14 Jan 2019 10:38:58
Haven't posted in a very long time Hope your all well. I have been reading and it's good to see some things haven't changed, when we sacked Brucie I came on to see how everyone felt, to the poster who said something about their friend being big in property and Theiry Henry being nailed on as manager because he brought a house in Shirley, or something along them lines. I hope he didn't spend too much, unless he likes the commute to Monaco😂.

Just wanted to see what everyone thought was the problem at the minute, a lot of the press just keep saying "the defense is awful" and blaming that, we know it's not the best but personally I think there's more to it than just the defense being poor.

The obvious points are what Bruce left us with, 2 centre halves, a poor left back, and 3 right backs and a nervous keeper (before he got injured) . Now for me at right back Elmo should be as far away from the first team as possible, he is awful, his saving grace was meant to be that he can deliver a good cross, when he can't do that anymore what's left? Against Leeds 2/ 3 goals came from his side, one a gift and another just letting his man do what he wants cutting across him, then the penalty against stoke needlessly given away and then the own goal, just keep him away. Bree has shown he has potential but he's young, he's going to blow hot and cold, Hutton is probably the best option albeit limited. The centre backs now we have Hause and recalled Elphick, need to be settled, if Chester is injured don't play him, it's clearly effecting him, and left back should be top of our priorities, Taylor is very poor and has a stinking attitude in games when things don't go his way IMO. The keeper we addressed nice and early, the new lad is obviously a decent standard to be national team keeper but conceding 6 in two games says it all, he needs time, needs to get to know the back 4 and the league, not really what you want in January but we needed a keeper desperately.

The Wigan came was a shambles, I wasn't there but we were on Bein sport 12 or something and I watched it, it reminded be so badly of the Norwich away under Bruce or reading at home, where we literally couldn't put 3 passes together, didn't formulate one attack and just lumped it. Smith made a mistake Saturday with the subs, but he's human and he's new to the squad, we stuck with the 433 and left the two strikers on the bench, I would have thought we would have seen a 442 at some point especially at 2-0 down. Smith and all the coaches need time to get to know the team and it could be not next season but the season after before we see the fruits of their labour, we need to give them time.

Now we don't go from free flowing brilliant football against the best sides in the league, to smacked by strugglers over night. The biggest thing is jack missing, but even then this system is adaptable in that middle 3 to still be able to create that expansive attacking football. This is where I think my opinion differs from the most, I don't think missing jack is the biggest factor in this down turn of form, I think it's the number 6/ defensive midfield position. With jack in the team, Hourihane played that number 6 and even then I thought he seriously struggles through his lack of athleticism, players stroll past him and his only option is to run to cover someone else or back them down, starting attacks from deep he's brilliant but if your excellent at 50% of the job and poor at the other 50% then overall your probably below average. We got away with because even Jack as a 10 does come deep and covers a lot, and Mcginn as the 8/ box to box just doesn't stop running, so we masked the problem. From what's being written I think the Coaches see this as an issue aswell, going after Radoja, which would have been perfect if it weren't for the work permit issues. The way they are talking is not wanting loans which you have to agree with because it's building on sand and next season we have to start again, however if that's the position we are in then so be it. If buying cheap abroad isn't going to work because we can't get them work permits then loans with view to buy is probably the best option, although you can only field 5. Straight away when I think about athleticism in the defensive mid position I think of Nathan Chalobah, he's perfect IMO, missed 4 games through injury this year but has only made 6 appearances so he must be out of favour, there are definite options available.

Keeping hold of Tammy (fingers crossed, only 13.5 hours left before they can't recall him😂) could be crucial, but we need to supply him, without Jack that falls to the wingers, Bolasie for me has been a waste of time, when you consider his wages I think he's a headless chicken, can carry the ball and get us up the pitch but what's the point getting up there for him to balloon it out 99 times out of 100. Kodjia is an excellent option if the bench, he's changes the game a few times for us. El Ghazi is hot and cold but definite improvement especially in his attitude under Smith.

So that's my assessment of where we are with nineteen games left after saturdays nightmare, without getting into hysterics and crying that the seasons over. What are your thoughts?

1.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 14:51:58
Good to here from you chris.
Can`t answer yet, still on the first chapter mate haha.

2.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 15:32:53
Haha, hopefully you get through it Dave, be good to hear what you think. The length is probably a result of the absence, didn’t know where to begin when I started and then couldn’t stop😂.

3.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 18:25:23
It's like a Sunday league mentality at the moment with some of the players. you know 'i play how I want when I want, as you've got no one to replace me'
Chester injured or not has not looked the same since he was holding Terry's hand
El Ghazi - terrible, can't pass the ball. When he gets tackled, he looks at ref for a free kick instead of chasing the ball back down.
To me it's like Deano is playing his own personal fanboy team, and will stick with it until he wins (aka mcliesh/ lambert syndrome)
This is the first week Dominic Revan didn't make the bench - he should get a game asap, can head and can tackle, not affraid of getting stuck in and he's vocal. Was very good for u23's last season.
Ahhh but then again we are the new Villa who loan out our decent player's.

4.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 19:48:28
I agree with a lot of what you say chris and the theme of your post.
If you read between the lines I have said pretty much the same as you in an earlier post, but obviously not in so much detail.
My gripe is that the players are the ones who should shoulder the blame for the poor performances, and not the manager.
The players are all happy to soak up the praise when they are winning, the training is exactly the same.
The manager can only use what he has, you can`t paint a Rembrandt with a toilet brush.

5.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 21:34:37
Couldn’t agree more Dave, we had games after game under Bruce of the same style, which put us on the back foot from the beginning, but we also had games under him where the style was the same but the effort from the players were noticeably poor. It’s the same now, the style has improved drastically but the players still seem to have off games where a large majority look like they’ve never met each other and their not bothered. It’s this that stops us getting automatic promotion imo, Wolves, Newcastle, Fulham (second half of the season), all kept up their effort levels even when they lost (and when they got spanked 4-1), they were always competing and putting in the effort. If we don’t start doing this and stop the stupid petulant habits when we’re losing (Taylor and Hourihane) then we can only hope for play offs in any season from now on.

6.) 14 Jan 2019
14 Jan 2019 21:50:10
Spot on chris, I could not have put it any better.