Aston Villa Preview

[Scotty]

I can't think of too many occasions where we've played pretty well yet lost 4-0. Villa are a decent team though - very solid at the back and have good pace on the break - and they got all the luck going last night. We didn't help ourselves though.

I didn't agree with Hughes's initial line-up and the way they played. Bentley was supposedly on the left yet he drifted all over the place, meaning that when we picked the ball up in central midfield we didn't have the options available we usually have. Also, both Mokoena and Dunn played too deep. We know that's Mokoena's game, so Dunn should have been 20 yards further forward trying to hurt the opposition in their half. He looked good last night Dunn and kept possession well but most of his good work was carried out too deep to make much of a difference.

Bentley had a bit of a shocker last night, but all this talk of him being poor all season is just cobblers imo. He's normally one of our better players and he's hugely influential to the way we play.

Emerton has been a revelation at right-back, so why aren't we playing him there? Hopefully he'll be back there for the Newcastle game as I assume Ooijer will be switched to the centre instead of Nelsen.

Friedel made a very uncharacteristic mistake for the all-important first goal, and he joined Nelsen and Bentley as key players who had an off night. We can't afford that many non-performers at the same time.

As has been pointed out, no coincidence that we became so open after Mokoena went off, but under the circumstances it was a gamble worth taking.

Newcastle has now become a huge game for us. The first goal is crucial. We're still a good team though - we just had a bad night.

[Manchester Blue]

What last night said to me really , is how much the officials are spoiling the game for me in particular - I left early last night - id felt crap before I went on but was absolutely disgusted by the inept idiots tagged with the tit'e of officials and had seen enough. I am in two minds whether to go to the Newcastle game and am certainly not attending the West Ham game next week - season ticket or not.

One thing is certain at the moment my S/T is looking like it is not going to be renewed after nearly 20 years regardless of what we do this season - last night I ate the cherry of the top of the cake.

I said the very same thing this morning about the officials. I'm sick and tired of having to discuss them and sick and tired of the number of games being ruined by them. There is a huge difference between a ref making a mistake and a ref trying to hog the limelight and make his mark on a game. Dowd is just one of many refs of this ilk.

Time and again slowing the game pulling players back for nothing and basically having an attitude of look at me i'm the main man. What made last night worse was that the ref was literally not fit to referee, a complete disgrace in that respect. To see him stumble off sweating and panting like a dying buffalo was embarrassing and just added to the annoyance that most of the things he got wrong were because he simply couldn't keep up with play.

I can fully understand where Capt K is coming from on this one. It doesn't matter if it costs £10 or £50 really if your enjoyment is being ruined week after week then you will start to question it. If you have other priorities in your life you will question it an awful lot more.

[AndyC]

We're still a good team though - we just had a bad night.

agreed.

[den]

About time you came back with your reviews Scotty. They've been missed.

[lockers]

Re. the booing of England players

I was sat in the top right corner of BBE Lower (first time ive sat there I normally sit quite central) and a lot of people around me were condeming the boo boys, telling them to shut up etc. and thought it was good when Carson was applauded when he came out for the second half. Fair play to him he took it all on the chin and dealt well with the saves he had to make, especially the free kick in the first half.

Thought it was great being able to stand for the full 90 minutes and not be hassled by any stewards, and the banter up there was great, especially at half time when them cheerleaders were on :lol: Pity about the match itself

[robbojohnno]

Did the ball hit Carew on the arm for the first goal? I could be wrong, anyway for the first 30 minutes we were very good and had a legal goal dissallowed, we probably would have gone on to win after that. The red card was harsh, the ref was poor, but we lost 4-0 and need to sort our defensive problems out asap...

[Paul]

Well, this will label me either blue and white eyed, or unbelievebly well insighted. I thought rovers played the better football throughout the game. If that was a penalty, then any kind of hand on shirt in the box is a penalty and red card. Nor do I know if this has been mentioned before, but their third AND fourth goals were miles offside.

I'll be OK for Saturday.

No you're not alone den. I thought both teams played very well and it was a real shame the result was 4-0 because an exciting 2-1, either way, might have been a closer reflection of the match. I was mightily ###### off at the result but I don't think the score in anyway reflects our performance. Villa played well but were very lucky to score four times. Had Benni's goal been allowed or Brad not made a complete balls of the first the result could have been very different.

edit - aplogies I obviously can't say the p word

A bad night. It happens. Looking forward to Saturday and the almost twice weekly footie we have coming up between now and Christmas.

[brfcs5359]

Looks like we are back to agreeing Rev - have said before re the tip tappy and our laborious 'talent' in attacking in and around the box- yet for a periods last night we where excellent upto the edge of the box but the absolutely useless but then just stopped and kept going backwards

How can you go from playing some of the best football I have ever seen played at Ewood to getting mauled (robbed) then just giving up - maybe the players where as peed off with the 'officials /officially useless' - as the fans where with them.

I mentioned about Bentley in the Fulham thread and keeping him on the wing - he offers nothing unless on the right hand side and as for getting pushed of the ball / or was that diving again- Sparky please can you keep him there.

Thought Dunn tried but lacked any movement from anybody else for him to get anything going , and Oojer I thought played well.

Now for Nelsen - is anybody of the same as me thinking at the moment he is just a liability - he is making alot of mistakes and getting caught alot on the ball - I said at half time last night he needed taking off with Emerton being dropped back to RB and Oojer going into the middle - and bringing on Pedersen just to give us the balance -then looked what happened.

It has been mentioned by Mr E about teams with the statistics decisions going against them - this is something I posted last season and still guarantee that we would come out on top in this.

As for the tits booing - WTF was all that about - just part of the reason why England are in the mess they are in anyway and I would hazzard a guess are part of the 'new fan' brigade corrupted by the media and useless FA

Now the serious stuff - we can put alot down to the officials for last night but to me Villa where there for the taking and didn't show anything in my eyes to suggest the recent form they have been in the problem we have is what has been said for absolute ages, and our ability to finish off teams - we can be as fancy as we want but our final ball needs improving 100%, so we only have ourselves to blame on that ( but that is nothing new)

Without wingers we are at best an average team.

Our set pieces are amateur if that - can somebody please take the corners and freekicks off Bentley.

What last night said to me really , is how much the officials are spoiling the game for me in particular - I left early last night - id felt crap before I went on but was absolutely disgusted by the inept idiots tagged with the tit'e of officials and had seen enough. I am in two minds whether to go to the Newcastle game and am certainly not attending the West Ham game next week - season ticket or not.

One thing is certain at the moment my S/T is looking like it is not going to be renewed after nearly 20 years regardless of what we do this season - last night I ate the cherry of the top of the cake.

Great post.

Rovers are changing into what can be either described as a tipsy tapsy footballing outfit or a team realising that it'll take more than effort to break into the top 4 (if that's possible on a shoestring). Whilst smarting from the home defeat after, I felt we are witnessing a Rovers team on the whole playing the best football in a decade. I think the players think that as well.

Last night was some of Rovers best football in yonks and I enjoyed both teams. Villa played a similar game and it was enjoyable to watch both teams play a fast flowing passing game on the green stuff.

We are just a final pass at the moment from being a top notch Premier team. Benni's 'goal' was majestic in a period where Villa must have wondered how many they were going to lose by. We could have gone on and won 4-0 ourselves, we were flying. Dunn had his best game and looks to be getting more confident. Still missing the final ball, one or two erroneous passes and lack of fitness.

No-one epitomized the final ball failure more than DB who had a great game moving receiving, running and an Xcert on passing and set pieces. Moreover, he and Gamst have reduced us to the level of a pub team on set pieces. We must be 6-8 points light on set pieces over the season. BTW DB should not have been out on the left last night.

We were mugged, but praise to Villa for hanging in there and getting a result. The ref gave them all the controversial decisions. It happens. Chelsea goal against us was onside, and we mugged Spurs recently.

A fair result on play would have been 2-1 or 3-1 to the Rovers.

[stuwilky]

No-one epitomized the final ball failure more than DB who had a great game moving receiving, running and an Xcert on passing and set pieces. Moreover, he and Gamst have reduced us to the level of a pub team on set pieces. We must be 6-8 points light on set pieces over the season. BTW DB should not have been out on the left last night.

Correct me if I am wrong someone, but didnt Bentley take a solitary amazing free kick drawing a top notch save from Carson?

However as Graham says, we simply do not compete in these areas. How many corners last night hit the first defender? Its become a bit of a joke round us!

[Neil Weaver]

I can't think of too many occasions where we've played pretty well yet lost 4-0. Villa are a decent team though - very solid at the back and have good pace on the break - and they got all the luck going last night. We didn't help ourselves though.

I didn't agree with Hughes's initial line-up and the way they played. Bentley was supposedly on the left yet he drifted all over the place, meaning that when we picked the ball up in central midfield we didn't have the options available we usually have. Also, both Mokoena and Dunn played too deep. We know that's Mokoena's game, so Dunn should have been 20 yards further forward trying to hurt the opposition in their half. He looked good last night Dunn and kept possession well but most of his good work was carried out too deep to make much of a difference.

Bentley had a bit of a shocker last night, but all this talk of him being poor all season is just cobblers imo. He's normally one of our better players and he's hugely influential to the way we play.

Emerton has been a revelation at right-back, so why aren't we playing him there? Hopefully he'll be back there for the Newcastle game as I assume Ooijer will be switched to the centre instead of Nelsen.

Friedel made a very uncharacteristic mistake for the all-important first goal, and he joined Nelsen and Bentley as key players who had an off night. We can't afford that many non-performers at the same time.

As has been pointed out, no coincidence that we became so open after Mokoena went off, but under the circumstances it was a gamble worth taking.

Newcastle has now become a huge game for us. The first goal is crucial. We're still a good team though - we just had a bad night.

Not a lot to disagree with there Scotty. Couple of things to add if I may.

The 'free kick' Carew scored from : it was right in front of me. Young was looking to get past Dunny, Young went past him and brushed Dunny. Young made the most of it, just as we see Bentley do so often. Some players carry on playing after a bit of contact, some don't.

For all the folk on here having a go at MGP, the fact is he gives our play width. A couple of games come to mind that I've seen where he's been benched - Sunderland away and last night - where we've done OK but have looked far too 'narrow'. Even though you can give him grief about delivery etc, fact remains his presence means the opposition defence has to play wider and we benefit by having someone on the left.

Last night made me think of the Portsmouth game earlier this year. Even if we'd kept 11 on the pitch, I wonder if the Villa defence would have been sturdy enough to hold on to 0-1. I reckon so, and that would have been a fairer reflection of the game. Except Mr Dowd had other ideas. Wonder how much he had on at the bookies.

[brfcs5359]

Correct me if I am wrong someone, but didnt Bentley take a solitary amazing free kick drawing a top notch save from Carson?

However as Graham says, we simply do not compete in these areas. How many corners last night hit the first defender? Its become a bit of a joke round us!

I felt last night we would win easily until they delivered a great free-kick for the goal which despite critisism, is so difficult to defend and ended up in the back of our net changing the whole course of the game imo. I still felt we would score in the 2nd half but then we had the penalty and S/O which made it very difficult.

I have said for 3 seasons, our set pieces are awful. Sav takes the best free kicks and corners. Maybe Tugay and Dunn on edge of the box f/ks.

[DanLad]

I felt last night we would win easily until they delivered a great free-kick for the goal which despite critisism, is so difficult to defend and ended up in the back of our net changing the whole course of the game imo. I still felt we would score in the 2nd half but then we had the penalty and S/O which made it very difficult.

I have said for 3 seasons, our set pieces are awful. Sav takes the best free kicks and corners. Maybe Tugay and Dunn on edge of the box f/ks.

Corners hit the first man, or, for some unknown reason we play it short! We get the big men forward and then we fanny around with it and lose possession!

[CAPT KAYOS]

Correct me if I am wrong someone, but didnt Bentley take a solitary amazing free kick drawing a top notch save from Carson?

More a routine two handed I would say rather than top notch

[USRoverME]

I don't mind MGP and Bentley winding up for shots from free kicks near the 18, but those two also have some of the better noses for goal int he team besides the strikers. Get them in the box, lev sav or Tugay whip in the corners and freekick crosses.

[OscarRaven]

Too much tinkering at the moment.

Bentley on the right wing please

Emerton at right back please

Savage and Dunn in midfield please

and once thats settled feel free to experiment with the left..... youngster?

[Ozz]

Easy enough to give really!

[gumboots]

Is Agbonlahor still in nappies? And why has nobody blamed the cheerleaders yet? They were one of the more surreal aspects of a surreal night. The music was a poor choice for starters and their timing was awful. I've watched a lot of cheerleading and the coaches I've seen would have been furious at most of them. Make sure they don't perform on Saturday. We need to win.

[andrew92]

ye true i admit it was a penalty but a straight red? and ffs the last 2 goals were offside, and a dubious freekick for the first, alright rant over, we need to beat newcastle, wet spam and wigan now!!!!!!!!!!!!! ohh and just remind me who sent Tugay off for that last season at home against Totenham!!! BAST***

[thenodrog]

And why has nobody blamed the cheerleaders yet? They were one of the more surreal aspects of a surreal night. The music was a poor choice for starters and their timing was awful. I've watched a lot of cheerleading and the coaches I've seen would have been furious at most of them. Make sure they don't perform on Saturday. We need to win.

Cheerleaders! Dis you see them? .......... 51 girls and 1 lad! He was the one in track suit bottoms and no pom poms in front of the JW stand. I don't know whether he's a poofter or the craftiest bloke at his school! But I did see him on the big screen looking horrified and mouthing the words 'Oh ###### hell no' when he saw himself framed in close up on the big screen before the start of the dancing!

[USRoverME]

wait, I just thought of something good abotu last night's game....

at least we have a game only 3 days later, instead of having to stew about this defeat for 2 weeks over an international break....

[b12_simon]

wait, I just thought of something good abotu last night's game....

at least we have a game only 3 days later, instead of having to stew about this defeat for 2 weeks over an international break....

Too right. The only response is to tear the Barcodes a new one!

[Fife Rover]

Easy enough to give really!

A penalty; yes. A sending off; why? He was not the last man, and it was not a violent offence. Rovers should definitely appeal the sending off, but not the penalty.

[Paul]

I don't know the relative positions of the players so it's hard to comment on the last man issue. However Nelsen is denying the Villa player a clear scoring opportunity. That's a red card offence.

I hope Hughes has this picture and is asking Nelsen what on earth he was playing at. Two games, two penalties. Not good.

[philipl]

I think I have calmed down and I have a few questions.

Why was Benni's goal struck off and goals 3 and 4 (and our first equaliser at Fulham and Fulham's second) allowed to stand?

Why wasn't Ryan sent off for the penalty at Fulham?

Having seen the Fulham and Villa penalties awarded against us, why haven't we been awarded 30 penalties and conceded ten more ourselves this season?

How on earth does Mr Dowd pass the refereeing fitness tests (in all senses of the word)?

Yours,

confused from Malta

[Alan75]

I don't know the relative positions of the players so it's hard to comment on the last man issue. However Nelsen is denying the Villa player a clear scoring opportunity. That's a red card offence.

I hope Hughes has this picture and is asking Nelsen what on earth he was playing at. Two games, two penalties. Not good.

Nelsen, has had a problem with holding players from day one. Reason, although he has good positioning sense he lacks pace.