So the dog took me for a really long walk last night and after a long day, I was frankly too shattered to post and just went straight to bed.
I do like walking around Witton lakes at night time though, especially when I can contemplate a good Villa win and the walk was well worth it.
And it was an excellent win; probably the best performance we’ve had under Steve Bruce.
Of course (and no disrespect meant), it was only Burton Albion, but this was a side that recently beat Fulham and held QPR, hence they’re not quite the whipping boys we might expect they’d be.
I know that many of us think we ought to be beating a club the size of Burton easily, every time we play them,
but as we saw last season, it’s not quite that straightforward.
But we didn’t only beat them, we whupped them soundly.
The difference in quality was massive and when we scored the second, I’d got in my head that we could have got a boatload of goals. I even posted on here at the time, “we want six!”.
And I reckon we probably could have got them, if we’d really kept at it.
I’ve seen comments where some thought Whelan was poor, but I can’t say I noticed it myself and the whole team just looked a class apart. Could we really have performed so well all round while carrying a poor player in a crucial position?
I’m not convinced and even if he was poor, he’ll get in a 4-0 winning side any day, for me.
Whatever, the point is that we’ve won our last two away games, having scored seven and conceded none.
There’s just no way you can knock that, especially when the big criticism has been that we can’t win away.
We have some tougher games coming up, but even Wolves suddenly doesn’t look quite so scary, given that I’ve just seen that they’ve lost 2-0 to Sheffield Wednesday.
No doubt some of the comments will revolve around the fact that we’ve only beaten the poorer teams, but for me it’s at least a start and you can only beat what’s put in front of you.
Most importantly, we’re winning and building momentum, which is massively important, as we saw in the way we were relegated. Confidence seems to be growing too and it’s demonstrated in the way we’ve played.
Put it this way; I don’t recall the last time we looked this decent.
Of course, this is the Villa we’re talking about and things could easily change, just as they have in the last couple of weeks.
But as it stands at the moment, I think we’re looking pretty good.
One final note.
A workmate of mine, who supports Liverpool, attended the game and was well impressed with the Villa following, who he said sang from start to finish.
Which just backs up what we already knew really. Our away support is truly excellent.
Roll on, or should that be over?, Bolton.
Yes you are getting carried away. The Burton result is a real shot in the arm, but as Andrew posted in the previous thread, after Bolton we have some tough games. These will tell us where we stand, and that’s assuming we don’t screw up with Bolton.
If we beat Bolton and get 8 points or more from the next 4 games I will be a lot more convinced.
ds
8 points is a minimum needed after start to season,chester and taylor have 2 big internationals coming and we have no cover for either
Not winning against struggling teams is a worry. We’ve been doing that for a long, long time.
I’m not sure I see your point Bum Bum.
We’ve beaten Barnsley and Burton, who are both pretty much struggling.
Bolton SHOULD be a banker.
We’ve tended to be average against the better rated sides and this is where the real test will be. Wolves are not unbeatable and the Blues is a derby, so you never know. But we should beat them.
I’d suggest that there’s no outstanding teams this season and Villa, if they play as well as they have over the last couple of games are capable of beating anyone in this league.
I’ve previously said that our squad doesn’t look as good as it could, but it’s still amongst the best and this will tell over the season.
The likes of Cardiff won’t be there at the end, imo.
End of the day, if we can’t keep winning consistently, we won’t be going up, simple.
But a good wind and a bit of luck and it’s all possible.
I think he’s saying we are no longer doing that, which is good! Hope so otherwise a somewhat incomprehensible comment
Well spotted Sid!
I will make myself clearer then Mr Badger, I was trying to say in a hamfisted way, that a club like Villa should be getting the majority of the points from ‘lesser’ teams, newly promoted sides etc, but since MON left and L******r was shafting the club, the smaller teams could smell blood and rolled us over on a far too regular basis. Look at some of the disastrous and embarrassing cup results we’ve had!!! …and we’ve also been relegated. Now we seem to be reversing this finally. We need to get our self respect back, and although things ain’t 100%, we’re at least moving in the right direction.
We’ve been lucky that there are no outstanding teams at the top. Suddenly we are just 5 points off automatic. We can definitely get playoffs. But with a good run you never know. Still not in the playoffs yet. Even after a win against Bolton we may not be. But things looking a lot better.
Exactly my point, Owen.
It’s a long season and the truth is Bruce is quite right in suggesting that we’re good enough.
But it’s easy to get caught up in the furore when things are going wrong, as they were for the first few weeks.
Just as it is when things are going well, as they have been lately.
I’m happy to say I get caught up, the same as anyone else.
It’s why footy is miles apart from any other sport, imo.
And long may it continue 🙂