Nicktendo Posted December 19, 2020 Posted December 19, 2020 On 18/12/2020 at 10:27 AM, LazyBoy said: One point ahead of media darling Frank Lampard's Chelsea now with a game in hand, and yet I doubt the disrespect Ole gets will stop. He's made mistakes (hell look at my post further up), and he's not a trendy 'system' manager. But the amount of pundits who still seem to treat him as some kind of tribute act is incredible. Its not like he not got results - 10 away wins on the bounce is not nothing. We're really entertaining to watch too - check out that last goal from last night if you haven't already. But most of all there is a tangible feeling of progress. He has yet to make a dud signing, which puts him a mile ahead of our previous 3 managerial failures. As long as he keeps doing that I see no reason why we can't just be patient. You're right about this. I'm tired of the hate Ole gets from the media. If they win their two games in hand, United will be second. That is a massive improvement over what has been over the past few years. The United games I've seen this season haven't been great (but that's only a couple) and going out of the CL is obviously a massive blow, but you can see that progress is being made. Really hard to call the top 4 this year.
Fierce_LiNk Posted December 20, 2020 Author Posted December 20, 2020 What a game! That was like watching a Premier League classics video on ITV2 or something. We could have scored 10+ if our finishing was better. Credit to Leeds for not giving up and for still attacking. They were 4-0 down at one point and were still pushing. If you hid the score line, you'd never have guessed they were losing by that margin. Scott McTominay was absolutely class today. Ran that midfield and his movement for the second goal was ace. My man of the match. At the same time, Bruno is unreal and my favourite post-Sir Alex signing. What a guy. Really enjoyed that game! It's like both sides decided they couldn't be arsed defending and would only focus on attacking. Very refreshing to watch. What a game!
killthenet Posted December 21, 2020 Posted December 21, 2020 Didn't get to see much of the United game but it's crazy how open Leeds continue to be, it really is all or nothing for them. They have been so shaky at the back and I can't see them shoring up in that respect as the season goes on but given how poor some of the relegation candidates are I don't think they'll be in much trouble come the end of the season. As for Villa, I'm struggling to believe how well we're doing this season. After the League cup final I was feeling so down on the future, it looked as if we were going to fall short and drop back into the Championship but we managed to survive and have carried that momentum into this campaign. The signings we made are performing brilliantly overall, even with Barkley and Trez missing we look brilliant going forward. West Brom never looked like they intended to attack tonight, even before the sending off, but I was starting to get a little anxious we'd pay the price for not scoring a second but thankfully we got the extra goals the performance deserved. When you look at where Villa were when Smith took over (bottom half of the Championship, looking wholly mediocre) it really is remarkable how we got to where we are now. It still feels too soon to say that we can challenge for European places but given our points tally and how open the league looks this season, that is looking like a real possibility. I just hope we can keep up the momentum after Xmas, and find a bit of consistency at home.
Fierce_LiNk Posted December 26, 2020 Author Posted December 26, 2020 53 minutes ago, Kav said: We’re always shit at Christmas! Where did that Arsenal performance come from?! Thought they played well. Could have and maybe should have scored more. Arteta looks like a good coach to me but just needs better players in the squad. Asking him to get top four with that squad is a big ask. United annoyed me earlier. Should have won the game, surrendered the lead twice and were wasteful with our chances. Rashford should have had a hattrick today. A point away at Leicester is a good point, but it does feel a bit disappointing and more like 2 points dropped after how we did.
killthenet Posted December 26, 2020 Posted December 26, 2020 @Kav Please continue to be shit on Monday. 1
LazyBoy Posted December 27, 2020 Posted December 27, 2020 Oh Big Sam, I've missed you. Good first half of the season in terms of entertainment, and we may even have a proper title race. Here's hoping.
Kav Posted December 28, 2020 Posted December 28, 2020 On 26/12/2020 at 8:27 PM, killthenet said: @Kav Please continue to be shit on Monday. Done. 1
LazyBoy Posted December 28, 2020 Posted December 28, 2020 24 minutes ago, Kav said: Done. To be fair Villa were great, again. Unrecognizable from last year. Where did they find all those great players all of a sudden? I'd take more players from Villa then I would (Man) City.
killthenet Posted December 28, 2020 Posted December 28, 2020 33 minutes ago, LazyBoy said: To be fair Villa were great, again. Unrecognizable from last year. Where did they find all those great players all of a sudden? I'd take more players from Villa then I would (Man) City. We only made a few signings in the summer, all of whom have settled in nicely, the squad isn't that different from last season but collectively they didn't have much Premier League experience. There was a lot of promise in our performances early last season but we never got a run together and couldn't build momentum, the lack of confidence compounded by a run of bad results - I honestly believe we would have been relegated had the season not been put on hold, our defence has looked superb since lockdown, it really gave us a chance to firm up at the back. We had to make too many signings after we were promoted, we had to bulk out the squad, whereas this summer it was more about quality over quantity. I've not been this excited about a Villa side since I was a kid, there is a real camararderie now and if we can hold on to the likes of Grealish, McGinn, Douglas, Mings and Martinez then we stand every chance of doing something special.
LazyBoy Posted December 28, 2020 Posted December 28, 2020 12 minutes ago, killthenet said: We only made a few signings in the summer, all of whom have settled in nicely, the squad isn't that different from last season but collectively they didn't have much Premier League experience. There was a lot of promise in our performances early last season but we never got a run together and couldn't build momentum, the lack of confidence compounded by a run of bad results - I honestly believe we would have been relegated had the season not been put on hold, our defence has looked superb since lockdown, it really gave us a chance to firm up at the back. We had to make too many signings after we were promoted, we had to bulk out the squad, whereas this summer it was more about quality over quantity. I've not been this excited about a Villa side since I was a kid, there is a real camararderie now and if we can hold on to the likes of Grealish, McGinn, Douglas, Mings and Martinez then we stand every chance of doing something special. Fucking stoked for you mate, I really am. When you got relegated you were a level of garbage that made me just dislike you. But now; great youth, aggressive play, and John McGinn (my favourtie). Im very nervous for the new years day game.
Fierce_LiNk Posted December 29, 2020 Author Posted December 29, 2020 The ball went in. Don't care how it did, but it did! Finally. I thought Wolves were going to hang on. Such a terrible game, so to get three points after that is great. Can't describe just how bad the game was.
LazyBoy Posted December 29, 2020 Posted December 29, 2020 Screamed my head off when that went in, huge 3 points. Wolves are such a good defensive unit - plenty of men back at all times, disciplined (especially in moving up), and they never make mistakes. Shout out to Matic and Bailly, thought they were great.
Fierce_LiNk Posted December 30, 2020 Author Posted December 30, 2020 14 hours ago, LazyBoy said: Screamed my head off when that went in, huge 3 points. Wolves are such a good defensive unit - plenty of men back at all times, disciplined (especially in moving up), and they never make mistakes. Shout out to Matic and Bailly, thought they were great. I did the whole: YESSSS *looks to see if VAR is going to rule it out* *they don't* YESSS Bailly was quality last night. Thought Matic was good, too. Pogba grew into the game in the second half. We seemed reluctant to take shots though, but Wolves had so many players back that a deflection like that was always likely. Glad to see that we tried more of that in the second half. Greenwood looked great in the first half so I was surprised to see him hooked.
LazyBoy Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 I still haven't unclenched. Firstly - Villa. How good are they? Really, they ain't some flukey outfit, they are the real deal. I'm talking European places easy. We were very good again, especially defensively, if quite tired. Pogba in particular has started to turn up recently, whilst Bailly has done great in coming in for Lindelof. Where's Van De Beek though? His absence is getting real strange. Top of the table on points. Crazy.
killthenet Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 I hope you're right about us finishing in the European places, that would be tremendous. Shows how far we've come in the last few months that I'm super disappointed not to get anything from a trip to Old Trafford - the penalty was a soft one to give away and we had enough of the game to score again but de Gea was equal to our best chances - although Martinez kept a couple out at the other end too. First goal was unlucky though, if Mings had got anything meaningful on the ball it would never have reached Martial. January is full of tough fixtures for Villa, hopefully we can get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 That was a great and open game. I'm delighted that we managed to get through that with the points, because Villa are bluddy hard to play against now. I was tense for the entire second half and thought you'd nick the draw, but we somehow held on. Pogba and Bailly were immense! Great performances from them. I thought the penalty was very soft and was waiting for it to be overturned. We also defended badly for the Villa goal, but I thought we did enough in the game to justify the win. Just about. Maybe. I dunno. I don't really care at this point, it's just about grinding out results!
Emerald Emblem Posted January 15, 2021 Posted January 15, 2021 I can barely believe Mesut Ozil could finally leave Arsenal before his mega wage contract has run out. I feel his continued presence has hampered us both financially and in the transfer market. It's in the club and the players best interest to part ways and it's felt way too long in coming. Granted the deal isn't signed and sealed for his move to Fenerbache yet but I hope the saga has finally reached it's conclusion and both club and player can move on to better things in the future.
Aperson Posted January 17, 2021 Posted January 17, 2021 So... as a fan of League One side Swindon Town I have to say what a complete and utter mess this season has been. After winning League Two last season I knew the task at hand would be to stay in the division. Keeping the squad that won the title together was going to be the key to that and enhancing it. Nope, we lost Michael Doughty, Eoin Doyle, Lloyd Isgrove, Kaiyne Woolery, Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates among others, we brought in replacements like Tyler Smith, Matt Smith, Jonny Smith (yeah, three Smiths I know), Jack Payne and then to replace Steven Benda we picked up Matej Kovar from Man United on loan. Of course, with a completely different team there has not really been room for them to gel to get to grips with this division, leading in turn to an ambitious Richie Wellens questioning his future at the club, he leaves for Salford City, we get John Sheridan in of all manager and in January are rooted deep in the relegation zone. I thought last week's win at Ipswich would be an impetus but we just went and lost 2-0 to Doncaster at home and making the same silly defensive mistakes. We have a better keeper in Mark Travers now but we cannot account for the fact that our defenders are just passing the ball to the opposition strikers on a regular basis. It's calamitous defending, like they belong in a circus or something. All our best defenders are injury prone but it doesn't seem to matter who we put in defence they just concede sloppy goals. Zeki Fryers is not a good centre back at all, the fact that he's one of the better ones we have available tells you a considerable amount. We need a centre back who is experienced, can play at League One Level, is good enough to compete with League One players and who ISN'T injury prone, someone who can lead the backline, organise the defence and most importantly stop conceding these reckless goals that are going to turn us into a yoyo club if we're not careful or worse just be back in the same situation again before Wellens came to the club. Sheridan seems to be looking at strikers but I feel like we have about six centre backs at the club right now or two left backs acting as centre backs and none of them are good enough defensively for this league. 1
LazyBoy Posted January 17, 2021 Posted January 17, 2021 22 hours ago, Aperson said: So... as a fan of League One side Swindon Town I have to say what a complete and utter mess this season has been. After winning League Two last season I knew the task at hand would be to stay in the division. Keeping the squad that won the title together was going to be the key to that and enhancing it. Nope, we lost Michael Doughty, Eoin Doyle, Lloyd Isgrove, Kaiyne Woolery, Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates among others, we brought in replacements like Tyler Smith, Matt Smith, Jonny Smith (yeah, three Smiths I know), Jack Payne and then to replace Steven Benda we picked up Matej Kovar from Man United on loan. Of course, with a completely different team there has not really been room for them to gel to get to grips with this division, leading in turn to an ambitious Richie Wellens questioning his future at the club, he leaves for Salford City, we get John Sheridan in of all manager and in January are rooted deep in the relegation zone. I thought last week's win at Ipswich would be an impetus but we just went and lost 2-0 to Doncaster at home and making the same silly defensive mistakes. We have a better keeper in Mark Travers now but we cannot account for the fact that our defenders are just passing the ball to the opposition strikers on a regular basis. It's calamitous defending, like they belong in a circus or something. All our best defenders are injury prone but it doesn't seem to matter who we put in defence they just concede sloppy goals. Zeki Fryers is not a good centre back at all, the fact that he's one of the better ones we have available tells you a considerable amount. We need a centre back who is experienced, can play at League One Level, is good enough to compete with League One players and who ISN'T injury prone, someone who can lead the backline, organise the defence and most importantly stop conceding these reckless goals that are going to turn us into a yoyo club if we're not careful or worse just be back in the same situation again before Wellens came to the club. Sheridan seems to be looking at strikers but I feel like we have about six centre backs at the club right now or two left backs acting as centre backs and none of them are good enough defensively for this league. Good post. Talk to me about Kovar - too young or completely out of his depth?
Aperson Posted January 17, 2021 Posted January 17, 2021 1 hour ago, LazyBoy said: Good post. Talk to me about Kovar - too young or completely out of his depth? Kovar was not very good for us at all, very much at fault for all our cheap goals that we were giving away, hence why we sent him back to you guys and brought Travers in instead. 1
Emerald Emblem Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Maty Ryan has joined Arsenal on loan til the end of the season, I saw a whisper or two but nothing concrete so it's come as a bit of a surprise. Also in advanced talks for Real Wonderkid Martin Odegaard, to which if we can get this loan over the line would be a pretty good January transfer window, though if we got cover at Left back as well would be even better.
Happenstance Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 There goes Lampard. I’m not a massive fan of the guy but this just seems like another example of Chelsea not giving managers enough time.
killthenet Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 It's not really a surprise and it's hard to deny that he has struggled to get the best out of a promising squad recently but he still deserved more time. I don't think Tuchel is much of an upgrade either, yes he won the German cup with Dortmund and took PSG to the Champions League final but that's hardly an impressive CV. Surely with Lampard's history at Chelsea the fans were willing to remain patient with him for a little while longer, yes they're down in 9th but it's a topsy turvy season - just look at where United were after the first 5 or 6 games, languishing in the bottom half and now they're top of the league. Pretty much all of the big teams have had bad runs so far and got through them, I'm confident Chelsea would have done the same under Lampard given the chance. It's clear that all Abramovich cares about it short term success, don't think anybody will ever build a legacy at the club - even the most successful managers only get a few years in before he gets rid of them. In other news, Villa are back to winning ways (after a frustrating couple of away trips to Manchester) - it never looked in doubt against a very poor Newcastle side. Burnley next offers a bigger test, they have shown how tough they are to break down recently so I expect it to be a challenging match but I would still back us to score, thankfully there don't seem to be any fitness issues following the COVID outbreak so we're sure to cause their defence a few problems with our pace and movement.
LazyBoy Posted January 25, 2021 Posted January 25, 2021 Utter stupidity hiring Frank in the first place. Nothing against him as a manager, but if you're going to bring in a young, unproven manager you have to give them time to learn. Chelsea needed to change for it to work, but it seems they weren't prepared to forgo short term success. Hopefully he gets another chance somewhere.
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