Ratings and Reactions: sha 1-1 villa

[Lombardo]

People are being very harsh on Petrov IMO. I thought he balanced us well today. He didnt do anything spectacular, but that's not his job. He was a calm head. Yes, I think Makoun will do a better job than him but he was no way the worst player on the pitch today.

Downing was shockingly bad. He made so many bad decisions today. He had chances to move the ball out wide on several occasions but chose the more difficult ball most of the time and failed every time. I can't see anyone buying him now. He does not really make me feel confident when he is on the ball. Always almost giving the ball away.

Gabby should be kept up front where he can do damage. He looked far more effective when he was moved up when the Fonz came on.

Carew. Sell him soon, or else we will be claiming him on a scrappage deal. He had the chance today to win back some support but his touch has gone from being good to abysmal. He should have scored on numerous occasions. Annoying that he has gone downhill so quick.

Back 4 look alot more solid. Think it could be because of Petrov's return. Dont think its any surprise that we have looked more of a unit since he came back.

[Stu_The_Villan]

Petrov was the worst player on the pitch, let alone our team, by a country mile!!

[HJ]

Petrov was the worst player on the pitch, let alone our team, by a country mile!!

Derbyshire was comfortably worse than Petrov, didn't even hit the ball when he had a sitter.

[pacbuddies]

Our midfield duo could not contain the likes of Gardner and Ferguson who are below average midfielders. We need someone who will dominate that area like Viera or Keane did for Arsenal and Manure.

[BkkVilla]

I am feeling more confident about climbing the table now.

If you look at our fixture list after Man U it is very favorable

for the Villa, especially if we sign a couple of players.

[beasley14]

Petrov was the worst player on the pitch, let alone our team, by a country mile!!

Derbyshire was comfortably worse than Petrov, didn't even hit the ball when he had a sitter.

Nope Petrov was worse, Derbyshire got no servce bar long balls which isnt his game. It was a poor miss but he hit a vry good shot in the 2nd half. Petrov did nothing all game.

[villatillidie1980]

Thank God we signed a dynamic, energetic CM eh?

Thought. on todays showing, we needed one

[Si.]

The Crossbar was SHA's MOTM.

[tommo]

Friedel 7- good saves, but almost lost it for us at the end.

Walker 7.5- Again looks a player, should keep place over Luke Young on this form.

Dunne 8- One of his better performances.

Collins 8.5*- Ditto Dunne, plus a goal. I called for Cuellar, but he was up for it today.

Clark 5- Looked a fish out of water in the first half, but improved.

Reo Coker 7- A decent shift.

Petrov 4- Anonymous. I'd like to see him make way for Makoun. So ponderous when he had possession.

Albrighton 7.5- Good shift with some dangerous balls. Needs to stop giving away free kicks.

Downing 6.5- Fed up of him playing it square and backwards in good situations. Have some guts man!!

Agbonlahor 6- Not convinced by him in that position.

Carew 3- Oaf.

Delfouneso 7.5- Looked bright, should have started.

Bannan 6- Bright. Not the man you want when balls are pumped into your box though.

Blouse are a very negative and average team and could well be in trouble. Very impressed by Walker, and if we can sign a left back, and slowly replace players who lack ability at this level ie.Carew and Petrov then we can move forwards. It's important we get the mix between youth and experience right though. With Makoun, Delph, Coker, Bannan, Downing, Albie and Young, I think we have the makings of a gritty and creative midfield.

And Delfouneso should be getting more chances, simple as.

[one_ian_taylor]

I'd go with:

Friedel - 8 (deserves it for the save that kept us in the match, would have got a lot less if Zigic had scored at the end

Walker - 7 - great first half apart from his mistake, decent throughout and has a hell of a throw on him. Didn't realise quite how quick he is, he's a beast.

Clark - 7 Decent enough - reliable

Collins - 7 - Pretty solid, great reactions for the goal

Dunne - 7 - One fantastic block almost on the line, starting to return to form and not before time

Petrov - Not great, but not all that bad either - ok on the ball, but didn't get enough of it

Reo Coker - Tidy enough on the ball, bot a dominant performance though

Agbonlahor - 6 - Should have scored early on, desperately needs a goal, but was OK all round

Albrighton - 8 - Worked fantastically hard, showed passion and looked like he was likely to get us back into the game

Downing - 5 Wasteful, below par, I expect better from him

Carew - 6 - Not dominant, but OK considering he has hardly played

Delfouneso - 7.5 - thought he looked very lively, unlucky with his shot, He has great feet and I hope he can carry on developing.

Bannan - 6 showed a couple of nice touches, but looked off the pace and a bit lightweight - not as good as earlier in the season.

[RJA1703]

I started listening to the game about half way through the first half, whilst driving back from Heathrow. It was not until what must have been the 80th minute until Petrov's name was mentioned. I was trying to work out who was in the middle and figured it was Clarke and NRC since both names where mentioned. What a fall from grace Petrov has had. Time for him to move to West Ham when baldy O'Neill rocks up there.

[hopeful.villan]

Yeah Reo coker did the hard work today, trackin back and tackling, neither him nor petrov offered anything goin forward, if anything they hindered us, everytime it cam to them, they stopped, turned, had a look, turned again, stopped and then passed it back.

I'm very certain if we had a midielder who could collect the ball from the back four and actually pick a forward pass that wasnt a hopeful 50 yard punt, we'd have hammered them today.

[Razor]

Delfouneso HAS to start the next few matches, most natural striker we have

[steve-67]

Brave substitutions from GH today, I thought he'd got it wrong with taking NRC off. We did enough to earn at least a point and perhaps could consider ourselves unlucky.

Friedel. Sorry, he's finished. His job IS to stop shots and he does that bit ok but why doesn't he make the angle for a backpass or come off his line to punch more often, to take the pressure off the defence? Carew, goodbye. Thanks for te goals but you're fired. Gabby out on the left was a mistake but he's not the player he was and perhaps needs a run down the middle. We really need some craft in the middle, Petrov is pants.

[Hanky]

Carew hasn't played a game in ages, I thought he was average few poor touches. We were 5 yards off them in centre midfield in the first half for some reason which improved. Had enough chances to win the game.

[QuintonK6]

Would have taken the point before the game but gutted we didn't win with the chances.

The Fonz has gotta start soon he impressed me yet again with his positive attitude and willingness to shoot when he gets the slightest sniff.

On a different note... The small heath fans are a disgrace !! 22000 and 1800 were us for a Derby that was quite possibly the biggest yet due to both teams in the dog fight. We out sang them yet again from start to finish - I'm just glad we aint gotta step foot in that dump again this season as twice is more than enough for 1 season.

[Cuzzz24]

Gabby on left a no no play him up front, Downings a left winger, Petrov looks like he's running on sand, NRC did alright, Collins gives the ball away to much but an thankful for the goal, Big John needs games no cente half would like to play against him we need to get him back to how he was if poss, in truth we should have rightly smashed them

UTV

[Maradona10]

McLeish is deluded, saying his team never gets a pen? Did he see Johnson's hand ball? Did he see how many times his bar was rattled then he goes we were lucky with our equaliser yes the same opener you scored where you think football is pinball you **** TinTin look alike.

[paulanddonya]

Is it two lost or one won - I dont know.

On its own, probably one won, but with Man City to come, I really think we needed a win.

I gave Walker Motm but, I think the problem is, we could have 4 world class defenders and 4 world class midfielders, but until we get a goal who can put the ball in the net, we are going to struggle.

Carew, apart from a few knock ons in the first 20 mins was totally non-existant, and Gabby, well why on earth is he playing on th ewing.

Gutsy performance, which was encouraging, but we need wins quickly.

Lets forget these silly names people are banding about, Man United would find it difficult to get some of the names people think we are going to get.

Lets just get someone who can put a few chances away, get us up the league a bit, and then re-assess when we are safe - Keane / Owen / Bellamy - someone like that.

[JulieB]

MUCH better today IMO, unlucky not to have won. Just need to stay resilient and get a bit of luck and I think we can move away from the drop zone.

This + definitely the crossbar was MOTM for SHA as someone else posted!

Four times in one game!!

We should have won today but least we got a point & are out of the bottom three.

The Fonz is looking better & better. Being in the team that gave Arsenal a drubbing last week 10 -1 can only help his confidence. Would be nice to see Weimman & Gardner given a shot in bit parts in front of goal.