Winner, winner, New Year dinner…
Winner, winner, New Year dinner…
Villa bounced back into the Championship play-off places after two wins in three days, with two great performances against Middlesbrough and Bristol City respectively, the latter turning into a five goal spree in front of the disbelieving home fans, as Bruce’s makeshift team swept aside one of their more serious rivals and peers in the promotion race. With Cardiff continuing to falter, Villa’s double victory closed the gap between themselves and second-place to five points, as they entered the new year with twenty games to play and everything to play for.
Although there is nothing to equal the glee of a five goal romp, I actually thought that Middlesbrough result was the greater achievement, especially as the Smoggies had home advantage, and a new manager in Tony Pulis. Villa definitely did everything that was asked of them and kept the mistakes to a minimum. Robert Snodgrass’s goal was excellent and his stylish impression of Billy The Fish deserved top marks for artistic interpretation. His joyous celebration in front of the travelling fans made it special. The game was rather dower between two sides who respected each other enough not throw caution to the wind, and Villa had that extra bit of quality which won them the game. It certainly wasn’t pretty but it was a great win considering the amount of pressure Villa were under after their bad run had provoked the stirrings of some discontent. If Villa hadn’t won that game it is impossible to imagine they could have followed up with the New Year’s Day thriller.
For the first twenty-odd minutes of the game against Bristol there was no sign that it was going to turn into a Villa goal-fest, as Villa cautiously played it sideways. Bristol dominated the play and even had the ball in the net but were adjudged off-side. But as soon as Villa had scored their opening goal they came out of their shell and the transformation held reminders of Burton away back in September. It was a simple but beautiful goal which relied entirely on accuracy rather than anything too fancy. Hogan came deep to collect a Sam Johnstone kick on the right, he turned it inside to Grealish just right of a central position, who sent a laser-guided arrow of a pass teasingly inside Bristol’s Brownhill to Adomah, who sent in the perfect cross for Hogan to head home with a Lochheadesque looper from twelve yards. It was as surprising as it was technically excellent. Villa could smell blood and took charge. Chester set the tone with a cheeky back-heel out on the left, which sent Adomah free to cross accurately, and Hogan went and did it all over again, with another great header, which the goalkeeper kept out but the lurking Snodgrass buried with vigorous aplomb. Villa Park went gloriously barmy. Villa were bullying the Robins down the right and Grealish teased their first bank of four as he took the ball Messi-like along the edge of the box and shot against the post.
At two-nil, as the interval arrived, most thoughts amongst the faithful were cautiously optimist that Villa might hold out. Manager Johnson shuffled his pack for the second period. The Robins produced some slick pass and move, and really should have scored but two players went for the same cross and the Villa were grateful to see it rebound to safety. Villa quickly counter-attacked and Hogan held up the ball nicely, fed Grealish, who set up Snodgrass for a shot, which he blasted over. Again Grealish was the man and went on a magnificent diagonal sprinting run from the left-back position and again under physical pressure set up Snodgrass, who widened the gap with a check back and slotted home into the corner of the net. Villa looked safe at three-nil and Bruce decided to rest some legs as he brought on Bjarnason for Adomah on seventy minutes. Two minutes later Hutton sent Birkir through a hesitating Bristol defence to score his first league goal for Villa. With the opposition looking spent Bruce replaced Villa man-of-the-match Grealish with the talented Callum O’Hare and then gave the lively Hepburn-Murphy a taste. Snodgrass and Bjarnason indulged in a fancy piece of passing down the right, fed Hepburn-Murphy, and his cross was unaccountably back-heeled to an unchallenged Hourihane by Villa OB Nathan Baker, and it was five-nil.
As ever the players at the attacking end of the pitch will get most of the plaudits but I think the return of Jedinak to midfield can’t be understated when it comes to providing the platform from which Villa launched their attacking prowess. Tommy Elphick is not the calm presence of John Terry in defence but he’s certainly been good enough since his return. Certainly Jack Grealish has better and better since his return and the pace of his game has definitely increased as he’s got fitter and he’s not been nursing his hamstring through games. Hogan has done really well since his return and his contribution, whether it be goals or assists, has been outstanding. The fact that Villa are still fifth despite a season blighted by injuries to so many key players, is testament to the necessity of a top quality squad and the ability of the manager to keep them reasonably happy and involved. The question is, if like all managers, Bruce just needs one more player, what position does he need to provide cover for in his squad. I would say defensive midfield but others will differ.
In the meantime as we await the away game against Forest on Saturday week, there’s an FA Cup home encounter with Peterborough to contend with. The television people have paid Villa the compliment of not expecting a shock result and so are not televising it, which makes a change. The FA definitely need a team from the lower divisions to win their ‘greatest competition in the world’ because just like Leicester winning the Premier League it would offer them plausible deniability to the accusation that English football is run totally for the benefit of a plutocracy. It would be great if that club could be Villa but as it is such a fool’s errand and an enervating distraction, it is a pretty low priority. The chances of picking up an injury to an important player are far more likely than winning the damn thing. The fans are gagging to see Villa’s young guns in action, so Bruce should give them go. They’re alright!
Keep the faith!
