Re: Match thread Bolton v Villa

[Villa_Dan]

To be fair if we don't qualify in second as long as we win the playoffs it literally doesn't matter if we finish 6th.
That's where I'm looking for love now.....

We HAVE to go into the playoffs winning games

[smetro]

To be fair if we don't qualify in second as long as we win the playoffs it literally doesn't matter if we finish 6th.
That's where I'm looking for love now.....

We HAVE to go into the playoffs winning games

Id rather us come out of them winning games !

[Fpuppys]

When you play the first half with 10 men (Sorry but Hourihane was AWOL) you have to look at management again, 45minutes was ample time to see that he was not on the ball and should have gone after 20 in my books.

Bree had a great game IMO, same goes for Snodgrass and Chester.

International break is going to hurt us further.

[AstonThriller]

When you play the first half with 10 men (Sorry but Hourihane was AWOL) you have to look at management again, 45minutes was ample time to see that he was not on the ball and should have gone after 20 in my books.

Bree had a great game IMO, same goes for Snodgrass and Chester.

International break is going to hurt us further.

How? Does this group look like they have their eye on the ball right now? IMO the break has come at the perfect time so they can get away from things and hopefully come back with some bottle. This is just the typical Bruce way though isn't it? Great run followed by crap. If Derby do us a favor tomorrow then the door will still be ajar, If not, then it's over and we just have to hope we can stay In the playoff places.

[Saunders82]

Jeeeezzzz boys I know we were rubbish ( very flat again for me) but all this negativity is bad news, I know we all thought QPR & Bolton would be points in the bag especially after the Wolves game, but we all know that this league can kick you in the nuts for fun, there are still loads of points to play for yet. I'm not happy myself but trying to stay positive, the fat lady hasn't even cleared her throat yet.

[The Utterer]

They've blown it big time for me. Don't fancy us in the playoffs if we make them one iota sadly. Cardiff will most likely win now tomorrow as they will know it will put them 10 points clear of both us & Fulham. So sadly, despite SB trying to make out it's not over yet, if they win tomorrow that's it for automatic as we ain't making up 10 points in 8 games. Bearing in mind that would just be to be level with Cardiff so we'd still need a better GD or another point on top of that! By my reckoning that would mean they would need to lose 4 games from 8 and us win all 8!!

Well done Villa

[FoxyAV]

Four defenders, two midfielders, four strikers. That's desperation and very clearly saying we're now relying on luck.

We looked rubbish yesterday. In fact we looked rubbish as soon as that subs bench was published. It just says 'it's snowing, HOOF'. A team better than Bolton would have punished us properly for that.

I also find it odd watching us (briefly) play a 4-4-2 where the wingers never ever cross balls into the box. We just end up with two strikers fighting for scraps instead of just one.

We didn't look like we were capable of winning let alone trying.

[danclare82]

My fears played out yday. Knew Bolton were physical team and we played into their hands. Way to many long balls which they can deal with all day long. Ref and linesman were awful but we didn't turn up at all which was surprising after QPR result expected a lot better. Looking likr playoffs now. Will kodjia be back? Think we need him now

[FoxyAV]

I was just thinking about this match while talking on another thread about providing Bruce with tactical help and subs selection. When I saw the subs before the match I couldn't help wondering why we had three strikers on the bench. Bruce has said that he wasn't expecting snow (er, everyone else was?) and would have selected a different side because wingers can't run with the ball in snow. That's presumably why we ended up with four strikers on the pitch - easier just to hoof the ball long and hope one of them would get on the end of it or we could force a corner. But... we had Lansbury, Onomah and Jedi on the bench - three midfielders - and the only subs were to bring on strikers. So what the hell kind of side would Bruce have started with without wingers had he known the snow was going to be there, bearing in mind he didn't bring on any midfielders when he had three available? Is he saying he would really have started a 4-2-4?

[achilles]

We just come back to the fact that Bruce just does not do tactics.
The conditions were absolutely perfect for Bolton who just kicked anything that moved and booted the ball anywhere away from their goal but who can blame them as the are fighting relegation. It was up to us to counter that but we failed miserably, ending up with four strikers on the pitch and no service to supply them.
We have a plan A and then hope for the best, sometimes it works but it is like tossing a coin and hoping it always lands on heads!

[FoxyAV]

We just come back to the fact that Bruce just does not do tactics.

No, and along with starting 11 selection it's killing us. I keep going back to that tally of four goals from all our strikers in the first half of the season. That's surely one of - if not - the worst in all the football leagues? I'm not convinced you can put it down to injuries (Kodjia played eight, scored one) as we have such a big squad and we're a professional football team and shouldn't be reliant on one player so what then? The ball is delivered to Hogan in the air, and he was largely isolated up front for a lot of the first half of the season. Whelan's immobility along with DM Onomah in front of him completely buggered up any chance of a mobile midfield. The wingers both cut in so crosses come from full backs (ironically at the start of this year Hogan scored a couple of peaches from headers).

Bruce seems to have one idea and that's to counter attack slowly, hoof to striker, hope ball bounces to midfield (which it never does), repel attack and repeat. The other option is play out of defence by Hutton or Elmo up to the wingers who can cut in and try to score or for the fullbacks to cross in. The midfield is there for scraps and as a forward defensive line. The huge exception to this is Grealish, who seems to have the freedom of the pitch and uses it. You have to ask though why didn't Onomah play like that, or was he so invisible I never noticed?

I think we're now pretty transparent and failing to adapt to that is causing us problems.

[jeffvilla]

Was it me or was the ref completely crap!!
The tackle on Thor alone should have been a sending off, no yellow card ok boys kick the feck out of villa its ok I am  not looking. We have some crap refs this year, but the Bolton game really drove it home to me.

[FoxyAV]

Yes, he was crap. And yes, that Bolton player should have gone. In the PL that would have been a red. I wouldn't have been surprised had the ref given Thor a yellow for simulation.

[Sponsored content]