Thursday, 04 December 08, 11:33 AM · Comments (27)
End Of Match: I'm going to bed.
90' (+1): Finally, Zat Knight has been told to play up front. Why so long?
90': Not happy with this but it looks like we have 4 extra minutes.
85': He just had a shot and it didn't beat the first man. He's also just had a cross - straight to the keepers fist. I know I'm a little angry tonight, but come on.
84': I know he's only just come on, but he's a professional, he should be doing better. Sorry.
83': When Milner makes a decent cross, I'll shave all my hair off. £12mn. for this? I could have put in better crosses ...
82': We're playing against 10 men. Why are we not putting Reo-Coker into the middle and a midfielder up front? We need a goal.
78': Sending off for them. 12 minutes to go with 10 men. If we can't score one now, we never will.
76': Round of applause for Del Boy please.
75': Looks like Gabby is coming on too. I'm not convinced he's got what it takes to come on as a sub, but we will see.
68': It's Salifou, not Gardner. Nice.
66': Milner got the ball on the left and
Del Boy was pointing and shouting for it to played through and he just didn't do it. Barry is coming on too. Probably for Gardner knowing my luck.
65': Osbourne goes off. I'm guessing Gardner will go into the middle. But I'm guessing.
62': Another free kick, definitely in Young territory this time as it's just a little too far out for Gardner. Webcam has his shirt pulled back. James Milner is about to come on too. But Gardner took it and it wasn't bad, but it hit hte wall. I hope Gardner doesn't come off; he deserves 90 minuntes.
60': We're getting shown how to play the passing game here. Not nice to watch. I might go for a beer.
58': It's been 50/50 this half so far. Sure, we've had the main share, but we're not creating the clear cut chances. Still, they will tire and we will take advantage.
57': Young is taking it. Come on ... Gardner scores these for fun! He hit the wall ...
56': Free kick in Craig Gardner territory. Come on son!
46': Here we go.
Half Time: Thats it lads. Go get a beer, sandwich, do whatever. See you in 10.
45': 1 extra minute. Not happy wiht the half, but we can fix this in the seocnd half.
41': Coming up to the end of the half. Would be handy to get another, but I'd give my bet away just as long as we do win in the end. That and Gardner getting one that is.
36': The free kick goes wide and high. Still, gotta give it a go.
35': Young has a free kick from a long way out.
31': For those that didn't see it, it's a long ball up towards the box that Harewood knocks down to Delfouneso on the edge of the box and he volleys in. Lovely ...
30': This is what a goal can do; I think we'll win 5-2 and I'll win my bet. Corner number 31 coming up.
27': Wonderful, wonderful goal. On his full debut, playing in Europe, Delfouneso scores a cracker.
22': We talk about missed chances. They've had two and scored twice. We've had 10 crosses into the box and not scored. I know it's a corner, but how many do we need?
20': Harewood gets the ball out wide and crosses low. Nobody was within 15 yards of where the cross went. Why did he waste the cross and give the ball away? We'll still win this, but I need Gardner to screo as we're not going to win 5-2, which is whay I need for my bet to pay off.
19': This team could still go through you know and we could still go out, although only Rangers have gone out from the same position. But that second goal was a good goal.
17': 2-0. This is a joke.
17': Del Boy came close. Just got his foot on the cross and it was close. We need 3 goals now for my bet to come in.
14': Shit. 1-t to them. Shot from 35 yards. Knight I think ducked out of the cross/shot and it went in. Bloody hell.
12': Lads, we have another corner now and I'm smelling a goal.
11': Knight came closest with the corner. He headed down and it was going in. The keeper knocked it over for another one.
10': The first ten minutes possession stats are a bit strange. We've only had 47% to their 53%. I think that isd wrong. Another corner.
10': Harewood dropped to midfield, made a nice tackle. The ball gets out to gardner who passes to Del Boy and it's a corner.
7': We should have scored by now; what's going on? Just kidding. We're looking composed and while they are trying, they don't look to have what it takes.
3': We've started the better team, but I suspect we'll be the better team for most of the night. We need to keep it up though and if we do, we'll stroll this.
Before Kick Off: The players are walking out. Nigel Reo-Coker is the captain and if memory serves, he's playing at right back.
Before Kick Off: Say what you want to about Stan Collymore, I love him. I also love webcam Ashley and it's not a man on man thing, it's a 'I think he's going to be great' thing.
Before Kick Off: If you can't get to watch it on TV and you're frantically looking for a link, try this one. It's an excellent service and the game is on tonight.
Before Kick Off: Only 28,000 fans. If this is any indication of interest, now that we're as good as through, then I should be able to get a ticket for Hamburg. Anyone else going?
Before Kick Off: If anyone did answer, it's too late. I've got one. Two actually, as I don't want to have to get up again too soon.
Before Kick Off: Quick question: Should I have a beer?
Before Kick Off: Fantastic news to see Salifou, Osbourne and Delfouneso start and when Craig Gardner scores, I'll be happy as I'm convinced we'll win by 3!
Before Kick Off: Just over 15 minutes to go. There seems to be more activity in the forum than here, but that should hopefully all change when kick off comes and we head on over to the match centre.
Before Kick Off:
Team news:
Guzan; Reo-Coker, Cuellar, Knight, L Young; Gardner, Salifou, Osbourne, A Young, Delfouneso, Harewood. Subs: Friedel, Laursen, Barry, Milner, Agbonlahor, Petrov, Clark.
I'm happy with that, as long as Gardner scored and we win 3-0!
Before Kick Off: No team news yet but it is coming.
Before Kick Off: I've been busy all afternoon, but I've just read that Roy Keane quit. A bit of a surprise, I never had him down as a quitter.
Before Kick Off: Right, so this is supposed to be a commentary on the match and we will be moving to the match centre at kick off, but until then, if you've got anything funny to tell us all, comment on it below.
Before Kick Off: Some positive news from earlier is that Nathan Delfouneso will be involved tonight although we don't know yet if he's starting or now. Would be nice though wouldn't it?
Before Kick Off: So, my bets are in. £10 on Villa to win starting off from 2-0 down and a goal for Craig Gardner. If both come in, £10 each, then it's £111 for me. I just hope Gardner starts now. Come on Martin, you know it makes sense, he's got a great free kick!
Before Kick Off: Afternoon all. Just over two hours to kick off so we should start to get some team news through soon and if you're not going, you can turn on the radio or come back here for a little bit of banter and news as and when we hear about it.
27 Comments · Add yours
I agree it is time to figure out whether he might be someone who could make an impact for us this season or if he needs to go out on loan to improve.
Damian, don't forget it's on channel 5 mate.
I have a funny feeling they'll get one, don't ask me why.
3-1 to us
I'd love to see Delf get one.
I think Del-boy should defo play, he's raw, young, and will have no fear, and the opposition won't know what to expect!
On the Roy Keane front, i always thought he would, still, would be worth a bet where his next job will be, Huddersfield???
>> A bit of a surprise, I never had him down as a quitter.
Good one Damian. Remember Saipan 2002.. walked out and while slamming the door in McCarthy's face called him an English c*nt..
I'm really dissappointed in Keane.
What happened to that fighting spirit, he's known for?
I really think he was scared in case he took them down.
So he's turned out to be a bottler, IMO.
No Shorey????????
Seems MON agrees with the rest of us.
I would have thought he would have got a start here?
Keano the thug goes down at Sunderland. Beautiful as far as I am concerned. I am not sure what would be better, Sunderland going down so that it goes on Keane's record or someone coming in and saving them to clean up Keane's mess.
Shorey is injured...
What is Shorey's injury?
Shorey has flu according to BBC.
fucking Osbourne....please
For anyone wanting to watch the game in america... espn360.com is carrying the game with a great stream for free
up the VILLA!!!!
vogra
Osbourne is a decent player - still developing. he's going to get better too!
Yeah, what's up with Osbourne?
A grafter, although I'd still put him behind Gardner, admittedly.
LMFAO HAHAHAHAH WE ARE CLOWNS any of you saying we are top 4 just had a boot in their face, would they let this happen against a 10 man pub team at home, get in Keane and MON f?@l off
hmm, im thinking that although we are defs through to the last 32, this is still a very very disappointing match, we never seemed to have another game plan other than punting up front!
we r second in the table
and last game is against hamburg on the 17th dec!
Fuck off Taglor, you absolute idiot.
God we were awful tonight.
They fully deserved the win, but we made them look decent.
Did we ever put 3 passes together?
Salifou, Gardner and Osbourne never got a touch???????????
Started too slow and got caught.
By a team that had scored 1 in their previous 3 euro games?
Delf did well, given the utter shite he had around hin, IMO
Badger fuck you cunt
lol like i care anymore , 20 years and f all, same old shit
Let's start off with a positive. Delfouneso's goal was fantastic, and topped off a very promising debut. That the ball went in the bottom corner rather than the top is a sure sign it was no fluke (any mug can score a spectacular goal in the top corner with the balloons they play with these days). I would be happy with one (quality) striker in January, and more playing time for Fonz.
Apart from demonstrating clearly for absolutely everybody to see that some of our first team squad are just not up to it (Knight, Salifou - and please, no ironic protestations that he's a quality player - Harewood), our lack of something on the left is plain. Milner wasn't great, but the circumstances were against him. Our tactic was to pepper the box with crosses, and he's not going to do that effectively when he's cutting in on his right every time. Of course, Luke Young won't help here either, as he's a right-back. It's strange that Ashley stayed on the right, when his greatest success has been out on the left, but then maybe MoN knows something we don't. We HAVE to sign a left sided player to supplement Ashley. Ironically, we have the best left-sided player in the English game at the club, but we need him playing centre midfield.
Osbourne looks like he's not going to make it. He's not a teenager anymore. Reo-Coker did as well as could be expected, if not better, at right back, but he's no right back. Gardner did ok, but he really needs to be playing on a regular basis to realise his potential. Guzan looked very good again; not at fault for the first, and nothing he could do about the second. Looked commanding, which is what you want.
Badger fuck you cunt
Good to see you are backing up your arguments, as usual ;-)
Whilst I'm all in favour of debate, I'm amazed you're still allowed on here, tbh.
Damian, do us all a favour mate and get rid rid of this knob, please.
Guzan - 7
Reo-Coker - 7
Young, L. - 7
Knight - 4.5
Cuellar - 6.5 (lucky to get away when he overcommitted on one occasion - something Laursen is also prone to do)
Gardner - 6
Young, A - 6 (needs to do better, though he was kicked a bit)
Osbourne - 5 (was playing alongside Salifou, but didn't then stand out)
Salifou - No rating. Utterly ineffectual.
Harewood - 5 (worked, but not up to it - though this will be partly due to lack of match fitness)
Delfouneso - 6.5 (promising debut, and a great goal that means he warrants a 7.5)
Milner - 5.5 (not great, but showed passion, and probably saved a goal with a good challenge after tracking back fantastically)
Barry - 7 (not at his best, but drove us forward. Should have come on much earlier for Salifou)
Gabby - 5.5 (circumstances were against him. Not much he could do)
lol like i care anymore , 20 years and f all, same old shit.
Damian, just do us all a favour mate and get rid of this scum.
I'm really starting to get sick of it.
It is starting to put me off the site.
I'm all in favour of discussion, but this idiot is just taking the mick, in that he slates, with nothing to back up the argument.
A total fool or most likely a bloody nose.
GET RID
Fcking Fonz!!! So happy to see him score. I've been dying to see him given some time. He's going to be class soon. One of my favorite players.