Ratings and Reactions: Bradford 3-1 Villa

[bradarmstrong_]

If these players cannot even be bothered to fight for the shirt against a League 2 team then I will find it hard to bring myself back to Villa Park in the near future. If they don't give a toss about the fans and this club then why should I line their pockets with my money? Disgusted.

[John]

Beneke has cost us 2/3 goals from set pieces, he shouldn't be allowed in our box any more.

Good point. Leaving him up front would leave them needing to keep players back to cover him (including the odd defender who might otherwise score from a set piece)and it would stop those in our box thinking he may have a player covered when the evidence suggests he rarely does.

[dakid007]

We have to play 3 in midfield I don't know which combination but we are way too fragile in the midddle

[Bladerunner]

Garbage. I'm not even sure what the tactics or formation were, there didn't appear to be any.

We'll stick 4 past em at VP.........well that's what I keep telling myself.

Edited January 9, 2013 by Bladerunner

[nycVILLA]

Imagine we get through, then play like this at the final...

I can't believe that I have lost faith in Paul Lambert and the current squad as quickly as I have.

We need Warnock and Hutton back ASAP... I never thought I would say that.

We need some Grit as soon as we can.

[rendelc]

Speechless . Absolute shite defending . Southampton must be licking their lips . If we lose on saturday then Lambert will be gone IMHO.

[TRO]

Well that was embarrassing. Wonder if any of those Bradford boys are for sale this winter?

don't worry Briny we would soon knock it out of them if they signed.they would soon be like us ..for sure.

[vivahate]

Don't really want us to get to the final if we are just going to get destroyed by Chelsea again. Conceding 6+ goals at Wembley would be horrible.

Edited January 9, 2013 by vivahate

[Harry]

Speechless . Absolute shite defending . Southampton must be licking their lips . If we lose on saturday then Lambert will be gone IMHO.

The way we are playing at the moment there is zero chance of us beating Southampton and I predict it getting ugly at Villa Park on Saturday.

[MrDuck]

Anyone thinking we might do a "Tranmere" needs to look at our useless **** team, then look at this:

Bosnich

Barrett

Staunton

Teale

McGrath

Richardson

Townsend

Daley

Saunders

Atkinson

Houghton

THAT'S why we beat Tranmere and won the Cup

Not a single player in the current squad good enough to have got in that team above. Not even close.

[skarroki]

Early days, it's gonna be a long road. People need to see this.

I do hope people stop saying this. I don't want to seem like i'm attacking you in particular, just this mentality. "A long road" should not mean piss poor performances one after another, dragging the club through the dirt, losing to a **** league 2 team that aren't even that **** good in the 4th division. We're setting records right left and centre.

I don't know how it can be changed now though, dropped us completely in the shit the last 3 seasons with no way out

[TRO]

Anyone thinking we might do a "Tranmere" needs to look at our useless **** team, then look at this:

Bosnich

Barrett

Staunton

Teale

McGrath

Richardson

Townsend

Daley

Saunders

Atkinson

Houghton

THAT'S why we beat Tranmere and won the Cup

simple really isn't it

surprised no one else noticed that fundamental bit of criteria....the team.

[Mantis]

Imagine we get through, then play like this at the final...

I can't believe that I have lost faith in Paul Lambert and the current squad as quickly as I have.

We need Warnock and Hutton back ASAP... I never thought I would say that.

We need some Grit as soon as we can.

We really don't need Hutton back. He's dreadful and Lowton's been decent.

Warnock? Well, I'd never thought I'd say this but maybe we could do with recalling him. Would rather buy a proper LB though.

[Borgs]

Bennett was getting absolute dogs abuse from within yards of the villa fans

Yes he was shite but how on earth can that help?

I agree on the abuse there and I fear for bennett on sat. hes a shit player but booing him is stupid. seems like the kinda kid whod burst into tears if it happened at VP. Hes not good enough but his fault he gets picked.

I second the above. Disgusted in people behaving like that, no matter how badly he played.

Don't really want us to get to the final if we are just going to get destroyed by Chelsea again. Conceding 6+ goals at Wembley would be horrible.

Not interested in the Europa League? Being a finalist might be enough.

[skarroki]

Yet again the reactions are brilliant.

I am not suprised by the result.

I am not suprised by Bent going off 'Again'!

I will be very suprised if we are not at Wembley come Febuary.

I don't know what the **** you've been taking this last month but you need to start selling it outside Villa Park. To slate fans for being disappointed at losing constantly and embarrassingly is not on.

We have to recall every villa player out on loan and get the whole team together

Agree with this. Something has to change and this would shake things up, if nothing else. Get the entire squad together and see what happens. Making full internationals train with the kids, whilst these no hopers are out on the pitch serving this up is abysmal. I'm not saying hutton and warnock are good, i think they are tripe too, but at least they are tripe that had to fight against relegation before.

Not interested in the Europa League? Being a finalist might be enough.

Only the winners get europa league unfortunately

Edited January 9, 2013 by skarroki

[Daniel]

Just got back. Embarrassed to ****. Long ball after long ball. Worse than the shit Mcleish dished up.

[parisvilla]

Can't agree with the slating of Delph and Bannan. It was a genuine midfield 2 for us against their 4, they were completely exposed by crap tactics from Lambert. Little or no movement in front of them, and less said about the defence behind them the better.

Bennett was obviously abysmal but Lowton isn't much cop either. Neither seems to get past the half way line and yet still let runners inside and/or behind them.

Embarrassing doesn't really do tonight justice but the tie is far from over. Hopefully Lambert will realise his buy "young & hungry" (cheap & shit) isn't the way forward and we'll have purchased a couple of proper players in time for the second leg.

[AvfcRigo82]

I don't know what the **** you've been taking this last month but you need to start selling it outside Villa Park. To slate fans for being disappointed at losing constantly and embarrassingly is not on.

Who's slating anyone? I commented on peoples reactions as 'Brilliant'.

It is clear you and 91% of Villa Talk is pissed off after tonight and that is acceptable.

For me its the results of December and the team displays over the last 7 games that have now made your pint glasses overflow and out pours all the frustration that's built up in this time. It is natural.

There is a reason why Lambert is going to be one of the top managers in this league and now whilst in the thick of it is not the time to drive him out.

As a certain chairman of a football club said to the fans: WHERE ARE YOU?.. WHERE ARE YOU?.. LET'S BE A'VIN YOU!!

.

Edited January 9, 2013 by AvfcRigo82

[VillaAndLoyal]

Just got back. I've backed Paul Lambert from the start but my patience has been worn to a thread after that utterly disgraceful performance tonight. The only reason I'm not vocally calling for his head is because 1.) I can't think of who on earth would take on this god awful mess, 2.) I think he deserves a January transfer window and 3.) I do believe chopping and changing managers is bad for the club.

But, let's be honest, so far Lambert looks clueless in terms of tactics, he bewilderingly leaves out better players game after game (Ireland & Bent), he doesn't seem to be able to change a game, he doesn't seem like he can motivate the players, his post-match interviews are quite frankly cringe-worthy (sometimes, Paul, it is better to say it as it is), he keeps breaking all these god awful 'records', we've conceded the most goals in the PL, we've scored the fewest, and overall I'm just majorly concerned that this policy of buying 'just youth' has backfired spectacularly...

For the first 10/15 minutes we played well but Benteke in particular missed some great chances and then as soon as they scored we just collapsed, AGAIN, apart from this was against a League Two side in the semi-final of the cup. For me, the two fundamental things that are wrong is the whole of our defence (which is not PL quality) and the centre of our midfield. Delph and Bannan were both playing like defensive midfielders in that first half, both passing sideways and there was always a huge gap between them and our front players - that gap is MIDFIELD where they should have been.

Andi Wiemann got so frustrated with this that he started drifting deep, picking up the ball and looking for a positive pass and move forwards, but he can't do it all himself. Bannan and Delph would struggle to form a partnership in the Championship - they are not Premier League standard players. Simple as that.

Our defence is just god awful. Nervous, out-of-position, in fact just about everything that could be wrong, is. Joe Bennett should be nowhere near a PL team - he's worse than Warnock and that is something I never thought I would say. The number of times he jumped in tonight like Bambi and was left for dead was just embarrassing. It reminded me of when I once played left-back and hadn't a clue what I was supposed to do playing there. Lowton, especially in the first-half, had an absolute nightmare of a game. Time after time he would lose the ball and Bradford would set off down his flank.

I've been hopeful that a lot of these youngsters will come good but, after seeing them up against a team 3 divisions below, that myth (if it ever was one) has been blown clean out of the water. A lot of them are just not good enough and, as most of them are around 20-23, they never will be.

One more thing, it was crucial tonight we got at least a draw to take back to Villa Park. Why on earth did Lambert start with 3/4 attackers on the pitch? Was he a bit too disrespectful to Bradford's attacking talent? He just seems to make wild errors of judgement for me and, yes we had chances, but so did they too. This was not just a case of us not being able to finish, they hit the bar and could have easily had another 4 themselves.

That, against Bradford City, is not acceptable. Fans were rightly going apeshit at the final whistle and then you still had idiots like Bennett clapping us for a good 60 seconds, almost as if to wind us up further. I've never seen a player clap for that long after a win, let alone after you embarrassed yourself against lower league opposition in a really big game. Sometimes it is far more dignified to leave the field with your head bowed. You had nothing to clap about son, learn to play football.

[VillaAndLoyal]

Erm, AvfcRigo82, "There is a reason why Lambert is going to be one of the top managers in this league and now whilst in the thick of it is not the time to drive him out." - what is that reason and where is the evidence to suggest as such? Just wondering.