Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Swansea FAC

[MaVilla]

5 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

 

Positives today - Kalinic looks like a commanding keeper, Lansbury looked to be back to the player we signed pinging passes around, Davis held the ball well and looked a handful.

 

i didnt see the game, very interested in Kalinic.

I have seen mixed reviews, some saying he may have been to blame for one or more of the goals?

What were your observations?, were you impressed?

[TRO]

6 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

I will initially respond by saying, yes, its clear a fair few of our players arent good enough.

but.....lets not all lose our s***, with our A team we beat Swansea 1-0 twice, close fought games, Swansea were a premiership side last year.

In this game, Swansea put out their A team, we effectively used a B team, Taylor fiest game back, Hutton at CB?, O'Hare/Whelan in midfield, Hogan up front, Kodjia on the wing (not Bolasie), im not sure how anyone expected us to win that match, we effectively had no more than 5 or 6 actual first teamers in that lineup. (A team).

Also, i think people need to be more considered, so many were screaming for O'Hare to get a chance, he did, and now a lot of people are slating him, ever wonder why we cant develop our own players?, i think we need to take a step back and remember that was one of only a few first team starts for him, he likely needs  a loan to develop, with a view to integrating him more next season via the subs bench maybe.

Our form has suffered since losing Grealish & Axel, probably two of our key players so far this season, its also no mystery as to why El Ghazi and Bolasie havent performed as well recently, i think its because there is now no-one in our midfield 3 who draw opposition players to them like Grealish did, freeing up space for the like of Bolasie and El Ghazi to find space and cause trouble.

Axel was also very good for us, he had pace to recover and cover a lot of the issues of people playing behind us, and he was also very good at bringing the ball out of defence and tying up their midfielders, along with grealish, giving more space to our wide players and the rest of the team, i dont think we should underestimate how critical Axel and Grealish were to our performances.

We need a strong Jan transfer window, and probably a strong closed season for transfers, because a good number of our players are just not good, it is going to take time i think for DS to sort this mess out, and losing two of our best players this season, who were critical to the way we played, has certainly impacted on our performances, i think our best hope is to spend the rest of this season trying to fix the issues, and supporting DS and the team without losing our s***, with a view to coming out all gins blazing next season, once DS has properly put his stamp on the team. (hopefully)

I don't think missing Jack and Axel can be under estimated....but where i struggle a tad with your analysis is that of our so called "B" team.....those players should be busting a gut to make a mark having been given the opportunity....they should be saying that's my shirt now and its not going back. they should be trying to turn the "B" team into the AA team.

Much work has to be done....but I don't see that at the football club just yet and I didn't really see it under Steve Bruce either, spats of it ,but not consistently.

I feel sure Dean Smith is aware of it....putting it right is a whole different ball game.

I am not trying to be a doom monger but transfer windows frighten the life out of me....I think we rarely buy better than we already have, we do sometimes, but not nearly enough.

 

[ciggiesnbeer]

Getting really bloody tired of what now feels like the traditional Villa Christmas period collapse followed by the casual cup throw away. There never seems to be a time we want to win a cup. We are either "focused on survival" or "focused on promotion", meanwhile another year sails by.

As a club we are starting to feel like a Derby or Forest. Good history and play nice football at times, make and fail the playoffs some seasons but never achieve anything.

That said I keep reminding myself it was six months or so ago I was worried the club might actually go out of business, so I have patience. Still, it sure would be nice to try and win something.

[MaVilla]

Just now, TRO said:

I don't think missing Jack and Axel can be under estimated....but where i struggle a tad with your analysis is that of our so called "B" team.....those players should be busting a gut to make a mark having been given the opportunity....they should be saying that's my shirt now and its not going back. they should be trying to turn the "B" team into the AA team.

Much work has to be done....but I don't see that at the football club just yet and I didn't really see it under Steve Bruce either, spats of it ,but not consistently.

I feel sure Dean Smith is aware of it....putting it right is a whole different ball game.

I am not trying to be a doom monger but transfer windows frighten the life out of me....I think we rarely buy better than we already have, we do sometimes, but not nearly enough.

 

in terms of my B team comment, yes i totally agree they "should", but the more i see the players, the more i tend to think 50% of our current A team needs replacing, so by default the "B team" should just be put out to pasture as most are terrible?????

I dont mean O'Hare, he needs to be developed properly, and i heard Lansbury actually looked impressive?, also Davis, i liked him last year and i think he can also be a bright player for us in the future, i just mean the players we know just wont/cant improve, which seems to be to be quite a high number of our squad.

I find it sickening to consider how many tens of millions we have wasted on sub standard players even since relegation, i think if we have the current management and coach structure in place 2 years ago, we would be ina  much better place now, but of course........it doesnt work like that?, unfortunately.

[TRO]

17 minutes ago, hippo said:

OK - I have followed Villa since the early 1970's - when I started work in 1980 I brought my first season ticket and apart from a couple of years of ill health I have had one ever since. I can honestly say that apart from the Remi Garde Era I have never felt so despondent and bleak about our future as I do now. 

At best promotion looks at least 3 seasons away.

There you go.....said it.

 

Well, do you know what.....I agree.....there ,there's 2 to have a go at now.

Its going to be a long job.

I may, be way off the mark, but I have felt for some time an attitude at our club an under current despite the amount of changes in all sorts of personel

whether, its a result of where we are the big club, big gates v the league stature, I am not sure.....but something is not right for me.

I don't think  it comes from the managers, don't know where it comes from....perhaps its just a figment of my imagination...but I feel a vibe, where the towel gets thrown in ever so easily.

Do we buy the wrong character of player?

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by TRO

[TRO]

4 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

in terms of my B team comment, yes i totally agree they "should", but the more i see the players, the more i tend to think 50% of our current A team needs replacing, so by default the "B team" should just be put out to pasture as most are terrible?????

I dont mean O'Hare, he needs to be developed properly, and i heard Lansbury actually looked impressive?, also Davis, i liked him last year and i think he can also be a bright player for us in the future, i just mean the players we know just wont/cant improve, which seems to be to be quite a high number of our squad.

I find it sickening to consider how many tens of millions we have wasted on sub standard players even since relegation, i think if we have the current management and coach structure in place 2 years ago, we would be ina  much better place now, but of course........it doesnt work like that?, unfortunately.

I hope you are right.

[hippo]

1 minute ago, TRO said:

Well, do you know what.....I agree.....there ,there's 2 to have a go at now.

Its going to be a long job.

I may, be way off the mark, but I have felt for some time an attitude at our club an under current despite the amount of changes in all sorts of personel

whether, its a result of where we are the big club, big gates v the league stature, I am not sure.....but something is not right for me.

I don't think  it comes from the managers, don't know where it comes from....perhaps its just a figment of my imagination...but I feel a vibe, where the towel gets thrown in ever so easily.

 

I think its because we are where we shouldn't be. We have have an enormous staduim, get big crowds, and in relative terms can attract big name players , in general managers who can handle all that - don't want to manage in the championship. So we have to get in decent championship managers - I feel they just crumble under the pressure.

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, hippo said:

I think its because we are where we shouldn't be. We have have an enormous staduim, get big crowds, and in relative terms can attract big name players , in general managers who can handle all that - don't want to manage in the championship. So we have to get in decent championship managers - I feel they just crumble under the pressure.

used all my likes.

I think you may have something there.

Edited January 5, 2019 by TRO

[jackbauer24]

I got this game for free as part of the season ticket - still got ripped off! Worst performance in a long, long time.

Kalanic could be nerves, dodgy defence or whatever. Not putting much weight on his performance. I wasn't terrified every time he had the ball at his feet though and he's got to be better than Nyland.

Defence was poor but we know these players are poor. Arguably only Hutton would play if a fully fit starting XI. More worryingly though, injuries mean this might be our starting backline for a few months...

Midfield was far too lightweight and set up wrong. Why Whelan spent most of the first half further up the pitch than McGinn is anyone's guess. O'Hare is way too inexperienced for a physical side like Swansea. The wingers offer very little going forward and absolutely nothing defensively. Too much showboating, no end product.

Upfront Hogan needs balls through the middle, on the floor. We play out wide, whipping crosses in. No chance. But ridiculously low on confidence anyway. It's just not going to work out here now.

But ultimately, much like most games this season, there is no real fight, no real desire. We don't chase*, we don't hassle*, we don't track back*, we don't tackle* and we don't fight for the second ball*. And all thise *s are for the exception of McGinn who does all of the above and is why he is a fan favourite, is completely knackered, shouldn't have been played today and was a shoe-in for MOTM after 5 minutes.

Not looking good. 

[MaVilla]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

I hope you are right.

me too, im trying terribly hard to be positive and not try and find a darkened room, and slowly bang my head against the wall until my forehead bleeds

[ciggiesnbeer]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

I don't think  it comes from the managers, don't know where it comes from....perhaps its just a figment of my imagination...but I feel a vibe, where the towel gets thrown in ever so easily.

Do we buy the wrong character of player?

I get a similar vibe. We have a fan base worthy of a top half premier league club and a fan base that expects and believes we should be in that kind of position.

 

But the club collectively doesn't believe this, they seem happy enough here in the Championship achieving nothing. 

 

Thats not a "prove me wrong" thing, more a feeling I get. Nobody at the club seems particularly terrified of going another season winning nothing or failing at getting promoted again. 

 

[The Fun Factory]

Questions-

What does John Terry actually do at Bodymoor? As so far our defence has actually regressed since cabbagegate.

Did any Villa player today actually cared about the result? Apart from McGinn of course

Talking of super john why did he play the full 90 when he has looked cream crackered for about 2 weeks?

Why did Smith not do at least  2 subs at half time and give them all a bollocking? At 1-0 we got away with it in the first half. Had we showed any fight in the second then we might have turned it around.

Why is Smith so stubborn in his set up? Why not go 4-4-2 earlier and bring Davis on?

Is Scott Hogan a professional footballer? Close the door on your way out son. Useless.

We have conceded at least 2 goals in the last 6 home games. Does the coaching team have any ideas to stop this please?

Why play Hutton in the middle and not Bree who has been decent in his position. Poor Alan- having a shocker at the moment.

I am 35. Will I ever see Villa win the FA Cup in my lifetime?

I am glad Ipswich had a Lambert cup special as this team does not deserve a winter jollys at the end of January.

Huge, huge, amount of work needed to be even top 6 material. Depressed.

Oh- can anyone explain the attendance figure? How can it be 30,500 when the upper trinity was filled?

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by The Fun Factory

[villabromsgrove]

Dean Smith was disappointed with the lack of guts and desire today and he was right .... but .... He also has to look at the fact that since he's given Whelan a regular start again it's resulted in our team playing at Whelan's pedestrian pace. He gave the captain's armband to a player who most of us think is too indisciplined to be in the team. The manager is accountable as well.

The urgency has gone out of our play because these players are too old (and in Whelan's case too slow) to adapt. Taylor and Elphick (although Elphick is still a half decent player) are also too slow for Smith's type of football. Brucie football has crept back in because our manager has turned to old heads (by necessity?) who can't play DS's high tempo football.

This transfer window is going to be pivotal. Smith is the man, but he needs younger, quicker, hungrier players than he currently has. 

[TRO]

19 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

me too, im trying terribly hard to be positive and not try and find a darkened room, and slowly bang my head against the wall until my forehead bleeds

 

26 minutes ago, jackbauer24 said:

I got this game for free as part of the season ticket - still got ripped off! Worst performance in a long, long time.

Kalanic could be nerves, dodgy defence or whatever. Not putting much weight on his performance. I wasn't terrified every time he had the ball at his feet though and he's got to be better than Nyland.

Defence was poor but we know these players are poor. Arguably only Hutton would play if a fully fit starting XI. More worryingly though, injuries mean this might be our starting backline for a few months...

Midfield was far too lightweight and set up wrong. Why Whelan spent most of the first half further up the pitch than McGinn is anyone's guess. O'Hare is way too inexperienced for a physical side like Swansea. The wingers offer very little going forward and absolutely nothing defensively. Too much showboating, no end product.

Upfront Hogan needs balls through the middle, on the floor. We play out wide, whipping crosses in. No chance. But ridiculously low on confidence anyway. It's just not going to work out here now.

But ultimately, much like most games this season, there is no real fight, no real desire. We don't chase*, we don't hassle*, we don't track back*, we don't tackle* and we don't fight for the second ball*. And all thise *s are for the exception of McGinn who does all of the above and is why he is a fan favourite, is completely knackered, shouldn't have been played today and was a shoe-in for MOTM after 5 minutes.

Not looking good. 

For me that sums up the whole reason WHY i never went today, even though it was free.....I know the " support your team thing and all that" and yes in one way, I am not proud.

But when you watch the bits in bold.....It can be very annoying sitting next to someone like me who throws their head up and looks at the roof from the inside.

I can stomach poor play to a degree.....I can't stomach lack of fight and desire....so its best I keep away while its like that.....I am no help to the team.

[wilko154]

1 hour ago, MaVilla said:

i didnt see the game, very interested in Kalinic.

I have seen mixed reviews, some saying he may have been to blame for one or more of the goals?

What were your observations?, were you impressed?

The defence didn't help him at all today, they gave Swansea too much space to get shots off on goal which made Kalinic's job a lot harder than it should have been. From where I was stood I wouldn't blame him for any of the goals.

Second half he made some good saves, seems to be very strong and didn't palm any balls back into the danger areas. He commanded the area well when needed and came out to the edge of the area at one point to collect a ball before the striker. Distribution is questionable at the moment, but then the defence didn't drop to take the ball off him as we normally do.

I think he will be a good keeper for us and he will immediately benefit with Chester back in at centre back. We just need to kick on and upgrade the defence now.

[wilko154]

34 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Questions-

What does John Terry actually do at Bodymoor? As so far our defence has actually regressed since cabbagegate.

Did any Villa player today actually cared about the result? Apart from McGinn of course

Talking of super john why did he play the full 90 when he has looked cream crackered for about 2 weeks?

Why did Smith not do at least  2 subs at half time and give them all a bollocking? At 1-0 we got away with it in the first half. Had we showed any fight in the second then we might have turned it around.

Why is Smith so stubborn in his set up? Why not go 4-4-2 earlier and bring Davis on?

Is Scott Hogan a professional footballer? Close the door on your way out son. Useless.

We have conceded at least 2 goals in the last 6 home games. Does the coaching team have any ideas to stop this please?

Why play Hutton in the middle and not Bree who has been decent in his position. Poor Alan- having a shocker at the moment.

I am 35. Will I ever see Villa win the FA Cup in my lifetime?

I am glad Ipswich had a Lambert cup special as this team does not deserve a winter jollys at the end of January.

Huge, huge, amount of work needed to be even top 6 material. Depressed.

Oh- can anyone explain the attendance figure? How can it be 30,500 when the upper trinity was filled?

 

Answers

What does John Terry actually do at Bodymoor? As so far our defence has actually regressed since cabbagegate.

Pretty harsh when you look at what he has to work with. We again only had one fit centre back today...

 

Did any Villa player today actually cared about the result? Apart from McGinn of course

It didn't look like it.

 

Talking of super john why did he play the full 90 when he has looked cream crackered for about 2 weeks?

Smith said it was worth playing him as he is one booking away from a 2 game suspension, he can then have two weeks off.

 

Why did Smith not do at least  2 subs at half time and give them all a bollocking? At 1-0 we got away with it in the first half. Had we showed any fight in the second then we might have turned it around.

Agreed, Kodjia and Lansbury should have come on at halftime.

 

Why is Smith so stubborn in his set up? Why not go 4-4-2 earlier and bring Davis on?

Hindsight.

 

Is Scott Hogan a professional footballer? Close the door on your way out son. Useless.

Agreed.

 

We have conceded at least 2 goals in the last 6 home games. Does the coaching team have any ideas to stop this please?

All about sorting the defence out in January.

 

Why play Hutton in the middle and not Bree who has been decent in his position. Poor Alan- having a shocker at the moment.

Momentum for Bree at right back, he was poor today though.

 

I am 35. Will I ever see Villa win the FA Cup in my lifetime?

No.

 

Oh- can anyone explain the attendance figure? How can it be 30,500 when the upper trinity was filled?

There were 11,500 empty seats. A lot of season ticket holders didn't turn up.

[OutByEaster?]

6 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

There were 11,500 empty seats. A lot of season ticket holders didn't turn up.

I was amazed when the figure of just over 30,000 came up on the screen - there most definitely weren't 11,500 empty seats. 

I reckon there were around 37,000 there today possibly a few more than that - I think the club have lost count today.

 

[rodders0223]

1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said:

I was amazed when the figure of just over 30,000 came up on the screen - there most definitely weren't 11,500 empty seats. 

I reckon there were around 37,000 there today possibly a few more than that - I think the club have lost count today.

 

Agreed, up until recently the 32k was the usual figure we would get and you could really see the 10k empty seats. Not today.

Also Swansea brought a decentish following. 30k is bollocks.

[MaVilla]

20 minutes ago, wilko154 said:

The defence didn't help him at all today, they gave Swansea too much space to get shots off on goal which made Kalinic's job a lot harder than it should have been. From where I was stood I wouldn't blame him for any of the goals.

Second half he made some good saves, seems to be very strong and didn't palm any balls back into the danger areas. He commanded the area well when needed and came out to the edge of the area at one point to collect a ball before the striker. Distribution is questionable at the moment, but then the defence didn't drop to take the ball off him as we normally do.

I think he will be a good keeper for us and he will immediately benefit with Chester back in at centre back. We just need to kick on and upgrade the defence now.

thats pretty interesting, wonder why a few ppl seem to be saying he had a nightmare???

From what you say he actually sounded like he did ok for a debut?

[Keener window-cleaner]

11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I was amazed when the figure of just over 30,000 came up on the screen - there most definitely weren't 11,500 empty seats. 

I reckon there were around 37,000 there today possibly a few more than that - I think the club have lost count today.

 

Agree, it looked packed.