I should have known better, shouldn’t I, than calling this one a certain win?
The Villa never fail to let us down, whenever we think it’s in the bag.
I commented early on that I thought us playing so wide all the time wasn’t working.
You can say that Bolasie and El Ghazi were just poor today or you can say Preston did very well in just controlling them. It doesn’t really matter, as either way, they were ineffective.
Couple that with Whelan and Hourihane both being pretty much invisible (the latter, again) and to me, it was obvious.
John McGinn is excepted from any criticism, to my mind, because although he was amongst the most sloppy of our side, so his workrate and desire to win the ball back continue to keep me astounded.
Whatever, I think my point is proven when you consider that we brought Bjarnason on for Whelan and he offered more in a couple of minutes, than Hourihane and Whelan had put together previously.
What concerns me slightly about that is that the coaches didn’t see it, or at least left it too late to change it.
In Smith’s defence, perhaps he just thought that one of the wingers would just produce something. Which is fair enough, given that they do have that ability.
You have to give massive credit to Preston though.
Given the injuries they have, they gave us a very good game and maybe deserved to even nick it, given that poor goalkeeping from Nyland (again!) nearly gave them an early goal headstart.
Whatever, this is massively disappointing when you consider that today was a good day to catch up on the top 6.
While it was a poor first half, it got better and better as the game went on.
Football is supposed to be about entertainment and I suppose we got it today, even if the result isn’t what we wanted.
As per usual, we move on.
QPR next.
Comments
111 responses to “Preston 1-1 Villa; feels like and indeed is, 2 points dropped, although credit to them”
clubs that are now blooding their youth like leeds and preston are both doing so under no other options. unlike villa were we have a far bigger squad and just about coping. give them a squad like ours and i doubt they would be blooding their youth.
Axel Tuanzebe is at villa just to get games and adjust to 1st team fitness, man utd have very high hopes of their under23s captain, they will never allow him to leave hes one of their prized assets. he didnt get enough games at villa last year and it was hoped he would this season. but we could all see under smith he has come along loads
none of our youths are close to first team. murphy isn’t as good as any of the forwards we have in the squad. you can go through them all and you cant make a argument for any of ours current under23s. they need to go out and earn the right to stake a claim. like tuanzebe has done and clark is doing. if your good enough you will get in and return a better player to then demand a place in the squad. smith will like bruce be looking at them and if they don’t rate um then its down to the players to find out why they are being ignored for selections and improve.
Eric Lichaj played for villa a few year back and he was slaughtered by fans for not being good enough, but he was doing ok and now ply his trade in this division that we do. we have let go many players that turned out to be decent players but that can not be helped it happens everywhere, trick is to find one or two gems like grealish, albrighton gabby hendrie samuel Ehiogu and cahill one or two of these were deemed not good enough and were sold on
Ok, did Grealish get loaned out? come on its old thinking in my mind, its making excuse not to give a young player a run out now and again , Covan I think is name is been on the bench twice what for? Fun.
grealish did get loaned out at notts county . but it doesn’t always have to be a loan. you can introduce the player slowly yourself. but at villa we have full time players that are better than the youth. so blooding them means you are weakening your 1st team to benefit the youth. thats why man utd sent out axel out, he almost ready but not quite good enough to command a slot in the squad. i would personally have full team of youth at villa and then i could use the excuse well my players are all learning on the job. so don’t mather me about top 6 or demanding promotion. but then i would have no chance at a big club like villa, where the demands are massive compared to all the other clubs in championship barring leeds who simply have not the budget to compete with squad size and doing amazing to be top
It will always be the fear factor Bill. For example, O’Hare would be a more like for like replacement for Grealish than Whelan, but Smith like Bruce before him would rather reshuffle our midfield for experience. If O’Hare plays and we lose he will get the stick. If Whelan plays and we lose fans will question the experienced players. Unfortunately for managers they can go from hero to zero in a few weeks and ultimately get sacked when they need time to try all options. Like I said before if this is the philosophy going forward then like Brentford, scrap the academy and nurture premier teams youngsters.
whelen has not replaced grealish. hourihane has because he has more ability than ohare and more fitness/strength and is much more less a risk. ohare presently has played youth football only, until he shines in full time football there no manager gonna pick him over players like lansbury and hourihane both have many campaigns in their bag. the youth will get the odd game in the cup or sub appearances, if they dont shine there they only have training to impress, its better for them to go out in the big bad world and take the bull by the horns and show ppl they are good enough,
What I meant was that we have reshuffled the midfield rather than replace Grealish with someone similar. Therefore Hourihane has moved from defensive midfielder to replace Grealish and Whelan replaces Hourihanes position, so two changes because the youngsters aren’t trusted / good enough. Having watched O’Hare at U23’s he definitely has the ability. The argument is can he deal with physical side of first team football? Fact is unless he plays no-one can say yes or no. I think the game now suits players with ability as opposed to those with strength because the game has become pretty much a non contact sport.
yes the question for all of them is can they cope with the physical side as you say, but clark who has gone out and done well and he has even said he found it hard to cope with the physicality of mens game. but he has received great reviews from the manager and that loan will stand him well when he does return. smith will not hesitate to pick him because he is no longer a massive risk.
also if its a none contact sport you should watch grealish and mcginn they are clattered many times per game,stamped on some tackles on grealish wouldnt look out of place on the rugby field.
another way to look on this is,, why do we loan players like axel and tammy ??? is it to develope players from bigger clubs ?? or is it to better our own team by loaning in better quality players on the cheap ???
if the answer is to strengthen then why would we blood our youth to weaken us in the short term ????
All teams – even Prem sides loan players because they get experienced players on the cheap with no onward liability if they fail.
Having said that the loan system is wantonly and regularly abused but the 57 varieties that sit ‘on high’ do f’all about it because it suits the Sky Six – they can buy up all the talent to stop other teams improving their sides and then control distribution through loan deals – how many players do Chelsea have out on loan?
chelsea have had some decent strikers Abraham and Lukaku they use the loan market to advertise their players. Lukaku and Tammy both gone out to high profile clubs score many goals and they increase their value but nothing wrong with that. how many of their youth do they bring through themselves ???
Nath Chelsea have twenty nine players loaned out, that says it all about academy’s to me. Get rid .
like bum bum said if all the top clubs had this attitude, where will the next batch of english players come from.
An off day?
You mean the game, Bum bum?
Yes, hopefully an off day.
According to the DM, McCormack is looking to get to Motherwell.
Hmm, they’ll probably offer about £5k a week and he’s probably fallen out with the Aussie club, so who cares?
Can we fan fund a taxi for him to Motherwell. Seems that it wasn’t just Bruce being the reason for him on loan. Did someone mention he is disruptive to team morale?
Just read that Chelsea have 40 players out on loan! If that’s true then surely things have to change. The top six will continue to consolidate their positions by loans and Sky money. It also says with Giroud leaving today’s game on crutches they might go back for Abraham. Personally I think they will want someone more premier league prolific, while Abraham is only proven in the championship.
Yep 40! players out on loan;
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/teams/on-loan-players
That’s just an absolute joke and makes a mockery of the game, imo.
Ok Badger lets work it out, 40 players out on loan, club takes on player say 12 grand, they loan him out at half the wage , to train them cost twice as much whoes the winner?it’s a stupid way to run a academy in my mind. always said we are behind the times, Man utd do the same.
So you mean 40 players at £6k a week = £240k a week = about £11 mill a year?
That’s peanuts to a club like Chelsea and it’ll be written off as costs on the books.
Abraham alone will pull that that in and that’s just one player in 40.
Plus they have nearly 4 teams (of the cream of kids) to choose from, if they fancy any of them.
It’s brilliant, imo.
But absolutely obscene when a lot of clubs haven’t even got 40 players.
Oh, that’s kids who will have played in the real game, not kids footy, too.
Just heard Elphick’s interview on the OS.
Interestingly, he said he trained with Kalinic yesterday and today.
He must have got back here first thing yesterday morning then?
Talks about how Smith plays the game etc and all the usual good stuff, but I just get the distinct impression he thought he hated the way Bruce played and that he was an idiot.
https://www.avfc.co.uk/AVTV/2018/12/30/Tommy%20Elphick%20interview%20%20Its%20good%20to%20be%20back
Bruce loaning out Elphick was the major reason for him getting the boot. Everyone thought it was crazy at the time. Hopefully he can continue his good form from Hull.
Nyland has ruptured his Achilles and is likely to be out for the rest of the season – even allowing for conspiracy theories that’s an extreme way to avoid being number 2!
Will Smith recall Steer – can he recall him?
And even the Mail are saying Kalinic won’t be available, even though we know he’s here and training.
I really don’t understand why that would be, as even if the paperwork can’t be received by the powers-that-be until midnight, we know it can be processed in half an hour, as we’ve seen when the window closes.
Maybe it’s because of the holiday?
If so, that’s ridiculous and surely the window should open on the 2nd?
As for Steer, it depends if there’s a recall option.
But I don’t think we will recall him.
Bunn inspires about the same confidence as Nyland does, for me, so we might as well go with him seeing as it’s only one game. Moreira is already our emergency goalie, even though he’s not ready.
If we were to recall him, we’d then have 5 goalies.
That seems a waste of money just for one game, imo.
who would be a goalie lmao not me, been there done that. its one scary position .certainly in the current villa set up. if i am honest nyland has been very good last two games. he has saved villa with some decent saves not the run of the mill routine stops. both nyland and the new goalie will have to adapt to english game. in england you are supposed to come out and claim the ball from crosses from corners freekicks etc. in europe they don’t they just punch the ball away. same with shots in england they are supposed to catch the ball if possible . in europe they always push the ball away. both keepers i think will be good if they are given time to adjust.
bunn surely can keep gaol for the time it takes the new guy to be available. i must admit i am not a fan of bunn, but its job and he should be able for the one game max two. steer should be allowed to stay at charlton hes playing games there. bring him back to play one game and then sit on his arse is wrong decision
Badger, I’m sure I read somewhere that Moreira had gone back to Spain as deemed to be not ready to play for Villa so, if true, who else do we have? Is Seigrist still with us?
Moreira is still here, but not for long by the look of it.
No Seigrist, but we do have Sarkic as our U-23 goalie.
No point in bringing Steer back for one game, especially like nath said he is getting game time. Bunn should be able to cope with the pressure because he’s not a kid and already has experience. I think FA cup match this weekend will be an opportunity to rest players, particularly Chester who is reportedly carrying an injury. Changing topic slightly I was wondering if Grealish injury (supposedly a shin injury) could have be prevented by adult shin pads. He took a whack during Albion game but whether that was above those tiny shin pads he wears who knows!
If Bunn can’t be a back up, what’s the point in having him at the club?
Grealish’s shin injury is beginning to smell not quite right.
He could be out for another 3 games.
I’m not suggesting he’s off or anything, but it sounds worse than just a knock, to me.
Smith said as much – either a stress fracture or a tendon / muscle separation – the medical staff weren’t sure hence the protective boot. I reckon we’ll be lucky to see him back before the end of January.
OS is saying Steer’s been recalled.
“Dad, I fink I got it wrong again” 🙂
off to get smashed happy new year 2019 to all aston villa fans on AVN&V next year we are gonna steam roll back to the top
Happy New Year to one and all
2019 – the year when the mighty Villa arise and conquer the world – well the Championship will do!
Blimey, you lads are on it early.
Happy new year all Villa fans 🙂
Happy new year to everyone and here’s to 2019 being Villa’s year! UTV
Holte thanks,
Happy New Year to all on astonvillanewsandviews, from Bill Pearson.
Hitchens – you linked to an article in the Grauniad from April 2017 about Brentford in which 2 of their coaching staff were interviewed. Since then one moved to Villa and the other died. If you hear that the Guardian are going to do an article on Villa – will you tip everybody at VP so they can be out? Or have they been already to chat to our keepers?
Never read left wing newspapers. Happy New Year OLL
And Happy New year to you, Hitchens.
Same here Hitch, just complete rubbish news, well I’m still alive after drinking myself silly, got the grandkids and daughter with husband for a cockerel dinner coming .but my mind will be on today’s game. 2-1 Villa. Happy New year to you all and the best site that’s supporting our great club.Badger keep it going mate.lol
Happy New Year Bill – May all your 2019 wishes come true starting with a win today. 8 people for dinner last night including eldest daughter and family. Like you enjoyed a bevvy or three so quiet day today – I wish!
Echo your sentiments about the site – indebted to you Badger; thanks.
is there a game today ( my head hurts ) hope you all had a great night and returned home safely. 2019 will be our year
Nath, know how you feel , yes 3 pm ko.
i am just looking now for the time lol cheers QPR innit i am not too sure of myself yet. i bet its on red button
Yep – red button mate
Tyias Browning looks to be heading to villa on loan from everton 24 year old seems a little old to be still a novice only 9 appearances for everton. that looks like the end for tuanzebe at villa
Not sure about Tuanzebe going back to Manure. Isn’t perceived wisdom that a squad should include 4 cb’s?
Even with Elphick coming back, Chester will have to keep playing otherwise we haven’t strengthened the defence although I would expect Smith to rest Chester for the Cup game.
I have read that we have recalled Easah Suliman from loan at FC Emmen in Holland. I’m not sure of the implication of that. Tuanzebe would be a loss, but he may be the sort of defender that Solskjaer might want to involve. I guess his injury might be why Suliman is back, given that Chester has been carrying a knee injury most of the season as well.
before solskjaer it was said in manc tuanzebe would stay but soon as he get the chop they were saying he will be recalled. then he got injured and he went back to be assessed. i think he will stay there and it will be sad cause he was beginning to blossom.
suliman must be shite, to return from loan and be unable to get into villa team which consists of 3 right. its said he will go straight back out. needs to drop right down to maybe scottish level
that everton guy i have never heard of him, he was a sunderland last year when they got relegated
Suliman came back because he got no game time in Holland so no point in him staying – will probably get loaned back out assuming someone will have him!
anybody know anything about apps one called atoide for androids firetv. it wont allow me to download any apps. sorry to pester none villa problems but need help. thanks in advance
Probably in the settings Nath;
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-enable-apps-from-unknown-sources-on-an-amazon-fire-tv-or-fire-tv-stick/
Anyway, latest post is up chaps.