Ratings and Reactions: Villa 0-0 sha

[VillaAndLoyal]

Kevin rocket polisher Phillips: "Fozy (Foster) just did enough to put Clark off there..."

YEAH, BECAUSE HE PUNCHED HIM IN THE HEAD YOU THICK clearing in the woods!

[maloneyt]

Kevin rocket polisher Phillips: "Fozy (Foster) just did enough to put Clark off there..."

YEAH, BECAUSE HE PUNCHED HIM IN THE HEAD YOU THICK clearing in the woods!

My words exactly.

[Ooh-Ah]

Just a quick question...

How is it that the BBC website reckons we had 55% possession, yet Sky seem to think we only had 48.6%?

[ozvillafan]

This was a strange one.

We aren't in sterling form at the moment and having a few injuries and suspensions meant we had a strange looking line-up. Still, Houllier put out a side that guaranteed we would not lose rather than win. That hardly puts confidence into players.

Just a couple of things that stood out for me:

- Sidwell, Clark and NRC were deployed in a very tight central 3. This meant we either had Emile isolated or no width on the left when Young tried to support Emile. Not a great shape and that gave SHA the run of midfield.

- Ashley Young was just a foot off today: A foot off a perfect pass for Heskey early on set the standard. A foot off in defense, a foot wide with his shot, a foot off in pace getting to the ball. Still, he was everywhere so I cannot criticise his effort.

- Collins does my head in. In the first half all he did was HOOF. Houllier must have had a word in his ear at halftime so he kept it on the ground, but then just ran it forward into a blind alley, gave away possession and was caught out of position. Neither of these options are good enough. Still, was solid in the air against the tallest excuse for a forward in the PL - not that it was hard.

- Dunne is a bit poor at the moment. Usually if you do not notice a central defender then you know he is doing his job. Unfortunately, Dunne was noted for wrong reasons again.

- Sidwell was missing and defended too deep, inviting SHA forward. Bannan didn't do a great deal for mine, but he was better than Sidwell and gave us a better shape. I hope to see either Ireland or Bannan start in front of Sidwell next time.

- Clark was solid in a defensive midfielder role. He got better once Sidwell left. Still, if you are a defensive midfielder then your job is to build the play from the back, not pass it back to your defenders and expect them to do it. If Clark continues to play this role he will need to learn that quickly.

[Ponky]

As expected SHA moaning long & loud about how hard done by they were about the ref.

Whatever helps you through the night I guess. The game was on a platter for them with the wekest Villa lineup in years and and they still couldn't put Friedel under the slightest bit of pressure.

[Smitta]

To be honest with the team we put out a 0-0 draw isn't the worst result in the world. A midfield 3 of NRC, Sidwell and Clark is lower mid-table at best...

[theunderstudy]

This is what I don't get. What would MON have done there then? Nothing different except he would have played Cuellar at right back and put Osbourne in midfield.

[alienvillan]

Disappointing but Birm... sha played well, they have a good team. A difficult opponent.

I think we were lucky Hleb played from the start. Had it been Jerome they probably would have scored.

MOTM Heskey. A real fighter this season.

Petrov out, Sidwell and rookie midfielder Clark in. I'm not that disappointed after all.

EDIT: I mean with this midfield 0-0 is not disappointing. To have no replacement for Petrov is really frustrating. Although Clark played well... but he is not a midfielder.

[regular_john]

MOTM Bannan - just for trying to win the ball in the air against Zigic. What a little terrier!

[Demitri_C]

How is Foster on Clark not a penalty??

i think its because clark got the ball before being killed by foster i dont think it was a penalty in that instance

i do too agree that johnson was targeting nrc to get him sent off i noticed to he was crawling about trying to get nrc booked. webb clocked this from that cheating little weasel.

mccliesh is trying ton influence the ref for the game at the sty. expect before the game he will say we have had all the decisions. i hated fistface but at least he didnt moan and bitch like mccleish is constantly doing

[gilbertoAVFC]

I see Sidwell got a vote. Welcome to the forum Steve.

**** genius comment

[Shillzz]

Havent been on here since the game yesterday so here are my thoughts;

1 - The guy who headed the ball from behind the advertisements in the DE lower deserves MOTM.

2 - Bannan struggled to get into the game at first, but i can see why GH likes him. He's got a lovely touch and nearly won it for us. Also Kudos for trying to outjump Zigic.

3 - Clark looked good when he was on the ball. Not sure as I would have given MOTM to him, because Im not sure as he was involved quite enough. But i think he should stay there in Petrov's absence.

4 - A lot of negativity towards Collins, but I thought he was quite rightly given MOTM. I know he hoofed the ball, but no more so than Dunne or Friedel.

5 - Young - had an off game, as did Downing. I dont think Downing got the service though, so I wont criticise him too much.

6 - Heskey Worked Tirelessly with no end result, which was no fault of his own.

[dudevillaisnice]

Birmingham City's Craig Gardner: We had Aston Villa running scared

http://tinyurl.com/2vk3ra8

What a word removed! I hope we teach them a lesson in the carling cup!

[Hiney]

I see Sidwell got a vote. Welcome to the forum Steve.

**** genius comment

That made me chuckle too

As for the match.. it was poor, very poor. We didn't set out to win the match and a draw was probably a fair result. I hope we employ a bit more of a positive approach in the cup game at their place

[dudevillaisnice]

Who voted for Dunne?!?

[Gingerlad]

How is Foster on Clark not a penalty??

i think its because clark got the ball before being killed by foster i dont think it was a penalty in that instance

So it was a late challenge. Anywhere else on the pitch then thats a foul and a booking, perhaps a red in some instances.

The fact he is a goal keeper should make no difference. But according to Howard Webb is does.

Nothing will convince me that wasnt a foul.

[slowandlow]

two very average prem teams who will be in mid-table come the end of the season, only reason for not being close to the drop zone is that there are so many other shit teams in the league

draw was a fair result, we went in way too negatively, ashley young did nowt really, and often left warnock exposed to 2-on-1s particularly first half

shit atmosphere as well, but that reflected the game really, and it wasn't like their lot were anything special either

[Shillzz]

shit atmosphere as well, but that reflected the game really, and it wasn't like their lot were anything special either

Bit harsh - the atmosphere before the game was brilliant and continued to be so untill we started getting outplayed.

It was a terrible game, with nothing to get excited about, I dont think the fans can be criticised on this occasion.

[slowandlow]

shit atmosphere as well, but that reflected the game really, and it wasn't like their lot were anything special either

Bit harsh - the atmosphere before the game was brilliant and continued to be so untill we started getting outplayed.

It was a terrible game, with nothing to get excited about, I dont think the fans can be criticised on this occasion.

i think its very fair to be honest, 10 mins before the game and 10 mins into the game it was good but then went completely flat which matched the game

worst derby atmosphere i can remember, from home and away fans

[Shillzz]

But everyone went there with the intention of creating a good atmosphere, unfortunately the game extinguished most people's enthusiasm. Speaking personally, I have no voice today, so I'm more than happy with my own contribution!