useless Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 I think she was just trying not to make excuses, she's usually always downbeat after defeats, even after games where we were clear second favorites, she's not scared to say when we've done badly, sometimes I think she can be overly harsh after games. The difficult part now is going to be getting that first win, presuming Chelsea beat us, then next league game is away to Bristol City, on paper that should be one of the easiest games of the season, but us going into it after five defeats if we do indeed lose to Chelsea will be a lot different than if we were going into after some average form, or if that was first game of the season I've little doubt we would have won, but now with the pressure on us and not confidence not high it might be a lot more trickey than it otherwise would have been. One thing that might help us gain some confidence going into the Bristol City fixture is that before that we play Sheffield United in the Cup in the week, that initially might have been seen as a chance to rotate the team, but now I wouldn't be surprised to see us put out a strong team to try and get a result and some confidence back into the players, of course even better if we can somehow manage to do that against Chelsea, but obviously we're clear second favorites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
est1874 Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 8 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: I'm confused where you're getting this 19 number from. There are 11 other sides, we play them all twice, that's a 22 game season, no? Anyway I agree with your broader point that she's obviously under pressure and her job will start to come into question in the near future unless we get a big uptick in results. Sorry you're correct. I did a quick Google out of laziness and not sure why it gave me 19. 22 games is right, 5 is still basically a quarter but yes. The broader point is the main thing, she's not immune, nobody is, and the form right now is woeful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 I can pretty much guarantee Ward isn't in any danger whatsoever of losing her job, the only way the club would even think about it is if we find ourselves in a genuine relegation battle, and that's just not going to happen, I know people will try and claim we're in one now, but we're really not. Genuinely there's more chance of her being poached by a better positioned team than us sacking her. Of course you can say if this and that happens then she will come under pressure, which is true, but you can say that about any manager, the scenario that would lead to Ward getting sacked is very very very unlikely to happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 These are the league games we have before the winter break Chelsea (h), Bristol City (a), West Ham (a), Everton (VP), Man City (a), Brighton (h) International break and then Chelsea is annoying, but get those two things out of the way and we should get a decent haul of points from those games, bearing in mind we're traditionally better away from home than at home, unless we're playing at Villa Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 In each of the last three seasons we've won just once at Bescot in the league, that's just three wins at Bescot since getting promoted in 2020, I've said our form there isn't very good, I didn't realize it was that bad until just looking it up. I was surprised when we extended our deal to play there, as it's been said a number of times that the Walsall pitch really affects our performances, it's not conducive to the passing football that we like to play, need to get as many games played at Villa Park as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
est1874 Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 Is @useless related to the gaffer or something? Or inside the club? The hyper-posting and constant repeating of the same line and ardent insistence that you can "guarantee" she is under no pressure is a little bizarre. How could she not be under pressure, she's in one of the top jobs in the country and has amassed zero points this season. All a bit odd mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 Why take my quotes out of context, I didn't say I can guarantee she is under no pressure, in fact I said the following on just the last page 'Ward is under pressure' What I've said is this 'I can pretty much guarantee Ward isn't in any danger whatsoever of losing her job.' Which isn't odd, it's just logical, she isn't in any danger of losing her job, I will repeat myself once again, and as many times as I want, and this time word for word, ff course you can say if this and that happens then she will come under pressure, which is true, but you can say that about any manager, the scenario that would lead to Ward getting sacked is very very very unlikely to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 13 hours ago, useless said: Why take my quotes out of context, I didn't say I can guarantee she is under no pressure, in fact I said the following on just the last page 'Ward is under pressure' What I've said is this 'I can pretty much guarantee Ward isn't in any danger whatsoever of losing her job.' Which isn't odd, it's just logical, she isn't in any danger of losing her job, I will repeat myself once again, and as many times as I want, and this time word for word, ff course you can say if this and that happens then she will come under pressure, which is true, but you can say that about any manager, the scenario that would lead to Ward getting sacked is very very very unlikely to happen. Must be no one available to take her place then. If it was the mens game, she'd have a few more games to turn it around. For me she's not doing enough and seems to be running out of ideas, don't really seem to be any different from game to game, very uninspiring. Most of us would be having a fit if it was our first team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 I certainly chose the right season to get a season ticket and drive 200 miles per game 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 Fed up of seeing walls of text in my posts, so put in a spoiler Spoiler If it was the men's team the manager would not have just a few games to turn it around, and only those with lack of perspective would be calling for that manager to get the sack. To look at the fact we've lost four games in a row and say she's in danger of losing her job is being simplistic and not looking at the bigger picture If a manager of a men's team had last season got his team to their highest ever finish, the most ever points for a team finishing fifth, got further in a major competition than any other manager, the semi-final of an FA Cup, had got the team playing entertaining football, scoring the amount of goals that we did, our goalscoring was right up there with the top four, won multiple manager of the month awards, and nominated for manager of the year award, then that manager wouldn't be in danger of losing their job after four games at any sensible club, especially if two of those games came against two of the best teams in the league, not just two of the best teams in the, but two teams who are much better than everyone else, other than other two teams in the top two. And Hanson and Dali missing would be the equivalent of a mens' team missing two of their top three players, and that affects our women's team more than it would most men's teams as we don't have as good backup players, the better squad players we have bought, are new to the club and still settling in I hate to break it, but all that's really happened is that we've had two hughley disappointing results, that is the losses to Spurs and Liverpool, but frustrating and annoying as they were they're not going to mean Ward's job is in any danger, if you didn't know we would occassionally lose games such as these at the start of the season then you were probably deluded as to how good we actually are, we will unfortunately sometimes get disappointing results against non top four teams, finishing fifth last season doesn't mean we're now going to beat every team that finished below that position. Last season, our best ever season, early on we lost to in consecutive games to West Ham and Everton, if we'd have played Man Utd and Arsenal after those games, then it's highly likely we would have lost four games in a row then. And I'm not ignoring the Man Utd and Arsenal defeats either, they're disappointing in of themselves, but those results won't have any bearing on Ward's future. I'm pretty sure that come Christmas time, or probably before then, all this talk of Ward potentially losing her job will look ridiculous, it's going to take a run of very unlikely results for us to sack her, and if those results come to pass then she will have deserved the sack, but that scenario is so unlikely it's not worth thinking about, of course you can think about it, but you can say about any manager if this and that happens then the consequences will be this and that. Carla Ward more likely to get manager of the month next for November than get the sack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 As I said I think now is the time to forget about the start to the season we've had, and the difficult first five games, now is the time to look forward, especially with Dali and Hanson, and should say not expecting miracles from those two, we're capable of having bad results with them in the team, but of course having them back will be a big help and we should improve overall Chelsea, Sheffield United, Bristol City, West Ham, Blackburn, Everton, Man City, Durham, Brighton Those are our games before Christmas, we should get some decent results from those and hopefully some confidence back in the team, the Sheffield United game landing where it does, could be a big help to us, play a strong team in that and get some momentum going for the so called easier WSL fixtures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattVillaPortsmouth Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 (edited) For me the point should not be whether you think she is under pressure/threat of sack - She should be, if we are serious about trying to break or close the gap to top 4. Regardless if any of us rate her, it’s a results games in both men’s and women’s that’s just the way it is. If we are happy losing 4 on the bounce, regardless of who we play then we might as well just be done with it - I don’t mean we should only except 100% win record, but I stick my comments we haven’t progressed in the off season so may be we are just happy making up the numbers - or we have hit our ceiling in both manager and club expectations. But that just my opinion. I didn’t see the game yesterday, so can’t comment. Edited October 22, 2023 by MattVillaPortsmouth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 22, 2023 Share Posted October 22, 2023 From now on I think we should always pick Mayling and Pacheco, I know Mayling had some crticisim recently, but she's been of one our most consistent players since signing, she and Pacheco were crucial to the way we played last season, wtihout them we miss something in attack We've got four high profile central defenders, Corsie captain of the club, Parker England internatinal, Turner one of our best players last season, and Patten who's been brilliant since signing, but we need to stop squeezing them all in starting eleven, I can understand Parker playing in midfield against the very top teams, but for the most part we should be playing with just two of them. I was actually quite impressed with Salmon and Leon yesterday, Salmon needs to improve final ball, and Leon sometimes tried to do too much, but you can see both have lots of quality, but we need them to improve their service to Daly, one of the reasons Dali and Hanson were so succesful last season is because they knew when to try something themselves or when to look for Daly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 It was an odd game to get my head around, I feel like we were the better team for much of the game but I also can't say Tottenham didn't deserve it. It seemed like we kept trying too often to find the perfect chance for a goal rather than to just take a shot when there was a decent enough opportunity. I thought Leon and Parker were excellent, Daly is always up for it and Blindkilde-Brown had a decent game. For the rest, I can't say anyone really stood out until Pacheco came on, she really wanted it and was trying to encourage the crowd as soon as she ran over into position. I hate to admit that van Domselaar hasn't had the start to her Villa career as I expected. I have faith in her and I know she is a quality goalkeeper and she did make some great saves during the game too. No idea why she was so far off her line when Tottenham had the ball in our half for that goal. Seems to be playing sweeper keeper but it didn't work out. Their 4th was a mile offside. The WSL desparetly needs VAR as the officials just aren't up to the job. The lineswoman couldn't keep up with play and seemed to be using guesswork to judge offsides. Officials didn't cost us this game though, they did against United and arguably Arsenal but it's just something that needs addressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 26, 2023 Share Posted October 26, 2023 Ruesha Littlejohn's behind the scenes vlogs had some interesting footage at Bodymoor that you don't really get to see anywhere else, looks like Pacheco has taken over Notice Sophia Poor with a sling on her arm, was wondering why she hasn't been on the bench as might as well if we aren't filling it with outfield players, I think she might have dislocated her shoulder against Villarreal or at some point during week away in Spain 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishywashy Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 Lucy Parker has withdrawn from the England squad due to an ankle injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted October 27, 2023 Share Posted October 27, 2023 (edited) I watched England U23s 1-1 draw with Italy yesterday, Blindkilde looked best player on the pitch when she came on, seemed to have a lot more assurance and know-how than most of the other England players, not just the ones that were on the pitch with her but that started the game too. Ebony Salmon had a good game also, didn't get any shooting chances as was playing out wide, but showed her ability to run with the ball to good effect at times, and was comfortable in possession in general. Georgia Mullett in U19 squad again, no Olivia McLoughlin this time, as she's now turned nineteen she's probably considered too old for that age group and expected to challenge for a place in the 23s squad, will need more game time for that, hopefully we can find ourselves in some advantageous positions in the coming fixtures and give her some minutes, Conti Cup tie against Sheffield United so that might be a good opportunity Edited October 27, 2023 by useless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachboys1 Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 daly on bench again tonight been made scapegat for world cup 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Wouldn't say scapegoat tbf, she's just always been under utilised by Weigman. Russo is clearly a favourite and we know what she's like with her favourites. Losing currently as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chine Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 1 hour ago, beachboys1 said: daly on bench again tonight been made scapegat for world cup Comfortably Englands best player IMHO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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