[Archived] The 2-1 Villa Preview Thread

[Hughesy]

No id say Ooijer at fault for 1 (1st, had 4 tackles on Milner but didnt win it), Nelsen 1 (Just let young run stright through) and Simpson 1 (last one, he is the right back who was about 15 yards into Villa's half).

As for our goals, very good free-kick and also a very, very good team move. Promising - its not every week you play against pace like Agbonlawhores.

[LeChuck]

I think blaming Samba for the third is harsh. Even if he was 5 yards further back he'd probably have still been beaten by raw pace.

Samba's no slouch though, if he had a decent starting position I reckon he could have at least pushed Agbonlahor wide.

So much went wrong for the first that I admit it's a bit harsh to blame it all on Samba. He just seemed to duck that first cross, if he'd stuck his on it on he could have saved that whole mess that resulted from the ball coming back in.

[Oklahoma]

I didn't see the game but, from what I read in skysports, we played well, could have won the game.

For them, Benni was man of the match. Good sign for rovers.

We had more shots, more possession, more tackles.

From what I read here, our defence could have been better.

Overall, it was ok, I guess.

[novella]

Cant have too many complaints apart from the result. sounds like we outplayed villa who are quality this season. from what i have seen over the last few days we are playing really good stuff and its only a matter of time before it all clicks into place. lets hope it does on saturday.

not many points between the teams in the middle of the table.

[jim mk2]

Cold night in Birmingham and it's going to be a long hard winter if Rovers continue to defend like that.

We controlled the first 45 mins with lovely passing movements (Villa Park was silent except for Rovers fans) and then silly Sunday league defending gifted Villa an equaliser they didn't deserve.

The astute Martin O'Neill made changes as I expected at the interval and Villa were the better team in the 2nd half but the second goal should never have happened, again because of poor Rovers defending.

Some things are blindingly obvious to me (and hopefully the manager):

1. We need to stop conceding silly goals, which means Emerton and Warnock returning to right and left full back respectively despite their excellent performances in midfield last night.

2. The team lacks pace and width. Bentley is sorely missed.

3. The team needs another quality striker - neither Roberts, Derbyshire, McCarthy nor Fowler are the answer.

4. WBA on Saturday is crucial - another defeat and heads will start to go down.

[Mr. E]

Cold night in Birmingham and it's going to be a long hard winter if Rovers continue to defend like that.

We controlled the first 45 mins with lovely passing movements (Villa Park was silent except for Rovers fans) and then silly Sunday league defending gifted Villa an equaliser they didn't deserve.

The astute Martin O'Neill made changes as I expected at the interval and Villa were the better team in the 2nd half but the second goal should never have happened, again because of poor Rovers defending.

Some things are blindingly obvious to me (and hopefully the manager):

1. We need to stop conceding silly goals, which means Emerton and Warnock returning to right and left full back respectively despite their excellent performances in midfield last night.

2. The team lacks pace and width. Bentley is sorely missed.

3. The team needs another quality striker - neither Roberts, Derbyshire, McCarthy nor Fowler are the answer.

4. WBA on Saturday is crucial - another defeat and heads will start to go down.

Whose heads, exactly?

The fans? I think that anyone who wanted something progressive to happen this season has abandoned such illusions.

As for the players - they aren't concerned with the plight of the team. Whether they win or lose it's all the same. They're getting their paychecks regardless.

[roversmum]

Back from the match, very disappointed but with hope. Played some beautiful passing stuff, by the end of the first half Villa were beginning to get shaky and the fans on their backs, they then got a very lucky goal right at the finish. They had also had been given a dozen free kicks by then and three very obvious handballs ignored by the ref who continued in the same vein for the rest of the match although we did get a few free kicks towards the end of the match including the one leading to our second goal. Matty actually went down in the area so could have had a claim for a penalty- the skid marks where he went down were quite clear. The only good thing about Villa was their pace, but as that is bringing results the fans can't complain.

The good football played recently is improving and I feel sure will start to bring results soon. I thought Pedersen played quite well, he had an excellent shot saved by Brad. Not sure about the substitutions and there were a couple of free kicks that Carlos should taken I thought.

I don't feel so nervous about things now.

[RevidgeBlue]

I thought 10 of our players played well but Pedersen was absolutely @#/?. People say we need a right winger but Emerton is doing OK - I think its more important we get somebody for the left.

I disagree with that completely, I thought MGP looked much improved and that he Warnock, Emerton and the much maligned Andrews all played really well. I was very surprised when MGP was taken off 2nd half. Was he injured?

As others have said Villa started the game with the lion's share of possession but didn't look overly dangerous as we defended well, and we had the only real chance in the opening stages as Andrews forced a good save out of Friedel after a smart move.

Soon after, an even better move saw us take the lead, and we should have made it two immediately after. Thereafter we didn't look under any pressure at all for the rest of the half until the clock hit 45 and 1 min extra time was called. During that extra minute we somehow managed to concede the softest goal imaginable and the feeling was Villa were bound to improve drastically second half.

I still felt we were much the better side until Villa scored their second. Shocking defending from Ooijer who also cost us a goal against Boro on Saturday. He's a liability at the moment imo, wherever he plays in the defence, left back, right back, CH, he seems to cost us goals.

After the second goal went in I felt the heads dropped slightly, we never genuinely looked like getting back in the game after that and we conceded the third goal a bit cheaply. Which was eventually annoying

in light of the fact that Emerton scored an absolutely stunning free kick in the fourth minute of injury time which on any other night would have been well worthy of a draw/win.

So a very good performance in parts, but very poor defending in parts as well. We really should have got at least a point from the game and can't afford to have too many days when we play well and come away empty handed.

The only thing that gave me real concern tonight though was the performance of the two strikers. You can't legislate for Roque geting injured in the warm up but Benni and Carlos both had absolute shockers and in general none of the strikers apart from RSC seem to be pulling their weight as regards looking dangerous and finding the back of the net. (Benni's lay off was his only contribution)

If things don't improve on the goals front we're going to have to keep RSC at all costs in January and somehow find another striker who looks as though he knows where the back of the net is.

[Eddie]

I thought we looked quite a bit better than quite a good Villa side. It is a hard line to take seeing as we have dropped quite a few points recently and also put in very poor performances against Arsenal and United, but we've been fairly unlucky. We could have quite easily taken 9 points from our last three games but a combination of poor defending and finishing have prevented us from doing so, now that doesn't translate into anything when you look at the league table, but it should provide hope and encouragement. We aren't quite getting the rub of the green and a few players are underperforming, but I do think that things overall are looking quite decent. Benni once again looked good, MGP looked better, Emerton continues to perform, as do Warnock and Villanueva.

These dropped points will no doubt prove crucial when it comes to the end of the season, but I've already decided to write this off as Ince's building season/finding his feet and things seem to be starting pretty decently.

[RevidgeBlue]

I thought we looked quite a bit better than quite a good Villa side. It is a hard line to take seeing as we have dropped quite a few points recently and also put in very poor performances against Arsenal and United, but we've been fairly unlucky. We could have quite easily taken 9 points from our last three games but a combination of poor defending and finishing have prevented us from doing so, now that doesn't translate into anything when you look at the league table, but it should provide hope and encouragement. We aren't quite getting the rub of the green and a few players are underperforming, but I do think that things overall are looking quite decent. Benni once again looked good, MGP looked better, Emerton continues to perform, as do Warnock and Villanueva.

These dropped points will no doubt prove crucial when it comes to the end of the season, but I've already decided to write this off as Ince's building season/finding his feet and things seem to be starting pretty decently.

I agree with nearly all of that Eddie but Benni was dreadfully disappointing imo after the encouragement of grabbing the equaliser on Saturday. Still light years away from full match fitness imo. I'd love there to be someone still offering 7m for him in January but I can't see anyone still wanting him the way he hasn't been performing.

Carlos also put in a very poor performance on the night imo.

[Eddie]

He cleary isn't match fit, but that isn't surprising. He does seem to be interested and have that spark though and given a run I would like to think he'll get close to his form of two seasons ago. Fingers crossed at least...

I'm actually feeling rather positive at the moment. Here's hoping for three points on Saturday.

[RevidgeBlue]

He cleary isn't match fit, but that isn't surprising. He does seem to be interested and have that spark though and given a run I would like to think he'll get close to his form of two seasons ago. Fingers crossed at least...

The problem with that theory is that he and RSC have never tended to work together well as a pairing at all.

[FourLaneBlue]

The problem with that theory is that he and RSC have never tended to work together well as a pairing at all.

To be honest Benni had not worked well with anybody for the last year or so. Therefore it is not out of the question that they might eventually form a partnership should Benni´s form improve.

[47er]

I agree with nearly all of that Eddie but Benni was dreadfully disappointing imo after the encouragement of grabbing the equaliser on Saturday. Still light years away from full match fitness imo. I'd love there to be someone still offering 7m for him in January but I can't see anyone still wanting him the way he hasn't been performing.

Carlos also put in a very poor performance on the night imo.

However well McCarthy does for the rest of the season its an absolute disgrace`that he came back from his hols fat and unfit. Totally unprofessional and treating his employer and the fans with absolute contempt. I'm assuming he receives his full salery while we wait for him to get back into condition? We should have flogged him to Sunderland when they wanted him. He's put 1 good seaso in-his first and clearly thought he was too ood for us then.

[ROVERS]

lets be realistic here, how can a team playing really well for the past few gameS but still continue losing? does it make sense?

like i have said times and times again, the play is bad at the moment, its an illusion "good football". and the tactical management skills of PI is simply "Outstanding"

its rather obvious the inapt technical capabilities of PI, and to make matters worse, given his hard and stubborn character, he will continue to stick to what he assume to be correct and try to prove a point/judgement with my beloved rovers. And thats the last thing you wanna see from your manager. Trust me! you'll see stupid judgements made again.

I'll just have to pray that Rovers will not be relegated.

[patrickvalery]

It doesn't matter how well we play if we concede 3 goals. I assume Winterburn thought there was an international break this week. The only saving grace is perhaps Grella might have made a difference in front of the back 4. But it seems to me we have no half measures. It's either all out attack and no defence or Tight at the back and no creativity. Another point of note is RSC. Are his old injury problems returning? I'm not convinced he has played a single match fully fit this season. We really need to put on a performance against WBA. I can see us bagging 3 or 4 in a match sooner rather than later. Just concerns me that we may still only walk away with a point when it happens.

[JAL]

If the Chilean isnt doing much away from home and can only maintain 45 minutes performance during any game is it really worth splashing nearly £5m on the lad who obviously doesnt posses great pace to begin with.

[Mr Creosote]

I've enjoyed some his cameos and thought he was ok against Boro but he dosn't look £5m worth. I wouldn't be overly surprised if he was heading home in the New Year.

[modes98]

If the Chilean isnt doing much away from home and can only maintain 45 minutes performance during any game is it really worth splashing nearly £5m on the lad who obviously doesnt posses great pace to begin with.

? Carlos had 2 great halves, sure he wasn't shooting as much second half but he spread the play superbly and won a couple of important free kicks.

I have to say that was the most frustrating game I have been to in a while. Rovers dominate for 70mins, fall asleep for the barry goal and then it's game over. Their first goal was pure fluke and their third was us pushing forward for the equaliser.

Our forward play made Villa look very poor at times and Warnock loved his role. My only complaint would be against Morten not sticking to the touchline or even to the left. Far to often he was wandering inside and we lost the chance to play it wide for the cross.

Another performance like that saturday and 3 points will be ours.

[JAL]

? Carlos had 2 great halves, sure he wasn't shooting as much second half but he spread the play superbly and won a couple of important free kicks.

I have to say that was the most frustrating game I have been to in a while. Rovers dominate for 70mins, fall asleep for the barry goal and then it's game over. Their first goal was pure fluke and their third was us pushing forward for the equaliser.

Our forward play made Villa look very poor at times and Warnock loved his role. My only complaint would be against Morten not sticking to the touchline or even to the left. Far to often he was wandering inside and we lost the chance to play it wide for the cross.

Another performance like that saturday and 3 points will be ours.

If our forward play was so great WHY could we not come back against Villa, you say there was twenty minutes left yet the game was lost thats a huge amount of time left in a game to do something i'd have thought.

(Regarding MGP coming in from wide is that in order to support the lone striker)

[philipl]

If the Chilean isnt doing much away from home and can only maintain 45 minutes performance during any game is it really worth splashing nearly £5m on the lad who obviously doesnt posses great pace to begin with.

Haven't seen any of the game but if we were pinging it around so well and getting a lot of shots in (mostly on target for a change) presumably he was playing his part.

I think it's the first start he has made which he didn't get subbed from so he is clearly building stamina and strength.

I wonder if his first Premier League goal will also give his performance a big boost.

Back to the game and in the cold light of day it certainly feels like an opportunity and points lost, particularly after reading Mo'N's comments about Villa being off-colour.

Haven't seen any of the game (that's not an invitation for illegal links to be posted- it is strictly not allowed) but it seems the defence lost concentration again.

[JAL]

I've enjoyed some his cameos and thought he was ok against Boro but he dosn't look £5m worth. I wouldn't be overly surprised if he was heading home in the New Year.

I'm not convinced myself Mr.Creosote you might well be right but then Ince is probably stubborn enough to force the deal through as its his baby.

[JAL]

Haven't seen any of the game but if we were pinging it around so well and getting a lot of shots in (mostly on target for a change) presumably he was playing his part.

I think it's the first start he has made which he didn't get subbed from so he is clearly building stamina and strength.

I wonder if his first Premier League goal will also give his performance a big boost.

Back to the game and in the cold light of day it certainly feels like an opportunity and points lost, particularly after reading Mo'N's comments about Villa being off-colour.

Haven't seen any of the game (that's not an invitation for illegal links to be posted- it is strictly not allowed) but it seems the defence lost concentration again.

The third goal was Tugay losing possesion in their half totally catching us completely off guard with the pace of Agbonlahor he ran from almost the half way line into the penalty area to slot past Paul Robinson whilst Samba looked like he was running through snow trying to catch him. Thought Paul Robinson could have been sharper in coming out narrowing the angle aswell but the root cause for the third was Tugay in midfield.

[CrazyIvan]

Overall, it seems that when the team loses Ince gets nailed by some. Individual mistakes get Ince the blame which is harsh. People are going to point and say Ince picked those players but this never happened under Hughes management on here. Ince isn't blameless but neither is he the reason we lost this match. It's a team game. Rovers lost a game they should have won.

I was disappointed with the loss and still am but very encouraged by the way the team played. Get our strikers fit and healthy and scoring more importantly and all of the good play will result in wins and points. Not every game obviously but a better way of playing than last seasons.

[gazsimm]

JAL i think the person we are missing the most at the moment is David Dunn, without him we don't have a creative midfielder who can take players on and create a chance from nothing. Tugay can pass the ball but has not got the speed to go past anyone anymore and Carlos is playing just of the front man.