Well, after all my bluster about how much I’d missed football in general while I was on holiday and how much I was looking forward to the Liverpool game….. I fell asleep and the missus couldn’t wake me up, meaning I didn’t get to see it!
I’d basically been awake for over 24 hours and just needed to sleep, but I haven’t been so annoyed with myself for years.
Hence I can’t comment about any aspect of the game, as I haven’t even seen the goal, let alone any highlights.
It was a brilliant result regardless of how we played though and I actually got a prediction correct for once, when I said I thought we’d nick it.
From what I’ve read, it seems we played really well for the first 20 minutes or so and then sat back.
I expect if I’d actually seen the game I’d have been complaining about that, as it bores me to tears.
But at the end of the day the result is all that matters I suppose and that’s why I’m asking the headline question.
While I’ve often questioned Paul Lambert’s tactics and methods, the undeniable fact is that we’ve got 10 points out of 12, which has us sitting nicely in second position.
Who’d have thought it?
I certainly didn’t, for a start and I doubt many of us did either; at least not seriously. But isn’t it a great feeling for a change?
Of course things can change really quickly in football and we have some very tricky games coming up, but if we can keep this run going, so we’ll be easing any pressure we’ll have on us, which might in turn lead to us playing better football overall.
We can but hope, but whatever, we’re a quarter of the way to surviving this season after only four games which leaves me somewhat speechless.
Couple this with the fact that we’ve only conceded one goal in those four games and things are suddenly looking very rosy indeed.
Senderos, a signing I severely criticized when he arrived has seemed solid and all of a sudden we don’t look likely to leak lots of goals. I mean who’d have thought that Nathan Baker would have come out with a man of the match display?
Fair play to him by the way, after I and many others have given him plenty of stick.
Regardless of what I think of Lambert and even his appointment of Roy Keane you can’t deny the results up to now, which makes me wonder if we have actually got it right. Let’s hope so eh?
On another bright note, I’ve just read that we approached Ajax last season about Daley Blind.
He wouldn’t have come cheaply, would he?
Things really are looking up at the moment.
Let’s not get too carried away now!
Agree I think we will be bought crashing down to earth at home to arse who we’ve not beaten at VP since 1998 ffs
I’m optimistic but realistic I still expect us to get spanked by Chelsea and man city.
Mike, so far everyone has been spanked by Chelsea or, more precisely Costa! Whilst we may well lose both games, I don’t agree that we’ll get ‘spanked’.
Man city we will hold our own Chelsea we might concede a few though. Can see Arsenal tearing us to shreds next week their movement is awesome and utd with their overpriced prima donnas will bang a few in as well. Other than that we Shoukd hold our own v anyone else
We’ve got a decent defense this season a lot better than last spanked?? don’t make me laff.
Welcome home Badger, think I should let you know something’s have changed while you’ve been away, Lambert’s sporting a beard you might not have recognised him.:-) we seem to have plans now in our game, might not be everyone’s cup of tea but showing a willingness at last, I’m more for the future now than last year.
Bencey, you’re right of course. It’s very early days.
But it just feels so good to know we’re not propping the table up for a change and I’m taking advantage of that fact 🙂
Hitchens, that’s what I meant. The defence seems more resolute and a lot less likely to concede. At least not loads of goals anyway.
Cheers Bill, it’s good to be back.
I think you have to takes things into perspective. As a neutral, the game yesterday would have been horrific after the first 20 mins. It seemed like an attack v defence drill in training…and one that the defence came out on top of!
Whether its down to Keane or Lambert (or both) we have finally sorted our defence out. The back 4 all look solid and more importantly they are playing together and for each other. If one player get beat, there is another one flying in to back him up.
In terms of the midfield, we now have 3 or 4 players who are comfortable on the ball. Although we hardly saw it yesterday, slowly we should start to get more possession and create more chances. I imagine that Sanchez will eventually force his way in, giving the other two more licence to push on.
For me, the problem is still up front. For this formation to work we need a Benteke up top-someone who can win headers, hold the ball up, etc. Once he is back, it should work better going forward. The other problem is that players like Weimann dont really have any impact out wide. I would rather see the likes of Grealish and Zgobia playing out wide trying to supply the striker.
Anyways, its early days but it is much, much better than what we saw last season!!!
it certainly was a long 70 minutes, I watched it with one of those Spanish commentators who likes to yell the name of any scorer likely to have a pop. Villa certainly kept him quiet.
Good teams build from the back and the performances of Hutton and Baker were much better than least season. Keane has made a huge difference compared with Culverhouse.
Baker also sported a beard. Have I missed the story of the Gillette factory burning down? Face fungus is everywhere. Perhaps after reading the analysis here of performances last season certain VP staff have been issued with dark glasses, a trilby or hoodie, and told to grow a beard if they wish to circulate in B6 incognito.
You have to hand it to the Bearded boss – his buys and recalls have done the job. So far Senderos has looked a bargain, Cleverley put in a stonking shift harrying the ball carriers, Hutton is rejuvenated, Baker made no serious errors. Strangely it was the “marquee” signing Sanchez who looks least comfortable in his two appearances off the bench, maybe the management are unsure how soon he will adapt.
If we go behind in a game, and the opposition sit on the lead, then we will find out how good this side us.
So true if arsenal go one up il be amazed if we get bk into it. We are shite at chasing a game. I think simply having more experienced players in the team is what’s helped us. I still dint think much of keane but he’s certainly not done us any harm yet.
4 games in and we are a quarter of the way to our 40 points. Of course this is not the objective but we all know snatching these points early on is just taking the pressure of. I said 5 points from games Liverpool to Everton would be great. Average a point a game against last years top five. I still believe anything over that would but solid. Arsenal are certainly not at their best just yet and I almost feel dangerously optimistic. Wouldn’t a point be just brilliant?.
Of course it goes without saying it’d fare to early to get carried away. Southampton look half decent as do Swansea , leicester and Everton to. Top half finish would be great but I really don’t see any Danger in trying for a top six.
And the great positive at last is half a dozen teams at least look worse than us by a long shot.
Newcastle
Crystal palace
Burnley
Stoke
Hull
West ham
This season might just be enjoyable!
TJ_Wig #unbeaten
Don’t forget QPR they were dire today
Benteke back to full training?…
Senderos has bought steel to our defence.He cracked Ballotelli one and so did Hutton.We have had a good start & it seems to be getting better as we claim another victory & another clean sheet.We are holding our own & getting points.Lambert & Keane are doing well together.Gabby has started well again too let’s hope they all keep it up….utv
That’s my only worry with Sendeross he has a big mistake in him. Yesterday he was excellent but he nearly let the whole team down by kicking Balottelli. Ridiculous thing to do and no need for it. Any other day he would be off
why cant we just get behind the club we supposedly support, after years of under investing and slating of manager owner tea lady. we are over achieving in 4 games lets just support the club and see where it takes us,
just can’t help myself av a pop at oohohohohoh or is it hahahaha sofar u av us losing every game played and after the event slate the opposition off and say they were bad or we aven’t played anyone , well pool demolished spuds the game before international week, and they were restricted 2 one shot on target.
i would settle for all our opponent aving a off day when they face us. a stress free season is all i want, as for arsenal i fail 2 see this as a bigger test than pool ur just a prick ( alter my text or delete my post) arsenal are poor at the back, loads of space for quick forwards to exploit, they like pool are made for the villa system, its teams like chelsea man city or teams lower in ability which villa will struggle with, pool and arsenal try scoring the perfect goal or some say over passing this plus weak defense always gives villa a chance
compare to all the premiership clubs in lamberts time ere, we are one of the lowest spenders. all this well hes spent 30 mill bulshit, all the top 5 teams spend 30mill plus on one player we as a club are miles away from this kind of competition, so wot we aren’t gonna stay up at the top,
this year we are competitive so enjoy and support 🙂
Not sure about that Nath we still have Bent and zog and Hutton in team that’s about £40m before we even start. Because they’ve been out for so long it’s like having 3 new signings
A bit harsh that, Nath, but you’re a regular, so I’m sure Oohah will let the comment stand.
To be fair though, he did say how chuffed he was in the last post.
Not that he needs me to defend him 🙂
i am not harsh and the comment i made was very fair reflection on his comment, he has slated every team sofar we av played after the game thou, now its arsenal which is getting his tongue but just say we turn them over, u will witness him post how bad they are and how we will get slaughtered against city or chelsea soon or ltr he will he correct as a broken watch (wind up) is rite twice daily
Well I hope I’m wring Nath but iv proved today I will do a positive post if we do well. If we beat Arsenal next week I will do another positive post and eat humble pie. You have to accept we are overachieving at the moment and like you I’m enjoying it while it lasts. The big test is how the team responds when we lose a game. The other challenge is to improve our home form which still hasn’t improved since last season IMO.
OohAhPaulMcGrath September 14, 2014 at 6:13 pm . Permalink Reply
Can see Arsenal tearing us to shreds next week their movement is awesome and utd with their overpriced prima donnas will bang a few in as well.
this is wot tickles me / comments like this, total guess work and comments like this are often just so happens 2 be our nct match just after the result he will say wenger should be sacked or they were poor his favorite comment or next we still aven’t faced anyone but nxt week we will get slaughtered
Ooh ah’s hearts in the right place. Don’t always agree with him but if he keeps predicting we will get beat and we keep winning that works for me. It would be a boring forum if we all agreed all the time. By the way I actually agree with him and think we will have an off day soon and get well beaten. Would rather it be to Arsenal than a team that we are competing with like Southampton etc.
ok my hearts in the right place aswell, i think they shouldn’t offer grealish a new contract, let him join the blues across the road, they would developed him better,
oh and pool would av scored if the post hadn’t been in the way and villa hadn’t defended for 2hours of the 90 minutes, plus iam sure they had 13 men on at one point, its not against the law to pass to a claret or enter the opposition half
Now your being childish.
Spot on Tekkers maybe that’s the way forward I predict us to lose every game and the team win the league proving me wrong. That would be great.
No I won’t that’s my opinion it’s also bookies opinion as they will start as hot favourites. We havnt beaten them at VP for 16 years which is shameful. I hope I’m proved wrong but I would take a point now if offered.
i work day in and out with ppl just like u ppl see prices of 8/1 10/1 best go with the bookmakers safe bet when u know nothing~ childish i was doing my impression on you could u see urself CHILDISH its was my take on sarcasm i knew it was wasted on u
Sarcasm! Is that what it was!
Nath, I believe all regulars on here of whatever view have their heart in the right place (ie Villa) 🙂
You don’t frequent a forum for ages as a subterfuge, imo.
I notice you missed out the following line from Oohah’s post though;
“Other than that we Shoukd hold our own v anyone else”
At least that’s an improvement 🙂
end of the day, in all my years i never slag of my villa or players, even balaban got my support. until i got a stronger prescription, he just doesn’t change his tunes granted hes mellowed slightly and you turned into him, but gladly u return 2 normal again.
just this season could be ground breaking if we are real to ourselves, lets face it we av ground to recover to gain, on the top half teams but this team can beat most of the premiership. but not playing entertaining stuff, grounding out results is were we are at, we all need 2 be realistic on goals.
i think arsenal game is the easier game than last one but don’t expect the tactics to differ from the pool game, thou its at home its the way to beat arsenal they are beatable if you allow them 2 attack,
ha Nath, I have read some of ooohahhh’s post with a jaw dropped and a pulsing forehead vein but its what keeps the forum alive. I was on a very good forum once, there was a general consensus most of the time and it just died.
You can’t fault Ooohaah’s passion for the club or the forum. I often think he is controversial for the sake of traffic on the site but in the end .. so be it, Keeps the forum alive and kicking each other : ) He is no more right or wrong than the rest of us.
keep on truckin’
Thanks Colonius agree. If we all sang from the same hymn sheet and all agreed with each other and towed the corporate line it would be boring. The site is news and views every ones football views are always welcome on this site whether they are positive, negative or balanced between the 2. Btw these are genuinely my views nothing to do with traffic as me and Badger get zilch whether we get one hit or a million unfortunately and we’ve never earned the money bk we paid Ian for site. It genuinely is a labour of love
You obviously get it Colonius, fair play.
100% agreement is no use to anyone.
With that, I really am off to bed.
Thanks Badger I do think we can hold our own against anyone except for Chelsea, utd and arsenal. Even v city I think we could snatch something. I don’t think that’s being negative if we finished top 6 this season that would be brilliant. Fwiw I think we will finish top 10 and possibly top 8 this year.
Now now Ooh Ah. Don’t you start getting too optimistic !!!!
No danger of that
I agree Nath, Arse are very beatable and as an early prediction, I think we’ll do them, fwiw.
Perhaps my optimism is something to do with our good start, but if we enter a bad run that’ll soon change.
Call me fickle if you want, but it’s the name of the game for me.
If we’re decent, I’ll say so, but if we’re crap, I’ll say that too.
Regardless, the Villa are one of the first things I think about when I wake up and has been for the vast majority of my life.
That must mean it’s love 🙂
I think with Arsenal we have to bully them. With players like Hutton and Sendeross we can beat them physically now but I still think they’ve just got a bit too much nouse and quality for us. So a draw would be a good result.
the way villa played against pool is how i called it, it will be exactly same, villa will deny space behind the defense and in front of defense, same as pool same as last year reason for this is. pool and arsenal play similar way and this is were they are beatable, they commit the fullbacks wingbacks forwards as the width and city exploited this last game and we exploited this last year, villa know how to play this game more than any other, plus this year we are stronger in defense and midfield players are carrying out the game plan from the training ground,
as for were we finish, i think its gonna be no lower than 8th to 12th, but it will be no struggle like the last 5 years we will be and for utd they will finish outside the top four. teams will hit them on the break, they will be weak at set pieces, freekicks and corners will cause them problems
With regard to the run of five games we have including Liverpool game I was looking at our possible points haul from these and though 4 points would be helpful. We have 3 already so 1 more would keep me happy. Anything more is a bonus. 4 goals scored from 6 shots on target so far this season is unbelievable as well. I think the team is really benefiting from Bentekes absence in a way. Still can’t wait to have him back in the team though.
6 shots on target in 4 games?
If that’s correct, you could also say that’s a very poor statistic and not much different from previous seasons.
Just trying to keep things balanced, before anyone jumps on me 🙂
The plus side is that that’s a good strike rate.
I’ll take 1-0s to us every week, no problem.
Just shows how tiny the margins are.
‘Morning all. I don’t always agree with OohAh 🙂 but he does an excellent job of stimulating comment on here! Last time we beat Arse we were 2-0 down at half time and got 3 in the second half. We can win BUT when did we last win three games in a row; I think Noah was a lad at the time lol.
Hitchen 60 bang on mate I use to bite back at Oohah often, you know what he owns half of this forum, so I believe, when Robo was about to throw the towel in he stepped forward to keep it going with Badger, to me he is a Villa man, what he likes to do is what your saying to get reactions, Nath, Oohah, you have to take on the chin, I see what your getting at Nath but you being passionate about Villa just like me it sometime gets us, Oohah is Oohah, 🙂 and I’m not defending him he likes to get fans going. 🙂 🙂
morning all
stimulating comments on ere lmao, iam in2 reality and comments manufactured to stimulate or infuriate other is hardly needed as the football should be enough without making it up, i will wish you all a great season, i will find another site to air my views
i will predict my last one, arsenal will struggle away in germany midweek, then away to us.
2 /1 goals will come from corners or freekicks which we look rather dangerous from either it be crossed of attempts on goal, but the joy will come from the gaps left behind the fulbacks as arsenal push forward villa will target these spaces
Well I’m bewildered Nath, it sounds now people have to listen to you, sad but your choice.
don’t see how you came to this conclusion, but i won’t be entering any more posts so u need not worry, i didn’t mind reading views of anybody post that were genuine, seems like ppl like langford or b6 and ur good self rarely post these days. so i get 2 read more and more stuff posted 2 provoke interest, i feel i am fighting against mates at work and pub then against my own on ere.
That’s a shame Nath.
Personally I don’t understand why you feel you’re fighting anyone.
It’s purely differing points of view, that’s all.
But we all want the same thing.
The site is about debate and will never be about blindly supporting the club if we’re not doing very well. There are plenty of other sites that do that perfectly well.
As for being genuine, I just post what I believe.
You don’t go through the hassle of running a site if you don’t believe in it, unless you’re making money from it. And trust me, we ain’t!