Re: QPR vs Aston Villa Match thread

[Trotters]

That wasn't pretty and the player selection was all wrong. Bacuna is no left winger, Gardner spent most of the game hiding, Westwood did absolutely nothing in his limited time and Gabby is just a joke.

For me, we won that game despite of Bruce, not because of him. But I do still wonder if he's doing this to prove to Xia that heavy investment is required. A dangerous game to play when we need to keep within touching distance of the top 6 until January is over.

We really aren't a football team, are we? All I see is eleven dickheads being completely random in their approach to every they do, whether that's defending or attacking. I don't see any specific style of play, I don't see any ability to keep the ball, I don't see any one player standing up to be counted. It's a mess. A disjointed, joyless mess.

Thank Christ QPR were utterly shit.

Bunn - 7: I've never been a hater and never got the bile that's directed at him. Did well. Didn't have too much to do but what he did, he did well.

Hutton - 5: that was going to be his maximum score after that sad effort of a pass back early in the first half. What a clown.

Chester - 6.5: did well enough yet again. Not dominant in the air or particularly rapid and QPR's game plan early on seemed to be to just go over the top and make it a foot race.  Luckily, instead of Elphick we had...

Baker - 7.5: a rock again. Dominant in the air and composed on the deck.

Amavi - 6.5: he was so dynamic getting forward when he first joined us but that largely seems gone. Did OK, no complaints but doesn't set my hair on fire.

Adomah - 6.5: I liked what I saw. Always helping out Hutton and always keen to bomb forward. A shame no one seemed to want to help him out much.

Gardner - 5: a penis. Not something I want to look at for any amount of time  spent all his time trying to look like he was working but was trying hard to hide. Hate him.

Jedi - 6.5: if he could pass a ball to a Villa player, he'd probably get a solid 9 in every single game. But what is his pass completion rate? Can't be much more than 60%.

Bacuna - 6: did OK I guess but nothing special. Would prefer to see him at right back.

Kodjia - 7.5: it was obvious where the penalty was going, huh? Doesn't play well with McCormack. It's like they're invisible to each other. But it was determined shift from him. Well played.

McCormack - 6:. Although he seemed to tire, he looked like he wanted to be involved and put in a solid effort. That shot from Kodjia's missed penalty though

Westwood - pointless.

Gabby - pointless.

Gestede - I'm sure part of his pre-run-on prayer is "Please let me get away with being a footballer for just one more week".

The ref - what an utter sugarbag. Turned down not one but two nailed-on penalties before giving us one that wasn't. Let them get away with raping and pillaging for the full 90 minutes. A clueless prick and I certainly hope the club has lodged an official complaint.

Bruce - got away with it thanks to Baker being a rock in defence. There's absolutely nothing pretty about us, nothing worth watching really except out of blind hope that we might win away and on TV, no plan, no style, no flair. I know he's got shit players but surely he can get them stringing 4 passes together??

There are no neat little combinations on the pitch. I think Amavi, Grealish and McCormack would work well and put together some nice bits of play but then Mac and Kodjia are on totally different wavelengths. Hutton seems to rely on Adomah to help him out but doesn't exactly get his arse up the pitch to return the favour. Jedi I'm sure doesn't even realise Gardner is there...don't blame him either. The only real working partnership I can see is Chester/Baker.

Still, we hang in there for another week. Hopefully a win against Burton (looks like it's sold out - or close to it - for those doing the GTC) will see us clinging on to within touching distance of top 6 and then let's see what happens when the window opens.

[Boldfinger]

Wow, someone's not a happy chappy. A post like that after an away win, heaven help us when we lose.
You got the pre Xmas blues mate ?

[Villa_Dan]

Fucking hell what a cheerful post. Alf got your log in details?

Bruce is working with RDM's unbalanced squad and eeking out results. Give him some praise - if the results are despite him how come RDM struggled so much?

[AstonThriller]

At this juncture guys wins are all that matter. Remember we were in the bottom three when Bruce walked into the building. Now eleven games on we've won six, drawn three and lost two. And in this run we've played Brighton, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham and Norwich away. And at home we played Fulham. All teams in the top eight.

The good thing is we're beating teams we're supposed to be beating. Blackburn, Cardiff, QPR, Wigan etc!!..and those are the sort of games we have coming in our next two games or so so we really do have a massive chance of moving into the top six over the next few weeks if we can stay consistent now.

Bruce already hinted that the next game will see changes so I fully expect to see Ayew and Grealish back for the Burton game tbh.

[DelboyVilla]

Blimey @Trotters you got the decorators in??

Better performance all round than Norwich. I think this is the best side/most balanced side we have at present? OK you could make personal tweeks to the players but I would rather see Bacuna on the left than Westwood on the pitch? Gardner is useless and invisible at times but he is less invisible than AFW.

Bunn did well the couple of times he needed to, Baker was a rock, Chester looked steady, Amavi looked good and put in one excellent cross, Jedinak looked the part, Adomah was OK and Kodjia never gave up. That is a decent basis for a side add a new midfielder, a new right back, a new left midfielder and maybe swap a striker and we will piss it into the playoffs? Things aren't perfect but they are OK?

[Guest]

Surprised that after 2 seasons playing in England Kodjia requires an interpreter to speak to Sky

who gives a flying fock about that? get your English fluent jonny and stop scoring goals!!!!

[danclare82]

The most important thing at the minute are the results which no one can argue with. Bruce has changed the mentality already as yday under RDM we would of drew that game.  Same with reading,  Wigan,  Blackburn games and probably lost v scum.  I agree Gardner and Westwood are useless and I feel sorry for jedinak surrounded by them. Surely tish needs a game?  The team is very unbalanced but Bruce will sort this in January.  He has good record of transfers. We all said as long as we're within touching distance of playoffs in Jan we will be happy.  Win not 2 home games and we could be only a couple of points off.  Performances will improve and we will get playoff spot! Utv!!

[Guest]

That wasn't pretty and the player selection was all wrong. Bacuna is no left winger, Gardner spent most of the game hiding, Westwood did absolutely nothing in his limited time and Gabby is just a joke.

For me, we won that game despite of Bruce, not because of him. But I do still wonder if he's doing this to prove to Xia that heavy investment is required. A dangerous game to play when we need to keep within touching distance of the top 6 until January is over.

We really aren't a football team, are we? All I see is eleven dickheads being completely random in their approach to every they do, whether that's defending or attacking. I don't see any specific style of play, I don't see any ability to keep the ball, I don't see any one player standing up to be counted. It's a mess. A disjointed, joyless mess.

Thank Christ QPR were utterly shit.

Bunn - 7: I've never been a hater and never got the bile that's directed at him. Did well. Didn't have too much to do but what he did, he did well.

Hutton - 5: that was going to be his maximum score after that sad effort of a pass back early in the first half. What a clown.

Chester - 6.5: did well enough yet again. Not dominant in the air or particularly rapid and QPR's game plan early on seemed to be to just go over the top and make it a foot race.  Luckily, instead of Elphick we had...

Baker - 7.5: a rock again. Dominant in the air and composed on the deck.

Amavi - 6.5: he was so dynamic getting forward when he first joined us but that largely seems gone. Did OK, no complaints but doesn't set my hair on fire.

Adomah - 6.5: I liked what I saw. Always helping out Hutton and always keen to bomb forward. A shame no one seemed to want to help him out much.

Gardner - 5: a penis. Not something I want to look at for any amount of time  spent all his time trying to look like he was working but was trying hard to hide. Hate him.

Jedi - 6.5: if he could pass a ball to a Villa player, he'd probably get a solid 9 in every single game. But what is his pass completion rate? Can't be much more than 60%.

Bacuna - 6: did OK I guess but nothing special. Would prefer to see him at right back.

Kodjia - 7.5: it was obvious where the penalty was going, huh? Doesn't play well with McCormack. It's like they're invisible to each other. But it was determined shift from him. Well played.

McCormack - 6:. Although he seemed to tire, he looked like he wanted to be involved and put in a solid effort. That shot from Kodjia's missed penalty though  

Westwood - pointless.

Gabby - pointless.

Gestede - I'm sure part of his pre-run-on prayer is "Please let me get away with being a footballer for just one more week".

The ref - what an utter sugarbag. Turned down not one but two nailed-on penalties before giving us one that wasn't. Let them get away with raping and pillaging for the full 90 minutes. A clueless prick and I certainly hope the club has lodged an official complaint.

Bruce - got away with it thanks to Baker being a rock in defence. There's absolutely nothing pretty about us, nothing worth watching really except out of blind hope that we might win away and on TV, no plan, no style, no flair. I know he's got shit players but surely he can get them stringing 4 passes together??

There are no neat little combinations on the pitch. I think Amavi, Grealish and McCormack would work well and put together some nice bits of play but then Mac and Kodjia are on totally different wavelengths. Hutton seems to rely on Adomah to help him out but doesn't exactly get his arse up the pitch to return the favour. Jedi I'm sure doesn't even realise Gardner is there...don't blame him either. The only real working partnership I can see is Chester/Baker.

Still, we hang in there for another week. Hopefully a win against Burton (looks like it's sold out - or close to it - for those doing the GTC) will see us clinging on to within touching distance of top 6 and then let's see what happens when the window opens.

I can picture a dinner table which consists of Alf, Joppe and Karl Pilkington

[andrew24561]

That wasn't pretty and the player selection was all wrong. Bacuna is no left winger, Gardner spent most of the game hiding, Westwood did absolutely nothing in his limited time and Gabby is just a joke.

For me, we won that game despite of Bruce, not because of him. But I do still wonder if he's doing this to prove to Xia that heavy investment is required. A dangerous game to play when we need to keep within touching distance of the top 6 until January is over.

We really aren't a football team, are we? All I see is eleven dickheads being completely random in their approach to every they do, whether that's defending or attacking. I don't see any specific style of play, I don't see any ability to keep the ball, I don't see any one player standing up to be counted. It's a mess. A disjointed, joyless mess.

Thank Christ QPR were utterly shit.

Bunn - 7: I've never been a hater and never got the bile that's directed at him. Did well. Didn't have too much to do but what he did, he did well.

Hutton - 5: that was going to be his maximum score after that sad effort of a pass back early in the first half. What a clown.

Chester - 6.5: did well enough yet again. Not dominant in the air or particularly rapid and QPR's game plan early on seemed to be to just go over the top and make it a foot race.  Luckily, instead of Elphick we had...

Baker - 7.5: a rock again. Dominant in the air and composed on the deck.

Amavi - 6.5: he was so dynamic getting forward when he first joined us but that largely seems gone. Did OK, no complaints but doesn't set my hair on fire.

Adomah - 6.5: I liked what I saw. Always helping out Hutton and always keen to bomb forward. A shame no one seemed to want to help him out much.

Gardner - 5: a penis. Not something I want to look at for any amount of time  spent all his time trying to look like he was working but was trying hard to hide. Hate him.

Jedi - 6.5: if he could pass a ball to a Villa player, he'd probably get a solid 9 in every single game. But what is his pass completion rate? Can't be much more than 60%.

Bacuna - 6: did OK I guess but nothing special. Would prefer to see him at right back.

Kodjia - 7.5: it was obvious where the penalty was going, huh? Doesn't play well with McCormack. It's like they're invisible to each other. But it was determined shift from him. Well played.

McCormack - 6:. Although he seemed to tire, he looked like he wanted to be involved and put in a solid effort. That shot from Kodjia's missed penalty though  

Westwood - pointless.

Gabby - pointless.

Gestede - I'm sure part of his pre-run-on prayer is "Please let me get away with being a footballer for just one more week".

The ref - what an utter sugarbag. Turned down not one but two nailed-on penalties before giving us one that wasn't. Let them get away with raping and pillaging for the full 90 minutes. A clueless prick and I certainly hope the club has lodged an official complaint.

Bruce - got away with it thanks to Baker being a rock in defence. There's absolutely nothing pretty about us, nothing worth watching really except out of blind hope that we might win away and on TV, no plan, no style, no flair. I know he's got shit players but surely he can get them stringing 4 passes together??

There are no neat little combinations on the pitch. I think Amavi, Grealish and McCormack would work well and put together some nice bits of play but then Mac and Kodjia are on totally different wavelengths. Hutton seems to rely on Adomah to help him out but doesn't exactly get his arse up the pitch to return the favour. Jedi I'm sure doesn't even realise Gardner is there...don't blame him either. The only real working partnership I can see is Chester/Baker.

Still, we hang in there for another week. Hopefully a win against Burton (looks like it's sold out - or close to it - for those doing the GTC) will see us clinging on to within touching distance of top 6 and then let's see what happens when the window opens.

I can picture a dinner table which consists of Alf, Joppe and Karl Pilkington

and Harry as the waiter !

[Guest]

That wasn't pretty and the player selection was all wrong. Bacuna is no left winger, Gardner spent most of the game hiding, Westwood did absolutely nothing in his limited time and Gabby is just a joke.

For me, we won that game despite of Bruce, not because of him. But I do still wonder if he's doing this to prove to Xia that heavy investment is required. A dangerous game to play when we need to keep within touching distance of the top 6 until January is over.

We really aren't a football team, are we? All I see is eleven dickheads being completely random in their approach to every they do, whether that's defending or attacking. I don't see any specific style of play, I don't see any ability to keep the ball, I don't see any one player standing up to be counted. It's a mess. A disjointed, joyless mess.

Thank Christ QPR were utterly shit.

Bunn - 7: I've never been a hater and never got the bile that's directed at him. Did well. Didn't have too much to do but what he did, he did well.

Hutton - 5: that was going to be his maximum score after that sad effort of a pass back early in the first half. What a clown.

Chester - 6.5: did well enough yet again. Not dominant in the air or particularly rapid and QPR's game plan early on seemed to be to just go over the top and make it a foot race.  Luckily, instead of Elphick we had...

Baker - 7.5: a rock again. Dominant in the air and composed on the deck.

Amavi - 6.5: he was so dynamic getting forward when he first joined us but that largely seems gone. Did OK, no complaints but doesn't set my hair on fire.

Adomah - 6.5: I liked what I saw. Always helping out Hutton and always keen to bomb forward. A shame no one seemed to want to help him out much.

Gardner - 5: a penis. Not something I want to look at for any amount of time  spent all his time trying to look like he was working but was trying hard to hide. Hate him.

Jedi - 6.5: if he could pass a ball to a Villa player, he'd probably get a solid 9 in every single game. But what is his pass completion rate? Can't be much more than 60%.

Bacuna - 6: did OK I guess but nothing special. Would prefer to see him at right back.

Kodjia - 7.5: it was obvious where the penalty was going, huh? Doesn't play well with McCormack. It's like they're invisible to each other. But it was determined shift from him. Well played.

McCormack - 6:. Although he seemed to tire, he looked like he wanted to be involved and put in a solid effort. That shot from Kodjia's missed penalty though  

Westwood - pointless.

Gabby - pointless.

Gestede - I'm sure part of his pre-run-on prayer is "Please let me get away with being a footballer for just one more week".

The ref - what an utter sugarbag. Turned down not one but two nailed-on penalties before giving us one that wasn't. Let them get away with raping and pillaging for the full 90 minutes. A clueless prick and I certainly hope the club has lodged an official complaint.

Bruce - got away with it thanks to Baker being a rock in defence. There's absolutely nothing pretty about us, nothing worth watching really except out of blind hope that we might win away and on TV, no plan, no style, no flair. I know he's got shit players but surely he can get them stringing 4 passes together??

There are no neat little combinations on the pitch. I think Amavi, Grealish and McCormack would work well and put together some nice bits of play but then Mac and Kodjia are on totally different wavelengths. Hutton seems to rely on Adomah to help him out but doesn't exactly get his arse up the pitch to return the favour. Jedi I'm sure doesn't even realise Gardner is there...don't blame him either. The only real working partnership I can see is Chester/Baker.

Still, we hang in there for another week. Hopefully a win against Burton (looks like it's sold out - or close to it - for those doing the GTC) will see us clinging on to within touching distance of top 6 and then let's see what happens when the window opens.

I can picture a dinner table which consists of Alf, Joppe and Karl Pilkington

and Harry as the waiter !

hahahaha

[De Kuip]

Well done AT - you now definitely have the thread-starter duties!

Been off the grid this weekend for various reasons, and not much to add to what's been said really, other than to echo the fact that at least we got the win (and I'm still laughing at that 95th minute goal at St Andrex - not laughing about Glen Murray's equalizer against us now are you noses hahaha). Can't underestimate Burton next tho' - they weren't bad against the bar-codes.

UTV!!!!

[Trotters]

Sorry...bad morning. :) Maybe I should watch the game again after a cup of coffee and a good wank.

One really good thing was seeing Holloway looking more and more like a homeless bloke as the match went on. Such a prick!

[De Kuip]

Yeah - always good to see Nosferatu down in the dumps lol

[AstonThriller]

Well done AT - you now definitely have the thread-starter duties!

Been off the grid this weekend for various reasons, and not much to add to what's been said really, other than to echo the fact that at least we got the win (and I'm still laughing at that 95th minute goal at St Andrex - not laughing about Glen Murray's equalizer against us now are you noses hahaha). Can't underestimate Burton next tho' - they weren't bad against the bar-codes.

UTV!!!!

Hopefully I can inspire a similar run to you pal!!!..and then if it all goes balls up someone else can have a crack .

[VTID85]

Alternative perspective to consider re: "should've smashed them" mentality - Derby County, currently in strong form since the return of Judas, could only muster victory by a single goal 4 days earlier. Here is a quick comparison vs. QPR:

Possession
Derby 45% / Villa 44%

Shots (shots on target)
Derby 9 (3) / Villa 18 (7)

Corners
Derby 2 / Villa 9

Goals
Derby 86min / Villa 75min

[AstonThriller]

Alternative perspective to consider re: "should've smashed them" mentality - Derby County, currently in strong form since the return of Judas, could only muster victory by a single goal 4 days earlier. Here is a quick comparison vs. QPR:

Possession
Derby 45% / Villa 44%

Shots (shots on target)
Derby 9 (3) / Villa 18 (7)

Corners
Derby 2 / Villa 9

Goals
Derby 86min / Villa 75min

Great stuff. Also lets remember we had a missed penalty in the midst of that too.

[VTID85]

Alternative perspective to consider re: "should've smashed them" mentality - Derby County, currently in strong form since the return of Judas, could only muster victory by a single goal 4 days earlier. Here is a quick comparison vs. QPR:

Possession
Derby 45% / Villa 44%

Shots (shots on target)
Derby 9 (3) / Villa 18 (7)

Corners
Derby 2 / Villa 9

Goals
Derby 86min / Villa 75min

Great stuff. Also lets remember we had a missed penalty in the midst of that too.

Yup. Now I didn't see the game, so I am not shutting out anyone's opinion. I just think there's a bit of solace to be had from the stats - as basic as they may be - even if it was ugly as sin to watch (which is the overwhelming impression I get from a lot of people).

[avfc forever]

I'm pleased with the win a good day out three points and got to meet Steve Bruce.

[Wriggle]

It late on this as been a busy week... but the obvious happened again...

Drop Westwood and win a game!

[De Kuip]

I'm pleased with the win a good day out three points and got to meet Steve Bruce.

How did that come about then - was it just "Hi" or did you get to discuss that the use of Pathetic Fallacy in his 3 seminal books "Striker","Sweeper" and "Fuck me I've picked Westwood again" was just too artificial a construct and he'd have been better sticking to the internal rhyme scheme that he employed so well in the line "I thought we were fucked until Kodjia struck" in his best selling* Novel "Striker".

*Best selling novel of all books sold between 03.17 and 03.18 at Bodymoor Heath on the 18th November 2016, bought by a Mr A. Westwood via Gumtree.

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