Villa – Boro; No doubt a weakened side, but some good news too

For those who don’t already know, I hate the fact that we play weakened sides in the cups.
I believe we should play every game to do our utmost to win, simple.

I can hear your thoughts straight away.
“It’s a waste of time and only detracts from our efforts in the league”.
Which is fair comment.
To which I’d reply, we 100% ain’t going to win the Champion’s league, the Premiership title or even the FA cup.
The realist in me says we won’t win the Championship title either.
So why not go for a piece of silverware that we might actually be able to win?

“That’s unrealistic” I hear you cry.
Except it isn’t.
I’m sure we all remember Leicester winning the Prem against the odds.
And even a certain team beating Arsenal in this very cup.

The point is, if you don’t even try, you have no chance. And it annoys me, especially when we supposedly have the best squad in the league by some distance.

Still, the realist in me accepts that I’m in the minority in thinking like that and actually going for it isn’t going to happen. So we’re going to play a bunch of second raters, the likes of McCormack or Gabby etc, who lumped together, probably won’t achieve much.
The plus is that we might see good performances from a couple of the kids, but a lot depends on the side Boro put out.
If it’s fairly strong, I’d expect them to be favourites for this game, hence I’d rather see any kids dripped into the league gradually instead of thrown into a game we probably won’t win.

And then, let’s say we do manage to win and get to the very interesting stages of the cup, we’ll no doubt play the “top eleven” or so, meaning those who got us there get dropped. That’s unfair and has to be demoralising, surely?
I just can’t stand the weakened team approach.

In short, if we play a majorly weakened side, I’ll be reduced to not giving a toss about the game too.
Because if the club doesn’t care about the cup, why should the fans bother?
Which is a shame; because it’s still remotely achievable silverware, imo.

Of course I’ll still be hoping for the win, but well, hopefully you see my point somewhat.
I’ll go for a 2-1 win, purely because I don’t want to predict a loss, just when it seems things might be picking up.
Which reminds me, I didn’t even mention the momentum thing did I?
Oh well.

In good news, Tony Xia has pretty much refuted any rumours that he’s looking to sell up;

A lack of managerial continuity would be bad enough, but a change of owner would be totally disastrous.

34 Comments

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  1. Benno
    Benno September 19, 2017 at 3:18 am . Reply

    Time for the likes of Ohare and Clark to be given a shot again. Much rather see them than the likes of gabby and mccormack. Hogan up front. Needs some confidence. Maybe a short run out for Kodjia too.

  2. originallondonlion
    originallondonlion September 19, 2017 at 11:21 am . Reply

    I do wonder if the managers talk beforehand and agree both will field teams of non-regular starters. Also while you might trust Bruce and McCarthy – could you trust Warnock?

  3. Villain1
    Villain1 September 19, 2017 at 2:40 pm . Reply

    I would expect the likes of O’Hare, Clark and Lyden to get game time tonight. However, our up most priority should be picking up 9 points out of the three league games next week, all of which are absolute must wins.
    I would also throw in Mccormack tonight, he deserves a chance in the cups at least as getting him back in the squad only adds to our depth.

  4. DSVilla
    DSVilla September 19, 2017 at 8:23 pm . Reply

    Not impressed with the selection. It should be a winnable tie at home and confidence is important. A weakened side misses the opportunity to build that confidence, and always smacks of “well we needed to give players a run out” excuse being lined up.

    Just what I expect from the manager in fact.

    We’ll get Nil so if they score it’s them going through.

  5. johnnyuk
    johnnyuk September 19, 2017 at 8:41 pm . Reply

    I guess it depends on your reasoning for a weakened side. Is it genuinely because we don’t give a crap, or is it because we recognise there’s a time when we need to bring fringe players onto the pitch to either develop them, or test them in a low pressure environment and build the trust to use them in key games. Some would argue that’s a strategy we should do in championship games, but when every game is decided over who makes the most mistakes, I think it’s a reasonable strategy to field ‘weakened teams’ in the cups.

    1. DSVilla
      DSVilla September 19, 2017 at 9:07 pm . Reply

      Fine. That’s a theory. I’m not sure the players picked would feel that a home cup tie is a no pressure environment.

      It is quite possible to play a strong team with a couple or three changes, and to have a mix of experienced/general first team picks and inexperienced players on the bench. That way he gets the chance to progress and give this players another chance to gain experience

      Bruce either thinks it’s a waste of time or doesn’t want to risk damaging his first team with defeat in a shoot out.

      If he doesn’t give a toss about the competition then neither do I.

  6. DSVilla
    DSVilla September 19, 2017 at 9:29 pm . Reply

    All a bit predictable really. Poor manager picks understrength side and fails to coach/motivate them to victory at home against an ordinary team fielding a weakened side.

    We are screwed until he is bulleted. Anybody who thinks differently needs to get real. There is not a hope in hell that Bruce will get us promoted this season.

    1. originallondonlion
      originallondonlion September 19, 2017 at 9:39 pm . Reply

      Yes, he struggles with the main problem, and shows no aptitude to solve a different one. He is a disappointment, but there are plenty worse out there which Villa might pick as replacement.

      1. DSVilla
        DSVilla September 19, 2017 at 9:44 pm . Reply

        Yes. If we tried hard we could do worse. There are plenty better, but we have hamstrung ourselves by not dealing with the situation in the summer. I don’t trust the club to make a better appointment, but sticking with Bruce will get us nowhere.

        The club seems incompetent throughout and i don’t see it getting better.

        I’m totally demoralised TBH.

        1. Villain1
          Villain1 September 19, 2017 at 9:46 pm . Reply

          The 11k attendance tonight shows the whole fanbase is demoralised. Waste of time and energy nowadays as you know it’s going to be a let down before you even enter the ground.

          1. DSVilla
            DSVilla September 19, 2017 at 9:51 pm . Reply

            after years as a season ticket holder I gave up at the end of the McLeish season. It was just a negative experience.

            I kind of want to go back, and feel that maybe I shouldn’t be commenting since I no longer turn up for games.

            I need something to restore my enthusiasm and there is nothing there at the moment.

          2. OohAhPaulMcGrath
            OohAhPaulMcGrath September 19, 2017 at 10:31 pm . Reply

            Don’t blame them no one cares about this rubbish competition anymore they should scrap it

    2. OohAhPaulMcGrath
      OohAhPaulMcGrath September 19, 2017 at 10:32 pm . Reply

      Agree he has to go

  7. Villain1
    Villain1 September 19, 2017 at 9:42 pm . Reply

    Wonder if Bruce will be out having a pop at the fans again tonight……..why oh why is the board so naive in delaying this inevitable sacking

    1. OohAhPaulMcGrath
      OohAhPaulMcGrath September 19, 2017 at 10:32 pm . Reply

      Bruce out

  8. Guest
    Guest September 19, 2017 at 10:42 pm . Reply

    Bruce out.

  9. jvillan
    jvillan September 19, 2017 at 11:34 pm . Reply

    bruce out
    what the fuck does he think giving hutton a game at expense of bree
    bruce out tomorrow

  10. Andrew
    Andrew September 20, 2017 at 12:26 am . Reply

    Bruce admitted that he expected before the game that the team he put out could get the job done. So there’s no excuse for why they didn’t. He didn’t wanna go out of the cup as he said the team despite being a mix of experienced and youth that they should be able to get through.

    The largest problem that wasn’t addressed, instead of getting rid of Bruce, was depth in defense. No back up left back, shit back ups at center back and we’re still pretending Hutton is a footballer, yet he’s been shit since we signed him, When Elphick and Samba are your back ups at center back, you know you’re screwed. And Richards being what, 5th choice? I’d rather use the u12s center backs than any of those 3. Yeah he tried addressing elsewhere but we failed to address backups and if Chester or Terry go down, we could be in real trouble if it’s not addressed in January.

  11. Adam
    Adam September 20, 2017 at 9:42 am . Reply

    At the end of the day it was the mickey mouse cup. The winner gets no credit unless the winner is man united you cant qualify for europe so weve not lost anything. Id rather put our all in to the league. Bruce gave a few the opportunity to show him they should be playing every week and they didnt turn up so it will have just re-assured him theyre not good enough. Which is great because it means he wont play them in the league games which is where the performance matters. We will beat forrest sat night and the table will start looking a bit better

  12. JohnDoyle
    JohnDoyle September 20, 2017 at 4:18 pm . Reply

    You lot need to wake up and smell the coffee that old codger bruce pulls a win out of the bag every few games to just about save his job 3-0 against possibly the worst team we played this year and so called fans and happy clappers licking Bruces ar sehole face facts we are 18th in the fizzy pop shyte league with the most expensive assembled squads this league has seen and yet again a home and winnable game we manage 1 pathetic shot on target yet again and let boro score 2 when they have struggled to score all season

    Lets cut to the chase and face facts Bruce has had time, he had money, he bought in his old guard players that should be retired elhomanady terry samba whelan players with no resale value whatsover, on top of the millions he spent and people get excited to win 1 game 3-0 and when the carabanana cup is played they say ‘oh it dont matter it was only a crap cup anyways’ its absolute bull shyte when will people wake up and face facts The dinosaur bruce should be harpooned now this is not going to get any better than the odd win here and there come christmas this shower of absolute shyte will still be nowhere near the top 6 and Bruce and all his little fanboys will still be ledsling out the excuses about having time

    Bruces time has gone the game has moved on, he hasnt its as simple as that we will have another draw or loss at weekend and then we will win again, followed by another few drab draws and losses and then it will repeat and repeat villa was a fortress at once now teams are not scared they know bruce is gonna stick 9 behind the ball and they will have free run of the ball

    He needs to be sacked now

    1. Villain1
      Villain1 September 20, 2017 at 9:04 pm . Reply

      Spot on, the old style managers like Redknapp and Bruce are finished now.
      As you say, we’ll win the odd game, everyone starts commenting on how we might turn the corner and then the same old garbage just resurfaces.
      Bruce’s only response is to criticise the very fans he lets down 99% of weekends, it a sign of a desperate man who knows his days are numbered. He did the same when he failed at Sunderland, got his excuses in before he was sacked.

  13. jvillan
    jvillan September 20, 2017 at 5:30 pm . Reply

    all behind john doyle agree/disagree
    agree

  14. Guest
    Guest September 20, 2017 at 6:18 pm . Reply

    John Doyle AKA JVillan.

    I do agree though, he has to go.

  15. Adam
    Adam September 21, 2017 at 1:13 pm . Reply

    Personally I dont see any manager coming in that will have an immediate impact. Then the bruce out brigade will be calling for the next man to be sacked. Its a vicious cirlce that we see time and time again. Why dont we do something different to change that?? I.e. keep a manager for stability and continuity, even when things arent exactly rosie. Whats the worst that can happen..Bruce gets sacked anyway and we start again but at least we will have tried something different.

    1. jvillan
      jvillan September 21, 2017 at 2:51 pm . Reply

      lambert got 2.5 years look at how that turned out,we need to get smarter at picking manager,too many at wrong time houiller garde,some who never should got the shout mcleish bruce

    2. Andrew
      Andrew September 21, 2017 at 9:41 pm . Reply

      Stability would be great. However when you’re shit at what you do, you don’t keep a manager just for stability. You just don’t keep managers for the sake of keeping the same manager because you’re tired of sacking managers. That is literally the worst idea one could ever have.

      What could go wrong? Oh I don’t know. Not going up? Getting killed on FFP because we spent so much money under Di Matteo and Bruce (the latter especially on ridiculous wages). That would be a start on what could happen. You never, ever, ever, ever keep a manager for stability when they can’t do their job correctly. That’s exactly what causes the job to be unstable.

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