Live text: Stoke 3 Aston Villa 2
Saturday, 23 August 08, 02:50 PM · Comments (95)
Right, we did this last week and it sort of worked, so we're doing it again. Only real concern is that the beer isn't here yet, but apart from that we're ready to go.
Almost the same format from last week, but instead of time, we'll be using minutes played during the match.
We'll start with team news and the lads representing Aston Villa today are: Friedel, L.Young, Shorey, Laursen, Davies, Reo-Coker, Barry, Petrov, A.Young, Carew and Agbonlahor. On the bench: Taylor, Osbourne, Harewood, Knight, Gardner, Salifou and Routledge.
So, we're ready and about to start. Hold on to your hats, I'm thinking a few goals today. Beer just arrived too, absolutely perfect timing. Well done wife.
2.55pm: Forgot to mention, you can leave comments below, which I won't be reading throughout the match or you can email blog@villabanter.com which will be coming direct here on the other screen. If you've got anything interesting to say send it in, otherwise just send in some Villa banter.
2.57pm: Martin Laursen leads the players out. Interesting fact; this is the Premier Leagues newest stadium. Nice. We'll still get three points today!
2.58pm: Doh! Thomas Sorensen is wearing orange, much like Manchester City last week and that almost made me sick. Still we scored four goals. We might do better today with the Dane in goal.
We win the toss and decide to stay where we are. Stoke are to kick off.
Kick off: Stoke kick off and hit it out wide to the left.
1 min: Stoke get a long throw in and they were unlucky to get a foot on it. It really was a chance.
3 min: Young heads down to Gabby and Stoke knock it out for a corner. Sorensen actually came out and caught it!
5 min: I don't want to cause alarm but big Curtis seems to be hobbling.
7 min: It is all Stoke for the opening minutes. They've just had a free kick from the left hand side which went straight to Brad, but big Curtis is still hobbling. Where is the bloody bottle opener!
9 min: That Rory Delap of Stoke can really throw a ball. This time he threw it direct to big Brad from about 40 yards out. Villa need to get a grip on this game. The first 10 minutes have all been Stoke.
12 min: Stoke have a corner. Fuller beat Laursen to the header and kicked it off the defender for the corner. It gets sent to Kitson on the other side, nothing much happens.
14 min: Big Curtis doesn't seem to be hobbling any more and Young has just crossed into the box, to nobody. Stoke are on the attack.
16 min: We're coming into the game now. This first goal is going to be important and if Stoke get it they'll put every man behind the ball. If we get it, I can see us getting a few today.
You can hear the travelling support and not much from Stoke, but I'm sure they'll liven up.
18 min: Stoke are playing with Fuller up front by himself. He's just done a good job of holding the ball up, played it wide right and the cross went too far. I like playing one up front, but the support has to be quicker than this if Stoke hope to compete this season.
In case any of you are interested I've put a tenner on Blackburn, Arsenal and us today and I'm about to get another beer. I'm going to be drunk again very soon.
21 min: We have a corner, from some good build up play. Young took it and it went too far. Sorensen got a fist to it.
The travelling support are signing for Salifou. It'll be nice to see if he gets a full 90 minutes this season.
25 min: Everything seems to have slowed down although Rory Delap just launched another long one. We're breaking and Gabby gets the ball down and heads to Young, who crosses too long.
26 min: Carew gets tripped wide left. This is Young territory and I'm expecting Carew to want to meet it in the box. Sorensen knew exactly where it was going. No surprise there.
27 min: Gabby went down in the box. I'm not convinced the referee actually saw it, so he didn't give it. I didn't see it properly, but the replay does show a push. Stoke were lucky.
29 min: Penalty to Stoke. The ref saw that one then. Replay shows it wasn't a penalty. Delap dived.
31 min: Stoke score. Friedel goes the right way but it was in the corner. It wasn't a penalty. Delap dived when Laursen went in. There was no contact. Does that make Delap a cheat? We need to step up a gear now.
34 min: Stoke are on the attack. We need to put our foot on the ball and take control. If we don't, they'll come out in the second half thinking they can win and there is only one thing worse than a team thinking they can win. Still, plenty of time and I'm not actually that worried.
36 min: Lovely ball from webcam Ashley to Luke Young across field. He passes to a non right sided midfielder in Reo-Coker and nothing much happens. We're off the pace at the moment and I'm looking forward to the second half.
38 min: A long long ball you'd think Brad was going to get but by the time Friedel gets there Fuller is on top of him so he cant pick it up. Fuller gets the ball and kicks it just wide. Martin O'Neill doesn't want any extra minutes.
It's not an excuse but Stoke do have 10 men behind the ball. It's not easy. We need something special from someone.
41 min: First threat from Carew. He gets the ball on the edge of the box, gets almost round his man, shoots and just wide. Goal kick.
43 min: Webcam Ashely looks like he's moved over to the right hand side for the last few minutes. The football isn't really that great and for those arguing we need real quality, they only have to point the doubters to this 45 minutes as proof.
Half Time: It was poor. Stoke will be happy, not just because they're in the lead, but because it looks like this is what they came out to do and they've done it. I'm not entirely sure what we've come out to do, because you've got to fancy the coaching staff would have fancied Stoke to come out to do exactly this. I still think we'll do the business and that our quality will win but we need more quality.
Right, get your emails in to blog@villabanter.com with your views or opinion on the game or, leave a comment below.
I'm off for a few minutes to read an email from George, who'll get a response soon. Thanks to JohnB for the kind words and Steve, yes, I'm going to get very drunk, thanks. Kevin; I've got a bottle ready, if that happens and yes Sue, I'm still wearing the Villa shirt and it does stink.
Right, the wife has just told me she's going out for her bi-monthly book club dinner/meeting. If you didn't know my wife is blonde, Swedish and nearly 6 feet tall. I'm not arguing with her, she can do whatever she wants. She is also making me a burger before she goes. Good girl.
I knew about the book club thing and it's nice to see taglor is commenting. Good lad, but remember, there is still 45 minutes to go taglor, we could score three, easy.
Right, second half about to start. We need to see a little more desire this half.
46 min: Free kick for Villa. Carew is knocked off the ball. 45 yards out, but the ball has to go into the box. Barry to take. Nothing.
48 min: Looks like we've come out with a plan to score some goals. I know it's early, but I don't want us to run out of steam. Stoke are still playing with one man up front. Cowards.
51 min: Young gets the ball out wide, Barry is too far forward. Young has no confidence in who to pass to so tries going forward. Ball gets to Barry in the box who, with his right foot, chips it wide.
52 min: Stoke have another corner. Is our pressure over? Nothing comes of the corner.
54 min: Gabby gets forward and wide on the left. There is no support so he can do nothing. You can not question work rate today so far, but there is a good argument for not enough quality.
43 min: Goal for Carew. Aston Villa 1
55 min: Young has a free kick wide left. He crosses straight to Sorensen. Very poor free kick.
56 min: Another free kick for webcam Ashley to take from 45 yards out. Again, straight to Sorensen. Again, very poor. There are no excuses if we lose today.
It's fair to say we've having the lions share of possession this half but we don't know what to do with it. Barry seems to be in a sort of free role with Petrov sitting behind him and in front of the back four. Overall, 2 out of five so far.
63 min: Goal for Carew. Get in there. 1-1! It came from nothing really, but it counts.
68 min: If you're talking about pressure, it's all us. I can smell a winner.
I just heard that Liverpool are losing 1-0 at home. Nice day today.
73 min: It looks like Routledge is coming on. Who for though? I suspect Petrov, with Reo-Coker going into the middle.
It's actually Nicky Shorey, from left back. Luke Young has gone to left back, Reo-Coker at right back and Routledge on the right wing. He's just won us a corner. It really is all us at the moment, but you'd expect that.
News from the dugout; it was a tactical change, no injury to Shorey. Fifteen minutes to go. We need more pressure.
80 min: Just over 10 minutes to go. We wasted 45 minutes today and if it ends up costing us I hope someone accepts responsibility.
81 min: Stoke score. Barry gave the ball away, they attack, they score. Barry to blame. Fuller scores and this has been a poor day.
We have basically lacked quality today so far. Sure, we could go score three in the last few minutes, but I can't see it. The lads have worked 100% today but we never doubt work ethic. We don't have enough quality, simple as.
83 min: Laursen scores! Scrappy goal, from a long free kick into the box, but I'll take the goal.
If we win this in the next few minutes, I'll stop drinking for the rest of the night!
86 min: We could win this. Routledge is looking lively and it only takes a minute. However, Routledge just won the ball ran forward and played into empty space. I'm not saying the word.
88 min: You all know I like webcam Ashley but he likes to look for the free kick. He did just now, but we got a corner. It went nowhere. We need real pressure these last three or four minutes.
Four added minutes. Gabby might have had a good game last week, but today, he's been average and we need better. The exact same could be said for Barry and maybe one or tow others, but I won't.
94 min: Stoke score. Another Rory Delap long throw. This time, they get a head to it and it goes in.
Simply not good enough today. Not enough quality and no real idea. Was them coming out playing like this a surprise? I don't think so.
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95 Comments · Add yours
4 0 today merson said if gabby gets a hattrick today hes better than maradonna ha
I aint got Beer either but I got a 4 pint of chocolate Milk.
The ones you see at Asda and maybe other places
game is being streamed live on justin.tv
Oh yea I heard that about Gabby
fitzy, can you send me the link i cannot find it
fitzy what channel is it on
You had to expect Stoke to come flying out of the traps with this being their first Premier League home game. A goal against the run of play will put a stop to it!
LINK
that should work to stream game sound is a bit dodgy and is a tad blurry but is good enough quality
1-0
What the f00k is going on?
Has the ref got a stoke shirt or a white stick
Well if Stoke try to sit on this lead that will be perfect because they aren't going to keep Villa out for 64 minutes, they will more likely conceded 2 or 3 and lose.
LINK
for your sins
does any1 know how I can watch this game live????
watching it in australia - we r playing so bad - deserve to be down
shocking performance
This is a joke, first Agonloahor should have had a penalty. Then Delap was offside when the ball come through to him, and then he dived. How can the referee/ assistant not see anything.
we look a shambles
Holy crap that was close.
Please someone help a Villain out with a url for a live stream!?
george have u watched villa in over the last 15 years? we have never been able to break teams down that sit back and get men behind the ball. thats the last thing we want.
commentators are slating us
Well I am hoping we have better quality in this squad than we've had most of the last 15 years and that somehow we'll get that early goal in the second half and then blitz them. I am glad MON gave the refs the devil as he walked off the field, what a soft penalty.
From the other matches:
Blackburn 1-1 Hull
Liverpool 0-0 Middlesbrough
Newcastle 0-0 Bolton
Stoke 1-0 Aston Villa
Tottenham 0-0 Sunderland
West Brom 0-0 Everton
rumour Nathan Smith from Yeovil is at VP!! Left Back but can also play in midfield.
HAHAHAHH all you sheep we r same no of players and santa cruz was bollocks same as de la red will be, NOT TOP 4 TEAM AT ALL YOU dreamersssssssssssssssssssssssss. MON is clueless OUT NOW! Unless he signs 8 great players in less than 2 weeks we are screwed to a borrrrrrrrring season. hahahahahha dreamers more like followers hehehehehehe
Cheers for the live stream info!
Second half will be a different story once O'Neill has given them a good bollicking. Remember the Newcastle performance last season and second half we tore them apart after falling behind in the first. Im going for 3-1 Villa.
I'd look into that BI monthly book club if I was you lol
Cheer up, Taglor. I hate to see a grown man cry.
They should be better 2nd half.
come on boys lets score a few! taglor, your so so obviously a blues fan! cheers for the updates Damian!
we are never scoring today
DanWilson that was hilarious how did you come up with that golden retort wow you are such an idiot and ugly too.
so what do people thing about swp??? comming in?
or milner? any idea's?
just said on foxtv in australia - villa are playing as poor as anything i have seen in a long time lol - we are dreadful
ha taglor idiot maybe but im damb pretty ill have you know! ;) Spurs are down to Sunderland classic! Come on Villa!
lacklustre and woeful have just been used to describe us - couldnt sum it up better
How the hell can we be bad against Stoke but good against City.
Come on Villa you can do better
Car crash tv....cant remember our last shot...on target or otherwise. Poor.
Hahaha! Spoke to soon!
Alright Villa! You've got the equalizer, get the winner!
That's more like it lads.
yes 1-1 come on villa
Two more to go then !!
BIG JOHN FOR president!
Big John Carew
Come on lads lets get another one!!
IVE GOT 2 TICKETS TO PARADISE
According to the lads on Soccer Saturaday Carew has been Bamby on Ice through out the game
get in!!!!
It seems Stoke aren't sticking as many behind the ball, and Villa are starting to get more space.
haha
Liverpool 0 - 1 Mddlesbrough
Now why does Barry want to go there :/
That's fantastic!
shauns MOTM for celtic today >:(
to make love with Gerrard
Routledge for Shorey. INteresting, MON.
When's Sorensen going to make one of his patented bad errors that he used to make when he played for the Villa?
Stoke are bit ridiculous. Someone's going to get hurt out there. THey've knackered themselves, now all they can do is foul.
A bad pass in the midfield started all that! Damn!
wot a goal
FFS! Absolute rubbish.
2-1 down to stoke for fcuk sake o'neill sort it out.top 4 dont make me larf on this showing
what a joke, this is so poor
get what you can for him mon
Alright lets try it again. Go get the winner!
Oh my brother testify
o'neill i fcuking love you
Come on you villa lads. get the winner!
laursen is god,our very own captain marvel!
Barry doing badley,
Thank You Rafa you fat spannish W@anker
Another late goal costs a point. Wow. What a bad day!
Its only the second game of the season and the players are already looking tired,like Gabby, we need players, we need another striker, we a need a right midfielder, and Gerrard had just scored the winner for Liverpool!!
Our defence is a joke.
this is a nightmare ... i've stopped watching.
nice to see we o'neill has sorted out our defensive frailties that cost us last year.....oh dear
absolute joke
who was the team in blue today? ;D
I cant believe this, wake up MON!!!!!!
Cuellar needs to get fit soon.
Crap goal, and a crap loss. If Stoke can keep that up every week, fair play. But that will be their game of the season.
Absolutely dire.
Barry played poorly, we used too many long balls, and when we finally got a few passes together someone decided a long ball was a great idea. Carew and Agbonlahor ran a lot but they just weren't given the service. Brad Friedel didn't have a good game at all but he couldn't really do much about the penalty because they're pretty damn hard to save when they're in the corner, and the last goal was just too close range really.
Poor poor result and that will definitely set us back for the Liverpool game. We cannot be starting any more games without a real right winger. Or at least play 4-3-1-2 and Young has a free role because Reo-Coker just isn't working there.
why bring on wayne if we cannot switch the play left to right
carlos will have to play next week
and hopefully two new signings
brad looked all at sea too due to lack of cover
still lets put that behind us and roar them on next week
rob
thats depressin. who the fuck are stoke?!?!? we shud be bashin teams like this all day >:( >:(
What a joke - mon pull your finger out!! our defence is embarrassing!!! we looked awful today! sign some fk;ing quality players or fk; off u irish pric!!! you keep saying we need them so get them!!!
Conceding 3 at Stoke ?
I can hardly wait to go to Man U and Arsenal.
We will get nowhere with the piss poor level of coaching these players recieve.
Yes, we always score but we never retain the ball !
We need a dramatic rethink.
It's great that Lerner gets on with O'neill so well.I just hope it does not cloud his judgement
we can't hold on one minute this is dire
top four my arse, Stoke city
Disaster....with all due respect who the F***K are Stoke...coming up from C/Ship and taking 3 points off us. I know it was there first game at home with all the hype and excitement but comon...I dont care how many players we need, thats not good enough. We havint won our opening two games of season since 1999 and i thought that would change today. A point itself would have been something. Was out mind on Europe. Clutching at straws here.
there is no way villa could break in Top4 with this kind of Performance. Davis looks exhausted already when 85 mins,prehaps we need get him ambulance....Absolutely rubbish!
I don't know how he same team from last week can perform so badly.
this is the supposedly 'improved' defence.
1 step forward, 1 step back
shocking!!!!!
i cant believe how people can think we can get into the top six let alone the top four with results like this!
lets now have 4 quality signings martin or we can expect no improvement on last season. totally gutted!!!!!
No creativity, no-one clued in at the back and no hope. An apology for todays performance has got to come from somewhere. Barry's mind was definitely elsewhere today and what a game he picked eh? Terrible performance and already tagging along behind in the early stages.
No Damian, I don't think it's a surprise, them coming out to play like this. They ran themselves into the ground, and when they didn't have the ball, they were quick to foul to stop the game. It can work well enough, as it did today, to throw a team off and make the game ugly and scrappy.
They get a penalty, and they've got life and it's all uphill. The last goal was quite a fluke, from the looks of it, and I couldn't see clearly online how their man beat Laursen for the second, but that also seemed a rather fortuitous bounce turning something well covered into a break. Well taken, but that's the sort of game and side I hate. It's dragged down, it's cynical. And without a dodgy penalty to keep them going, I don't think it would've worked nearly so well today.
Gutted! Maybe this will give O'Neill a kick up the arse and sort the squad out once and for all! No imagination and sloppy defending!
kohoutek
their third goals wasn't a fluke. they did it all game. they clearly practise it and its a tactic that worked for them today
It's gonna be tough finishing anywhere near 6th on this sort of performance. Some players just go missing. The squad needs beefing up to keep everyone on their toes. Two penalties conceded in two games, not good enough.
Gutted >:(
How can stoke terrorize us like that? we are the villa i saw it on on2 rubbish quality with no sound, we were rubbish and it has cost us big, Gabby isn't Magnificent as you lot calll it! Nice to see barry giving away fullers goal which was a turn & spin over laursen basically he got done....Im not happy at all
But to be fair to stoke they deserved to win. We deserve nothing for stupid mistakes that have cost us so many points in the past. They 3rd goal our whole team looked shocked as hell?
I did predict a draw and expected nothing more >:(
The penalty was the wellspring for all the bad things for the Villa today, but that doesn't excuse this team's poor play the next 60 minutes. I have to think that having 6-3 Carlos Cuellar would've made a big difference today. And whoever said that this might spur MON to get some more players in, I hope you are right.
phaedrus- after you saying that i can honestly seeing us beating man united and arsenal