roonst83

We need a win some time soon after the missed opportunity against the Blades. I think we’re better set up away from home but a lot of that depends on if Davis plays well. He’s been quite poor for a while and hasn’t had the support of Snoddy or Adomah of late so it’s nulified his role. Big problem of late for us has been the fact our defence has been so leaky. Our previous success in games away to the likes of Preston, Burton and Barnsley was down to how tight we were at the back. We look very nervous at the moment and are missing Terry massively. We need to start picking up wins soon to try keep ourselves in the playoffs.

Felt very fortunate that we found ourselves two nil up. It happened too quickly for our players or management to realise what position we were in. We looked hungry and first to the ball for ten mins and then as soon as they scored their first youcoukd see he confidence, ideas or game plan totally sap out of our players. Have said time and time again Jedinak is an atrocious CB and a very poor footballer. Adomah and Davis were useless. Adomah cannot take a man on atall and takes way too long when he has the ball and subsequently makes the wrong decisions. Were too easily thought out because we simply have no game plan or adopted style of play. What is our identity? Bruce hasn’t got one and is completely clueless with this bunch of players. Grealish is the only player capable of taking someone on and making something happen but he needs better quality in front of him. I thought Snodgrass and Hourihane were once again invisible throughout. This isn’t getting better anytime soon, unfortunately. Going two goals ahead at Home should’ve resulted in us comfortably overcoming a quite average Sheff Utd team. Once again not good enough.

Utter, utter shit.

Dreading it.

Our only positive person today. Always wants the ball and glides past players in this league with ease. He also represents Hogan's only hope of scoring a goal as he has a brain that can pick out his intelligent runs.

You play with it no strikers, you get no chances. Knew we'd lose today and when I saw the starting XI it all but confirmed it. We simply can't step up against the better teams in this league and are way too easily thought out. We only seem to be any kind of a threat when we lump it to Davis, where he can bring others into play. But that's only every other game as our nineteen year old striker is (unsurprisingly) hit or miss. Bruce just hoped we'd somehow be 0-0 with 20mins to go and then throw on Hogan and Gabby. Well when we go one down all this "planning" is fruitless. We had plenty of the ball today but because we couldn't just lump it up we were reduced to passing it sideways without any creation of chances. We looked mildly better with two strikers on as Grealish was trying to be positive but we were way too easily sniffed out as we have been for years. Absolutely shit overall and our grasp of being a playoff contender is slipping by the week. We desperately need Terry back. As I said in the Chris Samba thread Jedinak is not a good CB. He's one of the worst passers of the ball I've ever seen in a Villa shirt. Adomah and Snodgrass were barely visible today and we cannot afford to have two key attacking players being lost in games. Onomah and Hourihane were nowhere to be seen all game. Was way too predictable today and that lies wth our hugely negative manager. His brief was to get us promoted and until its confirmed we can't do that he will remain.

Am I the only person who just doesn't see Jedinak as a decent CB?

We were quite fortunate to get a point today. Second best for the first half and whilst we had more of the ball in the second half we couldn't muster anything up in the way of decent chances. We were nowhere near our best today and were completely stifled by a decent opposition. When Davis is invisible and ineffective it damages any attacking play for us. I'm not laying the blame at our bright youngster at all but our reliance on him (due to injuries) means he's hit or miss, and when he's not in the game we subsequently play poorly. Davis was stifled, as was all our attacking play as Milwall handled us easily. A big problem for me was our lack of tempo, and the fact we didn't have the energy or show the pressing that we have done so well with lately meant we allowed too much time and space for Millwall who created a hat-full of chances throughout. Our set plays were very poor and, in fact, only served to provide a counter for Milwall who looked very quick and dangerous when they broke. I'd bring back Houihane. Our injuries are probably having an affect on the team but quite a few times this season we've looked a bit flat at home. We're a much better set up for away games as at VP we find it hard to break teams down who sit deep. A point is still a point and in a game where we could easily have lost we'll have to take it. We've got some tough games coming up and will need to use our squad well. I've personally not seen anything all season that suggests we could be serious contenders for automatic promotion but our best hopes lie with hanging in there in the play offs. To do so we need to be much better than we were today. Need to dig deep for a very tough game at Derby away next and hope we play with much more intensity and vigor with players like Davis, Snodgrass and Adomah stepping up to the level they have shown they're capable of. Grealish showed some glimpses of positivity so he's certainly knocking on the door but to win games we need to boss the midfield and that was lacking today.

He's genuinely the very worst person to commentate on sports ever. Always trying to be funny when he isn't, comes across as a bitter, creepy old man who offers no insight whatsoever for his opinions.

Great post. Agree with a lot of what you've said. I think Bruce has started to show that he can use subs wisely and has instilled a belief and fighting spirit within the team. Few people have stated that a few players are looking a bit knackered. I think Bruce is the type of manager who perhaps will try keep the same team as much as possible, which, to a certain extent I agree with but we've got strength in depth (with the exception of our strikers) so need to think about bringing in the likes of Grealish, Lansbury and O'hare for upcoming games as they come thick and fast over he festive period.

I was worried about this one in the build up to the game. Having watched both our game and Ipswich's game in midweek they definitely looked the better of the two sides and against much better opposition. They have good attacking players and I thought we were in for a really tough afternoon as I was certain Bruce would try and keep the same XI, which, barring the exclusion of Samba, he did. But we took control of the game and we're hungry and pressed well throughout. They came close a few times but they do have quality going forwards so that was expected but we controlled the midfield and when you do that you often take home all the points. This game capped off a terrific week with three wins for us and we showed a different type of performance in all three, which, I believe, is key in this league due to the variety of styles of play we come up against. Yesterday's game reminded me of Fulham at home where we took control, dealt with their threat and hurt them wth our great forward play. Albert simply loves a goal, plays with a smile on his face at all times and is on fire right now. Key difference to us playing well is also Davis. He held the ball up fantastically yesterday and brings others into play. He even had a few players on him tightly at times and still held up play well. When he's up for it and plays well then it makes a huge difference. Midweek showed me that he will have games where he is totally absent and almost invisible but he's still learning and is leading the front line for us as a 19 year old who is in his debut season, so that's to be expected. Very pleased with Davis overall. Was great how we saw the game out once we were two goals to the good. Again, in total contrast to midweek where we became sluggish and sloppy in possession once we were two up, yesterday we killed their threat, stifled any positive intent they had and out-possessed them whilst still pressing them up the park. A great week of three wins. Leeds away will be tough as always but I think we're playing with a system, shape and confidence now that means we can go there positively.

Only started watching half hour in but we were on top from there. Timing of our first goal at the end of the half was massive for us. We would've gone into half time confident after getting some reward for our good play towards the end. Second half was a very professional display indeed with a flurry of chances that could, and should, have seen us win much more comfortably. I didn't expect it atall to be honest with our weakened team and esp after going behind. Credit to the boys, they deserved the win and played very well at times with the ball on the ground. Onomah, Davis, Adomah (obvs) did well. Whelan battled well and we looked solid enough at the back. Important to have Taylor back as I thought we did well down the left too. Good subs by Bruce, again, to be fair. Similar as against Preston, his subs stifled anything QPR had and saw us out of the game. Pleasing thing for me was how many chances we created and should've, again, score more. We're better against teams that come at us and I always feel we're much more suited to away games. We were shocking against Sheff Weds and played off the park so was great, and unexpected, to bounce back. Need to wrap Davis up in cotton wool as if he gets a Knock we don't have a striker (even with Gabby back) and certainly not one who can hold the ball up and bring others into play as much. A great win today and hope we carry it on to Tuesday.

Beyond gutted. All our stability and resilience have stemmed largely from Terry. He's a colossus lost for us.

Agree with this 100%.

Absolutely excellent display throughout. Makes such a difference when we take advantage of our dominance as we did with Chester's goal. And our counter attacking second goal set us up perfectly. Yes Preston had some injuries but they're a strong team, especially at home, so that was a really excellent win. Reminded me a lot of our performance at Barnsley away, we handled their pressure very well, led by the absolutely excellent Terry. I think what helped tonight was having Davis up front. He, unlike Kodjia, can lead the line and bring others into play. We can play the ball into him and it sticks, and he brings players like Onomah, Adomah and Snodgrass into play. Kodjia can be great for us too but not in the same way we play Davis and not how we played him on Sunday. We defended very assured and very solidly tonight. Special mention to Whelan, Onomah, Terry and Davis who were our best players I felt. Hutton did very well too. Bruce got his set up and tactics spot on tonight. We were positive from the outset and were rewarded. We played the ball on the floor far far better than against blues and were calm with the ball in playing ourselves out of trouble. Jedinak was brought on at the right time and Davis was on the verge of picking up a second yellow so was very relieved when Bruce took him off. Excellent away performance from us tonight and all the players and Bruce deserve credit. Three very valuable points.

Our whole performance, style of play and approach was far better tonight than Sunday and it's no coincidence that Whelan was miles better tonight. He kept things ticking over and kept everything simple. He was great tonight.

He's crazier than a clown's cock but credit where it's due, he did very well tonight.

Warrior. Leader. Captain. Love this guy. He gives his absolute everything and was fantastic tonight.

I have that fear too. May try and stream the Spurs v Madrid game if that's the case

Nooooooooooooo. Hutton can do less damage at LB as he's not in his natural right side where he bombs forward without licence, and either crosses or runs the ball out of play. On the left he's (slightly) more considered and plays it more sensible and safe. We need to play our best players in their best positions so we should be ruthless and bring Taylor back in. It wasn't as if Taylor was injured, he was banned so should be fresh and raring to go.

Apologies if this has been covered but is there any update on his injury?

So deep? He was sat behind Kodjia for 60 mins until Bruce brought Jedi and Davis on.

I wouldn't agree with the hoofball having "very little" to do with Onomah's performance, but do agree it was a bad day at the office, for Onomah and, indeed, all of our midfield.

But we played vastly different against Fulham than Blues. The ball was on the floor against Fulham a lot more (form both teams) and as such, was a much better game of football. Bruce just told our defenders to lump it to Kodjia all game on Sunday and that relinquished any impact Onomah could have. Im not meaning to let him off for Sunday completely as he wasn't effective atoll but i do think that's largely down to Bruce's tactics.

I personally think he was a victim of being played in a position that wasn't aligned to his strengths. He's not a no.10 and certainly can't do much when the ball is hoofed up over his head all game.