Ratings & Reactions: PO West Brom v Villa

[Brentfordnylons]

Well done Dean and Richard two decent men who deserve to get to the PL.Just let it be Leeds that you turn over at Wembley 

[Nigel]

I went to bed last night worried about the final after that display.

If we couldn't score against a 10 man WBA what hope have we? We looked nervous and over reliant on Jack once again.

However looking back on it I think this may actually help us a week Monday. Wembley will feel like a home game in comparison; Also these games are usually given to the grown up refs, so we should see less 'strong tackles' gotten away with. 

Far better to have a game like this as a warm up rather than a Middlesbrough stroll like last year.

We really have learnt to deal with adversity!

 

[The Fun Factory]

Anyone recovered yet from yesterday? It going take a few days for me.

[AVFCDAN]

49 minutes ago, Straggler said:

 The tactic was to foul as early and as often and as hard as they could manage and hope that the ref doesn't give early yellow cards.  The fact that the ref was totally complicit and allowed them to body check and kick their way through the game and only gave out the one red late in the game is not the result of a strong defense it is the result of a weak ref.  

Sorry but i just don't agree with that, you are making out like they were man handling us the entire game, it was a great blood and guts defensive performace, Brunt got sent off and rightly so, other than that i was failing to see the great injustices you are talking about. Take off your claret and blue specs.

 

49 minutes ago, Straggler said:

 If West Brom had been promoted this season they would have been worse than Cardiff.  West Brom are an awful team and they got more than they deserved over the two legs, I'm glad to see the back of them and the Prem has no idea what a favor we have done them by taking out a team that no fan is going to want to pay to see play.  The world has moved on from set pieces and long throws, they got everything their ambition merited.

I totally agree with this. It reminded me of us in the play offs last year, we totally ground Boro out of 2 legs but when we came up against the footballing team we rightly fell short, we would have been spanked every wee kin the Prem trying to play like that.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by AVFCDAN

[osmark86]

this baggie said it:

 

"It's embarrassing playing like that we haven't moved on from the Pulis days of scrambling a set piece goal and defending for our lives.

In the league our defenders never put their bodies on the line like tonight.  Lack of motivation and soft mentality. 

Be a Man and admit Villa were better over 2 legs."

[TOTTI-THE-GOD]

Who ever sent Jimmy Shan the season review for Stoke City 08-09 well done to you because that's exactly how they played.

 

[PieFacE]

Jesus christ, just went on a baggies forum.

What is this all about? Proud? Of that shit? Trying to defend their way to victory? Completely reliant on set pieces?  I thought they hated the football Pulis played under them, that was the most Pulis-esque 180 minutes i've ever seen from a team in a semi-final. 

Everything went against them over the two legs? I thought the ref was shit yesterday and gave them far more than he gave us. 

Edited May 15, 2019 by PieFacE

[BOF]

1 minute ago, PieFacE said:

Jesus christ, just went on a baggies forum.

What is this all about? Proud? Of that shit? Trying to defend their way to victory? Completely reliant on set pieces?  I thought they hated the football Pulis played under them, that was the most Pulis-esque 180 minutes i've ever seen from a team in a semi-final. 

If you follow rubbish, it makes sense that you must find a way to be proud of that rubbish.  Even if it's pride in watching how good they are at anti-football.  Cognitive dissonance innit?  Don't mock the afflicted (well, maybe a little )

[tommytenjobs]

Just about recovered enough to make some comment. 

Ref: Allowed foul play to dictate the tempo and tone of the game. Too many niggley fouls, body checks, kicks as the ball had gone and stamps that appear to no longer by fouls. How Jenson only got one yellow from the two games is beyond me. That said, both missed major possible decisions the other way too. 

Our forward line: Poor if truth be told. Played for over 45 mins against 10 men across the two games and no goals to show for it. Lack of mobility and strength and touch and presence from Abraham. I never thought I'd be critical of a 26 goal a season striker.....but by God he gave us nothing to play off of last night. An easy night for their two centre backs. Wingers, El Ghazi get no help from the opposition being able to shuffle over to double up, knowing that we are never going to try and get in behind them n the right. Green looking for most of the time as a player who couldn't get into the Portsmouth team. Adomah I think just realises his pace has gone and he just faces up to a full back, before rolling the ball back to Elmo to create. I think we have to make a change on the right - Abrahams moves out and Kodji up the middle?? 

Substitutions - all about holding Jedi back for Pens. You could argue this was a negative approach (the only one of the night from Smith) ....but you can certainly argue that it worked! 

Davis - another miss. He'll learn I think....but how many more chances will he get? Needs to go out on loan next year whatever division we are in. If we nurture him, he can be a player for us I think in the future. 

Penalties: Debating afterwards when the last time I saw Villa in a shoot out was....Tranmere? Won that too. More than happy to take Pens at this stage as I think the others will crumble! 

 

UTV

[Mazrim]

Just recovering too. I thought we were shocking but West Brom are a disgrace and dont deserve to contest a final. Dirty, oafish, cynical scumbags. The PL is no place for them. There's enough small clubs there already too.

Make no mistake, we need to get our shit back together. We look knackered with slow build up play and erratic passing and movement. Nothing like we were a month ago. Might be harsh but there you go. Can't fault the guts at all.

Still, time to rest up now and get it right again for the final.

[Mozzavfc]

1 hour ago, Nigel said:

I went to bed last night worried about the final after that display.

If we couldn't score against a 10 man WBA what hope have we? We looked nervous and over reliant on Jack once again.

However looking back on it I think this may actually help us a week Monday. Wembley will feel like a home game in comparison; Also these games are usually given to the grown up refs, so we should see less 'strong tackles' gotten away with. 

Far better to have a game like this as a warm up rather than a Middlesbrough stroll like last year.

We really have learnt to deal with adversity!

 

I'd expect either Leeds or Derby to attack more than Baggies and give us a little more space to attack in

Last night the only players in our half were Steer, Mings, & Tuanzebe. It was pure backs to the wall, negative football 

[AvfcRigo82]

1 hour ago, The Fun Factory said:

Anyone recovered yet from yesterday? It going take a few days for me.

Hangover - Yes

Euphoria - No

The build up to the final is going to be the unbearable part though  - 12 days away!   

[alreadyexists]

One of the commentators was basically saying how well the baggies had done with ten men to hang on til the end... like it was some sort of handicap they’d had imposed on them through no fault of their own. They got a player sent off... it was their own fault for breaking the rules! We didn’t force them to go down to ten men, Brunt was a dirty word removed so they paid the price. 

Really pi**ed me off! 

[foreveryoung]

Let's just remind ourselves too, how biased the commentator was. Who was it?? After they scored in the replays I think he was jumping for joy in the studio, even bigging up there fans. Every foul on us was also just a good tackle.

[VILLAMARV]

11 hours ago, TRO said:

The ref was a disgrace

He really was. I think we've all learned to be thankful of the handful of PL refs that are ok if we ever get back there. The standard of refffing in this league is consistantly bad. But last night's muppet really set a new low

[TreeVillan]

Can't fault the ref too much as he gave Brunt that second yellow even though at first it looked like he wasn't going to give it. I wonder what persuaded him to finally show the card? Was he just debating in his head to ensure he was making the correct decision? If so then fair play to him. Though at the time I was going nuts at every decision XD 

Edited May 15, 2019 by TreeVillan

[StefanAVFC]

6 minutes ago, TreeVillan said:

Can't fault the ref too much as he gave Brunt that second yellow even though at first it looked like he wasn't going to give it. I wonder what persuaded him to finally show the card? Was he just debating in his head to ensure he was making the correct decision? If so then fair play to him. Though at the time I was going nuts at every decision XD 

He could have gone twice before that though. And he kept his cards in his pocket for FAR too long.

[Dodgyknees]

Watching again, didn't realise but Keith Andrews said West Brom deserve to get through as they played well with 10 men, so they deserve it.

Sure. Deserved.

[OutByEaster?]

I don't think it's outlandish to say that Albion could and should have had another 8-10 cards over the two legs. I genuinely believe that would be a fairer reflection of the play. Johansen could have had four over the two ties, Brunt could have had two of each colour last night. It's all very well other managers and teams talking up the idea of Grealish as a diver or someone who is in the ear of referees - but the result is that he and his teammates are getting kicked all over the park at the moment and getting no protection at all. We absolutely need a stronger referee in the final.

For Albion's part, they can be aggrieved at not getting the penalty at Villa Park, they can have legitimate grumbles about El Ghazi's possible handball, but the Grealish penalty at Villa Park was absolutely nailed on, both sendings off were not just the right decision but both players could already have gone for earlier offences and the general refereeing of the two games meant that they were allowed to play an overly physically style that under other referees they simply wouldn't have gotten away with. There are a couple of decisions they can legitimately be unhappy with - but the weakness of the refereeing in both legs is what kept them in the tie.

I thought their fans were brilliant last night, got right behind the team from the first minute to the last and I thought they defended really well and really intelligently, but they deserved to go out on the lack of ambition they showed over two legs and their approach to the game - Albion have been a footballing side for most of the season, but under the pressure of the big occasion they went full Pulis - Albion fans should be more disappointed about that than they should be in anything else.

I'd expect Shan to go. I know they're in a fair bit of financial trouble and I think they'll be in the championship for a while - which is a pity. Whilst I very much hope we don't have it for a while, it's a derby game with a great atmosphere, a fierce rivalry and none of the idiocy that comes with the morons from the heath. I like the rivalry with the Albion, they're generally okay.

For us, the thing that struck me about last night was how much of a genuine emotional attachment there is between the fans and the players - particularly those players who are only here on loan - when I look at Mings, Tuanzebe and Abraham, I'm struck by how much they seem to be enjoying it here, how much they genuinely seem to be having the time of their lives, how tight the friendships seem to be within the squad, how much they've embraced the club and the pride they have in the shirt. This looks like a club that any player would want to play for - there will be players at other clubs who watched this last night and wondered why their fans don't care about them like that, why their backroom staff don't feel the same passion - being a Villa player looks like the best job in the world. 

That's going to help us next season, whichever league we're in and no matter what else happens they'll be in dressing rooms talking about their time at the Villa for the rest of their lives.

We didn't play well, we're not quite clicking, not quite fluent - but we're determined, there's a steel born of confidence and we keep finding ways to win. Any of the teams in this playoff competition are capable of beating any of the teams in this playoff competition on any given day - there's not a bad team left in it - but I'm not afraid of anyone, we'll give anyone a game and if we do find that fluency, we have the capacity to overpower an opposition. When we're good, we can be very good indeed - the best in the division - when we're bad.....well, when we're bad, we're capable of heroic nights of epic proportion like last night, and that ain't a bad combination.

It's been a season of big games, last chances and heroic characters - one more obstacle remains. 

Bring it on.

 

 

 

 

[newhavenhibby]

Well done Villa.

When some Norwich City mates came up for a game a few weeks ago I said then that they would be Champions, Sheff United would be second and Leeds would lose to Villa in the final...............................going well so far. 

Missed the game last night but have been at a few semi finals that went to pens and know how nerve racking they are. Last one was the semi when we won the cup in 2016 and our keeper that day had a blinder and saved their first two.................went on to win against sevco so hope it is a good omen for you lads in 12 days.

'mon Villa, get back to where you should be.