Stuy_O

Out of contract in the summer, stupid prices quoted. Exactly... thought Blackpool would have lowered the asking price to at least get something. They still will i think, he's under 24 or has that rule changed again ? Ahh. No it more than likely hasn't changed, I just forgot. Still maybe being a little greedy, could have got a decent fee rather than a cut off compensation wedge. Although clearly it would depend on how much someone desires him now. I can see Blackpool thinking they can still go up, last time they did they were in a ridiculous 19th place or something this time the season they made it up. They went on a mental run and got the last play off place. That happening again, so they've done themselves out of quite a wedge. Aye fair point, that's probably the logic they have looked at it with (that promotion is still possible). Just don't seem to have that intimidation factor they had under Holloway though. Twats were never beaten under him. I think the compensation rule will actually still apply, but could be wrong.

Out of contract in the summer, stupid prices quoted. Exactly... thought Blackpool would have lowered the asking price to at least get something. They still will i think, he's under 24 or has that rule changed again ? Ahh. No it more than likely hasn't changed, I just forgot. Still maybe being a little greedy, could have got a decent fee rather than a cut off compensation wedge. Although clearly it would depend on how much someone desires him now.

Out of contract in the summer, stupid prices quoted. Exactly... thought Blackpool would have lowered the asking price to at least get something.

I'm surprised Tom Ince has managed to stay put.

Aye your right sorry, because being positive towards your team who have just won and who are fighting like f*** is s*** support. And because Villa have been beaten by lower league teams, they were going to show absolutely nothing here and roll over despite getting a foothold with 40 minutes still to play. Aye s***, forgot football was that simple. it's like I have a second account Its fine to be positive, it's absolutely ridiculous to blindly defend the indefensible. Sometimes I feel like people haven't watched us this season. At all. Its beyond predictable. What can it be? Is it too much to ask to be able to react to what another team does. Thats f***ing basic basic management. There's no need to be overtly angered by a post. about it. Never once said it was s*** support, again jumping to a ridiculous conclusion that is completely untrue. I merely said defending a manager who was taken a squad of our quality to the dizzy heights of relegation fodder, is by nature absurd I'm not defending the indefensible though am I? Not expecting to cover old ground but i'v been highly critical of him and equally have praised him when I see fit. He deserves undoubted stick for past matches, but I saw no real reason for that after this match, as imo the early Villa goal 2nd half completely hammered our confidence and as a result the team became incredibly nervous and agitated in possession. I also find it incredibly unlikely that he was instructing his staff to waste the ball as carelessly as they were. If he was, then yes, we are f***ed. But it's not that cut and dry. Also the main point was that you weighed up the squads and the quality they have - as if that will make it an easy win. Never gonna be like that until our confidence is high. Aye ours is better, but given the runs both sides are on the match that developed was always gunna be the most likely outcome - An initial bout of confident play from our fresh squad, get two goals and play really well - conceding always gunna make us a bit timid. Them - as desperate for point as us, on the edge. Needed something early 2nd half and got it, resulting in a siege at our goal. We came out on top. Fair enough, but It's not like this is the only game it has happened. Its a pattern that has emerged this season, and many on here have called. Honestly you could visibly see it at the match, the shape changed at the start of the second half, we dropped back, debuchy wouldn't cross the half way, not even to take a throw in, it was very similar to Reading, we gifted them the game back. The "tactic" of shanking a ball to a lumbering excuse for a footballer was horrendous to see. My point was more that, at 2-0 up with the squad we have, and the players at his disposal, it shouldn't really be such an effort for us to desperately cling on to a win. Imo we would have coasted that second half by just retaining posession for the first 15 mins of the half. instead we did what we have done all season, hit long balls. Thats a managerial directivem it has to be In theory aye, but other elements come into play i.e - us not winning away all season, a bunch of very nervous players, and the opponents, who are the one team in that league as desperate for a win as us. That's when it does become an effort , when the pressure is on. Im hopeful that if we do get some results on the board - our ability to see games out in a more composed manner - OR - we may actually go and score a few more, something I think would have occurred had we not conceded that early.

Aye your right sorry, because being positive towards your team who have just won and who are fighting like f*** is s*** support. And because Villa have been beaten by lower league teams, they were going to show absolutely nothing here and roll over despite getting a foothold with 40 minutes still to play. Aye s***, forgot football was that simple. it's like I have a second account Its fine to be positive, it's absolutely ridiculous to blindly defend the indefensible. Sometimes I feel like people haven't watched us this season. At all. Its beyond predictable. What can it be? Is it too much to ask to be able to react to what another team does. Thats f***ing basic basic management. There's no need to be overtly angered by a post. about it. Never once said it was s*** support, again jumping to a ridiculous conclusion that is completely untrue. I merely said defending a manager who was taken a squad of our quality to the dizzy heights of relegation fodder, is by nature absurd I'm not defending the indefensible though am I? Not expecting to cover old ground but i'v been highly critical of him and equally have praised him when I see fit. He deserves undoubted stick for past matches, but I saw no real reason for that after this match, as imo the early Villa goal 2nd half completely hammered our confidence and as a result the team became incredibly nervous and agitated in possession. I also find it incredibly unlikely that he was instructing his staff to waste the ball as carelessly as they were. If he was, then yes, we are f***ed. But it's not that cut and dry. Also the main point was that you weighed up the squads and the quality they have - as if that will make it an easy win. Never gonna be like that until our confidence is high. Aye ours is better, but given the runs both sides are on the match that developed was always gunna be the most likely outcome - An initial bout of confident play from our fresh squad, get two goals and play really well - conceding always gunna make us a bit timid. Them - as desperate for point as us, on the edge. Needed something early 2nd half and got it, resulting in a siege at our goal. We came out on top.

Not sure Borini and Allen were sensible buys tbh and Sahin definitely wasn't, he's still very unproven in that regard. Sturridge looks good so far but it is far too early to say and same goes for Coutinho. Compared to the previous business though, its looks far more grounded and logical. I will go with you about Allan don't see what the fuss is.

I agree it's odd but i'm finding it hard to label last night's match in that same bracket - despite it looking similar. imo it was a case of Villa instantly finding themselves back in the contest second half, and then about us having the cohones to see it out.

Despite clear footage to the contrary. Ok then... Aye you could see Pardew going nuts on the sidelines in the last 15 or 20 minutes because of the hoofing. It clearly wasn't a gameplan at all, and just the sign of a nervous team desperate for a win. The first half performance was entirely down to luck too. The first half performance was down to Pardew setting us up well, as he did against Reading. The 2nd half performance was down to him undoing his good work. Really? I think it was more to do with us not being able to weather the (somewhat inevitable) storm with a couple of poor decisions (one from Debuchy in particular). You watch the premiership every week, and you see a losing team spring out the traps second half all the time. It's about weathering the storm for more than a couple of minutes. I have no doubt that if we had made it to about 60 mins without conceding we would have won much more comfortably. Villa would have burnt out and we would have started playing again. As it was, we shot ourselves in the foot 3 mins into the second half, which set us on the back foot for the rest of the game. You may be right, but I've never seen Villa dominate to such an extent over a 50 minute period. Its no coincidence we constantly make poor sides look good, its down to Pardew's moronic choices and tactics. We can win games that mask his deficiencies, but these deficiencies will not go away no matter how much you ignore them. Pardew is just limited and while he's here we won't get the best from these players. It wasn't Villa's "brilliance" or our players faults that Cisse ended up on the wing, Shola was brought on to play CF, Mbiwa was brought on into midfield and Gouffran and Sissoko was taken off eliminating any pace we had. These were all Pardew decisions and we keep seeing them week in week out, be naive if you must but the same mistakes are being repeated it has nothing to do with the players being nervous its to do with the Pardew and his moronic decisions. It is no coincidence these things keep happening and don't be surprised if they continue to happen as they have done so for the majority of Pardew's time here. What's your opinion of the first half yesterday then, that won us the game? Who's getting the credit for that? Notwithstanding your post their.

I have to agree his buys do seem to be sensible and with the impression that thought has gone into them. Unlike the ridiculous scatter gun approach of the previous regime.

Liverpool have signed Coutinho - can't say i'v seen him play much but he looks decent when I have. Rodger's cant really moan now about lack of backing - thats about 35mil on 4 players - although an undoubted improvement on 35mil on 1!

Despite clear footage to the contrary. Ok then... Aye you could see Pardew going nuts on the sidelines in the last 15 or 20 minutes because of the hoofing. It clearly wasn't a gameplan at all, and just the sign of a nervous team desperate for a win. The first half performance was entirely down to luck too. The first half performance was down to Pardew setting us up well, as he did against Reading. The 2nd half performance was down to him undoing his good work. Really? I think it was more to do with us not being able to weather the (somewhat inevitable) storm with a couple of poor decisions (one from Debuchy in particular). You watch the premiership every week, and you see a losing team spring out the traps second half all the time. It's about weathering the storm for more than a couple of minutes. I have no doubt that if we had made it to about 60 mins without conceding we would have won much more comfortably. Villa would have burnt out and we would have started playing again. As it was, we shot ourselves in the foot 3 mins into the second half, which set us on the back foot for the rest of the game.

They really couldn't have been worse though surely? Lambert clearly went to town on them at half time. They made two required changes and it instantly made them more mobile up front. The second half was as much to do with Villa's desperation as it was our nervousness imo

Aye the utilisation of Sissoko playing more advanced and dominating the first half, nothing to do with Pardew either. Or the fact that one of his sub's prevented a certain goal near the end.

The roar for our first was so loud, could see what it meant. The new players will be instantly in love with what they saw yesterday.

Have to say our away support was at its absolute best last night, a credit to the club. Visibly kept the side going at times in the 2nd half.

Well that's an interesting one, would we have held on had Williamson been playing?

Villa were never just going to lie there and let us f*** them up the arse, did you think or expect the villa match was gonner be a walk in the park? We've been s*** most of the season, then you expect us to hand villa a damn good beating away from home. I think you need to lower your expectations a little. I didn't have high expectations which is exactly my point. If you read what I actually wrote, I'm saying its a f***ing disgrace that we are in this position with the squad that we have. Seem to remember Wigan turning them over 4-0? Villa beat Liverpool 1-3. Thats football Fair enough but it doesn't make my point any less valid. There is no way that we should be in this position with the squad we have. I'm astonished people are finding ways to spin this, when its glaring that the management, the tactics, the style of play is f***ing dreadful Your earlier post suggested you thought we would go to Villa yesterday and coast to victory, simply because they are on a rotten run. Come on. Every away fixture in that division is hard. Was never ever going to be like that, of course we have better players but when your fighting at the bottom against teams near you that argument becomes somewhat redundant. Yesterday was about character and it's to the players immense credit they got the points. It's not really acceptable we are where no, and a number of developments have led to our predicament, (yes, Pardew's tactics being one), but he's got new players in, his captain is staying and Cabaye is looking very good, all positive signs. Most crucially aswell, the spirit has somehow remained intact. It's cast iron fact it would have evaporated with other managers.

Villa were never just going to lie there and let us f*** them up the arse, did you think or expect the villa match was gonner be a walk in the park? We've been s*** most of the season, then you expect us to hand villa a damn good beating away from home. I think you need to lower your expectations a little. I didn't have high expectations which is exactly my point. If you read what I actually wrote, I'm saying its a f***ing disgrace that we are in this position with the squad that we have. Seem to remember Wigan turning them over 4-0? Villa beat Liverpool 1-3. Thats football

I don't deny he is tactically strange, but we got the job done last night and that's all i'm taking from it. Played really well 1st, dug in 2nd and won. The players looked absolutely chuffed at the end and it was good to see.

Aye your right sorry, because being positive towards your team who have just won and who are fighting like fuck is shit support. And because Villa have been beaten by lower league teams, they were going to show absolutely nothing here and roll over despite getting a foothold with 40 minutes still to play. Aye shit, forgot football was that simple.

Out of interest, do you think he tells them to retreat and hold onto the lead and play possession football or does he tell them to retreat and hold onto the lead by panicking and hoofing the ball to the opposition? Both, when stress is slightly applied and we are in the lead or holding out for a drawn, we will sit deep and the players will drop dribbling forward. Just watch the last 20 games again. in the second half our players stop dribbling up the field and choose to hold positions. Its exactly why we start hoofing it. GO watch the Game stop being muppets of Pardew when you guys dont actually watch it properly. Ahh yes, our undying love for Pardew is clouding our vision when we watched the match. Actually that same logic can be applied for your seemingly pathological hatred of him. He may have instructed the team to dig in and defend for the latter stages of that match, but I will be utterly astounded if he told them to do it in the manner they did. Pardew was going mental with Krul for blasting straight up to Villa's back four, and that moment where I think it was either Cabaye or Debuchy ran to the corner flag to then simply turn and chip it to a Villa player defied belief. Like Pardew said, the players were extremely nervous, a natural mindset given the run we're on. We could have imploded 2nd half. I do not Hate Pardew, my criticism comes from the fact of his tactical flaws, it was clear to me even when we were beating Man United last season. I was one of the few that were still criticizing his tactics even on a good run. We defended for a whole second half and sat back, if we have pushed forward, We would not have being pin back for 45 minutes. 45 minutes is half the game in football, i cant see how a team can be push back by fatigue for one whole half apart from instructions. Every second half is the same doesnt it ring a bell? But i'v criticised him for making such decisions in previous matches and earlier on in the season, and I would agree it made little sense. I can only say that I think Pardew want's his teams to maintain some sort of discipline, and I hope now he has good players available to him he starts to show common sense. However i'm talking about this match, and saw conclusive proof his players are playing for him.

Out of interest, do you think he tells them to retreat and hold onto the lead and play possession football or does he tell them to retreat and hold onto the lead by panicking and hoofing the ball to the opposition? Both, when stress is slightly applied and we are in the lead or holding out for a drawn, we will sit deep and the players will drop dribbling forward. Just watch the last 20 games again. in the second half our players stop dribbling up the field and choose to hold positions. Its exactly why we start hoofing it. GO watch the Game stop being muppets of Pardew when you guys dont actually watch it properly. Ahh yes, our undying love for Pardew is clouding our vision when we watched the match. Actually that same logic can be applied for your seemingly pathological hatred of him. He may have instructed the team to dig in and defend for the latter stages of that match, but I will be utterly astounded if he told them to do it in the manner they did. Pardew was going mental with Krul for blasting straight up to Villa's back four, and that moment where I think it was either Cabaye or Debuchy ran to the corner flag to then simply turn and chip it to a Villa player defied belief. Like Pardew said, the players were extremely nervous, a natural mindset given the run we're on. We could have imploded 2nd half. I do not Hate Pardew, my criticism comes from the fact of his tactical flaws, it was clear to me even when we were beating Man United last season. I was one of the few that were still criticizing his tactics even on a good run. We defended for a whole second half and sat back, if we have pushed forward, We would not have being pin back for 45 minutes. 45 minutes is half the game in football, i cant see how a team can be push back by fatigue for one whole half apart from instructions. Every second half is the same doesnt it ring a bell? I'v never once mentioned fatigue on here. This team has not won away all season and the game was of unbelievably important scope. What did you expect after we let one in after 49 minutes? I'm sorry but imo Villa we're always going to inflict some sort of pressure on us if they scored early enough, they would have done it to several other teams. Do I think the manner of some of our play in the 2nd half could of been better? Yes of course I do, but like I said in an earlier post, our player's were simply bricking it that second half, hence some of the rushed clearances and rushed passing. They, like us, knew exactly what was at stake here. If we had got to 60 at 0-2, that stadium would have emptied rapidly, they would have been completely shot, and we would have had a few more, not a single doubt in my mind about that. They needed something urgently to give them a lift and they got it. It was a case of surviving after that.

Shola was brought on for the ball to stick up front, allowing us to push out. Trouble is he never does very well at all.

I watch and go to games weekly, yet took more positives than negatives last night. Call me crazy.