RATINGS & we could have played all afternoon...

... and we still wouldn't have scored. A very easy cruise to a 1-0 win for Villa, we didn't even make them work for it!

I honestly got bored watching the game!

RATINGS...

Steve Harper - 8 - How he isn't in the England squad is completely beyond me!

Danny Simpson - 6 - Nothing special, nothing terrible. Just turned up!

Jose Enrique - 6.5 - Still taking too many touches, got forward well and linked with Jonas well (as per) but still lacked an end product.

Mike Williamson - 6 - Typical him really, no nonsense defending, won the ball in the air, fouled the opposition too often and finds himself in no mans land on occasions.

Steven Taylor - 6 - See above.

Fabricio Coloccini - 6.5 - Played well out of position but again nothing special, nothing terrible. Did well going forward late on.

Joey Barton - 6 - Distribution was woeful, delivery was the same. Poor day for Joey, the Villa fans were almost right, he was as **** as Gareth Barry!

Danny Guthrie - 7 - Dare I say it, he was brilliant in the first half, fell away in the second.

Jonas Gutierrez - 6 - Delivery was shocking (as per) , passing woeful, too many touches, just ran the line well.

Peter Lovenkrands - 5 - May fool some fans but all he did was run and not into good areas for the most part. Won nothing, passing was awful and should have scored with his head in the 88th minute but put it almost straight at Friedel.

Nile Ranger - 5 - Ran well and won most things in the air. Perhaps not his fault his strike partner was rubbish and is useless at reading flick ons. Rubbish shooting and his awareness was woeful. He could have played Loverkrands in for what were his only two decent runs in the first half but decided to pass the ball at Friedel on both occassions!

Ryan Taylor - 6 - Should have started, didn't impact the game at all. Half decent free-kick at the end.

Shefki Kuqi - 5 - Didn't impact the game in his very short spell on the pitch. Won the expected few headers.

Alan Pardew - 4 - Hampered by injuries and suspension his team selection was questionable. Although Coloccini did well individually at Defensive-Midfield his role within the team was poor and when Pardew finally reverted to the set-up he should have used from the beginning, it was too late. Yet again we've been well and truly screwed by ****e experimental tactics on Pardew's part. He can argue that the team could have given more effort as most just turned up for a kick about but why play square pegs in round holes when we had the players that could play in each position.

Very disappointing result but even asking for a draw would have been too much!

 

Nile Ranger 5? He was absolutley abismal! Why everyone got so excited about him I don't know.

 

Agree with everything, was just a bore performance, not as bad as West Brom imo, but a toothless one none the less

 

Far to kind to guthrie, no way was he our best outfield player.

 

I agree, he was ****. Wasted his chance.

 

His performance was dragged down by a very poor Lovenkrands ... both ended up being equally poor in my opinion

 

Just too many first team players missing, which is a shame because they were there for the taking like. Poor Villa side marginally better than an extremely weakened Newcastle side

 

I'm no fan of Guthrie but would have to argue his corner today, he was the only one completing his passes thus building our attacking threat well. Had some good moments in defence too, easily our best outfield player.

 

The only players on the pitch for us who looked decent were Harper and Kuqi.

Lovernkrands made some good runs but Ranger never fed him the balls, and Guthrie was a joke in midfield.

 

Are you taking the piss? He was head and shoulders above everyone in our team today.

 

Ranger 5? Very generous? 1 sounds better. Barton was **** so he doesn't deserve more than 2.

Only players who tried were Lovenkrands , Harper and Guthrie.

 

I don't think you should blame Pardew on this, well not all of it obviously. We had Nolan, Tiote, Ameobi & Ireland out. All KEY players currently. Yes the team selection was questionable, but everyone was ****ing about how Ranger should start & all this but he was totally ****, same could be said for Loverman who barely looked Championship standard in this game. Missing Best deeply and Ameobi somewhat because of his heading ability and experience. Guthrie played well in the first half, average in the second, same with Barton who was as **** as Gareth Barry and didn't live up to being the best CM in England''. Thought Colo held his own in that DM/holding role, showed good passing, decent tackling and good stregnth and tactical awareness. Thought Raylor should have started, impacted the game a bit. Saylor was average as well, same with Simpson and Enrique wasn't his usual self.

Overall, I thought we did OK in the first half but lacked firepower and creativity in the second half. Very average performance but lack of options cost us as well, I think with Tiote and Nolan playing we could've at least gotten a good performance and draw. Villa weren't that good to be honest, but improved in the second.

Disappointing in general, but roll on Man United & the return of Tiote & hopefully Ireland will make his debut.

 

Guthrie was a joke in midfield? Nice to see no criticism given to Barton, who was shocking today. Get off the bandwagon.

 

I'll also defend Guthrie, alot of side to side but to be fair who was he gonna pass to going forward? Ranger couldn't hold the ball up for toffee and don't get me started on Lovenkrands first touch.

 

Not our best performance, but considering it was a very weak squad we could be forgiven.
Collins had Ranger in his back pocket today, we had nothing to offer going forward!
The referee was poor, Villa got a lot of decisions their way and seemed pretty intent on kicking two shades of **** out Barton.
We could have snatched a late point had Lover directed his header a bit further from Friedel but nevermind, I'm still happy with the 6-0

Oh yeah and Ashley Young is twat.
HWTL!

 

Guthrie, Harper and maybe Lovenkrands are the only ones I'd give higher than 5. Nobody looked like they gave a **** today.

 

Harper, Enrique, Jonas and Guthrie played well the rest were shocking especially Barton Loven and Ranger!!!

 

Mmmmmm so many posters on here have been clamouring for Ranger to start over the last few weeks.

At this stage of his career he's clearly not good enough. Impact sub, 15-20 mins to go for the rest of the season then ship him out on loan next season to the championship

 

I thought Guthrie was very good, some people just dont like him and almost want him to play badly so they can justify their views but he had a good game, especially given that it was a very makeshift CM partnership with Colo. The defence was ok, not much confidence in Saylor-Williamson partnership though and Colo looked uncomfortable in midfield. Raylor should have started, and Saylor shouldnt. I thought Jonas had one of his best games yet, except for his crosses which were far too low, not beating the first man. Enrique was all over the place, either not fit or has his head in the clouds. Sadly now people will use only this game to judge Ranger and say he's **** from now on, despite playing in a very weakened side and not getting any proper crosses until Raylor came on.

Still, we arent desperate for the points and I would have taken a draw, so I'm not massively upset to be honest. Move on and focus on Man U, where we'll have Tiote and Ireland available.