[Archived] Aston Villa V Rovers

[John]

I don't look forward to our games at the moment. Our midfield just does not work and we are too easy to play against.

Sad thing is that it is likely to continue for the next few weeks. We are lacking energy and power mainly down to the injuries we have.

Edited November 5, 2006 by John

[Eddie]

Was it an operational decision by Sparky or lack of funding? I suspect the latter but I suppose we'll never know.

Now, I don't want to appear overly critical of Hughes because I am a huge supporter of his and his staff and he has done wonderful things for the club since taking over; however, I don't think lack of funding can really be an excuse in this instance. The midfield problem was there for all to see during last season and it was a priority for most of us during the transfer window, but nothing was done. Now this might have been because of a small budget, but I can't see how. He decided to spend all of his money on two strikers, money well spent in my view, but if the board had come to him and said that he had "x" amount then he needed to manage that better. Even some sort of loan deal could have offered a less financially demanding option, but no additions were made (the same is true for the left back spot).

If it ever comes out that Hughes was promised a certain amount and the board failed him by not producing the cash when deals had been arranged then that is fair enough, but I simply can't see that happening. For whatever reasons these two obviously weak positions (both in quality and depth) were not added to and we are suffering as a result. Transfer dealings are a major part of Hughes' job and up until now he has pulled off some wonderful deals, but he made a couple of mistakes in the summer.

[Tris]

A few observations.

Mickey Gray is copping far too much stick from scapegoat hunters. He was one of the better players on the pitch for Rovers today - which unfortunately isn't much of an accolade.

The starting front two were hopeless - Jeffers was a slight improvement but for me this is a big problem area.

I didn't understand the subs, which left us with Peter and MGP not knowing what they were supposed to be doing. Midfield was a mess and Hughes has to take the blame for it. Instructions weren't given or understood.

I haven't seen any replays - just home and MOTD2 has only just started - but the ref clearly waved away the penalty claims. He was the closest official.

His lino gave it from in front of us lot - and for me he got it very wrong. The ref - having made his decision and clearly signalled it - should have stuck with his own decision. He didn't even consult - just saw the lino signal and changed his own correct flippin decision.

The lino then got another key decision very badly wrong within 60 seconds of the restart. The Rovers fans were understandably irate.

There was then the worst piece of stewarding I have ever seen. I guy I believe is called P*** (leaving it like that cos I don't want to implicate anyone) - who I have known by sight since Sofia, have seen away many times and is the least trouble making person you will ever meet.

Long and short - he was removed. We're not talking one of the 2 pound an hour gang - they weren't even there today. I think someone near me got the whole thing on video. At half time I spoke to the steward who caused the incident and he alleged something against P*** which ALL of us sitting behind KNOW didn't happen.

I also spoke to the PC who was on video camera duty to our right, and whilst he couldn't say how much of it he filmed, he was critical of the timing of such idiotic action by the stewards involved. The police clearly briefed / b*llocked the stewards at half time because they had vanished in the second half.

P*** - if you intend to take your case any further you've got a whole stack of witnesses - in fact I've never seen such support for someone about to be ejected. And like I said the 2 pound an hour gang weren't there - this was normal middle aged, non drunk civilised Rovers fans standing up for right against wrong.

All in all a bad day out at Villa Park.

Edited November 5, 2006 by Tris

[SAS]

im very ###### off, this weekend cost me shedloads, with time of work, travel, tickets, food, drink etc, at least £100

and ive watched a game in which the score was influenced by a mistake. A big mistake, the only oojer could have got his arm out of the way was to have it amputated, it was also by his side which means it wouldnt have affected the bounce of the ball.

Our performance however was poor, zurab was at fault fully for the 2nd, he was under pressure and cockled it

our attacking is dire in the prem of late, no movement, no vision, no nothing, the only chances we had were from bentley not good enough

[Neil Weaver]

Hughes has got to ge his priorities right here. The Premiership is far more important than Europe.

Maybe there's not many who think like me, but I'd be happy with doing something like Middlebrough did - perhaps a bit better in the league so relegation is never a possibility and only reaching the semis of the UEFA (I don't ask for much ). Perhaps at 500k per place in the league it doesn't add up in pound notes but sometimes economics just goes out the window....

[West Sussex Rover]

Mickey Gray is copping far too much stick from scapegoat hunters. He was one of the better players on the pitch for Rovers today - which unfortunately isn't much of an accolade.

He has been woefull all season, everyone see's it, the media see's it and his off field antics dont help either.

Ok ok were not meant to judge a footballer by what happens off field... but seriously, how many goals have we lost because of him and the bargain basement buy from PSV this season. Ooijer...!

Ok people who know me on here will know that Gamst is one of my favourate players and i always back him up... usually.

Him along with Ooijer, Gray, Benni, Nonda, Roberts (till he got injured) have not been doing the job for us this season!

Also the axe just isnt a good enough replacement for either Savage or Tugay when there injured and he is certainly not in anyway a make shift defender. He is a good player to replace Tugay or Savage with when there is 10 - 15 mins left of a match tops!

Also id like to say that the combination of Savage and Tugay has worked a few times this season, but the paring just isnt as threatening as needed. Although having said that i wouldnt like to bump into them in a dark alleyway during the night.

We need a new start, with a nice young midfield in my opinion.

If you dont agree then constructively disagree, im fed up of having my say and then being insulted...

Edit: I would also like to mention that we cant always blame the referee for conceeding goals. Ok so it shouldnt have been a penalty yesterday, but we cant rely on the back four to be defending for the majority of the match, the midfield need to keep the ball infront of the halfway line for longer and Benni and Nonda need to be more controlling and sharp with the ball...

Edited November 6, 2006 by Rover The Moon

[USABlue]

Personally I think we are capable of having a fair whack in Europe and in the prem, but only if we get lucky with players injuries. Clearly we are not. We did not really even start the season with a fully fit squad.

If there is to be a choice, prem has to be first but I would like to see us qualify for the knockout stages.

We will have a few more rough games then things will get better, as long as the pyhsio room is not busy

[LeChuck]

Him along with Ooijer, Gray, Benni, Nonda, Roberts (till he got injured) have not been doing the job for us this season!

You really can't stop, can you? He's got 7 in 15 games. Assume he plays 45 games this season (which he will if he escapes serious injury) and he'll get over the 20 mark in his first season in English football. Not doing a job? Nonda has also been impressive in his games, he just needs to get on the score sheet more, certainly for a free loan signing he hasn't let us down. Ooijer has been excellent apart from the poor start, Gray is the new scapegoat because Pedersen is prettier and Roberts has barely played.

[West Sussex Rover]

He's got 7 in 15 games. Assume he plays 45 games this season (which he will if he escapes serious injury) and he'll get over the 20 mark in his first season in English football. Not doing a job? Nonda has also been impressive in his games, he just needs to get on the score sheet more, certainly for a free loan signing he hasn't let us down. Ooijer has been excellent apart from the poor start, Gray is the new scapegoat because Pedersen is prettier and Roberts has barely played.

1st -

most

of the goals Benni has scored this season have been relative tap ins, including a very good attempted goal by Gally against Basil, he's the one who should of got the praise for that one... I just dont think his overal match performance has been 'stunning' so far. Also id rather he played 25 excellent games, had the occasional rested game then play 45 in which he only plays say 10 brilliant games and the rest average. We have other players who deserve chance.

2nd - Nonda has been average at best since he arrived, granted he has played better than Roberts but thats no mean feat. Besides was it a

free loan signing

, i mean arent we paying his Roma wages. All im thinking is if he isnt going to become a perminant signing, granted we dont know yet. Id like to see Gally and Franny playing more alongside Benni to see if it will work

3rd - I love your

Ooijer has been excellent apart from the poor start

- basically translated, he's been excellent but pants. He has been poor since he arrived and everyone i know is praying for Ryan to recover quicker in the hope less penalties will be conceaded when he returns.

When i watched him play vs Wisla, i found myself shoating put your arms down!! Everytime they got a cross into the box...

4th - Gray is the new scapegoat?? Erm... no he's just rubbish, i was saying exactly the same thing at the start of the season, we should have looked for his replacement as he is rubbish. Also id like to say that Pederson has played poorly of late but at least he doesnt make a pratt out of himself off pitch and can manage the majority of the games in the season. Or do you think Sparky is wrong???

Finally - This messageboard is all about giving your opinion about a match or team and that is what i did. I knew someone would decide to get personal, e.g.

You really cant stop can you

- The answer to that is, nope i cant stop... Giving my opinion that is, and everyone has a right to even if you say they dont!

[Eddie]

1st - of the goals Benni has scored this season have been relative tap ins, including a very good attempted goal by Gally against Basil, he's the one who should of got the praise for that one... I just dont think his overal match performance has been 'stunning' so far. Also id rather he played 25 excellent games, had the occasional rested game then play 45 in which he only plays say 10 brilliant games and the rest average. We have other players who deserve chance.

2nd - Nonda has been average at best since he arrived, granted he has played better than Roberts but thats no mean feat. Besides was it a , i mean arent we paying his Roma wages. All im thinking is if he isnt going to become a perminant signing, granted we dont know yet. Id like to see Gally and Franny playing more alongside Benni to see if it will work

With regards to Benni, you have to be there. If it were just a case of scoring tap-ins then we could all do it. His link up play has also been very good. As for the credit for his goal against Basel going to Gally, don't think so. If anything the credit should go to Bentley and Jeffers (I think) who linked up well on the right, particularly Bentley who did a nice back heeled flick to get the ball between two defenders, Gally just took a pretty rubbish shot when he had a bit of time and space in the area and the keeper made a mess of it.

As for Nonda, he's looked good and Hughes obviously thinks he is second choice, so we have to trust him in that respect. Gallagher looks to be a midfielder now anyway, Nonda is a better player than Jeffers.

[West Sussex Rover]

With regards to Benni, you have to be there. If it were just a case of scoring tap-ins then we could all do it. His link up play has also been very good. As for the credit for his goal against Basel going to Gally, don't think so. If anything the credit should go to Bentley and Jeffers (I think) who linked up well on the right, particularly Bentley who did a nice back heeled flick to get the ball between two defenders, Gally just took a pretty rubbish shot when he had a bit of time and space in the area and the keeper made a mess of it.

As for Nonda, he's looked good and Hughes obviously thinks he is second choice, so we have to trust him in that respect. Gallagher looks to be a midfielder now anyway, Nonda is a better player than Jeffers.

I dunno, all i know is something isnt working and to be honest (from my point of view: making that clear), Jeffers has impressed me more with his play so far then Nonda. But hey thats just what i think...

[modes98]

Nonda and Benni seem to have got the partnership off to a tee. They know exactly where the other one is and also the midfielders running inn behind them. The problem with jeffers is that he just doesn't have the deadly strikers instinct, he gets into all the right positions then scuffs it or misses it completely.

Shame about roberts being injured, i think he would have pushed nonda very close for a starting place.

[philipl]

I watched the game live from the 30th minute.

At that point in the first half we were playing very well and looking the better team. I can only guess the part I missed had been all Villa but they seem to have had no clear serious chances whereas Bentley did have two clear shots on goal from 25 yards between the 30th and 40th minute, neither of which were testing.

When the penalty decision came, it was not only outragously harsh but totally against the run of play for the time I'd been watching the game.

If that was a penalty then the challenge on Gamst four minutes earlier was a penalty and the handball by Petrov from Gamst's free kick in the second half was a clearcut penalty in any game- not just one where the linos have been at the claret and blue happy juice.

Zura just made a horrible hash of it for Angel's goal and Friedel was caught slightly wrong for it as well.

Overall- Gray played well

- the defense coped well

- Neill had a relatively poor one in my view, his distribution was iffy as was his positioning

- Axe was OK and not bad but not good either

- Gamst was clueless when Peter came on and spoilt an otherwise much improved performance

- Villa were big and strong (good decision by MO'N to play the tall Sutton); we lost it by being the smaller side if anything

- we won nothing in the air up front

- Jeffers woeful failure to control that peach of a cross from Bentley certainly cost us a goal; Benni would have controlled and buried that one if he'd still been on

- in the final analysis, we were beaten by 14 men. Another bad set of officiating against us.

A lot of excessive nonsense being written on here. We have a bad injury list yet were still at the races in this game.

The board backed Hughes in the summer when you look at the targets we went for - we were first off the blocks for Gudjonsson remember. The clubs doing poorly this season are the ones where there is excessive rotation of players- Hughes has to balance the injury and suspension disruptions with the need to rest and refresh and atthemoment he's getting quite enough enforced rotation.

The table will look terrible after the Manc game but not every week-end will throw up so many unexpected results as this one so that 4 point gap to bottom won't be breached so quickly.

On the other hand, we've lost 5 out of 11 yet are still only 8 points off 3rd. December is going to be a massive month for us if you look at the fixtures and hope for no more injuries and suspensions.

[stuwilky]

(from my point of view:

The comfort of your armchair in Brighton?

[thenodrog]

I watched the game live from the 30th minute.

Delay at the East Midlands airport was there Philip?

Anyway whilst we are hampered by relativley long term injuries to some of our 'big' players, we really need to adopt a 4-5-1 system and rekindle the 'dogs of war' attitude on our travels imo. Grind results out now cos it gets harder to do so as the season goes on. Start with a point and bloody well keep it otherwise the current freefall will continue and a nervous season is in front of us. Midfield is our obvious weakness with Reid, Emo and Sav struggling with injuries and Tugay, Ped and Bentley with not a tackle between them. We need to pack it with bodies.

Edited November 6, 2006 by thenodrog

[G Somerset Rover]

Nonda and Benni seem to have got the partnership off to a tee. They know exactly where the other one is and also the midfielders running inn behind them. The problem with jeffers is that he just doesn't have the deadly strikers instinct, he gets into all the right positions then scuffs it or misses it completely.

Shame about roberts being injured, i think he would have pushed nonda very close for a starting place.

I'd have to disagree about Benni and Nonda getting their partnership off to a tee. On Thursday for example Benny looked very annoyed with the lack of options that Shabani and the midfield were giving him and as a result kept coming back into deep midfield to pick up the ball. Although Shabani is quite powerful he was brought here as a goalscorer-of which he is yet to do. I just dont think the midfield and strikeforce are attacking well as a unit at all right now-and our lack of chances and goals in the league would back that up.

[Presty On Tour]

neill being captain and obviously not wanting to play for us anymore is affecting us imo.

neill was rubbish on sunday, no more hard tackling, passing was no where. we need a leader and i think even hughes made a example of him by subbing him for henchoz with 5mins to go.

give the armband to tugay or friedel, players who want us to win and love the club.

[stuwilky]

neill being captain and obviously not wanting to play for us anymore is affecting us imo.

neill was rubbish on sunday, no more hard tackling, passing was no where. we need a leader and i think even hughes made a example of him by subbing him for henchoz with 5mins to go.

give the armband to tugay or friedel, players who want us to win and love the club.

Nothing to do with him being injured then?

[Presty On Tour]

Nothing to do with him being injured then?

the way he has been playing this season has he been carrying it for a while?

[pleasure]

the penalty decision is detracting from a poor display. yes we were pretty comfortable before it's award, but we were as woeful as our travelling support (only me and 299 others braved it).

there was a real lack of creativity and guile. everyone knows villa's defence are dominant in the air, but we persisted in lumping long, high balls into their box.

our full-backs have been shocking over the past few wks (gray must take some of the blame for villa's 2nd. the pass to zurab was never on) and our lack of depth in centre midfield is starting to show and without sav and reid we look very weak.

with tough games coming up, we are in danger of dropping down the league.

the slide needs to be stopped and fast. the question is.... how ????

[Tris]

(gray must take some of the blame for villa's 2nd. the pass to zurab was never on)

What was he supposed to do with it?

He'd won the initial header, was off balance, facing across goal, and being closed down by two of their players but still managed to nick it to Zurab.

Who could and should have put it into row z.

As posted elsewhere, Gray is everyone's favourite scapegoat at the moment, but he is not the problem.

[LDRover]

For all the great things Mark Hughes has achieved for us the blame has to lie fairly and squarely at his door. Not for the way we play, not for our fitness or tactics but for the fact he never got adequate cover in central midfield before the transfer window closed.

At that stage Steven Reid was injured and although we weren't sure of the severity of the injury it should've highlighted the problems we would face should Savage get injured too. It was sod's law that he would and now the problem has come home to roost.

There's no-one else in the squad who can do the job of either the aforementioned and as our game is based on pressure and setting the tempo we are struggling at the moment. Bentley and Tugay can't play together because neither of them can win the ball and Mokoena, for all his limitations is, well very limited (and that's being kind to him).

I can see it getting worse before it gets better and the return of Savage can't come quickly enough but as I wrote earlier, it was a problem that could be foreseen and as such something should have been done when there was a chance.

[Jan]

What was he supposed to do with it?

He'd won the initial header, was off balance, facing across goal, and being closed down by two of their players but still managed to nick it to Zurab.

Who could and should have put it into row z.

As posted elsewhere, Gray is everyone's favourite scapegoat at the moment, but he is not the problem.

Agree 100%

[pleasure]

What was he supposed to do with it?

He'd won the initial header, was off balance, facing across goal, and being closed down by two of their players but still managed to nick it to Zurab.

Who could and should have put it into row z.

As posted elsewhere, Gray is everyone's favourite scapegoat at the moment, but he is not the problem.

tris, i've only seen it live and those wre my thoughts at the time. i'll get back to you when i've seen it again.

as for gray being a scapegoat, he has made himself one with rank bad performances.

[Bing]

Ok ok were not meant to judge a footballer by what happens off field... but seriously, how many goals have we lost because of him and the bargain basement buy from PSV this season. Ooijer...!

Ooijer has been our best player in recent weeks. Yesterday I thought he was commanding, read the game well and excellent with the ball at his feet.

Gray was much improved. He was enthusiastic, aggressive, covered a lot of ground up and down the left and coped well with a pacey player a dozen years his junior.

Anyway whilst we are hampered by relativley long term injuries to some of our 'big' players, we really need to adopt a 4-5-1 system and rekindle the 'dogs of war' attitude on our travels imo. Grind results out now cos it gets harder to do so as the season goes on. Start with a point and bloody well keep it otherwise the current freefall will continue and a nervous season is in front of us. Midfield is our obvious weakness with Reid, Emo and Sav struggling with injuries and Tugay, Ped and Bentley with not a tackle between them. We need to pack it with bodies.

I agree. A Villa-supporting friend was surprised how 'easy' the game was for them. Whilst Dickov had his obvious limitations, I think we miss the harrying of him and Bellamy up front. For all his technical abilities, McCarthy can appear completely unintestered at times. He and Nonda barely closed a defender down all afternoon. Did I hear a cheer when his number went up or am I wide of the mark there?

We appear to be a bit of a soft touch on the road this year. We're not hunting in packs in midfield, putting any niggly challenges in or upseting people. We should push Bentley and MGP further upfield and get another body in the midfield.