Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2019/2020

Panrich

There must be some form of curse around Villa park.
We've bought two right backs to get Hutton out of the team and they both get injured. Bree has a swollen knee so he could be out for a while.
We get two new attacking central mids and we have to play one of them as a defensive midfielder because Jedinak gets injured before we get a chance to play them as we intended.

CSF

Panrich wrote: »

There must be some form of curse around Villa park.
We've bought two right backs to get Hutton out of the team and they both get injured. Bree has a swollen knee so he could be out for a while.
We get two new attacking central mids and we have to play one of them as a defensive midfielder because Jedinak gets injured before we get a chance to play them as we intended.

Honestly I don't get how Hutton gets it, how many goals this season have been due to anything he has done wrong, 1 or 2 maybe? And we're not talking howlers either.

Corholio

The second half sounded really dire, I was listening on radio but I could almost visualise the team gradually dropping back as Ipswich got more of the ball. The amount of time teams have come to Villa Park, even though Villa were unbeaten before today, and been allowed to control halves of football has been far, far too much. I was sick of hearing say Baker playing a high ball to whoever, I don't know if it's Bruce or if it's Baker himself doing that but it makes signing the players Villa have absolutely pointless.

The team missed chances today yes, just like Forest, but that thing has a lifespan of excuses before you have to look deeper than that. I would have been defending the team a few months ago when it was happening but you don't go through many, many 45 (not even 90) minutes missing chances and have that as the excuse. It doesn't sound at all like the team is the playing tactically the way it should be with the players that are now there.

Panrich

CSF wrote: »

Honestly I don't get how Hutton gets it, how many goals this season have been due to anything he has done wrong, 1 or 2 maybe? And we're not talking howlers either.

So so many moves break down when he lumbers forward.

CantGetNoSleep

7 points off the drop please mind the gap.

Jack Grealish's agent won't be too happy with him playing League One ball.

Corholio

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

7 points off the drop please mind the gap.

Jack Grealish's agent won't be too happy with him playing League One ball.

I'd say even his own agent doesn't talk about him half as much as you do.

artanevilla

As I said before, get Barry Fry to piss on the corner flags.

fullstop

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

7 points off the drop please mind the gap.

Jack Grealish's agent won't be too happy with him playing League One ball.

Have you got a thing for Grealish or it is just that you like to troll any chance you get?

pavb2

We started off OK yesterday took the initiative and although they weren't all clear cut chances we should have gone in at HT ahead. Ipswich offered little so at that point I thought there's no way we shouldn't be winning this game Some good moments in the first half and I've not seen us do anything like work a set piece for Thor's shot which hit the bar for a long time.

And then the second half they came at us with intent and 1st 15 minutes we were anonymous. We lost all shape and pattern and didn't try and take the game to them until we were a goal down.

I don't know what to think on the one hand if Bruce is sacked we start another rebuild in the summer, otherwise continue with him in the hope that somehow it comes together.

Is it a case that the £60 + mill spent is of less value than having a settled squad like Sheffield Wednesday, Brentford and Huddersfield's.

CSF

I honestly don't think it's anything like that. I'm by no means a budding Conte but I've been ranting on here all week about how Elphick is a horror show and should be nowhere near the team. Bruce starts him and he costs us the game. He will probably start the donkey again on Tuesday.

It is so frustrating to disagree with the manager so often and end up being right more often than not. It's no fun being right when the end result is losing again. For once, I want Bruce to be right and me to get laughed at a bit for doubting him, Elphick, Gabby, McCormack, the ridiculous formations.

Bruce's problem from the get go (in addition to the overly negative tactics) is he has zero minimum expectations in terms of performance. You can come in, put in pathetic performances on a weekly basis and you'll still find your way into Bruce's team. Come in and perform like Adomah and Green, you'll keep your spot right? Not a hope, that's not the Bruce way.

matrim

CSF wrote: »

I honestly don't think it's anything like that. I'm by no means a budding Conte but I've been ranting on here all week about how Elphick is a horror show and should be nowhere near the team. Bruce starts him and he costs us the game. He will probably start the donkey again on Tuesday.

It is so frustrating to disagree with the manager so often and end up being right more often than not. It's no fun being right when the end result is losing again. For once, I want Bruce to be right and me to get laughed at a bit for doubting him, Elphick, Gabby, McCormack, the ridiculous formations.

Bruce's problem from the get go (in addition to the overly negative tactics) is he has zero minimum expectations in terms of performance. You can come in, put in pathetic performances on a weekly basis and you'll still find your way into Bruce's team. Come in and perform like Adomah and Green, you'll keep your spot right? Not a hope, that's not the Bruce way.

Watching the highlights the goal wasn't Elphicks fault. He slipped about 30 yards away from our goal but still made his challenge. There were at least 3 other players that should have been covering and stopped the ball.

CSF

matrim wrote: »

CSF wrote: »

I honestly don't think it's anything like that. I'm by no means a budding Conte but I've been ranting on here all week about how Elphick is a horror show and should be nowhere near the team. Bruce starts him and he costs us the game. He will probably start the donkey again on Tuesday.

It is so frustrating to disagree with the manager so often and end up being right more often than not. It's no fun being right when the end result is losing again. For once, I want Bruce to be right and me to get laughed at a bit for doubting him, Elphick, Gabby, McCormack, the ridiculous formations.

Bruce's problem from the get go (in addition to the overly negative tactics) is he has zero minimum expectations in terms of performance. You can come in, put in pathetic performances on a weekly basis and you'll still find your way into Bruce's team. Come in and perform like Adomah and Green, you'll keep your spot right? Not a hope, that's not the Bruce way.

Watching the highlights the goal wasn't Elphicks fault. He slipped about 30 yards away from our goal but still made his challenge. There were at least 3 other players that should have been covering and stopped the ball.

Of course it was his fault, it should have been a routine clearance and instead he falls on his a*se like the rash, clumsy player he has been throughout.

Whether someone else could have covered for him and bailed out his mistake (which is far from clear cut once they reach the box anyway) is only semi-relevant. Elphick doesn't fall on his a*se like a fool and we are not having this conversation.

Panrich

DiMatteo was sacked for 3 losses and 1 win in 11 matches.
Bruce has lost 5 and drawn 2 from the last 7.
We have 1 point and 3 goals in 7 matches (1 cup game) in 2017.
We had 3 clean sheets in 12 matches under DiMatteo. We have 3 clean sheets in 20 under Bruce and it's 10 matches since our last clean sheet.
In DiMatteos 12 games (1 cup game) we scored 11 goals and conceded 13.
Since the start of December in 13 games we have scored 8 goals and conceded 17.

Can anyone convince me that he needs more time than the much ridiculed previous manager?

Walter H Price

in the past 12 months We've changed manager 4 times , changed countless players, bought top performers in our current league, changed owners and have money to spend again ... but it's painfully clear at this stage there is something fundamentally wrong at the club , our youth systems shows allot of promise every year but in all honesty has flattered to deceive for at least 6-7 years now, good players seem to come in and loose form immediately , it doesn't matter how many times w'eve shaken up the coaching staff or squad there's no confidence there .

You have to stop the rot at some stage , because on our current form we will likely be relegated from this league. I'm not sure changing the manager again is the solution and its certainly no long term fix , there is a major crisis of identity and belief at the club that needs to be addressed.

CSF

Genuinely not buying into this, 'there's something wrong at the club' thing. Football is a really simple game when you're doing things correctly.

Can anyone explain to me what obstacles Bruce has had to face that have made being at the club so difficult? We started with a boom so it wasn't as if this came down to a confidence crisis.

Time after time we're being punished because Bruce keeps getting things wrong. It didn't take a genius to see that we didn't need 3 centre backs at home to Ipswich and that Elphick should be nowhere near the time, but Bruce has done things his own way anyway and we keep being punished for his mistakes again and again.

Walter H Price

CSF wrote: »

Genuinely not buying into this, 'there's something wrong at the club' thing. Football is a really simple game when you're doing things correctly.

Can anyone explain to me what obstacles Bruce has had to face that have made being at the club so difficult? We started with a boom so it wasn't as if this came down to a confidence crisis.

Time after time we're being punished because Bruce keeps getting things wrong. It didn't take a genius to see that we didn't need 3 center backs at home to Ipswich and that Elphick should be nowhere near the time, but Bruce has done things his own way anyway and we keep being punished for his mistakes again and again.

I'm sticking by Bruce for the minute , hes bought well (bar the Johnson deal that was bizarre ), but honestly if he cant stop the rot were about 2-3 defeats away from being sucked into another relegation scrap which is just hard to believe. i'm just not sold yet that a 5th manager in a year and a half is a good plan i think we need stability , just write this season off slog threw the next few moths aim to finish in to 10 if possible and try and put a cohesive team together for the next campaign an new manager will just bring more disruption

I agree with ditching Elphic he's seems like a good honest guy and a hard worker but hes not good enough , the same as Hutton ... Think Adomah needs to be brought back in on the right and go back to a 4-4-2 , 5 at the back is not going to work because were not creating or scoring enough as is.

There were positives from that Ipswich game Bjarnssons work rate , Hourihane looked decent , 9 shots on target . they only registered 1 a different day that could have been a good result ... But as i said those good results need to start coming soon or Bruce will be gone and we will be in trouble this is a very competitive league and were on relegation form since christmas

CSF

Basically, the point where I'll start buying into some 'the club is cursed or rotten' narrative is the moment where I can't pinpoint exactly where we're going wrong.

What we've been needing for a long time is for a manager to find a system that works for the players we have, stick to it and things will improve.

We're about 20 games under Bruce now and he still isn't a slight bit closer to finding the winning system. That is a gigantic problem and he has shown no signs that he has the answers.

All these 'it will come good' things that people come up with because it's seen as been a more shrewd football fan if you're 'patient' is based on blind faith alone.

I would genuinely love to read some posts that articulate how Bruce has taken steps that bring him closer to that. Xia has allowed him and Di a Matteo to Carte Blanche sign the best players in the division and he still hasn't a notion what to do with them all.

artanevilla

There is absolutely a fear there, it's the mentality that's permeated the club unfortunately.

It can happen, for an example, even if it's a myth that Man U scored late goals under Fergie to win games, you can be damn sure nerves crept into a team that was 1-0 up or 0-0 against them, even subconsciously.

My belief is that there's that fear in the club. If you're winning every week and go 1-0 down, you're not thinking you're about to lose, you're still convinced you're going to come back and win. At Villa, if it's 0-0, the fear is there over conceding, which in turn means nerves and mistakes, and when they go 1 down, forget about it, there's no way there's a belief in a come back.

It is a very hard thing to change once it gets ingrained, and it is ingrained.

Walter H Price

artanevilla wrote: »

There is absolutely a fear there, it's the mentality that's permeated the club unfortunately.

It can happen, for an example, even if it's a myth that Man U scored late goals under Fergie to win games, you can be damn sure nerves crept into a team that was 1-0 up or 0-0 against them, even subconsciously.

My belief is that there's that fear in the club. If you're winning every week and go 1-0 down, you're not thinking you're about to lose, you're still convinced you're going to come back and win. At Villa, if it's 0-0, the fear is there over conceding, which in turn means nerves and mistakes, and when they go 1 down, forget about it, there's no way there's a belief in a come back.

It is a very hard thing to change once it gets ingrained, and it is ingrained.

i think that's why our last 15 mins is always so poor if were behind or level , the players are afraid of loosing , the atmosphere in the stadium changes from the 75th minute , it don't think its a fitness issue there is a quality issue with a few (johnsson , Hutton , Elphic, Gardener etc...) but i think there is a huge psychological issue with the whole squad so much so that its effecting new players coming in and the cycle keeps repeating

matrim

Walter H Price wrote: »

i think that's why our last 15 mins is always so poor if were behind or level , the players are afraid of loosing , the atmosphere in the stadium changes from the 75th minute , it don't think its a fitness issue there is a quality issue with a few (johnsson , Hutton , Elphic, Gardener etc...) but i think there is a huge psychological issue with the whole squad so much so that its effecting new players coming in and the cycle keeps repeating

I think some managers have noticed this and tried to sign "influential" players and captains of other clubs. Unfortunately in some cases they haven't been up to the standard and have either been dropped or fallen into the same trap you mentioned. Some examples: Richards, Lescott, Elphick.

Walter H Price

matrim wrote: »

I think some managers have noticed this and tried to sign "influential" players and captains of other clubs. Unfortunately in some cases they haven't been up to the standard and have either been dropped or fallen into the same trap you mentioned. Some examples: Richards, Lescott, Elphick.

i've seen allot of promise from Hourihan and Lansbury , Chester too , Bjarnsson in the last game there putting in full shifts not letting the head drop ... But i fully agree some signings have not helped the situation at all Richards , Lescott , McCormack all brought additional attitude problems ... Despite what we've spent i still think we need players we have literally nothing on the bench , no players to bring on that can impact a game , Grealish when hes arsed but when hes not bringing him on the equivalent of going down to 10 men.

I really hope Bruce can turn this around bring some stability and put a season together from the start next year the two slow starts and two bad Christmases have crucified us the last two seasons in terms of confidence.

pavb2

I think Bruce needs to get to the summer get rid of the dross which should be obvious bring in one or two like an experienced keeper and aim to sit in the top two next season.

Of course this should be preceded by a strong, winning sequence for the rest of this season carried over to next season. A bit like the run Leicester went on the season before they won the league. Really our push for promotion next year should start now.

I'm predicting a 4-0 win tonight we're due to give someone a leathering.

Walter H Price

pavb2 wrote: »

I'm predicting a 4-0 win tonight we're due to give someone a leathering.

they were seriously unlucky againt ipswitch and forrest , even a 1-0 or 2-1 will do tonight just something to give em a lift

artanevilla

We need about 3 or 4 victory's in a row, and they have to be 2-0 or over wins, to get the confidence back.

CSF

Elphick out for Adomah, with Kodjia pushed wide to the other side and Hogan up front by himself is the only way to go tonight. There is no justification for 2 strikers while playing Lansbury and Hourihane as your midfielders.

pavb2

artanevilla wrote: »

We need about 3 or 4 victory's in a row, and they have to be 2-0 or over wins, to get the confidence back.

Agreed we've got the 6th best goals against record (33) in the championship and the 3rd worst goals scored (29). The new midfield needs to click immediately and Kodjia and hogan need to take their chances.

CSF

pavb2 wrote: »

artanevilla wrote: »

We need about 3 or 4 victory's in a row, and they have to be 2-0 or over wins, to get the confidence back.

Agreed we've got the 6th best goals against record (33) in the championship and the 3rd worst goals scored (29). The new midfield needs to click immediately and Kodjia and hogan need to take their chances.

Adomah is the answer.

artanevilla

For tonight I'd go:

GK: Anyone, doesn't really matter, Alan Hutton maybe?

Bree

---

Chester

---

Baker

---

Taylor

---

Bacuna

---

---

Hourihane

---

Lansbury

---

Adomah

---

Thor

---

Kodija/Hogan

---

CSF

Id switch Bacuna for Kodjia and put Bjarnason in the holding role. He played there enough for Basel whereas I can't remember Bacuna ever being there.

artanevilla

CSF wrote: »

Id switch Bacuna for Kodjia and put Bjarnason in the holding role. He played there enough for Basel whereas I can't remember Bacuna ever being there.

I was struggling to think of who to put there, Micah Richards should be given a chance in that position maybe. Big maybe though.

matrim

artanevilla wrote: »

For tonight I'd go:

GK: Anyone, doesn't really matter, Alan Hutton maybe?

Bree

---

Chester

---

Baker

---

Taylor

---

Bacuna

---

---

Hourihane

---

Lansbury

---

Adomah

---

Thor

---

Kodija/Hogan

---

Bacuna is too rash to play as the holding player. If anyone I'd put Gardner there. Isn't that where he played for Forest with Lansbury?

CSF

artanevilla wrote: »

CSF wrote: »

Id switch Bacuna for Kodjia and put Bjarnason in the holding role. He played there enough for Basel whereas I can't remember Bacuna ever being there.

I was struggling to think of who to put there, Micah Richards should be given a chance in that position maybe. Big maybe though.

Given what we've seen from Richards in a Villa jersey to date I wouldn't be sticking him anywhere that involves running around alot.

Another who should be in the permanently exiled list. I don't think a DM is specifically necessary unless we play 2 up front. Play Kodjia out wide and either Gardner or Bjarnason in the deeper role with Hourihane and Lansbury who will naturally provide support to Hogan.

From everything I've seen of Bruce so far though, he's gonna stubbornly stick with the 2 up front and try create a semblance of a formation around them. And while we MIGHT get away with that tonight (we didn't on Saturday), away from home we'll be lost.

CSF

Nope, not Bjarnason, not Gardner, not Jedinak......but Grealish.

Sounds like some sort of dysfunctional 4-4-2 and we're just left hoping that it's not as bad as it sounds.

Sono

An optimistic 5-0 home win for the Villa, lets go!

CSF

For f*cks sake.

Sono

Who was at fault? Not watching.

artanevilla

It's getting worrying. How will they react?

CSF

Sono wrote: »

Who was at fault? Not watching.

Amavi gave away a peno, haven't seen it.

artanevilla

Sono wrote: »

Who was at fault? Not watching.

God. You'd start to believe so at this stage.

We'll struggle to get playoffs next year, League 1 is a very competitive league.

CSF

artanevilla wrote: »

Sono wrote: »

Who was at fault? Not watching.

God. You'd start to believe so at this stage.

We'll struggle to get playoffs next year, League 1 is a very competitive league.

I get the impression you're half joking, but it's looking a legitimate danger

artanevilla

CSF wrote: »

I get the impression you're half joking, but it's looking a legitimate danger

Less than half.

CSF

artanevilla wrote: »

CSF wrote: »

I get the impression you're half joking, but it's looking a legitimate danger

Less than half.

Lose this and the next game is Newcastle away, where are the next points coming?

Grealish off at HT for Bjarnason and Kodjia out wide. We are being killed by our managers' freakish obsession with a 2 man strikeforce.

Play a formation that suits the team you have. Not that difficult.

basillarkin

Game over

CSF

Arguments as to why Bruce should remain in charge on a postcard please...

CSF

2-1 Kodjia. Adomah assist.

basillarkin

Or maybe not.

artanevilla

Hold on a second folks.....

Patser

2-1? Did we actually score

matrim

1-2 Some hope from kodjia

Sono

We are so bad it's actually baffling, haven't seen any of the goals but Johnstone has been a shocking signing. Our central defence is really poor and we are very easy to score against.

I can't believe I thought we might get promoted this season.