Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, so they probably did today.
While I think the players did actually try in the first half, it could easily have been about 0-4 at the break, after Brad Guzan made some good saves; such was the gulf in class.
As it happens, we went in 0-1 down after Kane scored just before the half time whistle.
It was obvious that we were going to lose, but at just one down, there’s always the hope that things can change.
But that hope was extinguished straight after the break when Kane scored again.
At 0-2, it was game over and the players knew it as much as us fans.
Hence the second half saw Spurs going through the motions and Villa, as we’re so used to seeing, just gave up.
It made for tedious viewing and I was struggling to maintain any interest, to be honest.
Our midfield has to be the weakest I’ve ever seen, we have no decent wide players and Gestede….. well I’m sorry, but I think he’s awful with his feet and not much better with his head.
And again, the defence looked totally useless.
But we all know this and it just boils down to the fact that even though the confidence is at rock bottom, we just so lack quality.
There’s no urgency or signs of fight and I’m finding myself yet again questioning Garde, who seems to have given up as much as the players. That said, the players hardly give him anything to get wound up about.
Perhaps the only bright spot was Andre Green making an appearance.
He did ok, putting in a nice cross, put in a decent corner and worked hard in tracking back.
It’s obvious what his minutes were about and he’s probably going to be the sort of kid we’ll be backing next season.
The crowd were mostly subdued and it’s not surprising, given the fayre they have to put up with.
The season ticket holders, I can understand turning up; they’ve already paid.
But why anyone else would want to pay to watch us at the moment, makes me wonder.
Were there really 32,000 at the game?
MOTM was Guzan by a mile, as he was the only one of the regulars to put in a decent performance.
And that’s about it, as I am struggling to be bothered anymore.
A big part of me is now beginning to think “roll on next season” where we might at least have a chance of winning a game.
Not with this bunch of losers though.
Most of them aren’t good enough for the Championship.
I’ll get a few dislikes for this, but last season I defended Fabian Delph when many on here said he was useless and should never be in the team.
Then after 1 or 2 games of this season some on here were saying that we had a much better replacement in Gana, I’m sorry but with the season all but done I don’t think we have one midfielder fit to lace Delph’s boots, I’d crawl to Manchester to get someone to show some passion in our midfield like he did.
That is where a lot of the failure as stemmed from this season to me, yes the defence is poor, and the attack is frankly shocking, maybe with the exception of Ayew, but there is just no guts or passion in midfield to spark even a sign of life. We truly are going down with barely a whimper.
You are right. The standard in midfield has dropped alarmingly. Not just the skills but the willpower and guts to put on a performance of Premiership standard. Of the current crop I actually think Sanchez can do a job in a competent midfield, but he has to be on the pitch not in the treatment room. As for the rest, I agree with you.
But for Delph – I did not think he was a good player. It is relative, he is much better than anyone playing for Villa now, but I thought he was part of the general decline. It is significant that unlike Gareth Barry who made the same move, Delph only gets into the City team for FA cup games or league games when City are already 2 goals up. I think this shows the huge gulf between top 4 sides and what passes for a midfielder at VP.
I can see Delph being a regular starter under Pep next year…
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…i think I’ve just wet myself!!!!…ho ho ho ha ha ha…etc…etc.
Ya I have to say I agree about the midfield….I do like Gana, as I think hes very good at breaking up play, but his distribution is woeful. Same for Sanchez. Westwood isnt premier league quality….and Gil is just too lightweight. Veretout though for me has been the biggest disappointment, just seems to drift through games.
The difference with Delph,was the fact that he did make mistakes, but he always put in 110% no matter what the score was. Our team this season has just simply given up on many occasions.
midfield is weak, but no weaker than up front. we can’t catch teams on the break or hold the ball up. gana i think can hold his head high up, hes done exactly what he was brought into do.
how could the ppl running the club think we had a premiership strike-force. kojak has been injured for 3 years . gabby scored 1 goal in the same period. gesede was unknown in top flight. (he hasn’t been given any service and is a striker that needs crosses). ayew was another maybe good signing, but with no team around him also certain to fail.
we was always certain to fail this season, whoever thought this squad would be fine needs to be sacked. because it was as plain to see as day. i thought we would struggle up to new year. hopefully by then, the french signings find their feet. but basically they still haven’t found their feet.
lastly look at teams around villa your sunderlands, newcastle, norwich even swansea these teams are not just better than us, but their is a clear gap in standards. yeah i know we beat norwich, we are really that bad. watch barcodes last night they looked good second half. sunderland look strong. and norwich worst in the league next to us also look like a team of fighters.
geee i best rap it up lol rant over sort it out villa
I’m a bit fed up with the media banging on about how much villa have cost Lerner.
Ultimately the books stops with him. It is his decision making that has lost him his money. Full Stop.
Completely agree Steve, he purchased a successful football club and his fantastically poor decisions, arrogance and naivety has saddled the club with debt and got us relegated – I don’t give a stuff how much ‘they’ say it has cost him, as it is probably been leaked by his team to try and dilute some of the hate we feel towards him!!
Tbf the club was on its knees under Ellis and DOL if those two had continued we would of been down years ago
media hates the Villa lads, they can’t wait for us to drop, probably have the headlines in waiting already
Ignore it and let them continue to dickride the mancs and Spuds
totally agree with steve & saddened and claret
media hate us, plus lerner whinning about losing this and that, isn’t this called bad business decisions. i mean if we are bottom of the league. we must have some very ordinary players. why would you want to offer um top wages. look at insomnia length of his contract and wages. lerner hired wrong ppl to advise him and himself clueless. our hearts bleed for you wanker
I absolutely agree it is Lerner’s fault. There is a certain naïve arrogance about Americans and team sports. They have a very successful franchise model, and they think it must be easy to export that to Football where it is neither wanted nor needed. The key difference is the absence of relegation, and in theory the draft and salary capping mechanisms which are supposed to prevent the richest skinning the poorest season after season.
Lerner was the learner, and the first painful lesson he got was that Russian and Arab oligarchs could add a zero to the price of everyone, which Lerner could not match. He was not wrong to buy Villa, but he was certainly at fault for not selling up at that point. He never really put the club up for sale except to a few American mates when the real buyers were Arabs and Overseas Chinese, who were never given the offer.
As for Lerner’s expenditure – well Leicester and Bournemouth have spent far less, but they have invested in a better manager and given him control.
Hendrik Almstadt falls on his sword how bloody noble, couldn’t he done this literally. was he the muppet responsible ????????? or is he just the fall guy
Who cares – one down and hopefully more to follow
Lets hope they are having the disciplinary interviews one after each other – and get some further positives news before the days is over !!!
I cannot see Fox giving up his massive pay day too easily though !
Saddened – I suspect Fox might stay with Bernstein acting as an unofficial CEO (on a temporary basis?) and Fox concentrating on the commercial side which he us undoubtedly good at – just never a CEO – but then what do I know.
For certain Riley has to go and the manager given more power in regard to transfers. We also need a new head of scouting – someone who knows what they are doing!
Seeing he wasn’t brought in to bring in players and didn’t have a thing to do with the recruitment like most fans seem to think, he’s currently a fall guy. Clearly why he was sacked was his vacation which not only pissed the fans off, but the staff as well.
Are you having a laugh mate?
No? Because he wasn’t involved in the squad. It was Reilly, Fox and Sherwood. However it’s rumoured Reilly will be gone in the next couple days too.
What about the media reports stating Garde clashed with Almstaadt overs transfers in the Jan window??
Really Andrew – he was Sporting Director so if he wasn’t involved in the scouting and recruitment side then what did he actually do? It’s already been acknowledged he was part of the infamous ‘transfer committee’ and, by all accounts, Garde considered him to be a major problem in January. The man was out of his depth – good riddance.
Maybe I missed it but going off what Fox said, he was brought in not to do transfers.
Maybe Garde found him a problem then, but I was solely going off what Fox said as after a while I gave up reading who we were getting because it was pointless.
Andrew I feel I owe you an apology. According to the Telegraph, Riley heads up scouting and recruitment not Almstadt – indeed it appears nobody actually knew what he did apart from drawing his salary. He was, however, part of the ‘transfer committee’ and it appears was a major problem for both Sherwood and Garde. The Telegraph also suggested the club didn’t know he was in Dubai – which I find hard to believe. However, if it was the case then it almost certainly hastened his departure as you suggested.
Riley must go next and now – Almstadt has gone, why wait.
I see almstadt been FUCKED off may it continue.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Fox has already contacted Wenger for advice on a replacement for Almstadt!!
Fortunately Fox isn’t in charge of that anymore with Hollis around.
Just as well really. Brits are well known for bailing the yanks out of the shit, looks like we have again!
this guy is totally pi$$ing me off. ray wilkins reckons were shit and gonna stay shit, only beating newcastle to look forward too :(((( well wilkins, i blame you as much as the other twats responsible. so feck off with you insights keep em to yourself. he spoken more about us since leaving, than all the time he was here, sitting quietly on the bench, scratching his head, looking like 1oclock half struck
easy to predict a team without confidence and quality against better quality and confidence teams, he must think, hes actually saying something nobody else knows, clueless
i have just looked into my crystal ball, see if i can beat wilkins
i think tomorrow might be wednesday,
villa wont score 2 goals in any of the remaining games
villa wont win another game
here is a longshot gabby wont score another goal this season
@Nath
If you had a bet on any of the above the bookies would be paying out by now
yeah they were a good bet lol better than wilkins single, mine was a yankee at least
For me remi has to go as well, another confirmation is letting a player like Gardner go out on loan with crap we have, anyone see gardners goal, Westwood couldn’t do that trying all day long.
Reilly next to fall on his sword or we will push him on it. oh did remi allow gardner go out on loan. wasn’t he already out on loan when remi arrived. we could blame remi for the titanic sinking too if that appeases you
He can’t motivate, even with these players he should be getting better results, he is sticking with the same crap every week when there is some good youth to give a chance, he brought back gabby, why? He keeps playing Westwood, he sent Gardner out on loan in January when he signed no one and the midfielders were playing s##t. Just can’t see him getting us out of the championship, think he is more of a coach than manager, sherwood with all his faults would have got more points, don’t get me wrong we would still be bottom 3, you deluded if you think remi can get us out of this mess and prepared for next season
he isn’t sticking with same formations and same players thou is he. hes trying to find a formula that works best, with a piss poor squad. as for the youth players, i too got fed up with the useless players and wanted a clean slate with the youth. but this was selfish, they aren’t ready. green who got a sub appearance played in the under21 competition 3 days after. don’t you think 2 games his is too far. they should finish off their under21 season, then over the summer they will get their chances. lastly remi has to blood them in which he is doing, but has to be careful they aren’t involved in to many damaging results 0 6 pool example
Frustrates me how long it has taken to blood them, championship is round the corner and we need to get them more experience asap. Only good thing is at least Gardner is getting good experience at that level, shame we let other players go who are also performing at that level.
That is a good point Jimbo but sadly hindsight is a wonderful thing. On a more positive note IF we sold those youngsters least expected to be a success then the ones we have in the U21’s should perform just as well if not better – big IF though.
It does seem that the Championship offers a good opportunity to bring younger players through so perhaps we should try and maintain a sense of balance for next season – but then again look at what’s happened to Fulham and Blackburn Rovers.
While I agree with the fact the youth need to be treated carefully I would suggest that games from now until the end of the season won’t do any harm whatsoever. Bar injury of course.
Look at what we have an tell me that bringing in the young Sarkic in goal wouldn’t do us any more damage? As a club but for him also.
Doncacien? Why has he not seen first team game time yet, he looks a sound and confident player.
Callum Robinson or Hepburn-Murphy, why the hell not? we have noone else scoring goals or providing them…(I know Robinson is out on loan) On the scoring goals front there really is absolutely nothing to lose for everyone involved.
Ricardo Calder, Suliman and of course Gardner…there are more and they’re all better than what we’re putting out right now. I can’t get my head round it.
The pont being is that, some of you think the harm will be solely down the morale of the player if they’re involved in heavy defeats and what not but then that’s where good man management should play its part, someone to have a quiet word and say ‘listen lads, we’re effectively down, you’ve got nothing to lose and it won’t be down to you if we do get relegated, go out and experience the PL, play with freedom, have a go, (because you’ll never see it again)…’ Plus you need to think that all these young lads would relish the chance, even if they go out and lose fifteen nil they’ll certainly relish the week after taht as well.
Now I do admit that for some of those mentioned I could be talking out my arse as I’m not the most informed person on the planet regarding loans and how the varying contracts work but surely we could have called some back..especialy considering there was going to be no backing?
of the players you mention only Hepburn-Murphy is at the club, the others are away loaned out. so this maybe why the manager has not picked um. ppl also need to remember these under 21 ‘s have their own competition, so while blooding one or two for 30 minutes or so isn’t problem, playing a load of under21 will have a knock on affect as they are gonna be playing twice within a week.
plus i recall fulham the year they went down, their under21 won the fa youth the year before, they blooded loads of their so called stars after christmas , this didnt save them and didn’t fast forward their youths development.
Where has Sarkic gone? If we have loaned out a keeper with only Kermit and Gonzo left at the club that is criminal
yeah i might have got the goalie wrong, steer is out on loan at huddersfield and Benjamin Siegrist is at solihull moors sorry but point was MOSTwhere out on loan
as I thought, fair play mate, understandable if his hands are tied in that department. But of the remaining that are there I just can’t get passed why there not being used at all!
I see a problem with the falling on swords routine.
If it is anything they have been practicing at BMH Almstadt will have fallen on his by accident – not realising it was loaded. And Riley will hit the scabbard instead and bounce back into play until somebody stabs him in the back.
Still at least the board have assessed the situation and identified some of the culprits.
Our young players will be the ones that get us out of the Championship.
Gardner, Grealish, Baker…etc, and maybe even the likes of Green and Sulliman will come through too. They will stick with us through this nightmare and hopefully are good enough to get us back up.
Be nice if we could keep a couple of higher paid players, Amavi more than anyone, but we’ll see. The rest will all be off…and good riddance to most of them.
nice post benno i believe your spot on, when you remove the over paid waste of spaces, your left with gardner, grealish, baker ,clark lyden and i think gestede will prove his worth, when the team are attacking more, they can hang some decent crosses up which he loves, he is proven at championship lvl. if we can bring in a few bargains that are well researched. no reason why villa can’t repeat the last time we went down, bounce back straight away. but as champions instead of runner ups this time around
Shame Samir Caruthers isn’t still at Villa. He could have peed in a glass and fed it to Lerner…
Who’s disliked Bum Bum’s comment, I found it funny, also, did you notice another player involved in ‘Peegate’ was the ex Villa striker James Collins, we seem to be a nice training school for the modern gentleman!!
wasn’t me, i liked it,thought it was a brilliant idea, he is piss poor at business so he should love it
Appalling behaviour. Not uncommon sadly, especially amongst the rugby fraternity who liked nothing more than shitting in a pint glass (sadly witnessed first hand).
Money doesn’t maketh the man does it?
P.s. The dislikes mainly come from the private IP address at VP!!!!