Aston Villa go fourth: Hull 0 Aston Villa 1

We were really lucky.

We need to sign some big players.

We do not deserve to be where we are and will soon be caught by all the proper teams.

Milner's crap, Knight is crap.

Bab, baa, baa, baa, baa

Poor performances overall, no-one deserves more than a 5 but hey, 3 pts and back in the top 4 at the turn of the year, one of many happy Villans!!

good teams win when not at their best that was certanily the case for us tonight

another priceless 3 points Damian... Villa have to stop leaving these wins so late or ill need a heart transplant!

zayatte gets a big fat 10 from me

Great teams win games when play poorly and that's what happened tonight.

Back into the top 4 :-)

good god that was terrible, that was the only way we were ever going to score.

Talk about needing a new striker, we were completley toothless up front, i couldn't ever seeing us creating a chance let alone scoring.

On the positives, I thought Knight, apart from a few waywards passes played very well along side Davies..

All in all, we pulled that result out our asses big time, But hey..4th in the league and delighted

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

We were really lucky.

We need to sign some big players.

We do not deserve to be where we are and will soon be caught by all the proper teams.

Milner's crap, Knight is crap.

Bab, baa, baa, baa, baa

Knight had a decent game to be fair, we were very poor today and were shut down in midfield. What infuriates me is that we play too many long balls, we would knock 15 passes around defense and then hoof a long ball up field. Nan_was_a_fan let's be a little more constructive with the comments, it's really easy to single out players that everyone on this blog constantly slags off. Milner did a lot more than Sidwell today, tackling back helping out, something he is never given credit for. All the players were pretty average today, but we have taken 7 points in the last 3 games and won the last 5 away games, that's top 4 form and that's where we are.

In 2 days time the transfer window opens and we are looking pretty sweet in 4th, we'll have new blood coming in for sure and that bodes well for the 2nd half of the season.

UTV

James "Stanley Matthews" Milner didnt play to badly either

We are crap we only play in the last 10 minutes of games.

We never play route 1 without Carew.

Get rid of Barry the prima donna expecting Champions League football at VillaPark next year.

Don't get me started on Knight and NRC at the back keeping a clean sheet against Hull City.

Sack MON now and Lerner better sell the club to Doug before January.

Milner is driving me completely crazy! I can't watch him any more. Has he put in a single decent cross all season? Beat the man you foo!! And wtf is he taking corners for?!!! Aaaargh!

Reply to theprimeminister:

We are crap we only play in the last 10 minutes of games.

We never play route 1 without Carew.

Get rid of Barry the prima donna expecting Champions League football at VillaPark next year.

Don't get me started on Knight and NRC at the back keeping a clean...

Funny man!! Too much festive spirit in you my friend!

Reply to vogra:

good god that was terrible, that was the only way we were ever going to score.

Talk about needing a new striker, we were completley toothless up front, i couldn't ever seeing us creating a chance let alone scoring.

On the positives, I thought Knight, apart from a few...

Is Gabby not 4th top scorer in the Prem?

steve sidwell was non existant he needs to get more involved in games

we desperately need a striker.

3 points 4th place= happy days

We are crap. I'm gonna support the Blues.

Agree thought Sidwell went missing Barry is still not the same player as last season is he?

Reply to theprimeminister:

Is Gabby not 4th top scorer in the Prem?

eeerrrr yes, thats not the point... we were toothless up front, you can't disagree with that, i could have been in goal for Hull, Myhill only touched the ball when was taking the goalkicks......and picking the ball out the net from an OWNGOAL!!

Before I have a rant let's remember that Hull got stuffed last week and had a half time sit down infront of their fans so we knew that they were going to make things hard for us and they did.

Team scores
Friedel - Had a few dramas but OK
RC - Still can't understand why here's at RB
Davies - OK
Knight - Obviously our very own creative defender lumping the ball up....sh*te
Luke Young - OK
Barry - Sh*te, absolute sh*te, Captain sh*te!
Petrov - Warming up for that ice skating programme on his arse every 2 mins! Afraid to go forward!
Sidwell - Was he playing?
Ashley Young - Not as efffective, Hull keeped him in check
Milner - Jury is still out, he'll come good (fingers crossed)
Gabby - Needs a rest and a new striker in the club to put him back in his box!
MON - Has no confidence in his bench, whats the point of taking those players....
The future is bright but we need some players to come in at the start of the window not on 02 Feb 09!

Good result sh*te display!

we were crap end of story.agree with nan was a fan,we keep playing like that we wont finish top 8 never mind top 4.somehow we managed to win but we didnt deserve it at all.new striker needed asap dont care who as long as MON will get him off the bench and on to the pitch. UTV!!!!!!!!!

Were is carew im starting to get worried ?

I'm really pleased with the results and the spirit/confidence that they are building within the team.

We do need some more quality players to come in, at least to give us some other options and be able to change tactics effectively if we need to.

Overall not a great performance but hey we've ground out another 3 points - that's what Livercack have been doing all season and look at them!

UTV!!!!

Game was terrible but of the two teams we were the only team that deserved anything from it. Hull sat back for draw first half, second half they were better but still didnt deserve anything from the game. We werent great granted but at least we were trying to play football.

Of course i know why hull were playing defensive having conceded 9 goals in 2 games. It was hard for us to break them down which showed us that we do need some players in jan, a striker maybe to hold up the ball, and a creative midfielder who creates space for himself and makes those killer passes something we dont have at the momment.

Still in the end we deserved it

Reply to Jimmy_Villain:

Knight had a decent game to be fair, we were very poor today and were shut down in midfield. What infuriates me is that we play too many long balls, we would knock 15 passes around defense and then hoof a long ball up field. Nan_was_a_fan let's be a little more constructive with the comments, it's...

I think that was Nan's attempt at irony - poking fun at the depressives who call the positive posters sheep

I could be wrong of course!

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

We are crap. I'm gonna support the Blues.

again with the irony

Reply to theprimeminister:

We are crap we only play in the last 10 minutes of games.

We never play route 1 without Carew.

Get rid of Barry the prima donna expecting Champions League football at VillaPark next year.

Don't get me started on Knight and NRC at the back keeping a clean...

my irony meter is going off the scale

This is what happens when you play route 1. Championship footballing teams like Hull will love that style of opposition play.

But Villa can match such physicality, whereas Arsenal cannot. We should have got far more crosses in, but Barry was overrun in midfield and though Petrov has been fantastic this season he does hold onto the ball a bit too long like NRC.

It was a jammy win, but that's the sign of a team with a winning mentality. Also you can look at like this, there were 2 pieces of quality in the game - Mendy (I think) beat his man but the cross evaded the attacker, Young beats his man and puts in a devastating cross that wins the game. End of.

we need the old barry back or else just get rid come the summer hes not half the player he was last season..

Reply to VILLA-DAN-78:

we were crap end of story.agree with nan was a fan,we keep playing like that we wont finish top 8 never mind top 4.somehow we managed to win but we didnt deserve it at all.new striker needed asap dont care who as long as MON will get him off the bench and on to the pitch. ...

and yet my irony meter is silent on this one

I remember what it was like to support the Villa in the glory years. I bet some of you weren't even alive in the late 80's/90's. You'd never have seen a Villa team like that then.

Subtlty n'est pas?

Great result but very poor performance. But to be fair it was against very poor side in Hull on a very cold night.
If you can win ugly that good ... with a few more players in next week I really think 4 / 5th at worst is on ....

i was going 2 come on and slag sidwell,barry,milner off and even ash was shit tonight sidwell was the worse one but we have all 3 points so i am very happy i no they are all good players just might be abit tired we have played over 30 games this season up the villa

God that was awful!I thought the interpassing at the back by Knight and Davis looked very worrying,I was just waiting for a mistake!Without Laursen we look very nervous and very vunerable.Distributation by the centre backs was hopeless,why do they have to hoof it when Carew is not playing?Was it me or did Barry and Petrov keep giving the ball away and where was Sidwell tonight!Lucky or what!Still top at end of 2008.Lets hope the cheque book comes out next week and we get Carew and Laursen back soon.

Reply to qashqai:

God that was awful!I thought the interpassing at the back by Knight and Davis looked very worrying,I was just waiting for a mistake!Without Laursen we look very nervous and very vunerable.Distributation by the centre backs was hopeless,why do they have to hoof it when Carew is not playing?Was it me...

Top 4 I mean!!

What is this tired thing?

Does Lampard not play every game?

Good result dont be so critical of villa hull city were fouling all night they were just playing the man. Petrov man of the match he showed some initiative. Another good display by knight.(omg)

I was bored stiff during the game, Hull played like a team away from home which didn't help us.

It would have been the perfect game for Carew (or similar) and I'm quite bewildered why Barry stayed Harewood was not used towards the end so we could have played a standard 442. Barry had another 'quiet' game as did Sidwell and I'm getting rather concerned about Milner, I love Milner as a player but in all the games I have watched I only remember one successful cross.

Rather than rant anymore I'm just going to say I'm really happy with the win today and with 4th but I'd like to see a couple of players bought sooner rather than later.

Right, back to my beer to celebrate.

3 points so ultimately not too bothered.
But.............Barry was dreadful and Sidwell was utter shite, we need more defensive cover and up front options in the January trasfer window. I would love to see Lescott at Villa Park and I never thought I'd sat but Heskey would be a great addition to. Come on MON sign some bodies early in Jan.

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

I remember what it was like to support the Villa in the glory years. I bet some of you weren't even alive in the late 80's/90's. You'd never have seen a Villa team like that then.

Subtlty n'est pas?

I remember us grinding out wins in 81 to win the title. It was little like now with a lot of steel and a bit of flair from Cowans and morley and good finishing from Shaw and Withe. And winning the European Cup by only conceding 2 goals in whole competition (from memory, was very young) and not scoring many more except against part timers in first round

Point is - back then we were not some Brazil 1970 like team but we got results which on the surface look lucky but in fact were more about resilience and belief backed up by a great manager and quite a bit of skill - a bit like now.

I'm not saying we are about to be European Champions but for the 1st time since then I am beginning to believe something big is happening and with a bit of luck, keeping O'Neil and our best players and developing or buying a few more - we might again be a real force

So not a great performance but feel those points

3 points is all that matters

We really need Laursen (My fave player) back for corners and setplays i hope he's fit for the tramps match

Milner can't cross or even get past his man but can defend alright for 12m

You can see why sidwell wasn't starting for chelski play gardner next instead

So so far we've scored late at west ham/everton/arse and now hull surely this is not luck anymore but fate

Difficult game because Hull made it so. First half, I thought that we were the home team as they offered very little going forward. Second half, they started to play like Bolton, very physical niggling kicks and pushes that Steve 'tosser' Bennett let them get away with. If Hull had gone for the win and pushed forward, we would have carved them open easily and they didn't want that to happen.
This result and other away results shows me that we now have match winners in our team. Players who when they get only one chance can create something special to change a game. Ash had only that opportunity to whip in a low ball into the danger one and look what happened. Great away result, if not performance.

SidCowans lovely child. I'm with you my friend.

It gets so tiring dealing with the little ones. They get so cross when things don't go exactly to plan.

God bless them, they'd have been moaning in '81.

A very ugly win.but three points which is most important.
Was that much different to to Manure last night?
Did we expect Hull to be so negative?
Fuck it let's celebrate three points and back in the top four.
UTV

For those criticising Barry (ironic posts excluded of course), you need to go and support another team (any one will do; they're all inferior to the Villa). He, like the rest of our front six, hasn't been playing his most attractive football for some time. Those seeking reasons for this need look no further than us playing 4-5-1 with Gabby as the target man. Barry, like the rest of the team, has been struggling manfully with the formation and personnel we have at the moment. Gabby has been the most impressive player this season because, despite effectively playing out of position, he's still scored a good number of goals, and has showed great spirit.

It really is boring to read people criticising Gabby's workrate and Barry's commitment. Gabby works extremely hard, and if he isn't running round like a lunatic for 90 minutes, I put that down to a combination of his intelligence, and probably MoN's instructions. He is essentially our only striker, and we can't afford to have him running himself into the ground.

As for Barry, he'll be finishing his career with us (and lifting a few trophies on the way I daresay). The pillocks amongst you need to get used to the idea that the man you hate actually loves the club more than you do.

By the way, absolutely delighted at another fortuitous win. If MoN was a French general, Napoleon would be delighted. But I'm looking forward to MoN doing something about our threadbare striking options, and seeing how high up the table we finish. If titles were simply about guts, spirit and desire, this team would be champions, and MoN certainly has to take credit for galvanising the team.

UTV

Reply to qashqai:

God that was awful!I thought the interpassing at the back by Knight and Davis looked very worrying,I was just waiting for a mistake!Without Laursen we look very nervous and very vunerable.Distributation by the centre backs was hopeless,why do they have to hoof it when Carew is not playing?Was it me...

I can not agree with your point about distribution of CB's. Zat and Curt are both better passers than Martin or Carlos even if they are lacking elsewhere. While they often hit ball long to our midget forward line I suspect this was becsue they got tired of being closed down while the midfield spent most of game on their arses - which I am going to blame on the conditions as I have rarely seen so many slips and poor pieces of control by Barry, Sidwell, Ash and Milner. CHANGE YOUR STUDS!

I was a little worried about Brad who seemed hesitant and weak when rarely called in to action

Ref was a joke on both sides - let loads of fouls go and then booked players from both sides for discent and innocuous challenges. Don't start me on the lat second penalty, sorry not a penalty

Didn't see the game, but I am pleased to find out that Aston Villa overcame another so-so performance away from home to get the 3 points. That's what the teams that usually finish in the top 4 do and that's what Villa are doing! Be of good cheer, there will be better performances and better days to come. Roll on the transfer window and a stomping win in the FA Cup!

Hi,

I watched the game today and first of all let me just say, congratulations on the 3 points. However, the reason i am visiting this blog is because i am eager to find out what the general opinion of James Milner is. I know for a fact that a large section of Toon fans believed that selling Milner for 12million was fantastic business on our part and that he isn't worth anywhere near that amount.

So tell me, what do you think?

Thanks in advance for your time.

What is this tired thing?

Does Lampard not play every game?

good point i was just trying 2 give them a reason 4 playing shit tonight coz i am happy with the win

Friedel 5 Dodgy tonight
Young 6 Did nothing wrong
Davies 5 Poor header in box could have gifted goal
Knight 7 Solid in his main job, including a little bit o magic
Milner 6 Worked hard
Barry 6 Committed to the cause
Petrov 6 Workmanlike
Sidwell 5 Failed to get fully involved
Young 6 Kept going, was well marked
Agbonlahor 6 Tough job, kept working

MotM - The Knight

Damian, as a US Villa fan, more American phrases please!

The game was terrible, and we were lucky. In the second half, it felt like the tigers were bound to score any minute. They were faster to the ball everytime and they definitely seemed to have more desire! We looked tired and uninspired the whole game.
Hats off to Ashley for creating that goal through sheer will power. He is truly a world class talent. However Ashley, and I say this with the utmost respect.. KEEP YOUR FUCKING HANDS DOWN! JESUS CHRIST!

Toon fan.

We are notrfeally that arsed about money as Daddy has loads. Milner is trying very hard and if it doesn't work out we'll buy somebody else.

Thanks.

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

SidCowans lovely child. I'm with you my friend.

It gets so tiring dealing with the little ones. They get so cross when things don't go exactly to plan.

God bless them, they'd have been moaning in '81.

Don't push them away - we need them!

My 6 year old daughter - who will one day play for Villa and England Women's Team made me the proudest man in the World the other day when she asked to stay up after the Everton Match to hear Martin O'Neil's post match interview instead of a bed time story. It makes me feel the long hours of indoctrination were worth it - because this club has the proudest history of any club - bar none - and we are about to claim back what is rightfully ours if we just have patience and faith

How dare anyone have a go at me for criticising Gareth Barry.
It's a fact he is nt the same player as last season nothing to do with formations he can nt do the basics at the moment I would nt doubt he commitment tho.

Villa till I die

smash and grab much like at west ham 2008 has been a good year for Aston Villa Football Club lets hope 2009 is even better

Reply to Toon fan:

Hi,

I watched the game today and first of all let me just say, congratulations on the 3 points. However, the reason i am visiting this blog is because i am eager to find out what the general opinion of James Milner is. I know for a fact that a large section of Toon fans believed that...

I think general opinion is you had best side of the deal but we are hoping that he will grow in to the price tag. He is doing brillianlt defensively but crossing and shooting needs work - but he is at the right place to develop

Good luck for the season - what do you think of Chuck (can't spell his name) we are sniffing round?

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

Toon fan.

We are notrfeally that arsed about money as Daddy has loads. Milner is trying very hard and if it doesn't work out we'll buy somebody else.

Thanks.

Nan,

Are you letting our top 4 status go to your head? Play nicely with the other boys!

DisputedsonofSidCowans

My four year old is wearing my old hat, but he's as fickle as some of the nobbers on here.

Defence did well tonight, let's give Zat and NRC a bit of credit for coming in and doing a decent job over the last 2 games. Milner I thought was better , some nice touches.
My big worry is Sidwell, you just never see him, he's a total passenger when he's not scoring, he really hasn't had a good game yet. I'd love to see Gardner get a run in the middle, he'll get goals as well.

What a boring game! but so so happy we nicked it, like Liverfool did for their first 15 matches. We did look a bit lost at times tonight but it was Hull away at -1 degrees and they were always going to graft after their last team talk.

Next set of fixtures sees us against West Brom and Chelsea at Manure. So if all goes to plan we will only be a point off Chelsea...

Up the Villa!

Sid and Toon fan

Sorry you're right.
I was starting to sound like a Spurs fan.

I am a tit. Apologies.

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

Toon fan.

We are notrfeally that arsed about money as Daddy has loads. Milner is trying very hard and if it doesn't work out we'll buy somebody else.

Thanks.

By the way, I can't stop laughing

Reply to SidCowanslovechild:

I think general opinion is you had best side of the deal but we are hoping that he will grow in to the price tag. He is doing brillianlt defensively but crossing and shooting needs work - but he is at the right place to develop

Good luck for the season - what do you think of Chuck...

Charles N'Zogbia is a good talent and a favourite at SJP. However, he gets in a strop fairly quickly and is a bit of a 'head down' player, a bit like Milner. A few things he has over Milner though is his pace and skill. To tell the truth though, i don't really see how Villa need him considering Young is on your left and i doubt your "interest" will ever materialise. He is mor elikely to join French outfit, Paris Saint Germain for a fee of around 7-8million.

I think we all need to accept this for what it was: a great result against highly negative opposition hell bent on getting anything at all out of the game ie 1 point, not 3.
I think its a good indicator of our development that we were able to absorb the negative nature of Hull's play whereas earlier in the season we crumbled at Stoke. This is a great sign that the team is on the improve.
Under DOL I cringed every time we hit the 90th minute as I knew that if there was to be a goal conceded then there was a 90% chance it would be us. Not anymore.
One thing on the 4-5-1. Works really well when you have strong centre halves to come forward for the set pieces to add height. But without Laursen to chime in and create another threat, things look very thin. I'm not sure 4-5-1 can be as effective while he is on the sidelines.

Reply to AceVilla:

Damian, as a US Villa fan, more American phrases please!

The game was terrible, and we were lucky. In the second half, it felt like the tigers were bound to score any minute. They were faster to the ball everytime and they definitely seemed to have more desire! We looked tired and...

Ace Villa, to try to make you feel at home. Do you need Therapy? The Hull Tigers of Humberside failed to encroach on our En Zone area for a touch down goal except from special team plays where their specilaist coach will be disappointed with chances created to execution ratio. The offensive coach for the Tigers will also face questions from the Sports Entertainment Press(They never looked like scoring)

Ashley was not the league MVP today and his value in the draft trade will have fallen

Steve (Withe'ys Shin), i'm with you on this one, Simeon is getting a bit too high on his soap box, fact of the matter is Barry was poor, it has nothing to do with whether I like him or not (i actually do and really hope he stays long term). Forget about formations and all that, I would at least expect him to stay on his feet a bit more.

Reply to Toon fan:

Charles N'Zogbia is a good talent and a favourite at SJP. However, he gets in a strop fairly quickly and is a bit of a 'head down' player, a bit like Milner. A few things he has over Milner though is his pace and skill. To tell the truth though, i don't really see how Villa need him considering...

Thanks, with the transfer market as it is it seems even reserve players (albet talented ones) with attitude go for £8M - world gone mad?

Player Ratings:

Friedel 6 Had little to do but look a bit suspect a couple of times
Reo 6 Not a proper fullback but does his best
Davies 7 had a pretty solid game
Knight 7 did good but I'd still feel better with Laursen back
Luke Young 7 as Davies, solid display
Barry 4 never got into the game and gave possession away at ever opportunity
Petrov 8 My MOTM, played very well in an underrated postion just in from of the back four.
Sidwell 4 very poor, completely anonymous
Ashley Young 7 Hull defended him out of the game but did have some flashes of brilliance.
Milner 6 Run his heart out for the team but still not managing a descent cross.
Gabby 7 played as well as he could tonight, never got the killer cross to get in on goal.

Subs:
Gardner 6 nice to see a substitution but a little late to have any influence on the game.

Man of the match for me had to be Petrov, some will disagree but he stuck to his job perfectly.

Reply to HectorFullone:

Defence did well tonight, let's give Zat and NRC a bit of credit for coming in and doing a decent job over the last 2 games. Milner I thought was better , some nice touches.
My big worry is Sidwell, you just never see him, he's a total passenger when he's not scoring, he really hasn't had a...

spot on all round - although Sidwell will come good again

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

SidCowans lovely child. I'm with you my friend.

It gets so tiring dealing with the little ones. They get so cross when things don't go exactly to plan.

God bless them, they'd have been moaning in '81.

I was watching Aston Villa in ’81. 1881 that is. It was to be another six years before the league was founded of course, but I’ve been Claret and Blue all my life. It was different in those days Youngsters today have no ......zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oh right. Sorry. Anyway good win tonight. I knew they’d win. Our new talisman was shoring up the defence. Into the final seconds and score the winning goal. Easy-peasy. Goldie says it’s fate and that’s exactly it.

You guys need to relax more and trust the new game plan. Final minutes. Bingo, 3 points. Just smell the coffee and the bacon.

Would Milner make a good right back? His graft is second to none, but like many i've kinda started to notice he doesn't seem to offer a lot going forward (not an insult as he really does work hard and save us a lot). Maybe we would be better with Him at the back and Reo pushing into Midfield. I though Reo was really really good when he was Mid this season, right up there with Petrov as my personal fave players? Or maybe it's just the Special brew talking!?!

Not a brilliant game, but its what good teams do they grind out wins when they arent playing well!

Here is my match report:
LINK

'match review'

Reply to smvilla:

Were is carew im starting to get worried ?

Carew might be out to feb/mars according to Norwegian news site. His agent drop the story. Might need surgery. Lets not get to carried away from one bad match (no I did not watch the game). You don't see Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea winning comfortably at the moment either. 3 points all that matter right now. UTV !!

Reply to Nan_was_a_fan:

DisputedsonofSidCowans

My four year old is wearing my old hat, but he's as fickle as some of the nobbers on here.

My daughter asked for a Chelsea top for Christmas but some work in the propaganda lab soon put that right. She now acts like Kendo in the Pink Panther, jumping out at me at unexpected moments to ask me questions from her Aston Villa annual. Did you know Barry was the 1st player since the 80's to score in both the 1st and last game of the season for Villa on 07/08 seson or something like that. No, me neither

Where's Churchill to get us back on track?

Reply to SidCowanslovechild:

Ace Villa, to try to make you feel at home. Do you need Therapy? The Hull Tigers of Humberside failed to encroach on our En Zone area for a touch down goal except from special team plays where their specilaist coach will be disappointed with chances created to execution ratio. The offensive coach...

hahaha....you just made my day. touche, my friend. oops, that's french.

Reply to churchil:

I was watching Aston Villa in ’81. 1881 that is. It was to be another six years before the league was founded of course, but I’ve been Claret and Blue all my life. It was different in those days Youngsters today have no ......zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oh right. Sorry. Anyway good win tonigh...

ah ther you are.

I demand my after game poem

We played pretty average but we got three points, can't complain. All the other teams get lucky wins so we deserve one too! Just look at Man Utd last night.
Transfer window is just a few days away and to maintain progress, O'Neill has to sign a few players. Looking at the bench today, was there really anyone who would have made a real impact? I'm not so sure.
But so far so good as far as the season is concerned. Let's hope 2009 is just as good, maybe even better.

With regards to subs, I think MoN knows that we have the ability to score at any second during the game, therefore is reluctant to make changes.

Personally I think Harewood should have come on for Gabby with about 25 to go 1) to give Gabby a rest and 2) to give Harewood some match time.

Reply to SidCowanslovechild:

ah ther you are.

I demand my after game poem

Junior,

After a match like that it’s difficult to be lyrical. But we’re back in the top four and I like that. You can see why the gooners struggled against this pack of hyenas. Hull just bully the shit out of the opposition. Effective though. And now of course, everybody bullies the shit out of Arsenal. Ain't life good.

I've been one of the biggest supporters of Barry, and sidwell also on this site. I'd just like to say:

BARRY WAS ABSOLUTE SH*TE. He's been rubbish recently whats with it?
Where was Sidwell?
Petrov was drunk I reckon.

I thought Zat did OK. Lets not have favourites and haters.

Milner worked hard, still following my view though that he aint all that.

DAMIAN - mate why do you always say in every post, 'i could say this, but I won't because of this'. Guess what mate in that sentance you say the very thing you say you won't say. once is ok, twice is nice, every post is too much.

Reply to Fitzy_7:

steve sidwell was non existant he needs to get more involved in games

we desperately need a striker.

3 points 4th place= happy days

Totally agree! Sidwell goes missing, it seems the game passes him by! And 15Million Jermain Defoe would be my bet!

Reply to StickyAV:

I've been one of the biggest supporters of Barry, and sidwell also on this site. I'd just like to say:

BARRY WAS ABSOLUTE SH*TE. He's been rubbish recently whats with it?
Where was Sidwell?
Petrov was drunk I reckon.

I thought Zat did OK. Lets not have...

I do too much whinging so some-one else had to say it before I did. Damian, it was the FIRST sentence you wrote. Mate, it's pathological - or have you got Tourettes? Forget the 12 mil; pretend it was 12 quid and you'll feel better.

I see the sun is past the yardarm. Time for a tot.

ffs we sound like man ure fans after they have won 3-0 get a fucking life lads we played shit 1-0 to the boys, i dont care how ugly it looks as long as we win. for those birmingham mancs who are changing their colours keep it red knobheads cus we are the villa through and through.
we played shit and won
we played shit and won
but we never give up and fuck andy wanker toffee man gray we won so bring it on

Reply to _AP68_:

ffs we sound like man ure fans after they have won 3-0 get a fucking life lads we played shit 1-0 to the boys, i dont care how ugly it looks as long as we win. for those birmingham mancs who are changing their colours keep it red knobheads cus we are the villa through and through.
we played...

Exquisitely put. Happy New Year.

and damian it was ashley that wasnt getting any change on the left so they swapped give milner credit young got a own goal tonight but jamie got it against spam leave sweden and your moniters and watch a game live. then you will know what your on about

Reply to churchil:

I was watching Aston Villa in ’81. 1881 that is. It was to be another six years before the league was founded of course, but I’ve been Claret and Blue all my life. It was different in those days Youngsters today have no ......zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Oh right. Sorry. Anyway good win tonigh...

i was there in 1873 and a half but im not religous so wasnt invited. but the lads and billy done alright without me

Reply to Skeester73:

Before I have a rant let's remember that Hull got stuffed last week and had a half time sit down infront of their fans so we knew that they were going to make things hard for us and they did.

Team scores
Friedel - Had a few dramas but OK
RC - Still can't understand why...

Petrov needs to go forward he is scared what are you talking about he was one of the best players on the pitch 2night and he ent scared to go froward but would you like to explain to me the definition of a holding midfielder and everyone was slipping over is was -5 out there i dont know how u can justify saying tht go learn about the game

tonights match standards are as
barry 2/10 for going to the linesman instead of the ref
the rest of the villa 1/10 for being shite
exept brad who should blow the ref for giving him so much (too much ) protection when acting like a school boy between the posts haha
but seriously i give everyone a full 10/10 for winning haha bring on the champions league.
if the scousers can win the league then by fuck we can finish 4th

happy christmas and new year to the claret and blue. we did not deserve the win. it is games like this as well as the West Ham that will get us to reach the champions league.
It is a great sign when you end up with 3 points even when you don't really create many chances.

we need another striker. it looks like big john is out for a while. well done on the clean sheet without lauresen.

at this stage of the season its the 3 pts that matters,we play the plastic brummies at 12.30 on jan 10th so we could be 6 clear of arsenal when they play,then man u play chelsea which could be a draw so we will 2 clear of man u as well!!,see happy days UP THE VILLA!

What is all this negative shit We WON and you are all correct we were shit but we Won the top teams find a way to win (90 per cent of the time) we can start to think we have a chance as we are starting to find a way to win even when were shit this is progress peoaple.
Went to the game and Petrov was MOTM by a mile.

Reply to Fitzy_7:

good teams win when not at their best that was certanily the case for us tonight

never a truer statement although we played average we still clinched victory ...everybody knows that this is great thing to be able to walk off the field with 3 points when we prolly didnt deserve too but fuck it the top four have been doing that for years so lets get a striker next week to help gabby and ash out and i reckon its hello 4th spot and let the goons battle it out with the toffes for 5th

I said on the Hull match predictions we would only win 1 nil . we score more goals if were not meant to against Toon or games like that .
Can anyone tell me why we would do a cobination of 20 25 passes then pass back and boot it up field , wasteof time . The game was boring as .
But 3 points is 3 points .
And we have no subs that we could throw on and u would think he will change the game , no offence but i dont think putting on gardener or Harewood will scare opposing teams coming on with 15 to go .

ex holte hero or not,andy gray is a fat scotish prick,every time were on sky the twat just seems to slate us,i think he must be fukin mr moyes or mr kenwright

Petrov was our best player tonight; I don't know why he has come in for any flack.

I also don't got the constant moaning about Milner. Did y'all think that, because we paid 12 million, we would get Ronaldo on the wing? Yes, we overpaid. But that is in the past---the price we paid simply doesn't matter. I thought he played well tonight. (How does Ashley escape blame for his performance?) He makes us so much stronger on the right. He tracks back like no one's business and, to be quite frank, he poses a threat on the right wing even though he can't put in a cross to save his life. Milner will never be a great player. But he will always be a good Premiership player. I'm happy that we have him in the team.

What worries me right now is Carew's injury and the possibility that he'll miss several more months. Despite what all y'all say now about how he could be off, Carew was class during the first part of the season. I miss him.

I thought it was pointless to post last night with the shite of a match that we played still firmly entrenched in my mind.....so this morning i went straight to skysports, looked at the Premier League table and saw the mighty Villa wedged nicely inbetween Man U and Arse on 38points......

Negatives - Barry really looked slow was dispossessed everytime he had the call. Hes only gonna get slower. Brad was shaky as drug addict last night. Really lucky to get away with the clean sheet. Sidwell, Gabby, L Young i wouldnt have known they were playing.......well i guess i could say it about most players really. Does anyone agree though with matches like that, i feel it really highlights our need for a more attacking minded midfielder. Our midfield cant handle when teams fall back to a lower line. We saw how many high balls went up again. Bring in a playmaker soon please...

Positives - Knight seems to look more assured at the back now. Ash Young proves that we cannot sell him for any amount, he is a match winner.

It feels like we are getting all our missed luck of the last two decades all in one season....

So, the boys had an off night. If I didn't know better, from a lot of the negative comments about players in previous posts, I would have to guess that the Villa were struggling in the relegation zone. Look at the table. You don't get to be 4th with a team of chumps. Of course, I was disappointed with the game (we get many Villa games live in Canada)and my wife tells me I swore a lot. But 4th at year end is something I am proud of. MOTM... Petrov.

WE never looked like scoring in the first half, Hull did well to break us down and credit to them they played well, but they didn't look like scoring a goal either. It was a boring first half to be honest.

In the second half even though Villa couldn't break through Hull's Midfield and defensive lines, you could feel Villa could get a winner, even though Hull were all over us...

The penalty incident was stupid, but no way in the world should Ashley Young had stuck his hands up there in the first place.
BIg teams gring out results, which is what WE have been doing most of the season It's good to be 4th Place going into new year.

Phew! Thank f**k that game's over. It was a poor team performance,but frankly Hull weren't much better. They were more aggressive in the tackles and well fired up after the debacle against Citeh. We were occasionally embarrassingly shy in some of our challenges, though I suspect that has something to do with not wanting to get injured with such a sparse squad.

Right, on to MILNER. I'm sick of people slating the boy because he lacks qualities of other wingers. Without MILNER last night, we would probably have lost. He is tenacious and has the heart of a lion. You can't teach that - You've either got it or you haven't. He has a decent touch and his crossing will improve without doubt. I'd pick MILNER every time against wannabe's like BENTLEY et al, who only look good when they have time and space.

BARRY is world class, and if some of you planks can't see that, then you obviously know nothing about football. Ask CAPELLO why he's first on the team sheet.

DAMIAN - 4-5-1. B******S. It doesn't work every time. We needed JC so badly last night to bully the bullies. HULL did their homework on us, because we literally have no plan B due to the depth of our squad. Despite this, we still managed to to stop HULL from having a shot on goal in the first half.

FRIEDEL - "What the f**k was all that about? Jeremy BEADLE has got safer hands you buffoon. I trust this was a blip as you've been good value thus far.

ASH - Thanks for your piece of inspired trickery which led to the goal. Unlike DION (2nd touch is a tackle) DUBLIN, I think you're world class, and are proving this with moments of magic which have kept us in the race.

Ipbopmalik

It doesn't work every time sure, but you can't go chopping and changing the formation all the time and hope to develop some consistency.

The good teams don't chop and change - it's the other teams that chop and change for when they meet the better teams.

Bottom line last night is we seemed lost when we had possession (which was most of the time) and nothing got created because the only thing Hull wanted to achieve last night was to not concede, which they nearly did.

Thanks to Nan and SCLC for the comedy; much appreciated in a comments section a bit overflowing with whining. That was a strange game, wasn't it, though? Except for that period in the middle of the second half when we were losing the ball like maniacs, I wasn't all that bothered by the performance. With our puddle-deep bench and current injuries, varying our game to the degree an opponent playing like Hull did last night requires is always going to be a bit of a challenge. Credit to the lads, cuz even if our default (and only, at the moment) style of play didn't work at all, they kept at it to the end.

My MOtM: Zat Knight. He plays a marginal game of football, it's true, but with the amount of confidence he seems to have gained from that Arsenal equalizer, it's damn entertaining to watch him. Hardly put a foot wrong last night, too. As for grades, Nan's scoring looks alright to me.

I think last night again showed the real importance of bringing in hopefully 4 players this Jan that will all come into the starting line up. Barry might not have played well last night but his quality is known to us and he will have better nights. For me its Sidwell that is the weak link in that centre 3. What does he do in there except maybe make 2 or 3 runs into the box and nearly get there. Is that enough for a centre mid to do over an entire 90mins? He hasn't impressed me at all since he has arrived and we really need a Bullard or maybe Arteta(can't see this one happen) who isn't afraid to get the ball in the centre and become our playmaker. As for Milner he also needs to be replaced this Jan. Bring in Valencia and then i think some of you will see how avarage this guy really is when we finally get a right winger with a bit of speed, skill and vision hopefully gives us the balance down the right we have been missing for nearly 3 years now. I would love to see Bullard, Valencia, Johnson and Defoe come in this Jan. All would be available if price was right and all would improve our starting 11.

ok lets try and keep a perspecyive on this! no matter how we won we won!!! we're 4th level with manure(albeit they've got games in hand) and 3 points above arsenal!! unbeaten in 7 games and havent dropped points against arsenal the scouse or the mancs. We cant play free flowing attractive football week in week out but so long as we keep picking up oints then happy days and hello chumps league!!! lets not let our expectations overtake reality, so often this season i've been up vp and the atmospheres been so tense and its reflected on the game. My point is even when we play bad but win lets not come out with the normal everyones shit sell buy sell!! as its the boys out there weeek in week out that have taken us to where we are and i personally congratulate them all. COME ON THE VILLA.

Reply to DanWilson82:

Would Milner make a good right back? His graft is second to none, but like many i've kinda started to notice he doesn't seem to offer a lot going forward (not an insult as he really does work hard and save us a lot). Maybe we would be better with Him at the back and Reo pushing into Midfield. I...

Good Shout

Reply to Asian_19:

Petrov needs to go forward he is scared what are you talking about he was one of the best players on the pitch 2night and he ent scared to go froward but would you like to explain to me the definition of a holding midfielder and everyone was slipping over is was -5 out there i dont know how u can...

Agree with this - Petrov was by far our best midfielder again and the conditions were very difficult and Hull made it tough

Reply to tonky17:

ok lets try and keep a perspecyive on this! no matter how we won we won!!! we're 4th level with manure(albeit they've got games in hand) and 3 points above arsenal!! unbeaten in 7 games and havent dropped points against arsenal the scouse or the mancs. We cant play free flowing attractive football...

great post

Woke up and thought...let's have a look at the table. .... and what great reading it makes. Up until a few weeks ago we were the team that conceeded most in the last ten minutes. The last few weeks it's gone the other way. The 'luck' has just balanced itself out over the past few games and left us where we probably deserve to be at this point. I agree with those that have rated Petrov highly. He was the one midfielder who always seemed to want to push forwards rather than sideways or backwards last night. His incisive passes just didn't quite come off, but at least he was trying to make them. Also, thank goodness we have Milner in the side. He didn't do much creative last night (but then wasn't there only one creative cross from the whole team in the whole game?)but he managed to stay on his feet the whole game, looked asssured, and in my opinion without him we would have struggled last night.

Last nite we were absolute balls and we dont just need a striker, we're crying out for a creative midfielder who can make through balls, create chances - Berger wouldve been good last nite. MONs a legend for getting us this far but we need to buy a first rate playmaker or we're gonna drop out. Maybe Joao Moutinho, Arteta, Bullard?

Everytime NRC gets the ball I immediately think he's gonna lose - worst passer we've got?

Oh my God.

I just noticed we're in the Top 4.

I like this blog, but Damian, why are you always slating Milner????? It gets a little repetitive andtedious after a while. We know you don't like him which is a fair opinion considering how much he cost but do you have to go on about it in every post????????????????

we play like the forest of old . one shit hot winger.[roberson ]soild centrebacks [burns and lloyd] hard working mid field [mon john mcgoven] fast forward[trever francis gary birtels] and a straighttforward manager [clough] if u can rember that far back forest soaked up pressure for 80 mins and were all over the place and would win by the odd goal.and held there own in the leauge and europe for many seasons. forest conection.im happy with that

we were dire, and didn't deserve a point from the game. But...good teams find ways to win when playing poorly. We had better pick it up if we hope to sustain this push for CL football.
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