The Fulham game, an optimists view
Monday, 01 December 08, 03:31 AM · Comments (62)
Association Football is the national sport of this country, and as such is an important part of English life. The sport is almost always referred to simply as football, unless you're American.
The Football League was established in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor and was the first professional football league in the world. d.
To this day that same football league remains the most entertaining, not just because of players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ashley Young and Fernando Torres, but because there are more upsets
in this competition than any other.
A team can be unlucky to only score two against Arsenal at the Emirates, manage to hold Manchester United to a draw in a game they could have won, had a penalty decision gone their way, then 7
days later can't get a goal against a mid to low table team like Fulham.
The Premier League results go against the odds more often than any other of the major national leagues.
A team like Stoke City can lose to Bolton then a week later beat a team like Aston Villa. Hull City could be destroyed at home by Wigan Athletic and then spend the next three weeks getting 7
points against teams like Everton, Newcastle and Arsenal.
What I'm trying to say is, that however annoying the result was on Saturday it's what makes the game of football what it is. A game can be decided on a simple refereeing mistake, a missed
sitter by a ginger midfielder or one centre back taking the ball off another at the far post.
Another day that game could have finished 4-0 to Villa.
Aston Villa are progressing well in the UEFA cup and despite those lost points are still sitting in fifth place with games against Everton, Bolton and West Ham coming up.
By the time January comes we'll have a queue a mile long outside Villa Park with players wanting to join the claret and blue revolution.
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62 Comments · Add yours
I thought we were in 5th place now, because Arsenal won 2-1 against Chelsea!
Not a good result, but does prove your point about the English game!
We were 4th when I sent it to Damian, still a good position to be in. - Chris
My fault - fixed now. This arrived yesterday before the other games had finished ..
I hope your last sentence is going to be right!!
... but is there any point in buying other players? O'Neill rarely makes a sub 
Sorry to be pessimistic on an optimistic post, I take that back...
Look at Fulham's goals for and against, 0-0 doesn't seem like such a bad result then!
We are improving and have done massively in the space of a year! We all hoped to beat Fulham but not doing so doesn't end the dream! It's still very much only just starting!
Let's not become Magpies or Mackems here just because we didn't get the 3 points!
Good article, but it still doesn't make me feel any better about Saturday. 'Could've' and 'should've' isn't much good, its goals that count and 1 up front against Fulham isn't acceptable. In fact, on the Fulham blogs they feel they 'could have' won if Dempsey hadn't smashed his shot straight down Friedel's throat.
I'm just dead disappointed, I knew we'd piss away our good results against Arsenal and the mancs.
On another note, did anyone else think the Villa support was utter shite on Saturday? I know the lads didnt give us much to cheer but that's the quietest I've heard us since probably losing 2-0 to Wigan last season.
A bad day all round
Oh, like Villa_Chris I apologise for being negative on an optimistic post
Sorry - I feel you do Fulham an injustice. They battled really hard all afternoon.
Fear, at your peril, it is too simplistic to write a Team off because of pre-conceived views.
I fully agree with your optimism, but I have to object to you calling PL the most exciting in terms of upsets (while it is most exciting in terms of football quality).
Just compare the last 10 years in Spain and England. Spain: 4 different winners, 13 different teams in top4. England: 3 different winners, 7 different teams in top4.
maybe we have turned the corner in the last month, as we didnt score but dominated the game and still got a draw from the game, when we would lose this kind of game before we played arsenal.
i did go on saturday and do think mon was out thought for this one' it was calling for a substitution but mon chose not to.
but at least he didnt try one ten minutes from the end as any bloke comming on to the pitch needed at least 15 minutes to defrost the icicles from his knackers it was that cold.
so i dont think would have made an impact.
It was that cold Paul cos you didn't have a coat on..! Mind you the beer probably kept you warm mate..!
See ya lata
Good article by the way PM...Dare I say, it brings a bit of Karma back to the front page..?
The league this year is very unpredictable campared to the last few years. You should see my "I Know the Score" results. I still think Arsenal is the vunerable team of the top 4 and we are still in with a good chance of beating them to 4th.
Here are the league fixtures till the end of Dec.
Arsenal v Wigan
Middlesbrough v Arsenal
Arsenal v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Arsenal v Portsmouth
Everton v Aston Villa
Aston Villa v Bolton
West Ham v Aston Villa
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Hull v Aston Villa
You have to be optimistic. The way results are going the only one Arsenal will win will be against Liverpool!
Reply to DeGough:
Whilst i agree with you that its very unpredicatble this year i feel Arsenal having given us our chance to get a head start and we have blown it by dropping so many points at home. The sad reality is we have a squad full of average players and a manager who is tactically inept. Yes he is able to get 100% out of players and it looks good when we play top 4 teams where we can sit back and hope to catch them on the counter and where a draw will be regarded as a good result but when it comes to teams where we should be winning the lack of quality is obvious. Why doesn't he make any subs? Because he doesn't rate any of the players on the bench. Who is reponsible for this bench? MON. His inabilty to operate in the transfer market is costing us points and untimately has probably already cost us our chance of getting 4th. WE should be at least 6 points clear of Arsanal by now.
Have to agree with Christian about the support on Saturday. If you believe that the crowd really can be the 12th man, then it's not just the players who were to blame on Saturday.
Reply to ak_27:
You make your point well and I agree that we should have more points. I do however think that Arsenal will blow fourth this season and it is a place up for grabs. We have as good a chance of getting it as say Everton, especially if we beat them next weekend. Stay positive ak_27
"tactically inept" - what a joke, sorry but anyone of us amateurs who ever dares to say it deserves ridicule.
It has been said that the reason for such high emotions in football is because it is such a random game. In most other sports (rugby cricket etc) the better team always wins. You never see Argentina beat Australia or Ireland beat Sri Lanka, but on footy there is always an upset. So Damian, what you preach is the very reason why it is such a popular sport. Theminnows always have a chance.
Sorry, CHRIS
At last a sensible article, well done mate, its not all doom and gloom and we are improving all the time. The reason o'neill made no subs is because none of them are good enough to change the game for us.
Reply to AVMark:
Sorry AVMark i forgot that nobody is allowed to question the God that is MON.
Ok so why in your opinion have we failed to beat Pompy, Boro, Fulham and liverpool minus Gerard and Torres at home this year ( i could also add that we were fortunate to beat Sunderland and Blackburn who are both near the bottom of the table)?
can i just point out that the tatics had nothing to do with us not winning, i dont think. as we had enough chances to win it we just didnt take them. The tatics, if we would have scored one of the chances and won they would not have come in to question. We just didnt have the rub of the green on any other day the chances we would have gone in. On the plus side we never lost and we are still in the hunt for fourth and its within touching distance we have come on along way under MON and we still look a good bet for 4th. MON knows what he is doing in MON we trust. KEEP THE FAITH
Great Read by the way
AK I'm not saying don't question his tactics. Just don't say tactically inept about any manager in the football league unless you have a very surprising C.V.
Reply to AVMark:
It's not rocket science Mark. I think anyone would say that its a pretty obvious move to bring on a second striker when you are at home and are looking for a goal.
Our only problem is breaking teams down at home when they come and park the bus in front of goal!we are ok when we are playing teams that come to attack us like man city and sunderland,and we are ok away from home against the likes of spurs and arsenal when the onus is on them to attack!so as long as we can find out a way to play our way through a parked bus then well be ok!thankfully there arent too many teams that park the bus like fulham do and i dont even expect bolton to do that in 2 weeks so hopefully we can beat them!
Firstly i don't care what other managers do. Im only interested in what MON does. Secondly you stated that maybe MON didn't make the right substitution at the right time. That is what i put under the term tactics which is why i stated what i did above. You must admit that when things aren't going well for us very rarely does MON do anything to address it?
Reply to ak_27:
Address it with whom exactly??
Reply to ak_27:
A second stiker like Marlene huh? I question your tactics and knowledge if you are suggesting we should have taken off one of our players for Marlene!!
Reply to Timmy_rara:
And who's fault is it that Harewood is our only option? Who signed that West Ham reject and decided that 3 strikers ware enough to see us through to Jan?
Reply to Timmy_rara:
And by the way yes i would have brought him on as Sidwell might as well have not been playing. Fulham with 10mins to go had sat even deeper so what use was an extra midfielder at that point? None. We were putting high balls into the centre where there was nobody to win it.
AK like I said I am not defending his tactics!
Surely one thing is clear - we need another striker. I don't think it is MON's tactics that are the problem it's a shortage of strikers that he currently trusts to make an impact.
We are not top four material yet simple as that. It is only teams of the calibre of the top four that play consistently in the Premiership. NOONE else does yet we are still arrogant enough to talk about so called "inferior" teams.
I am delighted by our start but that is not unusual for Inter Toto entrants. I have said all along the test for us is to support MON through what may end up to be a disappointing season because we are a season away from having a really good squad that can compete.
I also think there should be a law against teams parking the bus in front of goal away from home!its just so boring and negative having to watch a game where a team plays like that!football is supposed to be entertaining but it was more like fulham came to villa park to play tiddlywinks or chess!we can never be guilty of doing this because a 4-4 draw away at chelsea and a 2-0 win at arsenal proves that!
Reply to ak_27:
MON and AVFC were the second biggest spenders in the transfer market last summer. MON is rebuilding, lets face it, in 3 years he has turned round a mediocre bottom 5 team into a top 5 team that can play some very attractive football. It was imperative that this summer MON concentrated on bolstering the defence and developing a competitive midfield. We all know he/we need another (if not two) strikers but we have to build from the back and I believe the strikers will be there in January.
If Randy had not bought the club, Ellis would never have got MON to sign and Villa would be playing catch-up in the Championship by now. We owe this great season to MON and RL for all their hard work. I doubt very much that you could do any better! Support is what we need to propel our team to bigger and better things, not criticism where it is unjust. If Sidwell or Barry had converted one of there many chances we would not even be having this conversation! Move on!
I honestly think we need a playmaker just as much as we need another striker. Whats the point of being top heavy with hard working midfielders when they are no use at home againest the likes of Fulham plus you can only play 2 at any time. We nned 2 teams. One for the big 4 and way games and one for the home games againest the 'lesser teams'. Its funny how our home form kept us in the premier league so many times and now its our worst aspect.
Reply to ak_27:
I agree, but whom?
I guess Defour from Standard Lierge comes to mind.
Lets just work on letting the other teams be the ones to be upset then. Less for us more for them
Reply to ak_27:
As a back-up yes but he's only 20 and playing in the Belgian League. Could he cope with the pace and aggression of the premiership? Maybe someone in there 30's aswell, a Paul Merson type, that has a couple of good seasons left in him so that the young kid could gain the experience he needs!?
watching on saturday i just knew we were never going to score but i do think the referees need to clamp down on goalkeepers taking about 20 seconds to release the ball which shwarzer did repeatedly
i don't think we really have the devine right to beat anybody in all honestly,If we were a regular top 4 team them..damn sure we should be bitching about not beating Fulham. I can fully understand the frustration, I just knew we wouldn't beat Fulham, Gabby just is'nt a reliable enough goalscorer,and without Carew we are toothless in attack. MON need to be bringing in at least 2 goalscorers as Harewood looks like he's going, I would like us to get who i said after the Fulham game EBANKS-BLAKE from Wolves and maybe HESKEY if possible..I can just see at the end of the season these slip ups at home costing us.
MON is a good manager. Everyone wants us to be like Chelsea, and it's never going to happen, and it shouldn't happen. Be happy to support a squad that is among the Top 5 or 6 clubs in what's probably the best league in the world, something that no Villa supporter probably expected four years ago. I'm disappointed by some of our results this weekend, but we could still finish in the Top 4, and we still could win the FA Cup or the UEFA Cup. We still have more than half the season to go and the transfer window, so I think it's a bit premature to go down the doom and gloom route like we do AFTER EVERY DRAW OR LOSS.
Well its good to see that Beavis and Butthead are at it again...Ghosthunter and his strap on AV mark......ffs, if someone has a different opinion you cant force them to change it. This blog is for voicing your opinion, all you two do is hound anyone whos opinion differs from yours.....Grow up adolescents....
MON is not tactically inept, but his tactical decisions have been poor or non existent so far this season...
There is no way that we produced the most wins coming from behind last season. The only one i can remember is newcastle at home. Im sure somebody will point out a few more?
MON should've used some subs to change it. Throwing on Harewood or Gardner would've been better than leaving it as it was. Alright that's my moan.
Here are the positives. Villa are 5th, unbeaten in 3. They are playing better this season than I have ever seen them (only been a fan since the John Gregrory days).
Now yes MON needed to buy a striker in Aug. But to assume that this situation will continue is wrong. Villa will buy a striker in Jan. there is no doubt about that. Now Kevin Doyle might not fit what some of you want, but he is an upgrade over Harewood. I don't think Carew is going anywhere and he will be fit and back in the squad soon. A trio of Gabby, Carew and Kevin Doyle would be excellent for the Villans.
I think ak you are correct saying we need a midfield playmaker whether Barry stays or not. How about Jimmy Bullard.
Reply to George_Templeton:
Nice post George. Bullard could work, or how about trying to prize away Elano from Man City? He is unused and unhappy there and we have all seen what he is capable of. 8mil should be enough to get him. Either way i think it must be a battle hardened type ready to come in now and contribute, im a bit iffy about bringing a youngster in for that role
Leroy all I did was point out MON isn't tactically inept - a point you just agreed with. Have a go if you like but I don't recall calling anyone a strap on or the like! If this site is about opinions it is about voicing them and arguing them. So go ahead, argue with me.
Vogra, good points - what about Heskey and Owen?
Christmas list:
Podolski, Heskey, Defour (if hes actually good, I have no idea LOL), Elano, Kazim-Richards
Anyway Leroy can I be Beavis (Ghosthunter no offence)?
Have they introduced the rule about allowing subs in Scotland? Maybe MON doesn't know they're allowed.
ak 27 you should send him an e-mail letting him know about subs and maybe suggesting one or two front line options for him.
I'm sure he'd be really grateful for any useful tips.
Reply to AVMark:
Chhhyeuuahhh......(Butthead says yes)....i appreciate the humour mate. Apologies for the strap on call, or is that Ghosthunter? Just joking!
But anyway,i agree that MON is not inept but he has been poor at best with his use of substitutions so far this year. He got lucky once against Blackburn, when he brought Carew on (who was recovering from injury anyway and couldnt start) and the whole match changed from then on. But i also recall Barry going off at around the same time, coincidence perhaps?! Anyway, lets keep up the banter its good to know that we have strong characters supporting the Villa, even if we do so from different stand points....
I mean nan and i found the g spot yesterday, er grey point, so anything is possible on this blog
Bloody hell Leroy my wife keeps banging on about that and she claims she hates football.
carlos cuellar come in to where i work yesterday!!! top bloke! he couldnt belive we didnt win either
Maybe MON will go for Liverpool job.
I presume Benitez is in trouble after failing to beat a very average West Ham team.
Anyone for bellemy in january?
Leroy I am in 100& agreement with you about Elano. I'd sell my backteeth to get him in the claret and blue. I can't believe Mark Hughes doesn't play him more.
martin o'neill for what hes done 4 ur club! u boys are lucky to have him... u were nowhere before he came... MARTIN O'NEILL HAS PUT VILLA BACK WITH THE BIG BOYS!!! U NEED 2 REMEMBER THAT!!! where were villa four years ago before martin?? see if u actually have a short memory!
Hi guys... i see that u seem a little unhappy at dropping points at home! all credit to u, u are considered a top team so people are goin to go 2 villa park and just sit bk and try to defend. Dont turn into some of the newcastle fans like we have up here... expecting to much when u have no right too! u are expecting miracles and to be honest...o'neill has worked miracles to get u where u are! if u really dont want him... ill drive to birmingham to bring him up 2 newcastle to be our mananger myself!!!
To the Bhoys and geordies09:
Thank you for the trouble you have taken to come here and remind folks of reality.
Reply to geordies09:
These posts smell fishy to me....coincidental i think not...