I wouldn't get too wound up by what they say on Blunderside. It is a radio station presented by a bunch of no nowt numpties...G. Lloyd FFS. The presenter who was on tonight is pi$$ poor and is always looking to stir it up by coming out with some contentious drivel..
Well with Sunderland losing that means we gained another point off the bottom. Got to love being 10 points off the bottom team at this point in the season.
Because he's already playing in a team that is performing well and although he may not be pulling up any trees individually, he's obviously seen as an integral part of the whole at the moment!
Fair assessment of our game from Matt Le Tissier http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/8959066/clean-sheet-important-for-bruce
It's points above third bottom that matter. In theory we could be 25 points better than the team in last place and end up going down
Yes that is obvious. But being 10 points off the 20th place team is nice as that means there are really only 2 other teams you need to be better than. If the 20th place team was 1 point below us than it wouldnt matter if we were 10th place as one game could mean the difference. Perhaps you could state something more obvious next time.
Have seen alot worse games With goals over the years. But a point is a point. Just 8 more Wins required from 31 games.
I see Graham is being bashed by people who don't go to games again. He hasn't yet scored, he's put in some good performances for us, though yesterday wasn't one of them. But if we're going to drop players based solely on yesterdays performances, then Rosie and Elmo would top the list. Bruce obviously feels that Graham is our best option, presumably because he thinks once he gets one, then he'll regain his confidence and get us several. I'm not sure how long that will remain the case, I'd have brought Sagbo on earlier yesterday, but it's Bruce's call.
Whatever Graham's failings, (and I agree the lack of goals is disappointing), he always puts in a shift, and stays in the faces of the opposition defence, keeping them on the back foot. A bit like McLean in the Championship. And like McLean, goals would improve his reputation.
I didn't think Elmo was as bad as some (especially in the media) are making out. There were some wayward crosses and a couple of shots when he maybe should have passed but he still beat their left back on numerous occasions and delivered a decent ball. Our attacking threat down the left was much less productive yet has had no criticism.....
A decent review of the game from a Villa fan http://www.astonvilla-mad.co.uk/rprt/mtch/clattenburg_1_football_0_809376/index.shtml?
Apart from mixing up Elmo with Huddlestone in the Westwood incident. Delph was superb for them and was let down by his team mates, but he was ghosting past our players on numerous occasions
The evidence was clear in the Norwich and Newcastle games. Graham holds up the ball better than Sagbo. When it sticks he almost always finds a City player. Against Norwich when he came on he relieved the defence and for the last period we looked like the only team that was going to score. When he went off against Newcastle the ball didn't stick with Sagbo and kept coming back. For a team that relies on its defence to stay up he does his job well. That's why he's in the team ahead of Sagbo and Prozzy.
Yep, I agree with all that. Sagbo has a certain quixotic quality, but he's a bit unpredictable (ie headless chicken). Most managers would rather have someone up there who does what he tells him to and fits into the tactical plan. Not that I'm a big Graham fan or anything - but I can see why he's getting the nod over Sagbo and Prozzy.
The problem is that we don't really have any replacements for Rosie and Elmo, and also Rosie has played extremely well in the other games whereas Graham has not looked better than average to me. I have been saying for a while that we needed another tricky right winger like Redmond for when Elmo's method of powering forward and crossing are not working. I would have liked to see Sagbo on earlier as well, but even in the time he was on he did more than Graham, at one point he got the ball 35 yards out and ran at the Villa defence and actually looked like he might do something positive. It will be interesting to see if Gedo gets in the team soon as I feel we could do with his poaching abilities.
This. He is still getting in the right positions but as soon as he gets the confidence, he'll come good
