RadioTom Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 As a Villa fan, who lives and works in Leeds, we have to win tomorrow. Mainly because I have been a complete and utter smug **** for the last 10 games and I fear the consequences should we lose. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 27, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted April 27, 2019 1 minute ago, RadioTom said: As a Villa fan, who lives and works in Leeds, we have to win tomorrow. Mainly because I have been a complete and utter smug **** for the last 10 games and I fear the consequences should we lose. Same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TheStagMan Posted April 27, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) On 25/04/2019 at 11:59, Cjay said: Are things really that much better under Dean Smith? Know the football is probably better but results wise it still seems dependant on Jack Grealish being fit. 10 wins on the bounce but Grealish played in 9 didnt he? Previous 14 in all competitions without him ,2 wins. Absolutely completely 100% things are better under Smith. There is no doubt whatsoever. It is very easy to simply look at out results prior to this run and draw a conclusion that those poor results were due to Grealish being out, but that is a very lazy analysis and misses most of what else was going on. Particularly if you fall for the media love-in of the previous manager. Of course losing Grealish was a loss. Any team would struggle with the loss of such an influential player. However we also lost our best central defender in Tuanzebe at roughly the same time, leaving us with only one recognised CB (Chester) - who was also carrying a serious injury, and in actual fact - us needing to continue to play him may (and I stress the word may) have had a very serious impact on his future. At the start of the season, we lost our no 1 keeper, and were left with only 2 recognised CB's (one of whom the manager of the time was determined to only play at RB) and we had a new, very shaky keeper behind them. Despite all that, we didn't lose many as the whole team was set up to defend. Smith came in and changed the approach to a more pressing style, meaning our back line didn't have an additional 2-3 players in it. Weaknesses in the defence would now be more noticeable. So not only did we lose Grealish, who kept a lot of the pressure off the defence, we lost our best defender and the other one was crocked, we were left having to play a patchwork defence in front of a shaky keeper. The keeper did not have a rapport with the defence and the defence did not have confidence in the keeper. Many of these defenders had not played regularly and were now being played out of position. Add to that we also lost Kodjia and Adomah to injury during this period. We frankly were a mess at the time, the chaos of the summer and the frankly baffling recruitment decisions of the previous regime left us with gaping holes at the back and we needed to limp through to the Jan window for re-enforcement, we had injuries all over the pitch to contend with. However, even during this run, improvements in playing style and attitude were obvious. Bar a couple of games we were never outclassed and actually during the bad run, we "only" lost 4 games, and a couple of those losses were completely undeserved with one being blatant cheating. We drew a lot of games in that run, mostly due to our defensive frailties. Then we did some spectacular recruitment in the Jan window. I include the recall of Steer and Elphick from loan in that. Mings is an absolute beast, and Hause after a poor start has been really good for us. We spent pennies as well (not counting Klanick)! The turn around in form, and the start of this run corresponds to a number of factors - absolutely Grealish being a key one of those, but the arrival of Mings and Hause in defence, and Steer in goal has given us a very strong back line, giving the whole team more confidence and the ability to play with more freedom, knowing that the defence could now handle the pressure. I would go as far as to say that Mings is just as vital to the team at the moment as Grealish. If we had Grealish come back, but no changes at the back, we would definitely have improved, but we would certainly not have won 10 in a row, and I would suggest that we would not have made the playoffs, certainly not with a couple of games to go. I haven't mentioned him yet, but Super John McGinn has also been excellent throughout. To say that we are a one man team in Grealish is not true. With Grealish, McGinn, El Ghazi and Abraham up front we have a number of players who can and will hurt the opposition, and now, with all of those guys playing defenders cannot double up on any one of them - also leaving space for Adomah to exploit. Smith has done a fantastic job of changing our mindset, creating a system, and playing players that fit the system. He has made sensible substitutions during games, 9/10 times these have worked great. He has put the right players in the right positions and given them the confidence to play their game, safe in the knowledge that the players behind them will be solid and have them covered. He has also coached these players to improve their game (El Ghazi is a great example of this). Whilst all this was going on, we were restructuring off the pitch as well, sorting out the finances, repairing the damage that our previous charlatan owner did and bringing in people who actually know what they are doing (a novelty for us after the last 5 years). January was the first chance for them to show what they can do, and they passed that test with flying colours. If we don't win the playoffs, (anything can happen during these games) then I have absolute confidence that next year we will be very strong contenders for automatic promotion, if not the championship title - even if we lose Grealish (which I would not begrudge him) I have the confidence in Dean Smith and the management of the club to recruit well. Edited April 27, 2019 by TheStagMan Spelling mistakes/grammar 19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted April 27, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted April 27, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted April 27, 2019 Administrator Share Posted April 27, 2019 8 hours ago, Jareth said: No offence Leeds fans (why are they here like all the time!) but this debate is all moot. The only time to discuss this is after the play-off final which hopefully we reach. If that happens and we chalk up a win I might just venture over to your home forum and start haunting you guys. Vice-versa, I guess we'll have to give you credit, but my god it feels like you've been here all along anyway. I bet 200 VT dollars you've all been on Bolton forums lately sharing your 'experience'. You don't have any VT dollars. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) On 25/04/2019 at 11:59, Cjay said: Are things really that much better under Dean Smith? Know the football is probably better but results wise it still seems dependant on Jack Grealish being fit. 10 wins on the bounce but Grealish played in 9 didnt he? Previous 14 in all competitions without him ,2 wins. Yes. Jack is central to what we do....and its no coincidence he is instrumental in Villa playing as a team as opposed to individuals, But in my humble opinion, Tyrone Mings has also given us another dimension along with Hause/Tuanzebe. McGinn has been phenomenal and El Ghazi is showing the form that will get the fans singing his name.. But Its all on the day....Its the teams that " Turn Up" will be the ones to take the prize. The game on Sunday may have no bearing on the play -offs, result , should we end up playing each other....Such is the nature of things. Edited April 27, 2019 by TRO 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, TheStagMan said: Absolutely completely 100% things are better under Smith. There is no doubt whatsoever. It is very easy to simply look at out results prior to this run and draw a conclusion that those poor results were due to Grealish being out, but that is a very lazy analysis and misses most of what else was going on. Particularly if you fall for the media love-in of the previous manager. Of course losing Grealish was a loss. Any team would struggle with the loss of such an influential player. However we also lost our best central defender in Tuanzebe at roughly the same time, leaving us with only one recognised CB (Chester) - who was also carrying a serious injury, and in actual fact - us needing to continue to play him may (and I stress the word may) have had a very serious impact on his future. At the start of the season, we lost our no 1 keeper, and were left with only 2 recognised CB's (one of whom the manager of the time was determined to only play at RB) and we had a new, very shaky keeper behind them. Despite all that, we didn't lose many as the whole team was set up to defend. Smith came in and changed the approach to a more pressing style, meaning our back line didn't have an additional 2-3 players in it. Weaknesses in the defence would now be more noticeable. So not only did we lose Grealish, who kept a lot of the pressure off the defence, we lost our best defender and the other one was crocked, we were left having to play a patchwork defence in front of a shaky keeper. The keeper did not have a rapport with the defence and the defence did not have confidence in the keeper. Many of these defenders had not played regularly and were now being played out of position. Add to that we also lost Kodjia and Adomah to injury during this period. We frankly were a mess at the time, the chaos of the summer and the frankly baffling recruitment decisions of the previous regime left us with gaping holes at the back and we needed to limp through to the Jan window for re-enforcement, we had injuries all over the pitch to contend with. However, even during this run, improvements in playing style and attitude were obvious. Bar a couple of games we were never outclassed and actually during the bad run, we "only" lost 4 games, and a couple of those losses were completely undeserved with one being blatant cheating. We drew a lot of games in that run, mostly due to our defensive frailties. Then we did some spectacular recruitment in the Jan window. I include the recall of Steer and Elphick from loan in that. Mings is an absolute beast, and Hause after a poor start has been really good for us. We spent pennies as well (not counting Klanick)! The turn around in form, and the start of this run corresponds to a number of factors - absolutely Grealish being a key one of those, but the arrival of Mings and Hause in defence, and Steer in goal has given us a very strong back line, giving the whole team more confidence and the ability to play with more freedom, knowing that the defence could now handle the pressure. I would go as far as to say that Mings is just as vital to the team at the moment as Grealish. If we had Grealish come back, but no changes at the back, we would definitely have improved, but we would certainly not have won 10 in a row, and I would suggest that we would not have made the playoffs, certainly not with a couple of games to go. I haven't mentioned him yet, but Super John McGinn has also been excellent throughout. To say that we are a one man team in Grealish is not true. With Grealish, McGinn, El Ghazi and Abraham up front we have a number of players who can and will hurt the opposition, and now, with all of those guys playing defenders cannot double up on any one of them - also leaving space for Adomah to exploit. Smith has done a fantastic job of changing our mindset, creating a system, and playing players that fit the system. He has made sensible substitutions during games, 9/10 times these have worked great. He has put the right players in the right positions and given them the confidence to play their game, safe in the knowledge that the players behind them will be solid and have them covered. He has also coached these players to improve their game (El Ghazi is a great example of this). Whilst all this was going on, we were restructuring off the pitch as well, sorting out the finances, repairing the damage that our previous charlatan owner did and bringing in people who actually know what they are doing (a novelty for us after the last 5 years). January was the first chance for them to show what they can do, and they passed that test with flying colours. If we don't win the playoffs, (anything can happen during these games) then I have absolute confidence that next year we will be very strong contenders for automatic promotion, if not the championship title - even if we lose Grealish (which I would not begrudge him) I have the confidence in Dean Smith and the management of the club to recruit well. A very good resume..IMO Edited April 27, 2019 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 27, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted April 27, 2019 My Villa supporting daughter and her Leeds supporting husband are coming round to ours for Sunday dinner tomorrow. The beers are in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Now that 4th is all but gone, I would consider "resting" 3 or 4 and giving others much needed minutes should the disastrous happen and we need them. (Elphick, Lansbury etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted April 27, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted April 27, 2019 Just take Grealish out of the firing line! Its a dead rubber game for them now, but they happen to be facing a player they know can hurt them in the play offs. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 7 minutes ago, Nigel said: Just take Grealish out of the firing line! Its a dead rubber game for them now, but they happen to be facing a player they know can hurt them in the play offs. Usually I wouldn’t think it’s a good idea, but Jack has given so much since his return from injury, he has just started to look a little weary, by his standards, and a rest would do him a world of good, protect him, and prevent Leeds having an extra look at him. An hour against a promoted Norwich at VP would be ideal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Ditto McGinn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Having said that in this day and age the performance stats available to the Coach will play a large part and we don’t know what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junxs Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) Bielsa doesn't seem like a very decent guy, considering he was spying on everyone earlier in the season. Everyone knows how key Jack is to us, would not surprise me one bit if Bielsa instructs one of his players to put Jack out of the playoffs. Why take the risk? Edited April 27, 2019 by Junxs 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 9 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: This one's got draw written all over it hasn't it? I'll take no injuries and a draw all day long. I think we'll go strong, win, and McGinn will get booked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnyp Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Junxs said: Bielsa doesn't seem like a very decent guy, considering he was spying on everyone earlier in the season. Everyone knows how key Jack is to us, would not surprise me one bit if Bielsa instructs one of his players to put Jack out of the playoffs. Why take the risk? Don't think they have that type of midfielder to put one in on one of ours to be honest. Don't think klich or hernandez would go into a dark room never mind a tackle. Nice players. That tramp Jansson on the otherhand.... Edited April 27, 2019 by Johnnyp Mistake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junxs Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 15 minutes ago, Johnnyp said: Don't think they have that type of midfielder to put one in on one of ours to be honest. Don't think klich or hernandez would go into a dark room never mind a tackle. Nice players. That tramp Jansson on the otherhand.... I was thinking more along the lines of putting a kid in to do the deed, doesn't matter if he gets a red card as he won't be playing in the playoffs anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 22 hours ago, Cjay said: Did they constantly pass to the left? Would seem the natural thing for a group of right backs to do? Its obvious you have better cbs now, Mings is a good player when fit (not sure he is the full shilling though), Chester is class, dont know much about the other two, Wolves fans dont seem to rate Hause at all. They did indeed which is there opinion (and I'm sure yours). Always struck me as a cop out that when people say that "if such and such was fit they'd be the best", part of being a professional footballer is being fit, if you cant stay fit thats your own fault and shouldn't be used as an out. Grealish clearly is a talented lad but if he cant stay fit then he isnt the best player anywhere consistently and part of being the best is consistency imo which is reflected in the FFT vote, cant judge a player if he hardly plays. That's part of what sets Pablo and him apart for me and what makes Pablo better. People will always disagree on talent understandably, Pablo Hernandez is 34 now and probably playing his best football since the Valencia days nearly a decade ago. A real joy is Pablo to watch and i really wish we could have had him in his prime years, around 2010 before injuries started. People forget that Valencia were a top 3 La Liga side consistently then and Pablo was one of the stars of a side containing David Villa and David Silva who attracted interest from both Liverpool and Man City, anyway i digress. Pablo has consistently for years now been a top performer in this league (the most creative player officially since arriving in the Championship) and played the majority of matches, about 83%. Jack from looking has played maybe 60%? While Jack obviously has more potential now imo he cant be considered the best because he just hasnt played often enough. That's the difference for me, on his day Grealish is quality at this level same as Pablo, but Grealish isnt fit enough to have enough days I think it’s nice that you’ve set out all those reasons for your thinking but I think Jack is just a much better player than Hernandez, our team is a better team than yours, and we will see you off pretty comfortably in the playoffs if you get past Derby. Were you one of the Leeds fans on here who was posting stats a few months back trying to disprove the fact that Bielsa’s teams always crumble at the end of the season? Guessing your bottling the title race was coincidence, right? Honestly if we don’t go up I do hope it’s Leeds as you’re a great club but I’m less impressed with your current outfit than a few months ago for sure. Good luck for your semi! Let’s hope for no injuries tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 On 22/04/2019 at 19:35, VILLAMARV said: Quote One more victory would match the best run in the second tier in the same season since Jean Tigana's Fulham won 11 consecutive second-tier matches in 2000-01. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48000922 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjay Posted April 27, 2019 Visiting Supporter Share Posted April 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Adam2003 said: I think it’s nice that you’ve set out all those reasons for your thinking but I think Jack is just a much better player than Hernandez, our team is a better team than yours, and we will see you off pretty comfortably in the playoffs if you get past Derby. Were you one of the Leeds fans on here who was posting stats a few months back trying to disprove the fact that Bielsa’s teams always crumble at the end of the season? Guessing your bottling the title race was coincidence, right? Honestly if we don’t go up I do hope it’s Leeds as you’re a great club but I’m less impressed with your current outfit than a few months ago for sure. Good luck for your semi! Let’s hope for no injuries tomorrow. Our form since the turn of the year hasnt been good enough, pure and simple, Norwich and Sheffield United have been in great form during that time and we have to accept that and accept the playoffs. You also have been in great form over the last 10 games, have to respect that to, but i see no reason why we should fear you or anyone else. Dont know if that was me tbh, blaming "Bielsa burnout" for our form is a bit simplistic, traditionally going back years we fade 2nd half of the season, its frustrating but its common, and then you throw in injuries and a poor January window. Looking forward to tomorrow now, hoping to see some of our kids get a chance Won't read to much into tomorrows result win lose or draw. Edited April 27, 2019 by Cjay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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