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Alan Hansen - Villa Were Embarrassing

Ouch... Alan Hansen on match of the day last night:

'I don`t know where Villa are going to go from here because they were so bad today {v Norwich} I thought it was embarrassing for them.`

Not a nice spiral this, also not nice that the pundits are talking in such a way about Villa but I don`t buy this 'they all hate us` (all fans of all clubs seem to think this!) and there have been a good few this year, including some of our own ex players like Merson and Yorke, the latter having called himself a fan, he is visibly upset and angry. Gareth Southgate is another.

As we know, Norwich were the better team and to be fair, they should have had a penalty before we opened the scoring and a) the Joe Bennett sending off WAS fair b) Chris Herd should also have had a second yellow and his marching orders.

The one thing I thought this year, judging by the fact we aren`t set up right, we don`t have a leader and we don`t have much experience (and the experience that we do have are letting subsequent managers down) plus the kids brought in will need time to get used to this level.... was that we`d be able to rely on beating the likes of Southampton and Norwich. Next up in that equation will be Reading... another must win!

It is too early to panic and lets be honest panic won`t help anyway, however most of us know where this is heading and it isn`t upward at the moment is it? We are - again in transition - but as pointed out in the forum, the real transition was when we were bringing in the likes of Ashley Young and James Milner, not now with championship and lower level players.

Have you ever seen a team succeed on doing the Premiership on the cheap? No, nor me. When I say 'cheap' I mean lower league and changing it so quickly. You need experience and quality to help the lower league players come through. I also don't see the net gain bringing in lower league kids like Bennett to replace our own youth players?

This is, according to Mat Kendrick of the Birmingham Mail, officially our worst start in 43 years.

I also wondered when was the last time we were bottom half of the table 3 seasons in a row. Now, I know that this season is still young but surely even the most optimistic aren`t expecting top ten ?

The nearest was 2006-07 when O`Neill took over and got us to 11th. The season before we were 16th under O`Leary and 10th the year before. So that doesn`t count as three.

Well, we did three in the bottom half in 1933/34 (13th), 1934/35 (13th), 1935/36 (21st) which led to relegation .......

Then we had the mixed time in the 60`s. (Down 58/59, back up the next season)

62/63 (15th) 63/64 (19th) 64/65 (16th) 65/66 (16th) 66/67 21st and relegated. Then 69/70 we went down a further division and only returned to the 1st in 75/76 season under Lord Ron Saunders.

Obviously 1986/87 we went down again and came straight back up the following season.

In the modern Premiership world though, we`ve not done the three in a row.......

All time Premiership record we`ve just slipped below Spurs to 6th: www.statto.com/football

All time league record is 5th: www.statto.com/football

What can we do? Nothing more than many of us do already, turn up and support. It was a sadly quiet and half empty (33k) Villa Park yesterday but then, fans do need a spark every now and then to get going and that game had nothing to give us heart really did it apart from a well taken goal obviously.

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Writer: J P Fear

Date:Sunday October 28 2012

Time: 2:17PM

Your Comments

Couldn't agree more about the leader and experience bit but didn't think that it was particularly embarrassing. Bennett's bookings were for him but the rest was as expected. People say "you've got to play 4-4-2 at home." PL did, and our inexperienced youngsters got overrun in midfield. We could've easily won without the red card and we still defended resolutely to share the points with 10 men for 40 mins. I know it's only Norwich but our team had less caps in the prem than them and the vast majority of ours was from Gabby. The embarrassment has been here since Eck turned up and isn't getting any better with the penny pinching from the venerable leader who never turns up. Nothing more than expected....

Villan444

I think the amount you get paid in respect to what you do is more embarrassing Alan.

bikini inspector

At least chelsea have another 700 points to go before they catch in the all time table ;)

CDX_EIRE

Don't agree that we could have won easily without the red card. We scored against the run of play and never looked like dominating. We were at home against Norwich and they had the balance of play before Bennett was sent off. I'm not going to whistle against the wind here. We were poor and didn't deserve to win. What do you get when you win you draw your home games and lose away?

ironside

I have to agree with Ironside here we were poor throughout however if we had of kept 11 men we may have won as we were starting to play better at the start of the second half... Our results will come from away games until confidence is built up... Theres too much pressure on us when we are at home and playing Norwich a team most of felt were inferior only added to the pressure...

CDX_EIRE

I think this was a well written article and intersting, i can;t think of any prem teams being created on the cheap and inexperianced and doing well either, Alan Hansen has it in for us anyway since Randy sacked there pal MoN, but we have to agree as said above we were dire, these games are our bread and butter if we cant win Norwich home and we can't win away from home where are the points going to come from? We need investment in january otherwise its champioship football next season GULP!!

ClivetheVillan

I meant that we could've easily won as we were 1-0 up, Benteke didn't miss 1 header and Brad looked invincible, not that we could've won easily (at a canter etc.) We drew with a team that had finished 12th last year + a couple of additions. We had Gabby and a bunch of kids who've bugger all prem experience. Embarrassing yes OK but what do we expect after 9 games together??? PL can't turn water into wine. (That was MON .)

Villan444

Look at the next eleven games (to end of 2012). We need to arrive in 2013 with at least 20 pts in my opinion (maybe 18 at a pinch). Making four of those games are must wins - and one is away (QPR). That still means we have to pick up at least two points from the other games which are all against "big" teams. If we dont win even one of those four games then 2013 will be a big big ask unless very serious cash is spent in Jan..... ie using the proceeds of Bent & Ireland sales. I will keep saying this on the basis that then it wont actually happen - using the "light a fag at the busstop" principle in reverse.

malacaxeta

Was it Hansen who said you will never win anything with a team full of kids? What does he know!

zaijianforth

Whats all this bunch of kids rubbish? Herd - young & good, Lowton - Young & good, Benteke - Young & good, Guzan - Young & Good. Weimann not on long enough but unlucky not to get more game time recently given the non-scoring attributes of Villa of late. Also missing players Clark and Baker - Young & good. Just because Bennett did not produce (again), then a myth is painted that it is the young players that are failing. Alby poor too yesterday, Delph mixed views from fans yesterday, as for Bannan sat onthe bench. But it is Bent, Gabby too, and other experienced players out of the team like Ireland, NZogbia, Dunne, Warnock, Hutton that have not delivered either at all (in some cases) or consistently enough (in other cases) We cannot change too much, with a couple of those now effectively put out to grass, but we must find more consistent midfield and attacking options to develop better understanding and take us forward. Clark to come back into midfield, and hopefully a good Ireland can bring some composure and creativity instead of Alby. Many would say we also must try Bent to start with Benteke, instead of Gabby. But pundits and some fans are wrong to conclude it is the shortcomings of too many young players that have let us down - they have my 110% support, and are mostly out-playing the older guard.

stennyvilla

Just like to see us attack with more purpose and drive, we pass the ball around at the back, probing, not loosing possession, where are the great runs forward, we lack cut and thrust in the final 1/4 , we are often 'shot shy'. When was the last time we had a great free kick ? No wonder Bent doesn't score .... no delivery.

Eddy1

Sorry, but Hansen was spot on. This is as bad as I've seen us in many years of watching. Let's put it like this - the Dorigo/Keown/Hodge team that was relegated under Turner and McNeill would, in my opinion, beat today's team. Very worrying and no apparent light at the end of the tunnel. Things are so bad I'm actually looking forward to Dunne coming back - something I never thought I'd be saying.

onlyteaminthemids

I thought we were average until the sending off. There were some positives from the first 55 minutes and some negatives. However the total capitulation after the sending off was worrying. I think my biggest concern is that at the start of the season we had several players who we had hoped that Lambert could get the best out of. These are experienced players that should be important to us. These include, Gabi, Bent, Warnock, Nzogbia and Ireland. At the moment none of these players are having any impact and I feel that the youngsters need the leadership of these big name/big salary players to help them come to terms with a very tough league.

voiceoftheholte

Yup, my worry as well voice, the experienced players are once again not performing. They didn't under the man who can't be named and they didn't under GH. I'd argue a lot of them didn't in the last season of MON either. So, do we keep blaming the managers or? Don't know what to think any more!

The Fear

Said it for long enough thre are still to many players at Villa Park who in my opinion are passengers and continue to let us down . Ireland Bannan Nzobia Delph,Dunne,Hutton could all go without me losing any sleep. The worse thing is Gabby is still running luke warm, El Ahmadis form is poor and when Bent does play he is not able to get on the ball. Add this to the inexperiance of the others easy to see why we struggle. We go one up against mighty Norwich and with ten men survive a battering to take a point not going to use that stiff drink yet think I may need it in looking at the fixture list. That being said yes I think Lambert is the right man to turn us round but without a leader on the field and someone to inspire the younger players think we will struggle the Chairman may have to decide if its worth spending serious money in January to keep us up, tough call for someone who has invested so much in the club already and not meant as a cheap shot but with tv revenue set to rise by 70% may be worth the investment.

Merlin128777

Saturday was just one in a series of embarrassments. The biggest embarrassment is how the fans continue to suck up to an owner who has dismantled their club before their eyes. They have to realise that the owner is deaf to their flattery and blind to the depth of their misery.

OnMeHeadFred

It'll be Lerner the fans turn on IF the club get relegated to the Championship AND don't get promoted at the first attempt. Relegation the fans can probably stomach. Being also-rans in the second tier would probably be too much. Don't think Lambert could survive either under those circumstances.

VillaWillRiseAgain

We will rise above the adversitymark my words, in Lambert in trust!

ClivetheVillan

I believe that the Prem CAN be done "on the cheap" but it requires a gradual evolution not a revolution. That said, with what PL ws left to work with what was he supposed to do - the alternative was to spend £60m on 5 established Prem level players and 3-4 unknowns but I don't think any of us ever expected that.

Even if it did happen, so many new players would take time to gel and we may well have found ourselves in exactly the same situation as we find ourselves now.

The problem was that, regardless of the new manager, we were left with a bunch of underperforming, undermotivated, overpaid players who fell appart BEFORE MON left (look at the performances at the end of his final season), not as a result - things started to turn around for GH only in the last 3rd of the season and then AMC ruined anything that might have been happening.

If GH took until the final 3rd to turn things around than with a bunch of new players all learning a new system with new relationships in a new league, we can probably expact the same under PL.

I just hope that PL is carefully observing our weak points so that in January he can buy just 1 or 2 solid players, preferably leader types, to sure us up and give the younger guys a platform to build on, after all, PL needs time to learn best how to fit these guys together as well, not one of them has played for him before so all he can do is make the best of the situation now and plan for January when he can make a coupleof key changes.

villan of the north

Not far from my thoughts really Villan of the North, yes build for the future but you also need to build for the here and now plus the inexperience has been brought in too quickly, as you say, revolution not evolution is how we've gone about it. You can pick the odd gems though, not a team full, unless they are total geniuses, I hope they are.

vitalfootballadmin

I'm resigned to relagation unless we buy someone who can make a telling pass. I don't get down as often as I used to, Swansea was the last game & that wasn't bad. I watched Saturdays game on the TV & cringed. I was at the Spurs away game last year & that was the worst performance in 50 + years of watching ,Saturdays wasn't far off. Norwich are a poor side (Hoolahan aside) & it comes to something when we are lucky to scrape a draw against a side like them at home . I realise the financial implications & I know it's hard to bounce back but 3 years of misery is enough . Maybe we need a year or two in the championship to rebuild & regain some confidence for the young players & maybe, just maybe win a game or two . God help us tomorrow & God help our future confidence if we lose badly tomorrow. I'm fed up of feeling fed up l

AstonBilla

(sorry, that should be the fear not vital admin)

The Fear

Come on AstonBilla your as old as me but your forgetting some of the stinkers we had served up in the past McNeills & doc Venglos although its been a while since we played to keep the score down like Spurs last year I must admit. Got to agree with you regarding the need for a couple of decent midfield players though dont care if we had Messi up front he would struggle without someone passing him the ball. In dire need of a Scotty Parker or Kevin Nolan to show leadership by example.Whatever we did at Newcastle Lambert needs a run of that sort of effort if we are to survive.

Merlin128777

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