Just back [in Lichfield] ... thoughts on tonight

[headhunter]

I was the David first up on Radio Bristol!

Perhaps my saying we played OK was a little bit of an overstatement but we did not play *hite like some have said.

A competent first half when we hit the woodwork, had appeals for a pen turned down and generally played like the opening halves against Derby and Newcastle but without the goals. Villa were there for the taking and the crowd were on the verge of turning!

Bruce, like McLaren and Benitez, certainly gave the half time talk you would expect of an experienced manager and Villa were a different proposition after the break except this time City didn't have a 3 or 2 goal advantage.

These chaps ARE trying and compared to the Fulham game I have some hope but facts don't lie and 13 points from 66 [I think] should see the manager pay with his job [and a big pay off of course].

Holden should go if only for the fact that his arrival for whatever reason triggered this loss of form and Pembo should go too. Let's not hire Millen as I suggested might be the case  and SL you need to thank the 2000++ who have travelled to the north east and Midlands in the past 4 days and not snipe like you did after Fulham.

The Project is well and truly *ucked if we go down but there is just enough time to save this. 4 wins and 3 draws from 12 should do it. We need a proven man in within 48 hours who the players can resepct.

Player ratings

Geiffer - commanded his box, distribution getting better  6

Vyner - getting better even thought targetted by Villa as the weak link in the first half 6

Flint - adequate but needs to be rotated; the only ever present in a defence that is conceding 2 goals per game 6

Wright - think he is not tall enough for central defence 6

Bryan - I'm not a fan 5

Reid - some good touches  6

Smith - ran around a lot 6

O'dowda - see Smith 6

Cotterill - supported Vyner, good free kicks and corners. A worthwhile acquisition 7

Wilbraham - 90 minutes to long for him 5

 

 

[Fordy62]

Reid did his usual trick of giving away a goal. Only Kodjia blazed the penalty over. He's far too much of a liability we cannot afford.

I thought Wilbs did what he does well. But we were very direct. 

I thoughy Giefer was ropey again. 

First half we were ok, we probably shaded it. Second half... shall we not bother. 

[East End Old Boy]

13 minutes ago, headhunter said:

Wilbraham - 90 minutes to long for him 5

 

 

Wilbraham was subbed!

[North London Red]

Am on the train back to Euston now. Overall a dispiriting experience on a foul evening. 

One of the main things that struck me was how many of our efforts were blocked (often with 2 Villla defenders throwing themselves in the way) and how many of our crosses were cleared. Steve Bruce has obviously realised that to turn around a struggling team, clean sheets are a great way to start - and Villa did the basics of defending so much better than we did. Look at how little pressure was on Villa's attackers for their two goals. 

If we keep conceding 2 goals every week (and I've lost count of how many times we've done it over the last 3 months), we will go down. 

[headhunter]

1 minute ago, East End Old Boy said:

Wilbraham was subbed!

My error - sorry.

Taylor worked hard when on.

[East End Old Boy]

1 minute ago, headhunter said:

My error - sorry.

Taylor worked hard when on.

He did look lively, but Paterson certainly wasn't!

[Nick Wilde]

Thanks for the review and fair play for going.

What rating would you give the head coach?

[Ska Junkie]

Bit of a naughty comment with the 'armchair fans at home' WTGR David. Some people do have to work for a living mate and can't make every game.

[East End Old Boy]

4 minutes ago, North London Red said:

Am on the train back to Euston now. Overall a dispiriting experience on a foul evening. 

One of the main things that struck me was how many of our efforts were blocked (often with 2 Villla defenders throwing themselves in the way) and how many of our crosses were cleared. Steve Bruce has obviously realised that to turn around a struggling team, clean sheets are a great way to start - and Villa did the basics of defending so much better than we did. Look at how little pressure was on Villa's attackers for their two goals. 

If we keep conceding 2 goals every week (and I've lost count of how many times we've done it over the last 3 months), we will go down. 

Very good point, I don't recall that number of shots being successful blocked, certainly not by us. Wright can only use one foot and we were so exposed down their right wing early in the second half, so many times two versus one!

[t_b]

Am back in my hotel somewhere down the M40 (work tomorrow).

Was sat in the Holte End with the Villa fans due to late decision making.

Impressive block of City fans but aside from Kodjia goading in the first half, didn't anything from them. Dunno what it felt like in there or from radio. Also where do Villa hide all their 28k fans?!

Holte upper was quite loud with the Villa fans, obviously. They thought the ref was poor, that they were awful first half and that our only hopes looked like being from set pieces.

I thought Reid looked good going forward first half (poor when facing goal) but vanished in the second half. GON tried to get involved a lot and was certainly making challenges / playing it about.

Other than that we just didn't really every look like doing anything after a promising start. O'Dowda was making moves against a very ineffective Alan Hutton / Adomah first half combo but they picked up and then our outlets ceased. Certainly don't recall either fullback getting down the line on the overlap much to offer an option.

Flint looked more determined to stop JK than do anything else within the game. He was livid with Giefer for not playing on when JK went down "injured" near the City fans in the first half. I was half the pitch away and in the gods but he was doubled over bellowing at him to just play it. Seemed more fired up than usual so either just trying to prove one or some bad blood there.

[RedJim]

7 minutes ago, East End Old Boy said:

He did look lively, but Paterson certainly wasn't!

Patterson was absolutely shyte. A nothing player.

[steviestevieneville]

I feel like broken record chatting about JB 

He gave Albert so much time on the ball for the first and they just took the piss for the second. Shambles I'm afraid. Midfield got much closer to Wilb's st Newcastle but not tonight. 

Also, Mr know nothing about football lansdown. Do you still want to slag the fans off like last week when I and about 5,500 others have just travelled the length and breadth of the country costing us hundreds of ponds. You are costing us championship football with your unhealthy obsession with Johnson family . GET ****** RID. 

[Fiale]

Hassle opposition and long balls to wilbs or long balls/whooshes down the channels looking for crosses... I understand why we are doing it, you have to if you cannot play decent football it's probably the only way we will grind out any results (now). But let's not kid ourselves that it was good football.

[North London Red]

9 minutes ago, East End Old Boy said:

Very good point, I don't recall that number of shots being successful blocked, certainly not by us. Wright can only use one foot and we were so exposed down their right wing early in the second half, so many times two versus one!

Most of Villa's blocks were in the last 10-15 minutes after Tomlin had come on, and we started having some more speculative efforts from distance. If anything it shows Villa's determination to keep hold of the clean sheet even though the game was pretty much won by then. 

[Olé]

My prize for booking my Villa tickets as soon as they went on sale was to be down in the front row, so as well as getting wet, I was reminded what an appalling view of football managers must get from the touchline - oh for the away games no one goes to, where you can sit where you want. As a result I'm really not going to be able to add much more of substance than others already have.

Looking at Twitter everyone is in meltdown again. I must have become so exhausted of pointing out our weaknesses and waiting for change that I've now only got a resigned tolerance to performances: I didn't think it was awful by any means, it was like a lightweight version of what we did at Newcastle, only Villa, although poor, did a better job at the back of stopping us striking a fortuitous lead.

The same ingredients were there - O'Dowda looked sharp and direct, O'Neil was our best player on the pitch by a mile, tried to do everything to run things from midfield; and Flint was battling as he was on Saturday. Cotterill played intelligently, and Smith and Reid had their moments. In fact the team as a whole had picked up the challenge from Saturday of energy and hard tackling.

But the difference was apart from a bright opening (several clear chances and Wright header onto the bar) Villa's defence did not make the mistakes that Newcastle did, and so we were reduced to much the same as we have been for months - a dearth of chances, and reliance on direct balls and being able to spring players out of our midfield/wing to support or find our one up top with crosses. All low probability stuff.

As per usual, Villa adjusted far more smartly than we did at half time, and got the now customary second half goals in short order, only this time we didn't have anything to defend in the first place. To be fair Kodjia's header was well taken, but it was such a shame after Flint and Wright had done a complete number on him in the first half. The inevitable collapse followed with wave upon wave of attack (again, much like Saturday).

I honestly thought they'd go on to get more than two. Their confidence was buoyed and what little we had from Saturday, evaporated (O'Neil and Vyner the notable exceptions). We don't really have a Plan B and our changes only surrendered the game further. In the end apart from Wilbraham hitting the crossbar and not reaching a header when unmarked, we really weren't at the races second half at all. It was easy for Villa.

As others have said, it was noticeable how Villa threw themselves at everything to block our shots - for all Flint's effort, we don't defend as a unit of 4 or more (including midfielders if needs be) that wants to keep a clean sheet. Yet having not made sacrifices to defend better, we also don't have a depth of attacking options or variety in our tactics (with one up top) as a trade off. It's not clear where our tactics are benefitting.

I couldn't see a great deal of the shape today from my position, but I'm not sure what LJ will have learned today (given City are now just a learning tool for him). Not sure if this confirms the side as his best 11, although the team that finished the game looked progressively worse. Paterson is a waste of space and Tomlin apart from one great run and nearly threading one pass, continues to look unfit and unwilling to keep it simple.

 

Giefer 5 - Probably couldn't do anything for the goals (although the second might have drawn quicker reactions), but at times he continues to look like he would inspire confidence in no one, slow to attack balls, and risks losing the ball when he plays it out.

Vyner 7 - Was solid, didn't look phased again and looks comfortable on the ball when he gets upfield.

Bryan 6 - This isn't the awful LB of most of the season but it also wasn't the confident display he gave on Saturday. Stood far too far off opponents in the first half, probably isn't better than a 5 but at least he kept trying at both ends and got stuck in, so upgraded him for that alone.

Flint 7 - Was more of the same battling performance that we saw on Saturday, got frustrated at the other end with his ability to get on corners, most of that was where the corners went, but he didn't connect well when the ball did come to him

Wright 6 - Should have done better for the goal but was solid in the first half in particular and reminds me of the sorts of players who play against us - tough, streetwise, and committed

O'Neil 8 - When you see a performance like today, you wonder why he spent so long out of the team. Absolutely ran our midfield and every bit the 'engine' of the team. Shame the chassis and wheels have been hanging off for months.

Smith 6 - Seemed to suffer the effects of Saturday so wasn't quite the same amount of energy but involved in some decent interplay at times, though no surprise when he went off

Reid 6 - Looks like he is slowly growing back into first team football, the question for me is in what role? I was struck by how much better he looked when Tomlin came on and he dropped a little deeper and became a ball carrier. We have talked about this before - he is one of the few players who look better when Tomlin is on the pitch. Not sure if that has anything to do with Tomlin or rather is just the action of asking Reid to sit deeper

Cotterill 7 - Continues to look a class above in terms of energy, smarts and leadership from set pieces etc. You can see what experienced Championship talent looks like, and it sadly reminds that so few other players of ours meet this standard.

O'Dowda 7 - Wow, that's two good games in a row from him. Always bright, always wanted the ball, wanted to get forward given the chance. Only two games to go by, but out of nowhere having been written off, easily the most (in fact probably only) improved player under Johnson in the last 5 months.

Wilbraham 6 - Was tough throughout and always a nuisance whose effort defies his age, but was up against a far stronger central defence who I thought largely dealt with him well.

Subs:  

Taylor 6 - Apart from one fantastic run, where he was so illusive he kept the ball and avoided defenders around the box until he had room to cross, he didn't really get in the game. He isn't going to get in games unless he can play up front alongside a striker as he did with Tammy at Derby. 

Paterson 4 - just completely lightweight and out of his depth, may as well have not bothered coming on

Tomlin 5 - clearly a talent but unfit, unable to play simple balls with teammates, you are basically getting 10 minutes of him creating one bit of magic and giving the ball away cheaply the 3 other times. Great if he comes off the bench and scores a wordie, but a liability otherwise

 

I see LJ has complained about penalty shouts. I saw some very half hearted handballs which if I'm honest I thought were nothing, ball to hand at most. It's desperate if we're citing things like this. I thought the ref was actually very good, personally. I was very relieved that Giefer wasn't sent off.

 

[WhistleHappy]

2 hours ago, 8menhadadream said:

Bit of a naughty comment with the 'armchair fans at home' WTGR David. Some people do have to work for a living mate and can't make every game.

W T G R ?  

[Red-Robbo]

Thanks attenders for their reports.

I had a family "do" to detain me tonight.

Those of us who can't go depend on your reports to get a flavour of the match. 

You just don't get that from Radio Bristol or video "highlights".

[East End Old Boy]

6 hours ago, North London Red said:

Most of Villa's blocks were in the last 10-15 minutes after Tomlin had come on, and we started having some more speculative efforts from distance. If anything it shows Villa's determination to keep hold of the clean sheet even though the game was pretty much won by then. 

I recall a number in the first half too!

[Maesknoll Red]

4 hours ago, WhistleHappy said:

W T G R ?  

I'm guessing "with the greatest respect".  But I'm not really up with the ever evolving world of acronyms.

[Midlands Robin]

This was my first time watching City in the flesh for a fair while and it's not hard to see so many of the problems the team have been having on the pitch. Unlike Ole I was high up in the Doug Ellis stand and had a pretty good view (in what was supposed to be restricted view seat) for the whole game.

For me, we lack any sense of urgency and a lot of this comes down to our decision making while on the ball. It seems to take too long at times for players to work out what they are actually going to do with the thing to create play and move things forward. In the first half we looked pretty tight, closed down the Villa players quite well and on the odd occasion actually ran at their defence. 

Playing one up front means that the midfielders have to push up and support if we are going to run the ball down the wings. On a number of occasions we did have a good run at them we needed more bodies in the box. 

For me, Cotterill really looks a cut above the rest. He covered virtually every blade of grass on both sides of the pitch last night. 

In the second half though, what was put in the tea? It was clear to all within five minutes of coming out that something was wrong. We failed to close their players down as well as we did at times in the first half and for their first goal, we gave their player so much time to cross. All the stuff you would tell a group of kids about defending, close the man down, reduce his angle, don't dive in but get tight on him and don't let him get a cross in, seemed to go out of the window and we backed off and backed off. It was just bizarre. 

One of the least effective players on the pitch for us, in my opinion was Bobby Reid. Especially in the second half I struggle to see what he brings to the party. In a 4-5-1 formation you need someone to push through from midfield and attack through the middle with pace. Reid seemed so reluctant (especially after the break) to run with the ball and attack. He looked a little lost. It was like the 'anti-Junior Bent'. I would far rather see a player charging forward with the ball even if the end product was a little wayward at times than a player who gets the ball, tippy taps it around his own feet for a bit then lays off a two foot pass for someone else. It takes any energy their may have been out of an attack. 

Overall, we just don't look sharp enough. There seems to be a lack of urgency, a general hesitation on the ball which invariably leads to a lump forward when a quick pass would do or a wayward pass when you just want the player to lump it up field and remove the danger.

We were ok a times and in the first half but we are in trouble.  

 

[ChippenhamRed]

11 minutes ago, Midlands Robin said:

This was my first time watching City in the flesh for a fair while and it's not hard to see so many of the problems the team have been having on the pitch. Unlike Ole I was high up in the Doug Ellis stand and had a pretty good view (in what was supposed to be restricted view seat) for the whole game.

For me, we lack any sense of urgency and a lot of this comes down to our decision making while on the ball. It seems to take too long at times for players to work out what they are actually going to do with the thing to create play and move things forward. In the first half we looked pretty tight, closed down the Villa players quite well and on the odd occasion actually ran at their defence. 

Playing one up front means that the midfielders have to push up and support if we are going to run the ball down the wings. On a number of occasions we did have a good run at them we needed more bodies in the box. 

For me, Cotterill really looks a cut above the rest. He covered virtually every blade of grass on both sides of the pitch last night. 

In the second half though, what was put in the tea? It was clear to all within five minutes of coming out that something was wrong. We failed to close their players down as well as we did at times in the first half and for their first goal, we gave their player so much time to cross. All the stuff you would tell a group of kids about defending, close the man down, reduce his angle, don't dive in but get tight on him and don't let him get a cross in, seemed to go out of the window and we backed off and backed off. It was just bizarre. 

One of the least effective players on the pitch for us, in my opinion was Bobby Reid. Especially in the second half I struggle to see what he brings to the party. In a 4-5-1 formation you need someone to push through from midfield and attack through the middle with pace. Reid seemed so reluctant (especially after the break) to run with the ball and attack. He looked a little lost. It was like the 'anti-Junior Bent'. I would far rather see a player charging forward with the ball even if the end product was a little wayward at times than a player who gets the ball, tippy taps it around his own feet for a bit then lays off a two foot pass for someone else. It takes any energy their may have been out of an attack. 

Overall, we just don't look sharp enough. There seems to be a lack of urgency, a general hesitation on the ball which invariably leads to a lump forward when a quick pass would do or a wayward pass when you just want the player to lump it up field and remove the danger.

We were ok a times and in the first half but we are in trouble.  

 

How much extra did you have to pay for a restricted view seat?

[Midlands Robin]

3 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

How much extra did you have to pay for a restricted view seat?

[Red-Robbo]

4 hours ago, Midlands Robin said:

This was my first time watching City in the flesh for a fair while and it's not hard to see so many of the problems the team have been having on the pitch. Unlike Ole I was high up in the Doug Ellis stand and had a pretty good view (in what was supposed to be restricted view seat) for the whole game.

For me, we lack any sense of urgency and a lot of this comes down to our decision making while on the ball. It seems to take too long at times for players to work out what they are actually going to do with the thing to create play and move things forward. In the first half we looked pretty tight, closed down the Villa players quite well and on the odd occasion actually ran at their defence. 

Playing one up front means that the midfielders have to push up and support if we are going to run the ball down the wings. On a number of occasions we did have a good run at them we needed more bodies in the box. 

For me, Cotterill really looks a cut above the rest. He covered virtually every blade of grass on both sides of the pitch last night. 

In the second half though, what was put in the tea? It was clear to all within five minutes of coming out that something was wrong. We failed to close their players down as well as we did at times in the first half and for their first goal, we gave their player so much time to cross. All the stuff you would tell a group of kids about defending, close the man down, reduce his angle, don't dive in but get tight on him and don't let him get a cross in, seemed to go out of the window and we backed off and backed off. It was just bizarre. 

One of the least effective players on the pitch for us, in my opinion was Bobby Reid. Especially in the second half I struggle to see what he brings to the party. In a 4-5-1 formation you need someone to push through from midfield and attack through the middle with pace. Reid seemed so reluctant (especially after the break) to run with the ball and attack. He looked a little lost. It was like the 'anti-Junior Bent'. I would far rather see a player charging forward with the ball even if the end product was a little wayward at times than a player who gets the ball, tippy taps it around his own feet for a bit then lays off a two foot pass for someone else. It takes any energy their may have been out of an attack. 

Overall, we just don't look sharp enough. There seems to be a lack of urgency, a general hesitation on the ball which invariably leads to a lump forward when a quick pass would do or a wayward pass when you just want the player to lump it up field and remove the danger.

We were ok a times and in the first half but we are in trouble.  

 

 

Thanks for the report. That all sounds horribly familiar. 

[Tears in rain]

12 hours ago, North London Red said:

One of the main things that struck me was how many of our efforts were blocked (often with 2 Villla defenders throwing themselves in the way) and how many of our crosses were cleared. Steve Bruce has obviously realised that to turn around a struggling team, clean sheets are a great way to start - and Villa did the basics of defending so much better than we did. Look at how little pressure was on Villa's attackers for their two goals. 

If we keep conceding 2 goals every week (and I've lost count of how many times we've done it over the last 3 months), we will go down. 

This is a great post! Couldn't agree more. 

Villa closed down shots like their life depended on it and it paid off for them. 

[Chairman Mao]

Geifer - 6 Couldn't do anything about the goals, hospital ball led to the penalty, punched decently. 

Vyner - 6 Exposed on a few occasions, has a bright future, looks better than I feared after hearing comments on the Newcastle game. Unlucky to hit the crossbar in the first half.

Flint - 6 Decent performance, Kodjia exposed how slow he was though

Wright - 7 Slip aside for the second goal he was top notch and did well to bully Kodjia in the first half. 

Bryan - 3 Some good crosses but woeful, confidence is gone, was ripped apart in the second half, so much space! He is a midfielder not a left sided player. 

O'Dowda 6 - some decent runs, will be important for us in L1

O'Neil - 7 Good to see him back, some decent tackles, faded in the second half

Smith - 6 put himself about without doing much.

Reid - 6 horrific backpass to set up the pen, looked good going forward and playing the ball from deep.

Cotterill - 6 Put himself about and set peices were decent but didn't do much in open play.

Wilbs - 6 not mobile enough to but held the ball up well. 

Subs: Paterson - 3 Poor bloke, I don't rate him but the sacrificial lamb, stuck up top by LJ. 

Tomlin - 5 Waste of wages, overweight and slow, one nice piece of skill. 

Taylor - 5 didn't do much, no supply for him.

LJ - 0 You are the weakest link. Goodbye.