Hamburg 3 Aston Villa Reserves 1
Wednesday, 17 December 08, 03:30 PM · Comments (121)
I don't know where to start really. We deserved it - the team MON put out was always going to struggle against a team of Hamburg's ability.
Zat Knight is probably the worst player I've seen in claret and blue. And that includes West Ham, Burnley, Hearts and Weymouth. Harewood is probably pretty close too.
Sidwell was sent off - two yellows - for repeated fouling, although the Hamburg players did fall over pretty easily whenever he came near them.
Harewood turned so many promising attacks into nothing while at the other end Knight turned so many nothing attacks into something promising. Delfouneso, out on the left, didn't really have much chance to get into the game.My man of the match would be Bannan, mainly because I can't remember too many other players doing much. Reo-Joker worked hard for very little reward and Salifou wasn't bad in midfield. Guzan pulled off some good saves and couldn't really do much with Knight and Cueller letting Hamburg run riot in and around the penalty spot.
Their third goal would've been avoided if the ref had correctly given a penalty or in the aftermath the closest Villa player had chased the ball straight away rather than giving the Hamburg player a half-second start. The long ball fell to Cueller who missed his kick and then tried to concede the penalty rather than let the Hamburg striker score. He failed.
Even our goal was lucky. Salifou hit a ball into the box from the left that ricocheted off Delfouneso into the net.
Tonight showed MON who is good enough and who isn't. Knight and Harewood will be the first to leave. Sidwell looks exposed with 'average' players around him and Shorey is too lightweight.
Reo-Joker said after the game that we conceded poor goals and our finishing was poor. That really did sum up the game. We weren't overly outplayed but we should've scored more and Gabby or JC would have taken the chances that Harewood isn't capable of taking.
To be honest it didn't matter and MON would have known that finishing 3rd means we play at home prior to the visit of Chelsea in February. The draw is on Friday and there are some tought teams, but most beatable. The last 16 is also drawn on Friday where there is no country or seed protection.
I think the main thing tonight was that our key first-teamers got a rest and the second-teamers got to prove their worth. And some of them didn't.
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121 Comments · Add yours
complete rubbish
Can't argue with any of that mate!!
Damien, i totally agree with your view on Knight, he really is terrible, lets hope MON gets rid of him in Jan, and he can take Harewood with him.
But Cuellar wasn't that bad, and Del Boy played quite well, he looks like a Gabby in the making.
P.S. It was Salifou who hit the ball for Del Boys goal.
Reply to HoofHearted:
Thanks - correction made. And I'm Luke, not Damian!
That was terrible. I agree about Knight, he is shocking. He would struggle in the Championship, Marewood too.
It's good that our top players get a rest not good for the reputation of the club or morale.
If we do not win the next league game was it worth it?
Is Shorey ever going to learn how to cross? Who decided he was taking the corners? Absolute farce.
Many apologies Luke. UTV
I feel for the poor 2000 Villa fans that travelled all that way foolishly thinking MON would give a Dam. Again Fielding a weekend team like other cup game this season. Yes we are through to the next round but I hope to be proud of my team not just winning against 10men.
Well his players & Team were out there again playing kick & hope. I hope he manages to buy some quality players as we have no back up or alternate plan.
What will we do when we draw a top team. All season we strive for European football & we put in displays that will at best mean we will be runners up at best Never Winners
That was fucking garbage, MON has embarresed us twice on TV now with a fucking joke line up and tactics. I never fucking ever want to see Salifou,Knight and Harewood wearing a Villa shirt again. The players should all pitch in and pay for the tickets for the away fans.Olic and Petric made our defence look like Sunday league players, as soon as i realised that those two were up front for them i said to my mate it'll be 3 or 4..
I can understand resting Gabby and Young, but why was'nt C Davies in the side instead of Knight??? or Petrov instead of Salifou, who i might add may be one of the worst players i've ever seen in a Villa Shirt..
That was a fucking joke tonight, plain and simple.... Well done MON
As for finding out what players he has brought in that are not good enough how many more showings does he need
absolute rubbish,i think the club should refund all the money to the travelling supporters and take it out of the players wages,
works out well for us though... looks like we've avoided Milan Valencia... potential draw doesnt look that bad!
Oneil must now realise Knight is shite and can get beaten with one direct ball which is pretty frightening to imagine, Bannan came on looked better than anyone we had on? he should have started for me this was one game to forget...quick
I feel for the fans who travelled out there for a pointless game. It's all good and well taking the 'Im not bothered' approach but at least pick a team that will put up a fight against a quality Hamburg side.
Hamburg played their full team, but I suppose they have a 6 week break coming up so they can afford to.
Defending was shoddy and it wasn't a great night for Cuellar. Don't even get me started about Knight!!
Harewood is not up to it at this level and as hard as he does try, he's not the sort of player who makes our squad stronger.
The rest did ok, but all tonight's game shows is the lack of depth and true quality in the squad.
Hopefully O'Neill will have a long hard think about who to sell and who he needs to bring in in January.
Oh well, back to the league we go and the main thing is that we're through in Europe. Can't wait for the draw.
Rant over!
Could be among the following...
Wolfsburg
Galatasaray
Standard Liege
Udinese
St Etienne
CSKA Moscow
Obviously none are easy but at this stage, with finishing third in our group I think this is pretty good.
Its very easy to think cuellar is a great player and therefor look at him through rose tinted glases. I generally do. But tonight he was as bad as Zat, lets not have favourites.
Damian, think your harsh on Del too. He opened his body up for that goal. He did really well to steer it in to the net. It wasn't a lucky finish, it was only lucky Salifou made a mess of the shot.
I thought Salifou was poor too. Well, really everyone was poor. But saying that I thought MON was right in what he did. Obviously out second team is shite. However i'd rather of lost that game than for Gabby, Ash, Barry or Laursen get injured in it.
On another note, anyone see Crouch today?? Change your mind about having him when comparing his performance to Marewood?
hamburg beat our bench / reserves....well done hamburg.
i do feel for the fans that travelled to watch the game, i feel robbed after spending £20 down the boozer to watch it ....but oh well, we are through and it isnt looking bad in the other round.
plus all our big boys are rested and fit for saturday...
lets hope we win and all of todays mess will be forgotten.
chin up boys.
I was gonna travel to the game tonight but then had second thoughts as I had a gut feeling we'd get turned over. Once again MON picks a team to take part, not a team to win. For a manager that demands 100% from his players how can he have a 'not bothered' approach? We are on the TV several times in the coming months which will expose us for what we really are....lucky to be in 4th spot. People will say that we should be higher because of points dropped but I think the team needs an injection of new blood(read on before you quote this summers buys). All that tonight has done is prove to those in the first team that their places are safe and that we have no one really competing or general competition. A striker (or two) is a must. Big John won't be playing and we can't count on Gabby as your never sure which one will turn up. A midfielder. Be honest, who in the Villa team has the ability to put his foot on the ball and control a game. Barry...no, Stan...no, Sidwell...no! Ash does but then does that make us a one trick pony? It's not all doom and gloom but I will make a prediction now....we will beat the Hammers but on Boxing Day we will get a kicking. You watch our team go missing when we play the ARSE.
You moaning children,
MON knew finishing third in the group would not be the worst thing (potentially a very good thing) and continued to try and give fringe players a chance to take an opportunity given to them.
He is the first manager to completely shut out a player who's not performing up to scratch or who MON has had enough with, as soon as he has ideal replacements in mind, Knight, Salifou, Harewood etc will all be long gone.
As for the match being on TV do you honestly think MON gives a flying cluck. Its a seasons worth of performance that will bring the players to Villa park not one bloody meaningless game that didn't even need to be played in the first place.
As for the players paying for the away fans out of their own pockets..........Are you kidding me??? Its not their fault MON took who he did, and its not their fault they are our reserve side.
Against a Jol team, third in the Bundesliga by 2/3/4 points (playing their best side as they are now on a long Christmas break) you guys need to think before you post.
The game owes nothing to you, you choose to follow it, if you don't like it, get the F out.
Cuellar is a very good player, but there just wasn't any hint of a partnership or understanding with Knight. They were just all over the place tonight along with the rest of the team! No cohesion or anything.
It was Zilina all over again, bit obviously Hamburg are a quality team.
But just like after the last UEFA game, we just need to re-focus on the league. Massive two games coming up before the new year and I hope we keep up the good work
We need to keep Coker out of that team or he's gonna walk in January.
The performance tonight was so bad that it should not make us angry, so I will try to highight the positives.
1. We are still in the competition and most of the teams in the premiership would gladly swop places with us.
2.Randy Lerner was at the match and regardless of his knowledge of football he must know that we require at least three quality players to compete/win this competition never mind the champions league.
3. The remainder of this competition we will have to field our full strength team.
4. I would guess at least three of tonights team will not represent our team again at any level and they could be joined by two others.
Kaptabs you're talking a load of sh*te. It's an entertainment business and people follow because they want to be entertained. If we didn't want to entertained we'd be blues fans! Everyone has a view and you make a good point about MON shutting out a player who's not performing up to scratch but then he is also very stubborn. MON picks his favourites such as Stan last season who had so many bad games but still played (until he eventually admitted that Stan was 'lacking a bit of form'). It could all be a plan of MON's that if we get drawn against a top team then we might be able to get a couple of top players in...the only drama with that is who was the last top player, i mean someone that turns heads have Villa signed in the last ten years? Dublin? Alpay? Carew? Petrov? A way to gauge it is who would SAF have out of the current Villa team? Once you've answered that ask yourself why he would want the others.
Zat? knight knight
MON should hide hiss passport.
SAlifou "TOGOLESE ZIDANE"i think not,send him to cardiff and take Wayne Routledge back.
it will be nice to see Bouma back,L.YOUNG is O.K. but i'd rather see someone like glen johnston play right back.DEL BOY looks good(only 17).
anyway its prob the best result for the table.
roll on saturday.
Salifou played bad, knight is unbelievably incompitent in an aston villa shirt, shorey was also bad (as usual). Harewood just hasnt got the flare anymore, a bit like Angel was near the end of his run.
We were always going to lose. I dont support Oneil's open comment "i dont care if we lose" or something along the lines of that; which is ofcourse going to make the players go out there with the wrong mindset.
However, on a plus note, i am pleased with individual performances.. delfouneso is making good progress, guzan played alright despite the condeded goals, l. young, reo coker and sidwell did not perform well because of the rest of the incompitent players around them.
This game is minor, and nothing to moan about, yet as mentioned before; proves to Oneil who really wants it the most.
January window outs - harewood, salifou, knight, shorey (as long as we can bring sufficient replacements in)
I agree completely with Kaptabs...UTV
gotta say i agree! I always feel nervous when i see knight in at the back, just never feel confident!
Skeester it aint a bleeding entertainment business it's sport. Are you a Jonnie Cum Lately or did you find anything entertaining about the last 20 years of shite down the Villa!?
I didn't bother watching the game because it was a joke. The competition up until the last 32 is a joke. Even now it's turned out we were better off finishing third than second becaue we won't play the CL teams.
If you are mug enough to be bothered you deserve every ounce of pain.
Reply to skeester73:
The entertainment is in the premier league hence the resting of the "Premier" players.
SAF would have Young in a heart beat, and MON stuck with Petrov because he worked with him for four years at Celtic, which i am guessing you didn't??
A friendly is all tonight's match was, and a friendly team is all we put out. If Jol wants to put on a show and play his best players now they have a month of good luck to him.
We are a good luck at Delf to see if he can do the job, and weeding out those who simply cannot. No problems.
To the guy who said we nee to keep Reo-Coker out of this team or he will walk, i would suggest that we keep him in it so he does just that. Waste of a position imo,
Though we can certainly do without Sidwells petulance. As good a player he may be we don't need school boy mentality creeping into our side.
I cannot believe people say this game was minor & does not matter.
This is what is wrong with football & fans now adays.
You must play every game to win.
Has the Term sport gone for ever
The Beatiful Game No more
Reply to AVMark:
I am glad in some sense we didnt finish 2nd as it means we wont be playing a champions league team away, as it is now quite likely that we will be playing the first league at home, which i personally think is good!
I was brought up to win and I found it upsetting that those players picked didn't have the heart. NRC and Gardenr and the two youth players did - Shorey, Young, Marlon, Salifou where very poor .... Knight is so poor - calls himself a Villa fan .... come on - A Villa fan would play with pride.
Regards Sidwell who I rate - the game was lost and the 2nd card just showed a lack of care - I'd fine him 2 weeks and give a little back to all those that wasted their money on a pointless trip watching the B team or in Knight's case Pub B Team.
MON was lame on his reasons why all the good players left behind. Anyway bring on Jan as we need some numbers in pronto.
So..any ideas on players that we should bring in? January is fast approaching and we'll all be glued to Sky Sports News everyday!!
Striker, creative (playmaker) midfielder a central defender to replace Knight is what we need in my opinion. Looking forward to Bouma coming back too.
Strikers: Martins, Ashton or Santa Cruz. Maybe someone from Europe? Mamadou Niang or Fred
Creative mid: Simplicio, Ben Arfa...
Defenders: I'd rather have someone like Paul Scharner than Zat Knight! Someone dependable and experienced would be great
No revelations after tonight's game. We all knew we need a few players to have a really top squad, and that some of the guys who played tonight just aren't up to it. One concern I'd have is that the back four that played tonight was arguably 75% of our first choice back four - at least at the start of the season, and they're all MoN signings.
Knight, Salifou and Harewood all should be moved on - although who's going to take Salifou I have no idea. Delfouneso, however, is clearly going to be a top player. Just one striker needed in January I think.
As for the significance of the game, I would say it was embarrassing to lose to a team who, with the best will in the world, would struggle to finish in the top half of the Prem. But it makes no difference where we finished in the group - as MoN said - because the standard of opposition is going to be pretty low whatever. The teams I'm most concerned about are Man City and Spurs, and yes, I am implying that we're favourites for the cup. 3 points, and all is forgotten. Let's just hope we get a couple of quality players in when January comes.
Kaptabs is spot on ... fair enough we all want to win every game and play exciting football, but tonight's game hadn't got much riding on it.
I mean, if we'd drew tonight in a dull 0-0 and finished 2nd, we'd have Bordeaux, Werder Bremen, Shaktar Donetsk, Marseille, Aalborg, Fiorentina, Dynamo Kiev or Zenit St Petersburg in the next round and would you really want that in your first knockout round?
Tonight was a night for the fringe players and i agree that some of them just aren't up to it, but on the other hand they came up against a strong side with quality throughout. Petric and Olic have 14 goals between them in the Bundesliga, Trochowski's a regular in the German squad, Matijsen's in the Dutch first team and so on ...
The excitement comes with primarily the first team, and teams like Manchester United have poor games in Europe by their standards (Aalborg, Celtic) and Chelsea (Cluj, Roma, Bordeaux) etc. but do you hear them whining?
At the end of the day, it may feel frustrating but O'Neill won't do it in the next round and I think with the first team we'd beat them should we play them again. The goals were long balls and a header which Davies and Laursen would have dealt with and Martin Jol has said himself that the first team are on their day the strongest in Group F and could well finish 4th in the Prem so no need to worry.
If Rangers and Zenit could reach the final last year why can't we? No one can come on here and say Rangers had a better squad than we have and as for the doom and gloom, think back a few years to O'Dreary and tell me tonight's result was that bad and our current position isn't good enough.
This could be a big season for the Villa and we all need to get behind them, tonight's game could have very little impact upon a potentially great season.
5 year plan is on course - UTV
Come on... be constructive because we learnt alot... plain and simple.. especially with 2 the two european games most of these boys have now played we now know who we need in the squad and who we don't!
Guzan... with a better defence.. he's average! Still think he's only a stop shotter and not much else!
Cueller - ok, bit slow, but no support and worked hard.
Knight - Needs replacing! Slow, no focus or desire! Served a purpose and no his time is up!
Young - pacey, decisive, will and should start every week
Shorey - shorty!.. thank god Bouma is back soon and we didn't pay to much!
Salifou - slow, bad touch, but.. works hard. Will do for now
Reo coker - showed a good turn of pace and can do a job!.. but never a captain! silent!
Sidwell - Determined and no suprise he had a frustrating evening! But will get my vote in the starting 11 because things will happen1!
Gardner - We know what he can do. He's decent, versatile and will rightly remain a squad player.
Harewood - Bye bye!
Defonsou - I personally thought he had a great second half. Worked hard, won more balls in the air than any other villa player, for a 17 year old showed class and composure on the ball. And im sure he turned his leg to get his goal! He will play for villa for many years to come and with his height, pace, and hopefully a bit more stregnth, he's promising.
Osbourne can go now as well.
And Routledge has hit form at Cardiff... but... just don't see it happening for him.
We need a striker, a left back, a winger and a central midfielder. Tonight showed just how wrong our season could go with a spat of injurys!
Ps... I am PRO Ashton! Get the lad in. Lets take a gamble on the injurys. He could be a steal
UTV
We fielded a team of second rate players, we all know that we have qualified and it's smart to rest the big guns for Sunday. Agreed with most on opinions regarding Zat Knight Salifou. Guzan was also complete shit tonight, he had a howler in the last game and continued tonight, he's too short and has no command of his area, Stuart Taylor is a far better keeper. We found out a few things in the last two games, we have about 14 decent players in the squad and the rest are shit, I am sure that's going to be rectified in January with Harewood and Knight off to the championship, Shorey is also embarrassing why we bought him is beyond me. Good point is that Delfuonso is looking like a capable player, nice to see the young lads come thorugh.
The fact is we are 4th in the premiership and in the last 32 for the UC, any of you would have taken that at the start of the season so let us not start complaining about the manager, he actually doing very well with what he has.
Shorey
Harewood
Knight
Maybe under DOL but not now, not good enough.
Luke young, salifou and reo-coker played quite well. But not enough players put in the effort that they should have to impress.not enough tempo and too many long balls. knight was awful and shorey is poor.bit disapointed, if we put a decent team out n beat zellina, we coulda topped group easily.
If we beat West Hamm, whom we should, I'm not going to complain much about our first teamers being rested. The purpose of doing so will then be fulfilled. I want Champions League!
The worrying thing is, everyone is talking about this team not being good enough, but O'Neill has signed 9 of those players. The game didn't matter, so the result is unimportant, but it has highlighted our weakness in the transfer market - too many panic buys.
Thanks for putting this up Luke.
I gotta be honest - we all knew when the manager came out and said he didn't care where we finished that we were going to get a hiding and a hiding we got.
I know of some people that left the stadium after the second goal and quie a few that lef after the third.
Fantastic night though and I've got video .. which I'll be trying to upload to YouTube later
Reply to maindog:
my sentiments exactly.
cheer up guys. you all knew the team was going to be the youth/reserves. So what we lost. Who cares? it was a meanigless training excercise for the second string. Forget about it.
Now lets turn over west ham and arse and the gap could be 10 massive.
COME ONE YOU VILLA LETS GO FOR THE CHAMPS LEAGUE
Reply to kaptabs:
well said mate
Reply to kaptabs:
Couldn't agree more
Who cares about last night really. MON was spot on in picking that team as Sat's game is 10 times more important and also it should show MON that we need a lot more quality in our squad in Jan. I thought Delf played very well for a youngster away in Europe to a top German side and also that Bannan looked like a very confident young player as well who hopefully will start to get more time on the pitch in the near future. I hink this is the first time i have ever come on here to defend MON after a defeat but perspective is really needed here. Now if we lose on Sat im sure my view will have changed. By the way i doesn't matter who we get in the next round. If we are not good enough to beat what teams are in the compettion we would be better off going out early and concentrating on the holy grail of getting champions league football next year.
lets get things into perspective.
Hamburg are one of the better teams in the competition, they will fancy the semis at least.
We played our second team and could have scored 3 goals away from home, versus this team, on another night.
Plus, our first string defence would not have conceded any of the three sloppy goals we let in last night.
Bottom line is we're through and MON did the right thing.
Dissapointing but expected. Won't go on about Salifou, marlon, and Knight its obvious they need to be moved on. The lesson to MoN is you rarely get bargains anymore under 5 million.
Sidwell will get a few goals but as a midfielder is very limited on what I've seen, nuisance value at best. Early days though.
When will Gardner get a run in central midfield ? He'll move on like Cahill and that's a shame.
Barry Bannan, the new Alex Cropley, wow !
Reply to HectorFullone:
I do agree with that comment about Sidwell. There are def goals in him but he really doesn't do enough in the centre of the park for me.
Reply to kaptabs:
You da man.
I can't believe everybody are (rightly) on Knights back and yet are ignoring a completely inept performance by Cuellar. Yes Knight is a poor player, but we all know this already. Cuellar we expect better from, but last night (and the last couple of games tbh) he was shocking and nowhere near an £8million+ defender.
Overall I think (as seems to be the general consensus) that our second string is not good enough to compete. What was the most disappointing aspect of last night was not that we lost but that there was a huge lack of effort by everyone involved.
I just think that if you go into a game half-hearted you will get beaten, and that is what happened last night.
I didn't watch the game last night. Generally however I think Knight is being made a scapegoat. Cuellar has been less than impressive and we all give him the benefit of the doubt because lets face it we want to believe! Laursen has made mistakes and we turn the other way. Knight can have good games and unfortunately plenty of bad games but he isn't as bad as some are making him.
I think the problem is we haven't yet got a good defensive structure and players are being played all over the place and with different partners. We need a commanding centre half who will rule the 6 yard box and not get sucked out. Sol Campbell 2 years ago whould have been ideal.
One thing I would add is this - if you play centre half you don't need resting. Paul McGrath did it pissed on one leg.
Reply to AVMark:
Good point well made. Altough I agree with resting certain players I don't think you should mess with your defensive set-up unless that change is a forced one.
Stop moaning ffs sake the plan all along was beat Ajax prove we can beat the best,get enough on the board to go through and we did.Theres alot of u who no fcuk all about football.
Reply to HOOLY:
Bit harsh mate but totally agree, there was no need to play any first team players at all last night. And anyone that says different is very short sighted.
However I agree with other comments that certain players are not up to the standard of a top five reserve team (won't mention names but there was at least 6 of them) the only problem is on last nights performance I don't think MON will be able to give them away let alone get a decent amount for them!!
Reply to AVMark:
Absolutely. His knees were so dodgy with arthritis he could barely train. And yes, he did like the grog.
I'm GLAD a lot of people agree with me, but please do not use my comments as some sort of fame builder
I certainly do not want to alienate any fans i may build up but rather i embrace you
MON did exact;y what he should have done last night.
NMot only did he miss couple of banana skins, he gave opportunities to those who need to prove themselves (admittedly they didn't take it)
and he made sure we were full strength for the weekend.
Those moanign about tis result are the low riders who are on the bandwagon for every single result rather than seeing the big picture, and by the way the picture is large.
We will do well in the Uefa cup now it properly starts and hopefully glories in that wont demean what we are trying to do in the premiership.
Those moaning, take a gulp, look at the picture i talk about, i have a painting if you want it, and support your effing team rather than moaning as soon as you can.
I have to disagree Luke, you say 'Zat Knight is probably the worst player I've seen in claret and blue'. This is not true. He is DEFINITELY the worst player ever to wear claret and blue. I could go as far as saying that he is the worst player I have ever seen, anywhere.
Even that Ali Dia who Souness got pranked with at Southampton plays better than him!
Salifou is League 1 at best. I know he's got cult status at Villa, but come on everytime he makes an appearance he's utter sh*te.
I just feel bad for the fans who travelled, perhaps Lerner could apologise for the disgraceful performance of his staff and reimburse them??
But heh, we're through to the next round and we'll avoid Man City and Spurs cos of the 'same nation' rule.
I hope the rest he's given our star players pays off and we perform against West Ham.
I hate losing
My mate works at Villa in the sales dept. The talk in the club is that MON didn't want to win the group as he wanted to play away in the second leg as we play Chelsea a couple of days after the first leg and he didn't want the team to be flying home in between these matches.
Anyone at the game think MON not as animated on the touchline as usual? It appeared not on tv so would back up this notion.
As for the worst player to play for Villa, Tommy Craig in the late 1970s by a mile.
HectorFullone - be careful who you compare to Alex Cropley, he was my boyhood idol.
Luke - I think that you're being a bit harsh on Delfouneso, it was an opportunist goal and not pure luck.
Reply to kaptabs:
thats the spirit old chap,well said. i would have gone further last night and played all the kids he took with him to see how they would have done they are the future (not harewood,salifou and knight)we already knew they aint the standard we now need
I dont think there is a same nation rule in the uefa cup , anyone know for sure ?
I hope I never see Knight,Salifou and Harewood in a Villa shirt again.I rate Sidwell but he is petulant and needs a bollocking,silly red cards will cost us dear in forthcoming fixtures.I believe Petric and Olic are for sale in January, How much !!! quality strikers.I hope we don"t buy Ashton,he is far to risky a buy with all his injuries.
bit harse on knight harewood and salifou being "the worst" players in villa shirts! did any of you witness jlloyd samuel and liam ridgewell play for us...lol either way mon should get rid like the previously terrible players he was quick to show the door to!
Reply to Altan:
We can't get City or Spurs in the next round.
Reply to notsosilentbob:
I think Bosko Balaban must be the worst of all time.
Reply to ak_27:
I Don't know, Bryan Small was pretty bad!
Bosko Balaban - the worst signing in premiership history - well played JG!!
It's a shame Salifou cannot get a game along side Milner/Barry/Petrov/Young to see how he plays with better players around. He was better last night than the last Euro game.
It's also a bit sad for Zat - he is a Villa fan but is just not good enough - another offcast for the Small Heath mugs?
Simon Stainrod, Nigel Callaghan. Balaban never really got a start did he?
Not too bothered about the team put out or the result. if we are going to win the uefa cup we have to beat any team in it. Just feel sorry for the supporters that made the trip. hopefully many more big ones to come though.
it does show we need 4 or 5 solid squad players that can come in and do a job and not look out of place, but i think that comes with the territory. If we get 4th place we will get solid squad players that are happy to sit on the bench for a team playing champs league and chalenging.
Reply to ak_27:
Think we can play an English club. Sure Channel 5 said there is no same nation rule last night. Can't find anything on the UEFA site. To add to what has already been said, great disappointment last night, feel sorry for the travelling fans and glad I never paid to go!! The whole European Football thing is a joke - Champions League where you can finish 4th in your national league and qualify!! UEFA Cup where you can finish 3rd in a group stage and qualify for the knockout wtf. Should be Champions of each country plus the previous winner in Champs League, with maximum 3 from each country for UEFA cup on a straight knockout, which would avoid all this "second team" shit. Rant over, back to winning ways against the spammers Saturday evening.
P.S. Anyone got 2 spare tickets to Arsenal on Boxing Day, Lower Holte preferably as my daughter wants to go? Will pay, obviously!
bosko balaban lol
so we've all agreed that knight harewood and salifou are not the worst but added to the list of the worst players to don a mighty villa shirt! 
Reply to notsosilentbob:
David Unsworth?!!!!!!
Reply to notsosilentbob:
Can we add Milan Baros to that list aswell please!!
Bannan was the good news from last night. He possesses what Osbourne and Salifou clearly lack: urgency and desire – what they now call ‘tempo’.
Posters repeatedly say ship the deadbeats out – but who’d have ‘em.
More good news is that Villa clearly know now, before the transfer window, who isn’t up to scratch and needs replacing.
Reply to kaptabs:
It's a footy blog, not the civil rights movement..
Does anyone know when Carew is expected to be back?
hold on we could actually make a full team of crap player here
gabor kirialy
gariyaeb ridgewell knight samuel
___?____ salifou djembax2 ___?____
deadwood baros
christ that team wouldnt survive the fizzy pop league
agathe
osbourne
Comontator summed it up when he said "Aston villa's team may be good enough to break the top 4, but it proves there squad is far from it" That to me is short simply but so true.
critising MON... what if we took full strenth side... lost... young and gabby got injured... finished 3rd in uefa group and lost on saturday... ud still be moaning then. Fact is... we have our 5 best players fresh and wanting to get into Champs League. We are through... in europe after xmas...when was the last time that happened??????
stop complaining and get behind the gaffer and the boys!!! Up the villa!!!
Another shocker to play for the Villa:
NII LAMPTEY (I was only a little kid when we signed him, he was dubbed the "African Pele" and i think he only played once and went with Big Ron to Cov.
Oh and Giles De Bilde on loan from Sheff Weds. - that man was a pure and simple joke.
We were always going to lose today--we played four central mids for goodness sakes.
But, first, I don't know why people have singled out Knight. Cuellar was shocking last night---he was at fault for two of the three goals. I also don't understand the digs at Guzan. What did he do wrong? OK, perhaps he could've saved the third goal---but perhaps not.
Second, both Reo-Coker and Delfouneso played rather well. They both had drive. Reo-Coker got forward well, and Delfouneso put a few good balls into the box and demonstrated the ability to beat players off the dribble.
Texas_Villain - it's the way it goes now. A lot of football fans from all clubs call themselves supporters - but what does that exactly mean in their world? Do they support their club? The manager? the players? If the definition of support is only to applaud when a team does well then by definition in return the team don't need them.
Now I'm not talking about blind loyalty - just SOME bloody loyalty would be nice. I'm all for constructive criticism but oftentimes the stuff thrown at players and managers is plain nasty. Why label Knight the worst player we ever had? Firstly we have been around over one hundred years so the person who makes that claim is either a time lord or an ignoramus. Secondly, he patently isn't and thirdly why pick someone out as a scapegoat? The guy is an honest pro and he hasn't played well fair enough but show some respect as well. In twenty years time when he's long since retired make as much fun as you like, it won't hurt him. At the moment all the team and players need everyone's 100% support. We CAN make a difference.
Kaptabs = antitaglor
can't people have their own opinion anymore?
Folk on here do my nut right in sometimes...
Oneil got it spot on by playing the b side why risk it when we are through he careless where we finished? To be honest i couldn't either because just getting to the semi's we'll have to beat a few good teams along the way 'bring it on and jan we'll have some new blood most likely players who are not cuptied and allowed to register or whatever its called in time? I hope we see hamburg along the line again i thought there attackers looked ace
It was the odds for me that said it all
hamburg 11/10 Villa 10/3 we were never gonna win
I just expected a bit of passion and desire from them after all they are premier players at villa? playing away in europe and it was obvisiously that this squad couldn't cope. clueless irractic boring mental confused springs to mind when i think of yesterday whiping! reserves or not oneil bought them as ''squad players i never wanna see most of them again let alone in the squad.
Salifou as the togonese zidane still gets me everytime
av mark
White washing again i see, knight is rubbish for a pro mate and needs to be shown the door asap
Who is knight compared to lets say upson the answer is.... you know? why have squad players
Why hasn't he been playing this season is it because we have better or is it that he's not up to scratch i believe its both
Reply to kaptabs:
Well said, kaptabs.
I understand the traveling support will be disappointed, but everyone else needs to take a deep breath and get their heads around the concept of "meaningless game".
If MON had played the regular starters, then lost to WH at the weekend, he'd be getting slagged for that.
No, the side is not particularly deep. That's why he's resting the key players ahead of meaningful games when he can. That will change with time.
But nearly halfway through the season, MON's starters are sandwiched between Utd and Arsenal.
If you're not happy with that and can't give MON his due, you're just a silly person.
The league is priority one. Everything else is secondary (unless, I'm guessing, MON sees a real oppty for UEFA silverware materializing). He's giving all these young and fringe players a chance to taste Europe, prove their worth. Some did, some didn't, some were just there to build their experience. But MON's been fair, said, "Here you go, nice big game for you lads. It's up to you."
Goldie 2 things.
1. It's easy to be negative but it gets you nowhere and IS detrimental to the team. No pro out there ever got booed and thought to himself "oh dear that's not nice I had better start playing with more confidence". The next thing once you start a scapegoat culture is for fans to start booing Knight when we are playing badly and he gets the blame - a la Eboue the other day at Arsenal.
2. Your opinion is he is rubbish. Fair enough your opinion. I'm just saying why go beyond that? Why say "for a pro he is rubbish"? That's just crap and apart from making you look like an idiot is unnecessary.
Reply to AVMark:
Spot on!
See there you go again putting me with the fans that boo players and disgrace them? i spoke to osbourne a few months back and knight was in the passenger they have it too comfortable at villa and ossy just signed a new deal, they are doing well but all said and done they're simple not good enough for where we wanna go
Do you know when to call a spade a spade facts are facts read ^above and check out h&v aswell i'm not the only one but say we lost 3-1 to hull at home then i might shout afew obsinities from the trinity with or without knight
Eboue played terrible and sloppy im not agreeing with the booing but he was all over the place and got replaced rightly so we are hopefully gonna steal there place because of their bad form if you were a gunner you'd be pissed off aswell
Goldie it wears me out just reading you I hate to think what it would be like having to share a bloody car ride!
I'm not trying to put you down and I agree with most of what you said above.
We are not journalists or commentators therefore we don't have to be seen to be impartial and fair. We are supporters and therefore we have the opportunity to get behind our team even when they don't deserve it. It would be nice sometimes if some people (and I don't mean you) would take a deep breath when we are crap and think about how far we have come.
One last thing, you sound like the kind of guy who doesn't think twice before stating an opinion. Shooting from the lip! The only thing is this isn't a private ride in a motor nor a comment to a mate in the crowd at a game. This is the world wide web. Take it or leave it mate I'm not gonna labour the point anymore but I just think saying the guy is rubbish as a pro is way too harsh and personally damning. I don't think his performances taken as a whole for the club deserve that level of criticism. Other more gullible people start getting on the bandwaggon and it's personal.
Reply to kaptabs:
Bandwagon Bandwagon
I have been following the Villa since the early 60s
The bigger picture is we have had had some good fortune again this season.
A lot of MONs panic buys are average at best.
Look at the papers today, I am ashamed that my club disrespected Hamburg & the Travelling fans Last night.
We have done this in to many competitions this season; We may be in an European spot but lets not forget we have been accused of choking when the Big matches come along.
It was a easy way out last night to give up before the game began then hide behind the second string players, Like we have with with losses in the league stating our current position.
Not Good enough, I will graciously accept defeat when we have taken part but not in this maner
Big matches come along??
Chelsea 2-0 LOST
Arsenal 2-0 WON
Liverpool 0-0 DRAW
MAN UTD 0-0 DRAW
How is that choking?? We want villa to mix with the big boys and they are!!! MON is gettin his priorties right... League 1st, the the cups... so i suppose u guys would be happy with winning last night and then losing saturday to west ham???
Thought not...
Reply to FatKev:
The other way of looking at it is that MON knows what he's doing. He's stuck with Gabby when fans were calling him lazy, criticizing his touch, work rate, finishing ability. He's stuck with Milner, who Capello seemingly admires, even though fans are criticizing him. He stuck with Petrov. He'll stick with Sidwell. He'll find ways to keep bringing Young on and getting him free and involved.
Basically, NRC is perhaps the one starting bust, and MON's giving others a chance now. MON demoted Knight. MON demoted Shorey. MON's kept Harewood where he belongs.
MON didn't disrespect Hamburg or the fans. He put out a weakened side for a meaningless game. He knows the fans will want us to win at the weekend and stay in CL contention. He's doing his best to make that possible.
Villa didn't choke with Arsenal or Utd. Didn't choke at Everton. They're learning, coming together. Last night was not a surrender before the fact. It was proper managing. Don't blow your wad on a game that gets you nothing just days before a game that has real meaning.
Is that so hard to understand?
I think Salifou as the Togoese (Togolese?) Zidane sort of tells you about the quality of players in Togo not named Adebayor. I'm in the group that isn't that concerned with the result. I don't like to see Villa play so poorly and lose, but Hamburg was playing for pride, and we were just playing to get the game over with and get to the weekend. Ship all the previously mentioned players off to Championship sides and bring in some quality squad players, and we'll keep moving along. Give Guzan a chance. He's only 24 and only plays sporadically. After his first start, everyone was talking about how amazing he was.
Disappointed, but not quite suicidal although it was me birthday yesterday. Took night off work, saved up to watch game in pub. MON was right to do it the way he did, and I don't like getting on players' backs because I am sure MON is doing that on our behalf right now.
I feel a bit sorry for Wham - they're about to reap the whirlwind.
UTV
Reply to kohoutek:
Amen
The car ride would be great i wouldn't be singing to james blunt though
Shooting from the lip! spot on my boss said the same thing to me on wednesday
s**t performance but i wasnt expecting any good out of the game anyway with such a weak side being put out, like the Zilina game im just going to focus on positives, we got a good look at some of the youngsters and Delfouneso scored again! Lets put him and Gabby upfront against West Ham and see how they do together!!! UTV
bill howells a tosser,hes still saying the ball hit fonzy,he defo turned his body to make contact
Reply to Ugly_Betty:
Ha ha, i was just fooling about.
To kohoutek, sorry mate but MON's responsibility is to the club not us.
Yes of course fans are important, but his responsibility is to get us into good league positions and allow us good cup runs.
We are currently fourth in the league!!, In the knockout stages of the cup having come through the Inter-two bob and who knows what will happen now we don't have Man Utd in the third round of the FA Cup.
A win on the weekend and MON's team selection was 100% justified, although in my mind, it already is....sorry.
Kaptabs - I know - it was just your beautifully evangelical tone, I couldn't help it.
Anyhow, in sentiment, I'm with you - I don't get the moaning etc. and am with the boys fully.
Reply to Ugly_Betty:
Well said
Reply to ak_27:
Never...He's getting sold is a couple of weeks...
Careful _AA_, you don't want to wake the Taglor from his slumber.
looks like MON was right,man citeh & the spuds had both qualified,played some big names in their teams and have lost robinho and modric for the weekend,take note some of you moaners
i dont care where we finished in the group but what really bothered me was.
1. mon didnt tell the lads to go out and lose they should have been up for it
2.marewood is shit
3.fright is shit
4.salifou is shit (thank god young fonz scored because it disguesed his shit shot)what a joke i didnt see one forward pass from him all night.
5.every time carlos gets a chance to play in the middle its with fright who would make mcgrath look bad
6.shorey should be renamed all at sea-ey
all in all the second string just arent good enough but it was nice to see young bannan and fonz do well
Reply to Ugly_Betty:
lol, i really was just messing around in the face of some ridiculous over reaction. Fully agree with you btw.
As for those complaining about Shorey especially the chap who called him "All-At-Sea", the guy looked excellent when he was playing for Reading, i mean seriously good.
I think some pundits were calling for him to be given International chances.
A step-up can sometimes hinder a players career, but it doesn't have to ruin it. If we get behind him he could be a really good player for us with his confidence back. I just hope the moaners who make up 75% of our crowd can give him some encouragement maybe.
(How about you guys just try it for a change??!!)
Having said that, can't wait for Wilf to get back. The genius that he is.
And to touch on Knight/Fright (whatever his name is) he was awful for Fulham, an awful signing, and is now still, an awful player. MON knows it though. He wont be here much longer, don't worry.
Reply to kaptabs:
Oh, and btw, kohoutek should have been replaced by Fat Kev, sorry if i caused offence, my mistake.
I didn't see the game but it sounds like it was good experience for the players and at least we are through to the next round anyway. Bring on the next round proper!
Reply to taglor:
I love the new Tags!!!
Calm down Keef before you start!!
Reply to Villa_Chris:
I haven't said a word mate
keef check your wall...
Just thought i'd ask the question , who does everyone want to draw today in the next round of uefa cup ? St Etienne should be easy !
Everyone’s being very well behaved here. It’s harmonious and peaceful and, generally speaking, this blog’s cluttered with wiseacre head-nodding about O’Neill’s cleverness in protecting our valuable assets for the weekend fixture.
Well, it’s got to stop. This is boring. Taglor, it’s your job to be controversial; you are the nominated shit-stirrer. Get to it, man!
Reply to churchil:
We need to promote love and harmony churchil, behave yourself!!
This is the REAL Taglor! Dont try and lure him into being the target of abuse!!
Reply to Villa_Chris:
OK Chris, you're right. I'll behave.
CSKA Moskva? Do we like this?