It's Looking Bright! Isn't it?

It's looking as though there's good reason for optimism, doesn't it?

Against Boro, Villa’s play (particularly in the first 20 minutes, and in other periods) was compulsive viewing, without doubt. The play was forceful and during that first 20 minutes the home side looked mesmerised.

But Boro’s strength has been their defensive ‘quality’: they have only scored 22 in 20 games and yet are ‘up there’ in the table. And when the defence backstop (the keeper) demolishes the best of Pulis’s plans then Boro didn’t have a lot left to worry Villa – except on two notable occasions.

The first (when Villa were 1-0 up) was when Downing hit a piledriver that sadly for him hit his own player, who was given offside. That shot would at least have tested Nyland as it was very much on target. The second time was when a smart shot was tipped onto the bar by Nyland at a fairly critical juncture, even though we were 2-0 up. 2-1 at that point and anything might have happened – such is the way in which Pulis works.

But to feel happy with Villa’s general play is wholly justified. We just know that the defence can buckle from time to time (viz 5 against us vs Forest – but that may have been because of Chester not being 100% fit).

While we have forwards of the ilk of Abraham, Kodjia, Bolasie, El Ghazi and Albert, ably supported by the midfield, anything appears (now) to be ‘on’. And I do give credit to Smith’s work in such a short space of time.

But … let’s just see how the upcoming matches vs the likes of Albyun and Leeds pan out before we start believing we are going to win the division! If we do manage to get into the top 2 it will be a tremendous achievement after such a stuttering start to the season.

Do We See Villa Bouncing Back?

Anyone who is a born Aston Villa supporter and a believer in attacking football is likely to be welcomed with open arms by Villa fans, and those are exactly the qualifications that Dean Smith brought with him to Villa Park, as the new team coach.

His first three games were not highly productive and, indeed, they included two (away) defeats, but it has to be said that those games were quick-fire matches played in the course of one week, giving the new coach little time to orchestrate a plan of action and training sessions with his new charges.

Then came the home win over Bolton which showed glimmers of hope and a sure sign that Villa were being asked to play more positively, and in a pressing upfield manner. However, there were still defensive frailties and dithering to be observed, and they were again twice highlighted in the first half in Smith's fifth match at Derby, who had gone six games undefeated, including a 3-1 thumping of Birmingham the previous week. There was also a tendency to not get shots on target. Hence, despite some 16 shots Villa targeted towards the Derby goal, only one of those had actually been on target. Until, that is, the 74th minute, when Bolasie's powerful run and wonderfully accurate cross found the head (of all people) McGinn who headed it in as though he had been doing that sort of thing all his playing life!

And two further goals came, both excellent in their execution.

So, it was in the last 16 minutes Villa won the match, although since bringing on Elmohammedy as a full-back replacement for Taylor after half-time, Villa had looked more sprightly and created several chances before McGinn's header went in. Bringing on both Elmohammedy and Bolasie (70 minutes) seemed to make the necessary difference for Villa to win the match in such powerful fashion.

We go into the next match (versus our auld rivals Small Heath) in two weeks, after another international break, with some hope of seeing Villa's improved attacking play - well - improving!

UTV!

Bruce’s Playing Record This Season

Just thought I’d trawl through the BBC stats to see how Bruce’s record looked.

These are some conclusions covering the 10 league matches before the PNE game:

1. Villa had 55.4% possession on average and the only 2 games when Villa had less than 50% were in the two opening games (49% and 48%)- which we won! 
2. Villa had an average of 14.2 shots per game, with an average of 5 on target. 
3. In the heavy defeat against the Blades, we actually had 61% possession and sent in the same number of shots as United (9) – but they put 6 on target to our 2. 
4. In the 2 successive home draws against Brentford and Reading we had 57% and 59% possession and 17 and 21 shots, compared to their 13 and 10. In both cases we had 8 shots on target compared to their 7. 
5. In each of the 3 away draws against Ipswich, Blackburn and Bristol each time we had substantially more possession and more shots, including shots on goal. 
6. In the home defeat against Wednesday we had 54% possession and 18 shots compared to their 13, but 4 shots on target to their 5. 

Bruce’s failure in results seems to hang mainly on those 5 draws (items 4 and 5) when it clearly shows we should have won them all.

Why didn’t we win ’em? I put it down to (a) inaccurate shooting and (b) defensive errors.

Therefore the *main* reason for lack of success: the players, as KMac suggests.

We would have had 10 more points if we had won those games which, based on stats, we should have won. We’d have been top of the division with those points.