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I won’t be alone in feeling completely numb right now. I can’t even think where to begin explaining that one. There’s zero point talking tactics and team selection, the starting XI wasn’t vastly different from expectations, they just didn’t play with any real intent about them.
I hoped someone might pass a note around the changing room at half time, perhaps a snapshot of the table, wake them up a little, something to bring our situation into focus. They’d come out in the second half with some fire in the bellies then. Surely.
But no. Nothing. Listless. Inept.
Two shots on target plus a left footed effort from Ashley Young that struck woodwork in 90 minutes. Otherwise, Wayne Hennessey in the Wolves goal had next to nothing to do all game. At home. Against Wolves. Nine games left to secure Premiership football next season.
It. Beggars. Belief.
That’s all I’ve got on the game for now. A banner was unfurled in the Holte prior to kick off that expressed an end of patience and a desire to see the back of Gerard Houllier. The boos that rang out at the end of each half and chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” when Gabby Agbonlahor and Robert Pires were brought on in place of Marc Albrighton and Nigel Reo-Coker just echoed that sentiment.
That will feature in every mass media match report, most blogs and forums. It’s the kind of drama and unfortunate set of events that every hack out there is going to feast on like a pack of hyenas. As if we weren’t creating enough non-footballing headlines.
The Aston Villa section of the internet is about to get all kinds of ugly. I’m going to pull the plug, assume the foetal position and sob gently looking at the table.
| Pos. | Team | Plyd | GD | Pts |
| 10th | Stoke | 30 | -2 | 37 |
| 11th | Newcastle | 30 | -1 | 36 |
| 12th | Fulham | 29 | 1 | 35 |
| 13th | Blackburn | 30 | -12 | 33 |
| 14th | Aston Villa | 30 | -14 | 33 |
| 15th | Blackpool | 30 | -15 | 33 |
| 16th | West Brom | 30 | -15 | 33 |
| 17th | West Ham | 30 | -13 | 32 |
| 18th | Wolves | 30 | -14 | 32 |
| 19th | Birmingham | 29 | -13 | 31 |
| 20th | Wigan | 30 | -22 | 30 |
Eight games left – six if you discount the final two against Arsenal and Liverpool – still 10 points (at least) to be found. Taking precisely nothing from these past two games against Bolton and Wolves doesn’t inspire confidence that it can be done though.
Faith is the belief in something for which there is no evidence.
So I have faith. I have no choice, what else is there right now?
UTV
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18 Comments to “Aston Villa 0 Wolves 1: Where do you even begin?”
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I……well….if…….ummm……nothing.
Not seen any quotes from Houllier yet, however that was a first choice midfield & forward line today…. at home …..agaist Wolves….& we had two shots on target! Sorry, just unacceptable from the players & management alike. The forums will be anti Houllier tonight & infairness, for once I’ll not be defending him, however our experienced international midfield/forward line equally deserve a shoeing tonight
I am heartbroken.
Houllier doesn’t have faith in the squad he has. And it shows in substitutions and formations.
…its GH work to bring out the best of our players but he fails to do that. Today we played 3 players who he brought in + Pires as an sub. And he played with our young players instead of Warnock and others. Thats his decision. Many fans bemoan MON for our bad position. Wake up, its his team, its his tactics, its his (missing) enthusiasm, its his splitt with important players, its him to fail to get the crowd behind him, its him to sub a 19year old after 30 (!!) minutes and 0:0!! Whoever wants to defend him can to that, but not me!
I just want to take this opportunity to say to all the idiotic Villa fans who booed under O’Neill and the pathetic morons who call radio shows complaining of the O’Neill era – I hope you’re taking a good hard look in the mirror. Careful what you wish for idiots. Maybe next time we have a top class manager you’ll grow up and realise what we have. I blame these section of our support as much as anyone for the position my club is in right now. F off and support the blues – you’d be far better off on the south side of our city.
Ok, first off, lets get some perspective here, take a long hard look at Japan and Libya, That is a crisis, this was just a game of football.
As far as we as Villa fans are concerned all we need to do is stay up, tough job i know but….
The question we need to ask is, is Gerard Houllier the man to take us forward next season, and how many of our current squad will be playing then?
Bitching and moaning about it at this particular time will only exasperate the problem, and performances will undoubtedly suffer more than they are.
I’m afraid it’s a case of hold off till we are safe then voice our concerns, there is nothing to be gained from it at the moment.
agree with every word of that, sam. especially the perspective.
hate it when fans say that, it is bloody important, japan disaster or not, this club of ours is far closer to our hearts that Japan or Libya
as for holding off on concerns, some of us have said it from day one about Houllier. Some of us have took an awful load of stick and we all wished we were wrong but we were not
he should have gone after Liverpool if not then then Man city and Randy bottled it. Now the squad have another two weeks off like the last few weeks, the camp is totally split, he humilated a kid today and will have to play collins at everton
we are in a total mess and we should not hide that
Everything mon done good for villa was wiped out the moment the coward walked out on our great club and left us up shit creek without a paddle
Do you not think MON would have had perhaps had a bit more loyalty to a fan base that showed some to him? Don’t get me wrong. I realise we need perspective here given wider world affairs and I love my club as much as the other holte enders that I have stood and sat with for 25 years. My only point here is if we are ever lucky enough to be challenging for champions league again in my lifetime I hope I’ll be spared the mindless boos and whinging to Tom Ross every week for the privilege
I’ll always love the Villa. but this is just not acceptable for a club of our pedigree. from the manager, to the players and their piss poor attitude. they lack conviction when they play. but everything starts with the manager and i never see any conviction or emotion from GH when the camera’s pan to him during matches.
No. Disagree.
When is the time to point out that MON bashers were wrong? When we are relegated? He walked out because he felt he had done everything he could and yet it was not enough. Now, we settle for shite.
Is this situation not shit enough?
I guess paintball wasn’t the answer.
An anemic performance and very disappointing, but I wasn’t totally shocked – I have seen most Wolves games this year and they play better than the record shows, especially recently. I was concerned about the size advantage, and when it was apparent Collins and Dunne would not play, I knew it would be trouble. I have long thought no one in the league works harder than Kevin Doyle, and it really shows against a team as lethargic as this.
Keep your heads,You will stay up with us I’m certain.Wigan,B’pool and either one of Blues,Blackburn or West Ham will go.The only 2 great midlands teams will be ok as the others have a far harder run in and worse goal difference.We are playing great at the moment and just silly mistakes this season has denied us finishing in the top 10.See you next season in the prem Villa.
Is that the Jacksonville Florida Wolves?
Congratulations on your team’s recent surge. I support for them except when they are playing Villa. They seem to have a cohesiveness that Villa clearly lacks now. I have been hoping Wolves would avoid relegation, but I never thought they would survive at Villa’s expense. That still seems unlikely, but it is getting uncomfortable again.
Pathetic
No quality anywhere tonight. People said MoN was predictable with his 442, well GH is predictable with his 451/4411 whatever you want to call it. Thing is it isnt working, the attack is as impotent as a eunuch and the defence is… well there is no defence to speak of (granted we have so many injuries there it beggars belief)
is GH to blame? Yes, simply because it is the common theme we are seeing. I have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt for so long, but I am now convinced he needs to go, or actually do something
Well, I don’t know where to begin. Can we recall Bannan, Lichaj and the other kids and loan out Pires, Young and the so called senior player?
Depressing play, depressing attitude down to a man – Young was shite and should have been red carded for the cheap shot. Pires spent the whole game looking for a call from the ref. Even Walker looked uninterested.
I’m not convinced of GH but neither am I convinced that our players are worth keeping around. I count at least 7 that NEED to go this summer – I hope Randy is ready to open his pocketbook IF we survive.
When the loudest noise from Villa Park is the booing at the end of the game, then even those that had any faith left in Houllier (myself included) must now be starting that slow and painful decent into complete pessimism and horror of what is happening at our football club!!! I am shocked and bewildered at the side he picked to beat a bottom 3 club (all due respect to Wolves especially after the result!!) But to play one striker up front in a game of this magnitude is unbelievable, surely Heskey would have been the perfect foil for Bent. How many crosses did we put in that went unchallenged?? Heskey could have been an aerial threat we needed at both ends freeing up Young to concentrate on putting the ball in the box. Although that would have left our best player on the day, Marc Albrighton, on the bench, at least we would have another attacking option if Young or Downing were not providing!! Bringing on a striker only to play him on the wing, letting ashley young play anywhere he wants with nothing to show for it except a decent chance off the bar in the dying embers of the game – what on earth was ‘our most creative player!!’ doing taking a free kick halfway inside our own half with just minutes remaining!!?? and bringing on Pires was a shocker!.. I have never slagged of a Villa player in my entire life and dont mean to start now, but having watched a re-run if the game, Pires just hasnt got the legs anymore, except for cameo roles if we are ever 3 or 4 goals to the good, this substitution made no sense at all. When we need energy we got an old head and old legs. This just simply added to the frustration. The players I feel sorry for the most are Chris Herd, Nathan Baker and Fabian Delph who I believe have great futures at Aston Villa, and with their careers hardly begun, all of these kids I believe, have had to play out of postion for us. To be thrust into a team and an atmosphere that was about as bad as it could get for a home game, I only hope the fans can recognise thru all this anger and frustration that these kids need our support, and to give them the confidence to rise to the challenge and keep us up. Becasue that has what it has come down to. Be angry, be frustrated but keep the faith and sing the songs to show we are behind the players if not the manager!
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