There were some good signs in the first half and indeed up to the halfway mark in the second half, but I have to agree with Niall McViegh's comment from his match report in The Guardian, when he wrote, at 81 mins "Worth noting that, within minutes of the impressive Todd Kane coming off, Villa scored scored twice down the side he'd been marshalling."
That was just like last season. Reasonable going forward but appalling at the back. Which isn't a surprise at all because our defence on paper looks shocking. You need experience and leadership at the back, especially in this kind of downward spiral. We lost Larsson, Meyler and Dawson and all we've signed is a few unproven kids. Of course we're going to struggle at the back. Might as well have just got Hector and Aina again. Marshall is baffling. Quite apart from the conundrum of where his Cardiff form went, I can't imagoim what he thought he saw when he took that goal kick. It's not like someone was in space and he mishit it; he just pinged it into an area with loads of Villa players. A few of them looked good but overall you just can't have a squad with so little experience, grit and wisdom. Larsson's impact was massively underrated and losing him is a big blow now. Henriksen really shouldn't be the most senior player but that's where we are. Problem is, even aside from the financial side of it, proven players just don't want to come here and why would they? It's so obvious the club has no ambition to achieve anything on the pitch, it's all just about cutting costs wherever possible. Players don't want to be at a club who are obviously not trying to compete, so we're left with the ones who don't have other offers.
i I like Kane from what I have seen and Campbell too but I am not sure he is good for 90 mins anymore. Maybe they were both weary and Nige didn’t want to risk injury. Either way what we brought on was not good enough to win the game. We just don’t have that strength in depth.
that's exactly why finishing 4 from bottom would be a huge success far weaker than last season at the moment i can't stand marshall, wish people stop going on about cardiff, years ago he's appalling
For our next game can we play fly keeper? It would already be advantageous over putting Marshall between the sticks. He’s a busted flush here. I’d rather stick Long in goal, he surely can’t be any worse. Also, Villa were not a good side. They won’t be troubling the top 2 spots this season.
Game of 2 halves. Enjoyed the 1st half and thought we looked promising. City supporters were great and created a really good atmosphere. Second half was depressing, really hope there is some improvement. I am trying not to be pessimistic as it is the first game with so many new players, On the plus side, surely a young side can work together, play with some enthusiasm and want to do well On the other hand they can play as well as any team but if there is nobody to score a goal what is the point. Also when injuries kick in there is no replacements, no quality etc. I really want to enjoy going to football again, I bloody hate what we've come to.
A run of 3 games coming up which will tell us what we need to know about this side - Wednesday, Blackburn and Rotherham. Need 6 or 7 points from these
On the bright side, at least Marshal is back to his magnificent self. Soon as Nige sorts that out, and our defenders get introduced to each other, we're going up as Champs.
That really was a horrendous mistake by Marshall. It ripped the heart out of the performance. We did create 3/4 more chances but the front line looked scared to take control and have a go. Still enjoyed it mostly.
Basically, we’ve lost the spine and leaders in the team from last season - McGregor, Dawson, Larrson and Hernandez - and not replaced them with similar quality or leaders. You can’t expect to be competitive without that. The fact that Henriksen is now captain says it all.
When we played well, we played very well. Then we made some right cock-ups. Keeping fingers crossed that the cock-ups are the result of the team still bedding in.
As a matter of interest they know exactly how many people are in as the turnstile swipes are automatically counted and are immediately known to the stadium management ...just saying, like
We looked like a good championship side for an hour. The double sub and subsequent second goal killed us.
Song of the night... If you're watching on the Telly. You're a ****. Superb. Very good performance. Marred by simple mistakes. Lost the player at a corner. Horrendous goal kick by Marshall. Hutton walks through Batty for the third. Batty did really well but was gone after sixtyfive minutes. I was screaming at Adkins to replace him. Huge mistake nige. Henriksens brain fart led to one of the goals, was it the second or the third? Pity it wasn't Meyler Charon would have creamed his knickers.
I know I'm a **** but that's nowt to do with me not setting foot inside the KC until the Allams **** off. Thoughts on Marshall. Can't help but feel people want him to fail. I really felt for him after that error. If ever anyone didn't need that it was him. You could see what little fragile confidence he had drain from his face. He had looked decent up until then.
