence form beating Sheff maybe we'd have beaten them. Brentford was terrible though! That's just how Rowett teams play, they're not noted for dominance of possession. When you look at it we're both similar, neither score that many goals despite having lots of forward players, both teams prefer the opposition to have the ball, lots of experienced players in both squads and both grind out wins. I can see us and Derby having a battle for second. Bristol and Cardiff will both fall away. Mad playing them last home game at VP, that will be our biggest game in years I'd imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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