Sunderland 0 – 3 Villa; We add to their sad demise.

While of course I’m chuffed that we won, so I also feel quite sorry for Sunderland.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in thinking that if things had carried on the way they were, it could very well have been us that suffered relegation from the Premier league, followed by relegation to league one.
And it seems to me that that’s where Sunderland are heading.

Sunderland offered nothing and it reminded me totally of us when we went down.
Everything they tried didn’t work. They only really offered one option, which was to try the counter. They weren’t very good at that either.
And then they simply weren’t good enough at all.
Add to that, the “we’ve seen this all before” type attitude, which leads to them mentally rolling over and that was us all over.

I’m not sure what to think about today’s performance.
Yes, the result was pretty emphatic, but I didn’t see anything special or particularly good.
Don’t get me wrong. We did enough to justify the result and it’s hard to be critical, but it’s just difficult to judge against such poor opposition.
Man of the match was Snodgrass, as I felt he drove us forward the most.
I like the look of Grabban. He seems an intelligent player.
Adomah tried hard in what was a decent return performance.
And Grealish made an appearance, with a couple of decent runs and one decent shot.

It’s all good.
Which is just as well, seeing as the rest of the top six won too.

We’ve gained on Wolves, albeit maybe temporarily, but the match against them is beginning to look very, very tasty.

Onwards and hopefully upwards, eh?

119 Comments

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  1. DSVilla
    DSVilla March 9, 2018 at 4:42 pm . Reply

    Tough game and i will be pleased to get a point. I just don’t see enough self belief in the team in these games, and we seem to look to contain rather than attack.

    A point wouldn’t be the end of the world though, and maybe I’m in for a pleasant surprise. Top 2 is going to be difficult, though obviously not out of the question. It’s a bit of a question of whose nerves last the pace.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 March 9, 2018 at 6:40 pm . Reply

      Difficult to call this one. Wolves are clearly the stand out team whether legitimate or not but Villa, these days, never give up.

      It might come down to ‘who wants it most’ and that might just give us an edge. Agreed a draw wouldn’t be completely disastrous but to lose again would be! I just wish I was more confident about the result – have to go for a draw but hope for a win,

      Know I’m going to be watching from behind the sofa – LOL!

  2. nath
    nath March 9, 2018 at 7:16 pm . Reply

    still havent heard how we would tactically face up to wolves. tomorrow if we lose everybody will be saying that was daft, should have done this that way. easy after the events. how about trying to say this now before the game.

    i also wonder if sb will continue the same game plans, we do have players that could hurt them. if we get decent field positions,its getting into them areas without being stretched and leaving space for them to attack.

    my biggest fear, is chester and terry will be run down by their fast attackers. thats their main threat. they will allow you to commit men forwards like your fullbacks then they will exploit that space, they will try to isolate terry and chester.

    another is corners we have been lazy at short corners they like to do them and they are very dangerous from the orthodox corner. wankover

    gong lol i thought i would spread a little culture on the football chatting, now did you have to look them up on google or have you got a album

    1. DSVilla
      DSVilla March 9, 2018 at 11:59 pm . Reply

      I had a mate who was a real fan of Daevid Allen and Gong (also a bit of a pothead pixie himself). We used to listen to Gong late into the night when home from the pub. Over 40 years ago – where has it gone?

      1. nath
        nath March 10, 2018 at 6:30 am . Reply

        yeah lol blast from our past lol them were the days. made a impression on me, it was bill who triggered the memory with his magic mushroom statement

        1. Bill Pearson
          Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 7:43 am . Reply

          Glad I can help Nath.😊😊😂

  3. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 9, 2018 at 7:20 pm . Reply

    Not the only one Hitch, how do i see this.? it’s got to be a win, cannot let Cardiff get 7 point win over us, I just dont know, wonder who he’s playing, will he go with Hutton instead of Taylor? will he leave Grealish on the bench and leave Hogan up front, I haven’t a clue who he’s going to play.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 March 9, 2018 at 7:24 pm . Reply

      Maybe Small Heath will do us a favour – it’s the sort of thing that happens in the Championship.

      1. Andrew
        Andrew March 9, 2018 at 9:14 pm . Reply

        Unfortunately Cardiff being on a 7 win 2 draw streak right now, they’ll likely get the win.

    2. Andrew
      Andrew March 9, 2018 at 9:16 pm . Reply

      Hutton seems to be out injured with a Hamstring problem, as is Tuanzebe. Whelan will miss the game as well. Whelan won’t be a loss, as Wolves midfield would overrun him with ease. Hutton will be a loss as I’m not sure Taylor will be able to handle it.

      On the plus side, Big Kodjia is back in full training on Monday.

  4. Andrew
    Andrew March 9, 2018 at 9:11 pm . Reply

    How we tactically face up to Wolves is difficult. They are the Manchester City of the league, albeit teams are closer to them than Prem sides are to City. They can open up defensive sides and they’ll cut open attacking sides. Couple ways you can do it. You can go the Liverpool way of beating City, and use the quick pace you have up top as Wolves will leave space on the counter, like Liverpool did against City when they beat them. Or you can go the Burnley route and put 8 men behind the ball, have incredible discipline, and hope for the counter. Liverpool route means less players from Wolves getting forward, Burnley route means their fullbacks barging down the line, more players in the box, and you have to be incredibly strong in defense. I think we have the players to do like Fulham did to Wolves, but a feeling we won’t go that way. Definitely a game we’ll likely try not to lose. Which are games we tend to lose.

    1. nathn
      nathn March 10, 2018 at 6:42 am . Reply

      well at least you attempted to debate how we should go about taking down the best in our league. the manchester city comparison is one i also have thought. thou they don’t use the ball same they do press like them. your right in they do counter but its not in hope thats their plan. they will want our fullbacks to overlap the space they leave is the space they hope to exploit, knowing terry and chester will have to drift out to cover the fullbacks.

      the fulham game against wolves was interesting they didn’t try to attack wolves like villa do just down the sides. they attacked in a probing way. first down the right then quickly shifting to the left and back again to the middle. they shifted them around until they worked a opening. you think villa can play like this. i hope your right. because they had good field position and give grealish the ball around their box and we will have a good game.

      trouble is if we have snodgrass and adomah and grealish tackling in front of our defence. this means wolves will pressing the life out of us. we will need to be strong on the ball. it wouldn’t hurt to have some pace around the midfield. its important that we counter them because they do commit men forwards.

  5. nath
    nath March 10, 2018 at 8:39 am . Reply

    two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. while having a bite to eat,they talk about their moonshine operation. suddenly a woman at a nearby table starts to cough. after a minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress. one of the hillbillies looks at her, asks “kin ya swallow?”the woman shakes her head no. then he asked” kin ya breathe”?the woman begins to turn blue.shakes her head again no. the hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress yanks down her drawers, quickly gives her right butt check and lick with his tongue. the woman is so shocked that she has a spasm, and the obstruction flies out of her mouth.she begins to breathe again. the hillbilly walks slowly back to his table. his partner says” ya know, i’d heerd of there, hind lick maneuver, but i aint niver seed nobody do it

  6. nathnth
    nathnth March 10, 2018 at 8:42 am . Reply

    damn my comment are moderation. i spelt my name wrong and address sorry but hung over and half asleep

  7. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 12:52 pm . Reply

    Are we all hiding from the the score today? I’ll put my two penny’s worth in, 2-1 Villa, we are capable of winning, you just got to believe we can.

  8. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 3:28 pm . Reply

    You can forget the Scum doing us a favour , Cardiff 2-Scum 0 after 23 minutes.

  9. Villain1
    Villain1 March 10, 2018 at 3:31 pm . Reply

    With Cardiff 7 points clear before we kick off, anything other than a win today and its curtains for automatic promotion. A must win now, I think Bruce will screw it up with ultra negative tactics as is usually the case when we play the stronger sides in the division. Hope i’m proved wrong

    1. CA Villan
      CA Villan March 10, 2018 at 6:46 pm . Reply

      Jedinak does give the ball away too cheaply, as much as I like h as a player

  10. Adam
    Adam March 10, 2018 at 4:42 pm . Reply

    Positive team selection. Grealish and Adomah in the starting 11. Jedinak is in there though which we probably all would rather see bikir in a game like todays. Jedi has had some match winning displays though this season so hopefully this is another one! Im excited now will be a good end to end game with a loud crowd!

  11. VillaAwayInDiv3
    VillaAwayInDiv3 March 10, 2018 at 4:43 pm . Reply

    What about Bristol at home……..

  12. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 4:44 pm . Reply

    Team Johnstone, Elmohamady, Terry, Taylor, Snodgras, H ourihane, Adomah, Grealish, Hogan.

  13. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 4:48 pm . Reply

    Watching the West Ham incident and missed Jedi, West Ham fans going bonkers director’s asked to get out of the boxes by police.

  14. VillaAwayInDiv3
    VillaAwayInDiv3 March 10, 2018 at 5:00 pm . Reply

    After going 3 down Blues could have got something out of it……last goal too late to worry Cardiff but if Blues can get 2 then theres a bit of hope Cardiff will blow it (lol).
    Bloody Fulham done it again…..we just have to win now….

  15. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum March 10, 2018 at 6:08 pm . Reply

    Wolves are impressive, but we’re not rolling over…

  16. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 6:19 pm . Reply

    I don’t think we will roll over, strong tackles going in, 1-1 at the minute not bad.

  17. Bill Pearson
    Bill Pearson March 10, 2018 at 6:25 pm . Reply

    Ok half time, have to say playing well its not one side both teams are showing guts, some strong tackling being played by Wolves. Villa are not out of this by a long chalk. Second half coming up.

  18. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum March 10, 2018 at 6:34 pm . Reply

    Two sloppy goals really…

  19. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum March 10, 2018 at 6:49 pm . Reply

    Yeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!!!!!

  20. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum March 10, 2018 at 6:53 pm . Reply

    3!!!!!!!!!!

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