I did actually write something last night, but fell asleep just as I was due to hit the “publish” button.
Seeing as I wrote it, I’ve published it anyway, albeit miles too late.
You’ll see that I thought the only way we could win was to out-work Wolves, which I’m happy to say was pretty much how it panned out.
I only saw the second half and had to settle for the WM commentary for the first, as I drove home from work.
I’d really wanted to watch this game, but we had a job that needs to be completed by 10AM tomorrow.
I think I was expected to stay late to finish it tonight, but you have to draw the line somewhere and I called a halt.
Paying £8 to Sky to watch half a game grieved me, but the game sounded so compelling that I couldn’t resist.
And I’m glad I did, as to my mind we trounced Wolves in that second half.
You can see that Wolves are a classy side and I now realise why some clubs want them looked into, as they’re a cut above, skill-wise. When you consider some of their players have played in the Champion’s league, yet are not on their way down, it does make you wonder how Wolves have got them in.
Whatever, I thought we made them look very ordinary today and what won it for me was the tactics.
We played at such a pace that I thought we’d never be able to keep it up.
The battling and bodies-behind-the-ball attitude is outstanding. How Bruce and his staff have managed to so totally turn this around is beyond me, but you now see a team that look like they’re willing to die for the shirt.
Brucie simply has to be doing something right.
So we played at a high pace, that Wolves matched, but it was our sheer work-rate that did for Wolves, it seemed to me.
We simply stopped them playing and hence dominating.
Don’t get me wrong, they still looked very dangerous on the break, but we stopped everything they tried.
I tried to call the MOTM, but found it tricky.
Adomah got the official award, but there are so many others who deserved it too.
Chester got his second in two games, while being masterful in defence along with Terry.
Snodgrass was excellent with his delivery and I grudgingly add his “chicanery” (cheating).
Grealish, for his pure trickery, that draws fouls, along with one excellent tackle that would have done any defender proud. I really never knew he had that in him and that has to be down to the management again.
Grabban got what? His 4th in 4 games? Outstanding.
In fact, when you’ve beaten the league leaders so convincingly, it’s difficult to not name the whole team as MOTM.
I listened to the after-match chat and one comment from some ex Wolves player summed it up for me.
He talked about how through most of the season, one of our players has always stepped up when other players aren’t doing quite so well.
He spoke about Adomah, then Grealish, then Snodgrass, then Hogan, then Grabban etc.
And he was exactly right.
This is the sign of a very good team.
And to see so many of them punching the air after the game makes even the very cautious me think the title isn’t quite decided yet.
Second place definitely isn’t and it’s going to be some very decent team(s) that finish above us.
Consider that today was probably our toughest game left and I think we look decidedly strong.
All it needs is for Cardiff to drop some points.
I’m off to send my Derby mate some abuse.
Comments
109 responses to “Villa 4 – 1 Wolves; Who’d have thought it? We send a real message to our competitors.”
Yes!
Get the fuck in.
We should fear no one, simple.
Well done Badger; great piece and I love the fact you left work to see the second half – a man who has his priorities spot on.
Fantastic performance under pressure after the earlier results. Shout out to Bjarnasson for an outstanding goal and to another top draw performance from Jack & Albert.
The form at the top of the championship at the moment is quite incredible. In the last 30 games including either us, cardiff or fulham there has only been one loss – and that was us at Fulham.
Its all about consistency now, we’ve been excellent since January, but so have our rivals. Fulham are on the best run in their entire history I read somewhere and IMO there is a realistic chance they will win every remaining game. We can’t afford more than one slip up – can we do it? If we play like tonight we can, but its going to be about grinding it out when we’re not on top form. This is going to the wire….
Erm, I’ve had two post come at me , think you need some sleep Badger, i dont know your job but what ever it is shouldn’t let it take over. I paid to see that off sky and I’m thankful I did, I feel ten foot tall to see our team work out how to stop wolves in their tracks, we have to keep winning u ntill we play Cardiff, well done Bruce and the players.
Work hard, play hard Bill.
Two weeks in Mexico, in a few weeks.
Excellent Badger, where abouts ? there 3 years ago all inclusive, they throw the drinks at you in bottles, mainly yanks use Mexico got on fine with them , food was lobster for me. Shit have to go back one day.
Top of the Championship is simply staggering – who’s going to blink first – and they say the Prem is the best league in the world. They have no idea.
Just got back from the match. What a game what an atmosphere and what a great result. Credit to the whole squad as we made them look fairly ordinary imo even though the possession was 40 / 60. I have always said that Greaish was a bit of a luxury, but I will eat my words as he has improved and is now integral to the the team and the way we play. He even put in some crucial 50 – 50 tackles tonight that was never part of his game. SB used the squad well and it paid off as we replaced quality for quality. Well done Villa and all of the fantastic supporters as we are playing our part in making this one of the most memorable Championship finales in many a year. UTV 4-1 On their big day out.
STILL BUZZING.
What you experienced today rocky1 was what I’ve seen over the years, I’m glad that all the younger elements are now seeing entertainment, if we keep this up all the young kids will want to be a Villa fan and not a utd or Chelsea, its all about supporting your own. Well done the Villa.
Spot on Bill – remember some of the great moments I witnessed – Villa 5-1 against Liverpool and the never to be forgotten league cup semi second leg against Tranmere Rovers. It’s what legends and new young fans are made of. Absolutely buzzing.
Was you a match where Dennis Law ran the length of the pitch to kick a player on the ground.think that game we won 5-1.
Don’t remember that Bill; we met Dennis Law a few years ago when our daughter was selected as part of the Coca Cola World Cup advertising with young footballers and miniature footballs – don’t know whether you remember it. Anyway Dennis Law was all over my wife like a rash but she didn’t seem to mind one bit! – I remember that LOL
So pissed off, we’ve won 10 out of 12 and thumped wolves but don’t you remember how upset we were when we lost to Peterborough! In still distraught! Could have won the cup this year! Fuck going up to the Prem! Your all deluded! Bruce out!
Wow! I did wonder if we had had our flaws exposed by Fulham, and were booked for 4th place. But after that performance you could see us winning all but the Cardiff game with some comfort, and since it is a VP we should have enough to beat Cardiff as well. UTV.
Great performance. Could you imagine if Kodjia was fit, how many goals he’d have from Snodgrass’s fantastic crosses/corners? Either way, every game from now on is winnable and you could argue we have just as easy a run as Fulham other than sure, Cardiff and Derby, but they’re both at home. Should be a great run in.
I was there yesterday and both my Son and me are still buzzing, what an atmosphere… Too many MOM’s to mention, I must say Wolves looked good first half but what got me was the Villa simply wanted it more… !!
There is going to be one hell of run i so lets buckle up and enjoy the ride…
like saddened said. the villa players seemed to want it more than the wolves players. which was heart warming feeling, as we have been let down so often by the players over recent years.
i decided to look at the remaining fixtures, all will be must wins blar blar. but the ones i fear the most are as followed. aways to bolton norwich and millwall. every game is more important than the last, this squad seems to be growing each week with belief and the fight to succeed.
fulham are on a excellent run. but as i said before its cardiff we need to focus on as in catching and over taking. cardiff are like villa in they have big hearts and fight for everything, what they lack in ability they more than make up with the will to succeed. they are gonna not let their lead slip easily.
lastly villa win over wolves brought cardiff within 3 points of wolves. warnock will use this as added motivation. they are not thinking we are being chased by villa and fulham, but they are chasing down wolves. in a betting outlook for the 2nd spot it is villa that are favourites in my eyes. if not outright they should be joint favs with cardiff
Cardiff have built a two game cushion for automatic promotion so they must be favourites to go up alongside Wolves. The thing that will make or break is how each clubs players deal with the pressure that will intensify over the next few weeks. One thing Bruce has done is bring in personalities and leaders. This could be a big factor in remaining games. Thankfully we have our full strength first team all fit and hopefully will stay that way now till end of season. It’s going to be nerve racking that’s for sure.
I think Wolves will go on a bit of a wobble, I just can’t see them losing that amount of a points lead and it not affecting their confidence, their confident swagger completely disappeared after our 3rd… Villa and Cardiff for autos and Wolves will finish 4th behind Fulham.
All too tight to call. Wolves are wobbling and have turned a seemingly unassailable lead into a mini crisis. Fulham are the biggest threat IMO and we can’t affect their position. Cardiff play Wolves and us. If we beat them and Wolves draw we will be neck and neck with Cardiff and it comes down to respective results against other teams. Wolves are at risk of blowing it completely, and it will be interesting to see how they react.
It could come down to keeping key players fit for the run in. Grealish is key for me. Other teams can only stop him by kicking him, and Snodgrass dead ball skills means that just plays into our hands.
i see cardiff losing to villa and wolves, this is why i see villa joint favourites for 2nd. but there are 8 more games. cardiff will feel these last ten like no other. they know they are punching above themselves. they could easily drop more points or they could rise to the challenge and do a Leicester and defy everybody.
wolves i don’t see crashing but saying that they never looked so ordinary as they did second half. it was like george forman before he lost to ali,before the fight he was indestructible he was massive, but when ali knocked him out, he looked human and half the size of a man that ran to the ring.
they are 3points clear of cardiff but i think they will regroup and the villa battering will be a learning curve. they will want to beat cardiff and that will help villa. but they will want to beat them for themselves. had they been 10 points clear they might have thrown a shit performance in to wreck our plans
Being honest I’d have taken a draw before the game but what a performance!
Every player was fantastic but I have to take my hat off to Jack. That long lay off seems to have taught him something. He not only looks physically stronger but there’s thankfully less showboating and more product. with the ball going forward just about every time he gets it.
After we gain automatic promotion this will be the game we’ll look back on and say that’s when we knew we could do it
I agree Pat 57, just think when we get the chance to introduce some of our young hopefuls that have the same qualities as Jack attacking football will be back.that maybe next season hopefully, but what a boost to our team to win 4-1.may it continue. .
Great win yesterday. No doubt about it, Wolves are a good side, but Villa wanted it more. And once again, Grealish best player on the park. I could be wrong, but I think we’ve won every game he has played this season. Still hard to see Wolves not coming top. That will knock their confidence, but they have quality all over.
Be interesting to see who starts on Tuesday. Whether Bruce puts out the same team, or freshens it up. I think I would start Bjarnason and maybe Hogan just to keep everyone fresh, but its hard to change a winning team.
10 games to go!!
Bjarnasson has earned another start but Jedi was very good – I would rest Hourihane who has popped up with goals but his overall involvement has not been great lately – or am I being too harsh.
I can’t see SB resting Grabben so Hogan on the bench again for me.
Your right Hitch, Houihane is a opportunist in his play, creating or midfield work is not on the same par as Bjarnasson, it’s the only change i would make.
Apparently we had scouts at the Allianz Arena Saturday for annual Bayern thrashing of Hamburg as they tend to always do. No news on the names we were supposedly watching though. But they’re in financial trouble and are likely getting relegated so whoever it is, could be fairly cheap pick up.
I think i would change jedi for birkir because he deserves his place back.. and hourihane for lansbury. Theres still a quality player in there we just havent seen it from him enough but id give homa chance myself.
This is totally off topic so sorry for that. I went to the PSG v Real Madrid Champs League game last week. Great occasion but I noticed how fantastic the pitch was and told my son that I was pretty sure that the head groundsman from Villa had been nabbed some years ago. I was reminded of this when I saw an article this evening on the Independent website, which mentions him (Jonathan Calderwood). PSG won the best pitch award for the last 4 seasons.
I haven’t been to Villa Park since the McLeish season. I’m sure the pitch is still good but I remember sitting in the front row of the Trinity stand and seeing how immaculate it was, like a carpet. Shame to lose him but a great career move for him I guess.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/real-madrid-psg-atletico-british-groundsmen-jonathan-calderwood-paul-burgess-a8252006.html
In case anyone is interested.
Ive noticed a couple of times since the turn of the year (watching on tv) and i thought it looked pretty poor certaintly not our usual perfectness over the years. The bham game springs to mind.
Our pitch doesn’t look great at the moment, but the club has stated in one of the programmes its being replaced in the summer and new underground heating installed.
Yes, believe their are some problems with the pitch – was referred to recently in a journo piece and on Saturday commentators referred to the ball ‘bobbling’. Not quite sure what the problem is though.
The pitch had a 10 year life span when it was laid and is 2 years over that life span, which is why it will be relaid this summer. I have always said a good pitch helps the opponents, so it can be seen as a bit of a leveller at the moment. Judging by the results it has not effected us to much in respect to our home form.
Cardiff away at Brentford tonight…. if we’re going to finish above them these are the kind of games we need them to be dropping points in. Fingers crossed Villa fan Dean Smith does us a favour!!
Goes without saying that QPR is probably one of our easiest remaining games, cant take any game for granted but youd be bitterly disappointing if we didn’t win comfortably tonight.