Well, we did not beat Albion, did we? I thought we would probably come back from our recent poor downturn and produce the spirit to edge this game, but it was not to be, particularly after Abraham missed his early gilt-edged chance. And Johnstone showing why we liked his alert keeping so much before he came to the end of his loan with us. From then on, after not looking bad for 30 minutes, we seemed to go into a bit of self-doubt and let in the Albyun. The earlier injury to Kalinic probably didn't help and he was replaced at the break.
And, I have to say this, why did we need to go out and bring in all these keepers when we've had Steer all along? Whenever I've seen him play, I haven't seen much to fault him.
So this hiatus in Villa's history (that really started in 2010) seems to go on and on and...
But let's wait awhile. The injury list of Jack, Axel, Chester, Carroll and Lansbury (and also previously to Jedinak, Davis and Green), combined with the perceived unreadiness of O'Hare, Bree and others to really stamp their mark in the first-team (hence why they've been shipped out, to get an experience of real football), is bound to hamper any team's ability to make progress. And now McGinn will be suspended for two matches.
What we're seeing now (and it doesn't need me to state this) is a midfield that is bare of ideas, while the defence looks to be improving with Mings and now Hause settling in, and Elphick doing a good job. What I did notice in the second-half on Saturday was a reluctance of the keeper to hoof the ball from his area and instead was passing the ball out through the defence, thereby retaining possession. And Mings was occasionally also bringing the ball through to the second third of the pitch.
That approach helped, but then we lacked ideas to take the play any further, with Albion content to hang onto their two-goal lead and mainly blocking our progress.
Promotion is almost a forlorn target for this season. But the thing I take hope in - and I know this is difficult to accept for many after nearly 9 years of not making progress and some dire football as well as relegation in that time - is that we probably have a management structure in place at Villa Park that seems willing to take proper football decisions and plan accordingly. We're not seeing the fruits of that right now, but that's partly to do with what went on before. I feel that we shall see some successful developments as a result of activity in the summer break.
UTV
And, I have to say this, why did we need to go out and bring in all these keepers when we've had Steer all along? Whenever I've seen him play, I haven't seen much to fault him.
So this hiatus in Villa's history (that really started in 2010) seems to go on and on and...
But let's wait awhile. The injury list of Jack, Axel, Chester, Carroll and Lansbury (and also previously to Jedinak, Davis and Green), combined with the perceived unreadiness of O'Hare, Bree and others to really stamp their mark in the first-team (hence why they've been shipped out, to get an experience of real football), is bound to hamper any team's ability to make progress. And now McGinn will be suspended for two matches.
What we're seeing now (and it doesn't need me to state this) is a midfield that is bare of ideas, while the defence looks to be improving with Mings and now Hause settling in, and Elphick doing a good job. What I did notice in the second-half on Saturday was a reluctance of the keeper to hoof the ball from his area and instead was passing the ball out through the defence, thereby retaining possession. And Mings was occasionally also bringing the ball through to the second third of the pitch.
That approach helped, but then we lacked ideas to take the play any further, with Albion content to hang onto their two-goal lead and mainly blocking our progress.
Promotion is almost a forlorn target for this season. But the thing I take hope in - and I know this is difficult to accept for many after nearly 9 years of not making progress and some dire football as well as relegation in that time - is that we probably have a management structure in place at Villa Park that seems willing to take proper football decisions and plan accordingly. We're not seeing the fruits of that right now, but that's partly to do with what went on before. I feel that we shall see some successful developments as a result of activity in the summer break.
UTV
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