So as per, I’m at work.
And find out we’re one down after 10 mins or so, Then we pull one back, only for me to find that we’ve gone 2-1 down just before the break.
And that was the last I heard until I finished work.
In the meantime, I’m listening to my Derby workmates giving me grief (they were drawing) and giving false bravado that we’ll turn it around, no worries.
And sadly, not really believing it.
So I’ve come out of work to hear that Derby drew 2 each and we’ve won 4-2.
Happy bloody days and I’ve phoned the biggest Derby culprit to give him some banter.
He didn’t answer, but I told him the scores in a message.
He replied with a text that I couldn’t possibly repeat.
Ha ha, I do love the banter.
So what to say?
I thought this had “draw” written all over it, so I’m elated that we actually went down twice and still came back to win, albeit seemingly unconvincingly.
I’ve seen nothing of the game and don’t know the scorers, but what I most want to say is that it seems we’ve shown some decent resilience today.
Ok, you might be minded to say that we shouldn’t really be going behind twice to a team that’s struggling in the Championship.
And we apparently weren’t very good today, which is always a concern.
But the result is all that matters, as I’m fond of repeating and we got it.
So where do we stand now?
Well, it’s interesting.
Wolves, while I don’t see them not winning the league now, are faltering.
Surely it’s got to be too late for us to catch them; not that it matters.
I’ve been expecting Cardiff to fade for a good while now, but they’re showing no signs.
They’re a point above us and have a game in hand.
I’d still expect them to fade, but if they don’t, I’d have to hold my hands up and say “fair play”.
We sit third.
In forth, there’s Derby, 3 points behind us and can’t get the goals required to achieve the points. Seemingly the opposite to us.
And then Fulham, who seem quite ominous, in that they don’t lose.
The reality is that they only have one point more than us in the last six games, as much as it might seem that we haven’t done too well lately.
Anyone else is out of the automatic second place game, imo, although you never know.
Which is probably where we really need to maintain some kind of perspective.
No team has won more than us in the last six games.
And then, I look at the goals conceded record.
Cardiff top this one, with 27 against.
Suddenly, I don’t think Fulham are our biggest worry.
This is going to the wire, in my opinion.
Cardiff are now the team we need to best, imo.
Thoughts?
I still think Derby and Fulham are in the mix too. Those two plus Cardiff are the scores I watch out for.
There are still 12 games left for us, and a possible 36 points to play for, and so anything could happen. I am however already feeling the nerves as we make our way toward the end of the season.
i thought the team selection given the injuries was the correct team. didn’t see the need to throw a fresh kid wet behind the ears in, in such a vital periiod in the season. with so much riding on th outcome.of the season too.
whelen gave us more legs in midfield i thought. i said it would leave us more open to the counter, but thats football. you had to improve the issue of legs movement, because we looked toothless and lacking field position to attack.
scoring four away to a decent team that beat villa on our patch is no mean feat. its a difficult period for ourselves and 3 points is all that matters. well done
Has your dog just woken you up too Nath? Ours juat shat in his crate!!! Lol!!!
hahaha no i am up 5.30 am every week day so weekends its hard to sleep in, its sleeping habits 🙁
I think we will go back up this year, but in saying that, I’ll really miss the Championship. It’s been nice having something to play for, a proper competition where anything can happen, unlike simply making up the numbers for the Sky Six. It’s almost ‘Careful what you wish for’.
i agree championship has been refreshing. every game has been entertaining. every team we played want to beat us so bad. its like we are everybody cup final. premiership is good for the money and well being of the club but the championship is the entertainment league.
also i think too many fans under estimate championship clubs. they are so close in ability. top to bottom its miles closer than other leagues.
Been having an Oohah experience – no not suddenly become negative (sorry Oohah no offence mate) just can’t get on the site to post although I can read all your lovely positive posts – so testing
Just liked my own post LOL
Sounds like we rode our luck a bit, and the match highlights back that up. That doesn’t bother me as sometimes it goes in your favour and other times against. I’m disappointed that we didn’t play well, but pleasantly surprised that in virtually the last minute when 3-2 up we were attacking their goal and got a pen – very unlike a Bruce team.
It’s really tight up there and it is Derby, Cardiff and Fulham as main rivals for second spot as everyone agrees. Of those Fulham look the biggest danger. It will be interesting to see how Wolves react to being outplayed and beaten comprehensively. They’ve dropped 7 points in the last three games. It would be quite funny to see them blow up and be caught.
Grealish and Adomah are going to be a big plus for us so hope we have enough to get to second spot. I don’t fancy the play offs.
It would be great if somehow we were only around 7 points behind Wolves by the time we play them at home. Will be intense anyway but knowing the gap is closing would be even better. Looking at the remaining fixtures only Wolves, Norwich, Derby and Cardiff are games that worry me. We have the beating of every other team imo. I would love it if somehow the top 2 were Cardiff and ourselves and Woves lose out in the playoffs! Just because of how their fans have been it would be nice to mock them back!
See Cardiff just scored…..
Frustrating to see Cardiff won with a late goal. 4 points the gap again. Fortunately we still have to play them at home although I will be more than interested to see if Derby can get something at home to Fulham next weekend.
Its all going to come down to the games at VP. Wolves, Derby and Cardiff all have to come here. WIth a full squad, you have to fancy us to get the points we need.
Anyone that watched the game yesterday knows we got very lucky, but you need that sometimes. Snodgrass was they key man again. He dragged Villa to 3 points.
Tactically I think Bruce got it wring first half. Our midfield was totally dominated by Wednesday. Second half, we looked a little better. Onomah just isnt doing it for us, real shame that Green got himself injured again. Would like to see Bjaranasson back at DM, as our best performances came with him there.
3 points is an absolute must next weekend, and hopefully we have a few players back fit by then, Especially a certain number 10.
fancy brentford to do us a favour on saturday while we beat qpr
Hope you are right Owen. Snow might be a factor this weekend with matches possibly cancelled – that might have an impact as well.
just think cardiff will run out of steam, they were awful against ipswich and bristol
Owen, I still think that there is a long way to go and we need to just concentrate on our own results. I also think that Wolves will be looking over their shoulders as a couple more poor results and the gap will have closed sufficient for them to start panicking. The last thing I would want is the lottery of the play off’s as nothing will be worse than going through that. Second place for me or nothing, that should be the aim and if we or another team can pip the Wolves to top spot then great.
cardiff will not run out of steam. they might lose more games and slip out of top two. but they already have punched above their expatiations. they have been brilliant all season.
i would just hope that we have grealish back, fit and able to see out the season. because without him we are not gonna get enough points for top two. or win the playoffs.
watching wolves against fulham, they missed their Ruben Neves. they just couldnt to get any control of the game. something they have done all season is control their games.
just goes to show you no matter which team small fry or the big guns. they all miss their influential players. i think bruce has got it right, dont go dreaming of what might be, looking to far ahead. take it one game at a time. those that get distracted looking at other results or too far ahead of you will lose focus
Indeed Nath,
Bruce has said that he hasn’t really looked at the table yet and I can see where he’s coming from.
You don’t want to create pressure on yourself.
Although I don’t agree with the part that says it doesn’t matter until it’s too late.
For me, there’s no point looking when it’s too late!
I glanced at an article earlier, that said the current position can/should affect the way you set up and Bruce needs to be mindful of our current position.
Of course, that all depends on if you believe Bruce shackles the team sometimes. I’m not convinced myself.
Looks like the debate over Micah Richards has raised its head again. As we approach the last year of his contract, if we get promoted apparently a clause in his contact means he will double his wage. Talk is he is currently on £35000 a week so would be £70000 a week for sitting on his arse for 12 months more. The ones who defend him say he is a good presence around the training ground and helps the youngsters. My take is who wouldn’t be while earning so much money without having to properly earn it. Too many bad buys have been made over last few years, but this one is a joke. If he has any dignity or ambition of playing, he should move on and be prepared to accept less money. Bruce won’t play him because of an underlying injury issue although he has declared he wants to play, but Bruce wants consistency in his team selection which makes sense, and Richards could easily play a game and be out injured again. It would be nice to hear we can offload him, McCormack and Agbonlahor for next season no matter what happens.
I see sky at it again in moving games ,
The fixture will now take place on Friday 13 April, 2018 at 19.45 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Friday night away fixtures are annoying for supporters, because this means that fans will have to make other arrangements in terms of transportation and/or take off work rather than simply being able to travel on a weekend day. The distance to Birmingham will only make it worse for Leeds fans that want to travel.
For those fans that can’t afford to travel or aren’t able to get away tickets, a match on Sky TV is convenient at least, and while it’s not the traditional day, much less traditional time, it still means that fans have an opportunity to see the match that otherwise wouldn’t be able to view it.
As for overseas viewers, this is another match that won’t be available in a lot of places on LUTV, for better or worse. In the US, this means that it will be shown on Watch ESPN and it will be in actual HD and you won’t have to crank the sound all the way up just to hear it, and in Australia and New Zealand, it will be on beIN Sports Connect and might even been shown on TV as well.
So cheers to the fans that will watch it on TV, and sympathies to those that will be traveling to see the match. Friday night football isn’t ideal, but it’s something.
Remember Doncaster and Tranmere away on a Friday in Div 3…..when footie specials ran……do they still do them ?
Need a update on snow in Brum, I’m almost snow in here, 23 miles out of Brum and getting worse,
A player who made a single appearance for Aston Villa has died at the age of 70.
Barry Ansell can claim to have played alongside European Cup winning legend Peter Withe – but not at Villa.
The Small Heath-born left-back’s one senior game for Villa was a 3-0 Division Two defeat at Cardiff on Boxing Day 1967, long before Withe arrived.
In fact, the former Waverley Grammar School pupil was a team-mate of Withe’s at Arcadia Shepherds in the early 1970s after moving to South Africa to kick-start his career.
Reacting to the news of Ansell’s death, Withe wrote on social media: “My very good friend who I played with at Arcadia Shepherd in South Africa Barry Ansell has passed away R.I.P. Barry.
Up to 2 degrees tomorrow – hopefully enough to have plenty of of melted snow and not much more. A win will put pressure on Cardiff who will have to rearrange Brentford game for a less convenient time.