VillaGoMarching Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Bolton game is massive, i'm say whatever the outcome of that will decide whether we stay up or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 i think liverpool game is going to be re-arranged due to fa cup How is our PL game with Liverpool on 7th April going to be affected by their FA Cup Semi Final with Everton on 14th April? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyAVFC Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 If Spurs get to the FA Cup final then our game against them will be rearranged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 If Spurs get to the FA Cup final then our game against them will be rearranged. By that point it probably won't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2012 Above and beyond the fact that you play every team twice ("lol" at those who made the brilliant observation), there is an element of luck in having games fall at times when you'd want them to. I'll take Man Utd on the first day over having them on the final day thanks. I'll take the Spurs that played this March over the one that played from week 9 thru 14. I'll take the Blackburn that started the season over the one that's there now. I'll take a home game on the final day over an away game. That's 'luck'. There's also the not-insignificant psychology of being at certain positions in the league. If you start well and are near the top, you play with a spring in your step. That spring is there simply by being in that position and it might only be because of the forgiving start to your campaign that you were dealt. The reverse is also true. Teams with tough starts who languish near the bottom can often have their game, or a part of their season affected by simply being down there and being afraid to make a mistake for fear of staying down there. Then there's the smaller stuff the likes of which the OP refers to. Games being re-arranged because of unavoidable things like the Muamba incident. Not every team will have that happen to them. It happened to us. The Bolton we will play next might very well be better than the one we would have originally faced, if only because of the Muamba factor. That's not something that balances out over a 20 team season. That is something unique to the Villa/Bolton game. So to those deep thinkers who don't acknowledge that there is any kind of luck to how and where certain games fall, I don't know what else I can say other than just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Whilst I agree to an extent with the comments of BOF (especially with the unfortunate incident with Muamba) there will be no team in the history books that will have 'went down due to bad luck' in their editorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2012 No argument there pacbuddies and yet you can be sure there will be those whose otherwise bad seasons were exacerbated by getting the wrong teams at the wrong times, or enhanced by getting the right teams at the right times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 No argument there pacbuddies and yet you can be sure there will be those whose otherwise bad seasons were exacerbated by getting the wrong teams at the wrong times, or enhanced by getting the right teams at the right times Admittedly it might help if the fixtures panned out in a certain favourable way sometimes but if the manager is any good and the team is any good then over the course of a 38 game season a good finishing position will be had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 29, 2012 Oh don't worry, this isn't trying to absolve McLeish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Oh don't worry, this isn't trying to absolve McLeish Never thought it was. Even the Pope couldn't absolve McLeish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picicata Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 As BOF says, there are elements of luck to when you get fixtures. In truth though we couldn't have asked for an easier run of games at the start of the season, but that easy run was wasted by a manager who was concentrating on not losing rather than winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McGregor1888 Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 It doesent matter when we play it,they are one of the elite teams if they are elite then so are VillaAn elite club with a less than elite first 11 at the moment. Let's just hope we don't get them on one of their good days because they are elite on their day. And Villa have a habit of helping teams & players to either break a duck of some description or come out of a bad run of form. We're nice like that. Liverpool's owner is worth less than ours. They sit in seventh place and have lost to QPR and Wigan on the bounce. They're not an "elite" team...although I wouldn't be surprised to hear our manager describe them as such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.V.F.C Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Above and beyond the fact that you play every team twice ("lol" at those who made the brilliant observation), there is an element of luck in having games fall at times when you'd want them to. I'll take Man Utd on the first day over having them on the final day thanks. I'll take the Spurs that played this March over the one that played from week 9 thru 14. I'll take the Blackburn that started the season over the one that's there now. I'll take a home game on the final day over an away game. That's 'luck'. There's also the not-insignificant psychology of being at certain positions in the league. If you start well and are near the top, you play with a spring in your step. That spring is there simply by being in that position and it might only be because of the forgiving start to your campaign that you were dealt. The reverse is also true. Teams with tough starts who languish near the bottom can often have their game, or a part of their season affected by simply being down there and being afraid to make a mistake for fear of staying down there. Then there's the smaller stuff the likes of which the OP refers to. Games being re-arranged because of unavoidable things like the Muamba incident. Not every team will have that happen to them. It happened to us. The Bolton we will play next might very well be better than the one we would have originally faced, if only because of the Muamba factor. That's not something that balances out over a 20 team season. That is something unique to the Villa/Bolton game. So to those deep thinkers who don't acknowledge that there is any kind of luck to how and where certain games fall, I don't know what else I can say other than just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. Thank you. Some serious idiots on this site, obviously I am fully aware that we are in this position because of our own inability to win fixtures and, would you believe it, I know we play every side twice. There is definitely an element of luck when it comes to 2 fixtures in 3 days and one team is at home to a relegation candidate and one team is away to a Europa League candidate prior to the fixture where they meet, as there is an element of luck that a fixture we were positive about, was one we'd expect to win, is suddenly re-arranged because Muamba suffers a serious heart scare. The Bolton we play that day could well be a different proposition to the one we play. Also, I am not making excuses for McLeish, I dislike McLeish with intensity, it was merely an observation of when it rains it pours and looking at those remaining fixtures and their placement, it's going to pour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Regardless of who we play and when we play them we are normally rubbish. Injuries just gives Mcleish a different excuse to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overdubber Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Luck one way or the other, it simply does not disguise the fact that the football we are delivering this season is simply dire. As several have mentioned, we have blown away the simpler part of the season, so really it is our own fault that we are on the verge of being dragged into the relegation swamp. It is also notable that several teams down there are improving their performances, whereby ours currently stagnates. Getting to the point where a draw will not be enough to keep us above the relegation zone, whereby on paper our team is way too good for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Liverpool's owner is worth less than ours. They sit in seventh place and have lost to QPR and Wigan on the bounce. They're not an "elite" team...although I wouldn't be surprised to hear our manager describe them as such. They were an elite team about a quarter of a century ago but that is recent enough for McLeish to use as an excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Above and beyond the fact that you play every team twice ("lol" at those who made the brilliant observation), there is an element of luck in having games fall at times when you'd want them to. I'll take Man Utd on the first day over having them on the final day thanks. I'll take the Spurs that played this March over the one that played from week 9 thru 14. I'll take the Blackburn that started the season over the one that's there now. I'll take a home game on the final day over an away game. That's 'luck'. There's also the not-insignificant psychology of being at certain positions in the league. If you start well and are near the top, you play with a spring in your step. That spring is there simply by being in that position and it might only be because of the forgiving start to your campaign that you were dealt. The reverse is also true. Teams with tough starts who languish near the bottom can often have their game, or a part of their season affected by simply being down there and being afraid to make a mistake for fear of staying down there. Then there's the smaller stuff the likes of which the OP refers to. Games being re-arranged because of unavoidable things like the Muamba incident. Not every team will have that happen to them. It happened to us. The Bolton we will play next might very well be better than the one we would have originally faced, if only because of the Muamba factor. That's not something that balances out over a 20 team season. That is something unique to the Villa/Bolton game. So to those deep thinkers who don't acknowledge that there is any kind of luck to how and where certain games fall, I don't know what else I can say other than just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. Good post that BOF. Absolutely spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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