I don’t know what to make of that game.
Am I the only person who felt it was like watching a training session, for the vast part?
I expected Southampton to really bring it onto us, but it just felt like watching a game of Villa V Villa, where the opposition, while they had plenty of possession, quite simply offered nothing, with really poor crossing and no threat whatsoever.
I know what you optimists are going to think when I say this ie “the other side are always poor when we get something”.
But the truth is Southampton were poor.
They never really got going at all until the last ten minutes or so, which was about the only time I thought “ah, we’re watching a premier league game, after all”.
What a poor indictment of the game, when the team that are second in the league looked as decidedly average as us.
But then, as is always possible, perhaps I read it wrong and we played really well?
In fairness, Clark and Okore did well for me, as did Hutton, who marshalled Bertrand well.
But I’m hard pushed to say much about the rest of the side, to be honest. I forgot Westwood was playing until about the 20th minute; likewise Weimann until about the 35th.
As for N’Zogbia, the less said, the better. His substitution was entirely correct, regardless of who came on in his place.
I think it’s fair to say anyone else not mentioned was decidedly average at best.
At the end of the day, Gabby scored with our one and only tactic of hitting on the break. He took it as well as I’d expect after some hesitancy on Forster’s part.
And then, as I expected, Southampton stepped it up a bit and got the equaliser.
I’ll leave the analysis to those who do it miles better than me, but the long and short of it is that we got a point, where I never thought it was possible.
You can’t knock that and I’m really happy.
Well, as happy as you can be with a point at home, against a club that ought to be at least a bit below us.
The low light?
Southampton fans singing “who are you?” when they equalised.
The embarrassment of it all.
Crowdwatch: Subdued for much of the game.
Lambertout rating: 3, after us getting a rare point.
just papering over the cracks, yawn. its terrible when you cant manage to lose against 2 top 4 teams with 3 CBs, 2 main strikers and our best MF out injured.
Thanks Paul.
Given our injuries, it is indeed a very good point.
So why do I suspect tonight might prove to be one of the higher points of this season?
Commited? or overly optimistic?
I guess time will tell.
But I hope your way of looking at things wins out, trust me.
It was awful badger a lucky goal and saints nowhere near their best. It was typical lamberk park the bus nick one on the break hope for the best. Then he brings bent on ffs. No second half goal for about 18 matches. The players that were out is irrelevant except Benteke as they are no better than the players that played tonight. Tonight villa fans voted with their feet surely lerner has to take notice. Sky do not like empty seats bad for their business model so maybe they can pressure lerner lol
Committedvillan? Broadmoor perhaps?
The centre backs that replaced Vlaar baker and Sendross are no worse than what they are and okore and Clark hardly put a foot wrong. Delph is overrated and only marginally better than what was out there tonight and yes il give you Benteke who would of made a difference. The point is when those injured players play we only get the same performances and results anyway they don’t make any difference. So take your lamberk apologist attitude and shove it where the sun disnt shine.
Last year we beat man city and I said it was papering over the cracks and guess what!!
Commitedvillan/ Nath/ BUNJS – I say Watson it appears we have found a severe case of multiple pseudonym disorder.
pseudonym disorder by this you think i waste my time posting under other names, to disguise my posts. you give me too much credit bws, one if i have to say anything, i will and do
p.s iam sure commitedvillan/bunja post far better than my txt /posts i think mr watson i detect a case of paranoid delusions from bws, you should t/c and relax ur tension will kill you
of the game well saints won’t stay top 4. i was impressed with the ease which villa contained um. the guy up front pele which most said would be the danger, never got a sniff. great equalizer thou, one full back crossed and the other full back scored, you couldn’t have predicted that… nxt game will be a battle but benteke back we are a different team
I used to go to persecutory delusion anonymous but they where all picking on me.
I thought we played all right, contained them well and Weiman should have sealed it but hey ho what do I know?
i never said anything to suggest u don’t know, in fact, i thought your posts are mostly decent, you don’t say things to stay in the flock you post what you see, that has to be commended.
Is it just me, but why on earth did we take off Sanchez and put Bent on when we were winning? I said to my son at the time that it was the most bizarre substitution to make when you are winning against a team 2nd in the league…
Because lamberk and captain Birdseye are fuckin clueless that’s why
Stop it nath people will start talking 😉
ok but let um its a debate site
Under normal circumstances a point would be ok. But it’s the way we done it get a goal and park the bus that’s the only way lamberk knows. Its pathetic look at teams like palace how they played against Liverpool. Yes liverpool had more possession but when they got the ball they played good attacking football and went for the jugular. Plus they came back from a goal down. If saints had got first goal yesterday it would of been game over. There was no logic with the goal just a wild clearance from Clarke and a keeper error that let in Gabby 99 out of a 100 times the keeper would of got that. It is nearly Dec we have played 12 games and scored 6 goals how anyone can defend that is beyond me. Yes Benteke been out but it’s up to other players to take responsibility to score. The club is a complete joke from top to bottom and a crowd of 25,000 proved that.
oohahaha you make certain points which are correct, then you spoil your good work by talking absolute bollocks. crystal palace are playing classic counter attacking football, you might need a stronger eye prescription, they defend deep and have speed either flank,which they use to hit teams on the counter, now i suggest you watch them properly.
villa can only play this style especially, when you are without two target man. mr nzog was a waste of space again. if you play on the counter, you need to attack with speed and intelligence, weimann’s chance, which should have sealed the win, was a great countering attack, but villa failed to even count attack well, which nzog was mostly the culprit i can’t see the point of him. grealish while young and inexperience, would offer the team miles more.
The difference is they play it a lot better than us and they have a better balance between counter attack and taking game to opposition. Lamberk is clueless
Thought we played better than we have been.
Totally agree with the Zoggy bit, he was terrible, Sanchez gave away to many balls. MOM for me was Hutton, it was reassuring to have him back (never thought I’d ever say that)
Still think Lambert has no clue, even though Sanchez was poor he broke their play up, as soon as he went off, I could see what was going to happen. Would they have scored if he’d been on the pitch…..we will never know.
I want to see the back of Lambert now, and there was quite a lot of protest before kick off around the Witton end stand, shame it never made any press or TV coverage
6 goals scored going into December. That says it all. No plan B. That is down to the manager. We are set up to not concede and to be fair the defence has been reasonable considering the previous two seasons. McCleish got hounded out for one poor season and wasn’t given the luxury of another season to improve. We have went backwards under this clown and still people defend him. They should call for McCleish as manager on the terraces !!!
Iv said for ages that Mckeish is prob slightly better. But fans hounded him out just coz he managed blues. Our best player tonight imo Hutton was his signing who go t slagged by fans just coz am signed him pathetic
You were one of those fans OohAhh, you hated McLeish’s style of football and rued his record with us, you also called Hutton a thug and called him talentless, you total hypocrite.
This is something that bugs me. Everyone on here can make decisions on players we have, players we should buy, managers we should appoint. The thing is, there is no consequence to these “decisions”. Where’s the Tom Ince, Scott Sinclair are perfect for Villa brigade now? Same place as the players themselves, nowhere. Lambert has been slagged off for changing his mind about Hutton. Who really knows what was behind that? Same thing with Pochettino. Flavour of the month, put him at Spurs and they aren’t doing so well. I still rate him as a manager but I have no idea whether he is right for Villa
You can call me a Lambert apologist but that to me is just a pathetic term. I wish he wasn’t our manager, but that doesn’t mean everything he does is wrong. The same was true of Mcleish. Why are the same people who were happy to see him hounded out of the club saying that he wasn’t so bad after all?
I wouldn’t be happy to see Lambert sacked, though I think he is lucky not to have been. A sacked manager is an admission that we have failed yet again. Lerner’s track record suggests we will fail again with the next appointment. I really don’t know where we go from here. I don’t really care if we sell Vlaar and Delph, as long as we get decent money and invest it straight back in decent players to cover their loss/improve the team. Benteke and even Kozak can’t come back soon enough for me. Okore looked decent last night (and you do wonder whether he should have been introduced before), Sanchez will probably develop into a decent Prem DM, Benteke is awesome at times. There are some positives among the doom and gloom that we all feel. Maybe even Grealish will get a proper sniff if the team has a bigger offensive threat and we actually manage to get to the stage of not having to play backs to the wall.
I just don’t see a quick fix to our problems. Pulis of course springs to mind. We would be a better team under him, but I feel that would be a short term thing before we all get restless and want more. There’s no sign of a buyer for the club, so it is going to be a long grind I’m afraid.
A good reasoned and well thought out post DS but I’d get my tin hat on if I were you mate.
Yep!! My shoulders are broad. I do try to find some crumbs of comfort from the seemingly relentless misery of supporting Villa. Otherwise it sucks you into a pit of despair.
Agreed. Not everything Lambert does stinks. Just 98% of it.
2 points lost for me. Met Southampton on an off day, so we were lucky in that respect. These are the types of games we need to take advantage of, especially at home. They could have quite easily steamrolled us if they’d clicked in the final third given all the possession.
Clark and Okore stepped up to the plate and both fullbacks were solid. However our midfield is so lightweight. NZogbia careless in possession and didn’t look interested. We never seem to caress the ball and instead act like its a hot potato.
Didn’t understand the introduction of Bent, chances were few and far between and he’s not the type to hold up possession and lead the line. No wonder Gabby was slow in tracking back he was knackered from running around up top trying to force mistakes and feed off scraps. Would have made more sense to bring on Grealish or Bacuna to add fresh impetus and pace to give their defenders something to think about and stem the amount of attacks they were starting.
100 games of Lambert – wow!
Complete fluke goal by us, otherwise we never would have come close to scoring. Why do we persist with the same formation week in week out? Its not working!!
On a positive note, decent performance by the back 4 and Guzan again. Nice to see Okore finally get a game, thought he played well. Southampton seemed to run out of ideas in the final third, but still dominated the game.
Lambert-100 games with a 48% loss rate! Unbelievable!
What an absolute piss poor game of football and what a joke we are, playing counter attacking football against Southampton at Villa Park, is Lambert McLeish in disguise?
MON brought this horrid style of play to Villa Park and no other manager since seems to have looked beyond it, it’s embarrassing and is the style of relegation fodder.
The lack of creativity is astounding and to not have been addressed in over 4 years now is scandalous, what exactly are the fans doing? Where are the protests?
This will be the year we are relegated, you can’t flirt with relegation for this long and not be caught out eventually, and fans not turning up to Villa Park isn’t going to do anything in the long run, they need to be there in full voice calling for the managers head and protesting against Lerner.
The club is rotten to the core.
Lambert out, Lerner out.
Not much of disguise is it guest? Lamberk’s brand of football means 17,000 fans (myself included) have decided that enough’s enough. One shot on target all game – again. Gabby’s hard work for the goal was totally off set by the fact that he switched off for the goal. Nzog, as many have said, put in the most half armed shift I’ve seen in a while. I agree with other posters, are there really three teams worse that will save us this season?
*half arsed*
Positives Hutton, Okore and clark all had decent, solid games and Sanchez breaks up play fantastically and was really frustrating them, think his passing will improve.
But tactically again we were completely awful, hit em on the break, score one, then sit back and invite them to come at us…The bloke is a freak, bringing Bent on ????
We have a mid table team, but not with this idiot in charge..
Lets just hope this point doesnt save his job for the season
Off topic but on the Villa OS John Deehan picks his all time Villa 11, have a look at the Deehans dream team, that don’t look much like James Milner to me.
Does anyone at VP have a clue what they are doing?
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~4324738,00.html?
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~4324738,00.html?
Milners got a serious sun tan.
Lol. Come on Giddy if they at VP had half an idea about anything to do with Villa you couldn’t possibly mix up James Milner and Ian Taylor!
This just goes to show how clueless and detached Villa have become from their fan base.
GIDDY gidman right back??????Gareth Barry left back???!?,they must think it’s our very first day supporting the club.like you say mate it’s taking the urine,this is supposed to be the OS,yes what the fucks going on.????
BWS , tried your website keep getting Oops error, what was it? Anyway that game lastnight im afraid was as Badger said parks football, the type Oohah likes to play in his early years 🙂 count the corners, count the shots on goal, count the possesion, we was lucky on the night. Still we needed that point.
They’ve took it down now Bill but I’ve downloaded it, I’ll email it to Oohah and see if he wants to put it up.
It’s still on the OS site mate.
BILL download the OS APP mate,it’s on there
Ok’ both will try.
Yes it’s on there but they’ve taken the team line up with photos off the bottom of it Giddy.
Soz your right it was stuck in my bookmark so I kept on seeing the pictures of the players my mistake.
BWS they must of come on our site mate the OS have rectified the picture it should of been Ian Taylor not Milner.
Regardless of who where playing I thought we defended well,we were disaplined and kept our shape.Okore,Clark and Hutton played really well Cissoko played a couple of dodgy passes but he is a defender.Both full backs got up the pitch well.We didn’t offer much in attack but made a good few chances but we lack that regular killer finisher and a really good playmaker.I though we stopped Southampton playing by defending well.Saying all of that its no good if we can’t win the next game against Burnley.It is what it is have to win against Burnley…..Not convinced ….utv
Having problems lads, keep getting download error,RPC:S-7:AEC-O just cannot download apps. Anyone know why 🙂
Play store bill or Google it.
Tried that Giddy, this is beating me mate, the one from Isreal gone down, the desk top fucked, to slow, this one now wont download, its like me had its day. Only one salution be a Villa fan and be happy.:-)
I don’t like positive comments because we’re still rubbish. But, we defended ever so well last night. Okore’s a bit special. Made Clarke look a decent player. The entire back four were great. I’m sure I’ll find somehting negative to say again soon.
Hi Guys Still in the sunshine (that’s when it’s not pi**ing down!!). Game was on here but didn’t get to see much due to demolition of large rum bottle. Good to see Okore getting a run out and sounds like he played well.
H60 shocking as this may sound the guy can actually play! He looks for a pass out of defence!
Thats something i noticed BWS , that part of the game has been missing.he sent some nice balls forward to players ,but players lost them in tackles.
He looks like he’s got a footy head on him Bill, looks up, not scared to carry the ball forward and tries to find a pass but if I’m seeing it then how comes Lambert aint? He sees him everyday at bmh ffs.
It’s a tough life Hitchens! Thought Okore played well. It is strange that he hasn’t played before. The only slight worry is he seems a bit impetuous and commits himself early. That’s great when it comes off, as it did last night. Promising though. Bill’s point is spot on though. Gabby, Weimann and CNZ are pretty useless at holding the ball up. That means we lose the ball so quickly the midfield either can’t get forward or probably choose not to as they need to defend. No wonder our possession stats are so awful.
well that Lambert is it not, my asking question at the minute why has he not player the young lad? as for Sanchez, well speaks for itself, carring to much weight and slow to react.Clarke did well, Hutton did his job, it took Villa a long time to see that long pass to the wings but corrected second half, BWS we do have players problem is believing in themselves. one day it might click.
Your right Bill we do have the players and your right about the hold up play from the forwards, that’s why imo he brought on Bent last night but the problem is the fella couldn’t hold up a a paper hanky!
BWS, 🙂 🙂 :-*
http://thepremierleagueowl.com/the-empty-seats-at-aston-villa-should-worry-us-all/
BWS cheers for that good read & spot on,it stands out a mile what lerners up to.I hope the hierarchy read this WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING.
It’s not just Lerner, but all the owners. Beware the warning about a few more Yank owners coming in and removing relegation form the game to protect their investments, just like the NFL. THE ONLY WAY FORWARD IS TO BOYCOTT ALL HOME GAMES.
Lerner dosnt care if we boycott games he has his sky money which is literally millions more than us fans could ever give
To be fair it was probably what “Bill Pearson told you so” has said all along, just worded it differently.
Darren Bent to Brighton, recall of Robinson? Interesting if this is all true. Seems like a punishment for Bent to be going on loan now.
Still struggling to understand why Bent came on. Makes even less sense if this Brighton move was in the offing. Agree with previous comments in that we’re better than the position we currently occupy. Too many square pegs in round holes and kick and rush football for my liking though.
Media also defending Lambert (under constraints/purse strings tightened). Adrian Durham and Goughy on Talksport were suggesting that we need 6 points at least from next 4 games – Burnley, Palace, Leicester, West Brom. Maybe if we don’t get that amount and the continual drop in attendance at VP, others will stand up and take notice.
December is definitely going to be the defining month of our season. Either a glimmer of hope for new year or another nail biting, squeaky bum time.