Villa v Blues 25/11/2018 match thread

[Saunders82]

The much anticipated local derby verses our lesser neighbours is almost on us, they have been very vocal recently so this is time for us to put them in their place. We have been looking better every game recently but injuries could change all that, we have to hope that the back room team can work miracles. Its nice to slap them down with a BIG win but this is going to be a tight one I'm going for a tough one nil to us I think home advantage and the crowd will make the difference bring it on UTV

[VillaBill]

I too am expecting a tight game but our quality should see us past them by the odd goal.
With their striker being on form & good in the air (Jutkevic spelling) a place for Jedinak may make the potential loss of Chester less of an issue.
McGinn on the other hand would be a huge loss to our midfield, my player of the season so far by a country mile.
2-1 Villa . UTV

[Army villain]

Hope McGinn is fit to play, Chester is OK to play, lots of respect for DS, his comments are very positive, think he will have the same game plan, attack and keep the pressure on them all game. UTV.

[deadbuzzardalive]

Jedinak and Bjarnason are out, Chester is going to make it, McGinn is looking doubtful, but he hasn't been officially ruled out... I'm hoping we know that he's fit, but am trying to keep the opposition guessing; if he is out, then I suppose Whelan will have to come in.

I've seen them a few times this season, and to be fair they've looked pretty decent, and up until a few games ago we were struggling whilst they were on a good run of form, and above us in the league, so it won't be easy.

I'm not feeling confident, but hopefully we can overcome the challenge, we need the points, and could do with a good week.

[VTID85]

Good half by the end of it, we looked nervous at the start probably because we've got more to lose than Small Time City but we're playing with shape and a plan.

Fuck me, if Bruce was still here this game would've been all over by now.

[big ming]

3 - 1 up. Game over and Whelan gives Abraham a hospital pass in midfield which leads directly to their 2nd goal. Garbage play by Whelan.

[Army villain]

A good win 4-2 and we missed a few chances as well, missed Mcginn , well done DS , it was a good game to watch. UTV

[VTID85]

What a game. Some individual errors but everyone played their part.

Whelan, while still not a player to rely on, at least looks better under Smith. Hutton has just cemented his place in Villa hearts forever and to hear him speak after the whistle talking about how much the club means to him says it all.

Just imagine what McGinn would've done to the game as well today. Adomah was fantastic til he was eliminated and moving more than a little gingerly as he was helped off. That can't be good. Kodjia put on a top work-rate performance too which mustn't be overlooked.

UTV, the city is ours.

[big ming]

Lessons we learned.
We look a much better side when we move the ball forward quicker. We look a much better side when the whole team presses (like against Derby).
We make it much harder for our selves when we give possession away in dangerous areas.
But..... a great result. Hope Adomah recovers quickly - he was very good today.

The absolutely best thing about it was giving the knuckledraggers false hope (twice) and then snatching it away (twice).

[Saunders82]

As expected a tight game, they set there stall out in the first minute taking Jack out, from then at times it was a bit nail biting but I thought overall we coped very well, and that run from the Scottish Cafu summed it all up, we move on, normal service has been resumed. UTV Bring on Forest

[deadbuzzardalive]

Vital win for us, and good to see Grealish, Adomah, Kodjia and Abraham all on form with the assists and goals. Hutton with a great goal as well.

[FoxyAV]

That's the second time Hutton's done that this season, what a goal. So many players stop and pass when they come up to anyone in their way, he just runs past them.

We keep screwing up passing the ball out of defence. We either need to get players back to help move the ball out safely or know when it's time to hoof (and as much as we hated it with Bruce, sometimes you just need to clear it and see what happens). Losing the ball near their goal is significantly better than losing it 20 yards from ours because we've been tippy-tapping it around trying to pass the ball out.

I did worry that Whelan would hold us back but he got on with things. Made some mistakes, but put everything into it. I was hoping he'd go off for Lansbury, it's a huge shame that the first time he gets in ages and he goes off injured.

Great win though.

[VillaBill]

Probably the worst we’ve played under Deano, but we can now see a style and a plan of playing, we were just too slow implementing things for the first half hour.
Great result though & great atmosphere, terrific advertisement for the championship, I don’t miss Prem at all

[deadbuzzardalive]

Just saw these stats on twitter...

Most passes completed.
For Villa, Hourihane (76)
For Blues, Camp (11)

Time before completing 90 passes.
Villa 18 minutes
Blues 90 minutes

No Birmingham players completed more passes than Ahmed el Mohamedy. He came in in the 77th minute.

We also had 75% of the possesion, so despite not being at our best we still dominated them... A few other interesting stats I've seen mentioned are that since Smith took over we're now averaging two points a game, which is promotion form, and only Forest and Middlesbrough have conceded fewer goals... There will be setbacks along the way, but if we can continue in that general trend, then we will give ourselves a good chance, just a shame we didn't have Smith at the start of the season.

[WendyOz]

Magnificent result. Should have been a bigger rout with Kieftenbeld and Morrison sent-off.
SOTC VTID

[smetro]

That Hutton goal quite literally left me speechless - The TV replays don't do it justice - The Ground buzzed as soon as Hutton got the ball - we knew something was on - the match commentators were twittering on about something else whilst he beat 3 blues players - I kept expecting him to pass, but then though well you've got that far go for it ! - and he did !
Absolutely incredible stuff

[FoxyAV]

That Hutton goal quite literally left me speechless - The TV replays don't do it justice - The Ground buzzed as soon as Hutton got the ball - we knew something was on - the match commentators were twittering on about something else whilst he beat 3 blues players - I kept expecting him to pass, but then though well you've got that far go for it ! - and he did !
Absolutely incredible stuff

His party trick when he comes up against someone in his way, which seems to work almost every time, is to hesitate long enough to make it look like he's about to pass to someone else, before knocking the ball past the opposition player in the other direction to which that player's weight is going. It's a great bit of skill and he does it time and time again. After he took it up to their box I was shouting (at the telly) for him to pass it to Abraham but after he scored I remembered that was exactly what the defenders thought he was going to do, which is exactly what he does every time he dribbles past anyone. I've watched the goal quite a few times and it's a work of art from the moment he picks it up to the moment he scores. Even more audacious than Bjaransson's toe poke against Wolves last year. I'd go so far as to say in recent memory it's better than Benteke's backheel to Weimann to score*. Lowton and McGinn's goals (and Grealish's volley a few matches back to a certain extent) are different beasts and I'm not sure we'll see one as good as Lowton's for a long time. Hutton's goal yesterday though is surely goal of the season, it's going to have to take something extremely special to beat that, and that's before you take into account who it was against and in front of the Holte.

*thinking about it that goal was a different beast though, in that the player who made the goal didn't score it.

[Saunders82]

Probably the worst we’ve played under Deano, but we can now see a style and a plan of playing, we were just too slow implementing things for the first half hour.
Great result though & great atmosphere, terrific advertisement for the championship, I don’t miss Prem at all

Personally I didn't think we were that slow I thought as usual Blues were up for from the off and we didn't match their work rate, plus from the first minute they knew the ref was going to let crunching tackles go so it was heaven for them.

[big ming]

Magnificent result. Should have been a bigger rout with Kieftenbeld and Morrison sent-off.
SOTC VTID

I was starting to wonder exactly what Gardener had to do to get a yellow. I counted at least three bookable "assaults".

[WendyOz]

Yep - agree. He is a miserable SOB isn't he? Must be the scumbag leeching out now he's a nose.

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