Written by Damian Sunday, 25 October 2009 10:48
I'll get stick for this and I don't care any more, but yesterday was a perfect example of us not really having moved on in terms of our football and why I have lost the belief that O'Neill is the right man to take Aston Villa to the next level.
You see, some will say 'we got a point' or 'it was only one game' or 'it was a Derby away from home' and you know what all those excuses work. Excuse after excuse works, but when did it become the job of the supporter to start making excuses and why, after three full seasons are we still making excuses and so many?
I can understand the Spurs fans making excuses after yesterday. They hit the post, had shots saved off the line, had to play with 10 men for a fairly decent chunk of game because the manager had used all his substitutions, trying to change the game and Stoke pretty much scored with their second shot on target in 90 minutes. I can't understand us still making excuses.
Spurs fans can make excuses because in the second season with their manager and after losing yesterday they are still third and if you only saw the stats from yesterday, you'd be unhappy that you missed the game; Spurs had 22 goal attempts of which twelve were on target. I'm not sure of the last time we had 22 goal attempts in a game.
But, none of that matters. It doesn't even matter that we are having our best start to a Premier League season in ten years and I know I'll be shot down by others, but my opinion is, while there is more fight and determination and that that is great, it isn't enough. We need to see the football develop and it just isn't. I know it isn't because we couldn't break down a team that is still odds on favourite to be relegated.
What the Papers Say
Joe Loveyjoy, Observer
Wet and windy conditions, and the intensely competitive nature of scraps for local bragging rights, are no friends of the beautiful game, and the first half was instantly forgettable. It was notable only for two penalty decisions, both of which referee Peter Walton got wrong. In the third minute, Richard Dunne got away with pulling back Kevin Doyle inside the area. It was a dangerous challenge by the Irishman given that he was the last man in defence and could have been sent off. Mr Walton was in laissez‑faire mode again 20 minutes later, when Christophe Berra went unpunished after wrestling John Carew to the ground.
Aidan Magee, News of the World
Martin O'Neill's team, by his own admission, did not play well. He knows that victories over Liverpool at Anfield and Chelsea at home are all but negated if you lose at Blackburn and only draw at Wolves, who have won twice all season.
The Players and Some Stats
Brad Friedel, Carlos Cuellar, James Collins, Stephen Warnock, Richard Dunne, Ashley Young, Steve Sidwell, James Milner, Stiliyan Petrov, John Carew (Emile Heskey, 71), Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Well, we made 192 successful passes in 90 minutes and failed with 83. Wolves on the other hand made 173 successful passes and 76 unsuccessful. Just for fun, Chelsea made 455 successful passes yesterday and still failed with less than our total of failed passes.
Man of the Match
Once again this goes to James Collins with 23.9% of the vote. He was closely followed by Gabby and James Milner and Stephen Warnock wasn't far off, but he did have a good game yesterday, so well done Mr Collins.
Analysis
It is hard to analyse a game when it was as dull as the game yesterday was and I think I've said my piece above. Martin O'Neill has to start working on the passing game. He has to get it across to his players that it is better to keep the ball and make space rather than hit it long and often just give the ball away.
I know it sounds so obvious but we hit it long too often, we lose it too often and we can only really play counter attacking football. We need something else if we are to kick on.
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Deano-avfc
said:
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... I think we need to try Milner and Reo or Delph with Petrov in the middle and Albrighton on the right in a 4-5-1 with Sidwell and Carew being dropped. I'd like to try it in the Carling cup game at Sunderland. --------------------------Friedel----------- L.Young-----Collins--------Dunne----------Warnock Albrighton----Milner-------Reo-Coker/Delph---Petrov-----A.Young --------------------------Gabby---------------------------------- UTV |
WAZZA
said:
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... "It doesn't even matter that we are having our best start to a Premier League season in ten years" And that's exactly why you should be shot down and ridiculed. We WILL have poor performances during a season. We WILL lose/draw games we should be winning. What matters is where we finish at the end of it and O'Neil should be judged on that. That's not making excuses, it's just common sense. We operate in the strongest league in the world, a league where Burnley beat Man Utd, where Wigan beat Chelsea, where Sunderland beat Liverpool and the mighty Stoke beat Spurs at whit heart lane. The problem with the world today is there are too many retards with a blog. |
WinsforVilla
said:
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... In the first half in particular, Wolves seemed able to walk through central midfield. Carew was missing from the penalty area for most of the crosses. I think for the next game I would drop Carew and Sidders, replacing them with Gardner and Delph or Reo. Only then can I see there being more chance of goal attempts from midfield. I would also like to see Albrighton given a chance with Milner on the left like he plays for England. This would give Ash a rest/shock. |
Gavin Merriman
said:
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... Disappointing result! I've said it before and i'll say it again. We're still missing the creativity needed to open up teams. We need a playmaker to sit next to petrov and another support striker to partner gabby, dropping deep and knitting play together. At the moment we are far to one dimensional. Maybe downing can be that player for us. Milner also did okay yesterday in that postion. I would of like to see albrighton get a chance down the right with gabby up front. Between now and the transfer window I'd like to see MON drop sidwell and give delph a chance in the middle. Sidwell is average. A average player that misses chances and made a massive error going to floor for no reason yesterday. Webcam needs to pull his socks up, he's wel beloe par and its costing us points at the moment. If we can add that extra dimension to our game where we can play it through the middle as well as the channels then I think we can really challenge the big 4. If we can't then we'd better get used to euro vase budget football on channel 5. |
Damian
said:
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... MerryMan I'd love to believe it was just the players ... but the entire midfield department is a Martin O'Neill midfield and he still prefers to hit it over them ... I'd love to be wrong and that O'Neill moves us a forward this season .. but I'm just not convinced. |
Damian
said:
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... WAZZA i shoudl be ridiculed for having an opinion? Okay, our best start in 10 years. do you know where we finished 10 years ago? i do and it wouldn't be moving forward from where we finished last season also - when you put best starts up against some of the 'worst starts' for the top four .. then it sort of puts things into perspective. Everything you have said: We WILL have poor performances during a season. We WILL lose/draw games we should be winning. What matters is where we finish at the end of it and O'Neil should be judged on that. That's not making excuses, it's just common sense. was said last season and the season before .. as for your statement at the end. it isn't that there are too many retards with a blog. it's that there are too many retards now with access to a computer. cheerio |
neil57
said:
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... Totally agree Deano and WAZZA. We must undrestand, not possible to win every game. Doing better than last year. Good back 5. MON needs to rotate, he has to do it this week. We expect too much. MON is getting there. Does SAF get slated for a poor result? NO !!! Be positive. We will win a cup this year. Keep the faith. UTV |
James
said:
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... Remove the Sidwell tackle and then comment on the game. How do things look then? As usual, madness prevails following a disappointing result. Next. |
neil57
said:
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... Also, give Ash and Carew a rest. Give Heskey a chance. Sidwell plays on a non losing side. I can just see the players if he is dropped. " Oh no, we are going to lose ." Give Allbrighton and Delph a shout. |
tubbydunne
said:
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... Looking back I can't help feeling that the conditions played a big part in yesterdays match. The wind and the rain militated against good football and this suited Wolves. It was a terrible spectacle because of this. We were very poor in the first half and some of our players weren't good enough, most notably Carew and Young. I thought in the second half we were the better team and looked most likely to score and eventually we did with 11 mins to go. It looked like we were going to get three points after playing poorly which the big four do a lot and its supposed to be the sign of a good team. Then came the penalty from Sidwell's challenge. I think Sidwell knows games have been passing him by and he really made an effort to be more involved yesterday. His efforts were poor sliding wildly around the pitch and getting into scoring positions and finishing poorly and eventually that poor chalenge for the penalty. All in all I am not too disappointed,We all know we have a problem in midfield but probably have the solution within the squad. We need a goalscorer in January. utv |
Bobby Park
said:
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... T much expectation on Ash to be our match winner every game, we badly need someone else to step up and do the unexpected and provide a bit of magic, unfotunately this will never be plodder Milner, or gone missing Sidwell. Bring Reo Coker or Gardner into central midfield as Petrov needs help, put Albrighton on the right wing. You can't drop Ash he's the only one now Barrys gone who can provide any danger from a set piece (both goals against Chelsea). Seems to me that Milner is completely exempt from criticism as he's a "hundred percenter", the guy has zero flair, can't cross, beat a player, or turn a game, I never expect anything from him when he gets the ball other than it going back to Cueller. |
Mark
said:
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... Damian, Football is a funny old game. If we got everything right all season we'd win the league for sure, but we don't and most teams don't. All the big boys have cocked up thus far this season, but they will balance things out over the course of the season. I mooted that London based clubs suffer more than the likes of Man.U because of the increased number of derby fixtures they have. However, because of the number of foreigners it is not quite as apparent as it used to be. SAF even said that today's fixture is a lottery, as form goes out of the window in these types of games. I am not making excuses but Wolves came out like it was their biggest game of the season. Add to this the buffeting winds, rain, slippery surface, piercing sunshine, Wolves sitting deep and poor officiating in a stop/start game didn't help proceedings. We needed to get in their faces and rattle them. Too much of the play is predictably going down the left flank, and Ash is not in great form and is double/treble marked anyway. Milner is not an out and out winger on the right, and we seem bereft of ideas going down the middle. Still, we are 6th with a game in hand over Spuds. We don't concede many, which is a turnabout from previous seasons. Once we get the synergie in all areas, we will be a formidable force. I believe we are getting closer to that, just need one or two more, along with Downing, and we'll be in position A. |
stavenfaa
said:
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... Remove sidwells tackle... we were very poor, carew was getting frustrated by the defene and was nearly doing a drogba and giving out all the time to the ref. gabby went missing for alot of the game and i dont understand how anyone can think of giving him man of the match. Collins got stuck in and cuellar and warnock gave 100% milner tracked bak and did some good things. but i was mostly frustrated that the whole team went missing for long periods, and the fat we were playing against a very poor team was the main reason we had any chanes. thought our finishing was awful. sidwell tried is best to get into the box yesterday and on many occasions poor balls were the reason we got no where. if we had played a good team like that yesterday we would not have had any chances and defended the whole game i like Mon and feel he is doing a great job, but has to be able to make changes. with 55mins gone i was sreaming to bring on delph or even heskey as Carew was doing nothing... disapointed with the performance. hoping downing will bring in something different. bring back reo and give some lads a go as tht team are picking themselves and poor performances are being accepted. ash was very poor yesterday |
VillaNick
said:
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... We are not Man United. We can't win every game, bar two or three all season, we have to realistic. Fact is it's the best start in 10 years. Yes we need to kick on, but Rome wasn't built in a day and I think Downing (our joint record siging) could be a great asset in the middle, ousting out Sidders and giving us that missing creative ability. I don't know most are our fans are still complaining. 2 or 3 years ago we would have lost that game! |
Gavin Merriman
said:
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... Damian I'd love to believe it was just the players ... but the entire midfield department is a Martin O'Neill midfield and he still prefers to hit it over them If you were petrov or playing in our back line who would you rather pass to, through sidwell or down the flanks? If he had a top draw central midfield player that created space and commanded the ball, then you'd surely expect the players to give the ball to him. Add a decent support striker to mix and far more play would go through the middle. We play everything down the channels because that's were we have the players. Credit to wolves yesterday they really game out and took the game to us. We defended well and if it weren't for sidwells shocking defending we'd have took 3 points even with no final ball and a tooth-less attack. For me, MON is still 100% the man to take us forward. |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
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... Yesterday is over, disappointed, but i will be really down if we loose to sunderland on tuesday, i wanna win a cup! and Damian you might get your wish if MON moves to Liverpool this summer... |
Adrian Kilgallon
said:
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... Damien you are spot on with your comments. When is this club going to start acting like a big club . The reality is the style of fotball MON has intorduced to the club will be effective on occassion and really horrible and ineffective on many other. Like i said yesterday im really starting to dislike having to watch us play 'football'. |
Damian
said:
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... o'neill wont leave for liverpool and i've just spoken to a liveprool fan who doesn't want him ... the issue with liveprool is that rafa hasn't been backed properly to kcick on from 2nd place and the liverpool fan doesn't trust that o'neill will get in the quality i'd love to be wrong, but i think we are stuck with oneill for a long time and if that is the case i just hope he gets it right MerryMan, it could be that we need that extra player or two .. but sidwell, petrov, reo-coker - they are all o'neills players |
James
said:
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... The main complaint yesterday was our lack of creativity against a 'weaker' prem side. Surely, this is the same problem that most of the bigger teams have been having this season. Defences are better organised, teams are well prepared. We drew. It'll do. Next, we beat Everton and Ash turns super hero again. I also have big money on Heskey. I saw a flicker there yesterday, just a flicker. But it IS there. |
dan
said:
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... Ok yesterday was a big disappointment especially as I have a lot of friends and family who are wolves supporters.. But it wasn't so much the result it was how we played.. Constant long nonthreatening balls up field and the constant loss of possession.. It really is a game which won't live long in my memory.. Btw Sidwell needs to be dropped lost possession constantly gave away a stupid penalty in the first attack wolves did after we scored.. Just in a different class all together and I don't think with that performance he would have got in either of the first 2 teams. Really gutted we couldn't continue from the Chelsea game, but O'neil knows that we lack options up front Carew isn't doing it at all and I don't even want to mention Heskey. If he doesn't sort it out were in trouble for the second half of the season. |
Andy Young
said:
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... Ooooh polishdating.co.uk, just what I was looking for. A telling stat from yesterday...Villa became the first team to reach 200 draws since the inception of the Premier League. |
Michael
said:
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... wondered how long the o'neil bashing would be away for - we beat chelsea and nothing is mentioned - we draw away at wolves and its time for him to go, ofcourse if martin jol was in charge yesterday we would have beat them 5-0 and be top of the league with 9 wins out of 9. if your gonna say hes a crap manager say it every week, and not just when we dont win. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
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... I think maybe you just got out of the wrong side of bed Damian  sure yesterday was dissapointing but thats Villa for you, and like someone else said were not Man U, not yet any way, were still progressing and most of us are in it for the long haul, through thick and thin and damn we have come on a long way since 6/7/8 years ago. The Villa of old would have curled up and died after conceeding the penalty yesterday but we scraped a draw and every point counts. Spurs cracked and they got nothing for all their efforts. We will have had a better start than them if we win our game in hand and how many people are talking about them being the big challengers to the top 4 this season. We as Villa fans should be used to taking the rough with the smooth, it's a great league where anyone can beat anyone on their day. Look at the Blackburn/Chelsea/Villa triangle of results for proof of that. Lets not panick quite yet, there are plenty of good points about the team and club and far less bad ones right now. For me the missing link is someone like a Rooney who plays up top but will always be there to help out the midfield too. Mon seems to be employing Carew in this hole right now but it's obvious to me he is an out and out attacker. If we can purchase someone for the role or even utilise someone like Delph for it we could be on the verge of a truly great team which for the record I believe we already have. Heres looking forward to teaching Sunderland a lesson mid week! UTV! |
Sean
said:
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... shitwell needs to be dropped and sold.. caught in possesion far too many times and gave away the penalty.. simply not good enough to wear an Aston Villa shirt.. Tad bit harsh but he's the one villa player I just dont rate |
Ammar
said:
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...Lets not panick quite yet, there are plenty of good points about the team and club and far less bad ones right now. Agreed but what is even more frustrating is the fact that we know we have a centre midfield issue. This was even said by mon at the start of last season when the Barry Saga was in full flow the question is what has been done to address this ? As for Spurs and Chealsea well Chealsea lost to us then won 4-0 midweek and trounced Blackburn 5-0 yesetrday..thats the difference we seem unable to do this... |
Steve Badger
said:
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...We drew. It'll do. Unfortunately Nan, I don't think it will. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much behind MON and definitely think he's the man for us. But you have to look at that game yesterday and I see Damian's point. We're making excuses about a game we simply should have won, end of. Whilst we have no right to expect a win against teams, that was simply the type of team we have to beat to achieve what we want. You can't even say Wolves sat back and we couldn't break them down. They came at us which is supposed to suit our style, but they had absolutely no threat compared to Chelsea and we were still awful. I wonder if there's some arrogance starting to creep in myself, with the team thinking these games are going to be a walkover. I said Saturday morning us getting too confident was bound to lead to trouble and so it proved. Enough excuses, it simply wasn't good enough and hopefully MON has made that perfectly clear in no uncertain terms. That said, best start for ten years, so it's not all doom and gloom, especially if you factor in that we've played 3 of the top 5. But it probably could have been our best start for more like 30, if only..... I'll bet that game turns out to be very expensive when we look at the league table at the end of the season. |
jerry
said:
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...The problem with the world today is there are too many retards with a blog. WAZZA Could I suggest a sense of proportion. The problem with the world today Iran tests rockets every so often, and North Korea also test rockets and nuclear bombs every so often. Both countries enrich uranium and do other stuff required to make nuclear bombs. Damo may be a touch (the merest tad, you understand) obsessive about formations, but I don’t personally think that we can infer from that character trait that he’s a retard. I welcome others opinions on this. I can understand the Spurs fans making excuses after yesterday. Visit Harry Hotspur's blog. There ain't many excuses there. But, like Damian, I do worry that we struggle to break down relegation candidates. You know what I think? I think one point for a draw and three for a win is unfair. Undemocratic, even. It's a threat to World Order and we should return to the old system: two points for a win and one for a draw. |
Damian
said:
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... mickey86 the thing is, our style of play and we really only have one, is very much geared up for when we play teams like chelsea and liverpool even before the chelsea game i highlighted that we could do well, simply because it is the type of team that we can do well against .. it wasn't just blind optimism again, it was because that is how we like to play i want o'neill to start developing how we play football. it isn't enough to work really hard and counter attack teams. we need to hold the ball better, make space, pass better, take our chances when presented and generally improve our game .. i just cant see it happening. can you? |
FatKevs
said:
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... Sidwell & Curtis were a waste of space from day one for me. MoN never freshens up the team. I rate Ashley Still, Gabby has his uses but they cannot be the 1st name on the sheet. We must bring on the youth that have heart to freshen it up a bit all we have is big time charlies not good enough. Look at the other teams they attack the box we are poncing about on the wings with no one in the danger areas. We have been told we are predictable for years, what is the manager doing only interested in defence we cannot win anything so just bring back the football. Even Ellis tried to excite us bringing in big name strikers all out money has been spent in defence says everything. Yes to challenge you build from the back but this should not mean you ignor the attack |
Ammar
said:
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... One of the positives that we can grasp onto from yesterdays result was at lease Mr O'Neil can now change the team selection... |
Daniel Wilson
said:
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...... Someone a while back mentioned that O'neil is only at training 1 or 2 times a week? In that case who is deciding what style of play were working on? and maybe they are the ones to blame for the long ball stuff, or maybe O'neil should just spend more time with the team? or maybe I shouldn't believe everything I read?  |
Michael
said:
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... i can see it happening, if we have a team that is geared up to beat and actually beat teams like chelsea and liverpool then its not going to take much to make it a team that can beat wolves, wigan and blackburn. theyve actually proved they can beat wolves, wigan and blackburn by beating fulham, blues, portsmouth. every team has a poor performance every now and then, and each year MON has made the gap between every now and again wider. |
tom t
said:
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... although i agree with a lot of what you say, i feel you haven't given wolves the credit they deserve. they did to us what we basically did to chelsea, hustled and bustled giving us no time to play, and all villa fans know we cant play when we dont get the time to play. that IS MON's fault, as is playing the wrong formation away from home again, playing the ineffectual big john yet again, sidwell and carew should have been replaced at half time, and it is scandalous reo coker doesnt get a look in anymore. everton away will be the real test, to wolves this was their game of the season, everton away will really test our boys. |
Gavin Merriman
said:
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... Damian Petrov is great as a defensive midfielder, no complaints there. NRC and sidwell are squad players and good ones at that. All we need is a one or maybe two more players. It takes time to acquire the type of player we need. MON tried this summer and i'm sure he'll try again in jan and next summer. Maybe downing will be the support striker we need with delph being the creative CM in the making. Market conditions were difficult this summer and there aren't that many world class playmaking centre mids that are likely to come to us. I understand where your coming from mate but maybe you should give him a break. If we still can't play through the middle in may then i'll agree with you that MON has taken us a far as he can. We can't progress with only counter-attacking wing play & set piece's in our locker. But until then maybe its time to show some faith. |
jerry
said:
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...I also have big money on Heskey. I saw a flicker there yesterday, just a flicker. But it IS there. Yes, Nan, I saw a flicker myself. His was the assist for the goal. Here's the problem. If he, occasionally, starts to do OK, he'll get to start - it's not like Carew shows any interest. I don't think he's good enough to start. He cannot score goals and we don't have a reliable goalscorer in the squad. Plus the fact, if he starts to do OK, who am I gonna take the piss out of? |
david
said:
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... Damian, I'm pleased that you are at least now being honest about wanting MoN replaced. Last time we lost you decided to do a poll and then said: So, seeing as it is just a question, there is a poll to the right. I think this will be a good indicator, two days after losing to ten man Blackburn and you've guessed it, we will do another after we beat Manchester City and Chelsea, because it will be interesting to see how views change after three points.Unfortunately we only drew with Man City and beat Chelsea so you didn't need to run another poll then did you. It's your blog so you have the right to say what you like and to try and influence people to your way of thinking. At least you've now been honest enough to let people know where you're coming from. |
david
said:
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... Damian, so what happened to your belief? Here's what you said on September 2nd: Forget faith though. Faith is hope and hope raises too many grey areas, just believe.Is it really "a few months" since Sept 2nd? Is your 'faith/belief really so weak that it totally dissolves even after a draw in a local derby? |
toxytag
said:
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... Oh for god sake we didnt play well yesterday every team has there off days i think we probably would have lost that game last year so i think we are improving. We have one of the best managers in the world so get off his back and get behind the team!!!!! |
david
said:
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... Yesterday the fault didn't lie with MoN, it lay with the crossing and finishing of our players. I don't know if it was the wind and rain, or the shrinking of the pitch by 5m in length and width but the players just fell short in the last third. We all know that if Dunne's bum hadn't got in the way the tone on here would be completely different today. |
peter haworth
said:
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... Carew seems to have gone missing this season,he is lazy and his attitude is poor.On a recent tv programme one of the players said that he was the laziest player in training,he obviously needs droping and get his head straight.Maybe their is a reason that he never stays long at a club,I hope he stays and works harder,maybe Milner could give him some lessons. Our lack of creativity in midfield is worrying. I would like to see us playing 4 3 3 with Delph being involved along with NRC. The team is crying out for a skiful talented midfielder with some vision,maybe Downing and Delph playing together will be our future. |
Mike Carter
said:
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... Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and say that was just "one of those games". We didn't play well but as I stated yesterday, Wolves were more up for the game than we were. Had we played that fixture in February I'm certain we'd more positive the day after. I hate to say it but it's only one game, on the back of a couple of really decent performances. There are far more positives to take than negatives so far. |
Damian
said:
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... r0bb0 welcome back. i believe that i´m going to have a good week next week because i´ve just had a good week. it doesn´t mean that it will be or that come thursday when ie struggled with whatever it is that i´ve struggled with, that i won´t change my mind or that it will change my mind for the following week but look at what you´ve quoted me as saying from me over seven weeks ago; although expect some downs with the ups along the way. Basically, I so want to believe, but there was a lot of hype after beating Chelsea, but we were always going to do okay against Chelsea and certainly not fall apart like Blackburn did yesterday, who coincidentally beat us recently too but since september 2nd, we´ve had a good run of results and i´m on record saying i´ll take boring 1-0 wins every single game but i´ve also said it would be nice to finally start to see the football getting better and if you look up and on the news post from yesterday about the result,m then look back to the end of last season and other results, you´ll see all the same excuses if we had the content here and you could look back over the previous season - you´d see the same excuses again for me, the football isn´t getting better. i still believe that it might, but i now need convincing but there is only so long you can believe in something. i still believe i will have a good week next week though, but i can control that and if it doesn´t start great tomorrow, by the afternoon i´ll start changing things or take 5 minutes to figure out how to make it better and i´ll change it around a bit. i wont just keep doing waht i´m doing hoping it will just change |
Steve Badger
said:
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...Yesterday the fault didn't lie with MoN Strongly agree with this. He put the same team out that did so well last week and they just didn't perform. Maybe last week took too much out of them, especially after the way they all ran themselves to a standstill? I don't buy that personally, but I guess it's a possibility. You could also question the conditions but I don't buy that either. It was the same for both teams. |
Damian
said:
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... Badger Same team, you are right and had we played Chelsea again yesterday I think we could have won or got a point. You see, chelsea didn´t really have an off day against us, it´s that we prefer teams coming to us the way Chelsea and the better teams do ... we can deal with them, we can´t deal with teams like Wolves, in essence, we struggle to beat lesser teams becasue we don´t play the right type of football or and there is a really strong argument for this and it might all change if this changes; we don´t have the right quality of player |
Mike Carter
said:
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... The fact is was Wolves we were playing means absolutely nothing. Yesterday, Wolves played like far better team than they are. They came at us with a very aggressive and attacking style looking for all 3 points - not too disimilar to the way a top 4 team would. This excuse about being "set up" to play bigger teams is rubbish. Wolves played like a bigger team than us yesterday and we still couldn't cope with them. You can't put this down to playing styles I'm afraid. Pure and simple - we just didn't play well enough. If it was Chelsea we played yesterday, we'd have been spanked. |
david
said:
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... Damian, I can see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure your analysis is right. Yesterday (in the first half at least) Wolves had a real go at us. If anything, we played better in the second half when they started to hang back a bit. |
Damian
said:
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... vivavilla okay, let me be more general, let me put it down to consistency how long do we have to wait until we reach a level of consistency needed to break into the top 4 or go better? or is it about players? i for one put it down to the football myself, but it is just my view and maybe, just maybe with better quality players, it will get better. i hope for that anyway |
Mike Carter
said:
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... Damian It is players, no doubt about that. Performances from that of Sidwell, Carew and Young yesterday are fit for the Championship. The team is desperately lacking in quality in the middle of the pitch and it's costing us dearly. I like Petrov a lot, he's very consistent these days and you know exactly what you get with him. But as much as I hate to say it, he's a type of player that can only take you so far. He and Sidwell in the middle of the pitch are a midtable pairing at best. Then you've got the wingers. Neither can cross to save their life at the moment. That means everything must come from through the middle, see my previous point. Rock and a hard place. To break the top 4, the midfield needs a near complete overhaul. And Carew needs to be replaced with someone who gives a damn. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...If it was Chelsea we played yesterday, we'd have been spanked. Oh yes. With a big leather belt. With studs in. |
Damian
said:
|
... vivavilla if that is the case, then surely there are bigger issues i mean, all the players you mention are players martin o´neill deemed good enough. if they are not, then either o´neill needs much more money or he needs someone to spend what he does have on better players i one for one think we are better when playing 451. carew, even if people do not want to accept this, but he said it himself, as good as played in midfield against man city and for me he did the same against chelsea but yesterday he was very much a striker. it makes it easier to say 451 if reo-coker started instead of carew but when it is carew starting some seem to think it was 442 against man city and it wasn´t what i mean is, i think we really do have the quality to grind out results this season, we´ve seen it happen, what i dont understand is why we seem to change it around based on who we are playing because we are not giving the players a chance to be consistent .. somethign i think is quite important ... but if we are going to persist with 442, i think we need two more central midfielders and a new striker .. which begs the question; is the money going to be made available for that? i dont think it will because you need to spend some serious money on that and then i look at man utd and liverpool right now and the tv and i see both of them playing a sort of 451 - rooney is dropping very deep and torres is all by himself and i wonder why we dont do that every week |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Well, we played 4-5-1 for most of the game yesterday. O'Neill clearly thought that playing against a weaker team we could afford to play two out and out strikers and attack them. But give him credit, because he saw it wasn't working and he changed it accordingly. And when he did, we started to take control of the game. So it isn't all bad. The problem after we went 4-5-1 was that Carew looked like he was playing his first game in 10 years. He'd lost all of the clever/sharpness that made him such a good striker in the second half of last season. Had we been playing with a proper striker we might well have won that game. Then again, if Sidwell wasn't playing we'd have won anyway. |
david
said:
|
... Damian, you may be right about better players bringing more consistency. Last year everyone was crying out for additional quality in defence and it looks as if we may have it now and so there is greater consistency at the back. At the moment some of our midfield and attacking players are only good in parts. Ash fell short (or long) with most of his passes yesterday but then a moment of brilliance on the touchline led to our goal. Surely that inconsistency is Ashley Young's fault rather than Mon's for buying him? |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... r0bb0 I wish I could call it inconsistency on Ash's part, but the truth is he has been pretty consistent for a while now. You know where I'm going with this... I know he did well to keep that ball in, but one good moment in amongst dozens of poor ones doesn't excuse him. |
VDV
said:
 |
... WE HAVE TO GO FOR GIOVANI DOSANTOS A ROMAN PAVULECHNKO IN JANUARY. Dosantos is fast, bags of skill, great vision and gets goals. Roman is a fox in the box. In the summer go for micah richards and mark nobe and maybe robbie keane. |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... For all our troubles, think yourself lucky you're not an Everton fan. They seem all over the place this season. |
david
said:
|
... vivavilla...i'm trying hard not to agree with you about Ashley Young.....ok, I give up. He's just not looked the part since his poor game for England. I'm sure he still has it in him but we could do with it showing on the park again soon. Let's not get on his back too much though, every player goes through barren spells from time to time. |
Ammar
said:
|
...For all our troubles, think yourself lucky you're not an Everton fan. They seem all over the place this season. we play them in the league next don't we. Will be interesting to see how we do against them... |
Daniel Mckay
said:
 |
... As always Damian is a joke! He has been waiting for just this sort of result to say this crap. I feel hes stored up for the last few weeks just for this moment. Like everything in life, for every good business (or club for that matter) there is, for every bad comment you have 20 good comments are unheard. This guy is a joke and like most others it makes this site not the every day read it should be. Damian you can give your thoughts about the direction of the Manager and club/team and i can give my thoughts about the sort comments you have been making over the last 12 months. You are a joke and the one sided crap you write makes this site less atractive to visit. The small minded Damian wanabees that follow your words thinking your ideas are sound must have nothing better to do than follow you like sheep to the slaughter house. Shame on you and the mindless dribble you write. You come across as a angry little man trying to find a voice in the real world. Bad result against Wolves but MON is still the right man. Ps: I can make stats look like anything you want and since i have a degree in BSc and statistics was my major, ill ask for less of your crap on the matter! UPTV |
FatKevs
said:
|
... 4 5 1, yes I agree, Everton are a team to measure ourselves against, the top sides we have a chance against as we can catch them out, the stokes are teams that can play our own game against us. But i think this already proves we do not have a team to challenge as we canot take our game to teams Hit & Hope will alway be down to the rub of the green |
Ammar
said:
|
...Damian you can give your thoughts about the direction of the Manager and club/team and i can give my thoughts about the sort comments you have been making over the last 12 months Rather than harping on about giving us your thoughts and opnions on others what are your thoughts ? |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... vivavilla I do about 1 or 2 times a weeks as it is still a good place to hear views from all. But i did visit every day up untill the turn of sites and last years Europe fallout. |
Damian
said:
|
... r0bb0 the manager has to take some responsibility for the consistency of players as well as the team also, if we are saying it is the quality of player that his holding us back, one of the few things that would be quite important about his job is focusing on consistency ... now we are 7th |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... I'm actually glad Liverpool have won today. It ensures the FSW remains in charge and Liverpool won't win anything important any time soon. Had he been sacked, they may have brought somebody competent in who may have restored the glory days. And we wouldn't want that would we? But no. Rafa the rotator remains in charge. And maybe now when they finish 4th or 5th they'll have to have that fire sale and Gerrard and Torres will go. Happy days. |
Faccundo
said:
 |
... Damian To lose faith in MON is to lose faith in football. The man is a genius. He can consistently beat the world's biggest spending squads. Our travails against "lesser" opponents is down to tightarse Lerner. This man needs to open his chequebook or move on - and he can take 30m pound signing and "European champions" proaganda General Goebbels with him. Here is a signing I have been talking about on this blog and others for 6 months(Hamsik) and pretty much nobody knew him. He would change our paradigm and lead to a title challenge. Now Chelsea are after him and his value has doubled. Game over - Lerner's not moving fast enough Below is taken from today's Times: Carlo Ancelotti targets £18m Marek Hamsik Duncan Castles CHELSEA are considering an £18m move for Napoli’s attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik as they prepare for a spending spree that could top £30m in the January transfer window — potentially their final opportunity to invest in new players until the summer of 2011. The club are currently banned from moving players either into or out of Stamford Bridge for two Fifa transfer windows after the world governing body found them guilty of inducing France Under-16 international Gael Kakuta to breach a contract with RC Lens. Chelsea have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the timing is such that they will almost certainly be able to sign players in January, though they face bans from further windows if their appeal fails. Carlo Ancelotti, their manager, has identified a creative midfielder as a priority purchase. They are weighing up Hamsik, a 22-year-old Slovakia international. He is considered one of Serie A’s most dangerous midfielders, making his debut in Italy’s top division at 17 and joining Napoli for £5m in 2007. At 6ft, an unusually strong physical presence for a creative midfielder, Hamsik has been Napoli’s top scorer for the past two seasons and has already netted five times in eight games this term. Chelsea have been offered Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart. The 26-year-old is out of favour at Real Madrid and eager to change clubs as he seeks playing time before the World Cup. Like Hamsik, Van der Vaart is free to play Champions League football in the second half of the season. Chelsea are looking to refresh other areas of the first-team squad while providing cover at striker and defensive midfield for four players due to be absent for up to six weeks on African Cup of Nations duty early next year. With money also expected to be spent on academy recruits, Chelsea’s January spend could be significant. “We are naturally concerned about the quality of the players we will be losing,” said assistant first-team coach Ray Wilkins. “Any team in the country would miss four players of the calibre of Drogba, Essien, Kalou and Mikel. There are certainly a few names out there that Carlo would like to sign.” |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... We can't focus on where we are in the table right now. Man City and Spurs are far better teams than they were last season, making our job even harder. Also most people predicted us to finish 7th or 8th this season anyway. |
Damian
said:
|
... All Blacks you have a degree in BSc .. can you tell me what that is? i always thought BSc stood for Bachelor of Science, so you have a degree in that? this website is a blog which is, i dont need to tell someone wit a degree in BSc what a blog is about, so i wont, but what i will say is, seeing as it is about opinion, write one, send it in and if it is any good we will put it up. in fact, regardless of how good it is, i promise i will put it up for you ... exactly as you send it in .. in fact, i´ll even give you a suggestion for a title; martin o´neill, right man for the job because ... lets get your degree in BSc and stats on to that shall we? |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... Mon 4-5-1 I think the direction of the club is going well. Since MON has come in with the Randy we are at the right end of the table. I think the 4-5-1 v 4-4-2 debate is VERY over rated and is just another way of saying MON is not the right man. I think given the amount of money this club has v other clubs we are doing it in the right way spending on mostly english players as they hold the value better (Z. Knight example). MON seems to get the best value out of players from the work rate more than the flair of hit and miss players. I think Mon has also made mistakes since he has come in, but unless we get the sort of money man city have this is the best we can hope for at the moment. Randy is a business man at the end of the day and due to his hands on but out of the media approach MON is the right guy for the job as things stand. People like Damian said after the Europe thing last season MON needs out said it after the Wigan game and then Blackburn and now Wolves... What about Liverpool, Man city and Chelsea? Im over it |
tipton villan
said:
 |
... to be fair to ashley young it must be hard on 60k aweek and put a good ball in. |
Damian
said:
|
... Faccundo maybe you are right and i tend to agree, in so much that lerner hasn´t put enough in but what can you do? it feels like we´ve had it drummed into us that it is a five year plan to achieve something which then opens up any possibility to come in and disrupt that ... you wont hear harry redknapp talking about 5 year plans and even o´neill dismissed it and when the new owners of man city came in they started talking chumps league for this season ... but and while i want to believe that o´neill is the man, what has he ever done in top flight football to suggest he is? i want him to be and with enough money maybe he can be ... but what has he ever done to warrant such faith? |
Damian
said:
|
... All Blacks I´d argue that I have never said O´Neill needs to go and someone with a degree in BSc and stats shoudl know that making things up doesn´t do you any favors when it comes to credibility ... |
Matt T
said:
 |
... What a ridiculous polar swing in opinion... Had we not conceded the penalty and in fact won 1-0, we would be lauded as a great team who can grind out wins even when poor. Are you teling me all teams are always on the ball and winning all season? Man Utd didn't "win" the title last season, Liverpool threw it away. It amazes me how bloody changeable people are. We draw with Wolves in a local derby and now our manager is no good? The same guy who has beaten Chelsea? A team who beat Blackburn 5-0 last night... Honestly - perspective please... |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... Damian Yes thats what a BSc is. With what major is the norm question so i dont know how its done here but in N.Z. thats how its done. I think you will find the reason for this insight on the statistics is your view that you have made in your headline and the views you have put many times from this "site" your getting the stats from to bulk up your opinions. Its NOT fact like your trying to say that the more passes you make the more games you win! Thats my opinon. And if i have a opinion on your articals in a blog then ill give my opinions of the blog not just the subject matter that you have headlined. Thats what a blog is all about. How about you send me the t&c's of a blog if its any different to the above |
Damian
said:
|
... Matt T Your thinking is too logical. Chelsea beat Blackburn yes, but Blackburn also beat us recently. Lets see at the end of the season ... |
Faccundo
said:
|
... Damian That would require some deep thinking but defeating Murunho's Chelsea 2-0, Wenger at the Emirates, Ancellotti's Chelsea 2-1, Rafa's reds at Anfield 3-1 (1st league loss in almost 2 years?) as well as challenging Ferguson at OT 3-2 and holding him 0-0 at VP spring to mind. As well I would note that sometimes faith can't be explained or rationalised. In the meantime, for all the Randy fans, I'll put an extract from today's Times: Benitez, citing injuries, blames manpower issues for the crisis. For a sixth season at Anfield he suggests he is underfunded and thwarted by superiors from concluding the transfers he needs. United, Chelsea — and Arsenal, because of Arsène Wenger’s “hidden” spending on youth recruits and player wages — have always been more privileged; so, now, are Manchester City. Yet, for a man whose hands are tied, Benitez has a remarkable knack of getting his fingers on the chequebook. Since joining Liverpool in June 2004, he has spent an estimated £256m on players and recouped £134m through sales. His £122m net outlay is outstripped by Chelsea’s over the same period but otherwise Benitez’s poverty pleas seem emptier than Nick Griffin’s skull. United are down just £27m on player trading and Arsenal are in profit by the same amount. And look at Benitez’s volume of activity: 79 permanent signings, 63 sales and 82 loans in and out. That all means Liverpool have completed a transfer transaction for every eight days and 18 hours of their manager’s reign. |
Damian
said:
|
... All Blacks There are not any, as far as I am aware, t&c´s of blogging, but a blog is about opinion and as far as stats go, I think it is fair to say that the teams that finished in the top 4 last season also had the most passes throughout the entire season it was certainly the case half way through last season when i got a look at those stats and coincidentally we were i think 4th from bottom of the passing table which sort of suggests we were getting through on grit and determination alone my point is, if you pass more, you are keeping the ball. if you are passing less, you are hitting longer and when you hit longer you make more mistakes and lose out on possession and you cant score when you dont have the ball stats are not the be all and end all of a position, if you have a degree in stats then you should know this. they are used to form a position and back it up. we dont pass as much as the top four teams, that isn´t an opinion that is a fact backed up by the stats ... why do you think the top four pass more - do you think it is because they cant hit it long or they never have people running or do you think that maybe it is because that is the most effective way to win a game? |
Damian
said:
|
... All Blacks Just in case Damian... Maths/statistics is part of a BSc BSc stands for Bachelor of Science as far as I am aware and maybe it is done differently where you come from but it doesn´t need to to contain maths or statistics where I am from ... and where I am from there is no such thing as a degree in BSc |
Keith
said:
 |
... Nan, Villa Nick & Dan Wilson Voices of reason among the madness! Matt T "What a ridiculous polar swing in opinion..." it's called being fickle. Can anyone tell me when NRC became a world beater and the answer to all our prayers? |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... Damian I would imagine the more important stats would be; 1: interception of passes 2: shots of goal 3: which part of the field most of your passing happened 4: distance run as a team 5: defensive errors made 6: fouls made 7: THE LIST CAN KEEP GOING WITH PLENTY MORE You get the idea. You have just looked at one stat and its not even the most important one, and at just the tip of the iceberg YOU CAN DO BETTER! |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... Damian Yes your right and i must have formed my sentence in the wrong order hence i did a degree in science and not english. So on this matter i will admit i may have got it wrong. I would love to see the day you say something like you got it wrong  |
Dave
said:
 |
... All Blacks - regardless of whether you have a BA or a BSC in whatever subject you should still be able to write at least reasonably competently to get through University. The fact that you can't leads me to believe that you're full of shite... |
stevo
said:
 |
... yes we poor yesterday and yes damian is an idiot, what a complete tool ! our football improves each season under oneill if you don't like our direct football and counter attacking style i suggest you find another club end of |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... the burp Thats the sort of thing i would have thought you might be aware of if your comming from the point of view of someone who is judging. This should not even be part of a debate but all i did in english was a 6 month course in my first year which i just passed. Hell who cares about a degree. Im sure most people know that means nothing in the real world as half of mmy friends are jobless with degrees and most of the other half dont work in the subjects they did at uni including me. My point is if you think "the more passes you make during the game" then the better your results/win then you have no idea! Are you one of them? Sheep to the slaughter... have your pop. |
Ammar
said:
|
...I think the 4-5-1 v 4-4-2 debate is VERY over rated and is just another way of saying MON is not the right man So i am not part of the 4-4-2 brigrade does not make a any less of a supported for MON. Please give me the facts why you think wanting a 4-5-1 means MON is not the man for the job unless this is just based on your opnion. Did we not play 4-5-1 for all of the second half and some of the first half. In the Premiership so far ========================= Sidwell 0 Assists 0 Goals Petrov 0 Assists 0 Goals Ash 1 Assist 0 Goals Milner 3 Asists 0 Goals Were do you think we could do better ? |
jerry
said:
|
... All Blacks i have a degree in BSc You can have a degree, and You can have a BSc Never heard of a degree in BSc. A Graduate would know that. I think you're a phony. You wouldn't know a statistic if one walked up and introduced itself. |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... MON 4-5-1 Who said i didnt think your a MON supporter? You asked for my opinion about villa and i gave it to you. Formation is important for each game and having plan B,C etc means change is sometimes needed. How have you thought i think your anti MON? I think Damian is but thats from his views and not a direct quote. Where can we do better? I think one thing we can agree on is when all the boys are on song we can beat everyone. So maybe that might suggest we already have the players. I read today that G. Barry was saying the most influence a manager has had in a possitive way in the last 10 years was MON. Yes Ash has been having a hard time so far this season so the move to get Downing was a good one for places in the future. For me small changes is all thats missing. I think to beat 2 of the "top four" out of two we have played so far this season is better than any of us could have thought. Had we won without Sidwells pen. this blog would not have had the title or comments Damian gave nor would we have had so few possitive comments. Where do you think we could do better? I think we could do better to support more and less of our unfounded complaints. You see for every one person moaning we have 20 people reading and supporting without commenting on here. Now thats a stat i would love to see |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... churchill I have a degree in science (BSc) from Victoria University. I couldnt give a toss if you think im a "phony" or not. One thing i know is your the type that has to show off how new or how much your car might cost from someone down the road or how big your house is or... well you get the idea. How do i know this? due to the fact that your even talking about someones degree (or lack of one) as if its important. Get over yourself. You know what... i dont have a degree, i just made it up to sound like i knew something about statstics. Does that make you feel better? Because your name is Churchill does that make you a BNP member as has been sugested this week? I mean stick to what the points are! More passes made are not going to win more games... look at west brom last term. Churchill lol |
James
said:
|
... 'There are lies, damned lies and kiwis.' United fans must be despairing, they created nothing against a very poor 'pool side. City fans calling for Hughes as they throw away a two gaol side against another Prem also ran. Spuds throwing the kitchen sink at relegation certainties and losing. Meanwhile Chelsea and Arsenal are the best teams in the whole wide world. they play super duper footy. their managers are tactical giants. Oh no, hang on a minute. These opinions are only based on this weekends results! Toss bags. |
James
said:
|
... Edit '...throw away a two goal lead...' (Sorry I got over excited and started typing utter bollocks. It must be be catching.) |
Bradford Villa
said:
 |
... Martin O'Neill has to go because we drew to Wolves? Is it his fault players like Gabby went missing, Ash is playing the worst football iv seen him play since he signed? No. Ultimately, Wolves aren't a very good side and we dropped to their standard. Not really MON's fault to be honest. |
James
said:
|
... Yeah, Wenger's a stubborn sod. He needs to open his eyes. There's not a good team in this league. I think I'm going to go and watch my local non-league team instead. Ahhh, I DO miss taglor. |
jerry
said:
|
...You know what... i dont have a degree, i just made it up to sound like i knew something about statstics. We knew that. |
jerry
said:
|
... Man City and the goons both throw away a two goal lead. What is going on? Wenger's face was a picture. |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Well I think this weekend has put a little perspective on things. Only two of the top 8 managed a win, and there were some pretty big upsets. We can analyse Villa's performance all we want, but I think it just comes down to the fact that sometimes, things just don't go the way they should. |
Ammar
said:
|
...For me small changes is all thats missing. I think to beat 2 of the "top four" out of two we have played so far this season is better than any of us could have thought. yes we do have the quality of players in the squad to achieve better we are agreed on that and MON has bought in some good buys in my opnion. The stranger decisions that i cannot understand are Liverpool away were NRC played in a 4-5-1 then subsequently he is dropped ? and who for Sidwell...apparantly he will deliver one day....this is a Arsenal & Chealsea reject and is not good enough for them why is it taking us so long to realise this. We buy Beye as apparantly we are desperate for right back due to the fact L.Young may be injured then he plays once and not again. Instead we play a Centre back in a right back postion. Bizzare if you ask me... Were told what a good crop of youngsters we have coming through but how many of them have played in more than 10 games over a period of 2 seasons. Fonz, Albrighton,Bannan, Clark. Do we want another Cahill on our hands ? Finally everything in moderation agree overkill of passes does not mean success however the same can be said if you look at a opposition having 58% and us having 42%. Looking at stats through the premiership how many games do you think we are going to win with that kind of stat ? 50 /50 will do me if you get what i mean... |
Daniel Mckay
said:
|
... At the end of the day with a game in hand the best postion we could be in (with a win) is 3rd! And worst with the same 3pts for the game in hand is 5th. I dont think we are doing so badly with our team UPTV |
James
said:
|
... MON 4-5-1 1. NRC has an attitude problem and is replaceable. 2. Cuellar has done nothing wrong at RB. His lack of attacking threat is compensated by Milner's energy. 3. Youngsters only play IF they are needed. They haven't been because we ARE doing well. |
Villa since 1958
said:
 |
... Dear All Blacks and Damian, IIn order to shorten your off-topic discussion, Io feel I should point out that 98.437% of statistics are made up on the spot. UTV |
Keith
said:
|
... mon 4-5-1 "The stranger decisions that i cannot understand are Liverpool away were NRC played in a 4-5-1 then subsequently he is dropped ? and who for Sidwell.." 1. NRC played the next game against Fulham. 2. NRC played the game after against Blues. 3. NRC was then dropped for disciplinary reasons. 4. Sidwell played 90 mins against Liverpool. So how was NRC dropped for Sidwell? Get your facts straight pal. |
Ammar
said:
|
... Nan if you look at who we have at left back don't you think it contradictes what we have at right back ? Attacking full back who supports the midfielder whilst on the right we have good reliable Cueller solid defender who is reliable but panics once he see's the half way line... btw..Oh its good to see the other teams drop points today they did us a favour not that we did ourselves any favours... |
Nix2
said:
 |
... Not sure if anybody threw this in, the pitch was 4m shorter and 5m narrower than most premiership pitches, you only gotta look at it to see its like playing in a bowling alley. Keep your eyes on Wolves home games I bet Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham, Barcelona would struggle to play creative football. Wolves gameplan happened when they shortened the pitch in close season. Contain teams and wait for a mistake, then bully your way up the pitch and score. Whats Villa's gameplan. Contain the opponents, wait for a mistake and then outrun them up the pitch. We played 4-5-1 in the end with Carew up front. Who is Carew going to outrun, that was a bit daft, Gabby, Milner and Young couldn't play wide they were constantly cutting inside. It made the game so crowded that players were dragged out of position looking for space leaving a few holes, a confusing pitch. We did well given the conditions, the pitch, and the way Wolves play. If I was O'neil I'd be calling for our pitch to be widened to maximum capacity and shortest length. Fast running and extreme width would make VP an excellent fortress. On a furter note, Ashley Youngs inability this year, I noticed is mostly governed by Warnock. Last year, Bouma and Shorey collected the ball then played it through to Young in acres of space. Warnock (great as he is) is running at that space which is slower than playing it through it, and leaving Ash nowhere left to run. When Ash went free reign we got some good moves going, when there was a ball played towards him inspace (on the touchline), he kept the ball alive to setup the goal (would Carew have acrobatically kept that in?). On a further further note, Stephen Froggart used to play so wide he stood off the pitch and ran the ball on the line, which at the Molineux on Saturday would have been 4 yards from the Penalty box. It was like playing on a Basketball court! |
jerry
said:
|
... http://www.newcastleunited-mad...&id=469658 Marlon's not setting the geordies alight, it seems. |
James
said:
|
... I think to have one attacking full back and one defensive full back makes sense in light of the players in front of them. Milner likes to come deep to collect the ball, whereas Young is far better in the final third of the pitch. |
tubbydunne
said:
|
... Benayoun is some player that ball for Torres was exquisite and the finish from Torres was brethtaking. That passage of play is exactly what we are missing no one to hit a killer pass and no one with razor sharp finishing. You can have all the formations you want but it's top notch ability that's lacking at times. In fairness to O'Neill he is trying to address this with the purchase of Delph and Downing but I don't know where he is going to get a top notch finisher. Id like to see Fonz Getting a start at Sunderland. |
paul mclafferty
said:
 |
... i went yesturday and can tell you it was a shitty day weather wise and the wind was stronger than most people think which was why in the first half the balls were being over hit. i had to sit in the wolves end with a friend and the wolves fans were happy as punch with the result,personally for the dredfull playing conditions and the fact it was a away local derby then i think we did well. james collins IS better than the mighty laursen in my view so far i have seen as he can also pass the ball better than our midfield. |
Scrumpy
said:
 |
... Churchill said: "who am I gonna take the piss out of?" I believe this is why the football gods every so often allow the likes of blue scum into the upper eschelons, so we can take the piss, and then send them back where they belong.... The thing we take the piss out of doesn't always have to be in claret and blue (although this year we do also have burnley and west ham to laugh at). |
Eoin Greene
said:
 |
... Personally I find it hard to distinguish between ANY of our performances this season. What did we do better against Chelsea that we failed to do against Wolves? In my opinion - in all games the players have given 100% but we are completely dependent on how the opposition plays. If they dont attack - we are clueless. This has been a problem for as long as I can remember. When is the last time we created a hatful of chances? When is the last time we had alot more shots than the opposition? When is the last time we scored more than 3 goals? When is the last time we gave the opposition a beating - as 95% of people predicted on friday? This isn't new, its not being fixed and it wont go away. As long as MoN is in charge we will finish between 5th and 9th. Hard work, honesty and endeavor will get you so far - but in the end its quality thatrises to the top. We are honest workers with no clueof what to do in posession. |
skeester73
said:
 |
... I really don't understand what Reo has got to do. Put Sidwell back on the bench. The Sunderland game should be one MON changes the squad about a bit! Guzan L.Young - Dunne - Collins - Warnock Milner - Delph - Reo - Petrov - Albrighton Agbonlahor It'll be a good test for the midfield. I'll be honest and say the result against Sunderland doesn't really matter. Of course we want to see the Villa win every game but MON has got to give Reo and Delph a run out! |
VillaNick
said:
|
... After all results today, (Man City draw, Arsenal draw after going 2-0 up, Manure lost, Everton lost etc etc), it makes our result look better than first thought? A draw away against a local rival? Perhaps the moaners moaned too soon.... Thankyou and goodnight.... UTV |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Eoin Wolves did attack. They attacked just as much as Chelsea attacked. And we were still clueless. Why does nobody else seem to be able to see that Wolves attacked us? |
Anthony Laud
said:
 |
... Damian, even ill say thats a bit of an over reaction. yesterday wasnt actually as bad as a lot of people are making out. I agree to an extent that our style of play hasnt changed much under Oneil. we still need to retain possession better and i think we all agree we are missing a central midfield thats calm under pressure and has some attacking flair. but hell we are maybe one or 2 players off - we were a lot more a while back! And even with the football you have slated we played yesterdat do you realise how many great positions we got in. the problem with yesterday was simply the final ball! we created dozens of opening out wide and young, milner, warnock and others wasted them with poor delivery. on another day with ash actually on form we would have put 3/4 away and everyone would be raving. big next 10 days for us - beat sunderland and 4 points from everton and our game in hand west ham and suddenly we'll be flying again! |
jerry
said:
|
...The thing we take the piss out of doesn't always have to be in claret and blue Quite right Scrumpy - I should remember that. He did OK yesterday. It's just...strikers ought to be able to score goals. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...What did we do better against Chelsea that we failed to do against Wolves? Perform? Not knock it off the pitch every couple of mins? Not stand waiting for someone to just pinch the ball from under our feet? Not be a yard too slow all the time? It wasn't about effort, it was about basics, imo. And it set the tone for the game. We should have had the ability to up the pace (as we play better with a high tempo imo), but it just didn't happen. Why does nobody else seem to be able to see that Wolves attacked us? They definitely attacked us, you're not on your own with that opinion. It should have suited us, but it didn't and the team cost us the points, not the manager, simple to my mind. |
meregolfclub
said:
 |
... sidwell has not produced.webcam and carew are both misfiring. 3 out of 10 outfield players are not performing. solution delph for sidwell drop carew put milner in the middle and albrighton on the wing. oh and give ashley a kick up the ars*. simples |
James
said:
|
... eoin 1981 We'll always finish 5th-9th under MON? I believe that puts you in the 'sheep/optimist' category. You are obviously one of MON's cheerleaders, if you feel he can deliver this year in year out. Let the good times roll. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Tonebone, liking the constructive criticism mate. A bit of optimism too. Nice one It seems the shoe is on the other foot with me and you today |
mrstevebob
said:
 |
... What is all this "MON not the right person to take us forward" nonsense? Who in your opinion Damien would be the right person? A team with Villa's resources isn't in a position to just succeed and win things overnight - we need stability and a bit of patience. We have a great manager - one a lot of clubs in our position would love to have - so why are people on his back all the time? Fine we're not top of the league but we're actually not many points off. And I think the football has developed - we dont always turn it on but when we do we're one of the most exciting attacking teams to watch in the best league in the world. We didnt beat Liverpool and Chelsea by accident. When MON leaves cos he's sick of all the moaning and we struggle with some other berk at the helm we'll regret it... If you want to criticise the guy go for it - he's not perfect - but the "he's not taking us forward" stuff is a total cop out. |
rodin
said:
 |
...neil57 said: Yes buddy,we can't win every game.However,most fans aren't upset because we didn't win the game,but because we should have beaten a side that's odds-on to got down this year.If we want to break the monopoly of the top 4,then these teams ought to be beaten I can accept losing to better sides than us,but nothing less than a win would be acceptable against the likes of wolves.Also,SAF has achieved a lot more than O'Neill ever will.That's why he doesn't get slated.  |
USvillaDave
said:
 |
... Sidwell played the same game he always did besides the PK what else did he do different? I hate to say it myself because he has been such a big player for us but Carew cost us that game. We bring in Hesky he holds the ball up and actually gives a sh*t and we get a goal. I figured there would be a lot more talk about the fact that we went 4-5-1 in the second half and shut the wolves out until sidders made his mistake. MON is the man for me. When I want two random teams play I want to be entertained but when I watch Villa I want them to win. I could care less how it happens! |
Jonathan Wood
said:
 |
... As clear as day isn't it. Our Ash has been played into the ground. I may be wrong, but he's not had a propper summer break for 2 years. He needs a rest. He ain't teazin' down the line. given the chance, and he had at least a couple of breaks last week. Ash of old would have cut in and gone for goal. As for Sidwell... It's confusing. I'm starting to see him as a Richard Hill when England won the Rugby World Cup. To be honest, Im as bemused as every one else, but we only notice him when he f**ks up. It's the stuff he does invisibly or something... ??? I'm not a gay, but wasn't Martin L beautiful on Football Focus. If I was I would!!! Ha ha... Shall stop talkin' crap now. UTV as always!! |
Anthony Laud
said:
|
... to whoever said if we are going to challenge top 4 we have to win these games! um man u lost to burnley, chelsea to wigan, liv to many teams, man city drew with fulham at home this weekend whilst spurs lost to stoke at home!!! who exactly is going to challenge for the top 4 in your eyes!!! obviously none of these sides or us!!! |
Andi
said:
 |
... We should have won against wolves no question but the fault lies with the players i didnt see the whole game but from what i did see Gabby should have scored early on, but on that chance he looked lazy and expected it to just roll in and Sidwell why on earth was you challenging like that in that position when the player you was challenging was running away from goal and the ball wasnt under control ???? It was not formation that cost us, it wasnt MON that cost us it was school boy errors and players not playing as they should thats what cost us points !!!! |
Andi
said:
|
... How predictable that we draw with a team we should have beat and this site gets back on the "MON not the right man" rubbish How fickle are you Damian ? MON guided us past Liverpool and Chelsea and we are still unbeaten yet you still reckon MON aint the man |
Eoin Greene
said:
|
... Viva - i agree with you Wolves did attack us. I supose its a different type of attacking that the better teams would do though. Teams like Chelsea are willing to push right up the pitch and pretty much play the entire game in our half of the pitch. Wolves did attack but they never overcommitted - thus we couldn't counter attack. Badger - regarding the comparison between the Chelsea and Wolves games. I disagree. In my opinion against Chelsea - we passed just as badly as we did against Wolves. If we hadn't scored the two goals from corners that we did against Chelsea - everyone would have said - what a pathetic performance. If we hadn't conceded a late penalty against Wolves - everyone would have said - what a result the mark of a good team! I dont think there was any difference in commitment in either match, or any less desire to win. I bet if you looked at the stats - pass completion and chances created would be remarkably similar. I'd also suggest that Chelsea had in fact 5 times more good chances than Wolves - but people dont see performances, they see results - which is fair enough. And just for the record - when i think about good performances - I mean creating more chances than the opposition. If you do this - on the balance of averages you will win more matches than you lose. I am really worried that we create so few chances. Any by 'create' I mean in any attacking sense - corners, shots, freekicks, open play - not necessarily a 50 yard wonder throughball. |
John Jordan
said:
 |
... It was more or less agreed by most "Supporters" on this site at the start of the season that a 5th or 6th finish would be good!...I think our present team,with the inclusion of Downing in December will achieve this aim....No complaint with MON...It achieves nothing!! |
StickyAV
said:
 |
... Damian, Absolute rubbish!!! This IS MONs team. This team that is doing so well is built of his players. The consistency to continue fighting for a top 4 place season after season is MONs doing!! I cannot believe your ability to come out after 1 win and say stuff like "I'm an optimist so i'm tipping us to do well", then after 1 DRAW (YES A DRAW NO LESS!!!) do a a complete u turn and call for the managers head. Total rubbish. |
nardo123
said:
 |
... im with damian. we need to spend 10-15 million on a creative midfielder that is established and can produce quality when it is needed and can change the tempo of the game to suit us. i dont think oneill is willing to do this, even with the money at his disposal. we need a manager who wont settle for merely exceeding the not so big expectations put on us each season. we need someone like, as much as i hate to write it, harry redknapp. he has come out, bought players and now has his own team who he is confident in to make the top four. he has said this publicly whereas oneill always says, 'we will battle on' or 'we will give it a fair shout'. we are past that. its not good enough anymore. please mr. oneill take a risk, show some ambition or please allow someone else too and go do what you have done for us to another team who needs it. |
StickyAV
said:
|
... Chiefy, Praise the lord someone puts it in to perspective. We drew away!!! Drew away!!! Man City drew away at Fulham after taking a 2-0 lead. Is Hughes not the right man? Spurs lost at home, is harry not the right man? Man U just lost at liverpool is Fergie not the right man? Ok so wolves are not as good a side as some of those, but lets also remember we got results against much better sides, home and away. I'm fed up with this blog. It's written based on emotion and not reason, by someone who seems to be emotionally unstable, and gives the opinions he thinks he should gives to please the masses most of the time, then talks rubbish the rest of the time. |
John Jordan
said:
|
... StickyAV. Damian "Emotionally unstable"!!!...Wait till he reads that!! ....Got to admit at times I wonder why he says he supports Villa. |
StickyAV
said:
|
... Here is how the league will look if we win our next game. This is assuming city and arse, who also have game in hand, win too. 1 Chelsea 24 2 Arsenal 22 3 Man Utd 22 4 Man City 21 5 Aston Villa 20 6 Tottenham 19 7 Liverpool 18 Damian exactly how would that need to look for you to be happy? Nardo - see spurs in there do you? Why do we need their manager??? So we can buy all the big name players they bought this summer and then achieve the same number of points from the first quarter of the season? |
Damian
said:
|
... StickyAV If the season ended that way, I'd be ecstatic and I'd throw my hands up and say I was wrong - O'Neill is moving us forward. Much like some can get carried away, I'm not saying everyone does but some do, after one result, I sort of can get carried away also when things don't go our way. But, in my defence, I've been saying this for a while now, not just after one game .. We need to kick on this season and for that to happen we need to finish the season in 5th. Not with more points in 6th, as it's not points that matter ... StickyAV, I'll run naked through my little village, put it on video and upload it somewhere if we finish 5th this season |
Andi
said:
|
... FICKLE FICKLE FICKLE FICKLE FICKLE it was the players fault no one elses, Gabby should have scored but i suspect he is letting the hype surrounding him creep in a little and Sidwell what can i say stupid tackle that didnt need to be made school boy error but yet we are still unbeaten and yet MON isnt the man to take us forward ?????? FICKLE FICKLE FICKLE thevillablog.co.uk "the site that shows you why villa fans are known for being FICKLE" |
StickyAV
said:
|
... Damian, 6th would be an improvement. Why? Because of City. Look at their starting 11. It is better than ours!! Was it last season? Debateable. 5th would be a massive improvement. We are improving season on season. Is our squad better than last year? Yes. Is our team better than last year? Yes. Is our defence better than last year? Yes. Has our overall play improved? IMO Yes. With a few more players (attacking mid and striker) could we challenge for the league? IMO Yes. Considering we lost one of our best players in the summer, have we done well so far? Yes. We have the signing of Downing to come to life. A player wanted by Liverpool. An England international that on his day, is a very good creative player. Our defence is still brand new and will get better. AY is not at his best at the moment. Luke Young is still to come back, we have a CB player at RB. Delph looks class, and could be a real player for us. Carew hasn't started scoring yet. We have plenty to come. We drew against Wolves. Be happy. |
Andy Rock
said:
 |
... A minor point, but the size of the pitch affected us. It has been shrank meaning no room for wingers, perhaps something we should have learnt from losing to Stoke last season. http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/News/0,,10307~1754894,00.html |
Damian
said:
|
... StickyAV I'm afraid, I don't buy into that. I absolutely understand what you are saying, but just because they've spent money doesn't mean that 6th would still be an improvement. It is making it harder but we can't always be looking at external factors and using them as excuses or reasons. You can't go into a new season thinking improvement will be 5th as long as nobody improves their team but if someone does, we will be happy with 6th again and we will see that as an improvement. I understand what you are saying and can clearly see it, but it was hardly a surprise. Man City have had a billionaire owner for more than one season ... |
Charlie Littlejohns
said:
 |
... I used to love reading this website, but my god you lot are so negative. Every team has their off days.. just look at the mighty Man United yesterday. We are 6th in the league, win our game in hand and we are top 4. What more do you idiots want? Seriously.. your sounding like Spurs fans |
Tony
said:
 |
... Damian, I can't agree with you on this one. In my opinion the agenda is all wrong. MON is the man. Turn your attention to RL and the lack of the big money. Somewhere else on this blog you mention that the fat waiter has not had the backing to push on from 2nd place! That says it all - he's spent £17 million on a full back! Bring the Spaniard to AV with MON's resources and see what he will do. Change the agenda and back off MON and let's have an attack on RL. |
Mark
said:
|
... We can not compete with the likes of Man.U at the moment as we can't even fill our stadium at home games. Damian was the biggest advocate of MON, but has decided he's not the man for the job, and we must remember, Damian is always right. What's Barry Fry doing these days. We are doing as well as can be anticipated with our current squad, which has already produced a number of regular England internationals. I love supporting a predominantly English team, they are doing us proud. Only Man.C have a realistic chance of breaching the top 4 on a regular basis, owing to their wealth and fan base. They have the potential of being as big as United. If damian had ever been a footballer, he would realize that there are so many variables during a game which can affect the result is untrue. We are where we deserve to be in the league, and have a manager who has progressed this club nicely. What f*****g manager would want to come to VP?, when our own supporters boo and hiss are own players, and call for the manager's head because he's not SAF or Mourinho. Man.U, Spuds, Citeh, Arsenal all had poor results; so what, that's football, get over it! |
mjasghar
said:
 |
... Get a grip guys. Looking at the other results we did well - Spuds and Everton lost, Citeh and Fulham drew. Plus the FSW will get enought time to wreck Pool as the scallys will harp on about beating the Mancs. As for the idiots who talk about us and ManUre on the same level - get serious. When we have had billions of Champs League money and multiple titles over a period of decades and billions of Chinese and African supportes jumping on our bandwagon because their culture are all aboput jumping on bandwagon, THEN we can attract that kind of fully developed player. Until then we have to develop our own and try to hang on to them long enough to get to that position. |
villarobin
said:
 |
... What puzzles me about Oneil is that he doesnt seem to know what substitutes are for. He has his first 11 and then Heskey who comes on in the 2nd half. He ALWAYS does this , no matter what happens in the game. It was SO obvious that Sidwell was having a shocking game way before he gave the penalty away, so why did Oneil not substitute him for Delph, Gardner or Reo Coker ?? What is the point in having a squad or substitutes otherwise ??? !! |
villarobin
said:
|
... I do like Oneil and i cant see anyone doing any better than him at villa by the way. Damian you are wrong to call for his head whenever we dont win. But please Mr Oneil USE YOUR SUBSTITUTES !!! |
mjasghar
said:
|
... BTW most science degrees do incorporate some statistics - since you have to read scientific papers and studies which are based on FACTS and statistics. So you have to understand the difference between mean, median, mode and the 95% normalbeel curve et al. |
Mik
said:
 |
... This view - that Martin O'Neill can't take Villa to the next level is just rubbish! - what is the next level? - Champions League - Premiership ?- for that you need quality throughout the team - do you think Martin for all the years success in the game and winning stuff whereever he has been does not know he needs a 20+ goal a season striker not a baby like Carew - do you think he is not aware he needs a top class midfield playmaker - of course he does.The issue is the cash to buy them - not just the transfer fee but the wages at £100k+ per week plus. Ask yourself - why so many signings late in a transfer window - you think Martin wakes up on the last day and thinks - "oh I forgot I need two new centre halfs I better go and buy them" ? Of course not - maybe things are not as straight forward as you think.At the end of the day regardless of your capability as a manager ( and Martin is one of the best ) you need quality on the pitch and real quality costs serious money - not looking for a rough diamond to polish , a kid with potential or a a player with some pedigree but no consistency or desire to be the absolute best! Stand back and put the pieces together - you are very lucky to have Martin O'Neill so support him not undermine him. |
Geoff
said:
 |
... A big, skill-player arriving in about oh, say, January, will change your minds....This team has enough workers and grinders, they need another marquee talent to work with Agbonlahor and either pair up with him (if its a striker) or link up with him and feed him balls from the midfield. |
Geoff
said:
|
... Agbonlahor does look like he is on an island up there sometimes. I also think that it may be time to cash in on John Carew and either allow Heskey to get his chance OR to bring in someone to be the complimentary striker. |
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