Aston Villa v Rotherham , Tuesday 18th September 19.45 kick off.

[sirdennis]

Well we were 2-0 up with 5 mins left.

I was surprised when he bought Albert on to be honest , I thought he would have tried to shut up shop then , but both Albert and Bolasie were positive substitutions I thought.

 

[ironside]

Nice to see that Andy Gray style diving header from Bolasie. I'd still like to see more pace in shifting the ball from defence to attack but at least it looked like a controlled performance. That forward line backed up by an energetic midfield could be awesome for us if it really gels.
I don't know if Bruce's comments were aimed at critics in the media or at dissatisfied fans but, as soon as I heard them on the way home, I thought he wasn't doing himself any favours. He should have let the result speak for itself and limited himself to commenting on the positives in the game.

 

[Wicked Messenger]

Well we were 2-0 up with 5 mins left.

I was surprised when he bought Albert on to be honest , I thought he would have tried to shut up shop then , but both Albert and Bolasie were positive substitutions I thought.

5 minutes plus 5 minutes added time, still enough time to score another goal surely. Couldn’t Bjarnason have replaced Abrahams rather than Bree? Bruce reverting to type again. He’ll probably play one up front in away games, I hope not but we’ll see! To me, the team is inhibited by Bruce’s own risk-aversiveness. ,

 

[The Fear]

Clean Sheet and goals for 2 of the new boys. Can't really argue with that.

Was it a classic? No. Is there room for improvement? LOTS! Were Rotherham the worst team we'll play this season? Probably.

But we won, and won easily in the end.

Now to keep that going into Saturdays game, which will be another tough test but I can see us getting the job done and cementing our place in the top 6.

true to all of that.

But how often do we say that? The draws and performances this year have been so dull AGAIN.

I'm running out of patience

 

[crosswesleyanchapel]

Well Bruce's comments last night wont help him by any stretch. Hes still not cut out as the man for long term. Imagine this dire shite in the Premiership. Anyway, I digress. Last night was positive, albeit just slightly. I would have expected nothing less than three points last night. Rotherham were absolute dross. I was impressed with Abraham and Kodjia as a partnership. I thought they worked well together. I thought McGinn was excellent in midfield with Hourihane, just wish they could move it around quicker to the front men rather than sideways all the time. Quiet night for Nyland as well thank god. CB is the main issue for me. The fact Rotherham are dross was why Jedinak wasn't hammered. Against the good sides we'll get found out with him at CB and midfield will be shut down quickly. I'm not a fan of Elmo at right back either. Hutton should be there, and a left back plus centre half should have been top priority during the transfer window. Be interesting to see how we fare on Saturday. Onwards

 

[northamptonvillan]

true to all of that.

But how often do we say that? The draws and performances this year have been so dull AGAIN.

I'm running out of patience

My personal circumstances relating to my working life having changed, this season is the first in twenty years that I have had the opportunity to attend midweek games. Could have attended last night and chose not to. One of the missing 3000 from the Brentford game.

I admire the resilience and commitment of those of you who attend every home game and many away. Those days for me are long gone, doesn't mean I care about the Villa any less.

I read the comments from those of you who attend with friends and family with envy. The enjoyment of a shared experience can gloss over the lack of entertainment from a dull or average performance. For me, attending Villa games has always been a solitary experience and rightly or wrongly, as I have got older, the football needs to entertain and enthuse me for me to really enjoy the match.

Sounds like last night was typical of the Bruce years. Just enough to see off weaker teams, with the game won by moments of individual skill from players that don't belong to us. Pleased we played two up front and that McGinn and Hourihane proved that we can win without our usual limited defensive minder.

Next attendence for me will be the Preston game in two weeks time. Two dominant performances against Wednesday and Bristol City would certainly raise my expectations regarding entertainment.

 

[Villan57]

I think we can safely say by the subdued crowd that it really wasn't that good , yes I accept that we were better but the opposition wasn't much good

 

[Pride of Lions]

I think the Abraham/Kodjia partnership could be bloody good if they are allowed to work together for more than one game and they get a decent service.

 

[Wurzel]

Just watched the extended highlights. Rotherham on the back of beating Derby were well beaten. We could have been three goals up before we scored. Front two linked up well for the first goal, and the desire to get that second goal from Bolasie was terrific. All in all a decent win against a side in form. Well done lads.

 

[Langoe66]

Nice to see that Andy Gray style diving header from Bolasie. I'd still like to see more pace in shifting the ball from defence to attack but at least it looked like a controlled performance. That forward line backed up by an energetic midfield could be awesome for us if it really gels.
I don't know if Bruce's comments were aimed at critics in the media or at dissatisfied fans but, as soon as I heard them on the way home, I thought he wasn't doing himself any favours. He should have let the result speak for itself and limited himself to commenting on the positives in the game.

Think some of his wrath was aimed at Matt Kendrick who had aired his views on the matter and rightly so....too many in the media don't probe him enough for me. Questions and articles are often far too cosy!

 

[Fulford]

A side in form lol

Have you seen their away stats Wurz

 

[Fulford]

I thought Jedi just headed the ball upwards loads of times rather than clear it properly

 

[Wurzel]

A side in form lol

Have you seen their away stats Wurz

Before last night they has won 2 of their last 3 games and were only a point worse off than us.

 

[Silhillvilla]

I thought Jedi just headed the ball upwards loads of times rather than clear it properly

As much as he's been criticised, credit where due, solid game last night

 

[gmvillan]

Think some of his wrath was aimed at Matt Kendrick who had aired his views on the matter and rightly so....too many in the media don't probe him enough for me. Questions and articles are often far too cosy!

On this particular score I can empathize with Bruce and I'm actually surprised that it's taken this long for him to have a go back at the Mail. Now I know Kendrick and Evans might be "nice blokes and Villa fans" but IMHO they are utterly clueless about the game, rarely, if ever come up with any real news, and are overtly negative, especially when you consider that they are the representatives of AVFC in the LOCAL paper. They can't claim to truly know what's going on behind the scenes because 95% of what they "report" is regurgitation of someone else's social media posts with click-bait headlines.... When was the last time the Mail had any type of true news or interviews from Villa? Matt Kendrick has never "probed" Bruce on anything or spent the time to do a proper analysis. His "reports" are the same things that we fans say to each other on the walk back up the Trinity Rd after the match. Again, they may be nice blokes, but so is Steve Bruce and they seem to have no problem attacking him at every opportunity.

 

[Silhillvilla]

Agree , I'm with Bruce on this , the Birmingham Mail are an utter disgrace when it come to their villa coverage/ agenda .

 

[BBJ]

I've been away on holiday and had to come home today as I've a funeral to attend tomorrow.
Where we were we had no wifi so my access to the internet consisted of furtive sorties to a local hotel.
Consequently I had totally forgotten we were playing yesterday evening and have only become aware in the last half hour that we've actually won a game!

 

[gator]

I've been away on holiday and had to come home today as I've a funeral to attend tomorrow.
Where we were we had no wifi so my access to the internet consisted of furtive sorties to a local hotel.
Consequently I had totally forgotten we were playing yesterday evening and have only become aware in the last half hour that we've actually won a game!

Hope you were sitting down when you found out John :eek!:

 

[Frossum]

Overall I felt we put in a good performance but not great. There are a number of posts here I agree with but Frankly I am surprised with some of the observations that either seem wide of the mark or that have not been noticed.

First is Jedi. I will admit his performance was not bad but what did he have to do last night. Did anyone else notice that we seemed to play with the tactic that regardless of side Chester was always going to be the on ball defender (pressure) and Jedi was was always in the cover position. For the 20 minutes of the game I was not sure who was playing LCB or RCB until I realized what was happening. When you face a team with one striker up front, you can do this but will cause you undoing against two striker or a really aggressive team.

I think the criticism of El Gazi is a bit harsh. No it was not his best game but he had two crosses that were agonizingly close to perfection and were only a fraction too high. Again not a great game but a goal and assist in his first few games is still promising.

Grealish Holds the ball too long. He is slowing our movement and allowing the off ball defenders to get into good support positions. This has been happening for a number of games now. Even when he beats the first and even second defender they have had time to recover. I think he will correct it as I believe he felt the weight of the club to create chances. He should start from the bench if not corrected soon.

Elmo was not good and his assist only papered over the cracks. His boot clearance to the middle of the field provided Rotherham with one of there few scoring opportunities. He is in the squad for his experience yet he seems to be a heads gone moment waiting to happen. His pass weighting is terrible; most often to slow. He had two chances to put in an early cross (Abraham was already in position) instead he dribbled it forward to pressure and ended up not beating the first defender nor creating a corner.

McGinn- was the player of the match

Kodija- you have to let Johnny Danger be Johnny Danger. Yes he is drives you crazy, yes he is lazy getting back on side, and yes he is too selfish at times. But he will get us goals and he certainly unsettles the defense.

Hutton- Didn't think he was bad overall. Yes his turnover of possession and slow to get back sequence was frustrating but at least he is giving the opposition something to think about.

Abraham will be our most important player this year.

Bruce- Are we really gonna criticize the Bree substitution? up by 2 with 5 minutes left. Get Abraham out, avoid injury and have him as fresh as possible for Saturday.

Chester, Hourihane, and Nyland feedback from others matches my thoughts so no need to restate here.

 

[Melon Donkey]

Bruce- Are we really gonna criticize the Bree substitution? up by 2 with 5 minutes left. Get Abraham out, avoid injury and have him as fresh as possible for Saturday.

Yes. I thought the criticism of the late substitutions was stupid. Shows a lack of understanding of the game. Criticism of Bruce for the sake of it.
2nil up 5 mins to go. Game was over. Take off players to protect them . Simple .