John

Source: Player Match Ratings: Villa beaten by Hammers & Woodwork!

There was to be no thrilling comeback from a 2-goal deficit this time from a Villa team that did not start to play until they had all but thrown the game away! The conditions were poor yesterday but they were the same blustery conditions for both teams and it just seemed that a West Ham side that started without Carroll in the relegation zone just wanted the points more than we did particularly in the first half. So it is now 3½ long years since we last won two consecutive league games at Villa Park and we have managed just 3 home league wins this season. This along with the sloppy defending that gifted West Ham 2 goals within 3 minutes of the second half re-start is just not good enough and we have grown tired of the all too familiar sight of away fans celebrating wins at Villa Park. Having the Chuckle Brothers (Collins and Downing) leave the field having put one over us also added insult to injury on this occasion! We seem determined to make this season run and run. Three points yesterday would have kept us in the top half of the league and maintained the breathing space we had enjoyed between the relegation threatened bottom half of the table and ourselves. We would then have been left needing perhaps just 3 wins from our remaining 13 games to ensure our top flight status. But we didn’t want to do that did we? This embarrassing defeat has left us embroiled in the relegation dog fight for another season and just 4 points clear of the 3 relegation places. West Ham started yesterday’s game in one of those places but by the end of the game we were uncomfortably only 2 points above them and they had joined a long list of clubs that have outplayed us in the first half of home games this season. That opening goal within 18 seconds of the start of the second half and the second which made it two in the first 3 minutes of the half won the game for West Ham who have now claimed 4 of their 25 points from us and 10 points from their last 5 games. They sat back for the rest of the second half seemingly thinking that would prove to be job done. Villa then made chances that might just have pegged them back with a little better finishing and had the woodwork and luck not been against us. But lightning rarely strikes twice and to have come back twice in successive home games from 2 goals down always seemed a touch unlikely. But we really have to stop conceding goals at home so readily and to turn around the home results that threaten our season and top flight status. My player ratings from a game that has seen us lose what was effectively a 6-pointer are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Got down low to save from Taylor on 26 minutes and claimed some early swirling crosses with confidence. Matt Lowton – 4 – Found Jarvis too hot to cope with before his 56th minute substitution. Offered something moving forward but offered their attack too much cause for optimism when defending. Ciaran Clark – 6 – Solid enough and did get a good challenge in on Jarvis who was bearing down on goal having again got clear of Lowton on 28 minutes. Nathan Baker – 6 – Had a decent enough game but how we missed Vlaar’s ability to run the show at the back. Got a good challenge in on Jarvis as he was about to pull the trigger on 29 minutes and headed a looping 64th minute header from a corner towards the top corner which did not really have the pace to seriously trouble Adrian. Ryan Bertrand – 6 – Beaten easily inside the box by Downing who crossed for Nolan to back heel with the aid of a deflection past Guzan for their vital opener. Had earlier did very well to do enough to get in front of and in doing so put off Downing who failed to connect with a 20th minute cross from Jarvis who had got in behind Lowton. Leandro Bacuna - 5 – Poor in the first half but showed some improvement in the second. Blocked a late Taylor effort after Guzan had got a hand to a late Nocerino cross thus preventing a third which would have been cruel and against the run of play from 49 minutes onwards. Fabian Delph - 5 – Casually lost possession of the ball on the edge of his own penalty area to Nolan who ran on to hit his decisive second past Guzan. Hit a 30 yard shot which drifted a couple of feet past the post on 33 minutes. Ashley Westwood – 6 – Struck some decent passes yesterday and was unlucky to see a first time shot from the edge of the box fly inches wide of the post on 42 minutes. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 4 – AWOL for too much of this game. This was some way off being a captain’s performance and some way off what he is capable of. He may have still been feeling that injury otherwise I would be at a loss to explain the lack of impact he was able to make yesterday. Was found at the far post with a good cross from Weimann on 20 minutes but an awful first touch did for that opportunity to give us the lead. Andreas Weimann – 5 – His pace is always a threat but this was not one of his better games. Christian Benteke – 6 – Terribly quiet during the first half but really should have got at least one goal in the second. Failed to get an outstretched foot to a good Albrighton cross on 57 minutes having got in between 2 defenders and was then denied by the crossbar on 72 minutes after when getting a good header to a cross that Albrighton had done so well to get over. Should really have got his 80th minute header on target when he climbed above Collins only to place his header wide of the post and his ambitious overhead shot a minute later flew well over the bar after Clark had headed an Albrighton corner towards him. Got into scoring positions but did not take his chances. Substitutes: Marc Albrighton – 8 – MOTM – Made a tremendous difference and was our best player by some distance after replacing Lowton on 56 minutes. Hit a tremendous shot on 67 minutes that thudded against the post and was luckily for our opponents then deflected off Adrian’s foot for a corner rather than as had seemed more likely than not into the net. Hit one of his several good crosses into the box on 78 minutes which eluded Benteke before Demel turned it inches wide of the post. Grant Holt – 4 – Replaced Weimann on 71 minutes but made no positive impression on the game and given he has not scored since August it was possibly always unlikely that he would get the goals that would have pulled this game out of the fire. Joe Bennett – Replaced Bertrand on 74 minutes I can only assume because our loan signing was struggling with a knock. Not on long enough to get a rating but he did get a header in and did well enough on his return from injury. Stay up the Villa! John Lewis

Got to admit I loved their Villa, Villa chant!

It seems the England cricket team is determined to get rid of anyone who might rock the boat no matter how good they are. They did the same in the past to the likes of Graveney and Boycott who came back by public demand and KP can do the same. It seems that Downtown may be looking to make a bigger name for himself in his new role than he did as a WK for England at whatever the cost and I would think the captain would want the best players with him rather than a team of "yes men".

"I was talking about that game with Tony Hateley and Alan Deakin 18 months/ 2 years ago and they were having some banter about the dying moments of the game when they were both trying to force the ball over the line to win 5-6 but it was so muddy they couldn't get a boot on it :-) in the 2nd half, despite the conditions, we were absolutely incredible and ran Spurs ragged". Must have been a great conversation to have had with those two Mike and that goal really sounds a cracker (I wish I had been there to see it myself rather than relying on the radio for the score updates at home).

This is a great move by the school and one that other schools might want to follow. It is good that the club has recognised this by getting over there to see these kids at their school. It will be nice to see a few more Villa shirts in and around what was the UK city of culture last year. A very warm welcome to these potential new young Villa kids!

"I was hoping there might be something on the web showing him in action but the only thing I could find was the day he signed for Villa". What a great find in any case! Nice to see Joe & Tony back at the start of his time with us. I tried to find something as well and had thought the 2-6 home defeat against Chelsea might have been on there (where he got our second) as it was covered on MOTD but the 5-5 would have been the big one if only...

Sadly Tony Hateley who was one of our greatest ever centre forwards passed away on 1/2/14 at the age of 72. Tony joined us from Notts County in 1963 and scored 86 goals in his 148 appearances for us. These included 4 second half goals scored at Spurs in season 65/66 to bring us back from 1-5 down at half time to 5-5 at the close. Tony was a superb header of the ball and was our top scorer during each full season that he had with us before his move to Chelsea. Tony scored 19 goals in season 63/4, 34 in 64/5, 28 in 65/6 and 5 from his 12 appearances for us in 66/7. We ended those seasons 19th, 16th, 16th and relegated in 21st following his sale so although we banked £100,000 for him when Chelsea were looking to replace the injured Osgood in October 1966 it ended up costing us our place in the top flight in the season that followed England's World Cup win. Tony had scored 8 goals against Chelsea in his time with us so clearly Tommy Docherty had every reason to break their then transfer fee record for him. He went on to score 9 goals in 33 appearances for Chelsea (including the goal at Villa Park that took them and him to their first FA Cup Final in 1967) before Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool for £96,000 in July where he got 27 goals in his one season (67/8) with them before moving to Coventry, Small Heath, Notts County, Oldham and Boston .At the point of his retirement in 1974 his combined transfer fees were the highest paid for any player in English football. My thoughts are with his family which includes his son Mark who went on to play for England and his grandson Tom who curently plays for Śląsk Wrocław - Holte Ender In The Sky!

My answers (and I hope I am proved wrong in most cases): Lerner - will he stay or go? - Stay. He will not get the offer he would want to sell. Lerner - if he stays, will the manager be backed to bring in higher quality players? - No. Lambert - will he stay or go? - He will stay. Lambert - If he isn't backed I can see him leaving. - Only if a bigger club come in for him or one with some more ambition I suspect. Lambert - If he is backed, will this be from Lerner backing him, or from a takeover. - From a takeover. But they might want to bring a new manager in. Benteke - will he stay or will he go? - Go. Benteke - if he goes, will this money go towards team building? We never replaced Young and Downing, Petrov or even Barry, so will this money be used to find the players to take us forward? - I would guess 50% of it at best. Benteke - If he stays, does this mean another season of bargain hunting and struggle? If he stays we will be better off than if he does not on the field if not on the balance sheet.

The player clearly wanted to come, our manager did want to sign him but his club did not want to sell him to us for the money Lambo was able to offer. A sorry ending for the player and for me it says a lot about both clubs.

I think Sylla may just have pipped KEA to the poorest player award ciggiesnbeer... Westwood and Lowton were both close to a 4 but I think they both edged a 5 for me and I did not think KEA did quite enough to do the same. But ratings are a matter of opinion and I can appreciate where you are coming from regarding KEA's work rate which is I guess why Lambo picks him more often than not.

"We're supposed to be at each others throats on this site aren't we?" Not at all villa-revolution we are a band of brothers deep down and I think your comments above also hit the nail on the head... "Westwood and El Ahmadi were both absolutely abysmal." Less so Ash for me postdeath but as has been said he has had better days and he can do so again for me. I take your point on Westwood terrytini and I think danceoftheshamen has also made a sound appraisal of his display last night. I think both he and Delph would find it easier to perform consistently well in the middle if they had someone alongside them they could rely upon more often than not which is not currently the case.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Baggies lose their Boing Boing!

A memorable 7 goal derby thriller at the Villa ended with us crowned undisputed Kings of the Midlands having once again bounced back after going two goals down to WBA! For a second time this season we came back from two goals down having got ourselves into what had looked to be a losing position. This time it happened only 9 minutes into the game rather than after 11 minutes as had been the case at The Hawthorns. But this team is never beaten by WBA and this proved to be a stunning comeback and a rare home win. The first half looked like televised highlights! There was so much action and both teams had shaky defences that looked likely to ship another goal with each move forward the opposition made. WBA may have had more possession but who does not against us? But it was us that had the goals and the points at the end of this pulsating ding dong derby. We started well enough but two early goals quickly put us on the back foot. However, our response to going behind was superb and although WBA pegged us back near half time and had a lot of possession near the end without creating too much real danger we emerged worthy victors last night. My player ratings from a game that has left us watching the relegation scrap below us from the top half of the table are: Brad Guzan – 6 – Left a mere spectator as their opener flew past him on 4 minutes and was given no chance 5 minutes later as their second was deflected between him and the near post. Beaten again on 42 minutes when Mulumbu was allowed to waltz through our defence and slot the ball past him. He did look a tad shaky on 53 minutes when he fumbled an Amalfitano shot hit from some distance but his time wasting was something to behold. Matt Lowton – 5 – If only his defensive play matched the quality of his crosses and he was able to get back to somewhere approaching the player he had looked last season on a consistent basis. He showed a lack of alertness by failing to set up quickly enough for the free kick that led to their second but had a hand in our equalizer. Ciaran Clark – 5 – A step back from the more solid and encouraging displays he has been producing of late. Ron Vlaar – 8 – So very dominant at the back and gave an inspirational captain’s performance holding what had been such a shaky defence together in the second half almost single-handedly. Ryan Bertrand – 8 - I do hope we have agreed a fee as a part of his loan arrangement given he has indicated that he is open to staying with us and he looks at least as good as Kyle Walker did in the early part of his all too short time with us. Leandro Bacuna - 7 – Hit our equalizer on 24 minutes getting on the end of Lowton’s cross with a miscue that somehow found its way over the keeper and the line. He might have hit another 6 minutes earlier when Weimann found him on the edge of the box but his shot went just wide of the post. Fabian Delph - 8 – Worked hard throughout and made amends for his own goal by putting us ahead on 37 minutes. Fabian stuck out a leg to a Morrison cross after 9 minutes and the ball was deflected between Guzan and the near post for their second. But his goal was a screamer. Westwood found Benteke whose header on reached Delph who with his second touch made space for his shot that flew past Foster and into the roof of the net. Ashley Westwood – 5 – Struggled to make a positive impression against what was a solid no nonsense WBA midfield unit. Karim El Ahmadi – 4 – Chasing shadows for much of the game. Andreas Weimann – 8 – MOTM – Got us back into the game on 12 minutes when making the most of Lugano’s header on which found him with the WBA defence behind him and with just the keeper to beat. This he did with some aplomb helping the ball over Foster and into the net. He then forced a save from Foster on 20 minutes with a flick after Clark had headed on a corner. Worked tirelessly throughout and his pace was a big threat to their defence. Christian Benteke – 7 – Hit the winner on 64 minutes coolly sending Foster the wrong way from the spot after he himself had been wrestled to the ground by Lugano in the centre of the penalty area to stop him getting on the end of a Bacuna cross. Might have made it 4-2 on 42 minutes when Bacuna played a nice ball to him. He then beat a defender before aiming for the far post and being denied by a leg from Foster that deflected his effort just wide of the near post. Given little protection by the referee from some strong and often bruising challenges. Substitutes: Grant Holt – 6 – Replaced Lowton on 65 minutes. Demonstrated good ball retention and his will to win with an early crunching challenge. Yacouba Sylla – 4 – Replaced El Ahmadi who had struggled to make any real impression on the game on 76 minutes and proved to be a disappointingly like for like replacement having again shown nothing of the promise he had offered last season. Nathan Baker – 6 – Replaced Weimann on 80 minutes to offer more strength and aerial power to what was an increasingly under pressure defence. Up the Villa! John Lewis

"& who knows you might have a bit of juicy speculation to throw in too" - I will leave that to those in the know and just look forward to giving ratings on something other than a home defeat for a change. Although that said I will still be looking to see if Messi is at the game sitting alongside Lord Lucan (Randy).

"Is it 11:00 pm friday 31 Jan 2014?" It is unless you are Arsenal villa-revolution. Wes is counting down the minutes at Defoe's usual hotel or has he moved to the Villa Park car park already?

I thought Griffiths wanted out of Wolves because he was homesick. If so, I have news for him we are further south than Wolves. His geography seems on a par with David Unsworth's when joinig us and Savage's when leaving Small Heath.

"I guess he gets forgotten about because he only played for us for a couple of seasons in the eighties in which the club achieved nothing of note, and he later became better known as a Liverpool player. But I don't think I've ever seen a better all-round player in the Villa midfield, and that includes the legends of the Saunders era." McMahon was top class during his couple of years with us Normandy Villan. But he would have needed to stay a little longer to have been compared with the likes of Mortimer and Cowans, Rioch before them or Platt post early 80s. But he still ranks somewhere in our top 10 midfield players for me so that would be why I would not include him in this topic. I also have the nagging feeling that he joined us because the straight move from Everton to Pool would never have been accepted up there and he always had his eyes on a move to the red side of that city.

"Pour thread". It is a matter of taste!

Mrs Doyle!

Today: Bacuna, Gabby, Lowton, Weimann, Benteke Yesterday: Saunders, Platt, Cowans, Graydon, Anderson.

"I remember a horrid game in the 80's when i went to Nottingham to watch us get royally stuffed by Notts County, I think it was something like 5-2 if memory serves but may be wrong on that... Horrid horrid day and very embarrassing at the time but we got revenge not long after and won 6-0 at theirs in a cup game with a certain David Geddis scoring about 4 goals". He got 3 that night and the 2-5 was in 83-4 danceoftheshamen. So it was their revenge for our 6-0 FA Cup win at Meadow Lane in 81-82 although they had also beat us 1-0 a week and a half after that 6-0 win to do the league double over us that season. We also lost 4-1 there in 82/3 so we were glad to see the back of them!

That 3-0 defeat against the Noses at The Porndrome and particularly that Enckelman moment. Although losing 2-6 at 4th bottom Southampton in the last game of our relegation season (66/67) was hard to take and losing at Torquay 1-3 and then Southend 0-1 in our only ever FA Cup Round 1 games in 1971 & 72 were also very sad days for the then record holding FA Cup winners.

Dessie for me as well although another player from that same great team who does not get enough plaudits for me is Gary Williams and the same possibly applies to John Deehan from a couple of years earlier.

"It's Alan Evans not Allan Evans" - I think it was "Allan" Electric Avenue but I guess we would both agree that he was one L of a player...