Wolves 2 – 1 Villa; The stats flattered us, but no doubt they’re all that matter

As in the headline, you would think we were the better side today if you looked at the stats.
And it’s about as good as an example of why stats can’t be trusted or relied on.
(Which is exactly why I think moneyball is total bollox too).

So, I don’t do stats at all and go on my opinion from what I witnessed.
Which was utter rubbish.

Where do I start?
As has too often been the case, we started brightly, created a bit (with no penetration whatsoever), looked the more threatening side and then conceded as soon as they had a chance, with some shocking defending, yet again.
I’m sorry, but this pattern of play is all to familiar and as much as I try and give optimistic types of opinions, I can’t get away from thinking we are absolute rubbish as a team.

Is it the players?
Well, Konsa and Mings looked like amateurs today, in my opinion.
You can not go into a game with such a lax attitude that you consistently get caught out so early.
Even if I openly admit to not rating Mings in the slightest, I do rate Konsa.
There’s a problem here, somewhere.

Yet again, our midfield offered nothing.
It is set up to be more defensive than attacking, but the players don’t suit that.
We all know McGinn excels for Scotland when he’s blazing forward, pressuring their defence and trying attempts on goal and is probably the main reason the Scots might qualify for the World Cup.
He’s wasted messing around in our third.

It’s similar with all of them.
Ramsey is crap defensively (although he is nicely learning how to stick the boot in, when needed) because it’s not his game.

Luiz, who I really rate as a midfielder is in a similar position and being ripped to pieces for not being a holding midfielder and I think it’s a bloody shame. He quite rightly is sick of being a scapegoat and wants out. I don’t blame him.
You watch him go elsewhere and be valued at £75 mill in short time, imo.

I don’t have much to say about the game, because frankly I’m not interested. We offered very little. Yet again.
I’ve been sort of called out for saying we’re rubbish, but I’m sorry, we are.
All that mattered today was getting three points. Which I actually thought we would.

But I’m taking a bigger view, where I’m looking at the squad.

I think we have the players to get us into Europe.
Yet, again, we look miles away from that.

I’ve given my thoughts about Gerrard; he isn’t my cup of tea.

And here’s my prediction;

We are going to have a big clearout in the summer.
It’s what Gerrard does.
And we’re going to waste another load of money on big money signings sold at low prices (Ings, Watkins, Traore, half the team) and we buy players at inflated prices again.

Dean Smith practically wasted £90 mill and I can’t see past the same sort of thing happening again.
When, oh when will we get a manager who can actually improve what we have, as opposed to ripping it up all the time?

I’m sick of us continually having to change things and never seeing any signs of trying to build something.

I’m becoming seriously bored with the Vila.

Wolves were poor today, but when you have opponents like us, it’s all to easy.

UTV (but I don’t see it at the moment).

167 Comments

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  1. Big Fat Ron
    Big Fat Ron April 6, 2022 at 9:23 pm . Reply

    Everton are in deep, deep shit.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 April 6, 2022 at 9:36 pm . Reply

      They don’t have the easiest of run ins either

    2. The Ron Saunders Stand
      The Ron Saunders Stand April 6, 2022 at 9:40 pm . Reply

      And their run in is horrendous, can only two fixtures (Watford & Brentford ) with any possibility of picking up points.
      They look destined for the dreaded drop.

  2. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 April 6, 2022 at 9:34 pm . Reply

    Villa play Burnley twice, Man City and Liverpool in 4 of our last 5 fixtures in May.

    Those 5 fixtures (the other is Crystal Palace) are played in a period of 15 days which is a complete farce.

    So we can affect both ends of the table in that period whilst having nothing to play for ourselves.

    Hope we beat Norwich because I’m not sure where any other points are coming from – or am I being overly pessimistic?

    1. Big Fat Ron
      Big Fat Ron April 6, 2022 at 10:20 pm . Reply

      We’ll lose all those games.

      1. Bum Bum
        Bum Bum April 6, 2022 at 10:30 pm . Reply

        The idea of flip flops comes to mind…

        1. Big Fat Ron
          Big Fat Ron April 6, 2022 at 10:36 pm . Reply

          Yep. Chance we’ll send Dean Smith down in a couple of weeks, though…

  3. William Pearson
    William Pearson April 7, 2022 at 12:54 pm . Reply

    Plus B F R player’s that won’t give a shit because the won’t be there.great would you say.

  4. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 April 7, 2022 at 4:34 pm . Reply

    We’re back in the Slough of Despond – a reoccurring theme in the Randy Learner days.

    Ah – to be a Villa supporter 🙂

  5. little8
    little8 April 7, 2022 at 6:01 pm . Reply

    An absolute shocker of a season but we still get huge gates which shows how great us fans are we deserve a bit of success

  6. William Pearson
    William Pearson April 8, 2022 at 5:14 pm . Reply

    Think your all forgetting, it’s not how much you get them for, it’s what you pay them. One thing we have to watch out for, it’s old has been players,I’m for seeing young I want to be an England player and play for the shirt.we have the talent but have we the manager? I think we do.

  7. Holte
    Holte April 8, 2022 at 6:29 pm . Reply

    We need to keep Konsa and Watkins. The best thing is to get rid of the players out on loan even if they don’t fetch as much. It will allow new signings and clear them off our wage bill.

    Players who definitely need to go IMO are:-
    Targett
    Guilbert
    Trezeguet
    Traore
    Davis
    El Ghazi
    Ings

    Players who I’m not convinced about are:-
    Mings
    Hause
    Sanson
    Bailey

    We all agree we need a Phillips type player and a top drawer CB. For the time being I would play a different formation to try and bolster our weak defence / midfield.

    My suggestion would be 4-2-1-3 as below:-
    Martinez
    Cash Konsa Mings Digne
    Luiz Nakamba
    McGinn
    Buendia Watkins Coutinho

    I know Ramsey isn’t mentioned but I think he could play the number 10 role instead of McGinn or even Buendia and Coutinho. I wouldn’t have Buendia or Coutinho as wide men as such. They can still play narrow in the same way Liverpool do with the wide players supporting which is surely the reason we bought Digne!

    I know we are great armchair managers but sometimes Gerrard needs to experiment if plan A isn’t working whatever that alternative may be.

    1. The Ron Saunders Stand
      The Ron Saunders Stand April 8, 2022 at 8:21 pm . Reply

      Interesting line up but I don’t think you can play both Buendia & Coutinho they’re too similar (imo), leaves you light in midfield.
      So either or + Ramsey for me.

  8. Big Fat Ron
    Big Fat Ron April 8, 2022 at 8:41 pm . Reply

    My idea of a good transfer policy this summer:
    1. Clear out ALL the dead wood – the means any player who has no real chance of making the starting 11 and any player who is not (at least potentially) capable of competing in the Champions League
    2. Blood a maximum of 4 youngsters into the first team, but ONLY if they have the aforementioned potential to play CL football. That way, when we get there, they’ve cut their teeth in the PL and are ‘good to go’. To be clear, the potential to play CL is not based solely on talent/ability; it includes the circumference of the player in question’s testicles.
    3. STOP buying average players for between 10 and 30 million – see Fat Sam’s comments in 2019 about quality over quantity (although we had no choice that summer)
    4. Don’t be afraid to add at least one, maybe two older players who HAVE CL experience, who have the potential to drag us into the top 4 through sheer outstanding talent – that includes Suarez, presuming he still has the desire
    5. Don’t be afraid to pay top wages for top players – that includes Kalvin Phillips

    UTV (hope I see a goal from the Villa tomorrow, and not just a Spurs pasting!)

    1. Holte
      Holte April 8, 2022 at 10:06 pm . Reply

      Hope you have a great day tomorrow BFR. I got lucky with my first game back in the prem when we beat Southampton 4-0. The one thing I’m hearing is driving to and away from VP is a nightmare. I caught the train in and it was a lot less hassle apart from the 30 minute wait for a train back from Wilton to New Street. Why on earth there aren’t more trains after games finish is ridiculous. Something they need to sort out before adding another 10,000 to the capacity!

      1. Big Fat Ron
        Big Fat Ron April 8, 2022 at 10:27 pm . Reply

        Thanks, Holte, appreciate that, mate. Plan to get there a couple hours before kick-off and find a parking spot on the outskirts to allow for a quick getaway by car. Fingers crossed!

  9. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum April 9, 2022 at 1:12 am . Reply

    Looks like Mings days are numbered according to the Daily Mail. Seems SG is looking at replacing him as Captain. Hopefully as a centre back too.

  10. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 April 9, 2022 at 6:45 am . Reply

    Not even sure I want to watch the game tbh.

  11. William Pearson
    William Pearson April 9, 2022 at 6:51 am . Reply

    I don’t normally make predictions but today I will !! Not a cat in hell chance of winning, no footballing brain in the team,3-1 Spurs.

  12. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum April 9, 2022 at 9:58 am . Reply

    2-1 to Villa. God knows why…

  13. Holte
    Holte April 9, 2022 at 4:34 pm . Reply

    A Mings blunder is better odds than a Villa win. Kane and Son will have too much for our back four. My prediction is a bright start for us in the first 5-10 minutes. We lose possession in their final third and within 5-10 seconds and a couple of passes we are split wide open and we go 1-0 down. The rest of the half we struggle to get out of our own half and concede two more. Second half we show an improvement as Spurs settle for what they have and still have the better of the chances before completing the rout at the end of the game to win 4-0! 😏

  14. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 April 9, 2022 at 4:41 pm . Reply

    Teams are out and the only matters of interest are Nakamba being on the bench, the Sanson experiment has been binned and Ings is back playing alongside Watkins.

    Looks remarkably like Alf Ramsey’s wingless wonders LOL

    Hope Nakamba gets a few minutes.

  15. Holte
    Holte April 9, 2022 at 4:49 pm . Reply

    And still Gerrard perseveres with Watkins AND Ings up top despite hardly any success so far! What does Buendia have to do to get a start? Chambers too will feel a little hard done by after the last couple of games.

  16. Sidforever
    Sidforever April 9, 2022 at 5:33 pm . Reply

    Ffs

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