Aston Villa 2 Stoke 2: Still six points above Arsenal, but we dropped the ball today
Sunday, 01 March 09, 10:55 AM · Comments (207)
It's not over yet but after that match you won't blamed for feeling a little more confident of a top four finish and if you're like me, you might even start dreaming of something better, but I'm not saying anything about that just yet.
We went two up with goals from Petrov and Carew but Stoke did get one back with three minutes to go, but it was too little too late, despite them playing two up front for the opening moments of the second half and quickly reverting to three, after starting with one up for the first 45 minutes.
That was how I started the post, with a couple of minutes to go in the game. Stoke scored in the 91st minute to equalise things and well, instead of deleting it, I thought I'd keep it, so you could see how it was supposed to start.
We dropped the ball today and well, I don't know what else to tell you. Petrov scored a good goal and Carew scored a scorcher after only just coming on, but it was clearly not enough.
I'd still like your player ratings below, my man of the match is Petrov, closely followed by Milner, but now, I'm turning off for a bit, but let's not get too down hearted about this. We're still fourth and still six points above Arsenal, we are in the driving seat, not them.
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207 Comments · Add yours
For GOD SAKE, dropped points again why cant villa close out a game if we really need to, its stoke for the love of god.
Were not going to get into the champions league now.
good until last 5 minutes thats all i can say also i f##king hate thay verification code.
You bunch of PRATS 20 up and can not finish them off .YOU SHOULD HANG YOUR HEADS IN SHAME i have watched and folowed you for so long its to far back to remember and that was absolte crap .Its NOT about fancy football its about putting the ball in the net Ask West Bromich Albion that ..they play good football but are rock bottom
Today feels like a defeat
but a win in a few days will make it feel a whole lot better. Villa did not play bad, but a little more experience would have seen them keep the ball after the first goal. but hey ho.
Unacceptable. Totally and utterly unacceptable. We sacrificed the UEFA Cup to stop concentrating for 3 minutes and throw away 2 points against a team who will be in the Championship next season.
Gabby could and should have won it for us, he had a simple tap-in from a yard out and got the ball stuck under his foot. It was so easy to knock that in. He's useless at the moment, completely useless and he's doing more harm that good. You might think it unfair to blame him for the result but if you look at which player gave the ball away just before their first goal, it was none other than Gabby himself. You pissed this match away for us son.
damian i was right about gabby, he doent earn the right to wear a first team shirt
Richard HJ
thats a bit harsh - we're still 6 points clear of arsenal and only 3 off chelsea and liverpool
Shocking. What more can be said?
Your-My-Hero
Yes, today he was absolutely awful. Maybe Nathan next week against Manchester City ... Gabby could/should have won us the game today, but that doesn't mean we should lay into him ..
I'd still like your player ratings below, my man of the match is Petrov, closely followed by Milner, but now, I'm turning off for a bit, but let's not get too down hearted about this. We're still fourth and still six points above Arsenal, we are in the driving seat, not them. damian we still have liverpool manure and newcastle spurs and other 6 teams i cant see us beating, why cant we do a chelsea and score goals in the final min
Stoke are obviously our new Bogey team, offer very little but come away with points constantly. I'm fed up with us doing the England thing and sitting back and defending when were up, it just invites the opposition to attack and thats just what they did. Gutted but still, the only team we lost points on this weekend was Chelsea. Man City are gona get a pasting
This was utterly SHIT and unprofessional!
You'd expect a better finish to the game with 5min to go and a 2-0 lead when most of the team didn't go to Moscow to "prepare themselves" for stoke. What preparations was that? Did they eat popcorn and watched a Pocahontas? It sure hell looked like it!
6 points is good, 9 is ANOTHER WORLD, not to mention we'd be fighting a direct qualifier!
Reply to Richard HJ:
We will the way Arsenal are playing
F&cking useless. are season could well completely fall apart over the next month with the fixtures coming up! thank god arsenal are playing as bad! What a pric oneil has been this week! made all the difference in the last 10 mins all those players being rested didnt it!!!!!!!
i say bring back stan the man, he loves the villa, he always talk about them, also he would put away thoses easy tap in
Today was a great chance to seal that 4th spot. Now we will be on the edge of our seats until the final game of the season.
I know we don't complain when it's us scoring 2 in the last 2 minutes to get a point but we thouroughly dominated that game!
That's put a downer on my whole weekend.
Why are we attacking so much when we are up 2-0 in the last 10 minutes?
I'm not going to go crazy we still have the spot in our hands to keep, but coming into this game I felt this was a MUST WIN. We potentially just threw away Champions League. I hope I'm wrong.
Unbelievable. What a fiasco. Never mind Arsenal, it's time to start worrying about Everton.
i think now we have a squad to do well, its about time martin ocunt should step down, i cant see him taking us to another level, we should bring in a manager who has done well in europe,
Wow that hurt!
looked home and dry and from the sounds of it we didn't play bad at all young and milner seemed to be flying in the crosses and friedel didn't seem to have much to do until the last 15 mins. however i would of taken 6 points clear of Arsenal this time last year
fingers crossed for Wednesday. interested to see how we handle robinho
Friedel 5.5 - had nothing to do all game except pick the ball out of the net
L. Young 7 - another solid performance
Knight 5 - for such a tall bloke he gets beat in the air far too often
Davies 5.5 - cagey performance, slipped up a few times
Cuellar 5.5 - really not made for the fullback position, we look out of shape
PETROV 7.5 - scored a beauty and had a solid shift
Barry 6.5 - not a bad game but wasn't creative enough
Milner 7 - worked his arse off in the first half
Young 6.5 - below par. Failed to beat his man far too often.
Heskey 6 - very quiet game.
Agbonlahor 4 - cost us the game. Missed a sitter and gave the ball away for their first goal. As out-of-form as any player can possibley be. Bench him now.
Reply to Mac:
and wigan?
I am not interested in stoke being a bogey team or any other exscuse the fact remains WE HAVE NO ONE TO KILL THINGS OFF even when carew put away the second. lack of concentration and thinking it was already WON cost us dearly yet again. You have once again let the other teams behind in within striking distance WHEN IN TRUTH THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BURRIED AND OUT OF IT.Got to get out for a pint now were ever i can get it from just to clear my aching head. WHAT A F*****g DISGRACE
Reply to Zidave:
Blown it now kids now watch Arsenal go, now you have given them a get out of Jail card, thank you very much Stoke ha ha.
There's going to be a lot of disappointment and frustration surrounding todays result and granted, I feel my own, but still at the same time, I'm left still feeling optimistic.
We're 6 points above a team that is EXPECTED to finish in the top four every season. We're 3 points behind Liverpool and Chelsea, we're in a fantastic position, STILL. After having a tiny blip, which shows the amount of work we put into getting where we still are.
Todays game should be a game we're expected win, and for a good chunk of it we were, but I don't think we can dwell too much on the final whistle, We conceded two late goals, but I don't think a point against a team fighting for it's life in a derby game is too bad of a result, it's disappointing the way it happened, but if they'd have gone 1-2 up and we got a goal in the last minute, you'd be a little bit more grateful, so just let it be and focus on getting 3 against City.
I'd love to wrong i really would, i dont moan about most results i can usually see the positive but we were 2-0 with about 10 minutes to go and to draw 2-0 to stoke is just ridiculous, how can we hope to go to Man City on wednesday who are playing a lot better now i dont think we will win that.
Then spurs come to villa park, under redknapp again if we do this against stoke when we were clearly the better side i dont see us wining that one either most likely a draw.
Then we have Liverpool away, Man U away and Everton Home im sorry we will probably lose against liverpool and man u and most likely everton to. There all better sides and are able to grind out results.
These were 3 points we really needed to gives us a cushion of points which will obviously be eaten away by Arsenal within the coming weeks.
I want to be wrong and im sure everyone will say blah blah your moaning, well yes i am i wont us to get into the champions league so much and when you drop a 2 goal lead at home against a team in the bottom 3 you cant help but be VERY pissed off.
We are supposed to be the best bet for 4th place... the last 10 mins were awful..! Gabby needs to be dropped, i really think MON will be laying into them now because there really are no excuses..!!
for what its worth, we're closer to 2nd after that result than we were at the start of the weekend
surely that is a positive?
im still in shock. for some reason cuellar and davies cant heas the ball. Cuellar was beaten in the air all day. First time this season we aint won when we scored first, feels like a few years ago when we always conceded late.Still 6 points though, its more than do-able. I defo think Gabby needs to be dropped/rested, he is contributing very little. Milner and Petrov were brilliant.
UTV!!!
Gutted.
replace gabby with delfouneso next game, maybe give him something to think about because today he cudnt finish feck all. absolute joke, why did the team get a rest over the week if they are just going to let lower league teams come back like that, in the summer we need a real striker because if gabby didnt have his pace he wouldnt get into many premier league teams
I should have read through that to see all the mistakes lol sos ^_^
Disgraceful today, i feel ill! cant get over it, Heskey, Ashley and especially Gabby were useless, Carew better start on Wednesday, really upset
we will get nothing out of the next 3 games, this was the chance to put some daylight between us and the arse, but i'm afraid our defence has cost us again, it is full of tryers but that is not enough, play people in the right fuckin positions for christ sake
Reply to hellboydce:
my mistake, i meant next 5 games, those big money defender signings have been very poor signings
I think maybe MON should start only playing Agbonlahor in away games at the momment.
I say this because most teams that are coming to villa park at the momment are sitting back so we have to work our way through them. Agbonlahor's style of play is to run onto balls when they are playing a higher line. This simply doesnt happen at villa park so he has to come deep and as im sure everyone else has also noticed Gabby's first touch is AWFUL truly awful all the times he comes deep to collect the ball he ends up kicking it 10 foot back the other way.
Play Carew and Heskey up front together both strong both can hold up ball and both HAVE a first touch that wont let them down.
This isn't just to do with today i have thought this about gabby a for a while now when teams really come and shut up shop against us.
one thing i would say is that for 85 minutes we played well, it is heartbreaking the way it finished but we played well today, and actually passed the ball through the middle. MON is the man to sort them out.
God this is boring, theres dissapointment which were all going to be experiencing right now but come on, look at the table? would you take this on the opening day? 6 points above Arsenal, 3 points of Second? I know I would have. Reading this post anyone would think were fighting relegation. Get behind the team...
a manager who drops his squad for at least 7 more games to win a uefa cup, for a chance to win a champions league place must need shooting, if everton beat us follow by manure and kop, well we might finish 6th, you better pray and hope manure win the carling cup because 6th place is inter tol tol, and thats where we going,
gabby wasnt the player he was once, martin dead wood was a great player before he joined us, i rather see nathan played today, we had a chance to upgrade our squad in the transfer window, i would of brought in bent instead of has been heskey,
Reply to SYMBAS:
didn't we say the same after chelski
Manchester City on Wed. is a must win now.
After what happened against Stoke today this has got be discussed. Last year bags of points were thrown away in injury time. So Martin O'Neill rightly addressed it in the close season by signing Nicky Shorey from Reading, Carlos Cuellar from Rangers (SPL player of the year), Luke Young from Middlesbrough and Brad Friedel from Blackburn. A lot of good money spent and I think many of us thought, right the defence won't be a problem this year.
We dropped points with late goals early in the season in part due to injury. But of the four people bought in the summer one never plays (Shorey) although his last few performances have been good, two are played out of position (Cuellar and L. Young) and Cuellar is struggling big time at RB (when he is a CB and better than Zat Knight for goodness sake!) and Friedel is doing pretty well for us. Please Martin O'Neill stop playing people out of position and give Cuellar a chance at CB because Knight just isn't good enough. Anyway we can speed up the healing process on Laursen because God do we miss him now.
I just hope the 3 points Villa has thrown away in injury time against Stoke doesn't cost us a top 3 spot.
And one more thing. Gabby needs to sit the bench for a spell because he is not doing it. He had the third goal on his boot today and bungled a supremely easy chance. He needs to sit and regroup.
Reply to DanWilson82:
i remember 1999/2000, we was first in the new year, we finish 6th at the end of the season, danwilson82, we wouldnt of slag the team off if martin ocunt took a full squad to moscow and even if we would of got knocked out, drawing at stoke wouldnt of been has bad
Reply to Your-My-Hero:
Na heskey was good today when he went off thats when we lost the game feck a point at home again
Dropped the ball is an understatement...dump Gabby in the reserves for a couple of games-absolutely shocking
gabby needs to turn this form around! carew proved his worth today and if gabby doesnt watch it capello wont be intrested
Reply to luko:
sod off blue nose, do u still share a condom with your dad when you share a bed with your mom, u inbred
Reply to Richard HJ:
2-0 with 3 minutes to go! I agree, we may still be 6 points clear but we are now officially in a slump and I can't see where the next win is coming from. Man City have a good home record. Spurs are fighting for their lives. We never beat Liverpool or Man Utd which means by the time we play Everton if we are still in the Top 4 it will be a miracle.
Never mind, if we had taken the Carling Cup seriously we could have been parading around Wembley with a trophy right now.
Intertoto anyone? Going pear shaped as I thought. Lots of rebuilding post season Barry will be off and who can blame the lad. Will never win anything with this team. There are a few players in the team who think they have already made it but the point (no pun intended) is they are still learning.
time to drop gabby he can not controll a ball
would like to see carew & heskey on wed
for the record 6th place wont be intertoto cup as it has ended this year fc braga are the last team who entered the intertoto to be still in the uefa so they win the last intertoto cup! there will be no more inter toto!
Carew MUST start from now on! He is the only striker that can find the back of the net. Heskey did f*$% all today. Dont get me started on Gabby. Ashley Young hasnt done jack since his ban. Im furious. Yea we are still 4th, and yea we are six points above Arsenal but it should be 8. We should be a point off second. This result will do bugger all for our confidence. We should have won it 3-0. What a shitty start to the month. I cant believe it.
man u win carling cup
Reply to luko:
Tell me about it! Tw@t!!
I feel so gutted right now.....I backed MON leaving the players at home in Moscow, but that opinion looks silly now considering today's result.
I REALLY hope i'm wrong, but there are some games that are real turning points. I have this horrible feeling we will look back in years to come at this being the game we blew our chance of breaking the elite.
Does anybody remember playing Leicester at VP when Brian Little was in charge? Flying in the league, playing amazing, 4-1 up with 13 mins to go. The game ends 4-4, i don't think villa win again that season, the following year we are near relagation and Little gets the bullet. I may be being a bit dramatical, but i can't feel this could be a game of that much significance.
Somehow, the players have got to forget this result....all will be forgiven if they can win at Man City, but if they lose that game aswell, i fear we're gonna be on a dangerous road.
bentley screwed up again. man u win
Reply to notsosilentbob:
Well that's as qualified for Europe can't see us dropping to 7th.
Reply to Your-My-Hero:
Like Spurs did with Jol? Because they have moved to the next level havent they? Think about things before you say them.
Arsenal will break the drought next week.
Villa have done so well, but it's a 5th for us.
i feel physically sick
Villa are losing games. Arsenal can draw all their games without scoring and still beat Villa for fourth
.
Here Here - Ive been calling that for a long time now! he is SHIT! FACT! Cuellar is worth less than the shirt he plays in too! at 2-0 up, was a sub, nigel for gabby OR cuellar not appropriate? waste a little time, fresh legs and minds who wont be caught napping. What a fucking joke! I know alot of players, who have alot of spare time read this sort of stuff, and i really hope they read this today, gabby and cuellar anyway. a fucking joke!
PS THE VALIDATION CODE IS SHIT TOO
Reply to the_flabster:
if jol had still been there, they would be up with us, im sure
If anyone doesn't like the validation code. Register. You then don't need to use it.
just need manure or chelski to lift fa cup and we are guaranteed a uefa spot at least
Would still prefer to be in your position than ours. But you have left the door slightly ajar with this result. 8 pts ahead and only 11 games to go was looking too much for The Arsenal. Now, it's still a push but I am sure it will give us a lift against WBA on tuesday.
The reality of this season is that there is much more parity in the league and most of the "BIG" teams have droppped points against the lesser lights. You guys have a had a great season so far and have it to play for over the next few months-no distractions, only the league. U deserve to be 4th presently but still hoping that Arsenal will pip you at the end!
Reply to Bentley is a Gooner:
weve lost one game in the past 3 months wtf are u on about
Whats the point of qualifying for the Uefa Cup next season anyway when we'll give up half way through!! MON has a lot to answer if dont make it top 4!
The result is very upsetting but at least that Cup team Spurs wont be in Europe next season and also it could have been worse. If Arsenal could put the ball in the back of the net it could be just a four point gap. We are having a slump but lets not forget that Arsenal havent scored in their last 4 games, so its not as if they are on top form either. This must be great for a neutral to watch because this race for Top 4 is very exciting, except for fans of the teams involved.
Cant see a win on weds after that! Confidence is everything but when you let in late goals and drop points and havent won now in 4 games you just wonder where our next win is coming from! Lucky that 6th gets uefa cup as im thinkning we may drop to 6th! Our defenders cant defend to save their lives and if you cant see out a win being 2-0 up with three minutes to go against a bottom three team then in my opinion you just arent ready or good enough to play alongside the big boys in the champions league! Maybe its a good thing if we dont finish top four because with players like zat knight and davies at the back and gabby up front who couldnt hit a barn door we would just get embarrassed!
Who on here would have seriously turned down 4th place, 6 points clear of 5th, 3 behind 2nd with 11 games to go, if offered it at the beginning of the season?
Didn't O'Neill say we'd get Champions League football after [b]5[/b] seasons? I think we're in with a shout this season even if we lose at Anfield and Old Trafford.
time to drop gabby he can not controll a ball
would like to see carew & heskey on wed
For once I don't have the words or inclination to make a comment...!
What was Martin O'Neill thinking of dropping the UEFA cup to try and I say try to get fourth place for Champions League qualification, of which you will not get and be left with egg on your faces, are you that desperate. Never mind
Barry to Liverpool me thinks. diddums
Absolutely shocking. the fact of the matter was this was an absolute must win game because we were on a poor run of something like 4 games without a win and we have 5 very tough fixtures coming up. we could of been 8 points clear and 1 point behind 2nd.
but the reason why it hurts so much is because of martin o'neills antics in moscow. why rest the players to concentrate on the league when we throw it all away anyway. what did forfeiting a cup that us fans wanted so much gain, becuase it didnt show today. i would of been bitterly disappointed with the result but that would be all, but now me and many other villa fans are angry becuase o'neill has screwed up any chance of silverware we might have got and plus i knew that it would have no effect on our league form.
if after the next 5 points we are still 4th it will be a dream but somehow if we are i think arsenal will be right behind us. also we need to look at top 3 because the 4th place team will face a very hard qualifying match for the champions league. thats why we needed to create a gap, so the players were under less pressure and could go for higher than 4th.
I just want to see what MONs excuse is now. afterall we are out of all cups and it doesnt seem to be benefitting us at all. lets all really hope we can get a win at city.
Reply to Fitzy_7:
first of many I assure you that ha ha ha ha
Poor result, but
If we were 6 pts behind Arse how would we feel then?
It's an inconsistent season for everyone bar Manure, so expect a rough ride between now and end of season.
Ag's lost his touch, MON knows this - expect changes.
Did no one else notice Zat Knight turning away and ducking his head instead of trying to get a block in on their winning volley? I was astounded. I really hope people start to question if Knight and Davies are really good enough for us. I think playing with Laursen for periods this and last season has made them seem a little bit better than they actually are. And now without Laursen we are starting to see their true ability.
Friedel 6 - Both goals were unstoppable
L. Young 7 - Fantastic tackle on the cover, tried to get forward in the first
Knight 4 - Turned away from blocking Stoke's game tying volley, shocking
Davies 5 - Could not handle Fuller in the second half, awful
Cuellar 5 - He's not a right back. Gave the ball away a bunch of times
Petrov 7 - Took his goal well, tidy as usual.
Barry 6 - He worked really hard early on and was a presence, however I thought he faded late.
Milner 8 - I think MOTM. Was involved in everything good going forward, loved his passing and movement in and around the box.
Young 6 - I almost gave young a 7, but I thought he could have done better on a few occasions. Did not see enough of the ball, which probably isnt entirely his fault.
Heskey 7 - I thought he was pretty good. He came short a bunch of times and linked the play up pretty well, he also tracked back on more than one occasion to win us back possession. Had a decent chance with his head, but he did not really put a foot wrong.
Agbonlahor 4 - Worst game I have ever seen him play. The effort is there but he needs to be more versatile and needs to find his finishing. A sit on the bench could do him some good.
I also have to say Carew's goal was simply stunning. Too bad we had to waste it but it is a lesson hopefully learned. And like Damian said we are still very much in the driving seat.
I should have said tying volley, but u know what it feels like haha!
''but i guess it's just karma, we done it to Everton and Hull so we are just gonna have to accept it but it's bloody hard to that's for sure.
What a shit month
Infact its very hard but us villains know all about the last 10 mins of games nothing has changed before it was mainly away games now we have carried on the jinx at home considering there is 19 games at home we have drawn 7 or 8 already it doesn't add up
ah well that's football that's the villa petrov was the motd by far and im not a fan of stan's but he was class, milner also was great but at 2-0 coker should have come on for a young or gabby
hey villa fans bad luck today but you've had one hell of a season. we are struggling and cant put the ball in the back of the net, and are drawing all the time in the league, so you shouldnt be that down or upset at the moment. i think 4th spot will go down to the wire and i hope we can come 4th but i dont know. best of luck for the rest of the season villa (but i hope you dnt finish 4th though).
cheers have a gd one
Oh and btw Gabby was terrible yet again. he missed from 1 yard out when we were 2-0 up and ultimately had he scored we would of won. yet again he misses an absolute sitter and we are left to rue it. if we had a better striker we would of probbaly beaten or drawn with everton, would of won against cska in the first leg and won today. Gabby is costing us bigtime and i think our starting lineup next match has to be Carew/Heskey or Carew/Delfouneso. i dont know what mon has against playing the fonz, as he would definately contribute more than gabby.
Uh oh villains you choked and ur next 5 games are Man city, hotspur, liverpool, man u, and everton. You could of put us away today but u blew it, u will regret this day
Reply to TheColonel:
totally right.
No leaders at all in that Villa team.
What the fuck does Gabby have to do to be taken off? Never mind his finishing his all round game was pathetic and lazy.
That last 5 mins was disgraceful, we now have to beat both man city and Liverpool or we will be 5th by the time we play man u.
MON should have taken gabby off straight after we went 2 up and brought reo coker on to tighten things up
arsenal are gettin walcott eduardo back next week adebayor and silvestre back in two weeks rosicky and fabregas back in about 4 weeks arsenal will finish 4th
I see the BBC have made Gabby Man of the Match! What the....
It seems I'm the only one who thinks we actually had a bad game. There seemed no urgency whatsoever and surprisingly, I thought we looked very leggy, Milner apart. Got to agree, gabby was poor today. His first touch is atrocious and my mom could have scored that chance. Heskey was poor again. I also think we got it wrong tactically, as we never looked like beating them in the air. But that said, we did change it and tried to play more through the middle.
The big problem for me is the defence. It just seems to be getting worse and I'm never confident anymore that we won't concede anymore.
I dislike zonal marking and don't understand it at all.
All in all, highly dissapointing, but there are plus points.
1) As said, we're no worse off than we were on Friday.
2) I certainly don't think Liverpool are unbeatable at Anfield. Remember last season? And even Boro beat them yesterday.
3) Arsenal are playing rubbish and can't beg a goal. Go and see what their fans are saying on their websites. Yes, we'll lose more games, but so will they, imo.
It's still all there to play for, although we're not making it easy for ouselves. I'm still confident.
You still have the driving seat - but don't count your chickens yet - I do not see you gaining many points from the next 5 fixtures - but who knows...
Very unhappy about the result today, but not the performance. Yes we've thrown it away in the last couple of minutes, but there were positives.
The thing that lets us down is our finishing, which is why John Carew has to be on at the start.
At the moment we are still in poll position to finish top 4, however its going to be tough, especially with the next 3 or 4 games. One thing is for sure is that its gonna go down the wire!
Yep we're still ahead of Arsenal, but we completely bottled it today. To concede 2 late goals to a team like Stoke is just not good enough.
Why bother resting 8 players midweek against CSKA!?
But I suppose that's football, and we're not guaranteed a win against anyone. It's going to be a tough last quarter of the season and it all boils down to whether we can handle the pressure.
Our home record has to improve, no doubt about that.
I think we've blown it.
How disappointing we have given up on something we could have won or at least progressed further in all for a pipe dream. 2 -0 up & we could not defend it. Perhaps they needed a rest after playing for nearly 90mins. Stoke did not appear to have a clue but we gave the ball away cheaply so many times & MoN did nothing.
I bet the ManU players are celebrating their win. Another cup we considered below us against another team that considered that a game does not matter
Just Rewards for both of us, A winner want to win, we are just pretenders. STOKE wanted it more than us again we have Choked.
Oh well at least the Stepford Wife’s will be happy with another point towards CL
People seem to be forgetting that we have it really hard in the next few games but take a look at Arsenals last 6, they have Man U, Liverpool and Chelsea thrown in for good measure. I think if we can come away with 6 points from the next 5 we have a really good chance, and I really believe we can do it. Forget the cup results, our heart wasnt in them, the last two premiership games were a loss to one of the best teams in the world and yes, 2 points thrown away to stoke but crap happens. If were so bad why the hell are we 3 points behind chelsea and Liverpool and 6 above arsenal, some people need to get a grip!!
BBC Player rater is showing Agbonlahor as man of the match!
Let's sort some things out here:
1.Yes it was very poor to let a 2-0 lead go in the last 2 minutes.
2.Yes, the so called rested players should've done the job for us.
3.Yes, we're making things more difficult for ourselves.
4.Yes Gabby has been poor the last 6 games or so.
5.Yes we spurned a great chance to close in on Liverpool.
6.Yes we need to start setting higher expectations given our position and potential.
However, to hear some of the comments you'd think we'd just dropped into the Bottom 3!!
Youre-My-Hero....are you kidding? You are actually advocating MON should step down after this?? Are you totally delusional?? In 3 seasons we have gone from a lower-table team to pushing for Champions League football and you want the man who has done that for us to resign?? You are the sort of fan we can do without. Ok he dropped a bollock with the UEFA Cup in hindsight after this game. The lads need to accept the rap for that too though...they were the ones 2-0 up with 5 to play and let it slip.
Yes Arsenal are bound to find some form again, but aren't we going through a similarly bad patch and maintaining a nice cushion?? Martin Laursen will be back in a few weeks to lead the run in. JC is finding form again and will probably displace Heskey for a few games if he continues. Gabby will get it back. And with Ash & Jimmy flying we'll do it. Let's have faith. Let's get behind the lads and give them another boost. Yes they're professionals, but EVERYBODY likes to know that they've got the fans behind them, supporting them. Let's not panic and start doubting, start in-fighting and lose sight of what we are trying to achieve...what WE WILL ACHIEVE!!
YES WE CAN
UTV
Man City...watch out!!
I stopped watching before 10 minutes I knew Villa had won but then my brother says that we drew 2-2 I cannot believe it, it could have been 8 points of difference that can ensure we will remain in top 4 for at least 3 more weeks
City
Spurs
Liverpool
Manure
Everton
I feel bad for saying this i can only see 1 win from that list it's not looking good at all for us
What does anyone else think about the next 5 tough fixtures???
this is villas only year to fight 4 a top 4 spot if u think about it only reason why villa have been fighting 4 a top 4 spot is cause arsenal have had many injuries this year mainly their main creative players like cesc walcott eduardo rosicky and adebayor am sure in the summer wenger will buy a few players to bolster the squad am sure he knows he has 2 next season these players will likely be fit and ready 4 that season and of course we all know that man city will splash the cash in the summer and buy real quality players so am sure they will fight 4 a top 4 spot next season so that means villa will be back fightin 4 6th spot
Hold on chaps - haven't we played better against the better teams this season?
It's not over until the fat lady sings
Reply to GoonerVance:
You may just have a point there! We may look back at today's game with deep regret. However, only time will tell. As for all those who are saying we should've played full strength in Moscow, it's hindsight!!
I think Arsenal will start scoring some goals so we will have to start getting the results because there is no doubt that they will be making a late push.
Our next two games are massive. Both are very tough but winnable games. Would love to see Cuellar in the middle.
Credit to stoke, I swear I heard their fans singing when they were 2-0 down. But there is no doubt that we completely blew it. We stopped playing with 10 minutes to go, and you cant do that.
I also think Knight and Davies (Despite being barely good enough in the first place) are getting complacent. They get worse every week.
Nevertheless 4th is ours to lose.
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Spot on, we seem to play to everyone elses level and I don't expect that to change.
2pac, you say the only reason were fighting for 4th is because of Arsenals injuries- I'm tired of hearing about poor old Everton and Arsenal, we have had key men out for the entire season and were right in the mix for 2nd.
Last comment of the day for me, listening to this rubbish has given me a headache...
Goldie7...tough fixtures...yes!!
Do we have the potential to win 4 out of 5...yes!!
Let's back the boys to do the job.
City...even if the attacking CIty turn up...I'd back us to score more than them.
Spurs...over-rated and we will win!!
Liverpool...might not have a manager by then!!
Man Utd...unfortunately, the strongest team in the world...a point would be MARVELLOUS!!
Everton...going through a great patch...got to end sometime!!
The reason we all love football...anything could happen!!
Let's keep cheering, let's keep chanting, let's keep pushing and live in HOPE that we make it. Nothing is guaranteed, but despite a run of a few bad games, I believe we have a man at the helm who will steer this club in the right direction, not just this year, but for the next decade!!
YES WE CAN
I said I wouldn't post tonight but.......
It may have been said above but I want to give my take on the game. 1st half I was happy. Up to 81 minutes I was still happy. I then went on a downward spiral! Defensively on the bench we had Shorey, Gardner and RC. Yet again MON leave that useless, thick, trickless, goal shy p**** (Gabby in case you need help) up front. We continue to play 4-4-2 and they end up getting two quick goals instead of us shuting up shop!
If that same useless, thick, trickless, goal shy p**** plays from the start on Wednesday then we are fecked!
Prediction time -
AVFC points from the next five matches - one
Arsenal points from the next five matches - ten
The futures bright if your a fecking light bulb!!
the big problem today was Agbohlahor.We should have been 3-4 up by the time we got to the last 5 minutes.As for Heskey, who told him he's a midfield player ?
Not 1 shot from your cente forward in a game you totally dominate is pathetic but it is also exactly what we knew we would get from him.
He must have photos of O'neill dressed as a gimp or something
We missed the boat in January by not adding a goal scorer and a leftback.
I fear the cost will be Champoions League football.
Reply to AVFCBlog:
We have only played well againest Arsenal.
YES DAMIAN I UNDERSTAND VILLA HAVE MISSED A COUPLE OF PLAYERS FOR A MONTH OR 2 BUT HAVE YOU MISSED 6 FIRST TEAM PLAYERS 4 MOST OF THE SEASON ??IN FACT 2 OF THEM 4 THE WHOLE SEASON SO FAR IN EDUARDO AND ROSICKY
A great 85mins, let down by 5mins of panic/inexperience.
The problem was not lack of effort, crap defenders or not playing on Wed! We were the better team (esp for 85mins!) but we have to learn how to kill games off, slow down and control the play.
Even after they scored we had 4 or 5 chances to keep the ball, slow it down and instead we pushed forward for a third !!! and opened the game up for them.
But talk of our doom is exaggerated somewhat. Our league form for the last 5 games is still 3rd best and better than Liverpool, Arsenal etc. We've lost just once in 3 months to the CL finalists!
Arsenal still have to play Blackburn (Big Sam!), Wigan & Stoke (Already beat them!) who will bully them.. Middlesbrough who have a great record against them - plus Liverpool, Chelsea & Man U.. its far from doom & gloom and I'm sure we'd rather be 6points ahead from behind!
Reply to DanWilson82:
very good post but it was the way it happened thats all if you have played 87 minutes of dominant football with over 65% of possession and leading 2-0 to then lose i say lost because we dropped 2 points when we should of had all 3 is bollox it really is
Somebody mentioned the Leicester game all those years ago and they are right this feels exactly like that. The one glimmer of hope is after we kicked Everton in the guts they came out and beat Man City away in their next game with an injury time winner. Clutching at straws....
And will people PLEASE stop talking about Man City splashing the cash and getting these QUALITY players in and pushing for 4th!!!
Unless they splash the cash on truly world class DEFENDERS...something the Middle Eastern owners don't seem to understand is the bedrock of a team they will continue to finish nowhere!! Man City and Spurs have done exactly what we could've done if we did not have a sensible CHairman and Manager. Splash the cash, realise you've squandered millions to finish in the bottom half then go bankrupt and wait for another billionaire to bail you out and the cycle begins again!!
Even before Chelsea started spending millions they were a consistent Cup force and finishing in the Top 6 regularly. Claudio Ranieri kicked them on to Top 4 and then Jose kicked them on to Champions level...and he STILL couldn't win the Championws League.
So it took them years to get to where they are now AND millions.
We finished Top 6 for the first time in ages last year!! Yes it's great we're making progress and in with a chance and hopefully we'll do it. It's ours to lose...but why do we think we can buck the trend and all of a sudden become this awesomely consistent Top 4 team when we've only been trying for 1 year!!
If it doesn't happen...I'll be as disappointed as the next fan, but I'll keep signing and I'll keep coming, hoping that the next season we'll go that 1-step further again. Why...because that's what support is!! We deserve some glory for all the years we've not had it, but just because we can smell it on the menu doesn't mean we've already ordered the meal. Until that delicious plate of Top 4 chow arrives all it is, is an appealing item on the menu. We've decided we want it...now let the Chef (MON) and his ingredients (the lads) do the business and see what turns up.
I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm on acid or something, but I'm disappointed with todays result BUT I STILL BELIEVE!!
UTV
Reply to phaedrus:
Im not the biggest heskey fan but today he was good was i the only one who noticed when he went off that's when it all changed
MADLADDY...EXACTLY!!!
We're acting like we're the only team to play against tough opponents!!
The way things are going, the Top 4 (Man Utd champions of course grrrr) could contain Villa, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Everton.
Let's keep playing and let's keep praying!!
UTV
Think about something good gabby did in the match you'll struggle' so dont bother
well well well! isnt this ironic!
if i recall correctly a game back in January against Portsmouth, we just about beat them. I said we have to finish games off and get a few goals or "we will pay".
People absolutely hammered me that night for saying it! see what i mean now??? stop moaning you idiots, i warned you it was coming!!!
UTV!
Reply to Goldie7:
city = win
spurs = draw
liverpool = win
man u = loss
everton = draw
8 points from 15 should see us ok
DanWilson 82 you should be SHOT betwen the eyes with a ball of your own shitefor the comments you are contributing.You seem one of those people who defen the villa gainst everyone and everything regardless and today was no reason to DEFEND them after a final 3mins display like that.These are suposed to be seasoned pros who for 50 60 grand a week should be doing a considerably more than they did today.So it is you who needs to get a grip and live in the real world.The only good point to come out of the game considering others are saying there were good points to praise,is the FACT it may just help stoke city to stay up and in fairness they blody well deserve to for commiting themselves until the very end..
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Damian Always a man of reason yet slated by so many
Ok re the last few points talking about us only been 4th due to how poor Arsenal have been or their injuries.. well everyone has injuries - live with it. Also the only *real* miss is Fabrigas and he was playing poorly before he got injured anyway!
Arsenal are on course for a points tally of 64pt this season.. we're on course for 73.
Arsenals recent point tallies?
06/07 = 68
05/06 = 67
We're 4th on merit, 65-70 points are enough for 4th 99% of the time if we win 5/6 more and get to that we deserve it.
Goldie What are you on
Stoke were absolutely awful
We dominated, that is rubbish they were not in the game due to their own inadequacies nothing to do with us that is why they are where they are.
we threw an easy win away
Reply to FatKev:
what are you on
Read my posts again i never said anything to do with your going on about??? Stoke were rubbish we all know that
Reply to ak_27:
United 0-0 ? Yeah we were shocking!
all i wanna say is that if we had laursen then we would not have conceded easy as!!!!! not just today but he would have cut out the shit balls that knight cannot deal with
Not singning a top centre back to replace Laursen in January might come back to haunt MON!
OHHHHH the smell of irony!!! its quite amusing! not the result itself... the irony!
UTV!!!
Reply to Goldie7:
That is when we finally got a second goal, yes!
Reply to Aero-4-Villa:
i know Aero.... its so ironic. its really unbelievably ironic! you were so right. everyone should have listened rather then building themselves up so much!
Reply to Jozinho:
We all love the Villa. It is not so much the result as the manner by which it was achieved. If we had come back from 2-0 down with 2 minutes to go draw 2-2 it would have been all "We shall not be moved" and never say die spirit. To lose a 2 goal lead in the last 2 minutes to Man Utd would have been bad enough but to Stoke is such a kick in the stomach it's hard to take.
However, nobody on this site will give up the dream but it is hard to be as confident now and I think many are now preparing for the worst. If we win at Man City all will change again. That's the Villa for you.
My god there really are some moaning cunts that post on here?!?
Utter utter cunt award goes to McParland
Thickest cunt award your-my-hero
Congratulations both of you
Reply to Aero-4-Villa:
Oh wow! You're psychic 8 games on and exactly what you said would happen sort of happened.
Looks like it was a good decision by oneill to rest 8 players in mid week. all to get a draw against stoke city who were prob the worst team ive seen down villa park this season they didnt have a shot on goal till about 70 minutes on the clock!!
gabby was awfull today he has missed so many chances as of late he needs to be dropped. Barry's passing was off the mark and other than the goals villa didnt create that much? havent won now in 5 games i think this our blip. Today was a great chance to put arsenal 8 points and 3 games behind us. Hopefully oneill can put it right on wednesday. I dont think we should be conceding 5 goals in a season to stoke city!!! cuellar is possibly the worst player on the ball ive ever seen and even if he played in centre half his natural position he still wont get no better on the ball! garder should play right back he bleeds claret and blue and is a great option for the overlap down the right for milner. How many times does cuellar go down the touch line?
Rant over!!
Reply to GoonerVance:
you will regret you said that!
Dont go crying when we take your champs league spot you stupid Gooner
Reply to Villavanilla:
I know you'd think we were in the bottom 3.
O'leary may have been right with his fickle fans comment.
MAN CITY WILL OVERTAKE VILLA NEXT SEASON EVERTON WILL OVERTAKE VILLA NEXT SEASON VILLA TO FINISH 6TH THIS SEASON 7 OR 8 NEXT SEASON
AGBONLAHORS NICKNAME IS KEBAB FACE
Goldie so sorry i was playing catchup
I think It was that Mad Lady but i may have that wrong aswell
Reply to skeester73:
If that same useless, thick, trickless, goal shy p**** plays from the start on Wednesday then we are fecked!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To true however, i hate to say it but this MON i get the feeling that hes gonna stick by gabby, 'faith' is his middle name! sometimes it works (petrov for example, not so long ago we wanted him out but hes come good) but if we want to win on wednesday and keep top 4 alive then we need to start with carew on. the guy scores for god sake hes done it again today what more does MON want?
Reply to 2pac:
It's no wonder you got shot.
this result is embarrassing, to be 2-0 up in a game we totally dominated then throw it away with 5mins left is a joke. i wonna no why o'neil never makes a sub, we could of brought 2 subs on to waste some time and those might not of ever happened but no lets leave the overrated players like gabby on who's done nothing in the game again other than miss chances. i think o'neil must of been the only manager in the prem to vote against having a 7 man bench this season. we give the ball away so much when its not needed we just invite constant pressure on ourselves, freidal seems to be getting worse on his kicks then our back 4 except luke young all just hoof the ball anywere, we seriously need bouma and laursen bk quickly or were gonna suffer.
JOHN CENA IS A GAY WANK HE SUPPORTS TOTTENHAM HAHAH WAT A WANKER I BET HE KNOWS NUTHIN ABOUT FOOTBALL NOT SOCCER U YANKY CUNT
i think we can all agree 1 thing and that is HARRY REDKNAPPS GOT A TWITCH AND HIS USELESS SON IS A SHIT PUNDIT AND WAS A EVEN SHITTER FOOTBALLER
can someone shoot 2pac again please?!
I've read a few posts. I'm not going to bother reading the rest. I've got to agree. Championship here we come. No, wait, we've got 40 points. We're safe. For this season at least. Relegation certs next season then!
We need to get rid of the deadwood. Petrov was the best of a bad bunch today, and I'd say we need to get rid of him as well. The only player I'd keep is Salifou. But that's only because no bugger will take him.
I think Kevin MacDonald should be put in charge of first team affairs, and what a relief that Ellis is still alive; he should assume the position of interrim CEO whilst we work on bringing in a new owner. My vote is for Gillet, as I don't think he'll be at Liverpool much longer.
You could tell today that NONE of the players wanted it, and I've got a sneaking suspicion that we deliberately allowed Stoke to score those two late goals. I imagine O'Neill had the players under orders not to win the game today. He knows that the squad couldn't cope with both a Premier and Champions League campaign next season, so I wouldn't expect us to pick up more than a couple of points between now and the end of the season.
My step-brother's best mate's ex-wife knows one of the player's wives, and according to her, the players aren't at all happy with having to play so many games. They were under the impression that we would be going out of all the cup competitions early to concentrate on a sustained push for mid-table mediocrity. Apparently he's not the only one, and there's talk that O'Neill will be sacked tomorrow because he's lost the dressing room. If he isn't, I think we can assume that O'Neill has caved in to the player's demands and we won't be in any danger of a top half finish for a good few seasons to come. Personally, I hope he does have a change of heart. There's no-one I'd like to see leading the revolution more than O'Neill. After all, we can't have us challenging far superior teams like Liverpool and Arsenal. Who do we think we are??
DTV
UTV*
Just got back to Yorkshire and I've driven most of the M1 in a dream-like state. I'm entirely stunned by what happened today. How many shots did Stoke have? It must have been three tops, and two went in. I think we got a taste of what we gave Arsenal on Boxing Day today.
I understand what most people are saying about us being six points clear of Arsenal, but I think it's Everton we need to be worried about. We just can'e seem to close games out without panic or complacency setting in. Why didn't O'Neill take off Agbonlahor and stick Shorey on after Carew scored? Cueller could have dropped in as a third centre-back (because he's never a fecking right-back -- how many passes went astray today) and we could have bagged two more points.
Never mind, though, eh? I'm guess we'll just dust ourselves down and stumble through the game against Citeh. Delfouneso and Carew up front please.
Man of the Match was Petrov by a country mile.
Reply to theprimeminister:
WESTSIDE MAKEVELI THE DON LIVES ON AND HE THINKS VILLA HAVE HAD A LUCKY SEASON AND THAT THEY ARE GOING TO GO DOWNHILL FROM NOW ON THEY HAVE NOT WON ANY OF THE PAST 4 OR 5 GAMES AND THEY GOT THE MIGHTY MAN CITY COMIN UP ROBINHO WILL RAPE UR SHITTY DEFENCE APART AHAHAHAH
MARTIN O NEILL IS OFFERING FOOD TO FANS CAUSE THEIR TEAM LOST WTF IS HE GOING TO OFFER HIS FANS WHEN THEY LOSE OUT ON A TOP 4 SPOT HAHAHA
It was not Gabbys Fault we lost today.
The lad is learning his Game, MoN Leaves him out there, we all should know by now he is not natural in fromt of goal he has pace but struggles with more or less the rest of his game.
I would stick the kid in the cricket nets & have the team fire balls at him until he learns how to kill the ball. As for the rest we just hope it comes.
We need people to push the 1st choice players but Mon is so limited with his search it aint going to happen
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has offered to host a dinner for fans who flew to Russia and saw an understrength side knocked out of the Uefa Cup.
Fans who had followed the West Midlands team's Uefa Cup run were angered when O'Neill rested eight first-choice stars in the 2-0 defeat at CSKA Moscow.
O'Neill made the offer to about 300 passengers during the flight home from Moscow on Friday.
He said he stood by his choice but the meal was a way of thanking the fans. HAHAHAHA OH MY GOD I CANT STOP LAUGHIN HAHAHA ITS HURTIN ME NOW ITS SO FUNNY
Reply to 2pac:
and yours is w&nker
Freidel 6- Had little to do aprart from pick the ball out from the net.
L. Young 6- Usual solid performance.
Knight 5- Too indecisive. Didn't dominate enough.
Davies 6- Slightly better, bullied by Fuller too easily in the 2nd half.
Cuellar 5- Ok defensively, very poor distribution. Thats what you get for playing a centre half at right back.
A. Young 6- Few moments of promise, little else.
Petrov 8- MOTM, started and finished a great goal, comfortable on the ball, looked most likely to make something happen.
Barry 7- Worked hard to win the ball back in the 1st half, faded a little in the 2nd.
Milner 7- Worked tiredlesssly again, got into good positions but tried too do too much on a couple of occasions.
Heskey 5- Came deep too often to receive the ball, could have been in the box more to get on the end of crosses.
Agbonlahor 4- Poor performance all-round. Poor first touch often gave away posession
you just gotta love some of the comments here. we've got more points right now than we've ever had in premiership after 27 games and one of the "fans" posting here refers to the man that achieved this as "martin ocunt" and advocates it's time he left.
you couldn't make this shit up. priceless.
Gabby needs dropping and made to earn his place, he was total shit today one dimensional with absolutely no control. I thought Petrov was immense today, his goal and distribution was top drawer it's a shame that performance wasn't combined with a win because I thought we deserved it. Teams like Stoke have to fight to the death, we need to learn how to play for 90 minutes and kill teams off which is something we have struggled to do at home. I hope Carew starts against city and The Fonz gets a start to show Gabby that he needs to sharpen his game, we are still 6 above Arsenal who can't score for shit so we are still in this.
very true damian! everyone keep their heads up and give all their support to the team!
here is my take on it:
LINK
just trying to encourage people to keep their heads up! plus looking forward to seeingt the highlights on MOTD2 because was playing football when the game was on!
Reply to FatKev:
It's a good job I actually read the whole of your post as after the first sentence I was already raging!
Has he really gotta be given a chance? Since 2001 - Have a look at the names below and pick out the forwards that were given a chance! (if i've missed any your just being picky!)
Merson
Dublin
Vassell
Balaban
Angel
Allback
Cole (C)
Crouch
Moore
Baros
Phillips
Agbonlahor
Carew
Harewood
Heskey
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it allows us to discuss the pros and cons of these players. I'm not on about their contribution to the team, i'm on about their goal scoring and how they were all given chances.
My worst three are:
3rd - Carlton Cole
2nd - Vassell
1st - Baros
Ok so we drew and like many villa fans i am absolutley gutted right now. But we need to puts things into presepctive we are still in control of what happens. We have scored many a late goal and maybe this is our turn to feel robbed. With a 6 point lead and with only 33 points available, we still have a GREAT chance to qualify for the CL. Arsenal have dropped many points when they shouldn't and hopefully this will continue and Liverpool are having a run of bad form which looks like it will contnue. All is not lost. We should have won we didn't thats all. If we deserva a CL place it won't go down to just 1 game. With bouma and Laursen returning and with our form just waiting to turn for the better, things aren't as bad as they seem. IMO we still have a brillaint chance of breaking into the top 4.
Keep The Faith!
UTV!
2pac has a soft spot fot the villa!!
Come on just admit it- how you lot getting on by the way!
Not so good from when i last looked, and you were the team that was meant to be breaking this top 4! Now your HAHAHAH cracking me up! Twat
So...
Are we still 4th?
Have we made up a point on 3rd?
Did we lose?
Yes, Yes, No
Why the fuck are you miserable bastards moaning then?
If you wanna support someone else coz it's all getting a bit too much for your fragile minds then piss off and support the blues!
Jeez, i'm not sure who gets up my back more!!
Either be a supporter through thick and thin or dont be....tossers!
Im sorry, but how can some people on here call themselves villa fans? Someone called the manager, Martin Ocunt? Surely, hes the best manager villa have had in ages and without him, you wouldnt be challenging for the 4th spot in the first place? Im from bradford and support bradford so I know all about ups and downs and bad managers, but in my opinion you have one of the best if not the best manager in the country, so stop complaining! Villa are going to get 4th, arsenal are playing shocking and villa are a far better team, so theres no need to starting ripping into your own players and manager after a few bad results!
For God sake! We drew 1-1 with stoke, is it that bad??!! Half of you lot on here are probably just arm chair fans so SHUT THE FUCK UP PLEASE! We're still in 4th, 6 points clear, so chill out.
It sickens me that people on here are calling for MON's head.
Infact, so much, you can stick this blog up your arse. You're a great blog author damien but your blog attracts to many plastic fans.
LINK
the reason we are miserable is becuase its pure shite that we were 2-0 up will about 5min to go and draw 2-2 against a team which was pretty piss poor today
It is time to drop Gabby now, he has been crap for a while. And if it does happen i hope there isnt a excuse saying he is burnt out and needs a break, tell it like is, that he has been shite !!
Reply to SaladFingers:
we drew 2-2 you twat and yes that was a bad result and yes i was there you salad dodger!!
Reply to Your-My-Hero:
you my friend are a prat.
We drew because of a lack of experience by both the players and the manager. At 2 - 1 we had a corner which should have been kept short, instead it was put into the box to hand possesion back to Stoke. We were really rocking at this point and I cannot understand for the life of me why MON did not do what every single manager at every level of football does with 1 min to go when you are a goal up and make a substitution to run the clock down (or 2 subs in this case)?? It is basic - look at Chelsea time wasting last week. I am a huge MON fan and some of the comments on here are outragious but I feel he made a basic error here.
just seen the highlights, brilliant villa goals, carew's was just genuis!
one thing wasnt impressed with, was the booing at the end, ridiculous!
thats what my post was on about not happening!
LINK
gutted just like the last time we saw stoke-
little brad has looked a bit better than big brad lately.
at the end of the the day we're still 6 pts up on the arse.
UTV!
Love these gooners!!
try and score a goal 1st..you know what that is like anymore..nope thought not!!
4th or higher is coming to VP
Come on boys- KEEP THE FAITH
Who wouldn't take being top of the premier league at the start of 1999 after 20 games? Forget top 4, we need automatic qualification cos that cunt Platini will make sure we get a rock hard qualifier.
To do this we're gonna have to win at City and Anfield, definitely the latter.
Alternatively draw city, beat Spurs, point Anfield, loss OT, point Everton and then smash the last 6 teams to get 4th and somehow get past Seville/Bayern Munich/Fiorentina or knowing our luck AC Milan in a qualifier.
I can't remember when I last felt like this at the end of a game. This is how it must have felt to be an Everton fan when we snatched that amazing game in the last minute. They've not looked back since that game and now we need to make sure that we take the same inspiration from the pain of this defeat that they did after theirs.
Reply to Your-My-Hero:
YOU are a C**T. You obviously know nothing about football. Either that or your a Blue Nose in disguise
Gooners have had a few years of beatifull football no one can deny
But are now looking up at Aston Villa even after todays result
They must feel proud seeing an English Team doing Well & it may inspier them for the future
Reply to r0bb0:
Blues at home, Stern John (aka Riccardo Fueller), if Stoke stay up (which they wont unless they play Villa every week) they'll be the new blues.
Pratini may influence the Refs but i doubt the draw
Reply to FatKev:
That guy is out for the PL and the money it earns. Saying that we have loadsa home grown players, so he might take a liking to us. Also people what's the score with 4th, do you play a final qualifier or 2 qualifing rounds? Hope it's not the case when you lose you don't even get Europa like what happened to Rnagers this season? or Celtic few years back.
Gutted todday.
Was working all day, At 4:40 i checked my phone 2-0, happy days. Come 5:00 i checked phone again basically to confirm our win.... Gutted!
Its got to be Heskey and Carew up front on Wednesday.
As long as Heskey is fit for Wednesday
In my opinion, whether or not we looked comfortable or not, the bottom line is you don't drop off til the final whistle.
Firstly, the best teams score a goal and then carry on to build a solid lead ... we sat back really, and Carew's goal (although quality) came out of nowhere. Too often we go 1-0 and tend to slack.
Secondly, I think that Stoke were one of the worst sides I have seen at Villa Park and the record says it all ... they had 3 draws away from home before today and had only scored 8 goals in those 13 games.
I want and believe as much as anyone that we can finish in the top four, but questions have got to be asked. It worries me when Arsenal are due to get the likes of Rosicky, Adebayor, Walcott and Fabregas back in the next three weeks and they have Baggies next Wednesday and we have the United and Liverpool game coming up.
A win at City would settle the nerves but with their home record and our recent performances, I wouldn't want to bet on a Villa win.
One last point - I agree that Gabby needs dropping ... he's become too comfortable and today was a joke, Young made numerous runs and when he looked to cross Aggy was trundling up the pitch. Didn't he just have a week off???
Anyway, moan over, praying for a win up Eastlands and I'll feel slightly more comfortable!! UP THE VILLA
I felt pretty sick earlier but I thikn a few people need to face up to realities..
We are not a top four side yet, regardless of what the league position says we are not really a top 4 side. We've punched above our weight, had the rub of the green in a few matches and three of the established top 4 sides have had poor season allowing us to creep in.
Gabby has been in horrific form for some time now, and he has never had great balls skills or a lethal finishing skills (at prem level anyway). His game is built around his pace and his break though season came while playing wide right..... How much more effective would be be having him there with a proven top line finisher up front??
Anyway O'Neil won't drop him as he is a mates club manager.
4th place doesn't equal Champions league football, it earns the right to ply a two legged qualifier. So even if we were to finish fourth we'd still have a lot of work to do to actual make the group stages proper.
We will be very lucky to pick up four points from our next four games, and more likely we will pick up one or two points. We really dropped 4 points today factoring n Arsenal draw.
I'm upset, but really I kind of expected us to fall way after being unable to strengthen in Jan - O'Neil has said it a thousand times, we don't have a big enough squad to complete at the top level. So when the injuries, suspensions, and loss of form issues appear we couldn't really of expected anything else!!!!
I just hope we hold on for a UEFA cup possie and hopefully next year he'll take it a bit seriously as the dream is well and truly over.
Next season will be much harder to earn a top 6 finish, let alone top four.
so crushed today, i feel worse than the game at spurs, 4-1 up with 20 to go. I thought we were unbelievable at time and the best iv ever seen us play, we moved around the pitch like any of the four on there best day, i was so proud and you could see the team were fresh. smashing goals, what a performance from petrov, he seemed to juggle the ball over there players with ease. i wont sleep tonight over the finish, when they pulled one back i knew they eqalise, it always happens we have no real leader when the going gets tough. milner was everywhere, the papers 2m should have been giving the league a warning villa mean business but it wasnt to be. gabby should have rapped up the game from 1 yard out, but didnt take the oppurtunity and stoke drove on. FUCK it anyway, i wont sleep im gutted i wanna trash my house and i was broke and cudnt get pissed, 2 points dropped but what a first half performance
If the game lasted for 88 minutes, we would have all been rightly prasing a fine if wasteful victory. It's hard to put in to words how good Petrov and Milner were today. Let's not forget Barry either. He ran his heart out, and there was some fire in his belly, too.
For some reason the freebie, set piece goals aren't going in and taking us out of sight at the moment. Is it Youngs delivery, or have defences done a bit of homework? We make so many chances. Who's not putting them away?
Obviously, questions need to be asked about our bottle, late on. It happens too often to be coincidence. Only MON can explain why he plays folk out of position, and makes them look like twats, too.
Have to say that our goals were sublime...
Keep the faith, eh?
It's a cruel game, and other Saint and Greavsie type cliches...
Ah shit. The utter pottery making bastards. Gutted!!
We did drop the ball as we have done over and over again, back to last season.
When we develop the bottle and see these opportunities as ours for the taking, as our fucking right, as Aston Villa... Nuff said...?
bring back graeme taylor
I am utterly disappointed, really only because of the way we threw it away. Especially painful as we had thrown away the UEFA in the week. It really feels like a loss – but getting past all the emotion what we have is
1) A DRAW.
2) One point closer to third,
3) No loss (or admittedly gain) of points on the Arse
As far as the defeatists spelling out doom and gloom – predicting losses over Arsenal, Maunure et al. In fact, we will have a better chance of beating these teams than teams like stoke – who are essentially a team of large physical players who push and shove opposition off the ball. That’s the full extent of their party trick. More quality teams will go at villa, which we can counter attack. Just the way we like it.
If Laursen gets back – sooner rather than later we stand a very very good chance of top 4. FACT
YES WE CAN
Reply to Hayesy:
Should I grab a fresh diper? I can hear a baby. And please... you haven't scored in 270+ minutes. I'm more worried about Everton than you.
Craig Bellamy may not play Wed. Given City's struggles scoring in the league, it can only help Villa's chances. And Bellamy ain't the only one.
LINK
COME ON CITY
Reply to George_Templeton:
I don't feel sorry for Hughes. He purchased an injury prone player in Bellemy. I really hope Robinho is injured, he is their best player easily. Too good for their team!
Reply to RedandDread:
I don't thing you belong on this blog. You talk sense
Reply to rolgat_:
Carew's goal wasn't wasted? we'd have lost 2-1 without it and then what would the comments be
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Can't we get the games transferred away from VP. Could have swore i heard booing after the final whistle. That can't be good for a top 4 team
To be honest, now that I've had a night to sleep it over, I'm not that disappointed with yesterdays result.
Yes we dropped two points, however I'm a believer in things evening out over the season. How many times this season have we come from behind to snatch a draw or win in the dying seconds (Arsenal at Home and Everton Away to name a few). It was bound to happen to us at some point this season.
On the plus side, we are still six points above Arsenal, and we've got a chance to get back on track straight away with the game against Man City. I do think it is important to win that one though as a defeat would really put the pressure on.
Seriously, some Villa fans should be ashamed of themselves. Booing your own team like that at the end of a match is absolutely unacceptable. I'm sorry, but no matter how much you want to slag the team off (which in my view is unjustified), they're going to be gutted about the result yesterday, and having the remaining crowd boo them off the pitch is disgusting....how in any way is that going to help give them confidence for the next match? Why can't people SUPPORT their team rather than just slag them off at any given opportunity?
Yesterday was the best I've seen us play at Villa Park in the league all season, which is why I actually don't feel that bad about the result. We were stupid to let them score too late goals, and perhaps a little unlucky...but as long as we don't do it again, and we play as well as we did yesterday then I don't see why we should be too worried about the forthcoming matches. In the first half, the miserable old man next to me called O'Neill an "Irish cunt" three times (a regular occurence)...he thought we should have been playing 3 defenders and Harewood should have been on the pitch (seriously). Some people should just not speak.
People are moaning about us not being able to "hold on yet again"...we have lost ONE MATCH IN THREE MONTHS. In the League, the last time we gave away a lead was to Arsenal in DECEMBER, the majority of our draws have been 0-0s and we've only lost 4 times in the league all season.
People are moaning about our squad being too small and not good enough. This is the squad that has taken us from finishing 16th and having a genuine relegation scare before O'Neill started...to 10th, to 6th and European football, to potentially 4th and Champions League football in successive seasons. How the hell can you criticise that? Honestly?
People need to get some sense of perspective on all of this. We need to be proud of our team and our manager and what they've achieved, they deserve some praise for once. STOP MOANING!
Yes we drew. but we didnt lose.
We did chuck away 2 points but that match is done now, we are still 4th and six points above arsenal, If we lose/draw our next two games then its over, but if we win i bet everyone will be saying we can di it.
Come on you think liverpool and arsenal are going to turn it on?? Liverpool got beat off fecking middlesbrough and arsenal couldnt beat fulham. they are team that should be winning, we played a team in a relegation battle that were going to push and push we let them in a few time aand the slapped our asses for it. but its still a point, better then 0 all i can say is we have a little better chance of picking up points in the next few games then them.
Heres Liverpools.
Liverpool v Sunderland, 20:00 DRAW!
Liverpool v Real Madrid, (agg 1-0), R1, L2, 19:45 LOSE
Man Utd v Liverpool, 12:45 LOSE
Liverpool v Aston Villa, 16:00 LOSE/DRAW
Fulham v Liverpool, 20:00 WIN/DRAW
Liverpool v Blackburn, 12:45 DRAW
Liverpool v Arsenal, 16:00 DRAW
Thats a min 4 points max 7
Now Ars Hole
West Brom v Arsenal WIN/DRAW
Arsenal v Burnley DONT CARE BUT WILL TIRE THEM OUT
Roma v Arsenal DONT CARE BUT WILL TIRE THEM OUT
Arsenal v Blackburn, 15:00 DRAW
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30 LOSE
Arsenal v Man City, 15:00 DRAW
Wigan v Arsenal, WIN
Us.
Man City v Aston Villa, 19:45 WIN/DRAW
Aston Villa v Tottenham, 16:00 WIN
Liverpool v Aston Villa, 16:00 DRAW/WIN
Man Utd v Aston Villa, 16:00 LOSE
Aston Villa v Everton, 13:30 DRAW
Aston Villa v West Ham, 15:00 WIN
Bolton v Aston Villa, 15:00 WIN
I think liverpool have the harest but us and arsenal have pritty similar realy. but member liverpool are still in CL and have to play there 1st all the time. and ars are in fa/cl and have to play there 1st all the time so are players will be less tired and this is a advantage. Just hope we can hold on. i think we can. 1st/2nd is out our reach but 3rd is not YET!
COME ON VILLA MAKE US PROUD!
Reply to Becky Matthews:
agreeeeeeeeeee. atleast some fans are not fickle and annoying.
i live in newcastle and even the fans here say that they still back there team. and look at how they play?!
some fans need to just cheer the team and go home and take it out on the punch bag. if you dont want to cheer just fucking leave.!
we didnt lose simple, ars gained a point so did we.
we didnt lsoe anything today. we played well and now we'll go to man c and show them we can win!
Reply to _AP68_:
Don't talk to my homeboy like that
is there anyone out there.
Barca lost 4-3 when they were up 2-0 they fans must be just as gutted as us, oneil was saying after the match the defence should have seen it through 'well make some changes and waste some time dummy?
Yeah the 4-1 --- 4-4 at spurs was hard to forget about but this is worse
I think Arsenal will go on a run now. It's well overdue and our Stoke result will inspire them. They have a lot of quality coming back into the team in the next few weeks. Think we'll finish 5th and devastated, sorry for the negative vibes in a Monday morning!
Who won the T-Shirt from yesterday ?. at least then a Villa fan would have something.
dear oh dear oh dear. so we lost a two goal lead and got a point. we are 6 points ahead of 5th place an i think we wil bounce back from this.
we are in danger of turnin into newcastle/spuds/shiteh/scouser fans here. everythin o'neill has done is with patience, building a squad. some of the views on here are just mirroring the "instantaneous success, must have it all now" attitude that has poisoned the likes of spurs, man city and newcastle fans.
instead of using wasting energy slating the team, turn it into support. lets be proud fans for fuck sake an get behind the team. it is getting a little embarassing. after 13 games unbeaten, we are entering a sticky patch an this is gonna test the squad to the full, as well as us. if we can overcome this, we can say we supported the team through it.