God knows what that picture’s about, but it works for me!
I don’t know why really, but I’ve been looking forward to this fixture, nearly as much as the away version.
I mean, with the utmost respect, Burton are a nothing club, aren’t they?
They’ve had a very decent rise from non-league footy, but their ground only holds around 10,000, which will make the clamour for tickets at the Pirelli interesting when we play them away.
Which brings me to the attendance for this game and it’s officially a sell-out.
Given that it’ll be the biggest crowd since our 1-0 victory over Liverpool in 2010-11, it’s a very impressive attendance.
42,500 for a game against a minnow club brings back memories of monster boxing day crowds of years gone by and you know the atmosphere is going to be fantastic. Just as a footy match should be.
Certainly it seems that many other Villa fans agree with me that this is a tasty game.
Injury-wise, Steve Bruce updated us yesterday and it seems we’re all good, with only the long-termers like Richards and Steer etc being out.
On Burton’s side, they’re in even better shape, with Nigel Clough hoping to have his entire squad fit, which is a rarity at this stage of the season.
Not that any of that matters, as I fully expect the Villa to win this one.
I know, I know, I really ought to know better than to be so confident, but I can’t help but feel we should beat Burton comfortably.
The biggest problem I see is that we know Burton are probably going to park the bus. Combine that with the fact that we don’t create much and struggle to score and it could prove tough going, although I think we’ll have enough to overcome them.
But if you look at Burton’s away record, along with Rotherham, it’s the worst in the league and they haven’t won one.
A look at the league table shows we have the second worst away record with only two wins, but that’s another issue.
Our home record is much better though and we’ve won the last four league games, with the draw against Wolves being the only blip under Steve Bruce. It seems VP is becoming a fortress again.
Hence I can’t see Burton getting anything out of this game.
How we’re going to play it is another question though.
I’ve seen that Bruce has said he might change it up again and it makes sense, seeing as we have three games in a week.
So I don’t have a clue how we might line up.
As I’ve said, I can’t see past a Villa win, although I suspect if we can’t get the early goal, it might be a bit of a grind. Once we get one though, I’d expect the game to get easier.
Villa 2-0
Here’s wishing all readers and Villa fans everywhere a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!
It was a strange game. Very unlucky when Aston Villa got their goal backfired by an Offside. When Aston Villa scored the first goal I got confident and was quite annoyed when Burton scored a goal , but then Aston Villa got put back in the lead and then they did very good to defend , so Burton didn’t score and in the end Aston Villa finished off with a 2-1 win and Burton with a 2-1 lose.
It was a good but strange game and I really enjoyed the game , even though I listened to it on the radio. I got very excited when the commentators were pretty much screaming. In the end Aston Villa won. GAME OVER!! Great game!
Nice one 😊
Another pretty poor performance to be honest but nevertheless Bruce has a knack of getting results in this league. Though its disappointing with the attacking talent at this level we have that we haven’t really battered a team or won convincingly all season in my opinion (other than Rotherham who are worst team by a mile).
Good to see Mccormack back on the scoresheet though, he clearly has the footballing brain which so many in this team lack and I expect him to come good in the 2nd half of the season. We need to utilise him and Grealish in the final third and buy a new CM alongside Jedinak as neither Gardner nor Westwood are good enough even for the championship.
Ahahahahaha. Same ppl saying Villa are a big club are happy with playing like that week in week out. Hard ons over a fluke v bloody Burton. Lol. We’ve become a joke club, quite literally.
Played off the park by Renford Rejects, yay, get in.
Leeds getting 4 goals away again, I bet they’re terrified of massive Villa!!
Bluenose
Lol 😁 helenius
Ps I bet us winning today has totally fucked your Christmas up drown your sorrows with JV
catch your self on giddy,i want villa winning,but if you and podge are happy with been ahead of blues its not me having problems
watch motd to see bruce built hull they will struggle to match our total of points from last season,bruce has had 12 matches we have no formation style plan or anything else gabby as a sub with 5 mins to go to defend a lead masterstroke by king spud
anyone on here don t agree with use slag them off abuse like little school yardbullies
There is a point to be made here, imo.
Why don’t we batter certain sides?
We have no goals in the team and this seriously needs adressing.
JV – you make some good points but try less of the invective it lessens your argument and invites similar types of response. There is no need to call SB King Spud – it’s juvenile. We know you don’t rate him so you don’t have to keep saying it in a demeaning manner.
Hitch hasn’t it already crossed your mind that he is a juvenile???
Never really gonna score when the mainstay is the ball down the right line time after time.Well in the 1st half anyway.
Soon as Grealish came on he held on to it…played little through balls and mixed it up a bit.And of course ran with it FORWARD and unlucky not to score.The winner came from a quick ball to the inside right then played on to the spare man – cross..GOAL.
I was dreading if we hadnt scored and bought on Gestede because it would have just been the big hoof down the middle,
At last I have seen us win at home on boxing day…..didnt wipe out the memories of those terrible defeats though.
p.s…..desperately need a midfield play maker to change things mid game and free up Grealish to do whatever he can…….but he does go long periods out of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjShvCfgw9g
well same old story on our views of our performances. just glad most of you are realistic enough to know. 3 points not performances, gets you promoted.
we don’t have the players to play expansive style and win. burton don’t have players to play boring and get 3 points. bruce hasn’t assembled anything, he has assessed our strengths and weakness. this game plan is temporary not indefinite.
burton sound like they deserved more, but this is the difference between best teams and those that struggle in this league. goals we do have goals we lack creativity. this is easy added. bruce had to stop the mistakes at he back. now we don’t need to score 3 to get a point 1 or 2 wins games.
time to stop moaning and enjoy winning, after last season of no wins and being the whipping boys of the league. you really don’t understand football if you thought we only had to dump them players and we would start winning 3 or 4 nil week in and out. just doesn’t work like that momentum is hard thing to change. we were a sinking ship heading nowhere fast but down and further down.
@Badger You were asking why we’ve never scored loads against anyone.
Just looking at the posts above everyone agrees that we’re short on creative mid-fielders and I honestly think that’s the answer.
I was looking at the Man City match yesterday and the pundits pointed out how important Toure is as he almost never passes sideways but is always looking to go forward. That’s what we lack. To score lots of goals you need to move the ball quickly through mid-field so that the opposition’s defense isn’t set. Unfortunately for us the sideways ball in mid-field still seems to be the default option so that opposition defenses can get in position and make life difficult for us.
Honestly think that if can get someone in mid-field who can make some killer forward passes that players like Kodjia, MacCormack and Adomah can run onto you’ll see a different team.
Hope that SB has put some creative forward passing mid-fielders on his Christmas list.
UTV
Pat, it’s not so much a creative mid we need, but a true dynamic grafter who looks to move things forward.
It’s why I rated Delph so highly when many were slating him.
And also why I don’t rate Westwood or Gardner in the slightest.
We need a Keane type player, who can defend when needed, tackle like the old days and basically show some real bollocks in the middle, while being able to pass and support in attack at the right time.
It seems it’s a big ask.
But it’s way more important than any other position we need to improve, imo.
It’s quite simply where I’d be looking to spend any serious money in this window.
Jedinak’s the closest we have and it shows, as he’s doing the work of two players, half the time.
A more attacking version of him sat in front might be able to hide the weakness of our other mids.
There is much consensus in the posts above.
First positive is the change in attitude to home games of both the players and the crowd. Pre-Bruce the crowd showed up expecting a debacle and started getting on the players backs as soon as errors were made. The players became terrified of taking an opponent on if it risked losing the ball. That has ended.
Second positive is realism. We are beating teams below us in the table, but we have yet to demolish any of the promotion shortlist. Leeds will be a big test. Nearly all the regulars on here know this team won’t win promotion, but if we make shrewd signings the necessary improvement is possible.
The negatives are still there. Bomb squad players are still in the team and they are not playing any better. I agree the attack’s failings are actually due to a lack of a midfield which can switch play and stretch defences.
25 million for amavi stories are being claimed rejected. thats serious money. if they rejected 25, maybe they could push um further maybe 30 million.that sort of money could really improve our squad.
sometimes selling a player is the sensible thing to do. we could easily get 5 decent players to replace one, i think its also time to sell ayew if we can get the same fee or more for him.
villa spent some money in the summer, so selling a forward and amavi could really fund us to push on again. more importantly will allow bruce to bring in his players to implement his tactics to better effect
I know we could make a bundle on Amavi but sometimes if you want to get better you have to hold on to your good, young players.
I hope Amavi stays.
On another subject watching the noses live against Derby. While my head is telling me that a 1-1 draw would be a good result for Villa meaning that Derby don’t get too far ahead, my heart is hoping for a Derby win by six goals. A Bent hat-trick would be nice too.
UTV
Yes, because look how wisely we spent the Benteke money.
Very fair point Guest but I believe we now have a management regime who know what they’re about. That doesn’t guarantee success with every transfer but I doubt we will see the same number of poor acquisitions made over the last couple of years.
So Derby1-0 Noses with Bent scoring the winning goal.
Good thing is that if we beat Leeds we’re guaranteed to end the year above the noses. Now who’d have thought that at game 13?
We all know that apart from a small minority the amount of money modern players get sold for is a joke but 25 +million for Amavi is just laughable….I didn’t see a player worth 10 mill at V.P. yesterday let alone up to 30 mill….mind you that last second save was priceless.
Good news, Adomah is not in the Ghana squad for Arican Cup of Nations, Ayew is going.
That’s good news, Adomah is someone we need to play every game. Ayew is at best a sub at the moment.
Unfortunately Ivory Coast have selected Kodjia.