I’ve got to be honest and say I’ve hardly read any Villa news at all this week.
Too much to do and not enough hours etc, but I actually feel a bit guilty in not keeping up.
It’s a funny thing being a footy fan, isn’t it?
Anyway, what to say?
Surely this has to be another 3 points in the bag, doesn’t it?
Wigan’s home form is the outright worst in the Championship, with them having only won 3 games at home. Yep, even worse than Rotherham.
They don’t score many either and a 0-1 is most likely to nick the result.
So what do we know?
Wigan have binned manager Warren Joyce after just 4 months and assistant Graham Barrow takes charge.
Will that mean a new manager bounce? I doubt it, myself.
Will Grigg and Donervon Daniels are both out with knee injuries, but Sam Morsy returns from suspension and Shaun MacDonald could feature.
Apart from Will Grigg, I haven’t heard of any of them, so I don’t have a clue if that’s good or bad.
As for us, the good news is that Henri Lansbury, Scott Hogan and Jack Grealish have all trained this week.
Will any of them start is the question and I’m not convinced they should. Why change a winning team, after all?
Although I suspect Steve Bruce might have other ideas.
Hence I’d expect Lansbury and Hogan to show, if they are truly fit.
“Hitchens” informs me that Jedinak is going to play at Centre Back and Bruce sees that as his future position (ta). That’s interesting and rightly begs the question of where it leaves Elphick. Up a certain creek, I’d suggest, although he won’t be easy to move on, with his no doubt inflated wages.
He’s very decent, albeit expensive back-up though.
Prediction time then and I’ll be incredibly disappointed if we don’t come away with the win.
Whatever side starts or how we play really doesn’t matter, as I expect us to just have too much quality and confidence, even if we make hard work of it.
I probably really shouldn’t say it, but I expect nothing less than 3 points.
Villa to win 2-0.
And Hourihane to get one
Genuinely no hope of seeing this, as I’m on a guaranteed “grueller” tomorrow 🙁
Thanks for the mention Badger – fame at last 🙂
If we really have turned a proverbial corner then these are games we should be winning but then nothing is certain in football – ask a Huddersfield fan this morning. Win would be excellent but a draw may be in the offing here.
i fancied bristrol last night turning them over. but the other result i never saw coming. sheff wed i thought would have beaten reading.even thou they had no central defenders i thought they would have beaten reading. strange league this championship
well this is a rather poor fixture. hard for us fans to get excited just think how much harder for the players. having to get themselves up for this game.
wigan are rugby town. football doesn’t interest their public, in fact the fans off both hate each other which i dont get. anyways another club hiring a decent coach and then sacking him without really giving him a chance, he had no input on their player recruitment, the players at the club are not championship level. so what does the club expect ???
enough of them, villa need to win to keep this good feeling factor around the place, jedi for defense ??? i could see this being a decent addition. against wigan your not needing a sitting mid that is more a enforcer you need a gardner type or a barry bannan lol somebody who can spray them passes.
easily the best chance to boost them goal difference column. 4 nil villa 4 goals for kodjia
3 points for Villa.
Creating a team in his own image? Consider Jedinak and Elphick – the latter was not a Bruce purchase – and Steve’s position at centre half. The poster boy does not stand a chance. Oh yes, when Bournemouth arrived in the Prem and advertised around the town, the player modelling the kit on every poster was the handsome Tommy Elphick. Anyone remember Steve Bruce modelling for the MUFC club shop? Didn’t think so. The Jedi would be perfect for Star Wars or even a Hammer film.
Personally I think it is a waste, Given sit back tactics to cover Baker’s lack of speed and full backs that stay on station, Elphick could call the shots. That would allow Jedi to run the midfield, so as to win and keep the ball. Ain’t going to happen though, Bruce likes ugly brutes in the #5 position.
Hogan, Grealish and Lansbury on the bench.
DIRE…total rubbish.
No updates from anyone? This sounds like the most duff game on today. Come on Lads!!!!
Goals for Joe Bennet and Andi Weimann today.
1-0 …Chester
chester 1 nil
And oddly enough, in off his chest too!!!
Well **** me!!!! Wow!!!
hang on we are trying to throw it all away…..save by Goalie….
wigan commentary say that this is best they have played all season
they are going for it now thrown another man up front. they say might be short at back thou but thats the stage they are at
2 nil hogan
2-0…HOGAN…..YIPPEE
2!!!!!!!!!!!
elphick on
He’ll be a Boon!!!!
We are on our best run for donkeys years and should not be letting a team like Wigan have all those shots on target !!!!!
Did the job but did it the hard way.
Wigan nothing to lose – good for them they had a go but it’s nice to see the luck running with us for a change. We need far more confidence away from home and hopefully this win will help. Nice to see Hogan getting a goal.
Haven’t commented for a while so don’t think its a fairweather comment, but our run at the moment is cracking. It’ll take a while to rid ourselves of the spectre of that poisinous ‘septic’, but Dr X must be on the piss tonight!!!! I bet when we eventually do get promoted, he’ll pay for a few rounds!!!
Hard won, but 3 points. If luck would’ve been with us for just a couple of games more, we’d be chasing the play offs. Can we have Veretout back for next season as our one consession to European flair?
Another couple of wins and we’d be in with a half a chance. This is the time when you start looking at all those leads we’ve given away
Wow Oohah – have you found your happy pills 🙂 Only joking mate and I agree it’s definitely an ‘if only’ this season.
Ha ha we said this at start of season. When we drew loads of games from winning positions I said it would cost us at the end. It just took a few games too many for us to gel. Conversely I saw highlights of game and Wigan could of had at least 2 before in first half. We rode our luck. We do need one more season in championship the problem for Bruce is if he gets us up he will do himself out of a job so not in his interests
No I don’t agree with your last statement. SB is desperate to get Villa promoted to prove that he can be a success in the Prem with a big club and a decent transfer budget. Whether he can or not (be a success in the Prem) is open to debate but, I for one, wish him well.
Depends whether owners give him time in the prem. He would have to hit the ground running.
Great 3 points. Really pleased for Hogan, if we can get his confidence high going in to next season that would be huge with him and Kodjia
Well done the Villa. I am starting to become confident that next year we will mount a serious challenge to return to the Premiership.
With all the crazy results of late I recon theres not a good team in this league….there are a few really bad ones though….
Just got back from work 🙁
Cracking win though 🙂
I read somewhere that there are still 27 points available, which would see us on 75, which is normally enough to get in the play-offs???
Nah, no way???
We need to win all 8 games Badger but Sheffield wed are starting to wobble so you never know.
The games are definitely winnable – the toughest two are Fulham away and Brighton at home – last game of the season – now that would be a cracker if we were in with a chance!
But here we are all doing what Oohah said we would – clinging to the lifeboat of hope only to be smashed against the rocks 🙂
Lol. Don’t forget Small Heath at home I don’t care what you say they never give us an easy game no matter what their recent form is. Wouldn’t surprise me if we lost or drew with them
Five wins in last six. Five clean sheets in the last six. Two away wins in our last Three away. Surely the corner has been turned. As Ooh Ahh pointed out earlier, if we keep this form until the end of the season we will be cursing the early games were we threw points away. But on a positive note we are starting to look like a Brucey team. One that now knows how to grind out results. It’s what this league is all about. I truly believe we will be properly be prepared for a new season for the first time in years. Settled team !
i love for us to get into playoff. but sheff wed won’t lose enough points for us to slip in. i think its more about keeping this form all the way to the finish. that will be the springboard for next season and beyond. i thouht reading would be the team that misses out. but i think the teams will finish in the same positions now. newcastle winners, brighton runners up, leeds huddersfield reading wednesday, with leeds winning playoffs i think we can finish 8 that will be a good season if you consider were we have been. if we have finished this season like are current form is now. this will be the turning point for us.
And it’s a fact that teams tend to.take their end of season form into the new season (as long as they don’t lose their best players!)
totally agree about carrying the form into next. its like the opposite to recent past only we carried our bad form into new seasons lol
i think this squad will stick together, their will be a few sold but i can’t see any major surgery, just the routine ones maybe a few squad boosters oh and forgot a goalkeeper
Do u think we would keep Kodja
Well, SB has said they would only sell for mega bucks which would fund a replacement. SB has also made strong statements over retaining the best of our development players. I am hoping we will see a much stronger and resilient policy towards transfers under Xia / Wyness.
A question – setting aside the argument over whether or not we should be providing experience for other teams players – would you now have Sam Johnstone back in goal next season (even if it were a loan), rely on Jed Steer or buy a more experienced GK?
I do think we need to use the loan system more effectively next season. I don’t get the negative argument – every other club looks to benefit from it. However, the players we get either have to improve us or give us good quality cover.
jed steed is capable of championship. but if they can buy or loan sam johnstone i think he is more than good enough now and is improving with each game. sam is just ahead of jed if we had these two next season thats enough for me.
Can’t argue with that Nath. On the wider issue of loan players – you only have to look at Bristol City loaning Abrahams from Chelsea – 22 goals and may well be the reason they stay up. Quite happy to have a bit of that!