We were poor: Aston Villa 1 Middlesbrough 1

Thought the players would be up for it tonight but maybe we are just to inconsistent to be challenging for 4th and 5th!great against arsenal and really poor against middlesborough!no more to say really is there!

Well I predicted a 10-0 win and that didn't happen and I bought a DAB radio and the match wasn't on it so all round a rubbish night apart from my sopranos dvd arrived from ebay.

Poor game by all accounts. At least you've got a decent dvd to watch tonight Taglor.

call me stupid but i wanted blues to win tonight, portsmouth aren't to far behind us and they will want to finish as high as they can, and if they fail to win the fa cup, the will fancy there chances at finishing high in the league

terrible wats the point in taking points off the likes of arsenal if we cant beat boro at home

cant believe that result can any tell me how we go from drawing at arsenal and should have won and tonight we draw with boro at home when we should have lost

Taglor, get into the Forum, particularly 'The Ghetto'. You won't need no DVD's.

that was the worst performance I've seen all year. we really weren't up for it at all, barry, agbonlahor, carew looked jaded and slow, and as for zat knight and carson, they might as well have stayed in the dressing room. I don't want to be pessimistic but if we lose to Portsmouth on Saturday then European football will be drifting further and further away.

Match reports do say it was a very very poor performance on our part. Soccernet states that Knight atoned for his error with a great tackle, how was his overall performance? Hey Taglor send your DVD over to Oz so i can have a watch ;)

What a load of wank.
Zat Knight is a liability, summer transfer out i hope.
Disjointed performance, goes to show we needed to strengthen in January and we didn't.
I'm pissed off and so are the people i'm here with.
No chance of Europe now anyway.
Bring on Van de Vaart (but i don't think he'd want to join after witnessing that, do you?

what did i say??????????? villa are poor playing at night

Poor... we just showed no desire.

I missed the first 5 minutes of the game and it took me 10 to realise Carew was even playing! Him and Gabby really didn't turn up tonight. Gabby actually looked pissed! He didn't have 1 good touch all night...

Bouma was solid, as was Laursen, and Young worked hard... but otherwise there was nothing. It didn't even look like nerves knowing this was a big game... we just looked tired and lacked ideas.

Gutted! Just makes the trip to Portsmouth even more important!

UTV

we were shocking this evening, I hope its a case of bad day at the office, so many bad performances and school boy errors. We looked like a pub side this evening, how can you play so well at Arsenal and then come back to Villa park and be that flat against a side that are average at best? The one consolation is that we got a point, we should have been well beaten this eve and the penalty was harsh, never a penalty.

I think the headline you started with we were poor was totaly spot on

I dont really no what to say about the game it was that bad so POOR is spot on

Gabby needs a rest i think he seems to be struggling this is where we and im sure M-O-N wishes we had signed a few more in january

I think we struggle from now til the end of the season due to tierdness

Kieran McGrath if we were poor at just night games we wouldnt have won the night games we have won and scored the goals we scored so thats not the reason

This was bound to happen sooner then later, with a small squad tiredness (god, i hate that term) they haven't played in over week, None of these players are being pushed for there places in the squad. MON we all know should have bought more players in Jan, If we miss out in Europe this season either via 5th spot or the inter-tot then MON is totally to blame for not solving a problem that was bound to happen if we had injuries and tiredness.

You were right all along Taylor. We're crap and it's MON's fault and if it weren't for everyone else being so crap we would be fighting relegation and if some of the others weren't so good we'd be in Europe.

It seems to me that people are just waiting for the team to slip up so they can all say 'told you so'. After the August transfer window loads of people were saying we would struggle. After January loads of people were saying we would fall away.

It was a bad result last night but they happen (even to the top four). It's not over yet!!!

It's no good MON saying he wouldn't have sold Cahill if he knew what injuries we would have, as surely with the smallest squad in the league you don't buy players unless you replace them. With no Curtis or Mellberg at the back we are going to conceed more, especially with our attacking style (last night the exception of course). Apart from Ashley and, possibly, Harewood look at MON's buys - Routlage (done nothing), Petrov (shit) and Mustaffa Work Permit (who the f**k is he) there's nothing on the bench to bring on. I don't see Europe happening.

It's no good MON saying he wouldn't have sold Cahill if he knew what injuries we would have, as surely with the smallest squad in the league you don't buy players unless you replace them. With no Curtis or Mellberg at the back we are going to conceed more, especially with our attacking style (last night the exception of course). Apart from Ashley and, possibly, Harewood look at MON's buys - Routlage (done nothing), Petrov (shit) and Mustaffa Work Permit (who the f**k is he) there's nothing on the bench to bring on. I don't see Europe happening.

we were awful.to say we played like a pub team would be a compliment,lack lustre in every department,harewood was the only one with any spark

terrible terrible performance!!!
And why didnt we sign defoe!!! i said it at the time and it is clear now we should of. By the end of theseason he will have scored far more for pompey than Gabby has for us all season. And some of you think gabby is a better player!!! joke!!

Very disappointing. Now it's all about securing 6th spot and an intertoto place. We need to win on Saturday.

Zat Knight doesnt deserve to play, he is ten times more clumsy than even Ugo was!!

How we can sell Gary Cahill and stick with Knight is beyond me...

Cahill is playing very well for Bolton and getting rave reviews on MOTD etc... I feel that sale is a big mistake.

I dont think the Carew/ Gabby partnership is good enough, we dont seem to score goals... I saw the highlights last night after work and didnt hear Gabyy's name once. Carew seems too occupied trying to back into people and show how strong he is...

You could see the frustration in Martin Laursen with Zat Knoght on a couple of occassions..

Dont think we'll get Europe this year but a good season none the less..

Carson to go back, Knight and Petrov to be sold this Summer please.

yep - we need to get rid of Knight, petrov and carson. he is an awful player. I agree i just dont understand how we can sign him and sell Cahill. Cahill is a far better player who is likely to improve!!
whats worrying i am saying get rid of 3 players MON has signed. is he going to sign better this time. with the exception of ashley young his transfer dealings have been poor.

I actually apologised to my daughter last night for taking her.
The most commitment I saw all night, was when Mellberg wrestled with Boateng for the ball.
One to forget.

that was poor performance half a ace slower to the ball, woeful passing and a lack of imagination but as gazza sed the best part was mellberg avin a go at boateng! least it showed somebody cared last night and he's leavin in the summer!

Was at the game so I thought I'd chip in with a few thoughts of my own...

Middlesbrough grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck almost straight away, the consistently found ways to work the ball into our 1/3rd of the field and more often than not came away with a half decent attempt on goal. For Villa, it was kind of like watching us from a couple of years ago - we weren't able to string together more than 2 or 3 passes without giving the ball away. The passing in general was dire, with the small amount of it that was done on the ground put straight into the path of an opposing player. 80% of it however was done in the air, which leads me onto my main gripe from last night, and I don't say this very often:

Martin O'Neill got the tactics completely wrong.

The first point that illustrated this was Craig Gardner. I've always liked Gardner, I love the tenacity and attitude he brings. His skillset his limited but his passion is unrivalled. He's done an ok job of filling in for a fullback until recently. I watched us tear Reading apart, and our one glaring weakness was Craig Gardner getting well and truly done by Stephen Hunt almost every time Hunt got the ball. Fortunately for us, Hunt has no final product whatsoever so for the most part we escaped unharmed. But putting Craig Gardner one on one with Stewart Downing however is entirely different. I don't think Downing is a particularly good player but he does do two strengths: running with the ball, and his final touch. Martin, you messed up big time here. Gardner was exposed for 45 minutes, and I can't remember one occasion where his marking took Downing out of the equation. He was wide open.

My second gripe: for most of the season we've been playing a primarily long ball based game and it's had some success. Middlesbrough don't exactly have small defenders however, and they won probably around 90% of the headers from balls we played. In the last 5 minutes, when they had their backs well and truly up against the wall, Villa had a good 6 or 7 separate possessions of the ball. Each one started with the back four. Each one involved one of those back four hoofing the ball as far forward as they could. Each one ended in a Middlesbrough player heading the ball back out. I sat there thinking - how can a professional football player who gets paid £30k a week have so little common sense? Surely if you've tried and failed the same idea this many times, it can't hurt to detract from the plan and try something a little different? Optimistic thinking.

So the tactics were wrong but the performances didn't help. Gardner had his worst 45 minutes ever in a Villa shirt, every time he went near the ball something negative happened. Zat Knight had a howler to give away the first goal - not only to so carelessly "hit and hope" and give the ball away, but to then be further insulted by being skinned alive by Downing seconds later. Big Zat did make a great saving tackle later in the half, but that's not the point. As far as I'm concerned, a central defenders' job is to remained fully focused for 90 minutes and not to make a single crucial mistake. If the makes one that leads to a goal, it doesn't matter if he makes a saving tackle later, he still hasn't done his job. Shaun Maloney will also be thoroughly disappointed with his shift. He lacked any of his usual flair, and I hate to say it, but he can often be hopelessly predictable.

Those were the only three real standout very poor performacnes. Everyone else was either completely ineffectual (Gabby) or horribley below par (Young, Barry).

Overall, I think we should all feel genuinely pleased we took anything from this match. Middlesbrough created far more and the fat one even missed a total sitter which should have won them the game. I also after seeing the replay think we were incredibley fortunate to have won that penalty.

Ratings: Carson 6, Gardner 4, BOUMA 7, Laursen 6, Knight 5, Reo-Coker 5, Barry 6, Maloney 5, Young 6, Agbonlahor 6, Carew 6. SUBS: Mellberg 6, Harewood 6

Side notes for another discussion:
* I'm adamant Barry should not be our penalty taker any longer. He takes them with no real power or placement, and it's down to pure luck he scores because when the goalkeeper guesses the right direction they will save it more often than not. My nod goes to Carew, at least he can hit the thing.
* Controversial thought - I think in the summer we need to replace Reo-Coker with a big name signing. Full marks to the lad so far, but if we're talking about challenging the top 4 eventually, he's not going to help us.
* I think Wilfred Bouma has been, over the last 6 weeks or so, our most consistent performer. The guy is the definition of "solid, not spectacular", but puts his heart into every performance and has a motor than won't quit. He's fast becoming one of my favourite players and I think he's very underrated.

Tonebone your dead right...why oh why we couldn't push a deal for Defoe is beyond me, he's smashing in the goals..also we were SUPPOSED to be have gone for Diarra who also went to Pompey, if you can believe the papers we turned him down because of his wages, now Diarra had been on fire for Pompey,I really don't want to put a downer on whats been a good season and a vast improvement on the rubbish we've had to cope with in the O'Dreary years. I just hate seeing us falling at the last when something could have been done i January to stop it..would have loved seeing carew and defoe up front with gabby and young on the wings..

Second best all night and in nearly every position. Gardner, Gabby, Carew and Maloney very poor, Barry in a total daze, Young petulant, Carson looking dodgy around the 6 yd box, NRC flitting in and out, The Hare ineffectual,only Bouma and Laursen came out of it with credit. Huth was outstanding for Boro and in the first half Downing ran us ragged. If Boro had concentrated on playing football instead of niggling they would have won by a street. And why has the Holte End turned against Southgate? He didn't owe us anything when he left, we certainly got our moneysworth out of him. One of footballs genuine blokes.

It's not often I wright on this page but I can help it now. We were so poor, it makes me sick.!! Why did we ever sell Cahill? he is much better player then most of the Villa defence.!! Ok to be better then knight it's not hard.

Éurope is gonna be difficult to get now but we need faith.., hope that Martin O'Neill will make some changes.., and when we are playing that bad he haft to make all 3 subitutes...!! come on O'Neill we need Europe to get better players..!!

Up The Villa[b][/b][u][/u]

Very few postives from the game at all. Knight's performance was Derbyesque. I agree that Bouma really is solid personified and was maybe our best player in that match. However, we shouldn't all be so downhearted. The feelings expressed here are just like those from after the Fulham game and we bounced back from that. I also don't think we should blame O'Neill too much becasue although he should have signed more players in January, he has got us into this position and will only get better in the future.

On a positive note, we would have taken this league position at this stage of the season if offered it without a doubt back in August. Until last night, O' Dreary performances were a thing of the past.
We were like the Irish yesterday....Not at the races!!
Poor performances all round with the exceptions of Laursen and yet again Bouma. we only tried using our speed and width after the Hare came on. I still think he is better coming off the bench though.
Looks like Intertoto it is

Well i travelled for about two hours to see the most dire first half performance. Gardner was rubbish but i don't think the fans should have got on his back so much because Young wasn't giving him a option and he was the only player that didn't keep wacking it forward. Gabby wasn't running the channels and Barry was non exsistant. 2nd Half a lot better untill we scored then back to long balls. Harewood is alright as long as he can muscle out the defenders but with the big lads they have at the back there aint no chance. Don't think were ready for Europe yet.