I don’t understand.
Ipswich went down to 10 men after around half an hour and we still couldn’t punish them.
I look at the side and it looks fine on paper.
But we so lack incisiveness, it’s almost embarrassing.
I think we had two shots on target all game, which says it all.
Against an Ipswich side that are close to favourites to be relegated and playing with ten men.
You could possibly even say that Ipswich had the clearer cut chances too, which makes it worse.
The worrying thing is, you can’t say Bruce played with a negative approach, as we probably ended up with the most attacking eleven we can muster.
And still didn’t look like getting a goal.
Contrast that to the Albion getting 7 today.
Did Kodjia have a poor game today?
I’m not convinced.
He got one and worked really hard. Indeed I’d probably be praising him now if it was the winner.
He still looks off it to me and his head seems to go down too easily, but I don’t think you can say he wasn’t trying.
There were plus points, in that McGinn looks like the midfield engine that we all thought Hourihane was.
And Grealish played with his usual vision while being hacked to bits all through the game.
I agree with Bruce, in that the refs have to start protecting him a bit more.
I had to laugh, as the Ipswich fans booed his every touch, almost as though he was persistently cheating.
It was exactly the same with Ashley Young.
Small players get bundled off the ball easier: it’s a fact of life.
It doesn’t mean you should get away with taking them out though.
But those two apart, I thought the side looked really, really average.
As for Nyland, well, I’m not going to go there.
Yes, it’s a point away from home.
But we can’t afford to drop what should be easy points, especially against a team that hasn’t beaten us on their turf for years.
I have a sneaky feeling we’ll really rue today’s result.
And perhaps even more of a concern is that I’m not seeing any improvement in our performances.
Make no mistake, most of the teams we’re expecting to be at the top of the league would have beaten Ipswich convincingly today, in my opinion.
I agree that loan players might make the difference this season. If we can get Abraham then we might be in with a chance.
I’d expect the new owners to want to make some changes and I could actually see Bruce going but hopefully only if the new owners can identify someone better. Certainly we now stand a much better chance of achieving this now that Sawiris and Eden have taken over and have made it clear that they’re serious.
If I were them I’d be making an offer that couldn’t be refused to Rafa Benitez. He’s not very happy at Newcastle and, with the promise of the investment and control he would have at Villa, I don’t think it would be beyond the bounds of possibility.
Benitez isn’t a bad shout.
And when he’s finished managing, I’d expect he would make a good DOF too.
TBH Badger I think the main reason we might stand a chance is because of Mike Ashley who must be like the owner from hell. He’s creaming money out of the club to buy House of Fraser instead of bringing in players.
I see Man utd are losing 2 nil keep that up we might have theirs, I had to smile last night at Arsenal and Chelsea, I think it was only two English players in both teams, its going to happen we will end up with a foreign manager and players because the two owner won’t take to much of rubbish football.
A comment about Highlights on Quest. Now they are on this channel on Saturday, you can also view them any time you like during the following week on QuestOD on your PC.
Also would put a shout in for 11 Sports. I’ve signed up for Sky for the season as they’re showing so many Villa games but they forgot to tell me that La Liga and Serie A were no longer part of the package. Still got it half price on an offer.
I’ve also now signed up with 11 Sports so i can watch Barca and Juve as I also follow these teams. It was just £49.99 for the year so even though I’m paying two subscriptions instead of one it still works out a lot cheaper than it did last season.
So far it seems like a good service and I can watch all the games in La Liga and Serie A and the Eredivisie too.
Missus has been wondering where I’ve been all weekend!
Sheyi Ojo? Apparently we’re after him on loan from Liverpool
Did I imagine that we had done a deal to end Micah Richards time at Villa Park? Reason being that images of him, McCormack and Tshibola have been released in this seasons home shirt., although they could have been photoshopped. Another rumour has McCormack linked with a return to Rangers. We can only dream I suppose. On a not so pleasing rumour is the link between Hogan to Sheffield United. I suppose this could be true seeing as Bruce prefers players 30 or over.
MOMS has pretty much confirmed those three images are photoshopped – why? Imho they should have been left as grey silhouettes which more accurately reflects their value to the club!
RDM did a great job in wasting around £30m to date on McCormack and Tshibola (taking wages into account) and the deficit has another couple of years to run so will probably add another £6m to that figure!
Nobody wants them; an indictment in itself.
Brentford are 4th after winning on Sunday, one place above us! So game on Wednesday has added significance. I wonder how many fans would swap Bruce for Dean Smith at the moment.
The 29-year-old is a top target for manager Steve Bruce, who is attempting to persuade him to make a season-long loan move to Villa Park instead of the Riverside.
Bolasie held talks with Boro boss Tony Pulis on Monday before travelling to Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground on Tuesday in order to speak to Bruce.
The Villa manager is desperate to strengthen his team in wide areas and attack before the loan window closes at the end of the month. Bolasie, who can operate on both flanks, fits the bill.
The DR Congo international joined Everton from Crystal Palace in a £25million deal two years ago but is now ready to step down into the Championship, after being deemed surplus to requirements by new Toffees boss Marco Silva.
Bruce also remains keen on a deal for Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham but accepts he may have to wait until later in the window for that move to materialise.
So he’s at Bodymore today, hope he signs for us because we need someone that’s flexible in midfield.
He’s on £75K a week, apparently.
That’s mega money and I wonder how well that would go down with the rest of the squad?
It’s interesting that we seem to be looking at 2 wingers and a striker.
I’d say it’s our defence that looks the iffiest department.
If we’re going to concentrate on wingers, don’t we need a battering ram up top?
No wonder it seems like Hogan might be on his way for this season.
There’s some bullshit flying about on other sites saying its in the bag we got him. Me I’m waiting till its announced, Swansea and Leeds drawing half Time hope it stays that way.
Bill, Leeds manager makes early substitutions. This is being proactive as opposed to Bruce who is reactive. If you notice Bruce’s substitutions he nearly always makes his first at about 65th minute, regardless of how poor we are, unless it’s an injury forced sub. This is another gripe I have with him.
I know what you mean Holte, the times I’ve screamed get that idiot off and it happens far to late into the game. Been reading back on post we’ve all made about Bruce and Villa, up till now seeing games I really think we been lucky, I’m in the same corner as DS Villa 10 games only to show we are going in the right direction, after that we will see.
I said till end of November at start of season to get us to a challenging position. My only concern with new owners is they might want a marquee signing to replace him. Someone like Henry with no experience at Championship level.
That’s unthinkable, you might as well get Uthain Bolt , its buying advertisements to me, if it comes to having a manager bet it will be a foreign one, I just hope Bruce sees sense and start understanding we want success for our club, its looking back over them years when Villa was a top team in the league’s, I travelled length and Brest and worked for them for 20 years, I’d like to see them days back. Oh happy days.
I wasn’t as dedicated as you Bill. Finances meant I had to be satisfied being a home season ticket holder. Watching Leeds tonight they were playing an 18 year old. So why can’t Bruce show same faith in players like O’Hare or Doyle Hayes? Reason is he is either stubborn or stupid. If we can get them integrated into first team then this surely favours FFP. Suddenly we might have assets worth more than another clubs loanees.