It ended all square and we were probably the luckier of the two sides. I'm not going into details as I've got to rush off for dinner but Doc is back from his holiday and will be doing a report later.

I will say that we're lucky we're quite good at set pieces and we've got a good keeper in Scott Carson.

Like I said, match report coming later but we've moved up a place to fifth - so the result moved us in the right direction.

Comments (31)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

flowershopboy said:

4 from 6 against Blackburn , nothin to complain about

January 26, 2008

IanB said:

What utter dirge that was. Rubbish home performance, again. GET THE FREAKING CHEQUE BOOK OUT VILLA! www.claretandbluewedding.com

January 26, 2008

Thegreatdando said:

What utter dirge that posting was.....

January 26, 2008

Damian said:

at Thegreatdando it was, i admit it .. but i had to rush off to dinner with the inlaws and really only had time to write that before putting laptop away and leaving still - we've got a point. what was yours?

January 26, 2008 | url

Abz said:

I was at the game and I thought the first half was absolutely dire! We couldn't do anything right! Second half was a bit better and a great goal by Young. But, there was no real spark. Gabby and Carew didn't fire and this leaves me thinking that we have to get in some players who can make an impact and make something happen in games such as these. How many times did Reo Coker commit stupid fouls and give the ball away!? He is a fair way off from the England squad at the moment, especially with Capello watching today. Laursen was as solid as ever though but we still looked shaky at the back on the odd occasion. I guess it was just one of those games today, but we didn't play anywhere near our best today. All in all, a draw was a fair result.

January 26, 2008

sam_villa1 said:

great free-kick by young. blackburn got lucky with there goal it was a miskick. we should really be beating teams like blackburn, they are a nothing team, i dont know why but i really don't like blackburn i consider them more of a championship team even thought they are doing quite well.

January 26, 2008

ozavfc21 said:

thats up there as one of our poorest games at home all season. gabby was shocking as was coker and petrov, barry was poor but maybe still not 100% only young was giving his all up front and if not for our back four and carson we wouldnt have got a point. but if you can get a point when you play that badly u gotta be doing something right,need to stregthen the squad though.

January 26, 2008

Juan pablo Angel said:

loving pretty much everything about villa this year including players, chairman, manager and direction however i'm a bit worried with MON's ability to buy quality players. Young and Carew a side obviously!!! Amounts probly slightly out. Reo Coker - 8.5 mil Davies - Possible 9.5 mil Petrov - 6.5 mil Carson - Possible 10 mil Some would argue Harewood could be added to this list as well 4 mil. (not myself) Not sure of the value for money of any of the above players and feel better players have moved to other clubs for similar amounts.

January 26, 2008

sam_villa 1 said:

feed the hare and he will score !!!! harewood is quality. only him and young played well today. gabby should watch out cuz he was poor. if i was manager harewood would start next game ahead of gabby. harewood needs a chance. i know i said he was sh*t when we first got him but now i can see what o'neil sees in him. he gave 100% today and was unlucky not to score and win the game for us.

January 26, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Not a bad result ashley young was brilliant AGAIN Capello seems to like villa park dont he cant blame him after all it is the greatest place on earth

January 27, 2008

Jeremiah said:

I definitely wouldn't call Blackburn a Championship side. They're one of the more consistent teams in the EPL in terms of making it to Europe. Anyway, a pretty bland match. I agree that Carew and Gabby didn't fire. I think Harewood should actually get a bit more of a run out there. I think Villa has looked much more dangerous with him out there. We just play way too much longball. I agree that it's useful in getting results, particularly against so-so teams, but we just don't create much from the run of play. As far as MON's penchant for not buying players well, though I'm not too happy with the lack of transfer activity, you have to admit the guy must know what he's doing. We have a smaller squad than a couple years ago, yet how far have we moved up the table? I'm still hoping that we add a couple pieces this week, then go for real quality this summer.

January 27, 2008

SuperSeanUK said:

"We have a smaller squad than a couple years ago, yet how far have we moved up the table?" - I like that, well said. Gabby needs a rest in my opinion - and I honestly think that he only really needs one week off - and there are a few other issues: I'm not sure what's up with Reo Coker. He wins the ball for the midfield pretty well, but he also can't pass to save his life and thus gives the ball away more than he wins it. Petrov isn't a right-sided midfielder, which is a fair enough statement given his (IMO) decent performances this season, but today he was playing like he knew he was an automatic choice for the starting XI again; lazily. Both of those issues can result, I feel, with Barry running all over the central and right sides of midfield trying to do everyones' jobs because he's the only one in there who can play football. Damian, I really do respect a lot of what you write here, but if you still think that we should sacrifice our best (only?) passer of the ball then, seriously, I think you need to start being able to say 'no' to your local crack dealer. However, seems like Carson had maybe his best game for us (Well done with the penalty) and Laursen was, as always, immense for us. Also, Young was superb. If we could get another player to play on the other side to Young we'd be lethal I reckon.

January 27, 2008

ozavfc21 said:

juan pablo angel i dont agree i think davies will be quality so good buy and carsons a great keeper so dont think its only two players that mon's bought. as for not being value for money then your namesake says it all.

January 27, 2008

taglor said:

What I'm worried about is that quite a few posted on here in summer to buy santa cruz, if we saw that bargain how come MON's scouts didn't? he is absolute quality. At least we got a point and can keep the momentum going forward, can't wait for Thursay to see our new signing(s)? and the economy will be back on track because the so called experts that say we are headed for recession forgot one thing, most people haven't been paid since before Christmas! the idiots!

January 27, 2008

taglor said:

Flippin heck, we aren't getting anybody are we? http://icbirmingham.icnetwork....-20396087/

January 27, 2008

Pgough said:

A draw is all we deserved. With a bit of luck Harewood would have won it at the end. I don't understand that there are no players coming in. As MON can't buy any experienced players that he needs surely he should buy a few kids of 17 or 18 and hope that one or two come good next season or the season after. Raid the lower division clubs with good academys.

January 27, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Young is banned for the next game gabby looks knackerd, then the injurys And if mellberg leaves it leaves us with about 16 players for the next game Hope fans realise we might have to hand fullham 3 points with them havein to kick the ball because with out a bench of players means no GAME So now i think every villa fan deserves to worry now Yes iv joined the negative lot because things are now looking despreate if you think not then your just lying to urself and cant face its a mess Enjoy ur sunday dinner martin watching breaking news on sky sports about other teams signing players even tho u should be in the F**kin office Last team not able to fill a bench im sure was way back in the 60s or 70s So as we all kno no bench no game lets just pray and hope we dont pick up to more injurys in tranning because then we are defintly F U C K E D

January 27, 2008

flowershopboy said:

I Cant see how ya think we're in a mess ??? We're 5th in the table?????

January 27, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

The leuage position is not a mess i agree fully But in terms of the squad its gettin rather desprete u do realise young is out for the next game gabby looks knackerd carew not doing to well maloney not 1005 fit mellberg could be off this week petrov got a knock,So if 15 to 16 players is good enough for u then thats just madness so 11 on the picth 4 or 5 on the bench if we cant get a bench made togther then fullham get 3 points handed straight to them

January 27, 2008

brett said:

we looked stupidly tired in the game, there was no bite in the tackle and we spent half the game lumping the ball up high which didnt work ref was disappointing IMO, carew was getting fouled non stop and bentley worryingly dived all over the shop we need reinvigorating (sp) if we are to do anything this year

January 27, 2008

Damian said:

at SuperSeanUK Barry is a good passer - you're not wrong. but he's also slow and not very good at going forward and playing him in centreal midfield means that more gifted central midfielders like reo-coker and petrov suffer this is just my opinion but i dont think its a coincidence that without barry we almost win at anfield but with him we almost lose at home to blackburn

January 27, 2008 | url

Marcus Smith said:

Lol, I took a friend yesterday that only goes once or twice a season. I told him, 'You might realize that Barry isn't actually that good'. Sure enough...

January 27, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Good point damian maybe martin should look at playin barry in diffrent ares myself id like to seem him just in front of the defenders because he would get a lot of freedom but again that depends on the system we play As for dropping him i cant see that happening nor do i want to because of the commitment he has showed for villa and most times he dose play well

January 27, 2008

Damian said:

just in front of the back four is a nice idea, much like carrick and hargreaves alternated the role today .. however you will fall into a trap playing barry there because the only thing he has is a good pass - if he plays there we're going to start to see a lot of long balls. just like we used to see early crosses from the left when he played thee - he couldn't get past his man so he'd just cross and more often than not, when a cross comes in from so far out and quite slow defenders get to them .. barry is a decent player - dont get me wrong - i'm just saying, with him, i dnt think we'll break top 4

January 27, 2008 | url

taglor said:

Flippin heck we ARE gettin somebody! lol, I fell for the stupid newsnow stories, it just shows absolutely nobody but MON knows if and who we will sign, lets just enjoy this week knowing that in my opinion we will have at least 1 nice surprise http://www.eatsleepsport.com/articles/684819.html

January 27, 2008

AV33 said:

Hi Everyone...I had to listen to the game on the radio and it didn't sound too impressive. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't do Blackburn at home to put us into 4th spot but i do have my worries about what happens now. I wrote in a previous post about four of the squad out on loan and four in the shop window, possibly leaving us ridiculously short of numbers (I had it as 1for the remainder of the season. No players coming in would waste the opportunity that we have at this present moment. Thing is, things could look very different in a week or so because the teams just below us have games in hand etc. If we were to lose a game or two now and the others enjoy victories with their fixtures and their games in hand, we will be pushed back to mid table in a flash ! Please MON...don't waste this brilliant opportunity to secure Euro football for us next season. If we can keep getting results, we can maybe stay where we are but if we go on even the smallest of losing streaks now, we could drop 5 or 6 places very quickly. Just a few days left now...C'mon MON ! Give us something get excited about to make the rest of the Prem s**t 'emselves ! UP THE VILLA

January 27, 2008

AV33 said:

Sorry...typing error Where smiley is should be "i had it as 18"

January 27, 2008

pazzler said:

the players are tired. surely mon realises this? we cannot go the rest of the season wit the same squad. we r gonna burn out

January 27, 2008

mj said:

oh come on. some people on here really get my goat. they talk as if mon is doing it on purpose just to p**s us all off. he's not, he's being careful and quiet as to not make himself look like a tool. just look at so called king kev already looking like an idiot by linking himself to everyone and anyone who may have 2 feet, only to be f***ed off by them. in mon i trust. he knows the squad better than any of us. he knows its small but will only add who he thinks will fit in and will add to it in reguards to quality rather than quantity. he will buy when he's ready just be patient. oh and UTV

January 27, 2008

Az_ said:

We'll sign a few up in the next few days. Not like MON has a choice with our squad size and he likes snatching a few at the end of the window as we have seen. In MON we trust

January 27, 2008

gray owl said:

i left the ground on sat happy with a draw,when against blackburn at villa park i should have been disapointed,our midfield were awful and our forwards looked tired,we need to buy so we can rest gabby ect,and to show the likes of nrc and petrov that they must work to deserve to wear our proud colours .utv

January 28, 2008

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Add Comment