Aston Villa v Sheffield Utd - Match Thread - Friday 8th Feb, 7.45pm | Page 24 | Vital Football

Aston Villa v Sheffield Utd - Match Thread - Friday 8th Feb, 7.45pm

Melon Donkey said:
You pay your money you take your choice but I give a shit about the last ten minutes.
After sitting through shitty Friday night traffic. After watching 80 mins of utter durge and not walking out like the many cry babies that did and staying to watch more utter durge. I fucking deserved to have a few minutes of enjoyment and to see my club grab a ridiculously stupid point

So I do give a shit personally. After the utter crap that I watched last night to walk out of villa park with a smile on my face was one of the more bizarre moments of my villa supporting career.

And just to finally say that after reading back through the match thread it confirms what David O'Leary once said about the fickleness of villa fans.

There are people posting about Smith with an undertone of suggesting he be replaced that I know for a fact were posting about wanting Bruce gone and wanting Smith in.

You know who are. You are either fickle or a typical modern day fan boy who have swallowed the want it here and now Sky pill.

UTV.
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You need to get off the fence more MD and say what you really think.
 
I'm only saying that in the grand scheme of things we are terrible, we are getting slightly worse game by game and nicking draws isn't enough. Talk of going up by a single point is fantasy. Keep playing like we are we'll be nowhere near the playoffs. That shite yesterday wasn't a one off we've been awful for weeks.

We shouldn't have to go 3 down to wake up.

Of course it's exciting in the moment and makes the trip and the money worthwhile, but when you sit back and look at it we were pathetic.

And I didn't say we were penned in our own half for the entire game did I? But we were for very large periods of it. Most of the first half for definite. That shouldn't be the case as the home team.
 
DJ said:
Would be a bit tinpot to have a half season loanee from bloody Bournemouth as the captain of Aston Villa would it not?
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You could be right. After all we're over-run with natural captains.
I take the point though. The lad may not even want to stay with us after the end of the season.
 
Smith picks the wrong players, wrong lineup blah blah blah

I'm still dying to see who all these great players waiting in the wings are. Every player on the bench last night, bar maybe Green and Steer has been completely derided on here. So who does that leave?

He has what he has to work with and he has to try to make the best of it, but it seems he can't do anything right according to some.
 
Smith certainly does not seem to get them to start games with any type of urgency or desire.

And he doesn`t seem to know how - he is scratching his head.

Watching Dion`s interview on the club site, he mentions Villa fans don`t care if you are crap as long as you give blood,sweat and tears.

Ours do not sweat that much from what i can see.

The Sheffield United players wanted it more, and that is a theme in most of our games since Stoke at home.

Look at the difference in Man United between Mourinho and Solsjkaer - a Manager can make the same players show more / want it more.

Are ours just that bad they cannot give any more ? Maybe.

Or is the job too much for Smith, they mention that players struggle with the size of the place - maybe Managers are the same.

Let`s see where we are end of season i guess, but i honestly do not think some of the teams above us have better squads - so whatever the problem is it ain`t good enough.
 
Wicked Messenger said:
I’m one of Hourihane’s biggest critics (after Villan57) and there was little to change my mind last night. Having said that, he did carry on until the bitter end, looking for the ball and trying his best. You can’t ask for more than that.
It was a bad selection in that department yesterday and began to raise early concern about Smith’s nerve. The combination of Hourihane and Jedinak was tried tested and failed under Bruce and look what happened to him. It’s a negative selection and must have delighted Wilder when he saw the team sheet. True, there are few options due to a poor January window and a number of crocks but this one never to be repeated.
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Connor hourihane is clearly not an up and down midfielder. This obsession with two wide men leaves us too lightweight in the engine room. Connor will be more effective in a more forward position. He and Jack could be a handful. Playing hourihane so deep seems counter productive, limiting his opportunities to create and even his sternest critics would accept that Connor is a ten, twelve goals a season man. He is most definitely not cut out to play in a defensive,deep lying midfield role. Anyone agree? No insults please.l have supported the Villa for 65 years and the lions are etched into my soul.
 
DeanoVilla said:
I'm only saying that in the grand scheme of things we are terrible, we are getting slightly worse game by game and nicking draws isn't enough. Talk of going up by a single point is fantasy. Keep playing like we are we'll be nowhere near the playoffs. That shite yesterday wasn't a one off we've been awful for weeks.

We shouldn't have to go 3 down to wake up.

Of course it's exciting in the moment and makes the trip and the money worthwhile, but when you sit back and look at it we were pathetic.

And I didn't say we were penned in our own half for the entire game did I? But we were for very large periods of it. Most of the first half for definite. That shouldn't be the case as the home team.
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Agree with you on many points. We are not playing well and haven't for a while, we were very poor for 80mins yesterday, shouldn't be 3 down til we wake up, making the play offs will be difficult though not 'fantasy' for me, still possible. Where we differ is to 'not give a shit' about getting a point.
 
JP Healy said:
Connor hourihane is clearly not an up and down midfielder. This obsession with two wide men leaves us too lightweight in the engine room. Connor will be more effective in a more forward position. He and Jack could be a handful. Playing hourihane so deep seems counter productive, limiting his opportunities to create and even his sternest critics would accept that Connor is a ten, twelve goals a season man. He is most definitely not cut out to play in a defensive,deep lying midfield role. Anyone agree? No insults please.l have supported the Villa for 65 years and the lions are etched into my soul.
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How about playing him in a forward role, behind the striker? Maximise his left foot ability. It would be completely experimental, but the fact is, he's not a deep lying midfielder.
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
Smith picks the wrong players, wrong lineup blah blah blah

I'm still dying to see who all these great players waiting in the wings are. Every player on the bench last night, bar maybe Green and Steer has been completely derided on here. So who does that leave?

He has what he has to work with and he has to try to make the best of it, but it seems he can't do anything right according to some.
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I didn't say he picked the wrong players or lineup. I said they seem to have stopped listening to him already. Big difference and very worrying.
 
It will take a massive shift in attitude and performance to even reach the playoffs this season. Two managers have struggled with this group of players who, as a group clearly do not have the aggression, desire and ability to dominate games consistently.

As a result, if we remain in this Division, we are likely to lose some of our better players, the loan signings and some of the dead wood. Therefore a wholesale change of personnel is required. 8 or 9 players needed over the summer minimum and a move away from the long balls and play it out wide constantly that we have slipped back in to.

It's the end of the initial cycle in this division and unfortunately, we need to begin again. Only time will tell if DS is able to succeed. To bring in someone else at this stage would be pointless.
 
Silhillvilla said:
Smith has slated the group several times in public , I agree with him, BUT he runs the risk of losing the dressing room.
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Do you think this why only a select few actually give a shit ?

Something has happened since that Stoke game, everyone will point to Grealish being out but overall effort has dropped considerably i think.
 
The main criticism I have of Smith is that he's sent all the players who might have something different to what we've got away on loan. Midfield wise the only players on the books who have played a professional game that can do something different to Jedinak, whelan and Bjarnisson are O'Hare and JDH. I fully understand the need for them to get experience and play every week and we may well benefit greatly from
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
How about playing him in a forward role, behind the striker? Maximise his left foot ability. It would be completely experimental, but the fact is, he's not a deep lying midfielder.
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He's too slow, weak and has no skill or ability to pick a killer pass. He's great when no one is allowed to close him down though.
 
DeanoVilla said:
I didn't say he picked the wrong players or lineup. I said they seem to have stopped listening to him already. Big difference and very worrying.
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Wasn't referring to you Deano, just the general opinion every week that he should be picking better players that don't exist.

I don't know what the problem is with motivating this lot, but Bruce had the same problems. Maybe they're all too nice?
 
ASPINALL said:
Do you think this why only a select few actually give a shit ?

Something has happened since that Stoke game, everyone will point to Grealish being out but overall effort has dropped considerably i think.
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Possibly because they know they can cruise on and people will either blame the fact that Jack is out or the manager.
 
JW1985 said:
Midfield wise the only players on the books who have played a professional game that can do something different to Jedinak, whelan and Bjarnisson are O'Hare and JDH.
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Both of whom were completely anonymous against League Two Yeovil earlier in the season.

They're not the answer yet.
 
JP Healy said:
Connor hourihane is clearly not an up and down midfielder. This obsession with two wide men leaves us too lightweight in the engine room. Connor will be more effective in a more forward position. He and Jack could be a handful. Playing hourihane so deep seems counter productive, limiting his opportunities to create and even his sternest critics would accept that Connor is a ten, twelve goals a season man. He is most definitely not cut out to play in a defensive,deep lying midfield role. Anyone agree? No insults please.l have supported the Villa for 65 years and the lions are etched into my soul.
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So are you saying he plays Instead of John McGinn when Jack is fit then? If he was an American footballer he'd be the bloke they wheel on to take the kicks. I don't see anything in his game other than striking a dead ball from freekicks with his left foot.
Can't beat a man Can't tackle and can't run . Jedinak actually overtook him a couple of times last night!
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
Both of whom were completely anonymous against League Two Yeovil earlier in the season.

They're not the answer yet.
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Not saying they are but non of the options we keep trying are either. How many times do we try the same thing that doesn't work? How many chances does someone get? If you're some 20 year old you get one cup game where the ball gets battered over your head to our midget centre forward over and over and then you're hooked for the season.
 
Guy got on my bus today and saw my Villa lanyard
"Bet your happy today after last night?" he smiled
"No not really" I replied, "we play for 10 minutes and got a lucky draw. Imagine if we played for 90 minutes what we could do."

Aside from maybe 3 or 4 players who put a shift in week in week out, this squad aren't good enough to lace the boots of some of the great players we have had down the years. Not fit to wear the shirt, don't fight for the shirt. If it wasn't for Tammy Abrahams' goals we'd be bottom 6. Almost 40 years since a Villa player scored 20 league goals - and he's on loan so he'll be gone in summer.
 
I wonder if Smith stands there and is really thinking that the majority of the squad are unable to play his style of football week in week out ?

Last night was a world away from the football that we saw Brentford play at Villa Park and deep down I bet he can't wait for the summer so he can completely reshape the squad.
 
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