Aston Villa vs Stoke City Sat 15th Dec 3pm | Page 12 | Vital Football

Aston Villa vs Stoke City Sat 15th Dec 3pm

This is a Steve Bruce team and Steve Bruce’s mess.

The reason we barely have 4 fit defenders is down to Bruce. The reason we are not in the playoffs is the form under Bruce.

Bruce - won 3 out of 12. 15 points from 11 games = 1.4 points per game

Smith - won 5 out of 10. 18 points from 10 games = 1.8 points per game.

1.8 points per game over the season would get you 82 points putting you firmly in the playoffs. This is a tough run of games we’ve been on, which also had the local derby in the middle, where we’ve beaten two playoff contenders comfortably, were really unlucky through no fault of our own against Smethwick, though admittidely today was a bad day at the office yet we still didn’t lose.

Patience. In the new year we have QPR, Wigan, Hull and Ipswich. This side of New Year we play PNE. I would expect 4 wins and no losses from that batch.
 
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In many ways I think Stoke have given us a tougher game than Leeds will next week, especially if Jack is back.

I thought I posted similar so apologies if I am repeating a post but I agree, Leeds will come to play fast, attacking football which means we can do the same. I wasn't optimistic about today, through recent history against stoke and their style of play, but I am looking forward to what should be a great game and good atmosphere next week.

I fancy us to outplay anyone with our strongest XI. Though we have to be able to do so without our star players occasionally.
 
yes, Dan 3 home games in Jan and just one away at Wigan which will be like a home game crowd wise as we should get 6000 tickets
 
Quite obvious really, we aren't winning enough games. 8 from 22 is average mid table form. Qpr & swansea have won more than us . Bristol city just as many.
Leeds & Norwich both have 13 wins .
We are 2nd highest scorers after wba but defensively we are dire , only 5 teams have conceded more than us .

Thanks to Bruce. DS is doing miracles with what he's inherited. Let's hope a few well chosen signings in January can give us a boost. If we can get to the halfway mark still in touch with the play-offs then we have a very good chance of those.

The automatics are going to be very difficult. But Leeds only just squeezed past Bolton today.

Thought today Stoke played like the side they were assumed to be after they were relegated; so they should, with the players and experience they've got. That was a good point we snatched back.
 
It's definitely all to play for still.
This weekend 12 months ago we lost 2-0 at Derby and had 37 points
Fulham were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland and had 29 points
Wolves 51 top
Cardiff 47 2nd
 
C'mon guys. It's not mission impossible. If we can be 11 points adrift after just less than half a season then we can make it up in just over half a season. .

Beat Leeds and it's 8 points. 8 points at the halfway point?.

C'mon where's your bollox ?.
By my maths the other day, we’d now need to average around 2.4 points per game to hit the 90 point mark. For context, Wolves averaged 2.15 points per game last season (99 points).

It’s mathematically possible but I have to say it is a huge task we’ve got to get there.

No doubt the Bruce fan club (if there is still one) will draw the comparisons stating two playoff finishes in two years meaning no progress, but DS will have had one hell of a handicap to even get playoffs.
 
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Reality check ( again )....... How many of our squad would be selected for a mid table premiership club? Five , six, or seven maybe? No, it's two actually.......Jack and SJM.
D.S. is certainly on the right track and is making all the right noises. And yes I think he knows that this team is a mile away from where he wants it to be. Hopefully he will pick up a couple of guys who can give us some more quality in January.
We have to be patient, he may be the Messiah but he isn't God.
I wouldn't expect promotion this year, just a steady improvement in the quality of the squad.
January will be a important month for the club. It will give Smithy the chance to put his own stamp of quality of the player recruited.
Perhaps he will be able to unload some of the deadwood that have littered the club in recent times.
Be careful what you wish for (promotion) ,surely you would not enjoy seeing us in the premiership looking like Cardiff and getting stuffed every week?
D.S. needs at least another season to build a team that might flourish in the Premier League.
In the meantime I'm sure we all assist him on his mission by giving him the benefit of our priceless advice.?
UTV,
Regards,
G.T.
 
Hourianne and whelan are mid table championship players and that goalkeeper wouldn't look out of place in the 3rd division. Could easily have lost today but we didn't.
 
"And, then when the second goal went in, we could have stuck rather than twisted because we were just about to bring Scotty Hogan on.
But I thought ‘no, let’s go for the win’. So we brought him on and he almost got on the end of a great cross"


Some of Deano's post match interview. Just to dispel once and for all the myth that he was playing for a draw today.
 
"And, then when the second goal went in, we could have stuck rather than twisted because we were just about to bring Scotty Hogan on.
But I thought ‘no, let’s go for the win’. So we brought him on and he almost got on the end of a great cross"


Some of Deano's post match interview. Just to dispel once and for all the myth that he was playing for a draw today.

Yes whoever said we settled for a point is talking bollox :whist:
 
Player rating for the Stoke game, a scrappy affair if ever there was one! Neither side deserved to win really. Probably our worst performance Under Deano but don't underestimate how well Stoke did.

Nyland: 6 Doesn't fill me with confidence, their first goal seemed to go through him from where I was but I've not seen it again. He was ok I guess.

Elmo:6 Gave away a stupid penalty otherwise it was a regulation performance from him.

Axle T: 7 Thought he looked cool and collected and mainly solid.

Chester: 7 Standard performance from him which was good considering how shaky he's been this season.

Hutton: 6 Not one of his best games and poor clearance resulted in Stoke scoring.

Whelan: 6 Not sure what the thinking is when I see him higher up the pitch than SJM at times. He's no footballer is he?

Hourihane: 6 Asked to do the Grealish role. Got himself in some good positions first half but lacked the ability to do anything other than check back, his set plays were poor today.

SJM: 7 Puts in a shift this lad, easily our best midfielder today but that wasn't hard was it.

El Ghazi; 6 Not as good as he has been but had a couple of moments. Didn't look up for it in the cold. He wasn't alone in that though!

Tammy: 6 Put his Penalty away well but really never had a look in against Shawcross and Co.

Bolasie: 7 I thought he was in and out of it but still our best-attacking threat. Crowded out.

Subs
Koj; 8 Giving him that as he turned the game, winning a Penalty and scoring the equaliser, guess that makes him MOTM.

Hogan: 5 not on long failed to get on the one chance that came his way, nothing new there.

Coach
Smith: 6 not his best team selection or subs today in my view but Koj came up trumps for him, so he got that right.
 
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There are still many pieces of the jigsaws missing so we are going to get performances that are sub-par. The good news - we found a way to not lose, keep the run going. A massive task to get automatic this season, but we can all dream and trust that DS will bust a gut to achieve it. We have to remember how close to oblivion we were in the summer and how out of sorts we were under SB just 10 games ago.

Could be 4 or 5 points better off if luck had been on our side, but I will take what we have and wait for the improvements in January. Exciting times ahead gents. Could be one hell of a run in.
 
Hi Donkey,
Whelan was substituted in the 85th minute, by which time he will ' have been blowing through his arse' for the last 80 minutes. Mr Whelan's legs went a couple of years ago and watching him attempting to 'run' always brings a smile to my face.?. By selecting him D.S. is simply confirming that he considers others in the squad to be 'not up to snuff'. A sad indictment to the young hopefuls left to sit this one out........
The thinking that a point at home is a' point gained' is negative in the extreme.After all we are not talking about running Man. City close here...it is just a mediocre Stoke City for heavens sake.
Yes a reality check is about right I think......Your perspective on ' success is obviously far different to mine....
Regards,
G.T.
Bjarnasson, Jedinak, Grealish, Lansbury were all injured. The only other option was a kid, who undoubtedly would’ve struggled against an experienced Stoke midfield. Playing Whelan was the best option given the current injury list. He is nowhere near as bad as people like to make out. He’s not great but to suggest his “legs are gone” is a media-inspired one liner that gets trotted out every time a player over 30 has a bad game....
 
I would still try and grab Ryan Woods. He played better for Brentford on his previous visits but he keeps things ticking over so well. And everything he does is pretty much going forward, not sideways.
 
I would still try and grab Ryan Woods. He played better for Brentford on his previous visits but he keeps things ticking over so well. And everything he does is pretty much going forward, not sideways.

I wasn't impressed with him at all today, I think they have the same player in Joe Allen , they seem to both want to sit in front of the Stoke back 4