Things can only get better - Aston Vila thread

[elfil76]

Indeed... He got down well and the ball was moving, but he should still be pushing it wide..

Like you say. Had Jussi done it......

Jussi is more experience and on bigger pay check, make the same mistake as a rookie will be frown upon.

[boltonboris]

Indeed... He got down well and the ball was moving, but he should still be pushing it wide..

Like you say. Had Jussi done it......

Jussi is more experience and on bigger pay check, make the same mistake as a rookie will be frown upon.

Judge each event on it's merits, not who did it.

[fatshaft]

Feel vindicated. dropped knight robinson davies, gardner at left back, clean sheet and win. Coyle has to keep those 3 out of the team for the next few games (ie not just arsenal and chelsea, give wheater gardner ngog a proper go). if not it proves the favouritism.

I'm not sure how you draw the conclusion that dropping Knight and Robbo resulted in a clean sheet.

There's are lot more involved than that. Reading the Villa forum it seems that the general consensus is that they had nothing to offer in midfield and upfront. Combine this with a different formation, a particularly strong midfield and pace upfront and perhaps there is a case that the back four had a lot less to do than in recent games.

There's a stark contrast playing a very poor Villa side and the likes of Man U, City and Liverpool and as such the Gardner/Wheater vs Robbo/Knight comparison is a little unfair.[1]

For me, more pace upfront and a stronger midfield will get us results against the non "big" teams, moreso than changes at the back.[2]
However, if OC deems that changes need to be made at the back then so be it. It's about playing the current best player in every position.

Great win though and a much needed shot in the arm for a club low on confidence.

[1]Would be a valid point if you hadn't so cunningly ommitted Norwich from that list, or that the 'very poor Villa' were previously undefeated.

[2]Would also be a valid point, if the changes last night hadn't resulted in an away win against an undefeated team, rather than say a home loss against a newly promoted one.

[Wandering Willy]

[1] Neither goal vs Norwich was the responsibility of Knight or Robbo, Cahill and Boyata were at fault. I used the words "very poor" after reading the reports from the match from Villa fans on their forum many of whom were at the game. Granted, they were dissapointed after a loss but if you read their posts many consider their side lucky to be unbeaten in the league given their performances and have yet to play a top side.

[2] So out of the 9 changes to the staring line up on Saturday, we can definitively say it was the replacement of Knight and Robbo that resulted in the clean sheet, not having seen the game? Changes to the team vs Norwich in the second half seemed to improve the team despite having 10 men. None of those changes were in the back line.

[William the White]

[1] Neither goal vs Norwich was the responsibility of Knight or Robbo, Cahill and Boyata were at fault. I used the words "very poor" after reading the reports from the match from Villa fans on their forum many of whom were at the game. Granted, they were dissapointed after a loss but if you read their posts many consider their side lucky to be unbeaten in the league given their performances and have yet to play a top side.

[2] So out of the 9 changes to the staring line up on Saturday, we can definitively say it was the replacement of Knight and Robbo that resulted in the clean sheet, not having seen the game? Changes to the team vs Norwich in the second half seemed to improve the team despite having 10 men. None of those changes were in the back line.

Good call - a little calm analysis...

Won't go down well with the people who make up their minds without seeing the game...

[Worthy4England]

[1] Neither goal vs Norwich was the responsibility of Knight or Robbo, Cahill and Boyata were at fault. I used the words "very poor" after reading the reports from the match from Villa fans on their forum many of whom were at the game. Granted, they were dissapointed after a loss but if you read their posts many consider their side lucky to be unbeaten in the league given their performances and have yet to play a top side.

[2] So out of the 9 changes to the staring line up on Saturday, we can definitively say it was the replacement of Knight and Robbo that resulted in the clean sheet, not having seen the game? Changes to the team vs Norwich in the second half seemed to improve the team despite having 10 men. None of those changes were in the back line.

Good call - a little calm analysis...

Won't go down well with the people who make up their minds without seeing the game...

Not quite. Whilst we should have defended both set pieces, I would just offer that Robinson gave away both the corner and the clumsy (very clumsy) free kick from which both goals were scored. Both as a result of piss poor attempted tackles.

[Wandering Willy]

[1] Neither goal vs Norwich was the responsibility of Knight or Robbo, Cahill and Boyata were at fault. I used the words "very poor" after reading the reports from the match from Villa fans on their forum many of whom were at the game. Granted, they were dissapointed after a loss but if you read their posts many consider their side lucky to be unbeaten in the league given their performances and have yet to play a top side.

[2] So out of the 9 changes to the staring line up on Saturday, we can definitively say it was the replacement of Knight and Robbo that resulted in the clean sheet, not having seen the game? Changes to the team vs Norwich in the second half seemed to improve the team despite having 10 men. None of those changes were in the back line.

Good call - a little calm analysis...

Won't go down well with the people who make up their minds without seeing the game...

Not quite. Whilst we should have defended both set pieces, I would just offer that Robinson gave away both the corner and the clumsy (very clumsy) free kick from which both goals were scored. Both as a result of piss poor attempted tackles.

Exactly.

As regards the corner, attempted block of a long range shot which nobody on the pitch, other than Howard Webb, believed got a deflection. So much so that Jusssi had the ball down for a goal kick and Norwich players were getting back into position.

Free kick was clumsy though I wouldn't normally expect a goal from there.

[Worthy4England]

[1] Neither goal vs Norwich was the responsibility of Knight or Robbo, Cahill and Boyata were at fault. I used the words "very poor" after reading the reports from the match from Villa fans on their forum many of whom were at the game. Granted, they were dissapointed after a loss but if you read their posts many consider their side lucky to be unbeaten in the league given their performances and have yet to play a top side.

[2] So out of the 9 changes to the staring line up on Saturday, we can definitively say it was the replacement of Knight and Robbo that resulted in the clean sheet, not having seen the game? Changes to the team vs Norwich in the second half seemed to improve the team despite having 10 men. None of those changes were in the back line.

Good call - a little calm analysis...

Won't go down well with the people who make up their minds without seeing the game...

Not quite. Whilst we should have defended both set pieces, I would just offer that Robinson gave away both the corner and the clumsy (very clumsy) free kick from which both goals were scored. Both as a result of piss poor attempted tackles.

Exactly.

As regards the corner, attempted block of a long range shot which nobody on the pitch, other than Howard Webb, believed got a deflection. So much so that Jusssi had the ball down for a goal kick and Norwich players were getting back into position.

Free kick was clumsy though I wouldn't normally expect a goal from there.

It still came of the hapless Robinson...who incidentally actually had his back to it by the time it hit his foot.

So whilst I think we both agree that both events should be defendable from the set-pieces (and by other players than Robbo or Knight), and even I could give Robbo some leeway for giving away the first corner, the free-kick was, dare I suggest, the sort I'd have given away on a Sunday...and neither of them were against the "world class" Nani, rather against players who were in the Championship last season.

[Wandering Willy]

So in the context of my original post made in response to the assertion that dropping Knight and Robbo resulted in a clean sheet and a win, we have boiled down the issue to whether or not Robbo made a clumsy challenge on Saturday.

[Lord Kangana]

I don't care what you argue, Robinson is still a very bog standard full back.

[Wandering Willy]

I won't argue with that.

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

I,ve watched them both plenty and have had enough of both of them

Robinson= plodding, limited in possession and nowhere quite as good in the tackle as most on here seem to think he is and compensates for lack of talent by pulling "determined" faces

Knight= soft centred liability who looks miles better than he is.

given the fact that victories have hardly been coming around regularly of late i'll be disappointed if Coyle doesn't pick the majority of Tuesdays team against Arsenal - obvious exceptions being NRC for Holden and Jussi for Bogdan. If Bibi isnt up to two games in a week put Boyata in at LB.

[Worthy4England]

So in the context of my original post made in response to the assertion that dropping Knight and Robbo resulted in a clean sheet and a win, we have boiled down the issue to whether or not Robbo made a clumsy challenge on Saturday.

Your original post seemed to be saying that 0 conceded against Villa away wasn't any sort of achievement, because they're no great shakes and we'd made 7 other changes from the team that got beaten by Norwich, so it could have been down to lots of other factors. I would agree that the link couldn't be pointed directly to the defensive changes. Holden and Muamba make a big difference in MF too.

That said, Norwich should have been (on the same basis) no great shakes either. They didn't manage a single away win last time they were in the Prem and just 2 away wins the time before that. So could anyone definitively say we conceded none at Villa (a feat we've managed once in the last 12 league attempts) just because we dropped Knight and Robbo - no.

Will I happily believe it was a contributory factor? Abso-fecking-lutely.

[Wandering Willy]

So in the context of my original post made in response to the assertion that dropping Knight and Robbo resulted in a clean sheet and a win, we have boiled down the issue to whether or not Robbo made a clumsy challenge on Saturday.

Your original post seemed to be saying that 0 conceded against Villa away wasn't any sort of achievement, because they're no great shakes and we'd made 7 other changes from the team that got beaten by Norwich, so it could have been down to lots of other factors. I would agree that the link couldn't be pointed directly to the defensive changes. Holden and Muamba make a big difference in MF too.

That said, Norwich should have been (on the same basis) no great shakes either. They didn't manage a single away win last time they were in the Prem and just 2 away wins the time before that. So could anyone definitively say we conceded none at Villa (a feat we've managed once in the last 12 league attempts) just because we dropped Knight and Robbo - no.

Will I happily believe it was a contributory factor? Abso-fecking-lutely.

It may read that way but my intention was never to suggest that it wasn't an achievement not to concede at Villa.

I was merely trying to point out there could be several other factors resulting in the clean sheet. I have no problem with anyone believing that the dropping of Knight and Robbo was a contributory factor. I'm merely challenging the assertion that that was the sole reason.

As I have said elsewhere we should play our best players in each position.

[Lord Kangana]

So not Robinson and Knight then.

And whilst we're at it, not Davies either. On current form certainly.

[elfil76]

Indeed... He got down well and the ball was moving, but he should still be pushing it wide..

Like you say. Had Jussi done it......

Jussi is more experience and on bigger pay check, make the same mistake as a rookie will be frown upon.

There are more room of tolerance for a rookie to make a mistake or two in view of the possibility of improving that and not repeating the mistakes.

[a1]

they won coz petrov didnt play

FACT

[hisroyalgingerness]

The knee-jerk thread's over here:

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/boards/vi ... 8&start=80

[Raven]

Dam Petrov was out.....might have gone to watch it if I had known

[P.O.S.]

Any idea what time the draw for Round 4 is?