so we have a very valid form line with Villa, we earned a a draw against Norwich (but were the better team) and probably played our most inept attacking game of the season in a 1-0 loss to Pool. Villa beat Norwich 4-1 and Pool 3-1. I do not know the style of Villa and I could not name a single player in thier starting team yesterday, but it is some what concerning that they could score 3 against a team like Pool when we were reduced to 2 30 yard shots, if we are to survive in this league then our forward play has to evolve and probably become more direct and less prdictable. Looks like Villa will soon be out of danger after a very dodgy start
They have taken a while to get going but they look a decent team now and you have to give credit to Paul Lambert. Benteke seems to be getting better in every match, he basically beat Liverpool single-handedly yesterday, the apparently odd decision to leave Bent out in the cold seems to have been proven the right one. The only concern for them must be the inexperience in their team (which to be fair we share with them), they're going to be vulnerable to fluctuations in form if the season so far is anything to go by, I now think they'll stay up though.
Said it before and i'll say it again only reason we lost to Liverpool is all our players were knackered.
Can't do direct comparisons with results against a single side. Goals going in instead of hitting post, a team playing a blinder one day and being rubbish the next, ref seeing a penalty or missing it...if it was predictable there would be no point in even playing the game. Remember Bristol City beat us twice...do you thnk they are a better team than us. It's the psoition at the end of the season that counts.
Got a villa mate, so hear quite a lot about them. They have been reducing wages ever since MoN left, make no misatake, he left them in the poo. Massive wages on long contracts of players reaching ages where value has decreased. He really likes PLambert, he's been telling me for a while that they look like improving every week. Saying that, yesterday still took me by surprise, that Benteke looks good, but boy did everything just fall right for him at Anfield. When we beat Reading last week and went 15th I released a sigh of relief, but we are far from the woods. Hope Fulham down all get sucked in, because bar reading, we've all got a big fight on our hands.
That's one way of looking at it, but the reality is that Randy Lerner sanctioned these signings and put the money in for them and then decided he wasn't willing to spend that much anymore. That's why O'Neill left, and that's why they have struggled since.
Yep, spat his dummy out and walked away, the coward. Hope Sunderland go down just to test his loyalty one last time.
I don't know what your agenda is with O'Neill, but I don't blame him at all. He had the rug pulled out from under him, why would he build a successful team and then happily sit and watch it be dismantled?
Over spending sometimes has to stop, its sad, but its reality in some situations. I remember Mon from his Wycombe days, great motivator, same at Leicester, but I'll judge him more unkindly on what he has done since.....if you don't mind.
The point is his circumstances changed. The over spending and the subsequent tightening up were the owner's decisions, outside the control of the manager. O'Neill got used to being able to spend money and the success it brought, and when his circumstances dramatically changed he left, as any employee is entitled to do. He had the choice to quit while he was ahead, or go down with a sinking ship (which he did nothing to cause), and he made the obvious choice.
Yes. If only football was consistent, then we wouldn't have to actually play it on a grass pitch, but just announcing the teams would do. Villa have clearly picked up their form recently, certainly since we played them, and Paul Lambert has found a formula which works against certain teams. They may yet lose against teams in a lower position than them and they yet win against teams in a higher position. That's the compelling part of the game when teams are so near to each other in quality. Similar words could be said about Saints, although I feel that the initial games knocked a bit of the confident stuffing out of the side, and it took them a little while to recover. Now, they most definitely know which league they are in and what the quality level requires. Trying to put aside my Saints biased hat, I would say, as many pundits do, that Saints have goals everywhere in the team. We're riddled right through with people who the ability to score. All we have to do is defend consistently and we'll overtake the likes of Aston Villa and, for example, those upstarts WHU who, for my money, will just get worse as the season gets older.
Think it was more to do with them being in awe of their surroundings. They can't have that "small club attitude" when we visit other "big clubs" this season.
