It’s a funny old game indeed.
Just when everything was looking really bleak, so we get a superb (but awful quality) win at Middlesbrough and then cap it with a 5-0 trouncing of Bristol City.
Apparently it was our biggest win since we beat Sunderland 6-1 in April 2013. That’s some length of time and probably shows how poor we’ve been in recent years.
And make no mistake we did trounce City and it was a pleasure to watch, with us applying strong pressure over a very sustained period, which simply proved too much for the visitors.
Where on earth has that come from after some really turgid performances over the last month or so.
Whatever, it makes a really nice change to not have to point the finger at Steve Bruce today and I think about my only criticism is in asking why he didn’t get the kids on earlier. If you can’t give kids a go when you’re three or four goals up at home, when can you?
Of course, O’Hare and Murphy did get on eventually, but I’m just saying…
There were some excellent performances today, notably from Hutton, who linked well with Adomah: Hogan, who I thought looked sharp, Snodgrass who got two goals and looked for a third and particularly Jack Grealish, who grafted his nuts off to good effect for once.
He looked every bit the player we all think he should be and he pulled the strings for an excellent Villa performance.
What was most noticeable was that sustained effort, which I didn’t for one minute expect us to keep up.
If we could keep playing like that, we could walk this league, that’s how good our performance was.
Talking of which, we now sit fifth, just five points off Derby in second.
If we’ve had our bad run, how encouraging do things look all of a sudden?
And the bonus, for me anyway?
AVTV works fine via a paid-for VPN.
Very happy days.
off to bed just to point out i don;t endorse ste bruce he is just another manager who cant get a tune out a poor villa squad. which should be top two or three if they showed the same commitments and work ethics as the other championship clubs. ste bruce maybe is the solution but i doubt he is the cause because it existed before he came.
that last message was down to being fooked i agree with your last statement ltrs
Me too. Head hurts from too much thinking/typing
last sentence should have said ste bruce maybe isn’t the solution.
That’s the problem when you have a manager with no tactics. You explained all of our problems incredibly well. The problem is, we have no structure, no one seems to have defined roles in the team. You’re sent out there and you do what you want in your position. Is it all down to the manager? no. The players should always give 100%, but as a man manager, you should at least be giving players defined roles, and none of them have one.
Brighton linked with a 3m bid for Davis according to the sun. Absolutely laughable thinking they could get him for 3m after he extended his contract when the sun linked him away for 5m+ to United earlier in the season.
Millwall have asked for Elphick on loan. Screw them. Stump up money or get lost. You need at least 4 center backs and if we’re gonna loan Sulliman out like we supposedly are, Elphick is a must to keep.
We’re linked to enquiring not only Ulloa but Daniel Amartey who is a defensive midfielder, while he can also cover for center back and right back.
hard to say one player suits one team, but that ulloa is a perfect match for villa he needs games and we need a decent cover for davis. without davis or kodjia up front we are lacking control of the ball right up top. without grealish we just cant support the striker well. adomhah did well last league game with a couple of decent crosses. and snodgrass stay out wide more.
defensive mid makes sense as our spine is really weak. lack of mobility in middle of midfield is a right handicap. jedi just hasn’t the legs to cover it any more. he just stands in front of the back four making it a back 5 at times. he doesn’t press. maybe this is why we are poor at pressing. i know he is decent and whelen is the only replacement.
Agreed. Ulloa is the striker I want. I was happy when we were linked to him over the summer and last January. Leicester have rejected letting him go the last 2 windows and screwed up his career. Even if Slimani leaves he won’t play, so they should let him go. Think he’s honestly the best we’ll be able to get.
Midfield is a weak spot, definitely. We’re easily overrun. I don’t know much about Amartey but at 23, he’s gotta have some kind of upside. Hasn’t played much but Ranieri signed him so I’d think he has something going for him.
If we do sign them on loan, I’d go with loan to buy Ulloa if we go up and loan to buy no matter what with Amartey. We’ll be financially screwed if we don’t go up so probably couldn’t afford Ulloa, but Amartey is a good financial signing with age and replacing two aging, dead leg midfielders.
davis will learn loads watching a professional train and play of the likes of ulloa.
I don’t think many now on here disagree about Villa performance of late, its been so obvious now that it makes us all keep questioning our coaching and management, i was in Bruce’s camp from the off but things he’s been doing made me think twice, watching the under twenty-three the other night got to me because you could see the lazy and sloppy play, Something not right, I question now the whole of Villa attitude in the way we play football at Villa Park.I so much wanted us to show willing but its not at the club. Bruce dont help in coming out with the same excuse week after week, i pick the wrong team he says.I think he’s lost the respect in the dressing room,if he hasn’t then it’s him being to soft. we have missed the boat in going up we don’t have fighters in our side.
5 points off second with 20 games left hardly missing the boat…..
Owen, look at the bigger picture, how did we get to where we are? Some of the games we where lucky, i hope your right in thinking this is our year with us only 5 points off second place, have you seen anything different to other’s, is that team going to get us there, you think so , i don’t. I hope and pray I’m wrong.
Nath, a unusual email came to me just, asking my views on the club.
I’m going to lock my house door.
😈😈😈😲
seriously ??? rant rant rant lol keep it under 5000 words and no swearing
I will reserve judgment on whether we realistically can make automatic promotion till after Forest game. Bruce will not be able to use the injury excuse with the likes of Terry, Lansbury and Green back. Also no excuses about tiredness after blowing FA cup game. By the way the club should refund villa fans who attended after that shambles against Peterborough. Time for players and management to step up their game and prove they are worthy of being at our great club. Too long have we suffered mercenaries and poor attitudes from top to bottom.
which players do we expect to lose this January ??? i expect they want to shift somebody and we don’t have many saleable assets. apart from grealish
i remembered a interview with ian taylor on avtv i think over christmas.
he was talking about snodgrass and adomah that they should swap sides during the games. the interviewer asked him if the manager allowed that sort of thing. taylor went on to explain. he was in a three man midfield and they swapped their men,that they were supposed to be marking. if the opposition mid was getting the better of one of our three they would swap their men. he said its man management of the game.
the manager doesn’t restrict all the players, they are given instructions like who they pick up at corners and set pieces. who they are up against in open play and the team tactics. but soon as the game starts the players have to adaptable.
we are not gonna walk back into the premiership, but we are there with a fighters chance. we will need to improve on the first half of the season. but we have the players. that should be able to succeed in this division. if they work harder. we will not be a million miles away.
i know we touched on the peterbrough game. but bill has highlighted something which bruce claims after the defeat. which gets fans angry. thats saying he maybe he picked the wrong side.
its a excuse we don’t need to hear. its not the first time he paints a clueless manager of himself. personally i think the side was about the strongest we could field. IF the idea was to rest the main players. rest um after a hectic christmas and new year.
the team against peterbro were well and truly beaten, we were really poor and holte66 is spot on that fans should be refunded. having to pay to watch their team get turned over by posh.
ohhhhh one more. posh third goal i saw grealish chasing back as one of two last defenders. this is not were we need grealish to be. also begs a question why our attacking midfielder was our last man. no organization, i know we were meant to be chasing the game, but there is chasing and giving another goal away
I can’t really get too worked up about the Cup game – we made 10 changes and put out an unbalanced side with several players returning from injury or lacking game time. If you want to blame Bruce – fine but to compare it with our general performances in the Championship seems illogical.
However, we continue to be inconsistent in the Championship a problem that has afflicted the club for years under differing managers and owners. I have no real idea why that is but it seems to have become endemic – perhaps it has something to do with the weight of expectation.
FFP continues to be a real problem – if Bruce can pull off a loan deal for Ulloa that would be quite something.
Ulloa funnily enough on my spellcheck changed to unload, but he is one name that I think could add something to our squad. I didn’t realise he was 31 so he has plenty of experience although clubs in la liga showing an interest, so depends a bit whether he wants to stay in England. Regarding links to Hutton leaving I hope he stays purely down to him having the right attitude, sadly missing by some. He has become a fan favourite and playing better at left back than Taylor. As far as players leaving, I think we all have the same names on our wishlist, but players like Bree and Suliman on loan look most likely with maybe Thor going back to Italy according to reports. Also hold onto Elphick unless he wants to leave of course.
That email I received, news@enews.avfc.co.uk I’m still at a loss why i got it, still I did reply and have to say its what we all talking about , player out of their comfort zone, and excuses being made picking the wrong team, injuries in training and not on the pitch. If its genuine I might be the next manager.😃😊
lmao pick me for the assistant. you can be mr good cop and i can be your bad cop
Would 45 thousand be ok, would have to get rid of 1 or 2 time wasters.