I honestly struggle to think of a game that depressed me more than that one.
Our play lacks invention, it lacks incisiveness, it lacks desire and urgency, it lacks pace and it lacks quality.
We’re just a very, very poor side and it seemed to me like Wolves never even got out of second gear.
I just don’t get it.
How can we lack urgency when we’re in the position we are?
Douglas Luiz, who I thought looked very decent, apart, we just look directionless and clueless.
We played two strikers, which was needed in my opinion, but they were usually so far apart there was no way they’d link up.
Likewise, Grealish again played miles too deep, too often and it just totally frustrates me.
Then again, when he did get on the ball, he was mostly useless. I’ve not said anything before, but I’ve thought for a good while that he’s lost interest now and is frankly sick of watching the pure lack of quality around him.
I’ve never been a big believer that players have their next club in their head, but I think it’s definitely the case with him. He just looks like he’s given up.
Our setpieces were horrendous today and I’m struggling to think of a ball that didn’t go clean over the players’ heads. If Hourihane can’t get that right, he’s an utter waste of time on the pitch and he was invisible yet again.
As for Nyland, I’ve never seen a Villa goalie that scares me as much as him.
He’s fumbled the ball so many times lately and after the way he mis-threw that ball to Taylor, means he has to be dropped now. He looks devoid of any confidence and Smith needs to take him out of the firing line.
It’s the lack of direction that worries me most though and I just don’t see what we’re trying to achieve on the pitch.
When we do attack, we inevitably slow it down and Grealish was the most guilty of this, which means that the opposition have time to reorganise and the chance is lost. Loads of times, I heard myself saying “too late”.
It’s like the team have no belief and it’s this which will see us go down.
The result is bad enough in itself, but it’s the performance which has got me down more.
There’s the age old saying that the table doesn’t lie and I think that’s exactly the case.
We are where we are, because we’re frankly just awful.
And boring with it.
Comments
101 responses to “Villa 0 – 1 Wolves; Mediocre, mediocre, mediocre”
Deluded
Thats all i can say, and i say this with no animosity
but to say we can get something off pool and utd
to say we should keep smith?
from the start of the season we have got worse week on week throughout the season, How many times has it been said smith has no plan B we go behind and you can see he does not know what to do. when does he ever make inspired substitutions. every other team in the division knows this now and uses it to their advantage. As for JT a top defensive coach, does anyone really believe he has improved the defence over the course of the season.does the coaching staff do anything in training, because its not showing on the pitch.
and it was January when we last won a premier league game, nearly 6 months
I know we dont want change every season because it has not worked in the past, but that is because we as a club keep employing the wrong people, from managers to coaches to sporting directors etc etc
its time for a top manager
with the backing in the transfer market
for the long term
no more up and coming or hungry managers, no more good at getting promoted managers but never looked ever like winning a trophy, no more foreign coaches with no experience at the top level.
Rant over, sorry i feel like Bill totally fed up.
No offence taken but I don’t believe I’m deluded. OK my views and yours are different but that’s all it is.
I think we’ve all forgotten that until we lost Heaton, Wesley and McGinn to long term injuries we were doing OK.
Losing three key players (whatever you think about Wesley) at the same time would screw most teams let alone one just promoted.
And yes Badger, I know there’s a new thread up.
Thanks third Generation , I’ve been spitting blood over the tactics coming out of Villa Park your spot on. Everyone that works there think they are safe and don’t give a shite, it’s time for our club to know the difference of willing and giving up, Badgers right but too late we have fannies playing and not men, a massive clear out when the season ends. We have to employ people that don’t like to lose, because we’re Aston Villa full Stop.
I’ve said it before and it’s a fact, we are paying the price for poor recruitment at every level. Smith might have had a chance if he had premier league savvy coaches working with him. He might have had a chance with premier league savvy players amongst the squad. Failure at every level and yet no heads have rolled. Despite £130m being spent on what? Players that probably wouldn’t get in Leeds or Albion’s team.
Instead, when the season’s over, we will be forced to say goodbye to Grealish, McGinn, Mings and possibly Luiz for what….£130m approximately?
We are a laughing stock and provide constant ammunition to our rival fans for ridicule.
I dread to think what the score will be tomorrow. Chelsea scored eight against us several years ago. Liverpool will be smarting after Citeh beat them so will want to bounce back. If they score early it could be anything. Man Ure after that will also be damage limitation.
Once the season is over we need to start all over again and quickly. I am resigned to relegation now. I don’t know how FFP and parachute payment etc will affect our rebuild but we need to get it right at the top. I hear some in favour of keeping Smith because he got us promoted last season. However we finished 5th which is Smith’s highest finish. Do we trust him to get us automatically promoted? Brentford, the team he left behind are currently 3rd. Would they be there with Smith still in charge? Surely our owners need to get rid of Suso. If we had consistently failed at our jobs for such a prolonged period we would have been dismissed.
Football is a cut throat business and unfortunately loyalty and keeping faith is proving our downfall.
love the passions being expressed about villa, but nobody in their right head had villa to survive this season. i know i said we would scrape it. but i am always led by my heart. i really didn’t believe that, well not to stake my life on.
thing is we were a brand new team this season. we had least amount of time to sign players of the teams being promoted down to playoffs. most contracts had been verbally agreed by the time we won promotion. our club had to draw up two plans for the coming season, when every other premiership club had weeks on us to start theirs. when you consider we are in direct competition with them it makes a difference.
players we eventually signed most were not premiership quality, but that is not to say they were not a improvement on the players we released. cause they are better quality. just the fact remains that they all struggled collectively to bridge the gap.
the way forwards is to break the trend, stop changing every season. build onto not restart from beginning. we put so many flimsy foundations down every season, we will never amount to anything like this. we will probably be forced to rebuild again next season, but not from scratch i hope. plus far easier to do this at a lower level.
this season individual errors cost us many points without making so many we would be mid table. somebody said we wont beat man utd. well away we had matched them. until i think mings mistake gave away cheap corner and they scored from it. anyways error happened cause they are not used to the demands of premiership. lower levels you get away with stuff, when you are in premiership your game has to be pitch perfect all 96 mins
we have all the time in the world to moan. why doesnt somebody go through each game and count how many times mistakes cost us and bad decisions too. i am just saying this, its not a excuse all teams have the same problems. but i reckon we dropped easy 15 points through our own faults and easy another 5 points down to bad referee and var b/s. smith was alway up against it this season but individuals might have cost him us surviving.
Well put Nath I agree we have lost points throughout with errors and var if we only had an extra 5points it would make a big difference. Confidence would be higher to start with then they would believe in themselves more confidence breeds confidence. But agree Terry has been waste of time and suso. At least we may blood some of the youngsters in the championship as that’s what’s needed.
Bournemouth 1 up
3 -1 half time to Man Utd. ..
3-2 Man ..
4-2 Man. Why they wanted Grealish God knows, that Greenwood youngster is a player and half.
5 now . Nice to see goals.
Plus their goal difference getting a hammering. But what the hell will happen to villa in the next two matches I dread to think man u on fire and Liverpool smarting from their defeat,ah well watch us go in the championship 😂
Watching Man Ure at the moment and I don’t think Grealish would get in their team. I personally don’t think he could break into any of the top six teams. He might make a squad player with impact from the bench but he is too slow thinking for teams like the ones at top who break with pace and effectively too. He obviously is talented and can draw a foul with his quick feet but if we are offered £70m plus, I would snap their hands off!
Whatever league we are in will require a massive rebuild and £70m can buy 2 – 3 top notch players as long as Suso doesn’t recommend them.
look at the bottom of the championship there are a few teams around there which we were in direct competition with not too long ago. teams that were in premiership not too long ago. football can change in a blink sometimes for the worst. Middlesbrough Stoke Hull city and Huddersfield. once clubs lose forwards momentum it can be difficult to stop the decline. quality of players you sign also declines.
we only just got promoted,so it would be a hard sell to the better players, come to villa and fight relegation. most quality players would say no thanks, i want to play in a better team with more chances created for me. so that is why we saw in summer some players get talked about and then we switched to lesser players.
we need to get established in the premiership before we see top managers and players again. if we go down, i think we will come back stronger but we need to some stability, wholesale changes again might mean a slower start and playoffs again.
P/S i watched norwich last two games and they do not deserve the result they get, they just have no striker, a fox in the box. had they had a player like that that 4 nil to arsenal could have been 4 4 or better, against brighton nothing in the game, norwich created good chances, good crosses. but not a soul inside the 5 yard of them. this is what happens to teams that lose their belief they stop making runs inside the box. you lose faith in your team mates like super jack has. norwich have watford i think next. wouldn’t surprise me at all, if they beat watford. cause they are dangerous team on the break and norwich have no pressure now, watford will have to beat norwich so all the pressure is piled on them. watford players will expect a easy game and norwich dominate the ball quite well and if watford pile forwards they will play into norwich game.
With Brighton winning the relegation is now 3 from 5. My gut feeling is that West Ham could beat Newcastle which would render it to 3 from 4. Sod’s law that Chelsea screw up against Watford too and then it’s probably game over. Fact is we are hoping that Bournemouth, West Ham and Watford have failed to pick up any points when we have all played 34 games which is hoping big time!
Funning thing is about Grealish I said the same, I think Man Utd jumped the gun in having him now, that Greenwood will be in the England side before Jack, I see him on the bench more times than he wants .now, we mentioned Minns and mistakes he’s made and yes he has, but what about the times he’s saved us in games, What about our goalkeepers, how many have they failed in games, we would have never won the European cup if we never played a goalkeeper that was not first choice, I’ve always maintained at 18 your ready but in someone’s eyes they are kids, we have got to start playing up and coming players and not has been and done it players, Villa are still in the old times of Deadly Doug. ..
Don’t think I can watch this game. Will just check the score at the end… Teams around us are catching us up on our negative GD. Today could blow that… A 0-0 draw would be like a victory!
Anyone got a spare bus to park?
Bum Bum, you was on the wrong post….
Don’t think I can watch this game. Will just check the score at the end… Teams around us are catching us up on our negative GD. Today could blow that… A 0-0 draw would be like a victory!
Anyone got a spare bus to park
Like you Bum Bum frightened to look, by the way your on the wrong post.
I’ll watch the West Ham game..