Denis_B Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Not win that and McLeish will rightly get plenty of stick Blimey, don't you think he deserves it now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted December 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 26, 2011 Liverpool still haven't won an away league game at Stoke since they came back up nor have we, it's a tough place to go, we've gone there before now and been robbed, we've gone there before and been totally outplayed, neither of those things happened tonight, its a decent result, especially considering Stoke are probably even better at what they do (which is horrible) this season than any other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy1 Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 I know I shouldn't be surprised at negativity on VT but I thought we played well tonight, just lacked a bit of cutting edge and clinical finishing required. We did have most of the possession and created the best chances - positives there surely?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 The thing we need to remember in a VP crowd is how many in there really use the Internet regularly? Now considering the crowd mix will contain females, plenty of 50 + blokes and young kids, I'd say it's a reasonably low percentage. So I think the vitrol aimed on here isn't being replicated at the ground as people see us selling our best players and expect mid table results which we are getting (last season Houllier was getting flak as we still had Young and Downing and he was coming up with some bizarre team selections). IMO for all McLeish's faults and dire football we haven't an awful home result quite yet to rival Wolves and Sunderland last season when Houllier was getting heapfuls of abuse at the end. Manure was really poor for most of the game but then if you look back last 15 years against them at VP, that's generally the way it's gone with them, same as against Liverpool. Arsenal was a spirited defeat and while losing to WBA was poor, we lost Herd at a crucial stage of the game for a ridiculous red card. Swansea will come and have a go, if we're not right they could turn us over and then McLeish will be getting plenty of flak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanky Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 McLeish has always been afraid to lose a game. The problem is that small heath went down last season because they drew to many games. Long term (over a season) we'd be better going to win some games and losing, because eventually we'll get some right and start winning. However trundling along as we are we will stay in the bottom half of the league. Tonight we had potential to go and win that game in the last 20 minutes as Stoke were utter dross, but again we chose to sit back like we did against Swansea, QPR (although we were winning at the time), Newcastle etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 McLeish has always been afraid to lose a game. The problem is that small heath went down last season because they drew to many games. Long term (over a season) we'd be better going to win some games and losing, because eventually we'll get some right and start winning. However trundling along as we are we will stay in the bottom half of the league. Tonight we had potential to go and win that game in the last 20 minutes as Stoke were utter dross, but again we chose to sit back like we did against Swansea, QPR (although we were winning at the time), Newcastle etc.I agree. We just seem to be content with drawing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted December 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 26, 2011 20 points from 18 games in a 36 game season says it all for me. Simply not good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Tbf I think AM has avoided a fair chunk of criticism at VP because a fair few people are avoiding VP... At least Merson was talking about it on sky earlier, when asked if we hate him so much why aren't we up in arms like Blackburn merse said villa fans would sooner vote with their feet and he's not far off IMO there are about 8k fans that would rather stay at home than go and boo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted December 26, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 26, 2011 Lets see what the home attendances are in the new year shall we... the recent fixtures and the time of year mask the lack of support he really has in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOne Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Every manager who's come here has had their name chanted. I haven't heard anyone chant McLeish's name. Says it all really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeps Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 I think these draws will cost us. I know it's points on the board but 8 draws is alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamosMiAstonVilla Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 After Chelsea we will be exactly half-way through the season with only 20 points (maybe 21 at best) it doesn't take a Mathematician to work out our projected points total is 40! Not only is that shocking it's damn worrying. We'd better hope when this lot of fixtures come around again we are safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VamosMiAstonVilla Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Liverpool still haven't won an away league game at Stoke since they came back up nor have we, it's a tough place to go, we've gone there before now and been robbed, we've gone there before and been totally outplayed, neither of those things happened tonight, its a decent result, especially considering Stoke are probably even better at what they do (which is horrible) this season than any other. They've lost to both QPR and Newcastle at home and tonight they were there for the taking. This tough place to go lark is a bit of a myth. Eastlands/Old Trafford are tough places to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 McLeish should be nowhere near a Premiership side. It is literally as simple as that. Nothing but a massive regression , empty seats will happen under him. He is fraud , out his depth and utterly clueless. 3 years of this? **** off. Everyone knows this and yet our idiot board stand over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Too scared to lose. We'll either scrape a draw or fall to a defeat. 38 games, 38 draws = 38 points. 38 games, go for wins and say win half = 57 points. Rather simplistic but it proves a point. AMC is out of his depth and will never be a success here, I suspect mostly through his own ineptness but we have to admit, given his history both with previous clubs and his start here, it will be almost impossible to turn things around regardless now; people will just hate him. My brother and I were discussing this over Christmas dinner (although he's an Arsenal fan) and my Mum (who hates football) actually got involved - even she couldn't understand the concept of hiring a 'boss who had previously failed'. And that's as simple as it gets; we've hired a manager who has history of being extremely poor, defensive and taken teams down and given him free reign of our club. What did we expect? The blame lies with Lerner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NowDoINotLikeThat Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 He should be up in court for crimes against football . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOne Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 4 wins out of 18. 4 home defeats out of 5. 5 games out of 7 where we've failed to score. But don't worry, AM has managed to pick up a point against Stoke, not a top 4 team or top 6 team, STOKE and we didn't even win. Hurrah, our cup final of the season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LockStockVilla Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Liverpool still haven't won an away league game at Stoke since they came back up nor have we, it's a tough place to go, we've gone there before now and been robbed, we've gone there before and been totally outplayed, neither of those things happened tonight, its a decent result, especially considering Stoke are probably even better at what they do (which is horrible) this season than any other. They've lost to both QPR and Newcastle at home and tonight they were there for the taking. This tough place to go lark is a bit of a myth. Eastlands/Old Trafford are tough places to go. Ask any professional footballer and they will disagree with you. If you have ever stepped foot into the Britannia you will quickly realize what makes this such a tough place to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danceoftheshamen Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Well trying to be as positive as possible i thought it at least stopped the rot of successive defeats.. Defence- We battled well & defended much better though it's clearly the sides with a bit of finesse we can't defend against rather than the likes of Stoke... Still it does look like the defence is at last starting to tighten up somewhat & compete better. Thought we looked so much more solid with Cuellar back at RB instead of Hutton. Midfield- So little creativity it's scary.. I thought Albrighton was shocking tonight i have to say as was NZog... Both got in loads of good positions but what they did from there was frankly amateurish. This for me is a major part of our problem...Bannan, Albrighton, Nzog, Delph & Fonz are simply not producing with anywhere near enough consistency & all look completely bereft of confidence... They need dropping in my opinion but for whom exactly?! Strikers- Well this for me wouldve been exactly the game Bent would have nicked for us... As it was Gabby was looking decent & i actually thought Heskey influenced the game very well in the 1st half & was instrumental in upsetting their rhythm.. Hit the post too & that was the 1st game he has impressed me in this season! As for fonz? Well i thought he looked & retained posession better.. To summise i thought there were actually signs that McCleish was starting to finally stamp his mark on us defensively & with a couple of additions in Jan (which we desperately need) particularly in midfield i think we can stabilise & ensure we remain in this division... Then start to move on in the summer with some badly needed investment.. It's not pretty but this season is now all about surviving for me. We ain't gonna win jot thats for certain so it's clearly a massive transitional season nothing more. I have to say we all, including me, come on here moaning etc but the fact is nobody appeared to want to manage this club given the impossible set of instructions that came with it... Martinez, Benitez, & goodness knows how many others all came, heard the circumstances & ran away asap from the job EVEN THE WIGAN MANAGER FFS! so for me it's higher up than AMC that we have to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 4 wins out of 18. 4 home defeats out of 5. 5 games out of 7 where we've failed to score. But don't worry, AM has managed to pick up a point against Stoke, not a top 4 team or top 6 team, STOKE and we didn't even win. Hurrah, our cup final of the season!I don't understand the incredibly positive reactions to the game. Yes it was a point at Stoke (who are quite hard to play at home) and yes we didn't play too badly, but was it really that great? People are acting like we've just gone to Old Trafford or Middle Eastlands, given them a good game and come away with a point. This is Stoke FFS. They were poor today and we didn't create an awful lot of chances. As the game drew to a close we seemed content with the point instead of trying to go for the win. I guess people have just become so used to dire performances, that when we're mediocre, we look like world-beaters. Swansea game could be very ugly if we lose it, hence why McLeish will set us up to draw and it'll be yet another 0-0 snooze fest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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