Truth time it is then and the reality is that I didn’t really expect to win this one.
Yes, I said I was confident on here, but I was telling the lads at work that I’d be very happy with the draw.
I think it stems from the criticism a while back, that the site was overly negative and me not wanting it to seem like that.
That said, my overall confidence is genuine and when we’ve been achieving results, well, you just can’t be negative, can you? There’s also no better time to be optimistic.
Anyway, the point of my admission is to say that I don’t believe this was a bad result.
Apart from the fact that our excellent run had to end sometime, it’s also no disgrace losing to a good Fulham side that have an excellent record at home.
Of course, it wasn’t a good result either, but what’s more important is how we bounce back from it.
In that sense, I think we’ll be ok.
What’s more disconcerting is that the performance was pretty disjointed.
There’s the valid excuse that we missed Grealish and Adomah, but that makes it a bit worrying that the team seems so reliant on them to make us creative.
Then again, losing two of your best players against a team performing very well, will always be a big problem and while Steve Bruce shuffled the team round to try and adapt, so it didn’t really work and he might have to look for another solution.
So what’s the point of this post?
The truth is I don’t really know and I’m just musing on the possibilities.
Much depends on how long both Grealish and Adomah are out, particularly together, as we could probably stand just one of them being out of the side.
Get at least one back in and things will be better.
But as it stands, both are looking doubtful for the Preston game, which will make that one another tough contest.
I’m not offering any thoughts as to what we should do to try to remedy things, as the manager is very much his own man and will do what he wants, regardless of what we think.
And I’ve no reason to doubt him anyway, as we’re still sat in a very decent position, as much as these latest injuries might make things immediately more difficult.
“Twists and turns”, I keep reminding myself.
It’s what makes the Championship such an interesting league.
And frankly, much better than the Prem, I’m finding more and more.
Whilst its not a disaster, I do fear is has cost us automatic promotion as Fulham are only 4 points behind now and I can’t see us finishing above them -having watched them closely yesterday their fluidity and comfort in possession was far superior to us. They are a far better side than their points total suggests.
I do think we’ll finish 3rd as I don’t think Derby have the consistency and Cardiff will drop off a bit but just don’t fancy us in a play off lottery, every time we’ve come up against the better sides in the division this season we’ve fallen short and thats a major concern. No doubt we need Albert and Jack back asap though because we weren’t a threat at all yesterday.
I agree that 2nd is between Villa, Derby, Cardiff and Fulham and of those, again I agree that Fulham are the most likely. Again you are right in that we have lost to all three away from home but beat Fulham at Villa Park (and please don’t knock it by saying Fulham weren’t at their best). 2nd could well depend on how we do against Derby and Cardiff at home.
I don’t agree that Fulham are a foregone conclusion for second.
Going to be an interesting few weeks.
UTV
Villan1, I’m not convinced you need to beat the teams at your level at all.
It’s about beating all the others, although it helps of course.
I suppose what I mean is, it’s more about being consistent over the season.
And did you miss the point in the previous post I made, where Fulham still have to play 5 of the top eight in the next 3 weeks?
If they do well in those, then yes, I’ll concede we might be struggling for second place.
In the meantime, there’s still a long way to go and those “twists and turns” will come into it.
Here, I’m 100% convinced we have the best manager to cope with it all.
It’s ours to throw away, imo.
Aargh – in moderation again!
You’d mis-spelt your mail addy, Hitch.
Note the different symbol by your name.
Not much we can do about that, I’m afraid 🙂
Ah – thanks Badger. Must take care to keep my thumbs out of the way!
Aston Villa fans have called for Callum O’Hare to be given a chance on Tuesday evening.
Villa are next in action tomorrow evening, when they take on Preston North End.
The claret and blues are likely to be without Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah in midweek, with the pair both struggling for fitness.
This is what I’ve tried to say , I’m not on my own then, just been reading how fans are asking Bruce to show some guts and realize they need that chance.
i disagree with playing ohare. he is not bloody ready by a long way. i might be getting old but i still can remember things. like his last game against posh he played. he did nothing to influence that game. he was given a run around by a league 1 team.
our youth players are not the emergency answer. we have a squad of professional players paid professional wages. we have enough in the squad to cover these injuries. the guy on loan grabban can play on the wing. lansbury is back fit. birikir can play on the wing too.
ppl were saying give mckirdy a chance not long back. put him up front. he cant force himself in the crewe starting 11. face the facts they are great but not bloody ready and shoving them in front of a firing squad will not make them ready any quicker
Well that’s it then , both won’t be playing tomorrow, young girl with her son met both players at body more and was told won’t be playing tomorrow. What a blow to Villa that is, I just hope its a ply to throw the media.
ross mccormack is picking up 50kpluss wages so i think i would be calling him up if i was desperate enough to pick the kids
Who’s faults that then Nath, put yourself to when you was 18 did you think you was a kid? I say you could do anything at that age, players like McCormack is playing the system, players we nurture are fighting for the good times.
its not the time to play ohare. i know hes not ready is obvious. he can have good moments, but against posh he was well off the pace. hit or miss is not the answer. i was 18 once and i thought i was like mark walters but i wasn’t more like ian ormandroyd .
we have to trust the management team. they have enough proffessionals top call upon than throwing a raw kid in that is more likely to sink than swim
if grealish is not playing. then you need to change the style. only reason we have started to make chances and looking better with the ball is all down to grealish not the new coach,
i would revert back to the davis playing. he gives us a platform a good field position. 442
davis / hogan
birkir whelen hourihane snoddy
hutton terry chester tuanzebe
jonstone
thats my team
Villa u23 are beating Wolves 3-1 25 minutes
which under 23 kids are playing in that game. if ohare is playing in that game. he will not be playing in the tuesday game
He is playing in that game,
To be fair to O’hare against Posh, Bruce had changed the entire team from the previous game so even if Grealish was fit for that game he would have struggled to fit in. I would like O’hare on the bench tomorrow instead of Whelan and ease him into the team if we are winning or drawing. I think Grabban could play Adomahs position, and time for Lansbury to come in for Grealish instead of Onomah. Grabban scored goals for a struggling Sunderland team with few chances created. If things are going badly switch to 4-4-2 with Davis and Hogan or Grabban.
to be fair the team that played against posh were all decent players. they just didnt play. posh wanted it more. they outplayed the villa team. including ohare. only player that performed was davis,
excuses excuses youth players start when they are performing to high standards in training and when they get chances like the posh game. they stand out which he never.
mckirdy has gone out on loan also suliman both ignored by bruce. with good reason like ohare they are not ready for 1st team. why else would crewe not play mckirdy and grimsby not play suliman or are they under bruces orders not to play um from the start.
if ohare is playing tonight then hes not involved tomorrow. so ypu all have your excuses if and when we lose, should have played ohare
O’hare and Hepburn Murphy starring for U23s so unlikely either will feature tomorrow night
Blackett-Taylor with 2 goals and Hepburn Murphy the other.
4-1 o hare.
5-1 now,
6-1 now.
O dear 6-2 by the way Delph been sent off.🐍
Hope this is repeated for first eleven against Wolves. Trouble is Bruce is scared to blood the kids. He would rather play another clubs kids or has beens like Whelan. You will never know if they can make the grade unless given game time. I appreciate Bruce has to take credit for turning things round but I wished he was braver in some of the games when picking team.
Holte my sentiment, we will never know will we. I’m not saying bang them in and hope for the best, but let them see a first team game when it looks safe.
A guy I know from work will be delighted Bill because his son Alex Prosser scores the sixth.
One criticism that you could apply to team against Fulham was it lacked youth. Outfield players apart from Tuanzebe who was ironically our best player were all nearly 30 or older. Teams like Fulham dominate possession so much of game was chasing the ball. Could be reason for our second half performance when older players tire. Without Grealish we tend to surrender possession to most teams, so need more youth coming through otherwise Dr Xia will have to get his cheque book out in the summer again.