It would be inappropriate of me to talk about a Villa vs Norwich match without talking about our former leader first. Attending the match, I was unsure as to how our fans would react to Lambert. I knew this because I wasn't sure how I'd react myself! I'd called for initial praise for the job he did on these very boards, but on the morning of the match I honestly didn't know what I would do. Would I boo? That didn't seem right. Would I applaud? Again, that wasn't fitting. In the end I'm delighted that we ALL simply ignored him. Total ignorance. I was pleased and I think Lambert will have been a little disappointed. Even better. The fans were fantastic and approached the game in the right way: give Lambert nothing to feed on whilst backing our new manager and current players to the hilt. The applause for Stan Petrov in the 19th minute was phenomenal, it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Well done to all who attended Now to the match, which in all honesty was absolutely dreadful quality wise, from both teams. Thankfully, we were by far in a way the better of the two dreadful teams. The red card obviously affected the game, but not to the extent labelled by Lambert. Norwich were in total control of the match from minute one, despite being hit by the normal sucker punch we seem get each week at the moment. One chance = one goal. Well, that rule only equates to the opposition. We seem to require at least three piss-easy chances before we score. Is it good goal keeping or poor finishing? Probably a little bit of both. Hoolahan HAD to score his early chance. Bury it. The keeper shouldn't have even had a chance to make the save, but what a save it was. Had that gone in, we'd have won the game very comfortably in my opinion. Villa were terrible, awful, hopeless. Their three shining lights were Guzan (for obvious reasons - he had so much to do!), Vlaar (who I'd never rated but was immense on the day) and Benteke (who has received much criticism but there is definitely a good player in there - not worth £7m though). When you consider how poorly Norwich played, it has to be viewed as a plus that we still looked a far more capable, organised and talented side than the hosts. Lambert is an excellent manager but I think they'll go down. To say their midfield was 'anonymous' would be an understatement, and its midfield where games are often determined. One thing is for sure, Villa have a hell of a lot more problems than we do! Their goal was really the only sour point. A misunderstanding... well no, a lack of concentration on Turner's behalf and ball watching from both centre halves cost us. That was as bad as it got. Chances came and went. The referee, who had an absolute shocker for us by the way, missed a clear penalty shout when Vlaar clipped Bennett. The officials also seemed to miss a one on one which was flagged offside despite being played through by a Villa defender. They got the red card spot on. Ignore Lambert (again)... his argument was completely flawed. Elliott had his arm on Joe's shoulder BECAUSE he was blocked off and into touch. Villa should have been down to nine men moments later after wee Wes was hacked down by Herd. The makeshift defender's plea to the ref somehow earned him a stay of execution. Only the ref knows why that wasn't a second yellow card. It really should have made no difference to the scoreline. Even 11 v 11 Norwich should have at least earned a point and probably all three, so to only come away with a point was very disappointing, despite us fighting back from a goal down with not long left. Holt should have scored his one on one, but the really wasteful chances were ones which didn't even result in a shot. I lost count of the number of mis hit, over hit and under hit crosses and passes in the final third. It was embarrassing at times. Thankfully, this was an off-day. The players can cross the ball, exceptionally well. But improvements in the final third need to be made because Villa should have been put to the sword in all honesty. I believe those improvements will be made. I feel very comfortable with the new manager - I think he has got his tactics correct. If I had a quibble it would be that he makes substitutions a tad earlier, but we are used to Lambert who was a genius at tactical subs - its almost inevitable that Hughton or any other manager who had come in may fall a little shorter on that front. No question though, Hughton impressed more than Lambert on Saturday. Player ratings, if your not so bored of reading all the above!: Ruddy 6 - couldn't give him more - he had nothing to do, again! Martin 6 - did ok, would have made a big impact once the red happened, shame he had to go off Bassong 7 - our best defender this season. Switched off a bit for the goal but again led by example Turner 6 - would have been a 7 had he not cocked up for the goal Garrido 6 - got forward well second half but quiet game Johnson 5 - should have been subbed when the red happened. Passing was diabolical at times Tettey 7 - dopey first half, excellent second. Stopped any potential breakaways. Massively important player for us Pilkington 5 - quiet, crossing poor. Hit and miss this season so far but undoubted quality Bennett 7 - had his namesake on toast every time he got the ball, crossing poor though. Probably should have stayed on unless injured Hoolahan 8 - the star of the show. The only star if truth be known. Should have scored and a few passes went astray but that's what you get from Wes. You take the rough with the smooth because there is a lot more smooth than rough. Key player Holt 6 - did ok, should have scored. Hold up play good but a few wasteful passes. One sublime pass to Wes in first half Subs Bennett 5 - should have scored, didn't get forward enough but he's a centre back in his defence! Looks a little short of confidence Morison 6 - one cracking run, unlucky with a far post header. Made an impact a helped press them back Snodgrass 5 - poor delivery and poor attempt at goal I think those ratings highlight perfectly how poor City were. I would have taken a point before a ball was kicked but in the circumstances that were played out, I think we all should accept it was two points dropped. Positives to be taken, especially the shape of the team which is now solid yet creative. OTBC IHWT
Good post Supers, it's good to read a report of the match from someone with a good knowledge of the game, the only stream I could get was shockingly poor, and you can't get a good overall view without actually being there!
I could have sworn he was a centre back in OUR defence! Good review, Superman, I largely agree with the ratings - and wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments about probably the easiest two points on offer all season tossed away through woeful approach play in the final third. Let's hope and pray those two points don't come back to haunt us in April/May
i must confess dave, i re-watched the match on tv yesterday, just to confirm some of my initial thoughts!
Personally I was very disappointed that we were not capable of creating enough chances and finishing the ones we did create to beat an awful Villa side. I really hope that these two points do not come back to haunt us as this is the third match we have dominated only to come away with only one point. I only saw the game on Sky but it looked to me like our wide players couldn't buy a cross. We got round their defence so many times only for the cross to be over-hit or mis-hit. Simply not good enough from the wide men. I thought that Garrido was as guily as Johnson for poor passing and I hope that Turner's goal gives him the confidence to sort out his defensive frailties. Given that we have Stoke next I am concerned at the lack of aeriel dominance displayed by our centre halves who did not seem to win their fair share iof headers. I don't see Stoke putting too many intricate passing moves together so this is something CH will need to address at Colney in the week. Overall I would have taken 4 points from Arsenal (H) and Villa (A) so can't complain too much although I would have loved it had we been able to nick a winner and stick it to Lambert in the best way. PS The City fans on sounded in great voice and outsung the Holte End comfortably which is credit to those of you who went.
Must admit super, when watching the game live, my thoughts after about 20 mins were, that if we can´ t beat this lot then we´re not going to beat anyone this year. Villa were completely awful, no ideas, no plan, no structure, nothing, but then after going behind, I think we have to be content with the point. Despite us being well on top, they defended well, very well at times, and we´re not a top 6 side, we´re not even a top half of the table side, and as poorly as they played, we can´t just expect to roll them over, even when they went down to ten. But far more to be optÃmistic about at Carrow Road than at Villa Park, Lambert and his philosophy was completely unrecognisable from when he was with us, on that showing they are definitely going to struggle.
we have strength in midfield. villa do not. this is key. they've probably got more goals in their team with benteke, agbonlahor and bent but if you can't get the ball to them to take the chances, you'll be screwed up the cake hole. villa are in big, big trouble this season. they should have gone down last season in my opinion - they were easily the worst team i saw last season - and lambert has his work cut out to correct that. just on a side not re: lambert, something i forgot to mention in my thread, was his reason for going to villa. at the time, i think its fair to say that many of us, least of all me, could see lambert heading to villa park. this was based on footballing reasons. heading back from villa park we had a long discussion about his move in the car. i think we hit firmly upon his reason for heading to birmingham... no, not because birmingham is a beautiful part of the country... its because he was cornered. he had nowhere else to go. he simply couldn't stay at norwich any longer in his eyes. we all know about his 'wobble' with burnley and its pretty common knowledge that he was interested in the west ham job last summer, despite them being a league below us. basically, the guy wanted out. his relationship with mcnally was always tense - we now find out it was equally so with bowkett. i don't think, given a choice, lambert would have gone to aston villa. i think he ended up there by default, as they were the only club to show interest in him this summer. he wasn't allowed to go to burnley, nor west ham, or others maybe we don't know about. just a theory, but it would explain the dismay met with him going there. yes, villa are a bigger club than norwich - he's not exactly been left out to dry with what he ended up with - but his reason for going to villa had more to do with getting away from norwich than it did any thoughts of 'being a villa legend' or even 'using them as a stepping stone'. he just had to leave for his own sanity this summer.
I don't think we should underestimate the importance of Saturday's game - away to a team that is going to be there or thereabouts in the bottom third of the table.This is one of those games that is a must win for the home side.The fact that Villa not only did not win it,but in the end were extremely fortunate to escape with a point wont be lost on PL or anyone at Villa. Herd certainly should have gone.His desperate wave at Phil Dowd after the tackle showed that he thought that too.Down to nine Villa would have cracked.It was a good weekend for us.Nil points for QPR,Reading and Southampton means we climb another point closer to safety.I am getting more optimistic as the season progresses,even as I grow more and more convinced that Lambert's move to another club is only big in terms of being a grave error of judgement.If Villa are not in the bottom three by Christmas it will only be due to the three above mentioned teams.
This makes a lot of sense to me. If things aren't going great with the board then you're going to want to leave. It would be interesting to know of the relationship between Lambert and the players. If there were any problems it clearly didnt affect the teams performance. I doubt there were any problems between Lambert and the players to extent there was with you know who and the players. But I dare not compare him with Lambert! The relationship between the fans and LMbert was great, we cheered him and the team on brilliantly and he responded with reservation and modesty.
I was sat in a pub in Winchester watching it and there were some villains there but there was a resignation in their remarks. I'm sure they expected to beat us but from the first 5 minutes they knew it wasn't on and even after we gifted them the goal there was no celebration as it appeared they thought it meant well at least Norwich will have to score two. Regarding crossing, it is one of my pet moans. Modern day footballers do not have a clue how to cross. They have every chance to practise them and they obviously don't as it is woeful, inept and infuriating. The amount of times you see players queuing up in the box and it hits the first defender. Garrido isn't awful (that's being generous) and is probably the best in the side. But the majority of the time whoever attempts to put it in under hits it. Apart from Snodgrass who aims at the far corner flag. Why they have to side foot crosses instead of using the instep is beyond me. Get out and practise lads!
It basically boiled down to us not being clinical enough in front of goal. Hoolahoops should have scored (twice) and Holt when he shrugged off the defender and was through on goal. Also R Bennett had a great chance towards the end and it was a typical defender's shot that sailed over. At the end of the day, that's the difference beween good players and great players. Top strikers a la Suarez would have buried all four efforts. Yes, it really was 2 points dropped, but come the end of the season that 1 point must just keep us up. Keep the faith, IHWT OTBC
We appeared to have no problem with crossing last season redruth. We had the highest number of headed goals in the Premier League last season as well as the joint highest number of set-piece goals. Pilkington and Bennett in particular arr the main provider of the crosses but they haven't played too often. Also last season Tierney provided a lot of the crosses and he's being kept out of the side by Garrido.
We need to learn to hit the crosses in earlier! There's too much trying to beat the last man and make the cross easier, we need that element of speed and surprise. This is the third game on the trot where we've missed one on ones with the keeper, it needs some work done on it as does Wes's finishing, it was never his strong point but he's now got the freedom to get forward into those positions, he needs to tucking a few away!! All in all the set up looks good and I agree with Supers, Hughton is getting there, the two main difference's for me are; leaving Howson out, sad but true, he's been far to anonymous this season, and playing wide midfielders! Couldn't get to the game, so it's good to read a sensible report.
our weaknesses all seem to be things that our current players have in their lockers but aren't quite producing consistently. crossing, final ball, finishing etc. much rather have weaknesses that can be ironed out and worked on during training each week than villa's problems, ie not having good enough players and a need for investment
