How annoying is it that we haven’t had a game for two weeks, but have to cram games in that were postponed months ago?
Very, but that’s the way it is and there’s nothing we can do about it apart from moan.
I’ve been so bored that I’ve resorted to watching a lot of other clubs and after betting against us in the Spurs game, I’ve had a couple of small bets and am doing quite well. Don’t worry, I’m only talking a couple of quid.
The things you do to add a bit of excitement eh?
The big news is the squad news, I suppose. Except it isn’t.
Steven Gerrard says we have four players out and much has been made of it by the clickbait sites.
Bertrand Traore is out after straining his groin on Thursday. I find myself wondering what he was doing, because he wasn’t playing top notch football, was he?
Kourtney Hause is out with his ongoing abdominal injury problem and Lucas Digne is kicking a ball, but contact is out of the question.
Morgan Sanson is unavailable, but I’ve yet to read a reason. I find myself wondering if he’s had yet another strop. I wonder why?
The point here is how many of those would have featured today?
Digne, yes of course, given that Gerrard seems to think he’s the solution to an as yet unknown question, but the other three are on many fans’ list of players to be shown the door at the end of the season.
Traore and Sanson, rightly so, in my opinion, as they’ve been unmitigated disaster signings. If we had a league table for signing absolutely terrible signings and wasting money, I wonder where we’d be?
Hause is one I’d like to see us keep, but given the strong talk about us getting a defender in, I think he’ll be the one who makes way. I’d prefer to see someone else gone, but I’m sure you already know that.
As for Leicester, Ryan Bertrand and Wilfrid Ndidi are both out injured, while Boubakary Soumare is out for personal reasons.
The big news is that James Vardy has trained well and will probably feature at some time during the game. Did I hear groaning then?
I did and I’m sure it wasn’t just me. We all know what he’s capable of.
At first glance, I don’t fancy us at all for this.
In fact, I’ve bet against us again to add a bit of excitement. I’m not £20 confident though and have only gone for the tenner.
I know, I’m on a rocky road with this gambling lark.
But then again, we do have the fact that Leicester have their eyes on a prize that is the Europa conference league cup, or whatever it is, semi final on Thursday. Hence they’ll no doubt play a weakened team.
Gerrard has said that a couple of kids will feature today. I saw names mentioned in an article yesterday, but I’ve forgotten who they were. I think O’Reilly was one.
I know chucking kids in will appeal to many fans, but I tend to think this is exactly one of those games where it might not be a good idea. The game will be tough and challenging enough as it is.
But then, I’m sick of watching players who really don’t look that bothered, probably because they know that the manager doesn’t rate them and they’ll probably be out at the first chance.
We look incredibly vulnerable at the back, especially down our left, where I could comment about us previously having a left back who wasn’t injury prone, but I’d be wasting my breath.
I don’t think I can be bothered to guess at who might play, because the whole of the first team is very much of a very average muchness lately, so it doesn’t matter.
Put it this way. I think my tenner is pretty safe and I’m going to say we’ll lose 2-1.
I’d love to be proved wrong, but we just look like a side that already has the suncream and flipflops on and when the team is like that, I just think “why should I bother to motivate myself?”.
Roll on the transfer window. Although the truth is even that worries me.
Nothing changes as a Villa fan, does it?
UTV!
Rodgers giving Drewsbury Hall a message, ball through the middle …
Buendia has done more in 5 minutes than ……
Naka on for Ramsey.
Why didn’t he come on for Luiz?
I don’t get it, at all.
Good shout Badger draw, 0-0 ..
Did I forecast a draw and 0-0 as a possibility 🙂
I’ll take it – we actually do need the points.
Well, 0-0 and that’s my tenner gone.
If we’d won, I’d have been ok with that.
Am I ok when we’ve only drawn?
I suppose I have to be and it at least ensures our safety for this season.
What an absolutely awful game though.
I could hardly be bothered to watch most of it.
We are so, so poor.
Norwich up next and my guess is that’s the only win we have left this season.
It’s been a while since I felt this bad about a Villa side 🙁
Positives – Iroegbunam looked confident and tidy when he came on, nice to see Nakamba back and a clean sheet. Young didn’t let us down and we probably created the better chances. We didn’t lose 🙂
Negatives – Bailey, Luiz (both shocking), Konsa who seems to have lost confidence and Coutinho. Buendia did far more when he came on than Coutinho did in the whole game.
Coutinho is a very gifted player but is a ‘luxury player’ who imho isn’t right for Villa at £33m plus, heaven only knows, what wages he’ll want. As it happens I don’t think he’ll want to stay next season whether Villa trigger their option or not.
I would like to see Buendia given more of a chance to show that he’s our future in the number 10 role but Gerrard will want ‘names’ in the team
First time in many a year I couldn’t be arsed to watch the game
( caught the last 15 minutes on wm driving home) it sounded f&&king woeful.
Why they sacked Smithy for this clown is beyond me. Perhaps for a Contie I’d understand but for this geezer???
Well just NO.
Oh well I suppose it gives slick dick Perslipps some kudos when they go out to fine dine.
Thankfully Leicester were as woeful as we were. One of the dullest games this season that’s for sure. I don’t know why Bailey stayed on for. Perhaps he was so invisible that Gerrard forgot he was on the pitch. Buendia like Hitch said offered more in his brief appearance. I dare say Gerrard will have him back on the bench for Norwich game though. 🥱
It has to be said Coutinho was nothing special either.
I don’t think I’m at all bothered if he signs for us or not.
That’s what worries me Holte.
Gerrard’s mate ‘Phil’ can’t do any wrong.
Wasn’t there concerns over Smith’s favourites – I venture to suggest it could be worse under Gerrard.
How on earth are Newcastle in 9th with a crap team and a Villa cast off? Could they just have a better manager? When you look at their players and ours, on paper there aren’t many of theirs you would swap into our team. If we don’t beat Norwich I’m calling for Gerrard to be sacked! If the barcodes can win 3-0 against them then we have no excuses. After the new manager bounce, the results and form has gone downhill and his team selection and tactics are questionable at best.
I know there will be many out there who will be saying he needs time and a chance to sign his own players but I think we will end up with players past their best on huge wages. I’m beginning to lose faith and interest in our club.
Howe has taken what he’s got and encouraged it, so his players believe in him.
Whereas Gerrard has come in and totally changed the way of playing and it’s alien to them. Hence he’s made it plainly obvious that he doesn’t rate them, is my guess.
Man management at it’s worst, after Dean Smith was very much an arm round shoulders type of manager.
Or hopefully, I’m totally wrong and the upcoming clearout won’t be a total disaster.
Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t great before Gerrard came and some players needed a proper shake up.
But it seems to me the whole sides confidence has been shattered.
I believe your analogy is pretty much bang on.
I’ve never played at any great level but it n my limited experience -if a manager comes in ( at what ever level) and it’s totally obvious they don’t rate you as a player it saps player confidence, you end up in an endless spiral of trying too hard and what should come naturally don’t.
Thee whole thing turns toxic and you get into the habit of losing ( a hard one to break).
Maybe SG’s expectations are a little to high?
Maybe this isn’t conducive to a happy working environment?
Whatever is happening something clearly ain’t right and if SG’s plans replace old Clippity at the bin dipper arena he needs to get his finger out pronto.
I think one of the reasons Smith was sacked was his inability to attract big names. Purslow clearly sees Gerrard as a bigger attraction and I wouldn’t argue with that. Apart from that though I haven’t seen much in his managerial qualities to convince me he will turn things round. Lampard was a great player too who can attract players but he looks like another big name player heading for the manager graveyard.
I just keep looking at Gerrard’s turnover of players when he was at Rangers, Holte.
It was massively high, which is okay if you’re at a top two club in a mickey mouse league and you have massive pull.
Trying to play that same sort of game in the Prem is only going to end up badly, imo.
The thing is, two or three top players coming in will not sort this team out.
There are too many players looking miles off where they ought to be.
Even McGinn looks poor now, FGS and he’s been probably our best player overall for how long?
This cannot be coincidence.
Philippe Coutinho is reportedly interested in joining Newcastle United this summer.
Newcastle are willing to pay £33million to bring him to St James’ Park on a permanent deal. The report adds that they are also willing to match the money he earns at Barcelona.
Bin dipper will attract top players?
Yea, whatever.
Money talks and bullshit…
RSS – they’re welcome to him at those sort of prices but then Newcastle are being tipped to sign every player going – wonder why?
I’m on record as saying that I would prefer Buendia to Coutinho in our team where we are at present. £33m and circa £400k a week for what – an owner / manager ego trip?
We need to spend our money more wisely – in my humble opinion.
Mate I can imagine every football players agent has these two items on their desk…
(A) Eddie Howe’s phone number (B) A copy of Super Luxury Yacht Monthly.
Newcastle are a players agent wet dream mate.
🙂
The spuds are allegedly sniffing around O’Hare at cov.
That looks like one Smithy got wrong? )-:
Big time wrong. Same as Albrighton.
Burnley win again – 37 points will not be enough to secure EPL status.
Key games at VP – Norwich, Burnley and Crystal Palace. We need to win two.
Big pressure now on Everton who have a horrible run in.
Next Saturday is a must win for us, 40 points should see us safe
( given Everton’s terrible run in).
To be honest I can’t see Everton getting at most 4 points, I think they’re truly f@@ked!
We should be safe but how has it come to this?
I have waited decades for Aston Villa to rival Manchester United, but not for the honour of being the worst club in the Premier League.
With Utds resources, and the fans can’t complain about funds being made available, what a mess these two great clubs are in.
Maybe the money oriented American influence has something to so with it, our own owners excepted. Football has fallen apart. What’s the point?????
I actually enjoy the EFL on Quest it’s far superior imo to bore of the day, it seems a little more genuine both on the presenting and football side.
Perhaps that’s where the future lies?
We end to two disciplines of football, a contract and a non contact version? Akin to rugby league & union.
Have a look at the bottom of this;
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/formtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1
That’s truly embarrassing and should that form run through to next season (which things have a habit of doing in football) we’re going to be bang in trouble.
Maybe it’s time for NSWE to press the eject button on this Purselipps sycophantic vanity project?
RSS, we could finish the rest of the season without a win and still Purslow will be kissing Gerrards arse.
Give me sport have a story about Martinez going to Juve.
It ought to change it’s name to Give me strength.
This joint stewardship of Lloyd & Harry is going from strength to strength.
Our U-23s are 10th of 14 in PL2.
I’m not sure what to think of that.
Does anyone know why we’re not smashing that league, given all the quality we’re supposed to have?
https://www.avfc.co.uk/matches/u23?view=table
Curious but how were they faring under Smithy?
Easy to answer that one. The development management at Villa see the U-23 side as the box of bits nobody wants to borrow, and a vehicle for injured 1st teamers to get some game time.
If you are really a prospect at youth team level they prefer to loan you out to a Championship or L1, / L2. side than send you to the U-23s. That is why most of our FA Youth Cup winning side are not in the U-23s. Their are either on the 1st team bench or on loan at Preston, Swindon etc.
Cheers OLL.
That’s cleared that one up, the under 23’s are in all but name the reserves (of yesteryear)?
Even worse is that our U23’s are near the bottom of division 2. Maybe the focus has moved from youth development to big (wasted) spending on experience.
All out of contract this summer –
Jesse Lingard
Christian Eriksen
Luis Suárez
James Milner
Divock Origi
Fernandinho
Watch this space!