dudevillaisnice Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Why is it only in the last few games have we shown some sort of fighting spirit? Problems in the dressing room apparently................ Lights weren't working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Houllier is doing a great job. Hes identifying where we need to strengthen and hes taking decisive action. This transfer window has been the most productive in years - both transfers in, and transfers out. The muppets who were calling for his head 3 months into his reign have gone awfully quiet, and i aint surprised. A bit of patience is all thats needed. Oh and i still and happy about the title of this thread being changed by a certain moderator just to suit his point of view. It was originally called 'we NEED to get behind our manager'. I would like it changed back please. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 5 points off Europe - what crisis?Currently 13 points off Europe. If Arsenal win the League Cup then we'll currently be 12 points off Europe. If a CL side wins the FA Cup then we'll be 5 points off Europe, but not at the moment. Hypothetically 5 points off Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 The big test is how he lifts them against Wigan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 ^ I'm absolutely positive of 3 points. Dunno why. (as long as GH doesnt do what he did after the Chels match - ie, play the exact same system against a lesser side) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I'm not, though they do have a few defensive problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heystally! Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Still not convinced by Houllier. But last night went a long way towards myself, and I'm sure others, changing my mind. He's got some O'Neillness in the way he's playing players out of position. I can understand the benefit of having a speedy left winger in Gabby, but he's been played there since Chelsea on Jan 2nd and has pretty much been shit every game. Last night was a bit better, but he's not getting into the channels enough, and that's where he's best for us. I thought Downing had a good game in midfield, but I'd rather seen Reo-Coker in there. Maybe it's good to give Reo a rest but now we have Makoun as well so in my opinion he should have played. We're lucky that Man City weren't on top form, because we had to do a lot of chasing which is what Reo does best. If they had have been on top form, the result could have been much different. Overall though, the major difference was the passion and commitment, particularly from the back. Like under O'Neill, those players looked like they would give everything to stop a goal, and under O'Neill that won us a lot of points by itself. We need to see that every week. Also we actually looked organised for once. Everyone knew which players to mark, who to close down. Very rarely did City get a man completely free inside the box, which is a credit to the players and management. Wigan will be a big test though. After we got the point against Chelsea, everyone thought the corner was turned, but then we were absolutely dreadful against Sunderland. We need some consistency, a similar type performance on Tuesday. I'd like to see us go 4-4-2, with Gabby or Heskey supporting Bent. It's ok to play five in midfield against a City midfield five who will own the game, but we should be going all out against Wigan. They're a poor side, as shown by just how dominant Arsenal were. We need to be like that, aggressive and committed. Here's hoping for that sort of display. Up the Villa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Exactly. '4 4 **** 2' please GH. Makoun and Petrov should be able to boss the midfield, in theory. Albrighton and Downing/Ash on the wings, then Bent up top with Gab/Ash/Heskey. Yum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I'm not, though they do have a few defensive problems. If our back 4 plays anywhere near as well as they played last night, I don't see any of Wigan's players making something happen. Unless Rodallega blams one in from 40 yards, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maradona10 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Nzogbia will cause Clark problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Since day one, back him. Never gone back on my word and don't plan to. This. We have to think long-term. Even if Houllier isn't here for more than 3 years, he's building something and I support him in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Nzogbia will cause Clark problems. We'll see. I don't particularly rate the Zog personally, I reckon Clarky'll do a number on him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjie Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 It's amazing what you can do when you actually have a decent amount of players to choose from for every position! Houllier has had to try new things all season to deal with a shortage of players due to quality/injury. Sure every team has injuries, but I'd say Villa has had shortages all over the park. It felt as if last night he had the players he wanted and he was able to use them the way he wanted. edit: I just read the poll. I can't believe that many people want to sack him. That is incredible. He finally gets some transfer funds and so far he's got a quality player at a great price and poached a quality finisher (pun intended). And hes shipped out the bad wood in the locker room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Wouldn't N'Zogbia be on the opposite side to Clark. I thought he was a left sided winger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Wouldn't N'Zogbia be on the opposite side to Clark. I thought he was a left sided winger. Often plays on the right, allowing him to cut in on his left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanpabloangel18 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 edit: I just read the poll. I can't believe that many people want to sack him. That is incredible. He finally gets some transfer funds and so far he's got a quality player at a great price and poached a quality finisher (pun intended). And hes shipped out the bad wood in the locker room. Thats because the thread popped up right around the Liverpool match, and, at that stage, it looked really bad for us. Players revolting, terrible performances... and then GH's love-in immediately afterwards. A lot of us were hurting. I voted sack, in anger, I'll admit. As apparently the majority of VT did. I think if the poll were to be restarted it would look a lot different. This transfer window has truly changed everything. I would certainly vote differently now. But thats cuz I'm a fickle idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggaman Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 It did seem a bit fickle when supporters were singing 'Houllier's claret and blue army' yesterday. Many people wanted him out and suddenly one result and two signings changes that?! Anyway, I'm glad that I wasn't one of the people calling for his head. Although I was starting to doubt him after our previous match in all honesty. I'm not criticising people that called for him to be sacked by the way, as people have a right to their own opinion. He could afterall still end up being sacked come the end of the season, depending on how things go. There is still much work to be done though and this one result does not change that. Hopefully we can go on a good run of form now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I said sack him - and I still want him gone by the end of the season - a £20m bailout doesn't change that - we can't provide GH with £20m every now and then - because he can't motivate the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 because he can't motivate the team.Recent results and performances say otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Back him, done extremely well in the transfer window, got a draw at SHA (should've won really - damn woodwork), got tactics and lineup spot on at City even though we all thought it'd fail...got 3 points there too.. besides Gabby's playing position it was spot on imo. Now we need to look at Wigan and get 3 points there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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